Have Yourselves A Merry Little Christmas.

Wishing you a peaceful and happy holiday season.

Even with a week to go I'm almost out of time.

Christmas season isn't good for writing things in rhyme.

When I start to think about something I want to say

I will get a line or 2 then - poof! It goes away.

Always start to think about something I have to do,

And I'm sure what's true for me is also true for you...

Even if you're organized (which I am, clearly, not)

Sometime late on Christmas Eve you'll find that you forgot

Something that you had  to do which you did not get done.

My advice to you is; let it go and just have fun.

Hold your family extra close this Christmas.  Pray for peace.

May the joy and love you have do nothing but increase.

Since I can't be sure when next I'll have the chance to write

May I wish you all, right now, a Happy Christmas night.

Blessings for the New Year (which is when I will be back;

Hopefully to find I haven't lost my rhyming knack.)

Broken Heart Alleviates Symptoms

 It turns out that Dr. Seussilitis symptoms disappear with a broken heart.

 

Daniel Barden, 7

Olivia Engel, 6

Josephine Gay, 7

Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6

Dylan Hockley, 6

Madeleine F. Hsu, 6

Catherine V. Hubbard, 6

Chase Kowalski, 7

Jesse Lewis, 6

James Mattioli, 6

Grace McDonnell, 7

Emilie Parker, 6

Jack Pinto, 6

Noah Pozner, 6

Caroline Previdi, 6

Jessica Rekos, 6

Avielle Richman, 6

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Allison N. Wyatt, 6

ADULTS

Mary Sherlach, 56

Victoria Soto, 27

Anne Marie Murphy, 52

Lauren Rousseau, 30

Dawn Hochsprung, 47

Rachel Davino, 29
Nancy Lanza, 52

Sleep in heavenly peace.

War on Christmas - Oh, oh. Oh!

'tis getting near Christmas and, here at my house,

I'm simply not ready.  I feel like a louse.

The garland's not hung and the tree isn't bought,

And I have done none of the things that I ought.

The cards aren't written; I do not have stamps.

I'm dreading addressing until my hand cramps.

The boys have a list of the things they would like;

The oldest a car and the youngest a bike.

I've yet to purchase a thing for the boys,

Nieces or neighbors - too old now for toys.

Have to start writing my plan of attack.

Don't know exactly when I will be back.

The Boston Red Sox - Yoouuuk! Noooo!

Not Youk!  Not the Yankees! Please, gods...  Anyone but them!

Must you give the Red Sox' enemies another gem?

Wasn't Damon bad enough? And now you give them Youk?

When I heard the news he'd signed with them I thought I'd puke.

Thank you Bobby Valentine...  (I beat on him a lot

And, I guess it's true I never gave the man a shot.

After Kevin Youkilis left - 'cause Bobby said he should -

I felt, right away, the Red Sox' future wasn't good.)

Youk could sign with any team.  Why must it be New York?

Yes, I know I'm sounding like some kind of "pink hat" dork,

But it really breaks my heart when former Red Sox go;

Put on Yankee pinstripes for a huge amount of dough.

Across the Pond - North Korean Missile Launch

If you believe that North Korea's missile program is for peaceful purposes, then Kim Jong-un has some unicorns he wants to sell you.  (Photo/Hypervocal.com)

After years of trying, North Korea's  had success;

Launched a missile into space - a diplomatic mess.

Kim Jong-un has claimed the missile launch is not a threat.

South Korea and Japan aren't comforted, I bet.

Neither is America, 'cause he can reach us here, 

And he's just as crazy as his father was, I fear.

All the offers meant to help his people out, he scorns.

Now he says his scientists discovered unicorns.

Can those be the scientists who got him into space?

Helped a lunatic to threaten all the human race.

Or, are they the guys who helped enrich uranium?

Either way, it seems to me, those scientists are dumb.

There is not a nation in the region which is thrilled;

Nor impressed that North Korea's scientists are skilled.

I think that, despite his word that Kim Jong-un means well,

If they're buying that, he's got some unicorns to sell.

The New England Patriots - 10 and 3

When teams come to play the Patriots, they come prepared.

We are like their Super Bowl; there is no effort spared.

That was true of Houston, too.  The Texans came to fight;

Putting on a show for football fans on Monday night.

That was what they planned to do...  It didn't quite work out.

Once New England took the field, the game became a rout.

