Horse Manure Park

My family received some sobering news yesterday and unfortunately it was not an April Fool's prank. My brother's wife, who has been waging a public and very inspirational battle with cancer for more than a year, recently had further testing done and she got the results yesterday.  We were praying for the best, but life threw a curve ball. But you can't win the game if you don't step in the batter's box. You have to swing for the fences even if it means you might get hit by a pitch.  More than anything, you can't quit. We may not always be together, but we are all in this together. In the words of Jimmy Valvano, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." I really think my sister-in-law should get this shirt. It's awesome...

UPDATE: Just moments after posting this, Guns N' Roses officially announced they will, indeed, be performing tonight at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, their old stomping grounds.  Tickets are $10. Venue limit is 250 people. No April Fool's joke! I enjoy a good mystery. Add one of my favorite bands from the '80's to the plot and you've got my attention. I have to give them credit, the Guns N' Roses hype machine has played this one masterfully, thanks to social media. We are one week from the reunited band's return to the stage in Las Vegas and still no one is 100% sure who exactly is going to take the stage.  We know this much: Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, three-fifths of the original "classic" line-up, are already on board. Original guitarist Izzy Stradlin is definitely out. Based on circumstantial evidence, most people have concluded the remaining line-up will include keyboardist Dizzy Reed (who has been an associat...

I'm enjoying the first day of spring doing a couple of my favorite things... Catching up on some reading with a cup of extra strong Peaberry coffee from Costa Rica (thanks Scott and Ann!) and savoring a fine cigar from the Dominican Republic, while chilling (literally) in the crisp Minnesota sunshine. My dad used to tell me I was named after Sammy Kaye. I never really knew if he was kidding me but it is interesting to learn more about the big band leader whose namesake I may (or may not) be. I found this little treasure while browsing my favorite used book store (if you're in the Brainerd Lakes Area, check out Emily's Used Books right next to BIR. You won't be disappointed). It was published in 1967 and it is simply oozing with information. The author (George T. Simon) wrote for Metronome   magazine; he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the big band era. Simon passed away in 2001, but what a gift he left us. A wonderful read!

Music has always played an enormous part in my life. I played in bands from the time I was eight or nine years old, all the way through my teenage years. Playing music was my "after school" job, except I only worked on Friday and Saturday nights, and I worked in bars and nightclubs (you know, like most kids). Playing music was my first paying job and I made pretty good money doing it. My parents were always behind me; they were always encouraging me and supportive of me even if I didn't always play the kind of music they appreciated. With that thought, today marks a special anniversary. On this day four decades ago, March 15, 1976, Kiss released their groundbreaking album, Destroyer .  Why is this important? Because Destroyer was the very first record I ever owned. You see, I was (and still am) a huge Kiss fan. When I was a kid, I used to sit at the kitchen table and draw pictures of the band all the time. I used to make Kiss concert stages out of Tin...

I just flew in from Vegas, and boy are my arms tired. But seriously, folks... Yes, we just returned from our first "real" vacation in 11 years, just me and the Speaker, and our two great friends, Brian and Lindsey, who were kind enough to invite us along to enjoy their timeshare for a week. I am jotting down a few thoughts (mostly for myself) while they are still fresh in my ever-fading memory. Some (most?) will find it boring, but it's my blog... so there. Anyway, the four of us headed to Sin City on Valentine's Day under the pretense of celebrating our anniversaries. Brian and Lindsey will be married 25 years in June. The Speaker and I will be married 20 years in September.  But mostly we just wanted to get the hell away from the snow and cold and have a little fun. And that's exactly what we did. First and foremost, a big thank you to Grandma for watching our two tax deductions so we could enjoy some time away. There was some separatio...

This time of year when the sun is never far off the horizon and noon shadows are long and frozen, I really start to get stir crazy. Cabin fever, I suppose.  Perhaps you can relate? Lately it is been ridiculously cold outside, so activities in the great outdoors are limited. Many of my indoor projects are completed, although the downstairs living room still needs to be painted (I am not doing that in the winter, sorry).  I can only read so much for so long. I am a notoriously slow reader, but I've already polished off several novels this winter - two were almost 900 pages long each - which is impressive by my standards.  So, as I do on occasion, but not nearly often enough, I turn to writing. But what to write about? Usually that's a difficult subject with which to negotiate, but today it is easy.  This time of year I think of my parents more than usual. They are always on my mind, but especially so in the cold, excruciatingly long winter months. In...

I grew up near Wadena, Minnesota (in fact, I was actually born at Wesley Hospital in Wadena... and I was married in Wadena), so the decision made by the Wadena city council this past week grabbed my attention and it's been the talk of this region ever since. It isn't the first time this city of about 4,200 people made the state and national news. Five years ago, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Wadena, destroying homes, businesses and the public school. Amazingly, there was no loss of life. Many said God was watching out for the city. Which brings me to the city council's decision on Tuesday of this week. The Christmas nativity scene at the Burlington Northern Park in Wadena, which has been a traditional display for many years, will no longer be featured in the city park. A concerned citizen, Tyler Rud, questioned the constitutionality of the city funding and maintaining a symbol of Christianity. He went to the "big guns," so to speak, the Freedom From Religio...