A Moment of Silence

Tim Russert died today at the age of 58. Moderator of my favorite show, Meet the Press, he was my hero. He was the voice of impartiality in politics. A democrat (of course), one could never tell his personal beliefs during his interviews. He interrogated each guest equally as vociferously, regardless of their party. And that is how he was able to get to the true essence of a politician, any politician, in a way that the common man could understand. Meet the Press will never be the same. Politics will never be the same. I will never be the same. My reaction is completely ridiculous given that I don't know this man. But I can't stop crying anyway. So, a moment of silence, even for those of you who are not enthralled with politics, for a man of the highest quality.

Baseball or hockey? You decide

Nine-year old baseball is a rough sport, and not just for the players. The picture on the left is the result of a very fast ball striking this young man in the eye. At the time of this picture, three days after the incident, he was unable to open his eye. Strangely, he still wants to play baseball.

The picture on the right is the bruise that I am currently sporting on my upper abdomen as a result of a first-baseman not catching the ball, and allowing it to hurl toward me like a bullet. Why, you ask, was I not behind the backstop with the rest of the parents? Because I chose to risk life and limb in order to take very exciting action photos of the children. I may have to rethink where I am going to stand.