A boy’s will is the wind’s will And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “My Lost Youth” That’s a beautiful verse to me — not just what it says but the tempo of it . . . try reading it aloud and you’ll notice that you really need to slow down when you get to “long, long thoughts.” I have a boy of my own now, and I can also tell you that a boy’s heart is simple and pure, and just by asking him does he want to play some catch or something, you can make him the happiest person in the world . . . Read more →
Author Archive: Paul Epps
Fat Gene
Fat Gene: It Really Exists — MSN.com I don’t believe this at all. There aren’t enough genes to cover all the human frailties we’ve blamed on genetic causes. Read more →
Overheard
The best thing about all the NBA players from Europe and Latin America is when they’re interviewed after the game, you can understand them. Read more →
World Series Recap
Two World Series tickets: $220 Parking: $10 Program: $10 Souvenir apparel: $104 Rally monkey: $15 Two hot dogs, two sodas, one pretzel: $17 Watching home team win World Series, with son, after 41 years of futility: Priceless, baby. My son is 9, a little older than I was when my dad took me to my first Angels game somewhere around 1966. Read more →
Going to the World Series
The conditions have been met. Within the hour, we’re leaving for Edison Field and Game 7 of the World Series. Read more →
Dusty Baker’s Kid
Isn’t Dusty Baker a little old to have a 3-year-old son? And if he wants to bring the kid to work, to sit him in the dugout during the World Series, couldn’t he for godsake keep an eye on the kid so he’s not running around home plate in the middle of play? I would have given anything to see that kid on the receiving end of a Ray Fosse-style collision. That would have been in my Top 10 Memorable Moments in Baseball for sure. Read more →
Tae Kwon Do
My son receives his tae kwon do black belt. Read more →
Whatever Happened To . . .
Day traders? Read more →
Musical Humor
Q: What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft? A: A flat minor. Q: Why did the chicken cross the road? A: To get away from the bassoon recital. Read more →
Two Tickets
I’m now the proud owner of two tickets to Game 7 of the World Series, provided there is a Game 7, and provided that it’s played at Edison Field (which it will be if the Angels are the AL champs). Read more →
Donnie Moore
There’s a sad story on Donnie Moore’s daughter in the Orange County Register today . . . In 1986, the Angels were one out away from the World Series when Moore gave up a two-run homer to Boston’s Dave Henderson. The Angels lost the game, lost the next two games to lose the series, and — until this season — haven’t been in the playoffs since. Three years later, Moore killed himself with a gun. Read more →
Damn Yankees
I know all about it. But I don’t see it as magic. They have a good team. It isn’t magic. — Troy Percival on the Yankee mystique Percival’s first pitch last night was a 97 mph fastball that “accidentally” sailed about two feet inside and drilled Alfonso Soriano. Soriano had celebrated a go-ahead home run earlier in the game with a fist-pumping curtain call. Read more →
Janeane Garofalo
From an OC Weekly interview with Janeane Garofalo: OC Weekly: With war brewing, are you venturing into foreign policy? Janeane Garofalo: I can’t think of how to say something funny about how I feel about a preemptive strike in Iraq. But I am on top of all the news, and I am endlessly disappointed in the news. I am extremely angry. . . . Read more →
Geography
This is probably why geography has not really been taught since World War II — to keep people in the dark as to where we are blowing things up. — Gore Vidal Read more →
Personal Attention
I’m explaining to my son another advantage to being an only child: personal attention . . . “I don’t have to tell, say, four kids to shut up; I can just tell you to shut up four times as much.” Read more →
Love and Marriage
After eight years of living together, Erik decided we should marry. I didn’t want to, but I did. During that ninth year it all fell apart. It shows. Never try to hold on to anything. — Martha Graham Read more →
Mike Webster
Former Steeler Webster dies at age 50 — ESPN.com This is a sad story. Mike Webster’s football career brought him nine Pro Bowl appearances, four Super Bowl victories, a Hall of Fame induction, and irreversible brain damage, which in turn led to memory loss, depression and homelessness. He was living in Pittsburgh with his high-school age son, who last week told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: My dad has some health problems no one knows about and that I don’t want to get into that much. But he has some brain injuries from football. I have to take care of my dad. Read more →
:-)
Research indicates that today is the 20th anniversary of the smiley 🙂 Read more →
Does an Elite College Really Pay?
This article concludes that the answer is no — that if you’re smart enough to get into, say, Princeton, you’re smart enough to make money wherever you go to school, even if it’s someplace a lot less expensive. Not to say that I wouldn’t be thrilled to have my kid get into an Ivy League school, but I’ve always thought that it’s no great feat to graduate “the best and the brightest” if you only admit the best and the brightest to begin with. Read more →
Baby Talk
One of my wife’s friends in Thailand has been trying for years to have a baby and finally did. Her typing and English are not so good, but her email I thought was quite affecting: My girl, JOOK-KRU,is so young, so I want to spend most time for her. I had a little trouble in first 5 months pregnancy. Now I feel very good, I think big trouble in my life was gone. As you know We see docter for 8 years continuiously and spend a lot of money for the problom. We get her by IVF technique. She is healty , try to climb to upatairs, always make loud noise. I think she can call ‘ mae’ or ‘mama’ or ‘papa’ soon. “Mae” means “Mom” in the Thai language. “Jook-Kru” means “little bird.” Read more →