well here we go… once again ohio is poised and positioined to be “kingmaker”. i remeber reporting from the board of elections almost four years ago when the contest between john kerry and george bush came down to ohio, and more specifically hamilton county. i think the county was having some difficulties with it’s system, and the results came in after almost all the other counties in the state… so we watched as all were watching us… and it was when ohio fell towards bush(as soon as hamilton co.’s votes were tallied) that kerry decided to concede the battle. this time around it’s the primary where the action seems to be. from all i can gather listening to tim russert, chris matthews, and their guests, hillary clinton will either stand or fall here. it sounds like they are saying that if she looses ohio to obama, she’ll have no choice but to listen to the democrat faithfull..who will be softly calling from reality telling her to drop out for the good of the party. wow! no wonder she made it to the skyline in oakley (i was never able to discover if she ate the two cheese coneys she ordered), she’s got to have the votes here! this election has been an amazing race to watch on both sides… and the pleasure is only amplified by what an important role our voters are playing. win, loose, or draw… let’s hear it for the power of the ohio voter!
THE ROCKET GETS ROCKED
did anybody else watch roger clemons’ testimony before members of congress yesterday? wow! i have tried to watch congressional hearings before… but they have not been interesting enough to really grab my attention… that is untill the rocket came to town. the pent up agression in his face. the sealed off emotion…forecefully bubleing just beneath the surface of his cracking composure, and the gravity of this ledgend’s sinking position in the minds of america. there were secretly recorded phone calls, stowed away syringes, directly conflicting accounts, and a seemingly endless supply of “gotcha” moments. it was the very essence of drama. i was glued. i think the thing which gave such contrasting force to his denial was the absolute absence of malice in his accusers. these people saying he did steroids or hgh (pettite and macnamee) clearly revered, if not loved him. they obviously did not want to be there, saying the things they were. it was such a different feeling to watch than a situation in which it seems that each party has his own agenda, and his own goals. and how about those representatives? talk about a contrast! some were star-struck, others were attack-doggish, all could speak powerfully… it made for quite a morality play indeed. i think its possible the best route clemmons can take at this point is to turn. if he were to say “i’ve been lying and i’m very sorry”, i think forgiveness would flow like beer from a crushed can… but i doubt clemmons is prepared to make that pitch.
STILL SKINNY ON FAT TUESDAY EXPERIENCE
i would love to go to mardi gras. i have felt this way ever since my father sent me a box of pralines from new orleans when i was 12 years old. i remember biting into those incredibly sweet creations, and wondering what other unknown delights might await a daring palate in that town of jazz-infused treasures. since then the only answer i have gotten has been in the form of images on the televisioin screen. the screaming women throwing beads from second floor balconies along burbon street… the green, gold and purple colored parades muddeling their way through their confused and packed routes.. alive with motion and emotion… the freakish cotumes, the fancy drinks, and trombone arms swinging almost everywhere you look. oh to loose yourself into an atmosphere of such bacchanalian revelry. kudos to those of you who’ve made the mecca. considering my young family, and my job, i realize there are likely at least a handfull of years ahead when a trip to the big easy will simply be too hard. but if and when i do finally get my chance, i promise i will not bring inhibition along for the ride.
WHY THEY REALLY CAN’T BE BROKEN
i got a press release sent to me via e-mial yesterday. it was announcing and celebrating an accomplishment by a local high school basketballer. drew kohn had just broken the all-time scoring record at seven hills high school by scoring his 1,159th point. i’ve recieved many similar announcements from various schools over the years, but this one peaked my intrest a little more than the others. it was in the early part of 1987, in what would turn out to be my very last game as a seven hills basketball player that i broke the same record (mine was 120 points less… 1,039 as i recall). i remember being as proud of that fact as anything i had done in my entire life to that point. four years later, my record was surpassed by a young man named pete… and his record stood for another 17 years untill drew came along.
