Not that it matters to anybody but the three or four of you - and to a few liberal arts students 50 years from now - but I am committed to chronicling my life of local radio. 

This life took me to Hartford, Connecticut, over the weekend to cover the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. Purdue blew through Old Dominion on Thursday  and did the same to the defending national champion, Villanova, Saturday night. 

It was one the best moments ever as a Purdue fan. Carson Edwards hit his first three from the top of the key… and didn’t stop until he had 42 points. I left my post on press row to sit in the Purdue parents section, where I could cheer and clap wildly. It was great. 

After the game, I did a little Facebook Live video, more to show that I was there than anything else. For true Purdue fans, I had nothing to add. We had watched one of the best performances ever by a Boilermaker. I just hope that giving a beatdown to the defending national champions doesn’t mess with some heads. The next round is in Louisville. #3 seed Purdue plays #2 seed Tennessee. I plan to be there. 

Pictures of knots
In hotel rooms
Are creepy. They look like
Snakes, ready to pounce while
You’re sleeping.

I’m on a plane right now. Flight 1302 from LaGuardia to Midway. It took off a little late -

“How do you get out of LaGuardia on time?”

“You fly out of JFK.”

I write best when traveling at high speeds. I wrote millions of words, almost all of which have been lost or destroyed, on the commute to and from Chicago for 18 years on the South Shore train. It’s when I learned to spit out words quickly.

After the game last night, I drove to Milford, Connecticut, which is almost halfway between Hartford and Queens, NYC. I had to call ahead to make sure that the Hampton Inn kept my room past midnight. The only thing I could find open was a 7-11. I bought chips, cookies, an orange and a few Kind bars and ate them in the room watching highlights of March Madness.

Women forced to 
Be naked. Men forced
To kill. The purpose of 
This lies beyond the pail.
And always will. 

I spent Sunday in Queens with my daughter and her new fiancé. They got engaged near Florence in the state of Tuscany a couple weeks ago. 

“So, Daniel, did you plan it out or did it just come to you?” I asked the husband to be.

“I walked around with the ring in my pocket for four days.”

He found the spot in a park overlooking Florence, where he got on one knee and the rest… 

He got on one
Knee. The rest is
History. It could have 
been Venice. But instead
it’s Tuscany.

When I got to Queens in late morning, they took me to a Himalayan restaurant for brunch. This is the kind of thing you cannot do in the Region. We could have gone to Irish brunch, or Mexican, or Peruvian, or Egyptian, or Moroccan or American tavern. All of these are within walking distance of their apartment. On the corner is a well-known Greek food truck that serves kabobs into the wee hours. 

They don’t have access to a car, so I took them to a Staples. My daughter needed folders for her resume. Jeanie graduated from accelerated nursing school a few weeks ago and recently passed her boards. She has an interview tomorrow.

On the way back from Staples, I was confronted by authorities for the second time on this trip. The first, you may remember, was when I stole a court side seat at the Purdue-Old Dominion game and pulled out my long lens. 

In the second version of this, I walked behind the “Food Bazaar,” where Jeanie and Daniel had me take them shopping, and began, once again, snapping pictures with my Sony long lens. 

A white pickup with “Amtrak” on the side came racing across the gravel. “This is restricted property. If it wasn’t Sunday, you’d be arrested by now. So get the hell out of here.”

I snapped a couple decent photos of trains before I got bounced and a decent shot of the city through wires. I don’t know why I like trains and construction sites, but I do. 

We killed what we
Had. Looking back,
It wasn’t so bad. Now that
It’s gone, we’re all forlorn
And sad. And mad.

The toughest part of any trip to New York City is the departure. My daughter started getting playful as the clock ticked toward the time for me to leave for the airport. She threw grapes in the air and caught them with her mouth. 

I did it too… but my heart wasn’t into it. I felt like screaming - “How can you fool around right now? When I walk out that door, we won’t see each other for weeks.”

Daniel and I shook hands, and Jeanie and I hugged goodbye. The flight attendant just handed me a soda water. I’ll drink it as I look at a text I sent to my daughter. It's the equivalent of a scream.

“I miss you already.”

Which way, Jesus -
Should I stay or
Go? Or are you just like 
The rest of us - "How the
Hell should I know?"

It's 8am Eastern time on Saturday morning, which means it's 7am in the Region. I'm in a hotel room - 425 - at the Marriott Downtown Hartford sitting on the floor watching highlights of yesterday's NCAA action. 

As the three or four of you know, Purdue beat Old Dominion University on Thursday night. That sets up a big matchup tonight between the Boilers and the defending national champions, Villanova. Purdue is a #3 seed and Villanova is a #6, so technically Purdue's favored, mostly because of the existence of Carson Edwards. But you know and I know the smart money's on Nova. ​