Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Names Will Never Hurt Me...Bullshit!

To say that middle school has been difficult for Olivia Gardner of Novato, California is like saying the poop doesn't stink! Nationwide, 4 in 10 teens have been victims of taunts and threats via social network Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, instant messages and text messages from cell phones, according to the National Crime Prevention Council. One in 8 reported feeling scared enough to stay home from school. Many of us have been through it...heck, being fat in high school didn't always make it easy. You had to figure out a way to cope. Some people are able to overcome "bullying" and some have permanent scars...and some of those scars have led people to take their own lives. Now that truly sucks!

In Olivia's case, it was so bad that after three different schools, her mother finally pulled her out and is homeschooling her. Olivia has epilepsy. It's not her fault but when she had a seizure at school, the other kids called her a "retard" and dragged her backpack through the mud. Thus began the bullying that followed her to two other schools. It escalated to posters posted around her school and even showed up online with a page on MySpace. She was happy for about a year at a third middle school, but then the mother and daughter were called on to help a classmate who said her parents abused her. During the Child Protective Services investigation, word got out that the Gardners were involved, and tables turned on them. The girl allegedly changed her story and told classmates that Olivia had tried to break up her family. Rumors spread again, and Olivia was bombarded with calls and e-mails. Students started wearing plastic bracelets declaring their hatred for Olivia, Kathleen Gardner said. It got so bad for this girl that she even contemplated suicide.

But then, the good of our world came out, came online and made a difference. And thank God for people like this. Two sisters, Emily and Sarah Buder, from nearby Mill Valley, read about Olivia's plight and wrote to her. They also got their schoolmates to write to her. Then it really started to spread and Olivia started getting letters of support from all over the country and beyond. She got letters from kids and adults. Over a thousand strangers have written to her to share their support. As word spread through the media and internet, letters flooded in from far beyond the Bay Area.

"I was expecting an immediate response just from the community around me," Emily said. "But then it was so incredible to see letters from Oregon, Australia and all these places." Children sent drawings of hearts or stick figures of themselves holding hands with Olivia. Many of these letters would bring tears to your eyes. Check these out...

"Dear Olivia, I think you are very brave ..."

"Dear Olivia, Don't let the bullies get inside your head ..."

"Dear Olivia, It goes to show that for every bully that puts us down, there are a hundred loving people to pick us up ..."

"Dear Olivia, I'm 60 years old and have lived in Marin County my whole life. When I was in the 5th grade I arrived at school and found a note in my desk signed by every girl in my class, except for my 2 closest friends, saying the most horrible things about me. ... Olivia, I hope it helps to know that others are thinking about you and have been through what you went through. Stay strong."

Rochelle Sides of Texas wrote of her daughter, Corinne Wilson, who fatally shot herself in the forehead one day after school when she was 13. It was the culmination of nearly a year of bullying by two girls who once were her best friends, "Every day they told her she was ugly and fat and couldn't sing and her hair was frizzy," said Sides, now active in anti-bully campaigns such as Bully Police U.S.A. Then, Sides said, the girls started telling Corinne she should just die. Corinne wrote about her problems in her English class journal but never spoke about them with her parents. Corinne must have felt terribly alone, her mother said.

The biggest part of this problem is that these kids, and kids like I was, feel alone. As adults, you can tell a kid that they are good, they are pretty, they have "potential" and that the bullies are wrong. But it really doesn't hold squat in this world full of peer pressure. So, just maybe, a lot of positive feedback from their peers could be just the thing to save their lives.


Olivia's scars aren't physical. But she rarely looks up while she speaks, preferring to fiddle with her hands or a silver heart necklace sent recently by an anonymous supporter. From behind a curtain of her hair, she answers questions about her interests -- guitar, keyboards, karate and drama. She wants to be an actress when she grows up. Olivia has made amazing progress and is accepting some requests to speak to students. She and the two sisters talked with fifth-grade girls in San Rafael at a program called Midway Cafe, which prepares them for the social rigors of middle school and the effects of bullying. She also is getting excited about starting high school next year.

