Barb's Burblings

Don't crumple them!

Most baseball telecasts are pretty standard. One of the things I enjoy about baseball is that it's very comforting; it has a nice rhythm. But every now and then something pretty amusing happens during a game--for example, when the sprinklers went off in the middle of a Mets game and Pedro just sort of stood there, amused. Or when a squirrel started running around the infield during an Indians-Yankees game. There was a great one the other night. The O's were in Kansas City and it was pretty windy. And...O's announcer Gary Thorne's game notes went flying out of the broadcasting booth. It was pretty darn amusing. And yes, someone nice did bring them back. The moral of the story for Gary was to always make sure your name is on your game notes.

Past conflicts

A week or two ago, I recorded a program on the Discovery Times channel about the last day of World War I. Going in, I didn't really know what it would be about. It was a real eye-opener. There were more casualties on November 11, 1918, than on June 6, 1944--D-Day. In a mere 5 hours or so. The time of the armistice was decided early that morning, and word was passed down. The big question is, Why the heck did they decide not to end it immediately? But they didn't. And so there were these officers who wanted promotions or glory or something sent their men to do in a completely useless effort.

World War I intrigues and confuses me. I'm still not really sure what it was about, or how it was even fought. I do know that going into the mock-up of a trench in the Imperial War Museum in London was one of the freakiest experiences I've ever had.

It's also odd comparing casualties of various conflicts. When I gave ghost tours in Gettysburg, I always pointed out that there were the same number of casualties in the three days of Gettysburg as the number of those killed in Vietnam. Just an odd sort of perspective.

Bless you, History Channel

I got up this morning and, as is my habit, turned on the tv as I got dressed. I was flipping around the channels--not much was on at 10 on a Monday morning. Then I realized--it's Memorial Day. That means the History Channel would be airing Band of Brothers. I was not wrong. Then, after having lunch with grandmother and hanging out with her for a while, I came home. Six hours had passed. And Band of Brothers was back on the episode that I had been watching this morning. Sweet.

Hurrah for pictures!

Look how cute Rachael is!

Aunt Barb

Today I became Aunt Barb! My sister gave birth to Rachael Lynn at 11:33 this morning. Rachael came in weighing 8 lb, 10 oz. I talked to Kathy this afternoon, who described her as being both very big and very small...and it makes sense. The Lynn is a nod to my mom (Linda), me (middle name is Lynne), and Rachael's other aunt (middle name is Lyn), which really, really touched me.

OK, I have to go practice signing "Aunt Barb" now.

When bats turn against you

Yesterday I did actually go to the batting cage. It was totally fun! For some reason I decided to start off in the slow-pitch baseball cage. (Well, probably because the softball cages were full.) I actually was doing OK. And then a ball hit my hand. OUCH. So I moved over to the softball cage, which required some adjusting. But I didn't do poorly there, except that I, naturally, hit everything directly to first base. I think I hit maybe one ball that may have actually been a hit. But what matters is that it was fun.

And now I am totally paying for it. I apparently was holding the bat wrong. I have a bruise on my wrist and somehow I got this:

I...don't know either. The whole arm is kind of sore. It's not used to, you know, being used for anything other than typing, driving, and occasionally picking up a cat.

Sunday afternoon tv RULES!

I am pumped. Why? Because, continuing a tradition of awesome Sunday afternoon television (one that generally involves either chick flicks or Band of Brothers), ESPN Classic is having an American Gladiators marathon. Man, I used to the love that show. I seem to recall it coming on fairly late on Saturdays (probably 11 or 12) and watching it pretty regularly. It's totally the type of show where you want to try all of the challenges--preferably without the gladiators.

Of course, at the moment, I can't really imagine doing that. My main activity for today seems to be nose-blowing. Stupid allergies. I suppose I'll manage to fit in some laundry and switching from my winter to summer clothes. I had wanted to go out and try out a batting cage (I figured it probably won't be too crowded, as people will be busy taking their mothers out for Mothers Day) (though I suppose some families might take their moms there, which I imagine will be super fun for most mothers), but that would take me too far from my tissues. Though...it seems that the Claritin-Nasonex combo I took earlier is taking effect. We'll see.

