Titanic Wig

The last survivor from the Titanic, Millvina Dean, died today. She was 400 years old.

I'm willing to be that there were a few survivors that they lost track of in the wreckage that may still be alive. As advertised, the Titanic was a huge ship, and the official number of passengers aboard has been debated.

I bet she doesn't even remember being on the boat. She was two when they slammed into the iceberg. I read an AP article and it doesn't really explain how she survived. Chances are, her parents were rich and they had a boat to themselves, with leg room and seat cushions, while Leonardo DiCaprio and the other bums sank into the icy blue water.

Last Weekend in May

Stayed over at Nick and Erin Viti's last night. I met them a few weeks ago at Jesse's wedding and they came to the wiffle ball party last week. Jesse Rowe and his wife, Sarah, were up visiting too and we all went over to the Viti house in South Portland and ate burritos, listened to music and played some beirut. They have a nice house- lots of unique pieces of art and framed photos, a fireplace, and lots of good pieces of furniture. Their kitchen was particularly cool with bench seats next to a slab of mica-looking table.
Breanne was there for dinner but had to work at 7 in the morning so didn't stay terribly late. The burritos had lots of veggies in them and also sweet potato, which I didn't imagine would taste good with burrito fillings but it did.
When beirut started, instead of switching partners, I played as if Breanne were there, throwing with my left hand for myself and my right hand for her. She actually may have had a better night than me, sinking several game clinching shots. I decided not to tell them that I'm slightly ambidextrous.
We played some Wi boxing, bowling and baseball, and I read some Calvin and Hobbes comics after everyone had drifted off to sleep. I slept on a futon and had some strange dreams about Manchester Elementary and a man with a jacket made of gardening gloves but I've lost the plot of the dream.
In the morning we ate breakfast at a place up the road then played some croquet and disc golf. The course was called "Boom Field" and it was on Boom Rd. The family running it were nice- sitting in the giant doorway of the lawn barbecuing with a little blond haired boy in a Varitek shirt running around. It was 5 dollars, flat fee, which is better than what was advertised online (4 for 1 round, 8 for the day). The course was OK, not terribly challenging, but we got a good deal of walking in and only Nick found a tic on himself. He slowly pulled it off completely. I shot -4, but I didn't play very well- it had been a while since I'd gone.
Nick and Erin are game for the next wiffle party, and it sounds like Jesse is, though I'm not sure whether Sarah can make it. I think it will be a good turnout again.

Weather Stick

So I was out there yesterday, in the pouring rain, pulling bamboo stalks from the garden and it got me thinking of the weather stick that Breanne's grandmother got for me. It's sometimes called a Maine weather stick, or a Vermont weather stick, but they're all the same. It's a small switch carved from a balsam fir branch and it is extremely sensitive to moisture. Some Native American tribe used the balsam branches to determine what the weather would be like, can't remember which tribe.
Well Breanne's parents brought us the stick a few weeks ago, and the first 6 days we had it were long days of endless rain. The weather stick, in predicting rainy and moist days, points almost directly to the ground like a skinny, flaccid penis. Preceding a warmer, rainless day, the stick will stand erect and curl up towards the sky. It's nailed to the front of the house with a tiny golden nail that came with a picture framing set.
As I mentioned, Breanne's grandmother bought it for me. I barely new the lady. I met her a few times but she seemed a bit senile and the family told me she was a heavy drinker. She let us borrow her car a few months ago because her doctor told her she was unfit to drive, and a couple weeks later, she was dead. So, Breanne's uncle put the car in Breanne's name and now it's ours. A PT cruiser. I remember the day she said we could use it, we were visiting her in the hospital in Houlton. Houlton Regional. We went up to her room and chatted with her quietly for 30 minutes or so. She talked about her garden, what Breanne was doing, local happenings. We talked about President Bush for a little while, and I mentioned that he was smug. She thought I said smart, and seemed taken aback that I would consider him so. It happened in a flash and I didn't have the chance to correct her and as I mentioned, I never did.
That's what makes it so strange that she bought me a weather stick. I'm told she wasn't a very generous person with her money, at least not concerning her family. She told Breanne's parent's she thought the stick was something I'd like, and she was right, I do think it's a cool ornament, whether it predicts weather or not.
I've tried to be as friendly and involved with Breanne's grandparents as I can because I regret not knowing my own better before they passed. I think I would have liked her Grandmother- she seemed to have a lot of moxie. Breanne still has her other set of Grandparents, her dad's parents, which she's always been closest with. Meme (ma-MAY) and Pepe (pa-PAY), old French catholics.

