Old Friends Part III (final)

Ignore the guy on the left; he vomited at my first wedding. And Crazy Tommy, second from right, found drugs and alcohol more interesting than real life. So please focus on Mark and Eddie. I met Mark in my psychology class at Laurel High School. And when I was riding my bike to Mark's house for the first time, I was helped with directions from Eddie. And Eddie was going to the same place. Mark, Eddie and I were key players in the pie throwing incident that nailed Phillip Murphy.
Mark loved baseball, the Stooges, goofy stuff, the House of Lui and Ledo's Pizza. We hung out forever until he found a girl friend and then a wife. I won't comment on what I thought of his first wife but he got it right the second time and Connie is terrific.
Eddie was a good athlete who was more sensible than the rest of us. Smart and funny. He dated Ann forever in a long distance relationship and then married her and still lives with her and the kids on Long Island. I called Eddie a week back (still refuses to use a cell phone) and it's like we've never been apart. The three of us had many adventures together and having good friends like this makes the world make more sense.

Meet Me in St. Louis

It was National League baseball for the boys and family this week. Got up at 5 a.m for an easy drive to Missouri. Saw the gorgeous Busch Stadium from the road and took a strange tour of the famous Gateway Arch. What a strange item to have in the middle of town. Highlites of the trip included the Sheraton moving us into the Presidential Suite; me losing the baseball tickets for a few hours and some very hot weather. We took a horse drawn carriage for a few blocks on a big horse named Rex. The one microbrewery (Morgan Street) had a disappointing collection of ales. St. Louis is an interesting city; part DC and Baltimore. There were a few bums in the street who gave us a minor case of the willies but there were no other fears. It did take us 7 hours to get home because of construction delays. That truly stinks.
In other news, Riley (age 10) sold his Cardinals banner (from the Goodwill at 4.99 to some St. Louis fan for $14.00. Riley was delighted.

Old Friends Part II

Another episode of friends for life. I first saw Joel walking down the hallways of the dark and gloomy Voice of America in DC. He would change my life in many ways. Ended up living in his rental house in Georgetown. And that's where I spotted the H-Man walking on Whitehaven Parkway. Why do you latch onto some folks for the rest of their lives and others come and go? These two guys and families are welcome at our house forever. Made both of Joel's weddings (DC and Rhode Island) and none of H-Man's (never married, hence the blog).
They are just fun people who are never boring. Good-hearted people with interesting paths of life. H-Man manages to get to Chicago a few times a year and I pick him up at the airport and we head Downtown. Joel seems stuck in DC but he's in good hands with Antonia.

Hey Baby It's the 4th of July

We just hosted Father's Day so why another party? But Eileen wanted to host a July 4th party. Oh what the heck, I had plenty of beer in the fridge. So Riley, turning 10, asked to have some friends over. I think 30 folks made it and it was a good time.
The only tunes I could come up with for the holiday were X singing 4th of July and the boss doing "Independence Day."
Made ribs, burgers (Brady hated the onions that Eileen snuck in) and dogs. Drinks of the day included blue margaritas and I did a take on a pina colada with pineapple coconut ice cream with two rums and ice. It was quite tasty on a hot day.
The next day, however, I felt like doing next to nothing.