Random Thoughts on a Grey Day

Oh yeah! The anniversary of the Natal day and recent events have the old gal thinkin’ again sooooooo of course I have to vent somewhere and it might as well be here! That’s why God made blogs, isn’t it? ;-)

* Kudos and applause to the Ohio State Buckeyes’ men’s basketball team for making it to the final round of the NCAA tournament. Yeah, yeah, we lost to the Florida Gators (shades of football season – sigh) but the bottom line is this group of young men worked and played hard to get there and I’m proud of them. A pox on my local newspaper for placing the headline: “Gator Bait Again!” on the story of the game. I hate fair weather fans and media. I’m a little disappointed that Greg Oden, the Buckeye’s freshman star, has decided to go for the big bucks in the NBA but I can understand his decision. Money has a certain charm. It’s okay – there’s a new freshman heading to OSU in the fall from my high school named Kostas Koufos who is 7’2” and was a MacDonald’s All American. I think he’ll do us proud.

* My current work assignment is with a non-profit that assists the growing Hispanic population in our area. I am there because I have a B.A. in Spanish and needed to pull my ability to speak the language out of mothballs. As is usual with anything I do, I am learning a lot. I was off on my birthday but when I returned to work the day after it, I was greeted with “Feliz Cumpleanos!” That’s Happy Birthday to those of you who don’t speak Spanish! I love the word cumpleanos – it is derived from the verb ‘cumplir’ – to complete or accumulate; and the word anos, which means years. Therefore, when someone tells you Feliz Cumpleanos! he/she is really wishing you Happy Completed Years and I think that’s kinda cool and perhaps a bit more accurate than Happy Birthday. "Completed years" give lie to all the people who say age is just a number. It is not -- it is the sum total of one's learning and experience. It is what you've become as a result of completing years.

* Heartfelt prayers for the students, the faculty and their families at VA Tech in the aftermath of the tragedy of this past week. We’ve added a new definition of courage and heroism to our vocabulary: Liviu Librescu and with that, I don’t think I have to say another word. May a Gracious God be good to him.

* I was and am delighted and proud to be a member of the committee that hosted a pre-primary “Meet the Candidates” Night on last week. We received rave reviews from both the candidates and the citizenry in attendance as well as great coverage in the media. Full honors and credit go to our co-chairmen who organized it – the rest of us just pretty much did what we were told and jumped in where we were needed. Then again, that was the beauty of their leadership – there was no second-guessing because their organizing was so great. Don't forget to vote wherever you are!!!!!

* And oh yeah, one of the City Council candidates put his sign in our front yard yesterday and someone took issue that I allowed him do it. Gotta love those people who want to limit my rights.

* I’ll be glad when April is over. My schedule has been on overload and, so far, May looks great – lots of time to read, write, and think. Hopefully, I can get some time
and weather to sit on my front porch and watch my neighbor’s son, Isaac, and the guys play basketball. He was by last week to put air in the balls so ‘tis the season. Courtesy of the Man, I am custodian of the ball pump. Yesterday, I went Wal-Martin’ and got them a new net, too. They’re great kids and deserve it.

* The young lady I mentioned a while back, Johanna, is home for now but still faces many more surgeries from the gunshot to her face. In the meantime, Cleveland has made changes in their procedure on electronic monitoring for those on house arrest. Unfortunately, I think the stupid judge who put Juan Ruiz on electronic surveillance has not had the decency to resign. The good news is Ruiz being tried as an adult. Blessings upon the many people of Northeast Ohio and elsewhere who have donated to help ease the enormous burden of medical bills for Johanna’s family.

* I'm still spending far too much time with doctors. I've decided that there's a teeny tiny lil' vampire in the hospital who requires frequent small doses of A-. I'll be making yet another donation this afternoon. Huge sigh.

* I have some thoughts on Imus’ firing and the events that led to it but I think I’d best keep them to myself. I’ll also keep my thoughts on rap music’s lyrics and the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton as well. I think the classiest people in the whole mess are the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team who had the grace and style to accept Imus’ apology and refused to discuss it any further. I predict that each of them will have a successful future as knowing when not to say anything is just as important – if not more so -- as saying the right thing, at the right time.

* Look for this to be a recurring question here for the next year or so: Is anyone besides me getting tired of the 2008 presidential candidates? The phrase “jumping the gun” comes to mind.

Well, there you are for today. I’ll be back soon – there was an article in our local paper about which I simply can’t resist blogging. And I’ll be updating my blogroll as well and will introduce some new friends to y’all. I really do try to get here more often.

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!

Kay