Race Day

Today is the running of the big race--the Indy 500. They say it is the single-day event with the largest attendance in the world. For some reason, the organizers of the event never reveal the actual attendance each year, but estimates of spectators range from 300,000 to 500,000. I've been once (see my blog of May 25th), and it was fun, but I think once is enough. I don't like to be around that many people and sitting out in the sun all day. I'd guess that over half of them have had too much to drink. So watching the race is only part of the fun; you get to watch lots of drunk people stumble around and see some who are passed out under the stands in the shade. I guess they wake up after the race and ask "What happened?" The race isn't televised live, here in Indianapolis, anyway. We like to watch the race in the evening, after it is all over, and you know who the winner is. It's still fun to watch. But you don't get the complete experience of going out to the track with the crowd. Since I'm not a big car racing fan, watching it on TV on tape delay is just fine.

Birthdays Past and Present

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm not going to say which one. I had a great time with my family and friends. We had a Mexican-style barbecue (carne asada)and birthday cake. My daughter Carolina gave me a pair of BB target pistols with plastic BBs. Some of us guys went out in the backyard for some target practice. The pistols were very accurate from about 10-15 feet. We soon discovered that the impact of the BBs was not that great, so we ended up running around (moving targets) the yard shooting each other in the butt. We had a blast.

When I was a kid your birthday was a highlight of the year. My mother would say that the birthday boy or girl was "King/Queen for the Day." I remember getting cool presents like a baseball glove, a bicycle, and a BB gun. My Mom would always say that the Birthday King/Queen could have anything to eat. My favorite was Campbell's Beef Soup and banana cream pie. Of course we'd always have a special birthday cake and ice cream, too. Our family tradition was that just before the Birthday King/Queen blew out the candles, someone would say "Don't spit on the cake!"

When you get a little older, birthdays are still fun, but in a different way. Birthdays on the "milestone" years (30,40,50) can be a little unnerving. It's more about spending time with family and friends, getting silly birthday cards and goofy presents like BB pistols, and not so much about getting lots of presents. I am already looking forward to my birthday next year!

One of my best birthday presents this year was a cool Hawaiian shirt from by best buddy Nick (see my May 11 blog, "Finding Nick"). Nick and I were best friends in high school and then went our separate ways and lost track of each other until last year when we connected via the Internet. Nick remembered that we bought each other matching shirts from the small department store where we worked for our 15th birthdays (Nick's is on May 20, mine on May 26). I have no memory of this, but it's too crazy to make up. So we decided to start a tradition and buy each other "matching" birthday shirts each year. I sent him a Black silk Hawaiian shirt last week and yesterday a similar green print Hawaiian shirt appeared via UPS. So I guess they are matching shirts-- same style, different colors.

The Indy 500

The big race is coming up this weekend. I am not a big car racing fan, but I have lived in Indiana for the past ten years so I have gotten somewhat interested over the years. I follow the Indy 500. Not interested in NASCAR. Two years ago my wife's sister and my brother-in-law Arnold were visiting from Mexico. Arnoldo loves cars and car racing. So I took him to Carb Day (Friday before the big race) and the Indy 500. It was a great experience for the both of us. I think it was a highlight in Arnoldo's life, being able to go back to Mexico and say he had actually seen the Indy 500. We sat on Turn One (the cheap seats), the area they used to call the "Snake Pit," because people went there to do everything except watch the race. We didn't see much of that, except excessive drinking, and people passed out under the stands. We saw a couple of crashes, but nobody got hurt. We had a great time and the next day we went to the Museum inside the Speedway. Arnold was like a little kid looking at all the cars. He knew a lot about the different kinds of cars and engines, too. We spent most of the day there. I would have spent about an hour in the museum if I had been alone. That might be the only Indy 500 I will ever see live. Since I'm not a racing fan, I think once is enough. But I'll bet Arnoldo would like to see another one.

Is Soccer Cool?

Soccer is a very cool game, in my opinion. Not just in my opinion, but in the opinion of people around the world; it is the most popular game in the world, everywhere except the USA that is. With the World Cup coming up next month, everyone around the world will be watching the games and rooting for their countries to win, including Americans who will be cheering on the US team.

