#295

My spaces in our home are overrun with books. Bedside table, dresser, shelves, office table; often I leave books on the eating tables and counters. I can be cluttery and messy with books. I wish the same for M 'n' m, now and always.

M 'n' m spend over a month a year under the roofs of their grandparents' houses. For you math and calendar wizards, this is a twelfth of their days; equivalent to a night every two weeks spent in the full sunny, happy, generous, loving influence of grandparents. I'm grateful.

"His witty grandfathers were a serious influence on (Peter) Arno’s humor, especially in contrast to his strict, ambitious father." From Vanity Fair. I'm not a 'strict, ambitious father,' but I want M 'n' m to be influenced and broadened by the varieties in personality, style, disposition, wit and wisdom, and energy they will witness genuinely in those they share a deep, reciprocal love with. 

I found this note I scribbled on Father's Day: The era of Facebook has given us a broad and popular canvas for 'tribute,' if that makes sense; we thank and praise loved ones on holidays, birthday, anniversaries. It's Father's day, and I can't put into words – a phrase, of course, that is always followed by... more words – my gratitude for my grandfathers, uncles, father-figures, and father. The toughness, the wit, the entirety of their lives, energies, and stories; I feel very lucky.

When I was young, my dad was a cigarette-smoker and often called them 'bogies.' "I'll be right back," he'd say, "I'm gonna have a bogie." It went like that. He also had a mustache. He was cool. He still is. Bogart is cool, too; a master cigarette-dangler, and the voice. But clean-shaven. Rollie Fingers, Burt Reynolds, Tom Selleck, Clark Gable, and Einstein are really cool. The mustache musters a mini-comeback now and then, and I'm always supportive.

Why can't the National League win an All-Star game? With this week's loss, the NL has won 3 of the last 20. They're impressively inept. I'm both disappointed and confounded by the AL's dominance. Michael, less so. He likes the Royals and Twins. I don't give a shit about the Royals and Twins. If the World Series comes to Wrigley, I want home field advantage for the Cubs (determined by the 'Midsummer Classic' result now for a decade). And obviously, this means if things go seven, four come to Wrigley, not three. Are you laughing because the Cubs never go to the World Series? Well, you're wrong. They did. In late 1945, my Grandpa wrote home from Austria (still in ETO after surviving WWII) predicting the Cubs would beat the Tigers in the World Series. He was wrong (the Cubs won game 6 in extras to force a game 7 which they lost). Grandpa Swede was likely somewhat objective, because he was a lifelong Cardinals fan. Nobody's perfect. So it's 70 years since an appearance, and about 110 since a win. That's rough.