Light my fire......

Why.... why, are some folks lighter thieves?  Ex wife... to party, she'd come home with six in her purse.  Ex gf, I could never find ma' dayum lighter until we went out somewhere and she lit up a cig.  This morning, early, 2:40am, dropping son off at work where he unloads trucks, he unloaded on me, "Dad, can I use your lighter?"  Damnit darnit.

Ahm, Victor?  Mebbe just quit?  Ahm, lemme shed some light.  I'm 71 (at least for a couple more weeks).  I ain't great with change.  Nicotine is addictive.  Ahm, I don't wanna. I very much enjoy three (of the 30) I smoke a day. OK dangit, you're right, 40.

You light up my life.  Thank you cell phone flashlight at dark-thirty.  The hell did I do without ya?  Friends, you do do that (light up my life.) Kids, dogs, even cats, even though they all do do too.  Smiles. Old Tim Conway vids. Barney Fife. Beer.  Sure, Light beer, or, I think that one company spells it Lite.

Blinded by the light.  Ever eat a pine tree?  No, that ain't it.  Ever drive a two lane road dropping off son at 2:45am, oncoming traffic... the hell are the lines..  WHY are his/her brights on?  Watch for Bambi please, I've bagged three of 'em and I ain't never shot one, nor, Elvis, have I ever shot a rabbit, sorry, not really, stew on that.

Turn out the lights....... You tell 'em Dandy Don, I'll tap ma' foot.  Seeya later Brewers, Orioles, Astros (you were too light on them trash cans), me thinks it's kinda dark in Cincinnati Bengal territory as well.

The Night the lights went out in Georgia. Oops, sorry Braves, forgot you guys.

Give the green light.  I ain't 'Snopes'd this one, but we're talking traffic signals here.  Perty much, red be on top, green on the bottom. EXCEPT, in the late 1920's, a company manufactured stoplights for intersections..  The 'main' street had red at the top, whilst, the cross street, had green atop. Pardon'a'my French, but color blind folks were fugged. (In sunny Mehico, they gots electronic green/red traffic lights, AND, physical "Alto Signs" at the same dayum intersection.  What's me and fellow 'mericans to do?... confused. Like that one song says, "Should I stay or should I go?"

Lighten up Victor.  Nah, did that last year. I enjoy eating too much, besides, I threw all them clothes (two sizes too small) out.  

Light at the end of the tunnel.  CRAP. I hope this ain't one-way.

Out like a light.  Babies.  Young snotnoses on a more than ten minute car ride. Frazier. (Down goes Frazier). Wow, Cosell and Dandy Don in one blog. Light on yesteryear.

Lighthearted.  A goal, but, oft times, Help I've fallen and I can't get up.

See things in a different light.  Sorry. Pubs, Dems, can't, as in, light into. Innies, outties.  KU fans, MU fans.  Taste great less filling. The hell'd I put my shades?

Gremlins. BRIGHT LIGHTS!

Moonlight, sunlight, flashlight, Northern Lights, Neon lights, LED lights, 25 year lightbulb lights (why the hell would we need, pay for, them?)  Light humor. (Very light I might add Victor). 

Goofus, Gallant, Highlights.

Light work. Light duty. Why does that car behind me have flashing lights on? Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light.

Satchel Paige on 'Cool Papa Bell', said to be 'Faster than light.'  "One time, he hit a line drive right past my ear... I turned around and saw the ball hit him as he slid into second base."

Let the Midnight Special, shine a light on me.

Light brings fond memories into yesteryear (for me at least).  Guiding Light, many a year, ma' a watchin.  "First one to see the street lights on!" Lightning bugs. Little league, the swarms of bugs up around the lights.  Strobe lights.  Electrical storm, lights out. Candle light. Kinda special.  Of course, Christmas tree lights.  How they lit up my eyes, later, my kid's eyes, and even more recently, grandkid's eyes.

Hey, please have a good day.  Try to keep life light. Me? I think I'm'a headed to the Motel 6.

I know, I know, Victor. Because they'll leave the light on? Well, kinda... I could simply stand to get away for a tad.

Love, Victurd

Gathered.......

Fun word, but, comprende', my take...

There's a saying, "Squirrels gathering nuts in a flurry will cause snow to gather in a hurry.

