More Blytheville Signage

This one jumped out at me because of the "Youth Awareness Week" thing. What does that mean? Are people forgetting that youth exist in Blytheville? Are they trying to get the youth of Blytheville to be more aware of something? What? And the "week" is only four days long and it's two hours each day. They aren't going to be getting a whole lot of awareness that way. Then there is the fact that this is a "Temple Church." Reminds me of Ashley and her sister's story of all the giggling they'd do every time they passed the "Friendly Chapel Church." There is some serious redundancy going on. Oh, and the fact that this place has a "Founder/Overseer" is more than a little bit scary for some reason.

Oh, might as well...

...go for a third one in a row.

Seriously? Someone was annoyed enough that people were illegally passing on the right to hand paint their own sign and put it out? Amazing stuff. Found in Buxton, NC. I love how the text gets bigger on each line, too.

Signology

Hey, when you need a good deal on some lemonade, I got your joint. And I like that I got me in the picture, too.

Here's your sign!

So, I had every intention of doing a separate blog for these, but now I'm thinking I'll just post them here occasionally. My new hobby is taking pictures of signs that I find "interesting." It may be that they're funny, artistic, silly, or just plain cool. I have a stash of them, but I'm not sure how often I'll post one. Depends on how fast they are coming in, really. So not more than once a day, and not likely even that often for a while. We'll see. Anyway, first up is one from our recent trip to Hatteras Island.

This one sort of sums up the island to me. Why? Because you just don't find unhappy people there. Maybe that's why we love that place so...

Our new dog!

Meet Hattie, our new Weimaraner. "Hattie" is short for Hatteras, which is one of our favorite places on earth (and on our minds because we just got back from a few weeks there). She's eight months old and her birthday is October 21. She's somewhat nervous still after a few days here, but starting to fit in fine. Our other two dogs seem to not mind her, and she seems to want to play with them but not enough to get her in trouble. She's been great with the kids, but that's because she's still VERY timid in her new surroundings. I think the energy level is still somewhat low for her, but we'll see...

Wow

Pardon me while I get political, but this is a really good read. I implore everyone, Democrat or Republican, to read it to the end. I don't think we're far from hearing "give Obama his fair share of time" type arguments, which is sad since a lot of the problems he is having to deal with are not of his making. But that's the case with any president, really. I currently rate him a big "fail" on most of what he's done or is intending to do. I'm actually starting to feel pretty good that he's doing so badly* we won't have to put up with but four years of him, with the exception that there doesn't seem to be anyone waiting in the wings of much merit, either. sigh It sure as heck isn't Sarah Palin!

* Yes, I know Obama is still a media darling. But people are starting to notice just how little change he's made since taking office on everything from energy (other than taxing the poo out of it) to the economy to the war to Gitmo. Only thing he's done better than his predecessor is fewer mis-speaks in public speaches. Bravo. His foreign policy sure is doing a great job with North Korea so far, too.

There's just something about the baseball.

I admit to not being a lifelong baseball fan. I admit that I don't know as much about the history of baseball as I do about the issue of steroids in baseball, which is quite sad as I'm sure I'm not alone (and in fact am probably in the majority). But I do know this one simple thing...the baseball itself may be one of the most perfectly designed devices in all of sports.

What makes me say that? I can't really articulate it well, but what I do know is it just "feels" right. I've played a lot of softball in the last ten years or so, and I've loathed the ball itself the entire time. Too big and strange to throw and catch. That's coming from someone with relatively large hands and the owner of a good glove, too. It's just all wrong. Even the ladies/youth ball is just too big.

Why am I just now noticing this? Well, I've always sort of known it, but recently I've been playing some catch with my boys and it's just sort of hit me. Those of you who know me know that I'm a HUGE basketball fan. I both play and watch. I have times when I haven't played in a little while (like now) when I can sit and daydream of what it feels like to shoot a jumper. I can daydream about what it feels like to execute that perfect crossover dribble. And lately, for some strange reason, I can feel that baseball in my hand.

That's what makes the baseball thing so profound to me. I grew up playing basketball. I still play a lot of it. But I played very little baseball as a kid (one year of coach pitch was it, and I was bad at that). But something just feels good about throwing a baseball. I think right now I could play catch for hours, and not just with my kids. With anyone. I sort of yearn for it, in fact. And it seems like it has a lot to do with that stupid little ball.

The basketball cannot compete with the baseball for best ultimate design simply because there are too many differences from one basketball to the next. Sure, any good basketball player can adapt to them pretty easily, but the fact of the matter is that you do have to make some changes from ball to ball. They feel slightly different, they have different weights to them, and worst of all, different levels of tack. College and pro football use completely different footballs in terms of dimensions, weight, and probably material. High quality baseballs are much more consistent. It is what it is and they'll all feel pretty much the same. This consistency is a key, but somehow the stupid thing is just pretty perfect and apparently has been for a looooong time.