Will Wonders Never Cease?

Today, on this blog, there's actually something about blogging.

Well, OK, not on this blog. That would be too much to hope for, right? Right. No, instead, I have something that has to do with blogging in my column today in the Boston Herald.

Well, OK, not about blogging, per se, but about someone I met while blogging (except we haven't met yet, except on our respective blogs.)

Well, OK, I'm trying very hard to make it seem like I still have something valuable to say here instead of just making this a space where you find out I'm asking you to go someplace else and read what I really have to say. I think I'm failing. Anyway, my piece in the Herald concerns one Chris Mauger, who used to blog almost as much as I used to blog. While I have become a published writer who doesn't quite make a living at it, the reason Chris doesn't blog so much now is because he took up running and lost a couple hundred pounds. All in all, he probably made the better decision.

(I exaggerate a bit. Chris didn't lose a couple hundred pounds. He did lose quite a bit, though, and is entirely unrecognizable from what he used to look like when I first encountered his blog...

[Chris, 2012]

[Chris, 2013]

What a difference running makes! It's enough to make me want to exercise, but not quite.

I find what he accomplished rather amazing, even though I'm going to feel like a fat bum when we meet up, which is what my piece in the Herald is about - somewhat - and now that I've come full circle, and also fulfilled my daily quota for useless parentheses, I'll step back outside of them.)

I've probably totally unintrigued you, as if that's a real word, but here's a link to the Boston Herald anyway in case you have nothing better to do with the next five minutes!

Thanks for stopping by and if anyone can remember the name of Chris's old blog... Ah! It just came to me! Knucklehead!

(That was the name of his old blog, not a name I'm calling myself even if it would fit. Want to read something extremely funny? Go to his old blog and find out whatever happened to Sam-I-Am and Wile E. Coyote, but only after you've gone to the Boston Herald, of course! Chris did a whole series of those "Whatever Happened To..." stories about cartoon characters and every one of them is brilliant. Search them out and you won't be sorry. And neither would any publisher who decides to publish them all in book form, so if you're a publisher why don't you do that? Then, since I turned you on to such a magnificent find, you can publish a collection of my best stuff, too, and lose all the money you made on Chris's stuff.)

Thanks for stopping by. If you leave a comment at the Herald's website, I might write a column about YOU someday. If you can somehow get a letter to the editor published, praising me as the second coming of Thurber, I promise to NEVER write about you, which is a much better deal.)

Soon, with more better stuff.

Exclusive! Secret behind New England Patriots successes revealed!

But not here. Go to the Boston Herald and find out.

Soon, with more better stuff.

P.S. If you're from the Pittsburgh Steelers, pay no attention to this.

RIP, Childhood Favorite

My piece in the Boston Herald today concerns, among other things, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, which is scheduled to play its final shows for all time in May.

[photo from their website at Ringling.com]

I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed the circus over the years.

Soon, with more better stuff.

More of Me to Love

Knowing my ego, you probably think the title means that there is another of my columns now available at the Boston Herald. Well, yes. But it also means that's the subject of my column. After the holidays, there's more of me to love.

You're a smart bunch, so you've probably figured out what that means. But if you haven't - or even if you have - why not go to the Boston Herald and read all about it? After all, if you love me (and why wouldn't you?) you'll probably at least like my column.

If you go there, my big fat self says "Thank You!"

Soon, with more better stuff.

Shoveling Snow

If you're from a cold place in the world, did you ever shovel snow as a kid to earn a couple of bucks? If so, you'll likely enjoy my piece in today's Boston Herald. If you've never shoveled snow, you might enjoy it anyway. Who knows?

In any case, HERE IT IS. I hope you enjoy it.

As always, I appreciate your reading me and I hope you'll leave a comment at the website (or, better yet, write a letter to the editor telling the paper what a cool guy I am. Get it? Snow? Cool? Har-Har.)

Soon, with more better stuff.

A Little (White) Christmas

As some of you already know, MY WIFE and I celebrate Little Christmas. My story in the Boston Herald today concerns that. I hope you like it.

Here's a link!

Thanks for stopping by. I truly appreciate your continued patronage.

(Man, that sounds like some extremely insincere business owner, doesn't it? I really mean it, though; honestly.)