Anyway, it's raining again; 5 days in a row this time. And the garden looks like it might just float away, with moats between the rows of plants and some Burpee seedling clumps have had all the soil washed away from them and were just sitting atop the rows like shipwrecked vessels yesterday. I replanted them, a little deeper than I had originally but it's pouring again.

On a side note, I just found out Pepe was brought to the hospital with a fever of 103, and they determined that he had pneumonia, but I guess he's OK now. He saw a guy he knew in the waiting room and when the guy left he called him a "peckerhead", which is very uncharacteristic of him.

Rain

For the third consecutive day I've gotten up with the intention of doing some morning weeding and it's been pouring. I decided that today I would go out this afternoon no matter how hard it was raining but then an absolute downpour started. A monsoon I think. Every day I wait the bamboo gains leverage on the other plants in the garden. I looked at the extended forecast and it's supposed to rain even harder tomorrow so I'll probably be going out and braving it this afternoon.

Here's another card I made that I'm particularly proud of.

Wiffle Cards

Made some wiffle ball cards with Microsoft paint. These are a few of them.

The first one is a 1990 Topps. Awesome Blacks isn't a racist name but a combination of two team names, Team Awesome and Black Velvet.

This one is a 1988 Score. I put little Stars of David in the corner instead of the traditional 5 pointed stars. Doubt anyone will notice. I kind of wish Nick Viti wasn't running in from the outfield on this one. It would make it look more like Jake was trotting home after a homer.

I like this card a lot. It's a great picture, though I'm not sure whether I connected or not. I like the strip of tiny gray wiffle balls (instead of baseballs) and I made sure to include the beer sitting behind me on the ground. Come to think of it, I think I hit a ground rule double on this swing then called timeout to walk back to the plate and get my beer.

There's another version of this card with the Black Velvet logo in the corner but I'm not happy with how it turned out. I wish these cards were real so I could give them to people.

A Strange Coincidence

When I was picking up the piano in Standish, I was looking for the screwdriver in the truck so I could lower the tailgate. It's an old truck so it has quirks like that. Well I'd forgotten that my dad leaves it in the door compartment so I reached blindly under the front seat to look for it. I immediately pulled out a tan Levi's wallet, which I had lost in college. It had all sorts of junk in it, the newest thing being a tiny paper from a funeral for a friend dated to February 2002. I also found the following: A blockbuster membership card, a credit union debit card, an old orange Bullmoose card, a tattered copy of my social security card, a ticket from a 2001 Bruins game, my ID, which expired in 2002- which tells me I lost the wallet sometime in 2002- and some senior photos. One of Breanne, Ethan (from 1990), Jen, Kate Holzinger, and Jesse Rowe. There was also a key on a keyring, it looks like the front door key to the old house in West Gardiner. The craziest part, is what was in the money pocket of the wallet. Naturally, there was no money, but there was a pink slip of paper with a to-do list on it. Write this, go here, so on, but at the bottom of the list was "Move piano down to Bre's." That was my old piano I was talking about, and I was referring to Breanne's apartment in downtown Gorham. And I happened to find it on the day I was moving a new piano for Breanne. Oddly enough, we drove by her old place in Gorham on the way back to Old Orchard with the piano in the back.

It was nice to see the old photos of Jen and Kate and I hadn't seen Breanne's senior picture in years.

