A Brother Abroad

This is Day 117.

Happy Memorial Day!

As the first unofficial milestone of not quite summer gets underway, the D'Alessandro family is off to a great start:

We have great weather.

We have three great parties to attend.

We have a fabulous new patio set.

And, now, we have pink eye.

Oh, Joseph.

Hope everyone enjoys all of the above, minus the conjunctivitis...ick.

A Brother Abroad

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday praised an Army soldier in eastern Afghanistan who drew media attention this month after rushing to defend his post from attack while wearing pink boxer shorts and flip-flops.

In fact, Gates said he wants to meet the soldier and shake his hand the next time he visits Afghanistan.

"Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage," Gates said in remarks prepared for a speech in New York.
"I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban. Just imagine seeing that: a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his cross-hairs. What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare," he said.

Army Specialist Zachary Boyd, 19, of Fort Worth, Texas, rushed from his sleeping quarters on May 11 to join fellow platoon members at a base in Afghanistan's Kunar Province after the unit came under fire from Taliban positions.

A news photographer was on hand to record the image of Boyd standing at a makeshift rampart in helmet, body armor, red T-shirt and boxers emblazoned with the message: "I love NY."
When the image wound up on the front page of the New York Times, Boyd told his parents he might lose his job if President Barack Obama saw him out of uniform.

"I can assure you that Specialist Boyd's job is very safe indeed," Gates said in the speech.
The U.S. defense chief was scheduled to deliver the speech at New York's annual Salute to Freedom dinner in Manhattan.

This is Day 116.

A Brother Abroad

This is Day 115.

And the winner is....

Kris Allen.

I am driving to Atlantic City right now.

American Idol Results

I'm going to kind of blog as I go....but I have to take a break midway to Skype.....

Observations:

1) I forgot how much I like David Cook...time to hit iTunes.

2) Why do they do the "awards portion" (aside from needing to drag out the broadcast in the interest of more advertising spots)?

3) After watching Kris Allen duet with Keith Urban, his adoreableness just quadrupled....perfect match-up.

4) OH MY!!! I was just beginning to get really weary of Kara, but she totally redeemed herself!!! Outsang...and out bikini-ed!! Loved it!

5) The girls and Fergie are on....wow, she's wearing a short skirt and that camera man is daring. Careful, careful....Wait, the Peas are at and the screen went out....did someone die or, worse, flash us? What the hell happened??

5) Ahhh!! I just got off a Skype session and Steve Martin is on stage! What did I miss?? What happened?

6) Hold on...Julie just Skyped me something about Kiss and Adam and Allison and Cyndi Lauper....oh, and Danny and Lionel Richie!! And Julie said Adam was good....ahhhhhh, I missed it!!!

7) Oh, dear. Rod. Why? He might as well have worn the spandex singlet from "If You Want My Body...."

8) Is that Janice Dickinson in the audience? I didn't know they sold meds at the ticket window....or had an open door policy on morons.

9) I am not entirely sure the Tatiana thing was a joke...but I am now certain there IS an open door policy on morons,

10) Gee....they're ending with Freddy Mercury. I wonder WHO inspired that???? This is unfair. What a set-up....and Kris knows it. He's clear just a guest on the Adam show.

A Brother Abroad

What does it mean to grow up with two older brothers who were obsessed with shows like "The A Team", "MacGuyver", and "Fall Guy".


Well, it looked like this entirely too much:





This is Day 114.