(Sunday Paper, Year IV, Issue 34)

I hope you’ll indulge me some baseball talk today…

…although this really isn’t about baseball in the grand scheme of things.

It’s about a place that I love.

That place, for me, happens to center around baseball.

And I hope that for you, reading about that place, instead of turning you off if you’re not a baseball fan, makes you think of your own happy place.

Because for me, I got to go to one of my favorite places this weekend.

I guess growing up I took it for granted - being so close to Shea Stadium and being able to go to Mets games as often as we usually wished. (Ticket availability was often not a problem.)

Shea was nothing special to look at, but it was a place that brought me great enjoyment.

And then ten years ago the Mets moved into Citi Field, a place that brings me great enjoyment and also happens to be something special to look at.

I don’t get there as often as I wish I could, but the past few years we’ve made an effort to go at least once a year as a family.

And I like that my daughters like it as much as I do.

This year I didn’t think we were going to make it.

Then the Mets started playing really well…and we were coming down this weekend anyway for a wedding…so we figured what’s one more night?

And Friday night I got to bring my family to Citi Field again, and I got to walk around the park and be amidst a bunch of people who love the Mets just like I do…and even though the Mets lost (not an uncommon occurrence when I make it down to Citi Field, if I stop and think about it), it was an exciting game and I had a fun Friday night.

The game went 14 innings, so it was an extra tough loss…

…but that also meant I got to spend a little extra time with some of my favorite people at one of my favorite places in the world.

Writing

*Work has been busy, and now that I think of it the busiest work has been the stuff that I do that is least connected to writing. I need to fix that. But - I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately - the increase in freelancing over the past five years I’ve been doing this has been incredible.

Comedy

*Nothing much happening lately but l do have some dates at The Comedy Studio coming up end of August into the middle of September. But as you probably noticed I went with the Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’ banner above in this week’s Sunday Paper - that’s because we’re a mere few weeks away from the September show, and tickets are on sale. You can get them at this link.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

*Most ballparks are my happy place, if I’m being honest…Citi Field is just my favorite. But this week I went to another favorite park - Fenway - with the girls. We couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity to go Thursday afternoon to what was the conclusion of a suspended game with the Royals - it had been suspended on August 7, tied at 4, in the top of the 10th inning. So they made up the remainder of the game on Thursday - a rare thing, so far removed from the original game, for you non-baseball fans - and it was just $5 for adults and kids got in free. (Since the game could be over in an inning or it could continue for hours.) It was just too unique of a thing to pass up, so we went. It unfolded exactly as I hoped - a quick 3 out top of the 10th, and then the Red Sox won it with one out in the bottom half. We parked on the street and we were going to be out of there within two hours no matter what unfolded. I was glad it was just 12 minutes of baseball…(we spent probably twice that much time waiting for our $1 hot dogs.)…and we were back at the car way before the time was up.

Notes On Dog Ownership

*There are some days where I spend the majority of my time just standing around waiting for the dog to poo.

Notes

*I took action this week, friends: after I told you about my unhealthy behavior all summer I finally made some time to fit in some exercise this week and I feel great about it. My doctor always talks about weight being an input problem - diet - not something that can necessarily be managed through exercise. But I really feel a lot better when I do get out for my walks or runs, so I’ve been doing that. I started out by just walking but I mixed in more and more runs as the week went on. And to show my dedication, on Wednesday I thought there was a window of time where I could squeeze the run in between rain storms…but I was wrong. And it rained on me the whole time. And I just kept going. I still had ice cream and terrible ballpark food (great ballpark food, but terrible for me) , but I felt better about it because of my exercising this week.

*I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of myself running in the rain but found that two things are true: 1) Kathy is correct when she tells me my hair doesn’t look any different dry or soaking wet, and 2) I should never take a picture of myself when I’m running. I never look particularly good.

*And I should add, I’m not sure I’ll get back in running condition for any half-marathons…but you never know. We are approaching my peak running weather season.

*It’s worth noting…I haven’t weighed myself in forever. (Perhaps since ‘365 New Things In 2013’, when one of the ‘New Things’ was to weigh myself every day.) I just have a general idea of when I feel healthy and when I don’t…so I’m sure I put on a few pounds but I don’t know how many. And I am just as sure that some of them are now coming off.

*We went to the Mets game Friday night because we were going to be in New York on Saturday for a wedding - my cousin got married. Always love a good wedding.

*As you can probably tell, I’m figuring out a good balance of time between exercise and work…just in time for the girls to start school and that schedule to be turned on its head. So we’ll see.

*Like on Facebook, Follow on Twitter. You know the deal. I’ll try to do better with content.

*Below is the poster for the rest of the calendar year at Exhibit ‘A’, if you’re inclined to check out a show.