Good intentions and so on

Apparently the fates are conspiring to prevent me from exercising. I thought tonight would be a pleasant evening to take a walk (despite the return of humidity to the region--I guess it's summer now; it's not bad yet, but you notice it), so after bumming around the apartment for a while, I changed into the appropriate clothing. Then came the debate: How to carry my keys and license? There's a great trail not far from my apartment, but I prefer driving there, and since I already walked the bit closest to me on Sunday, I thought I'd check out the path a bit further down. I remembered a freebie that I had gotten that I could clip my keys to, then clip that to my pants (which, needless to say, don't have pockets). And I could put my license in my shoe.

I take two steps outside and the clippie thing completely fell apart. Typical. So I decide to just stick my car key in my bra strap and continue on my way. I get to where I want to get on the trail and pull into a parking spot. It's then that I notice that the trail is on the other side of the creek that the trail parallels. And the bridge by the small parking lot? Out of service (i.e., no longer actually there). I wander along the road for a while to see if I can cross somewhere; nope. So I go the other way to where I can take a road across the creek. While on that road (which is maybe 50 yards from the parking lot), I realize that I no longer feel my license in my shoe. Nope, not there.

Naturally I start freaking out a bit, but decide to retrace my steps. And yes, I did finally find it--right around where I turned around after not finding a place to cross the creek. By this time, I've blown about 10 minutes in meandering and I discourage easily when it comes to exercise (plus my iPod is broken, so I've been using a CD player, which is just obnoxious at this point). So I came home.

I tried! Why does God not want me to exercise?

Or I could just ask the queen what she thinks

There was an interesting article in the Post yesterday about how the British don't really learn about the American Revolution. I can't say I'm surprised. When I studied abroad there, I really wanted to take a course or something about it, to get the British perspective. The best I could do was a course called "The Age of Revolutions." I only did the first half, which covered the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and the slave rebellions. We sure didn't spend much time on the American Revolution...not that I was too upset about it, really. The lecturer wasn't too bad (or too great; I honestly don't remember the lectures at all), but the leader of the smaller class wasn't great. I recall correctly her on at least one or two facts.

Anyway. I still wouldn't mind taking a course on the American Revolution from the British point of view. And then I'll work on my research on the role of Britain in the American Civil War.

Bits and pieces

* I did go out and audition. And by "audition" I mean "traumatized a group of people with my singing." Honestly, I sound a lot better a cappella than I did with an accompaniest. I guess it works better when I can randomly choose the note to start from. Anyway, the dancing part went OK, but, needless to say, I didn't get cast. Ah well. I'm debating whether to contact them and try to get involved and do crew. The people all seemed pretty nice, but I'm weighing that against giving up free time--particularly since performances are in late July. We'll see. But do I regret auditioning? Not even a little.

* Becca and I had an absolutely fantastic time on Tuesday seeing Dirty Dancing in the theater--the 20th anniversary release. The place was sold out--full of women in their late 20s and early 30s. Words cannot describe how totally cool it was. You can imagine the reaction to "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

* Speaking of which, I had decided that there should be fruity drinks beforehand. You can't go wrong with fruity drinks. Anyway, Ruby Tuesday does not seem to offer large, frozen, fruity drinks. Their drink menu is actually pretty disappointing. I wish there were a TGI Friday closer to that theater, because they have the big ol' drinks I'm talking about.

* Did the end of the tv season sneak up on anyone else? I keep seeing stories about the season finales and promos that are all, "Only two episodes left!" and being all, "Huh? Already?" It is May, but it still seems too early. This is what happens when you don't have school, so months just all blur together.

* I scored a free ticket to the O's-Indians game last night. Sure, it required trekking downtown to pick it up, but that's OK. And the game was totally worth it; a win in the 10th. The O's are 4-0 in games I've been to. Woo! I'm trying to hold on to that to get me through my sadness that Reserve Oriole Boyfriend Adam Loewen has a stress fracture; he probably won't be back until August. Oh, Adam. Well, maybe I can see him in a rehab assignment.

* I need to stop this entry, because I keep glancing at the title and getting the Dave Clark Five song "Bits and Pieces" stuck in my head.