Viral Vicissitudes

"Time Out" after May Merri-went, for Mental Health break... Just in the Nick... As in "Where did the time, May, Merri-went?" I'm sure you can relate, given how event-full this month has been, including having taken time out to honor nurses earlier in the month, and fallen heroes, most recently. But did you know that this whole month has also been set aside in an attempt to increase awareness regarding your mental health? In other words, in addition to a whole lot of other worthwhile causes to honor, celebrate, we are reminded of the importance of looking after your mental health, one dimension of your overall well-being...to at least be aware. This being the 75th year since Clifford Beers (3 cheers!) of Mental Health America founded it, which was in turn an acknowledgment of how many soldiers came back home with strong mental health needs, but has since become a call to tend to not only look after our own, but be aware of others in need... Were you aware? That I...

Guts and Glue...Glitz and Glamor...Geez! Eyes on Design: As I was sayin' (see 5/24 for what I truly said, what was worth hearin') "It used to be...in the good old days...when I was growing up watching the game of baseball, we were often treated to players "spewing their guts, coming unglued!" Often through a face-off with the ump...a "you blink first!" kind of game within the game...accompanied by more sensory sensations as in "rotten breath" -- the latter in part due to so many out on the diamond featuring a "wad" of chewing tobacky ("just a pinch between the cheek and gum and you'll be good for the whole day!") which, given the lack of polished spittoons found in the saloons, and the dirt floors in the dugouts "back then" saw the players spitting. All of which, of course, partly due to good taste: YUK! and other-wise through lots of media studies, the bad "Influencers" all this had on aspirants...f...

May Merri-meant, Memorial-size Event-full: The month of May, all 31 days of it, is packed so full of dates to mark and then acknowledge, by your already busy body, that it finally got formally recognized as such via its new moniker "Maycember" Remember? Or did you, in all this busyness, forget that the one day that is still, to this day, set aside -- last Monday in May, regardless of what date it falls on -- to honor, pay tribute, properly memorialize, those who have fallen, who have paid what's still in 2024 acknowledged as the "ultimate sacrifice" (dying in service), laying down their lives for what we, around here, often take for granted -- our freedom(s)... In times past, pastime: A day that others in uniform, such as the MLB, will also pay respect, by wearing the traditional red poppy on their sleeve, accompanied by the prompt "Lest We Forget". Helpful reminder, as well as one which will help to off-set all the now popular "camo" wear th...

"I'm just sayin'..." Sayings: Some of which have been around as long as b-ball games have been played, a few of which designed to be watered down versions of more harsh, terse, otherwise poor taste, at least according to the current trends, trends of the times and context, of course. As I was just saying (5/20 post), the so-called "rubber game" is experienced and characterized in part by the historical context of the team...party...whatever...with which you are most closely aligned...Which could have resulted in you either developing a thick skin or become ULTRA-sensitive...For example, in the current context, "If you're thinking of staging a comeback, you're gonna' need a bigger stage..." could easily be misconstrued as what's now deemed "trash talk" -- none of which is this well nuanced...And/or "Your team would probably mess up a tailor-made double play, even if Taylor played it for you..." Baseball and sport...

The rubber game, the game of rubber - naturally. Word, worldly origins: Both of which were pretty much, naturally, derived--derivatives. The former coming out a bit unexpectedly, via casual convo in the stands, while awaiting extra innings. Other-wise what's touted as "sports trivia" -- the sport within the sport. that real, true fans can't get enough of..."Did you know the true origins of the rubber game, or match, the one we're likely going to be invited back for, depending on the out-come of this one...?" Without much hesitation, buildup, or otherwise not even giving what, in b-ball, is considered proper time between pitches..."lawn bowling, of course, any true aficionado of this pastime should have this in his vast store of knowledge..." The latter, simply stated, from the rubber tree...Hevea brasiliensis may be more familiar among those familiar with scientific names of trees, shrubs, other natural foliage around the "Field of Dreams...

