My 31st Birthday

We spend a lot of time together

Barbara just went out, the boys are in bed, and I'm sitting at the kitchen table typing this.  Earlier tonight, when I went out to gather some leaves for the compost, I plucked a stem of lilac from, if you could imagine, a lilac bush.  Now it's sitting and smelling next to me and reminding me of my youth.

Our house in Stony Plain on Garden Valley Drive had a lot of lilac bushes.  So many that my mom would pick just about every flower off of them, throw them in a vase, and plop the whole works down onto our kitchen table.  The smell was so strong that I lost my appetite at times.  Can you get high off of lilacs?  I don't know.  Now, years later, I kind of like the smell when it is in moderation like I've done this evening.

The lilacs reminds me of late Spring in Stony Plain.  This was an exciting time for me.  The winter would be officially over, the birds would be singing, the neighbourhood alley cats would be making iced tea, and so on.  The Summer holiday was just around the corner and to kick things off, good ol' Brett had a birthday.

Here in Xining, the lilacs are just finishing their big blooming season.  It's funny that I can be on the other side of the world, and poof!  I close my eyes I'm back home and 20 years ago.

20 years ago.  For me, I caught myself saying "well, 20 years ago..." for the first time this year.  I can't remember what it was about, I just remember catching myself in mid-sentence being very shocked and confused.  "How on earth could I remember anything 20 years ago?  Why, Brett, it's because you're getting older."

Last year, I hit 30 years old like Josh Hamilton hits home runs; right out o' da' park!  I blogged and I joked and I looked in the mirror and I felt pretty good about being 30.  This year, I'm hitting 31 more like a minor car crash.  Nobody's hurt, but we're all a little shaken up.  I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's a combination of push-ups and and stretching before exercising and Googling things I can't remember, like the name of this purple flower that I've been talking about.

I read more, which is nice.  But, so do old people.

I need to sleep on my back so that it doesn't kill me in the morning.  If it does kill in the morning, the feeling usually goes away in a minute or two, but how long will that last?

I have a decent case of carpal tunnel in my hands that bothers me enough to stop typing, one time for a whole week.  Since then I've implemented some precise stretching that has helped, but what is going on with me?  I think that this is the beginning of dying, right?

Okay, maybe a little too soon... but maybe not... no, just kidding... but maybe...

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Speaking of Josh Hamilton, what a week this guy has had on the baseball diamonds of America.  Let's tally the numbers:


7 games played (May 7th - May 13th)


14 hits


10 runs


9 home runs


18 RBI

In one of those games, he hit 4 home runs!

That is quite a week for the man.  Let's see what he does during his... Birthday week!  Yes, you heard it right.  Josh Hamilton is also celebrating his birthday this coming week.  He's actually 3 days younger than me.

Here's a little more on Josh Hamilton:




I really admire the guy.  Not because I can relate to the drugs, but mainly because he's been open about his life.   He's an open book.  In fact, I think that that is apart of his rehabilitation; he actually has to be open with people.  He's slipped up a couple of times in recent years, but every time he's been open about it and has apologized for it.  It's funny because who apologizes to the public for their personal failures and mistakes?  Usually, we find ways to blame instead of apologize.

What does this have to do with my birthday?  Nothing, really.  But it's an interesting way to learn more about others and gain wisdom and inspiration from them.

Josh Hamilton was dubbed "The Natural" when he was first drafted in 1999.  These many years later and we can see just how much of a sure thing being a natural can sometimes turn out to not be at all.  This guy has worked very hard to get where he is today.  He's slipped up, but which one of us wants to cast the first stone?

Learning a little bit about the guy makes me glad to know that he's alive for the big "31" next week.  Despite the long road, it's a success story.  And long road success stories are usually the best kind.  Josh is happy, the fans are happy, things are good.

Back in 2008, when he had won the All-star home run derby, in the jubilation of the moment he said:

 "This was like living the dream out, because like I've said, I didn't know the ending to that dream."

Wise words.  It's great to see some one's dreams come to fruition like that.  For me, it's even greater to see that despite the fact that he's had setbacks since 2008, he's still living the dream.  It must be tough to have to tell someone that you feel tempted to have a drink and then have to leave.  Must be humbling.

Josh Hamilton was born on May 21st, 1981 and he's still with us today.

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Now back to me.  I wish that I could sit here and tell you my stats for the week but at street hockey we don't really keep track of them.

