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Friday Reflections-October 5, 2018
A few things I pondered on my way to work this morning: I have been under heavier surveillance since I was diagnosed with MS in 1995. Since then, someone always seems to know (or thinks they have to know) where I am, which makes sneaking around practically impossible-if I wanted to sneak around, that is. I can’t even sneak up on my own kid! Since Alex is now 16, it would be nice to be able to be less conspicuous when I need to find out what he’s doing. A point of contention for me: Even if someone, anyone, says he is listening to you, I think it’s rude for…
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Misophonia and me
Growing up, I spent several summers in the backseat of my parents’ car trying not to kill my little brother as my parents ventured to various historical sites. Most of these places were not interesting to us, so we were essentially captives on these historical journeys throughout this country. My father would sometimes chew gum on these road trips, and if he did, I did everything I could to block out the sound. He chewed the gum with fierce intensity, as if the piece of gum held every bit of tension that filled his body. Perhaps that wad of Big Red chewing gum represented opposing counsel in his latest…
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Mama, don’t let your baby grow up to be a snowflake…
I do not want to raise a kid that can’t do anything for himself. I want Alex to be able to function on his own when he goes to college in a few years, to do his own laundry-especially to get dirt stains out of baseball pants-and to manage his time so that he can study and also have fun. So far, Alex is learning most of the skills he needs, so now I am tackling the biggie-money management. One of the best lessons I did as a parent was during the summer when Alex was about 12 years old and he wanted to buy fast food all the time…
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This Cathedral for Boys, This Cathedral of Dreams
in the summertime,within the ivy-covered walls,upon the sun-drenched grass, the green, green grasswhere full grown boys lived out my dreams,in nine inning shares of timelessness,to hear the thunder of Ted Williams’ bat,to watch the smooth, smooth stride of Willie Mays,to sit in awe of lads once like me,but who grew up somewhere to become so much more,these mythic figures of a mythic game,a game once began on sandy backlots,now continued on fields in majestic ballparks,they are all grown up these once little boys,grown-up beyond the reach of mortals who wear tailored grey suits as they go to work,they live in realms of near perfection,they walk in air beyond our own,they…
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Trump May Make History As a ‘Great’ President
By Madan G Singh | Submitted On April 28, 2018 When the United States election campaign commenced Donald Trump was not expected to win. Everybody including the political pundits had forecast that the winner would be Hillary Clinton. However, it did not happen that way and the Dark Horse Donald Trump stormed and won the election. He did not have the popular vote when he became president but that is because of the convoluted system of votes in America. Political stalwarts made forecasts that Donald Trump would be impeached. They also said he was unfit to be the president of the United States of America. Water flows down the river and like the…
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It Was Lights Out At The Old Ballgame
by James L. Snyder June 24, 2006 | Someone yelling, “Let’s play ball,” officially announces spring. Springtime and baseball seem to go together, as if God created springtime just for the national pastime. Something about that first baseball game seems to shake away all the gloomy aspects of the past winter. As soon as Old Man Winter strikes out for the last time, good old springtime steps up to the plate and a new game is afoot. Of course, baseball is for the young. One downside of growing older is the fact that you grow out of certain things. For example, as you grow older you grow out…
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Why I teach math through knitting
Sara Jensen, Carthage College One snowy January day, I asked a classroom of college students to tell me the first word that came to mind when they thought about mathematics. The top two words were “calculation” and “equation.” When I asked a room of professional mathematicians the same question, neither of those words were mentioned; instead, they offered phrases like “critical thinking” and “problem-solving.” This is unfortunately common. What professional mathematicians think of as mathematics is entirely different from what the general population thinks of as mathematics. When so many describe mathematics as synonymous with calculation, it’s no wonder we hear “I hate math” so often. So I set out…
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Jason O’Connor: Watching NFL v MLB
Watching the NFL versus MLB Imagine placing two flat screen plasma TV’s side by side in your living room smack dab in front of your couch. You’ve got beer, snacks a-plenty and fresh batteries in your clicker. One TV has an NFL game on and the other has a Major League Baseball game and they both start at the same time. Besides this being many sports fans’ idea of hog heaven and even better than clicking back and forth between games with only one TV, it’s fun to watch the differences between these two pro sports. Watching the NFL on TV is a…
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The Home Team by David Collins
Most of us are born to our allegiances. Especially for the home team. Our fathers taking us to our first baseball game, the perfectly manicured green grass and white on white of the baselines so precisely laid out before us as giants warmed up under the brilliant summer sun. From then to eternity that team was mine. It binds us to a town a city, an era, it becomes who we are, it defines us in ways beyond rational explanation. We wear our loyalty in game jerseys with our hero’s name emblazoned on the back, we paint our faces our team’s colors, we name our children after our favorite players.…
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Top 10 reasons why I love baseball
by Aron Wallad 1. The Ultimate Challenge Hitting a round ball with a round bat. The feeling I would get when I hit the ball. Just think of a baby that is crying for food. When that baby gets her bottle the first thing you hear is that ahhhhh sound. Oh that ah. When I hit a ball perfectly I would have that ahhhhh. 2. I call it contentment at a high level. I played all the time when I was a kid. Some of my favorite memories were from the diamond. When I hit two home runs in one game off the star pitcher form our High School team. I rounded…
