"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Q.O.T.D.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Q.O.T.D.
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
--Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown in "Peanuts"
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Post Turkey Day
Okay, so i know we're all thankful for our lives and where we are in them. We *ARE* thankful, yes?!?! Okay, so that's settled. What interests me this thanksgiving season are some funny Tday stories. Like mine from this year...Grandmother choking on a throat full of food at the formal dinner table. Who get's to hurry into action? Yep, the resident EMT of the family, yours truly. It's never a pleasant process...and it happens at more of the full family functions than i care to talk about. Sometimes i wonder if she does it on purpose just for the attention...
Anyway...hope everyone's holiday was good. Looks like snow is coming tomorrow and/or the next day. I get to try out that new (to me) snowblower....
CH
Anyway...hope everyone's holiday was good. Looks like snow is coming tomorrow and/or the next day. I get to try out that new (to me) snowblower....
CH
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Q.O.T.D.
When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope still is to leave the world a little bit better for my having been here. It's a wonderful life and I love it.
--Jim Henson, It's Not Easy Being Green And Other Things to Consider
--Jim Henson, It's Not Easy Being Green And Other Things to Consider
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
A Different Life
Greetings everyone! I am back from the beyond, although considerably different from the last time i was here. I'm a father now, and that has made life incredibly different (and 'incredible' as well!). My daughter Chloe Lynn was born 10.9.10. Due date was 10.10.10; wouldn't you know it, she's as punctual as my wife is and showed up a few hours early.
She's healthy...10 fingers and toes...a little peanut really, was born 6 lbs, 15 oz. She's now six weeks old and about 7 and a half pounds.
I must admit, at 43...i began to wonder if i'd ever be a father. Well, here i am...someone's DAD. I truly find the whole thing amazing. Even here in the first few weeks of watching her grow...watching her eyes open...then one day focus...now, she seems so alert to her surroundings; it's like she's a sponge and just soaking everything up!
I don't even mind the late night feedings and the loss of sleep. It's worth every moment. I hope I'll be a good father; I have a number of wonderful examples in my life...my own father, my many friends who are fathers (Easy, your name is top of the list...Guv'na, yours too, of course).
My priorities are different now; granted, that's to be expected. But i was surprised at how easily those priorities changed. There are no complaints on my end that i can't go, 'hang out with the boys' right now...and that i have to be much more responsible with what i do, how i drive, even with my health (yes, i want to be here as long as possible for this little girl).
I'll keep you all updated on the progress here as often as i can. Let's see if we can also encourage the other editors of this blog to take a few minutes and replug into the little bit of the world that we share here at The Stroke.
Cool Hand
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter
*Smack*...
That's the sound of me dusting off these tired old knuckles as I scratch the itch. Contributing to this great and worthy blog, that is.
Today's a good day. It's the start of a holiday weekend. Easter. Which as we all know, means HAM. Meat. I don't get meat a whole lot these days since marrying my wonderful wife who just happens to be a vegetarian. Such is my mania. This is a good day for a number of reasons. They are as follows:
- The inevitable coming of The Ham.
- Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy (props to Jake Leinenkugel over in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
- A wife SO devoted to baking that she's decorating cookies as we speak... and it's 12:50 a.m.
- Reconnecting with Cool Hand, another key operative in bringing opinion and high-brow humor to the masses via Stroking The Cortex
Now, as I sit here in my linen shorts (hey, even though it's 12:53 a.m., it's still warm out), my signature straw fedora and a Shandy-induced Cheshire Cat grin, I got a rush of overwhelming calm and focus. Reflecting back on this small but purposeful life I lead as The Big Easy, things that were never so clearly defined are now in focus with such a degree of clarity, it's almost nauseating. Kinda like watching HD for the first time. Crap, I'm straying. Because I haven't written in a while. *shake* ("focus, man. SOME people read this.")
Let's start from the top...
- Ham. Obvious. Meat.
