A Wee Bit O' This and a Wee Bit O' That....

Did a little celebrating on St. Paddy's Day weekend but it was bittersweet...We had a going away party for our friend Sandy...she got a great job in North Carolina but will have to move away from us for awhile....We didn't lose her forever..it will just seen that way...she still has her house down here in Paradise but she will only come for a visit once in awhile...she said she still wants to retire down here...but that's a long way off...she and dog..Bonnie...are going to be missed by all the gang...


Kenny Rose..her Nephew by marriage put on a final going away performance for her and we all had a great time at Braymor's Pub...Sandy and some of the girls performed while Kenny played the Unicorn song...You know the one I mean...about the unicorn missing the Ark..we had long necked geese, cats, rats, elephants and...pictured here their interpretation of the Alligator...That's Sandy on the right...We will all miss you Sandy....Best of Luck and stay in touch....


Went back up to T.J. Carney's a couple of days ago with Richard and Ronnie...Eddie and the Edsels were fantastic...all rock and roll favorites from the 50's and 60's..I never thought I'd see the day when Rock and Roll was what the old people listened to...Hey...Baby Boomers...lets face it...we have become the old folk...but at least we will go down doing the Electric Slide and the Twist...Oooh!...I think my back just went out.....




On St. Paddy's Day I went over to the Moose Club for Corn Beef and Cabbage...my poker playing buddy Frank got a gig there and he was fantastic...he kept the crowd going for hours with fun, games and music...he sang, joked and played keyboard and really kept all of us involved in a good time all night...He was a music teacher by trade but has always done gigs to help support the family...he said it was more like a musician who taught school on the side...you can really tell he has a great time doing it...he is supposed to be down here on vacation...he has more gigs than he can handle...


I had a book signing last week at Village Gifts and Coffee Shop here on Dearborn Street...it was great and I even sold a few books...still can't get used to the whole "Author" thing...but I guess I am...my publisher says he wants to do a hardcover version with all three books in one hardcover edition...that would be fantastic..book three won't be published by itself because it is more like a prequel...I wrote eight stories about Marine training and my trip from California to Vietnam by ship..good stories but not War Stories which is what Southfarm Press publishes...they will be great for the hardcover but not as a stand alone since it really is the beginning of my journey into war....



My friend Bill up in the frozen north loves to snowmobile real fast...when you hit a ditch at 70 miles an hour and come to an abrupt stop this is what happens to your arm and wrist...I have pictures of the actual bones protruding from the flesh but I'll spare you the gruesome sight...this is bad enough..this is what it looks like "fixed"...if you can call it that...Bill says he'll be ready to go again next winter...Hey, Bill come down here...if you fall off a jet ski all you do is get wet......



Ronnie's son's girlfriend Llana got a once in a lifetime opportunity...she had an interview with Archbishop TuTu for a project hosted by Project Explorer...Wow..that will be something to tell the grand kids.....



My favorite coffee shop hostess and all around great person Christi caught a couple of Snook that she has been after for a while...it seems that these fish were used to getting a free meal from the bait tanks at her family's bait shop and marina...she has tried every lure she had to get them hooked up for a fight to no avail...I gave her one of my secret weapon lures...the only lure I have used down here all season to catch every type of fish in the bay...no brag, just fact....and look what she caught first time out...nice going Christie...don't tell anybody our secret or there won't be many fish left in the Bay..By the way...this young lady is a certified Boat Captain going for her Master Captain's license and just completed certification for fire and rescue aboard any vessel...way to go.....



















On a final note...some of you may have already seen this but just in case we forget...remember..what ever you think about the politics of this war we are in..and it is a war...the men and women who stand on the front lines and those who support them are doing what they feel is the right thing...Don't ever forget the sacrifice they have made and are making every day...Say thank you to a vet..past or present..and let them know that you know how important they are to keeping this country free...

It is called...Generations of Valor...Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraced Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr during a Veterans Day commemoration in Dallas yesterday. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and an eye when he defused a bomb in Iraq last year.

That's All For Now,

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish..

Semper Fi

Monk