the faithlessly discarded

Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Here in CT we stole a march on all of this with a parade in Hartford on Saturday that packed the streets, I'm told, and then on Sunday, the annual New Haven St Pat's Parade which is regarded as one of the ten largest in the country was held under beautiful clear skies and middle fifty temperatures. Not that I was in attendance for either-I'm continuing to wiggle my whole foot and squeeze some kind of muscle on the top of my leg to force the back of my knee into the bed, and then lifting my left foot and ankle, from the knee off a bolster a number of times a day all as part of the rehabilitation of my new and very much improved left kneecap (still has that new knee smell!).

My wife and daughter were in Boston Sunday, not so much for their annual parade (as you might imagine in Boston, it's more like a religious procession of sorts; I've been there for a couple in my younger days), but to see the Blue Man Group as part of an outing organized by Eastern CT State where Michelle goes to college.

As I understood it, the collective has taken up residence in a Boston theatre (a hatbox to hear it described) and plays to packed houses I have no idea how often. I've caught them on TV in dribs and drabs and don't pretend to imagine I'd enjoy them live. I can take about two minutes at a time of them in performance so I don't know what I'd make of being six rows from the front of the stage for an hour and a half, but Michelle really liked it (I still think it's too much like kabuki theatre in blueberry jell-o for my taste but her mother has a great shot of my daughter getting touched on the cheek by one of the blue men (persons?) and eventually I'll add it to my facebook page even though it has nothing to do with me, technically speaking).

Walking through Quincy Market before the performance my wife and daughter found 'just for you' a Pocket Jesus (less than an inch tall), made in China (tell me the Lord loves irony) complete with a bumper sticker that says 'Shock your mother! Go to church!", which, I suspect, would be the exact effect on my Mom. And a Ganz finger puppet (guess its country of origin? I knew you would) that was some sort of Pirate of the Caribbean though it looked like neither Johnny Depp nor Orlando Bloom (nor Keira Knightley for that matter).

I love finger puppets and keep a set in the car at all times, for when I do end up in urban traffic situations. Nothing takes the sting out of critiquing (as I like to call it) another road warrior's driving talents than signalling your total score, but with a finger puppet riding atop the rigid digit. Besides if you have a co-pilot to help you out, you can actually drive with ten finger puppets and have yourself a rousing singalong. And if the traffic continues at this pace, I can always get out and put that bumper sticker on your car, get back in and never miss a beat.
-bill kenny