OK, maybe not the URL

Allison's blog lives!

Also, the U.S. Women's soccer team faces Canada in Cary, NC today. Same roster as the last match, apparently. I hope the weather isn't quite as atrocious as in Minnesota when they played Sweden. Regardless, should be a match.

Also, I got some photos from my mall trip the other day. Betcher real excited. I would be. But yay, another one of me. I'll try to upload tonight.

Obituaries: surgeon, URL

I just heard that Dr. Drummond-Webb, a surgeon at the cardiac program of Arkansas Children's Hospital, committed suicide two years or so ago, at about 45 yars old. He was the surgeon profiled on ABC's 2002 miniseries, ICU: Arkansas Children's. To me, he seemed the face of stress management. He did an extremely stressful job (heart surgeon), did it well, and did it with compassion and a good patient rapport. He also maintained a marriage, and maintained a life outside of work, as a competitive runner and triathlete. If I see any links to the show in question, I will modify this post accordingly.

Also, somewhat alarmingly, Allison's domain expired. Dang! Allisonlives.com is now a search engine.

third crutch

I love Wikipedia. I love learning new things. I love correcting things. I love laughing at the edit wars. Wiiiiiiiiiiki wiki wiki! Wiiiiiikipedia.

Unfortunately, I feel like I lack credibility when I look something up on there. Bummer thing this, the need to surf Wikipedia occurs so often that I always forget certain articles I want to look up. Depth of field just slide-tackles spaghetti carbonara and throws it out of my brain with the dirty footy pajamas (which don't exist in my wardrobe, by the way. Let's make that clear).

In other news, my back is slowly on the mend. I had a minor setback the other day when I bent to the side to pick up a crutch and felt a sharp pain, followed by about ten minutes of severe nausea, for which I had to immediately lay down on the floor to ride it out. I have been advised by friends to avoid Vicodin, as apparently that constipates you. I've been lazy about getting Advil instead, and have just been roughing it. I am indeed on the mend, slowly but surely. But boy have I been a grouch!

Tomorrow, I'm heading out to browse at speakers. I've been listening to podcasts on this website and this one, and I am now very much in the urge to podcast my posts.

Good night, Tunisia, and Happy Republic Day!

Back scratch, back scratch.

Thank you for the good PR, Laura. :) In return, I credit you with this meme.

Appetizer
Fill in the blanks: I get nervous when I step off airplanes. I hate mad rushes.

Soup
Name something you use to make your home smell good.

Generic Wal-Mart Lysol. Yay.

Salad
If you could receive a coupon in the mail for 50% off any product, what would you want it to be for?

A nice new sweatshirt from a college. I am a white Bill Cosby. I have tons of college clothing.

Main Course
Besides sleeping, what do you spend the majority of the hours of your typical day doing?

Surfing the web, blogging.

Dessert
What can you hear right now while answering these questions?

Traffic on Babcock, and the strain of my hard drive.

Dutch meme

Tagged by the lovely Nadine:

1. The book nearest me:
U.S.Soccer Official Rules of Soccer.

2. Stretch your left arm, what do you touch?
The Vicodin I was given at the ER for my back (strained lower back, just as I suspected)

3. Last thing watched on television?
America's Got Talent

4. Without looking, what time is it?
4:30 pm?

5. What is the actual time?
4:27 pm! Wow! (as of this question's reply)

6. With the exception of the computer what can you hear?
Light automotive traffic on Babcock Blvd.

7. When did you last step outside?
About two hours ago, having gotten groceries and gotten my prescription filled here.

8. Before this survey what did you look at?
Webpage-wise? This one.

9. What are you wearing?
Baggy dark blue pants and a gray Chivas USA t-shirt.

10. Did you dream last night?
Not that I recall.

11. When did you last laugh?
At the store, but I'm not sure why.

12. What is on the walls in the room?
Posters from Sacramento State's gymnastics and women's soccer teams. A dartboard from Sharper Image, a few license plates, a blue frisbee from the San Diego Park & Recreation Deprtment, a bunch of programs from Pitt's gymnastics team, a drawn map of State College, PA, a mottled clay sun, and a picture of Cindy Parlow.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
No.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
I dig it.

