#baseball

Indoor stuff. It's supposed to rain today, and I was supposed to go to a baseball game, then visit a museum tomorrow. Switch museum to today, baseball game to tomorrow. They're giving away free hats tomorrow, too.
The other week it was storming when I got home from work late. I was in a bit of a frisky mood for my boyfriend. Did some mattress mambo while it was pouring and thundering. Not gonna lie, was pretty solid.
Sitting on my best friends front porch in Denver, stoop drinking, and people watching. Or snuggling up with someone and watching a movie.
Either going out in the rain or sitting in my attic room, hearing the rain drumming on the roof and windows. I open the windows a crack and let the house breathe. I also make sure I step out and experience it, preferably barefoot. I love rain.
If it's a heavy storm (high winds, lightning, heavy rain etc.) I'll sit outside with some cover so I don't get wet. Put on some nice relaxing music and just watch the storm. So relaxing.
I guess it depends on how gory you want to get. This one might be hard to find but Headhunter by Michael Slade is a great book - the ending is amazing. I really like some of the old Stephen King books as well, like The Shining. Silence of the Lambs is also a great book. These days, I tend to stick more to Jeffery Deaver and James Patterson.
Bonus points for playing it at night in the car. My wife and I have been doing this together since college, it never gets old.
Open the balcony door, grab my blankies, lie down on the living room floor and cuddle the shit out of my pillows while enjoying the smell of rains.
The world is getting washed, snails come out and enjoy the wet environment, pretty umbrellas come out and decorate the streets, the thrumming sound of the rain relaxes your mind, the air becomes fresh, the grass and trees look a little more green, the sky is a lovely grey that won't burn your eyes, and everything just looks so fresh and beautiful that you can't help but love the rain!
Sometimes, but not always. Personally, I like the sound of rain, so when I’m trying to relax it’s quite nice. But then, if I’m trying to be productive outdoors it can be quite annoying.. I definitely enjoy rainy nights more than clear nights, but for the day it depends on what I’m doing.
I used to find rainy days depressing and then I moved to Portland, OR and they really grew on me. I like both now but there is something super fun about really bleak and depressing weather as long as it is like natural disaster or anything--that just feels unsafe. But bleak weather is great for reading, playing video games, watching Harry Potter, drinking coffee and many other fun things.
I don't do well in sunlight, mainly on hot days. It can make me feel like my skin is burning, and being out in it for a long time makes me feel exhausted. I'll take clouds and rain over straight sunlight any day. The best days are when the sky is about half-filled with clouds, the kind that look like objects.

View more

"Boomerang" by Alex

---

Let me answer you by telling a story about my high school sweetheart. Once upon a time there was a young woman named Ruth who proclaimed that she loved Alex and Tim. Tim lived in another state. Whenever Tim was away, Ruth would flirt with Alex. One day Alex caught Ruth and Tim making love. When Tim returned to New Hampshire, Ruth called Alex to go for a walk. While Alex and Ruth were walking, Alex asked Ruth if she loved him. Yes, with all my heart and soul, Ruth said. Next, Alex asked Ruth if she loved Tim, and Ruth also said yes. Ruth claimed that she loved both Alex and Tim and she attempted to convince Alex that loving multiple men was both normal and acceptable.

---

To say that Alex was heart broken would not begin to describe the pain Alex felt inside his heart. As they walked, Alex said to Ruth that he did not believe it was possible to love two people at the same time in a way that was acceptable to him. And so he calmly told Ruth that he was ending their relationship. And as Ruth stood there crying crocodile tears, Alex turned and walked away forever.

---

Years later, Alex and his father attended a Boston Red Sox game where they unexpectedly ran into Ruth and Tim, who were now married. Alex approached Ruth and Tim to say hello, but only Tim acknowledged Alex and gave him a warm hug. And Ruth... well Ruth, refused to look at Alex as she remained silently indignant. And as Alex and his father turned to leave, they could hear Tim reprimanding Ruth for being rude, inconsiderate and unkind. Alex turned to his father and said: "Dad, I am a very lucky man." They smiled at one another, ordered beer, and returned to their seats to finish watching the baseball game.

---

Several years passed, then one day Bob, an old friend of Alex and Tim, informed him that Tim and Ruth had gotten a divorce. Alex asked Bob what happened? Bob explained that Tim fell in love with Ruth's best friend. So Tim divorced Ruth to marry her best friend. Alex thought, life has many twists and turns but in the end, things usually turn out for the best. Experience taught Alex that women who flirt and manipulate men, usually end up divorced, heartbroken and financially and morally bankrupt. It is proof that life has a self cleaning mechanism that behaves like a boomerang. What goes around, comes around.