Patti Agatston, an author and counselor who specializes in bully prevention for the Cobb County School District in Atlanta, also wrote a letter to Olivia and hopes to launch an "Olivia's Letters" link on her Web site, www.cyberbullyhelp.com. The idea is to gather the names of bully victims who could use some support and launch students on letter-writing campaigns. "It makes me feel I have support," Olivia says, "I just wish it was from someone I knew." You can mail encouraging letters to Olivia's Letters, c/o Janet Buder, 775 East Blithedale Ave. #106, Mill Valley, CA 94941 or e-mail janetbuder@aol.com.

Honestly, I'm amazed that this wasn't nipped in the ass -- there should have been some training done at that first school after the first incident so that it went no further. It's nice, however, to know that there are kids who will make the effort to help someone who has been targeted by bullies. Whether Olivia likes it or not, she helped bring attention to the widespread and tenacious problem of bullying in school hallways, on cell phones and in cyberspace. At least 1,000 strangers have sent her letters and e-mails of support, and there's talk of a book deal, Web sites and letter campaigns for other children who are bullied, and the three girls have received countless interview requests. I hope Olivia continues to do well. Kudos to the Buder sisters for getting this started.

Okay people. It's time to get off your ass and do something about this problem. Keep an eye on your kids. Find out how they act. Track their internet use if you have to. This crap has got to stop. I've been there. I know what it's like. To Olivia and the two sisters who helped bring light to this problem and possibly save the life of a little girl...Rock On!

LAPD Chief Bratton Rehired: The Facts Outweigh The Media Hype

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton was granted a second and final term Tuesday by the Police Commission, which cited his accomplishments in driving down crime citywide. Bratton is the first police chief to be retained for a second term since voters in 1992 adopted the Christopher Commission reforms stemming from the infamous Rodney King police beating. He was hired to do a job anbd he is doing it. In my opinion, which doesn't count for much, Bratton has done a pretty good job in the city. I want him to fight crime. That's what I pay taxes for. So what if the May Day Melee happened...he didn't do it. A few rogue cops got out of hand. That's human nature. It's not always the right way to react but it happens. Leave Bratton alone over this issue. It'd dead, done, gone. Bury it.

"We agree that Chief Bratton has provided visionary, innovative and progressive leadership for the Los Angeles Police Department," Police Commission President John Mack said. "His is a vision of policing for the 21st century." Mack praised Bratton's handling of the aftermath of a May Day melee in MacArthur Park, at which LAPD officers clashed with demonstrators and journalists during an immigrant rights rally. More than 40 people were injured during the fracas, including five police officers and at least nine members of the news media. "Chief Bratton's response to the extremely disturbing May 1 incident at MacArthur Park, which had caused justified community outrage, represented an important demonstration of enlightened, decisive leadership, particularly the way he addressed the breakdown of command and control problems immediately," Mack said. Mack said the MacArthur Park incident "was extremely disturbing to the Police Commission and recalled memories involving the LAPD of the past. Under Chief Bratton's leadership, the LAPD has made great strides in many areas, despite some of the very disturbing incidents that have caused major setbacks in the court of public opinion," Mack said. "Even though progress has been made, the LAPD still faces future challenges."

The only question is whether the city will finally give Bratton enough cops to do the job. Bratton's policing revolution has shown that rigorously managed law enforcement can change behavior. He has made inroads into Southern California's seemingly implacable gang violence. With anywhere near the manpower of a New York or Chicago police force, he could drive crime down further in L.A.'s most troubled neighborhoods. By doing so, maybe he would refute the central myth of mainstream criminology: that the level of crime is determined by poverty, racism and lack of jobs.

Bratton is one of the best police chiefs in the United States, as evidenced by the reduction in crime in Los Angeles under his watch. Serious crimes have declined 29% between 2001, the year before Bratton became chief, and 2006. That means that last year there were 55,035 fewer victims of robberies, rapes, assaults and other felonies than in 2001. The murder rate has been cut in half. Based on statistics alone, we are fortunate in that he has agreed to stay on for another five years.

It's time that the media give this guy some slack. Nobody is perfect. Our government and President have shown us that. All the attention given to his "trips around the world" and "lack of control" aren't proven by the facts. All of this crap diverts time and energy from the department's one and only mission - crime-fighting.

Isn't that what policing is all about?