The Upright arrives

Went and got the new piano on Monday morning. Ethan and Breanne and I left Gardiner around 9:30 and pulled into David and Julie Roberts's driveway around quarter to 11. We introduced ourselves and went inside to look at the piano and figure out the best way to move it. David and his oldest son soon arrived in cub scout uniforms, scarfs around their necks, and we worked on rolling the beast from the living room to the kitchen to the porch to the truck. David had to take the screen door off and it was a bit heavy getting it on to the wood ramp my dad made but eventually we had it in the truck bed. We secured it with some nylon rope and said thanks and were off. Breanne felt bad about taking the piano, you could tell the wife didn't want to get rid of it, but we experienced the same thing years ago when we had to get rid of our old piano I'd purchased from the Frink family in high school. Sometimes there's just no room for stuff.

We drove slowly and carefully from Standish through Gorham and eventually pulled onto the lawn in Old Orchard. Jesse met us at the house and helped us get the piano through the door on the front of the house that's rarely used. It was a bit of a task- we stripped some paint off the door and roughed up one of the back corners of the upright but at least we got it inside.

We treated Ethan and Jesse to italians at Shelley's and watched the Memorial Day parade from the sidewalk while we ate. Bagpipers, Shriners on mopeds, baton twirlers, antique cars, military men, a few weirdos with push lawnmowers.

It's nice to have a real piano again. It's an upright Packard, though I don't know the year yet. It's a bit ugly at the moment- looks like the Roberts family took an introductory art course in Impressionism and tried to get fancy with the paint job. The detailing on the face of it and the carvings on the legs, like the capital of a column, are a nice flourish. We're going to strip off the paint and redo it, probably something darker and simpler. We'll have to have it looked at: the D in the highest register doesn't pop back up when you hit it and a C-sharp is a bit flat.

Wiffle Ball Party

The grand opening of Jacuzzi Park was a home run. We had a good turn out, 30-35 people at one time or another, which made for lots of good games of wiff.

People started filtering in around quarter of 2, Jesse Rowe being the first arrival, and the games probably started around 2:30. We drew cards to pick the teams of four and I rolled a 20-sided dice to determine which teams would play first. The games were exciting but lasted a little longer than I'd hoped, even though I cut them down to 3 inning matches. I think it's because the teams weren't big enough. I'm thinking of making it 7 on 7 next time, which would give each team 3 outfielders, a pitcher, and 3 infielders. 2nd base is close enough to the pitching mound that an active pitcher can act as a second baseman. There are no catchers.

Ethan's team was probably the best. It was him, Jake, Erin V., and Anna. No real weakness on that team. My team was OK, but my pitching was a little wild in the first few innings. Ethan hit the first home run in Jacuzzi Park history. It was a bomb to left field, clearing the pine trees, and I was the pitcher. So now I'm another footnote in sports history. Ethan also had two or three home runs to right field when he switched sides and batted lefty, his natural side. One of Tim's friends Justin hit the first grand slam in park history, and I hit another one later that game. At one point I hit back-2-back-2-back home runs and no one even noticed. That is also a record at Jacuzzi park.

We also had some good pitching. Manda struck me out once looking, Ethan and I both collected a lot of strike outs, and JMR (Jesse Reardon) got in a pitching groove at one point. A few people complained about the size of the strike zone, which is 21"x 25". I admit that it's difficult to throw strikes as the ball is carried by the slightest breeze and the target is small. However, 21x25 is the official wiffle ball strike zone target size, and it wouldn't improve anyones pitching skills if I simply enlarged the target. The field measurements are official, and that's what makes it so hard. I'm sure we'd struggle just as much if we were throwing on an official baseball diamond. Pracitce- that's the solution.