Where do we go, from here? Putting "It" another way... "How can I get there in the most efficient, direct route as possible...?" Universally experienced (i.e., "relatable") whether you are a road tripper, trying to minimize your encounter with orange barrel brigades or, in the present context of covering all things b-ball, trying to get to the "facilities" after having to hold "It". This special set of circumstances that come about when the game has gone longer than expected, and have you wishing you had...gone...one more time before leaving home, or at the last "intermission". Instead of waiting until the game has gone into what, in some venues, called, simply "overtime", whereas others resort to more dramatic language to keep fans in the stadium -- "sudden death!" Whereas in the more pedestrian pastime prose..."extra innings" as in "more if the same"...True, butt... From where I sit: A...

Putting up Numbers: Scorekeepers and mass come-fusion (b-ball and all)   Premise-acuity: Keeping accurate count, other-wise known in most athletics as "keeping score" has been a part of the way to past the time in this pastime of ours, even if "you folks at home" are tuning in by radio, where many of have taught themselves or followed a tradition, handed down, in the form of a "box score" -- not the one offered up line-by-line, game-by-game, with summaries of players' stats, as well as the final outcome. I'm talking about the "Official Scorebook" which comes with pre-drawn boxes that represent every single "at bat" which you might even still see on occasion haphazardly drawn on a napkin or whatever by a real scorekeeping aficionado -- "snob" who only does so on a napkin (or whatever) to not rub it in..."Oh, you don't know how to keep score?" Given this place and time we've landed in, feelings easily h...

Welcome to the family of Mess-cots: "Shoos!" Shoo who?! Yeh, right. Kinda like "Who's on first?" Only the most jaded, cynical...other-wise known as "experienced" would see this hybrid hyena, yet another anthropomorph, this a version of the feliform family, who is many times experienced at a distance among the "laughing stock🤣" as yet another well-timed (based on the analytics, algorithms of your ticket buying and then making concessions, as in one more dogs, with suds to wash it down) way to exploit us fans, the paying public, the butts in the seats...which are getting sore, given how long they are keeping us as a captive audience...after the game became "tied" which another broad-caster broadly referred to as "all knotted up at four apiece" So which is it?! Which is part of the back story of this newest Mess-cot, who is best of both worlds...LOL...Hardly a laughing matter... "Your Shoos untied!" While one of th...

Some lines in life... "Concessions have to be made" Or else you'd end up with cold hot dogs, suds sans suds (beer without the foamy part sometimes referred to as a 'head')...as well as room temperature lemonade (talk about sour!)... "Good things come to those who wait..." Even, well, beyond the gate...keeper...the attendant who took your ticket upon arrival at the ball park, "Frank" A nice combo when he actually comes around, every few innings with fresh offerings, whose call "Hot dog!" is as strong of an association with b-ball as calling out balls and strikes... Line, item veto: Now, why  would you want to rob yourself of part of the experience of coming to the ball park, where waiting in line is just "part of the game..." Why else do you think they call it a pastime? 😒 Getting out of line: Which is why they employ the ones that roam the park with "Security" badges...just in case you think, get tempted... Get ba...

Soggy blogger Reigning champ: Mother Nature, as in "Game delay...but not a complete washout"...while I'm waiting for the signal for "resumption of play"...Happy Mother's Day! There could not be⚾ bawlers without you... Pause with a Claws: We here in the "Motor City" (new uniforms brought out for special occasions, but more often if received well, as it's all about analytics now) have "Paws" to rep the team spirit of all those playing for the Detroit Tigers, who have in turn been raised by what's fondly, reverentially, and even deferentially speaking (as in "I wouldn't if I were you, if you know what's good for you..."😟😇). Otherwise, experienced here, in my b-ball mini-series, a pause in the action to give credit, where credit is ( way)  overdue...to their "Mother Bears" which, strictly speaking, during the sport represented here by yet another anthropomorph, "Roary" would be considered a riva...