View more

Turn around and look 👀 If nothing there go back to what i was doing 👻
Look through the door. I live in a very small house.
It comes from the neighbours.
Grab a bat and go ghost busters on their ass.
Get my flashlight and bat and give them a chance to get the hell out. At first I was a little creeped out but used to it now. They’re not evil spirits. My dogs will handle it. First, I would grab my survival knife that I keep on a shelf above my bed. I would then call 911, give them my info, and tell them there is an intruder in my home which I plan to defend myself against, then hang up. I would open the door which lead to the area of the said footsteps and listen for more sounds. Since I know my house better than this stranger, I will use that to my advantage. When the foot steps get closer I'll try my best not to get taken, but then fail and have to rely on Liam to come get me. Move into a room and lock the door, then quietly wait for more footsteps. If they continue, I'll call the police and wait patiently for them to arrive. Even if I have a weapon, I'd rather not risk a confrontation- it's best to leave it to the professionals.
Grab my baseball bat and hide near my door. If the person tries to enter my room I can disorient them and try to take any weapon they might have.
Shakily grab my crossbow and hope that whoever is in my house can't tell that I'm too weak to draw it and there are no tips on my bolts. I'd screw on a bolt-tip, but I'd crossthread the shit out of it in the dark.
Find that long flat head screw driver in my room, roll into a dark corner, and strike when I see something!
Dark clothes, work type boots, gloves and I don't really picture the face or anything. Just like a dark figure. Other times I imagine some type of ghost. But it's usually just my cat getting into something at 3:00am.

View more

Soccer!! I used to play soccer SOOO much when I was younger. I have stopped for a really long time though, I almost never play it and it makes me kinda sad. I'm planning on doing something about that once winter ends though. I'm really good at goaltending but I'm sure I'm going to need a lot of practice to regain my skills. I've only recently started getting into watching soccer. I used to watch basketball and have watched hockey all my life though. Love those sports too.
I grew up in Alabama, which has no professional team. The university teams (especially Auburn University & University of Alabama) are the highest level, and I actually like watching them better. Going to a game live is really fun. The cheerleaders actually lead cheers with signs and the "mic man" (male cheerleader who uses a PA so the student section can hear and cheer along). Also, I like the halftime shows better (which they don't show on TV because of music copyrights issues) because I'm a former marching band geek.
Play: Basketball. It's basically the only thing I know how to play at a high enough level. (Too skinny to play football most of my life, hate soccer, too weak to actually play baseball, and chose track & field over playing volleyball.) Plus getting a neat little dopamine rush when scoring a lot or doing really impressive things like defensive stops or pinning someone's layup on the backboard, that's also nice.
It's a sport that's still in it's infancy. We're still figuring out how the hell it's all going to work in the long term. I like following along with a sport as it goes through it's "wild west" phase. It can be a complete shit show sometimes, but it's also a mad crucible where we're figuring what actually works in combat sports.
It's a draw between AFL and basketball. Both to play and watch on tv - I don't really like going to either of the games though. AFL has too much of the crowd screaming at the umpires about what call to make whenever there is a tackle and it's always miraculously the call that will give the home team possession of the ball. Basketball is kind of spoiled by the announcer constantly trying to hype up the crowd. I think tennis is my favourite sport to watch live.
I don't like playing sports or watching them, but if I have to, I'll watch hockey or basketball because they move quickly. Hockey in particular. Watching a full football, soccer, or baseball game is like torture to me. I mean, if we're talking less-conventional sports, I used to be good at archery and skeet shooting. And I'd rather watch some kind of auto racing than any ball-based sport. And there's nothing like taking a nap to a game of golf on a lazy sunday.