There were several reasonable complaints about the field though. As I'd never had any games here, I didn't really know what types of problems would come up. The major discrepancy was plays at the plate. The way I designed it, you had to throw the ball and hit the target behind home plate to get a runner out at home. The target acts as a catcher, and you must throw a strike to nab the runner, just as it takes a good accurate throw to get a base runner in real baseball. Problem is, a player can be going for home, see that the ball hits the target, and then retreat to third. That's obviously not fair. So Ethan came up with the idea of a point of no return line, or I prefer line of no return, which gives us the cool little acronym, LONR or loner, so I'm calling it "The Loner line." We'll try that next time.

Other notes of interest, Jesse Rowe acted as a drunk and occasionally distracted, but definitely amusing, umpire for several of the games. There was a collision in center field between my sister and Sally. The impact shot Manda's sneaker 10 ft up in the air but she held on to the ball. Though I didn't tell anyone at the time, I injured my shoulder trying to make three plays at once. I landed on it funny and failed to throw my sister out at home and now I can't lift my arm so well. JMR hit what I believe was the first and only triple in Jacuzzi Park history. Nick Vitti made all three outs in one inning (two pop ups and a tag out) and one was an unassisted double play. Ethan remains the only person to hit a home run over the trash bag fence in right field. Tim's girlfriend Erin did two or three splits while sliding into first and second base. Ethan threw out the first and only runner at home plate. And if you couldn't tell, he was the MVP of the day. Pretty hard to argue otherwise. Though next time, we'll be keeping stats and scores and be able to pick one more accurately.

The night ended on a good note too. We all went inside and Kelly, one of Breanne's friends from work, had brought a karaoke machine. Naturally, we picked three judges to act as Simon, Paula and the black guy and had an American Idol contest. It was a lot of fun. Ethan gave some good critiques as Simon, and Greg had a lot of feedback that didn't have much to do with music. Manda butchered some songs, Jake picked some strange ones and even though he clearly out sang Manda, he failed to make the final four. Chrismike screamed through a couple tunes including the crowd pleasing Ballroom Blitz, and Jesse Rowe nailed Taking Care of Business. Manda and I made the final two but she beat me in a sing off of Sonny and Cher's I Got You, Babe.

I had an excellent time and I'd do it again next weekend if it was possible, but against my wishes, I'm going to hold off on scheduling the next wiffle party. I'm thinking of making it 6 weeks from now, one of the first weekend of July. That will give people some time to miss it and for me to improve the field and rulebook.

Finished Field

Finally finished the field, officially, at 11am this morning. Raked and weeded the warning track. Spray painted the foul lines and the batters boxes and the "fair-play" line. I also used a mini ping pong net to distinguish the Home Run level in left field. It looks great.
(phone rings)
And my brother found out he doesn't have to work this weekend so he's coming down and bringing a watermelon.
I had trouble sleeping last night- it was a lot like Christmas eve.

Also, Breanne just reminded me NOT to wear my jogging pants today. She actually referred to them as "jog-arounds," which I found hilarious even though she was trying to be serious.

cat's out of the bag

Breanne found out about the piano. I'm not sure if someone told her or she read my blog or what. She actually denied knowing what it was but I can see right through her white lies. So, it's no longer a surprise but she seems excited about having a piano in the house again. It's been 4 or 5 years since we had one- the last time being when she lived in the Cressy apartments in Gorham. Our new plan is to pick it up, together, on Monday, hopefully with some help from friends and/or family members.
Also, I finished the right field wall last night. I hit some line drives over it today, and unfortunately under it, but it looks like it home runs will be challenging to come by in a game setting, what with outfielders and pitchers actually trying to strike you out. The wiffle ball party is in two days and I'm pretty excited about it. Bought some spray paint today to draw the foul lines.

