What is wrong with people?

Alright, so a teacher from my high school (the same school that my father spent 40 years working tirelessly at) has been arrested on charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, illegal use of minor in nudity oriented material, sexual battery and pandering obscenity with minors. Fantastic. He wasn't teaching there when I went to school there.

This has me going through a whole range of emotions, mostly anger though. The alleged actions of this teacher have put a black mark on the entire school community. A school that myself and my five sisters graduated from. A CATHOLIC school. A school that my dad dedicated his life to. A school where many of the teachers have been at for decades. The story was on every news channel in Cleveland and I assume will continue to be thanks to the salacious content.

Details of the accusations haven't been released yet but how the hell can a teacher get into that situation and think nothing will happen? Then again the man hasn't been proven guilty yet. But event has already damaged the school's image. There had to be something that wasn't kosher to even warrant these charges.

The Diocese of Cleveland might want to reconsider their media plan. Notice the ad that popped up at the bottom of the TV stations website containing the article about the incident:

Punching Terrorists in the Face

I bought these boxing gloves at Marc's for $4.99. If you're wondering what the hell I'm going to do with them, you're fairly normal. I got them because our ADDY awards theme is boxing this year. And I'm debating getting the Apollo Creed trunks to match for when I make my opening remarks. Pretty patriotic, right? Wrong!

Here's the fairly amusing warning label. Note that they can't withstand the power of adults and the hotmail address of the state-side distributor. Also of note is the fact that they're made in I.R.O.P. aka the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. I've probably just gone on some FBI watchlist as a result of my closeout find.

The what the hell were they thinking/bad taste award goes to

Some Italian casket maker for their annual girly calendar. Enjoy this year's edition here. From here you can peruse past years and find gems like my personal favorite Miss September 2005:



What the hell is this?!

From the looks of the site, they are an actual company that makes some fine looking caskets and some questionable calendars.

Go LeCavs!

The Cavs seem to be playing much better of late - then again, they are playing the NBA cellar dwellers. But Mariella, myself, Vince, Carli, Kev, Jill, Mary and Joan saw them beat the Hawks last week.

My favorite part was when they had an on-court promotion and the prizes awarded were an oil-change and an 84-month battery. Jill pointed out that they could've just said 7 years but that's marketing for you. I was really hoping to win some wiper blades myself.

Family Portrait Fun

While everyone was in town for the holidays, we went to have our family portrait taken. It started out pretty civil and quickly went south.

We learned that if Sammy really likes his top button to be buttoned. He'll hold that collar closed if he has to.

Zeke is kind of scared of our entire family (me in particular) and kept wandering off or screaming if we wouldn't let him.

Henry lost his patience with the whole ordeal.

It got pretty funny when the photographer went all art school on us and wanted a shot of the family lounging in front of a white background.

This might actually be the best shot of Zeke from the whole shoot and it was sheer luck. Mary was throwing him in the air and this is him descending.

$9.99 Shoe Palace

If we lose weight at our Monday weigh-ins, Mariella and I "cheat" by rewarding ourselves with Chipotle. And I typically "punish" Mariella by making her go to the Parmatown Marc's. On the walk to Marc's you'll pass the poorly named "$9.99 Shoe Palace."

Weight Loss Update

Over Christmas, I put on 3.4 pounds. Which when I stop and think about it is not super bad. I actually weighed the same thing on Monday this week, which kind of shocked me. I was pretty sure I had put on weight thanks to eating at Michael Symon's Lolita's on NYE, at Mariella's parents on New Year's Day and various and sundry other locations.

It's really hard to count points when I'm not at work. So my total weight loss is 16.4 lbs. Which is good but I was a mere .2 lbs away from the 20 lb. mark. So I've got some making up to do.

No time for bloggin'

Holidays, blah, blah, blah. It's been busy. So get ready for a post bonanza. Hopefully it's enough to pacify Jill when she's goofing off at work.

Merry Christmas from the Tribe

A few days before Christmas, I had an AAF event at the Terrace Club inside Jacob's Field. Someone had put a small tree up at 2nd base.

It was the first time I've been inside the Club. It would be awesome to watch a game from in there.

Chloe and her handbag twin

This is Chloe posing with the dog-shaped purse I got Mariella for Xmas.

The holidays are trying to sabotage me

I took all these pictures this afternoon in our office. And this is really the second round of treats from clients and vendors. I've managed to be very good. I only had some mini Reese's cups. I dropped 2.4 more pounds this week making my grand total 19.8. I missed my next star by .2 lbs. So I figure I'll get it next week.

Toledo's nearly done

This is a picture of the living room, fresh with carpet. We're nearly done. Hurray!!!

Joangratulations

See that dot at the end of the ramp? That's Joan - graduating from Kent State University. She had "I know you're proud Dad" written on her mortar board. Which made everyone tear up because we know that Dad is proud of her.

