I will be hosting tonight (Carnacki will be returning next week, with us alternating weeks for a while). I will share a happy little story, something that made me feel good on a particularly crappy week.

My story tonight will, of course, be about my kids. Hey, I am a parent, it's what we do...

Your happy story can be about anything you would like, anything that makes you feel good, be it a childhood memory, a personal accomplishment or just having a good time with your friends.

More below the virtual fold....

The somewhat mighty Schuylkill River runs through much of eastern Pennsylvania, starting up north, near the breweries of Yuengling in Pottsville, down past the nearby fields of Valley Forge, past the towns of Norristown, Conshohocken, Manayunk and down through the city of Philadelphia.

It runs past the boathouses and the Art Museum. This river was once the lifeblood of many communities along its banks. Now, crew teams run early morning practice on its waters, geese swim along its surface.

And I can't see any of it, even though I am less than 100 feet from the banks, because my office has no window...

Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday starts in the magical world of "There's More"....RIGHT NOW!....swooosh....SPLASH!! (ewwww Schuylkill River water...)

Sure, I could have written about getting my taxes done and expecting a refund, which is wonderful since my wife is currently out of work. But, that seems too shallow, especially considering my general distaste for the obsession with money.

So, I found myself dwelling on warmer things, drifting back to those youthful days of warm sand, boardwalks and fishing with dad. And that will be my happy story tonight, which begins below the fold.

Please share your happy stories in the comments, and they can be about whatever it is that makes you happy tonight, what helps you get by in these sometimes trying times.

Our Bill will be taking some time off, to visit the haven that is the Florida Keys. He will surely be rum soaked and sun burned while he is gone, forgetting all about us Irregulars who grovel at his snark filled sandals. So, there will be no Cheers and Jeers for those two weeks - two weeks vacation??...must be nice to be the management....

So, that is where you, the Irregulars, come in.

More details below the fold.

Then it dawns on him...he forgot to open the kiddie pool. You see, Mr. WTP has been very remiss in his Monday morning fill-in duties of late - completely missing last week's diary. But, it's a holiday Monday right? No one will even notice.

Then he remembers what ravenous beasties those Irregulars are. And that is when the panic sets in....

Your Monday morning playground opens below the fold....SWOOSH....(where the hell did Bill leave the mallet????)

My humble Cheers and Jeers will appear below the fold....Swooosh....boing!

It's Friday night again, which means it is time to share our happy stories, our little way of focusing on the positives in these difficult times. Once again, our regular host Carnacki asked me to step in for him tonight, which I am always happy to do.

My happy story is about my oldest daughter Maggie and her development into a bright little girl, which begins below the fold.

Please share your happy story tonight, for that is what this series is all about, sharing in our joys where we can find them.

But, what happened here was almost bizarre. So many times, we have reveled in the breakdown over at Free Republic when something came out hard against the Republicans. Threads would pop up and we would laugh at the sheer panic that had set in.

And here we are, faced with adversity, and what did we do? We turned on each other, loudly and viscously. Long standing members of this community snipped at each other, threw around "go fuck yourselves" like it was the Cheney family Christmas dinner, and flung 0s and 1s like there was a fire-sale on low ratings.

Sure, it is good to let off steam, but, we sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture.

Below the fold are some Meta observations of the last few weeks on dKos, up to and including last night

My humble cheers and jeers follow below the fold. I would add the "swoosh...gong" sound, but Bill seems to have locked the gong closet again....

So, tonight, I give you my little story, a tale of two friends and their travels outside their small town world. A story I recently told in verse elsewhere, but I translate to prose tonight.

Please, feel free to share your happy stories in the comments. After all, that is what this is all about.

My story begins below the fold...

But, I know how much we need our Monday morning playground, so here it is.

After so many three day weekends lately, I completely forgot to get the Monday fill-in post together. In all honesty, I don't know that I really can do these Monday fill-ins anymore, and I now understand why our Billy stopped posting on Mondays.

So, below the fold, is my half assed, mostly personal Cheers and Jeers. Please make this diary worth the bytes and add your own.

Thank you,
Darrell

My happy story begins below the fold. I hope that you enjoy my words as you would the stories shared by Carnacki each week. Also, please share your happy stories tonight as well, as your stories are a big part of what makes Happy Stories so great.

two thousand and five

two thousand and five, in which a wanna be king with delusions,
delusions of sainthood, rides his horse of the "pious" to another turn at
the white house, another four years to forward his plans and schemes,
taking time to butt-fuck the constitution, OUR constitution,
wiping his cum soaked cock casually on the bill of our rights,
while his hen maid hand picked yes men, men who read
Orwell like other men read Machiavelli, yes men who tell him
what he wants to and needs to hear, that his way is the right way,

What is an Irregular?

In most cases, an irregular is that poorly made sweatshirt - the one with one sleeve longer than the other - that ended up on the discount table at a flea market.

Other times, an irregular is someone who either doesn't get enough, or gets too much fiber in their diet - either way, it ain't pretty.

But, in Cheers and Jeers, an Irregular is something more, they are the blood that flows through the heart of Cheers and Jeers. Just take a gander at last week's Do It Yourself Cheers and Jeers threads.

So, once again, I give you Irregulars, both old and new, your Monday morning playground. Have fun...

Cheers and Jeers: Monday starts in that magical land Below the Fold...RIGHT NOW!....swoooosh....doink! Ooh, wise guy, eh...nyuck nyuck nycuk....

This time yesterday, I feared the challenge of that event, a challenge that I would be facing alone, or so I thought.

Then, once again, I was reminded of what an amazing thing has developed on these internets, the amazing gathering of people who came together at these laptops, desktops, servers,  etc.

I was once again reminded as to how amazing this community is, as evidenced by the words of support and advice that were given to me, to help me decide how to face that party.

This is the time of year when those who normally don't drink, imbibe in spirits. It almost seems as though it is everywhere Drunk driving accidents skyrocket at this time of year. `Tis truly the season for getting drunk.

It is also the first holiday season that I will face sober...