New fence in right field

I'm 27 years old so I thought tonight I'd make a right field wall for my wiffle ball field. I'm making it out of some type of trash bag material designed for covering a garden in the winter and a couple rolls of yellow duct tape and a few switches of skinny, tough bamboo. It sounds like it's going to suck but it actually looks good so far. I'm estimating that the wall will be between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall, which will be beneficial to any left-handed hitters this Saturday at the wiffle ball party. My brother is the only lefty I know of. He should be happy when he sees the wall on Saturday.
It will still be tough to hit one out as there is a tree just to the right of 1st base, in foul territory, and it's branches hang over the field and throw a shadow in deep right. To hit a home run to right you've got to hit a line drive that goes no higher than 8 ft or so and no lower than 3 ft and it's got to travel 70 ft- no easy task. I'm betting we see a few get over the wall though.
To go with the theme of the last few blogs, not sure what Breanne will think of a trash bag wall on the lawn. I'll find out in about 20 minutes.

Community Breast

The other night at trivia I blew a Monopoly question. It's not often that we get a category dropped in our laps like that, but I just blanked. The question was, "How much do you win for coming in second place in a Beauty contest?" Were the question about anything else at all concerning the game of Monopoly, I probably would have known it. I narrowed it down to either $11 or $14, but I couldn't remember which one. I was leaning towards $11, and Jesse, one of my teammates, agreed that in my version of the game, it was $11. The problem was, we were almost certain that in the updated version of the game, it was no longer eleven. Turned out the answer was $10. I was annoyed, so when I got home, I opened up my Monopoly box and shuffled through the stack of yellow Community Chest cards (or as I called it as a kid, Community Breast) and sure enough, my card said $11.

Which got my thinking: What type of beauty contest only rewards 10 or 11 dollars for 2nd place? So I decided I would go through all the Community Chest and Chance cards and come up with some improvements.

1. You have won 2nd prize in a Beauty Contest, collect $11. I would make it at least $25. If second place only received 11 dollars, I can't imagine first place getting anymore than 30. And when I came in 2nd place at the mini golf tournament years ago, I got $25 bucks and free golf for two years. And that was just for tapping a ball around, not being beautiful.

2. Bank Error in your favor, collect $200. I love to turn over this card, but honestly it makes no sense. What bank is going to hand you $200 for something you would never even know about? If they see they made a $200 mistake, it's probably electronic anyway. Peck a few buttons, bingo.

3. A Collection has been taken up and Everyone must donate 10% of his (sic) holding to you (cash). A collection has been taken up? By whom? The picture on the card depicts a man holding an upside down bowler hat and people dropping in bills. Wouldn't happen.

4. Grand Opera Opening. Collect $50 from every player for Opening Night seats. I understand the draw of the opera. I'm sure it's very entertaining. But why does someone else have to pay for your opera seats? Because it's opening night? Why not just make it a pay $50 for Opening night opera seats instead of making a total stranger pay for your tickets.

5. Get out of Jail free card. I don't need to explain why this makes no sense.

6. Receive for Services $25. Doesn't say what type of services. It's particularly disturbing when someone turns over this card right after getting out of jail.

7. Pay Hospital $100. My only problem with this card is the picture. A nurse carrying a tray with a glass of water on it. Here's your water, now that'll be 100 dollars.

8. Go Back to Baltic Avenue. Maybe my favorite card in the game. There should be more of these. I believe there are only five: Baltic, Take a ride on the Reading, Advance to St. Charles Place, Advance to Illinois Avenue, Take a walk on the Boardwalk. More if you count the nearest utility, nearest railroad, jail, and advance to Go. I want to see an advance to Pacific Avenue. The poor dark greens.

9. You have been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. Pay Each player $50. Whoa, slow down. You elect me chairman of the board and then make me dole out $50 to everyone in the game, whether they're on the board of directors or not? Sounds like a milk monitor. I looked up Chairman in the dictionary, just to be safe, and it says nothing about paying board members out of pocket. My favorite definition for the word was "someone employed to wheel a person in a chair."

10. Pay School tax of $150. This is one of the most costly cards in either deck. And the picture won't put you in a better mood. We see a school with a bunch of kids running around out front. If I'm paying $150 I want those kids in classroom. No more recesses.

