Clap clap yeah. (Say, what color are suburban teeth, anyhow?)

Do any of you use Musicmatch? I'm copletely zoned out on it now. The great thing is that I have discovered various new (to me) bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Postal Service. The bummer about it, though, is that there's always the heavy danger of looping one single song for so long that you burn out on a song that initially you were so excited about. That has just about happened for me with Clap Your Hands' song "The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth". I'm not sure how to link to a song, but go find it! Now!!! You have to go to the bathroom urgently? No! You need good music on your computer! Go! Now!

(And be happy I now have a reason to cease incessantly droning on about The Waterboys!)

In other news, I saw The Devil Wears Prada today at the Carmike Cranberry 8. Great movie, but I won't try to detail it. Just...great movie! No intriguing previews, but I hear Lindsay Lohan's in a new flick.

Finally, I've not been my normal obsessive soccer fan this week. I did catch a little of the Italy-Ukraine match, just before Italy started pouding Ukraine. I was kind of hoping for a Ukraine victory. I felt like seeing an underdog win. Not sure why; it would only make things that much easier for Brazil and Germany, neither of whom I'm big on (again, just because they are heavy favorites, from what I hear). For tomorrow, I think I'll at least watch France and Brazil. I know Plods is all about France, and I'm all about her blog, so...Go France.

Stolen from Anne...err..ummm...Kate...uh...yeah.

Thanks, Miss F.

5 Things In My Fridge:
A big bag of Tootsie Rolls (445?)
two heads of organic (I'm turning into a hippie!) iceberg lettuce
A mostly empty bag of Spree
A jar of 50Fifty (?) diabetic-friendly (?) grape-ish jelly
Breyers yoghurt (cherry, cherry-on-bottom, lime)

5 Things In My Closet:
a wicker trash can
a red sleeping bag
crutch tips
a gray hoodie
ripped up boxes

5 Things In My Purse (or in my case, fanny pack):
lots of change
green ACCESS tickets (ACCESS is a paratransit organization [lift van service] run by Port Authority Transit)
two sets of keys
a receipt from Giant Eagle
a little lint

On the flip side...

I haven't really given this too much thought myself, but I'll ask anyhow:

Assuming there is an "other side", who would you like to meet that you never got to meet in your lifetime? Me? That's a hard question. I was listening to the song of all songs, "Whole of the Moon" by the Waterboys, and really honed in on the backup vocalist, who in my mind has a lovely voice. Her name is Max Edie, and she had to be only in her early twenties back when that song was produced. She fascinates me. She is one of those folks that seemed to have a very short "fifteen minutes", and then drifted back under the radar. By all accounts I'm aware of, she is still a musician, but I don't know for whom or in what capacity. She strikes me as the exemplification of somebody doing something for the love of it, but who has enjoyed widely tangible success in the most universal sense of the word. Kind of the Parker Posey of musicians. Not craving fame, but not craving privacy, either. Just going with the flow, and using her best talents along the way.

Fidel, you are mine!!!

I've been on a crazy blogging rampage lately, even though I've not really had much profound to say. Having said this, I must say "merci" to Plods for this.

You're Cuba!

How bad can you really be?  So many people have said so many
bad things about you, but you know they can't all be true.  Not even most of them.
 You went a little crazy for a while, but now you're just getting older and tired
of all the nasty stuff people think about you.  You could use a little more money
and you really wish people wouldn't keep leaving you for richer people, but other than
that, things aren't so bad.  You really like used military clothing.


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

What the hell, Wilkes-Barre?!

http://www.wbre.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=2215
This damn well better not interfere with The Office, or I will...ummm...I dunno...throw pizza at the TV.

But seriously, my neck of the state is doing just fine. No CNN coverage outta here, man. What the hell?!

Song playing now: Mountain Dance, Dave Grusin.

Dreams just out of reach

Here's an exercise for you. Another slightly pessimistic post of mine, but an interesting one this time. I know I've been kind of a grouch lately, but just bear with me.

Name one dream you have had for a long time, but that you feel is and may always be just slightly out of reach for you.

