The Results

Well, kids, the votes are in.

It seems you're really interested in three of the five stories.

So, in order, we'll tackle:

• My life as a star
• My night with the homecoming queen, the cheerleader, the salutatorian and a former crush
• My trip to Italy to surprise my wife

The ticket scalping story registered one vote, so that will remain untold. And, shockingly (at least to me), the Bob Denver story registered zero votes. I know he's dead, but we're still talking about Gilligan, people. Oh well. I'm over it.

Thanks for your votes -- and for your continued interest.

Coming Monday -- my life as a star.

What else? I got nothin'.

Reader's Choice

Ok, so the thing is this. Apparently you like what I write.

Why? Because people are visiting. I know, because I'm watching you.

And, truly, thank you -- for sticking with me this long, especially through the dry spots. I'm going to try and be better. Things have just been nuts. And, with child number two coming, they will stay that way, but I'm going to try and be better.

And, so, as a reward for your faithfulness, I'm putting control of this space for the next five blogs directly in your hands.

We vote so much these days. American Idol. Dancing With the Stars. God knows what else.

With this post, you get to vote again.

Say what? Read on.

I'm going to list some potential topics. Your job is to post a comment (anonymous or not, I don't care) and tell me which three you'd like to read about first. I'm posting this Wednesday night. I'll post the winner sometime Friday and then follow up with the remaining most popular topics -- according to your votes!

I figure it this way...you like what I write. But you don't get any choice in what I write about.

Until now.

Excited? Hope so. If not, pretend!

OK....let's see, I'll start with five things I could write about, in no particular order:

1. The day I spent riding around in a limo with Bob Denver (yup, Gilligan).
2. The time I almost got arrested trying to scalp tickets to the Red Sox.
3. My trip to Italy -- where I surprised my wife (who was already there) for her birthday.
4. A fun time I recently had with friends from high school -- the cheerleader, the homecoming queen, the salutatorian and one of my first crushes.
5. My life as a star -- from radio personality to movie extra.

So...there you have it. Five topics just pulled from the top of my head.

The poll is now open. You are in control. I write what you want.

So, what's it going to be?

What else? I got nothin'.

Idle Thoughts

Well, it's been since the great flood of 2007 that we've talked. Yup, the basement was up to its silly tricks again -- causing the shop vac to run at first every 15 minutes, and eventually, later, every hour, to contain the seeping water in the basement. The storm was Sunday. The shop vac was running until Saturday.

It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have the coolest basement. It's our main TV room. And it has a fireplace. And it has the two best massage/heat recliners I've ever sat in.

This post is called Idle Thoughts....but how can I do an Idle Thoughts post without some Idol Thoughts? Yup, American Idol. What can I say? I'm hooked. He who shall never be named is finally gone. Phil next, please. Then Chris. Then KiKi. Leaving a final three of Blake, Jordin and Melinda. I'm pulling for Jordin.

So, went to Indiana this past weekend. My brother got married. Small wedding. Just family. Second wedding for both of them. They are very happy and have been doing the distance thing for more than five years. Why? They met on the Internet. So if you hear horror stories, I'm sure they exist. But for my brother and my new sister-in-law Teresa, it's all good.

Sox swept the Yanks. Say it's only April. I don't care.

Our son turns three May 8. Where the heck did that time go?

But, of course, things change just a few weeks later when the newest member of the family arrives.

We hadn't told our son about the fact that he was going to be a big brother. We wanted to wait as long as we could -- knowing there is no sense of time at all. And, we wanted him to see his new room being made ready. And, our furniture is coming this week and soon he'll be in his 'big boy' bed. Exciting!

So, he never made any comment about mommy's tummy, and we figured that it was time to tell him. We sat down one Saturday morning and gave him the news. He was actually more into it than we expected. But, the sense of timing issue came up almost immediately. He went down for his nap, and when he woke up, the first words out of his mouth were, "Baby here yet?"

Classic stuff.

Just like this one. He was in the tub recently, and when he sat down and extended his legs, he looked really long. He is tall for his age, but it really looked it in the tub.

So, my wife told him what a big boy he was. "Why, mommy?"

Well, she said, you're legs are growing so tall because you are eating all your fruits and vegetables and drinking your milk.

If you thought the conversation ended there, think again. Imagine the surprise when he then said, "Penis grow, mommy?"

I think that's one for your father to answer, she said. Love it. Great stuff.

So my friend, John, is kind of nutty. Case in point -- check this out. You know what? It's worth it. The guy is so funny. Such a truly good guy. If you ended up with it, you'd enjoy it. He's that much fun. You can also find more about John here.

I think that's it for now. It's late. I'm tired.

What else? I got nothin'.

Noah's Ark

So this is what Noah felt like?

Ugh. The basement water issue is back.

The crazy Nor'easter blew through over the last 36 hours. Nothing in the basement until 11:30 last night when it started seeping in. That's the kiss of death. We don't get a huge flood, we get constant seepage.

As in the type that requires using the shop vac, oh, I don't know, every 15 minutes. It's horrible.

It's also more than $7,000 to fix. Needless to say, I'm pretty good with the shop vac. We get water when nobody else seems to. Very strange. It's been on and off since we've been in the house.

But, I'm also home from work in order to do it. Can't really have a wife who is seven months pregnant doing the work.

So, even though the rain has stopped (for now), the water continues.

What else? I got nothin'.

One of Those Days

We've all had one of those days. You know, the kind of day that just sucks.

The kind of day when you get pissed at stuff for no apparent reason. The kind of day when, let's face it, today is Wednesday, but it's already been such a long week, it feels like it should be Wednesday of next week already.

Well. Guess what?

Today is one of those days. And, the thing is, I'm not even sure why. But, here are five possibilities:

Maybe it's because I'm suffering from a lack of natural light in my new office. Oh, you don't know about my new office? You know, the one with two windows instead of five? And, the one with a crooked floor.

Maybe it's because my son has been sick, my wife has been sick and I've been trying not to get sick. Nobody is as fun when they are sick -- especially me.

Maybe the wind, rain and impending cold have me down. Perhaps Mother Nature is punishing me for breaking out the short sleeve shirts before April 1?

Maybe I just can't get over that more than 30 million people are going to keep Sanjaya on American Idol for yet another week.

Maybe I'm cranky because I'm craving cookies. Of course, I had cookies in my lunch. But, I was also hungry at 10 a.m., which is when I ate my cookies. So, now I sit here simply cookieless.

It could be one of those. It could be two of those. It could even be all of those.

If I figure it out, I'll let you know.

What else? I got nothin'.

P.S. I'm thinking it might be the cookies.