c but no e

Goodbye, C.

2006-11-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

Folks, due to some security concerns of mine, I have decided to move over to the following URL. http://stepaway.wordpress.com. I have mostly been alright with the performance of Blogger. However, in forging a new identity, I have decided to go to a platform that I have heard is exponentially better, and that Bre uses with much success (IMHO). So, I hope y'all will join me. It should be next weekend before I have any new content up, but in the meantime, I hope that I can settle on a paint scheme I like. Bre's is mostly white, as are many others, like Plods. That's just counterintuitive to me, but it works well, tried and true. So, in the coming week, my energy will be focused on playing around with aesthetics, and hopefully finding some way to migrate, although I've never done migration before, so I am clueless. (and ideas? y'all are an intelligent bunch, and you like me still, no? :0 )

So, if you still want to ride my bandwagon, update those blog rosters! Hope to see you soon, and thanks for your friendship.

Rapid progression toward a meme

2006-10-21T13:51:00.000-04:00

I got this meme from Laura, who got it from somebody else. I really haven't much to say. Kina is doing alright (rather graphic link), albeit extremely sore and wacked out on painkillers. I'm in and out of good respiratory standing. I think it is indeed pollen allergies, but I am going to try to get a throat culture done just to see what issues there are left. That's really all, so on to the meme, if that's OK with yunz.

If I was wise I’d be cleaning my room!

If something I’m eating drops on the floor I… tend to cast it aside, unless it's on a rug, then no problem usually.

My favorite breakfast cereal is… corn flakes.

If I were a cat, my name would be… Garfield, I guess.

When I was little I… was more trusting in others and myself.

This weekend I shall… watch the MLS playoffs. Go Rapids! Kick some FC Dallas hiney! Tonight at 9 eastern on FSC!

the point of no return (the rebirth of a young woman)

2006-10-17T20:46:00.000-04:00

I have had my mother in town for a few days. In general, things have gone wonderfully, which is hard to say sometimes with her. I admire her for many things. She is a good contributor to society, a talented person in many ways, and good to be around when we are on the same wavelength. Often we aren't, though. She and I are very different personalities, and it can get grating.

We saw a good adventure movie with Kevin Costner, though. Honestly, I was in the mood for lighter fare, but this movie proved to have extremely good special effects, nice scenery, very well developed characters (even if they only figured in as side characters).

We then ate at Outback. I had some pasta dish with shrimp and lemon sauce. My mother had a side of broccoli and a side of mashed potatoes (I almost called them mashers just now. Not much in the mood to write, but I think I need to). Tons of brown bread as well. Lovely bread. Lovely lovely bread.

I then got home. A new acquaintance (I guess you can say friend, on an IM level) has hit a financial wall that she never quite crashed through on her way to a double lung transplant. However, for whatever reason, tonight a new set of lungs were offered to her despite her financial situation. She had gotten home, to suburban Erie, I believe, a few hours earlier, and had to make a trip back out to Cleveland for the operation, which is underway as this is posted (8:45p et, if I remember). Not sure how long this kind of surgery lasts, but apparently updates will occur here in the "About Kina" forum.

Big night. Kind of exhausted. Kind of tense, but happy. I think it'll all be OK. Not sure, though. This is truly the point of no return.

Might shoot some photos tomorrow somewhere in the North Hills.

UPDATE: Kina went in to the O.R. just before 9, IIRC, and came out with two new lungs at 2:15. Apparently the procedure went as it was supposed to, and her family first saw her 45 minutes later. Thus begins the next phase of her life. Still in danger (rejection), but more in control of her life.

UPDATE 2: Off the ventilator already. Not sure how long she was supposed to be on. I'm new to following a transplant; anybody else witness this sort of thing? But everybody seems amazed.

the verdict is in

2006-10-12T22:46:00.000-04:00

I have been shut out. 0 frogs out of 5.

the verdict

I must say that I think maybe I did take it somewhat personally for, like, 30 seconds. Oh well. I think I found it easier when a second frog commented on the official comments, which clarified things for me. That helped me digest some of the initial criticism.

My take is that black is probably kind of hard on the eyes, though I like how it works on Russ's blog. My school colors were green and gold, so I might move over to that soon. I don't want y'all going blind on my blog. 'kay?

So, anywho, I am trying hard to shake off a respiratory sickness. Probably just a cold, but you never know. My throat feels like I'm inhaling tiny glass particles. I am coughing with a vengence. But I am lots better than I was two weeks ago.

I had arranged to go see Kina in hospital in Cleveland on Tuesday, since my mother and I are driving up there. She was scheduled about three weeks ago for a tune up, which is when they get cystic fibrosis patients to where they are supposed to be with their lung function and other associated issues. It's just basically planned intensive care, and is scheduled every so often. The thing is, Kina started getting symptoms of bladder trouble and pneumonia that basically coincided with the start of the tune-up, so she has had to linger there for an extra week or so. However, she is perked up now, and going home to suburban Erie tomorrow morning for a week before going back in for what I understand is another tune-up. But, she will get to bond with the husband for a while and go on horseback, which she hadn't done since she was a kid. And I shall listen to Rammstein, which she got me hooked on.

As for me, I am still going to Cleveland with my mother to visit family on my late biological father's side. That'll be nice; I hadn't seen them for a bit. Likely it'll just be my grandparents and an aunt and uncle, and we'll hit some restaurant close to my grandparents'. Hopeflly not Eat 'n Park or Cracker Barrel.

All else is alright. My volunteer job is going fine. I have almost strictly been entering data into a database to record monetary and goods donations from churches and individuals in the North Hills (suburban area nort of the two east-west rivers (don't dare ask me which---could be the Ohio, Allegheny, or Monongahela).

Ahhhh, and I got a neat little patch from Russ for one of his space missions. Y'know. He runs one of those li'l mom and pop NASA-type organzations. So, cool patches are a must.

Go Rapids!

And RIP Mooch. You were too young. :(

Yay!

2006-10-03T20:06:00.000-04:00

OK, well, I seem to have missed only two blogs Run with Me and Win or Lose, We Go Shopping as far as changing URLs. If I am wrong, hollar. I aim to correct.

