Poems from a Tragic Comic Book Cover (2006)

Five years ago I published my first book of poetry, Poems from a Tragic Comic: Surviving cancer, drinking, and women.

My idea for the cover was almost a precursor to this blog, and my sister Carolyn made the idea a reality.

I wanted the cover to be a smorgasbord of events and emotions that captured the kinds of feelings contained in my poems. There are medical things, drinking things, dating things, and sports things.

The BC hockey pieces demonstrate this wide range of emotions in particular. I wanted to include a BC-BU ticket because that rivalry is near and dear to my heart. The BC hockey pictures define the Wide World of Sports tagline “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” – they are the sign on the Mass Pike after BC won the championship in 2001, and a picture of the players after they lost the championship game in OT in 1998.

Most of the other items I’ve blogged about already:

1. My Friends in Blue
2. Court Summons from a Best Friend
3. Hospital Bracelets – Cancer and Kidney Stone
4. Note from Suzie
5. Rejection Letter from BC Stylus (which is also included in this book – a promise I made myself when they rejected me)
6. Tragic Comic Note
7. Focusin
8. Note from a Friend
9. Westboro House of Pizza Menu

Eventually, I’ll have to make one huge collage of everything I scan.

More on BC hockey tomorrow…

Old Brown Dog Ale 6 Pack

There are a lot of things I like and admire about my girlfriend.

She always knows how to deal with me when I’m stressed out. She watches (and enjoys it) hockey games with me. She tells me she’s in love with Tim Thomas, and I tell her I am too. Her smile and laugh. She has a great sense of humor and isn’t afraid to make fun of me. She I smart, reads a lot, and encourages me to read more. She supports projects like my t-shirt blog and Skating for Hope. We share a similar view of the world, and can have honest and calm conversations when we disagree. She helps me with my weaknesses. She forwards me things on email that she knows I’d actually want to read. She deals with my Crohn’s using humor, but is very supportive and never makes me feel badly about it. She thinks my family is “adorable”. She watches The Daily Show with me, and calls me out for my huge man crush on Jon Stewart. She considers others when making decisions. She is a vegetarian, only eating fish when a menu is limited. And when it comes to beer, she isn’t satisfied with something cheap like Bud Light. She likes the higher quality stuff, and has a great “enjoy it” attitude to her beer drinking. Old Brown Dog Ale is one of her favorites, and when it comes to people in my life, she’s one of mine. The list of things I admire about my girlfriend could go on and on, but they’ll be continued in a book sometime soon. Thanks for being so awesome Hun; I’m lucky to have you in my life!