But what happens after June? Americans will be back to the NBA, baseball, and getting ready for the NFL season, and soccer will be largely forgotten until the next World Cup in four years. I was listening to the host on an ESPN radio talk show about this very thing this morning. His theory is that in the USA soccer isn't perceived as "cool" and to be a successful sport in the US, a sport needs to be seen as "cool," like professional baseball, basketball, and football. We love "cool" players like Lebron, Payton Manning, and Alex Rodriguez. Quick: Name a "cool" professional U.S. soccer player. The host made the comment that in the US, when you mention soccer, most people think of "soccer moms" driving their daughters to games in mini-vans, eating orange slices, and everyone gets a trophy after the game. I have three daughters who played soccer, when they were young, so I know about this first hand. So, the host says, maybe soccer has an image problem in the US. It just isn't perceived as "cool." Until it is thought of as "cool" with "cool" soccer hero players, it really won't be considered a popular sport here at the professional level. This will take a while.

The iPad

I'm not a power user of technology, but I think I can spot a technology product of dubious value and a limited life expectancy. That's how the iPad strikes me. It seems that Apple produced this new digital tablet because "it could." On one of the late night talk shows recently, the host was joking that people would purchase the iPad just to see what it is. Not a strong product endorsement. My daughter's boyfriend knows a lot about technology. He always has an iPhone in his hand and is constantly checking for text messages from his buddies, e-mail, and searching the Internet to find answers for whatever we happen to be talking about. I asked him about the iPad. With a look of disdain, he said the iPad doesn't do anything more than his iPhone does and he couldn't stick it in his pocket like his iPhone (not that he ever does). I guess Apple has sold a lot of iPads, but something tells me they might not be around long. But I could very well be wrong, especially about technology.

Digital Books? No Thanks.

The demise of printed books has been predicted for many years. With recent advances in technology we have Ebooks, Kindles, PDFs, and so on. I think it will be quite a while until printed books go away because they have become part of our culture. Think of what you can do with a printed book that you can't with a digital book. Many people like to have a book shelf filled with books they have read or intend to read someday. I do. Curling up in bed or in front of a fire with your favorite book is not the same as curling up with a Kindle. It's a different experience. You can dog ear your favorite paperback book and stick it in your back pocket to read later. You can't do that with a Kindle. If you are lucky, you can go to an author signing, buy a book and have the author sign it. I have several signed copies of books that I cherish. Try that with an digital book. Most people would rather read a printed page than a computer screen. I think it will be a while, maybe never, before people stop buying and reading printed books. There will probably always be some die hards, like me, who don't want to give up their library of printed books. Maybe if most people start reading digital books, the prices of printed books will go up. I'll still buy them and put them on my bookshelf.

Hemingway and Spain

I just finished reading Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. An excellent novel, and I was especially interested because the book was set in Spain and described bullfights and fiestas. I lived in Mexico for five years where I taught Linguistics at a state university. My wife Elvira is from Mexico. I teach Spanish at a state community college. My wife's maternal grandmother, Elvira, was born in Spain and moved to Mexico, where she married Elvira's grandfather. Grandmother Elvira died young of tuberculosis, so Elvira never got to meet her. It is said that Elvira had flaming red hair. We have a black and white photo of her, so we can't really tell about the color of her hair. One of Elvira and my items on our "bucket list" is to travel to Spain, spend some time there travelling around and find some of her distant relatives. Her grandmother's maiden name was Franco, so I hope that we don't find that she was related to the fascist general and dictator of the same name. I also like to go trout fishing, so I would love to go fishing for trout in the mountains of northern Spain as Jake and his friends did in The Sun Also Rises. By the way, Jake sounds a lot like Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was a big fisherman and aficionado of bullfights.

I think the next Hemingway book I will read is A Farewell to Arms, a semi-autobiographical novel about an American ambulance driver in Italy during World War I.

Ernie the H.

I had a friend in college who loved Hemingway--he called him "Ernie the H." I think it was my friend's way of being witty and ironic, maybe like Hemingway. I've read a few Hemingway novels and short stories over the years and enjoyed them. I like the way he wrote. I am reading The Sun Also Rises right now. It's a nice novel, maybe Hemingway at his best. I teach Spanish and am interested in Spain, so I thought this would be a good one to read.

I also have been a book editor for quite a few years, so when I read books I notice the way they have been edited and proofread, the design, type of paper, and other details that other people don't pay attention to. Whenever I read a book I try to catch at least one error or typo. That's usually not too hard. It's a rare book that doesn't have at least one typo. The copy of the book that I am reading, which is published by Scribner and is in its 27th printing, has an incorrect expression in Spanish on page 132 and a typo on page 133. On page 132 is the Spanish question "Por Ustedes?" A girl delivering telegrams in a Spanish town where Jake Barnes and friends have gone on a fishing trip. She is asking if the telegram is "for you (plural)." It should be "Para ustedes?" The distinction between the use of por and para is tricky. They both mean "for" but in this case Hemingway used the wrong one. Now for the typo on page 133, the facing page. An Englishman named Harris says "It's remarkable place," omitting the article. I would attribute the error in Spanish to Hemingway and the missing article to the proofreader. These are just small details. The novel is great, very well written. Ernie the H. may not have spoken perfect Spanish, but he sure could write.