Small town. OK, usedta be.  Anyways, Fall Festival - that time'a year - Harvest/gather,  the aforementioned squirrels/gather...  and peeps - from all around.  All kindsa sizes, rugrats a walkin', hand holdin', teenies beboppin, young couples ogling, old farts a wobblin'.. TBC...

They gather in sedans, vans, SUV's, bikes, trikes, and one parking lot is reserved for the '55 Chevy Bel Air's, '77 Pontiac Firebirds, and Mustangs, Sally, all kindsa years, and yet another lot is setup for us old farts, complete with golf carts driven by kind young dudes, dudettes a hollerin', "Hop on Pops!".

The eyeballs gather it all in.  We look out, we see us, then... now... and tomorrow.

Move on Victor, we tire of pumpkin spice.

My take, wise ones tippy toe thru life.  When gathered, we listen with our ears, look with our eyes... and try our damndest not to hurt with blurt.  Our thoughts are brought to our brains based on hints, inferences - thus, we're gathered in our speech.

I gather, we all fail.  Even the Baltimore Orioles. Sorry. Not really.

Gathered - to clasp or embrace. To bring close and wrap around, such as gathering a child into one's arms.

Speed. Speed causes gather.  To increase..  Seen 'em in Colorado, they gots them runoff ramps for semi's. The young running back gathered sufficient speed - but, he had an insufficient hold on the football... I gather he fumbled due to that.

Folks gather money.  It's kinda foreign to me, but, they do.  MANY, do much good with their gatherings. Many, attempt to take it with em, thus, Probate sorts it all out.  

Gather - to pick or harvest.  Tail end.  Tail end of that-kinda-weather here.  Reap. The smalltown downtown weekly gatherings of vendors, farmers, yada - coming to a close.  Another trip around the sun.  We lucky ones anyways.

"I don't wanna be old" you hear.  Most, kinda like gatherin' all them years. "I don't wanna be 90."  Heard someone say "Ask 'em about that when they're 89 years, 11 months, 30 days and see what their answer is."

I gather life is all about gathering.  

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here.

For, a short time.

For, a fun time.

For, a smile.

A kiss.

A hug (ie, gathered). 

Sometimes....... we are thrown curveballs in life. We are let down. We say/think "How can you say that" when they say that.  Or, maybe, we even ask ourselve, "How could, or WHY, did I say that?"  We are human, gathered here.

Eat a funnel cake.  Buy 6 ears of corn whilst ya still can.  Learn from the squirrels (there are nuts out there all around.)  Gather with friends.  Watch a ballgame together. Victor, is this where you remind us the ROYALS gathered enough runs to beat the Orioles so they can now go play the Yankees on Saturday at 5:38pm?  Mebbe.  I gather there might be an eyeball or six here that will enjoy that.

I do, seriously, try my best to hopefully bring a smile, attempt uplift.  This blog probably fell short of that.  Sorry.  Kinda. Mostly. Am.

Victurd, we gathered that. Happy day.

Hey, you too!  

Gather. To gather oneself up: to make oneself feel calm again or ready to do something.

Ooooh waaaah weee... I gotta pee...... it's gathered in my bladder.

Oh happy day.......

Love, Victurd

Victor, you're nuts. I know.  Don't tell the squirrels. They'll chase me.

We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher.......

Life.  GPS.

Howabout them apples?

Ya got me going in circles...... Oh, round and round I go.... 

Every single life here on the planet is unique.  Differn't.  Extremes are like, the 70's fog statement of "Oh wow man, far out."....  Others..... the splat of "OH NO, MR. BILL!, much inbetween."

All, end.  That's leaving out the "All's (well), Ends" (well) parts.

A friend just posted "10th Anniversary!"..  I was there.  Twas a barn, in a field, rural Cass County (that's Missouri folks)..  However, GPS took me to..... 10 miles INTO the State of Kansas.. to a field.. on a gravel road..And there I was, I was taken to a place.. me and 12 Charolais cattle.  "You've reached your destination."  Nuh uh.

Another buddy..... I marvel at he, his brother.. their get-up-and go.. as trip after trip their circles take them... to... like the "Largest ball of twine" in the world..  birthplaces of significant folks... National Parks, Mountain ranges, Civil War sites... visiting all dayum 50 States.. and most recently, the entire "Get your kicks, on Route 66".  Yep, start to finish.

Another beloved friend..... in the late years of her mother's declining health... they gallivanted to each, every bucket list place there was.  They met Clark Hunt (owner of KC Chiefs) in the parking lot of Arrowhead.. Royal's games... Horseback rides.. National and International trips... yum.  You da bomb daughter.  A wunnerful circle.