Insanity in Texas: A Mob Beats An Innocent Man To Death And I'm Really Pissed!

Is anyone else as upset as I am about the recent attack of an innocent man in Texas? I mean regardless of who, what, or even what you did, you DO NOT deserve to be attacked! I am sickened, saddened, and disturbed at what our world is coming to. I am so angry that I could spit! I want to scream and yell and cry every time I read stories like this. Some people will probably make this a race issue-but its not! It's about human friggin' dignity. You don't have to look far to find the destructive side of mob mentality. In fact, your head would have to buried in the sand to miss it. Ku Klux Klan lynchings. Soccer-stadium tramplings. Woodstock II. The L.A. riots. Clearly, mobs have great potential for doing harm and this story just proves it.

They say that the crowd had a "mob mentality," what does that mean? The dictionary definition for "mob mentality" as a large disorderly crowd or throng; the mass of common people regarded as ignorant or otherwise deficient That sounds about right to me. But, does the fact that these stupid people in Austin, Texas are idiots excuse what they did? No. It gives them an excuse. There's a difference. Read on...

David Morales,a 41-year-old house painter, had hitched a ride home with a co-worker Tuesday night , was killed by an angry mob in Austin, TX on Tuesday after the car he was riding in struck a small child after entering an apartment complex. When the driver exited the car to check on the child, he was confronted by the crowd, who started to attack him. Morales, the passenger, then went to assist the driver, and the mob turned on him, leaving him beaten and bleeding to death on the ground. Police are seeking witnesses to identify members of the group that attacked Morales and the driver (who managed to escape after the initial attack). The child was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Fans of the TV show C.S.I. may feel a sense of deja vu. A similar incident, in which a crowd killed a taxi driver whom they mistakenly thought had hit a woman and was trying to flee a scene was called, "Blood Lust."

According to reports about 25 to 30 people were jumping on this guy, hitting him everywhere, kicking, stomping on him. Police are describing Morales as a Good Samaritan who was riding in a car that accidentally struck a child. He was trying to stop an angry mob from hurting the driver and ended up getting killed by the crowd. By the way, the child is OK. But police don't know why the incident became deadly. Morales got out of the car to help his friend when, police say, crowd of people punched Morales and smashed his head on the pavement. He later died at the hospital. "He was just the kind of person who would help anybody out if they needed it," his sister said. Police say a small crowd gathered as Morales came to the aid of his friend who had hit the child with the car. Before he knew it Morales was attacked. Hispanic and African American leaders, fearing that the incident would create racial tension because the victim was Hispanic and the assailants were thought to be black, urged people to keep their emotions in check. Investigators said they have no indication that the attack was racially motivated. The beating occurred about a block from where thousands of people gathered at Rosewood Park celebrating Juneteenth, or June 19, marking the day slaves were emancipated in Texas in 1865.Austin police initially said that up to 3,000 people were in the area when the driver and Morales were attacked, but they reduced that number as they got more information. By midafternoon, it was down to 300 peopleand by the evening, three or four men might have participated in the assault. By the time someone dialed 911 and the first officers arrived, the crowd was gone. Most of their information about what occurred came from the driver. They're holding onto hope witnesses will come forward.

That doesn't surprise me. Why would anyone have the common decency to get involved? How low on the moral totem pole do you have to be to watch something as disturbing as this - for whatever the reason - and not get involved? I searched high and low for articles on this in the Austin newspapers this morning. In all of the websites for the local papers, I couldn't find the story. Local TV had it but it was buried deep. So then I decided to look for other bloggers who I thought may have been pissed off too but found none. I decided to check the Opinions & Comments of the local papers. I found one comment and here it is - Happy “Juneteenth”. What? What the hell is going on here. What have we really become...an apathetic bunch of idiots. It seems like the people of Texas are trying to bury this story big time.

My heart goes out to his family...I'm sure they'll never really get over this one. It's time we got off our asses and get involved. I hope these faceless pricks in Texas get caught. I don't want to beat them to death, just let them rot in hell. Heck, they got off better than David Morales. Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

But this time...I'm not!

The DMV and The Vatican: Who Really Sets The Rules For the Road?

