Friday, September 24, 2010
Game 153: Of course it took 3 hours. What did you expect?
In New York tonight, the Red Sox played the Yankees in a contest that really meant little to either side. Josh Beckett was bad, but Andy Pettite was even worse, and the Red Sox held off a late rally to seal a 10-8 victory.
100 Words: Presentation Time
It's 100 Word Challenge Time Again, and here's my shot in the dark, called "Presentation Time". To play, hie thyself here
She focused her gaze on him, an assistant VP who was stammering his way through a presentation. In the artificial cool of the conference room, the man was sweating.
He had stopped for a moment when she questioned him, so she broke the silence, her voice firm. “You don’t KNOW which firm has a greater chance of failure? Isn’t that what we pay you to find OUT?”
It was all a setup. He didn’t have enough information to answer the question, and she knew it. A weak person would feel bad about setting him up to fail. She wasn’t weak.
He had stopped for a moment when she questioned him, so she broke the silence, her voice firm. “You don’t KNOW which firm has a greater chance of failure? Isn’t that what we pay you to find OUT?”
It was all a setup. He didn’t have enough information to answer the question, and she knew it. A weak person would feel bad about setting him up to fail. She wasn’t weak.
These Are The Last Words...Well, Not Really.
It's Friday, so the Flashing is good. 52/250 is up, and my story, "The Things He Didn't Know", is up here. This week's theme is "The Last Time".
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Game 152: Not Exactly Too Little, but Far Too Late
Last night in Boston, John Lackey went seven somewhat wasteful innings, but pitched well enough to be on the right side of a 6-1 win.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
If I Can't Get DMarks to do this one, I quit! (Wednesday Wickedness)
Janera's Wednesday Wickedness is from the man who launched a thousand impressions, William Shatner.
1. “Captain Kirk has been a source of pleasure and income a long time now.”Who is your favorite Star Trek character of all time including all the shows and movies? Why?
Besides Chekov from the original, who I love because his daughter was wise enough to marry Jimmy Pardo, I'm very partial to the new Captain Kirk.
2. “But if you want to know the truth, the weirdest thing that has happened has been my discovery that people who attend conventions are filled with love.” What was the last public gathering that you attended where you “felt the love“?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Well played, Janera.
3. “How do I stay so healthy and boyishly handsome? It’s simple. I drink the blood of young runaways.” What do you do to stay youthful?
Another very, very funny question. As I say when people ask me about weight loss remedies, if I knew of one, don't you think I would use it?
4. “I think acting satisfies the need and desire for approval.” What in life gives you a feeling of approval?
Besides a credit card transaction going through? Not much.
5. “No I don’t regret anything at this point. That may change on the next phone call, but at the moment I don’t regret anything.” What is a decision that you have made that others thought you’d regret, but you haven’t?
I'm still trying to come up with a decision I don't regret.
6. “If you make a fool of yourself, you can do it with dignity, without taking your pants down. And if you do take your pants down, you can still do it with dignity.” When did you last get asked when you made a fool of yourself? (Extra points if you guess the correct meme.)
Probably on a meme.
7. “One of the advantages of being a captain is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.” What is the best advice that you’ve ignored?
Don't go into my career.
8. “I’ve never had green alien sex, although I’m sure it will be quite an evening!” What did you do the last time that you had “quite an evening”?
I don't remember, sadly.
9. “Don’t just shove food into your mouth. Taste the flavor exploding in your mouth. Appreciate the texture. Honor your food with the time you take.”Describe your perfect meal.
Gosh. Boston Creme Pie for dessert. A Five Guys Bacon Cheesburger and Fries. Yup, I'm that simple.
10. “For commercial reasons, we stayed away from advancing the theory of God.” Are there topics that you stay away from on your blog to remain non-controversial?
I guess so. Kind of. I'll discuss almost anything, but sometimes the arguing it provokes in the comments just exhausts me. So I will stay away from something for a while, then get so upset I'll post about it again, then get mad at myself when I end up in comment wars about it. It's the Circle of Life.
1. “Captain Kirk has been a source of pleasure and income a long time now.”Who is your favorite Star Trek character of all time including all the shows and movies? Why?
Besides Chekov from the original, who I love because his daughter was wise enough to marry Jimmy Pardo, I'm very partial to the new Captain Kirk.
2. “But if you want to know the truth, the weirdest thing that has happened has been my discovery that people who attend conventions are filled with love.” What was the last public gathering that you attended where you “felt the love“?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Well played, Janera.
3. “How do I stay so healthy and boyishly handsome? It’s simple. I drink the blood of young runaways.” What do you do to stay youthful?
Another very, very funny question. As I say when people ask me about weight loss remedies, if I knew of one, don't you think I would use it?
4. “I think acting satisfies the need and desire for approval.” What in life gives you a feeling of approval?
Besides a credit card transaction going through? Not much.
5. “No I don’t regret anything at this point. That may change on the next phone call, but at the moment I don’t regret anything.” What is a decision that you have made that others thought you’d regret, but you haven’t?
I'm still trying to come up with a decision I don't regret.
6. “If you make a fool of yourself, you can do it with dignity, without taking your pants down. And if you do take your pants down, you can still do it with dignity.” When did you last get asked when you made a fool of yourself? (Extra points if you guess the correct meme.)
Probably on a meme.
7. “One of the advantages of being a captain is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.” What is the best advice that you’ve ignored?
Don't go into my career.
8. “I’ve never had green alien sex, although I’m sure it will be quite an evening!” What did you do the last time that you had “quite an evening”?
I don't remember, sadly.
9. “Don’t just shove food into your mouth. Taste the flavor exploding in your mouth. Appreciate the texture. Honor your food with the time you take.”Describe your perfect meal.