Things are going well, both at the volunteer job and in general. However, tonight I am having what appear to be bladder spasms, which happen every so often. Thing is, I can't find any web info on them, and don't know if that's even a recognized medical event. Sorry to gross y'all out, but y'all can delink me if I get too bad. But anyhow, I am probably hitting bed early, especially as I need to get up at 6 to go to my volunteer job tomorrow.

I am actually looking forward to it tomorrow. I was really gloomy the first day because of a fellow artist on deviantART that is ill with various complications of cystic fibrosis. She has been in hospital for two weeks in Cleveland (she lives in Erie), and I have been following her case a bit. Well, probably more than a bit. I get drawn into it more than is likely healthy. She is a talented artist and very much wants to live, but has hit a funding wall. She's 1/10th of the way to being able to pay for a set of lungs. I have really gotten myself a bit upset about this. It's a shame that money should keep a person from living. Add to that the fact that I thought she was more ill than she is. She was taken to a hospital in Cleveland with pneumonia and bladder stones. Two weeks on, she's not great, but she is set to get back to work photoshooting and modeling next week, right from her hospital room, and then be released in one to two weeks.

I'm not going into my work at NHCO because she actually signed on to AOL IM, which I am on as well (along with Yahoo IM). I had to tell her something, so I just initiated a conversation, and surprisingly, we hit it off. We chatted for about an hour and got to know eachother in a rudimentary sort of way and exchanged a few laughs. After a very short while, she seemed all to happy to have someone to talk to. Once we warmed up to eachother, she became very upbeat and we chatted about my life and hers, both in the CF world and outside of it.

I am quite cheered up. I know I really shouldn't have gotten worked up about it in the first place, because she was a complete stranger, but now I feel almost like a friend with the great first-time conversation we had (albeit in the pixellated sense you people are my friends).

So, like I said, I think I'll report more on NHCO tomorrow. Should be more interesting tomorrow.

Cheers.

Don't yinz worry abaht it.

2006-10-02T20:50:00.000-04:00

I know all y'all are kind of getting fed up with Blogger. I'm not, but I have had my issues. I'm staying pat for the forseeable future, but I will change the affected blog links tomorrow. Pwomise! Gotta order some pizza now though.

And volunteer news tomorrow as well. Nighty night, peoples.

warmup

2006-09-29T16:24:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-09-24T18:12:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-21T18:54:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-19T15:51:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-15T15:47:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-14T21:08:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-14T19:36:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-12T11:04:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-10T22:39:00.000-04:00

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?!

2006-09-09T18:32:00.000-04:00

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

The Bog

2006-09-09T17:07:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-09T12:23:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-09-08T12:45:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-06T16:16:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-06T00:47:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-04T13:12:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-09-03T00:36:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-01T23:42:00.000-04:00

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.

hypocrisy is my middle name

2006-08-31T16:45:00.000-04:00

Football season is upon us. I hate football. I always have.

GO ME!!!!

Forget those Emmy awards! Entertain me!

2006-08-27T22:22:00.000-04:00

Listening to : "Strip", by Adam Ant

So, ummm, yeah. I'm checking my Mail.com account, and my mother emails me and her brother, stating that she got back to San Diego County from a weekend in Palm Springs without being mauled by unfriendly rural wildlife. Which makes me glad.

I'm not huge on awards shows, but I am bummed that my first knowledge that tonight was the Emmy awards was by that e-mail. I did want to see the Kubicle Kids, Scranton's Finest, the cast from The Office in all their glamor. But quite frankly, my stomach ain't right today. Not sure why. And I'm hotter than a dog on a treadmill trying to outrun a snake (don't let Pippin (corrected link!) see this post). Even though I feel like I've hydrated up the wazoo. And I have a doc's appointment tomorrow for my back, which is all healed, but my mother is pushing it on me. Not even sure when this thing is, though. I need to wake up bright and early and doublecheck with the office so I'm not late.

There's really nothing terribly interesting happening right now. Kinda been vegging, trying to learn about the ComAir crash at Bluegrass Airport (My aunt and uncle work at Boeing in Seattle, so I am a mild aviation nerd).

Listening to: "Fix You Up" by Tegan and Sara.

Just feel like bloggin'.

2006-08-26T15:40:00.000-04:00

Got a bit of a headache. Had some insomnia, and I need to eat. But other than that, things are OK. The USL Division Two championship is on FSC at 7:00pm, so I believe I will watch that.

Well, since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I think I just might rip a meme off of Beast's site. Well, actually, I'm going to. It's a done deal. I made the decision to about four minutes and thirty seconds ago.

LIST OF EVERYTHING MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE HATES (well, actually, I fly solo, so it's a list of stuff I hate):

FRUIT: bananas, apricots and raisins
CANDY: I'm a candy junkie, but the only nuts I like in candy are peanuts, and those arent even nuts.
BEVERAGE:
COLOR: most earth tones
TOWN/CITY: Johnstown, PA
TV SHOW: any crime drama
Movie: Ironweed
ASPECT OF MYSPACE: VERY hard to navigate
ASPECT OF AOL INSTANT MESSENGER: Hard on my computer
ANIMAL: Snakes
INSECT: Bees
BIRD: Pidgeons and parrots, although I tend to ignore birds.
SEASON: Summer, especially when hot and muggy
AGE OF KIDS: below middle school. I can't do baby talk.
WHAT ANNOYS YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING WHEN...
DRIVING: I don't drive
WATCHING TV OR MOVIES: When the acoustics are bad.
EATING IN RESTAURANTS: Buddyish waiters
GOING THROUGH DRIVE-THRUS: Unreliable mics.
YOU'RE AT THE MALL: Elevators. I fear them.
SLEEPING (OR TRYING TO SLEEP): Insomnia due to a bad mood.
SHOWERING: And the door bell rings
YOU'RE AT THE BEACH: getting sandy. I havent been to the beach since the mid 90's.
YOU'RE AT THE GROCERY STORE: I waste time and wind up being shut out of the line because my pickup is NOW!
WHAT HOUSEHOLD CHORE DO YOU HATE THE MOST: Cleaning my room.
WHAT WOULD BE THE ABSOLUTE WORST WAY TO DIE: drowning
WHAT'S THE MOST ANNOYING HABIT(s) IN OTHERS: Being buddy buddy with me and respectful to others.
WHAT FASHION TREND (past or present) HAVE YOU HATED: Guy's wearing pants so their underwear show.
WORST POPULAR SONG (past or present): I saw the Sign.
WORST HATED PICK UP LINE: N/A
WORST THING ABOUT WORK: when a supervisor contradicts herself and denies doing so
MOST IRRITATING THING ABOUT YOUR CAR: N/A

WHAT IS ANNOYING YOU TODAY: My appetite, and the fact I am doing nothing about it. And the fact I am broke.