i experience a bevy of feelings as i consider this chain of accomplishment. i still feel proud, just to be one of the names on the list. i feel old thinking about the kid i was when i threw that last ball into the basket. i feel competitive as i consider what factors might separate me from those other guys (you know they didn’t have three pointers in high school when i wore the uniform!), and to some degree i feel embarassed that it all still matters to me… but i wonder if caring so much isn’t a nessecary evil which comes along with a competitive spirit. one thing is for certain, it was an accomplishment, and it gave me confidence. that confidence helped me through much of what lay ahead in college and in life, and i was able to build on what i had achieved on the court in places that had nothing to do with sport. my knees creak now, and i can’t dunk anymore, but that confidence is still helping me today. drew kohn has that same magical nugget of accomplishment now, and i hope it serves him as well as it has me all these years. but just so you know drew… there were far fewer girls attending the school (and the basketball games) when i was playing, and that’s got to be worth 120 points.
HE WASN’T PREPARED
i’m still shaking my head at something i witnessed yesterday in the post office at hyde park square. i went in to mail a package, and to my dismay there were four people in line and two others already being helped at the counters… oh how i dislike waiting at the post office! you never know how long it will take becuase often people have more than one piece of mail, or they want to know all the price and delivery schedual options, or they want stamps, or…. as often happens, they get up to the counter and don’t have the proper envelope. when this happens its customary for the person to be shown the proper envelope, hanging in the display area, and then told “go adress that envelope, put your mail inside, and then we won’t make you wait through the line again once you’re ready”. that was precisely what happened to this man who was several people in front of me in line. so off he goes to adress the correct envelope, and the line starts to move. this lady only needed to find out if the area code she used was correct, that lady just wanted a roll of stamps and she’s paying cash, and what do you know i’m next up! but then here comes the man back with his properly adressed envelope, and this is when the amazing part happens. just as my precious spot at the counter opens, i realize he’s now ready and behind me, so i turn and say “go ahead sir”, and he says (are you ready for this) “no… i wasn’t prepared, i deserve to wait through the line again!” you could have heard a pin drop as customers and employees alike took in the gravity of what he had just said. with amazement in my eyes i walked to the counter and said to the lady behind it “can you imagine what this world would be like if everyone was like that guy?!” as she and her co-worker laughed with joy over the idea, my post office business was quickly completed. well done sir.
THUMBS UP
what a character my 5 year old son william is. this weekend, the whole family went to st.mary’s gym to watch a volleyball match in which two of william’s cousins were playing. during the breaks between the games, william would sprint onto the court and try to throw a volleyball into the basketball hoop. at first he was bringing the ball behind his head and heaving it with all his might and, i must say, was coming very close to making a basket… then he decided to go at it with a two-handed, underhand approach (ala rick berry at the foul line). amidst a pack of older boys he was given the ball, and a chance to make the shot, with most of the eyes in the gym watching… he heaved, it bouced off the backboard and fell gently into the net. a cheer erupted from the adults sitting around the court, and i was screaming. then, he was given the ball back (becuase that’s what happens when you make it) and heaved it again. this time, no backboard… just right into the bucket with a satisfying swish from the net. this time the cheers were even louder. just then, the volleyball players resumed their palces on the court and my son ran back to our chairs…pumped up like the energizer bunny. several chairs away from me, my wife was waiting with a bucket of popcorn and william crammed as much into his mouth as he could, and started to run away with a handfull of it… dropping pieces onto the fringe of the court as he went. watching all of this, i yelled at william “sit back down and finish your popcorn william… you’re spilling it all over”. william sat back down, and loud enough for him (and all the others around) to hear me i said to him “nice shots out there buddy”. unable to verbally respond becuase of a mouth full of popcorn, william nodded his head and threw his fist out into the air in the “thumb up” position. this time all the adults erupted with laughter. my father-in-law, who was sitting next to me, turned to me and asked where william could have learned to perform in front of a crowd like that. i answered it must have been from his mother, but inside my soul was grinning like a cheshire cat.
