Wow.
I forgot about this blog, and accidentally was linked to it while looking for another blog. So I figured it's due a 7-year update.
A lot has happened in those 7 years. My father remarried, his high school sweetheart, and moved to Tennessee. Sold the house I grew up in (high school, college, and law school), and now just my brother remains in Monroe (West Monroe, actually).
Caitlin is in Nashville, where she has been since graduating college, practicing as a nurse in pediatric oncology at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. She's also in her last year in nurse practitioner school at UAB.
Sarah graduated from Alabama with a degree in Psychology, and is three weeks away from getting her associate's degree in nursing, where she will join her sister in the profession in January. She has accepted a job at St. Vincent's Hospital here in Birmingham. She has been seeing a young man, Patrick, who is stationed in Oklahoma currently, but will be moving to Clarksville (about an hour north of Nashville) early next year. He spent today (Thanksgiving) with us, and Sarah will drive him to his home (Atlanta) tomorrow night.
Andrew is still periodically in school, but is a full-time software engineer at Vincari, and doing well. He moved out into his own apartment downtown a couple of months ago, and the house is a little quieter.
Rachel is in her senior year, applying to close to two dozen colleges, because she wants to go into musical theatre. She has flourished in that area, loves singing and acting, and wants to make a career of it. She recently finished starring as "Juliet" in Romeo and Juliet at her high school, and is busy preparing video auditions now.
Collin is doing well in school, and has had another great year of soccer. In the spring, he had a partial tear of his ACL, but worked very hard, and is stronger than ever now. He'll be going to Atlanta next weekend as his team will be competing in a college ID tournament, and will be playing JV soccer for Oak Mountain High School in the spring. He had high hopes of playing varsity, and his goal is to be "called up" to the varsity team when the tournament begins at the end of the season.
Sue and I are, well, doing great health-wise, and enjoying watching our children grow up and flourish.
That's all for now. I'll try to update a little more regularly next time.
D.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
It's Christmas time - traditions and such
Posted this on the "Front Porch" of Kentucky Sports Report, so I'm double-dipping, I guess. But just seemed more appropriate here than there, anyway. The question was asked about the various holiday traditions, and this was what I wrote about my own family's holiday traditions at this time of year.
Friday, December 11, 2009
A performing week from Monday through Friday
OK, so I lied--my next post is actually.....right now. Waiting on my daughter to finish work tonight so I can pick her up, so why not add some lagniappe--a little something extra, like that fist-bump fireworks on the McDonald's commercial?
Side note--is it sad that I can't remember watching television, but I remember a TV commercial? Sad.
Anyway, Monday night was the Oak Mountain High School Christmas Choral performance. Much fun and joy spread in that show, which I have attended seven consecutive years. This year is special for us, as Sarah is performing in Chanter (the women's show choir) and Con Brio (the mixed show choir), as she did last year, but Andrew is also performing in the Craftsmen (the men's show choir). What a joy it is to have a child in all 3 performing show choirs!
Chanter is doing a tribute to ABBA, "Mamma Mia," and they have a lot of fun. I love that music, particularly live--I have a Dream, Mamma Mia, S.O.S., Take a Chance on Me, and Dancing Queen were all performed Monday. The Craftsmen have a Pirates theme--interesting to see them weave in songs like "Shake your Booty," "Larger than Life," "Everybody, Rock Your Body," and "Come Sail Away." Con Brio's is a modern theme--Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Bush Kevin Rudolf, etc. Love seeing the girls sing hot-n-cold; the entire group singing Boom, Boom, Pow (wasn't sure about it until I saw it, then loved it right away).
First competition is January 16th this year, I think, in Montgomery. They also do Albertville and Homewood this year. They competed in Montgomery last year--their first time there--and Albertville and Homewood will be new venues for them, dropping longstanding Auburn and Opelika competitions. Closer for us, but I will miss the Auburn show choir festival especially. We had some great trips down there, and a lot of family fun.