UEFA Champions League

2006-08-26T02:14:00.000-04:00

Draw for the 2006/07 UEFA (the European zone for soccer) Champions League group stage (top two in each advance to a knockout stage):

Group A
BARCELONA
Chelsea
Werder Bremen
Levski Sofia

Group B
INTER MILAN
Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon
Spartak Moscow

Group C
LIVERPOOL
PSV Eindhoven
Bordeaux
Galatasaray

Group D
VALENCIA
Roma
Olympiakos
Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E
REAL MADRID
Lyon
Steaua Bucharest
Dynamo Kiev

Group F
MANCHESTER UNITED
Celtic
Benfica
FC Copenhagen

Group G
ARSENAL
Porto
CSKA Moscow
Hamburg

Group H
AC MILAN
Lille
AEK Athens
Anderlecht

What do blog entries taste like, anyway?

2006-08-25T15:40:00.000-04:00

Blogger ate my entry. It smacked its lips and burped at the end. I had a DAMN good entry which I'm not sure if anybody in the rest of the blogosphere would have cared one bit about, but I was darn proud of it, and that's all I really care about. It was a poorly planned post, yes. I basically saw a Yahoo! press release stating that Toronto FC, an expansion MLS team for next year, has settled on a coach, and I just started writing without any clear point to make. It wound up being a long post that dealt with a dense portion of soccer-related info. But once it was over, I felt like I took my brain on a surprise walk around the block. Journeying like that can be great, or it can be an unmitigated disaster. This time, it was pretty darned neat. But then my submission timed out, and the post was lost for eternity. It's one of those things where I can probably once again touch on each point in a future entry, but the choice of words will inevitably be different, and that is maddening. If only I had Notepadded my entry.

Coulda, woulda, definitely shoulda. Shoulda shoulda shoulda. I am mad.

Ahhh, well. Hey, guess what, y'all? I am getting my blog frogged, yo. You...that girl in those sushi jammies (are they onesies?)...thanks for the idea.

fantasy madness

2006-08-24T13:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, blokes, Yahoo! isn't enough. Gotta go for the English Premier League's fantasy soccer league as well. I suck at this sort of stuff, but I love it, and I guess 10 others suck worse than me (for the time being---it's only week two out of about 35).

Makes me all hungry for some pie and mash!

Pro soccer has become like summer camp.

2006-08-23T13:50:00.000-04:00

The global season is basically upon us. While MLS and it's minor league equivalent, the USL, have their season during the good weather months, FIFA has a suggested calendar of its own that goes from late-summer to the following early summer, if I remember correctly, with a winter break of a few weeks or so. Therefore, most of the big leagues in the world, from Mexico to Holland to England are all just getting underway for the 2006-2007 season.

In Italy, there recently was a match-fixing scandal that caused several teams to be docked standings points (i.e. 3 for a win, one for a draw). One team involved was Juventus, which has years of success in Serie A, and little to no time in any league below it. However, due to their extended role in the scandal, they were one of the three teams relegated to Serie B for next year, along with two that would have been relegated based on points anyhow. On top of that Juventus will also suffer a points penalty.

Now, FIFA is acting as though the whole Italian system of teams, including the national team, needs to be punished. According to this article, FIFA is threatening all Italian clubs with a ban from international tournaments that they would be eligible for based on league performance if that single team, Juventus, uses Italian sports courts to stage an appeal of its relegation, instead of using FIFA's own appeals court.

Frankly, I think any international sporting body should play by the rules of the constituent country, as long as those rules don't modify the actual game (i.e. MLS's constant threats of old to widen the goalposts for more goals). FIFA is not above the law of the citizens. I'm sure the NHL probably runs a tad bit differently in Canada than down here, in the spirit of operating by Canada's rules. It doesn't mean 2 points are awarded for each goal in a game between Toronto and Ottawa. The game is played exactly the same. But each country has rules for a corporation (including sports bodies) for a reason. The reason isn't always apparent, but the point, perhaps, is to make sure it remains that way.

EDITED TO SAY: So, I guess the more I write on this, the more I realize I support Juventus in its right to appeal to an Italian judicial court. I don't get the reasoning behind Article 61.2 (forbidding recourse in ordinary courts of law) of FIFA's rules of arbitration, and feel it needs to be eliminated. And, like I said, it sucks that this extra punishment is being imposed on Italian football, especially involving their national team. It's like punishing the whole cabin because one camper put a whoopie cushion under their dorm chief's pillow.

Dude, I live in the Eastern Time Zone

2006-08-21T04:19:00.000-04:00

UTC minus 5 for all y'all that like that way of doing things. It just ain't fair.

Real Football!!!

2006-08-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

realfootballpre
Originally uploaded by Cory A..

Well, I uploaded this to flickr. It is my Yahoo! fantasy football league. You will need to click on the image to see it better. My team is highlighted in gray. I am the manager. Watch out, world!

Mr. Smartypants, screenshooter extraordinaire

2006-08-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

Listening to: Variations on a Theme From Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, by David Lanz

I've really not been doing all that much productive, today. Saw the Rapids 1:1 DC United match, followed by the beginning of a touring car race on television, which blanked out as only digital cable will let a show blank out. So I saw about two laps of that. Then I watched Columbus beat the New York Red Bulls. Good games, both. But for part of the second match, I was busy with a bowl of vanilla yogurt. What was I doing with it, you ask? Well, well, WELL!

So, after my yogurt affair, I decided to see if I could teach myself how to make a screenshot, 'cause I think Russ is superkewl in being able to do that. So, for who knows how long, I've been on a wild goose chase for directions to that end. Wikipedia didn't work. Neither did Yahoo! Answers. I forget where I figured this out, but it's freakin' easy! Just hit that "Print Screen" button, launch Paint, paste, and crop 'til you drop!

