Writing is a very strange thing. It is often difficult to get into any type of flow. I don’t just mean sitting down and punching out a paragraph or two. There are periods when I could, if I had the time, write various pieces all day long. But then I’ll go a few months without putting down anything. My writing has been encouraged recently by contributing to a fantasy baseball website, GetSportsInfo.com. There’s a link up there in the corner. Although it can be pretty dry stuff even to the most ardent baseball fan, it has helped me to write, and to think about writing, on a more regular basis. It also could turn into a dream job someday if the site ever really takes off.
Distraught pretty girl: "I've lost my virginity!"
Benny Hill: "Do you still have the box it came in?"
I’m writing this piece on Friday night, April 30, and according to my computer it is exactly 6:35pm. In some ways this writing is just taking up time before the Reds face Roger Clemens tonight. Although I am a big Reds fan, I am looking forward to seeing Clemens pitch. He’s only 12 strikeouts away from second place on the all-time list. Sounds boring, right? Well these things don’t happen very often and it’s extremely doubtful, impossible really, that he’ll be able to pass up Nolan Ryan who has 1589 more strikeouts. And speaking of the Ryan Express, it was on May 1st, 1991 that he pitched his sixth no-hitter. According to his pitching coach, before the game Nolan wasn’t really feeling good about pitching that day. I guess some things just work out. Of course, if you read my article this morning at getsportsinfo.com, you already know this.
Three popular singers celebrate May 1st birthdays: Take a ride on the banana boat with Harry Belafonte (1927); send in the clowns for Judy Collins (1939); and get rid of the ghosts for Ray Parker Jr. (1954).
I enjoy working crossword puzzles in the daily paper. It doesn’t really matter which paper, for me a puzzle is a puzzle. If I don’t complete the Friday NY Times, it doesn’t bother me. But one of the things that I have always glanced over was the Jumble. And by glance, I don’t mean ignore. I would just look at the scrambled words, figure them out in my head and solve the cartoon answer. I never thought it to be a big deal until my wife noticed me doing it. I think I was called a "scary freak." I didn’t realize that these things were meant to be difficult. I’ve always just been good at them. In the paper I read today, the answers are FETCH, BIRCH, ENDURE, and GULLET. If I could time myself, I would. But I don’t have a stopwatch.
Does Eminem know that his name makes people think of little pieces of chocolate?
He does? Really? And that’s cool? Fine, from now on I want to be Papa Rox.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Not quite Robocop
I doubt if I will ever be able to explain how my brain works, but here is a pretty strange example. On various occasions throughout the years I have been able to recall a television show that I remember seeing as a kid. I could never actually determine what the show was or what ever happened on any particular episode. The only thing that I could recall was that it was a police detective show where one of the officers was a robot. And the only scene that I could remember was when the detective/robot read an entire book by just quickly flipping the pages. For some time now I have been trying to put together the pieces of this memory. Recently, I had a breakthrough - I could picture the actor’s face and for some reason, I knew he was in MASH, the movie. This was enough for me to hit the internet and I associated the face to a name, John Schuck. He played the character Painless Pole, who wanted to kill himself because he couldn’t get it up. From that point I was able to determine that he was in a short lived TV show called ‘Holmes and Yoyo’ that aired for three months in 1976. In the show he played a robot detective name Gregory Yoyonovich.
I’m not sure what is most disturbing about this story. I was only six years old when this show aired and I very much doubt that it was ever played in syndication. How can I remember something so obscure from such a young age? But what is even more peculiar to me, is that this is really something that I have been trying to figure out in my mind for quite a few years. Why? I don’t really know. Perhaps it’s just a matter of acquiring more useless knowledge. Perhaps it’s just another dandelion.
I’m not sure what is most disturbing about this story. I was only six years old when this show aired and I very much doubt that it was ever played in syndication. How can I remember something so obscure from such a young age? But what is even more peculiar to me, is that this is really something that I have been trying to figure out in my mind for quite a few years. Why? I don’t really know. Perhaps it’s just a matter of acquiring more useless knowledge. Perhaps it’s just another dandelion.
The Initial Growing
For the inital entry into the dandelion garden I have been taken rather off guard. I thought I would just be setting up this blog and have time to put something together. But the point of my creation of this garden is to just express the ideas jumping around in my brain. So, I'll give it a try.
Since my recent decision to create this blog I have been trying to come up with a very good title. Just like a shiny plastic cover gets you a good grade on your book report (thank you Bart Simpson) a catchy title draws attention to any piece of work. Originally I intended to create "Low Expectations" - it's kind of a montra for me. But it always suggests that the content may be rather depressing and this will not be the case. And the concept of low expectations should not be considered depressing, but more on that later. Anyway, I began looking around my world and thinking about what's going on. And looking out the front window of the house I noticed that one of the more overwhelming things in my life right now may be the incredible amount of dandelions in the front yard. I can vaguely recall a story by Robert Fulghum who apparently upset his neighbors because he allowed the little yellow weeds to grow in his yard. He liked the way the yellow blended with green grass. Then, just a few days ago, my niece wanted to go outside and pick the pretty flowers. At three years old, there's no reason to explain botany to her. But that was my deciding factor. I still still prefer 'thistle' to 'dandelion' - it's just a better word. But thistle hurts and doesn't look anything like a flower.
Since my recent decision to create this blog I have been trying to come up with a very good title. Just like a shiny plastic cover gets you a good grade on your book report (thank you Bart Simpson) a catchy title draws attention to any piece of work. Originally I intended to create "Low Expectations" - it's kind of a montra for me. But it always suggests that the content may be rather depressing and this will not be the case. And the concept of low expectations should not be considered depressing, but more on that later. Anyway, I began looking around my world and thinking about what's going on. And looking out the front window of the house I noticed that one of the more overwhelming things in my life right now may be the incredible amount of dandelions in the front yard. I can vaguely recall a story by Robert Fulghum who apparently upset his neighbors because he allowed the little yellow weeds to grow in his yard. He liked the way the yellow blended with green grass. Then, just a few days ago, my niece wanted to go outside and pick the pretty flowers. At three years old, there's no reason to explain botany to her. But that was my deciding factor. I still still prefer 'thistle' to 'dandelion' - it's just a better word. But thistle hurts and doesn't look anything like a flower.
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