Mrs Duck and I went out to dinner at our favorite steak place Friday night. And while we are finishing up our excellent Longhorn dinner, this song blared over the speakers. I had never heard it before, though Jennifer Nettles has such a distinct voice, you knew it was Sugarland. And it was beautiful.
Though I promise you, I never said I was brilliant.
1.Brilliant Wade Phillips quote-"we need to play better" 5:57 PM Dec 28th, 2008 from web
2.watching Emerald Bowl on ESPN 360 8:54 PM Dec 27th, 2008 from web
3.The Wisconsin Badgers seem to blow 6:47 PM Dec 27th, 2008 from web
4.I am out of my fantasy playoffs thanks to Amani Toomer 8:24 PM Dec 15th, 2008
5.I have 1 cigarette left, and I am trying so so desperately to not smoke it tonight 10:36 PM Dec 12th, 2008 from web
6.Thank you to Oklahoma for ruining my night 9:55 PM Dec 6th, 2008 from web
7.This would have been a blog post, but its so late, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS DUCK 7:54 PM Nov 24th, 2008 from web
8.Its over 4 McNabb in Philadelphia 9:16 PM Nov 23rd, 2008 from txt
9.A twitter for some one special, Ole Miss rules!!! 9:44 PM Nov 22nd, 2008
10.Troy 31, LSU 23-What the Hell??!!!?? 10:58 PM Nov 15th, 2008 from web
Mrs Duck loves Bon Jovi, and I love this song, so its like chocolate and peanut butter.
So Happy Birthday Mrs Duck!!!
The big parade is in the city today, to celebrate the Phillies World Series Championship! The parade is supposed to start at 12 and run from 20th and Market all the way down Broad Street. The city suggested taking Mass Transit, which is something Mrs Duck does everyday since she works in Center City.
Septa is now suggesting finding an alternative to the city, at 10:30 this morning, about 2 to 3 hours late for most people, including the wife who is now working from home and standing next to me as I type this. A bit of a botch for Septa on this one, since besides the parade, there are some people who actually had to get to work today and now can't. Will they cover the lost vacation days?
To be perfectly honest, this whole financial stocks thing is not my bag. I look at my 401k every quarter and say, hey I am not broke. When I do by a stock, its a small amount and it is usually something that I just am a fan of, like McDonalds. Short selling to me is selling a pair of shorts on sale. I leave the financial stuff to Mrs Duck, she really gets it.
But, if you want some sort of hint on how things are going, watch the stock prices of Sovereign Bank and Washington Mutual. If they go out, we are in a heap of trouble.
On an editors note, I am proud to say all I did on this post was a little spell check
A womans role has always been out of reach for most American women. Women are expected to be a Wife and mother first and everything else should come second. Men do not have these same pressures, but this is not the fault of men it is the fault of women. Most of us have to go to work everyday to support our families and must choose to either hire someone else to do the job at home or stay home and make ends meet. Some of us are luckier then others and they can choose. Some of us must go to work because we need to provide for there families. In either case there is something or someone who is not getting the attention they deserve.
Who raised the ladder? I truly think it is unfair that the ladder has been raised to this level. The reason no one asks men this question is that we do not expect men to climb the ladder this high.
What women should be shouting is that the ladder is too high and that we are expected to do it all, from being a wife, mother to our children, full time household duties, and not to mention a full-time career. How is it possible that something does not suffer? No one is saying what suffers, but something will. All working wife's and mothers know that they cannot do it all, it is too exhausting and physically impossible.
So how do we cope with this when we want the full-time career, or if we have to work to provide for our families?
Who is going to provide the love we cannot be there to provide full time?
Who will run the household responsibilities?
Who will make dinner? Who stays home when the child is sick?
Who provides the much needed hug when the children fall down and need that hug?
Who is going to work on homework and school projects? Who is attending the sporting events or watching the school play?
Who looks for the lost car keys?
