I don't carry many regrets around with me in my life. I think we make our decisions as we go with the best tools and information that we have at the time, so I let a lot of things go. There are a few regrettable moments, however, and here's the story behind one of them...

I grew up almost exactly two miles north of Detroit. I was a pretty average kid, but with allergies and a love for books and movies, I wasn't exactly the "outdoor-sporty" type. To this day, I'm pretty incompetent dealing with a situation that requires me to make a ball go a certain way, or catch said ball. 

Still, because my dad was into baseball, I had a passing knowledge of the Detroit Tigers, and rooted for them. I knew many of the players' names and their positions. Summer didn't feel like summer until I heard Ernie Harwell's voice on WJR. I played Cub Scout softball for a couple of seasons, but with little interest, and not very well. I think I may have hit the ball once, and caught it never.

I had a favorite player though: Dave Rozema. I have no memory of why.  I think it was because I had a glossy 8x10 photo of him, probably from some promotional giveaway. It just as easily could have been because his middle name is "Scott". 

This week "Edge of Tomorrow", starring Tom Cruise and his freaky smile opens in theaters across America.

Yes, Tom Cruise has a freaky smile.

Jim Kirk is listening to the Beastie Boys in the latest Star Trek movies.

"Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys mentions "Mr. Spock".

Would this not blow the mind of Kirk, once he heard his friend mentioned in a song written hundreds of years before they were born?

Will this be addressed in the next Star Trek movie? I think it should be a major plot point.

I like to think I'm a pretty smart fella. However, I have deleted the words "effect" and "affect" from my written vocabulary. I never know which one to use. Mnemonic devices have been suggested to me over the years. I promptly forget them.

 

I know that "special effects" and "cause and effect" are correct, and I know how things affect me, but anything beyond that is beyond me. I will go to great lengths to avoid using these words. I'd rather not use them at all if I think I'm going to look silly using the wrong one.

 

Do you have any words or phrases that you avoid for similar reasons?