Once the seventh month of the year, the ninth month is the gateway drug to cooler weather.

Seventy-five percent of this year is a memory, and those memories have been filed with all the others in our lives from years past. Hopefully you have had the opportunity (this year) to make some of those memories meaningful. When I look back on all that has happened so far in 2024, I remember the “big” moments, like family trips and birthday celebrations. Of course, those memories resonate because they usually arrive with a lot of hype. They’ve been sitting on the calendar, counted down with anticipation. The bulk of the memories we create are of the day-to-day things. My daily life is about as domesticated as it gets, but I enjoy doing them. Things like picking up our son from school every day; at work, chatting with coworkers and students; playing chess and King of Tokyo with our daughter; watching a show or movie and having a laugh with my wife; the few moments of the day when my cat isn’t hyped and acting foolish and being a genuine buddy.

We may take these day-to-day moments for granted and hold them with lower esteem than the memories we make on the family trip or the big family gathering. Yeah, those moments are no doubt special, too, because they don’t happen as often. I think when we are fortunate to experience something like that, we put a lot of stock in making sure it’s the “memory of a lifetime,” and that might make expectations for the occasion difficult to meet. Instead, remember that nothing is trivial. Every moment alive that you share with someone you love and who loves you is a special memory. They are fleeting like the months in a year.

11

Speaking of fleeting moments, our daughter turned eleven a few days ago on the 26th. We celebrated the following Saturday with friends and family, a little Dave & Buster’s and some cake and gifts back at home. Grammy Doris flew down from Washington to celebrate with us. Papa Lolo came through, too. A couple of our neighbors stopped by. Our daughter hung out with some friends. It was a perfect celebration.

I remember the night she was born. Nothing went as planned. My wife had to have an emergency C-section. We are still a week and some change from her due date, and the baby hadn’t turned yet and got battle ready for her birth. When my wife’s water broke at around 9:45pm on Thursday, September 26th, 2013, we weren’t in a “wait and see” position. We needed to bounce to the hospital immediately. It was a short trip down the street, no worries there. My wife already had a bag packed, and we had our exit procedure down because we were overprepared first-timers.

We arrived at the hospital at around 10:15pm, and we were parents by sometime after one in the morning. It happened quickly. Eleven years later also happened quickly, but baby girl has grown up to be one of the best damn things I’ve ever been part of. She’s always bringing me a smile and a hug. She’s positive, positively smart, and deifinitely funny. A chip off the old block. The best of both her parents. I cherish all of the big memories we’ve made together over these years, and I look forward to the many more I hope we get to make.

Shotani

I love the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dodger fans have been spoiled over the last decade plus with watching great teams play at Chavez Ravine season after season. Sure, we wish we had at least one more World Series from the three the Dodgers have been in during this run (2017 still hurts like a motherfucker), but any other franchise outside of the Bronx would be thrilled to have the success the LAD have had. 11 division titles in 12 years, a few pennants, and a title. Not bad.

This season has been on another level because of Shohei Ohtani. There’s no need for me to list his stats and accomplishments here and now. He did finish the season with 54 home runs, 59 stolen bases, and 130 RBIs. Google his other 2024 regular season accomplishments if you’re curious. He was an absolute beast.

With all that it is not a surprise that this dude has become one of if not the greatest Dodger in franchise history. He captured the hearts of Dodger fans from the rip and went on to prove that he was in fact that dude, becoming the first member of the 50/50 Club. He blew expectations away, and he hasn’t even had a chance to pitch yet. We’ll see what playoff Ohtani looks like, but Angels fans are going to endure several more years of pain watching their former star cement himself as the greatest MLB player in baseball history. Damn. I almost feel sorry for them.

Saturday Night Special

I started making 5-minute videos on YouTube. It ain’t much, but it’s an honest few minutes of “work”. Here’s the latest video.