Me? I kind of want to go to Sweden. I am a fan of both men's and women's soccer, as is fairly well documented on this site. For a few years, I have been following the blog of Hedvig Lindahl, an elite women's goalkeeper for a team in Sweden. I started just because I happened to find it, and and I love it when elites like this reach out to their fans like this. Hedvig is also on the Swedish national team, and her team is coming to Blaine, Minnesota next month. Before my troubles in Ann Arbor, where I lost my return Greyhound ticket, and thusly cost myself hundreds, I had been eyeballing making this trip. It's 26 or so hours each way, but would seemingly be well worth it. Unfortunately, my lack of a job (and lack of motivation to get one), and the incidents in Michigan, are causing me to have to give that idea up.

Also, I feel that my Michigan trip kind of scared me into the reality that I may not be cut out for such a trip. Linkoping isn't exactly as tourist-friendly as the behemoth Stockholm (It'd be like a Swede deciding to visit Boise rather than New York City), and I don't want to lose any important papers or other belongings, and sure don't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere trying to get somewhere in Linkoping that seems deceptively easy to get to but isn't.

I love my little weekend travels. I like to think I have learned to be a slightly better traveler each time. It's probably true, however, if one gets too relaxed, bad things happen. True, mistakes make you learn, but I'd rather not let hindsight be my prescription photogray glasses in a non-English-speaking country.

So, again, what about you? Name one dream you have had for a long time, but that you feel is and may always be just slightly out of reach for you.

And there I am...

Have you ever found a pic of yourself on the web but not been aware you had ever "posed" for it? I was just on Flickr and put in "Sarah Vowell" just for the hell of it. I came upon this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bshort/109409500/

It was from my trip to NYC to see her at Borders.

How 'bout them apples, eh? Speaking of apples, I seriously don't recall having eaten today. I'm not entirely sure why, and I'm not even ginormously hungry, but I do believe I will order myself a pizza or a plate of spaghetti or something.

Woe is me.

This pic is me after realizing that my whole roll of pics from St. Louis was supremely crummy. Details soon.

unmotivated

So, ummm...yeah. Does anybody read this anymore? I've left you all stranded for a week---two weeks in a row! I just have felt wildly unmotivated lately. Not exactly sure why, but I suppose my soccer fetish could have a little to do with it (ya think?!). I can say that I did not see any of the U.S. carnage. I'm kind of happy about that, but kind of not. I have mostly been watching little snippets of this match and that. I did catch the whole of Trinidad and Tobago v. Sweden, and most of Holland's rough match with Portugal. Three red cards were allotted, making the match finish 10 men vs. nine. I had almost forgotten how much referees have to do with the goings on at such competitions. Should be a rather bizarre, and hard, time for Portugal henceforth. This thing's just getting good, even though the U.S. and my two backups, Sweden and Holland, are both outtie.

Ohhhh, what else? I got my computer looked at by GeekSquad again. Rather frustrating that my roommate is more or less the cause of my problems. Our router got kerpowed by the storms of a few days ago. Ergo, I went out to the Shack and got us one. He hooked it up. I did not question him because I thought he new what he was doing. Turns out he didn't, and that was the only issue with my computer not being able to connect with the internet.

C'est la vie. At least the guy checked, for free, my speakers, which are new, but had not been working. Turns out I had failed to connect them correctly. Luckily my printer is just fine, but needs a new ink cartridge. I can procrastinate on that, since I never use it.

So, yes, I have new speakers. Yow! Now I can drain my account on file sharing. That is indeed what I am doing. A couple of hours, I downloaded Yahoo! Music, and technically made the transaction. However, their stuff couldn't pass my mighty mighty firewall. So, I settled on Dell Jukebox, which I had on my computer anyway. But now, I have a paid account. I'm not really sure if that's doing any good for me, though. Seems I can download all this music anyhow. I have a week to answer this question before I am actually charged. Until then, I am happy to geek out on a really weird array of music, including The Cure, The Waterboys, Tegan and Sarah, and...Michael Manring?!?!?! (moodswing much?)

Nobody's looking at me anyhow. I might just follow that up with some Ray Lynch and heavier, angrier R.E.M. (so, what is the frequency, anyhow. Did Kenneth end up knowing?)

