GNAGB

I am not a baseball fan, but the news station I keep the radio on is broadcasting the Yankee game, and the FM station is playing a weak James Taylor song. They just announced that the game belongs to the Yankees and you're not allowed to record it or reproduce it any way without express consent. That reminded me of when I was a kid and taped M*A*S*H and was excited about it. When I shared it with a friend he told me that I did something illegal and burst my bubble. He said that it was like that announcement they made during baseball broadcasts.

"Such little things make such a big difference," that's what the announcer just said. And yet he's managed to say myriad things since. There seems to be a rule that sportscasters have to fill every second of air with their voices. What's that about? Do people enjoy the nonstop chatter? (I wrote these words at the start of the game and then turned off the radio, turned toward other things. I just turned it back on. The Yankees were up 5-0 and then the Angels got a one run home run. Apparently the Angels tend to have fifth inning rallies. This must be exciting if it means something to you. It helps me imagine how people who aren't into things I'm into can be oblivious to the excitement that something like a poem can bring on for me.)

It is the end of another day. I feel badly that I was tied up with work and didn't visit a student during her math test. I didn't understand when she asked if I could come by - then she told me that last year (or was it two years ago?) I proctored a math test she took and it was the only one she did well on all year, and she felt that I somehow brought her success. I was doing Torah Guidance during that time, then a colleague came in and asked me to write a recommendation ASAP for a student. So I did.

I am teaching about Shmah.

We say Shmah in the day and night, in the bright times and in the dark times. The phrasing used for when we are to say these words is "when you're lying down and when you're rising up" - in the highs and lows of life. Similarly, we praise the chesed - kindness of G-d that we see in the morning of redemption and we affirm the belief which we have in Him (and He has in us) during the night of exile.

Time to head toward sleep. GNAGB.