warmup

Listening to: "Come Dancing" by The Kinks.

OK, folks, so y'all know a little bit about my mother. She is inching toward her first book. It's nothing too special. Just another memoir-type book. I like that format, though. I like reading people's life stories. I find it fascinating, and hers should be of interest.

So, anyhow, part of the book is freewriting submissions by yours truly. Half the time, I cannot get too thrilled about writing, to be dead honest with you. This blog is an example. It's an OK blog, but nothing that would win any awards. The subject matter is all over the place, even though I feel like I have a one-track mind with my love of soccer. When a do get to talking about soccer, it tends to be in a dry way that would make you think my roll consists of other soccer-minded bloggers. It does not. Almost every one of you is quite different than me. It's a neat thing, though. Even if all of your interests don't necessarily mesh with mine, you are a dynamic bunch, and in some cases, I have built on emerging interests because of you. So, thank you.

Back to my music stash, I know some folks like to listen to stuff that goes along with their current mood, rather than against that grain. If you're in an angry mood, you listen to angry tunes, perhaps with angry lyrics. Me? I feel like I tend towards rather moody music. My online stash of music has seemed to indicate that, with appearances by Orbital, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, and many others. And certainly there is a time for that sort of thing. It's dramatic and emotional and beautiful in its own way. But sometimes it just isn't right. Combined with the chill in the air, the late-afternoon light, and my odd mood lately, I figured it was time for a new playlist. I accidentally came upon a new (to me) way of doing it on the trusty old Musicmatch Jukebox: the playlist manager. Just a matter of ticking that particular choice under the playlist tab. This allows me to start anew, rather than just dragging songs onto a currently saved playlist and deleting others, possibly mucking up things by getting sidetracked by something else.

So, anyhow, today, as I write, I'm listening to a list composed, in part, of Kaiser Chiefs, Tegan and Sara, David Bowie ("Fame" is on right now), Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Call, and Adam Ant. Seems to be a bit more cheerful than certain other things I had been listening to. Plus, I can sort of ignore it in a way. It's good background music. With some other things I was listening to today, I was hearing the music, but it still felt silent in my room, even at average volume. I'm not sure what causes that phenomenon, but there must be some explanation. It just wasn't registering. It felt odd and frustrating.

Anyhow, sorry to go all physchological on you people. Really, I was just looking for a way to exercise before I really wrote.

CORY'S OBLIGATORY SOCCER TV ALERT: Fox Soccer Channel is airing both quarterfinals tonight of USL Division 1. I forget who's all in it besides the Charleston Battery and Vancouver Whitecaps, but have at the linkage if that sort of thing floats your boat.

Listening to: "The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

How far can Make-a-Wish go?

My family has reservations about the Make-a-Wish Foundation. My mother is upset that they arranged a hunting trip for a kid (she is an animal lover). Me? I can't really pin my gripes down. I guess I just hate that MAW has (perhaps accidentally) helped cause our society to think we are heartless for not giving a terminally ill kid their last wish. I just hate the whole idea of entitlement, and even worse, I hate the idea of seeing huge promises wind up going unfulfilled, causing an even more undeserved letdown. I mean, there has to be certain instances where MAW has failed to be able to execute its well-intended plans for a certain kid.

Enter Barry Bonds. Some kid in Iowa wanted to see someone else punch him in the gonads.

“Why do I hate Barry Bonds? There’s no specific reason. I just think he’s a dick,” said Wickman. “He’s so conceited and he thinks he’s better than everyone else and he’s sits there in that stupid reclining chair in the clubhouse like he’s the king of the world or something. Having this disease really sucks, but I swear I’ll die happy if someone punches Barry in the nuts. It’s easy. All they have to do is get a press pass to go into the Giants locker room after a game, pretend they're a reporter, and give him a couple quick punches. That’s all it takes to really hurt someone. Is that too much to ask, Mr. Hopkinton? Don’t you want to make a dying boy happy?”

http://www.thebrushback.com/Archives/barrybonds_full.htm

If I were a terminally ill kid, I would hope I'd have the heart to refuse MAW's services (though I concede that I wasn't all that mature). I'm really not sure they are as necessary for a kid's wellbeing as they are for the good samaritan's ego. MAW, at the very least, needs to grow some cajones and unapologetically say no to certain requests. And quite frankly, the parents need to first. Nobody has any right to hostility without backing it up. In this case, no one has done so.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling confused.