All Tied up in... NOTS! By definition "unclear" -- as an outcome of any competition that is "neither, nor"...NOT a true victor or a clear loser. Why play, you ask? Good question without a clear, definitive answer, I guess. A bit equivocal, at best, with two teams sharing a position which could get a bit tipsy, as crowded at the top, physics-wise, or, as we see in the current Presidential race, where they're both bottoming out...One of the most mirky, quirky, and, to most paying customers, jerky! conditions at the end of the contest -- "Why did we even come, we could have stayed home and the outcome would have been the same at the beginning as well as the end...we're the clear losers here!" Luckily, in the game of b-ball, absent foul! weather where the game might get "called" they play the thing out via extra innings, as many as it might take which, if it eventuates it keeping you "out" (see the tie-in here?) past curfew, might e...

All tied up..."a whole new game..." Maybe, maybe knot.   Suspense-full: "It's the bottom of the...and it's now anyone's game...it's like nip and tuck...as if they are neck to neck, or even, when it comes down to the wire (not visible), it's as if they are nose to nose, leaving us wondering, in suspense, "who knows?" which send it either to the on-the-field video booth, which are pretty standard 'fair' (get the double meaning here, aficionados?) or, in the case of a more impact-full outcome --one which could send one team to the play-offs and a champagne celebration, while the other is told, perhaps just by pointing, in the direction of the showers. On even more special occasions, where the so-called local officials, can't agree, it could be sent...all the way up to the Supreme Court. And you thought I was talking sports, base-ball in particular. Well, you're part wrong, part right, kind of like a divided out-come...which can ...

Post Commence-meant post Re: Commence: As in returning to what we were seeking to do, until this brief pause in the action. Which is why I would, in my etymology of this so-called "exercise" -- which I will also "address" (spoiler alert!)..."in due course..." (the latter being part and parcel of many such addresses) -- would, at the end of my prepared speech, in case I'm ever called on by one or more of my "all-my-matters" (also a better name for institutions that strive to teach meaningful, relevant, otherwise usable stuff) -- like "All I need to know I learned in K" -- the latter shortened so as to not lose my audience, given that I am probably "addressing" a tough crowd, one which has probably been out celebrating or otherwise stayed up past their bedtime, once they learned they would finally, after all these days, weeks, months...matricu-late...be granted full admittance to "grade school"...The majority of wh...

In League with my cast, of characters - what I have, to contend with. Character, player, development: Both being at play, here. That is, well before our first official game, before the first (coach's) pitch was "lobbed, right down the middle...of the strike zone" (elementary b-ball language that we learned early, out on the "diamond"). Well before we (two coaches, one of which doubled as a dad and other a parent of a parent of, which makes me...) had been able to fully e-valuate their prowess at the plate, or where they might otherwise be best positioned, out on the field. But after only two practice sessions, while a whole lot of player development was indicated, called for, what was also painfully obvious (as in gut busting laughter) is that these youngsters were not short on character... Assembly required: As in "guys, come here, huddle around home plate, we're a team, you know..." many times over, to keep them...assembled. While the history of ...

May Daze Maze: A full, event-ful calendar. Well, Informed: Well, I am now, at least. Up-to-the-minute, as they say. After being rudely detoured (which detour isn't received this way?) by my casting director, who was called upon, to assist me in prepping the post which was to pay proper tribute to my small team of little all stars, I was assigned to. Small , measured by the number of players on what's called a short roster of prospective players, the ones that might, on any given day, show up, and if they all do at once, will give me and my assistant coach the requisite number of bawlers (as in "I'd rather play first base!") to fill out the field, of play. Little , at least when compared to their counter-parts that followed them in the "Opening Day Parade" -- the latter simply listed as "majors" (they're actually, to be technical, still all minors, by legal standards).  All  stars, according to their parents, at least...time will tell, as th...