...musings on the way to the Columbus airport...

In my last posting, there was a serious and "heavy" atmosphere to it. The trip out of Ohio was anything but. The stop at Kent State was sandwiched with some frivolity beginning at "Mike's Place."...

Not entirely sure what it was, but it had a replica "X-wing Fighter." No geek can pass that up...

...and my own geek moment...


And on the way to Akron, I caught a glimpse of one of the Goodyear blimps...


Before I get any further, I have to plug one of my better experiences in Ohio. I love fine convenience store stuff, and found that the chain in Ohio I liked was a store called "Sheetz." The had a breakfast menu, which featured "Shmuffins" stuffed with all kinds of eggs and pork, even a "Shbisquit," and their ultimate...The "Shmonster!!!" I even took home some "Shweets" for Becky, who really enjoyed the "no-bake peanut butter cookies." You can find them online at http://www.sheetz.com.

Now back to more tomfoolery.

WE WENT TO CANTON!!! WOO HOO!!!...


Here I am doing my best fat-QB-Sonny Jurgenson-JaMarcus Russell-imitation...except they can throw the ball more than 20 yards, and actually hit something. Guess that's why I was a lineman...


The "Hall of Fame" game kicks off the NFL season and is played in a stadium right next to the Hall. It's quite dinky...



We only had time for the gift shop, and I bought some things. A Browns retro jersey for Becky. She's not a Browns fan, but I thought she'd like the colors and the "Brownie" image from the '50's. Rachel got a Colts "Peyton Manning" jersey. I bought a Chiefs Christmas ornament. Not a whole lot of Chiefs stuff there, which really does show where they rate and rank in the league...not very high.

There was some art, which caught my eye. This is a painting of the last true warrior of the NFL, the Eagles' Chuck Bednarik...

He once hit Giants' running back, Frank Gifford, so hard the players thought he'd killed him. Put Gifford out of football for about a year and a half.

Here's some "sports cartoons" from various papers. Guess sports cartoonists have gone the way of the dodo...






That's it for now. The next post will be the last leg of our trek to the airport, which included a stop at a really "sweet" place, and a surprise remembrance of a dear friend.

Good night!

Eve of destruction...

Years ago, my wife and I lived in far western Kansas for a short time. Passing to and from Garden City, we would have to go by Holcomb, KS. It is an idyllic little town. Just common, out of the way folks. But there always seemed to be a pall over that community. I suppose when the glare of the news media, a best selling novel chronicling a singular tragic event that had happened there, and a blockbuster movie from that novel descends on such a town, it leaves it never to be the same.

Such is what will be commemorated tomorrow, May 4...the Kent State Massacre...


I don't remember anything of that day. I was like most of my classmates...trying to survive my freshman year of high school. Vietnam, the draft, hippies, etc., all seemed like something very far away. The music had changed, coming into the late '60's/early '70's. More protest songs. Songs with anger in them. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I doubt I was alone among my peers, I had a great dislike and distrust of then-President Richard Nixon. It was just a strange time.

Fast forward 40 years, and my boss is taking me to the airport after attending the Kaman's Art Shoppes new manager training/orientation. (Rhonda. Have you found me yet?)...sorry. Inside joke. We had talked about Ohio, and I had lots of lag time before having to be in Columbus to fly out. We were up in the Cleveland area, which is where the home office is located, and as it turns out, so is Kent State University. So we took a side trip to visit. Here I am at the memorial on the campus...

...they were planting daffodils for the occasion...


...this is what I saw as I came up the hill, and it's the spot the tragedy took place...


These four stones represent the four students slain that day...

It was hard to pray. What I could get out was the first line of the "mourner's kaddish." I'm not sure anyone can approach such a place with a cavalier attitude. Even though I have a reputation as a jokester, it was difficult to choke back a lump in my throat.

These three stones are in order from left to right...




From what Brad told me(and if my faulty memory has it correct), over 50,000 daffodils will be planted for all Americans who died in the Vietnam War...


This is a stage of some sort that was being erected. I'm sure it will be for whatever "remembrance" will take place at Kent State...

