Tom Faranda's Folly

Many people will remember Nick Springer – who around 1999 at the age of about 14 developed a rare form of meningitis. The result was horrific. Nick developed gangrene in all four of his limbs and had to have amputations of his legs below the knee, and his arms below the elbow. However he has … Read more

I will be in Boston on business until Tuesday night. I have a real interesting posting which I will put up when I get back. Unfortunately the Yanks were swept today by Boston (second game just ended) so the "magic number" stays at four.

I went down with a total of about a dozen people from my parish to the Central Park “Rally for Darfur” that was going on simultaneously in about forty-five other cities. I think there may have been eight to ten thousand people there. Here are some pictures – first the podium and the diamond vision … Read more

Here are two blonde jokes. The first is a "smart" blonde joke and was sent to me by my friend Thea. The second is a "dumb" blonde joke, sent by Ellen. So here’s the smart blonde: A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and asks to see the loan officer. She says … Read more

I knew seven people killed on 9/11. But I only knew one of them real well. I knew Tom Knox (“Tommy”) because I coached him for five years at the North Jersey Rugby Club. He was a great kid. Funny, quick witted, really sparkling personality. The sort of fellow you enjoy hanging around with; you’re … Read more

The subject is 9/11. We have reached the five year anniversary. Peggy Noonan has a beautiful short essay. "I just called to say I love you" OpinionJournal – Peggy Noonan

I’ve been weblogging for one year. Of course the impetus was to write about my chemotherapy lymphoma treatment, with my (at times other) inane chatter secondary. In total, I have posted 496 times,  have received 239 comments, and many, many, more emails. I’ve heard from people with lymphoma from around the country and overseas, from … Read more

That’s the title of the email that was sent to me today and which is below. The story originates with an article in the Omaha World-Herald newspaper. Read the story. You’ll understand the gesture.  Look at the picture below closely before reading the story. A good story about a real hero. The Marine Corps Gunnery … Read more

There was a very interesting essay in the Times (UK) about three weeks ago. It was in response to a television personality in Great Britain (Jenni Murray) who proudly proclaimed that she would "die when I want to" by euthanizing herself. Here’s the response, by Mary Kenny To be a burden is to be truly … Read more