Joseph Hughes

My good friend Tim lost his dad (pictured) this week. I met Tim's dad briefly and did not know him that well but I must say he must have been very special because he raised one hell of a son. I assume that most of us are a reflection of our parents in one way or another. Since Tim is such a caring, giving person, I have to assume his dad was as well. I feel very sad for Tim's loss and wish there was something I could do to help. My prayers are with Tim and Colleen and their family.

On Line Dating

I just started doing online dating on Singlenet.com. It is a real experience even if nothing ever pan's out.

The service has this thing where you can send a "flirt" to others you may be interested in. How juvenile can you get, "Send a Flirt"! This is kind of like being in third grade where you had a friend pass a note to a pretty little girl saying " I like you" but being afraid to sign your name. Then the receiver can "Flirt Back" with a phrase like "I like your picture". This whole process is so lame.

The good news is other people put up with the degrading process in order to make a connection with someone they would be willing to meet with. Yet if you really analyze this, it makes no sense. If I were to walk up to a woman and say "hello would you like to go have a cup of coffee." Almost no woman would accept that invitaion. This is true even though she would be able to see you and see that you were not a bum and that the coffee would be in a very public place. Yet many men and women pay to be on these sites to "meet others". And after reading your profile (which really says very litttle about you) and sending a few superficial emails back and forth are willing to meet.

It's crazy but I must admit it is kind of fun in a perverse kind of way.

Evening in NY

I just spent a lovely evening in NY. I went to visit my daughter, Lauren: and her fiance, Tony; and my son, Jordan; and his girl friend, Adrianne. I often have wondered why two of my three children have gravitated to NYC. Being a suburbanite, it has always been a mystery, why you would give up access to a car and lower rents for the hustle of Broadway.

After several trips up there over the last two years, I now get it! I think I could get into the city atmosphere. I got to Brooklyn late in the afternoon. I had time to kill so I took my new book "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance"bought a nice cup of coffee and a polish pastry in Greenpoint and began to read my book but got caught up in the local's discussion of the recent "Smell Problem" that was blammed on NJ of course. I then met Jordan and Adrianne at his apartment. We then proceded to Lauren and Tony's apartment via the BQE. What a wonderful sight of lower Manhattan that we were treated to(see above the picture that does not do justice to the scene -I was driving and tring to take a picture with an auto camera).

Once in BayRidge, we parked and got to see L and T's new apt. We then had a nice stroll down several streets to Geno's Italian Restaurant. The walk included many wonderful aromas from all different ethnique restaurants. We had a wonderful meal and a lovely evening of easy family discussion and then a nice walk home. There we had coffee and delicious cup cakes made by Adrianne. I then got to drive into Manhattan to drop off Jordan and Adrianne. What an alive city- lights, aromas, people and energy.

I then drove back to MD thinking about what a lovely evening I had just had. I love NY!

Christmas Eve

What a wonderful night we had!

The Proposal

This is a picture of Lauren and Tony taken right after Tony proposed. The picture was taken by a bystander and then emailed to Lauren. We celebrated the entire Christmas season. I could not be more happy for the both of them.

They are both "GREAT PEOPLE!" If I do say so myself.