Listening to: "Fame", by David Bowie

Yesterday or so, I was reading In A Puddle. In Kate's latest post, she had a link to a song she discovered and liked. She wanted to share it with us, her fans. I thought that was a pretty nifty idea, seeing as I sometimes start and/or end a post with an update as to the song I am listening to---much like in this post. Thing is, I wanted to be able to do the same, so in my comment, I asked her about it. She replied with something along the lines of uploading the link as an attachment. To all you Bloggerheads, and I know you are out yonder; I can hear you breathing. How do I do that?!?! Is there a way? Or are we driving the Yugos of the Blogger superspeedway?

Listening to: "The Promise", by When in Rome...errrr, ummmm, well now it's "I Melt With You" by Modern English.

Just plain ugh.

Well, I checked into the pharmacy today and talked to them about my cold, describing it as basically a cold without a sore throat, and without much phlegm, but with a ton of coughing. I could also sense that the central part of my lung area was raw from coughing. So, that tells you it was a deep down cold. Well, still is. Last night was the worst. I woke up several times struggling to breathe, with that feeling that my lungs were quivering, rather than actively expanding and contracting like normal. I suppose it was a shallow form of hyperventilating. It felt like there was so much garbage in my lungs that I didn't have room to breathe in or out. I also felt a little bit panicky, and that could have explained my trouble with regulating my respiration. At about 3:00 am, I very seriously considered calling an ambulance. I'm not sure what caused me to give up on that idea. I guess I just felt like it would pass, and that it was anxiety more than anything. I decided to fool around on dA for a while, and after a while, I calmed down.

The previous night, I was down at CMU for a women's (and part of a men's) soccer match between CMU and Juniata College. Good fun to go down there and hang out in Squirrel Hill for a bit. Unfortunately, I was abandoned by my paratransit ride, probably as a result of my outbound driver trying to be more specific to the dispatcher than he needed to be. So, after an hour, I called, but didn't even get a machine. I tried several times with no result. I also tried three different numbers with the Spina Bifida Association, with whom I am a client for remote care. This included the remote care coordinator, but he didn't answer. I wound up leaving a somewhat panicked message about what happened, and my intent to call a cab. Only, calling a cab didn't work. I tried Yellow and Checker, several times, and both were overflowing with calls. So, finally, I walk over to the student info desk and surrender, having run out of ideas. The young woman who helped me said that it was time to cash in my chips and say that I had done all I could do, and let the police help me out. I awkwardly agreed and got on the phone with the dispatcher, explainng all the courses of action I had employed to get a ride home. They said that they were understaffed, but would do everything in their power to send someone over. Ten minutes on, three police deputies walked on in, two young women and a man about my age. I again took pains to explain my situation, and, without reservation, they arranged to take me home. I was first fitted into the back of a normal police car, but that didn't work because of the lack of leg room, so a "D-Car" (detective car), and away we finally were. The night ended on a good note. The police folks were sincere in their mission to help, and we made pleasant smalltalk along the way. It's just a drag that this probably kills a traditional activity I have espoused since I have moved here. It reinforces that I need to be careful in where I ambulate. Ironically, this is more true in my own city than all the other cities I have gone on weekend trips to. But also, no matter how prepared we can make ourselves, sometimes it is just not enough.

As for tonight, just watching TV (any recommendations for tonight?) and chugging cough syrup.

meme and news

Appetizer
What was the very last song you listened to?

I think it was "Save It For Later" by The Beat (well, The English Beat to us odd North Americans).

Soup
What is one company/store/corporation you would recommend that people stay away from?

Sonic, the restaurant chain. Nasty, nasty food poisoning.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?

3! If I am taking it myself, fine. If my parents are, no good. I am sick of them nagging me to smile. However, if someone takes a random pic of mine, fine. That's better'n me posing.

Main Course
Besides a bookmark, what is something you’ve used to keep your place in a book?

I think I remember using an envelope once.

Dessert
Name a food that you like that most people don’t.

Well, I like hummus on my pasta.

