I know, I just got here…. but I’ve moved to a new place:
Please check out what I’m doing here. There will be new blogs each week.
Changes in fandom
September 24, 2007 at 12:18 pm (Baseball, Mets, Wrigley Field, fandom)
Historically, I have been a fan of Mets minor league baseball. Last year, I was excited that we battled in the NLCS, but the game 7 loss wasn’t something I could really understand because I didn’t grow up being an avid fan and because I hadn’t watched as many games as most hardcore Met fans.
This year has been incredibly different for me. This year, I purchased Extra Innings and watched every Met’s game available and then the ones that weren’t on the network stations.
One of the biggest changes in my fandom is my intensity. What I’m finding to be most interesting is sometimes when I’m listening to announcers other than Ron, Keith and Gary, I pine for the days when I didn’t hold my breath when Sele was warming up in the bullpen, hoping he would just sit right back down. I pine for the days when the only person I could be disgusted with was Wagner – and that was just because if he gave up a save, he was the one that lost the game, not the other guys who didn’t tack on enough runs. I know logically that Conine has really good career stats as a pinch hitter, but I can’t figure out what Omar was thinking, and I get sick when he comes up to bat – even when he gets on base with a blooper. Its hard to remember getting on base and moving even just one runner over is productive.
The more I think about it, the more appalled I am at my behavior! Two years ago, when I was going to every St Lucie home game and many of the away games, I got angry with the nerve of some fans yelling obscenities at the players from the stands. Over the past few weeks, after every game, I question if I’ve become an obnoxious fan. I’ve been yelling at the tv, cussing even; I make obnoxious comments to whomever it is at bat that has been whiffing the whole game; and I am starting to forget that everyone has a bad day once in a while. I went to two Mets/Cubs game at Wrigley Field this year (my first MLB game…ever…other than a spring training game here and there). I had to be conscious of the fact that Wagner’s wife and children were sitting two rows ahead of me because I would easily started yelling “(obscenity) Wagner” without thinking about it. I have a hard time remembering now that sometimes a good hitter is going to make contact with Billy’s fast ball.
I miss being a casual MLB fan, but I’ve crossed the line into fanatacism and I don’t think I can go back. I miss the days when I could watch the Mets lose a game and not have a horrible knot in the pit of my stomach; or the days when I didn’t care how long someone was going to be out and how that would affect the chemistry of the team on the field. I plan my day around what time the game is on and I do nothing but over analyze what the team is likely to do based on the way they’ve played the last few games and who’s out. I am not sure I can watch the last week of the season, because the roller-coaster ride will be more intense than that of anything I’ve ever experienced…and I’ve even been married before.
Even though I pine for the days when I didn’t know enough to be stressed out over a loss or dislike an acquisition, I can’t go back, I’ve said that. More importantly…I don’t want to go back. I don’t want just the minor league shrine in my home, I want a METS shrine; I want to continue to light a “special” candle when the team needs a little help; I want to believe that my rituals had a part in the winning; I want to plan dinner in enough time before the game that my food is mostly digested before the second inning of every game; and I want to continue wondering each and every day how my boys are gonna do and on what day can I thank the gods for giving them the ability to be the best damn team in baseball without jinxing them. I have fallen in love with this team. I have fallen in love again with baseball. And I pray that I will never know life without the ups and downs of this team ever again!
To Cruz – Go back to before the chaos started and find the beam
September 13, 2007 at 1:53 pm (Dark Tower Series, Energy, Ka, Stephen King)
You can’t really help how your heart feels.
I think there are people we run into whom we connect with because of some way our energy feels when we are with them. Its like a string or a beam that draws us to them. We have no choice – its just the way it is. You know that feeling I’m talking about. Its like knowing that person is destined to be in your life, the moment you looked at them. Not because of his/her physical beauty, but because of some unseen force that drew you to that person. It’s Ka. You can’t ignore it.
