Monday, March 31, 2008

a series of events.

today was opening day, which is one of the most glorious days of the year. the baseball season is upon us once again and all seems right...sort of. the reds lost 4-2, mainly because they continue to grasp onto hopes that players like edwin encarnacion and adam dunn still have more up side then down. dead wrong. you can only give a player so many years to prove you wrong, over and over again. regardless, the loss doesn't really concern me because there's an air of optimism around the team this year, and for once i'd say that it's well warranted.

not only do i get to bask in the first pitches of the baseball season, but i also get to celebrate my birthday, which jokingly falls on april fool's day. 27 years old seems fucking old, especially for someone who currently doesn't have a job and is moving to chicago with little to no prospects. it's hard to explain, though, because i know i'll be all right. i'm really not worried. honestly, i feel like i know myself more now than i ever have before. strengths and weaknesses and all that shit. i like to think i have some charismatic and personable qualities. i can manage. i can adapt.

it's all coming to head, though. no turning back now. i'm progressively moving the next two weeks, and then i'm out of here. i love this city to death, but i've gotta do it for my own peace of mind. maybe that doesn't make sense, but it kind of does to me. the change is necessary?

out of that introspective shit, though. i'm an expert packer. i've moved like eight times in nine years or something like that and have focused the process of packing down to a precise science. i hate it more than green beans, but there's some sort of strange satisfaction i get out of maximizing the space in a cardboard box and finding just the right combination of dvds and books that will fit without giving me a hernia while lifting it. there's just something about it. it's like when i make one of my many lists of things to do and methodically cross off the tasks as i complete them. i get complete satisfaction from drawing a line through "go to the grocery" or "pay car insurance." it makes me feel accomplished, and lord knows i need that encouragement.

annnyway, this is a rambling post, and i kind of like it that way. tomorrow for my birthday i will be heading to the comet for food and drinks. my last great birthday was at the comet, so i'll make a small attempt at recreating that. my friends will be there, and i'll be happy. that's it.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

ho hum.

this not having a job thing has caught up to me. i liked it for a little while. i mean...who wouldn't? i'm ready to get going again though.

my birthday is a week from today. i'll be older than everyone.

give me stuff so that i can stare at it.

thanks.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

fantasy dive.

this is my first time ever playing fantasy baseball. i used to be anti-fantasy because i simply did not care for the idea that i would be rooting for teams and players that i would want to shit on if they were playing against the reds. the idea just made me sick to my stomach. however, because baseball is so wrapped around statistics and is such a soap opera of a season, i figured it'd be a good time to dangle my legs in the fantasy pool (plus, i'm in a league with a bunch of my friends who live in lancaster and are huge phillies fans, which will make it more fun...you know, because of the multiple opportunities to shit-talk).

anyway, i'm decently excited about the prospect of becoming even more immersed in baseball this season, which seems practically impossible right? trust me, though...it's possible.

here's my starting lineup:
C Brian McCann
1B Mark Teixeira
2B PHILLIPS!
SS Rafael Furcal
3B Miguel Cabrera
OF Curtis Granderson
OF Vernon Wells
OF Delmon Young
UTIL Jason Bay
Bench Gary Sheffield, GRIFFEY!, Jeff Kent, Jhonny Peralta

Pitchers Brandon Webb, HARANG!, Tim Lincecum, Ben Sheets, CORDERO!, Huston Street, Jeff Francis

note all of the reds i picked. that seems slightly ridiculous, but those are damn good reds to pick in fantasy if you ask me. all in all, i'm pretty happy with my team, especially considering that this is my first go around with fantasy.

i plan on dominating.

p.s. i know this isn't really interesting to anyone that reads this blog (except for maybe justin). i apologize if you read this whole thing and now feel like you wasted a moment of your life. too bad.

oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, here's a pick of me with the 1990 world series team. lou pinella smelled like a weird mixture of tuna and gasoline.

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

nice and quick.

if i spend too long writing this i'll just end up cursing myself because it's damn gorgeous outside and that's where i should be.

first motorcycle ride today. it took me a second. i fell once but got it going after a bit. still only in first gear though. baby steps people. i let russ ride it as well. he fell once...in the mud. luckily, however, my bike is perfectly fine, which is the most important thing. right?

i went to justin and heidi's last night for a fucking awesome meal of potato tacos, beans and rice, and some fantastic tortilla soup. i was served beer out of a jug and we watched return to oz, which i had been badly wanting to see. i watched this movie religiously as a child and remember how creepy it was. it was great of course and i had to have said at least fifty times, "i remember this part," which for some reason was reassuring to me, like i needed to confirm to myself that i had seen the movie multiple times as a kid. whatever.

wednesdays are the new fridays. take a hike weekend. you're overrated.

oh by the way, i found a new job. it's sitting around and waiting for baseball to start. it's a lot more work than you may think. damn stressful.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

10 years of jared. wow.

so i'm casually and predictably watching ESPN the other day when a bunch of b-list sports players and celebrities barrage me with a bevy of congratulations for jared fogle. you know jared. he was quite the portly fellow until he discovered the magical, weight-loss elixir that is subway. anyway, he hasn't weighed 500 pounds for ten years now, and subway decided to wrangle up a bunch of names and ask them to show their deepest, heartfelt praise for his accomplishment. sarcasm noted.

subway has definitely benefited from the ad campaign it began to run in january 2000 (that's right, we've been seeing jared for about over eight years). their profits have more than doubled since his face was plastered next to veggie subs everywhere. can you imagine a better job for jared? he basically lives off of subway commercials and "inspirational talks" he gives about fitness and eating. a company that sells turkey subs has made a fat guy into a celebrity and boy do they want you to know it. so much so, that they're willing to mark the ten year anniversary of his weight purge. really? does this seem ridiculous to anyone else?

i admire jared. really, i do. anyone would've taken advantage of the situation too and been more than willing to hold up a pair of size 62 pants and say, "hey guess what? subway helped me lose all this weight." he probably gets free subway for life, makes good money, and is generally happy. i honestly can't think of any one person aside from maybe michael jordan and gatorade that has been as tattooed to a company's success than jared.

are the congratulations worthwhile though? maintaining health both emotionally and physically is a kind of intrinsic part of life. almost like a responsibility to yourself. is jared happier because of subway or because of the weight loss? trust me, subway did not solely carry jared through his miraculous transformation. it was an aid. a facilitator. it had to be grueling work to lose all that weight and maybe even slightly disconcerting. it's probably pretty jarring to watch yourself physically transform in such a small amount of time. your life completely changes.

what i'm getting at is that i applaud jared for his own personal accomplishments and not for his subway affiliation. all subway's doing is exploiting the hell out of him anyway. if he gained back some of that weight, which honestly he seemed to be doing not all that long ago, subway would not even hesitate to shit all over him. who's to say they haven't already? regardless of his subway ties, jared probably has peace of mind and a pretty fucking good life because of his own dedication to the craft (yes, it's a craft) of losing weight and being healthier.

and there you have it.

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