I didn't really get tagged by Laura; She didn't tag anybody. So I shall follow suit.

Also, apparently the good folks at NHCO have been trying to contact me at my earthling.net email. Only they were doing so using "earthlink.net". It may be time for me to change email addresses. I've had that one for a good while. I just don't want to be locked out of my fantasy leagues. Maybe I can create a new "business" address for myself. Any of you do that?

But anyway, they have me in for an orientation on the 28th. Some sort of data entry thing. Not sure exactly what, but it gives me something to do.

soccer and social security, together in a blog entry

Hmmmm. Seems like everything on my blog is lined up a little better now than in the past few days. Not sure exactly why, unless it's a Blogger problem (which has been happening quite a bit lately with the whole beta migration). But yeah, Survivor was pretty tame, it seemed. I mean, each tribe is on their own, which I had forgotten. So maybe things actually heat up after the migration. *shrugs*

So, like I said, my "cold" seems to not be a cold, but fall allergies. Maybe this will speed up my induction into the hospital (oops, I meant for volunteer work). All my paperwork has been sent, apparently, so I'm just waiting for a response. Maybe this lull will give my body time to adjust. Maybe I can get fitted for a respirator, too, to hasten things. I dunno. Just spouting ideas.

I am annoyed to no end at missing the U.S.-Mexico women's soccermatch. I forgot it was coming up so soon...as in last night on ESPN 2. *grrrr* Ahhhh well. Gonna actually go see some soccer down at CMU on Saturday vs. the Juniata women from central PA, since I opted out of the previous match. The weather should be better as well. 70's and no rain. At least I'll be prepared with my trusty raincoat.

And what else? Well, a debate is raging over my SSI status. Some folks seem to think I am eligible for full benefits despite my Agent Orange benefits. But others vehemently deny that, and say I am fully ineligible due to the fact that my AO pension automatically puts me over a limit of $600 or so a month. Soooo, we're still wrasslin' with that.

Rae, don't get ill at your next super-cute run, OK? Knock 'em dead. You, B and P rock.

no real time for a title

My lungs are still somewhat a mess, but it really seems not to be a cold, but pollen allergies. We have had wacky weather---little bit of rain, a little bit of sun. As it turned out, I did not go to the soccer match at CMU, just because it was raining rather hard, or if it wasn't, it was threatening, and I didn't have a raincoat. Today, I went to Wally World (a cute Raeism), and got myself one. It's a nice little red PVC number (apparently---didn't know they could do anything but make pipes with that). It's lined with grey fleece. Quite lovely. And I got myself some chocolate brown khakis, also eminently lovely. And some underwear. I won't go there, but I'm confident in its ability to do its job.

But anyway, this respiratory ailment is buggin' me, and impairing my ability to eat, but otherwise I'm fairly chipper. I had a 12 inch meatball sub with american cheese (not recommended), bacon, lettuce, and honey mustard. The cheese did weird things. It melted to the point that it got slimy. I had with it a bag of ranch Doritos, a bag of dark chocolate M and M's, and a Sierra Mist. But tonight, I just had an iceberg salad with "seasoned" croutons and cheapo cider vinegar dressing. I'm slammin' down the water, too, thanks to Realemon.

Anybody going to watch Survivor? I'm not hardcore into the show, and I really don't think this initial racial segregation will be as profound as it's hyped up to be, especially at the inevitable merge. But I am curious. Thanks, press!

And Luke da Man! Da Mayor Man! Luke Ravenstahl's on Letterman tonight.
*shrugs*

Gottagoimlateforsurvivorbye!

damn lungs

Listening to: "Save it for Later" by The English Beat.

Really not much more to post. I poked around on Deviant Art yesterday and got a free account. That place impresses me with its policing. There could really be some utter crap on there, because, hey, art is in the eye of the beholder. But it's actually amazing how many talented photographers, anime artists, sketchers, and others there are on there. And none that I had ever heard of (not that I'm huge on such things as anime, but still). A true place for the "starving artist", it would seem.