One of my other bosses went to Kent State. She joked about it being 5 1/2 years of blissful partying. And in many ways, that seems to be college life. Even the deprecating humor that most have for their "alma maters." She texted me, "Can't Read, Can't Write,...Kent State," which I'm sure is a standard joke from most alums. But in the American psyche, it will never lose the image of a time when Americans were killed by other Americans in such a tragic way, and a time when peaceful assembly as a basic right in our country was under such challenges. We had to look at ourselves differently from then on, even if it is the burden of Kent State University.

So with apologies to Neil Young...

"Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio."

...livin' in sin with a safety pin...

My cousin told me that I hadn't posted in about 6 weeks. Life been very topsy turvy of late.

Kaman's Art Shoppes...(have you found me yet, Rhonda?...)

Sorry for the interruption. Just had to sneak that in.

Coming soon will be my thoughts and memories on recent "new manager" orientation/training. And some of the things I saw on my way to the airport for my return flight. Met some really nice people at the home office. One was the HR rep, which explains my above "burping." (Hey, it would be nice to know these mad mutterings were viewed by a few more out of the 6 billion on this planet.

The sign was one I found at a place in Ohio. Couldn't pass up getting a pic.

Hope you all enjoy Free Comic Book Day.

Lates!

April...

April is here. Soon the park will be open, whether I'm ready for it or not.

I did spend the Saturday before Easter visiting my brother and his family. And this year they had his wife's family, too, for the weekend. Quite a house-full, but lots of fun.

The photo operation is still in flux. While the folks who do it for the company have told me not to worry, with assurances they know what they are doing, I still have this nagging bile in the back of my throat. There just doesn't seem to be much "margin." Or, not enough for me.

The one person who put a relaxed face on the thing was in town a while back, and while we were waiting on some official "sign-offs" from his boss, I sketched him as a "Simpsons" character. Here's how it turned out...


Gotta go!

Oy Vey!...

Well...March is about to an end and I really haven't done much. And the drawing has been non-existent. Just lots of stuff.

I did attend Planet Comicon this past Saturday and enjoyed it a lot. Did get to draw. Saw some old friends and hopefully made some new ones. The only bummer at the show was the news of former DC E-I-C, Dick Giordano, passing away. He was a good and kind man. I have a Batman sketch he did for me. If I get a chance, I'll get a pic of it and post it.

I've had some disappointments this month. Mostly staffing things. Some folks I thought were coming back, but after efforts to contact them haven't yielded(as my mother would put it) even a "Hi!," "Goodbye!," or "Go to Hell!", it seems prudent to move on and hire replacements. Puts a bit of a training strain but that's the biz, and it is constant and changing if anything. Nor do I begrudge those who have decided to "move on." I just wish they'd given me the common decency to let me know. It's real simple..."Hey, Mike. Things in my life have changed and I don't think I'll be coming back this season."...not hard to do.

And I made vows to myself regarding working at the park. 1) I wouldn't let it get in the way of my relationship with my wife. Last season did, and I spent a lot of the offseason trying to get back to knowing her and spending time with her. 2) It doesn't get in the way of honing my cartooning skills and working on projects I've envisioned. I'd like to achieve a few of my own dreams in the amount of life I have left. 3) I am not going to be pulled in many different directions by many different "higher ups." 4) It isn't going to take time from studying scripture and learning Hebrew. 5) Too much physical pain from the job isn't worth it.

Irony of ironies...all of these have already been broken. Plus my blood sugar has been spiked this past month, and I've been taking more and more insulin trying to get it down. It's from the stress. And I've had some twinges of tightness in my chest. There are other things, too, but a public forum like a blog isn't the place to air those things.

Suffice it to say, I feel like I may be coming to a crossroads if not already there. And it really kind of sucks to be almost 55 and still asking the question of what I would like to be "when I grow up?"

But tonight was a beautiful full moon, and I can only imagine what it was like those many years ago in Egypt when people were huddled in huts knowing the only thing keeping them from the Angel of Death was smeared blood on their doorposts. And that the next day would bring about a change in their lives. Or even the fear in those 2,000 years ago who had watched their Rabbi, their "King," their "Messiah,"...their "Hope" put to death, and wondering what would come next.

With that, I'll just sign off with Best Wishes to all for a Happy and Joyous Passover!

Good Holiday, and "L'Chaim!"

Good Holiday...

To everyone out there who are members of "The Tribe,"...I hope you have a Good Passover!

Um.....

Not sure what to think. Life has tossed a brick wall right at me. Not quite sure what to do.

Stay tuned???...