View more

Not even that big a hockey fan, but I've been to my share of NHL games, and hockey live is fucking amazing. There are fights, real bloody, teeth getting knocked out, feelings gettin hurt fights. And the players have to sit in timeout in a glass cube if they get a penalty and all the fans are drunk and fuck with them. And you can actually see the puck in person vs tv where it's hard to follow. Theres a damn Zamboni between periods and the sound of the players skates on the fresh ice is very satisfying. Only downside is if 1 player scores three goals, it's a hat trick and everybody throws their hat on the ice. What if I like my hat wtf
Almost all major sports will get tie d for most entertaining. But as a non-American,I never understood some American sports having 15 minutes of action and 30 minutes of nothing. Some people might get triggered because the OP asked for real sports, but high level Dota 2(esports) has given me the most chills out of any other thing I've watched. And the longer the game goes, the better it gets.
Baseball is awesome to watch. All you need to do is put some money down on the game and you'll be glued to your tv. Not even a significant amount of money, you can throw $1 down and just having that little bit of investment to actually watch the game makes it a great afternoon.
Average Game time for the 2017 Boston Red Sox was 3:20. While around 15 minutes higher than league average, not really that close to 4-5 hour range. They did have 16 games over 4 hours, so about 10 percent. Of those 3 were over 5 hours, and 2 of those over 6 hours(6:00 and 6:05). So there do tend to be some longer games, because there is technically no timer on the game, but they are fairly rare.
That's the beauty of it -- you can invest as much or as little time as you want into it. Football fans (and I love football, too) have only that once-a-week window to drink an inappropriate amount of beer and curse the tv. Baseball fans can do it pretty much solidly for an entire 6 months.
Redzone NFL Football. Used to be the regular single game at a time but I got super spoiled by seeing every single score, highlights as they happen live, and basically the most exciting thing going on in any given game for 3 hours straight.
Cricket. Like most sports, it's almost impossible to enjoy unless you grow up watching it, but for me, there's nothing better than watching one of the worlds best batsmen duck under a potentially lethal ball delivered from one of the worlds quickest bowlers. My second choice is the Tour de France. There aren't many sports where you see a group of people push themselves to breaking point, and are able to watch them drop out one by one as they reach their physical limit. It only happens a few days each year, on the high mountain climbs, but it's an extraordinary and harsh test of endurance. The mountains seperate the contenders like no other element of any other sport.

View more

"Thoughts On Society" by Nico

---

Little by little our liberties are being taken away by the Federal government and the Globalist Ruling Class so that the Globalists can finish building their New World Order. To achieve this cultural transformation, the Globalists have taken over the media, Hollywood, our Education System, our Federal government and our Military. The Globalists are now forcing Americans to accept Critical Race Theory as the ultimate truth, while simultaneously forcing it's citizens to take a vaccine that was not properly tested! And while Rome is burning and our cities are on fire, teachers are adopting Critical Race Theory while the Department of Education is busy rewriting U.S. History and creating curriculum that teaches our children that America is evil, God does not exist and white people are all racists, homophobes, misogynists, white supremacists and Covid19 spreaders who must be isolated and forced to renounce their patriotism and conservative beliefs and replace them with Marxist ideology that worships the Federal government.

---

And woe to those Americans who refuse to obey Big Brother for they will be humiliated, attacked, cancelled, fired and forced to publicly apologize for their crime of being born with white skin.
This is the cancel culture.
This is the woke crowd gone off the cliff.
This is Cultural Marxism.

---

These are the progressive leftists who were spoiled by their parents, given trophies for playing little league baseball and coming in last place. They were pampered, spoiled and given iPhones, Laptops and a new car as high school seniors, without ever having to work. And to add insult to injury, many of these students had their high school test scores scaled so that they might graduate and attend college with an acceptable GPA.

---

These are our future leaders, who set fire and destroy, who topple our monuments and burn down our cities, and for fun, dress in black outfits with masks and plastic super hero shields as they attack and kill anyone who disagree with them. These are our future leaders who are incapable of using logic, reason or critical thought to solve problems. These young people will one day rule the world and they will be intolerant and unforgiving dictators who will suppress all freedom and control all thought, speech and behavior.

---

You reap what you sow. (Galatians 6:7)

View more

Well when I was 3? I stuck a stick in my eye while running from my brother and had a fever way over 100 for long enough for them to warn my mother I probably wouldn't survive. I had a massive hematoma on my other eye socket a few years later from running into a pole while playing baseball with my family..chased by my brother again. Had my forehead cut when my brother hit it with a table fan a few years later. Broke my ankle jumping a ditch (my own fault). Had a girlfriend's cat tear up my arm and bit my hand and had to rush to the hospital in the middle of the night. Had 3 staples in my forehead after running into an open cupboard door because I was chasing girlfriend's son. And while I was with her, I also stepped on a blowgun dart with bare feet and had to have her drive me to the hospital even though she didn't have her license. A few years ago I almost cut my fingertip off cutting bread. And just a few month ago I had to have emergency surgery on two of the spinal discs in my neck.