One such artist is a model from around Erie. She is 20, and has cystic fibrosis, a severe, fatal, lung disease that requires transplantation, which, in itself, can bring on fatal issues. Most of her stuff is modeling, some of the traditional kind, but some that exposes her daily life with the disease, such as surgical scars, protective masks, and just plain unhidden fatigue. She is doing this as a means of paying for her transplant, which is expected to cost around $10,000. She is less than a tenth of the way there.

Kina is, with the support of her husband, very busy with this, and with tending to her medical priorities. She leads a very full, sometimes frustrating, but very complete life as a person.

http://spirit-of-kina.deviantart.com/gallery/ is her gallery.

http://www.fightingtobreathe.com is her CF journey site. Both very interesting links.

As for me, I may or may not head out to Carnegie Mellon this afternoon to watch the women's soccer match versus Capital University, of Columbus. It's sure been a while since I've actually gone out and seen a soccer match. But my lungs are still a mess from a weird cold, and the clouds look threatening. Not sure yet. I do need some food though. I skipped out on dinner last night because I was coughing to the point of gagging. I do have a hankering for a big bowl of vanilla yoghurt topped with grape nuts. Plus, I need to finish off my "bacon/cheese/fries/steak" pizza.

Here's a weather report.

Listening to "Alive and Kicking" Simple Minds.

Belated thoughts on yesterday '01.

I just couldn't get myself to make a September 11th post last night like a lot of y'all did. I can't exactly articulate why. It's not like it was an insignificant event. It's not that I don't realize all 3,000+ of those people were human beings. It's not that I don't hate terrorism. I guess I just didn't have a very tangible set of ideas to relate concerning the day. I suppose I will now touch upon what little I do have to say.

I feel much of the world hates America. I also feel that it is somewhat justified, but this whole issue isn't as simple as that. I think we are at a weird point in our national timeline where, for our own safety, we kind of have to be involved on a combative level with world affairs. However, I think at whatever point in history we started on that path, it was only because we chose to. Through a series of questionable actions over the years, we have evolved into a force that is capable of a lot of good, but also a lot of harm. Our current place on the world stage is due to a snowball effect of sorts, and we are having trouble escaping the snowball. I feel it is not necessarily beneficial to other countries that we spearhead so many war-driven efforts at inching toward peace. I feel the common hatred towards us is a function of our eagerness to control such affairs. However, now that the snowball has gotten so big and fast, we can't outrun it, and we have to defend ourselves.

The thing is, it doesn't behoove us to treat foreign threats like chess players. It doesn't behoove us to predict four moves ahead, because we could be dead wrong. There are threats the world over, but getting paranoid about them is costly, especially when the threat isn't as big as you thought it was.

We're wasting money trying to almost single-handedly fight the big, glamorous wars. Wasting money that could be invested in making our own country better. Wasting lives bith directly, and as this paragraph shows, indirectly.

I know some folks hear "U.S.A., Inc." and think it's just some title of a newxsmagazine article. Unfortunately, we are a corporation (as are other countries), and our CEO and board is ignoring its customers. Is famine really a better death than terrorism? It terrorism really more likely than famine? Even in America? I offer a resounding "no".

Serie A underway. Indy Racing League ends.

So, I watched a little of the IRL race today. It was the final one, and I forget who won, but it was the final race, and the championship was still being debated. As it turned out, the championship was not decided on points, which were equal amongst the top two, but the first tiebreaker, which was, I think, wins (I'm too tired to look this up). Unfortunately, I forgot it was on, so I didn't see what brought Danica down a lap. She still finished 10th. Sarah Fisher was 12th of the 19. I'm sick of seeing only 19 cars per race. I hope the long-proposed merger with Champ Car goes through. Not sure what will happen with the technology of open-wheel racing, but I'd like to see bigger fields. My dream series would have five street course races, five road course races, and five oval races. The best of America. Points would be as follows:

25=1st
20
15
12
10
8
6
4
3
2
1
.5=12th

3 pts. for pole; 1 pt. for outside pole; 1 pt. for leading the most laps, and most importantly, 1 pt. for finishing on the lead lap. This might better the competition toward the back of the field.

Also, I like the overtime idea that I've seen lately, where if the final scheduled lap is on yellow, the race goes on until the green flag is waved, and ends one lap thereafter. I think I've only seen that in stock car racing.