Collin stepped up to the plate today and had several songs he acted as "cantor" for today at the Children's Mass in school. He auditioned for it a couple of weeks ago, and was selected, and had a lot of "mike time" today. He has a very good voice, but is a little tentative right now. You could see his confidence growing with each song, though. He enjoyed it, and felt proud later.
And then we finished off tonight with the Alabama Stage Door performance (see my post from long, long, ago--maybe 30 minutes).
The one thing that I missed that I enjoyed last year was Caitlin's voice jury at Alabama. She has been lucky to find a spot each semester to take voice classes at the University. Had to audition to get in--it's for non-music majors, but there are limited spots--and I believe she has had these lessons, or classes, each semester, or maybe every one except one. Basically "free" voice lessons, which she enjoys. Her end of semester voice jury this year was Monday at 4:15, and we could not get to Tuscaloosa and back in time for eveerything, so we had to miss it. Hopefully she will get more chances to do that before she graduates, and we will be able to fit it in.
Tomorrow we're back to sports, as Rachel's basketball team attempts to bounce back from an opening 50-10 loss last week. They played a WNBA team, or so it seemed. I'll have to post a pic of Rachel attempting to guard a player more than a head taller than her, or being sandwiched between two 7-footers. When I post the picture, you'll know there's not much exaggeration.
Hope to have more blog posts through the rest of this month. Would like to get 1-2 a week in, but it seems I can never do that, so I end up making these monsterously long posts that nobody would want to read, anyway. Doesn't matter, I still enjoy writing them.
Til next time.
Side note--is it sad that I can't remember watching television, but I remember a TV commercial? Sad.
Anyway, Monday night was the Oak Mountain High School Christmas Choral performance. Much fun and joy spread in that show, which I have attended seven consecutive years. This year is special for us, as Sarah is performing in Chanter (the women's show choir) and Con Brio (the mixed show choir), as she did last year, but Andrew is also performing in the Craftsmen (the men's show choir). What a joy it is to have a child in all 3 performing show choirs!
Chanter is doing a tribute to ABBA, "Mamma Mia," and they have a lot of fun. I love that music, particularly live--I have a Dream, Mamma Mia, S.O.S., Take a Chance on Me, and Dancing Queen were all performed Monday. The Craftsmen have a Pirates theme--interesting to see them weave in songs like "Shake your Booty," "Larger than Life," "Everybody, Rock Your Body," and "Come Sail Away." Con Brio's is a modern theme--Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Bush Kevin Rudolf, etc. Love seeing the girls sing hot-n-cold; the entire group singing Boom, Boom, Pow (wasn't sure about it until I saw it, then loved it right away).
First competition is January 16th this year, I think, in Montgomery. They also do Albertville and Homewood this year. They competed in Montgomery last year--their first time there--and Albertville and Homewood will be new venues for them, dropping longstanding Auburn and Opelika competitions. Closer for us, but I will miss the Auburn show choir festival especially. We had some great trips down there, and a lot of family fun.
Collin stepped up to the plate today and had several songs he acted as "cantor" for today at the Children's Mass in school. He auditioned for it a couple of weeks ago, and was selected, and had a lot of "mike time" today. He has a very good voice, but is a little tentative right now. You could see his confidence growing with each song, though. He enjoyed it, and felt proud later.
And then we finished off tonight with the Alabama Stage Door performance (see my post from long, long, ago--maybe 30 minutes).
The one thing that I missed that I enjoyed last year was Caitlin's voice jury at Alabama. She has been lucky to find a spot each semester to take voice classes at the University. Had to audition to get in--it's for non-music majors, but there are limited spots--and I believe she has had these lessons, or classes, each semester, or maybe every one except one. Basically "free" voice lessons, which she enjoys. Her end of semester voice jury this year was Monday at 4:15, and we could not get to Tuscaloosa and back in time for eveerything, so we had to miss it. Hopefully she will get more chances to do that before she graduates, and we will be able to fit it in.
