It is a little late in the season, late in the spring to be writing an ode to baseball but my son has been away from the game. The game hasn't been on my mind much lately. My son didn't want to play this year. This was the year when the competition started getting more intense. He was a good player and I think he enjoyed it but at his age is when the competition and the type of game changes. It gets more intense.
I miss watching my son play. I think he misses the game but he enjoys his downtime now. And now he can enjoy watching the game. He sees it for what it is.
And I have friends. Friends who have kids. Kids who play baseball.
One friend told me a story the other day about her son and his team. His team gave their parents "the MOST EXCITING game we've ever witnessed", she told me. I guess his team had lost their best all around player a week earlier. He got "promoted to the majors" and it dealt the team "our team a crippling psychological blow".
But I will let her tell it:
"Our team is good, but somehow having this guy really made the difference. Consequently, we got or tails kicked 4-12 in our Thursday night game. The boys were totally demoralized. E*** was so bummed before yesterday's (Friday) game, he told me he expected it would be same (or worse!) because 2 of the 'better' players on our team would not be there. (They went to a Padres' game at Petco [Park].)
Our team was preparing itself for a loss, and for the first few innings it looked as it that would be the case as they trailed 1-7. THEN, A MIRACLE HAPPENED: The bottom of our batting order (where the hitting is less consistent) started hitting everything and their team started bobbling and missing everything! Were it not for the 5-run 'mercy rule', our boys might have really pulled ahead, but it was not to be. Instead, we had to be content to hold the score at 6-7.
The other team came up and started scoring: It was 6-11 and it was time for the other team to be held down by the 'mercy rule'. THIS WAS OUR CHANCE! Could they do it again?
Suddenly the score was 11-11 ('mercy rule' applied), but it looked like we were sunk. The boys were certain they'd lose by one stinking run! NOW WE WERE INTO EXTRA INNINGS!!
The other team was quickly shut down again: Three boys, 9 pitches and 3 outs! YIKES! We were all on the edge of our seats! Could our boys rally once more? Was it possible?
INCREDIBLY... THEY DID! They loaded up the bases and Evan hit a grounder to mid-field, allowing the runner on third to come home and ...SWEET VICTORY!!!! A lot of the moms were in tears--me especially!
It was an incredible win! Not only had our boys beat a team they had not previously been able to defeat, but they did it without their former 'star' player AND without the other two 'better' players. I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!! I DO! I DO!!!!
Amid my pride and astonishment, what came to mind was that this was AMERICA!!!! ONLY IN AMERICA! We could use a couple of great rallies like this ourselves about now!"
From PonderingDave:
I started thinking about why a team would react like that. The boys needed to believe in themselves. They all know what to do and how to do it. They have been told a million times. But they need to see that they can do it. Sometimes we are just the product of the expectations around us. That is why every one says "be positive". They did a great job. They had to. All the "superstars" were gone. Somewhere someone must have told them they could do it.
Yeah. I miss those days.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday Afternoon at the Movies
My wife and I went to the movies this afternoon. I had not planned to go on a Sunday, there were so many other things to do this weekend. But we had time this afternoon and neither one of us wanted to sit around the house. We had two choices, for us anyway, based on our likes and dislikes. We chose the latest Russell Crowe movie. My wife likes Russell Crowe (and Ben Affleck) and I just love Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams (loved her in "the Notebook" and "Redeye"). It was a win-win all around.
I was reluctant to go because I have not seen a real good movie in quite some time. I am kind of burned out. But I do love the movies. And I keep hoping to find some gem out there.
I think that I found one in this new movie, "State of Play". I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was a smart screenplay, very inventive, and few nice little unexpected twists .
I found this movie to be very timely. It is about the investigation of the murder of a congressman's girlfriend and the newspaper business. The struggling newspaper business and bloggers. It is kind of reminiscent of "The Paper" and even the television series "24", though much better done. I heartily recommend it. It is not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
I was reluctant to go because I have not seen a real good movie in quite some time. I am kind of burned out. But I do love the movies. And I keep hoping to find some gem out there.
I think that I found one in this new movie, "State of Play". I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was a smart screenplay, very inventive, and few nice little unexpected twists .
I found this movie to be very timely. It is about the investigation of the murder of a congressman's girlfriend and the newspaper business. The struggling newspaper business and bloggers. It is kind of reminiscent of "The Paper" and even the television series "24", though much better done. I heartily recommend it. It is not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday Musings
I have been oppressed, repressed, depressed. I have been pressed every way but im.
D. Normand, C. 1999
D. Normand, C. 1999
Monday, April 20, 2009
A Children's Song
I saw a bug crawl in the grass,
What a life to lead!
No one to follow nor to pass,
'tis no life of greed.
The green grass grows all around;
he is not dismayed.
He needs no colors, just the ground;
Life as such displayed.
Oh, to live like the bug I spied.
What a life 'twould be!
No one to scream "he lied".
No one to please but me.
By David R. Normand
Copyright 2005
Note: I wrote this several years ago when current events had deteriorated to unbelievable lows. I am dredging it up again because I want to tune it all out. It really never was a children's song. Maybe I was lamenting the fact that we do disagree. "Why can't we all just get along."
