Last Meet
Man, talk about going out with a bang. The girls wrapped up their swimming season Thursday at the annual invitational meet, which featured all six swimming teams that make up the conference they compete in. Fortunately, rather than being held in a four-lane, neighborhood pool, it was at a 10 lane high school pool. Still, we arrived at 9:00 in…
The Original “Purple Rain”
This is utterly astounding. Brother in music and lover of all things Prince Mike A. sent me the link below. If you were ever into Prince, I highly suggest clicking on it and chalking up the next 15 minutes to enjoying pure awesomeness. What will you see if you click? The 1983 performance of “Purple Rain,” from which most of…
June Books
Season Ticket: A Baseball Companion – Roger Angell Perhaps the greatest ever writer on matters related to baseball in the decade I grew up with the sport? Damn right I’m reading this! It only seems like Angell has been writing about baseball forever1. A significant chunk of his writings have come for The New Yorker, where he’s been an editor…
Holiday Weekend Wrap
Good lord that was a long week. Long because there was much fun involved. Long because there was much effort involved. Long because there was much beer involved. Long because many hours were spent in the sun and water, both sucking the energy from our bodies. Long because, as tends to happen, sleep came at a premium. Long because I…
Happy Holiday
Man, where did June go? Are we really over a third of the way through summer? This week is our annual family get together at the LVS. Folks began arriving yesterday and Thursday we’ll all head down to spend a few days in the water. In the meantime, the kids are taking trips to local water parks and pools, we’re…
The Hardest Talk
I’m not sure there’s any conversation that is more difficult to have with your children than one about death. It’s hard enough for us adults to grasp the concept, let alone put it into words. I’m not sure it’s fair to expect the kids to get it. Our girls have lost a couple great-grandmothers in their lifetimes, although neither woman…
1984 Again
I’ve stated my case, many times, for 1984 being one of the best pop culture years ever. Over the weekend, there was another effort at laying down ’84’s case. I’m sure this crossed your Twitter/Facebook/Blogosphere streams, but I couldn’t let it go without sharing again. Thirty years ago last weekend, here’s what you could see at a movie theater: *…
Sports Be Bummin’ Me Out, Yo
That title is how I think L., the most hip-hop of my girls, might describe the past week’s worth of sports for me. There have been a few bummers. Let’s break it down, in reverse order. I’ve watched five minutes of the World Cup.1 Those five minutes were the last five minutes of the US – Portugal game. We were…
The Swimming Life
interminable |inˈtərmənəbəl| adjective endless (often used hyperbolically): we got bogged down in interminable discussions. The girls have begun their competitive swimming careers. Their first meet was last Thursday, they swam again Tuesday night, and we have another meet scheduled for tonight. (Edit: Well, we were supposed to swim tonight. But just before warm ups were set to begin a huge…
Tony
What a week. Late last week, former MLB pitcher Bob Welch died. He wasn’t an icon of his era, nor one of my heroes. But for kids who grew up watching baseball in the late 70s through the 80s, his passing was noted. Then Casey Kasem. And just as I was posting my thoughts about Casey on Monday came word…