EDIT: ARE YOU ALL HAVING PROBLEMS UPLOADING PICS? THE CODE FOR MY SCREENSHOT WILL NOT UPLOAD DESPITE BLOGGER SAYING IT HAS BEEN. GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Soccer Saturday Soapbox

2006-08-19T12:39:00.000-04:00

Soooo...big ol' soccer day today in MLS. The Red Bulls and the Rapids play today. I just had myself a Red Bull at the store today. It was nummy. I had to restrain myself from buying two.

But anyhow, the Rapscallions are playing DC United at four, and Da Red Bulls play the Columbus Crew at, I believe, 7:30, in the stadium that I went to a few years ago to watch the U.S. Women. Very nice facility. Much better than RFK, where I've also been for the same purpose. Probably loads better than Giants Stadium and Invesco at Mile High, as well (although Russ has been to the latter on several occasions, for, I believe, professional lacrosse. Not sure if that team is able to pack it in better than the Rapscallions).

MLS, from what I've seen, has become a more entertaining league over the years. They've gotten rid of overtime, which just killed the regulation match, and was very frantically paced, to boot. No fun to watch an overtime completely devoid of strategy. And, frankly, no fun to watch overtime, period. Like I said, it makes the regulation game much less urgent. People complain about too many ties (the Red Bulls and New England each have about 10 this year)? Well, overtime is as good as a regulation tie every time, just about. Glad to see it gone, but for playoffs, where it is all but needed.

It's also gotten more exciting skillwise. Better goalkeepers, for sure. New veteran foreign players. An increased importance on NCAA men's soccer as a developmental pipeline. An excellent top minor league, and several more leagues below it (but then, they were here before MLS).

As much as I hate seeing major, abrupt changes in how MLS works, I wouldn't mind seeing a single table for MLS. USL's Divisions 1 and 2 do it. New Zealand, the best nation in Oceania, does it. It would sure not mean an end to playoffs, which is good, because DC United have 18 points (that's six wins at 3 points a pop---one point for a tie) more than second place New York. The East is getting boring, and were it not for playoffs, we'd know that DCU would be going to the MLS Cup, and we have quite a few matches left.

east
D.C. United 46
New England 28
Chicago 25
New York 25
Kansas City 25
Columbus 20

west
FC Dallas 39
Houston 35
Colorado 31
Chivas USA 30
Real Salt Lake 26
Los Angeles 23

Last two in each conference do not make playoffs.

Personally, I'd rather it be thus:

D.C. United 46
FC Dallas 39
Houston 35
Colorado 31
Chivas USA 30
New England 28
Real Salt Lake 26
Chicago 25
New York 25
Kansas City 25
Los Angeles 23
Columbus 20

As far as playoffs, a gold old-fashioned American final-four would be fine, at a predetermined site. I've also wondered about a play-in round. I guess, essentially a wild-card, wherein the top three are in the playoffs, but first, #4 has to play #5, and the winner of that gets to be the fourth play-off seed.

It's 79, with 69 pct humidity. I could sure use another Red Bull.

Actual Football

2006-08-18T19:40:00.000-04:00

I've never been big on football. No, wait. Let me clarify. I've never been big on football culture. But I do like my fantasy leagues. Rae and I and two more folks have been in a baseball one. However, that one turned out a little lame, since my points system somehow made it so that all four of us have been in lockstep for the last four months or so. Oh well. That was my first time managing. I have a new league called Actual Football, on Yahoo!, where I paid a bit more attention to how each stat affected a game, and tried to adjust the points system accordingly.

I bring this all up because Russ has the same thing goin' on with his local pals in The Denver, and he just put up a lovely screenshot of it (I want to know how to do that!).

As for me, I have no clue if you'll be able to follow this. Not sure if you need to be in the league, be a Yahoo! member, etc. But I'll give this a try. The league is here. My team is Sparkwood Bugaboo. There are, apparently, five more slots as of now. Join if you'd like. I'm at 15 teams, and max out at 20. (password afafaf)

Oh, and good luck over there, Mission Control!

Sincerely,

Sparkwood Bugaboo

Is it 15 October yet?!

2006-08-18T14:38:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I do overreact, I know. I panic. It's annoying. I act like every mistake of mine is the end of the world. It's not. My IP addy hasn't been banned by the offended party (see entry below). I did need some off-time, I think. But maybe not quite that much. I think I just need to know how to pace myself. If I percieve a potentially stressful moment occurring, I just need to try to trim other things out of my life, but not delete them.

As far as my checklist, I'm pretty much there as far as housekeeping, but that is a constant thing that needs regular attention by anybody. As far as getting a computer microphone...well...nahhh. Not yet anyways. I did drop by the Shack (I really miss their old logo, but hey, the 80's are over, no?) to talk to folks about how mics work, and one guy patiently showed me several models. All are somewhat expensive, and quite frankly, I don't have a photographic memory of all the permissions I have my computer set at, so at this time, I'm not sure a mic would work without GeekSquad coming in again.

As far as my back, it's basically where it originally was. Unfortunately, I was given the wrong time for my recall appointment. Either that or I misheard it and was told "Yeah" when I confirmed over the phone. Anyhow, it was 2:40, not 10:30, like I had thought we agreed on. So, I was rescheduled to the 28th, when it should be a non-issue.

As far as my blog, well...I couldn't really settle on any drastic changes, so I just decreased the font size a bit. It was unsightly the way it was, in my humble opinion. I also added a few links and transferred by blog links to the header area. Nothing too painful, and frankly, it was kind of nice to not have any entry obligations, and refocus my energy temporarily to coding. Anything can be stressful if you are trying to accomplish too much simultaneously.

I did have a dream a few nights ago, but I Notepadded it, so I'll need to go over that and post it later.

Anyhow, there's more I want to say, and there's more to my life than a computer screen and an outpatient clinic, but I think I'll just touch upon it in a future entry.

For now, I grabbed a meme off of a blog that I just discovered (another perk of not planning or writing an entry constantly).

Thanks, y'all, for hangin' in. I know I was a wreck the other day. Maybe I've streamlined my life a bit, though. Here's hopin'.

When did you start blogging and why? Or Talk about your blog. What can I learn about you in under 5 minutes?

