Orange's and banana's

Friday 9/4/26

Haymarket: Where nouns are pluralized on signs with apostrophes (orange's) and men in their sixties address each other as "kid." But: got a large bunch of green bananas there today for $1. Can't do better than that, can you? You want to eat bananas before they ripen. They're better for you then. I'm not messing with you. Look it up. Trying to eat a banana a day for my heart.

Something about the first sentence of "Fitty" was figured out today while I was walking to Haymarket. I'll have the words in front of me in my mind. Once I have them, they're always there. Clear as if they were on the page. The last words of dead Thomas in "Dead Thomas" were written when I was actually at Haymarket, buying produce from a vendor.

The plan is to work hard this weekend and for everything I do--down to the minute--to be something that in theory anyway contributes to where I'm trying to get. I only have "in theory" at this point. That can encompass a lot of things. But not a wasted minute is what I mean. Feel good about every minute.

The humidity that has seemingly lasted for months refuses to abate. Dew point around seventy degrees yesterday and today. The by-now exceedingly familiar heaviness while running stairs in the Bunker Hill Monument. Enough already. Can we be done with this? At least the temperature has fallen back some. You sweat a lot and feel lethargic, but you don't feel as hot. I guess that doesn't make much sense with the science of it. Anyway, that's been my experience.

I'm making a list of books, stories, films, TV shows, radio shows, and podcasts I want to partake of this autumn. Getting some fall teas as well.

Podcasts seldomly interest me. Usually I find them predictable and boring. That people go on and on about them--or their "picks"--like they do simply reinforces my belief that few people get out very much intellectually, which I extend to matters of entertainment (the best things are a blend of entertainment and art; many in today's world assume these are mutually exclusive concepts, and I understand, to a degree, why they do, because there's almost nothing that's both, so unless people are going to explore the past, which they're loath to do, they're going to remain ignorant as to possibilities) with reading, listening, watching.

I don't think they know any better because they've been exposed to so little of true quality. Then they just echo each other. I think people partake of what they partake of because of said echoing, not because they truly like it. They may believe they do, but that isn't necessarily the same thing. There can be exceptions.

Shared a hockey film from 1964 to a few people. That's what I do. Sent a link to some people the other day for a free download of a Deutsche Grammophon set of the complete Chopin. I could and should do an entry in this journal about the ten best hockey films.

Will check in and see how my nephew and nieces' first full week of school went.

These articles about how important it is to walk pop up quite often for me. I give some of them a quick look and sometimes send them on to my mom. It frustrates me what she doesn't do. She has the time. But she won't so much as take a walk around her neighborhood for twenty minutes. If you don't walk, you're more prone to falling during that part of life when falls can be exceedingly dangerous.

It's more than that, though. When you don't exercise, you feel worse. I'm barely able to make it from one day to the next. But if I didn't exercise, I would have been dead more than ten years ago. That inactivity makes for a vise pushing down on you. Everything is effected. Your physical state, mental state, how you feel about yourself.

As I've said, it's a truism of our world that people now lack the ability to be inspired. They're so committed to wallowing rather than leaping up or throwing themselves forward. Personally, if I knew someone who did the things I do, in the circumstances in which I do them, and that was a person I spoke to, it'd be impossible for me not to do something different in my life as a result, in multiple parts of my life. I'd feel too guilty and pathetic otherwise. Here's this guy doing this and with his life being what it is, and I can't even...

Red Sox got a needed win last night after dropping six of eight. Thought they might have paid the price for lifting Jake Bennett after six innings and a mere 68 pitches (52 for strikes), but they got away with it and then survived a bad outing from Aroldis Chapman. Adley Rutschman with one of the better games of his career.

Roman Anthony's ninth inning homer, which seemed innocuous enough at the time, ended up being the difference. He'd had a tough night up until then, but the homer turned his night around. He's been excellent thus far in his return. I think this team is in some trouble. Chad Tracy is always talking now about needing guys to "eat" innings, and then he lifts Bennett when he does. Erik Miller pitched the seventh and was lucky to wiggle out of it without surrendering a run after walking two guys.

First big upset of the college football season last night with UMass destroying Rutgers. Obviously Rutgers isn't a big-time program, but UMass never beats what used to be called DI schools and are now called whatever they're called. Power Four conference schools. BC plays Rutgers in their first home game on 9/11. Last night's result wasn't great for BC. They either lose to a team that lost to UMass or they merely beat a team that lost to UMass. Who knows what will happen first tomorrow with their opener in Cincinnati. I hear it's supposed to be extremely hot.

Rutgers' quarterback was last year's BC quarterback, who I thought could have had a good year if he stayed with BC and made a mistake leaving, but looks like I would have been wrong on that first part judging by his play in this one. That was one of your uglier losses. Rutgers looked like they had decided not to have any practices before showing up to play a game. UMass was a 29-point underdog and they smoked them. The game wasn't even as close as the score.