Here on the island we love our baseball and we all have our favorite players and teams. I know Gilligan and the Skipper are both diehard Mariners fans while I, Mary Ann, despite being born and bread in good old Kansas, am partial to both the Dodgers and the Red Sox since falling in love with Manny Ramirez so many years ago.

So you can imagine how upset I was yesterday when Friday’s issue of The Los Angeles Times washed ashore and I learned that Manny, who’s hitting .415 with two homers and 12 RBI’s this season, just went on the 15-day disabled list. And although the doctors and trainers think with proper rehab Manny could be back in the lineup as early as May 3rd I couldn’t be so optimistic. I really don’t believe the image to the right can be considered “proper rehab” by anyone’s definition. But then again, it could just be another case of “Manny being Manny” and even if not, Manny, I love you anyway!

That’s it for the tale of our castaways for now.

Don’t you love farce? My fault I fear. I thought that you’d want what I want. Sorry, my dear. But where are the clowns? Quick, send in the clowns. Don’t bother, they’re here.

And now a little clown humor:

Two cannibals were eating a clown, when one turns to the other and says: “does this taste funny to you?”

That’s it for the tale of our castaways for now.

And even here on the island we have our own expressions like “wouldn’t know a bunch of bananas if they fell on your head” (not very smart) or “take your head out of your Gilligan” (stop acting dumb) that have become commonplace, household or huthold words, if you will.

But as Ginger and I engaged in our usual “girl talk” as we got ready for bed the other night and Ginger started complaining about being “nexted” it really made me stop and think.

It was only recently that the typhoon washed the cable line ashore that the Professor tapped into for our internet, and even more recently that the Professor built a web cam out of a coconut and we discovered the fun of ChatRoulette.com. And yet “nexted” already is a word I should and do know.

I must point out that there was no lead up to the word in our conversation. Ginger didn’t say she’d been down at the lagoon when she’d been “nexted”, or had been practicing her lines for her role in the movie of the screenplay of the book about an actress who gets shipwrecked, and then, “nexted”. Nope. Just that she’d been “nexted” and that she must be getting old.

I could see how down she was and tried to offer some encouragement as any good friend would do. I told her there were many reasons for being “nexted” including “accidental nextings” and “lifestyle choice nextings” as well as “nextings” due solely to the poor quality of our coconut cam. This seemed to go a long way in making her feel better and should be a word from the wise straight to you. If glamorous movie stars like Ginger Grant get “nexted” on Chat Roulette, then we ALL get “nexted” so move on, have fun and don’t give it a second thought.

That’s it for the tale of our castaways for now.