Yanks Lost Again

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

Baked Rigatoni

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

This afternoon, my wonderful wife made this for dinner: baked Rigatoni with tomato sauce, Ricotta cheese, and pieces of pork, topped with a five-cheese Italian blend (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano), and then baked. It's quite good. My wife made the big pan for us and the smaller pan for my mom who lives nearby.

My maternal grandmother would put pork chops (with the bone) in her homemade tomato sauce. I enjoyed it over pasta when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s.

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

I am not a fan of American cheese, so I prefer my grilled cheese sandwiches made with brie, cheddar, provolone, or Swiss. I like American cheese on McDonald's cheeseburgers.

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

I have been to Colorado twice: once to go skiing in the mid-1980s and once to cover the opening of a sodium bicarbonate solution mine in the mid-1990s, when I was a reporter, writer, editor, and later a researcher for a weekly, international magazine based on the financial and technical aspects of the chemical industry. I worked there from 1992 to 1996 in New York City (Manhattan). I made the mistake of wearing black patent-leather shoes while taking a tour of the facility. My shoes were totally covered with white powder. 

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

While I don't really like the taste of licorice, I somewhat like the tastes of Anisette and Sambuca.

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

I grew up as an only child. I was blessed with a stepsister in the early 1980s, when I was in my early 20s, and she was a young teenager. I have since lost touch with her.

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

I used to occasionally fly kites at the beach when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, growing up on Long Island, New York. My preference was and still is the box kite.

Many thanks go to my mom for getting our kite up on that blustery day at the beach in the 1960s, when my dad and I didn't have success.

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

I used to love going to record stores.

from husband Bill, April 12, 2026

Childhood Candy

From Yesterday

MilkShake

Atomic Fire Ball

Red Hots
Bazooka Bubble Gum
Zotz
Choco'Lite
Bonomo Turkish Taffy
Tootsie Roll Pops
Sky Bar
Pop Rocks
Joyva Jelly Rings

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

I created and uploaded onto my YouTube channel an impromptu video displaying my favorite candy that I enjoyed when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. (length 2 minutes, 31 seconds) ... I am sure that I have forgotten many. (The background piano music behind the candy photos is me, playing one of my older improvisations on my digital piano.)

My Favorite Childhood Candy: '60s & '70s (April 11, 2026)

https://youtu.be/If4kRcWbyUo?si=UOOt-JRM0pVkuJNM

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

I still have my father's small case of eight-track tapes from the 1970s. I also have his tape player, but I don't think it works anymore. I will have to try it, if I ever get it out of storage.

Mystery: My dad passed away in 1997, so I will never know exactly why he had an eight-track tape by Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin). That seems so out of character for him, considering he liked to listen to James Last, Joni James, and Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

I definitely like cheese fondue. I haven't had it in many years. I also like beef fondue and chocolate fondue.

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

My dad spent a short time aboard a U.S. Navy submarine in the late 1950s. He served 22 years in the Navy, retiring at the rank of Commander. Of course, as a Beatles fan, I need to mention their song and movie "Yellow Submarine." When I was a kid, I liked the submarine ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

I had pet dogs when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. I also had pet chameleons in the 1970s. I even had pet mice in the 1980s, when I was in my 20s. I don't have any pets now. I did have a cat as a roommate.

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

I like the barbershop quartet episode of "I Love Lucy."

from husband Bill, April 11, 2026

Pfänder Mountain

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

Today is the 21st anniversary of the day I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife Debbie in Austria at 11 a.m. Central European Time on April 10, 2005. I love her with all of my heart and always will.
Here are two short videos of Pfänder mountain in Bregenz, Austria, where I proposed marriage. You can see four countries from that location: Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Germany. The winter video best depicts how it was for us on that day. The summer video shows more of the mountain.

Winter

https://youtu.be/nncapeaoUYY?si=VvbCGXASoI09rQC7

Summer

https://youtu.be/fV3ET4CivAM?si=vdgzcTT8VOoEYCBb

21st Anniversary: Proposal

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

Today is the 21st anniversary of the day I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife Debbie in Austria at 11 a.m. Central European Time on April 10, 2005. I love her with all of my heart and always will.

A few minutes after I proposed, I took this photo of the exact spot where I popped the question.

On the last of my seven visits to Austria since the early 1980s, all of which I visited my many Austrian cousins and many times skied in the snowy Austrian Alps, Debbie and I, with two of my Austrian cousins, Hans (R.I.P.) and his wife Rita, took a cable car to the top of Pfänder Mountain (altitude 1,064 meters/3,490 feet), overlooking the city of Bregenz in western Austria. Four countries can be seen from this location: Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Liechtenstein, as well as Bodensee (Lake Constance) which can be seen in the distance in this photo. I had picked this spot to propose marriage years prior, just in case I ever had the courage to ask Debbie to marry me.

While on top of the mountain, my cousins walked away to look at the snowy scenery, and I found myself alone with Debbie. I pulled out a diamond ring that I had hidden in a small, empty cardboard box that once contained my asthma medication that was in a pocket of my blue ski jacket that I was wearing. Debbie's jacket was red. I then asked her to marry me. (Obviously) she said yes, but only after a seemingly endless moment of silence.

