nick castellanos/miguel cabrera – detroit tigers
great game last night.
i’ll be seeing you guys tomorrow.
hope we can share a laugh.
—-
The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
John Wooden
May4
Category Archives: Life
May3
“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” ― T.S. Eliot
so very proud to be attending baby daughter h’s graduation,
it has been a long and winding road,
with 2 small babies, a hubby, a career change, charity work, lots of fiestas, lots of challenges,
and pure grit.
no one in our little family takes the easy road to get places,
and i think we’ve been made all the stronger for it.
and i’m happy she’s following her own uncharted paths.
and now she will join the ranks of those who teach the little people in our world,
and they will be lucky to have her, just as we all are.
and she will encourage them to follow their own paths.
here’s to you, baby daughter, h, with much love and bursting with pride.
—–
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
Charles R. Swindoll
May2
more than one way to win a series…
for those of you who follow sports and all that goes with them, i have a bit of a rivalry/wager going with syracuse writer and friend mark, over at http://markbialczak.com. we are both minor league baseball fans, and his syracuse chiefs, (who knows who they are?), will be up against my toledo mud hens (detroit tigers farm team), in an upcoming epic battle. there will games played at both stadiums, for a chance to show their stuff and to quiet one of us down. let’s start with our mascots, after looking at our roster, those chiefs don’t stand a chance!
MUDDY
Birthday: July 6
Muddy the Mud Hen has been entertaining fans of all ages for years. He can be found roaming the concourse and dancing on the dugouts during all home games at Fifth Third Field. Muddy also loves posing for pitcures, so bring your camera when you come to a game!
He has received national recognition in such publications as: Sports Illustrated, Baseball Weekly, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News. A celebrity in his own right, from parades to parties, Muddy is everyone’s buddy.
MUDDONNA
Birthday: April 29
The original ‘Material Bird’ made her debut as Toledo’s second mascot in April of 2003. She loves to dance and loves baseball.
Muddonna can be seen at home games in her signature pinstripe dress. Her best Hen-Friend is Muddy.
JIM FLEALAND (based upon retired detroit tigers manager, jim l)
Debut: May 22, 2008
About: Jim is a major league runner who always manages to pester his competition. His racing style has a biting edge which makes him a tough itch to scratch. Cheer on Jim as he smokes the competition!
Favorite Major League Baseball Team: Detroit Tigers
KITTY HOLMES (based up toledo native, katie holmes)
Debut: May 22, 2008
About: Kitty is a racing feline phenomenon who relies on her cat-like reflexes to help claw her way to victory… sometimes just by a whisker. This little lady is nothing to meow at. Cheer her on as she tries to Cruise to victory!
Favorite TV Show: Clawson’s Creek
JAMIE FARRMADILLO (based upon toledo native, jamie farr)
Debut: May 22, 2008
About: This sprinting soldier with the armor shell is always out to M*A*S*H* his competition. He’ll take it the Max, Klinging to the lead until the very end. Cheer on Jamie as he rolls to a win!
Enjoys: LPGA Golf
and we have backup:
MUDDEVIOUS
Debut: June 8, 2007
Standing 9 feet tall, this bouncing bird hatched from an outer space egg sent to Fifth Third Field in the spring of 2007.
Muddevious, who is more than a little mischievous, finds ways to create fun by pulling pranks and playfully interacting with fans at Fifth Third Field.
He’s full of energy and has some out-of-this-world dance moves.
MUDDIVA
Debut: June 8, 2007
Muddiva arrived via space egg, with cohort Muddevious, in the spring of 2007.
This dynamic (and demanding) damsel hits all the high notes when it comes to entertaining Mud Hens fans.
Muddiva is a sinister songstress who enjoys greeting her public at Fifth Third Field… and causing a little bit of trouble along the way.
syracuse mascots, scooch and pops
(we’re not really too worried)
____
i have a good feeling about this one, fire up hens!
and mark has begun the trash talk early, as you can see in his post from yesterday :
http://markbialczak.com/2014/05/01/chiefs-vs-mud-hens-and-theres-going-to-be-some-sort-of-sign/
May1
at last – may!
Apr30
Mistakes are the portals of discovery – James Joyce
i was so excited.
i’d saved up my change,
69 cents,
to buy my first record.
i got a ride to the store,
found ‘lady madonna’,
ran to the counter, counted out my change,
and skipped out of the store.
the moment i got home,
i put the record on,
ready to hear my favorites sing,
i was a young beatles fan.
and i quickly discovered,
that in my rush and excitement,
i had actually purchased
the fats domino version
of the same song.
not the same,
but fun and different.
and new to me.
–
do you ever get that excited that you lose sight of the mission?
do you ever discover something wonderful and new quite by accident?
—
The four building blocks of the universe are fire, water, gravel and vinyl.
Dave Barry
—–
image credits: captiol records, reprise records
Apr29
Half my life is an act of revision - John Irving
http://www.grammarly.com/grammowrimo/
very recently, i received the note below, and was happy to have been one of a huge group of writers on this first-ever collaborative novel writing project. each writer was assigned a date to write her or his chapter, feeding off of the one before it, having never seen it before, and given 24 hours to complete it. i loved the challenge of this project, as well as the international group effort that went into creating it.
Writers, hello.
In November 2013, around 300 writers from 27 countries (and 44 U.S. states) worked together to write a group novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). We called the project #GrammoWriMo; and, clocking in at a total of 130,927 unedited words, we are proud to say that your draft was among the 41,940 completed!