The Vatican issued a set of "Ten Commandments" for drivers, telling motorists not to kill, not to drink and drive, and to help fellow travelers in case of accidents and to use all of your fingers when giving a hand gesture to another driver. What would you expect from today's Catholic Church. The unusual document from the Vatican's office for migrants and itinerant people also warned that cars can be "an occasion of sin" - particularly when they are used for dangerous passing or for prostitution. Makes you wonder how they know cars are used for that latter one!

It warned about the effects of road rage, saying driving can bring out "primitive" behavior in motorists, including "impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the highway code." It urged motorists to obey traffic regulations, drive with a moral sense, and to pray when behind the wheel. Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the office, said the Vatican felt it necessary to address the pastoral needs of motorists because driving had become such a big part of contemporary life. Maybe it was his predecessor Pope John Paul who in his spare time tolled around the Vactican City like a teenager in a street race.

The document, "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road," laments a host of ills associated with automobiles: drivers use their cars to show off; speeding; drivers can kill themselves and others if they don't get their cars regular tuneups, if they drink, use drugs or fall asleep at the wheel. It called for drivers to obey speed limits and to exercise a host of Christian virtues: charity to fellow drivers, prudence on the roads, hope of arriving safely and justice in the event of crashes. And it suggested prayer might come in handy making the sign of the cross before starting off and saying the rosary along the way. So without further ado, here they are...

The Drivers' Ten Commandments

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

The one thing the Vatican didn't deal with is what words to yell at other drivers who are driving slower than kids on skateboards or what is truly offensive when it come to personalized license plates. I guess that's up to the DMV, who seems in some ways to have a higher moral standard than the Vatican. Here in California, one guy is going head-to-head with a California DMV over his head-turning vanity license plate.

There are tens of thousands of these plates on the streets. But before it gets onto your car, it has to pass the "moral majority screeners" at the DMV. Keith Wagner, owner of some controversial vanity plates, is now going to court with the DMV because someone else's interpretation had the DMV putting the brakes on this bumper billboard. The plate hate debate hit just this month and Keith Wagner can't figure out why. I had the plate for about five years now, it says 'go to 11'."

Keith got a letter telling him to turn in his tags because, "Someone says it says 'go to hell'. It says go to 11," said Keith referring to a scene in the movie "This Is Spinal Tap". So far, it's not a good enough explanation for the DMV. "The question is that reasonably would it offend a number of people?" said Steve Haskins, head of the Moral Majority at the DMV. "There's a degree of common sense that you have to look at," said Haskins. When asked what his license plate will have on it if he has to go to court over this, Wagner said whatever it is it will have "DMV" in it.

This could turn out to be a slippery slope and I think it's time for the Vatican to get involved. Someone could be offended by just about anything. In this day of blogging, First Amendment rights and self-expression, who gives a flying crap about vanity plates. I think they're kind of fun. I think the DMV should stop worrying about petty crap like this and move on to the bigger issue - Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan. There's two people who don't need to behind the wheel!

Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong!

How To Get Ahead In The Game Of Life: They're Called Boobs!

Boobs. What is it with boobs? How insane is it that breast implants are so popular in the world of cosmetic surgery? Heck, it seems that women always want to make them bigger...but we men never get to see the artwork (pun intended) or the "craftsmanship" of the surgeons work. Well, let me tell you this. Boobs are expensive. It is out of the price range for many women but now there is a website that helps women raise money for a boob job. That's right...women get to advertise for guys to pay for them. Totally random guys. So what is this all about and what is in it for the men? Well, read on my friends...

The new website MyFreeImplants.com is an online community. Through this website and their street team, they bring together two groups of people: Women that have a strong desire to enhance their physical appearance through cosmetic surgery and Benefactors, men and others who wish to help these women improve their self esteem and confidence through cosmetic surgery. Does this sound bizarre? It is, but it's real!

How does it work? for the women, they begin by setting up a personal profile listing such common things, attributes and personal goals as far as what cosmetic surgeries they desire. Along with their bio they can upload an unlimited number of pictures of themselves. These pictures are one of the key components towards achieving their goals. Once the profile is completed you are then ready to interact with the other members of the website by sending personal messages, chatting online 1-on-1, sending custom photos, selling personal items or gifts (like what?), and more...