Who is there for there spouse when he/she needs your help or advice?
Who is paying attention?
Who is attending the 8AM board meeting?
Who is schoomizing the clients?
Who is getting up at 4AM to catch the flight to the out of town meeting?
Who is staying to finish the monthly management reports?
We, as woman, hope to fit in all of our responsibilities of the day and hope that we are doing the best job we can, but believe me something or someone suffers. I believe the answer to who, is the WOMAN. The expectation to be the everything person is just to hard and unfair of a job for anyone. The only person who is sacrificed at the end of the day is the woman and the guilt of not being the best we can be at everything we touch. It is impossible to give 100% at work and at home everyday all day. The expectation is what is unfair. I do not believe this is the American Dream!
Its been an interesting past couple of days, mostly in the evenings, listening to Mrs Duck as she rants and rants about work. Shortly, I believe she is going to revert into Daffy Duck, stuttering and spit all over the place as she discusses the lack of work effort, gumption, or even activity that her supervisors show. If the building is not metaphorically on fire, things don't get done. And for the type A personality that my wife is, that is not a healthy situation.
I just nod complacently and listen to her bend my ear, mostly because this is the same song and dance that has been played for months now, plus my normal place, since I am still helping out somewhere else, has many of the same qualities. So I can commiserate, but not fix. What I can fix her is a nice stiff drink.
We live in an apartment complex that is run by a well known development company, whose name sounds alot like the second word in the title to this post. Its really not an apartment, more of a townhome, but we still rent. And trust me, the rent is not cheap, especially for the size of the place.
And of course, this spring has been like a monsoon, raining almost every other day in one way or another. I was thinking the other night, man when was the last time these gutters were cleaned out. I was thinking this because the pool of water on my sidewalk and the waterfall cascade outside my living room window from where one of the gutters on the roof was clogged up, while pretty, was not exactly the kind of thing you wanted to look out on. Now, this duck is not going up on the roof, firstly because I do not have wings or a ladder that can get me up there, but secondly, the townhome association takes care of things out side, not little old me.
So, imagine my double chagrin when Mrs Duck mentioned to our neighbors that she was going to go down to the office to tell them to clean out the gutters and our neighbors just laughed and laughed, like she was a cuter version of Letterman. Oh and also imagine my double chagrin as we now sit in a tornado watch until 8 pm tonight. Anyone for surfing??
Love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
All my instincts, they return
and the grand façade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes
Love, I don't like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for out survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
And all my instincts, they return
and the grand façade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
Happy Anniversary Baby
All aboard the Poetry Train.
Or maybe its a wing. But, no matter. Here is the story.
Our Anniversary is coming up, only 10 days away or so. And while, there is not much of a plan, I still needs some ideas. So of course, I look to my blogger friends for advice. I have a grand plan, I need the details.
Ya see, my plan is to get one thing from each place that we visited on our Honeymoon. So, thats one thing from San Diego, one or two things from Hawaii and one thing from Seattle. Now, I have an idea in mind for Seattle, but now I have a problem with the rest of them. Coconuts and smoked salmon are not going to cut it.
So, all my blogger friends, how could you help. And please, lets remember that I am on a semi limited budget and cutting it close for shipping.
And now, to get noticed, I will link a few folks because I figure they would just notice a link.
LADY JANE SCARLETT
STARRLIGHT
KAILANI
DRAGON
HYPERION
CHRISTIE O
DESERT SONGBIRD
and of course anyone with a romantic bone in there body
****sticky post***
As Mrs Duck and I prepare to go on a well needed vacation, I figured to keep blog traffic at least a little bit up, I would run a contest.
So, I am going to give you 13 questions, each correct answer will count for one entry in the contest. Almost all of the questions will be answerable if you just search the blog, though at least 3 of the questions will take some knowledge of Sparky and Mrs Duck.
