Save Paper from Extinction

On my walk this morning I saw a man delivering newspapers. It got me to thinking about how much things have changed. I can still remember when Milwaukee had a morning and evening paper. Who can forget the Journal's Green Sheet...home to the daily comics. Remember when paper routes were for young kids on their bikes? When was the last time you saw a kid delivering a newspaper?

As much as I appreciate technology and all the conveniences it brings, there's still a part of me that feels I'm being pulled into it with both heels firmly planted. For instance, I don't understand reading the paper on the computer. When my brother told me he wasn't buying books anymore because he's going to read them on Kindle...it made me a bit sad. Call me old-fashioned or maybe I'm just more tactile, but there's something about paper that I love.

It goes beyond newspapers, magazines, and books...it's greeting cards and letters as well. Believe me, I'm the first to raise a stink about the cost of cards (if you've received a card from me...this explains why they're homemade), but there's still an excitement about receiving mail that's not junk or a bill. While I have seen some pretty funny e-cards...it just isn't the same. Everytime I walk into a store that sells stationery or decorative paper, I feel like I'm drawn to it.

Now I know that using a bunch of paper also raises environmental issues. I'm no expert, but I would guess paper is easier to recycle than computers. Since most computers seem to be outdated or peter out in about three to four years, this can become a real problem.

So until the phrase, "Curling up with a good Kindle" catches on...I guess I'll just stick to all things paper.

What it Means to Win

This week my son went to Marquette University's basketball camp. The last day of camp they hold a tournament and have a bunch of different skills contests. Among over 200 campers, my son made it into the finals of the slam dunk contest. This meant that he would have to come up with two different dunks to do in front of the entire camp and all the families that come to watch in the Al McGuire Center on campus.

We were all so excited for him and we talked about it at dinner and again after showers. He worked out his first dunk with his dad. He had come up with a really creative routine and felt good about it. When it came time to go to bed, he didn't have a second dunk figured out so he had a hard time falling asleep. We decided when he got up in the morning he would go on the internet and do some research on his second dunk and that seemed to ease his mind so he could finally go to bed.

Successfully (by 6 a.m. I might add) he had figured out what he was going to do. As we were getting ready to leave a little later that morning, he told me that he wasn't feeling so good. We decided it was nerves and as soon as he got to camp and started playing again, it would help to settle him down.

So it came time for the dunk contest. I was there along with my daughter, my husband, my husband's parents, and a slew of other families who came to watch their children at camp. When it was my son's turn I was so nervous for him. He got up, put his mesh jersey over his face, had his coach turn him around in a circle over and over, he acted as if he was dizzy and weaved over to the group of youngest campers, regained his composure, high-fived a little guy, and then proceeded to do his dunk (shirt still over his face), and the ball went in! Everyone cheered and the judges gave him all 10's. I was proud and relieved.

In the end, it came down to a dunk-off between my son and another boy. He had to come up with a third dunk on the fly. Unfortunately, my son did not have the higher score.

The next morning my mother-in-law called me. They were still talking about their grandson, his crazy dunk, and how impressed they were with how well the camp was run. She asked me if he was disappointed he didn't win. In all honesty, I'm sure he was at first. Who doesn't want to win? But I think he got over it pretty quickly and when it was all said and done, he may have been just as relieved that it was finally over.

I think that my son has played sports enough to know that you win some and you lose some. He just really wants to play. It's what he loves to do. And in the end he knows that there's always another game.

So did my son get to play in the consolation game? No. Did he get to play in the championship game? No. Did he win any trophies or awards? No. Did my son go into the last day of camp and, despite his nerves, get up in front of a large crowd and do something a bit out of his comfort zone? Yes. Did he have fun and do a great job? Yes. Did he make his family proud? Yes. Will he go to camp again next year...you bet.

Baseball Chatter

There's a great scene in the movie Bull Durham where the catcher goes to the mound to talk to the pitcher. Pretty soon several of the players and a coach join in and the conversation, while centered on baseball, hits on some other issues.

I remember my sister-in-law telling me that some of the best talks she had with her son were while they were playing catch.

So there must be something about the rhythm and the pace of baseball that's conducive to discussion. I witnessed it first hand last night at my son's baseball game. It amazed me what a bunch of 9 and 10 year old boys were talking about while they were throwing the ball around during warm-ups.

They hit on all the current events (or should I say...deaths). They talked about Michael Jackson complete with the speculation that drugs were the cause of death. Steve McNair being shot to death. Even Billy Mays made the conversation...which as a sidenote I think is telling of this generation. A t.v. pitchman as celebrity.

I think my sister-in-law had the right idea. If you want to get into the head of a young man, get out your glove and ball and have a catch.

To Wit, Twitter

I will preface this blog by stating that I have never twittered or tweeted or whatever it's called. As a matter-of-fact, I just visited their website to make sure that what I believed I thought about twitter was true.

After watching the video "Twitter in Plain English" my question was answered. The premise behind twitter is that people really want to know what other people are doing...all the time. It's being sold as a way to stay connected between e-mails and blogs. I was not aware that my friends and acquaintances cared that I was making a cup of coffee, clipping my toenails, or reading the obituaries.

Call me old school, but if I'm going to divulge such personal things, I'm surely not going to do it in writing, and I'm definitely not going to put it out on the internet for anyone to read. I'll stick to long phone conversations, leisurely lunches, having dinner with a group of friends once a month, and chatting (in person) on the playground.

For any of you who enjoy twitter...right now I'm typing. Now I just blinked. I just uncrossed my leg. I just blinked again. Ooops, typo...I just hit the delete key. Staring blankly and thinking. Wondering if I'm offending anyone. Going to make a pot of coffee.

Don't you feel connected?