We often try desperately to deviate from this beam because the energy bond is so great it makes us uncomfortable. This deviation causes a disturbance much like that of misaligned chakras. Then arguments ensue and each person is pushed farther away from the other. Kind of like two magnets pushing away from each other.
Mother Nature nurtures complete balance. Periodically, step back and find the balance before the beam is severed and you end up acting wierd together, changing the relationship you have and forget about the important things like loving each other.
The beam needs to be stablized. Sometimes the beam changes, as our life changes. Its not our fault we deviate, we just didn’t recognize the change because we got sidetracked. We have to learn to recognize the energy disturbance for what it is and find our way back to the beam and balance. Recognizing the imbalance in one portion of the beam is vitally important. Its easy to get upset and feel rejection because of that disturbance that is felt by both. That’s where its important to step back and fend off the lobstrocities while the other finds the path back. It must be done, like it or not, and sometimes that means sacrificing your feelings. The balance in Mother Nature is too powerful to ignore or to allow emotion to get in the way. That’s the path of the beam – the connective energy.
Work to find your way back to what’s important. You’ve come this far, you must follow the beam to the tower.
Now go read the Dark Tower Series of books by Stephen King… 
Eating, Baseball and Sightseeing in Chicago
August 14, 2007 at 10:39 am (Baseball, Campagnola, Chicago, Evanston, Mets, Wrigley Field, Yoshi's Cafe)
I went to Chicago last weekend. It was the most amazing trip I’ve ever taken. I’ve been trying to write about it, and I get two sentences and that’s all I can do… I think I’m still in awe!
I’m a huge Mets fan, and we got tickets to two games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field! Fifty thousand people converged in one place to cheer on one of two teams…just an amazing good time!
The first day, we sat field level, eight rows back from the net behind home plate (you can see from the pictures Ed took that we are pretty close). Ed’s brother’s girlfriend is the cousin of Marlon Anderson’s wife, so we were able to get those tickets fairly easily. Billy Wagner’s boys were sitting two rows in front of us and his wife was directly in front of us… it was hard not to say “f-in’ wagner” when he gave up a hit…but we were very good. And it was great watching the game from that distance with the families of the ballplayers. Wagner’s kids were easy to spot – they look like him more than their mom. It was awesome seeing them watching the bullpen watching for their dad to start warming up and then being all eyes on him. We started “bil-ly wag-ner” chants for them, and they really got into that. They tried to start some clapping chants in the 7th and no one really took to them, by the eighth we recognized what they were doing, so we joined it. It was good fun!
The second day, we sat three seats away from the foul pole in left field. The only thing I know about that game was Maine melted down in the third inning and Alou hit two home runs. The bleacher creatures were HILARIOUS! Most fans get rowdy and obnoxious when their team is losing…Cubs fans get insane when their team is winning…They throw home run ball back on the field! Even when a met fan caught Alou’s first one, the bleachers started chanting “throw it back, throw it back” – so he did! I was like…wait, what?!
I had two different experiences in two days at the same ballpark with the same teams. It was outstanding!
Oh yeah, I got my first mets hat! (and its real… it was bought at a MLB game… hehehe) My New Mets Hat!
And let me tell you about the food we had, never in my life has my palate been so overwhelmed!
Yoshi’s CafeI had the most amazing chicken and grilled veggies with a balsamic reduction – and the dessert was to die for!
Campagnola has the classic Italian menu, with the perfect blend of herbs and spices. I had the carppaccio and a great Chicken Marsala on a creamy polenta with roasted assorted veggies. I can’t remember the name of the deserts I had, but I can still taste the delectable chocolate used over the top of it!
The area we stayed in was Evanston. the houses are more amazing than I’ve ever seen in my life! Our hosts live a block from the lake, and a few blocks from Northwestern University. These houses look like they are right out of the civil war movies with the brick mansions, etc… and some of them are actually from that time period. One of our hosts grew up here, and he has been the most perfect architectural and historical tour guide one could ever imagine – not surprising since he taught history at some point in his life.