And another thing, why do I have to pay when I land on a railroad owned by someone else? Yes, I'm in the station, but I haven't gone anywhere yet. I could understand if I was on one railroad square and rolled a 10 to get to the next one. Clearly I'd travelled by train. But I shouldn't have to pay when I land on one, not until I roll on my next turn- that's when I'm actually using the rail service.

Ross Rd Run

Went for a run today, around the Ross road loop. It's about 6.5 miles. Most of the second half of the run is on the beach, which made it particularly hard today with the hot sun overhead.
About a mile after I turned on to Ross road a green car whizzed by me and the guy in the passenger street yelled- I'm guessing in an attempt to make me jump. My first instinct was a bad one. I bent over and picked up a rock and was going to huck it at their back window. Fortunately, I composed myself in time to not let go of the rock. The car tapped it's breaks, but they didn't turn around. I then picked up the rock in case they came back for another holler, but after jogging 50 ft or so I decided it would be unwise to throw a rock at a car, regardless of how many times the passengers holler at you. I imagined them coming back, getting into a verbal altercation, and then me having to fight them off with a stick found along the road. Needless to say, nothing ended up happening as they never drove by again.
There were Caterpillars and dump trucks on the beach, removing seaweed and spinning around aimlessly. Seems like a silly job as the tide will get rid of most of it. I imagine they're preparing for this weekend, Memorial Day, because the beach and OOB will probably be packed.
There was a kid behind a wheelbarrow, wearing gloves, near the Beachfront Condotel and he said to me in a contrived and painfully deep voice, "how goes it?" I'm not sure why boys and eventually men work so hard to have these baritone, guttural voices. Most of the time it just sounds silly. I said "hi" in the highest voice I could muster.
..................................................................................
An update on the piano: I plan to pick it up on Friday if I can get the truck by then. I'll probably get my brother to help me if he's not busy. I told Breanne that I had a surprise for her, but the only hit I would give her was "I won't know what it is for a couple of weeks." Clearly that's not true, but I figured it would get her thinking- in the wrong direction. She begged for more hints but I didn't budge. At one point she said, "It's not anything that's going to take up a lot of space is it?"
Not a good sign.

Upright Piano

I'm getting a piano! I'm almost certain Breanne doesn't read my blog so I think it's safe to let the secret out on the web. It's sort of an early birthday present for Breanne- though I'm not entirely sure she'll be happy about it. She likes to play a lot but the front room of our house is already a little crowded with the organ, three guitars, couch, monitor heater and electric piano. I measured though- it'll fit.
It's an upright Packard, and according to the couple I'm getting it from it has good sound and only one of the keys doesn't sound right but it's in the highest register, so I wouldn't be using it much anyway.
I'm going to pick it up sometime this week and hopefully clean it and have it moved into the house without Breanne noticing. I'll have to borrow my dad's truck but I think he's up in the Forks on a fishing trip.

wiffle ball pitches

These are the 6 main pitches of wiffle ball. There are others, but they're mostly just variations of these. If you can throw all six of these pitches well, you'd be nearly unhittable. I lifted these off a web page, pictures too, but the words in red are my own.

Straight Fastball
The straight fastball is the easiest pitch to throw in the game of Wiffle®Ball. Holes should face home plate and the tips of the index and middle fingers should be placed over the top holes with the thumb on the bottom seem of the ball. The ring finger and pinky finger are together along the seem of the ball. Throwing the ball with a straight over hand motion will create the ball to go straight towards the target, even on a windy day. This grip is the same for a right handed pitcher and left handed pitcher. Do not grip the ball too tight, a nice loose grip is more effective.

I can throw this one straight- straight into the ground or straight over the hitter's head. I can throw it straight if I toss it slowly, but that's not really a fastball is it?