IN CRIBS NO MORE!
a big change has taken place. this morning as i left for work, i walked by two completely dis-assembled cribs sitting on the floor of my garage… annelise and gabrielle (my just-turned 3 year old twin daughters) were upstairs in their room slumbering through their first ever night on beds. they are matching twin beds (how appropriate) with attractive light-colored wood headboards, and the girls seem to feel just fine about the change. i am a little less accepting. what happened to my babies? how could the end of lifting my jammy-clad girls “into” their sleeping place have come so quickly? i suppose i should focus on developing a plan for the first night one of them falls out of their bed and onto the floor, but instead i find myself looking back. i really enjoyed having those cribs. they represented a sense of controll and they are no longer there. instead of being contained, the girls now have free reign of the space on their matresses and well beyond. i wonder how far, and how soon they will go? my little ladies may have only made a simple change in accomodations, but it doesn’t feel simple to me.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!
ah yes, it’s that day of the year again… and as the good will flows like a tapped keg at octoberfest, i offer my own well wishes to the cyber curious. i’ll also take the opportunity to offer some advice for those of you looking to live life well in the new year:
1. tell people whom you love that you love them. the words are sometimes tricky to get out becuase of social stigma, but they have a healing power that is matched by few other phrases (“you’re the most incredible person i’ve ever known” is the only one that comes to mind as even being close).
2. forget old “wrongs”. as this fine old world keeps spinning around, the pian from being treated poorly should subside, and if it’s scars are still felt, the only one who is suffering is you… yet if you put those “wrongs” out of your mind, you are the one who most benefits.
3. memorize a poem! language is simply the most powerful tool we have, and many poems are georgeous, showy examples of how well it can be utilized. the ability to recite a good poem (or part of it) can come in handy in all sorts of places. each night as i put my children to sleep i say one of my favorite poems to them… who knows where knowing a good poem could come in handy to you?! if you’re looking for a reccomendation, i’d say start with shakespeare’s sonnets…perhaps his best begins with the line “let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments”.
4. show respect to older people simply becuase they are older. if we could all get back to adhering to this ideal, there would be a good deal more peace than we often have now.
5. my final piece of advice is this: embrace sadness. it may sound funny…but if you can realize that sadness is just a part of your emotional life like hapiness is, you will be less devastated by it. when you feel sad, at least you are feeling. it’s a great gift to be here alive on this rock we call earth… what ever types of feelings you experience while here are part of that gift.
no matter which religion you practice, i hope you have a wonderful day today.
ONLY ONE CAR IN VILLAGE
who can forget that line from “romancing the stone”?… the old grizzly man delivering it continues by pointing to the house and saying “juan, the bellmaker”. a little bit later we hear juan laugh when asked about his car. he says “you must mean my little mule…pepe”. at this point we cut to “pepe” crashing through a closed garage door and roaring past the bad guys. pepe has turned out to be a souped up ford bronco, and proves to be an escape vehicle without equal. i’ve been dreaming of pepe lately. my 1994 honda accord has recently started making some very worrisome sounds, and i WILL NOT FIX IT AGIAN. i’m going to drive that bad boy untill it stops running (and i know that could be any day now), and then i will worry about getting another vehicle… if only a could have pepe.
ANTHONY MUNOZ RUBBED MY NECK!
can you imagine getting a neckrub from a man more powerful than a grizzly bear? that’s what happened to me at the whiffleball homerun derby at redsfest the other night. i had made it to the third round, and before my turn at bat, mr. munoz used his island-sized paws to (as he put it) “see how tight the morning shift made my shoulders”. it was just amazing. i grew up watching him absolutely dominate other professional football players, and now he was trying to help me loosen up and win this tournament! he may look like he could kill you with his fingertip, but i’ll tell you, there’s a kind and gentle soul in that man. i did manage to knock one out in that 3rd round, but alas…one of the reds prospects hit four.