View more

They usually cost around the $250-550 dollar range. These shoes are made In China, or other 3rd world countries such as Egypt, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. To make Air Jordan’s specifically in these factories cost equal to or less then $16 dollars. On average the monthly pay these workers receive in the factories averages from $31.43-$927.16. Those are the average monthly wages for people in 3rd world/developing countries. But when it gets to 1st countries or better developing countries such as Korea, Israel, U.S, UK, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada their average monthly wages are in between $1200.16-$3,662.97. And the issue as well is that this data is from 2001 and could probably be completely outdated since they haven’t released any new information on monthly wages. This isn’t even putting factory conditions and treatment of the people, which in documentaries such as Nike Sweatshops:Behind the Swoosh can accurately show you how they are working and what their conditions are. Skechers. Particularly the ones with memory foam in the bottom. I have yet to find a more comfortable shoe to wear at work.
Jordans and Adidas are very comfortable for traveling/walking around. These are my casual shoes. If I want to dress it up, I wear my black Chelseas from Aldo, also very comfortable.
For my favourite I'll have to say Nike (specially the Air Force model and the 6.0), they aren't overly expensive, last a long time and are confortable. For my least favourite, maybe I'll go with Reebok. Usually they look so bad that I can't overlook it for their confort.
Since I started wearing Vibram FiveFingers (yes, those weird toe shoes) about a year and a half ago, I'm pretty sure I never want to go back to anything else.
Honestly it would have to be Vans, not just because of the price, but it's a stylish shoe that says a lot about your personality. The skating and creative culture behind them is also something you don't find with many big brands.
Crocs are great. Not the ugly rubber ones with the holes, but basically everything else they make. I wear their loafers and sneakers all the time. They are extremely comfortable, durable, and look just like any other brand. Their flip flops are good too.
Nike easily. They dominate the market for a reason. They make a shoe/cleat for almost anything. All the big sports (basketball, football, baseball, soccer) are covered, smaller sports/activities (fencing, ballet, etc) are as well. Hell, they even have a pair that will essentially tie itself handsfree.
They have a variety of shoes that appeal to all foot types and fashion tastes, customizable color options for some of the most popular models, and back every pair with a 2yr manufacturer warranty. Need I go on?

View more

I prefer to live alone over the alternative (finding roommates online). Finding roommates who'd be a decent fit is hard and could be risky. I live in Utah and don't want to live with an obnoxious mormon who'd give me crap about all the things I do that the church doesn't approve of (the more extreme ones would even sabotage or throw away things they don't like such as alcohol or a coffee maker) and most of the more mild ones would give me crap for it. But the alternative isn't much better as like many other super religious areas a large portion of the small non religious population is a backlash to the strong control and does drugs or other illegal things. Being associated with those people could ruin my life and career since I currently have to keep a security clearance and the investigation is quite invasive.
I don't live alone, but I sure would love to. I live with four other people (family) and it's brutal at this time of the year. Only one of them is currently working - my youngest sister is on break from uni, my second youngest sister is between jobs, and my mom works at a school so she's on break. I work, but I have odd hours and my days off are Monday and Wednesday. So there's a lot of people around the house and that shit gets pretty fucking annoying. We just end up stepping on each other's toes a lot. Wish I could move out but it's damn expensive in the UK right now and I don't know anyone who'd live with me. Only option is to wait until September when they go back to uni/work and hope my sister can find a new job by then. Then I'll be able to spend my days off in peace.
I have achieved the situation where I am more comfortable being alone wondering if I should go visit someone or invite someone than live with someone else but wish desperately I could have more control over my own life. I really enjoy being alone. So... do any and everything that you love. I spent days in the park just reading books. I took long walks. At night I'd sit on my porch and watch the sun set. I also would set my alarm early and have coffee on my porch and watch the sunrise in the mornings. I practiced cooking amazing meals. At the time I didn't have television or internet, so my home was my peaceful place. If I did want to be around people then I would schedule outings with friends, museum trips, day trips to the beach, baseball games. But mostly I enjoyed being at home alone.
I'm so tired of cleaning up others messes. I'm so tired of immediately cleaning up my own messes, no matter how exhausted I am, because I don't want to bother people I live with. I'm so tired of my shit getting moved around/fucked with when I'm not around. I'm so tired of constantly modifying my behavior to accommodate others. I'm so tired of compromising on EVERYTHING. I feel you friend.

