Rediscovered Quote

I'm in the midst of cleaning a desk and found several old notebooks from conferences I covered as a reporter. Written on the inside cover was this quote. It's probably not mine, but I'll claim it if no one else will. It sounds like something I'd write.

If you stand around waiting for destiny, you will only meet fate.

It seems appropriate today, as we start a new month. I've had a sense of destiny lately. Some things are clicking, and the revisions of my "completed" manuscript are moving ahead nicely, though I've put the work-in-progress on hold for the summer. Of course, as we discussed in a previous post, we're always writing and I know of some significant changes I'll be making to that manuscript once I return, and I'm sure it'll be much improved.

So, welcome to August, friends and fellow writers. What are you working on?

Chapter 86: Thoughts on a Rainy Day

It's one of those days. You know the type. They start off with such promise: a cool breeze, a well deserved restful night, and soothing silence. Then things change. A stink arises, a hunger emerges, and out of nowhere come the rains. These things can be dealt with and handled. And they even lead to promising results. A diaper gets changed, babies and parents get fed, and thirsty lawns welcome the water.

Today I intend to reflect on the simple things. Like a neglected blog. Tune in again and I hope you will see newness grow. Happy day, y'all.

Chapter 85.5: New Look

I'm not the fickle type. I tend to look the same day in day out. No purple hair on Tuesdays and red on Friday. Just increasing specks of salt among the pepper.

But I've been growing bored with the look of this blog, so when Blogger offered a few new design, I dove into this one. It may change again soon. Let me know what you think. Like it? Does it suck? Do you want me to spring for a more professional looking blog?

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment box below. I'll post them.

Chapter 85.4: Perfect Imperfection

A moment to write on this blog. Perfect.

You know what else was perfect? Armando Galarraga's performance against Cleveland the other night. By retiring 28 consecutive batters — including the call that umpire Jim Joyce screwed up — he accomplished something few others have done. But more important, I think, was the class with which he comported himself. He could have been furious. Instead, he spoke with graciousness and understanding. He's a credit to the game, the Tigers, and to his family.

As a baseball fan, I totally understand the desire to rectify the situation so that he could have received official credit for the perfect game. After all, he deserved it. But personally, I think there's no recourse. It was not a rule violation that caused the incorrect call; it was simple human frailty. A mistake. This was not akin to the Pine Tar game, when George Brett's home run against the Yankees was initially ruled an out because the pine tar on his bat extended beyond the allowable amount. In this case, the umpire made the wrong call — and he's a guy who usually makes the right call.

Jim Joyce will probably be remembered forever for this call, which is unfortunate. But I bet the next time something comes along in which he's making an instantaneous decision about something that affects a game in which Galarraga's playing, he'll do the same thing. I don't mean make a mistake, I mean call it the way he sees it. He knows what he's doing, and in this case, so does baseball.

Instead, Galarraga will go down in history as having almost pitched a perfect game. As Casey Stengel used to say about the oddities of baseball, "You can look it up."