Bfth's Boring Blog

I've written before about the thrift shop where I work/volunteer several times before.  The shop financially supports the church that houses it as well as several other charitable organizations both locally and internationally.  It also supports the community and the world at large with donations that are not financial; towels/linens that cannot be sold are donated to a local pet shelter. Clothing that is not sold within a certain amount of time will be given to local shelters.  Families in need have been given household items.  And so it goes. The thrift shop is part of the church's mission.  But thinking about it, the thrift shop is very much like a church itself.  There is no sermon of course, but there are so many other aspects that would fall under what a church (should) provide.  And maybe churches and other organizations ought to sit up and take note of the lessons that can be learned in the thrift shop.  Like many churches today, the thrift shop is made up of predominan

 Billy Joel recently played his 100th show at Madison Square Garden.  I've been hearing a lot of Billy Joel lately (not a bad thing) and he's said a lot of profound things in his songs over the years.  (Did he intend that or did it just happen?)  One that sticks with me is "Cause the good ole days weren't always good. And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."  It's a reminder to me that when we look back on the past it often seems better than it was and that we tend to think the worst of the future because we don't know what it might bring (as much as we might think we do). I know I often yearn for the "good old days" when my son was small and we would cuddle up together.  His hugs and kisses were priceless and I treasure those memories.  However, if I really think about it along with those precious moments there were also smelly diapers, fights over eating/food, and sleepless nights.  Those aren't things I want to go back to. I want the cu

 It's been a rough week, and surprisingly it has nothing to do with work.  (Which is usually exhausting.)  I'm tired because I haven't been sleeping well and I have no reason for it other than my brain is working overtime. There's no logical reason for my poor sleeping habits.  It is typical for me to go to bed early and get up early.  However over this past week, I've been waking up 2 or  3 times during the night.  (Should I really have to pee that often?)  And then I wake up a good 45 minutes (or even more) before my alarm is set to go off.  (My alarm goes off at 4:35; it sucks but if I want to get in some sort of exercise before going to work, it's what I need to do.  Exercise after work?  There's too many things that could distract and/or interrupt me.  Plus I know by the end of the day I'm going to be worn out and find an excuse for NOT doing it.)  I sometimes lie there wondering if it's worth trying to fall back asleep.  Most of the time I give

 On April 8th, much of the United States had the opportunity to view a total (or nearly total depending on where you live) solar eclipse.  There was also talk about the Rapture (the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second Coming of Christ.) taking place, but it seems that that didn't happen. (If you were transported to heaven and have met Christ there, can you send me a text to let me know you've arrived?  I believe the last Rapture was supposed to take place on a day in May (it might have been 2011?), but instead of meeting Jesus, I spent time reading to my son's kindergarten class.  (Which in its own way is rapturous.)  So eclipse; yes, rapture; no.  (Again, if I'm wrong on that, message me and I'll be sure to update this post.) In my part of the world (northern NJ), it was partly sunny.  Which meant that there were clouds, but they didn't totally cover things.  I was able to look up and see 90% (give or take) of the sun slowly being covered by the m

  Ghosts & ghouls may be part of October's scarefest, but just a few days into this month has made April pretty eerie in my book.  Lots of weird stuff has happened in this week alone and I'll admit that I'm hoping it's all going to end as the week wraps up.   Some of the out of the norm stuff that has happened to me this week. Rain & wind:  I know April is the month of showers, but this week was off the charts, particularly Tuesday and Wednesday.  Umbrellas were of no use; nor were jacket hoods.  That wind was blowing and protection from the elements was not happening.  Not only did it make getting to the office a challenge, it left me cold and disheveled.  (That's putting it mildly).  The combination of the two also made flooding an issue.  (It's becoming more and more of an issue.)  While the waters did not rise as high as they did in January ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/hanging-on-craving

 No, I didn't know him.  (I wish I did).  I knew (know?) his plays.  His (dark) wit entranced me.  He grew up in the town next to mine.  He spent much of his time in "my area."  And he died not far from where I performed in my first Durang play. I'd like to say that the first "real" play I did was by him, but it wasn't.  (That would be Tom Stoppard.)  I had done musicals in middle school and in my sophomore year in high school I was in the chorus of "Mame."  The following year, there was a fall drama.  (Actually two, "After Magritte" and "The Real Inspector Hound."  I was in the former and I don't think I comprehended it completely.  Or maybe all.)  Then there was a winter/spring(?) musical ("Carnival," for which we didn't have enough "male" performers and the lead was very nice but...To put it nicely,  Jerry Orbach had nothing to worry about vocally.)  And finally there was a one act penned by