October 30th, 2024

 I woke up to the curtain next to my bed blowing across my face. Scared me shitless…

Day two of the warm windy weather gives us the last tease of summer before we change the clocks this weekend.

I don’t like four-thirty sunsets.

The last Humpday of October has arrived and Election Day is less than a week away.

More importantly, let’s not forget that Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same day. The big winners this year are the families that have both a Tree and a Menorah.

It’s going to be a Mazel Tov Christmas. Harry Hanukkah and Santa Claus should buddy up and give each other a hand.

Let’s get through Halloween and Thanksgiving first.

If there are any hot mommies that still have their Catholic school uniforms…. I give out full size candy bars for trick or treat!

Enjoy this warm Wednesday and try not to blow away in the firm breeze.

October 29th, 2024

 The next couple days are going to be windy and warm. Add on the fact that Chicagoland has had a dry summer and autumn with very little rain. Sounds like October of 1871 all over again.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 killed close to four hundred people, left 120,000 homeless and destroyed four square miles of the city. Albeit, most of the area was filled with wooden structures with tar roofs, perfect kindling for a fire storm. That has all been replaced by buildings built under strict fire codes.

Chicago rose from the ashes and became home for horrible sports franchises.

Oh, wait, I’m sorry… I’m still bitter over the 121 losses my baseball team had over the summer and a “Hail Mary” pass over the weekend.

Let’s not blow away here in the middle of the week. Tie down the children and put away the lawn furniture.

The small wind chime in my bedroom window had a busy night.

I drew the wind sperms up on the Morning Chalkboard and I’ll probably do it again tomorrow.

Look at the number eighty sitting on the top right corner like a couple eggs ready to become impregnated.

Windy and warm on the last Tuesday of the month.

Let your hair violently blow in the breeze and be astonished

October 28th, 2024

 I watched a short clip of Coach Corso with players from the 1979 Holiday Bowl team. They all credited their success in life to the mentorship from the coach.

Today’s quote was something Coach pounded into his Hoosiers day after day.

It sure as hell is a good way to live life.

Let’s finish the month of October strong. Give it all that you have and reap the reward as you go. When we were kids we worked for a better future. Now that the future is here, the benefits of hard work immediately appear.

The pain, the passion, the love, the sorrow are all daily reminders of how we’ve been living our life.

Do it right now before it is gone forever. Each day we live gets us closer to forever.

It’s Monday, it’s National Chocolate Day and the weather is a final postcard for autumnal beauty.

Give today everything you have and remember to be astonished

October 27th, 2024

 I usually mention the Bears on game day in the grabber section of The Morning Chalkboard.

I skipped that this week and wrote down “Be Grateful” instead. I put it there so one of my Shepkids sees it when she wakes up this morning.

We are going to nip this one in the ass real quick. I’m not sending someone into the world that looks a gift horse in the mouth.

“Noli equi dentes inspicere donati.”

Now for the quote on The Chalkboard this morning. A solid message from Freddy D that is from his hard to read book “Crime and Punishment.”

I’m not getting deep on a Sunday morning about grief and how to deal with it. We all have a different filtering system when it comes to sorrow and sadness.

Some turn to God, some the bottle, some of us run, play rugby, sing, join clubs, write or read. We all try and immerse ourselves into anything that can make life better.

I have a telephone in my living room that is shaped like a Football with a New Orleans Saints logo emblazed on the side. I use that unplugged phone to call my family and friends up in heaven.

In fact I talked with my dad last night after everyone went to sleep. I asked him if he saw the temper tantrum at my dining room table earlier in the evening. He saw it, so did my Ma, my grandparents, my father in law and Uncle Charlie.

The general consensus was that I handled it well and heaven approves of my parental instincts.

Grief and gratefulness on the Morning Chalkboard. Two subjects worth tackling on the last Sunday of October.

Let’s have less of the former and more of the latter.

My weather guy said it’s going to be overcast today. Fuck him, I put the smile on the sun anyway.

