What's up?

Last week was quite a week!

First off, I was part of a newspaper article in the Royal Oak Tribune. The article was about the Detroit Thanksgiving day parade. Although I didn’t participate this year, I got a couple of cool quotes in there. It’s been quite a year for my name in print!

So, as I’ve mentioned, I am working on a charity bike ride to raise money for Gilda’s Club. On Monday, I met with 9-time Tour de France rider and two-time Olympian Frankie Andreu to ask for his participation.

I’m telling you, I was shaking like a leaf! I am a fan of Frankie’s, and he is the first former professional bike rider I’ve ever met. I felt like a teenage girl meeting David Cassidy or Donny Osmond (showing my age there!)!

I’ve got this amazing picture of Frankie leading the Tour de France peloton on the streets of Champs Elysees, and was fortunate to have him sign it for me. He left a spot next to his for Lance Armstrong’s signature… “You never know!” he said…

Well, as a result of meeting Frankie, I have A LOT of work to do for this ride. Have I started? No…

So Monday night, Sheryl and I went to a classic rock art VIP party sponsored by one of the local radio stations. We got in because I am a member of the Gilda’s Club ad-hoc committee, and some of the profits from the art sales are going to Gilda’s Club. It was a cool gig. There was food, refreshments, and a live performance by Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad. Sweet!

On Thanksgiving Day, Sheryl and I took her nephew to the parade, which was AMAZINGLY COLD! Fortunately, her four-year-old nephew did not want to stay long.

So we went to Eastern Market to try and grab some food before I had to get to the Lions game. We ended up at McDonald’s. After eating, I needed to get going, so we try to leave and…

We were locked inside.

Apparently, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his posse needed some breakfast. They were ordering at the counter when we tried to leave, but some people were trying to get in, and somebody didn’t think they should – with the mayor in there and all…

So we eventually got out, and Sheryl drove me to Ford Field to meet up with my sister and brother in law and his daughter for the football game.

We got into the game just before kickoff. It was my first time there, and unfortunately, I didn’t have time to meander about to check out the stadium. I loved what I saw, though. It’s a very cool venue!

Well, after the suckass game, I was dropped off at home, where I quickly changed and drove to Sheryl’s. We spent the rest of the night visiting with family.

Friday night, I played in a dart tournament. By the time I left, it had been snowing pretty well, and the streets were slick. I realized this when I went into a turn a bit too fast, and my car spun around 180 degrees.

Fortunately, there weren’t any cars in the immediate area. When I was younger, I used to take my mom’s rear wheel drive Mustang into a church parking lot after the first snow and do donuts, practicing my winter driving.

All that practice came in handy Friday night. I threw the car into reverse, finishing the turn backards, and put the car back into drive, heading back home in the correct direction.

So...

Anyone wanna help plan a charity bike ride?

Anyone wanna be a sponsor?

Oy!

Toodles for now!

Thanks for the...

Sorry it's taken so long for me to blog again, I am trying to get into the routine of working again. It's a wonderful thing, that's for sure!

If you recall, I spent a lot of time bitching about being out of work. Well, what have I got to bitch about now? The answer is simple, really - nothing.

So life for me right now is amazing. I can't even say how amazing it is, because tonight's topic isn't so much about me - it's about my history. It's about my mom. It's about my year. It's about posterity.

Tonight I spent some good time with my mom. We did our Sunday football thang, which is always good. But we talked, too.

One of the things we talked about was history. My mom is upset that no one remembers Thanksgiving anymore. And I know exactly what she means.

I read an article somewhere saying that Wal-Mart is targeting shoppers earlier this year for Christmas. Yep, the 3.2 bazillion dollars that they made last year at Christmas time was less than the 3.4 bazillion that everyone else (Costco, Meijer, English Gardens, etc) made COMBINED...

So what happens after Halloween?

Santa pops up everywhere.

Now, I understand that here in Michigan, our weather has been incredibly mild, and we should be taking advantage of the weather in order to put up our Christmas lights... that I do understand.

But what about Thanksgiving?

I was raised believing that Thanksgiving was about family. What is more wholesome... more American, than having the family sitting at the table sharing dinner, conversation, respect... and thanks?

I loved going to my Grandmother's (and later, my mother's) house on Thanksgiving. We always had an amazing dinner... and the pies! Lordy!

But something I never appreciated until I got older and things changed was the chance to be with family.

See, at Grandma's, we had her and her sister - auntie Aggie - my aunt Betty, my uncle Ray, my cousins and our family.

After the amazing dinner, we would play cards or watch television. I think I learned how to play poker on Thanksgiving.

And now that I am 39 years old, with no family of my own, I really miss my grandma and auntie Aggie at Thanksgiving. I miss the closeness of family, even though I have spent nearly every single Thanksgiving of my life with my mother... I miss screwing around with my cousins.