For the benefactors (aka MEN), you have direct access to contact the many girls that are seeking help in achieving the physical appearance that they have long desired. Once you create an account you can choose to buy message credits in several denominations. When you use your credits to send messages to the ladies they earn credit towards their procedures. You can buy credits for as low as $1.20. In addition, you have the option to signup for a monthly membership that gives you 5 message credits per month along with unrestricted access to over 1000 ladies profiles.

In addition to the unrestricted access to all of the female profiles you can also help the ladies by sending a direct donation to her for her procedure, Purchase any personal products the ladies may have for sale (can you say "lap-dance?"), receive custom photos of your favorite girls (you may even request specific outfits) and more! Through these small contributions to the ladies, along with the global power of the Internet, the women of MyFreeImplants are able to reach their goals and purchase the cosmetic surgeries they want. And remember all you horny men out there... the best part is seeing the newly transformed ladies after the surgery when they return to the website to post pictures of the results. You can take pride in knowing that you helped her improve her self esteem and self image!

The website says that breasts aren't the only part of the female body that women wish to enhance. In addition to breast implants they offer buttock lifts (aka Brazillian Butt Implants). Just keep in mind the surgeries are paid for through the network of benefactor members in our community, and they ultimately decide on who gets the procedures they want first. They work with a variety of board certified doctors throughout the world. Different doctors perform different procedures. They carefully select doctors based on in-person interviews as well as reviewing their past work. You can use the doctor of your own choosing if you wish. They appear dedicated to making sure ladies get the end results they want.

Okay. I think I've seen it all. It's time for us men to band together and get a "get rid of my pot-belly" website. Now, a quick story related to boobs...

Woman's Topless Trot Pays 'Double-D' Big

A woman arrested for exposing her breasts has accepted a $29,000 settlement from the city of New York. Jill Coccaro, 27, was arrested on a topless stroll two years ago, despite a 1992 state appeals court ruling that concluded women should have the same right as men to take off their shirts. Coccaro, who now goes by the name Phoenix Feeley, remained in custody for 12 hours before she was told prosecutors were not going to pursue charges. She actually won a civil rights settlement from the city, which did not admit or deny wrongdoing.

"We hope the police learn a lesson and respect the rights of women to go topless," her attorney said. This lady claimed in an October lawsuit that a police officer yanked her out of a patrol car by her hair and police took her to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. She told the newspaper she had gone bare-breasted after running the 2004 city marathon without police bothering her. "I've always just felt that was something natural," Feeley said of going topless. "I've kind of always done it out of practicality."

It seems that to get ahead in life you gotta have boobs! I wonder if man-boobs count? Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong!

Tiger Woods Gets A Birdy...Oops! I Mean Baby!

Less than 24 hours after Woods finished second at the U.S. Open on Father's Day, his wife gave birth to a daughter. Woods announced on his website tigerwoods.com that Sam Alexis Woods was born early Monday morning.

"Both Elin and Sam are doing well and resting peacefully," Woods wrote. "We want to thank our doctors and the hospital staff for all their dedicated and hard work. This is truly a special time in our lives and we look forward to introducing Sam to our family and friends over the next few weeks. We thank everyone for their well wishes and continued respect of our privacy."

Woods said he would miss a major if it meant seeing the birth of his child. Now he won't have to, but it's not clear how his upcoming schedule with be effected. "I'm pacing myself already just because of the fact that I have a baby coming up," Woods said about two weeks ago. "I don't know how much I'm going to play after that or how much I'm going to play before that. A lot of that is depending on what happens and the health of Elin and our child."

Congratulations Tiger on a job well done! Can't wait to see the pictures of how pretty this kid looks considering the genetic makeup of Mommy and Daddy!

An Invention That Changed The World: Happy Aniversary to the Frisbee!

Every object has a history, and behind that history an inventor, the person who thought it up first. Sometimes who was first can be a topic for hot debate: often several people independent of each other will all think of the same good idea at around the same time and will later have to argue "No it was me, I thought of it first." Many people have claimed to have invented the Frisbee. In 1948, a Los Angeles building inspector named Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the Frisbie that could fly further and with better accuracy than a tin pie plate.

