My Sick Mind

Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion, you're wasting your life. - Jackie Robinson Most of us were not alive in 1947. You would have to be in your late 60s to have even the foggiest memories of those days, but we only need books and video to know that baseball, and sports in general, were white men's occupations in the middle of the 20 th century. In those days, Major league baseball was played by 16 teams. In 1946, the National League pennant was won by the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat out the Brooklyn Dodgers by 2 games and went on to beat the Red Sox in the World Series. That was the Cardinals team with players like Enos Slaughter, Joe Garagiola , Stan Musial and Dick Sisler . They also had 3 guys named "Red" and other players with names like Emil, Marty, Nippy, Blix and 2 guys named Del. That summer, Jackie Robinson was playing minor league baseball with the M...

Ladyred said... Wow, I like looking at your stat counter ... Me too. It isn't often that dirty pictures are associated with Disney, but I haven't been blogging all that long, so I suppose it was coming. Note to Google searchers: Use quotation marks and learn to spell. But hey, thanks for reading! NOT FOR NOTHIN’, BUT: EzCorp announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of the 15 Colorado pawnshops operated by Pawn One, under the trade name Jumping Jack Cash . First, I always figured pawnshops were a creation of fiction, since I’ve never actually seen one. I’ve never been to Colorado, either, although I’m pretty sure it exists. It’s where they make beer and John Denver records. 1 Imus ... to Go. Meanwhile, the Don Imus controversy has taken on its own life. To me, Nappy-Headed Ho’s sounds more like the name of a snack cake than a racial slur. Chocolate cake with a white cream filling, sprinkled with coconut. They would taste great, but you couldn’t ...

Remember yesterday? Me too. I posted a story about a well-known tax preparer, hoping that they would read that instead of the personal story that was attached to the first one they found. As it turns out, the boys at the home office in Kansas City are still doing their blog research, and the bait has been taken. I hesitate to mention their name again, lest it come up in another search. I had my fun, now let's move on. I am easily entertained, as you no doubt can tell. Their little Google blog search turned up 8,911 results, so I guess whomever is doing their googling was kept busy for most of the day. What I want to know is, how do I get that job? Getting paid to goof around on the Internet is my idea of a cushy job.

I love the StatCounter. It tells me things. From the heartland (or so they tell us) the folks at H&R Block are snooping around to see what the blogs have to say about TurboTax. The big threat, I'm sure, is that people will find the courage to do their own taxes, thus depriving us of the privilege of paying through the nose for a service that generally isn't necessary. What bugs me about the Block search is that they read that tiny reference to income taxes interspersed with a story about my personal life. I should separate my stream of consciousness posts a little better. LESSON LEARNED. So, let's give them something to read, shall we? THE STORY: . Until I got married (the time I refer to as "My Great Sickness") I always did my own taxes. Short form - no deductions - just the old single, 1040EZ form, the one with the big boxes to fill in like a 5th grader with a crayon. They even show you how to make the numbers. Sheesh. When I got married, I was unsure of ...

Too tired to go to the gym, so I decided to sit and relax in front of my friend, the TV. These were my choices tonight: Nancy Grace debating for the one-millionth time, the controversy over the fate of Anna Nicole's baby. Holy crap, Nancy. Open a newspaper and find something else to talk about, will ya? Please. Dancing with the Stars , which, in spite of the dearth of stars, continues with the dancing. Even Cheryl Burke wasn't enough to keep me tuned in. Seemingly, for three hours it went on - some "results show" or something. "Results" of what, I have no idea. Boring. On several channels, the ongoing nonsense over some stupid remarks made by a radio host who long ago was irrelevant, and only now has found a voice, common sense notwithstanding. Anus, I think his name is. Meanwhile, the piling on continues, with bystanders becoming interested parties. Include me out. Jim Cramer screaming about Charter Communications , and telling his viewers that if they bid...

I saw a story on the web today about a woman who is selling most of her belongings on Ebay. Something about having too much junk and getting her life back. She's keeping the basics - photo albums, towels, plates - stuff like that, and discarding the rest. It sounds like such a good idea, the whole minimalist lifestyle gig. I think we grow too attached to junk and it becomes such a part of our lives. The sad part is, most of it is buried under other junk and the only time we see it is when we're doing some big cleaning project and it is uncovered. Then, there's that "so this is where it is" moment - followed by another filing procedure and more lost junk that we don't use, need or particularly care about until we find it and realize that it was missing for all those years. I'm looking around at a collection of stuff that pretty much just sits here. It would look much better in a box being shipped to someone else's house while the money rested in a sa...

Sunday was consumed with bad baseball (the Phillies ) and a golf tournament ("I spent 4 days in Augusta, and all I got was this lousy green jacket") where the guy who wins receives an article of clothing so hideous that it could only be either worn on a golf course or given as a prize. Who's gonna complain about a bright green jacket in the midst of all that? As faithful readers know, I am music starved. So much so, that I have taken to browsing the Real Player site for new and interesting downloads. My thoughts turned to comedy, and in my music starved state, I came up with the name Todd Barry . Todd's a funny guy, and a bit different than most of the comics working now. I saw him in New York in 2004 at a show that Mother Jones put on with Jeneane Garofolo, Will Durst and lots of other comics. Somehow, I wound up in the front row. If you are of a mind to, pick up Todd's Medium Energy CD. Anyway, I pulled up Todd's listings on the Real Player store. Among ...

Bryan Ritter meets an Easter bunny on his way to compete in a Hunky Jesus competition on Sunday, April 8, 2007, in San Francisco. Ritter, a high school English teacher, grew his hair for the past year in preparation for the contest. His efforts paid-off as a crowd of several thousand revelers voted him winner the grand prize, $100, from a field of more than twenty would-be Hunky Jesuses. Ritter said he is looking forward to shaving his hair later today. (AP Photo/Noah Berger). . Is it Jesuses or Jesui?