Orioles Magic

My sister and her family took me to a ball game for my 52nd birthday.  Orioles won with a walk-off single in the ninth, which was great.

That's right, I'm 52!

The Wisdom of Crowds

Noticed a lot of these guys around my neighborhood recently.  They're crape myrtles, and the red color is really striking.

I went to Reddit to find out more.  Half the comments swore they were a horrible invasive species for Maryland.  The other half said they were a reliable, low-maintenance tree that gets planted all over the place.  They definitely weren't growing wild.

Take your pick!

"without a word without a breath"

All

All the beautiful women in my life

were called Sadie or Sadist I forget

the color of that flower also its name

now that you ask

where I have been these past few months

between the solstice and the total eclipse

of all that we once had known

or thought mistakenly to know.

Perhaps the snow blinded us

or we gazed too long at the startled sun

forgetting our strict instructions

like so many others

who had assembled there for the event

that came and went

without a word without a breath

while the dancers so young filled the streets

and the fields with a sort of silent song

thinking they could go on and on.

-- Michael Palmer, Little Elegies for Sister Satan

Tapas Over Tangos!

I watched the World Cup final with my sister and her family.  Glad Spain won over the Argentine goons, but it was honestly a pretty boring game by design.  I thought Spain would finally show a little offensive flash but there was nada.

Where does the U.S. team go from here after being humiliated by Trump?  I dunno, but they did better than Germany or Italy.  Went as far as Brasil.  U.S. soccer fans don't want to admit that in an NFL-NBA nation the best athletes are always going to go with the path of least resistance to the money.

"the weddings of the people who are no longer married"

"'You have your wonderful memories,' people said later, as if memories were solace. Memories are not. Memories are by definition of times past, things gone. Memories are the Westlake uniforms in the closet, the faded and cracked photographs, the invitations to the weddings of the people who are no longer married, the mass cards from the funerals of the people whose faces you no longer remember. Memories are what you no longer want to remember."

-- Joan Didion, Blue Nights

Sunny Side Up

This is Mandu a.k.a. Mandurita, Mandoodle, Mandu the Huntress, Princess Mandu.  Even with all that fur she will never let a patch of sunshine go to waste.

Soccer Sunday

I'm shopping for a new home online at a Starbuck's-within-a-Safeway grocery store as the Gods of 

Capitalism intended.  Central Maryland has gone down into the 80's and should stay there for a week, which is fine by me.  I'm going to my sister's house in a bit to watch the World Cup Final -- Viva la Roja!  I actually like Messi but can't stand Argentina -- they play rugby, not football.

Moving out of Maryland to live near the beach actually makes a lot of financial sense.  I won't get too far into it, but if it all goes to plan I'll be making a decent amount that can just go back into my investments.

The Gods of Capitalism say, you are boring and old now James.  I have no pithy response.

Spain 2 - Argentina 2 (Messi gets a late assist to tie), then Spain wins in penalty kicks.  Obvious.

"put on your animal suit and dance"

The first and third albums by Candy Machine, a Baltimore band that's legendary as far as I'm concerned but hey I'm old and my favorite band sucks.  (Candy Machine and Tune International.)

"Human as meat, human as object, human as tool."

"They were nowhere to be found, leading me to believe they were long dead. I would never find the bodies, because if their organs hadn't already been carved out and sold off, the corpses would have been disguised for insurance fraud. I'm not exactly sure when it started, this habit of always assuming the worst-case scenario. My parents, the moneylenders, everyone said the words. All you've got is your body. A body. . . not a person, not a human. Human as meat, human as object, human as tool. A person's value is proportional to their bank balance. Our society seems to think it's okay to look down on the poor. And when you're constantly broke and beaten down, you start to think money's the only thing that matters. The more you're knocked down, the more you cling to money, hoping it can put you back together. It's messed up, yeah, but that's how it is."

-- Jin-Young Choi, Hunger

World Cup and Stuff

Late to the party here, but it sure is tough for a second-tier team trying to make it to the elite level getting preferential treatment from FIFA and still shitting the bed against Belgium.  Does the USMNT ever live this down?  We'll find out in four years at the earliest!

But we already knew everything Trump touches turns to shit.

Meanwhile, I'm rooting for Norway and Morocco.  If I was betting, I'd put it all on France -- they look really good, and they look like they haven't really played their best games yet.

Pet-sitting continues.  Maryland had a killer heat-wave last weekend but it's died down to thunderstorms and cooler weather.  I'll take it.

We're at war with Iran again and this strikes me as much of a forever war as Iraq II and Afghanistan were.  Worse, actually, because instead of fighting insurgents Trump has basically declared war on a prominent global geographic feature.

Summer

Chingu in Attack Pattern Bookcase.

It's July!  It's hot as hell outside as we move into July 4th weekend!

1)  I'm pet-sitting for the fist half of July for somebody who owns an actual pool.  Yay!

2)  The US has made it into the Round of 16 with a tough game against Belgium ahead.  Did Balogun deserve that red card?  Well, he did step on the guy's ankle pretty hard.

3)  Trump's 250th Birthday for America has been and will continue to be a shit-show.  Never start a land war in Asia, and never plan outdoor events for D.C. in the middle of summer.  Seriously, wouldn't be surprised if people die of heat stroke.

4)  I'm offically looking at houses in North Carolina.  In August I'll actually drive down and look at a few, then buy one.  I am so ready to leave Maryland and Frederick behind.  As the kids say, the vibes are no good.

5)  I turn 52 at the end of July.

6)  I finished the Gene Wolf Book of the New Sun tetralogy.  I might have more to say other than I enjoyed it, and, I'm pretty sure a lot of it flew over my head.  I have the fifth book too but am taking a little needed break.

Enjoy summer!  Drink lots of water, or adult beverages of your choosing!