How Language Works

I'm reading a book called How Language Works by David Crystal. It is a really excellent, comprehensive look at what makes human language unique from other forms of communication, and, well, how it works. I studied Linguistics and have always had a fascination and love for language. I teach Spanish and English as a Second Language at the college level. When I tell people I studied Linguistics, they often ask, "What's that?" or "What do linguists do?" My standard response has always been that Linguistics is the study of what languages have in common (what it means to be a language) and how they differ. That usually seems to satisfy the curiosity, but sometimes it doesn't and people want more specifics. From now on, when someone asks me this question, I am going to suggest that they read How Language Works by David Crystal.

May, What a Great Month

May is a great month for at least three reasons. First of all, it is that month with nice warm days and cool nights before the hot summer hits in June. Second, May has a lot of nice holidays, beginning with Cinco de Mayo on May 5, followed by Mother's Day, and then wrapping up with Memorial Day. Something for everyone. Finally, May is a month for sports lovers and fans. We have the NBA playoffs, major league baseball, the Stanley Cup professional hockey championship, big professional golf tournaments like The Players over the past weekend, and I get to watch my daughter's rugby games. Her team came in fourth place in the Midwest Girls Rugby Tournament with teams from Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The Kentucky Derby started off the month with the running of the ponies, and the month ends with the most famous car race, the Indy 500, right here in Indianapolis. We had the Indy Mini-marathon over the past weekend, one of the biggest mini-marathons in the world, with over 35,000 participants. So May is really a big month for sports fans, with all major sports represented except NFL football. But the real football, or soccer, will be here in June with the World Cup Soccer Championship. Is there another month that has so much to offer as May?

Goodbye Mittens: You Were a Good Kitty

We had a hard day today. Our cat Mittens, who we have had since she was a kitten 11 years ago, died today. A few weeks ago she started getting sick. We took her to the vet and found out that she had an autoimmune disorder with no cure. Mittens had been getting sicker every day, until she stopped eating and drinking this week. She wasn't strong enough to move. My wife and daughters said goodbye to Mittens today. There were plenty of tears. I took Mittens to the vet this afternoon to have her put to sleep. As I was waiting in the vet's office, Mittens died. She just twitched a couple of times and stopped breathing. It didn't seem like she was in pain. I usually don't cry, I guess because real men aren't supposed to cry, especially about pets. But I did shed a few tears.

Our family was lucky to have Mittens. She was lucky to have us. She had a good life. She was a good cat. We're sure she is now in that place where all good cats go, where there are lots of cats to play with and plenty of cat nip. So long, Mittens, wherever you are. You were a good kitty.

Is Baseball Dying?

It seems that interest in baseball is slowing declining over the years. I think there are several reasons for this decline. I remember in the 1950s and 1960s all the kids like me loved to watch and play baseball and collect and trade baseball cards of famous players. We knew all about players like Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris. I don't see many kids doing that anymore. Baseball is a slow game, and lacks the action and speed of basketball, footbal, and soccer. Our lives have been speeded up by technology with the Internet, cell phones, Twitter, and so on. We want everything fast. Fast food and fast sports. Baseball is not a fast game. I was listening to a radio sports talk show today and a writer for ESPN was talking about how over the years baseball is becoming slower, with more pitches, more walks, and fewer hits. Most people are not patient enough anymore to sit and watch a baseball game. There is action, but between the action the players stand around a lot. We want action and excitement. That is not what baseball is about. I think in the future, as action-oriented games like football, soccer, basketball, and hockey become more popular, baseball will slowly fade into the past as a game of the 1900s. That would be a shame, but it looks like that is exactly what is happening. A slow death for a nice, slow sport.

My Brother Bruce

My older brother Bruce lives in Arizona. He owns a trading post on the Navajo Indian Reservation and recently was appointed a county judge. He is an interesting person and has lived an interesting life. I have two brothers (Bruce and Harold) and two sisters (Gail and Debbie). I love all of them, but the one I feel closest to is Bruce. This is because when my father died when I was 15 years old, Bruce, who is ten years older than me, took over as like a father substitute. He spent time with me, took me fishing, hunting, and camping and even taught me how to drink a beer. He actually seems like more of a father to me than my own father. I love Bruce in a special way and stay in touch with him better than I do with my other siblings, although I love them too, of course.