I would highly recommend some site-seeing if you visit the Chicago area and have time. Get in the car, drive to evanston and drive around the neighborhoods – I saw a house that had a patio and backyard that could have been Gatsby’s, on a corner, looking at the lake – if you used your imagination just a fraction of the amount that I did, you could see the parties that Gatsby could have hosted there!
Demand human rights in our own country as well as others!
July 16, 2007 at 9:34 am (Beheading, Death Penalty, Saudi Arabia, US, execution)
I just read this article about a girl who is supposed to be beheaded in Saudi. It also discusses how a Saudi surge in beheadings could set a record high. Before we go up in arms about the brutality of women’s rights in the middle east, we should probably look to see how well we’ve been doing on the execution of human life in this country first.
Let’s be careful not to beat down Saudi Arabia with our high and mighty American Values just yet; apparently, we have only been civilized since 2004.
2002:
Only six countries, the United States, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, have executed juvenile offenders since 1990, with the United States executing more than the other five combined. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Web site says 160 children in the United States have been sentenced to die since 1973; 80 currently sit on death row. Of the 20 executions that took place during the past two decades, the last six, all of which involved black males in Texas, occurred in the past three years. Two took place in August. The execution of juvenile offenders in the United States is an outrageous and shameful practice. The rest of the world, excluding the “evil” Iran, outlaws such an ultimate and unchangeable punishment, and the United States must follow its lead. Juvenile offenders, who do not have the capacity to fully understand their situation, do not deserve to die.
2003:
The United States remained virtually alone in the world in imposing death sentences on those who were juvenile offenders–under the age of eighteen–at the time they committed their crimes. Only the United States, Congo, and Iran have executed juvenile offenders in the past three years. Twenty-two U.S. states continued to allow the death penalty to be imposed on juvenile offenders; eighty-three–thirty-nine of whom were black–were on death row as of July 1, 2002. The state of Texas executed three juvenile offenders in 2002. Each was seventeen years of age at the time he was convicted. The executions secured Texas’s unenviable position as national leader in the execution of juvenile offenders. Of the twenty-one juvenile offenders put to death nationwide since 1976, thirteen were from Texas.
2007:
Only Iran, Sudan, China and Pakistan are known to have executed juvenile offenders since 2004.
In a 2005 gallup poll 74% of people polled were in favor of the death penalty, and when life imprisonment was an option 56% wanted the death penalty.
We are no more civilized than these other countries, in my opinion. Don’t mistakenly use the argument of women being beheaded in Saudi as a way to get people to look at the way women are treated in the middle eastern countries is completely the wrong route to go.
Here’s my question: Why are we outraged and saddened by women and juveniles being executed and not men? At what point did women being executed become a more important issue than men being executed in any country?
Be saddened by the whole of an issue. We should be saddened by humans being executed and humans that are being treated like second rate citizens all around the world, not just in those countries that we deem as “less civilized”.
And damn it! Demand human rights in our own country, as well as others!
Fitzgerald’s night was not so tender
July 10, 2007 at 12:21 pm (F Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night, literature)
All month, I have been thinking about Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can’t for the life of me figure out why I am still reading his work. I really feel very dissatisfied after I finish a novel of his; but I keep reading them trying to figure out what it is that makes him a “Great American Author.” Disclaimer: I reserve the right to change my opinion after I read more biographical information on the man’s life
He wrote this particular novel over a period of 10 years. During this decade, he and Zelda bashed around Europe visiting with friends and authoring novels, which was the “thing to do” during that time period. Towards the end of this ten year period, Zelda’s mental health began to vastly deteriorate. Book One is the story of those romps around Europe and is said to be about a couple the Fitzgerald’s knew and respected. I think Book Two is more of an autobiography about he and Zelda during the decline of her health, though it is extremely one-dimensional. Its almost as if he is on the outside looking in on his life, but doesn’t have the intimacy with the characters to really tell their story. The first “book” is just a story about the frivolities of the wealthy in Europe. Its a time period piece and should not have been included with book two. I think both of these sections could have been successful as seperate novellas published at different times under different circumstances. Though its fiction, I think this, and his other stories, is probably closer to the truth of the Fitzgeralds’ life than is general knowledge. All of his books are written using different names but the characters seem to have the exact same personalities and (lack of) depth to them, which leads me to believe each character is based off people he knows superficially, but the stories are of his and Zelda’s life.
