*I am on Facebook (pause at lap top; dodge thrown vegetables; OK; resume typing). I have to be; I have three teenagers (Ignorance is not bliss). The other day, I got a “friend request” from an 88-year-old. I also know a 3-year-old whose parents set up a Facebook page for him. Luddites are in retreat;
*Scarborough used to have some world-class springtime pot holes. No more. One of the byproducts of living in a well-to-do suburb is “streets you can eat off,” as my late mother used to say;
*Five or six years ago, there was a story in the newspaper about one of those hockey dads in Massachusetts chasing some referee into the parking lot at a rink and firing shots over a game his son lost. I said, woah! I asked the local Scarborough soccer club if we could post signs saying no guns at youth soccer practices, games or other events (team BBQ, etc.). The president said no. The reason: “It wouldn’t be enforceable, so there would be no purpose.” Huh? You mean like speed limit signs on roads?
*First Lady Michelle Obama, not unlike her husband, is a lightning rod for criticism. But even for advocating that little kids get off the couch and exercise? And limit their intake of Pudding Pops? Really? I was nai?ve. The problem–adults’ first reaction to this stuff is: “Are you criticizing my parenting skills?” If the answer is yes, they hit Ignore.
*The Eagles are performing a concert July 19 in Mansfield, Mass. Concert goers will get a chance to vote for their three favorite Eagles songs. A national radio contest now offers two free tickets to a later Eagles concert if you can predict the winners. Here they are:
1. “Lyin’ Eyes;”
2. “Desperado;”
3. “Tequila Sunrise.”
*1940s L.A. detective/mystery writer Raymond Chandler described people upon entering rooms better than anyone. A woman slinks into a private eye’s office in “The High Window”: “A wide, cool go-to-hell mouth, with very kissable lips….The face looked too wise and too guarded…Too many passes had been made at it, and it had grown a little too smart dodging them.” A narrative skill not developed by Tweeting, I’m guessing.
*The Boston Marathon tragedy turned into a Request for Bids to the American spirit. Thousands of inspiring applicants. Joan Benoit Samuelson and her compatriots will probably INCREASE the number of runners in 2014. Stunning (Note in 2011, she ran Boston, had a tough day, and said she would return “when I can once again run with reckless abandon.” I ran it also in 2011. I, too, had a tough day. I said I would return if I could do it in a Hertz rental. Joan did return this year, and ran well. I watched the race on my lap top in a comfortable office chair. $499. Lazy-Boy. See Bobby Philbrick for the non-racer’s discount).
*Quote of the day
“If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t”
Scarborough Little League coach Marc Corb gave that poem on little index cards to boys in l969.
*Speaking of Little League, adolescent boys like to do, what they can do well.
Current Little League President Ron Krouskup, and VP for Coaching Steve Cascio understand that. And they know the way to make sure kids get better each year (and enjoy the game more) is to teach them good skills.
Coming soon the annual Little League Kick Off Day Skills Clinic. High school coach, players run a morning-long clinic for boys on Opening Day. Demonstrations on how to catch, throw, hit, run.
It is not having kids’ names on the back of shirts; or embroidered hats; or PA systems announcing players (with their favorite song!) that is the secret. Regular skills clincs are. These two guys are really on it.
*Facebook update a lady posted a photo of her kid with blueberry pie smeared all over his face. The photo got 41 “likes,” (Dinosaur translation this is the equivalent of people saying “Awright!”).
Next day, a guy posted about a trip and he and 10 others took up Mt. Washington in the snow. Four likes. Any questions?
*By the time you read this, Scarborough High School may have hired a new principal. Suggestion require the new person to hold regular office hours once a week is fine. 60 minutes is enough. This will help the person remain a mature adult, and an accessible person. No more bunkers. No more “bureaucrat-speak.” People do not have to hold “communication forums” to show they can communicate. As the Nike ads say: “Just do it.”
*Until next time. Tweet.
Dan Warren lives in Scarborough. He can be reached at jonesandwarren@gmail.com.
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