yankees.27

Hideki 2 + 2+2

Andy Pettite

♥M.A.R.I.A.N.O.♥

It's Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez

Jeter, Damon, Posada (and the rest)

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Time to bask in the glow

the apple needs to fall far from the tree

Helen: I can't believe you don't want to go to your own son's graduation.
Bob: It's not a graduation. He is moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade.
Helen: It's a ceremony!
Bob: It's psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional...

Overachiever parents. What's with that? I swear, if I hear one more mom or dad say "Good job!" because their little angel has taken a step, slid down a slide, managed to get most of it in the toilet, etc., etc., I'm going to scream. Being a kid is not a job, and being a parent shouldn't automatically embrace a sports mentality. But it seems to, these days. How far away is this sort of praise from Jeter slapping A-Rod on the butt or giving him a high-five after he drives in a homer? Not far. That is appropriate behavior at Yankee Stadium. At the public restroom in Target, not so much.

Why should everything a kid does be congratulated? Simple day-to-day tasks that we all have to master in our formative years are being rewarded, illustrated in the fantastic scene (dialogue above) from The Incredibles, where the "super" dad sums it up.

Of course all parents want to cheer their kids on. But the pushy stage-mother is just a prescription for heavy-duty psych bills in your child's future. Let's face it, they're going to have plenty to resent you for anyway, but did the fact that you were so busy ferrying them to soccer practice and ballet class and violin lessons and god-knows-what-else really benefit them in the long run? What about just letting them have a childhood, where they play and have fun?

How much of this over-booking is the desire to expose your kids to all the great stuff that's out there or simply mimicking our own crazy schedules? Or trying to live out your 'deprived" childhood through your kid?

It's a precarious balance. Hopefully the kids won't suffer for it. Because we don't really need any more Mileys/Britneys/Lindseys.

And if everything a kid does is so darn good, how do we gauge real excellence?

Dash: You always say 'Do your best', but you don't really mean it. Why can't I do the best that I can do?
Helen: Right now, honey, the world just wants us to fit in, and to fit in, we gotta be like everyone else.
Dash: But Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of, our powers made us special.
Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
Dash: [muttering] Which is another way of saying no one is.

This ain't no Mudd Club, no CBGB, I ain't got time for that now...

Contrary to popular opinion, there is life outside of the Big Apple. But man oh man, that city is still and will ever be, a part of me. I tried to stay away, I really did, but the pull was too great. And what did I find when I returned? Basically the same city, with a shiny digital veneer, but one I could still navigate, fiercely (both Project Runway's and the Webster's version of the word).

I was a lot younger when I first lived there. This was pre A-Rod Yankees, people. CBGB's was still open for business, and it had probably the most terrifying restroom I'd ever seen. Now NYC is kid-friendly to the extreme. Every store is a theme park, with large ferris wheels and costumed characters inside, waiting, and ready to give you an "experience."

Times Square both repels and fascinates me. What used to be a sleazy area to try to walk through as swiftly as possible on your way to somewhere else is now the ultimate tourist destination. The Blade Runner-ification of New York is simply amazing. Everywhere you look there is a digital screen, talking and pulsing at you. And as New York leads the way, I'm sure the rest of the country will follow suit. D.C. already has a mini-me version in its Chinatown Verizon Center.

I love technology. I'm no Luddite. But there is something about the talking cabs, talking subway posters, talking, talking, talking, everywhere that freaks me out. Do we really need all this stimulation? How about a little quiet space? There is actually some terrific architecture to look at too, some of the greatest art in its museums, a cool walk through Central Park...OK, excuse me while I check how long the line for the Iphone is...