I bought my mom "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" DVD last Friday night at Wal-Mart (never realizing I'd get to hand-deliver it). Well, we tried to watch it tonight & we couldn't get the captions to work. My mom is deaf as a.....well, I don't know what to compare it to. She's not Helen Keller, but close. ;) So without captions working, watching a movie is a no-go. I must have spent 30 minutes trying to figure out why it's not working. Finally I discovered that because she doesn't have a CC-able TV, captions won't work. Since the movie isn't Subtitled (which is apparently different), she's out of luck. *sigh*.
My Pop-Pop's funeral was amazing. There were 600 people who came through at the Viewing. There were 64 flower arrangements sent to the Funeral Home. I never realized how many lives he'd touched. Some flowers were sent by a few of the Women's basketball teams - UConn, Syracuse, Xavier, the Big East... that was nice. I decided that the way I would honor my Pop-Pop's Memory would be to volunteer. He volunteered for many, many things in his life and I decided that would be the best way to honor him. So I found a thing online that I'd like to do. I'm not going to mention it because I don't want to jinx it, but if it works out I'll let you know.
It's snowing here right now. I'd guess there are about 5 inches on the ground. I think the snow has pretty much stopped. While it's pretty to look at, it reminds me of why I moved to begin with. I hate cold and I hate snow. I want to be in TX where it was 55 today. Anyway.... Here's my Pop-Pop's obituary. Then you can all see what a special man he was.
Joseph G. O'Brien, 81, of West Chester, PA, died Saturday, February 19, 2005 at Chester County Hospital, West Chester.
He was born in Pottsville, PA, to the late John F. and Gertrude Kenney O'Brien.
He was a 1941 graduate of Pottsville High School and attended Georgetown University. He was a District Sales Manager with Nationwide Insurance Co. in Chester County for 30 years, retiring in 1988; and was past President of the Chester County Life Underwriters. He was a U.S. Army Veteran with the 102nd Infantry Division in the European Theatre during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge.
He was a member of St. Agnes Church, West Chester, PA. He was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus Chester County Assembly #1873 and a 3rd Degree member of Council #1333, both of West Chester, PA; member of VFW Post #106 of West Chester, PA; life member of Disabled American Veterans; charter member and past Commander of Catholic War Veterans and life member of Good Will Fire Co., both of Pottsville, PA; past member of B.P.O. Elks Lodge #853 of West Chester, PA; and was past Master of Ceremonies for the Home & School Associations of both St. Agnes School and Bishop Shanahan High School. He also volunteered for nine years at Chester County Hospital of West Chester.
Surviving are his wife, Anne Feinauer O'Brien; sons, Thomas J. O'Brien, Joseph C. O'Brien and Michael P. O'Brien, all of West Chester, PA; daughters, Kathleen A. Derr of Harrisburg, Patti Mento of Dowingtown, PA, Muffet McGraw of South Bend, IN and Peggy Schiavonni of West Chester, PA; 16 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. He was preceded in death by a son, John G. O'Brien.
Funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, February 23, 2005, at St. Agnes Church, 233 W. Gay Street, West Chester, PA. Burial will be in St. Agnes Cemetery. Visitation will be from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, February 22, 2005, and from 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 23, 2005, at DellaVecchia, Reilly & Smith Funeral Home, Inc., 410 North Church Street, West Chester, PA.
Contributions may be made to St. Agnes Church, 233 West Gay Street, West Chester, PA 19380 or Good Fellowship Ambulance Club, 600 Montgomery Avenue, West Chester, PA 19380.
A friend sent me one of those Powerpoint "make the most of life" presentations today (without even realizing what had happened) and one particular phrase just hit me:
"When you were born you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who's smiling & everyone around you is crying."
I just think that's so profound. We should all remember that.
Grief strikes you at the strangest times. I was upstairs trying to fall asleep & all I could think about was my Pop-Pop. Of course I started crying, so here I am at 1:05am for my therapy.
I remember my Pop-Pop would always say "There's our Chrissy!" when I would walk in their door.
I remember Pop-Pop giving the blessing at our Wedding Reception, even though people in the family said he didn't really like getting up in front of a lot of people. When I asked him if he would do us the honor he said yes without hesitation.
