And for December....

They get around

Sometimes when I am traveling...I don't feel like myself!

I don't feel like Gwen either, though!

There are several pics to share from the last few days...

First, who knew?

Who knew Chris was a butt man?

The shoes get around...and I keep breaking rules...

Max made a new friend...and may have ticked off his mother...

MEANWHILE....

Other than Chris' slow adjustment to the ways of the big city, the Tierney boys are having fun!

More!

It's beautiful

Sometimes you see something you've dreamt about your entire life. Most of the time, it never quite lives up to what you've imagined and built up over time. Sometimes it exceeds what you expect. That's a phenomenal thing....seriously phenomenal!

Off I go

Here I am at LAX (which of all airports...this is just the BEST...really! Just the BEST!) waiting for my flight to Pittsburgh! Behind me is the 28-30 year old trophy wife of very grey man who appears to think not wearing a tie with his grey suit and wingtips is a real dip into casual wear. She's complaining that they are not anywhere close to the VIP lounge and are having to wait at the gate ("Right next to the can! It's right next to the can!)

I love airports! More later!

I can't add anything more....

For those of you who aren't Facebook-ites

Paula Deen makes DIET food....seriously...

at least in this contest

Wanda's 7000 calorie Macaroni Salad!

You know...she may be on to something...

"...and by the way...any involvement in the Holocaust? Bygones!"

To all my friends from South Carolina...

Miss South Carolina's take on geography....the congressman whose mother never taught him any manners...and now this car dealership...


Really Awkward Car Commercial Slogan - Watch more Funny Commercials

It just never stops!

Jon and Kate minus ten, please!

My thoughts (and, yes, I am getting on this bandwagon a bit late but it is what it is!):

• Each of those kids deserves a loving, supportive home
• BOTH of the parents are flipping idiots for taking on more than anyone should. As one friend said on the birth of his and his wife's third child "NEVER let them outnumber you!"
• He may be reliving his youth now but after living through hell with her, who can blame him?
• The hair (on both) has got to go!

Gotta love Kathy Griffin and George Takei!

This sort of says it all...

Strange thngs happen...

So I've been out of work for a few days. I came in today and was immediately in a meeting for a few hours. I finally got to my desk and saw what was set in the middle of it. I stopped. Then shut the doors sat down and opened my "School photos"

Because these were always for my mom, I had a moment. Not bad...not good...just a moment. I think I'm turning a corner and have hit enough of these "first times since Mom died" that I just deal with them. They aren't easy or pleasant.

I get through them.

Barely.


Miss you, Mom!

Been a busy day...

I've been filling boxes with things that Anthony left at my house when he passed away on June 6. I still have boxes of my mom's things from her house after she passed away in January. It really sets me thinking doing this twice in one year for people that I cared for. First with my mom, going through her clothes wasn't too tough although she had WAY too many. Going through boxes of things she kept, however, was hard. I don't envy my brother at all. He had to deal with so much more than I did. Some things were confusing. Who were these people in photographs or why did she keep this? We'll never know.

With Anthony, because his last few years were so difficult for him there wasn't a lot to go through. However, he'd just tried to consolidate all of this things at my place over his last few months to make it easier to rebuild his life. Sadly, that wasn't going to be an option for him but he was forever optimistic!

So, going through these things have really shed light on who he was and who my mom was, what each of them valued and who each of them cared for. Both them have had one thing in particular that have just stopped me in my tracks and given me a good cry.

Being a principal, I get school pictures taken every year. Every year since 1964 except for my college years, my mom would get a nice set of photos of unphotogenic me. When I was a little boy, I'd give them to her when I got home that day. I was slightly more photogenic then although that's debatable!

As I've gotten older, I've waited til I went home for the holidays to give them to her. It's always been the joke that I expected them to at least be displayed on par with my nephew Max's pictures. He's MUCH more photogenic.

A couple of years ago our school had cards made for the students that had their picture, some vital statistics and a "Missing or Exploited Children Hotline" phone number for parents to call should that nightmare happen to them. Well, I mailed mine to my mom and suggested in the accompanying note that before she called the hotline she might want to ask herself if I was missing voluntarily or if just maybe I was enjoying being exploited. She did mention that she got it and giggled along with the note along the bottom of the note blaming my sense of humor on her side of the family.

We found this note in her desk. She written the date she got it and put a smiley face next to the "your side of the family" notation. Yeah...I cried.

