Quick prayer

Lord, help me to remember that my daughter is only 6 years old now. And to remember that there are parents of 20 kids who would give anything to have their kids drive them nuts just one more time.

For what it's worth (Sandy Hook)

When something like the shooting in Newtown, Conn., happens, it triggers a wave of emotions. It also triggers a wave of writing, some good, and some ... um, perhaps "well-meaning" is the right phrase. I won't pretend this is the former, but it certainly is the latter.

1) We are giving far too much weight to the threats of a certain "church" (I won't say its name, because that would give credibility to them. I have a problem with the fact that enough people know its name.) to demonstrate at Newtown memorial services. They don't deserve our outrage or our acknowledgement. The best thing we could do is to ignore them, because their greatest fear is to be irrelevant. And while people I love and respect have expressed a willingness to go to Connecticut and join a human wall in silent protest, that thought, though noble, is acknowledging their existence.

2) For that matter, it never ceases to amaze me how simple Twitter must be to use. Because simple minds can get on there and say anything. Go to deadspin.com and look up "Obama," and check out the reactions to his speech pre-empting Niners-Pats on Sunday night. Again, I don't want to say any more, because that gives these nitwits credibility.

3) Finally, on the topic of social media, its power was on display over the weekend. And that wasn't a good thing (see the above two entries). Yes, there are authentic tributes to the victims already online. But for all the skepticism the news media is greeted with, not to mention the downright inaccuracies in some initial reports, people are so easily willing to hit the "Share" button on a story that may still be sketchy. And again, these are well-meaning (good grief, someone get me a thesaurus before I use that again), but we need the truth. Please, someone check out snopes.com before forwarding that.

4)I also have somewhat of a problem with people calling this a "tragedy." Yes, the deaths of 20 children ages 6-7 (and the adults who died defending them) is tragic. But it was murder. I had the same problem with this characterization of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. 

5) My wife and I talked to our children (8 and 6) about the shooting last night. We did this to prepare them, since we figured they would hear about it at school and we wanted to be their source of information. Plus, we believe in being somewhat straightforward about these things. We also wanted to reassure them, which is tough to do, when you aren't reassured yourself as a parent.  

6) Finally, anyone who immediately turned this into a pro-gun vs. anti-gun debate was really missing the point. Yes, gun laws should be discussed, but so should mental health. There is more than one issue here.  

But here's the greater point: Some people did this in search of answers. And yes, we need an answer to "Why?" above all else. Problem is, there may be no answer(s). We are trying to make sense of the senseless. We are trying to rationalize the irrational. It may be as simple as there are some messed-up motherfuckers on the planet who do things "normal" people won't understand. Which is frustrating, but sadly, true.

Prayers and thoughts

This is not any kind of a political statement. I just can't get this out of my head, and it's been made more poignant by today's events in Connecticut. Sean Lennon was only 5 years old when his father's life was ended by a gunman. Here's a remarkable performance of one of his dad's most famous songs, along with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Mavis Staples and the Harlem Gospel Choir.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/422224/december-13-2012/sign-off---jeff-tweedy--mavis-staples---sean-lennon----happy-xmas--war-is-over--?xrs=share_copy

'The comfy chair!'

It has become my experience that waiting rooms, be it in doctor's offices or auto repair shops, could use more comfy chairs. Which jogged this in my memory:

Pet peeve? But I don't have any pets!

Part of being a copy editor means being a jerk sometimes. I know that people who make this mistake aren't being malicious, and it's extremely minor, but it's like fingernails on a chalkboard when I hear this pet peeve of mine, like seeing "lie" or "lay" misused.

 

Besides, we aren't copy editors without being persnickety about things.

When he spoke 71 years ago tomorrow, FDR called the previous day "a DATE WHICH will live in infamy." It is not a "day that" will live in infamy, as I've so often heard today. See below, and then I'll move on:

 

 

Those who ignore the past ...

Pearl Harbor was, for a generation, one of the most remarkably mobilizing events in history. At this time 71 years ago, it was under attack.

Also at that time, there were probably precious few Americans around who were there the last time such a mobilizing event happened in a state or territory of the U.S. (That would be Fort Sumter, which had happened 80 years prior). And 85 years earlier there had been that nasty dust-up with the Brits (which we would apparently forget two centuries and change later, when we learned "OMG! Kate's, like, totally preggers!")

(A totally unrelated aside to the last part: Just found out that news of the prank call to the hospital took a sad turn today.)

From generation to generation, we are reminded of the old adage "those who ignore history are condemened to repeat it." So as we realize the dwindling number of the "Greatest Generation" (captured nicely today by my colleague Paul Feely), we should also remember what they accomplished.

Think about it. We have been in four wars in my lifetime, plus a handful of other military actions. We have never been asked to sacrifice the way that generation was. Starting with the Great Depression, and continuing into WWII, they shared. They rationed. And they beat back those threats.

Think about it: if Presidents Obama or Bush 43 had said, "For this war effort, gas is going up to 6 bucks a gallon and will be rationed," they would've been out on their respective tuckuses.

We are not that far removed from the Greatest Generation, and there are still enough around to ask what their story is. Ask them. And thank them.

Here I go again

I never intended blogging to be a regular scheduled thing. I established this as an outlet for those occasional bursts of creative energy, which I do have from time to time (such as 5 a.m., right now).