Ahhhh, yes, and I took some atrocious pics in St. Louis, which has me somewhat demoralized. I afforded myself really, really bad lighting. And all within the confines of Lambert Field. Sorry, but that just gets maddening. But then it takes things like that to make you humble, I suppose. I still have tons to learn, but I love it, thanks to Tristan Tom and some others on Flickr. I'll hopefully have them up tomorrow.

gastroenteritis 8, Cory 1

I'm back! Only time (and energy) for a short post. St. Louis was good. It was great to see the uncle and aunt. My uncle and I drove around the "City-County" area, just seeing the sites a bit. We got close the the Arch, and my uncle alluded to going up in it, but I think I steered him away from it. When I went up in it in the mid-1980's, I seem to remember feeling really unbalanced at the top, as though the observatory is slanted (can anybody vouch?). I also got a haircut from my uncle's friend, an "eccentric cat-lady" (she has lots of cats, she does her haircuts from some historic house that's decorated with zebra stripes and tiger posters).

We went to see a couple of movies, because they are very much into that (so am I, but I can't afford too many). We saw the Al Gore movie and the Sandra Bullock movie. The Lake House was a bit hard to follow. Not sure if I became ill by then or what happened. I did like the Chicago scenery, though. Al Gore's movie was excellent. I'm not a hardcore environmentalist, but my parents are. They kept pushing me to see it, and lo and behold, my uncle and aunt take me to it. I find Al Gore's way of speaking rather addictive (I can't think today, so excuse the choice of words). I like his accent, and loved how methodical he was in explaining the crisis he feels the environment is in. His views are strong, but he acknowledges they are just that...views. Mosdt of the movie is done classroom-lecture style, but mixed with some other stuff, too.

We also went to see the Rockies and Cards at the fabulous Busch Stadium, with a fine view of the Arch and other skyscrapers. The Cards won 8-1.

The real winner of the vacation, though, was gastroenteritis. I started slowly getting ill when my uncle and aunt took me to Sonic and I had a burger, fries, and a watermelon Sprite. Things slowly got worse that night when they and a friend of hers took me to Outback, and I had a salad and an onion soup. That night, the shit hit the fan (and various other things), and I was anchored to my hotel room toilet for 4 HOURS!!! After that, I got some sleep for two hours, then it happened again---for another hour! After all that, I dialed 911 and Richmond Heights Fire sped on over in their pretty new ambulance and fire truck, red and blue lights ablaze, and took me to the hospital. After I got in, the doctor got me on a water IV, and I sat for a couple of hours, and perked up pretty well. I was released after only beginning my second scheduled bag of IV fluid.

My aunt and uncle took me to their house, where a mini-reunion was taking place. We all caught up, I ate about an ounce of plain rice, and then the fan was hit again. After about 45 minutes, my aunt called Webster Groves Fire, and I returned. Same drill---two more IV bags. Same conclusion more or less, except this doctor called it "gastroenteritis", which meant food poisoning could have been the cause, but the point was that my bowel was inflamed. After my bags were finished, I tried, on my aunts advice and my own desires, to get admitted, but they refused, saying I had perked up too much, and that they wouldn't be able to do any further treatment.

So, home I went. I slowly came around, thanks to some meds I was put on, but I'm still a little weird. Mostly tired. Very hungry, too, which is good, but I'm told to fast today. So that I will, although I may just stick my head in the freezer for a bit and drool.

Ciao!

Ambulance, Las Vegas

Ambulance, Las Vegas
Originally uploaded by So Cal Metro.

Here's what I have as my desktop background at this moment. Man, I love Flickr!

Headstuck song: Good King Wenceslas, by Mannheim Steamroller
OK, laundry time! Bye for real now.

just testing...

Halloween '05
Originally uploaded by Arwenface.

a flickr blog feature. Just curious. See y'all next week after my St. Louis trip.

suddenly kick-ass metabolism

I have this as my desktop background right now. What about yunz? I just put in the search string "Dash 7" (no quotes) on Flickr, and all sorts of cool stuff came up. Do it!

Also, I am just oddly not terribly hungry. I'm getting there, for sure, but I'm not ravenous, and I haven't eaten all day. What is up with that? I went shopping yesterday, and picked up enormous amounts of food. Mostly my normal frozen fare (chicken fried steak, sweet and sour chicken, bread and whatever else). Normally, I'm all into tearing into the new groceries, but not today or yesterday. Not sure what's up. I'm feeling OK. Very peaceful, actually. I think it's because I'm working steadily on the St. Louis trip (day after tomorrow). Although I am not panicked, which is nice, and rare.

