What's all the fuss about?

"On Point" did a whole hour on the fruitcakes who don't believe Obama is a U.S. citizen. I don't understand what the fuss is all about. Here's his birth certificate and it looks okay to me.

The birthday festivities finally ended yesterday with baked Alaska.

(Darn it. I asked for an image of baked Alaska and my graphics department gave me half-baked Alaska.)

As usual, it was fantastic. Still my absolute favorite. Thanks, Mom.

_______________
Softball Sunday: We won both games of a doubleheader. I hit well in the first game, which was a close win, and poorly in the 2nd, which was a blowout. So I'm okay with that.

I also took a ground ball too my wrist, which is now a pretty shade of purple. I get hit in the wrist at least twice a year. Apart from the face and crotch, the wrist is by far my least favorite spot to be hit. It's always in the same spot, right below (above? whatever) my palm, and it always smarts.
It was still an out, but I'm not sure how. The baserunner must have been loafing. The ball bounced about 10 feet in the air after it hit me, and the shortstop caught it and threw to 2nd for a force out.

Friday News Roundup

Local News:
My apartment is a mess and my milk has spoiled.

Slightly less local news:
A while back, during a conversation about the Seelbach fire, I learned the firefighters on the scene had to relay info on foot because the analog radios didn't work in the basement, but "they should be getting new radios soon."
That's been bugging me consistently since I heard it. Weren't new radios 'arriving soon' shortly after 9-11?

State news:
David Williams is still a complete jerk.

National news:
Little accomplished, lots and lots and lots of money spent doing it.

Entertainment news:
Michael Jackson is still deceased. And now buried, I think. Finally.

I wonder if any other big celebrities died this week. If so, there was probably no time for the 24-hour networks to cover it.

International news:
Our foreign correspondent has been detained and charged with crimes against his host country and so was unable to file a report.
In lieu of a report, just assume until you hear otherwise that the rest of the world has mad love for our new president but is unwilling to help us until they see what's in it for them.

Sports news:
Very near the all-star break and I have not watched a baseball game all year. That's a first.

Your beloved Yogis are a win away from clinching the Tuesday night title but are floundering helplessly on Wednesdays.
Injury report:
-two knees out
-one knee recovered
-one achilles tendon out
-one concussed head recovered (still attached)

Happy Birthday to Mark, and then other, much less important stuff

Brother, I wish you a very happy 40th birthday.

You are one amazingly hoopy frood, Mark. You are such a good dad and all-around decent person, and you are a really cool guy who is great fun to hang out with. What more could a brother ask for?

Plus you have an incredible wife and wonderful kids, so what's not to like?

(I haven't read any Hitchhikers' stories in a long time and I have no idea why the 'hoopy frood' phrase popped into my head, but it seemed appropriate.)

__________________________
Softball doubleheader info very quickly, then a quick bite to eat because I've just realized I'm very hungry, then bed:

We won both games, which is great.

Two more injuries, which is getting ridiculous, and also scary.

Jim couldn't play because he has somehow injured his knee without doing anything. It sucks to be old, I guess. I wouldn't know, though, because on my first swing after my 38th birthday I hit a triple.

Then tonight our shortstop collided with our left fielder and took a very frightening knee to the head. He left the game obviously concussed. (****I think he's okay, see below****)
At least it gave me another chance to show how very young I am. I played one inning at shortstop, started a double play to get the first two outs, then threw the next guy out at first. As a board member, I intend to do everything in my power to not play shortstop again so that my stat line at the position reads: one inning, three assists, zero errors.

Tomorrow has all the makings of a very ugly night. We play a tough opponent and will again be lacking lots of quality players. As a board member, all season I've been prepared to-and felt obligated to try to- get guys playing time at my expense. But instead we are struggling to field a team and I find myself playing three positions in one game as a result of constant juggling.