Be astonished and Bear Down.

October 26th, 2024

 The quote today is from a Greek stoic philosopher by the name of Epictetus. The finest example for this quote was a running back we had in Chicago when I was growing up.

He played on a horseshit team for the first nine seasons of his career. When I say horseshit, I mean a lackluster, not a very talented group of football players.

The only bright spot on those teams was the running back. He could run, block, pass and hit. He brought the best out of his teammates, especially the horseshit guys.

Even though this team had more defeats than wins, this one player never quit. He never felt sorry for himself. He never laid blame on others and he never stopped working hard.

He showed up for a game with the flu and a one hundred and one degree fever…

…he ran for 275 yards that day. He set a record that stood for over twenty years.

He never quit on his teammates, his organization or his city.

This running back gave an example to all of his young fans. Never quit, always work hard and don’t let anyone down.

He finally played on a couple winning teams at the end of his career. His hard work and consistent drive to push himself paid off.

In the grabber section is a term I learned from rugby. Sweep the shed means to pay attention to detail. It means to take care of your surroundings, leave it better than it was when you arrived.

The little things in life.

When you go to a movie, do you leave your popcorn box on the floor near your seat or do you throw it away in the garbage can by the exit?

When you leave sweat on the incline bench at the gym, do you wipe it off with a towel or leave your perspiration for the next person to clean?

Sweep the shed….

Today’s Morning Chalkboard is telling us to take care of business and never quit.

The last Saturday of October…

…run like Sweetness and be astonished

October 25th, 2024

 I think I’m going to sit here and listen to the rain tapping on the gutter. The thunder, the wind and the lightning are putting together an incredible show this morning.

It is Friday and I have the taste for tartar sauce. Do you have a favorite fish fry that you go to?

Enjoy the morning rainstorm Chicagoland. We haven’t had a good one in months.

It’s the last weekend of October, be astonished

October 24th, 2024

 Every sunrise gives you another start. Every morning I erase the chalk from the previous day and do it all over again.

My work phone chirped at 1:15 this morning and I woke up suddenly and I woke up pissed. I was even more pissed when I realized it wasn’t important.

But….. the anger went away when I turned and looked out my bedroom window. Sitting there in plain view was the wanning gibbous angle of the rising moon. Just recently rising over the eastern horizon waiting for me to enjoy the glow.

It was like the moon prank called me to wake up and check her out. The timing of the wake up call was impeccable.

Seeing the moon seems to always make me happy. Unfortunately I tossed and turned for the remainder of the night. I’d have a dream and wake up. Have another dream and wake up. All the way to the alarm at 3:33am.

Yeah… my weekday alarm goes off at 3:33am, not 3:30, not 3:45, but at 3:33am.

It’s an Angel Number. I have three kids to wake up for and then there is the Trinity. So I wake up at 3:33 Monday thru Friday.

Not today though…

…today I woke up around 1:15 because an app on my phone restarted.

Fucking technology

I long for the days when I had to flip the cassette in my answering machine.

Alright, it’s Thursday. It is also National Bologna Day. Everyone I know that likes bologna is in heaven. I rarely have bologna, but I had a shit ton of it in the 1970’s.

I’m sure those bologna lovers up in heaven are looking down to see that I’m still full of bologna.

Be astonished and be full of bologna

October 23rd, 2024

 Have yourself a merry little Humpday….

All the Chalkboard is telling us is, don’t be a dick and if someone is being a dick, walk away.

The older we get, the more often we witness karma. I much prefer the good karma, it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling.

The bad karma is usually followed with swearing and aggravation.

Like I hinted on the Monday Chalkboard, let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

October 22nd, 2024

 I was a big “Hill Street Blues” guy. Most episodes started with the pre shift roll call at the precinct. Sergeant Esterhaus would tell the officers before they went out on patrol, “Hey, let's be careful out there."

This morning I want all of you Chalkheads to be careful out there.

