The Misanthrope – Sunday’s Lighter Side

Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Henry James (1843 - 1916), writer and critic.

Horse Racing. I enjoy my thrice-yearly interest in horseracing – Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Derby, and the Preakness – unfortunately this year, I have missed each one. I get home from playing pool with On The Mark planning to watch each race and I promptly forget each one. The problem is my two o’clock nap is too enticing and I end up neglecting the horses. Oh well, there is always next year.

My Mother. “You provide far too much information on your blog, it’s like a diary. It’s no one’s business. I like it though, because I can find out what is going on with you.” My mother is not a blog reader. She has no idea the details people provide about their lives. My mother is always on the phone, but she does not call anyone. If I don’t call her, I generally don’t hear from her. Should I neglect to call, I will hear about that. I can tell you right now, my mother is having a fit that I have divulged this much information. Right mother?

Spammers. Toner Mishap was hit by a spammer the other day. It was not that big of deal, but do these intruders think that people don’t know what they are up to? I have to believe that if you are spamming to get buyers, this is your desperate shot at getting customers before you go out of business. Buying from spammers seems a risky proposition because these are people without ethics, so how are they going to treat you as a customer and what will be the quality of their goods?

The Bronx. Wife is heading out to the Bronx to visit her parents in a few weeks. She is looking forward to seeing family and friends, but she is now a Californian until the Mets or the Knicks are playing a California team. She is looking forward to taking one day to herself, going into Manhattan, and shopping for hours. One of the family’s favorite outings when she comes to town is to head out to the Barnes and Noble and peruse, chat and drink coffee – pronounced with the appropriate accent.

July 4th. I am looking forward to a long weekend, six-day weekend if I can arrange it. I plan to see a couple of movies, nap, read and do nothing. However, I am sure Daughter will have a different idea. She’ll want to eat out, see the movies she wants to, to spend “quality” time with Dad. My idea of quality time is for us to read and watch the ballgame on television together. Even when she was a toddler, I couldn’t get her interested in napping with pop. She had to have the biggest stuff animal she could find with her for the nap. She would wait for all of two or three minutes, which is an eternity for a child. She would think I was asleep and slowly move the animal next to me, so I would think it was her and she would scamper off. Of course, after I got up I would go downstairs and pretend I was surprised and shocked about what had transpired. She would get the biggest thrill by tricking her dad.