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Have you blogged today?
2010-09-25 19:54:00
Have you blogged today? This is the anthem on the back of the t-shirt that I just pulled from my closet, and it made me realize no I have not. In fact I have not blogged for a while on this or my other blog, "damned insatiable thirst eternal languor." It has not necessarily been a lack of time more like a lack of desire. I had a couple of things happen to me that left me disappointed in this blog so until today I decided to give it a bit of a rest.I have been trying to build a platform for my writing. Trying to promote not just my novel but me. I thought perhaps if Sunset Magazine read my blog where I was following their recommendations during the year, the twelve points that they suggested that perhaps they might pick up my experiences and at least give me a mention on their website or in the publication its self. I e-mailed the correct parties but received no response at all, so discouraged I gave up bothering to finish their blog adventure. I was lucky enough to have been as...
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Enjoy June's daylight
2010-07-04 20:24:00
According to Tieraona Low Dog, director of the Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine "people feel better when they get more sunlight." Or at least that is what Sunset Magazine reports.Here is Arizona we probably get more sun than most though personally whether it makes one fell better year round, especially in June, is up for bets. Although I am not a native, I have lived in southern Arizona since 1994 and believe have acclimatised sufficiently by now to write effectively on this subject. You see in June it is not the sun Arizonians worry about it is the temperature. When it is over one hundred degrees day after day, when you wake at 4am to go for a morning jog and it's already 88 degrees outside it does irk a little. Writing about how Arizonians appreciate the sun is probably better done in February. We tend to do everything before 6am or after 6pm and stay indoors appreciating air conditioning June through August as least. Just sitting here typing this with th...
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Not our best day - beaten by the AZT
2010-06-02 07:09:00
“We need to teach the highly educated man that it is not a disgrace to fail and that he must analyze every failure to find its cause. He must learn how to fail intelligently, for failing is one of the greatest arts in the world.” – Charles KetteringToday we finished our fourteen day hike in just three days. Needless to say both Trevor and I were extremely frustrated in this fail, unfortunately though I felt it was necessary for several reasons. Sometimes it is a tough a decision to pull the plug on a project that is barely started. Let me give you the ins and outs of our trip.On Sunday May 30th we began at Pine Trail-head, just a couple of miles south of the town of Pine in northern Arizona. Two weeks to reach Flagstaff. I had a copy of the Arizona Trail (the official guide) and the maps and written detail appear to be pretty well detailed. We pulled into the base camp to find a group of day hikers clustered in the shade of a tall tree ready to head out. I’m glad they went...

May: Eat Local (shopping at farmer's markets)
2010-05-23 23:48:00
Again as I keep up with the twelve month planner for a year of living well as suggested my Sunset Magazine back in January I find myself following the directives, this time to shop smartly at the farmer's market.In Saint Phillip's Plaza, on the banks of the Rillito river, normally home to some of Tucson's most exclusive restaurants and locally owned specialty shops and emporiums, you will find Tucson's largest farmer's market on Sunday mornings. The merchants sprawl over the ornate gardens, surround the fountains, and generally make this one of the most pleasurable experiences in shopping for fresh organic produce, whether it be fruits and vegetables or local honey and olive oil. You can get your knifes sharpened, take home fresh tamales for lunch or just sit back, enjoy fresh roasted coffee and listen to music from one of Tucson's local entertainers.As you can see I reached Agua Linda's farm a little late in the morning. This special stall features some of the best home-gro...
More About: Shopping , Markets , Local

