I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
August 25, 2017 - 10:48 a.m.
I didn't write yesterday so I better get this written before I go to therapy. Let's see how I do under time pressure.
I have spent years not going to enough baseball games. I used to go over 20 games a year, some years over 40. To make up for lost time I went to two games less than 14 hours apart; Wednesday night then Thursday afternoon. This is more like it. I live in the Bronx, home of the Yankees but that doesn't matter; I'm a Met fan. I'm not sure but I suspect it takes me less time to get to Citi Field than Yankee Stadium.
Weeks ago, Alan offered me a choice of games this week, Tuesday and Wednesday; I had nothing planned either day and chose Wednesday. That was a mistake. It wasn't on my calendar but Eilen Jewell was playing in Woodbridge then and I was considering going to that even though it's quite a trek. Then I found out that two friends were going and that tipped the scales towards going. Then I realized I had my ticket to the Met game; I had neglected to put that on my calendar. You know why? Wrong! It's not because I'm an idiot! It's part of my anxiety. Worrying about these things happening makes them happen.
I wasn't going to let missing Eilen Jewell and hanging with Katherine and Sharon ruin my time going to the Met game and hanging with Alan. It's still a Met game and hanging with Alan. I get to games well before Alan. He likes to get there seconds before the first pitch; I like to have time to get food and watch infield practice and explore the stadium. This time I went to the Coca Cola Corner, formerly the Pepsi Porch, to play the batting simulation game. It's similar to Wii, you hold a bat that has heft while the pitcher and ball are virtual. You get five swings. Anything that isn't a home run is an out. The last time I was at the park I made 5 outs and only made contact once. That was in line with what most people did. This time I watched closely what the people in front of me did and listened to the advice a father gave his son. That gave me the key. Don't think of hitting it like a real baseball. The main thing that matters is the timing; don't worry where the pitch is. By watching I learned the magic time to swing. I got four home runs. You get a bonus swing if you hit a homer. I had 4 homers in 6 swings; that was double what anyone else had done that day, including the father whose advice I took. The first time I played I registered and had my name on the leader board and had the results emailed to me. This time when I was by far the best the guy just entered random emails and no name so I can't show you the email proving my prowess. It was happy to discover I still have a good swing. It was the one aspect of baseball I was good at. I was an awful fielder and have no arm.
The game was great, the Mets beat the Diamondbacks 4–2. I won the prediction game with Alan, I said they would lose 6–4; Alan had 5–2 D'backs. I also had three and a half hours of bizarre Alan conversation. A large part is testing each other in weird trivia that relates to sports, TV shows from when we were growing up, and politics. We were even naming presidential pets. Trump doesn't have one; that alone should warn people to be wary.
The game was long but my timing coming home was great. I hardly waited for the train or two buses I needed. I was home around 11:30. My next game was at noon.
I went to Thursday's game with Jane and Bernie. It was Jane's birthday. They got the tickets by giving blood. I had my present for Jane, chocolate, it's always the right size, but I didn't have a card. I kept putting off buying it. With the deadline approaching I decided to buy it before Wednesday's game. Then on the bus there it hit me I should make my own card. I figured there had to be a free website that would let me design and build a card. There was but it ended up making better wrapping paper. A sheet of standard printer paper is the perfect size for wrapping the chocolate I gave her. Sometimes things work out. When I got home I designed and printed out the card.
In the morning, I had to help Jane with an unexpected problem. That's part of why I didn't write yesterday. I would not have had much time anyway but I'd like to tell myself I would have written it.
We drove to the game and got there half an hour before first pitch. Jane had one more ticket and invited a friend. She went to meet that friend while Bernie and I went to our seats. We got there right after the National Anthem. They were good seats, upper deck but third row right behind third base. I got a message from Jane that her friend was late and she wouldn't be up for a while. After wondering where she was she called Bernie and told him that they weren't going to sit with us. While she was waiting for her friend somebody asked her if she wanted two tickets at the Hyundai Club on field level. They come with unlimited free food and non-alcoholic drink. They are $171 seats. She accepted them and left Bernie and me to fend for ourselves. I later told her that Bernie and I arranged this for her birthday. I mean what are the odds of this happening by chance on her birthday? Has that ever happened to you? Does that mean we really arranged it? Jane will read this so I can't quite say. I did tell Bernie, just as a matter of general interest, that undeserved credit is even better than credit earned.
We were sitting in the hot sun. When I went to get food, I got a message from Alan. He was sitting in the shade five sections over from us and there were empty seats. By coincidence Seth posted as a comment to my Facebook/Instagram post where I said where we were sitting, that he was in the same section as Alan. When I got back I told Bernie and we moved over to right behind the plate. These seats were much better. They are better than Alan's season tickets. Seth by then had moved down to field level, he has his ways, but we sat with Alan. I had another great day at the ballpark sitting with the guys male bonding. This time the Mets lost 4–3. They had the winning run on base in the ninth but fell just short. This was a very long game, almost four hours. I told Jane I'd meet her at the car. None of this would have been possible if we didn't have cell phones. Jane would not have been able to accept the great tickets and I would not have been able to find Alan.
We drove home and all took naps. I didn't plan on it but I fell asleep while on my computer. When I woke up I finished watching Marvel's The Defenders. I'm not sure what show I'll start watching after Game of Thrones has its season finale on Sunday. I could go back to MST 3K. The original series with Joel is up there on my all-time favorite list. I have not been as able to get into the new series as much. I should give it a try. Scott said it picks up and he was one of the people that encouraged me to hang in with Game of Thrones. The original MST 3K is his very favorite TV show.
I finished this in plenty of time. I don't have to leave for almost two and a half hours. This was an easy entry to write. I'm not doing anything interesting today so tomorrow won't be. I need to come up with fun things, not just depressing politics, to use as think pieces.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018
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Horvendile August 25, 2017
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