I watched a little soccer as well. Italy's Serie A was televised on Fox Soccer Channel today. Parma 1:1 Torino. Good for Torino to get a draw. That alone puts them above the relegation zone, which, In Italy, I believe includes the final four teams. In the case of this year, four already have severe points deductions, so everybody else is safe for now. The standings read as follows (click on image, and then click again to resize).

Is he back yet?! Is he back yet?!

Brent! Wherethehellfore art thou?! We be waitin'. Well, she be waitin' especially. Have yourselves a Skinny Panda or whatever.

The Bog

Well, I had my interview a few days ago down the hill at UPMC Passavant. Same woman who guided us through the rules and regs of the UPMC system, which has hospitals from Pittsburgh to Erie to Johnstown. She basically asked a few general questions of me to try to get to know me. She confirmed my interest in working in the medical records department. She said that would be great, but that Passavant does not have such openings. She talked to me about the smaller hospital up in Cranberry Township that they operate. It's smaller, but is not a clinic. It is a full service hospital, with an ER and OR just like the North Hills campus. It is about 15 minutes away, which isn't great, but is doable.

Unfortunately, there was a major paperwork flub, which, amazingly, seems to be their fault. That's a rarity, for me and likely them. I had turned in a normal registration form a few days back. The front desk said they would turn it in to the supervisor (they were volunteers as werll). It didn't happen. Also, my supervisor showed me a couple of reference papers, with SASE's, that I never even saw! So, the reference issue has set me back a few days. I am waiting for a final meeting with her about what I'll be doing, but that cannot be done without references.

Well, at least things are happening. North Hills Community Outreach hasn't called lately, so...well...moot point, now, I guess.

In other news...Serie B news...Juventus opened their campaign with a draw, 1-1 against Rimini, who were red-carded at some point in the match. Rough start to a relegated champion who is also many points in the hole due to penalty from the match fixing scandal.

In Serie A, the Italian league people actually know, Turin has a replacement team for Juve due to the promotion of Torino F.C. from Serie B. They start their schedule tomorrow on Fox Soccer Channel home to Parma.

Let the fur fly.

Denver, we have a liftoff.

Happy, Russell?

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/sts115_front/index.html

I am. It was a nice liftoff. I realize I am missing the press conference right now. I hope everything seems good.

Here goes absolutely nothing!

I never go onto Blogger.com itself. It just is of no interest to me. Well, that is, if I let it be. I'm gonna go check out this beta situation, which I first heard about on Bre's blog (can you believe she is actually a blonde? My eyes don't work). This completely cought me offguard, and it seems like Bre is having some coding trouble related to this. As for me, I'm dreading the same, especially with archives. When I authored Live From Allison Park, I really had no chance to worry about it. My computer died a slow, bluescreen death. I dragged heels for about a year to replace it. And amidst all that, that account was deleted for nonuse. Now, apparently Blogger is making everybody migrate, or at least making it horrid for those that don't. I know I couldn't post a comment to Bre's blog today.

But anyhow, very sorry if in the next week or more, this place becomes a markup pigsty. I do intend to keep all y'all in my system. Email me at coryma@earthling.net if need be. Not sure how I'm going to tackle all this, because I really don't know the specifics of the situation at hand. It seems to be all here though.

UPDATE: OK, so I followed through, and I think I'm using the beta now. I think it automatically signed me in. Not sure though. If I'm right, and this is the beta, then OY, BRE!! Two hours of coding? Poor thing! Must be the shoes. I dont envy women's chance to drool over the latest high heels from...well, whoever makes and sells high heels. Even ones studded with pixels.

Noah takes a photo of himself everyday for 6 years.

Noah, I don't know ya. But you are mesmerizing. You help make YouTube what it is. *shrugs*

just a little check in

Nothing much to say right now. I'm amidst a load of laundry right now. I should have done this hours ago. But here I am waiting for it to dry (dude! photoshoot!). I am also amidst one of those pesky colds that is very shallow (not sure how else to put it), but long-lasting. Lots of coughing and moist schmutz trapped in my lungs, but no sore throat. Puzzling.

Tomorrow I finally have an interview at the hospital. Not sure what'll become of it. Hopefully it'll be decided where I am placed, if anywhere. I quite enjoyed medical records when I was volunteering downtown a few years ago.