Oh yea, prizes. The winner of the contest will get a $20 gift card of there choice and also a souvenir from vacation, which will have a retail value of at least $5. If there is a tie on correct answers, the winner will be drawn from a blind draft. The contest runs from 11:00 pm Wednesday, April 16th until noon Wednesday April 23.
Now on to the fun part.
1.Who did Sparky vote for in the Presidential election of 2004?
2.My parents have lived in 4 different states since they retired, name one of them?
3.Mrs Duck and I saw a concert in Atlantic City, what female singer was the headliner?
4.We have 2 cats, name one of them?
5.On our honeymoon in 2006, we visited 3 states. Besides Hawaii, name one of the states we visited?
6.Our hotel in Honolulu was a certain color, what color was it?
7.I have worked for a few places in my professional career. One company had many names although I worked in the same building. Name one of the companies that I worked for?
8.Where are we on vacation right now?
9.Who did I want to win the 2008 NCAA Basketball Championship?
10.I have posted a few recipes on this blog, name one?
11.Something happened to my car in 2007. What happened to it and what kind of car was it?
12.Name one music video I have posted on this blog.
13.What is the name of the Philly Transplant sister blog?
Simple isnt it? Plus, anyone that links this post with there own post about it gets an extra entry.
Miserable in the sense that it was just one of those things that you dread doing, though you just know deep down it is something that you have to do.
The wife, Inlaws and I took a short little trip last night, to go to a wake for the father of a childhood friend of Mrs Duck. Now, I just do not do well at wakes and funerals, I seem to just sneak even deeper into myself. But this one was for a former police officer and the turn out was just so overwhelming, that I probably was overwhelmed.
The line up of the Philadelphia police cars down the middle of the street in front of the funeral home. The honor guard keeping watch over the casket, supplied by a suburban force that one of the sons worked for. All the old timers in the line that had to be a block and a half long, exchanging stories. A future politician, who right now is only a district attorney, but who I guarantee will be running for Congress 10 years from now, just showing up. It is just something this surburbanite duck was not used to seeing. Not that it was bad, the pomp and circumstance is also somewhat comforting.
Mrs Duck is off to the funeral this morning and I am sure the full regalia will be out today as well. But it is good to know that if you put your life to some sort of job or career, there are times that someone remembers, even if you have been retired for 15 years.
In the San Hiltadelphia group, it is the Desert Songbird out to a very nice start. While the Stanford/Cornell game is not over yet, I can safely predict that she will go 8-0 for the early session, a very nice start. Motas of Portland, Tex and Lady Jane Scarlett are also in fine shape, looking at 7-1, while Mrs Duck will probably go 6-2 since she took Cornell for some reason.
I did not see any of the darn games, though was able to follow most of them on my cell phone when I needed to. It looks like the only games that had any breath were Xavier vs Georgia and Pitt vs Oral Roberts. Georgia just had to be warn out still, after playing through a tornado and also having to play 4 games in 3 days just this past weekend. Oral Roberts got behind way too early and could not scratch and claw there way back fully, submarining one of my Sweet 16 teams.
Be sure to catch the Kansas State/USC game tonight, just because it pits two future NBA stars in freshman Michael Beasley vs freshman OJ Mayo.
This time of year is a time full of predictions. Heck, March Madness is right around the corner, which means everyone get your pencils ready for the office pools. And while I do have a prediction in politics, I figure I should let it sit and wait until a post that someone may read.
Tonight its the Oscars. I can predict one thing that Mrs Duck & I agree on, Jon Stewart will do a capable job. It wont be stellar, but we will chortle.
Other than that, the Mrs and I dont agree too much when it comes to movies, so we had a little contest, Predict the Oscars. I will give you 12 predictions from her and 10 predictions from me, and you can laugh at one of us tomorrow.