Take the CAP LOCK off and try not to yell at anyone today. You never know what the hell they might be going through.

One small request…

My friend AH is having a tumor removed from her skull cap today. You know I dig the power of prayer. Put AH on your morning chant to the higher love.

Tuesday morning, never looked so good, be astonished

October 21st, 2024

 In fifteen days the country is going to be split up the middle.

We have painted ourselves into a political corner. The choice between a Mealy Mouth and a Dip Shit (and don’t get defensive), we all know the choice sucks and the quality is horrific…

…it isn’t worth it, they aren’t worth fighting over.

On a daily basis, the role of the President doesn’t matter. What we need to put our energy into is the local elections. The elections for offices that hit close to home.

State, county and local government, judges, school boards, taxes, zoning and even the dog catcher is more important.

Get on the internet and look at the ballot example that you’ll be pulling. Look at it hard and get acquainted with who the choices are.

Especially the judges!

Do your homework and see what judges are qualified and have a high rating. The position of a county clerk or the metropolitan water commissioner is more important than the president of our country right now.

Washington will survive with whatever assclown has more hanging chads. It is the construction cone on your corner or the judge deciding your fate that you need to worry about.

You can also take another route if you’re having a hard time deciding what you want to do you.

Watch an old George Carlin routine or an old Richard Pryor show. David Chappelle and Ricky Gervais are also good choices that can lighten your burden of choice.

We need to get back to making fun of ourselves. We need to laugh with each other and debate the difference, not argue over a disagreeable opinion.

Please don’t look at today’s Morning Chalkboard as a soapbox, but as a reminder to do your homework and vote intelligently.

I’m going to remind you of the song Sister Mary Balthazar taught me in Kindergarten, it says to let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Show people astonishment and integrity, not a cardboard yard sign

October 20th, 2024

 Life would be easier for many of us if we could take a “Pink Pearl” to the past.

Do you remember those big pink erasers that came with our new school supplies every Labor Day weekend?

The “Pink Pearl.”

Not only did they erase mistakes without chewing up the paper, but they were fantastic classroom projectiles.

Catholic school nuns could flick a “Pink Pearl” at a kid jagging around in the back of the classroom with the precision of a military trained sniper.

I witnessed Sister Catherine Stanley take Kevin O’Conner out without skipping a beat while teaching about the Tigris and Euphrates. I learned at a very early age not to fuck with nuns.

I got side tracked…

We can’t erase our mistakes in life, but we can learn from them and move on.

It pains me to inform you that Chicagoland has run out of sunsets after six o’clock. We won’t have another one until the middle of March.

When we are bewaring the Ides of March, we will again be able to cherish the warmth of late afternoon sunshine.

Until the darkness of winter settles in…

…it is days like today that we must enjoy the sunshine’s warmth.

How many of you are going to scrummage through the junk drawer today looking for a big pink erasers?

Have the confidence to go through life with an ink pen and always be astonished

October 19th, 2024

 Don’t settle for mediocrity, but always strive for excellence.

That is what I thought when I chalked today’s quote.

The later sunrise enabled me to lollygag this morning. Lollygagging is acceptable before the sun rises.

I woke up to the smell of bread baking and instantly raced into my Gramma’s kitchen in Broad Ripple. At first I thought it was Loretta Zoellner saying hello from heaven, but someone was actually baking bread in the Divorced Dad District of Riverside at five o’clock in the morning.

Time to get Betty the Green Blazer some gas and maybe get a coffee cake for Sweetest Day.

It’s going to be sunny and seventy-two today….

…. That rolls off the tongue so lovely.

Let’s root for winning teams today and be astonished

October 18th, 2024

 Until divorce do we part…

I was supposed to celebrate September 25th every year, but unfortunately things didn’t work out and now I quietly celebrate October 18th every year.

Well, not exactly quietly, since I chalked it down on The Morning Chalkboard.

Today is D-Day. On this day six years ago, I signed papers down at the Daley building that ended a failed marriage.

Ah… what are you going to do?

