H; S; Y; E; M; J

No, those letters are not code.  Nor are they some sort of new fangled word game.  They are the first name initials of the people in our lives who have died since last December.  Major losses all--some family; some friends--but all gone forever.  Some were old; some young.  Some passed away quickly; some too slowly. But since this blog is about me and I luckily am among the living, I have to take something/learn something from their passing.  Otherwise, I am wasting the rest of my time on this earth.  If I don't grab every day by the throat and squeeze as much out of it as I can, I have not learned anything. If I wallow in my own self pity, I have not learned anything.  If I don't enjoy and spend time with my family, I have not learned anything.  If I have not learned anything, what the hell am I doing?  

My thoughts are also with those among you who daily are dealing with life threatening illness--either physical or emotional.

On now to ends and odds:

--Bathroom renovations are not fun.  No matter how clean the workers are, dust seeps out everywhere. Then nothing is done on time and none of the materials required are available when you need them.  And then the crazy fucking neighbors complain to the Condo Association when they could just come over and tell me what their concern is.  But it will be a bathroom fit for a king and queen which fairly describes the two of us.

--And in a matter of weeks, we will be a one car household.  The little bitty Saturn (commonly referred to as the death trap), first used by Anna at Oberlin, will be taken off the road.  Hopefully, this will work since it is obviously better for the environment and our checkbook.  More on this later, I am sure.

--OK, the entire Middle East is a crazed fucking mess.  Egypt where executions of hundreds seem to be a daily occurrence sanctioned by the courts.  Libya where tribes seems to be carving out pieces of territory for their own and a peace activist gets assassinated.  Jordan which is inundated by refugees and starting to become unstable.  And what can you say about Iraq and Syria?  And we are with the Iranians and the Russians in support of Maliki--whats up with that?  And the Israelis and Palestinians go about killing and kidnapping and not living together in the sandbox. McCain would have us in every one of those countries having not learned a thing.

--Paul Waldman (who I never heard of) on the CNN website and my man Jon Stewart skewered Dick Cheyney for publicly accusing Obama of losing Iraq.  The man and his nasty daughter are both certifiable.

--Almost half of the Cuban Americans surveyed in Miami want the embargo to end.  And Obama says what exactly. Speaking of which, I finally saw the documentary on Luis Tiant's return to Cuba after 46 years in exile. What struck me was that his visit occurred in 2007.  We went about 5 years later and what I saw in the film looked the same as what I saw in person.  Oh so sad--especially for someone like him returning home. Reminded me of my visit to the places I lived when I was in Miami this past May.

SPORTS TALK

So happy the Heat lost though I think all this opting out business is some sly Pat Riley plan.  

Yeah, the U.S. got through to the round of 16 and I actually think they have a chance against Belgium.  But they better figure out a way to be more offensive minded otherwise they depend too much on the goal keep and the defenders. I will say none of these teams look overwhelming--even the Germans.  

And it is close enough to July 4th to make my first baseball pronouncement.  My Yanks are very mediocre but are hanging around and doing it without CC and without Pineda. The Red Flops will come back while both the Jays and O's will hang around also.  I don' think the wild card will come from this group.

And Chiarelli not moving Chris Kelly and a defenseman in order to keep Iginla.  Let me just say they need Iginla because no one on that team scores consistently--Seguin did but Kelly fits better.  Right?

Sayonara

BONJOUR, MES AMIS

And that my friends is my bilingual capacity in French-oui. Had a great anniversary trip to Paris despite ugly weather most of the time and crowds which overwhelmed us a couple of times.  Went on multiple forced marches through the city courtesy of the Drill Sergeant and also took the Metro all over.  Saw Mona but had to fight our way in and, surprise, she is quite small--loads of folks taking selfies with her in the background and them in the foreground.  Otherwise we also saw the Venus Di Milo and fled.   Ditto the Eiffel Tower which is really an erector set but it too caused us to flee.  My favorite museum was the Rodin--the guy was just so prolific and in multiple media (ah, there goes Mrs. Reynolds smiling at me again from Latin heaven).

Re-read my last post and it even made me a bit squirmy--so my apologies.  However, in the end, it was a powerful positive experience even if I ended up confronting some ugly history.

Now, it so happens my main man Eric Cantor (he who is a member of my tribe) has been kicked to the curb--and deservedly so though it is a bit crazed to get too excited since someone to his right beat him.  I am also not one who thinks this is a BIG MEANINGFUL message about the 2014 or 2016 elections--though I could be wrong about 2014. Actually could be wrong about it all.  I cannot believe people of color, women, or any moderate to liberal leaning person will in the end want to return to the dark ages.  The deniers of climate change, the hateful folks opposed to gay marriage and abortion rights, the ones still crying over obamacare--I cannot believe they will prevail. Some of the states with strong Tea Party factions are write offs for the Dems anyhow--so screw 'em.  Call me naive but I cannot believe Jeanne Shaheen will lose to Scotty up there in NH.  You know what they say about paranoid people--just because you are paranoid does not mean they are NOT out to get you.  My paranoid thought of the week--was there a taint of Anti-Semitism in Eric's loss?  Just saying.

Ends and Odds:
--You can now carry a visible weapon in the great state of Texas--including bringing your rifle into Burger King.  They also passed a law in support of reparative therapy for gay people.  And Ric Perry is not even running.
--On the same day, the Globe had the following stories--one about Bears, one about Bobcats, and one about Bobtail rabbits.  Oh my.  I do, however, like their new weekly political section.
--Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, and Libya.  All combusting and McCain wants us in all of them along with John Boehner (he who has a perpetual tan).  They learn nothing. They are just all in on hating Obama.  One result of all this is that the Kurds could easily end up with their own country since they seem like they actually know what they are doing and are prime buffer territory.
--That rabbi in Sharon, Ma. is an embarrassment and worse--reminds us all that men in positions of religious authority can be very dangerous.
--John Oliver absolutely eviscerated FIFA on 6/8.
--Am I wrong or is there now at least one shooting in a school every week?  And the NRA continues to tell us that if we had more guns we would have less shootings--hello!!


SPORTS TALK
--You heard it here first and more than once.  In the wake of the Bruins elimination, folks on talk radio are clamoring for someone who can score and maybe not play so much defense.  Sounds like Sequin to me--especially when you get shit from Louie.
--Danny Ainge will do something--he is not going to sit on all those draft picks.  I prefer Love over Melo.  With Melo, you would get the second head case (rondo being prima donna numero uno).
The Spurs are beautiful and despite how good Lebron is, I hate the fucking Heat.
--Rask never elevated his game like Tim Thomas did.

Happy anniversary to S and J.

Sayonara