Tomorrow I need to get some new shoes at Target. Maybe I'll get some film done there, too. Usually I do it at Giant Eagle on the other side of the plaza, but if Target does it and includes a free CD, all the better.

I am completely oblivious to the World Cup schedule today. I've had fun watching the two matches I've seen, and fragments of other matches, but it's something I'm not being compulsive over.

Now if I could just get compulsive about cleaning my room!

P.S., I completely forgot about Hell's Kitchen on Fox last night. I caught a half hour of it. Was the rest any good?

Ribs, barbecued and cracked

I am heading to St. Louis on Thursday to visit some relatives there. Not sure exactly what I'll be doing there, except go to a baseball game against the Rockies and grease my colon up on some ribs and such. It'll be nice, though. I see very little of my extended family, anymore, it seems, and they are a nice bunch of people. And on this side of the family, very successful in work and in life, even despite some bumps. Major bumps. One family member has battled drug and alcohol addiction, but overcome it and helped the community that he still feels a part of, by helping with Harris House and Hilljack House. He is still very much a family man as well, imperfect as that aspect of his life may also be. To me, he exemplifies responsibility. He accepts his disease, and his susceptibility to breaking sobriety, and lives. Very much lives. Lives for others and himself, which are intertwined things.

I watched The U.S. v. Czech republic today. Or at least the first half. I would have liked to see the finish. To me, we didn't suck, but a loss is a loss, and the 0-3 result puts us below Angola---yes, very bottom. They lost as well, but my an 0-2 margin, which means they have a -2 goal differential, to our -3. And that is the tiebreaker.

Not sure what else to say. I discovered a mysterious disposable camera in my room the other day. On wednesday, I will likely get that developed and upload some more. Also, I am in the process of transferring my photos to Flickr. That will be done, and the rest of my links back up, I'm sure. And when I get back, more pics, I hope.

Tah tah.

P.S. Do most of you write out your blog and then think up a title, or the reverse? I like entry titles; not sure why. But I have a hard time with that. I should just not think; not try too hard to be clever.

When Cory has left the building...

I've been in a blogging mood the past day or two, but haven't had much to say. Ergo, I've been borrowing ideas. This one is from Beast. He has a post where he is trying to give directions and suggestions for his funeral. This is something that I think about quite a bit. Admittedly, I have contemplated suicide in the past, but have never thought to attempt it. First of all, it would be a psychological burden on my loved ones. Secondly, if it failed, it would leave me disabled in a way I can't cope with (I don't deal with sudden change or limbo well). Thirdly, it's quite simply a cop out.

Having said that, though, if things change in that respect, or if I die in an accident (which I believe---unfortunately not joking---almost occurred on my trip to New York City while waiting for a subway car), I would want some say in how I am remembered. Maybe it's completely selfish. I mean, I know my mother is going to remember me for certain things she holds dear, and it ain't soccer! But I want to make a certain imprint on the world. I have always wanted so badly for people to know at least part of the real me, and I think a funeral is a good place to reveal that, at least in symbol.

To that end, here is a provisional (and perhaps hypothetical) set of instructions. I may revisit this from time to time:

Before or After the Funeral
1: Go through my "stuff". Donate everything possible, but discard the rest. I can't impose my own judgement on this, obviously. Just retain, for the time being, anything to be used for the funeral. All monetary assets shall be split as evenly as possible between the gymnastics program at the University of Pittsburgh, where I leave many fond memories and friendships, new and old, and the athletic program at Sacramento State, where I started to discover who I really was without fear of disapproval by my ever-loving parents.

2: Some folks have parties or get-togethers. My parents always seemed to like group outings of seven or eight close folks. I wouldn't impose a number, but there's something to be said for that sort of thing, I suppose. But not if you're forcing yourself. Death is a grievous thing, and forcing yourself to be happy at any particular moment is no good. Do as you wish in this regard. Just have it afterward!