Anthony was different, of course. I have things to give to his family, to his close friends and other things I have no idea what to do with. The guy needed to clear his pockets out of change and clean (I hope) Kleenex once in a while! Every pair of pants, coat, and jacket had some of each. But in his box of papers, was a copy of a picture I had take of him in the snow. He'd written in his scrawl "First snow February 12 Thanks, Kevin!" Yeah...I cried.

Just a few random thoughts...

This is after watching CNN and MSNBC all day long...

Why are we, as a people, so belligerently uneducated? I watch the news and I wonder.

Health Care musings:

If you've ever spoken to an British Citizen or Canadian citizen and asked about their health care system, you will usually get a laugh and an eye rolling. Why? Because the American media and far right so ridiculously overstate the negatives of their system it is laughable. What is embarrassing is that most Americans (who never leave the good old USA to see the rest of the world) believe it!

I'm not saying single payer is the way to go. Nor am I saying that the current plan is the way to go. And I would never say that we have the BEST health care in the world here in the USA. All I am saying is that I think I would trust the government equally as much as I trust the insurance companies who currently make my health care decisions now. I have to fight with them, too! For some reason, I believe the insurance companies have profits as their first concern...not MY health. That's why I will say that I agree with a lot of the current proposed regulation of the current insurance run system.

Obesity:
Does anyone really need this?

MMMM Chocolate Covered Bacon!







Fires:
California is a big state. I understand that it's hard to realize just how large it is.

Just like when you get a snowstorm back east, it sounds like life has come to a standstill
OR
you've had bitter cold and the news makes it sound like old people are being frozen solid in mid-stride as they step out of the Piggly Wiggly with their Hamburger Helper
OR
a tornado rips through a block of Pisgah, Iowa and it sounds as if the entire Midwest has disappeared off the map!

When there is a fire in Santa Cruz, I no more notice it than when you're in Omaha and Casper has a hailstorm.

Oh...and the same goes for an earthquake! If it's under 5.0, we all look around to see if anyone else felt it. Then we stand there to see if anyone else will dive under a desk or run for the door. When they don't, we all go back to what we were doing and start making up stories to tell you when you call us!





Aliens
When I hear a proclamation about the illegals milking the system or not respecting the USA, I know that generally the speaker means anyone looking, speaking or acting Latin. They don't mean my Irish friend who was illegal and was bypassed by Immigration when he was at work so that they could arrest the Brooklyn born busboy.

As far as respecting our country, so many of our own citizens don't vote, don't understand our system of government, don't know the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, think that their elected officials must vote as a reflection of the constituents views, etc. We, as Americans, show very little respect to other countries even when we visit them. We hate the French because they think they are SO great and expect us to speak French when we are there. Don't they know they owe their freedom to us? Well, are we so different? We don't learn a second language (they do), we expect visitors here to speak English, and we don't seem to remember that we owe OUR freedom to them just as much as they owe us!

Anyway, I do go on! Watch this for some neighborly respect


Mexico Builds Border Wall To Keep Out U.S. Assholes

Dear Faux News...

I was sick of seeing...

the Wanda Sykes title on ProjectChristopher and MaxDad blogs everytime I read them. It's been a HORRIBLE TERRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD last 2 months! However, things are looking better...

And with that proclamation I will celebrate with two video presentations of music and Maru to make you smile...or at least smirk! Start the first one and after a bit the audio of the first one goes quite nicely with the video of the second one...You'll see what I mean..



and then there's this...MY FAVORITE MARU VIDEO...at 0:56 you just know Maru's look is saying..."Put down the &%I%# camera and you can make this a LOT easier!"

With the power of positive thinking, perseverance and a real fetish...er...fascination for something you, too, can fly!

You gotta love Wanda Sykes!

Part 2




There's nothing I can add!

She cracks me up...

and she doesn't sound bad at all....

Maybe it's me...

BUT does anyone else find this a bit ..um...disturbing? I don't mean that in a bad way, of course! But this is a sandwich commercial, isn't it?

Mmmmmmm Toasty!

I know you MUST be as shocked as I am!

I'm shocked, shocked that this has happened!First, Jennifer and Brad

then Chris and Rihanna
and now this!
Is traditional love, romance and marriage safe from these traditional couples?

Check it out here!

I'm sorry, Rush...

Check it out!

I'm sorry, Rush!

Random thoughts...

I feel the need to update the blog just because I hate to see too many days pass between them. Not because anyone is waiting for the next installment but I hate to look lazy! It's too late for running sentences together in a coherent way so here goes

1. I'm on Facebook now. And while I am tempted to write 25 random things about myself like "Jimmy Hoffa isn't buried in my back yard." or "I think toothpaste is a bad choice for personal lubricants" I'll just abstain.