Tomorrow we're back to sports, as Rachel's basketball team attempts to bounce back from an opening 50-10 loss last week. They played a WNBA team, or so it seemed. I'll have to post a pic of Rachel attempting to guard a player more than a head taller than her, or being sandwiched between two 7-footers. When I post the picture, you'll know there's not much exaggeration.
Hope to have more blog posts through the rest of this month. Would like to get 1-2 a week in, but it seems I can never do that, so I end up making these monsterously long posts that nobody would want to read, anyway. Doesn't matter, I still enjoy writing them.
Til next time.
Premiere of Alabama Stage Door - The Red Nosed Revue
Had a very nice time tonight at an unusual setting, the North Shelby County Library. Tonight was the official opening performance of the Alabama Stage Door, a brand new community theater company organized by friends and catering to the talent in Birmingham, but particularly, North Shelby County.
Expected to enjoy a little light Christmas fare tonight, with low expectations. Instead, was treated to a night with some very heavy-hitters in talent, and a show that zipped by oh-too-quickly.
Yes, it had moments of home-spun, "we're family, and we're kinda putting this together as we go along." But all in all, just a great bunch of people, with some extraordinary voices and talents being shared to put all in the Christmas Spirit--and hopefully, give a nice boost to Alabama Stage Door and their goal of their first full-fledged show in June, 2010.
As usual, my blog wouldn't be complete, it seems, without a reference to my children. And today was no exception, as Rachel had the distinct honor of being the first performer ever to perform for the fledgling company, as she took center stage with her sweet rendition of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Yes, she just got music this afternoon for it. No, she did not rehearse it until today. Yes, she gave Donner a son in Santa's team, as she mentioned Donner twice (Sr. and Jr.?) and sat Comet out for this ride. But proudly went front and center in a small room (is there any more nerve-wracking?) and did a terrific job.
Her friend Casey (Colin-The Secret Garden; Chip-Beauty and the Beast Annie-Annie, Jr.) was in the show and did a great job, too. But the show wasn't a "kid's show," although there were a frew sprinkled here and there. Great Birmingham adult talent, emceed by Mike Bridges, was wonderful. I don't mean to leave anybody out, but will mention a few--Susan Cook, who we met when she played the lead role in Beauty and the Beast with Rachel and Casey, had a couple of numbers that were excellent. An acapella group of seven--the Augmented Seventh, a group of UAB Singers, were tremendous. David Coker and Tommy McDowell did a duet of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" that would do broadway and the big screen proud. The show ended with a flourish, with "Santa Baby" from Susan Cook, "Merry Christmas, Darling" from Emily Lunsford and "I'll be Home for Christmas," sung a capella by the powerfully-voiced Clay Boyce, was a terrific way to end the show. My apologies to all of the other wonderfully talented performers who contributed to the show as well.
I especially enjoyed Mike Bridges and a "special guest" in which he and Kermit the Frog sang, "I'll have a Green Christmas." I remember him doing that way-back-when my oldest child--now a junior in college--was in middle school or so. Haven't seen it since then, but it was as good as I remembered, and a big hit with the little ones in the audience.
Terrific show, certainly got the money's worth, a mere pittance of a donation for 2 hours of live entertainment at 1/4th to 1/3rd the cost of a typical show.
I wish Alabama Stage Door the very best. Good people involved, including Donna Corneil, who has such a great part in insuring successes of shows at OLV, and now Alabama Stage Door, Kathy Ellis, MikeBridges, Dava Fant and others. Community theater is tough, and right now may be especially tough. But if somebody can make it work, these people can. Support your local theater groups the best you can, all of them, but keep your eyes out for Alabama Stage Door. They can use a little extra special boost to get started. Then again, can't we all?
Will have another post tomorrow. Stay tuned--more music and performance stuff.