It is a shame that to disagree with some in this country is fast becoming an invitation to surveillance and distrust. I think Hillary once decreed that "we have a right to disagree". But I am afraid she only meant Democrats. I think the Homeland Security Department made that clear.
I still believe in the rights of the individual. I believe in Freedom and the constitution. I believe in the right of free speech and the right to assemble as free citizens.
What a life to lead!
No one to follow nor to pass,
'tis no life of greed.
The green grass grows all around;
he is not dismayed.
He needs no colors, just the ground;
Life as such displayed.
Oh, to live like the bug I spied.
What a life 'twould be!
No one to scream "he lied".
No one to please but me.
By David R. Normand
Copyright 2005
Note: I wrote this several years ago when current events had deteriorated to unbelievable lows. I am dredging it up again because I want to tune it all out. It really never was a children's song. Maybe I was lamenting the fact that we do disagree. "Why can't we all just get along."
It is a shame that to disagree with some in this country is fast becoming an invitation to surveillance and distrust. I think Hillary once decreed that "we have a right to disagree". But I am afraid she only meant Democrats. I think the Homeland Security Department made that clear.
I still believe in the rights of the individual. I believe in Freedom and the constitution. I believe in the right of free speech and the right to assemble as free citizens.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Despair and Suicides
Despair
The news lately has not been good. Our world has been going through some tough times. We go through these recessions periodically, once every ten to thirteen years. These are sporadic occurrences, they happen in a free society. We must learn to prepare for the tough times. My mother always told me to save for a rainy day. Well, it is raining now and I forgot to save. I forgot the Boy Scout motto. "Be prepared."
I am lucky though. My wife and I have decent jobs. My sister, though, has been living and working the past few months under the threat of layoffs. Her husband works a seasonal industry and his field has been hit by the recession. I understand their worries. I hear things. My sister is a teacher. She works hard for ten months and then has two months off without a paycheck. It takes good planning to make it through the summer like that. I think that mindset is helping her through these times.
I remember the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper. The grasshopper spends his time hopping and dancing around while the ant spends his time storing food for the hard times. Winter arrives and the grasshopper is left without food and starves, while the ant is well prepared. (reference Aesop’s Fables or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper.
I have been here on this earth for 50 years. I have lived through several recessions. The trick is how we handle them. These are tough times. You cut back, tighten the belt and persevere until things get better. Use the industrious ant as an example and save for that rainy day. If we do that then we can be optimistic about our future.
But there is a more serious side to this and what strikes me is the depths of despair. So many people just give up. Our president spoke a lot about gloom and despair. The threat of a depression, while certainly possible, I think was a remote possibility. Our fundamentals are good. Our political and economic systems are both very good. I think we suffered a lot from the fear from our media and our politicians.
Suicides
But we haven’t taken the wisest course. We hear, almost every day, how bad things are. How our companies are failing and our system is broken. (It works just fine. Step back and let it work.). I see the despair. Just watch the news. Something like 50 people have been killed in the last month in murder suicides where some one has just given up. It breaks my heart. That depth of despair. It is almost unfathomable. I cannot understand suicide, that loss of all hope. How can you just give it all up like that?
Every time I think about or hear about suicides I remember a news story from my youth. Four or five spoken lines on an evening television newscast about a teenager found hanged to death in the swamps of south Louisiana. This young man had so much despair that his note said that he had purposely destroyed any evidence that would lead the police to his identity. He just wanted to go. He did not want to be remembered. A life so painful and lonely, he just wanted to be forgotten. But I remember, 35 years later, I remember.
What jolted me back to this memory was a news story from this past week. "Skeleton Found in Tree 29 Years after Suicide". Mon. Apr 6, 1:50 pm ET BERLIN (Reuters)
"The skeleton of a German retiree who tied himself to the top of a tree and shot himself to death nearly 30 years ago has been found by a hiker. German police in the southern town of Landshut said on Monday the 69-year-old man disappeared in 1980 and had been classified as missing. An 18-year-old hiker discovered a bone in the forest last week and brought it to police. They searched the area and spotted the skeleton hanging about 11 meters up, near the top of the spruce tree. "After searching the area we found the skeleton up in the tree with the pistol hanging on a rope next to it," police spokesman Leonard Mayer said. Police were able to identify the man through DNA testing and an artificial hip. (Reporting by Franziska Scheven; Editing by Farah Master)"
Clearly, the depths of despair.
Be careful out there. Plan on the hard times. Prepare. Everyday is a new promise, a new gift. Share it with someone.
D.
Update: I linked to a Wikipedia article about "The Ant and The Grasshopper", but also, be sure to check out Somerset Maugham's "The Ant and The Grasshopper". It is a very humorous short story with a little twist on Aesop's old Fable. D.
The news lately has not been good. Our world has been going through some tough times. We go through these recessions periodically, once every ten to thirteen years. These are sporadic occurrences, they happen in a free society. We must learn to prepare for the tough times. My mother always told me to save for a rainy day. Well, it is raining now and I forgot to save. I forgot the Boy Scout motto. "Be prepared."