Gosh. Boston Creme Pie for dessert. A Five Guys Bacon Cheesburger and Fries. Yup, I'm that simple.
10. “For commercial reasons, we stayed away from advancing the theory of God.” Are there topics that you stay away from on your blog to remain non-controversial?
I guess so. Kind of. I'll discuss almost anything, but sometimes the arguing it provokes in the comments just exhausts me. So I will stay away from something for a while, then get so upset I'll post about it again, then get mad at myself when I end up in comment wars about it. It's the Circle of Life.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Game 151: Here's some insult. You've had enough injury.
In Boston tonight, the Orioles waited for Clay Buchholz to leave a 1-1 game, then jumped on the bullpen for a 9-1 embarrassment of a loss.
Aren't we done yet?
Aren't we done yet?
Game 150: Really, Dice? Really?
In Boston last night, Daisuke Matsuzaka showed a notably poor grasp of the word "strike", walking 5 and giving up 6 hits in six innings on the way to a 4-2 loss to the suddenly troublesome Baltimore Orioles.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Game 149: Jon Lester's Season Can Now Vote
Jon Lester won his 18th game of the year yesterday, tossing 7 shutout frames on the way to a 6-0 win over the Blue Jays yesterday. The pesky Orioles visit tonight.
The Red Sox season, which for all intents and purposes died about a month ago, is technically still alive-as they trail Tampa for the Wild Card by 6 1/2 games with 12 to play. But it would take a miracle of Bucknerian proportions for them to pull something out at this point.
The Red Sox season, which for all intents and purposes died about a month ago, is technically still alive-as they trail Tampa for the Wild Card by 6 1/2 games with 12 to play. But it would take a miracle of Bucknerian proportions for them to pull something out at this point.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday 160: "Words"
Our dear friend the Monkey Man sponsors and breathes life into the Sunday 160- a story in 160 characters, published on Sunday, hence the name. This week, mine is called "Words".
Words.
I’ve been using them for decades.
Words all over- surrounded by them, trapped on dead trees.
Thousands of choices. The right ones? Still hard to find.
Boredom
"My favorite cure for boredom is sleep. It's very easy to get to sleep when bored and very hard to get bored after a long rest. My next favorite is coffee...If these don't work it may mean deeper Quality problems are bothering you and distracting you from what's before you. The boredom is a signal that you should turn your attention to these problems-that's what you're doing anyway-"
Robert Pirsig
"Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
Page 285
This book was published to great acclaim in the mid 1970s-if Oprah had a TV show then, I think it's a lead pipe cinch it would have been on it. I first read it in high school, and then again in college, and like the old saying that you never step into the same river twice, I've never read this book the same way twice. I tend to turn to it when I am troubled, usually giving it quite a while between readings. I read it last year, and just picked it up late last week. I finished it this morning-maybe ten minutes ago.
It's about everything-it's about values, and trust, and being a parent, and mental health, and truth, and beauty, and how to live your life, and God, and death, and sex, and the belly of a black winged bird. And oh, a little bit about motorcycles, too. It is very close to being my favorite book, and is certainly in my top five. I can't tell how many times I have read it-but it's certainly in the double digits.
The above quote spoke to me this time. I think that's absolutely true-not only about boredom, but about frustration and a lot of things. You might as well turn away from what you are "trying" to do-because you're not trying to do that at all. You're focusing on the thing that's bothering you, really.
The problem, of course, is when the big Thing-the Thing that's not what you're doing, but is affecting what you're doing-is so big you can't deal with it, so big you can't put aside what you're doing and fix it, either because it's unfixable or at least unfixable right now, or because it's utterly unfixable because the laws of time and space forbid it.
What do you do then?
The book doesn't say.
Robert Pirsig
"Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
Page 285
This book was published to great acclaim in the mid 1970s-if Oprah had a TV show then, I think it's a lead pipe cinch it would have been on it. I first read it in high school, and then again in college, and like the old saying that you never step into the same river twice, I've never read this book the same way twice. I tend to turn to it when I am troubled, usually giving it quite a while between readings. I read it last year, and just picked it up late last week. I finished it this morning-maybe ten minutes ago.
It's about everything-it's about values, and trust, and being a parent, and mental health, and truth, and beauty, and how to live your life, and God, and death, and sex, and the belly of a black winged bird. And oh, a little bit about motorcycles, too. It is very close to being my favorite book, and is certainly in my top five. I can't tell how many times I have read it-but it's certainly in the double digits.
The above quote spoke to me this time. I think that's absolutely true-not only about boredom, but about frustration and a lot of things. You might as well turn away from what you are "trying" to do-because you're not trying to do that at all. You're focusing on the thing that's bothering you, really.
The problem, of course, is when the big Thing-the Thing that's not what you're doing, but is affecting what you're doing-is so big you can't deal with it, so big you can't put aside what you're doing and fix it, either because it's unfixable or at least unfixable right now, or because it's utterly unfixable because the laws of time and space forbid it.
What do you do then?
The book doesn't say.
Shut Up And Read This
Shut up and read this.
Don't do anything else. Don't look anywhere else. Just go read it and tell her how awesome she is.
Kelly makes me not just ashamed to blog, but ashamed to call myself an English speaker.
Don't do anything else. Don't look anywhere else. Just go read it and tell her how awesome she is.
Kelly makes me not just ashamed to blog, but ashamed to call myself an English speaker.
Game 148: Same Old Story
Once again, Josh Beckett pitched OK. Which I guess beats "utter disaster", which is most of his other starts were. Once again, the Semi AAA lineup was held in check by a mediocre pitcher. Once again, the Red Sox lose to Toronto, 4-3.
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