Combining Two Households

So this is settling down?  In the weeks since Linda and I got married, things have felt anything but settled.    Perhaps one aspect of marrying later in life is the likelihood of now having at least two of everything.    As she gets ready for the closing on her newly emptied home, the migration of "stuff" to my house has been overwhelming.    We're no hoarders, yet people who didn't arrive on this planet yesterday don't have to be rich to amass a lot of worldly possessions.   I hardly ever needed one rolling pin; now we are blessed with two.   Whether it's mugs, dishes, storage containers, lawn chairs, televisions or Christmas decorations, chances are we've got way more than we need.    After last weekend's big move, one look at my once spacious living room was more than I could take.   The purging process kicked into even higher gear.   The final phase was the integration of her two cats, complete with litter boxes and scratching posts, into this household.    So far, so good on that front... but my dog Oreo must be wondering what the hell is going on.

The Top Ten Radio DJs

As if CNN didn't have enough of its own problems these days, they decide to compile a list of the Top Ten Radio DJs of all time.   First, they need to base the list on the definition of a disc jockey.   To this humble old radio guy who unashamedly never made it bigger than a medium market like Hartford, I would think of a prominent DJ as one who excelled in being an air personality presenting music.   Howard Stern may have been a DJ in his early career, but is his claim to fame in a music environment?   No way!    If you're talking major radio personality, that's different.   Is a program director like Cleveland's Kid Leo a top DJ because he pioneered an album rock format?    Not necessarily.   He's an influential programmer.   Sure, Allan Freed deserved the DJ recognition for coining the term "rock n' roll" and exposing the new genre early on when few others would.   Cousin Brucie had one of the biggest radio audiences in history and Casey Kasem brought his countdown show nationwide, but I don't know how you can narrow down music radio's superstars to a Top Ten.   My favorite DJ is conspicuously absent from the list: WABC's Dan Ingram.   This guy had the quickest wit.  Big Dan was a decades-long essential ingredient of the most listened to station in the nation and an incredible commercial voiceover talent.   He's the "DJ's DJ."    CNN should have done a "Top 40 DJs" list, but Dan Ingram still should have made the Top Ten.

Seven Days In May

It does seem that the past week or so has not been particularly kind to those who lean left on the political spectrum.   After a devastating loss in the Senate to the national gun lobby over universal background checks, dashed hopes for a Democratic congressional seat win in South Carolina and the undying yet unfounded allegations over last year's Benghazi attacks,  the road remains bumpy for the administration's progressive agenda.    For the most part, the left may have been unrealistic in their expectations.    Now we learn that the Internal Revenue Service has been singling out right wing organizations for special scrutiny while the Department of Justice under an administration obsessed with plugging leaks has been snooping through Associated Press reporters' phone records.    Before we rush to judge President Obama as Nixon Revisited, we have no indication he was involved in any of the inappropriate activities attributed to the IRS or DOJ.    Nixon was caught on tape.    That being said, the President needs to do everything in his power to get to the bottom of this outrageous stupidity.    Some Republicans have referred themselves lately as the "party of stupid."    Democrats who get careless about where they pick their battles risk major harm to their brand too.             

Gone In A Flash

The lead time for our May 4th wedding day was not particularly long as weddings go.    One thing is for sure when it does arrive: The day itself comes and goes like no other.    Our event was wonderful with good company, great food, all the essentials and a few extras.    It was certainly not the wildly extravagant  over the top production many couples can't seem to do without.   We're both fine with that, really.   The average American wedding costs $26,000, with some soaring past $100,000.     Why jump into debt for years over something that's over in an instant?     I don't begrudge someone who can afford it, but to us that seems like way too much to spend in one day.    What's the biggest issue to divide couples?    Money.    My new wife and I would rather not get our marriage started with that problem due to a one-day spending spree.    How happily you live through the days that follow is what's important.