View more

Na gut meinetwegen. Lass uns über das 3-Strikes-Modell sprechen, was besonders amerikanische Social-Media-Plattformen, eigentlich schon von Beginn an praktizieren, um unliebsame User zu verwa.rnen und diese nach der 3. Verwa.rnung loszuwerden.

---

Was evtl. nicht so viele wissen: Dieses 3-Strikes-Verfahren hat seinen eigentlichen Ursprung im Baseball und es hielt später erfolgreich Einzug ins amerikanische Rechts- bzw. St.rafsystem. Wird man in den USA zum dritten Mal wegen eines Verbr.echens bestra.ft, dann ist die St.rafe unverhältnismäßig hart und hoch. Man geht dann i.d.R. lebenslang, aber mindestens für 25 weitere Jahre hinter Gitter, selbst wenn der dritte Vorfall nur eine Lappalie (wie etwa ein minderschwerer Diebstahl) ist und egal wie lange die anderen Delikte zurückliegen. Es geht also dort nicht um Prinzipien der Fairness oder gar der Resozialisierung, sondern einzig darum, die Gesellschaft vor Kri.minellen zu schützen. Ein Ansatz, der wieder einmal deutlich macht, wie gut es uns hierzulande eigentlich geht. Oder?

View more

Ciao meta,

---

quando mi viene chiesto di raccontare aneddoti, difficilmente ne tiro fuori uno dal nulla, ho sempre bisogno di un input, un tema principale.

---

Ma ce n'è uno in particolare che, per quanto non sia assurdo quanto altri, ricordo e conservo con affetto.

---

Quando ero più piccolo, oltre ad essere la mente "criminale" del gruppo, ero attivamente una peste, o meglio, un cagazz0.
Quel pomeriggio d'estate io ed i miei amici eravamo annoiati, non potevamo giocare a calcio perché rimasti in pochi, gli altri erano in vacanza, dovevamo trovare un modo alternativo per sfogare la nostra energia e di solito appunto io trovavo un modo per infastidire la gente (o meglio, proponevo l'idea e lasciavo il lavoro sporco ai soci).
L'idea fu quella di ricreare un tormentone invernale: tirare palle di neve ai finestrini delle macchine che passavano.
Certo, lo so che in estate non c'è la neve a Bologna, ma esistono i gavettoni.
Caricate le munizioni, trovato il punto strategico per potersi camuffare, iniziò l'operazione "Becca il finestrino aperto". Un tiro a testa, chi beccava la macchina prendeva un punteggio, chi centrava il finestrino uno più alto, chi beccava l'autista vinceva direttamente.
La faccio molto breve: vinsi io, al primo tiro.
Il gavettone esplose all'interno della macchina di questo impiegato della Enel, scappammo e ci nascondemmo in un battibaleno, ma eravamo stati poco furbi, ci trovò nel giro di pochi minuti.
Pronti a prendere la cazziata del secolo, ci raggiunse questo ragazzo con la divisa bagnata, stranamente con aria serena, quasi divertita.
"Chi è stato?"
*nessuna risposta*
"Beh, il ragazzo comunque potrebbe darsi al baseball, sarebbe un ottimo lanciatore"

---

Si mise a ridere e ci lasciò chiedendoci di non rifarlo mai più, spiegandoci quanto oltre ad essere fastidioso, potesse essere pure un pericolo.
Io rimasi allibito.
Da quel giorno è diventato il mio idolo, non so chi sia e soprattutto chiunque nella sua situazione sarebbe sceso almeno a minacciarci.
Un esempio di calma che a distanza di anni ancora mi lascia perplesso.

View more

Eigentlich wollte ich ja schlafen 😉

---

Mavie - Baseball. Ein Mannschaftssport, bei dem sie sich die Seele aus dem Leib rennen und gleichzeitig in Nostalgie schwelgen kann. Und sie ist eine ausgezeichnete Pitcherin.
Eliza - Tennis. Was ihr an Zielgenauigkeit fehlt, macht sie mit Schlagkraft wett, und schmettert erstaunlich viele Bälle scheinbar blindlings ins gegnerische Feld.
Neve - Skispringen. Wie einst Eddie the Eagle träumt sie davon, grosses zu erreichen, selbst wenn das bedeutet, in rasender Geschwindigkeit auf die Sprungschanze zuzustürzen, nur für einen Augenblick der Schwerelosigkeit.
Birdie - Turmspringen. Hier kommt es auf Technik an statt auf Ausdauer oder pure Muskelkraft. Und darauf, die Angst zu besiegen und ins kalte Wasser zu springen.
Keira - Eiskunstlauf. Von emotionaler und buchstäblicher Kälte über eisigen Konkurrenzkampf bis hin zu den glitzernden Outfits, Keira ist wie gemacht für den Titel „Eisprinzessin“.
Willow - Reiten wäre die offensichtliche Antwort, doch vermutlich würde sie noch in der Vorrunde disqualifiziert werden, wenn sie mit einem der Pferdemädchen-Püppchen aneinandergerät.
Araminta - moderner Fünfkampf. Fechten, Reiten, Laufen, Schiessen und Schwimmen allein sind nicht genug, wenn man ganz an die Spitze möchte.