I'm not sure you can learn much about me in five minutes by my entries, as they are fairly diverse in scope. However, my links are divided between soccer, gymnastics, and other topics, so...well...there you go with that. Why did I start? Well, not sure when, but this is my second blog, a successor to Live From Allison Park. But the why is pretty much that I had begun to appreciate it solely on its artistic and social merit. It gave me a chance to code, but with heavy aid from an editor. Plus, it gave me a chance to connect with people on a safely distant level.

How do you use blogging to build friendship?

Well, just by posting on blogs that I like for their style and the persona they try to display.

Who do you read every day, rain or shine?

Nobody every day. But basically just everybody in my header. And if I come across a blog that I like that is new to me, I try to link to it immediately. Some blogs I've known about for probably three years, like Brittney, with her "feeling fine and looking three" (or some such thing) post, which is so old it's been taken down apparently. Others I discovered within the past week, like Yummy Sushi Pajamas, which talks about a young Annapolis woman's brush with basil gelato.

Why did you choose to share that piece of yourself in a photograph?

Well, I like to photograph things, especially when I travel. And traveling is a big part of me, and it lends a good aesthetic to my photography. I like photographs with a slight bit of mystery to them, and being in a foreign town sets that up well.

How would you describe your writing style?

I ramble, and I tend to use big words when I don't need to. Despite that, there is still the opportunity for me to flesh out my concepts, which I often am too impatient to do (which may be partially because I ramble).

If you could spend time with one person who blogs who would it be?

Zoiks! That's a hard one. I've gotten to establish a rapport with over half of you. I think I'd get along easiest, by a hair, with Rae (and family, but this is one person, so...well Rae is the chattier one), but as far as being in someone elses shoes for a day, maybe Brittney. She's really climbed the status ladder lately, from server to personality on a CBS affiliate in Tennessee. And at times she has alluded to having some kind of rough spots in her past. Blogging sometimes seems like somewhat of a glamorous craft. So does working on TV. It's nice to know we all have imperfections in our lives.

What don't you write about? Anything considered a no-no in your book?

Not that I'm aware of yet. However, things may change. I may think of something that I hadn't before. Not sure what or when that will be, but blogging topics are infinite.

How do you feel about meeting bloggers in real life?

In general, I'm a bit uncomfortable around people. If I'm in a crowd of several, I tend to be OK. I'd love to throw a party for some of the bloggers I've known for a while, but one on one? Maybe not.

Have you written anything controversial? Is blogging controversial?

Blogging is only controversial if you make it. Christian Runner seems to try to avoid it at all cost, which seems to be a function of his faith. He's still a great writer, and somebody I wouldn't mind meeting. As for me, I don't try to avoid controversy unles I have a nagging feeling it will offend a fellow blogger. But by the same token, I don't look for controversy, either. I don't do things for shock value, even if they wind up being shocking in the end.

Are you and your blogging persona the same person?

Well, I don't tell all my secrets, but yes, this is me, and whenever possible, I try to articulate whatever I feel a desire to on here. But geez, I really don't need to go into my roommate's sock drawer. Do I? All joking aside, the more I think about it, the more I realize I don't have many photos of me, and none of anybody else. I don't want my family on here, and I don't want to violate people's privacy, so I don't photograph others.

Have you ever anonymously posted on a site to flame them?

No.

If you had a super power, what would it be?

To know people's names automatically, as if they were all wearing name tags. Sometimes, I feel like people know me but I don't know them, and I feel that some folks kind of prefer it like that.

Sooooooo....since the girl whose blog I got this off of didn't tag anybody in particular, neither will I, but I hope you do do this meme, and post it on your blog, whoever you are.

Oh, and did you hear about Floyd's father committing suicide? That stuff just makes me sad. I've been close to that point as well. Quite a bit. I've trained myself to just step back a bit, though and calm myself. I suppose this entry is evidence of that.

P.S. Phonak's team folded, effective at the end of the season, whenever that is.

Happy belated Independence day, Indonesia! I forgot. It was yesterday. The card is in the mail.

stepping away from the c for a bit

2006-08-10T20:08:00.000-04:00

Listening to: "Whole of the Moon", Waterboys (some strong, apropos lyrics)

I made a comment on a person's blog in the past day or two that wasn't taken as I had intended. I have yet to revisit the person's blog, except extremely briefly, where I saw an angry comment in response. I did not revisit this person's blog for long enough to pore over what I had written. However, I do remember that the spirit of the comment was a good one. I do tend toward a particular sense of humor, and against other standards thereof. Perhaps that puts me in a position where I can't easily put myself in another's shoes. I'm just not sure. I intend to revisit that blog and ponder my comment when I have more time in the next day or two.

In retrospect, in the seven or so months I've had this particular blog, I have become aware of instances on three blogs (all on the list to the right) where I have commented in a way that has not been taken in the way I intended. I eagerly take my share of the blame (whether it's all or partially mine). I think this last issue was the straw that broke...awww, hell, I get my cliches mixed up.

Recently, for reasons unknown, Brent declared (from what I interpreted) that he was finished in the blogosphere. As it turns out, he wasn't, quite, but his post count has diminished. He seems to blog now when something needs to be said, instead of blogging for its own sake and having nothing to say, like what happens to me at times.

I'm not out to offend folks. I've met some talented folks in the blogosphere, whether or not I agree with them all the time (and I do not, which I think is good). I seek to learn from them. But it is hard trying to guess how others think at times. Common sense goes 26 miles, but what about the two tenths beyond that? I like to think I'm at least at that last mile-marker. I like to think I can go past that and approach the actual line.

My life will hopefully calm down a bit after 15 October. I'll hopefully be settled at a volunteer job. My mother will have come and gone. Until then, I will assume burnout. I probably write more than I'm capable of between this, freewrites for my mother's upcoming book, and comments on others' blogs. Some of my comments on others' blogs are longer and more meaningful than some of my own entries, and that ain't right. Therefore, I think I'll stop for a while. I'm going to stop posting in my own blog and maybe slow down my commentary on other blogs. I have lots that is stressing me out. A large amount of housework I have been neglecting, a windmill-chase for a volunteer job, a very slowly recuperating back, a relationship with my mother that is too intense for my life.