Expected to enjoy a little light Christmas fare tonight, with low expectations. Instead, was treated to a night with some very heavy-hitters in talent, and a show that zipped by oh-too-quickly.
Yes, it had moments of home-spun, "we're family, and we're kinda putting this together as we go along." But all in all, just a great bunch of people, with some extraordinary voices and talents being shared to put all in the Christmas Spirit--and hopefully, give a nice boost to Alabama Stage Door and their goal of their first full-fledged show in June, 2010.
As usual, my blog wouldn't be complete, it seems, without a reference to my children. And today was no exception, as Rachel had the distinct honor of being the first performer ever to perform for the fledgling company, as she took center stage with her sweet rendition of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Yes, she just got music this afternoon for it. No, she did not rehearse it until today. Yes, she gave Donner a son in Santa's team, as she mentioned Donner twice (Sr. and Jr.?) and sat Comet out for this ride. But proudly went front and center in a small room (is there any more nerve-wracking?) and did a terrific job.
Her friend Casey (Colin-The Secret Garden; Chip-Beauty and the Beast Annie-Annie, Jr.) was in the show and did a great job, too. But the show wasn't a "kid's show," although there were a frew sprinkled here and there. Great Birmingham adult talent, emceed by Mike Bridges, was wonderful. I don't mean to leave anybody out, but will mention a few--Susan Cook, who we met when she played the lead role in Beauty and the Beast with Rachel and Casey, had a couple of numbers that were excellent. An acapella group of seven--the Augmented Seventh, a group of UAB Singers, were tremendous. David Coker and Tommy McDowell did a duet of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" that would do broadway and the big screen proud. The show ended with a flourish, with "Santa Baby" from Susan Cook, "Merry Christmas, Darling" from Emily Lunsford and "I'll be Home for Christmas," sung a capella by the powerfully-voiced Clay Boyce, was a terrific way to end the show. My apologies to all of the other wonderfully talented performers who contributed to the show as well.
I especially enjoyed Mike Bridges and a "special guest" in which he and Kermit the Frog sang, "I'll have a Green Christmas." I remember him doing that way-back-when my oldest child--now a junior in college--was in middle school or so. Haven't seen it since then, but it was as good as I remembered, and a big hit with the little ones in the audience.
Terrific show, certainly got the money's worth, a mere pittance of a donation for 2 hours of live entertainment at 1/4th to 1/3rd the cost of a typical show.
I wish Alabama Stage Door the very best. Good people involved, including Donna Corneil, who has such a great part in insuring successes of shows at OLV, and now Alabama Stage Door, Kathy Ellis, MikeBridges, Dava Fant and others. Community theater is tough, and right now may be especially tough. But if somebody can make it work, these people can. Support your local theater groups the best you can, all of them, but keep your eyes out for Alabama Stage Door. They can use a little extra special boost to get started. Then again, can't we all?
Will have another post tomorrow. Stay tuned--more music and performance stuff.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Of turkey, shopping and football
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. We do not travel for Thanksgiving, and it's just an enjoyable family time filled with far too much eating.
This year we tried to entice my brother and nephew, along with my Dad, but were unsuccessful. Maybe next year.
Our usual "Black Friday" shopping took place as normal. This year, though, we were very heavy on the online Black Friday deals. Makes more sense to us to go ahead and secure that bargain deal online--if you can get it--rather than fight crowds and be disappointed later. Also gave us two bites at the apple in most cases, as many of the Black Friday deals were available online before the stores opened their doors.
Susan and I finished online shopping around 3:30 a.m. on Black Friday--at which point she headed out and never went to sleep. She finished the brick-and-mortar store shopping around 9 a.m., and came back home and grabbed just a few hours nap. Andrew and Caitlin both hit the stores as well. We managed some success, and ended up getting almost every single item we were looking for this year. With five kids, and the bargains sometimes just too good to pass up, it's a big day for us generally.
