Monthly Archives: September 2008

Ack.

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Power went out at 7:30 last night, and just around midnight, I saw the night light go on in my bedroom.

Category 1 hurricane winds hit Ohio last night. Part of my town is still without power. Schools in my county were closed today; they were without power, too. Wild.

Last night around 6 p.m., I heard a huge crash. This small tree trunk was lying across my front walk, just in front of my steps. Had Rousseau and I been out there…

There are parts of trees everywhere. The Thriller called the city department arborist, and he told us that we’re 39th in line to get tree damage cleared up. Our roof shingles are in pretty bad shape; the insurance claim was filed this morning. Crazy. But I’m glad no one was hurt.

Worst thing: I missed Mad Men. Off I go to the AMC website to see if I can look at it.

Fink out.

Bliss

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And relief. I’m sure I’m not alone in breathing a huge sigh of relief:

  1. The bride, groom and ceremony were all beautiful.
  2. Nothing washed or blew away (although Jim Heydinger took a bath in the parking lot of the chapel).
  3. Everyone had a great time at the reception.
  4. Kids got off to the honeymoon destination safely.**

Welp, the baby is married off. Mama Fink, Photographer got this shot in the late afternoon at the reception. I think it came out rather nicely. Off to Wally to get it made into an 8 x 10, along with some other pictures.

The wedding was held here. The rain came pouring down and people ran inside underneath umbrellas (well, except for Jim Heydinger…) and everything went off without a hitch. Very nice.

Then we all drove to the reception, held at historic Malabar Farm. For those of you familiar with the works of Louis Bromfield, here’s a little Malabar history. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married there, too.

A bazillion pictures were taken yesterday, and I can’t wait to see the photographer’s collection online. Don’t be completely surprised if I share one now and then. :-)

Other random photos below, with more to come sometime, after the photographer’s album goes live.

Jakey checks out the chapel stage

Lars gets flower repair from friend Jane

Simone and #1 Son ham it up

It cleared up in the afternoon (it was a 10:30 a.m. wedding — kids had a plane to catch) and it was very nice and breezy at the reception. Lars & Helen finally escaped around 4:15 to drive to Cleveland in time enough to hop a flight to Seattle by way of a Chicago layover. We thought we’d seen them off. However…

** Lars called last night around 8 and said that due to bad weather in Chicago, their flight was canceled. But Providence smiled on them, and they were given another flight for this morning — direct, no layover. Good for them. They’re off to Seattle today, and tomorrow they leave for a week-long Alaskan cruise.

Mama Fink is happy, but tired. Real life returns…research project proposal, Annie Get Your Gun rehearsal schedule, school, Browns losing…yay.

But first, more coffee.

Fink out.

PS – thanks for all the kind wishes through email and comments!

It’s here

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The wedding day is here, finally! Color me excited. And worried…

Ike has made landfall — right in Helen’s family’s front yard (they are from Galveston and Houston). It is good to have them up here, because they are safe and “things” can be replaced, but they are extremely concerned about what they’re going to see when they get home. The pictures on television don’t look so good.

Helen’s parents live in one of the few homes that survived the 1900 Galveston hurricane. Patti tells me that their house sits on heavy cypress beams that are almost petrified — like stone. She just hoped that the storm surge wasn’t so high that it passed them up and flooded the main structure.

The challenge for us all today is to know that the weather is going to do its thing no matter what, but we cannot let that destroy the joy. After all the preparations, the worrying, the craziness, the minor last-minute disasters…it all happens for Lars & Helen today, and I for one couldn’t be happier for them.

The rehearsal luncheon/barbecue was yesterday, and fun was had by all. About 40 people milled about inside while the rain came down, but no one cared. Lars was soaking wet from fetching and carrying, and Helen hadn’t slept but a couple of hours the previous night, but they both looked great. And relaxed. And silly.

More pictures tomorrow. I know, I’m pathetic. It’ll only last for one more day, promise.

PS – check out the menu. I plan to go around to everyone’s table, fork in hand, asking, “Hey — you gonna finish that filet?” Yummy.