I remember Pop-Pop jogging with my Uncle Joe when I was little.
I remember Pop-Pop drinking beer - his favorite beverage.
I remember Pop-Pop being so strong and saying such nice things about my dad when he passed away.
I remember Pop-Pop being grateful for his family.
My Pop-Pop was one of the friendliest men you'd ever meet. He would talk to anybody, anywhere. He knew how to have a good time and he had a laugh that made you smile even if you were in the worst mood. He will be sorely missed by all of us. I hope he's enjoying a beer with my dad right now.
I love my husband because he lets me sing "Madalaine" by Winger, followed by "You'll See" by Madonna at the top of my lungs while in the same room with me (and he doesn't run screaming)!
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- In a split second, beating No. 5 Notre Dame and getting the inside track on its first Big East Conference regular-season championship meant little to Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer.
The news that the father of Irish coach Muffet McGraw had died early Saturday stunned her and took the joy out of 10th-ranked Rutgers' 59-48 win over Notre Dame, its fifth win against a top 10 team this season.
``Oh my God! Are you sure?'' a visibly upset Stringer said moments after ending her news conference. ``Is she still here? I want to go talk to her.''
By that time, McGraw was already in a car with her sisters, Peg, Kathy and Patty, headed to Philadelphia to be with their family in the suburb of West Chester.
Notre Dame assistant sports information director Chris Masters said that McGraw's father, Joseph G. O'Brien, died in a Philadelphia-area hospital after a lengthy illness that was complicated recently by pneumonia.
Muffet McGraw was told of his death later in the morning, before the game started at noon. Her players weren't informed until after the game, Masters said.
McGraw never let on that anything was wrong after the Irish (23-4, 11-3) were held to a season-low point total and had their 10-game winning streak snapped by Rutgers (20-5, 11-2).
``That was the best defense we've seen all year,'' McGraw said. ``They were physical with us. We weren't able to get into anything.''
The Irish shot 33.3 percent for the game, weren't able to take a 3-pointer until less than five minutes were left and committed 23 turnovers, matching their season high.
Chelsea Newton had 14 points and eight assists and Cappie Pondexter added 13 as the Scarlet Knights stayed unbeaten at home (12-0) and moved into a first-place tie with Connecticut, a half game ahead of Notre Dame. The No. 11 Huskies beat Syracuse 85-49 Saturday.
``Right now we are playing and playing well together,'' Newton said. ``We are playing as a team. We have to continue to stay together.''
If Rutgers wins its final three games, it would be the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament.
``We talked about this with the team, that the winner was probably going to get the No. 1 seed,'' said McGraw, who led Notre Dame to a national title in 2001.
Jacqueline Batteast and Megan Duffy had 14 points apiece to lead Notre Dame, which was held two points below its previous low, set in a loss to Connecticut and a win over Marquette.
Still Notre Dame had a chance. Trailing 32-19 at the half after hitting only five field goals and shooting 25 percent, the Irish opened the second half with an 11-1 spurt by combining a box-and-one defense on Pondexter with a few good plays inside.
A layup by Courtney LaVere got the Irish to 33-31 with 15:05 to play, and it seemed they would get a chance to tie the game when Rutgers fumbled the ball in the final seconds of the next possession.
However, freshman Matee Ajavon managed to pick up the loose ball and threw in an off-balance floater. The basket started a 12-2 run that featured a steal and layup by Ajavon and a basket and 3-pointer by Newton, who had 12 points in the second half.
``That starts with me at the point,'' said Duffy, who had 10 turnovers. ``I had two or three turnovers in a run that led to uncontested layups.
Pondexter was the difference in the first half, hitting all five of her field goals, including two 3-pointers, in helping Rutgers jump to an early lead it never lost.
Batteast, the Big East's second-leading scorer, was 3-of-14 from the field. She also was cut above the right eye in the game.
Rutgers also has beaten LSU, Connecticut, Texas and Tennessee when they were ranked in the top 10 this season.
However, the accomplishment seemed trivial to Stringer an hour after the game. When told Muffet McGraw had left the arena, Stringer stopped for a second.
``I'm going to go see my mother,'' said Stringer, whose mother has been ill with pneumonia in recent weeks.
