in

I was one of those 90's Seattle kids who spent the $25 on the '89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. I bought Beckett magazines monthly thinking that I had invested in the sports card trading equivalent of a mid-80's Microsoft share. I watched the card value spike up to $100 by 1994. What a return.

And what a return The Kid, Ken Griffey Jr. made to Seattle this weekend. Seattlites packed Safeco Field aka "The House That Griffey Built" for the Griffey's homecoming and welcomed him with continuous standing ovations throughout the Reds series. Griffey jerseys -- both Mariners and Reds varieties -- sold out Ichiro jerseys 20-1.

The Mariners orchestrated a pregame ceremony before Friday's game (see picture) and Griffey gave Seattlites the treat of watching his signature swing hit two balls out of the park, passing Mark McGuire's homerun count, in a Mariners' win on Sunday.

The weekend was nostalgically pleasant, and appropriately ignorant of the rather sour feelings this city had when its first sports superstar departed after his 11-year career in Seattle.

No need for hard feelings, afterall, The Kid is no longer. His post-Mariners career has been below average and cursed by injuries -- torn left hamstring, torn right knee tendon (twice), torn right hamstring (twice), dislocated right shoulder, torn right ankle tendon, dislocated toe.

No, this was a time to celebrate how Ken Griffey Jr. made going to Mariners game fun and put this city on the baseball map.

in

On the eve of the solstice I wrote this...

Coming with a singular purpose, to get rid of the curses
That afflict us
We live what you only see in pictures
The biggest hypocrites usually quote the most scriptures

in

Add this to the reasons why I love being Catholic...

Because moral confusion so often is to blame for car accidents, traffic and road rage, the Vatican has released "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road," a document that details how people can exhibit Christian virtues while driving, the AP reports today.

The document advises against using automobiles for "occasions of sin," such as drinking and driving, making dangerous passing maneuvers, speeding, or picking up prostitutes, and suggests reciting the rosary en route, since its "rhythm and gentle repetition does not distract the driver's attention."

And what Vatican report would be complete without Ten Commandments to follow? (This is seriously included in the document).

  1. You shall not kill.
  2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
  3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
  4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
  5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
  6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
  7. Support the families of accident victims.
  8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
  9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
  10. Feel responsible toward others.

Now go in peace, brothers and sisters, to drive and serve The Lord.

in

Without divulging the details, I want to let you all know that my online dating adventure is so far successful, but really, did you expect anything less from me?

Seeing as this blog comes up at the top of the list when you Google my name, and my contact Yahoo email address for The Stranger contains my entire name, I won't be sharing much here.

This is the fork in the road. If you speak to me regularly outside this blog, you'll learn what's happening. If you are some distant acquaintance or regular stalker or are fulfilling some voyeuristic fetish, you're out of luck. But thanks for reading the blog anyway.