Congratulations Nala!

This is a little late, but good news.

Nala has been adopted by a wonderful couple that just lost their own female beagle. They were so happy to add Nala to their home that they made a generous donation to the Seymour Animal Shelter.

Shelter dogs are awesome. Give them your love.  

Happy 100th Birthday Fenway Park

First, I am a Mets fan.

Second, I am a National League fan--I hate the designated hitter.

But, in the American League, I root for the Red Sox.

Today Fenway celebrated its 100th anniversary. I loved watching the pre-game ceremony. The Red Sox invited every player who ever wore a Red Sox uniform to attend. I barely knew a quarter of the players; yet, I started tearing up, later going into a full cry.

I only went to one game at Fenway about 20 years ago.  I don't remember the opposing team; I do remember regreting not buying a "Hunt for Red October" t-shirt.

Fenway is a national monument: a great place to watch a ballgame.

Happy Birthday.

Game of Thrones--Thoughts on Season Two

Okay, so I love the TV series, Game of Thrones. I've watched the first season episodes at least five times. I was psyched for the second season.

That doesn't mean that I don't have problems with the show. This clip via Shakesville from Saturday Night Live sums it up: http://www.shakesville.com/2012/04/game-of-thrones-explained.html.

I admit that I don't particularly like  to watch sex scenes--I'd rather read them--but I don't object to them in general. Game of Thrones is rife with unnecessary sex scenes and boob shots. I wish I could remember who said this so I could credit him/her--there was so much exposition in the dungeon scene with Ned and Varys--that the writer expected to see a couple copulating in the dungeon corner.

I think HBO does its viewers a disservice. We get that you can show more nudity than network TV. We've heard your slogan--it's not TV, it's HBO. We can watch a complicated show without a barrage of boobs to entice us. It seems that  you don't think too much of us. You changed a few character's names. Come on--how could we confuse King Robert Bartheon with the spoiled, still-nursing young boy, Robert Arryn? Also, the Wildling Osha at Winterfell is easily distinguished from the Iron Islander, Ahsa Greyjoy.

Don't see us short; we don't need all the boobs.

Quarter 1: Check-In

I've been thinking about writing this post for about a month. I've been procrastinating about writing it for two weeks.

I've written several posts over the last few months about setting goals, making plans and to-do lists, and setbacks and getting derailed. It started with the usual year-end thoughts about resolutions and goals, especially when I took stock of 2011 and realized just how disappointing it was.

I realized I had to take a fresh approach. I had to make plans and set goals-not just live day-to-day and hope it will all work out in the end.

So far my approach isn't working so well. It's easy to conjure up excuses and rationales, to feel sorry for myself. I find myself temped to just give up--to be like all the others who make New Year's resolutions and then abandon them at the first setback--at the first realization that goals are hard.

I have the tools and at least at this moment, I have the determination to get back on track. I'm going to start today with clutter--physical and mental.

The First Loss

Expectations are everything.

After the Mets swept the Braves, I got greedy. They had such a bad spring; it was exciting to see a strong beginning to the regular season.

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the Mets' first game. I really wanted them to go into that game matching their best start ever (5-0 in 1985.) Then I wanted them to go 6-0.

Instead their record is 4-1. I can't complain; it's an excellent start for any team, let alone the Mets who have been predicted to finish at the bottom of the NL East.

We'll just have to turn it around tomorrow.

Let's go Mets!

The Most Happy Age?

A recent UK study finds that people are their happiest at age 33. Was it a coincidence that I got married when I was 33? I don't believe the stereotypes that women need to be married and that all women spend their lives planning their weddings. But my marriage is a good one. I think that waiting until 33 is a big part of that. For the record, I also got a promotion when I was 33.  And in getting married, I got an extra week's vacation at my job. All in all, 33 was a good age for me.

I used to think that 29 would be the perfect age and ideally I would stop aging then. I thought by then I would be worldly and sophisticated and know what was going on.

As I got older, I adjusted my perfect age to 39, like the perfect age of both my father and Jack Benny.

But I guess there is no perfect age.  I still wait for the time that I will be worldly and sophisticated and know what is going on.

Happy Birthday Bette Davis!

She will always be my favorite actress--the best American film actress. She brings something to every part--however minor--George Arliss said as much after he selected her to co-star in The Man Who Played God.

She fought for realism. When she played a woman suffering a breakdown in Bordertown, the studio thought the scene required the exaggerated silent screen version of insanity. She played it differently, offering to reshoot the scene if the audience didn't understand what was happening. Reshoots were not necessary.

In Marked Women, she asked a doctor to to bandage her as if a thug had sliced up her cheek in retaliation for talking to the cops. She knew the tiny band-aid the studio had applied just wouldn't work.

Bette Davis created memorable characters: Mildred in Of Human Bondage, Jule in Jezebel, Judith in Dark Victory, Leslie in The Letter, Margo in All About Eve, Jane in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? These are just a handful. She went all out even in lackluster films, raising them well above the scripted lines.

Happy Birthday Bette! Thank you for your art.

Opening Day 2012: Let's Go Mets!

I love baseball; I try to explain it and usually fall short. Maybe I was influenced by George Carlin's routine--routine--after all, baseball is pastoral and the goal in baseball is just to go home and be safe.

Baseball is strategy and statistics plus heart.

On Opening Day, all slates are wiped clean; hope springs eternal.

I know intellectually that the Mets don't have much of a chance this year. Although they have settled their Madoff-related claims, financial difficulties overshadow the team.

On the field, the Mets have first and second basemen recovering from injuries with the second baseman learning a new position.There are more questions. Can Tejada replace Reyes? Do the Mets have a competent center fielder?  Has pitching ace Johan Santana recovered from his surgery?

The questions remain, but tonight the Mets are perfect--1-0. Santana pitched well, despite one bad inning but he powered through it.  David Wright--the longest tenured player--scored the sole RBI.

The Mets franchise record on opening day is 33-18; that's the best in major league baseball.

Hope springs eternal--let's go Mets!

Words of Inspiration

44 years ago, he was silenced, yet his words live on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98k-pjN6nl0&feature=related

Here is U2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY&ob=av2e

Season Two is Coming!

It's only a half hour away.

I'm not as psyched as I would have been if I hadn't read the books. I'm in a bit of a downer mood about Book 4. It was too long, had too many characters, left too many of the main characters out of the narrative.

But I'm still psyched for the second season of Game of Thrones.  Bring it on.