Grutz says, "Whoa, hold on, we just went on a little trip." or "Yeah, that's right. I got a sunburn. Jealous?"

Greetings all!  Yes, it's been quite awhile.  Carleen and I relapsed into our old addiction of traveling this last week.  A combination of a free week and really crappy weather in Chicago forced us, literally, into our Subaru and head east.  First stop: Cincinnati.

As you may or may not know, my wonderful wife is from Cincinnati and her folks still reside there.  The weather was lovely, flowers galore, and more sun than you can shake stick at (ummm, yeah, that's what I meant....).  Also we also hit up the Queen City for a bridal shower for future sister-in-law, Maggie.  So while Carleen and her boss mom, Karen, got to rock out at the Vintage Club with a bunch of ladies I got to hang with fiance, Matt (uber-bro-in-law), in the pleasant Oakley hood of Cincy.  All in all, a great day for the both of us.  Sunday we had an amazing afternoon at the Great American Ballpark watching the Reds battle the Pirates.  Sun+brews+ball=spring.  Though the Reds couldn't quite pull it out (down by a run in the ninth, bases loaded...) it was a very entertaining game from beginning to end (back to back dingers in the first by the 'Bucs).  And it was truly wonderful getting all that vitamin D.  And yes, some of us got pink, except for Matt, he got red!

The Great American Ballpark.  Named after an insurance company.  Really.  I always thought that the Reds were just full of themselves.   I stand corrected.  Tom Healy totally had me, too.  He said all he could get were bleacher seats, yet he got us along third base line.  Well played, Tom, well played indeed.

Superfans from l-r, Matt Healy, Karen Healy (check out the 'red' Reds outfit she's sporting!  Awesome! You should see her decked out for Xavier games) and Tom Healy.  Notice Matt's exposed neckline.....his v-neck matched the color of his hat by the end of the game. 

Carleen sporting the rally-cap.  Alas it almost worked.  Maybe if it was a Red's hat instead of Dubuque hat it may have worked.  Maybe.

After the game we had a great dinner with our friends Tom, Holly and Frost Hankinson who recently moved from Chicago back to Cincinnati.  I have to say I miss them a great deal, but it gives Carleen and I even more of a reason to hightail it to Cincy.

Up next: Super-sleepover in Athens, OH with Julia Healy! And the Healy-Grutz tour hits up our nations capital (and not for the 420 rally, seriously)......stay tuned!

I hope your brains are ready for a workout, it's been awhile.  Make sure you stretch first.

Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist,  and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era. He has been described as "almost certainly the most famous philosopher of the Victorian age."  Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies.He is best known for coining the concept "survival of the fittest", which he did in Principles of Biology (1864), after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origins of Speices.


Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.

Whew!  I know it's a lot, but we've got to get back on the horse with the birthday facts.

Grutz says, "Hey, hey, it's spring. Holy cow!" or "I can run, but I can't hide."

It's opening day at Wrigley Field and April Fools can be damned!


And no, I did not get the announcer job at Wrigley.  But it's not for lack of trying and I'm now a youtube hit (by hit, I mean 30 odd views).  As I was saying, it's opening day here in Chicago.  Now, it's not as exciting as Cincinnati, where kids cut school and offices empty for the opening day parade, a tradition most befitting the oldest franchise in baseball.

The Reds Opening-Day Parade have been held for over 90 years!

Reds great Joe Morgan.

But back to the 2nd City, home of the Cubs and the White Sox.  So what does all this mean.  A long season of a game that involves very, very long periods of, well, nothing, followed, occasionally, with heart-stopping, fist-clenching, screams of joy or agony (depending on who you're rooting for).  It means spring is here, a little early this season, to avoid the fall classic not stretching into November (abomination).  The 96th opening day at Wrigley Field.  How 'bout that?  Now, every opening day is pretty important to any fan of any team, but for Cub fans, each season begins with the possibility, however remote, that the Cubs have chance to end the drought.  Now at 102 years. Plus a new coach and a lot of new faces, and some old, welcome back Kerry Wood!  Personally, this season will be a tough one.  As my wife and many you know, I spent many, many, many afternoons and evenings listening to 720 WGN radio over the years.  The joys of not having a TV for so many years.  As some you may or may not know, longtime Cubs broadcaster and legendary player Ron Santo (I won't even go into why he should been in the Hall of Fame, it's a joke that he's not.  It breaks my heart.) passed away in the off season.  No words can describe this loss.  It will be very, very hard not hearing the utterly-biased, randomly hilarious, exceptionally personal voice he shared with Cub fans. I get choked up just thinking about it.  As much as a successful season would be great, it would be bitter-sweet not having Ronnie around to celebrate.  This season is all about #10.  They're only flying his number today on all the flag posts at Wrigley.  Ok, I am tearing up, different topic. AS I POST THIS CUBS UP, 1-0 in the 1st!!!!!

Even across the pond, my past can still come back to taunt me.
I received a letter from the United Kingdom!  Oh joy!  AirMail no less.  Inside was a message from a very special friend of mine, Mr. Matthew Peckosh.  A message from my past.

This grainy photo from the Telegraph Herald has me on the left, with flag, greeting VP nominee John Edwards way back in the day.  Not included: the lovely word-bubble Matt drew professing my love for Ashton Kutcher. 

This goes way back our youth, specifically notes and Secret Santas at Wahlert High School.  The "correspondences" usually we're limited in topic to comical threats/witty questionable mockery.  I actually still have some these notes (I'm saving them to blackmail Matt.  Seriously).  This continued sporadically through our college years.  Of course we 'outgrew' this and I'm happy to say that it did NOT continue with the advent of electronic mail.  It just doesn't have that personal touch of iffy drawings, doctored clippings, and flat out lies scripted by our own hand.  But now the gauntlet has be thrown down!  It's on Peckosh!  So if any of you out there have any photos of MATTHEW PECKOSH, specifically from Nativity, Jones, or Wahlert get them to me ASAP!  Aston Kutcher indeed!

Lastly, what baby wants, baby gets.
In our brief time together as husband and wife wife and husband, I've learned a few things.  I can't say I've learned a lot, just a few things REALLY well.  Ok, one thing really, really well.  What ever makes Carleen happy, well, that's it.  If it makes her happy, that's what's going to happen.  Carleen wanted roasted veggies for dinner tonight, to which I reply, "Yes, dear."  Luckily, Carleen's request are all manageable and never violate any of my morals (such as making me do something silly* during Hawkeye football games).

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  Carleen's wish is my command.

Infuse your IQ with some high-octane fuel!

To be added later........something came up!


Milan Kundera, born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in both Czech and French. He revises the French translations of all his books; these therefore are not considered translations but original works.


William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author and biographer, notable as the bestselling author of 18 books that have been translated into 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the Abraham Lincoln Literary Award.

*Silly being just about anything involving me NOT watching the game.