Category Archives: Real Joe

According to StarTribune reporter Pat Reusse, Mariano Rivera kissed the pitcher’s mound after the Yankees won game 7 of the ALCS against the Red Sox. “I went to have a conversation with God,” Rivera said. “I was thankful to the … Continue reading →

I had my two-week knee check-up today with my surgeon. I can now shed my crutches and the CPM machine. I only have to wear the knee-immobilizer when I’m out of the house. I can go for walks, drive, and … Continue reading →

I walked into the physical therapy clinic on Friday without using crutches and the therapist said, “Jeez, you’re doing really well for only a week and half post-op.” When I told her it was only a day and a half, … Continue reading →

An early morning reflection from my hospital bed via audblog. (3 PM update: I’m now back home, doing fine, thankful for powerful drugs.)

I’m having ACL surgery early this afternoon, part of my civic duty to check out our town’s new hospital, as well as my patriotic duty to help stimulate the medical economy. As my son Graham wrote in his birthday card … Continue reading →

Back from Blogger Con in Cambridge. The session content was mainly pertinent to my day job with the exception of a Sunday session titled Weblogs and their Spiritual Context by AKM Adam, a professor at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and well-known … Continue reading →

I’ve added a blogroll to the right-hand column, with just three weblogs right now: Kent Nerburn, Real Live Preacher, and The World According to Chuck. More often than not, these guys are reflective in their blogs as they struggle to … Continue reading →

I’m heading to Boston tomorrow (Cambridge, actually) for a weblog conference at Harvard Law School called Blogger Con. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a conference of any kind just as a participant… nothing to sell, no presentations … Continue reading →

I spent an hour this morning walking through parts of Carleton College’s Arb taking photos and reveling in the beauty of a frosty fall morning. It actually wasn’t the first frost — that was a couple of days ago — … Continue reading →

After a few months off, my high school-aged daughter and I are back to our weekly dinner dates, something we started a while ago. We’re trying to do it on nights when my wife is working so it varies. Though … Continue reading →

My wife asked one of my sons last week if he remembered his “angry year” ten years ago or so in his mid-teens and how, after we spent two weeks camping and using a talking stick around the campfire several … Continue reading →

Another gem of a column from Stuart Greene in the October issue of The Rake: Sex & The Married Man: More Than a Mouthful. I like it that he’s unbabashedly a fan of his wife’s front and back porch — … Continue reading →

After getting my brace refitted two weeks ago, I thought I’d give racquetball one more try last week. I did, and my knee objected by popping out again, this time, in a manner that left no room for any further … Continue reading →

We’re heading to Lake Superior this weekend for a little more adventurous geocaching in the Duluth area while we take in the fall colors. I doubt the colors will be this good because of the drought we’ve had this year. … Continue reading →

Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of St. Peter’s Church in Mendota, MN. My family belonged to the parish while I was growing up and I went to its Catholic school from 5th through 8th grade. My mother was a teacher … Continue reading →

Utne’s Web Watch has a blurb on the Sexiest Movie Scenes Without Sex by Leo Schlink. The link to the original article is broken but here’s the working link. It’s all part of Utne’s Sep/Oct cover story, Unleash Your Erotic … Continue reading →

Thanks to Tyson (one of my kids) for pointing me to this Washington Post article yesterday: Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson prayed on his Christian Broadcasting Network, based in Virginia Beach, that Isabel would turn from the coast. He asked God … Continue reading →

In this week’s Time: Real Men Get The Blues: Depression is twice as common among women as men, but it may be the guys who suffer most. Often just as effective as any drug is cognitive therapy, a form of … Continue reading →

A footnote to earlier posts (here and here) re: married men visiting strip clubs: Lap dancing banned in Los Angeles: “The City Council has voted to ban lap dances and all other physical contact between entertainers and customers at strip … Continue reading →

My wife and I went geocaching for several hours last weekend. On the last hunt of the day (covered bridge park near Zumbrota), we met three delightful local kids on the trail (Jeffrey, Crystal, and Cassie) and they asked to … Continue reading →

My kids and I took my mother out for pizza this week to celebrate her 80th birthday. It went okay but it pisses me off that I let myself briefly turn into a teenager once again. I can’t exactly remember … Continue reading →

I’m experimenting using Google’s AdSense service. They give you code to place on your site and it generates context-sensitive text ads automatically. When people click through to the ad’s website, you earn varying amounts of money. I have the option … Continue reading →

Real Live Preacher tells a story about his wife’s love for him: “In the days when J. and I were engaged, she once answered the door of her apartment with a banana in her hand. Understand that this woman hates … Continue reading →

The World According To Chuck: a riveting story about his autistic son: The rages started when he was about 4, and they were ugly. His rage, my rage. One day he punched his mother, just hauled off and decked her. … Continue reading →

We would often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood all the motives which produced them. – Duc de La Rochefoucauld This article about philanthropist Zell Kravinsky, Kidney donor pushes his altruism to the extreme, appeared in … Continue reading →