Sunday, August 25, 2002

Kid Stuff

Congratulations to the Worcester Little League club for a great run in the Little League World Series. What a fantastic achievement.

And speaking of kids …

If you grew up during the 70s and waited each month for the arrival of Skateboarder Magazine in the mail, then I highly, highly recommend the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys to you.

It's all about the skateboarding in Venice Beach, CA, AKA Dogtown, the name of a downtrodden section of L.A. that figured prominently in the skateboarding phenomenon of the mid-1970s. Those Dogtown kids were the ones always featured so prominently in the pages of Skateboarder. For me, turning the pages of the mag and seeing them in crazy, unimaginable moves off the lips of empty backyard pools, brought home to me that there was a whole big and exciting world out there waiting for me, a world more varied, colorful and stoked then my little New Hampshire shoe mill town.

After seeing the Dogtown documentary, I realized what an impact Skateboarder Magazine had on me. I hadn't thought of it in years, but now realize that it more than anything else alone was responsible for filling me with the wanderlust. And in the very way the magazine was laid out and written, in a beautiful DIY aesthetic, are rooted my first stirrings of a love for graphic design and writing that later culminated for me in the web and now the blog movement.

I wish I would have made that connection sooner, for then I might have saved myself a lot of wasted years on studies and jobs that I was not suited for and did not enjoy. I now know that what you really, really love as a kid, in some form or another, is what you most likely have a vocation for.

Make it 2 today

The loss yesterday really stung, especially the missed opportunities. All told the Red Sox went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position —

But the most crucial act of futility may have unfolded in the fifth when the Sox put runners at second and third when Daubach singled leading off, Nixon walked with one out, and both advanced on a wild pitch by Appier. Sanchez, who was batting .452 (14 for 31) with runners in scoring position and less than two outs, popped to shallow left for the second out. That left it up to Johnny Damon, who had dislocated his right ring finger Thursday night. He popped to center to end the threat (Hohler, The Boston Globe).

Well, we all said they need to win 3 of 4 from the Angels, so let's see how D-Lowe does today before we feel to sorry for ourselves.