Plant Seedlings in April
2010-04-29 07:05:00
April’s offerings from Sunset were to plant seedlings, specifically vegetables. It “maximizes freshness” and is better nutritionally.Now this was a challenge for me living in a town home with a relatively small back patio, especially as the area is paved. There is a border garden along the back wall about eighteen inches wide in which bougainvillea and roses flourish and a small orange tree takes over the corner. All other plants, all flowers, are growing in pots. Luckily the April 2010 Sunset inspired me with an article titled Meal in a Pot. It describes growing several vegetables in a single planter. I purchased several 4” pots and a galvanized steel trough similar to the one in the photo accompanying the article. Even the vegetables in the pot looked appetizing but I replaced the jalapeño chile with spinach, kept the fresh basil idea and the chives.I still want to grow the seedlings separately, even thought he chance for frost appears to be past in Tucson, and once I hav...
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Head to the desert in March
2010-03-21 18:05:00
This is the third episode in the quest to follow through and complete the twelve steps suggested by Sunset Magazine for a 'year of living well.'The Article suggested that in March we should seek out the vast open desert and get a little sunshine, pick up some valuable vitamin D and look for giant cacti and wild flowers. Now living in the Tucson area I only have to pop out of my front door to be surrounded by desert and mountains so I took a brief drive north to Honeybee Canyon, situated in Honeybee Park in the outer-reached of Oro Valley, armed with my camera. I got a good hours hike, and wanted to share with you the desert in March. It is alive and well, teeming with bunnies and birds, saguaros and wild flowers. April is primarily the right time to see the desert bloom but as you can see the rains we have been experiencing over the last few months have already got the plants whispering 'watch out we're coming', and already a few have popped out to wave hello.Next month I'll t...
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The Glorious World Cup: Book Review
2010-02-21 01:24:00
Whether a World Cup fan for the first time or following your eleventh competition, The Glorious World Cup, provides a satiric ‘balls-out’ guide to educate, entertain and provide a tongue-in-cheek review as the top thirty-two teams in the world compete for soccer’s greatest prize, the World Cup.Be it a run down of the teams that will be playing or an individual player profile on some of this year’s more colorful characters in soccer, The Glorious World Cup is there to provide the lurid details, the dirt on the villains, the historical significance in a variety of rivalry matches, and to prepare you to sit back in your armchair at home and cheer on which ever team flies your national colors.Not since 1066 And All That has history been written with such mockery. The New Jersey attitude that emanates from David Henry Sterry is the same one that gave us Tony Meola and John Harkes and that helped light the way for the many Americans that now ply their trade in Europe.Will this be ...
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A Year of Living Well - February
2010-02-20 18:24:00
In January I blogged about my decision to follow the recommendations of Sunset Magazine in their segment of suggestions for a 12-month planner to gain a ‘a year of living well’.The magazine’s suggestions for February where to hit the closest hot springs and luxuriate in the healing minerals to help wash away every day stress, relax muscles and soothe joints. Sound’s great. I did my research on line to find the best hot springs in the Southern Arizona area only to be a little disappointed. There are many out of the way hole-in the-wall springs, with an hour or two hikes that are within a couple of hours drive, but I wanted to share with my wife who turned her nose up at having to walk so far to get there. I turned to a couple of organized bathing sites but the on-line reviews where not great and only one worth considering would be west of Phoenix and I did not want to have to take on a three hour drive to some rinky-dink little bathing spot.I decided to try New Mexico to see ...
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Growing up with food memories
2010-02-07 04:53:00
I never figured out whether Mother really liked burnt toast or if she just pretended to as she couldn’t afford to throw out food on our meager food budget.While reading Nigel Slater’s ‘toast: the story of a boy’s hunger’ I was racked with the similarities in his life and mine. A mother who wasn’t the greatest cook in the world and a father that you wanted to love but where deathly scared of. All of that along with the fact that I was born in 1956 and he in 1958 and we lived just about 8 miles apart; so many of the places and names of consumer goods were also ones of my immediate childhood. I was inspired to take notes of all the memories that flooded back to me that where food related while reading his memoir, and here they are to share with you.I was surprised by how many of my early years had food memories attached to them. In fact one of my earliest and most compelling, fond thoughts was when Mother kissed me. Her breath always carried the bouquet of coffee. Our famil...
More About: Food , Memories , Growing

