Puke must be the word of the day

I am back. I was remiss in not mentioning the 22nd anniversary of "Billfest", yesterday. I told the story last year about how Willie, in 1985, after our exams, had said he was going to drink until he puked. I had friends join us just to see him puke. He did not and they may have left, inebriated and disappointed. That is their tough luck.

I was thinking about that on the way to the Lad's baseball game, where I had hoped to see Willie (his daughter is on the same team), but alas neither one was at the game. In any event, the notion of drinking until puking seems so abhorent 22 years later. Only a guy in his teens or early twenties can actually consider drinking until pukage as some sort of goal to reach. What were we thinking?

Yet, I am sure that the Lad will go through something similar. It all makes more sense to me now. Life is not like a line, moving in a linear fashion. There may be a linearity to time (we, as of now, can only move in one direction, unless it is Heroes, in which case all bets are off, and that is forward. Though theoretically, one should be able to travel back in time because time is linear.) and it always moves along forward at the same pace. That is a very Western view to life and history, as well. We tend to view events in small chunks and derive meaning from there.

This contrasts with Eastern philosophies that view things as more circular or cyclical. With events only having meaning in relation to other events and the recurrence of events (sort of like the inevitable changing of the seasons). There is a relationship or interconnectedness of things and you have to understand the relationship to understand the meaning of the piece. The relationship of the piece to the whole.

I am thinking that though time moves in a linear fashion, we are like tires moving on the road. We cycle along the road forward. How is that for integrating two schools of thought? Which really means that it is inevitable, no matter how stupid, that the Lad will binge drink and party till he pukes, or at least hang out with somebody who does. And he will find it amusing, at best, and be a lead participant, at worst. I am just preparing myself for that day.

Anyway, his team lost by like 14-1. He did drive in the only run with a groundout, so I was proud of that. The kid ahead of him in the last innning hit a triple to lead off the inning. Of course, their opponents were mostly older (grade 6s in a 4/5/6 league) so that is the mitigating factor. It was enjoyable, though rather chilly sitting out there.

Well, I am off to the Outlaws' soon. I should have doubled up on lunch. Is it considered impolite to puke up your dinner, right trying to force it down? I am not sure of the etiquette on that one. Of course, were I to pull off such a stunt, my mother in law would not "get" it. I am stalling this as much as possible.

Have a nifty weekend. Ciao!