15. What is the last film you saw?
You, Me, and Dupree.

16. Tell us something we don’t know.
My chair that I am sitting in right now is missing a wheel.

17. If you could change one thing about the world, what would you do?
Make our country friendlier to third parties and independents.

18. Do you like to dance?
No, except to the tunes on my computer.

19. George Bush?
Pretty daughters. Are they of age yet?

20. Imagine your first child is a girl…And?
Well, I don't want kids, but I'd rather have a girl. I like dresses and tights and stuffed animals and Hello Kitty, and...well, not for me personally, but having a daughter might approach being fun, especially if she grows to be a gymnast.

21. Imagine your first child is a boy.
Folks, it's been nice knowing you. Know that I will look over you from above. Over and out.

22. Would you consider living abroad?
Well, yes, Canada, were it not for the potential red tape. I love Canada to death. Especially Calgary, which I've been to.

23. What would God say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
You don't believe in me? *pout*

24. List 6 bloggers to carry on this meme.
Russ, Beast, Allison, Rachel and/or Brent and/or Pippin, Kate Foyer, Laura, and darnit, whoever actually reads this blog o' mine.

United Soccer Leagues 1st Division announcement, plus some other garbage.

United Soccer Leagues, the governing body for most minor league outdoor soccer in America, has announced that the new team in Cary, NC, will be called the Carolina Railhawks. I was a little bit disappointed. I think "Railhawks" sounds like a baseball team. I was hoping for something simple (albeit arguably cliched), like Cary FC. There's already Miami FC in the 1st Division, and I like that. But hey, the capital region of North Carolina has a team now. And a new regional derby ought to be imminent, between the 'hawks and the Charleston Battery. Should actually be a good derby, with two presumably mediocre teams in two of America's jewel venues for soccer. I'm stoked. Glad to be getting Fox Soccer Channel.

On another note, my stomach really bothered me this morning, and presumably in a rush to the bathroom, I strained the musculature in my lower back. I cannot stand up straight. I am drowsy from lack of sleep, but if I go to bed now, I will have insomnia.

I'm off to the hospital tomorrow finally, to look into a volunteer post. I just hope it doesn't wind up morphing into an ER visit.

not Roger Ebert, not even in a heat wave

Listening to: I Predict A Riot, Kaizer Chiefs...errrr, wait, that just ended as I wrote that out. Now it's Take A Chance On Me, Erasure.

I went malling today. Kind of a teenly thing to do, I suppose. Oh well. The weather is atrocious. Our AC isn't all that great. Nothing really do entertain me here at home. Thought I'd go see a movie. I picked You Me and Dupree. Pretty entertaining flick, although I hate macho men like the ones portrayed in the movie. It actually wound up being pretty funny, though, albeit fairly unrealistic. The previews were awesome, but because my brain was completely fried, I can't remember any of them. Also, a trailer for a movie about snakes invading a commercial airline flight freaked me out, so maybe that helped me forget the good stuff. If I remember, or can find it on the web, I will post the info.

I brought in from the mall dollar store a bottle of diet cherry soda, a bag of beef jerky, a bag of pretzel-cheese snacks, and a bag of chocolate covered cherries. The damn heat is preventing me from eating anything further.

Listening to: Wings of A Dove, Madness

stuff about my life

Song Playing: Nothing Better, The Postal Service

The prevailing feeling of the moment is pain. Annoying physical pain in the form of a massive cramp in my upper right arm. I have absolutely no clue how I accrued this annoyance. I've been sitting down more or less all day. I was dead to the world, and I failed to notice what position I slept in last night. This pain extends from my right elbow to my ring and little fingers (I can't believe I just had to look up what those fingers were called.

