Crazy Condiments & Running Bunned Meats!

The Sugardale Hotdog Derby is a hoot. Tonight's spectacle was part silly, part World Wrestling Federation antics, which compounds and underscores the "silly" label.

 

Gary Sh(EFFINGIDIOT)field, Humanitarian

Gary Sheffield, barroom brawler extraordinaire and sometime Detroit Tawney Kittaen, put his muscles to work proactively (for a change) and ended a going-no-where inning with an expertly placed ground out.

Bravo, Gary! Who knows to what heights you might hoist yourself, given the right guidance!

Aaarrgghh!! We need a pirate's 'tude!

We had a chance to plonk Gary Sheffield on the top of the 1st inning. While the option to NOT do it may be seen as good sportsmanship, and while I may approve wholeheartedly of that, the Indians *WHOPPINGLY MISSED* a strategic opportunity.

If Tribe pitcher Jeremy Sowers would have beaned Detroit batter Sheffield, he'd've reached on HBP, not by a double. No big deal right? Because nobody scored.

*HERE'S* the big deal: if Sowers had been the first pitcher to hit a batter, the Indians *and* the Tigers get a warning, and THE NEXT PITCHER GETS TOSSED.

How much you wanna bet Jim Leyland's coaching staff (mgr of the Detroit Tigers; though not he himself -- he's got a weekend 'discipline pass') took advantage of that as soon as White Hat Eric Wedge passed on it??

Wuss vs Puss.

 

Fresh from the backyard!

Mmmmm. This is when "summer" becomes "yummer".

No Exit

The race is over and we would like to go home. We'd even heed the sign, but it's hard to return when one cannot leave.

Camp Manatoc is so scenic, we didn't mind that we had to backtrack to leave!

Organic Detritis Becomes Jewels Afloat

Organic Detritis Becomes Jewels Afloat
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Interesting and irresistable, these non-edibles float kaleidescope-like in a cup on the picnic table.

What took my neice and her cousin ages to collect was but a moment's fling to return it to the earth.

 

On trash night, Morgan's recycling.

...or something... I'm confident she's plotting something eeeviiiil.

Hot August Night

Sitting on Daddy's deck after dinner, enjoying conversation and the summer.

Mission accomplished!

L to R: Tony's, mine, Rick's. All empty. Lunch was also delicious! So excellent to get caught up with friends, friends we see with unacceptable infrequency.

I'm telling you, everybody needs scooters.

Veggie Tales sez "everybody has a water buffalo," but that's only true in the Philippines. Here, we all need scooters. SCOOTERS. Just get one. Or TWO!!

Fer cryin' out loud, just get a scooter.

 

Grape Bomb

This is a potent glass full of YUM.

Scooters. Everybody needs a scooter. 'Nuff sed.

 

Watch me for the next few days!!

I'm riding Pedal to the Point, a BikeMS event to raise awareness and funding for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

I'm not in shape, but I AM conditioned.

I ride because I know many who (because of MS) can't.

Visit my pledge site, and please consider pledging your financial support. I'm not asking you to 'give til it hurts', I'm simply asking you to give something.

Please.

 

OMIGOODNESS, almost a week into the event...

I'm participating in the Ravelympics.

It's Ravelry's nod to the 2008 Olympics, and the fact that people who knit, crochet, and spin can't sit in front of the tv without something to do with their hands. Ravelry, of course, being a social network for people (ahem) addicted to the aforementioned habits.

Here's the button that proclaims my participation:



Hooray!! Let the knitting and crocheting begin... er, I've already begun...

Well????

The rules CLEARLY state we can start as soon as the Opening Ceremonies start. I started almost 24 hours later.

And that's about right. I'm knitting and crocheting for Team Angstylvania.

 

Hot Reads: What Would MacGyver Do?

What surprises me is that the book isn't *THICKER*.

The Olympics always 'WOW' me, but this year's just ridiculous.

A 41 year-old mother, swimming for medals... and she's got a silver already. Dara, you are amazing.

Now, I learn with absolute amazement that there's another mom on another team. But GYMNASTICS??? Isn't that a sport in which, once you start having children, your competitive career is history? Not so with Oksana Chusovitina.

Now, NBC is and always has been wont to get all misty-cameraed with their heart-string-jerking stories about our athletes and opposing athletes, and it makes for extra drama on the playing field. Whether said field is actually "field" or "water" or "sand" or "snow" or "ice"...

But Oksana's story is legitimately tear-worthy and inspirational.

These are exceptional women.

 

Daddy celebrates the heat of summer!

Sweet corn from a truck stand! I love summer!

Tracery from Days Past

It's a bit cooler than usual for 08.08.08, but DEFINITELY HOT compared to the day I took this.

I like to revisit these images on days like today. I never want to take for granted how comfortable I am *right now*, temperature-wise.

I appreciate the delicate beauty of days like the one pictured, and I know it's no joke when snow is called 'the poor man's fertilizer'. My gargantuan tomatoes ripening in the backyard bear powerful testimony to that!

Major League Support Towards NMSS

Major League Support Towards NMSS
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Last night I got to meet Indians great Joe Charboneau. The American League Rookie of the Year, 1980. Read more HERE.

Well, I have actually met him before, but *this* time, seeing him, I knew about his wife having MS. I wanted very much to tell him that people care about her situation, enough to do something about it. (I did get that chance.)

So, with this knowledge, I took my BikeMS Team Captain cap to see if he would sign it. That was a success. But (thankfully) in more than one way: he seemed to have been moved by my (and our team's) commitment to this cause.

So in addition to Patti and my cousin Roger and my friend River, I'll be riding for Cindy Charboneau, when we ride Pedal to the Point.

I also gave him a Patti's Paladins 'business' card, so that if he happens to be interested, he can look us up. I hope he does. I hope he and Cindy take even more strength from the strong commitment to fund raising the whole of the Buckeye region has. I also hope that this year is the strongest year yet, for us and for all teams! The stronger we can be, the better the benefit for all who suffer with this wretched disease.

So many people in all "walks" of life need this cure. It was a special (though necessarily fleeting) moment.

I'm sure it'll be one from which I'll draw strength on the day of the ride.

(BTW: I've cropped the photo so the autograph cannot be used fraudulently.)

Boys of Summers Past

Hall of Fame Indians pitcher Gaylord Perry signs my husband's jersey. The gentleman next to him is Hall of Fame Indians pitcher and WWII veteran Bob Feller (with his very nice, friendly assistant).

Such nice men!

Hot weather produces great beauty.

Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) with milkweed bug (family Hemiptera, Oncopeltus fasciatus. Beautiful!

Baseball is a contact sport. Who knew?

First I thought the White Sox were just having a rough game against the Twins.

But now I'm not so sure...

SOMEBODY'S hot under the collar!

________________________________
Later edit: Apparently, Neil Diamond's tour manager (or some sort of manager; I can't find a link to corroborate the story reported on WOIO, so now I'm suspicious...) was ALSO hot under the collar this afternoon, because he was absent from tonight's concert. The reason reported? Like the baseball players and fans, he was too busy getting in trouble for fighting. In his case, said fighting reportedly took place in the bar on Whiskey Island. That's at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, in downtown Cleveland.

There's a lesson to be learned here. It's hot, and tempers are easily lost. Stay cool and stay properly hydrated. Breathe. Be excellent to one another.

PS: Daddy and Ginny, I hope you enjoyed the concert!! :-D