This year, by birthday will be quiet.  It's on Friday the 18th and Barbara will be at a conference all weekend.  I'll have the boys and I'm sure that they're conjuring up great birthday plans in their dreams right now.  Playing cars on the carpet or going for a bike ride sound just about right.

Sunday evening we'll eat burgers and I'll have to do some push-ups and stationary bike later that night.  But that's what being 31 is all about, right?

The lilac is wilting.  Jeff Buckley sang about lilac wine many years ago.  It might even have been 20 years ago.  Lilac wine sounds really, really disgusting.

Out of Left Field

This week, the announcement came out that 870 000 photos of New York would be available to view online by people like you and me.  And once it was announced... boom!

Due to overwhelming demand, the New York City Municipal Archives Online Gallery is unavailable at present. Maintenance activities are underway to address this issue.

Proof that everyone loves New York.  Did I mention that the photos date all the way back to the 1800's?  Here is a link to see just a few of the photos.

I've never been to New York, but I love old photos.  Look at this one.  I love seeing that bridge being built.  The men building it would have no idea how amazing it is, would they?  That bridge is 104 years old!  And we can see it being built!  Amazing.

Earlier this week, I came across this article.  It basically says that there are 2 stories about 2 different baseball stadiums in America; the Shrine of Fenway Park in Boston and the abandoned field of Tiger Stadium in Detroit.  It is interesting to contrast the value put on both historical landmarks.  I understand that Detroit has been struggling through things, but you can go out and play on Tiger Stadium right now.  In Boston, word has it that tickets are almost impossible to come by.  Both stadiums were built 100 years ago.  Both have had historical events take place over the years.  Yet, because of the way things are, they are not of equal value or significance.

Actually, it's very sad.  Why is it sad?  Because that bridge those guys built in New York is still useful, but that baseball stadium that people loved so much on Michigan and Trumbell is gone.  Gone for good.  It's dead.  And it's kind of a cool thing that if people work hard enough they can make such beloved places last for so long.  To see one of them get torn down is to see love die.  It's no wonder why Billy Beane tells us in Money Ball that, "It's hard not to feel romantic about baseball."

And here I am, being romantic with this photo:

Diamond Park in Edmonton, built in 1907

This photo was taken just down the hill from the Hotel MacDonald.  1500 ghosts fill the seats to watch their beloved Edmonton Eskimos.  You can almost smell the smoke swirling up from their cigars towards us.  Diamond Park, built in 1907, was in fact 5 years older than Fenway.  Diamond Park was one of Fenway's big brothers!  Unbelievable!  The other interesting fact here is that the baseball field still stands to this day.  Really.  The stands are gone, of course, but the site is still a baseball field.  Big Brother lives on!

When I was young I went to my fair share of Edmonton Trapper games.  In fact, the crowd sitting beneath the camera at Diamond Park is actually looking towards the direction of the site of what would eventually be John Ducey Park.  John Ducey Park (originally Renfrew Park) was built in 1935 and made it all the way up to 1995, around the time when I was eating peanuts in the seats.  

In '95 they built Telus Field where JDP used to be.  Telus Field is a cool place, it has it's own 'Green Monster' in center field that no one has yet to hit a home run over.  It's state of the art, it's right there, in the shadow of Big Brother and sitting on top of John Ducey Park's grave.  Not that I'm bitter or anything.  It's named after a corporation, it's baseball team plays in the Golden League, which had it's season cancelled because of a lack of interest.  So, at this very moment, there is no baseball in Edmonton.  Very lame.  Telus Field sits and waits.  

Even if the Edmonton Capitals get back to playing next season, the Golden League looks pretty lame.  It's not affiliated with any Major League teams, like the way The Trappers were.  I actually think I heard that The Capitals (dumb name) have try-outs every Spring whenever they actually play.  Seems like D League, as in not much is happening at Telus Field this decade.

What am I trying to say?  History is a funny thing.  It can lead you to strange places on the Internet where you end up staring into a grainy photo of what could be someone-you-know's great, great grandfather sitting down to enjoy a ball game.  

I hope they get that New York site up sometime soon.  I'm sure to spend hours looking into the images of New York, literally through the centuries.  What a weird and crazy world we live in.

Meanwhile, In Xining, another 1000 old-style apartments got torn down this week so they can put up safer and uglier apartment complexes

Oh, and Barbara is watching Midnight in Paris while I type.  Hemingway is making fun of Owen Wilson and I can't help but stop to feel sentimental.