Maybe MY Thanksgivings were special... I don't know. I don't know what anyone else does for Thanksgiving.

I do know now that we need to hold on to our memories. Our memories become history if told to the right people.

This week, I was interviewed about participating in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade by the Royal Oak Tribune. One of the things I was asked was why I wanted to be in the parade. My answer was that as a kid, I remember going to the parade, and thinking that the people in the parade were larger than life - something like heroes - and I wanted to be that for today's kids.

So I suppose that the moral of this blog is to beseech anyone reading - take complete advantage of this Thanksgiving. Give thanks for your family. Give thanks for the good memories. Give thanks for the opportunity to make today and tomorrow a better day than today.

Don't forget Thanksgiving. Don't let it be a speed bump on the way to Christmas.

Oui Oui Oui

For 24 years of my life, kids scared the hell out of me.

Ever since I was 11 years old and had my nose bitten off by the family dog, I hated looking at and talking to kids.

Until I got cancer at 35 years old. Then that stuff got a lot less important.

I never really felt the urge to have kids - and this is briefly documented in my book - but there are currently a handful of kids I just love to death. Of them, there is Collin, Delaney, Nick, Lilly and Sara.

This weekend, I attended birthday parties for Nick and Sara (all five of those kids have birthdays between October 1 and December 23).

Nick is at the age where he says everything on his mind - not realizing that some things you say can hurt other peoples' feelings. And this is mostly why I hated dealing with kids prior to my cancer diagnosis.

And no matter how close I get to the kids, sooner or later, they will ask or say something about my nose.

When Collin, my oldest nephew, was old enough to ask me, I had already prepared a story.

In the story, I was in a fight with members of the Japanese Dioge (D-O-G) Clan. I told him a story of a great battle where I was knocked down over and over again, and finally one of the Dioges struck my face with his sword made of teeth. He knocked off my nose, but I eventually succeeded in defeating them.

As I got older, however, the telling of stories became more of a fun thing, rather than dealing with the serious question. As such, I just learned to deal with it and tell the truth - and usually, the kids are fine with whatever I tell them. And usually, they get bored with my answer before I even finish.

Realizing all of this - in addition to realizing that nearly everything in life is small - has helped me love these kids as much as they have come to love me.

I don't know how I would be as a dad, but I do know that I love being an uncle. "Cool Uncle Matt" - that's me, and that's what I strive to be. Even Sara, who is in her teenage years - thinks I'm cool, and will talk to me as long as parental units aren't around.

Even better than being the cool uncle, though, is that I will always know a different side of these kids. We will always treat each other as people, with respect. Their parents will never know them like that.

I, too, have a couple relationships like that with aunts and uncles... and I think that's pretty damn cool.

Who are you?

One of the things I love about life is seeing how things work out. How things change. How things evolve.

People too.

This past Friday, we played against some "old-timers" who used to constantly kick our ass. One man in particular used to say stuff that got into my head. He always intimidated me.

This guy has been in the league for easily 20 years, so I always thought he had something on me... knew something I didn't know.

Well, all he knew was how to get into my head!

Granted, he is a good player, but I have had a chance to improve my game and develop strategies for my dart game.

One such thing is focus. For the most part, I have been able to block out what people say while I'm throwing. One of the girls on my team is known to talk to us while we are throwing, and in the last year or two, I think it has bummed her out that she's been getting no response. Thing is, I hear her talking, but don't know what she's saying.

It's the same thing with this guy we played Friday. Not to mention that I have gotten to know him on a personal level as well, so I realize what he is doing while talking to me, and I can appreciate it completely.

It's a pretty cool thing when you finally come to understand something like that. You feel like you can use it to your advantage... and you can bet your ass I'm gonna try! :)

For what it's worth, we beat the "old-timers" 11 games to 4... for the second time this season.

It's amazing what a job will do for your well being...

I have completed two days of my new job, and I cannot even tell you how great it feels to be back in the work force. I love the idea of getting back into a routine, and forcing myself to take better care of myself.

See, my work clothes - which I hadn't worn in a year - got really, really tight. Looks like unemployment helped Matt gain some weight (and Matt didn't need any help!).

So, once I get back into a routine, I can incorporate my training rides and workouts, and I can't wait!

This all comes at a good time - with the holidaze coming up, and too much good food being available...

I'm still a few weeks away from my first paycheck, but I know it's coming, and it feels damn good. I had to keep reminding myself yesterday to stick with my grocery list while shopping, as I'm still so, so broke! The caviar and champagne will have to wait for 8 months or so, but that's fine... I really don't like caviar anyway!