One of the things that I love about Bruce is that he is open minded and can see both sides of just about any issue. I'm sure that makes him a good judge. When I called him last week to ask what he thought about the new Arizona immigration law, he paused and said that he could see both sides, and why people have strong feelings on both sides of the issue. That's just about what I figured he would say, and one reason I love him so much, Bruce my brother/father.

NBA and the World Cup

This is a great time to be an NBA fan. You get to see some really great games in the playoffs. It looks like the two strongest teams this year are the Lakers and the Cavaliers. I don't like the Lakers. They seem arrogant and cocky. If the championship game ends up being Lakers and Cavaliers, I hope LeBron and the Cavaliers win. But I wouldn't bet against the Lakers, either.

And just around the corner, in June, is the beginning of the soccer World Cup. I'm glad that soccer is becoming more popular in the U.S. and more people are following the games. I'd like for the U.S. to do well this year in the World Cup, but I wouldn't bet on it when they have to play teams like Italy and Brazil. They are not at that level yet.

I Never Promised You a Tomato Garden

I am not a gardener. I know many people who love to garden, take care of their lawns, plant flowers, and so on. These people include my neighbors on both sides. I am not one of them. The house my wife and I purchased ten years ago was owned by a landscape architect. The lawn, shrubs, trees, and flower gardens were immaculate when we moved it. They are not anymore. My wife and I simply don't have the time or interest to keep up all the maintenance involved in having a beautiful lawn and flower gardens. I like to cut the grass about every three weeks. My neighbors tell me the landscape architect cut the grass every three days.

We have a nice plot for a vegetable garden, but we've never found the time to plant and cultivate a garden. I take that back. A few years ago, we did plant a tomato bush out there and harvested some nice tomatoes in July and August. Right now the area could be best described as a weed garden. Some of the weeds have pretty flowers. So I guess we could call it a natural flower garden. Why not?

This summer my wife and I have made a goal to get the lawn in shape, fight back the weeds, trim the shrubs, and have a nice little vegetable garden. The mere thought of doing all this in the hot, humid Indiana summer makes me feel exhausted and sweaty. By August we'll know if we have been able to keep with it and reach our goal. I wouldn't bet on it though.

Rap Music?

I don't like rap. Yes, rap, not rap music, because rap has very little musical content or musicality, in my opinion. But my real issue with rap is not whether or not it is music, but the message and content of its lyrics. Let's get the music part out of the way. It all sounds about the same to me. I know that's what my parents said about The Beatles, but they were wrong. All Beatles songs do not sound alike; in fact, The Beatles' music evolved and changed a lot over a mere six years, in very creative ways, in my opinion.

Now for the "lyrics" of rap, the words and the messages. The rap that I have listened to (I have daughters 22, 20, and 17...need I say more?) seems to have four main, interrelated themes; sex, money, drugs, and violence. References to women are generally degrading; women (shorties) are sex objects or toys. I'll spare you some of the words used to get this message across. Money and what it can buy ("bling") seems always to be referred to as a good thing, the more the better, to buy more "bling," more sex from shorties, and more drugs. Sex, money and drugs often lead to the final theme, violence. Rap lyrics often involve guns, killing and drugs. How many rappers have been killed violently with guns?

You might be thinking I'm just a racist or a prude, and I don't like rappers because they are generally African Americans. Not so fast. I'm a big fan of the Blues, which had its beginnings about a hundred years ago in the South with African American Blues men like Robert Johnson, Son House, and Blind Melon Jefferson. Their guitar playing techniques were unique and skilled, and the lyrics were sometimes "salty" and playful, with metaphors about "squeezing lemons" and "jelly rolls." Nothing so explicit and raw as rap lyrics. The message of the Blues was mostly about overcoming hard times and the living conditions imposed by White Southerners. The Blues later migrated to Memphis and Chicago with Blues players like Muddy Waters and B.B. King. Then came Rock and Roll beginning in the 50s, which basically grew out of the Blues. White guys like Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Led Zeppelin. Many of the great Rock songs are just remakes of the origninal Blues songs. As Muddy Waters said, "Blues had a baby and they named it Rock and Roll."

I like the Blues. I like Rock and Roll. I even like Rock and Roll that incorporates a kind of rap, like the music of Linkin Park. I like just about every kind of music I've ever listened to, except "mush" like the music of Lawrence Welk (sorry Mom) and, well, rap. That is, if you call rap music.