View more

Theres a little place on a corner of europe that is a beautiful peaceful country. It has good food and weather, great history and amazing culture. There is no terrorism here, theres no mad maxery, theres no crazy alt right. Despiste the inevitable flaws we really like to live here, under the sun, with a slight breeze staring at the sea. Welcome to Portugal! I mean I still would have to say the US, we have some if the most varied scenery compared to any country in the world. The diversity of people and ideas is very enlightening as well, any culture, any race, and any ideology can be seen and experienced in most every state. I know a lot of people don’t like guns but it’s a personal love of mine so that too.
Just do the math that max 16,000 people die by guns, there are 325,000,000 people in the US. This is why I say media perpetuates things that make for better headlines. A lifetime could be 24 years or 85 years. I also think people from all countries try to force their beliefs on others just as we do here in the states. There are less deaths by guns than guns and car deaths are usually associated with people under 24, which is why you have to be 25 to rent a car. If you look at the overall stats in the world it’s not that bad but people will try to tell you it’s awful, it’s horrific, you should just ban guns because look at us. There are reasons we haven’t, as much as you tell people that guns are a tool that mentally ill people will use to harm others and it’s an inanimate object, they will tell you your wrong. What if I told you that guns save up to 500,000 to 3,000,000 people per year and most of those occurrences don’t ever involve a bullet being fired. So we have good life guards so people don’t drown, good public servants with good response times, professional pilots, and people who carry guns when they go hiking in the woods 😂 btw stabbings go way up when guns are taken away, people will use what is available. We also have some of the best natural disaster responses in the world because people from literally every state drive with resources to help those who have been devastated by natural disasters.
Iceland. All the resources they use are renewable resources, they've ranked #1 on the global peace index for a couple years in a row, they have a very high quality of life, and crime and corruption are pretty much non existent.
USA. I love baseball, craft beer, bourbon and owning/shooting guns. Also it's nice having one of the most diverse geographies in the world to visit. I can go from the swamp to the beach to the mountains to the forest to the desert to the tundra without leaving the country.
Luxembourg sounds pretty amazing. 3 national languages, 3rd highest GDP per capita, and its one of the least populated countries in Europe. Not to mention half of the population consists of foreigners, so I can't imagine the population is terribly xenophobic unlike here in the States.

View more

"Autumn" by Nico, Photograph by Ricardo Gomez

---

When I was a young boy, my favorite month of the year was July. This was because I enjoyed summer vacation with my friends. We played outside from sunrise until sunset, and we laughed and laughed until our belly's ached. It was the best of times.

---

As I aged, the months and years seemed to move faster and faster and keeping track of time, I lost interest. In fact, if I could, I would not keep track of time at all. For example, using a baseball metaphor, when you are older and rounding third base heading for home, there is not much incentive to keep track of days, weeks or years; but rather, a desire for time to slow down and perhaps even stop, so one can reflect and take an inventory of their life, so as to give thanks to God for one’s good health and good fortune.

---

I think baseball is a great metaphor for each season of the year. In the spring of our life we think we will live forever, as we run with reckless abandon to first base. And in the summer of our years, we slide into second base to avoid being tagged out. As autumn befalls us, we round second and land on third base for the potential winning run. Now the bases are loaded and the pitcher throws a fast ball that is hit high to center field, and the third base coach is waving me home to score the winning run. And as I approach home plate, I am elated that we have won the game, but saddened that the game is over. Perhaps that is why Autumn is my favorite season.

