Even if nobody asked:
1. Am I the only one who puts gas in their car not based on the fuel gage but by the weather outside? Of course, I’m also the guy that uses a money clip and only adds cash once the credit cards start falling out.
2. I’m an idiot, example infinity: I only recently learned that the two British royalty celebs known as Meagan Markle and Kate Middletown are not, in fact, the same person. Those names and their images have always been interchangeable to me. Yeah, I’m THAT stupid.
3. John Steinbeck is better known for his harrowing work, The Grapes of Wrath, but his finest novel for me checks in as the #3 best book I’ve ever read: East of Eden. Steinbeck himself considered this his masterpiece (so I guess I’m right 😎). A brilliantly told 20th century Cain and Able story with so much wisdom and depth that it intimidates my writing to know that level of talent is out there.
4. Words people use to sound smarter but immediately brand themselves otherwise: irregardless.
5. Failed leadership has consequences. Big East Commissioner, Val Akerman, stood idly by and allowed the unpreceded theft of one of its member programs CEO’s (Ed Cooley, Providence College head coach) by another member program (Georgetown) in March of 2023. The courtship of Cooley by Gerogtown was not only a no-no in the unwritten rules of conference partnerships but it also took place DURING the season! Ackerman slept through it all. Earlier this week, the debt came due. The Big East conference received only three of its expected five bids to the NCAA tournament, costing member programs MILLIONS. If you think one had nothing to do with the other let me introduce you to my friend, Karma. “Oh where have you gone Dave Gavitt, our conference turns its lonely eyes to you.”
6. Came to discover that not only does speaking LOUDER not help translate English to Italian but saying the English words with an Italian accent doesn’t work either. You’re welcome.
7. Quote I’m pondering about myself: “They passed out the brains, he thought they said trains and he missed his.”
8. Speaking of trains, I was on one from Florence to Milan recently and found myself seated across from a guy with every inch of his visible skin heavily inked. Elaborate, intertwined but each distinct and colorful. Most people might ask about the purpose and meaning of each. Not me, my mind fought my mouth for the next two hours to prevent asking him how much it all cost. “What’s the net worth of your skin, bro?” is where I was heading. Ultimately, I decided to ‘put a coal to my lips’. Not because it would have been rude but because, well, because he was tatted-up, and scary looking. I comforted my wilting ego by insisting he wouldn’t have understood my accented English anyway.
9. I invested in sitting down with my kids and watching the shows they watched (7th Heaven, iCarly, Hannah Montana etc..) when they were growing up, so I’m up on this stuff. Why has the incredible SINGER Miley Cyrus buried the great ACTRESS Miley Cyrus? She has the talent to do both the way Madonna THOUGHT she had the talent to do both (um, she didn’t.). Come on Hannah Montana, time to become a two-sport athlete!
10. The rumor has been out there, and I’m done pretending it’s not true. So I’m coming above board on this one. Yes, I do travel with a supermodel. It’s true. I do carry her bags and make sure she fly’s from the tarmac, not the jetway. So can we put this one to bed now?