Another Brick in the Wall

Barack Obama wrote a prayer, as is custom, and slipped the paper into a crack in the Western Wall. Some opportunistic jackass dug it out of the wall and made the contents known, and now it's all over the web. Now, I don't especially care for Barry O, but let me tell you this: this is an outrage. What O wrote is between him and his deity, and should remain that way. People and publishers should be held accountable for this.

Gun

There's a new sheriff in town. Joba Chamberlain went seven last night, and gave up no runs. He struck out nine. Yanks 1, Socks 0. All good stuff. Now, here's something even better: Joba pitches inside. Sure, he doesn't care for Kevin Youkilis, and Kevin Youkilis does not care for him. Joba pitched inside, and Youkilis bailed out. In the process of flailing around, getting out of the way, the ball ticked off his bat [methinks it ticked off more than just the bat!]. Both benches were warned, which is fine. Usually it is the Socks who throw inside, and both benches get warned before the Yanks can throw inside. Here's an interesting point: Josh Beckett sometimes comes inside, and we don't care for it, but that is how baseball is supposed to be played. Fear is and should be part of the batting equation. Joba comes inside, and of course Sock fans don't like it. But, there's a history between our teams. This is how it should be. I don't care for Josh Beckett. I don't care for Kevin Youkilis. I don't care for the Red Socks, but that's okay; I don't care for the Rays either. No offense, Melanie. I DO care for the rivalry, though, and it's heating up again. This is how it should be. Go Yankees! Let's win two ;-)

Crickets

{Confidentintial to Miss Melanie:}

Buddy Holly sends his regards ;-)

Update on Chloe

Hey! Remember Chloe Marshall? Miss Surrey? In the national competition, she placed second! Congratulations, Chloe - you're a winner in my book. Here's a bonus photo of the young opera singer trainee:

$564.54

Five hundred and sixty-four dollars, and fifty-four cents.
That's what this site http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/ has calculated as the owrth of my blogsite.

How much is yours worth?

Woo hoo hoo!
I'm almost rich!!

An Exercise in Participatory Democracy

Really!
Nope, not talking about the government here....
what I AM talking, though, is what do YOU, the reader, want to read about?

Let me know, even if you come across this site randomly and wish to anonymously request a topic. I may not have much to say [but maybe I will!], but if you want to hear about it, I will write about it. Really :-)

Big Sexy

Richie Sexson, in his first at bat as a Yankee, singled in Bobby Abreu to tie the score for Moose, 1-1. Way to go, Big Sexy!!

Crash and Burn

No, not talking about my love life [which is nice, thank you for asking: had a nice dinner with Miss Angela the other day, and Miss Ulrike texted me TWICE today!! :-)]

No, I'm talking running. I was in a rush this morning and did not get my stretching regimen done. Gosh, that hurts!! I ran the 2.6 down to Rudee Inlet, and despite the stiffness, was at 23 minutes and change. Not stellar, but not too bad. Made it past the 17th Street Pier to the 24th Street turn, and was outta gas. Bonked badly. I thought it was the lumbar. Tried to fire it up again, twice, but no dice. Strange..... anyway, ended up being about 4.5 in 38 minutes before the walking action began. So, good run, dinna quite take it to fruition. Still a good workout.

Wow! Melvin Mora of the Orioles just hit a home run off the left field foul pole! Big deal, right? Well, it landed right ON TOP of the pole!!!! I have never seen that or even heard of it before. Cool!

Getting the Shaft

The US Women's National team defeated Brazil, 1-0 in a friendly match right before heading off to Beijing for the Olympics. Natasha Kai got the lone goal on a header, and here's hoping there is plenty of that in our future.

You see, Abby Wambach [Go Gators!], our goal-scoring machine at the front, has gone down to injury. Abby broke her left leg [tibia and fibula] in a collision with Andreia Rosa of Brazil, and will be sidelined for twelve weeks or so. To aid the healing process, a titanium rod was inserted into her lower left leg. Lets hope the Nats don't get the shaft, as well :-(

As Abby herself says, she is only one woman, and championships are not built on the backs of individual players. At the World Cup, there was the 'keeper controversy, and our gals crashed and burned. Maybe this injury will weld them tighter together..... Here's hoping.

7-11

I'll try to find pics and post them when I get a chance.

July 11th, 1920. My mom was born on that day.
Addalena Loretta Nelson, and Adda was one aunt, and Lena another. Mama felt the name far too frilly, so she changed her name to simply, Lee Nelson. Her dad was Axel Edward Nelson, who was born in Chicago to a family just over from Sweden. In those days, there was no such thing as short-term disability, and Axel had four children. He suffered from pneumonia, but kept on working until the day he died, in 1926. My mother's mother was Hazel Dyer Butz, who was about as Germanic as the day is long. Mama got mostly her father's genes, with the result that I look Swedish and Scottish, and not so much German, just so you know.

