chatter from the Library Monkey

I could learn to be lazy

Taking a break from motownsports — mainly because I am annoyed. There are about five guys there who whine and whine. The great irony of it all was one of the big whiners created a thread on Brandon Inge. Then he follows it up to call him a whiner. Basically a conversation with himself and all the Inge haters. .Which is kind of common. Every three days there is a new Brandon Inge thread so people who don’t like him can whine. This one was rally annoying because four-five guys whining about how Inge is a whiner was a bit too ironic.

That thread is too expected, but the ongoing whiners started complaining about my gifs. And there probably is a rationale for me to stop the gifs, well except for the fact that the whiners tend exploit hyperbole. I probably have a gif in 30 percent of my posts, the complainers present it as if it was 70 percent.

I think I need a break, not just because of the criticism of me, but the general negative. Yes I am whining here, so there is some irony — that I am not missing. I wonder why people who see the glass half empty always seem to be the most noticed. I know some of it is because it is easier to complain than compliment. (using my gifs — the people who don’t like that will go on about it, but the people who do like them will just say: “I don’t know, I like them.”)

I’m a little surly right now, partially because I have an ache behind my left shoulder blade. I think it is due to the inactivity the last few days. I’m back to school tomorrow.

I haven’t mentioned the #27 in a while. It is a number that continues to appear in my life. Certainly (now) I notice it when it comes around — like today’s date. But then there is times when it just happens, like on the field trip last week, I stayed in Rm 427.

Up late listening to the Tigers …blow another game. It is 2003 all over. Jeremy Bonderman pitched to eight innings and shut the Angels out… Francisco Cruceta comes in and blunders through giving up two runs (charged to Bonderman) — walks, wild pitches, messier than four hour old diaper. And of course the offense, scores two runs and then spends the rest of the game walking back and forth from the dugout to the batter’s box and back.

What is tough for me is it is so frustrating and then I can’t sleep. Or the come back and it is exciting and I can’t sleep..

I’m still reading the threads… Same o same o…I think I need to move away from it all Tigers lose 3-2

Gratitude (3)

long goofing off

It’s funny I spend much of my off time here in front of the computer, but lately writing a post is not in the forefront.

I had the joy of chaperoning again — on an overnight. I figured out why I get sucked into it. It is because I want to go where the trip is. This time it was the Envirothon in Cobleskill. I always wonder what an Envirothon was and it was fairly bright kids going. I thought it would be fairly safe. I didn’t think that the other chaperone/teacher was really the person who would need the watching.

I guess that is an exaggeration. The problem is the teacher really is just a kid. I realized this on Wednesday night when the kids decided that their activity would be to see if they could jump over a hedge. The teacher went down and instead of stopping them, or trying to get them to be a little more careful, instead she took pictures of them jumping. An act that actually encourage those who weren’t going to do it, to do it.

One of the things I would have to say up front is the organization listed their would be activities. There really wasn’t activities. So there was a lot of time to fill. The very worse of all was the fact we were on a college campus and there were no tours or information about the place.

That said, the teacher was insane:

we were suppose to leave at 10:10 a.m. she wasn’t ready to leave until 10:40

She mentally thought that was okay because we weren’t suppose to be to the college until 2:30 p.m., but she calculated the trip travel on a car going 65 mph, not a bus going 55 mpg

I don’t think she looked at the materials because even though the oral presentation was at 2:30, you were suppose to be there 15 minutes early — we were not

Timing was an ongoing problem since she did not have a watch

As soon as we left she announced she had left the packet with such info back at the school

I had to carry around an itinerary the whole time, because not only did she not know about how to bring a watch, she didn’t seem to care about a schedule (which was available at registration)

She never read the rules, one of the kids had a rather large knife — any knife would have got us disqualified. When I mentioned this

She was often telling stories that the team (all boys) loved — “did I ever tell you about the time my dog had a tick on his penis”

She could have gotten the problem that the students needed for the oral presentation in February, she didn’t get it until a week before we left.

She lost the plastic bracelets we were suppose to show for the meals — twice. I eventually told one of the kids to hold the bracelets.

It was a pretty funny trip, but annoying, because I had to become the voice of reason. A couple kids kept talking about trying to catch a feral cat. It was at that point I realized these were National Honor Society students, that perhaps should not be.

The Tigers have been playing a little better of late including sweeping a series from Seattle (one of the few teams playing worse than the Tigers.)

Gratitude (3)

short green

Mowed the grass. I have the worse yard in the neighborhood and my weeds grow fast. Going to see “Bye Bye Birdie” with my friend with cancer (fwc). It is funny, to me since fwc used to be in a lot of community theatre, but I never talk to her about that, except from a historical perspective. Things like, “okay which play did the Townhall Players do then?” .

Will not get to participate on the Tigers forum, or even listen to the game. In fact, there is a chance the game might be over by the time the play is over. And as I think about it there is a chance I will finish writing this after the game is over, trying to tune in sports radio so I can hear a score.

Here in the town, checking on things, doing laundry (and mowing grass). I am also filling up on water. With Gas up to $4 a gallon here, the trip is hardly worth it. But in some ways I have to make the trip here.

Next week is a really short week for me. Part due to the fact that I am doing a road trip chaperone. Which is not easier for me, since I have to make up a couple lessons for

• I am grateful for a coffee pot in every town
• I am grateful for community theatre
• I am grateful for the ability to spin a poem

Where have I been

I started this on May 11th, but wrote nothing and didn’t even open it since then and it is early May 15.

The Tigers continue to lose and frustrate me. They are frustrating lots of fans as well

Weird thing happened at baseball practice today, a parent apologized to me. Not 100 percent why he did that, but it was appropriate. I guess he was at the game I was not and had the kids whipping around the bases on a team that they were thumping 20-0. He told me people were getting mad at him and his philosophy was to score as many runs as possible because he knew the pitcher in the last inning would give up 10 runs (not sure he knew how the pitcher would do)

I thought it was a pretty good practice, we worked on scenarios… (If you are playing third base, what do you do if the ball is hit to right field.) There are a couple kids that always know what to do, but never do it. Our best pitcher is like that. Last Friday he was playing third base and a couple times kids stole the base and he didn’t position himself right. I talked to him after the first time; he said he knew what he should do and gave me an excuse why he didn’t do the right thing. The second time he did the wrong thing.

I am glad school is wrapping up. I applied for a job in a K-5 school that is about 40 minutes north of my home town.

Up late, but I had a nap. I skipped my weekly nap, I don’t feel comfortable there.

I should be able to finish up the Joyce Carol Oats book: “After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away”

Gratitude (3)