There were some dramatic moments as one of the undergrads fainted as we went to get her diploma and fainted again once she got it. I told Joan she should've fainted because that girl got the most applause.

Popcorn tins

Thought of Dad today when we saw this display of popcorn gift tins at Office Max. Had the price been right he would've bought at least half the palette. I remember having to push one of his two carts filled with these at Kmart one year.

He didn't really like the popcorn all that much but he used them as gift for Bingo. We would buy TONS of this stuff. And the best part was the cashiers would always look at us strange and make some comment like "I know what you're family's getting for Christmas" or "Wow you really like popcorn." Dad would just smile and nod. He'd never tell them what it was for. I think he really liked them not knowing. We went through the same thing with hot dogs and hot dog buns. Fairly often, we'd buy 20 lbs of hot dogs (always the cheapest) to stock the Bingo concession stand and the clerk would say "Looks like quite a barbecue." Dad would just say "yep" and smile.

But the popcorn tins were always more embarassing because they always took more than one cart. Which is why you never wanted to go shopping with Dad after the holidays to hit all the clearance sales although I suppose that was better than winning a year old tin of popcorn next year at Bingo.

2 more pounds bite the dust

I lost 2. Mariella beat me losing 3.4. So now it's on.

I'm going to DDR until I puke.

Nobody thought this was a bad idea?

I read an article in Brandweek about the worst brand extensions of the year. I'm shocked by what gets the green light.




The most appalling is the Precious Moments line of funeral urns and caskets.

Also making the list was Hooters brand energy drinks. Which led to the brea- uh, I mean best quote in the article:

“Hooters doesn’t stand for energy. It stands for boobs and chicken,” said
Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries brand consultancy, Atlanta.

She's right. I also enjoyed the Bumblebee Prime Filet Chicken Breasts. I wonder if the tagline is "The chicken that tastes like tuna" or "The Chicken of the land."

More press still

I appear in this month's issue of Inside Business.

The photo they used could be my "before" photo when I'm doing Subway spots when I'm skinny.

Dropping pounds like a bad habit.

I hit 15.4 lbs. in total weight loss today. Pretty good if I do say so myself.

I keep annoying the women at the meeting because the leader keeps asking me how it's going and I always tell him that it's going well. And he asks me if I'm feeling hungry and I always tell him "no." And then I tell them that I have so many points. And there's a lot of hissing and murmuring. The groups average is probably somewhere in the mid-20s worth of points a day and I get 39. So I'm rarely hungry and that makes the women jealous.

Also we learned today that we're not the only ones that mildly pig out immediately after the weigh-ins. One lady says she always goes to get a double cheeseburger and fries. We usually hit Chipotle. But we're staying within our points. I've been very pleased with how flexible the program is.

I'm not as much of the man that I once was.

Check out our on-line holiday card from work.

It's awesome.

Very busy lately.

Toledo and stuff happened.

And we elfed ourselves.

YouTubed

As of this posting the video tribute to me has only received 4 views.

Snow end in sight

I guess we're waiting for spring.

Wasting away

I'm down another 4.8 lbs. I got another star at the meeting tonite (we didn't really attend the meeting. We weighed in and left) I was kind of freaked out that the woman wanted to give me a name tag. Then again I could've given her an awesome name like "Chubby McBurger" or "Gary Gastric."

After the meeting we went to Olive Garden - for soup and salad. Only when I got home I learned the pasta fagioli was 12 points a bowl and I had 2!!! Thank goodness I get a lot of points. And then we bought a pie - not for us, mind you.

More press

Here's a write-up for an award I'm receiving tonight.

Here's the tribute the guys at work created for me.

And here's a blog entry about the video.

No clean-up yet.

Also fake spiderwebs (that we assumed were just Halloween decorations) are still on the bushes in the front yard.

You can call me "Slim"

Mariella and I started doing Weight Watchers last week. The meetings were a bit strange at first. Sort of like an overzealous church group meeting but instead of God we were talking about weight loss. My natural sarcasm sense kept tingling through the whole meeting. Our leader, Carl, has been a member for 35 years and has lost 200 pounds. But by the end of the first meeting I really kind of enjoyed the chubby camraderie.

It really seems that I'm eating more than I did before because I have to keep track of everything including portion size. I get way more "points" than Mariella, so I'm always looking for something to eat. But apparently it works as I dropped 6 lbs. the first week. Which is awesome. I'm kind of disappointed that we have to go to a different meeting next week because I have an awards reception to go to.

Very specific

Apparently, the Parmatown Giant Eagle was tired of customers constantly being unable to find the gerbil food.

Another Marc's find

Creepy on many levels.