Random comment: This morning, while I was eating breakfast, I turned on the Imus radio show on TV. Imus was talking to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., who is one of my favorite writers. Vonnegut must be in his 80s, but man, what a wonderful speaker as well! He was talking about how he was one of the first Saab dealers in America. He spoke of the early Saabs as "colorful Easter eggs". The man is fricking brilliant!

Anyhow, that's all about me for now...
Blog ya later!

I'll sleep when I'm dead...

With tomorrow being my first day of work in a year, I have been taking advantage of naps and getting up late. Well, I have for a year now, in fact! :)

Logic says that I should have spent the last week getting up earlier and avoid naps in order to assimilate to the work schedule easier. Did I?

No freaking way!

This last layoff totally screwed my future. I will never be able to afford retirement, and career-wise, it hurt me bad.

So why shouldn't I take advantage of my last week off?

Tomorrow, I will get up at 6:30am and groggily prepare for work. During the course of the day I will get my first and second winds. At 5pm or so, I will probably come home, and take a nap if I can get it in. Then I head off to bartend for Monday Night Football.

People tell me I'll be tired. Yeah. So?

I might feel like crap. I might feel bad. But I might not. Maybe the naps I've been taking for the last 367 days will have given me super non-drowsy powers.

I gotta find out for myself.

And if nothing else, like Warren Zevon sang: "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Whoo-hoo! Bring on the work week! :)

When is it time to stand up and fight?

I spent a good portion of today watching the Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. Holy smokes, there was some sweet ass-kicking, blood-spitting, bone-crunching action! Yep, the testosterone got pumping, just like it will tomorrow with football.

Personally, however, I haven't had a fist fight since my brothers and I were kids. It's worked out fine for me - considering I have nightmares about being in fights and my punches come off in painfully slow motion and ALWAYS miss their mark. These dreams really don't give me much confidence in my fighting abilities...

Roger Waters sings in his song "Home":

"When the cowboys and Arabs draw down
On each other at noon
In the cool dusty air of the city boardroom
Will you stand by a passive spectator
Of the market dictators
Will you discreetly withdraw
With your ear pressed to the boardroom door
Will you hear when the lion within you roars
Will you take to the hills...
Will you stand for it..."

So when is it time to fight?

A friend of mine is fighting city hall. The zoning in her neighborhood is being changed from residential to commercial. The bottom line being that once a business moves into a building - once a house is razed to become a shop - the property can never go back to a residence.

This friend of mine is studying previous city council moves and resolutions to understand her best plan of attack. She is also informing her neighbors and trying to get them involved as well.

These things will help if you abide by Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". Mr. Tzu believes in some essentials for victory, including:

* He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
* He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
* He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
* He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

In addition, I think that if you're going to fight, you need to remain calm under pressure. From what I understand about it, during military training, soldiers are taught this through repetition. Repetition of essential tasks and repetition of decision-making in high stress situations. You know, like repetition.

I myself am working on remaining calm under pressure. It's a necessary and essential skill for playing darts.

Many years ago, my brother Van asked me to complete a psychological questionnaire about him for one of his clases. In this questionnaire, I remember making the statement that I thought Van was too even-keeled. That perhaps he would find life a much richer experience if he allowed himself to get excited (or perhaps even depressed) a little more often.

And oddly enough, I think of that every time I request Dr. Ron Bacardi to help me medicate myself while playing darts. See, if I get nervous or excited, then my throwing stroke gets tight, and I lose control over my dart (dang, how's that for a potential double entendre?!). But if I am able to suppress that tension, then I can throw closer to my capabilities.

Of course, repetition through practice would likely help that, too.

So what makes it the right time to fight? What would make you roll up your sleeves and and throw a haymaker at someone's noggin?

Ironically, it could be argued that passion is the fuel of war. Yet isn't passion also the fuel of love?

Okley dokley... I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but you could argue that good things have been happening.

But let's not argue. Let's just agree that life is good!

After a full year of being unemployed, I accepted a job offer yesterday and start my new job next Monday! Whoo-hoo! :)

I had a pretty good feeling that things were going to work out after the interview on Friday, so I spent a good part of the weekend celebrating. And now, I've got one more week of "freedom".

I'll tell you what, though, I am really, really ready to get back to work. This company won't know what to do with this Tasmanian devil, that's fer sure!

Mom says she can tell a difference in my voice - that I'm less stressed - and I'm not surprised, because I feel less stressed!

So that's mainly what I've been up to. Last week, Sheryl and I saw Nikka Costa at the Magic Bag - and if you haven't heard of her but consider yourself a Prince fan, you should be ashamed of yourself! Nikka is a firecracker o' funk... she puts the fun in funky!

So the rest of the week is devoted to trying to complete some unfinished projects before I go back to work. Man, talk about RELIEF!!!

Well, I reckon that's about all for now.
Blog ya later!