I am lucky though. My wife and I have decent jobs. My sister, though, has been living and working the past few months under the threat of layoffs. Her husband works a seasonal industry and his field has been hit by the recession. I understand their worries. I hear things. My sister is a teacher. She works hard for ten months and then has two months off without a paycheck. It takes good planning to make it through the summer like that. I think that mindset is helping her through these times.
I remember the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper. The grasshopper spends his time hopping and dancing around while the ant spends his time storing food for the hard times. Winter arrives and the grasshopper is left without food and starves, while the ant is well prepared. (reference Aesop’s Fables or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper.
I have been here on this earth for 50 years. I have lived through several recessions. The trick is how we handle them. These are tough times. You cut back, tighten the belt and persevere until things get better. Use the industrious ant as an example and save for that rainy day. If we do that then we can be optimistic about our future.
But there is a more serious side to this and what strikes me is the depths of despair. So many people just give up. Our president spoke a lot about gloom and despair. The threat of a depression, while certainly possible, I think was a remote possibility. Our fundamentals are good. Our political and economic systems are both very good. I think we suffered a lot from the fear from our media and our politicians.
Suicides
But we haven’t taken the wisest course. We hear, almost every day, how bad things are. How our companies are failing and our system is broken. (It works just fine. Step back and let it work.). I see the despair. Just watch the news. Something like 50 people have been killed in the last month in murder suicides where some one has just given up. It breaks my heart. That depth of despair. It is almost unfathomable. I cannot understand suicide, that loss of all hope. How can you just give it all up like that?
Every time I think about or hear about suicides I remember a news story from my youth. Four or five spoken lines on an evening television newscast about a teenager found hanged to death in the swamps of south Louisiana. This young man had so much despair that his note said that he had purposely destroyed any evidence that would lead the police to his identity. He just wanted to go. He did not want to be remembered. A life so painful and lonely, he just wanted to be forgotten. But I remember, 35 years later, I remember.
What jolted me back to this memory was a news story from this past week. "Skeleton Found in Tree 29 Years after Suicide". Mon. Apr 6, 1:50 pm ET BERLIN (Reuters)
"The skeleton of a German retiree who tied himself to the top of a tree and shot himself to death nearly 30 years ago has been found by a hiker. German police in the southern town of Landshut said on Monday the 69-year-old man disappeared in 1980 and had been classified as missing. An 18-year-old hiker discovered a bone in the forest last week and brought it to police. They searched the area and spotted the skeleton hanging about 11 meters up, near the top of the spruce tree. "After searching the area we found the skeleton up in the tree with the pistol hanging on a rope next to it," police spokesman Leonard Mayer said. Police were able to identify the man through DNA testing and an artificial hip. (Reporting by Franziska Scheven; Editing by Farah Master)"
Clearly, the depths of despair.
Be careful out there. Plan on the hard times. Prepare. Everyday is a new promise, a new gift. Share it with someone.
D.
Update: I linked to a Wikipedia article about "The Ant and The Grasshopper", but also, be sure to check out Somerset Maugham's "The Ant and The Grasshopper". It is a very humorous short story with a little twist on Aesop's old Fable. D.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thomas Jefferson on our current state
Thomas Jefferson - some quotes.
(ponderingdave's note: these quotes were sent to me in an e-mail. I liked them and thought I would share them. I have some comments of my own which I have placed in bold.)
"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe ." Thomas Jefferson (It is interesting to note that we seem to be implementing a lot of policies from Europe. European socialism is coming to the US.)
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." Thomas Jefferson
"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." Thomas Jefferson (I agree with Ronald Reagan, too much government is not the solution, it is the problem. The government was forcing the banks into making these bad loans.)
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. "Thomas Jefferson
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson (Another reason I am against the registration of firearms. It is interesting to note that only law abiding citizens are required to register firearms. It is against the fifth amendment for criminals to register their firearms. They cannot be compelled to testify against themselves.)
"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson (That was the reason that GWBush banned federal funding of the use of stem cells in medical research. He did not make that research illegal, he just banned federal funding. I do not want my tax dollars funding abortions overseas either.)
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson 1802. (Americans carry too much credit card debt. I am paying mine off.)
(ponderingdave's note: these quotes were sent to me in an e-mail. I liked them and thought I would share them. I have some comments of my own which I have placed in bold.)
"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe ." Thomas Jefferson (It is interesting to note that we seem to be implementing a lot of policies from Europe. European socialism is coming to the US.)
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." Thomas Jefferson
"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world." Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." Thomas Jefferson (I agree with Ronald Reagan, too much government is not the solution, it is the problem. The government was forcing the banks into making these bad loans.)
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. "Thomas Jefferson
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson (Another reason I am against the registration of firearms. It is interesting to note that only law abiding citizens are required to register firearms. It is against the fifth amendment for criminals to register their firearms. They cannot be compelled to testify against themselves.)
"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson (That was the reason that GWBush banned federal funding of the use of stem cells in medical research. He did not make that research illegal, he just banned federal funding. I do not want my tax dollars funding abortions overseas either.)
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson 1802. (Americans carry too much credit card debt. I am paying mine off.)
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