Found out this morning my Pop-Pop died. He was 81. He went into the hospital the other night with Pneumonia. The x-rays yesterday showed more air was making it into his lungs, which was good news. But, I guess his heart was too weak. He went into cardiac arrest this morning and passed away. I was stunned. My Pop-pop was a strong man. He was always ready with a smile or a quick joke for anyone. He was a GREAT man. I'll post some pictures later, but I wanted ya'll to know I will be flying home tomorrow or Monday so no updates until late in the week, possibly next weekend.
I am so excited! I pre-ordered TS2: University today. I should have it on 3/1 or 2 - a full 2 days before it's in stores :) I also ordered the guide which I should get next Wednesday or Thursday.
My Aunt's team is doing really well this year! They are currently ranked #5 in the country and they're 23-3. For some reason in their last few games they've been sucking it up in the first half & then kicking butt in the 2nd half. They beat Boston College tonight and as my aunt says "This week is just huge and this was such an important game for us going into the Rutgers game,'' Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "Rutgers is a battle for first place, but this was really the more important game; one we really had to win to stay the course we're on.'' (She's talking 1st place in the Big East.) They play Rutgers on Saturday. A historically hard game. And it's at Rutgers which sucks. No offense if anyone from there reads this, but their fans are *very* boisterous and obnoxious and irritating and rude.
Got my email about Matrix Online today. Ships March 22 in the U.S. It's a shame - I was so excited about it, but then I saw it's $14.99/mo. That's an insane amount of money for an online game! I will not be paying that. Even if I could afford it I wouldn't pay that to play a game I'm sure I won't be good at.
And finally, as requested by Emily, here is a list of the timers set on my DVR:
Sunday 12:30-1 Low Carb & Lovin' It (Food Network)
Monday 6:59-7 Still Standing (CBS)
Monday 9-10 Medium (NBC)
Wednesday 7-8:05 Lost (ABC) - trust me, do the extra 5 minutes. We missed a few minutes of an ending once. :(
Thursday 7-7:35 Will & Grace (NBC) - in case they Super Size.
And of course I DVR The People's Court, Judge Joe Brown & Melrose Monday-Friday :)
Crazy TX Weather! Last year on Valentine's Day it was 37 degrees out with a few inches of snow on the ground. This year? Sunny & 78! It was a beautiful day - too beautiful to be stuck inside. I hope the warmness sticks. I don't want to get ice this year. :)
NEW YORK - City health officials are working to track down sex partners of a man diagnosed with a rare strain of highly drug-resistant HIV (news - web sites) that progressed rapidly to AIDS (news - web sites).
The virus was found in a man in his mid-40s who had unprotected sex with other men, often while using crystal methamphetamine, an addictive stimulant, health officials said Friday.
"We are not aware of another case like this in the United States, or elsewhere," said Dr. Ron Valdiserri, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites)'s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention.
Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said the rare HIV strain is "difficult or impossible to treat."
The New York Times, citing a person familiar with the case whom it did not identify, reported Saturday that the man was believed to have had unprotected sex with hundreds of people.
The man — who had not previously undergone antiviral drug treatment — was diagnosed with the rare strain in December 2004. He apparently had been infected recently after years of having unprotected anal intercourse.
The city has not released his name, but health officials are trying to locate his sex partners to offer them testing.
The onset of AIDS appears to have occurred within two to three months, and at most 20 months, after infection. Frieden said HIV can take 10 years to develop into AIDS.
Drug resistance is increasingly common among HIV-positive people, including some who had never been treated before, but not with such a fast progression to AIDS, Valdiserri said.
The man's HIV did not respond to three of four types of antiviral drugs most commonly prescribed; he is now receiving a fourth regimen, health officials said.
Typically, drug resistance occurs after a patient is treated with the drugs, often because the patient veers from the prescribed course. In this case, resistance occurred from the start of treatment, and was combined with a rapid progression to AIDS.
Valdiserri said that "double whammy" of resistance and rapid progression made the case alarming.
"The message to the American public is that HIV remains a very formidable adversary. We can't let down our vigilance," Valdiserri said.
Some AIDS experts were skeptical about the announcement. Dr. Robert C. Gallo, a co-discoverer of the AIDS virus and director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, said some patients progress more rapidly to AIDS because they are highly susceptible, not because their strain of the virus is more deadly.