Elaborate secondary character development seems to be an important device for Fitzgerald. In the first book/section, Fitzgerald introduces characters into the story that should be kept one dimensional, but are more elaborate than the main characters. In the second book/section, the characters introduced to the reader in the first section rarely appear until the end of the story when it seems that Fitzgerald tries to piecemeal the ending together just to get it finished.
Though sometimes there is a bit too much blatant description, Fitzgerald’s settings could be compared to a renoir or a monet painting. They are just abstract enough to leave a bit of the scenery to the imagination but if the reader pays enough attention, all the details are apparent and easily visualized. His novels are a great way to get away on a vacation to obscure places that most people will never frequent. Maybe this is the draw of his novels.
Like many of Fitzgerald’s novels, he seems to just end the story, never really giving the characters closure. He never really allows the reader to become intimate with any of his main characters, though it is easy to have a love affair with a minor character. As a result, in this particular book where the second half is mostly about the two main characters, the reader feels a lack of closure. My personal opinion is that he centered the story around the wrong character. There were too many unresolved plotlines with the more elaborate characters of the first section of the book, even though they made minor appearances and seemed to have some influence on the second half of the story.
What it is that keeps his novels on my shelf? Fitzgerald’s representation of the time is what keeps me curious – its the only reason I can think of. There is no depth to his main characters, the stories end unresolved, and they seem to be frivolous little books with no substance.
Things that I don’t get – Part I
June 30, 2007 at 12:56 pm (Advertising, Random Musings, running with the pack)
Why coffee companies in general do not package with ziploc packaging. If there was a company who did this and their coffee sucked cheese, I’d buy it and use it for the sheer convenience. I can always add flavor to the coffee, I can’t always find a ziploc bag to dump it in.
Why there is always some damn lone bird trying to fly against the wind in tropical storm force winds. I’m all for doing your own thing… but theres a point that you begin to look like an ass and not a bird. Piece of advice that holds true for people and birds: If NONE your friends aren’t doing it, there’s probably a reason why.
Why marketers think email spam works. Look, let’s be realistic! We ALL have junk mail or spam filters. Your shit rarely gets through to us. And to go a step further, way to hit your target markets! I was born with breasts – I have no need to make my manhood longer or thicker or have Wondercum; I won’t EVER use cialis, in fact, women shouldn’t even actually touch it; and I have no need for viagra. I don’t own a home and let me tell you… I know when the last time I filled out a refinancing application for my house… NEVER. And furthermore, damn you for text emails with no unsubscribe link. I took the time to open all my spam over a period of three days; at that point they were all html, and all had unsubscribe links. It worked. Then two days later, I started getting more, but with different types of subjects. So I opened them, and damn it if they weren’t text without unsubscribe options. So you know what… screw you all, anything that is deemed junk by my email client is immediately put in the trash… I don’t even see your stupid advertisements…. HAHAHA.
On this last point: I did open a spam yesterday titled: a family member sent you an ecard and the sender was “bluemountain.com” I have gotten ecards from my family in the past and very recently, there has been a big event which would warrant a card being sent… SO…. HATS OFF to the asshole who spoofed the bluemountain thing… I still don’t need viagra but an ecard was a lovely thought!
Following the Farm: Who is this Greg Veloz?
