Happy Fourth of July to all those reading this south of the U.S.-Canadian border, which WordPress is trying to tell me is quite a few. I’m not sure I believe the stats any more. Just one more thing you read on the Internet that turns out to be wrong. (Wait? You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet? )
But seriously, it was a short work week after an extended weekend. I was actually able to get quite a few things done on the ol’ To Do list for once. This seems to be a habit over the last week or so, where I’m slowly but surely getting a lot of the small items finished up. Of course, I am also hoping to start getting some of the bigger items done over the next few weeks.
It looks like we’ll have to get our garage door fixed. My Mom and I tried to fix it last weekend but really it was just a stopgap, as it is literally ready to come off the hinges now. My Mom called our local handyman and he’s coming to look at it on Monday. So yeah, I guess I am at an age where I can say I have a “garage door guy.” Of course, I also have a “window guy,” too. Ah, the joys of home ownership. Between that and mowing the lawn!
I have to admit, however, it is nice to have a back porch where I can sit and read. That’s one habit I have been getting back into, now that the nicer weather is here. As per usual, I am in the middle of two books, both with a Shelf Life Magazine connection.
I am reading Victory ’45 by James Holland and Al Murray, to be reviewed for an upcoming issue of Shelf Life. It’s about the ways in which the surrenders of the Axis came to be on both the European and Pacific fronts. I’m 119 pages in and have read about the surrender on the Italian front and on Field Marshall Montgomery’s front in Europe. It’s interesting to read how much German officers were trying to work with the Allies to end the war as soon as possible. Of course, in the first 119 pages, there’s literally three references to the Canadians and one is a reference to “and Canadians,” as in “the British and Canadians did this!” (Hopefully, it gets better in upcoming chapters!)
At the same time, I am reading Bigger! Better! Badder! Wrestlemania III and The Year It All Changed by Keith Elliot Greenberg. It’s a great story not just about one event (Wrestlemania III) but really about the entire wrestling landscape and how it got there. I’m really enjoying reading it and remembering not just what was happening in the then-WWF but also Jim Crockett Promotions, World Class Championship Wrestling, the UWF, Stampede Wrestling and more. My only issue is that, gosh darn it, I could have written a book like this. (In fact, I have a manuscript for a book I wrote back in 1998 called “When Wrestling Was Golden: A Fan’s History of Pro Wrestling 1985-1990.” (I’m not sure of the sub-title but it was something like that.)
This Sunday, it will have been a year since my Dad passed away. It certainly can’t be said that it’s been an easy year since we lost Dad. I’ve tried to help my Mom out where I can. She often say she doesn’t know what she’d do without me but I don’t know that I’ve always done the best job of it. In some cases, of course, it’s like a lot of things where I try my best and things don’t work out for one reason or another. Like the rest of Project 56, it’s a work in progress and I hope to always be working towards making things better for myself and those around me.
So, on that note, once again, if you are reading this, let me know where you’re reading from. And, of course, if you want to discuss anything covered above (or below), chat me up on Facebook Messenger or via email.
johnmilner.ca 