the near perfect game

Armando ... can't think of his last name threw a perfect game but the umpire on fire didn't see it that way. Get over it. Don't blame it on anyone. If that ball was two steps further away it would not be news like it is. Yesterday everyone remembers but today people forget. In hockey the goal was good and the goal wasn't counted. Yet they still went to overtime. The point is that should we include Pedro Martinez that pitched 10 1/3 perfect innings and lost the game with the Expos in 1992.

whoisamerica.blogspot.com

A father's love

The mix of love and discipline in a father is a hard line to draw. It's a mix of hard and soft love that can't be described, nor defined, yet you know as a son or father when it is the perfect mix. It is instinctive and not taught. Simple words becoming defining words in a father's life. It is all about rearing a child into a man. But to raise a man takes a lot of simple words that allows that to take shape. So easy it is to abandon that child to find their own manhood on their own, yet that reduces the adoration that is sought after by the father. It is a fine line that has to be defined, that a father gives and receives the same level of appreciation and adoration. I hope that I am working toward that ever constant goal, yet I also hope that it has yet to occur, in order for myself to work that much harder in life.

whoisamerica.blogspot.com

being single

The pity of others begins to drag on a person. Questions arise that have no answer. How can you be happy in life is one. I am, and your pity only makes me feel pity, so don't do it. Don't ask why I haven't started a family or why I "haven't settled down". I haven't, so give it a rest. It happens when it happens, why rush it. Little League comes for Dads when men become Dads, not when men are forced to become Dads.

whoisamerica

Brotherhood

The argumentative behavior between my older brother and I exists on a nearly daily basis. But is that out of the ordinary in any sibling relationship? It is hard to say, but working together, alone, with no one else lately doesn't help. Or does it? Two boys growing up in the 80's alone during the day without parents can create a strong or tumultuous bound never to be broken or forgotten based on which circumstances occur. I believe we had the mix of the two with the more favorable side going toward strong, based upon our abilities to stand up for one another. Love is a word that brothers avoid unless a wedding occurs and your forced to say it. But you never say their name. You always say "bro" or "man", never the name. You know your experiences of life are intertwined enough that it seems silly and unmanly to mention the name. It's not the arguments about the stupid shit that I think about on the weekends in my non-brother free time. But rather, the Warren Fixmer, Ear pulling fight, Catie Cox, green army men, and the Jeff Green/Dresser I told you so, that define brotherhood and the common bonds that will never waver in the face of a petty fight.

You're hurting my ears,

Hilbert

The world of chaos deserves organization

Why is it that we lead our daily lives in carefully crafted ways that preserve our own livelihoods and well beings, yet we allow incompetent and corrupt fools to shape our futures on city, state, and national levels? It is easy to say that we can do better as a republic, but until we show that we really can why are we right and them wrong? The talking heads talk a good game, but they have accomplished all they want. Have we accomplished what we want in career, family, and well being? We as Americans have come to accept the four year promise of politicians that continually disappoint and frustrate us. I ask you all to lose your allegiances to political parties that you may be tied to. Look inside that childhood ambition that you had and wonder whether or not that could have or could be possible. America is about dreamers, and making dreamers into reality. That doesn't mean that anything is attainable, but it means that a dream can be attained in some way only because of the opportunity America provides. I would have loved to be a baseball star like my childhood hero Ryne Sandberg. I can't, but I will now pursue a hobby of umpiring baseball in order to continue baseball in my life. Every lawyer wants to make a critical difference in the justice system, but it doesn't mean that every lawyer is competent enough to serve in congress. To serve the people has somehow lost the respect and ideals of the American politician. To serve and get re-elected seems to become the new motto of "Public Service"

whoisamerica.blogspot.com

Christmas without a safety blanket of family

My Christmas alone to me was an experience that, at first was sorrowful, but in the end appreciative. I did not need to be with my loved ones on Christmas day to make it special for myself. After realizing that I would not be able to be with the family that I planned on being with, I made the most of the day. I lent a Christmas spirit hand and helped others in the neighborhood, that I wouldn't otherwise, dig out. I tried to make the short journey to Des Moines to spend the Christmas night with pops and step-mom, but I soon realized that the risk wasn't worth the reward. That saddened me at the prospect of my first Christmas alone. I damn near cried until I realized, I and many others weren't alone. Wrigley gave me comfort, and soon I had snow to move that got my mind off of being alone. I am thankful for how Christmas worked out. I found that when your away from family on Christmas, sometimes you have to find others in the same situation to enjoy it with. Even if it is a cat or a working situation.

whoisamerica

What I don't know about Christmas.

When I was a kid things were simple. Traveling to Arkansas may have been difficult but I did not know that reality. I knew one reality that I and my brother would gain a lot in our Lego cache. Life was simple. Ride to Arkansas in the van while sleeping on a couch. Pops would drive the Cadilacc with his brights on and not know it. It's these stories that I adore. It is why I love history. Everyone has a history that defines themselves. Know One thing that history is us and everyone. Not just politicians that influence the world. The stories of Americana shape the world.