The Frisbee is celebrated a five-decade milestone this weekend. It was 50 years ago yesterday that Emeryville-based Wham-O changed the name of the beloved flying disc from the Pluto Platter to the Frisbee. Frisbee is now name as synonymous with flying discs as Google is with searching on the Internet, or Kleenex is with tissue.

In 1948, a Los Angeles building inspector named Walter Frederick Morrison invented a plastic version of the Frisbie that could fly further and with better accuracy than a tin pie plate. Morrison's father was also an inventor, who invented the automotive sealed-beam headlight. Another interesting tidbit was that Morrison had just returned to America after World War II, where he had been a prisoner in the infamous Stalag 13. His partnership with Warren Franscioni, who was also a war veteran, ended before their product had achieved any real success.

Morrison produced a plastic Frisbie called the Pluto Platter, to cash in on the growing popularity of UFOs with the American public. The Pluto Platter has become the basic design for all Frisbies. The outer third of the Frisbie disc is called the 'Morrison Slope' and was awarded a patent for his flying disc. He's received over one million dollars in royalties for his invention. The word 'Frisbee' helped increase sales. Sales soared for the toy, due to Wham-O's clever marketing of Frisbee playing as a new sport.

In 1967, high school students in Maplewood, New Jersey, invented Ultimate Frisbee, a recognized sport that is a cross between football, soccer and basketball. Ten years later, a form of Frisbee golf was introduced, complete with professional playing courses and associations. It's amazing to me how people can take something as simple as a molded piece of plastic and create a sport from it. The Ultimate Frisbee Association and the Frisbee Golf Association have as many members as the PGA! So just who is the Tiger Woods of Frisbee Golf?

Frisbee's name is a spin-off from a Connecticut bakery called the Frisbie Pie Company. New England college students used to toss empty pie tins around for fun -- a habit that led them to refer to the Pluto Platter as a "frisbie." Wham-O's co-founders obtained the marketing rights to the Pluto Platter in January 1957 and six months later changed its name to Frisbee. Its inventor, Walter "Fred" Morrison, says he originally thought Frisbee was a terrible name. He's now 87 years old, lives in Utah and collects royalties from his invention. In this otherwise simple baking operation we find the popular legend of the origin of the earliest 'flying frisbie'! The company offered a variety of bakery goodies, including pies and cookies, and therein resides the roots of the controversy. For there are two crusty schools concerning the flying frisbie's origin: the Pie-Tin School and the Cookie- Tin School, each camp holding devoutly to its own argument. The Pie-Tin School.

The Pie-Tin School: The pie-tin people claim Yale students bought Frisbie's pies (undoubtedly a treat in themselves) and tossed the prototype all over Eli's campus. These early throwers would exclaim "Frisbie" to signal the catcher. And well they might, for a tin Frisbie pan is something else again to catch.

The Cookie-Tin School. Now the cookie tin people agree on these details save one: they insist that the true, original was the cookie-tin lid that held in the goodness of Frisbie's sugar cookies.

And in another great waster of government money, the U.S. Navy spent almost $400,000 to study Frisbees in wind tunnels, following their flights with computers and cameras, and building a special Frisbee-launching machine on top of a Utah cliff to test a prototype flare launcher. Today the fifty year old Frisbee® is owned by Mattel and Wham-O had sold over one hundred million units before the selling the toy to Mattel.

Wham-O has been trying to capitalize on the Frisbee's 50th anniversary by releasing collector's editions of the early models. Meanwhile, Morrison, who lives in Richfield, Utah, still is collecting royalties off a name he didn't really like. "It just goes to show I am a bad judge of names," Morrison said.

A bad judge of names? I don't think so Fred. You've made loads of bucks off a plastic disk that probably costs all of 25 cents to make. Sp to you, I say "Congratulations" and Happy Anniversary! You rock man!

Father's Day 2007 - It's Not The Same Without Dad!

Today is Father's Day. A day that we honor our Fahter's for their time, energy and bringing us up right. But this Father's Day will be a bit different for me. It's the first Father's Day that my Dad wont be with us. It's kind of wierd becsuse we always had a good laugh on this holiday. Just calling him on the phone made him happiest of all. It was more like talking to a friend than a Father and I'll surely miss that but I know my Dad's in a better place than he would have been if he still had to suffer from his illness.