We enjoyed the Alabama vs Auburn Iron Bowl yesterday....with Caitlin home, my girls were all rooting for Alabama, with the boys rooting for Auburn, and me managing to irritate both sides by getting excited for every good play and not rooting for either. Tonight Kentucky plays Tennessee. I'm sorta on the hook for going to Kentucky's Bowl Game this year, and if they win tonight, they'll go to Tampa...which has been pointed out to me is only 85 miles from Orlando and Disneyworld. Connect the dots, and the kids are big UK fans tonight.
Lose and the Cats will probably be going to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, or possibly to Atlanta for the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Smart money has them going back to Nashville, which will be fun, but doesn't have the "oomph" that the former Peach Bowl will have. I'm hoping for a Cat win, or in that absence, for the Cats to play well and convince the Chikin' Bowl reps that they'll make a good SEC representative in that game. Goodness knows, the Cats fans travel.
Anyway, nothing too specific here. I need to find some time to prepare an Exam for the law school class I"m teaching, and to grade some papers I need to grade this weekend, but all in all, still going to chill the rest of the weekend as much as possible.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all.
This year we tried to entice my brother and nephew, along with my Dad, but were unsuccessful. Maybe next year.
Our usual "Black Friday" shopping took place as normal. This year, though, we were very heavy on the online Black Friday deals. Makes more sense to us to go ahead and secure that bargain deal online--if you can get it--rather than fight crowds and be disappointed later. Also gave us two bites at the apple in most cases, as many of the Black Friday deals were available online before the stores opened their doors.
Susan and I finished online shopping around 3:30 a.m. on Black Friday--at which point she headed out and never went to sleep. She finished the brick-and-mortar store shopping around 9 a.m., and came back home and grabbed just a few hours nap. Andrew and Caitlin both hit the stores as well. We managed some success, and ended up getting almost every single item we were looking for this year. With five kids, and the bargains sometimes just too good to pass up, it's a big day for us generally.
We enjoyed the Alabama vs Auburn Iron Bowl yesterday....with Caitlin home, my girls were all rooting for Alabama, with the boys rooting for Auburn, and me managing to irritate both sides by getting excited for every good play and not rooting for either. Tonight Kentucky plays Tennessee. I'm sorta on the hook for going to Kentucky's Bowl Game this year, and if they win tonight, they'll go to Tampa...which has been pointed out to me is only 85 miles from Orlando and Disneyworld. Connect the dots, and the kids are big UK fans tonight.
Lose and the Cats will probably be going to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, or possibly to Atlanta for the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Smart money has them going back to Nashville, which will be fun, but doesn't have the "oomph" that the former Peach Bowl will have. I'm hoping for a Cat win, or in that absence, for the Cats to play well and convince the Chikin' Bowl reps that they'll make a good SEC representative in that game. Goodness knows, the Cats fans travel.
Anyway, nothing too specific here. I need to find some time to prepare an Exam for the law school class I"m teaching, and to grade some papers I need to grade this weekend, but all in all, still going to chill the rest of the weekend as much as possible.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
In this Secret Garden......of Mine
Well, the show concluded Sunday afternoon, and what a wonderful weekend it was.
Rachel did a fabulous job as Mary Lennox--I was so proud of her, for her poise, her timing, and that terrific British accent she maintained from the opening of the show to the closing line (above). I did not realize so many people attended the performances based on the number of compliments we received on her. I'm starting to wonder if this might be a case where there were 200,000 people that claimed "they were there" when an event occurred in a stadium that holds 40,000 lol. Rachel performed the role Friday night and Saturday night, and realizing that I'm just a proud, biased parent, I thought she did a truly magnificent job acting the part. She worked SO hard on it, for many weeks prior to the performance, both at rehearsal, and at home (or my office), running lines, working on acting and blocking and cues, and generally treating it as a professional role for which she was obliged to work hard. And she did. Often when we ran lines, she would, just for the fun of it, recite Dickon's line, or Colin's line, or Mrs. Medlock's, just for fun before doing her own. That told me she really knew her stuff.