June 30, 2007 at 10:18 am (Greg Veloz, Kingsport Mets, NYFS, Savannah Sand Gnats)
Two nights ago, Greg Veloz had an INCREDIBLE night! He had three hits in five trips with four RBI and four runs scored. He crushed a two-run double and scored in the second, hit a RBI groundout in the third and drew a walk, resulting in a run scored in the fifth. In the seventh inning he singled and scored, and continued into the eighth inning with a RBI double and another run scored.
In case you don’t know, Greg Veloz was demoted from the Mets A ball club in Savannah to their Rookie League in Kingsport. This in my opinion was a great move and a great opportunity for Greg. In Savannah, he was only hitting .170 in 224 at bats with 19R/38H/72b/13RBI/20BB/71SO. So far in Kingsport he has a .296 in 29 at bats, with 8R/8 H/32B/7RBI/7BB/4SO.
So, what’s the difference?
Savannah is low A and Kingsport is rookie league. Veloz is a talented infield prospect who had a strong DSL season in 2006 that resulted in a stateside debut in 2007. He is a native of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic. He doesn’t have the playing experience that many nineteen year olds from this country have. My guess is he just wasn’t ready for Savannah yet, though his jaunt there was a great learning experience for him.
However, Savannah is a long season while Kingsport is short season. It seems to me the Mets put him in long season ball to give him some experience. I can only imagine with a statline like his in Savannah, his confidence levels have fallen, though. Kingsport is a great chance for him to accomplish several things. Because he’s played at a higher level already this season, he has the chance to take what he’s learned in Savannah and hone his skills on a team that will see lower level pitchers and lower level fielders. Athletically, he has the ability to shine in Kingsport. He has the ability to assert himself as a leader amongst his team-mates. He now knows what to expect and he can take the intangibles he learned about the social graces of the game at a higher level and implement them into his every day clubhouse persona, becoming an example of “that guy” to his fellow team mates.
In Savannah, Greg worked for Tim Teuffel. After watching Teuffel in St Lucie, I can see why he would be perfect for Low A Ball. He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s basically unemotional, but also a “feel good kinda guy.” He’s the type of guy that doesn’t scream and yell when you whiffed, but pats you on the back and says, “well, ok, what could you be doing differently” and then go on to explain what it is you need to work on. IF Greg was paying attention to the Teuffel’s demeanor, he will realize what he’s doing is playing a game – every run batted in matters, but you don’t have to be the one to make the game winning run every time. He’ll actually have a chance to really work on this in Kingsport, because he won’t be overmatched by the pitchers in the league as he was in Savannah. So far in Kingsport, his OPS and his SLG are incredibly higher than they were in Savannah.
I’d like to see Greg begin to hone his ability to get on base or even just moving the runner over. He’s not real good at all when there are no runners on base, and he needs to be. If he wants to be a leader, he needs to be able to start the rally when no one is on base, even if its just with a well placed bunt. I’d like to see him hone his base stealing abilities. So far, everytime he’s tried, he’s gotten picked off. He needs to learn to analyze the pitchers movements on the mound. This will help him figure out whether the risk is worth taking. He strikes out way too much and I’d like to see him work the pitch count much more than he’s doing. He’s go the chance to really develop this due to the lesser abilities of the pitchers in the Appalachian league.
Greg Veloz is definitely someone to keep an eye on over the next couple of years. If for no other reason, than the shear joy of watching a kid develop into a ball player!
Why do we blog?
June 28, 2007 at 2:34 pm (Random Musings, blog, professional writers)
Okay, so… I write. I write for myself and I write professionally. What this really means is I spend the majority of my day doing research and reading other people’s writing – news journalists, bloggers, editorials, etc.
It occurred to me the other day that self publishing has allowed people to be exhibitionists and/or voyeurs in a completely legal way. We can see inside the lives of complete strangers – internet peeping toms if you will, without the pornographic stigma – with the click of the mouse.
This thought should be completely unnerving for those revealing their most intimate thoughts, but it doesn’t seem to be based on the amount of personal blogs in cyberspace.
