When I Get Lonely and Bored
I have a strong passion for The Godfather I and The Godfather II. Recently, I've been listening to the new audiobook "The Godfather: A Film We Can't Refuse." One of the recurring themes discussed in the audiobook is family loyalty, a theme that is also heavily emphasized in Mario Puzo's orignal novel. However, I've always found it contradictory that Michael, despite the emphasis on family loyalty, ends up killing his brother Fredo. So I decided to seek some therapy from Eliza, I mean ChatGPT. If I begin posting more blogs like those, please help me and pull me out of the abyss.
Thaddeus
He almost had to be a crook with a name like Thaddeus Moriarty. While this may be true, he was also my great-grandfather's brother. The three brothers arrived in New York City in 1851. The youngest was about three years old, the oldest, Thaddeus, was eight, and my great grandfather, Daniel, was five. They were the last wave of nearly two million Irish immigrants to arrive in the United States during the Irish Potato Famine.
Emmett
Some would say we had it all. Others not so much. I didn't get to see all the New York sports teams in color in 1969 when the Knicks, Jets, and the Mets all won championships. We didn't have Apple music, but I did get my first Beatles album in 1965, Help. I saw the circus at the original Madison Square Garden on East 23rd and Madison. I can't imagine how much better I would have done in school if I had Google. We had some fun times. We were the children of the greatest generation, so that should count for something. If I were to add it all up, my boys of Generation Z have it much better today in many ways. But not in one way in particular. Baby boomers generally don't fear clowns. The first time someone tried to explain their "clownaphobia," I thought they were kidding me. I loved clowns at the circus, and the only thing better than the circus was a baseball game at Yankee Stadium.
Buddy
Buddy fell from the tree, and that was that. Wait, there's more. In late April 1959, I met Buddy for the first time. He was about 50 days older than me. We became best friends over the next few years. When we were five, we had already decided that we would be best men at each other's weddings and godfathers to our children. To say we were best friends would be an understatement. How many people can say that they have a best friend who they've known since they were about two weeks old?
Charlie
Although most Americans were concerned about the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, my friends were engaged in rock fights. Rock fights, that's right. My memory of these particulars must be incorrect because no one died. If you don't mind, let me rewind a bit. A family of three girls moved across the street from me in the summer of 1969. My friends and I built a treehouse in the woods near my house. The girls started climbing up our treehouse a few weeks after they moved in. Our initial attempt was to tear down the ladder and install a rope climbing system, but that did not work either. We implemented a duty watch system that required someone to be on duty at all times to ensure they couldn't climb the rope and use the treehouse.
Mulligan
The first dog I ever had was named Mulligan. In many cultures, dogs are considered a powerful symbol of unconditional love, loyalty, and protection. Native American symbolism associates the dog with security, unconditional love, and devotion. Besides eating dogs, the Chinese also believed that it would bring good fortune if a dog entered a home. The patron saint of dogs in Christianity was Saint Roch. Saint Roch was imprisoned for five years for spying back in the 14th century. I guess they were so upset with him that they even accused his dog, and they were both sent to prison.
Introduction
In 2021, I wrote around sixty thousand words for my Dr. Deming book. I have written a lot of blogs over the years, but this experience has sparked my passion for writing in ways I have never experienced before. I have always felt self-conscious about writing in public. Technically I am not a very good writer. Nevertheless, after working with a consultant over the past year and learning about AI language models, I now feel more confident to "write." Every successful author will tell you that you must write if you want to succeed. Every day, they will say to you. Right now, that isn't possible for me, but I plan to write a short entry every week.