You gotta move on and make the best of it.

…and that is what I have done!

Marriage might not have worked out, but I have three gorgeous children and my mother in law still likes me.

Today’s quote comes from Freddy Tenny and it nails how I feel about today.

It’s Friday, it’s going to be a gorgeous day and a beautiful weekend.

Time to spread some JumboLove around the western suburbs.

Be astonished

October 17th, 2024

 Today’s quote comes from someone that became famous for improvising.

…and that is what she is saying to us on today’s Morning Chalkboard.

Not only did she improvise on the stage, but she showed the world at the end of her life how to go with the flow and stay strong.

She became famous in life on SNL as a member of the original cast. More importantly she left her legacy after dying from ovarian cancer.

Gilda Radner first made an impact as Roseanne Roseannadanna, but in death she brought awareness for generations to come with her illness. Gilda gave faith to other women going through the same battle.

The most successful people that I’ve met through the years. The happiest people that I’ve met through the years…

…. Are the people that knew how to make the best of it.

Nobody really knows what the fuck is going to happen in life. Take it as it comes and make the best of it.

If you can do that…

… you’ll be alright.

The Full Moon will cross over your piece of the world tonight. The October version is called the Hunter Moon.

But for me it is the one that reminds me to dance and celebrate the ups and downs of life.

Tonight will be a marvelous chance for a moondance with the stars up above and in your eyes.

Tonight is also a fantabulous night to find some romance underneath that October sky.

If only we can dance and improvise like Gilda Radner. Taking the punches in life would be so much easier.

Be astonished, make the best of it and always improvise

October 16th, 2024

 Let’s start Wednesday out with a metaphor… the thorn on a rose.

Life is full of risk and challenges. You have to take a chance if you want your goals and dreams to come true.

I helped my Gramma cut roses in her garden when I was a little boy. I took heed to her warning, but the prettier roses seemed to always be at the back of the bushes.

I wanted to give my mommy the prettiest flower, so getting pricked by the thorns was the price I learned to pay.

My mommy loved her bouquet and that was all that mattered.

The path of life isn’t always smooth and has many detours. Most of the time it’s either under construction or covered with snow.

Just like the thorn on a rose, we may encounter pain on the way.

Today is National Liqueur Day. I’m a huge Frangelico guy myself. I also enjoy a nice Grand Marnier. My dad always brought out a bottle of Licor 43 on special occasions.

My fondest memories from childhood was at My Uncle and Aunties' house outside of Indianapolis. Their house favorite was a liqueur that no longer exists, Cheri-Suisse. It came in a milk white bottle with a long neck and a pointy tip that looked like a Swiss chalet.

One Christmas Eve, Uncle Chris handed me a small cordial glass and sternly told me to sip it.

After that initial sip, I chugged the rest and that was when I realized the importance of an after dinner drink.

Be astonished today, grab the rose carefully and enjoy a nice cordial this evening

October 15th, 2024

 I’m not sure why I took on the challenge of a Freddy Nietzsche quote on a Tuesday morning.

Maybe the German philosopher wants us to let our hair down and enjoy the things that make us happy? It brings into mind the idea of lying in your deathbed questioning if you should have spent less time at work and more time with family.

Never lay in any bed and question yourself!!!

At this point in life I should probably relax and see what the future brings instead of continuing to worry about making sure things fall into place.

This is what we are going to tell Nietzsche.

Life is too short and we spend most of it trying to figure out who the fuck we are and what our purpose is supposed to be. A Tuesday morning is perfect to realize that it’s been YOU this whole time and YOU are doing alright. It is all going to work out in the grand scheme of things.

Tuesday morning never looked so good. Let’s ditch Freddy Nitch and pick up with Freddy Jones. The sun will soon be shining. Take the time to be alone with the sky and enjoy a daydream.

Am I the only one who has realized that Hanukkah and Christmas Day both fall on the same day this year?

Make sure to keep your Menorah candles at a safe distance for your Christmas tree.

