Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Glass Half Full: The Better Man

by Felix Dennis

hear the author read the poem


I was the better at getting and keeping,
You were the better at spend and spend;
I was the better at grubbing and heaping,
But who was the better man in the end?
Yes, who was the better man, my friend?

Who was the better man?

You were the better with lords and ladies,
I was the better at pillaging Troy;
You were the better at kissing the babies,
I was the better at search and destroy.
But who was the better man, old boy?
Who was the better man?

I was the better at improvisation,
You were the better at spinning the plate;
I was the better at procrastination,
You were the better at quiet debate.
But who was the better man, old mate?
Who was the better man?

You were the better at rolling a reefer,
I was the better with coke and rum;
Remember that night on the beach at Ibiza?
The Maori twins with the tattooed bum?
So who was the better man, old chum?
Who was the better man?

***

Envoi
Now we come down to it, relatives grieving
Out in the hall with their crocodile tears;
Now that you're out of it, now that you're leaving,
Now that they've sealed your arse and your ears,
What I've been meaning to tell you for years,
And years, and years, and years, old friend...
Is that you were the better man, in the end;
You were the better man,
My friend.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Searching for crab in Hampton Roads

I'm missing my family's reunion this weekend... an all day steamed crab eating and cold beer drinking extravaganza. Anyone know where I can pick some great steamed Chesapeake Bay blue crab around Hampton Roads?

While I like Dungeness, Snow, King, etc. crab, there's just nothing like Old Bay all over some succulent steamed blue crab.

Help!?!?

Sunday, July 05, 2009

HarborFest in Norfolk, Virginia

Bertel under "DeVine," a human-grapevine hybrid gyrating around Town Point Park!


Parade of Sail from atop Norfolk's World Trade Center:


The new Town Point Park and tall ships from the Half Moone Cruise Terminal:

Bertel and his Independence Day cupcake... his words, not mine...

and the pièce de résistance.... an outrageous dual fireworks show!

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Visiting our Congressman Glenn Nye and Washington DC

Jillian, me, Bertel (Bert XI), Bert and Representative Nye at the Capitol

Jillian and Bertel in front of the Capitol

The two Berts, Bert X and Bertel XI, at the FDR Memorial

Jillian and Dad pose at DC's Newseum (my fave - the museum of the news) at the front page of The Virginian-Pilot on Saturday, June 27th.

Bert at a section of the Berlin Wall, DC's Newseum.

The Big Backyard BBQ on Pennsylvania Avenue!

Jillian and Bertel rock-climb near the Capitol.