I have so many cool memories of my Dad. I remember how every Saturday we'd got to get the papers, some groceries and other stuff we just had to do. Then Dad and I would get "diverted" for lunch, usually either to McDonald's or Friendly's but sometimes to the Sawyer Family favorites like Ted's Fish Fry, Jack's Hamburgers or Charlie's Hot Dogs. Mom usually anticipated this so she pretty much took care of herself on Saturdays for lunch. Dad really enjoyed that time I think. Heck, we did it right up until he got sick and even when he was sick he'd still talk about having a fish fry or a hot dog. It was our time together and even though we probably never said it, we both loved and cherished that opportunity. To this day, we still go to the hot spots in honor of Dad. And then there was one more.

Another thing Dad loved was being with his three boys. In the later years, after we all moved from the tiuny hamlet of West Sand Lake, we got together when we could. And we all had a great time, every time. Most of the times, we all converged in Florida to spend the Holidays together. One thing the four of us always did, with no women involved, was our trek to Hooters for chicken wings and Killian's Red. Dad loved it. It was his chance to bond with his sons. He'd eat winds and get covered in sauce. It was fun. Even Mom knew that this was his time to be with boys and she never, ever got in the way of it. Sure, she'd bust on us for the idea that we were going to Hooters to "check out the women" but it was never really that. It was our time with our Dad. The three of us boys went to the same Hooter's this past May and we left a stool open and toasted him in honor. It was a great time and even the waitress understood what this was all about. In fact, the picture to the right is us on that day, with the waitress, who was "filling in" for Dad since he wasn't here for this one. She said they'd even put this picture on the wall in honor of him. Dad may of thought we were crazy for doing it but he would have loved it.

In his latter years, Dad was active with his Navy reunion group. He was porud of his time in the Navy. He was a true soldier and remained faithful to the Red, White and Blue. He flew the flag at every opportunity he could. He'd remind us to do the same. Mom still puts it out there for him when she remembers. The Navy was something that mean alot to him. He talked about his time with Admiral Byrd and Operation High Jump in Antartica. We heard the stories over and over again. But he loved to tell them and nobody would dare stop him. The symbol for the operation was a penguin and everybody who knew him probably gave him one. He had stuffed ones, plastic ones, stickers, postcards, greeting cards, etc. If it had a penguin on it, Dad had it. Even in his casket, Dad had a penguin standing guard. He was proud of his service, loved to see his post in the Navy Log on the internet, and we were proud to honor him for it. Hell, I wouldn't want to serve in the military the way it is today. But back then it was different.

I have so many good memories of my Dad...and my Mom too. They stuck together through thick and thin. They were married for 50+ years. They lived a pretty simple life and provided for us kids the best they could. They usually though of us before they thought of themselves. Dad would make sure we always had the Converse All-Stars for gym class while he wore tennis shoes that looked as if he'd got them at the turn of the century. He loved his sports and he loved doing them with us. I never really dug the sports thing...tennis, basketball and golf. But when I got to do them with Dad, it was fun and different. He had a patience and spirit that was second to none. He wasn't the hot dog...he made sure we had the ball when we needed it and enjoyed watching us get the glory. when my brother's were playing any sport, Dad was there. Either on the field or in the stands. He was a great coach and did that for many years at Averill Park.

There is so much to say about my Father. He took pride in being able to tell the same joke over and over and over and over again. I always remember hearing, "Did I tell you about the..." That was it. Here it comes. Some joke we probably heard 200 times before...but he loved to tell it! That was one thing about my Dad. He loved to laugh. He had some strong opinions about politics and we'd get into some pretty heavy "discussions" about them. He loved it when I worked on the Dennis Miller show. He loved the topical hotbed. In fact, we'd always end it with "that's just your opinion...you could be wrong." That's where my blogs slogan came from. But no matter what, we never got mad at each other. I can't remember a time that we ever held a grudge against each other. I don't think Dad would ever allow that to happen. He had a spirit that I just can't describe. He was more than a Dad to me. He was a good friend and pal. So on this day that we honor our Father's, I honor my Dad...Daniel J. Sawyer.

I just wish I could call you Dad. I miss you a lot. Happy Father's Day Pop!