Entries tagged 'metaphor'

to kill time, one of the things i’ve been doing is throwing a ball against a wall in my apartment. but i’ve been throwing left-handed, even though i am right-handed.

i have put a lot of practice into throwing right-handed over my life, without ever really giving it much thought. (and by that i mean it is something i have done a lot, not some skill i have been cultivating.) and all that practice translates into throwing right-handed being an essentially thoughtless, natural-feeling act.

throwing left-handed does not really feel like that, although with just a little practice i can sort of feel how the mechanics are the same (if backwards). but both the wind-up and follow-through still feel strange.

according to an old article in the atlantic monthly, john goodman had to learn to throw (and hit) left-handed for the babe, in which he played babe ruth. after the movie was released, he said “i’ll never say something like ‘he throws like a girl’ again. it’s not easy to learn how to throw.”

you have to care.
you have to know what you want.
you have to be interested.
you have to be interesting.
you have to be excited.
you have to be exciting.
you have to be in love.
you have to be loving.
you have to be ready.
you have to be willing.
you have to be able.
you have to ask.
you have to be.

i like trying to come up with metaphors for my life. one that has bounced to mind recently has been that feeling that you have when you’re expecting a phone call, it is already past the time you expected it, and you’re afraid that your phone might not be working and are afraid to check it because you fear that it will be at the instant that you have the phone off the hook that the call will be made.

but although i really like the metaphor, since it certainly captures a specific feeling for me, it just doesn’t quite fit.

another would be the feeling when two people are alternately choosing people to make up their teams, and you know you’re going to get picked last.

i like that one for the same sorts of reasons, but it also just doesn’t quite fit.

the search continues.

for a long time, i avoided chinese food and asian food in general. there was never really any good reason for it. i just have a very stubborn streak.

what finally turned the tide was a friend mentioning that he used to drive up to a place near where i lived in north hollywood to go to a particular chinese place. i eventually gave it a try myself, really enjoyed it, and still head up to north hollywood every few weeks to go there.

i like to use analogies, allegories, and metaphors, and i find that sometimes i have used them without having intended to do so. for example, after considering what i wrote earlier, i think telephone calls are a metaphor.

when you make pancakes, the first pancake is always a tricky one — you’re not really sure how hot the griddle is, the look and timing of when to flip is a little hazy, and it always turns out a little over- or under-done.

not today. today i made the perfect first pancake.

i have myopia, but only in one eye.

this summer, i upgraded from one ice tray to two. even with that, i've had a hard time keeping the ice bin full. i've simply been using too much ice (drinking water) to really get ahead of the game.

but recently i've been doing a better job of staying ahead of myself. the key has been routine (make sure to empty the ice trays in the morning!) and making an effort to empty the trays when they're frozen even if i don't need more ice.