---

From dazzling sunsets to a peaceful sunrise,
To glistening morning dew
Floating on calm waters,
Where the loon’s song play
Its seductive call,
That echo's again and again

---

Repeating a sweet chorus,
As autumn leaves change their color
Illuminating the forest,
A prism of sunlight in shades of red, yellow, and blue

---

And as the seasons change and time passes by,
I will recall the good memories and not forget the reasons why.
My friends and I ran, laughed, played and cried.
We stayed out all the live long day.
Without a care in the world,
And no one to scold us or tell us when to come home.
It was a great time to be young... not old.

View more

The most eventful moment in the first half of 2021 was when my best friend died from cancer. Here is a piece I wrote dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Matt.

---

"Best Friend" by Nico, photography by Matt Bokulic

---

Dear Matt,
We've known each other for 50 years, performed on stage many times and shared more laughs than there are stars in the night sky. You were like a brother to me Matt, and I will never forget all of the good times we shared jamming, playing golf or sitting on the first base line watching a baseball game while drinking a beer and eating our favorite Philly Cheese Steak Sub. I still laugh every time I recall how many golf balls we either hit into the water or bounced off a tree. And for those of you reading this tribute, did Matt ever explain our unique method of keeping score? The winner of our "golf game" was the person who lost the least amount of balls.

---

Matt, to say that you were my best friend doesn't even begin to describe our relationship. It began back in a small town located in Massachusetts called Franklin where we grew up and attended Franklin High School together. We then attended Berklee College of Music together where we would either take the train or if we missed the train, would attempt to catch the train at the next train stop. All during this time, we played in various ensembles i.e. Jazz, Rock, Blues and Big Band.

---

This brings me to the present day where I find myself composing a goodbye letter that I never thought I would write. Matt, as I write these words, I realize that we may never see each other again. We might never play music together again, or share Christmas dinner again, or go for our long walks together, or stop by the Irish pub for a beer. Yes, our lives have been forever changed in ways that even I do not yet understand or appreciate; and yet, I have hope. Hope that one day we will be together again. Hope that we will laugh, joke around and talk nonsense again. Hope that our memories will not fade away where we can no longer recall the good times we shared together. Mostly, I just want to say thank you Matt. Thank you for being the best friend I ever had.
I love you Matt.
Rest In Peace.

---

Your Friend,
Nico

View more

If I could find one steam for a full sport broadcast that would be okay. Otherwise, gotta run to PC every so often to refresh or find different streamer. I like TV as background noise as much as anything else and streaming also not ideal for this depending on bandwidth and internet quality.
Current Cable subscriber here. I still watch TV because there is so much damn content that I don't even know where to begin. It also helps point me to new material. I also find it a lot easier to keep track of the things I like to watch. For example. On a Mon-Fri schedule i'll set up all that I want to record, and record the series as I wish. That way I can see what it current and record it as it comes on TV and then watch it whenever I want. Also, sports. I love baseball and it's still the easiest to watch on live TV. For me that's getting really close to not being the case as MLB.TV is really good and really convenient and I'm actually able to watch my favourite team all the time.
Sports and because there are no commercials on netflix and Amazon (at least there are on Hulu) I used to think it would be great to be able to watch tv with no commercials but now I find it exhausting. It's nice to have a little break from the show, especially if you're watching it with someone else.
Also, when you're watching tv your expectations are not as high. When you have to actively seek something out among a million choices it really sucks if it isn't good. For example, if I see something on tv like Alien 3, fuck yeah I'll watch it. But the same movie can be on a streaming service for months and I would never watch it. I know everyone has different taste, but I am currently watching The Last Man on Earth (series) and it seems like the kind of show that might hold your attention even if you have a limited attention span. It's a dark-ish (but hilarious) comedy. There are three seasons currently on Hulu. Just throwing it out there. I typically read the news on my phone in the morning. I go on Reddit frist for light reading. Then I have an app called Newsify. I go between neutral sources(like the Christian Science Monitor and Reuters) to liberal(The Guardian, New York Times) to conservative(Tucker Carlson's column and some people from the National Review is all I can stand as a Democrat). Then a few international sources like Al Jazeera.
If I have time I like to watch BBC World News in the morning before I leave for work. My parents and grandparents watched local news in the morning when I was a kid so I picked up that habit. Otherwise I sometimes listen to NPR on the way to work. I used to read the newspaper at work in the morning but haven't done it in a long time. Usually it would be the local paper and/or New York Times.

View more

I admire a lot of sports. Hockey for its speed, skill, size, and physicality. Did I mention you need to learn how to skate? Not everyone can do that. Then you have soccer - which is like hockey minus the skating part. I find some people who love hockey are easy to discredit soccer as a "flopper sport", but if you watch some of it, you'll see just how good it is. And I'm willing to bet every soccer fan hates flopping just as much as the non-fans do. So, it isn't like flopping is part of the game. It's just something Neymar was trained to do.