Gonna go shopping after that for some groceries. Yay for groceries. I'll have a full report on that (whee!) probably tomorrow.

Ahhh yes, I saw Little Miss Sunshine. I normally get bugged when the little kid is front and center, but the plot was engaging. It was a little disturbing to see all the little ones all gussied up in prom dresses and sporting spray tans and the like. But the girl and her family made a show of the show, which was fun. Gotta love faulty horn mechanisms on VW Type 2 vans, too.

So.....yeah, maybe a photo op tomorrow, maybe not. Maybe not even a post tomorrow. You just never know with me. But seriously, thanks, all of you who have become regulars. I don't win any design awards here at The C. But I've won some good e-pals.

just fulfilling my civic duty as a blogger

I done been tagged by the unofficial mayor of Denver.

1) Who is the last person you high-fived? I'm sort of formal and uptight. I do not high five if I can help it. I think some schmuck at Wal-Mart who grabs carts.

2) If you were drafted into a war, would you survive? No. I am disabled. Plus, I do not follow directions well. Plus, I hate snakes and other lethal wildlife.

3) Do you sleep with the TV on? No. The TV is in the comon room, and my roommate is nasty when he is irritated. I do not like being a punching bag.

4) Have you ever drank milk straight out of the carton? Yes.

5) Have you ever won a spelling bee? I don't think so.

6) Have you ever been stung? By a bee? Yes. Once by a bee.

7) How fast can you type? certified at 45 words a minute, but generally about 20.

8) Are you afraid of the dark? No. I used to love to stroll campus at 2:00 am, and go to Denny's on the other side. CSUS is so beautiful at night after everybody is done with daily living. Pleasant spookiness.

9) What is your eye color? blue

11) Do you ever wear the same clothes twice without washing them? in an emergency (what a question!)

13) Are you drinking anything right now? no

14) Favorite animal as a kid? cat

15) Can you hoola hoop? no. I can't stand without crutches.

16) not sure what happeend to this question.

17) What do you want for Christmas? hotel points for a trip to see the University of Georgia gymnastics team in either North Carolina or Kentucky

18) Favorite cereal: corn flakes or grape nuts

19) Do you talk in your sleep? I mumble.

21) Have you ever flown a kite? Yes.

23) How many people are on your contact list of your cell? no cell

24) Have you ever asked for a pony? No

25) Plans for tomorrow? none. Maybe laudry.

26) Can you juggle? No

28) How are you feeling today? I have a very minor-depth cold that I am nonetheless having a bad time shaking off. Product of a weather change. Fall is here.

29) Have you ever been suspended or expelled from school? No.

30) What are you looking forward to? NCAA soccer season

31) Have you ever crawled through a window? no

32) Have you ever eaten dog food? no, but an ooooold friend liked it

33) Movies you can quote line for line? none

34) Favorite fast food breakfast? Geez. Not into fast food places for breakfast, but i'll do pancakes and hashbrowns.

35) What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator? iceberg lettuce, salad dressing, and a bottle of water

36) Any cool scars? a couple around my right eye that resulted from falls (one into a glass table while in a full body cast, one when I just lost balance and broadsided my head against the top horizontal plane of my tub.

38) What do you do when no one is watching? dance in my chair to 80's music

39) Do you like dancing? not where I can be seen

40) Who did you last talk to on the phone? the pizza delivery people

41) Where was the last place you ate? Out? Giant Eagle supermarket cafe. Orddering? La Morra's pizza.

42) What is the last movie watched? Little Miss Sunshine

43) What song did you hear last? Alive and Kicking, by Simple Minds

44) How many emails do you get a day? Geez, maybe 30? I have lots of stuff from mailing lists.

revealed!

OK, so, I found that dang meme that I should have bookmarked. It was off of Tiggs' blog. To my knowledge, she didn't tag me, but...well...here we go anywho.

The Name Game

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name) Spot Babcock

YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your mom’s side, your favorite candy) Byron Mounds

YOUR “FLY GIRL/GUY” NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name) C-Mar

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Golden Cat


YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Martin San Diego

YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom’s maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)
Andcomosan


She deleted the last one which apparently produced a terrorist name.