To celebrate, my cousins Hans and Rita took us to lunch at a restaurant in nearby Schwarzenberg, Austria. We then went back to their house on the side of a mountain in nearby Dornbirn, Austria, where the four of us drank Champagne (Prosecco?) along with my cousin Markus and his mother Blanka, Hans' sister (R.I.P.).

That evening around midnight (6 p.m. Eastern Time in the United States), my new fiancée and I called our respective families in southeastern Florida to tell them the good news. Debbie and I spent the next two weeks celebrating across Austria, visiting with many of my Austrian cousins in Dornbirn, Lustenau, Salzburg, and in Grinzing, a winery village near Vienna. Ludwig Van Beethoven lived in many apartments in Grinzing. He was constantly evicted for non-payment of rent.

Debbie and I wed on February 4, 2006, and continue to live happily ever after.

By the way, the day before I proposed, Debbie and I, with two more of my Austrian cousins, Guntram and his wife Lisa, visited a church in a small village in western Austria. Outside of a church there was a small, but legendary stone monument. As per tradition, if a woman bends down and puts her knee within the stones, she will be blessed with a good husband. So, of course, I basically pleaded with Debbie to put her knee in the monument. At first, she didn't want to because it was raining. She ultimately did it. I wanted her to do it to give her a hint as to my imminent marriage proposal, but the next day atop snowy Pfänder Mountain, she was still surprised.

***

Today is the 21st anniversary of the day I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife Debbie in Austria at 11 a.m. Central European Time on April 10, 2005. I love her with all of my heart and always will. A few minutes after I proposed, I took this photo of the exact spot where I popped the question.

On the last of my seven visits to Austria since the early 1980s, all of which I visited my many Austrian cousins and many times skied in the snowy Austrian Alps, Debbie and I, with two of my Austrian cousins, Hans (R.I.P.) and his wife Rita, took a cable car to the top of Pfänder Mountain (altitude 1,064 meters/3,490 feet), overlooking the city of Bregenz in western Austria. Four countries can be seen from this location: Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Liechtenstein, as well as Bodensee (Lake Constance) which can be seen in the distance in this photo. I had picked this spot to propose marriage years prior, just in case I ever had the courage to ask Debbie to marry me.

While on top of the mountain, my cousins walked away to look at the snowy scenery, and I found myself alone with Debbie. I pulled out a diamond ring that I had hidden in a small, empty cardboard box that once contained my asthma medication that was in a pocket of my ski jacket that I was wearing. I then asked her to marry me. (Obviously) she said yes, but only after a seemingly endless moment of silence.

To celebrate, my cousins Hans and Rita took us to lunch at a restaurant in nearby Schwarzenberg, Austria. We then went back to their house on the side of a mountain in nearby Dornbirn, Austria, where the four of us drank Champagne (Prosecco?) along with my cousin Markus and his mother Blanka, Hans' sister (R.I.P.).

That evening around midnight (6 p.m. Eastern Time in the United States), my new fiancée and I called our respective families in southeastern Florida to tell them the good news. Debbie and I spent the next two weeks celebrating across Austria, visiting with many of my Austrian cousins in Dornbirn, Lustenau, Salzburg, and in Grinzing, a winery village near Vienna.

Debbie and I wed on February 4, 2006, and continue to live happily ever after.

April 10, 2026

Frittata This Morning

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

Early this morning, my wonderful wife made this frittata for our breakfast. (photo taken by my wife)

Today Is ...

 from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

I am an old writer who used to be a young writer. I have been encouraged by older writers, and I have encouraged younger writers. In fact, one newspaper reporter once told me that, as her editor, I was also her mentor. I didn't realize it at the time, but it certainly made me feel good. I was just trying to help her to be a better writer.

I was a journalist from September 1982 to April 2017, working at many gigs, including newspapers, trade publications, and even as an editor/page designer with the supermarket tabloids (Star, Globe, National Examiner, and National Enquirer magazines) from 2002 to 2011.

I am (still) in the midst of writing an autobiographical novel loosely based on my four years as a reporter, writer, editor, and researcher, covering the technical and financial aspects of the chemical industry for an international weekly magazine based in New York City from 1992 to 1996. I will also include events throughout my entire life. I worked at four gigs in The City from 1991 to 1998 before moving to Florida.

In addition, I am (still) in the preliminary stages of self-publishing a book of self-penned poetry. I have written more than 300 poems since 1986, so I need to choose 75 of my subjectively best poems for inclusion. I have had several of my poems published in national anthologies, mostly in the 1990s, and one in 2010 with Eber & Wein Publishing company. One of my poems was published in 2022 in Eber & Wein's "Best Poets of 2021" anthology. I also had a poem published in 2021 in this company's anthology titled "Best Poets of 2020." In the 1990s, I had poems published with the National Library of Poetry.

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

Unfortunately, I have lost touch with my stepsister. I grew up as an only child.

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

I have eaten crescent rolls (croissants) before, but without cinnamon. I would probably like that. Croissants were first created in Austria, not France.

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

At one time, I wanted to be a dairy farmer/cheesemaker in the mountains of western Austria.

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026

Yeah, I need to work on this.

from husband Bill, April 10, 2026