Curve Ball
The curve ball is the bread and butter pitch for most pitchers. Holes out for right handed pitchers. The middle finger should be placed to the left of the holes where the seem of the ball is. The index finger is spread two inches from the middle finger, like making the peace sign. The thumb is place on the bottom of the ball along the seem and should be placed in the middle of the two fingers. The ring finger and the pinky finger are together and against the center of the ball, where the trademark and patent number are. Again a loose grip is very effective. An over hand motion has the biggest curve and can be thrown accurate with some practice. This pitch breaks from right to left on right handed batters (it actually starts behind them). When thrown properly, expect a three to four foot break. Left handed pitchers grip the ball the opposite of above.
My best pitch. Mine actually breaks the opposite way that this description suggests it will. Doesn't matter. When I've got it working I can bend it 5 or 6 feet.

The Riser
The riser is harder to throw then the curve ball. The main reason being, this pitch has to be thrown side arm. The grip is holes down. The index and middle fingers are tightly together above the holes along the seem. The thumb is opposite of the index and middle fingers along the seem too. The ring finger and pinky finger are together and touching the center of the ball where the trademark and patent number is. This pitch has to be thrown side arm. When thrown properly, with a whip motion, expect the ball to rise from two to three feet. If you are throwing the ball too high, you must lower your body while in the wind up to lower the location of the ball while entering the strike zone. This pitch is very difficult to hit when thrown hard. The spin on the ball causes many hitters to foul the ball straight back. The grip is the same for both left handed and right handed pitchers. The big difference with the grip of this pitch is, hold the ball tight, a tight grip is very effective.
Can't throw this one yet. I can occasionally get the ball to rise but I think it's just by chance. Learning this pitch is not my first priority.

Screwball
The screwball is like the curve ball except the grip is the exact opposite. Holes in for the right handed pitchers. Place the index finger on the seem of the ball. The middle finger is spread two inches from the index finger, like making the peace sign. The thumb is on the seem of the ball and the ring finger and the pinky finger are together and touching the solid part of the ball. This pitch is thrown over hand and on right handed batters it breaks inside from left to right about three feet when thrown properly. A loose grip is recommended and is the most effective. This pitch is very hard to master and have control of. You must practice this pitch quite often. Left handed pitchers grip the ball opposite of the above.
Almost identical to the curve ball, this is my other go to pitch. I basically just mix back and forth between this and the curve ball, and if I get ahead on a batter, I throw some submarine junk or whatever pops into my head. It's got a much cooler name than the curve ball so I probably throw it more often.

Knuckleball
The knuckle ball. This pitch is not seen too often because it is very hard to throw accurately. The holes of the ball should be facing home plate and the fingernails of the index finger and middle finger should be dug into the ball on the seem. The thumb should be on the bottom seem of the ball and the ring finger and pinky finger should be together. This pitch is thrown over hand and will move back and forth like a knuckle ball moves in baseball. The grip is held the same way for left handed and right handed pitchers. A very tight grip is recommended to be effective. You have to practice this pitch often, it is very hard to master.
This is a great pitch. My brother can throw it well, at varying speeds. I can't throw it most of the time as there's a lot to it compared to most pitches. I'll have this one down eventually.

Sinker
The sinker is the most difficult pitch to throw and is feared by every hitter. Holes up with this pitch and place the index finger on the seem of the ball. The middle finger is spread two inches from the index finger, like making the peace sign. The thumb is on the seem of the ball and the ring finger and the pinky finger are together and touching the solid part of the ball. This pitch is thrown SIDE ARM or Three-Quarters. This pitch sinks hard on both right and left handed batters. The grip is the same for right handed and left handed pitchers. This pitch is thrown just like the screwball, but it is thrown side arm to three-quarters. This makes the sinker almost impossible to master, few Pro pitchers have this pitch in their arsenal. This pitch is very hard on a pitcher’s arm and is NOT recommended for younger pitchers to throw. A loose grip is recommended and is the most effective.