[tag]whoever[/tag]

Meme disguised as a general soccer update.

Real Salt Lake 0-1 Colorado Rapids, at the University of Utah.

I've been a little drowzy tonight, but I did watch the match on Fox Soccer Channel tonight, because I don't have the cash flowage for that pay plan that gives you every single MLS match (12 teams = six matches a week, for 32 rounds). So, Colorado won this thing 1:0 away. Good for them. I think they have completed one game less than RSL because of their schedule, so it probably wasn't a must-win, but it's a good result anyhow. Thiago Martins, who used to play locally (Here's some eye candy for you ladies) We were tied with RSL in the Western Conference standings for the fourth and final playoff spot. However, we were placed fifth due to goal differential (goals in favor of your team minus goals against). I think coming in, we were at -9. Now, because of a 1:0 shutout, we, I think, are at -8, which still stinks. Tiebreakers can be important, folks. Only four teams each in the East and West make it in. And we have less than 10 rounds left.

In other Major League Soccer news, Kansas City Wizards have been sold to a group of local investors that intend to keep the team in the metro area. The announcement was made in the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, which appears to be the future home of a soccer specific stadium for the team. Currently, they play at Arrowhead Stadium, which is home to the local pointyball team, the Chiefs. I've not seen any official images, but it appears that a drawing of the stadium may have appeared as someone's BigSoccer forum avatar. It appeared as a brownish (brick?) squarish building with a half dome over the top. Not sure if this is a retractable dome or what, but that would sure be great if we are ever to adopt FIFA's global calendar, which basically starts at the end of summer and ends at the beginning of the following summer, with a very short winter break (which, in theory, I support. It's longer, it coincides with other countries' leagues, and it makes international "club" [pro team] tourneys easier to follow).

In other, more universally comprehensible news, I had a meme (from another blog), but I lost it. Rats.

Mayor Bob O'Connor 1944-2006

I live out in the suburbs, but I do live in the same county as the City of Pittsburgh. Therefore Pittsburgh is our county seat, and has much influence (though, maybe not as much as Nashville, which apparently is a "merged government", which sounds to me like a county full of a city and a bunch of towns with severely curbed powers) . So, tonight was a big night that everybody was expecting. At 9:55 tonight, the city mayor passed on due to cancer, and had been on life support for several days. Quite honestly, I don't follow municipal stuff all that much, although as a kid, I did sit in on a City of San Diego council meeting once. Bored me to death. Everything was in code, and vague signs with people's names lit up every so often. I was impressed by the functional beauty of the place, with (as I remember) it's somewhat circular arrangement of councilperson's desks, the bigger desk for the mayor (I assume), and the seats for those of us who watched. Bored the daylights out of me, but somewhere along the line, I became much more aware of that sort of stuff. PCN sometimes carries borough or township (yeah it's NJ but their twps. are the same as ours, I think) meetings from anywhere in the commonwealth of Peannsylvania. I used to watch quite a bit, but after a while, it became like watching brain surgery (and I figured being a borough councilperson might be like being like a surgeon). Compounding that fact is that so many of these municipalities are so far away, like a Nashvillian watching an Oak Ridge or Knoxville board meeting. Like a Denverite watching one from Fort Collins or Montrose. Like an Annapolean watching a meeting from the Garrett County Amish Country.

Regardless of , and because of, all this, it's a big week here in our metro area. The mayor of the most influential city in our county has died. The news is all in a frenzy now, as our new mayor Luke Ravenstahl looks like your daughter's soon-to-be prom date. He is all of about 26 years old. He played football in college, making note of some field goal record or something at his college. Not sure how long he's been on council, but not too long. But, he's the prez of it, so he's therefore now the mayor.

You know what? I don't know why I'm even addressing the Pittsburgh's mayor's death. I do not live in that part of the county. I don't understand all the permutations of issues that faces it and Allegheny County. It's just, to me, one of those news stories that KDKA and the rest like to froth up about. "We interrupt this program so we can test out our snazzy new CBS2 Special Report Graphic". But in the end, stuff like that draws a person in. I just wonder how long it would have taken me to realize O'Connor had died if I didn't have digital cable, newspaper, or even Yahoo! And I wonder if I would have even cared.