Reunited and it feels so......well, kinda eh

     Here it is, a Saturday afternoon and once again I am sitting in the Squirrel Cage awaiting my lunch, ideally I would not be here, I would have woke up early enough to go to breakfast instead, but between college kids partying last night, followed immediately there after by alcohol-infused yelling and fighting, my eyes didn't close for good until about 4am.  Saturday I have the luxury of going into work when I want band leaving when I want, I am only there to do a few things, mostly grocery ordering for Monday and price changes that also do not have to go into effect until Monday morning, so I realistically have until Sunday afternoon to get things done (the grocery order needs to be done by 1pm Sunday afternoon), which means that if I want to sleep in I can, though usually I would rather get up and get things done than spend most of the afternoon at work.  Because I fell asleep so late though, I woke up around 10:30am, putzed around on Facebook for a minute or three, grabbed a shower and headed out the door, getting into work around noon.

     Today is one of those days that would possibly be eventful; in most people's lives, and one of the reasons I am blogging today, that is because this evening is the 25th high school reunion for ye olde class of 1987 at Elderton High School.  Because the school is so small (my graduation class had about 85 people in it) and money being what money is and the size of the school being what it is (roughly 600 students in grades 7-12 when I went there), the reunion is a joint reunion of a few graduating classes, the classes of 1986, 1987,and 1988.  Proceeds of the ticket sales for the event are going to the Elderton-Plumcreek Recreation Park, a project that was initiated back when I was a wee pup (around 1983 or so) by one Jack Quinn, who was the Physical Education teacher and boys' volleyball coach at Elderton High School as well as being what would pass for a community activist in Elderton, a town with approximately 350 people within its city limits (the difference between the town population and the school enrollment can be attributed to busing).
     It was Mr Quinn's vision that took what had passed for a landfill previously and made it into a park that consisted of 4 tennis courts, 5 outdoor racquetball courts, a softball/little league baseball field nice enough to host regional playoff games, a playground and an outdoor sand lot volleyball court.  the ball field and volleyball courts also had lights so they could be used in the evenings as well as day light hours.  The park also has a refreshment stand, a press box for the ball field and would show free movies every Wednesday night.  Nothing great in the movie department, no first run flicks or anything like that, but for a town that small, the entire enterprise and effort in putting it together was a pretty grand achievement on the part of Mr. Quinn.  So, suffice it to say, the proceeds of tonight's festivities are indeed going to a good cause,
     All of that being said, and that was pretty much a mouthful on my part, I will not be attending the reunion, this year or should future invitations ever be extended my way, any other year.  As far as I am concerned that chapter of my life is pretty much closed and I just really don't have a desire to revisit it any time soon.  I didn't hate growing up in Elderton, nor did I hate going to school there, but many of the people I went to school with I guess you could say I am just ambivalent about.  They and I had little use for each other when I was going to school there, and I can't say my opinion has changed all that much in the 25 years since leaving.  Sure I had my own circle of friends, many of which I still keep in touch with, mostly through Facebook, but many of tonight's attendees will not be of that circle, instead it will be people with which I had no desire to break bread with then (or they to break bread with me for that matter) and ,my attitude has changed all that much, so to go and pretend that things are so much better now between myself and them would be to be dishonest with the past, and I just have no desire to do that.  I hope everyone in attendance has a good time, I just have no desire to be part of that crowd.
      Anyway, coming back tho the present, or at least the more recent past, things on the home front have been okay, not awesome but not bad, or at least not as bad as they were a week or so ago.  There was a patch there where I really didn't know if I was going to be in a relationship much longer.  Without going into details, it was just a time where it seemed liked most things that were happening were the wrong things, and as a result it was taking what is hard, that being a long distance relationship, and making it harder.  Sometimes though it is just a matter of taking a step back and assessing what is important, hanging onto that will is frustrating or painful, or just letting it go because that which is important and of value far outweighs it. 
     Those aren't the only things going on in my so called life however.  A quick glance to your right on the Shefari page will note that I have added 4 books to it in the last couple of weeks.  All of the books were good, and least good by my standards, though for different reasons.  "No Easy Day" is written by a member of the Navy Seal team that was part of the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Afghanistan.  I know the book jhas gotten a lot of press recently, most of it unmerited because it comes from different sides of the political divide, all trying to glom onto pieces of the book and ram home a phrase here or there that best suits their existing ideology, but in fact the book is mostly apolitical, it is just a first person account of what it is like to be a Navy Seal and happen to be on a mission that garnered worldwide attention, it more the story of a professional soldier than any sort of political diatribe.   The two Robert Parker books are part of the Spenser series that I like so much, but being late to the party I am still trying to catch up on all of the volumes of that series that I missed.  Given the series started back in the early 70s and I was around 4 years old, you can see why I missed many of the early stories, so I have been trying to find ones that I have missed and go back and fill in the blanks so I have a better understanding of the series as a whole.  The last book, "Mortality" was written by one of the few people I look up to, Christopher Hitchens.  A small book by Hitchens standards (a little over 100 pages total), it is the last book he ever wrote and details his life after being diagnosed with cancer, and the subsequent trials and treatments he was subjected to as a result of that disease.  Being Hitchens, it isn't just a simple "I was diagnosed with cancer" book, but full of literary references that he can seeming call back upon at will.  Hitchen's life ended much the way he lived it, an example of "to thine own life be true" if ever there was one.  Facing death only made him more resolute in most of his opinions, not less so.  Tis a shame that such a brilliant mind has been lost to us, but what a collection of work he leaves behind in his wake.  I think one of my next book purchases will be "Arguably". a collection of his finest essays all in one volume. 
     I should warn you, coming soon to a blog near you (that would be my blog, in case you hadn't guessed) will be the 2012 edition of the Christmas List.  I was talking to my mom on the phone this past Sunday, and amongst the many things we discussed was her desire for my new and improved list.  This one may take some contemplating on my part, some things will definitely be back (what is my list without asking for a Philly Cheesesteak sub after all?), but some of the things I ask for will have to be more thoughtful.  After all, I have been in a relationship for better than a year now, asking for female companionship would seem to no longer be a practical gift idea.    So there will be changes, some additions and some subtractions, I just have to sit down and sort it all out in ye olde cranium.
     Anyway, I have finished my lunch.  There are some other things I wanted to get to, but just not sure how to fit them in without making this blog entry sound even more disjointed than it already is.  far better for me to stop here and see if I can't collect those thoughts in another entry, one that isn't quite as wordy as this one has already turned out to be.  So, until next time, I am outtie like a bellybutton.