Shawn Blathering

Storms precluded us from holding practice last week (April 29) and threatened to do the same this week. Beginning to think Wednesdays are cursed. Luckily Kevin knew of these concrete racquetball courts at a park in Olney. We ended up 2 or 3 people in a court, and working on hitting and reaction times. Even if it's not a racquetball, the sliothar moves around pretty fast.

Clear skies, but chilly and windy. Field had some puddles & slick mud spots from the recent rain. 11 players.

I'm really enjoying the pace we're moving at. Each night has had one or two skill foci, and Billy is keeping the pace of the backs & forwards at a high level, tossing the ball back into play before people have a chance to really recover to their positions.

Drills:

• 2 laps warmup
  
• Focus on short-range hitting with the hurl on the run. Choke up halfway, hit high and in front of you. Minimal backswing to avoid the hook.
  
  • Two lines facing each other, one swingman in the middle
    
  • Run out, tap the ball 20 yds to the swingman, who feeds it back to you, then tap the ball to the first man in the next line.
    
  • Add in a defender who shadows you, but without trying to hook
    
  • Then add in hooking
  
  
• Backs & forwards, focusing again on the mid-range passing as much as possible.
  
• Lift drill x 5
  
  • Pair off, facing each other, 10 yds apart, one ball 2 feet in front of a man
    
  • Man opposite the ball sprints out, jab lift, pivot around the other man and returns to their starting position, dropping the ball 2 feet in front. Now other man repeats sequence.
  
  
• 2 laps cool-down
  

Injury log:
Two dinged thumbs, and an egg on each shin, though I can't remember them getting hit

It's tough when the sun disappears 40 minutes after practice starts, and even worse when it's raining and overcast. So tonight's practice was tailored to make the drills easier as the light went.

2 laps warmup
Medium-range hitting to the hand
Short-range hitting/trapping without using hands. Choke up halfway and it's all wrist action and control.
Hand passing with a partner
2-ball lift drill, jab/roll/jab
2 laps cool-down

Injury log:
Bruise on back of left hand, over thumb, trying to catch a ball the wrong way.

Seriously?

I mean, is this supposed to be ironic, or what?

I'll carve off what I want, and ride the rest home, thank you.

20 oz Kansas Strip, Queue de Cheval Steakhouse, Montreal, Quebec

Has the Dalai Lama ever seen Caddyshack?

EDIT: No

Had a reasonably nice sleep interrupted by the alarm, prodding me to go move the car before it got ticketed. After waking Jenn, we got ready and headed to what turned out to be a delicious bagel place on Mission. From there, we headed north towards the Golden Gate Bridge, which still retains some majesty, despite my having seen it probably close to a thousand times in various media. Surprisingly, felt a little shorter than I would have expected. We stopped at the vista point on the north side to take some shots of the city, but there was still too much morning haze clinging to it to make the shots worthwhile.

Got up into Marin County, and followed the twisty road up to Muir Woods. The fog/haze had burned off by this point, but the towering trees kept the air pleasantly cool, although a bit too cold for Jenn.

We followed the one mile trail, that wound through some gorgeous scenery. Kept a sharp lookout for Biker Scouts, but I think we passed undetected. It's certainly one thing to see a cross section of a redwood, and be told it's a wide, tall tree; and quite another to stand at the base and see them soaring towards the sun. It's also weird to see a grove of saplings dancing in the sun, and know that maybe only two of them will outstrip the others at some point, cutting them off from the nurturing rays, eventually dooming them to die and fade back into the soil, eventually feeding the roots of the victors.

On the way back, we stopped for a third round of In-n-Out, and consigned the El Feracito trip for tomorrow, and 86'd the dim sum until the next time.

Prepping now for a trip for Chinese, to Sam Lok. I don't know that I've ever had proper Sizchuan. If Bourdain's experience on No Reservations is any indication, maybe I should bring a mopping rag. Survivor's report to follow.

Pondering: Ship some clothes and knick-knacks home?

There is only one CVS in the city of San Francisco.

On my flight from BWI to Hartford, the Southwest stewardess dropped off two bags of peanuts. Without particularly paying attention, I opened the first bag, poured some into my hand, and threw them back - and almost gagged them back up. I looked in my hand, and there was salt. Now, I'm not talking like, "oh, yeah these peanuts were too salty". I'm talking, "I'm holding the remains of Carthage".

Too bad I had already finished my drink. I suppose that with the tens of millions of bags of peanuts, odds are that over-salting would take place, though not that often. But I'll still be eyeing my peanuts more carefully from now on.

Stephen Wright performing an evening of Jeffrey Wright sermons.