Is Time Square really that great?

I'm really not as cynical as I am going to come across and I really don't have anything at all against a good party of anyone who wants to have a good party, but I know I'm not the only one who is sick of New Years Eve celebrations. I mean come on, do we really need three networks, plus cable, carrying different broadcasts of one million people crammed into Times Square with no bathrooms, just to see the ball drop? I just don't get it. Perhaps you'll ask if I've been to Times Square for this event and the answer is no, but I was living in London for one New Years and that was crazy enough... or so I'm told. Conversely, I was in Zurich for New Years one year and I don't think anyone even knew or if they did, they sure as hell weren't playing concerts on every street corner because they needed a new calendar.
My point is only that people make way too much out of a holiday that really has not substance. While almost all Americans have New Years' Day off, nearly half have to work on Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, which is also a federal holiday. What is wrong with this picture? Just my random thoughts for the evening. Feel free to disagree!

Now how do you hold the tennis racket?

The rain held off just long enough for Jules and me to hit the tennis courts at Deering Oaks for the third time in the past couple of weeks. Perhaps this doesn’t seem significant to anyone reading this, but tennis is a game of pride. It’s also a game that can really only be played well with lots of practice. I know some may disagree, but tennis is not like riding a bike. You can’t just get back on the court and start hitting inside-out forehands and the like. Hell, if it there that east, we’d have played everyday.
As I sit here in front of the computer screen, I have to chuckle a little as I picture one of my forehands sailing into the fence about 10 feet behind the baseline on the other side of the court. Meanwhile, Jules takes winds up for a forehand, steps into the ball, swings, and then looks around everywhere… moments later she notices that the ball is stuck in the V of her racket. Why, because that’s what happens when you haven’t play in years. Quite frankly, it’s ugly, especially when we each talk about how we were successful (minimally in my case) tennis players at earlier ages.
And yet the lack of consistency or grace on the court has been enough to detract either of us. Now and again Jules would crush a cross-court forehand winner that caught me in stride. Likewise, I too, had a few well-placed backhands, which eluded her reach. I think that now we’ve gotten over the fact we aren’t going to win anymore tournaments (at least not for a while…) or get lots of free gear and the like, we can play for the enjoyment and have found a common exercise that for so long was so much a part of our lives.
Of course there is that competitive spirit that burns inside each of us. And although we’ve yet to record a point, I find it hard to believe that will last too long.