Urn:
Solid, bright orange, no decoration, try your hardest to make it cheap, even if its a makeshift urn. Not exactly sure why, really, although I do remember in my childhood liking the Dutch national soccer team. I guess I just like the color, and I guess that's a good enough reason.

Funeral attire:
Well, whatever. Can't really enforce this. I don't want people denied entry. But I do tend to like the formality of funerals. It just seems appropriate to dress up, but hopefully not in too much black. But we shall see, shan't we?

Music (edited to include links to the admittedly obscure artists):
I'd love the background to be a combination of Ray Lynch, John Jarvis (He's calling himself John Barlow Jarvis now?!), David Lanz and/or similar artists. Loop if necessary. At the end, with no explanation, play "Whole of the Moon" by the Waterboys.

Decor/Venue:
I am an atheist, but primarily grew up in the Unitarian Universalist church. A venue consistent with either faith would be just fine. I broke away from the Unitarians for political differences, and for lack of need for a religious community. However, I still highly respect their ongoing attempt to affirm people's right to be.

For decor, at this point, I would prefer my Sacramento State posters (women's soccer, gymnastics and volleyball teams) hanging front and center, along with all of my Pitt gymnastics programs, if salvageable (please try to make them so). As well, if I have accrued a collection of soccer scarves, have them toward this middle focal point as well, one below the other, if possible. This all exemplifies who I was as I saw myself. Surrounding this can be anything. Anything that represents how you saw me, and anything that contributes to a normal, formal, funereal feel.

Comments: Time must be allowed for comments. If I'm wrong and my spirit does exist, and sees this, I do want to know how others saw me.

Anything else I've failed to mention with respect to my final wishes, I leave to you.

I feel really funny about doing this sort of exercise. I feel kind of demanding. But it's something that should be done by everybody. It's important that we get across what is important to our very being. It is important for others to get a chance to say what is on their mind as well.

I know I'm probably going to have to revisit this from time to time, but if I die tomorrow for any reason, any services that adhere to this post are A-OK with me. Thanks.

nothing more to lose

Oklahoma expands death penalty

Oklahoma just became the fifth state to introduce lethal injection as a punishment for certain categories of sex crimes, including rape, sodomy, or lewd molestation of somebody under 14. Personally, I support the death penalty, and most efforts to streamline appeals. However, I agree with the following quote by David Brook, a law professor at Washington and Lee University "The last message you want to give an offender who has the life of a child in his hands is you might as well kill the child because he's already got the death penalty". As appealing as it is to throw the book at certain people, it's not good to inadvertently cause them to do more damage because they have nothing more to lose.

I just don't know, though. In Singapore, people are executed for drug posession and other non-fatal crimes. I'm not sure the murder rate there, and I'd be curious, as it may add something to the U.S. debate over the death penalty as applied to non-murderers. All I do know is that most prisoners are hanged (by maybe a 4-1 ratio) for drug posession, and not murder.

Whoah, girl!

Laura has gone freaky with the meme's today! I think it's her repenting for not doing the friday meme thing for a while (I'm pretty sure). S'OK. Meme's are good. I just have no patience for cultivating them or making my own, so Laura, pat me on the back, because thanks to you, I am it!

1. The Senate recently voted against an amendment to ban same-sex marriages. Do you agree or disagree with the decision? Why or why not?
I agree. Marriage should be open to all units of two people. Maybe in the religious world, marriage is a predecessor to inevitable childbearing. However, not all of us like kids. I'm still lost as to why homosexual marriage is so wrong, except that the Bible may see it as wrong. I am a firm atheist, and many others don't go by the Bible. I'm not sure what else to say, but I find no excuse to exclude gays from marriage.

2. With the recent death of the Al-Qaida leader in Iraq, what do you think is the next step for the country?
The death of Al-Qaeda No. 2. The U.S. has to feel useful, so we will always find a reason to battle others' battles. We just won't find a reason to help social security.

3. The governor of Texas is planning on installing night vision web cams along the border. Do you feel the government has gone overboard with keeping illegal immigrants out of the US? Why or why not?
Not in general, but spending millions like this may not be the way to go. I think maybe illegal immigration should not be enforced unless in tandem with another crime, or unless it is clearly pointed out to authorities beyond a reasonable doubt. I just generally hate the way we are mismanaging money in this country. If we didn't mismanage money, immigration (legal and illegal) wouldn't be so much of a problem.