World Cup 2010 - Awesome news for soccer fans
2010-02-02 01:41:00
My friends at SoccerPro have asked me pass on this great news to all soccer fans.SoccerPro just launched a "Jerseys for Life" Sweepstakes. It's part of their World Cup celebration!MOST CONTEST PRIZES SUCK! Seriously. This one doesn't. Just for entering you will also get a $10 coupon that you use on soccer gear from SoccerPro's catalog.Are you ready for the 2010 World Cup? Starting June 11, 2010 South Africa is going to be the most popular country in the world, hosting the 19th FIFA World Cup. Now you can get prepared finding the world cup jerseys of your favorite players and teams! You can also get that high-in-demand Jabulani, the official World Cup soccer ball in the big event in South Africa! So get your World Cup on, and check out all of our World Cup 2010 gear! Come shop at SoccerPro and get in on the celebration. Check out more World Cup facts courtesy of SoccerPro:First World Cup: 1930First Winner: UruguayMost Appearances: Brazil (18)Most Champi...
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A Year of Living Well - January
2010-01-16 17:45:00
In the inaugural issue of 2010 Sunset Magazine they present a 12-month planner to help us live well this year.I am going to follow their direction to the best of my ability and document each month here in my blog to demonstrate how following their directions has enhanced my life in 2010.January : Squeeze CitrusThe point being here to overload on Vitamin C to ward off colds that hit this time of year. It's a little late for me as I have just about recovered from a 6-day head cold that had left me miserable since last weekend however having passed on the cold to my beloved Louisa I thought she might benefit from partaking in the citrus smoothie that Sunset Magazine presented in their publication.Armed with the recipe, I slid a banana in the freezer then headed out for Sprouts to buy tangerines and a couple of Meyer's lemons, Greek yogurt (plain)and honey. I purposely went to sprouts as I had been given a tip from my friend, Piccola Dowling, a native Peruvian and Oro Valley real estat...
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What happened to the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving?
2009-11-26 19:15:00
I awoke this morning and lay in the dark as my wife slept next to me and gave this Thanksgiving thing a serious thought.As I did not emigrate to the States until I was nineteen I do not have the childhood recollections of Thanksgiving traditions, just pictures of saw in magazines and the imprint on my mind of other traditions passed down from the families of my various wives.The one I like the best and passed on to my children is the Macy parade early in the morning (yes I was up before anyone in my household - I have in-laws staying for the holiday - were even awake).Anyway as I lay there in the dark I realized how thankful I am for my health and my family this year. A tear or two moistened my face as I thought of a couple of people. My second wife, Paula, and my friend Phil both back in Oklahoma, and coincidentally confined to the same nursing home. Paula is diabetic and both her parents dies some time ago. She was adopted and after her father passed ten years ago her two brothers...

The Rat
2009-10-17 21:22:00
I didn’t set out to be a rat; it just turned out that way.They came at midnight. A chief inspector and six constables. Thumping on the door. Hard. My father stumbled down the stairs in his slippers and striped pajamas, pulling a robe around him as he came. Bleary-eyed he opened the door. When he saw the flashing red and blue lights his first thought had to be ‘what have I done’?“We’ve had a report that Mark’s been badly beaten.” Belting his robe my father allowed himself to be led to the back seat of one of the patrol cars and to be driven the five hundred yards around the corner to the Gnosall Police department. Here they find me bent over the bleeding body of young Mark, a local teen. As he emerged from the patrol car I saw Dad. Confusion and relief were all over his face.I’d met Mark, or Sharkey, as the locals called him, when his mother, a co-worker at the government offices in Stafford, gave me a ride home one evening. When he had introduced himself by his nick...

Embarrased in Tucson
2009-09-10 00:19:00
One evening last week as I wrapped up my evenings bill paying on the computer I noticed that I had a new message on Facebook. When I clicked on the link I was pleasantly surprised to find a note from my college roommate. He was in town, remembered I lived in Tucson , and had been stood up on his business dinner and wondered if I was free to join him. He went on to say he was working in his room until seven and then planned to eat dinner in the restaurant at the hotel where he was staying The Hotel Arizona. I say I was surprised, as other than an occasional e-mail with his wife, who runs a college alumni website, I had not seen or spoken to him since our college days in 1976. Nevertheless I was pleased to join him as we had always gotten as roommates.Hurriedly rushing downtown I found him munching on a burger and beer in the Saguaro Lounge, over looking the hotels spacious polished marble lobby. I was impressed with the area having not had the opportunity to visit since the new owners...

'Dithering Dave" Moyes
2009-07-03 16:05:00
It always drives me crazy... especially as an Everton Fan. Not only do we have 'dithering Dave ' as a manager, who every season seems to wait until the last moment to buy his players, as he watches what we have been told by the media are supposedly prime targets get sold to Manchester United or worse Liverpool, but then half the teams want our star players. So we are torn do we sell Lescott and Cahill? As a supporter it is clear .. hell no! As a business manager it has to be looked at as fifteen million pounds profit per player if we let them go for twenty million a piece. That would give us a tidy profit and loosen up some funds for the players we do want to bring in.As for Everton I must say Moyes has bought in some talented players from the lower leagues, Spanish cast-offs etc and made a cohesive unit that if we can stay fit will challenge in Europe and for silverware in England again this year. Wish we just had a fairy godmother to wave a wand and buy us the 3-4 players who wou...