Lucas Stijepan Erceg too, has had a unique circle of life.  A really fine athlete, baseball player - he continued on the baseball path at the University of Cal, Berkeley in 2014, 2015. He was good.  Real good.  .301 Batting Average, 11 homers his second year, named to the All Pac 10 first team third baseman.

Seems baseball, kinda like NASCAR, one way...  all left turns (In spite of, on June 23, 1963, to celebrate his 100th career home run, NY Met's outfielder Jim Piersall, ran the bases backwards, ie, third to second to first, to home.)

Erceg speed bump.  Erceg/Cal, were rollin'. Expected to make the College World Series his junior year, nope. Wouldn't happen.  He took a class 'pass/fail', needed a B-.. got a C+, ruled academically ineligible, thus, off to Menlo College, a nearby NAIA (Small college) baseball team.

Thanks to some nice stats there... Baseball didn't forget him - he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, 2nd round, 46th overall pick, which, came with a signing bonus of $1.15 million dollars. "That bought a lot of beer."

His first lap around the minors, started in Helena, MT.  A power hitting third baseman, he rose 26 days later to being promoted to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.. to the Carolina Mudcats... to Colorado Springs Sky Sox...

And the next year, to the Biloxi Shockers... to Spring Training the next year.. to the San Antonio Missions...

Victor, this is all kinda boring.  I'd rather hear about your buddy's Route 66 trip... Kinda the point.. Minor League baseball is difficult.  With, low pay.  Long bus rides.  Cheesy motels.  The Awful Waffle.  The only real Grand Slam is at Dennys'. 

Intermittent success, and 4 years later.............. Covid happened.  The entire minor league season was scrapped.  And, without pay.  Depression, playing OK but not up to expectation - led him to "Now what?" - latching on with an Independent Pro team in Phoenix.

Much below taken from a wonderful article in the KC Star from Vahe Gregorian.  Erceg plummeted.  His then girlfriend Emma would leave home in the morning for work - and by the time she got home, there he'd be on the sofa... sitting next to his PlayStation, with 12-14 empty beer cans alongside. 

Eventually, she left. "Not coming back."

From the Star:  “‘What am I doing?’” he asked himself. Answer: “I’m purposely sabotaging my relationship because of … because of what?” Through all the haze, something became clear. He knew he had to do something different, a feeling he embraced with intense conviction.

6/1/2020.  AA.  Sobriety date. “Everything was beautiful. Everything was euphoric. Everything was, like, brighter,” he said. “It’s weird, it sounds cliché, whatever you want to call it. But it was like, ‘Wow, this is Day 1 of the rest of my life.”

While awaiting REAL Minor League Season anew... he was off to Sugar Land, TX for s'more Independent baseball..  A .180 batting average didn't dampen his spirits..  he was getting back with Emma (they'd eventually marry in 2022) 

Meanwhile, in an apartment they shared, a teammate set a glass of bourbon in front of him... as they played video games.  Erceg was frightened. The glass of bourbon kind of looked good. He also didn’t want to offend his friend. But then he removed his headset and took a couple steps back and said, “I’m just going to share this with you: I’m three months sober.” The pivotal scene became liberating and empowering. Erceg realized there not only was no shame in saying that, but also that it was a way to fortify his own boundaries. And his friend, being a real friend, understood and even apologized.

Fast forward.  Erceg's old coach at Menlo was now working for the Brewers.. called... Asked Lucas "Would you consider trying to make it strictly as a pitcher?"  Why not.  It's worked.  A year later, traded to A's.  Another year, traded to the Royals.

He's literally LIGHTS OUT as a closer for  KC....... Madly in love with Emma..  Sober..  In a very good place.    Look for his new Royal blue baseball glove... complete with 6/1/2020 (Sobriety date)..  Contrary to baseball's "You must go forward (left turns only)" Lucas made a wonderful U-turn in life.

You cannot drive 100 MPH on Route 66, but wouldn't it be a kick (pun mebbe intended) if KC traveled down Route 66 to LA for the World Series to perhaps see an Erceg 100 MPH fastball?  Emma, his ole Coach, folks from home (San Jose, CA), all, could come watch this now famous pitcher.  He's a real, live pitcher, no longer a belly itcher, or even third baseman.

Love, Victurd

GO ROYALS! (AND LUCAS!)