My hiatus will let me address those issues, as well as do some long-neglected blog housekeeping, which includes uploading and labeling photos, and possibly changing the colors and template. Most importantly, though, evaluating whether I need to end the blog.

Thanks to all that I have managed to somehow entertain, and very sincere apologies to all those I have offended.

Regards,

Cory

useless tidbits about my life, just for you

2006-08-08T15:03:00.000-04:00

Listening to: "Supernova", Liz Phair

Blogs I've accidentally discovered by starting to type in my blog's URL while my computer, I guess, was still thinking, thus causing certain letters not to appear in address box:

http://noe.blogspot.com
http://oe.blogspot.com/

Should I link 'em? Well? Should I?

In other news, I just love seeing Floyd Landis, the bicyclist from Lancaster County, sweat while tryng to convince the world he's innocent. That is one famous person I hope I never have to meet.

On another note, I learned a while ago that I have two old college acquaintances coaching volleyball in the Big East, which has a school right near me. I got to see both of them, when Seton Hall and Syracuse came into town, and got to catch up briefly with both of them. I learned a few months later that the one at Seton Hall would not be coming back. She had a rough two years, performancewise, and according to her, her husband had found a job in Maryland anyhow. I pretty much expect it. She was the head coach, and her team didn't perform.

Today, I comb the Syracuse site, trying to find my other friend's name, and it looks like she is gone as well. For whatever reason, it was a little more unsettling. I had actually kind of hoped to go up there by bus and take in a game. With the Seton Hall coach, I didn't even have time to contemplate something like that before she resigned. With the Syracuse assistant, I did.

I'm not sure why it's so odd. I know that head coaches in these sorts of sports tend not to be fired too easily, but assistants are replaced pretty often. Seems like they always want a young'un alongside them. Ah well. So it goes.

My back is still somewhat sore, but not spasmodic, praise the whatevers. I have a recall appointment on Monday at 10:30am. Still havent taken so much as an Advil. I wonder what they will think. :)

Listening to "Nothing Better", The Postal Service......no wait! "Fix You Up", Tegan and Sara. Sorry.

Oh, Floyd...rolleyes

2006-08-05T11:03:00.000-04:00

He fails!

This having been read by you, it remains that doping is always going to occur. Tests will always be slightly imperfect. And, least of all, in my opinion, you can't test everyone. But hey, that's why you have random testing. Presumably you can't prepare for random tests.

Ayeeeeee!!!

2006-08-03T23:42:00.000-04:00

Listening to: "It's My Life", Talk Talk

I was just kind for working with my MySpace networking stuff, and all of a sudden, IE launches 38 browsers, and then somehow stopped. Then, I just right-clicked on "Close Group" and it closed the group just fine. No freezing but for maybe two seconds. I did have Yahoo IM open, and have heard that viruses can be transmitted that way. Seems more credible than getting them on MySpace. I dunno.

Listening to: "The Walls Came Down", The Call

Cory the Contributor

2006-08-03T23:06:00.000-04:00

Listening to: "Atmosphere", Joy Division

I contribute, yes I do.

I sure hope my dentist can contribute to the wellbeing of my teeth tomorrow. I have a check-up. I keep forgetting to get one of those flosser brush thingies that is supposed to make dental care so easy. Oh well. These folks don't lecture me about it.

The Devil Wears Prada girl is on Letterman tonight. Hey hey. As long as I can peel myself away from my computer.

Listening to: "Good King Wenceslas", Mannheim Steamroller

stuck in the future

2006-08-02T20:26:00.000-04:00

Listening to: "Send Me On My Way", Rusted Root. Well, OK, now it's "Supernova" by Liz Phair.

Am I a the biggest moron or what? I thought it was Thursday. I was all gettin' excited about The Office being on, but alas it is not to be, at least until tomorrow. 'Tis OK. I'm having fun with all the Wikipedia character sketches about the show, like this one and this one, and this one, and the this one for the whole crowd (I wish they'd fix this URL; it was supposed to go to Kelly Kapour).

And I changed desktop wallpapers, from this to this.

Why do you people even come to my blog anymore? Y'all must have a high threshold for bull. Go get yourselves lives! (but put me on your blogrolls first)

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!

a meme from russ

2006-08-02T18:20:00.000-04:00

Listening to: "Atmosphere", Joy Division

Well, not very much news, but I just feel like posting something a little more upbeat than what I did yesterday. I didn't mean to be a downer, and didn't mean to imply...well, you know. I've actually been in fairly good spirits. My back is slowly getting there. If I caved in and took some meds, I'd be there. I think last night my brain was just soaking in some good music off of my Musicmatch playlist, and I got to wanting to post, and...well, I did.

But anyhow, I got a call from a person from here, just touching base with me, making sure I still wanted to volunteer for them. She was the girl that led my orientation down at the hospital in Bellevue. She asked me a few questions about my computer skills, and I was honest that last time I did data entry, I had at my disposal an early '80's DOS-only computer. So, for instance, I couldn't remember my experience with spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are neat things, but I have never mastered the computing commands you use with them. Ah well, whatever I do, there'll be some minor training, anyhow. Nice to know they'll almost certainly need me in two weeks or so.

So, with that piece of news out of the way, it's meme time, thanks to Russ!

Answer these questions.

The Tuesday Wacky 5

1.) If you had the choice to have toast with butter or toast with cheese, which would you choose and why?

Well, toast with cheese. It's not sticky, and with Cracker Barrel extra sharp, it is mighty fine. My mother used to make them, but called them cheese sandwiches, not cheese toast. I think the latter is more appropriate.

2.) Would you wear a snow suit in the summer?

No. Frankly, not even in winter, as with the way I walk, I build up tons of upper body heat. I cannot wait for late fall!

3.) What is your favorite, worst song?

Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of by Carly Simon. I heard this in a Jack In The Box one time and became ill. But I will say that there are tons of dishonorable mentions.

4.) What brings you to this blog?

Well, no one else keeps nearly as good a schedule of fake new moons. *waits eagerly for Yugo Moon*

5.) If you could have a snack with one famous person, what would be the snack? And the person?

Sarah Vowell and I would be mackin' on lime or cherry fruit-on-bottom yoghurt topped with grape nuts, my latest food find. If her dietary restrictions from celiac disease prevented that, then she would be replaced by Jenna Fischer.