Mama passed away when I was in basic training [Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School]; indeed, I was off in the wilderness of Eglin AFB in the Florida Panhandle on survival training. I had sent off a card for Mothers' Day, and she really liked it. Pam [my sister] tells me that it made her smile, and then she was gone. She stood for excellence and instilled that trait in me. [She was a huge Yankees fan, too, by the way. She loved The Mick, but I think her fave was actually Moose Skowron.]

Happy Birthday, Ma!

41' 57"

I didn't have any skaters pulling me along on Sunday, just the cumulative effect of running in the heavier Champion G9's [to build leg strength] and running in the Nike Frees [which replicate running barefoot in order to build foot strength]. 41 minutes, 57 seconds. That's a full minute and a half faster than my fastest, ever. I don't mean to sound cheeky, but there's plenty of room for improvement. I have to work on muscle memory, and being able to sprint [which, surprisingly, has been absent lo these many months - my bad!]. This train is coming....

[Today? Nike Frees, just to the Pier and back, but in 29 and change. I think I am getting the hang of things ;-) ]

43' 58"

43' 58", the 5.2 miles to Rudee Inlet and back. I've actually had one quicker, back in April, but I am happy with the progress. I think wearing the heavier Champion G9's and the Nike Frees will ensure that my leg and foot strength builds to where I can hit 42 something by the end of the summer. Today, had a good pace to the inlet, drafted off a skater for a while ;-) She pretty much pulled me to a great first half, 21 and change!! Less juice on the way back, but it'll come. I've been a lot faster, and I know what it feels like. Muscle memory. That's a good thing.

Saw Cross Country Gal today, and that always makes me smile. Way, way too young to date, but always a nice smile [and, she kicks my a$$ - I want to be that fast!]. Haven't bumped into Valerie in a while, very encouraging person [well, let's count attributes: blonde, good figure, positive personality, runs, drinks coffee. Negative: uh, I only see her when I bump into her while running?]. Now, this in no way means I am giving up on Ricki - after the Yanks win today, I am going over for fish n chips [the crabmeat in drawn butter yesterday messed me up a bit to where I did not feel like going out to see fireworks!!] Running. I am not obnoxious. Indeed, I smile at people and wave to other runners. I do my best to avoid confrontations, too [running into people, I mean]. I try to anticipate what could happen and avoid it in advance. However, I will only stop if the situation becomes dire [like yesterday, I almost ran over a gal on a bike who was not looking and slowly circling from right to left, while her friend went right. Only thing I could do was to stop. She said "Sorry" but I know there is no commitment to do better, and that is sad. Skidding to a stop risks injury, and I'll do it because I know I could injure someone by running over them [once, back in Michigan, in soccer league, Jill Baker wound up and kicked me in the back of the calf, and she remarked "Wow! I didn't know you were so solid!" It was a funny moment, and still makes me smile.] Once, here, bicyclists spread apart, so I had to go between. Then, one came back in. To avoid her, I had to go airborne, sideways. Made it, but it should not be that difficult. It's almost as the couch potatoes are trying to subject everyone to their pathetic lives. I choose athleticism, and I will not be dragged down by the nonobservant or the careless.

Kids and dogs. I am reasonably affable, and I like children to a certain degree, dogs as well. Not when I am running. Kids don't look, but dart hither and yon. Dogs connected to their owners by a leash are thus a long object capable of tripping the unobservant runner. Dogs not on a leash are generally inquisitive. I do not go to the boardwalk to play with other people's dogs [or their children, for that matter!]. Do you know that horses are allowed on the beach itself? In some ways being athletic here is akin to playing in traffic. People are by nature roadhogs. I try not to startle people, but I'm a taxpayer too, and I have an equal right to the sidewalk. Bikes: vehicles. They belong on the street, not on the sidewalk. I wish Virginia Beach was proactive enough to put in bike paths, but they are not. People going in the same direction as me [but slower] walk in the center of the sidewalk. Transpose this to driving: it would be down the middle of the road! People like to walk beside their friends. This does not take precedence. Two people on the sidewalk, side by side, does not give them the right of way to force me off the sidewalk. I generally do so to be polite, rather than shoulder someone. Sure wish people were polite. This is supposed to be The South, but I think many did not read that memo. On the boardwalk, six people wide takes up most of the boardwalk. No common sense.....