Today, it is with great excitement that the Grammarly team announces the publication of this GrammoWriMo e-book on Amazon. (see above) Thank you for your patience with us through the editing process.
Finally, you’ll note that the e-book is listed for $0.99 on Amazon. Given the theme of the novel, we plan to donate all proceeds from the sale of the book to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
“What you don’t wish for will always be beyond your reach.” ― Micheal Ende
Thank you for all of your contributions to our 2013 GrammoWriMo e-book. We’ll look forward to working with you in 2014!
All the best,
The GrammoWriMo Team
Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. - William Faulkner
Apr28
peeking at monday
Every closed eye is not sleeping, and every open eye is not seeing.
Bill Cosby
Apr27
six degrees of sexton-ation
we discovered last fall, in blog world, that we were connected, through many different avenues,
and mutual close friends. amazingly, we had never crossed paths in real life. until…..
i attended a wonderful and unusual book signing at our local ann arbor senior center,
with guest author, susie sexton.
susie read and offered anecdotes from her book,
and local Roy Sexton, Susie Duncan Sexton’s son,
(known throughout Michigan for his cabaret style performances),
sang some of his mom’s favorite musical show tunes.
they kept the audience laughing and clapping.
and roy was there to support his mother’s wonderful endeavor.
Susie Duncan Sexton – is a writer, political pundit, arts critic, animal rights advocate, (and mother of Roy) – has her own column on Jennifer Zartman Romano’s “Talk of the Town.” The column offers observations of growing up in a small Indiana town – the culture, the anecdotes, the legends, the gossip, the joys, the heartaches – and what Sexton has learned about life ever since. She also writes a column “Homeward Angle” for the Columbia City Post and Mail, and she recently published two books, “Secrets of an Old Typewriter,” and “More Secrets of an Old Typewriter.”
and just yesterday, i attended son roy’s own book signing,
at a new ann arbor local independent community bookstore, bookbound.
and susie was there to return the favor.
as roy shares a piece from his book, about growing up with films all around him,
susie is happily surprised by a shared love of favorite movies,
with yet another closely connected audience member, john.
roy (snarky and smart blogging movie reviewer), sang,
(accompanied by his longtime friend and fellow theater musician, rebecca biber),
and read and answered questions.
and susie was there to support him.
book bound owners, megan and peter blackshear
(former borders bargain book-buyer extraordanaire)
graciously hosted the event
in support of local authors.
they may have to create a ‘sexton section’ in the store.
only open seven months,
this store has brought a much needed bookstore to the north side of ann arbor.
and roy’s first book,
Reel Roy Reviews Volume 1: Keepin’ it Real.
has been making it’s way around the world.
there were so many sextons, so little time……
and i was so happy to be a part of it all,
and in awe of the heartfelt and mutual support shared by all.
——
links:
Susie’s blog: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5161078.Susie_Duncan_Sexton/blog
Roy’s Blog: http://www.reelroyreviews.com
Susie’s author website: http://www.susieduncansexton.com
Roy’s theatre group: http://www.pennyseats.org
Bookstore: http://www.bookboundbookstore.com
Apr26
Small business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the brave, the patient and the persistent. It’s for the overcomer. – Unknown
Washtenaw Dairy has been many things to many people in the community, and a home away from home for the neighborhood for almost 80 years. what began as a dairy, has continued on as a family-friendly gathering spot for locals and visitors from all over, with ice cream and home made donuts and coffee and smiling faces, always happy to welcome in anyone who stops by.
when they proposed raising the price of a cup of coffee by 10 cents, topping out at over a dollar,
to at least break even, some of the morning regulars were upset,
so they decided to keep selling it at the old price,
and see it as a service to their loyal community.
with the second generation of owners, one in their 60s, and his partner in his 80s, their quote sums up their approach “We won’t put on airs, we’re pretty much just workers,.” The workday starts early to make sure everything gets done. The first employees get to the store at two in the morning, the managers follow at four, and doors open at 5 a.m. “every day but Christmas.”
While ice cream is a big part of the business, the store also sells 150 dozen donuts a day.
“we don’t even know how to turn on a computer, we missed the whole tech thing and for us it’s really hard to get into.” despite the owner’s lack of technical know-how, they’ve been a major presence in the community for a long time. they donate ice cream or money to several hundred causes a year ranging from a the zen buddhist temple to the local high school hockey team. “we support the community, because the community supports us. that’s why it’s worked all these years. it adds up on your bottom line, but these same people come down with their families and buy ice cream. they’ve come for years and supported us.”
The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance.
Remember, the greatest failure is to not try.
Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.
– Debbie Fields
Apr25
animal, mineral, or vegetable?
part of my life as a full-day kindergarten teacher is having lunch with the kids 3 days a week. it’s especially fun because the pre-kindergartneners also share our table, and while we might not get much time to eat, it never fails to be exciting and i am endlessly fascinated by their take on the food.
here are some chickeny stripnuggetstick things
here are some fishy stripnuggetstick things
they are never quite sure what to ask for, or what we’re having, when wanting more.
every year, someone declares themselves to suddenly be a ‘bege-tarian’,
because they like animals.
and they stop eating any meat,
but somehow they don’t identify our nuggetstickstrip items as meat,
and i understand completely.
and i loved the day when one of them asked for syrup to go on their foodstripnuggety item.
why do you want syrup, i asked?
aren’t these french toast strips?, they answered.
i’m not really sure, but let’s go with that.
—
Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
Mark Twain
I didn't have my glasses on.... 