4. Many fast food restaurants have began offering healthier foods on their menus. Do you feel more compelled to eat there now than before?
No. I eat out, usually, at my supermarket's cafe, where I'll get myself a wrap or sushi, chips, a yogurt, and seltzer.

5. A Maine businessman has produced a 2007 Serial Killer Calendar that depicts some of the world’s most notorious murderers (artwork done by a convicted Frenchman who served time for murder). Would you buy it? Why or why not?
I'm not into buying things for their shock value. Also, my parents still question me on certain things, and that's not something I'd want to feel compelled to explain (even though I'm an adult).

It was super! And clasico!

Nothing like a little MLS to whet your appetite for the World Cup. I know it isn't the best league in the world by a longshot!!! We mostly make early, and ugly, exits in CONCACAF's club competition, even with DC United, which has something like 5 titles in the eleven year history of MLS. I guess things like that show how far MLS has to go to match the skill of the Mexican and Costa Rican leagues. But regardless, MLS' only derby (local rivalry), the Honda Superclassico happened tonight, and for the first time, Chivas USA beat the LA Galaxy at their shared venue. 2-1 to be exact, all goals in the first half. I'm rather surprised. Chivas' coach said the team looked cocky, but I saw fatigue, and lack of focus, in many parts of the second half. Good of them to hold on, though, and good on former Seattle Sounder Preston Burpo. He looked just as confident as he ever did down in Division One.

Not sure if I'm going to watch any soccer tonight. None of the matchups really intrigue me. On Saturday, I'm going to try to watch at least a little of the Sweden v. T&T match. I like all things Swedish, and the US is in CONCACAF, as is T&T. Although I am American, I tend to root for any CONCACAF team, just to say to the world "Hey, world! It's not just Europe and Brazil that play the beautiful game anymore."

In other news, Steve Nunno resigned a month or so ago from Oklahoma's gymnastics team. Talk about it here.

And Serena Altschul is 35. And she has been since October. Which means she'll be 36 in the October that is ahead of us. Oy!

Sand, meet my head.

group stage ramblings

Well, the World Cup is upon us, and the US is in Group E for the group stage. This means they get to do a round robin with Italy, the Czech Republic, and Ghana. From what I hear, it seems like people feel we'll progress to the knockout rounds. I am tempted to agree. The Czechs are ranked second behind Brazil in the world rankings of national teams. I was a bit surprised by that, but what do you do. Italy has not fared well in a World Cup in a long time, apparently. They are better known for their domestic league than their national team. And then Ghana...well, they're 48th. And they need a webmaster. Just kidding, but yes, they would certainly be favored to bring up the rear of the group. I reckon the Czechs will win the group, and we will maybe advance on goal differential. Italy could well be a surprise. And so could we.

So, having said all that, what would happen if we were to advance out of the group stage? Well, being in Group E as we are, my understanding is that we would play a team in Group D. If we win E, we play D2, the second finisher in Group D. If we are second (E2), we play D1, so that could be Mexico, Iran, Angola, or Portugal. Frankly, it could go either way between Mexico and Portugal, but I'd be surprised if those aren't the possibilities as far as opponents in the first knockout round.

Let the fur fly! (How do you say that in German, by the way?)

Cramptastic, man!

That is how I am right now. I went to a movie today, Break Up, with Jennifer Anniston. Neat movie, albeit somewhat predictable. I'm not a huge Anniston fan, but evidently many are. That was the first movie I've seen all year that was half-way packed. I'm not sure if that's because I'm bad at picking popular movies, or I wait a long time to see them. Truth is, I never pay attention to when a movie comes out, which may be why I wound up missing Akeelah. Ahh, well.

I forget the moment, but Vince Vaughn mentioned Ann Arbor, which is funny because when I was in Ann Arbor, I ran into a guy that looked and sounded a lot like him. It was when I was downtown looking for the bus stop on the day I was supposed to come home. (Geez! I never wrapped up that story, did I?)