Mrs Duck:
Original Screenplay: MICHAEL CLAYTON
2. Adapted Screenplay: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
3.Original Score; THE KITE RUNNER
4.Makeup: PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN 3
5.Long Form Documentary: SICKO
6.Directing: THERE WILL BE BLOOD
7.Costume: ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
8.Actress in a Supporting: SAOIRISE ROMAN ATONEMENT
9.Actor in a Supporting: JAVIER BARDEM NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
10.Actress Leading: ELLEN PAGE JUNO
11.Actor Leading: DANIEL DAY LEWIS THERE WILL BE BLOOD
12.Best Picture: THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Sparky Duck
1.Original Screenplay: JUNO
2.Adapted Screenplay: ATONEMENT
3.Original Score: MICHAEL CLAYTON
4.Makeup: PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN 3
5.Long Form Documentary: SICKO
6.Directing: THERE WILL BE BLOOD
7.Costume: LA VIE EN ROSE
8.Actress Supporting: CATE BLANCHETT IM NOT THERE
9.Actor Supporting: JAVIER BARDEM NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
10. Actress Leading: MARION COTILLARD LA VIE EN ROSE
11.Actor Leading: GEORGE CLOONEY MICHAEL CLAYTON
12. Best Picture: THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Let the debating begin....
Mrs Duck:"McCain won Delaware"
Sparky: "Yea I am not surprised. They have liked Biden for this long"
MD:"Oh and its also because over here (the east coast) we are not crazy fucking religious freaks"
Scene:Thursday night,My wife on the couch, me fiddling around at the desktop computer in the mini office off the living room, stove and oven on in the kitchen.
Mrs Duck:Whatcha doing?
Sparky: Me? Oh just checking some blogs until dinner is ready.
MD:Hmmph, I guess I am the one that is cooking tonight, since you are checking blogs.
S:Huh? Cooking? You are just boiling water, I would not exactly call that cooking.
MD:Oh no, not just the water, but the tater tots are in the oven too!
Note:Dinner that night was Stouffers Creamed Chipped Beef over Tater Tots or Toast, depending on who was eating it.
Mrs Duck had her girlfriends brunch this past weekend at Chez Duck. You can tell that these girls are losing some of there steam, I remember when I first dated my future wife, these girls outings were girl's nights in Center City. Then they shifted to dinners out at your TGI Fridays and Ruby Tuesdays and now they are brunches at different houses.
Mrs Duck did most of the cooking, I did pitch in here and there. But I did just want to watch football and avoid all the husband bashing. But, one of the things I did whip up was a crowd favorite. It just needs a better name then the one I found it with on the internet. Thanks to Recipezaar.
Amazing White Trash Puff Balls
1 package hormel sliced pepperoni (or any brand)
1 package cream cheese
2 packages Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1. Take out the crescent rolls, and seperate into the individual triangles.
2. Flatten each triangle and slice it so that it becomes three small triangles.
3. Dice or chop your pepperoni into tiny, tiny pieces.
4. Mix the pepperoni into the cream cheese, stir very well so all of the pepperoni pieces are mixed into the cream cheese.
5. Take a little spoonful of your cream cheese/pepperoni mixture and put it in the middle of one of your crescent rolls triangles.
6. Pinch up all of the sides around the filling.
7. Repeat and place them all on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for the amount of time stated on the crescent rolls (usually 11 minutes at 350) Let cool for a few minutes before serving!
scene:Mitt Romney on the TV screen, commenting on Barak Obama and how they are both the candidates of change.
Mrs Duck:Where did he finish in Iowa?
Sparky:Who?
MD:Romney
S:Second, a distant second
MD:I hate him, I fucking hate him
S:Brilliant
Ok, I again missed last week's edition, but there really was not alot to talk about last week, except for the fact that the last undefeated team in Division 1-A football (I refuse to call it the bowl subdivision) is Hawaii courtesy of there win over Boise State. And the reason there are the only ones left is because Kansas lost to Missouri last Saturday. The Jayhawks could not really stop Tony Temple or Chase Daniel and probably also felt a bit of the pressure. And now the BCS could be a complete mess.