Let’s go Chalkheads… Christians, go out and get a menorah. Jews, go get a little Christmas tree. Let’s celebrate ourselves and each other and bring peace into our hearts

Bring peace and astonishment to your Tuesday

October 14th, 2024

 My Oldman had this saying, “The truth is faster.” I had a stage when I lied, but Don Shepley made sure it didn’t last very long.

He had another saying after I lied to him.

“You talk like a man with a paper asshole!”

For years I never knew what the hell he meant by that phrase. I finally figured it out in my early twenties.

It basically means someone is so full of shit, they have to constantly wipe their ass with toilet paper.

I currently have a child in the liar stage and she isn’t very good at it. Her brothers haven’t forgotten that the truth is faster, but she sure has.

Now I can take the low road and start blaming someone for teaching this one Shepkid that it’s alright to lie, but I won’t.

My dad had one more line that he used during my stage as a liar.

He told me liars end up being by themselves. They end up sitting on the couch every night with a bottle or two of wine. Liars end up blaming everyone else for their problems while they continue to live in the past. After a liar has lied to the last person, all they have left to lie to is themselves. They live a lonely life of lies.

That statement had a heavy impact on me forty-five years ago. I hope it had a heavy impact on the Shepkid that heard it yesterday afternoon.

Today is Columbus Day. Since I don’t know any Indians and a huge chunk of my friend base is Italian-American….

…Enjoy your day Paisans, I hope you get your statues back.

To any Native Americans that might be reading the Morning Chalkboard. I hope Cleveland and Washington someday return back to using your names for their sports teams.

I’m just kidding, just kidding!

Just being a Monday morning jagoff talking like a man with a paper asshole.

Stay clear of jagoffs and be astonished

October 13th, 2024

 Today’s quote is by Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese writer and philosopher. The quote captures the spirit of what the Morning Chalkboard has become over seven years.

I’ve opened up and shown Chalkheads that it is alright to be vulnerable. By showing the world who I am, I’ve gotten a better sense of who I am for myself. This fucking chalkboard has become my therapist. Hopefully all the stupid crap I talk about has helped some of you as well.

I’m looking forward to seeing a shit ton of drunk people around ten o’clock this morning. The heavyweights might even roll the early morning Bear game into the afternoon. I kind of like this early kickoff from London, England.

Get the game over early and have the rest of the day for Sunday Funday.

This week brings the middle of October already. In twenty-three days we change the clocks and get three months of sunsets before five o’clock. Which means the Afghan on my couch and I are going to become intimate until mid February.

Enjoy the afternoon walks while you have daylight.

Be astonished and monster the midway baby

October 12th, 2024

  I received an email from the Shepkid's mom yesterday that Fritz will be ready for pick up after work, but Hazel isn’t coming to Riverside until lunchtime on Saturday.

This has been happening more and more lately and it makes me feel sad.

So, I climbed into Betty the Green Blazer and headed west of Mannheim to pick up Fritz only.

I was stuck at the light at Willow Springs road heading west on Plainfield Road. I was about five cars back from the stop light with Amy Winehouse singing on WXRT.

I faintly hear “Dad! Dad! Dad? Dad? Daaaaaaad!”

That sounds like Hazel’s soft, but sometimes harsh little voice. I turn down Betty’s radio and hear it again. Standing in a front yard on Plainfield road is my daughter and a handful of her friends.

On Hazel’s face is a big smile. A smile wider than my rear end and with a little duckling wave I get a “Hi Dad!”

“You okay daughter? You having fun?”

Through that big smile of hers she says, “I’m having fun dad!.!.!”

My sadness went away in a flash of joy seeing my Hazel smiling and having fun.

The light turned green and the cars started to slowly move….

In my booming Chicago Board of Trade open outcry voice…. “HAZEL!”

Sheepishly replying, “yeah dad…..”

“I LOVE YOU HAZEL!”

