Tonight’s Jays game comments and some thoughts

Disheartening.

Another Jays loss on the books, bringing us to 48-51 on the season.  This particular loss comes after a sweet win yesterday where Rios and Scutaro helped the team come back from being down 3-4 in the third inning to eventually win it 9-4, even with sucky pitching from Parrish.  The game tonight was another example of sucky pitching, this time from Litsch.  Now, I like Litsch, but I seriously am rethinking that position after he’s gone 1-6 in his last nine starts, with an ERA over 6.  I know everyone goes through slumps, but this is a little bad.  As in, rotten eggs bad.

Then again, I wouldn’t be complaining so much had we won.  Well, maybe I would, but still.  With Vernon Wells out of the games, you’d think we’d be winning more (hey — even he said as much).  And I’m sorry if I blame Alex Rios entirely for this offensive slump.  Even though he’s a big part of it.  But guys, we did well with the small-ball, why are you now going back to working the count?  It’s the Ingletts and the Linds and the Scutaros and the Ecksteins that have the right idea.  Yes, home runs are nice.  But when we don’t have small-ball working for us, and the homers go slumping, runners will get stranded.  And since none of us really expect certain players to be able to hit us the big ones (*cough* Ecksy *cough*), why not go for quantity?

I don’t think I’m being very clear here.  Okay.  We have a lineup of 9 dudes who can at least hit singles.  Not all of them can hit homers.  Therefore, if one or more of the few guys able to hit homers goes into a slump, and we’re counting on those for all our runs, then we’re in a sucky position.  BUT, if one or a few of the dudes who are able to hit singles goes into a slump, it makes less of a difference, since all the rest are capable of picking up the pieces.  The one thing I actually really admire about Rios is his ability and willingness to steal bases.  THAT’S a good small-ball attitude.  Quick.  Aggressive.  So more singles, more base-stealing.  Oh, and this hitting into double-plays business has got to stop.  The fact there are so many of them hints at bruised confidence.  Which is understandable, but not excusable of course.  I hope Cito will be able to help with that, as he has the experience Gibby didn’t have.  Hopefully, we’ll get things straightened out again and get winning again soon.

Oh, and one last thing: put Johnny Mac back in!

Get well Aaron Hill, Jeremy Accardo, Vernon Wells, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, Shannon Stewart, and Casey Janssen.  We miss you all dearly.

GO JAYS!

Day 2

Today was Christmas!  Merry Christmas everyone!

It started with me waking up late, daydreaming myself awake.  Kinda lovely to do sometimes.  I got up, had a small breaky, sat on the balcony.  We’d already exchanged gifts beforehand (since my sister couldn’t come with us, we had our celebrations last week), but my dad still had a couple gifts to give to my mom, so after that we sat on the balcony and took in some sun with our coffees.  After a nice morning walk around the Pass with my mom, we went back to the condo for bacon & eggs and cleaned the place up for our dinner company….. then another walk …… and another….. then friends came over for Christmas dinner and we had a blast.  Such fun people.  I hope I’m that fun when I’m their age.  Of course, they’re my parents’ age too but umm…… no, I really don’t have a way to get my foot out of my mouth there.  New topic!

So today on the beach I was walking mostly in the water to search for the bigger shells, so I didn’t see as much interesting stuff today, but here’s the daily list anyway:

• dolphins several times, lots of them including the mutant one!  In years past, we noticed a dolphin with a sliced dorsal fin….. we suspect it was from a boating encounter.  There very well could be hundreds like that, but we like to think it’s the same families that stick around the area, with his sighting meaning all is well with them.
• several decent-sized shells with their residents still alive inside…… I threw them back into the ocean to hopefully have a few more days (or more!) of life
• a large shell with resident inside…… I’m gonna research what kind he was, because I’ve seen the shells before and they’re beautifully decorated, so I’m curious anyway.  I’m told I found a sunray venus shell….. go here to view and learn: http://www.shellmuseum.org/Sanibel/shells_nimbosa.html  I had seen it near the beginning of my walk, and was dumbfounded when I couldn’t find it after the initial sighting (I’m a pro at shelling…… I don’t often lose a shell to the waves once I’ve seen it), especially since it was so large.  Anyway, after giving up (doesn’t come easily to me), I continued my walk, well, shelling session anyway haha….. and on my way back I was about to leave when I saw it again.  I’m sure it’s the same one I’d been searching for earlier because it was like a rose in a field of thorns — nothing else had been that large, and that particular type of shell wasn’t even found in pieces anywhere where I’d walked….. so I went to get it, and sure enough I lost it two more times before I finally grabbed it.  The problem was that it was so heavy it only strayed to the visible area on occasion — otherwise it stayed where the waves were crashing (hence the water was sandy and I couldn’t even see my feet in less than a foot of water) and there his colours blended in.  But I got him.  And of course threw him far into the ocean again.  I have to admit, there’s something kinda humbling about holding an entire creature in your hand who created this beautiful piece of art to house himself….. used to living almost entirely at the hands of the ocean.  He really has no defenses besides his shell….. anyway…..
• Maddy and another heron!  …… they weren’t hanging out though.
• fishermen
• seemingly more people…… I think partially because it was a fair bit warmer today, plus everyone’s done their Christmas shopping!
• (earlier, by the Pass) ~12 foot tall bird of paradise plant!!!!  seriously incredible.  I vaguely remember discovering it last year but boy is it impressive.  The flower parts are different colours from the regular bird of paradise wild oranges and purples….. I found out from here http://www.mgonlinestore.com/Juncea/  that it’s the white variety…… much larger than the regular orange kind.
• 2 dogs in motorboats, 1 laying down for a nap, and 1 riding at the bow of his boat.  It’s not that uncommon really, but I always find it amusing.
• 1 dude paragliding?  I’m not sure the term for it.  Yup, turns out that’s it.  Only this dude was motorized.  And boy was he flying LOW!

Well that’s all I can think of right now, mostly because I’m tired!  If I remember more, you can be sure I’ll get back to you with it.

Again, happy holidays to you, and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas  🙂

The Impossible Point

Philosophy came early to me; I guess I always used to think a lot.  When it came time to sharpen my pencil, I’d often stare at the sharpest tip I could make, and realize how it was still rounded.  That’s when I came up with my Impossible Point idea.  Of course, it wasn’t new, and it certainly wasn’t Earth-shattering.  But it was at an early age, and without outside influence.  I just thought a lot.  I’d try to tell my friends (the ones who thought for themselves) and they would argue that no, I just wasn’t sharpening it enough.  They didn’t get it.

It was through those eyes that I realized how things aren’t always as they seem; when under a magnifying glass, everything changes.  Or, sometimes, it’s the exact opposite.  Sometimes, when looking too hard, when focusing too much on something near, you miss the main picture — you entirely miss the point.

And it’s always important to see the point….. rounded or not.