2. Seeing snow through the eyes of someone who had never experienced snow falling is interesting but I still hate it.
3. My mother had WAY too many clothes.

4. So do I.

5. Is it just me or is Joe Biden getting on President Obama's nerves?


6. Grief sneaks up on you at really odd times.

7. I have some REALLY good friends and supportive family members.

8. My nephew's is a hoot.

9. There's not a better way to spend a cold night alone at home than a pint of Ben and Jerry's a watching an hour or two of guilty pleasure TV off the Tivo.


10. I think if you're dead, the Oscar should really go to someone else. I'm just saying...

11. And while I am on the Oscar subject, Marisa Tomei may not be Lawrence Olivier, or even Joan Plowright or Vivien Leigh, but the character she created in My Cousin Vinny is memorable and well done. Isn't that Oscar worthy?

Do a Mary Poppins/Mona Lisa Vito comparison for depth and nuance and see if they compare.


12. They're getting rid of Pontiac? How about still building them like Pontiacs not just as Chevys with a different badge on them. Then people might buy them!

My playlist

Here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie about the songs (they can be funny if you just leave them)

What's my mood right now? Sit Down James

Hows tomorrow going to be for me? I Can’t Take It Cheap Trick

What kind of person am I? O Que me importa ( 'I care' in Portuguese) Marisa Montes

Am I loved? Night Life Stacy Sullivan

How can I achieve my highest potential? My Life Billy Joel

What should I do with my life? If I Were A Bell Josie de Guzman

Is everything going to be alright in the end? Just to be next to you Dave Koz

What is my best quality? The Sky is Broken

How does my social life look? The Christmas Blues Dean Martin

Whats the meaning of life? I Remember California REM

What do people think of me? A Strange Education The Cinematics

How crazy am I? Love’s Great Ocean kd lang

Where will I be a year from now? Ain’t that a shame Cheap Trick

What is my fondest wish? The Maker Makes Rufus Wainwright

How did my best friend and I meet? The Breath of Life Erasure

What will I dream about tonight? Mohammed The Dandy Warhols

What should I be working on right now? When I First Saw You DreamGirls

Whats my mom up to currently? Take Back Your Mink Guys and Dolls

What did I do last weekend? Love Vigilantes New Order

Describe me. Sick Child Siouxsie and the Banshees

What does my ipod say about me? Thank You Dido

OK, ProjectChristopher's was funnier.....

When I die...

I want to come back as a dog.


Baldwin had a rough morning today. After being rudely awakened at 7:15 and put on the elevator downstairs, he was set off on a walk to the Village. He was stopped by three different fans who had to pet him. They totally interrupted his sniffing but he put up with it with patience. As is his usual habit,he got to poop right in front of his favorite breakfast place, thrilling the patrons as always.

After finally reaching Starbucks, being tied up outside where strangers fed him pieces of $3 scones, he was cooed over while he waited for me to get my triple vente mocha. Then, the poor thing, had to walk past Some Crust bakery where he had a special delivery of a Some Crust dog biscuit from the owner of the Chocolate Lab that had barked at him on his way to Starbucks. The owner, somehow, knew his name (not mine) and that he'd be coming back that way again. After his tiring 2 block walk home, he fell exhausted into a deep sleep.

Life's rough, ain't it?

With Thanks to TMI Tuesday...

1. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?
Revolutionary Road
2. What is your favorite movie theater snack?
Malted Milk Balls
3. Have you ever snuck in 'outside' food into a theater?
You bet!
4. Have you ever made out in a theater?
No
5. What is the 'farthest' you have gone in a theater?
Answer 1 Because the theater was so crowded I had to sit in the second row with my parents to see "Moonstruck" and my father, though he liked the movie, complained that he's spent 2 hours looking up Cher's nose.
Answer 2 See #4

So far, 2009 has been eventful..

So much has happened to distract me from blogging. I've started many, many blogs about Mom that may be finished someday. I've started a few about President Obama but they just seem to repeat what so many others incl Brother Chris and Southern Chris have written about the hope and promise the country seems to feel. AND I refuse to write anymore about former President Bush.

Overall, I just haven't felt much like writing (or talking or working or a whole lot else...) However, this got a giggle out of me and since I haven't seen it anywhere else,

Welcome back to the Kevin Principle...