Anyway, it was a great weekend. My Dad, Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law all came in for the show, and were not disappointed. Our Lady of the Valley may be an elementary/middle school, but the shows they put on are much better than you would expect from that show. The director, Mike Bridges, and the two wonderful ladies who assist him, Donna Corneil and Dava Fant, put their heart and soul into it. The lighting is good, the sound guys do a terrific job, and they try, best they might, to make everything the same quality as you might see anywhere around town.
I have mixed feelings on what they did this year with the show. They took the 18 "lead" characters, and double-cast all of them, with one "lead" playing two nights, and the other "lead" playing one. That gave 36 kids opportunities to have more of a role in the play, which is a great thing--but it also limited the actual time on stage rehearsing for any one of the individuals. With Mike and Donna there with scripts ready to whisper a cue, it works, and realizing that it is "merely" a school play, that's probably the right thing to do. I would've loved to have seen this play, though, with all of the leads getting full rehearsal time with it. It was an excellent play as it was, though, and I have no complaints.
It's back to normal (thank goodness) now, with "free time" available. Rachel will begin going to dance again; an activity she basically lost for the last two months during rehearsal. Basketball season has begun, but that will merely occupy 2 hours of her time a week now, and when she arrives home, there will be no more running lines for an hour or two. It's a joy to be in a play, but it's also a joy when it's over to relax and regain some free time.
For me, it's back to work. The last two weeks I'm involved fairly heavily in doing whatever publicity I can do for the play, taking and printing head shots, with captions, cropping, etc., taking cast photos (for souvenirs), taking photographs and/or videography during the play (photos dress rehearsal this year, video the actual performances), and even making a couple of "props" this year--old photographs blown up to 11 x 17 that came out wonderfully.
I'm taking a quick early lunch break to write this, as I haven't done much of it lately and don't want to let this go, but I probably should get something to eat and finish up. For now, I'll continue to be content that"the memories and miracles are ever so fine in this secret garden.....of mine."
Rachel did a fabulous job as Mary Lennox--I was so proud of her, for her poise, her timing, and that terrific British accent she maintained from the opening of the show to the closing line (above). I did not realize so many people attended the performances based on the number of compliments we received on her. I'm starting to wonder if this might be a case where there were 200,000 people that claimed "they were there" when an event occurred in a stadium that holds 40,000 lol. Rachel performed the role Friday night and Saturday night, and realizing that I'm just a proud, biased parent, I thought she did a truly magnificent job acting the part. She worked SO hard on it, for many weeks prior to the performance, both at rehearsal, and at home (or my office), running lines, working on acting and blocking and cues, and generally treating it as a professional role for which she was obliged to work hard. And she did. Often when we ran lines, she would, just for the fun of it, recite Dickon's line, or Colin's line, or Mrs. Medlock's, just for fun before doing her own. That told me she really knew her stuff.
Anyway, it was a great weekend. My Dad, Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law all came in for the show, and were not disappointed. Our Lady of the Valley may be an elementary/middle school, but the shows they put on are much better than you would expect from that show. The director, Mike Bridges, and the two wonderful ladies who assist him, Donna Corneil and Dava Fant, put their heart and soul into it. The lighting is good, the sound guys do a terrific job, and they try, best they might, to make everything the same quality as you might see anywhere around town.
I have mixed feelings on what they did this year with the show. They took the 18 "lead" characters, and double-cast all of them, with one "lead" playing two nights, and the other "lead" playing one. That gave 36 kids opportunities to have more of a role in the play, which is a great thing--but it also limited the actual time on stage rehearsing for any one of the individuals. With Mike and Donna there with scripts ready to whisper a cue, it works, and realizing that it is "merely" a school play, that's probably the right thing to do. I would've loved to have seen this play, though, with all of the leads getting full rehearsal time with it. It was an excellent play as it was, though, and I have no complaints.
