Softball and The Wire: My Summer Plan.

I had my first official softball practice the other day and three things became very clear to me:

1) I can’t run anymore.
2) I’ve still got a bum shoulder.
3) I need to stop swearing.

We started out by jogging two laps around the park and midway through I was wheezing and felt an incredible cold feeling in my lungs. Kevin can attest to my inability to run as he showed me up when we ran to the bus stop a month ago. Not only did I stop half way, but I stopped to throw up what I had for dinner, complete with lumps of food and bits of my dignity.

Anyway, while I was chasing down a grounder in practice I tried throwing it to the shortstop but didn’t get a good enough grip on the seams. The ball slipped out of my hand and I said “shit!” out loud, which turns out to be the wrong thing to say in a Christian Softball practice. I got a bit of a talking to. As it turns out, my pottymouth can get me into oodles of trouble with the league so I’m gonna need to cut down on my cursing. It’s easy to cut down swearing when you’re talking, but, in moments like this, it becomes reflex.

To make matters worse I started watch The Wire recently. Shows like that can only increase my vocabulary for all the wrong reasons. Philip recommended the show to me way back but I was too busy watching The Sopranos and LOST to pick up a new show. Now that I’ve lost my faith in LOST, I figured I could pick up a new show and put the other one on the back burner for now. Best. Decision. Ever. I just finished Season 1 and it has changed my life. The way it delves into issues within the police force, the bureaucracy that hampers justice, and the complexity of criminal organizations, it’s about as realistic a show as I’ve ever watched. The thing is, what makes it awesome, is that it doesn’t tie things together so neatly. I’ve grown to hate the self-contained episodes in CSI because their portrayal of cases and justice is so idealistic. They don’t look into the politics, nor do they really pose the question: “what if the cops don’t want this case solved?”