What is it that has made blogging about the personal intimacies of one’s life so popular? I mean really, you can find a blog on any topic ranging from who someone slept with last night to the personal steps one takes to inspire creativity within themselves to how many cokes one can drink a day without having their stomach rot. And people read all of it.
I think the core reason is everyone has something to say and most of us don’t care if anyone hears it or not, as long as we can “say” it. Everyone wants to be the tibetan monk on the mountain top spewing wisdom for all to hear. Who cares if its just mindless dribble (much like this post)…
Let’s be honest, we all want to be superstars; and more importantly, we are all legends in our own minds. So if you aspire to be a porn star, or a lifestyle coach, or set the world record for stomach rot the fastest, then by all means document the process and blog away. I’ll read it, if for no other reason than a good laugh when I drink my morning coffee!
21sr century advice to those who want to become citizens of the United States
June 12, 2007 at 3:53 pm (Americans, Nativism, US, individualism)
You want to make the journey to becoming an American citizen. Have you thought this through completely? Have you assessed the reasons why you want to leave your home country? Are the reasons strong enough to encourage you to become an orphan without a true home?
America is a hard place to try to fit in. Nativism runs rampant in the country that was conceived by foreigners. To move to the United States, you must be strong willed with a personality that allows you to deal with isolation. However, this will only last two years – until you can prove that you are just as unhappy with the rest of the world as the majority of other Americans. It’s different for you having lived in other parts of the world giving you incite into how bad it can really be for humanity.
America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Americans are slaves to politics and economy. They work horrific hours and yet it never seems to be enough. If you want to make it in America, as a foreigner, I would suggest capitalizing on the American fear of becoming a poor country.
Europeans may believe the Americans are arrogant and lazy. This is often not the case. There are generations of Americans that work sixteen to twenty hour days just to make the rent. Americans know what it means to work hard to achieve success. The unfortunate reality is for most the definition of success is the increased acquisition of tangible items. Many Americans want the material show of success; though achieving it is not the norm.
Most Americans are forgiving. They forgive political moves against us by other countries. They forgive their own politicians for decisions made not in the best interest of the common American. They forgive mistakes made by foreigners, so much so that they have no expectations of new United States citizens. Americans are not forgiving of acts of violence by foreigners on American soil. However, forgiving an American for an act of violence is not a difficult feat for other Americans. If an act of violence occurs by a foreigner, Americans blame the terrorist’s homeland. They rally together as if it is the ninth inning of the championship game and the home team is down by two runs. This rally of united front turns into retaliation – brutal and violent and often inhumane.
On the flip side, when two Americans commit acts against the United States the nation mourns. Collectively, they try to understand what went wrong with American morals. Don’t kid yourself though. This compassion or lack there of, is not about humanity, but instead about how the United States is viewed by other countries. It’s the difference between someone else’s children growing up to molest little children versus your child growing up the do the same crime. It’s the difference between “they are horrible parents” and “My god, where did I go wrong?”
If you are looking for a united country – people who love each other and accept each other despite all of our individual diversities, I would suggest staying where you are. Though, if you want to enjoy being a subgroup of many other national groups this is the place for you.
Americans are individuals; they will die being individualistic, they will fight for their right to be an individual. When that isn’t working quite the way it should, they will bash the values of the United States and protest that education and religion are not what they once were. All Americans long for the good old days, but do not really want to instill the stable and secure values of early America. Ironically, the best part of being an American is the freedom to oppose what the government is going to do whether the majority buys in to the ideology or not.
Americans are confused. In the abstract span of time, Americans are like teenagers struggling to figure out where they want to be in the future. They are struggling to put all the lessons their parents taught them, or didn’t teach them as the case may be, together in ways best suited to the future personality of the nation, even if that personality changes every four years. This is not necessarily a bad thing. How exciting could it possibly be for you to be a part of the shaping of a nation’s personality?