It's back to normal (thank goodness) now, with "free time" available. Rachel will begin going to dance again; an activity she basically lost for the last two months during rehearsal. Basketball season has begun, but that will merely occupy 2 hours of her time a week now, and when she arrives home, there will be no more running lines for an hour or two. It's a joy to be in a play, but it's also a joy when it's over to relax and regain some free time.
For me, it's back to work. The last two weeks I'm involved fairly heavily in doing whatever publicity I can do for the play, taking and printing head shots, with captions, cropping, etc., taking cast photos (for souvenirs), taking photographs and/or videography during the play (photos dress rehearsal this year, video the actual performances), and even making a couple of "props" this year--old photographs blown up to 11 x 17 that came out wonderfully.
I'm taking a quick early lunch break to write this, as I haven't done much of it lately and don't want to let this go, but I probably should get something to eat and finish up. For now, I'll continue to be content that"the memories and miracles are ever so fine in this secret garden.....of mine."
Thursday, September 17, 2009
It's not bragging if you can back it up
I started to use an offshoot of the original story I read on this--something about "Lawyer seeking tax xxxempt status has no happy ending," but I thought this was more in line with my previous comments about Tom Watson, and age being nothing but a number.
I was amused Tuesday as I read a story about a 77-year old tax lawyer who was denied tax deductions. Normally that doesn't amuse me, but the nature of his deductions was a source of some interest.
Apparently, the old geezer--and I better watch it, as those numbers will be at me before I know it--was deducting more than $100,000 per year in, let's say, courtesan costs. The old boy, who was single/divorced, claimed that he needed these visits to ladies providing sexual services to combat his depression, erectile dysfunction, etc. and claimed the expenses as medical deductions. All in all, he deducted more than $300,000 in "provider" benefits, performance aids, and the like.
He kept a "Tax Log" for each visit, purportedly including the first name of the "medical" provider, and presumably, the cost of each encounter, and submitted that for his evidence.
Alas, the expenses were denied. Nasty tax laws about not deducting the illegal payments and such.
I have a theory. My theory is that the guy will benefit from the publicity generated by the story, and that was part of it, and maybe a little bragging was part of it, too. Hey, look what I've been doing in my spare time!
I teach an income tax law class on Tuesday nights, and the story was timely. I always joke with my class that tax law is "sex, drugs, and rock and roll," and the story set the theme for Tuesday night's adventure in tax. Wonder what next Tuesday night's tax law story will be. Stay tuned.
Brooklyn Tax Lawyer denied happy ending
I was amused Tuesday as I read a story about a 77-year old tax lawyer who was denied tax deductions. Normally that doesn't amuse me, but the nature of his deductions was a source of some interest.
Apparently, the old geezer--and I better watch it, as those numbers will be at me before I know it--was deducting more than $100,000 per year in, let's say, courtesan costs. The old boy, who was single/divorced, claimed that he needed these visits to ladies providing sexual services to combat his depression, erectile dysfunction, etc. and claimed the expenses as medical deductions. All in all, he deducted more than $300,000 in "provider" benefits, performance aids, and the like.
He kept a "Tax Log" for each visit, purportedly including the first name of the "medical" provider, and presumably, the cost of each encounter, and submitted that for his evidence.
Alas, the expenses were denied. Nasty tax laws about not deducting the illegal payments and such.
I have a theory. My theory is that the guy will benefit from the publicity generated by the story, and that was part of it, and maybe a little bragging was part of it, too. Hey, look what I've been doing in my spare time!
I teach an income tax law class on Tuesday nights, and the story was timely. I always joke with my class that tax law is "sex, drugs, and rock and roll," and the story set the theme for Tuesday night's adventure in tax. Wonder what next Tuesday night's tax law story will be. Stay tuned.
Brooklyn Tax Lawyer denied happy ending
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