1) I think Bernard Madoff should have gotten a Public Defender; all the money his wife withdrew to pay for his legal defense, as well as the sums he put in his children's names should be confiscated.
2) I think I have Derby Fever already. Not that I have a favorite (yet)!
3) I think I would like to buy a case-pack of "How About a Nice Big Pack of Shut The Hell Up" gum to hand out at appropriate moments.
4) I think I can think for myself (check that - I KNOW I can think for myself), and don't need to abdicate that responsibility to anyone else.
5) I think spring and/or summer will never come to the Pacific NW - and if/when it does, it will last for all of a week (maybe 2).
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Secretariat
So there are some moments that change your life. For some random reason, I just re-watched Secretariat's Belmont Stakes from June 1973 on YouTube.
This was the first horse race I ever remember seeing (not even live! on TV!) and I never forgot the feeling. I didn't understand everything the historic implications, I was just a kid. But it shaped many aspects of my life. Some girls grow out of their 'horse crazy' stage, I made mine my life.
After Secretariat, I finally saw my first live horse race - at Longacres racetrack out side of Seattle, WA. Talk about adding fuel to the fire. I didn't even care that these horses were not even in the same universe talent-wise, to me they were horses, they were racing, and that was enough.
Then came Seattle Slew, followed by Affirmed, Genuine Risk, Forego, John Henry, Zalataia, All Along, Miesque, Pebbles, Awad, Unbridled, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alysheba, and all the others I fell in love with.
I was lucky enough to meet some of them, either at the Kentucky Horse Park, or in my visits during a couple of heavenly days spent visiting breeding farms in Kentucky.
Closer to home, I had my own more modest favorites from days as a groom for Craig Roberts. Nell of the North, Native Policy, Welcome Ben, Mandatory, Dave's Reality, Agudo, Powerful Bid, Secret Stash, Warm Thoughts - another list that could go on and on.
Today, I mostly root from the stands, or at home. I spend my time riding my own horse, and showing in Adult Amateur Hunters.
Horses have pretty much shaped most of what I think and how I observe the world around me. I cannot imagine how black and empty my life would have been without them. And it started with a big red machine - Secretariat.
This was the first horse race I ever remember seeing (not even live! on TV!) and I never forgot the feeling. I didn't understand everything the historic implications, I was just a kid. But it shaped many aspects of my life. Some girls grow out of their 'horse crazy' stage, I made mine my life.
After Secretariat, I finally saw my first live horse race - at Longacres racetrack out side of Seattle, WA. Talk about adding fuel to the fire. I didn't even care that these horses were not even in the same universe talent-wise, to me they were horses, they were racing, and that was enough.
Then came Seattle Slew, followed by Affirmed, Genuine Risk, Forego, John Henry, Zalataia, All Along, Miesque, Pebbles, Awad, Unbridled, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alysheba, and all the others I fell in love with.
I was lucky enough to meet some of them, either at the Kentucky Horse Park, or in my visits during a couple of heavenly days spent visiting breeding farms in Kentucky.
Closer to home, I had my own more modest favorites from days as a groom for Craig Roberts. Nell of the North, Native Policy, Welcome Ben, Mandatory, Dave's Reality, Agudo, Powerful Bid, Secret Stash, Warm Thoughts - another list that could go on and on.
Today, I mostly root from the stands, or at home. I spend my time riding my own horse, and showing in Adult Amateur Hunters.
Horses have pretty much shaped most of what I think and how I observe the world around me. I cannot imagine how black and empty my life would have been without them. And it started with a big red machine - Secretariat.
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