The Random Musings and Writings of Brandon

Last Saturday, I traveled the long, lonely road up to a T-Station outside of Boston and commuted into Fenway Station. Where I commenced a shortish walk (along the Fenway Trail, a walking path that did not exist the last time I departed from Fenway Station) to Fenway Park. Passing along the way a series of sculptures of numbers, commemorating all of the Red Sox players who have had their numbers retired by the Boston Red Sox - each with a little explanation of the player and their time with the Bosox. I was there to participate in a long tradition, the annual SOSH Bash, a tradition that began in 2003. Organized by one of the great women of Red Sox fandom, Cheri Giffin (aka BoSoxLady), who has organized every Red Sox Bash during this time. But this one was different. It was the final one she would be organizing. It was, as the title says, the end of an era. SOSH - an acronym for the Sons of Sam Horn (which itself is a portmanteau of Son of Sam and former Red Sox great Sam Horn) - was (an...

As we enter a new month and say goodbye to April - a dastardly month - I finished the novel Norwegian Wood by Japanese author Haruki Murakami - a novel which first appeared in Japan in 1987, but whose official English translation by Jay Rubin was released in 2000.  However, before I give a review of the book, I suppose I should elucidate on why I said April is a dastardly month. Now, for some readers of this weird little blog I have going will know, my father-in-law passed away in the middle of April. However, eleven years ago, my mother also passed away in the beginning of April. And, not to be forgotten, 2 years and 3 days ago, my lovely wife Dawn passed into the great beyond. As it is often said - although whether or not this has actually been tested and verified to be true is unknown to me - things do tend to come in threes. Now, there was something I was going to do to celebrate my mother during April - but which has failed to come out in a timely manner. Please be on the look...

Five mornings ago, I was out for a walk as I tried to clear my mind of something that I knew would soon come to pass. I decided to set my music to a "radio" station formed by the music of the progressive metal/rock band Green Carnation. To be fair, I know much of the music of Green Carnation to be somber and thoughtful and certainly not triumphal. However, for reasons that cannot be known, the particular playlist that the app served me was particularly downtrodden and bleak. Although I kept on that channel for about an hour, I did eventually have to switch out of it to something less emotionally heavy. Soon after I returned home from my walk, I was informed of the death of my father-in-law. Certainly, this is not my first rodeo in someone close to me passing away. The first major passing of my life happened when I was a mere eight years of age, when my father Peter passed away after a relatively brief battle with a particularly virulent form of Leukemia. The memories of that ...

On Saturday morning, my father-in-law Robert Lach, passed away at the age of 89 years and 4 days.  For a number of reasons, Robert... or as I usually called him Bob or Bobbo, became an important figure in my life after I first met him in 2010. First and foremost, he was the (adoptive) father of my then girlfriend (and future wife) Dawn. When I first started dating Dawn, she was estranged from Bob (and June, Bob's wife and Dawn's (adoptive) step-mother). There were reasons for this estrangement which are not necessary to recount - all relationships have obstacles and strains - and it is the ability to bridge the disagreements that is ultimately important. The relationship between Dawn and I helped her to bridge some of the estrangements with her family... including her separation from her parents. It is important to recognize that I have added the adoptive prefix above not as a pejorative. But, rather as an enhancement to the characteristic of being a father/parent. For Bob (and...

On this very day, many many years ago, a young girl who was given the name of Dawn and would - not so many years ago - become my friend, my girlfriend, my best friend, my fiancé, and my wife was born. Unfortunately, Dawn is no longer a physical part of the corporeal world and no one who loved her can celebrate this day of her birth with her. Yet, despite Dawn's own ambivalence to people who celebrated "heavenly birthdays," it does seem necessary to me (and, perhaps, for me) to use this date on a calendar to remember my wife. Memory, of course, is strange. Memories of important events get tied to other random events in some quantum entanglement that makes no sense and all the sense in the world at the same time. Dawn's birthdate, of course, is no different. March 30th literally is a week after spring has sprung. It is usually (but not this season) a few days before Major League Baseball opens the season. It is in the middle of March Madness - where Storrs Connecticut b...

Since the War of Choice that the United States and Isreal started against Iraq approximately one month ago, I have attempted to put words together to express my feelings on the war. Yet, as much mental processes that I have put into attempting to put some words down on virtual paper... I didn't feel I had a hook. For, I am not an expert. Not on Iraq. Not on the economy. Not on the contingencies that any hostile actions in this region would ultimately bring.  Yet, I am also not unintelligent. For certain, I am aware of the limitations of my knowledge and my expertise. However, I also am able to listen and read and otherwise make myself more knowledgeable from people who are expert in areas where I am not. So, when our newest Secretary of Homeland Security, former Senator from Oklahoma Markwayne Mullins stated during his confirmation hearing that " I’m not going to be the smartest guy in any room I walk into, " I realized that was the hook. That our government is being run ...