Soon, with more better stuff.

Healing a Broken Nation

We are a nation divided. Your actions, over the next couple of weeks, may help to bring us together or serve to drive us even farther apart. And this is no time for straddling fences; those who haven’t already chosen a side must do so.

Is your Christmas tree still up or have you already taken it down?

(To those who say, “Sully, I didn’t even put up a tree!”, you are denying the very premise of my column and are therefore beneath contempt. Go read Charles Krauthammer and trouble us no more with your frivolous thoughts about such trivialities as economics and possible world wars.)

 Charles Krauthammer, who probably thinks I'm silly (if, indeed, he thinks of me at all.)
 Of course, with a name that conjures visions of a tool for pounding cabbage,
 he has his nerve thinking I'm silly.

As you read this - unless you’re woefully behind on your reading - our tree is still up. Some find this bizarre since they take down their trees as soon as the clock strikes midnight on the 25^th. My wife and I, on the other hand, find those who deny themselves the enjoyment of the latter end of Christmas akin to the sorts of people who have soup, salad and an entrée, but then skip dessert.

As you know - if you’ve seen me blather about it on these pages just about every November - I hate it when Christmas encroaches on Thanksgiving. Those who put up their Christmas trees before Turkey Day – or, God help us, before Veterans Day – are enemies of the state (that state being my continued enjoyment of the world as it was in 1965 or so.) And I suppose it’s only right that I answer those who opine (Get it? Opine? It’s a tree pun! Sometimes I kill myself…) that leaving up our Christmas tree for so long after Christmas is just as hideous (but not quite as hideous as this sentence.)

OK. Being as judgmental as I am, I’ll do what other judges do and cite precedent. The day of Christmas has long been held to NOT be the only day of Christmas. In the case of Partridge vs. Pear Tree, it was firmly established that there are, in fact, 12 days of Christmas. So there.

All seriousness aside, Christmas runs from December 25 to January 5. Then there is January 6, which is also known as “Little Christmas” and, after tomorrow, we'll be beyond even that. So now my case is falling apart faster than David Price did in the American League playoffs. I don’t care, though, because I’ve reached 425 words and only have 75 to go before I can knock off for the day.

So, in conclusion, let me state that Christmas trees are beautiful things and should not be tossed aside like garbage or the 114th Congress, if I’m not repeating myself. Furthermore, I find it extremely disheartening that so many people started reading about Charles Krauthammer six paragraphs ago and are no longer paying any attention to me jabbering on about nothing. Therefore, whether your tree is up, down, or non-existent, I suggest you have a jelly donut and try to forget I wasted these last few minutes of your life. I know I will.

Soon, with more better stuff.

P. S. For some time now, I've been trying to figure out whether I've "made it" or not, insofar as writing goes. Being published in a number of different places is good, and I appreciate that success, but I believe when I someday see a link to a Wikipedia article about me, in somebody else's lunatic ravings - a la Charles Krauthammer above - that's when I'll know.

Little Guys & Old Men

Intriguing title, no?

Well, I hope it is. That's because the intent is to get you to go someplace else and get more than you're getting here (which isn't much lately, I admit, and God bless you for still coming back anyway.)

In case you hadn't already guessed, I want you to go to the Boston Herald and read my latest column, which has to do with the title here. If you're a sports fan, I'm sure you'll like it. If you're not a sports fan - Hello, Daryl! - you might get a kick out of it anyway. Who knows? It will only cost you a couple of minutes and I'd do the same for you if I wasn't such a self-centered dope.

Honestly (he said, knowing full well that he couldn't be trusted) it's good stuff and I do very much appreciate your patronage.

Soon, with more better stuff.

Happy New Post!

I mean, Happy New YEAR!

(But, there is also a Happy New POST, since I am in the Boston Herald on this first day of the New Year. And happily enough, the NEW POST has to do with the NEW YEAR! Isn't it cool how it worked out that way?)

First and foremost, I hope everybody who visits here has a great start to 2017. You have helped me in many ways - coming here, going there, leaving comments (both here and there), and via your encouragement and prayers. I appreciate it, very much.

Here's a link to the Boston Herald.

Soon, with more better stuff. And thank you!