Grease is the word........

Grease is the word, is the word that you heard
It's got a groove, it's got a meaning
Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling

No, that ain't it.

Benjamin: I'm just...

Mr. Braddock: ...worried?

Benjamin: Well...

Mr. Braddock: About what?

Benjamin: I guess about my future.

Mr. Braddock: What about it?

Benjamin: I don't know. I want it to be...

Mr. Braddock: ...to be what?

Benjamin: ...Different.

---

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Hell to the no, both wrong.  It's BACON.

Oh yeah, I remember, "Bacon's Law"... the idea that anyone can be linked to Kevin Bacon through no more than six connections, where two actors are connected if they have appeared in a movie or a commercial together.

Ahm, no.  I'm talking Bacon Mania. The craze started when that dayum Atkin's Diet came out in the late 90's with it's focus on high protein foods.  Right Piglet?

"OH, D-D-D-DEAR!" (Piglet had a great fear of much).... generalized anxiety disorder... So, do you mean ADHD?  No, that was Winnie... and, back in 'our day' they really DIDN'T have a word (nor a clue) about either of those.. but, the technique for doctors (dealing with children anyways) was, "We don't know....but, give him this."

VICTOR. You are off base.  The subject was WORD.

Oh yeah, sorry.

BASEBALL RAY.  Victor, is this where you throw the Kansas City crap in our face and remind us the Royals have made the playoffs and their game is on TV today at 3:08pm Central.  Yes......yes it is.

Off track.

Sorry.

Victor, wasn't there a TV show A LOOOOONG time ago where, they brought in two everyday off the street kinda folks, interviewed them, the producers had a secret word picked out and if the 'everyday people' said the word, a stuffed bird would come down and they'd win the money.  Victor, do you remember that show?

You bet your life.  OK Victor, that's all well and good, but do you remember the name of the show?  You bet your life. Kinda grouchy aren't ya?  NO, it was Groucho, and the show was You Bet Your Life. The bird wasn't the word (remember that blog the other day? A well don't you know about the bird, WELL EVERYBODY knows, the bird is the word.  The stuffed bird's name was Julius, which is actually Groucho's real first name.

I'm so confused Victor, I think I'll go do something crazy... like, maybe swallow a goldfish.  HEY, so glad you mentioned that. Fad is good.  We can switch from Word to Fad. 

Speakin'a swallowing Goldfish, do you by chance know where that originated?  Oh, I dunno... I'll take a wild stab.... Ohio.. Springfield maybe?  Ah, nope. Harvard, 1939. Freshman Lothrop Withington Jr, on a $10 bet with friends, swallowed a goldfish infronta classmates and a Boston reporter...  Paul Harvey, GOldfishOD DAY.

OK Victor, move along now.  What Word... or, sorry.. what fad next?

Ahm, howabout Phone Booth Stuffing? 

Wonder what the record was anyways?  I'm so glad you asked. (Somehow, I'm not surprised).  25.  No way. Way.  

Wiki say 

On March 20, 1959, students at the Durban, South Africa, YMCA set a world record when 25 of them were able to squeeze at least the greater portions of their bodies into a standard upright phonebooth. The participants ranged in height from 163 to 188 centimetres (5 ft 4 in – 6 ft 2 in). Very little unoccupied volume remained; when the phone rang, nobody inside had enough space free to pick up the handset and answer it.

Yeah yeah Victor, next fad.  Howabout Mood Rings?  OH, like, the ones when people get married?  Ahm, mebbe we better not stop here.....

The Yo Yo.  Betty Boop. FLAGPOLE SITTING.  Slinky, e gads.  Tang.  The Hula Hoop.  The Twist (Victor, don't forget the Mashed Potato , the Swim and, the Funky Chicken.) Oh yeah, thanks.

Hacky Sacks, Rubik's Cube (I call BS on them "I can do it in a millisec" folks).  

Victor, this is getting pretty boring.  (Some might say, "It started that way too.")

Eh, whatever, it's all good.  Some of my favorite words..........

Levity. Love. Friends.  Speechless.  Emote.  Laughter.  Humility. Loyalty.  Pets. Family.  Food. Beer. Sorry. Kinda. Simple. Children.  Smile.  Hug.  I'll leave now.

Grease will probably always be the word. Should you ever get it on your clothing, Google tells me pre-treating it (before washing) with liquid Dish Soap can help.

Peace.

Love, Victurd