Froggy 101, a station not within my media market (by a longshot!) is starting to give away bumber stickers like one that apparently appears on The Office. I want one! Thing is, I need to go to Pittston, PA, a suburb of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, to score one. Only 300 or so miles...what the heck. After all, the link on their site about said sticker is dead.

Of significance, I am going down the hill on Thursday or Friday to UPMC Passavant to get myself a TB test so I can score a volunteer position there for a while. Not sure where, as I have to wait for an approximately monthly orientation, but last time I worked in a hospital, it was in medical records. I just entered record numbers of Pittsburgh EMS (Hey! I rode this unit once! I think I fainted in the atrocious summer heat! Wooooo!) reports into a Molly Ringwald-era computer. Good ol' DOS.

Oh, and I was right about Sweety...err...ummm...Nadine. And she also redid her blog skin.

Song playing: Alive and Kicking, Simple Minds

Is there a Nadine in the house?

http://www.helloworlditsme.com/archives/000742.php

Whoever she is, Sweety's the second person to start using her real name on her blog after choosing not to. Does that mean I should, well...go the other way? I can't think of any good nicknames. Probably because I hate nicknames.

I suppose I could start going by my frequent handle, coryma30. But then everybody will think I'm from Massachusetts, with all the stereotypes inherent in that. (What are they, by the way?) And that my name is Cory, which is...well...true.

Weird soccer match in Minnesota today. I was gonna go to it, but I am somewhat glad it didn't work out. It got to be 92 or so today. Poor soccer girls. USA 3-2 SWE, by the way.

Way to go, Coorsie!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060714/ap_on_en_ot/coors_dui

This is (like) a (breathalyzer) test...

Honestly, I can't tell if this guy is drunk, illiterate, foreign, or just messing around. Maybe a little bit of all of the above. Anyhow, apparently, this is supposed to be a test of the Emergency Alert System. Kind of odd, based on the unusual not-so-scratchy-but-not-so-pleasant tones, and...uhh... certain other things. Kind of odd that I'd be searching for this stuff on YouTube. Kind of odd that said stuff actually exists on said YouTube.

Have yourself a listen!

This concludes this post.

Italy 1-1 France (5-3 PK)

I am so, soooo sorry, Plods. It hurt to see ZZ get red carded out of his final match. I will say it was rather interesting to hear our commentators talk about how the referee team were not allowed to rely on all the screens in the stadium. Ergo, one of the assistants apparently caught Zidane's headbutting of another player in OT, leading to the red.

Good, fairly exciting match. I just hate the Emergency Alert System though. I know nothing happened immediately on kickoff, but the Pittsburgh area was amidst a test of the EAS (go to page 25 if you're that much of a geek) when it happened.

Ahhh, what else? Not a whole lot. Went shopping today, and my driver almost dumped me at Wal-Mart instead of the supermarket. C'est la vie, eh?

So, do I want dinner?

P.S. Barthez kinda looks like this guy, no?

It is my fantasy...

...that all you people will join my fantasy football league. You would make me happier than John Roethlisberger on morphine. Password: coryma

perfect weather for hypocrisy

When living in my dorm at Landmark College, I always used to get so angry at people that brought in these elaborate sound systems that could blast a SCUD missile out of orbit (I almost said something besides a SCUD, but...welll...). What was worse in my opinion, is that some of these people would keep on with the same song, looping it on its own until kingdom come. Well, folks, I've been doing it, too for the last 30 minutes. I've been typing to the tune of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" on my Musicmatch Jukebox. It just ended, and I'm letting it go now. Next in line is the stream of KVSC in St. Cloud, MN, but that seems not to be taking. Normally, it's the most reliable stream I can get (out of KVSC, KUOI, WMNF, WUOG, and WRVU, all public stations in various areas). OK, here we go, I think. I just cued up "Wings of a Dove" by Madness.