---

Then you have baseball - which is the only sport aside from American Football that you can be "fat" in, and not look unathletic. Baseball doesn't discriminate on size, and I find that more fascinating. You have bigger players who can run well, field well, and hit well. If that's not skill, I don't know what is. I think it's cool how there's different shapes and sizes in baseball, yet the smaller players aren't always better than the bigger players.

View more

altrui labbra vi schioccarono sopra. «Figurati, ci mancherebbe.» Fra le altre cose, avrei voluto raccontare a Jean di Juliette, perché l'orsacchiotta in confronto a Zelie era decisamente più fragile, e per questo non me la sentivo di lasciarla sempre sola... Insomma, se e quando volevamo dormire insieme, avremmo dovuto fare un po’ e un po’; tuttavia, evitai il discorso, almeno per quella sera. Mi limitai a stringergli la mancina, con un sorriso appena più convinto. Insomma, le sue mani in confronto alle mie erano una sorta di guantone da baseball; trovai cosa simpatica. «In realtà ci sarebbe pure una cosa mia che tu dovresti sapere. Preferisco però parlarne un'altra volta; magari domani, appunto, quando saremo un po’ più tranquilli...» Non replicai però, quando disse che dovevo star calma. Con ciò che avevo passato due anni prima, con quello che era successo con Arya, vi assicuro che non era affatto semplice. «È una scemenza... Pensavo di fare qualcosa di diverso insieme, se apri lo zaino trovi tutto. Niente, tanto non penso sia più il caso... Almeno, per quel che mi riguarda, fra ciò che ho portato mi vanno solo più le birre.»

---

🐾

---

Jean si sentì in difetto nel sentir parlare in quel modo Hailey, come sempre in un modo o nell'altro aveva rovinato tutto. Non era colpa sua? Invece sì, perché il Lupo Mannaro cercava lui, i problemi perseguitavano Jean come fosse una calamita. Calò per un attimo lo sguardo senza però lasciare la mano di lei, quel contatto riusciva a calmarlo. "Per me va bene, sicuramente non si farà vedere per un bel po' adesso...per fortuna. Così saremo più tranquilli." Le diede l'ennesimo bacio sulle labbra, lasciando la presa sulla mano di Hailey per poter andare a guardare cosa c'era nello zainetto di lei; muffin, un telo e un paio di torce e delle birre. Una serata perfetta praticamente. "Perché dici che è una scemenza? Per me non lo è affatto anzi, mi piacerebbe davvero moltissimo passare una serata diversa dal solito. E non so te ma io ho fame quindi i muffin li mangio volentieri! Possiamo trovare un altro posticino per passare la serata e metterci comodi sul telo, che te ne pare?"

View more

Hola apreciada y que querida Adyanell :-)) mi mexicana favorita Anahí, ciertamente cada persona es diferente con su forma de ser y su personalidad y sus gustos y preferencias y esto también está propiciado por el entorno y las experiencias vividas que hace que una persona cambie algo su forma de ser y también la genética que ha creado de sus padres son infinidad de variantes :-) Dos chistes:
Béisbol en el Cielo - Deportes

---

Erase una vez dos muchachos a los que les gustaba mucho jugar baseball, entonces una tarde hablando, se preguntaban si en el cielo existiría un equipo de baseball y se hicieron una promesa. "El primero de nosotros que muera, va a regresar a la tierra para decir si existe o no un equipo de baseball en el cielo."

---

Dos años después, uno de ellos muere y regresa a la tierra como había prometido y le dice a su amigo, "Tengo una noticia buena y una mala."

---

Y el amigo dice, "¿Cuál es la buena?"

---

A lo que el otro le contesta, "Sí, hay un equipo de béisbol en el cielo."

---

"Y entonces, ¿Cuál es la mala?"

---

A lo que el muerto le contestó, "¡Que tú eres el pitcher la próxima semana!"

---

Aquí Yace Un Abogado - Abogados

---

En el cementerio se lee, "Aquí yace un abogado, un hombre honrado, un hombre íntegro."

---

El campesino se persigna y dice asustado, "¡Virgen Santísima, enterraron a tres hombres en la misma fosa!"

---

Fin. Cuídate mucho y besos infinitos
:3 :3 :3...

View more