Soccerpro.com 2009 review
2009-06-04 03:48:00
My friends at Soccerpro.com contacted me a few weeks back and asked if I would be interested in trying some of the gear out as I did last year and letting my readers know about them and their products here in Bollocks. Of course I was delighted to oblige and swiftly went through their online catalog and chose a couple of items as you will see below.I should preface my comments by mentioning a couple of things. I was recently diagnosed with a bulging disk in my lower back so I have perhaps not had the opportunity to put these items through an intense training schedule, however I believe I have used them a least as hard as any member of the general public would, outside of actually playing a soccer game in the clothes. The doctor did release me for training activities last week so I hope this is sufficient as to give you a good idea of these particular items. Secondly it has been 95 degrees in Tucson this week so I have had to train indoors more than out, so that should give you a dif...
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Everton and the 2009 FA Cup
2009-06-01 04:44:00
It was 5 am when I stirred feverishly in the confines of my king-sized bed. As usual the wife had managed to pull the blankets around just her so I was laying curled up in a ball, feeling the breeze from the fan making the hair on my legs move as he blades swung. Not cold mind you this is Arizona in May and the temperature outside was probably already 75 degrees. I pulled my self up into a sitting position and hacked up a loogie; sinus problems in a dry heat make one sound like Tony Randall in the Odd Couple every morning. I yawned and stretched. Looking over my shoulder I debated on whether to wake the missus for a little pre-game celebration but decided naw.. let her sleep. She is not a soccer (football for the purists) fan at all. I got up bent over and fished my blue t-shirt out of the bottom draw. Has the name Ball and 8 on the back in white. Stumbling out to the kitchen I went through the motions of making coffee and then headed back to my office to pull up Facebook and have a...
More About: Everton

Everton in the FA Cup Final
2009-05-14 03:32:00
I have not written much about Everton 's current success, approaching fifth in the EPL and booking a trip to the F.A. Cup finals at Wembly stadium to play the team currently sitting three places above them in the league, Chelsea. Just two weeks to June 30. Cant wait!Not to worry. To get there we knocked off teams sitting in the first, second and fifth place, so while it will be no walk in the park I'm not stressing. We are after all the mighty Blues and we will be playing in our first team uniform while Chelsea will have to play in an all yellow strip. if you are superstitious then we have the upper hand before the whistle even blows. My prediction? 2-1 in overtime.It has been hard to keep up with soccer because my precious spare time has been concentrating on getting my debut novel, Blood on His Hands out in print. Final ly, on that day of infamy, May 8, 2009, Infinity Publishing announced the book available on their site. My website describes the novel thus, "Blood on His Hands is...

