Farewell, Ol' Buddy

As I mentioned in my previous post, my wife and I celebrated our Tenth Wedding Anniversary on April 26. We couldn't do anything special that evening because I had to go to night court, which sucked, but I was able to get home not too late so we could share some Chinese food. Not overly romantic, I know, but it was all good (and I got to see the Rangers win a thrilling game 7 after my wife and kids went to sleep). Luckily, I had set it up that our real anniversary celebration was the Saturday before where I took my wife to see Mamma Mia, which was amazing, and had a great dinner afterwards at my wife's favorite restaurant. A wonderful day all around.

Besides getting married ten years ago around this time, I also bought my second computer as a birthday gift for myself (yes, I do that occasionally). My first computer was a Packard Bell in 1996, which had as much computing power as some cheap smartphones today.  My second computer was top of the line in 2002, a Dell Dimension 4400. The problem with technology, of course, is that it tends to be obsolute as soon as you buy it.  I made the Dell last ten years and it's still going today, barerly. I survived a major crash in 2007 where the Blue Screen of Death nearly claimed another victim, but I was able to rebuild the computer to make it last until today.

Ten years of marriage, ten years older, it was about time to get a new computer. I ordered a top-of-the-line HP over the weekend and I should be getting it this week.  I'll miss my Dell. Heck, I've written all my manuscripts on that computer and it was there from my first book until going on submission two weeks ago.  It's had a good computing life. Thanks ol' buddy.

April 26, 2002

Ten years ago today, on a Friday evening at Holy Family Church in the Bronx, I married the love of my life, Betsy Morales, whom I had met at John Jay College of Criminal Justice six years earlier.  Thanks for the best 16 years of my life with two wonderful kids. Happy Anniversary, Betsy!!!

Today in History

As we all know, 100 years ago today the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, and 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives. A tragedy forever immortalized in history. Yet history played out slowly that fateful night/early morning and the news trickled out to the world.

How different would it be today with the instant news cycle? We would hope that help could arrive quicker as passengers would take to cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter to get the news out about what was happening.On the flip side there'd probably be live streaming of the sinking and ensuing chaos with the world watching. Modern media cuts both ways.

Here. We. Go ...

Back on March 30th I mentioned that my agent and I were switching gears and focusing on my YA paranormal thriller LISTEN. Well, we are in full swing now because I am officially on submission! Yes, it's exciting and a little scary, but it's the point I've waited so long for that many times I didn't think it would come. Now it's here and I'm going to celebrate a little with my wife and two kids tonight. A nice dinner with one of my favorite foods (fried pork chops) and just lounge for a bit before I watch my Knicks take on the Bucs in the biggest game of the season.

After that I'll begin the waiting part and keeping myself busy writing-wise. That shouldn't be too hard because I've started plotting out the two LISTEN sequels (come on, you know this had to be a trilogy) and have a heavy dose of revisions to work on for DRAGORO.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

To all those who celebrate Easter, may you all have a Happy Easter filled with love and joy.

Good Friday, the True Date

Tomorrow is Good Friday, the solemnest day in the Christian calendar, which commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. The traditional year for the date of Jesus’ crucifixion is 33 CE (Common Era, aka AD), but this is based on the false premise that Jesus was born the year before 1 CE and died at the age of 33.

The actual date for Jesus’ crucifixion is Friday, April 5 in the year 30 CE. Matching the Gospel accounts with the Hebrew and modern-day calendars, the year 30 CE is the sole viable choice because that was only year in Jesus’ late adult life where Friday was the end of the first day of Passover (which began Thursday evening). According to Scripture, Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. Passover in the year 30 CE was on the night of April 4 (Nisan 15, 3790) and the Last Supper was a Passover Seder.

Knowing the precise date is easier than knowing where the term Good came from. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “Some say it is from ‘God’s Friday’ (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag, and not specially English.”

The Boys Are Back!

Wednesday marks the start of another season of Major League Baseball and my Yankees open up in Tampa on Friday. The start of the baseball season is the unofficial start of spring for me, so it's always filled with anticipation and excitement, especially with this glorious run we Yankee fans have had since the start of the 1993 season. I was in the Army back then when the team finally had emerged from the few dark seasons and laid the foundation for the late 1990s dynasty and the 2009 championship squad.

NFL hall of famer, Howie Long, perfectly contrasted baseball and football. In his hall of fame induction speech he said that while baseball was America’s pastime, football was America’s passion. I agree with that. I’m passionate about football, but love baseball. Someone else described the distinction as football being the way life is while baseball is the way life should be. No matter how much the owners and players try to screw it up, and the media criticizes it, baseball is still a great game. A game to enjoy for the whole family, and my family surely does.

The thing I cherish most about baseball is the nostalgia, both in the game and in your own experience. The game is a time machine where you can envision the players of the past playing the same game as today, and the players from today playing in the past, even with the whole steroid issue. The personal nostalgia is the memories I have, of my parents being big baseball fans (they still are), but my father being mainly a Met fan, and my mother being a die-hard Yankee fan. I was born in 1972, so I never got to see the original Yankee Stadium, but my mother did. She also got to see Mickey Mantle play. My mother suffers from dementia, but while her memories have left her they remain with me from the stories she shared. That’s the beauty of baseball