Off she ran behind a big bush as all her friends stared with big smiles at the old guy sitting in his green blazer driving into the late afternoon sun. As I drove away I can still hear the group giggling as I imagined my daughter looking back at her friends…

“Oh my God! Is my dad gone? He is so embarrassing!”

Yes, embarrassment was my initial intention, but so was the seed that I planted.

I love my daughter, her sixth grade friends now know Hazel’s dad loves her and someday when I being waked…

… those little girls will walk up to Hazel and remind her when they saw Mr. Shepley in Betty the Green Blazer back in sixth grade. They’ll recall how their friend was embarrassed when her dad shouted that he loved her. Hazel’s grief will ease as she remembers how much her daddy loves her.

I drove off in my twenty-seven year old vehicle feeling wealthy. I was given the gift of seeing a happy daughter. Hell yes it’s more fun at eleven to be with friends rather than stinky old dad. I’m good with that because I just want my daughter to be happy.

Today is National Farmer’s Day. The American Farmer is literally the salt of the earth. Baseball and corn crops are the two consistent things that we can lean on every summer.

Thank you for the hard work!

A stranger lately to the Morning Chalkboard appears today, raindrops.

I am always astonished by an autumn rainstorm

October 11th, 2024

 There was a shit ton of Jews working on the trading floor back in the day. It was noticeable on Yom Kippur when they were gone.

Yom Kippur is their holiest of all days. It is the day of atonement. My Oldman explained to me when I was a kid that it was like going to confession all day long. Catholics had to go confess anytime they sinned. Jews only had to go once a year and they didn’t have to say twenty Hail Mary’s when they got home.

When the Jews would return to the pits the next day, we’d tell them about the kegs that we had placed around the floor. We had sexy girls walking around handing out sandwiches and appetizers.

I took it even farther and told my Jewish buddies that “Kool and the Gang” set up a stage next to the bond option pit.

It’s going to be a slow trading day with all the Jews gone, let’s have a good time and celebrate.

Kegs in every pit, dessert tables, mini bars, sculptured ice and the Rockettes dancing around handing out Polish sausage sandwiches.

I fucking loved Yom Kippur at the Chicago Board of Trade. It was like that Eddie Murphy skit on SNL when he became white for a day.

Schlomo, Ari, David, Ira and Adam all knew that we took the liberty of bullshitting them. I miss those fucking guys.

Trading slowly faded away on the floor and like a canary in the coal mine, the Jews slowly disappeared.

I look back at the last day we traded at the Chicago Board of Trade, March 13th in 2020. The floor was going to close for a couple weeks for Covid, but it never opened back up.

We should have had a keg and a smorgasbord that day, but everyone was paranoid about this China flu thing that was closing everything down.

I wish my Jewish friends a peaceful and healthy Day of Atonement.

May we all be astonished and atoned today… Shana Tovah

October 10th, 2024

 I let Hazel pick out the quote for today’s Morning Chalkboard. She picked out a line from a song by Lil Peep.

I Googled this Lil Peep character.

The things we do for our children.

Today’s Chalkboard will be the only one ever to have a Lil Peep quote.

lil Peep and Hazel might be foreshadowing the next few months of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.

You never know where you’ll be in the next minute….

Let’s get through this week and hope our Floridian Friends make it through safely.

Be astonished and be ready for a quick change.

October 9th, 2024

 All of the now’s pile up and create who we are. It is funny what now’s we remember the most and remember them on a regular basis.

Many now’s are good and the bad now’s have a big pile as well. It is the obscure now’s that make you scratch your head and wonder why you thought about that just now.

A now from 1974 or a now from 1989. I can remember a now from thirty years ago, but ask me about a now from earlier this year and I’m clueless.

Many people and places that I shared now’s with are gone, but there are people and places not yet known that will make future now’s.

Every now and then something good happens. Every now and then something bad happens.

What do you want to do now?

Discovering now’s makes life worth living.

Now I need to put my pants on and start Wednesday the ninth of October and prepare for some now’s.

Now is the time to be astonished