Blood on His Hands
2009-04-18 20:07:00
I have finally seen my book in print. You can check it out at my website as I am reviewing and making the final edits in the initial proof. In fact I actually finished those up and e-mailed the (hopefully) totally edited proof back for publication. I believe they make the changes and send me back on final review copy after which we should be in print and ready to be purchased within 2-4 weeks. I cannot express how exciting, and nerve-wracking it is to be this close to completion.This is the culmination of three years worth of work and I am very happy with the way it has turned out. I want to throw out a few kudos to people that have helped me along the way. if you read this you know who you are and without you I would never have gotten to where I am today, in a fictional sense anyway,My wife, Louisa, for giving up precious time with me while I pounded away with two fingers on the keyboard at odd hours and swore at my Dell for behaving so badly.Timur Tau who gave me a few moments in ...
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Nail biting moments
2009-03-08 20:53:00
I am a bit of a control freak - some say anally so- but I like to have a hand in what's going on, or at least a say in the matter.Recently I have had to stand on the side lines and watch as matters kind of take things in to their own hands. Drives me nuts! But what am I going to do; ain't nothing to do but stand watch and wait.Just sat watching Everton come back from behind to beat Middlesboro 2-1 in the quarter finals on the F.A. Cup. They kept giving me nail biting moments especial when Howard spilled the ball with two minutes to go.Then sitting waiting for the draw, hoping against hope its any team but Manchester United. its Manchester United! We just going to have to get to the final in the hardest fashion possible but after beating Liverpool and Aston Villa on the way there guess I'll get through this nail biting moment too.Then there's the visit from the maternal parent and her husband. The wife's going nuts over doing the spring cleaning. I keep telling her their old, th...
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Life just threw Everton a lifeline
2009-02-15 19:31:00
Under the current leadership of David Moyes Everton have risen to the occasion to go as high as they can in the EPL, not quite cracking that top four, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal, but enough to get us into Europe on a couple of occasions, more than can be said by at least a dozen other Premier teams that flounder between mid-table and the the dreaded relegation zone year in year out.They are still chipping away as the gloss is peeling from the form of the top four, Arsenal finds themselves on the outside looking in as Aston Villa have managed to force their way for now into the upper tier, Chelsea fired their manager and Everton stand strong in sixth place ready for a slip up from anyone above them, knowing their closest opponent below, Wigan, has to win two to catch them and their next game is Chelsea. While not in a position to relax Everton can feel the hand of God touching their shoulders as their next opponents are Newcastle (reeling after their stand in boss has hea...
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Pissing Off The Football Gods
2009-01-05 07:05:00
After seeing the draw for the upcoming round of the F.A. Cup I e-mailed a mate of mine, an Ipswich Town supporter, and suggested that perhaps our respective teams had pissed off the football gods in some fashion. His facetious response that he thought an away game against The Shrimpers wasn't that bad a draw.You see Ipswich has drawn the winner of the Chelsea v. Southend replay (let's face it they mighty Shrimpers may have battled back once to earn a 1-1 tie but their chances of beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is negligible) and Everton have drawn their arch rivals and current number one team in the country, Liverpool, at Anfield. The last time Everton met Liverpool in the F.A. Cup was in 1990-91 when it took three games for the outcome to be decided. We shared the first Anfield tie 0-0,, a 4-4 tie in the second game before finally beating them on the third attempt. As nerve wracking as this is for the fans I'd be happy to win the first time around this year. Fingers crossed! ...
More About: Football

The Horror
2008-10-16 15:17:00
I had the opportunity to ride the SunTran bus last week. Over the last few months I have been carpooling with a couple of the salesmen from our office that also live in Oro Valley. As part of my training program for the upcoming half marathon run in December I run from my office to my wife's office, three miles, after work (I get off an hour before she does) and then ride home with her. It just happened that one day last week I was feeling a little under the weather so I chose to walk down to the bus stop at Swan and Broadway and travel down Swan to Glenn. Louisa's office is just 5 minute walk from there.I had heard in the newspaper about all the"new" bus riders that had taken to the streets due to the economic hard times we are experiencing, especially with rising gas prices and stagnant wages so I was on the lookout for the freshly coiffured office worker, the pinstriped suit types with a briefcase on their lap. The last time I rode the bus with any type of regularity was over ...
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Everton In America
2008-05-31 15:15:00
According to the Liverpool Daily Post "EVERTON are heading back to the USA this summer for a two-match tour.David Moyes?s side will face two Major League Soccer opponents in the shape of Chicago Fire on Wednesday July 30 and Colorado Rapids on Sunday August 3.Before flying out, Everton face away friendlies at Cambridge United, Preston North End and Nottingham Forest.It will be the club?s fourth playing trip to the United States since 2004 when the bonding which was achieved on tour was credited as a major factor in turning around the side?s fortunes around."Lets hope they are more succesful this time around. I know it's only pre-season but even our reserve team should be able to beat any MLS Team and last year, 'case we forget, we were beaten 2-0 by Real Salt Lake.Unfortunately I will again not be able to attend either game this year but will scour the papers to bring you the news as it happens. Perhaps by then we will have secured the services of our own "Torres", (arguably the b...
More About: America