Soooo, here I am, waiting for GeekSquad. They've been here the last two days trying to lure the gerbils out of my roommate's computer. I sure as hell hope they can do it this time. I'm sick of my roommate saying how unfair it is that I have a connection and he doesn't. He's scary when he is mad. Self-centered as well, which is arguably worse.

Nice weather today, though. 72 and partly cloudy. Nice breeze. Good day to go get undergarments and Lysol at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's always a fun place to peoplewatch. The chain has a hillbilly reputation, which is certainly not unearned. However, this one is set in a town with some very nice homes, which makes it even more...uhhh...not quite right. Lots of those types in the movie Saved!

Have a lovely night.

poor Francophones with all their silent letters

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060705/ap_on_re_us/simpl_wurdz
I think the author kind of blew it as far as promoting the idea of simplified English. He proved in his article that different folks have different ideas on what constitutes simple spelling. Further, if a spelling reformation law was written retroactively, all hell would break loose trying to correct past publications.

Besides, after reading the author's intentional misspellings...

EYE HAVVA HEDDAKE!!!

Match 64: Italy v. France

Another case of being on the wrong time zone. I thought the France-Portugal row would be tonight. Damn! Damn damn damn! DAMN!!!!!!!! I'm going to have to maybe watch Fox Sports World Report tonight, for some clips. Overdue to get my Michelle Lissell fix, anyhow. :p

9 Jul, 20:00 German time. I need to physically and painfully beat the time into my skull with something hard and weighty.

Vive la France!

T+

Well, she's off. By coincidence, a few people came into our apartment to gab, so I didn't really see liftoff, but it seemed to go OK. I'm a little annoyed that it happened to work on July 4th, but it seems everybody at NASA is wakey-wakey, and this foam problem may not be so bad. Long time 'til landing, though!

All the news should be at the NASA site (unless they did forget that one minor detail of publishing the STS-121 stuff on there). :P

Portugal and France tomorrow! Allez les whatevers! Go France!

overzealous astronauts and race car drivers

So, once again, NASA's STS-121 shuttle flight was scrapped, again due to bad weather (Russ, you must be so annoyed by now :( ). It's not that I don't believe NASA about the weather reports. Especially since they need to make sure the weather is acceptable around the launch pad and around the emergency landing site, which is many miles away. Indeed it must be hard to coordinate a shuttle mission with that in mind. However, they are putting the next window on the 4th (I forget the time). Part of me kind of hopes it gets scrapped again. Having a launch on that date seems like too much of a sweet publicity opportunity. I just have this odd feeling that they'll try a little too hard to launch because it's Independence Day, maaaaan, and it would just be so right somehow. NASA is already under enough fire with the aftermath of Columbia. I just hope that if the launch takes place on Indie Day, it's solely for the right reasons.

Shifting gears, I watched, more or less, the U.S. Grand Prix today, the Formula 1 event from Indianapolis' roval (road course built within, but using part of, an oval track). Quite frankly, I've been tired and suffering from indigestion all day, so I can't even remember who won. However, I will say that the weirdness of last year, a 14 car (70%) boycott, did not happen. However, only nine cars finished, four of the non-finishers being wiped out on the first lap as the grid was trying to thin out at speed. Included was American Scott Speed. I'm not sure what let to all the other casualties, but I will say that one of the very first turns, as you turn off of the oval section of the course, is very severe for the velocity that the cars would be at while entering it. That alone helped cause the first-lap accident, and would also likely be hell on tires (none or few of which failed today, unlike in last years practicesessions, which begat the boycott).

So...uneventful race. And tired Cory. It's been in the low 80's, and I had bad insomnia last night, coupled with a bit of indigestion today. Doing better, but I'm a bit anxious for some excitement, or at least some zaniness (I need a weird cat like Kate [formerly Anne] has).

Doctor's appointment tomorrow. Woohoo!