OMIGOD! IT'S THURSDAY, PEOPLE! THE OFFICE IS ON TONIGHT! If I had time, I'd seriously link to all the local NBC affiliates of all the kind folks who patronize my blog (assuming I know where you live). But hell, it's NBC. Everybody has NBC.

By the way, I'm not tagging anybody because Russ just tagged the entire population of the state of Delaware.

Listening to: "It's My Life", Talk Talk

morbid point of curiosity (funeral services revisited)

2006-08-01T20:24:00.000-04:00

OK, a while back, Russ and I, along with a few others, posted wishes related to our funerals. It made for an interesting subject, one that concurrently breeds in me despair and excitement. Most of us do not unequivocally look forward to our deaths, but a funeral is an excellent way of putting the exclamation point at the end of the sentence of your life. It's a good way of making a lasting impact.

Along this line of thought, I downloaded "Atmosphere", by Joy Division. I looped it for a good half hour, so pretty soon, I'll likely be burnt out on it. Really pretty song, but when looking at the lyrics, I'm not sure I really understood them. I remember last time I posted, I wanted the Waterboys song "Whole of the Moon" as the departing music. To me, it is profoundly upbeat, and the Joy Division song isn't. However, I've never really looked at the "Whole of the Moon" lyrics, either.
I just like the tune. And I like the tune of "Atmosphere", the Joy Division song.

I'm really starting to ramble. I've got good music going (Tegan and Sara's "Fix You Up" right now), I'm YIMming a friend, and I'm trying to put down thoughts that were very vivid and sequential when they popped into my mind, but are no longer so. Grrrr. I hate getting distracted when I have something good to write.

Anyhow, I suppose I can get to the point, now. I tend not to listen to lyrics, myself. I tend to just zone into the tune. That's what I did with the Waterboys song, and that's what I did with the Joy Division song. Both, to me, are good for a heavenly sendoff, despite being drastically different tunes. The lyrics? I don't know. I can't make sense of either song. Although I do hear others say how depressing Joy Division is.

So, when choosing your funeral music, were you looking at lyrics or melodies? Divulge.

my music, my store

2006-08-01T17:33:00.000-04:00

Well, I went to WalMart today, just to get out and enjoy some good AC. I came away with new underwear, socks, and a couple of cool ties, one burgundyish and one a dark silver. Sorry to all the detractors. I used to be one myself, when I lived up in Vermont. I LOVE WALMART! I am not too cool to shop somewere with a white trash reputation! I cross stereotype lines, people!

Now, on to my Musicmatch Jukebox. I must list the bands on mine. Russ talked about his selection. May as well divulge mine (band: song):

Adam Ant: Strip

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Over and Over Again, The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth

Coldplay: Clocks, The Scientist

Dave Grusin: The Mountain Dance

Erasure: Take A Chance On Me

Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart

Kaiser Chiefs: I Predict A Riot

Liz Phair: Supernova

Madness: Wings Of A Dove

Mannheim Steamroller: Deck The Halls, Good King Wenceslas

Michael Manring: Welcoming

Roxette: Joyride

Roxy Music: More Than This

Rusted Root: Send Me On My Way

Simple Minds: Alive And Kicking, Don't You Forget About Me

Talk Talk: It's My Life

Tegan and Sara: Downtown, Fix You Up, Frozen, I bet It Stung, I won't Be Left, Monday Monday Monday, Take Me Anywhere, Walking With A Ghost

The Call: The Walls Came Down

The Cure: Close To Me

The Jesus And Mary Chain: Just Like Honey

The Kinks: Come Dancing

The Postal Service: Be Still My Heart, Brand New Colony, Nothing Better, Sleeping In, Such Great Heights, The District Sleeps Alone, There's Never Enough Time, This Place is a Prison, We Will Become Silhouettes

The Waterboys: Whole Of The Moon

The Yellowjackets: The Dream

World Party: Ship Of Fools

I have a nagging feeling there is more, but this seems to be it. Whew!

OK, maybe not the URL

2006-07-30T11:39:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-29T12:54:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-25T18:26:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-07-21T18:03:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-21T16:24:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-07-20T22:26:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-18T20:08:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-17T19:07:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-07-16T01:06:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-07-14T00:26:00.000-04:00

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

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

2006-07-11T17:54:00.000-04:00

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)

2006-07-09T16:47:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-07-06T18:03:00.000-04:00

...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

2006-07-06T14:44:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-05T20:49:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-05T19:11:00.000-04:00

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+

2006-07-04T15:43:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-02T17:59:00.000-04:00

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!

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

2006-06-30T21:16:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-06-30T20:45:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-06-29T23:18:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2006-06-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

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?!

2006-06-28T18:45:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-28T00:57:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-06-27T17:40:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-06-27T01:07:00.000-04:00

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

unmotivated

2006-06-26T18:39:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-19T20:52:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-14T22:40:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-06-14T21:55:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-12T17:43:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-06-10T10:01:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-09T15:45:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-06-09T15:21:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-06-09T12:51:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-04T21:17:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-06-04T20:21:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-06-04T00:48:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-06-02T20:33:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-01T12:21:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-01T11:48:00.000-04:00

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!!!

Chuggin' right along...

2006-05-31T02:26:00.000-04:00

I must say I'm getting somewhere with the redesignof this blog. I think if I tweak the link colors and modify the margins a bit, I'm there. After that, the only thing will be to look at the old source code, and modify the links code to fit this site, and that ought to be pretty straightforward. I must say I'm already in a really good mood. It's still grotesquely hot, but not as hot. I'm confused about my earlier funk, but also fascinated by it. I hope whoever reads this feels encouraged read, think and respond to this, and/or my post below.

Good night, my friends.

Not much to say...

