Wednesday, June 20, 2007
ready to pitch - Wednesday June 20, 2007
today’s Musing written and published from south Calgary, near Fish Creek Park
8C/46F (high 26C), calm, perfect blue sky, striking a ‘just right’ balance of mood as we walked the ridge path in the park where a strip of tall grass on each side of the paving was perfectly mown yesterday, as early joggers were bouncing along toward their destinations, Gusta chasing, to no avail, some mysterious scent high in the air that was rolling gently toward her, it made her crazy; we returned home as a clever approach shot through my mind
my mind focused on twists in meaning our words create; using only words, when we do it without precision or without knowing the party on the hearing/reading end knows what we are meaning, we set the stage on which we can only create confusion, contradiction, questioning, lack of clarity - often a very twisted meaning will be derived, possibly one very far from our intent
I’ve always enjoyed twists with words that sound so similar yet have different meanings – sometimes very diverse, sometimes not; I saw a headline, on a magazine cover, identifying an article within: perfect pitching . . . what does that mean: to pitch – baseball, cricket, selling something or selling an idea ?
in golf, perfect pitching means a clever approach shot, hitting it just right striking a 'just right' balance of speed , arc and spin, sending it high in the air against a perfect blue sky, landing it on the perfectly mown green surface where many a golfer's fantasy resides, bouncing along toward the pin, rolling gently until the ball comes to rest within tap-in distance - perfect
pitching
a 'man from mars' (perhaps an engineer) might think it one of those other meanings, but those of us who golf know exactly what it means; and in this case, a golf magazine, it really did mean what one does with a pitching wedge; but a pitching wedge, a lofted iron, is not really a wedge at all; a wedge, on the other hand, is shape, a device we use (ie: door stop) to prop things up, to hold things tight; to the non golfer or the man or woman from mars this would make no sense at all
perfect pitching, to someone with no golf interest, might mean singing well or selling well; I can’t carry a note (singing a song as opposed to physically carrying a piece of paper) but perfect pitching, in this case, a golfing term, very different from perfect pitch, which in turn is different from a perfect pitcher, in turn(I could go on about intern or in tern .. the bird) different again from a perfect picture, but “you get the picture” or do you get the pitcher?
longest days are ones when I seem to get little accomplished, followed by my shortest nights when I stay awake worrying about my longest days; my best days are perfect pitching days; today might be a perfect pitching day, so might tomorrow; today is the last day of spring, tonight the shortest night (meaning amount of darkness) leading to tomorrow as the longest day of the year (meaning longest period of daylight); you see, each day is 24 hours no matter how we stretch, state or compartmentalize it; any way, anyway, it’s the same however you pitch it
when someone, from any planet, makes an observation, however accurately they think it describes something obvious, the way it is conveyed to me is what I hear, what I respond to; words are just words until they trigger some thought, some feeling, some previous experience; when you say what you mean, is it clear to the person you are talking/writing to, what is your message, what are you trying to say, what it is that you mean?
pitching, while never perfect, improves with practice, with critique, and more practice; golf, writing, selling, delicious food, delicious women, speaking well, working well, playing well, Maui – these passions are interwoven in me – each is far from perfect, but I’ll keep pitching
Mark Kolke
224,088
200.4
Musings need not be a monologue, but rather a dialogue opportunity to discuss issues that touch a nerve or a heart-string, a sore point or a point of view that will contribute to the discussion. Your responses are welcomed; please write me with your feedback/comments.
To subscribe to Mark's Musings daily email distribution, write to musing@maxcomm.ca
8C/46F (high 26C), calm, perfect blue sky, striking a ‘just right’ balance of mood as we walked the ridge path in the park where a strip of tall grass on each side of the paving was perfectly mown yesterday, as early joggers were bouncing along toward their destinations, Gusta chasing, to no avail, some mysterious scent high in the air that was rolling gently toward her, it made her crazy; we returned home as a clever approach shot through my mind
my mind focused on twists in meaning our words create; using only words, when we do it without precision or without knowing the party on the hearing/reading end knows what we are meaning, we set the stage on which we can only create confusion, contradiction, questioning, lack of clarity - often a very twisted meaning will be derived, possibly one very far from our intent
I’ve always enjoyed twists with words that sound so similar yet have different meanings – sometimes very diverse, sometimes not; I saw a headline, on a magazine cover, identifying an article within: perfect pitching . . . what does that mean: to pitch – baseball, cricket, selling something or selling an idea ?
in golf, perfect pitching means a clever approach shot, hitting it just right striking a 'just right' balance of speed , arc and spin, sending it high in the air against a perfect blue sky, landing it on the perfectly mown green surface where many a golfer's fantasy resides, bouncing along toward the pin, rolling gently until the ball comes to rest within tap-in distance - perfect
pitching
a 'man from mars' (perhaps an engineer) might think it one of those other meanings, but those of us who golf know exactly what it means; and in this case, a golf magazine, it really did mean what one does with a pitching wedge; but a pitching wedge, a lofted iron, is not really a wedge at all; a wedge, on the other hand, is shape, a device we use (ie: door stop) to prop things up, to hold things tight; to the non golfer or the man or woman from mars this would make no sense at all
perfect pitching, to someone with no golf interest, might mean singing well or selling well; I can’t carry a note (singing a song as opposed to physically carrying a piece of paper) but perfect pitching, in this case, a golfing term, very different from perfect pitch, which in turn is different from a perfect pitcher, in turn(I could go on about intern or in tern .. the bird) different again from a perfect picture, but “you get the picture” or do you get the pitcher?
longest days are ones when I seem to get little accomplished, followed by my shortest nights when I stay awake worrying about my longest days; my best days are perfect pitching days; today might be a perfect pitching day, so might tomorrow; today is the last day of spring, tonight the shortest night (meaning amount of darkness) leading to tomorrow as the longest day of the year (meaning longest period of daylight); you see, each day is 24 hours no matter how we stretch, state or compartmentalize it; any way, anyway, it’s the same however you pitch it
when someone, from any planet, makes an observation, however accurately they think it describes something obvious, the way it is conveyed to me is what I hear, what I respond to; words are just words until they trigger some thought, some feeling, some previous experience; when you say what you mean, is it clear to the person you are talking/writing to, what is your message, what are you trying to say, what it is that you mean?
pitching, while never perfect, improves with practice, with critique, and more practice; golf, writing, selling, delicious food, delicious women, speaking well, working well, playing well, Maui – these passions are interwoven in me – each is far from perfect, but I’ll keep pitching
Mark Kolke
224,088
200.4
Musings need not be a monologue, but rather a dialogue opportunity to discuss issues that touch a nerve or a heart-string, a sore point or a point of view that will contribute to the discussion. Your responses are welcomed; please write me with your feedback/comments.
To subscribe to Mark's Musings daily email distribution, write to musing@maxcomm.ca
©2007 MaxComm Communications, all rights reserved.