This weekend is Conference championship weekend, with title games in the MAC, Conference USA, SEC, Big 12 and ACC conferences respectively. Plus the game between Florida Atlantic and Troy is also a championship game, even though it was already on the schedule for this weekend, because the winner will get the Sun Belt title and probably a trip to the New Orleans Bowl.
Looking ahead, Tennessee will almost certainly lose to LSU, no matter how many rumors that are swirling about the Tigers coach Les Miles. Erik Ainge is just not a big time QB and that will show later on this afternoon. The ACC championship pits BC vs Virginia Tech, an excellent game that really does not mean too much to anyone outside of the Boston and Virginia areas. I guess BC will win, though the it will be close. Whoever wins will mean millions to the school, but little else in the grand scheme of the BCS. Central Florida and Tulsa probably have already kicked off by now, with the winner getting to go to the AXA Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Again, not a game too many people care about, beyond Michael at Valstool Box. I will pick UCF for his sake. Goddess knows who is playing in the MAC championship game, but sheesh, it started 11am in Detroit, now there is a great place to be in the morning isnt it?
There are 3 inportant games this weekend and 1 with great tradition. Missouri plays Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game, Tex and the Cat Wrangler will actually be there since the game is being played in San Antonio. I am hoping the are pulling for Missouri, but since Buckeye is a Ohio State grad and this game would help The Ohio State University get into the BCS championship game with out playing a snap, I am not so sure. Its the big game of the day, and I am hoping for an exciting game, that will be as painful a loss for Oklahoma as possible, because there coach, Bob Stoops, can not suffer and fail enough for my taste. Plus, I have always liked Missouri, its the whole sad sack makes good story.
Also, West Virgina takes on Pittsburgh tonight in the back yard brawl. Again, alot of Ohio fans will be pulling for the Panthers, since this BCS system is so screwed up that they need a WVU or Missouri loss to advance. Ask an Ohioan the last time they hoped anything in Pittsburgh did well and you can see why this year is football chaos.
For big bucks, and to still remain the last undefeated team in the country, Hawaii takes on Washington in Oahu. A Warrior win will almost certainly mean they will get a trip to the Fiesta bowl and will send another WAC team back to the BCS set of bowl games. Plus, it is a huge game for Colt Brennan, who most certainly will not win the Heisman Trophy, but could surely get himself a trip to NYC in a few weeks as a Heisman finalist.
Finally, for the tradition, there is the Army/Navy game. This is one of the fiercest rivalries and even though Army can never really compete with Navy week after week, this game is always up in the air when it comes to a one time yearly battle. Its also a tradition in the Duck household, since Mrs Duck comes from an Army family, and I myself have always been a Navy fan. I have had alot to Quack about the last few years and I fully expect a Navy win, wrapping up another bowl bid someplace.
Yea yea, Oregon plays Oregon State, Arizona takes on Arizona State and USC tangles with UCLA this weekend as well, but most people east of the rockies could care less.
In the smart division, Division 1-AA, the playoffs continue with the QUARTERFINALS of the championship race. They do it right in 1-AA.
Subway and Doc are up from the Palmetto State for the big Eagles and Cowboys game. Now while Doc and Spice Girl are off to the afforementioned King of Prussia mall, Subway, Tin Man, Sarge and I are off on our own adventure.
It is November 2nd, yes November 2nd and we are going golfing. Now of course, some of you out there are saying what is the big deal? I hope most of you folks saying that are in Arizona and Down South. Because, its going to be 59 degrees here today and I am hitting the links. Yes I am nuts! Or more likely, one of the guys in my foursome today is nuts, because it was one of there ideas!
Now of course, it could be worse, since just before I finished typing up this post, I took Mrs Duck to work, so while she will be warm, but she will also probably want to be gauging her eyes out with a stapler.
