March 12, 2006

If I could just live in a world where my definitions of things where always true I would feel much more comfortable about my grasp of the English language and life in general.

When I first heard the words "Mosaic Law" I heard them only as a passing reference during a converstion, no real context as to what Mosaic Law actually is. In my mind bloomed the Mosaic Law. A beautiful picture of life, the universe and everything, starting out as one simple piece of a mosaic. One color. One shape. And then two colors and two shapes. And then more. And at first it seems like chaos, an impossible mess of shapes and colors and sizes and textures, but then you finally step away and you see the picture....In my mind, the Mosaic Law was the answer to everything. It was how life was created, minerals and animals, it was how society was structured, it was computer programming and red blood cells and sunlight through new green leaves. Everything starts small and builds up. And it seems random. And you don't see the hidden image until the very end, when you realize there was a plan.

For me, as an atheist, this idea was terrifying and exciting. There is a plan, I just don't see it yet. I have never been the kind of angry atheist who is so afraid of religion they have to argue with every single person they know who is not an atheist. I have always felt that one day, maybe, someone would say the right thing, or something would happen and BAM, I would see the light. And if that day came I would welcome it. Enlighten me. (Maybe I would be more aptly called agnostic, but that always sounded so wishy-washy to me.)

I recently figured out what Mosaic Law actually is. The laws of the Jewish people as given to Moses by God. Over 600 rules and regulations, including the famous ten commandments.

I prefer my version.

umfriend n. Term one uses in public when introducing a person with whom one is intimate, but with whom one has not yet discussed relationship status with.
ex. "Mom, this is my... umfriend... Josh."

MY CRICKET TEAM RULES!!!!!

After a long struggle, our Under 16s team made it to the Grand Final, beating our rivals by about 20 runs. It was even better news for us when we realised that we would be playing against a weaker team. So it should have been easy for us today, even though we were playing on turf - which Under-16s never play on.

We turned up at 9:30 am, and the game started an hour and a bit later. I enjoyed the wait - it was relaxing. Until I looked at the pitch. It was a bowler's pitch, but the captain and coach were going on about batting first. And when we won the toss, we batted. So that was the first bit of bad luck.

My innings was a modest one, which also reflected how the entire team had gone. All out for 62 after 37 overs. Somehow "I Told You So" didn't quite cut it for me. So we went out onto Central Park and prepared to field. Second bit of bad luck: Throughout my bowling spell I did not get a single wicket. 5 overs and no wickets. Nuts.

First bit of good luck: We bailed them all out for 43 off 23 overs. So we had won the first innings. Second bit of good luck: My cricket-hating sister, cricket-loving mother and Deejah had turned up to watch me play. Third bit of bad luck: We had to bat again because there were still 39 overs remaining in the game. So we either had to waste 39 overs, or just crack and smack and give them a large target off a limited amount of overs.

When we were 4 down I went in, and my partner went out shortly after. I got a new partner, who had run me out last innings. I was determined not to let that happen again, in fact I was determined to help our team waste the remaining 30 overs. So he and I blocked out the first three overs, then had a drink. We had a little time to nut out tactics, and so we did. Block out the next 12 overs until the next drinks break, and if there are any runs to be made then make them.

Obedient as I am, I blocked or left every single ball, except for the ones which were hittable. I hit a four - only my second on this ground and only my second this year - then a few singles. I ended up breaking my PB in Under-16s, and making my first ever double-digit Under-16s score. I had a little deja vu at that point - I had done the same once in Under-13s and gone on to make 21* - but I kept going. There was one over left eventually, and I was on strike to a kid called Hoody (whom Deejah goes to school with). And boy was he quick. Well, quicker than the rest. So I blocked out the first four, then I mistakenly went for a shot that wasn't there. I was out, caught, at backward point for 11. The main thing, though, was that I had batted for 15 overs without losing my wicket. It was now drinks. The other kid was still in, and he ended up going out for 18. That was the third bit of good luck, and it was enough for us to win the game.

The wonderful thing was that all throughout the season, my teammates had tried to convince me to just go for the crack and smack. Today, they were urging me to play my natural game - defensive wall. So I delivered, and it worked. At the end of our second innings, the other team had to make 96 off 6 overs - a whopping 16 runs per over - and it was decided that it wasn't quite worth it. So we had won, and I was one of the heroes. I quite enjoyed my day, and I will remember it forever.