So what?

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Who cares. Big whoop.

LeBron, LeBron, LeBron. Once again, “King James” (hork) makes the news here in northern Ohio, and not for what he does at Quicken Loans Arena. Last year, he showed up at an Indians playoff game against New York wearing a Yankees ball cap. He was booed. He didn’t care.

Then, last Sunday, to add insult to injury (yes, I know the Browns suck, shut up), he stood on the Dallas Cowboys sideline at Browns Stadium and hugged Jimmy Johnson and Terrell Owens, and schmoozed with the team in full view of Browns players (and honked off fans). More booing, followed by more not caring.

Feh.

He’s been called the “next Michael Jordan,” or even better. Well, wait a minute, pard. In all the years I watched Jordan play with the Bulls, never once did I see him show up at a Bears game wearing a Packers hat, or at a Cubs or White Sox game in a Dodgers jersey. (Didn’t he even play for the White Sox for a season or two? Can’t remember.) I didn’t know what his favorite team was, and it didn’t seem to matter; I don’t think he would have flaunted his awesomeness in such a classless way, regardless of  his personal preferences.

So, while it’s completely within LeBron’s rights to flaunt whatever it is he flaunts, don’t put him in the same category with Jordan. I’m sure James figures he does enough for the city of Cleveland by giving them exciting games to watch, and by putting his name on a foundation or two, so yay, he’s awesomely awesome and let’s get over it.

Hey LeBron…how about a foundation for doctoral students in need of help with their tuition? Now there’s a cause, gosh dangit.

But regarding the hat-sporting and Cowboy-hugging…it’s not a huge deal. I mean, money can’t buy class or personal discretion, and truthfully, just because he’s from Akron doesn’t mean he has to follow Cleveland football and baseball. If he wants to act like a dumb kid, I say rock on. Let him play out his contract, then good riddance to him. Could the rumors about his going to New York or New Jersey be all hype? It remains to be seen. Like the man says, the Benjamins will be the final deciding factor.

Fink out. Oh hey — you’re going to work today, and I’m not.

:P

Photo credit: Associated Press

Like everyone else…

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…or at least a huge portion of the blogging population, I think it’s fitting to commemorate the 2001 event that changed the world. No pictures today. Just a memory.

Know what sticks in my mind like super glue? The ice-blue sky that day. There wasn’t a cloud anywhere. I will never forget that image; I don’t know why, and I can’t tell you why it’s bothered me all these years. Maybe it’s the incongruity of it; the beauty before the tragedy. Regardless, it’s burned in my memory forever.

Anyway…

I don’t know precisely what I was doing at that moment, but I was nowhere near a television (back then, I didn’t have a TV in my classroom). I was walking down the school hallway, on my way back to my room from the office, when another music teacher met me and said, “I think somebody just bombed the Pentagon.” From that moment, it was on. Total confusion. I remember being uneasy and just a little fearful. I immediately thought about Pearl Harbor in 1941 (the last time anyone perpetrated an open act of war on United States land). With only sketchy information, I didn’t know what to think about everything.

I had to teach a class, and by the time it was over, it was about 9:40 (the attack happened at 8:48). I went to another teacher’s room, where I watched in disbelief what had developed while I was with 8th graders. Everyone was in shock. People came to the school and picked up their children. No one knew what it all meant or what was going to happen next. I think a bunch of us experienced an inexplicable urge to nest. I wanted to be home with my family. It was an awful day, followed by some more awful days.

I watched part of CNN’s coverage of the initial event this morning. I had to stop watching. Too horrible when you know what’s going to happen…

I’ve been to New York twice since 9/11, and I must say it is a city of resilience. That’s gratifying and comforting to see. But part of me is still mad. Mad at the arrogant hubris of America, mad at the psychopaths who were behind this mass murder, mad at someone or something I can’t identify. It’s unsettling.

I think I’ll ruminate on it today. I’ll mix a cocktail out of it; sadness of the anniversary of 9/11, and absolute joy at Lance & Heidi’s upcoming wedding. It will be a good weekend after all.

Fink out.