Defense shut down Foster with Vince Wilfork everywhere.

Brady's passes were so hot they sizzled through the air.

Stevan Ridley turned it on; Wes Welker?  Well, okay...

Yes, he may have dropped some balls - but still, the man can play.

Even with so many out, like Edelman and Gronk,

And - despite bad manners when it's your own horn you honk -

I think that New England proved that they're the better team.

Train has left the station and it's fully up to steam.

Look out San Fransisco; Belichick has just one goal,

And you're in his way to, yet another, Super Bowl.

Israeli Settlements - An Irish-American-Agnostic's View

(Map/Courtesy of BBC News)

I am not Israeli, so I can't know how it feels;

Do not have a history of loss time never heals.

Don't know what it's like to have bombs falling from the sky;

Every day - afraid someone I love is gonna die.

I'm not Palestinian and can't know how I'd feel

Watching as Israelis do their very best to steal

Land that once belonged to me...  And, why? Because God said?

Their belief my neighbors want to see all of them dead?

I was born of Irishmen with Troubles of their own.

Saw the hatreds grown through seeds that history has sown.

Any time you mix God up in boundary disputes

Peace trips on religion and it tumbles down the chutes.

I am an American who doesn't understand

Why is it that settlements are built on Arab land?

Surely, everyone can see that's making matters worse?

Numbers should be falling but they're doing the reverse.

I am an agnostic; I don't follow any church.

Doesn't mean I think that God has left us in the lurch.

I believe that God is there and angry at the mess

We have made out of the gifts which He gave us to bless.

Not Even Stephen King...

"Study, Dammit!" - a provocative poster from Stephen's college days - is now on sale, with proceeds going to The Maine Campus and the University of Maine.

I'm a fan of Stephen King's; I'm seeing him tonight.
I think I'd read anything that he decides to write.
First time that I browsed the web ('cause I was feeling bored)
Thought I'd check out Stephen King; I found his Message Board.

Met a lovely group of people there and made some friends,
Who I will impose on for my own (quite selfish) ends;
If, perchance, some one of you who's planning to be there
And has tickets on the floor (I'm breathing thinner air);

If you get the chance to ask him questions and you're stumped,
Please don't ask him where his ideas come from - you'll get jumped.
Tell him that you love his books, admire his great skill.
Say the chance to meet him here tonight is such a thrill...

Then ask him the question that his fans all want to know;
Has he heard the rumors Kevin Youkilis might go
Put on Yankee pinstripes? Does King think that, even he,
Could convey the horror felt by Red Sox' fans like me?

The 112th Congress - Bah Humbug!

So much for "God bless us, every one."

At this time of year, when we've got Christmas on our mind,

38 Republicans said "Screw you!" to the blind.

Voted down a treaty very like the A.D.A. 

What on earth is in it they object to anyway?

Doesn't have enforcement measures; cannot interfere.

All it does is ask the world to try what we've done here.

How is it that Senators have grown so far apart?

Why would you wheel Bob Dole in, to only break his heart?

Senate's meant to cool the tea; they spat into the cup.

That's not how you cool it down; that only heats things up.

I would say that, after this, avoiding cliffs or slopes?

Chances grew so small - to see them - we'd need microscopes.

Isn't It Too Early For Christmas?

Christmas carols everywhere; Rudolph's on T.V.

Neighbors' houses, strung with lights, are beautiful to see.

Some have gifts already wrapped; I haven't done a thing...

I don't even know what presents Santa Claus should bring.

Seems to me that Christmas started earlier this year.

Still, I'm just not ready yet to shift it into gear.

Yes - I'm a procrastinator...  Sad to say, but true.

Haven't even got a list of things I ought to do.

The 112th Congress - Making Sausage

Cartoon by Christopher Weyant of The Hill and The New Yorker

Politicking, posturing - they pander to the press.

Every day the two sides drifting further from success.

Racing towards the fiscal cliff like lemmings to the sea,

Leaving me concerned we've got a broken polity.

Maybe this is sausage making and I shouldn't look;

Simply close my eyes and hope that I can trust the cook.

Even should I choose that course, I fear the markets won't.

I may trust the government; the Dow and NASDAQ don't.

They don't think that, privately, there's progress being made

As their hopes that we'll avoid the cliff begin to fade.

Congress may  produce a tasty sausage we can try,

But it looks like not before we see pigs learn to fly.