Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
It is a bit chillier in Manhattan than it was five years ago to the day. Otherwise, it is a brilliantly sunny day, eerily reminiscent of that fateful morning that altered the city and the country forever. I rode the IRT to work this morning and there was the usual commotion, but there were also some hints of somberness too--a business woman in a black suit, a strapping Jewish kid with a black yarmulke, a gray-haired liberal with a black t-shirt that read, "What Really Happened?" Today is certainly a day to remember those who lost their lives in-and-around 9.11 as well as an opportunity to appreciate the good things we've got in our lives.
I sure have plenty to appreciate, that's for sure. On Saturday, Emily and I took a ride up to Westchester to spend the afternoon with my mom and my step-father. While Em and Tom busied themselves with a project in the back yard, mom and I made a batch of madeleines, the shell-shaped cookies made famous by Proust in "Remberance of Things Past." They are wonderful tea-time cookies, and must be eaten almost immediately. Even an hour or two after they've come out of the oven, they begin to change in nature, going from a light, sponge cake to a heavier, greasier cookie. It's not even that they are my favorites, I just like the idea of them--the immediacy of it all. And you just can't have them without a strong cup of tea for dunking.
Here they are fresh out of the oven. That's my ma, adding some confectionate sugar, the final touch (dig, her beloved Tintin swatch).
And here is the final product, along with a simple plum tart and a strong cup of Earl Grey tea.
A small, good thing, if there ever was one.
A heppy ket.
Yesterday, was cooler and even more lovely than Saturday. Em and I generally spend Sundays doing the chores, shopping for food and chillin' around the cribsite. One of our favorite activities finds me in the kitchen cooking for the week with Emily sitting close by. We chat and listen to Fats Waller records and just cool out.
We the shopping done early yesterday and after I placed a few phone calls for interviews I need to conduct for an article I'm writing, I got down to cooking. Em took her seat and I took the opportunity to tell her how much I love our Sundays together. Then I said, "You know, when I first met you the overwhelming impression I came away with is never to judge a book by its cover. You were so well-put together, your hair was slicked-back into a pony tail and you were wearing that chic black leather jacket. You were smoking hot and I pegged-you for a material girl all the way. Then after we hung out that day, I was like, 'Wow, she's not like that at all.' In fact, you were one of the most unpretentious, down-to-earth women I had ever met."
I went on to tell her how much of an inspiration she's been for me over the past four-and-a-half years, and I wasn't joking. Em has Crohn's and has had more than her fare share grief because of it, but, though she gets laid low every once in a while, whe is as determined and resilient as anyone I've ever known. You just can't keep her down, bro.
Then I got down on one knee and took out the ring.
She didn't know it was coming. I mean, she knew I was going to pop the question sooner rather than later, but it wasn't until I was down on my knee that she realized that this was the moment. "Angela's Theme," by Bob James (better known as the theme song from the old TV show, "Taxi") was playing softly on the stereo when I asked Emily if she'd marry me. At this point, my heart was racing, as she began to tear-up.
She said, "I'd marry you any day of the week."
Ten minutes later, I had her on the five yard line in the bedroom when the phone rang. "Let it ring," I said as she came in the room with the portable phone. Then thinking that it might be a return call from one of the potential interviews I was going to do I looked at the caller ID. My eyes--according to Emily--almost popped out of my head. "It's Reggie," I said.
And sure enough, it was none other than Mr. October. I picked up the phone and quickly made arrangements for an interview later this week. We weren't on the phone longer than two minutes.
"You're having some kind of fifteen minutes," my fiance says to me.
Man, you ain't kidding. We spent the rest of the day in a joyful haze and later we dropped-in on our good friends down in Inwood. Needless to say, we experienced the range of emotions...
From Joy...
To Silliness...
To Terror (and Silliness)...
To Vitamins L-O-V-and E
Hey, it's a beautiful thing.
I'll keep pitching 'em:
And she'll keep hitting 'em:
Oh, and speaking of which, Sal and his pals crushed the O's, 9-4 yesterday. The Yanks' magic number is down to 11 and the win gave them the best record in the AL.
To the tune of "Reg-gie, Reg-gie, Reg-gie!":
Al-ex! Al-ex! Al-ex!
Stadium curtain-call time, bro.
And to Reggie.
Congrats Alex - to you and Em! This is awesome.
OK, now, to some serious stuff. Let's talk about Em's swing.
Charlie Lau would love that weight shift. Firm front side, toe closed, back foot coming off the ground. Head and eyes down. That's so pretty that I want to cry, just seeing it.
But, when she rolls her right wrist over like that, she's not getting full extension on the swing. Work on that one issue and you guys are set for nuthin' by line-drives.
OK, that said, remember, they do weddings now at Yankees Stadium, if you're interested!
But man, talk about stepping in the bucket! >;) Doesn't matter, she still hit a home run(!)
We should all swap recipes sometime, just like we all swap beautiful stories like this.
I think the choice of music helped. I likely would have picked the theme to "Bonanza" or "The Flying Nun."
I don't think those would work as well.
All the best in the world to you two.
I keed, I keed. ;-)
Wow, what a day - certainly one to remember. Congrats, and I hope you two got to enjoy some short period of 'engaged bliss' before the relatives descended upon you with their own version of the reception...
I think I had about a half a day.
Now that you are getting married I expect that your wardrobe will expand to consist of more than just Yankees t-shirts ;)
Yeah, I was waiting for someone to crack a fruitball joke about my sonsitive ass baking cookies, and then dunking them in a cup of tea. Ah, it's the Belgian in me, what can I say? lol.
Shoot. I was wearing an Expos shirt in the shot of me pitching, though you can't tell that.