But I did plan to re-launch a blog on March 10. However, sometimes circumstances and time get away from you. Besides, I was working a second job at the time, and essentially getting sleep, any sleep, became the priority.

Besides, I've never been so vain as to think people existed for my writing. I'll reserve that for the syndicated columnists of the world.

But now here I go again (another problem with waking up at this hour: You get Whitesnake stuck in your head).

Fascinating thing about that second job, I didn't mind it. The hours were terrible, but it wasn't so bad that I dreaded getting up every morning. And believe me, it was even earlier than this.

Working that part-time job for a major retailer (yes, you've heard of it, and no, it's NOT that one) is an eye-opener. It is a window into the national conscience, too. You see what people are buying, how they are buying it, and what can be done so they can buy it.

And the people I worked with were first-rate. My department head was awesome and incredibly patient. I also loved my co-workers in my department. My one quibble was that there was no employee discount, but what can you do?

But it is a grind. After 10 months of getting up at what is termed in military time "oh-dark-hundred," and with my wife and I facing more hours at our full-time employment, something had to give.

So here we are, a little poorer, but that isn't the point. In fact, this post really had no point except to get me back to writing here.

Thanks for joining me on the stream of consciousness. I'll be back with more witty banter about sports and politics, but until then, take it easy.

-JDE2

Why Patriots fans can't mock the Bills anymore

Among the many things brought to mind by Whitney Houston's sudden death this weekend, was this realization I had (which is probably too much of an insight into how my mind works): Patriots fans can't make fun of the Bills anymore in the wake of this latest Super Bowl loss.

First, how we got here. Among the memories stirred by the death of Ms. Houston was her stirring rendition of the National Anthem before Super Bowl XXV. That Super Bowl is remembered for two things: that anthem and, well, let's call it "the final play," shall we?

However, this dawned on me as I was remembering that Super Bowl: The Patriots have now lost as many Super Bowls as the Bills have. For that matter, they've also lost as many as the Broncos and the Vikings, but that's not the point here.

And for those who point out the Patriots do have three rings to the Bills', um, zero, yes that is some salve for the soul, but here's the sobering kicker: the Patriots have now lost twice as many Super Bowls in heartbreaking fashion to the New York Giants as the Bills have.

Sigh.

-JDE2

If we're so spoiled, why does this losing stuff still suck?

I was going to jump back into the blogosphere on March 10 (more on that later), but find a need for a bit of writing therapy. Specifically, I don't want to rant and don't want to whine, but put the Patriots' loss to the Giants in persepective.

1. Disappointed? Yeah, hard not to be if you're a Patriots fan. But still, this one doesn't hurt nearly as much as four years ago. That loss erased a chance at history, a chance at immortality, a chance for the team you follow to be a mentioned in the same breath with the likes of the 1927 Yankees -- and a chance we may never get to see again in our lifetimes. (Don't believe me? Ask the Packers.)

This run was inspiring and the fact they were even in the Super Bowl was due to a bit of luck (not to mention a rushed field goal attempt). Quite frankly, once the Pats got past the Broncos, everything else was gravy.

2. If Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history (and for the record, he is), what does that now make Tom Coughlin, who has twice beat him in sport's biggest showcase?

3. For that matter, what about Tom Brady and Eli Manning? My friend and former blogging colleague Matt McSorley (who always has the door open to join me again) had the same thought I did: Eli is now Brady, circa 2005. Brady is now Eli's older brother, Peyton, capable of huge numbers in the regular season, but not able to close the deal in the big game.

In fact, Eli (look, I'm not crazy about this first-name basis thing, but it saves time) has had the tougher road in the pros. Start with the fact that he's the little brother of a guy who had a spectacular college career at Tennessee, then went and restored the Colts to perennial contender status. In addition to following that, Eli has had to succeed in the pressure-cooker of New York City. You've got to hand it to him. And now, he's assured of a spot in Canton with Peyton and Brady. Good for him.

4. No joke: When the Patriots lined up for that last Hail Mary, I had this brief flash of hope that Chad Ochocinco would win the J.D. Drew Award for pulling something out of his ass after doing nothing all season. Alas, he is still better known this year for Tweeting to the Speaker of the House that he looks "pretty angry."

5. My father-in-law and I were wondering about this: How much did that safety pay someone in Vegas?

6. Come on, if you had been told before the 2001 season that by 2012, the Patriots would be in FIVE Super Bowls, winning three and losing two they had a shot at winning, you wouldn't have believed it, would you?

7. Boston sports fans really are spoiled, but we must be getting better at this. We have been through losses for the Celtics in the finals a couple of years back (and an epic choke for the Bruins that same year, which fortunately was redeemed the next year), the Red Sox unfolding this year and these last two Super Bowl losses.

Now think back to Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, aka "The Grady Little Leaves Pedro In" Game. The feeling any Red Sox fan had after that one: "It's really not gonna happen in our lifetime, is it?" Time was, these losses destroyed us as fans. But then Theo Epstein went to Thanksgiving dinner at the Schillings, and the rest is history.

- JDE2

P.S. Oh yeah, the significance of March 10: It will mark my 20th anniversary as a professional journalist. But that's a story for another time. For now, pitchers and catchers report soon, and Go Bruins!