Gardening Leave: Chris Bower
2008-05-30 23:43:00
How often have you wished you could start fresh; have a new life? We all have at some point in our lives. This is a story of a forced start over. Unlike a straight redundancy ?gardening leave? is a quaint English expression that takes being laid off to a new level. As a Department Manager in a large Financial Establishment Chris Bower ?s narrator is told to take six months gardening leave meaning he is on call if they should ever need him but they are not going to pay his salary except as a lump sum settlement at the end of the rest period. As a Manager he gets to keep the perks of the job, the company car for instance until the final severance.Bower?s book is written in the first person narration making it feel autobiographical and so we share in the recovery from the heart attack, the despair of being unemployed, the joy of discovering a lost hobby that becomes a salvation and the road to recovery. We laugh at the transition from Mercedes to Mini and feel the elation of new found l...
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Umbro England Home Jersey 07-08
2008-05-25 22:02:00
Lets talk for a moment about why I am telling you about SoccerPro.com's products. The great folks at SoccerPro.com approached me to test a choice of products on their behalf and post the results to this blog in order to give you, their buying public, a better idea of what their on-line store stocks. As an Englishman I have followed football (soccer) since I can remember, getting heavily involved from ten years old on. When I emigrated to America as a student in East Texas I was the goalkeeper on the Ambassador College Big Sandy student team. My college studies were in journalism and broadcasting and although I never followed up on either of these subjects for a profession I have dabbled in both over the years. Living in Oklahoma City I coached my three sons in soccer, my middle son Brian actually went to England to try out for the English national school boy team. His chances of being picked as one of the final 23 out of 6,000 entrants were slim, but to my knowledge he still remain...
More About: Home , Tucson , Jersey

influential soccer website
2008-05-13 20:35:00
Bollocks has been declared an "influential soccer website" by Soccer Pro.com, a top online soccer retailer based out of Kansas City MO http://www.soccerpro.com/. They market European and MLS based team gear and supply all the apparel and equipment to get everyone from your youth team to Over-40's teams in smart looking uniforms that are durable and dependable.I have been chosen to partner with them and sample their product and write a review to keep you my audience up to date on how well a variety of merchandise performs under game like conditions.I look forward to providing you with a review of the equipment once I get my first shipment (which I am assured is en route to me today). Watch this space.
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Happy Birthday to You!
2008-05-07 08:08:00
I find myself approaching my 52nd birthday (May 19) and for most of the day I have been pondering the celebrations of my life. I mean why drag up all the past; let?s just look at what made me feel good over the years past. I don?t want to drag on my childhood or teen angst; God they where ghastly for all of us so why do I find myself so happy now? Let me share with you the wonderful times and people that I have had the pleasure of brushing shoulders with that make my life special, celebrated and memorial.It? always fun to have a brush with the stars. I have had my share. During my years in Oklahoma City while involved with Charlis Higginbotham, an advertising rep at a local radio station, I found myself hanging out at the Classen Grill on many an occasion; a media hang out for the local radio and TV stars. Even had a brush with Sting at the Skirvin Hotel, as he and The Police where hanging out in the restaurant while I was eating dinner. Not long after, when I had married Paula, I m...
More About: Happy , Birthday , Happy Birthday , Jimmy Stewart , Sedona

Inspirational Poems
2008-05-06 17:11:00
Poetry to me is a many wondrous thing. How poets just sit and write ditty after ditty is amazing. I have to be so emotionally attached to my thoughts, and let my pen have it's way with me, totally submerged in a spiritual presence to write poetry that it is mentally and physically draining. To be honest it is almost like having a being inside, inhabiting, possessing, moving the pen as words spew and explore the page in front of you.I experimented with poetry during my college years, and after, during times of loss of love when my heart was aching, but nothing quite like the only poem I ever wrote that was published.The subject was my best friend. What is a best friend? In my estimation that is one that will put aside all of their problems and troubles long enough to pay attention to yours. Someone that will honestly tell you that your full of shit and make you pay attention to where your head and heart should be focusing, to the point of being brash, honest to a point, and in your ...
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End of the Line
2008-04-19 20:40:00
Everton's season is over. Since our last well played game against Fiorentina at Goodison, only to get beaten on penalties we have looked decidedly jaded. A rash of injuries through the midfield and forward line has forced several players outof position and the ones that have played looked like they have given up. We should have put six past Derby County and barely escaped with three points thanks to Leon Osman, my Player of the Year nominee. Only losing to Chelsea by one was still a loss and without Manuel Fernandes stamping his mark on the game inMikel Arteta's absence, it might have been worse.Fifth place is our to lose and the way we are playing either Portsmouth or Aston Villa could usurp us if we are not careful. With the Chelsea loss fourth place is out of the question, so UEFA Cup prospects are all we can hope for again. I admit it's better than no Europe but the Champions League just sounds better doesn't it. We have Aston Villa and Newcastle at Goodison with an away mat...
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