"My guess is that this is much ado about nothing," he told The New York Times.
But Dr. James Braun, president of the Physicians Research Network, a New York-based not-for-profit organization of clinicians serving HIV patients, said doctors have been worried for some time about a more resistant strain of the drug.
"We believe that the transmission of treatment-resistant HIV was a disaster waiting to happen, particularly in communities where safer sex is not practiced regularly and in light of people using drugs like crystal meth," he said.
In other Desperate Housewives news, Cross, who plays the tight-laced Bree Van De Kamp, publicly dismissed a recent deluge of rumors that she plans to come out as a lesbian.
The Internet has been abuzz with gossip on Cross' supposed outing ever since a Feb. 1 message board posting at gay gossip forum DataLounge.com by an individual using the handle Your Friendly Spy at ABC suggested that an unnamed actor on the show would be coming out to gay magazine The Advocate, just in time for May sweeps.
The thread had garnered over 900 responses by Wednesday; most of them theorizing that Cross was the closeted actor in question.
However, Cross, previously known for her villainous turn as Dr. Kimberly Shaw on Melrose Place, was apparently not on board with the general consensus regarding her same-sex leanings.
"In response to the recent rumors about Marcia Cross, they are completely untrue," her spokeswoman, Heidi Slan, said in a statement Tuesday. "She is, however, very supportive of the gay and lesbian community."
Cross denied the lesbian allegations in person when she filled in as guest host on Wednesday's episode of The View, saying she was "happy" but "not gay."
Desperate Housewives news & possible spoiler:
Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross is set to reveal she is a real-life lesbian by posing for a gay mag.
The sexy redhead - stuffy Bree Van De Kamp in the hit show - will join the likes of Cynthia Nixon and Ellen DeGeneres by coming out.
Marcia, 43, is believed to be in a long-term relationship with a brunette from another top US show.
And she will pose on the cover of US mag, The Advocate, to confirm her sexuality.
The Sun quotes a show insider as saying: "Everyone on the show is aware of Marcia's leanings, as is the rest of Hollywood.
"She hasn't made a secret of it. Some of the other housewives were worried the news might hurt the ratings. But creator Marc Cherry is gay and very supportive of her decision."
It comes just as her screen son Andrew, played by Shawn Pyfrom, is outed as gay. Bree fears her uptight nature 'contributed' to him being homosexual.
So Tony wants an update? I've been wondering where you've been! Nothing much is going on. Just working & building walls for TS2. Seriously. I work, come home, build walls, go to bed & then start all over again the next day. Today, however, I took a vacation day just to hang out with Tom. It was great sleeping in.
And that excuse that your website is in limbo? Care to explain? I signed up dulcewalls.com with Godaddy (based on what I read on your "in-limbo" site & signed up. Less than 24 hours later the domain was pointing somewhere. Couldn't you go back to hosting on blogger for now? I miss reading about your dreams.
Love ya'll!
I just read that Brad Pitt is going to be in a Heinekin commercial during the Super Bowl tonight. That's one reason to watch the game. :) Actually, Tom's DVRing it, so I'll make him tell me when it's on.
There's a "new" disease that is affecting Gay Men. Since I have many gay friends whom I love to pieces, I wanted to let you know about it. *However* the article is very graphic, so if you're easily offended, don't read it (Nana). To read it, click
here.
The Wallpaper site is going really well. My bandwidth on my personal site used to only average 152MB a month. As of February 2, I've already used 327MB. I doubled my monthly bandwidth output in only 2 days! I'm still nowhere close to needing to upgrade since I get 20GB/mo, but I was amazed at how much that bandwidth has jumped! And all from Evan and a little newsgroup advertising. I advertised the Walls site on a popular forum tonight (not MTS2, Ev, since that's not allowed), so I expect it to jump even more. As of tonight the site has 71 wallpapers on it - I've been a busy bee. I promised myself I wasn't going to make any wallpapers tonight - I haven't been to bed before 2am this week and it's starting to get to me. Of course that was an empty promise because I made 11 walls tonight & it's 1:12am, so I will definitely be seeing 2am. Oh well - I can catch up on my sleep on Saturday, I hope. I may have to work 8am-Noon, but if I do it will be NAP CENTRAL when I get home. :)
