Events

I finally found the box containing my mother's journals and appointment calendars from 1971 to 1976, 1980 to 1982, and 1990 to 2004. I already had 2005 and 2006, so this fills in a lot. (She stopped writing in late 2006 because she could no longer hold a pen.) Somewhere there's one more box, I hope, but this is by no means certain. The contents are mostly mundane. One interesting nugget: I finally found the date I first took an airplane flight. On 19 April 1974, at age 3½, I flew from Chicago to Los...

What a day in Chicago. Since this time yesterday: Our guy Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic Party nomination for President; The Cubs have extended their winning streak making it the longest winning streak since 2001 and their best season start since 1977 (oh, yeah, and that other team is also in first place); and Chicago's 2016 Olympics bid has made the final four in Athens. These are just some of the reasons why this city rocks.

AA 1472 SFO-ORD

Since my dad lives outside San Francisco, I took him to the second park on my 30-baseball-park geas[1]. He hasn't been to a professional baseball game in years, despite working walking distance from AT&T Park. Something about preferring football. I have no idea why. So, yesterday, I dragged him kicking and screaming to see the Padres play the Giants. San Diego won 5-1, which is the sort of thing that happens when the visiting team goes through the entire lineup in the first inning. Pat Misch pitched the...

I started my 30-baseball-park geas with Kansas City, which definitely fits the model of saving the best for last. First, there's beautiful (ahem) Kauffman Stadium, on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by picturesque fields of asphalt and dandelions. My sense of foreboding, stoked by checking the previous day's standings, increased when I saw the lines outside the box-office windows: Actually, the game was kind of fun. As they went into the 9th inning, the Royals were up by 5, everyone in the park...

San Francisco

One more rule I forgot to mention: eat locally. And in KC, that means barbecue. Tonight I went to the Gates BBQ, in Independence, Mo., as reccomended by the hotel's driver, Martin. Interesting. The pit-fired meat fell right off the bone, with a crunchy outer shell from the intense heat they use. The sauce, though. Hmmm. It wasn't what I expected. I always associated KC-style ribs with a sweet-tangy, tomato-based sauce. Gates uses a tomato base but their sauce has more heat and less sweet, almost like a...