Cannot throw this yet. I've seen videos on youtube of people throwing this and it's scary- it really looks impossible to hit.

just wiffin'

Saturday, the 16th of May, my brother drove down from Farmingdale. We played a lot of wiffle. Over the past two days I probably threw 500 pitches, easy. My arm feels like it's about to fall off. Most people would probably consider throwing a wiffle ball minor stress, but the truth is it can actually be more wearisome on your arm because the ball is so much lighter and requires more torque to travel fast and far. I was throwing good screwballs and curves when the day began but by the end I was just lobbing it in there.
We did a HR derby and strike out contest and discussed the rules of play and ideas for making the field better. After he left I dragged a long stick through the fir trees and found two balls that had been lodged in the branches, so all told we only lost one ball today. It will probably turn up eventually though.
I have softball practice tomorrow at noon. I'll be rolling the ball in from the outfield if my arm doesn't loosen up. A 80% chance of thunderstorms though, so there may not be a practice.

Mo' nopoly

Played two games of Monopoly against Breanne yesterday. The first one took literally no more than half an hour as I managed to get all three orange spots and watch Breanne struggle to build on Boardwalk and Park place.
The second game took longer- she got a phone call then we went out side for a bit during a break in play- but I eventually won again. I let it linger a bit longer than I should have, really milking her dry and cutting deals to keep her in the game while I profited big time.
I ended the game with a "C" of properties, from Baltic to Marvin Gardens, all with Hotels. It was a murderous sickle for Breanne to maneuver and needless to say it didn't last long. My total value at the end of the game, including real estate, money and hotels, totalled $16,182. Pretty good when you consider there's only $15,140 in the game.

Is My Mom Nearby?

Read this hilarious article today in the Portland Press Herald. Talk about a wacky receptionist. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/newsupdate.php?updates/bomb-threat-was-never-a-threat-at-all

My favorite piece might be the moral that the wise and deaf receptionist imparts at the end.

Animal Encounters

On Sunday morning, following the wedding of a friend, my dad lent me his havahart trap so I could catch the woodchuck that's been hanging around the garden. When I got back to Old Orchard, I put some lettuce and rotten clementines in the trap and set it up by the white tool shed, close to the spot where I originally saw the woodchuck. My dad said not to put it directly on it's path or it will just meander around the trap.

Breanne woke me up the next morning, very early, before she left for work. There was a raccoon in my trap. I tried to fall back to sleep but I couldn't stop thinking about the raccoon so I got up and went out to look at it. It was a little bigger than I expected, easily filling up half the cage. It struggled to turn away from me as I approached. It's face was shaped like a cat's, but it's eyes were sad and dark, and large, like dog's eyes.

The raccoon was terrified as I put on my gloves and leaned down towards the cage. I picked up the trap by the handle and put it in the back of the PT cruiser, on a tarp. I drove it down the road and dropped it off at a little turnaround in the woods that has a "no dumping" sign posted at the tree line. The raccoon shot off the moment it realized the cage door was open, and didn't stop running for as long as I could see it. I'm sure I'll catch a lot of cats and raccoons before I catch my woodchuck.

Later in the day, after looking at the week long forecast, I decided to mow the lawn. While I was mowing by the white shed, coincidentally on almost the exact spot where I'd set the trap, I accidentally mowed over a frog. I didn't see it till it tried to hop away. It was entirely intact other than its back left leg which splayed at the knee like string cheese, almost to a separating point, giving him an extra crease of floppy leg, like a drawn out accordion. It was hard to look at and my first instinct was to put it out of it's misery, because it could barely hop. The idea of squishing the life out of it made me sick though, and I eventually decided that it would be better for the food chain if I let it live so some predator could eat it. At least, that's how I rationalized it.

The third encounter isn't nearly as interesting. I saw a big snake on my steps today and I lifted it up with a measuring stick but it shook it's way off and slipped under the steps. It had a very tiny head, even for a snake.

I also saw several other animals today, but nothing worth writing about.

*the picture at the top is NOT my own. It's just a general picture of a havahart trap.