The beauty part is that Em and I are going to the game this Wednesday and I had her totally convinced that I was going to propose at the game (something that even I wouldn't have the stomach for).
Great news ... many happy years together ... you two look like you were made for each other.
In fact, are you guys wearing the same style/color pants in the baseball photos? :-)
Many congrats headed your way from north of Boston. I'm an everyday reader and sometimes poster - great news !
Best of luck to you and Em. May you raise many healthy and loyal Yankee-loving children!
congrats, man.
and may the wedding craze continue here on the banter.
On a happier note, I am going to be at the game Friday night and Saturday afternoon. My tickets for Friday night are in Section 39 of the bleachers. Never seen a game from the bleachers before, but seen like 80 from the Tier box seats.
Anything I should be warned to expect from the bleacher creatures?
Congratulations and best wishes to the both of you.
AL East Odds, 9.11.06
Yankees 99.99225
Red Sox .00470
Blue Jays .00305
And I really dug the Krazy Kat...Herriman rules.
It's really been a remarkable year. I was nervous about the Yanks going in to the season and when Matsui and Sheff went down I spent 3 or 4 weeks just waiting for the wheels to come off. I'm so happily surprised that I was dead wrong.
Great news from Alex less than two weeks from my own wedding. A good time of year indeed.
And there is nothing wrong with baking cookies. I love making chocolate chip cookies - was taught by my grandma.
So the Yanks clinch on the same day Cliff clinches? That'd be sweet.
Your pal,
Rich
Btw, Alex, the madeleines look scrumptious. I may try to make them one day.
Alright, I'm only (1/2)kidding. A big ol' congrats to you two. May you have a long bloodline of Yankees to come. Actully, I think it would be funny if a RedSoxian came from that bloodline. That would result in some interesting (infamily) rivalry moments.
That's "congratulations" from Hawai'i.
And dude, those cookies and the tart looked DELIICOUS!
BTW, never mind the madeleines, I want to know where your Mom got that sweet Tintin watch...
Can't wait for the Reggie stories!
Thanks
That said, his logic is right. As Simone says, it's usually Yankees-Giants and Mets-Jets, the former being the teams with tradition and history who were great in the 30s, 40s and 50s, the later being the upstart expansion teams with rhyming names who came out of nowhere to win it all in 1969.
I myself and a Yankee-Giants fan. Then again, the future Mr. Belth is a Yanks-Jets abberation.
Extending it further, until Jason Kidd showed up I didn't know Nets fans existed, and I live in NJ. Meanwhile the Yanks-Giants thing usually extends to the Rangers, while the Mets-Jets folks tend to be Islanders fans (for obvious geographical reasons) or Devils fans. At least from my experience.
I also need to check out a real Madeleine -- I've only had the "fake" packaged ones they sell at coffee shops, and you make the real thing sound awfully good.
Let the Banter crowd know when you get a date set for the wedding.
I was also informed that Yankee fans also root for Duke basketball, but I totally disagree with that. I don't have a preference, honestly; even though my father's side of the family mostly reside in Wake Forest, I'm not close with them at all.
All in all, I think you root for the NY team that's doing better that decade unless they're both good, so you root for the one that you identify with the most.
I should have added that around this time of year it's a common site at Yankee games for one or two fans in the bleachers to be wearing a Jets jerseys while the rest of the section chants "J-E-T-S Suck Suck Suck!" at them. Apologies to my newly betrothed blogmate, but Yanks-Jets is just unnatural.
The closest I ever came to seeing the Knicks at the Garden was being an extra in a "Whazzzuuuup!" commercial. I won't spoil the magic for those not in the know, but of course the Knicks lost. But I'm a straight-up Knicks fan. And, apparently, an abberation >;)
And this year, when the Yanks go all the way, I'm handing out madeleines with it >;)
Congratulations to you and Em!
Funny, I feel like you're a friend, though of course we've never met -- wow, the web has changed the way we view the world.
Where I'm from in upstate NY, it was always Yanks/Giants or Mets/Jets. Then the Bills got good, and that was that.
Others might remember that I also pull for Duke, but I have good reason for that. I didn't follow college basketball (pre-March, anyway) much before entering the Gothic Wonderland. But here and other boards, posters have suggested that I might as well take up rooting interests in Notre Dame football, the Lakers, Manchester United, and Sweeden's men's curling team... bandwagoner as I am.
Still better than my friend who, in middle school, put the names of every franchise in a hat and drew a name to determine his fandom. Thus he became a White Sox/Bucanneers/SuperSonics/Blues fan... I suppose it makes just as much sense as following dad's interests...
My cousin Tony and his wife Paula are raising their kids to be Red Sox fans (they live in MA). I told them that I was going to call children's services in Boston to report ongoing, brutal child abuse.
They think I am joking.
Best of luck to you and Em.
70 you're right Chyll (and Cliff), that Dook thing is nonsense; I probably feel more strongly about it than most, having attended Tar Heel games in the womb...
Since I came to the "Wedding Banter" late today I got the chance to read all the posts. There's so much love all around, from Alex and Cliff and all Banterers. That must be why we come here everyday. This is pretty special.
All the best...
79 That's funny. The good thing about raising someone a Sox fan is that they'll learn to have a TON of patience when they're older. Ya know, having to wait 80 someodd years for a championship.
Although I may be too late for you to read this
The straw that stirs the drink that disturbs the bedroom shenanigans calling in... Chaddy-O throwing for 300 and 2 bombs... and your moms is hell on wheels in the kitchen. Things are looking up all around, albelt. Good on you, brother.
Love to you and Emily. You are a great couple, mutually supportive, fresh and sassy. I love that Reggie called when he did. Just in case you forgot that God is timing. Aloha.
E
Jim Dean
I wish you the best.
Not impossible, mind you... just hard.
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