- Leinie's Summer Shandy. Ok, some people get excited about baseball's opening day, their first mow of the season, first whiff of a grill from a block away... not me. To me, the day the Shandy hits the shelves is the day that summer is on its way. True, warm weather may already be here, but Shandy is a sign. A sign of all the things above. For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, a Shandy is a lemonade-mixed beer. Popularized in Europe and brought to the States by a saint (in my book). Check it out at your nearest corner store.
- Obsessive cookie-baking wife. Every house needs one. She will turn out the best, most intricately-decorated baked goods your gut has ever seen. She works with Almond Extract the way some artist work in oils. Truly a sight to be seen.
- Reconnecting with quality people. And I mean QUALITY, people. Cool Hand is a cat so devoted to everything that's good and right, it's almost sickening. He's exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded and most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. I find myself in awe sometimes that people like him are among us. Almost like being awarded with a great prize that you're not quite sure why you received. He'll lend an ear (both if he's got the time and a well-packed pipe), but he'll also call you when he needs YOUR ear, begging the question, "Who do the superheroes turn to when they need direction or a nudge?"
In conclusion to this pointless rant, enjoy the holiday, folks. The Ham, the Shandy, the resident harbinger of all things baked and sweet and finally, friends. Cheers. Here's to a good night. It's great being back.
- Easy
That's the sound of me dusting off these tired old knuckles as I scratch the itch. Contributing to this great and worthy blog, that is.
Today's a good day. It's the start of a holiday weekend. Easter. Which as we all know, means HAM. Meat. I don't get meat a whole lot these days since marrying my wonderful wife who just happens to be a vegetarian. Such is my mania. This is a good day for a number of reasons. They are as follows:
- The inevitable coming of The Ham.
- Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy (props to Jake Leinenkugel over in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
- A wife SO devoted to baking that she's decorating cookies as we speak... and it's 12:50 a.m.
- Reconnecting with Cool Hand, another key operative in bringing opinion and high-brow humor to the masses via Stroking The Cortex
Now, as I sit here in my linen shorts (hey, even though it's 12:53 a.m., it's still warm out), my signature straw fedora and a Shandy-induced Cheshire Cat grin, I got a rush of overwhelming calm and focus. Reflecting back on this small but purposeful life I lead as The Big Easy, things that were never so clearly defined are now in focus with such a degree of clarity, it's almost nauseating. Kinda like watching HD for the first time. Crap, I'm straying. Because I haven't written in a while. *shake* ("focus, man. SOME people read this.")
Let's start from the top...
- Ham. Obvious. Meat.
- Leinie's Summer Shandy. Ok, some people get excited about baseball's opening day, their first mow of the season, first whiff of a grill from a block away... not me. To me, the day the Shandy hits the shelves is the day that summer is on its way. True, warm weather may already be here, but Shandy is a sign. A sign of all the things above. For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, a Shandy is a lemonade-mixed beer. Popularized in Europe and brought to the States by a saint (in my book). Check it out at your nearest corner store.
- Obsessive cookie-baking wife. Every house needs one. She will turn out the best, most intricately-decorated baked goods your gut has ever seen. She works with Almond Extract the way some artist work in oils. Truly a sight to be seen.
- Reconnecting with quality people. And I mean QUALITY, people. Cool Hand is a cat so devoted to everything that's good and right, it's almost sickening. He's exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded and most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. I find myself in awe sometimes that people like him are among us. Almost like being awarded with a great prize that you're not quite sure why you received. He'll lend an ear (both if he's got the time and a well-packed pipe), but he'll also call you when he needs YOUR ear, begging the question, "Who do the superheroes turn to when they need direction or a nudge?"
In conclusion to this pointless rant, enjoy the holiday, folks. The Ham, the Shandy, the resident harbinger of all things baked and sweet and finally, friends. Cheers. Here's to a good night. It's great being back.
- Easy
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