Fingers

"When things aren't going right, I understand people are going to point fingers. If they want to point the finger at me, that's fine." Duane Starks Demoted from his starting cornerback job with the New England Patriots "I am not sure anyone can imagine how very sad and depressing this year has been for me because of all of the injuries." Vitali Klitschko Heavyweight boxer "Both of us had some tough times in Washington. Sometimes, I was glad to see you on the front page instead of me."

Confession: The first week with a new knife or multi-tool leaves me lacerated. Others may be able to open and close the blades with their index finger and thumb as deftly as a surgeon, but I am more likely to need one as I try to cleanly unfurl my weapon of choice. Wenger NA, maker of the Swiss Army Knife, has felt my pain and answered my pitiful and painful moans with the EVOlution "S" series that comes with a locking blade. The S52, perfect for a glove box, tackle box or backpack, has a 2.5-inch blade, a wood saw, adjustable pliers and all the other tools for fixing stuff and being a genial picnic host.

A 14-year-old Baltimore boy surrendered to police yesterday in connection with a Sunday shooting that left his girlfriend with wounds to her face and fingers, authorities said.Julius Barnes of the 1900 block of Hollins St. was charged as an adult with attempted murder and a handgun violation. Police said he surrendered from his lawyer's office downtown.Police had sought the teen-ager since Sunday, when Christine Anne Murray, 15, was shot in the left cheek.They said her middle and ring fingers were badly injured, and the tip of her index finger was shot off.Christine was in fair condition yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Any suggestions for getting into shape for mountain biking? Cristy Kirssin, Princeton Sports manager and an entry- level mountain biker herself, suggests varying your training. When she began, she started with 20- to 30-minute sessions on the stationary bike. Choose the "random" program, which will incorporate simulated hills. Spinning classes are also great for building endurance. In addition to cardiovascular work, Kirssin began strengthening her legs and arms (strong arms are important for maneuvering the bike on rough terrain and hills)

Last week's news was saturated, indelibly, in purple ink. First there were images of Iraqi men and women leaving polling stations, waving freshly stained purple fingers to prove they'd cast a ballot. Then, at Wednesday night's State of the Union address, the cameras briefly focused on Iraqi human rights worker Safia Taleb al-Suhail while she stabbed the first finger on her right hand proudly in the air. The tip was as purple as a pinot noir. Some lawmakers in the chamber held up their own index fingers.

Steve Thompson has seen how far a bottle rocket soars into the air - and how quickly it can blow the fingers off a 9-year-old boy's hand. A captain at the Anne Arundel County Fire Department and a paramedic for 19 years, Thompson has wrapped gauze around too many burns caused by illegal fireworks. He's told too many parents how to get to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center or the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center. He's transported too many people to the hospital, knowing they'll be scarred for life, on the Fourth of July.

"Fingers" has done the math.He figures it costs the state of Maryland $105,000 a year to keep him here in the hulking House of Correction in Jessup: to cut away his cataracts, to fend off his heart attacks, to tend the 72-year-old body of a lifelong thief.Let him out, and the federal government would pay about $4,800 a year in Supplemental Security Income benefits that are cut off every time Fingers, known in his voluminous court files as Edward Scott Hodgester, goes to prison. "That's a $100,000 savings," harrumphs the great-grandfather serving 10 years for burglary.

HAVRE DE GRACE -- Isn't it, like, just awesome the way young people on American high school and college campuses have embraced and refined the new digital technology?Take the Maryland Institute College of Art, which some of its neighbors wish you would.There, just as the daffodils were coming into bloom, assorted six-foot fingers suddenly sprouted from the earth in the median strip of Mount Royal Avenue. One of them appeared to be wearing a condom. It was a subtle blending of art and science.

This yarn concerns baseball, the good part, the part they play on the field, just in case there's a shortage of same even with spring training on the launch pad and the countdown already started.While rummaging through a bin of pictures of former sports greats, all of them nicely matted and ready for framing, there was one of a tall chap with a brilliant mustache waxed magnificently almost out to his ears. Even without the Oakland A's uniform, the man was unmistakable: Rollie Fingers.On the occasion of his induction into the Hall of Fame, Aug. 2, 1992, this was one of "just" 10,000 shots signed personally by the right-handed relief pitcher.

Reading Ron Smith's column ("Bracing for the age of contraction" June 3), I was reminded of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech. It seems to me that whenever economic times are hard, the American media does one of two things: If the party they oppose is in power, they fume and point fingers, pointing out policy blunders like the ones that plagued President Bush and President Obama; however, if "their" party is in power, the tone is subdued woe, and...