Where I've Been

I grew up in a small town in northeastern Ohio. Warren, Ohio. I have really fond memories of growing up there and will always hold a spot in my heart for that corner of Ohio. Too many things and stories to list, they'll have to spill out of my past with time and various chapters, I suppose.

Until then though, besides greatly missing my family and many friends who are still in the area, I miss fire flies and thunder storms and I mean real thunderstorms. Not this pansy shit that happens out here in Santa Barbara where once every 3 years there's a low rumble of thunder and everyone pisses their pants. I mean the blood curdling crack and crash and flash of lightening and thunder that raise hairs on your neck. And then the down pour on the roof and in the gutters. I miss the brilliance of the leaves changing in October and the anticipation of the first snow fall. I miss walking in the woods down by the river at night just after (and during) a wet snowfall to see snow clinging to every branch of every tree and every shrub and on every rock. I miss seeing the mallards glide in for their landing upon the river at dusk.

I obviously miss a lot.

I just wanted to share some pictures that I found on line of Warren. Even this old postcard that features Park Avenue with the horse and buggies - well, it still looks like that, minus the horse and buggies.

The old Park Hotel. It's still open and I used to get drunk on a regular basis at the pub in the basement. One time a homeless derelict attempted to feel me up at the urinal in the Men's room (I never told anyone about that until right now). Another time when I was 22, a woman 15 years my senior got me drunk, felt me up...and down...and up...and down...and up and down and up and down and almost shredded my clothes in the parking lot behind the hotel. She actually slammed me down onto the roof of her car (I told everybody about that). I'm not sure if she was horny or a cannibal...maybe both. Good times.

And the Trumbull County Courthouse, it's an incredible building and it still amazes me. It looks as though it could be set in the Bavarian Alps. And to think that there was a time they wanted to tear it down to construct a glass tower. And this is in Warren, Ohio.

Well, this grand courthouse is where Thursday's courtroom brawl occurred. And here's the low down on the accused murder suspect.

When I first saw the clip Thursday, my initial thought was that I certainly didn't blame the family of the victims for attacking the suspect. I'd want to do the same. But then I remembered and this is the hard part. The suspect is just that, suspect. I keep forgetting the whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing. And I shouldn't. I'd still probably want to kick ass, but when done on assumptions and "suspect", well then one might as well be swinging in a room full of people with the lights out.

Oh, and if you watch the video clip, I think that the police officer with the dark hair near the end of the clip was my school bus driver in Junior High.