____ ***I posted this and then 5 minutes later realized I should provide at least as much info as possible on the concussed player: Jimmy stayed on the bench with ice until the game ended, then immediately left with his wife and kids to get himself checked out. I'd guess he will be fine but I plan on calling him tomorrow morning to check.
It was an ugly play on a shallow fly ball, and I feel sure it wouldn't have happened if I had been at third base as usual instead of first base. Neither fielder called the other off because neither was sure they had it, so they both kept going for it. Whenever I see that situation-and it happens quite a lot- I look and see who has the best shot and call the other off myself. But nobody said a word tonight.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Friday night I saw "Romeo and Juliet." I liked it quite a lot, despite the fact that folks in the neighborhood shot off more than a few bottle rockets that evening. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Shakespeare might have stolen some of his ideas from "West Side Story." I just wish Officer Krupke had been able to keep those dangerous poisons and weapons off the streets of Verona.

Saturday I went to Ron's cook-out. The weather could not have been much worse- most of the day was spent crowded in the garage. But they are wonderful hosts and we had a great time. We played a few rain-plagued games of washers, ate a lot, and saw a spectacular backyard fireworks show that wowed the kids. During the fireworks Lauren Meyer told her mom and dad "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" so I guess it was pretty good.

Sunday Jim, Ron, Mike and I played golf at Belterra, saw another fireworks show (I know my birthday is a big deal, but I was surprised by the number of people who celebrated with fireworks), ate a terrific buffet, and did well at the casino.

This morning we teed off late because of heavy fog and the wet course, then played 16 more holes before we had to call it quits and get back to town.

All in all we terrific time.
*******
Evening addition: Tonight, just as the post-4-day-weekend blues were hitting- I was taking care of bills and thinking about work tomorrow and worrying about a doubleheader tomorrow with lots of injured or unavailable softball players- Mark and the girls called and sang Happy Birthday. Ta-da! Blues gone.

Oh, and Mom and Dad and Brian called, too. But they didn't sing.

My Year In Review

The REAL birthday season is in full swing.

As each calender year ends, newspapers, magazines, and tv programs fill up with retrospectives. It seems appropriate to do the same as my own 38th full year ends.

Here are some of my year's highlights.

Best book I read in the past year: City of Thieves.
Best movie I saw in a theatre: The Dark Knight.
Only movie I saw in a theatre: The Dark Knight.
Worst movie I saw in a theatre: The Dark Knight.
Favorite television series of the year: Chuck (I know, it surprises me, too).

Best meal: the first chili of the fall. I don't remember it, exactly, but the first chili of the fall is always the best meal of the year.

Most memorable weather: Windstorm Ike made for one fascinating day and one heck of a mess.

Neatest day: Thursday of the ice storm. My ice-coated neighborhood was beautiful and the damage was quite impressive. I took a long walk that afternoon- it was very neat, and probably very stupid since I was walking on solid sheets of ice and in constant danger from the frequent falling of tree branches. Still, though..

Three things I learned this year:
1) Don't try to 'tough it out' when the power goes out in January. 20 degree homes are not really fit for human habitation.
2) An extended hiatus from golf leads to lots more free time and a larger bank account.
3) Every married person on the planet
___ a)assumes I must be miserable because I live alone,
and b)wants to fix me up with a girl they know,
and c)thinks we'd really hit it off,
and d)apparently believes that if I don't have a girlfriend/wife/whatever it must be because I'm incapable of attaining one without their personal assistance.

Sorry. That's been getting a little aggravating lately.

I weigh 11 pounds less than I did on my 37th birthday. So barring a binge-eating episode of historic proportions, when my birthday arrives in a couple of days there will be about 5% less of me than there was last year.

Biggest news events of Kevin's 38th consecutive year on planet earth:
*) Obama's election.
*) The Large Hadron Collider failed to destroy the earth.
*) The monumentally greedy were finally exposed as con artists. We all pay the fine.
*) Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals proved that smoking pot was a great way to toughen up the lungs in preparation for Beijing's pollution.
*) Militants kill nearly 200 in Mumbai. Lots of Americans learn Bombay is now Mumbai.
*) The post-election protests in Iran.

Three words I would love to work into a conversation in the upcoming year:
*metagrobolize: to mystify
*adiaphoristic: theologically indifferent
*obambulate: to walk around or wander