Creepy

I own an old house in Toledo that we're rehabbing in order to sell. It's a duplex that was built in 1925. I had some radiators burst a couple of years ago and we've been working on the house ever since. So I was up there by myself from Thursday evening through Saturday morning doing some work. I was sanding and restaining some woodwork where there was previously one of the original radiators. I found a scrap of paper between the wall and molding.

I didn't think much of it. Until a little further down the wall I found this one:

Now, I'm not easily spooked. I've spent two nights inside a haunted prison. Macho man, blah, blah, blah. But when I found myself in this old house by myself my mind can run a little wild - and I started thinking that the noise of the sander is disturbing the spirit realm. I'm not even sure I believe in ghosts but this freaked me out a bit. But I really needed to get this stuff done. So I figured that I have Dad on my side in any supernatural, paranormal battle royale.

I kept sanding and came across these:

It seems I was just cleaning up after some kid who's probably now approaching retirement.

Baby found in van down by the river

Tempting fate

The highs and lows of my sister Karen.

A closer (but still messy) look

A dramatic improvement.

Not really.

Cap'n Chloe

Arrrrrrr, i'm an annoying pirate

Blubbering

Last Wednesday night, Mom and I went to a dinner honoring Dad. He was inducted into the Cleveland CYO hall of fame. It was a nice evening (though a bit long. It started at 6:00. We didn't get home until 10.) The recipients were all invited to say a few words after their induction. Mom wrote something and said that if she couldn't finish it I would have to. I said that was fine. I used to be terrified of speaking to large groups. Ad Fed cured me of that. Now I kind of enjoy it. Believe it or not I like an audience. Anyways. Terry Flanagan introduced Dad and said a ton of great things about him and I lost it. I struggled to hold back tears without much luck. Mom got up there and read her piece as though it was nothing while I held the plaque whimpering. I'm glad she kept it together because I sure didn't. I didn't really expect that rush of emotion. It was pride and sadness. I still miss him everyday. Many of the other inductees came over and shared stories about dad. I'm still amazed at how many lives he touched. I'm also continually amazed at how mom rises to every occasion.

The Eagle has Landed a hundred bucks

I won the "best effort" category at work. The prize was $100. That was the prize in every category. They gave best of show to two girls that dressed up as two women from the movie "best of show."

I don't really care but unoriginal Halloween costumes really steam my beans. It's not creative if it's someone else's creation. I don't think it's creative if you're dressing up as someone else's creation. Every year someone dresses up like a SNL actor or something. I don't think it's amusing or clever. Just like you're not funny (or funnier) if you can quote lines from Austin Powers or whatever the crappy comedy of the moment is.

Neighbor's yard - as awesome as ever

The neighbor's backyard is just as awesome as ever. Fortunately, they put up some Halloween decorations in the front so now the whole yard resembles a hellhole.

More eagle awesomeness

You can see my entry here.

And here are some additional shots:

Suitable for framing

Eagles are Awesome!

And so is my halloween costume. In case you can't figure it out, I'm a bald eagle

It's for this contest.

Been a while

I have been SUPER BUSY lately. Here's the haps:
1. The push is on to get Toledo done and sold. So we've been driving the turnpike alot - SIDE STORY: B-I-L Mike was nice enough to come up one weekend and he shared a great tip he learned at work for when you find yourself telling a story that you realize isn't really going anywhere. Simply add the phrase "and then I found $20." Try it. People forget all about the crappy story you were telling up top. Kristen uses it well in one of her posts.
2. I've been getting interviewed by a bunch of media folks. More on that at a later date.
3. We had our clambake. It was a good time.
4. Watching Indians games. Stupid Indians.
5. Been busy at work which is good.
6. Been busy with my AAF-Cleveland duties.

They Might Be Darkness

More phone cleaning goodness. This is They Might Be Giants playing in the dark at the Beachland Ballroom because they blew a fuse. They're playing Particle Man.

Minimum pricing

Cleaning out the photos on my phone. I saw this on vacation in the Poconos. I've never seen this selling technique. Got 99 cents? Don't bother coming in here.

Chloe's a pirate

But still weird.

Still looking good.

Neighbor's yard overgrown with awesomeness.

Life on the on-ramp

I saw this yesterday on my way home. Someone has pitched a tent in the grassy area right off 14th st and carnegie between the on-ramps to I-90 and I-77. I wonder what their story is.

Garage Sale of the Century

We put Jill to work promoting our garage sale. We also thought she died that day while sitting on some the merch - she's 15. Turns out she's just a VERY sound sleeper. We made some cash but more importantly cleaned out a good portion of the crap we've collected.

Bug off, Yankees!

I was at the game with the Rally Bugs vs. the Yankees. It was awesome.

I was decked out in my shirt reading "Wrong Hat, LeBron." My section went nuts whenever I walked up the steps. I must've high-fived at least 100 people and several took my photos. And word has it that LeBron showed up in Shanghai in a Tribe cap.