Before the movie, I had some time to kill, so I indulged this pregnant urge for vanilla ice cream. I got a double cup from a guy who didn't speak good English. I asked if he had cups, and he just gestured to the cones, so I picked a normal cone, and then he asked if I preferred a cup, and in a confused manner I said yes, and to make it a double, not a single, instead. He got annoyed.

I got crampy. I am still crampy. You can take your twos and make four. See you next time.

Vanilla ice cream! Now!

This afternoon, I am going to see the new Vince Vaughn movie over at Northway Mall (when the heck did they start calling it the Shoppes at Northway?! It's in bloody Ross Township. There is no Northway, PA, that I'm aware of. Oh well.) I'm not big on Jennifer Anniston, but I've seen a lot of Vince lately, and even though he has a somewhat macho way of speaking, I do like him. He seems very approachable. Off topic a bit, I thought I saw him in Ann Arbor.

Maybe when I'm at Northway Dollar I can get a pint of vanilla ice cream. Partially thawed. I've been really craving that the past few days. I have no clue why. I've been completely insane about it. I'm embarrassed.

What else? No soccer this weekend on TV. I will probably watch a little of the IRL race tomorrow. I'll be late coming home for it from the movie.

Speaking of soccer, the World Cupstarts in a few days. Should be good. I haven't meditated over all the pools yet (and I might not), but the predictions that Brazil will win seem fair to me. The U.S. didn't look so hot over Latvia the other day, even in victory, but people feel that because we had a good run last time around, and we have a good ranking right now, that we will go pretty far. I do think we'll advance second out of our group, but I can't guess any further. All I am fairly sure of is that group play finisher A1 plays H2.

Ole!

P.S., I'll have my links up in a few days, definitely before St. Louis! I've just been preoccupied.

He's gone mad!

I didn't know Yahoo! allowed you to create leagues late in the season for baseball. I already have one, that Rae is also in, but I'm addicted. I love developing my own points systems. I really have no reason why. I just like seeing how numbers affect situations---or the other way around. It's the only reason I ever wanted to be a school teacher. The grading criteria. Anyhow, I have a second one going (of my creation). Come on, y'all. You know you want to! Let's get it up to four teams! "We're" a quarter of the way there!

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/386537

Speakinawhich, I missed my opportunity to watch the Pads here in The Pittsburgh. *grumble* Oh well. Soon, I'll watch St. Louis beat up on Coloradio. That ought to be good. I just hope the weather cools a bit. It's been stormin' a bit here in The Pittsburgh (Russ, my apologies. You are rubbing off on me).

Really not much else to say. I was all looking forward to seeing Akeelah and the Bee, but it's long gone, despite what I thought. I also missed the bee that was on TV recently. Anybody see that? Anyone really obnoxious? Do tell!

I suppose that is all. I got some speakers (sorry, either this or a page in Russian) for my desktop, but have been lazy, and unsuccessful, at putting them in.

So, seen any good movies?

an "oh yeah" or two

Sorry for my weird entry just now. But...well..you know...it's.... But anyway, I forgot to say that Max Edie looked really nice in a tux-like ensemble. Maybe it was a tux. But the shirt was, I think, purple. But it was sure different, and nice!

false alarm

Funny, I initially posted this before I was nearly done with it. Gotta love brainmelt.

Speakinawhich, it is still painfully hot, but that's OK. I slept quite decently last night, but for some reason, I was compelled to get up before my body was truly ready. I never understand that! Do you? Ahh well.

I am going to St. Louis soon, to visit my uncle, who works here in some management capacity. That'll be nice. It seems like less and less often that I ever go to St. Louis. My uncle follows baseball, and I like it too, for the architecture and atmosphere, but it's also the simplest of America's big sports, in my opinion. He and my aunt and myself are heading out to see the Cards and the Rockies. Should be an interesting time. I never really hang out in the city itself. My folks all live in the county.

Last night, I watched VH1 Classic's The Alternative, and heard "Whole of the Moon", well, half of it anyhow. But I was buzzing for the rest of the night. Funny how Max Edie isn't even credited on the Waterboys site. I think she does a lovely job on backup. She's really flying under the radar these days, though.

Ahh well. Oh yes, sorry for the chronological mess that my thoughts are in. Darn heat! I went to MyGarb and ordered myself a UMSL baseball t-shirt.

It's all about pretending to be a local. Woo!!!