2006-05-31T01:26:00.000-04:00

...but it bears saying (if that makes any sense). It got up to 92 or so today here in Pittsburgh. I felt completely sluggish all day, as though my veins were carrying Elmer's glue. I did not do a damn thing today besides get my groceries, which included some frozen dinners (sweet and sour chicken, chicken fried steak, spaghetti and meat balls, and chicken with fried rice), veggies (corn, yes, but also green beans, just to break the monotony), some weird but cheap and sugarless puffed wheat cereal, yogurt (lime and two types of cherry), and air freshener. Then I got home, picked up the mail, which had a Newsweek, a couple of bills, and a few ads. I sat down and tubed for a bit, watching some angry conservative guy on CNN, and then Good Eats, with Alton Brown. He really gets on my old best friend's nerves, but he meshes with my personality very well. Better than, say, Rachel Ray (though she seems like she'd be lovely, and more relaxed in person). I then got on my computer and read Rae's blog. Her latest entry deals with Pippin's first bee sting. She has some really wonderful photos on there of Pippin, and herself and her husband. She is so lucky to have a husband and dog that seem crazy about her.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, I ever so gradually start bawling my sorry ass off. Ironically, about fifteen minutes later, I get to reading an article on boot camps, and start to feel more relaxed. I have no freaking explanation for what all happened. I mean, I feel bad for Pippin, and as far as dogs go, he seems like a charmer. However, I really can't fathom that being so upsetting to me. I don't know him. I've never been to Tennessee. I grew up with cats, not dogs.

I do think the heat has gotten to me, though, and has made me kind of sensitive. Thanks, y'all, for listening. As for my next cosmetic step, I don't completely know, but it may have to be reverting, as well as possible, to what I had, and no banner. That kind of annoys me, as I had a really cool banner made, kind of a la Radhole. I should start using the "Save As Draft" button, like a good little blogger.

It's the end of the world as we know it...

2006-05-29T21:16:00.000-04:00

Nope. Not going to an REM concert. I just figgered aht haddah make my own banner, I think. Thing is, it seriously clashes with the color scheme I have on my blog. So therefore, IT'S CREATIVE MAYHEM TIME!!!!!!! I'm a-gonna shift to a different scheme, after not forgetting to cut and paste my linkage so I don't lose track of your pretty little faces. So, wish me luck, and hopefully we'll see yinz all on the flipside.

Oh, and we beat Latvia 1:0 in Hartford somewhere. Kind of disappointing, but I don't much think we sucked. I think Latvia's goalkeeper was just darned good. I wonder where he plays ball.

EDITED: We're not done yet, kiddoes. Not nearly! *evil grin*

EDITED ONCE AGAIN: Well, I'm getting warm. Warm, but kind of annoyed. I'm attempting to put an image banner where you currently see the red x. Obviously it isn't working. I think it may be a Webshots problem, but I'm not sure. I'm getting a headache, though, so this'll be it for the night.

Indy 500 (spoilers inside)

2006-05-28T18:47:00.000-04:00

So, the 90th edition is over and Sam Hornish has won, with Marco Andretti beating Micheal for 2nd. I don't have anything very philosophical to say, even though I am a big IRL fan. I watched the race. I didn't watch any of the prerace stuff. I've been there (literally, in 1989) and done that. I will say I didn't realize Jim Nabors was still with us. I'm not huge on the song "Back Home Again", but it is a part of the grand tradition of Indy.

Speaking of which, I still think the race has a good measure of mystique, despite the split that happened in the mid-nineties. I don't miss that one year that the schedule straddled New Year's Day. I found that confusing, and too much of a breach of auto racing tradition. I understood the logic: make the 500 the final race, but I don't much care for huge changes. I also don't miss the four race season(s?) that occurred early on after the split. What'll the points system be, 5 points for leading on the 10th, 20th, 30th, and all other laps in that particular sequence?. Yuck.

The race itself was a bit of a yawner for the firt half, with the Englishman Dan Wheldon leading basically the whole way, but Danica's pits were always fun to watch, and two others had disasters involving the spillage of fuel and the breaking of fueling equipment.

A few crashes occurred, but nothing terribly extraordinary. Danica Patrick stayed completely clean, but had bad luck (if there is such a thing) with yellows, and finished eighth.

Now, off to watch the U.S. soccer team beat up on Latvia.

From Pimlico to...NBC sitcoms?

2006-05-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

OK, well, we've all probably read the horrible story on the horse that broke down during a Triple Crown race recently. Thanks be to Russ for enlightening the likes of me. I had been previously unaware of the incident, as I am with all equine matters. I think I agree with him that the horse should have been put down. I saw a foreign film that was in Japanese or Korean or some such language. In it, there were scenes dealing with velodrome bike racing, which is apparently something you can bet on, much like we bet on horse races. I love the mathematics of betting, but seeing the horse in such dire straits is rather nauseating. I think maybe I'd have less sympathy for a human, who was out there because he wanted to be.

Speaking of jockeys, there's a great sitcom on TV nowadays called The Office. What's better, they inject all sorts of Scranton local references, such as the Steamtown Mall and Rock 107. Somewhat meaningless to me, as I live in southwest PA. However, I do get a kick out of shows with a local flavor, kind of like Drew Carey's old show, which I could identify with, since I have family near Cleveland. But the best part of it all? I picked up a new phrase: cubicle jockey. I am determined to seek out ways to inject this humurous phrase into my daily speech.

Also, I got some speakers today, but haven't put them in. A shack jockey (ha ha!) clued me in to how, so I should be good to go tomorrow. I forgot to get a camera at the store, so I can't shoot a photo of them (or a better one of myself, which I've wanted to do for a while, because I feel like such a stranger to y'all). I will on, maybe, Friday, though. At that point, I might try and get a shot of my room and my apartment, but I need to study up on light, because that may be hard to do with a disposable camera. Anybody have experience with disposables?

Anyhow, tah tah.

CUBICLE JOCKEYS UNITE!

Question for the masses...

2006-05-23T20:40:00.000-04:00

OK, so Brittney has some videos of her stints on channel 2 Nashville on her site. I don't have much of a desire for that, but it would be kinda cool to introduce my voice to my website. I just wonder what sort of equipment that would require. I'm picking up speakers at Radio Shack tomorrow. What else would I need? I'm guessing some sort of mic. But what else? Anything?

The shark has jumped itself.

2006-05-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

I was bouncing around the web as I often do earlier tonight. I decided to check out Jump the Shark, the site that tries to pinpoint the downfall of various cancelled TV shows. So, I was on this page and came to the odd realization that Jump the Shark has itself jumped said shark. Was Soleil Moon Frye a porn star at age 12?! I wouldn't have thought that legal, but one of the reasons submitted for the demise of the show was "Punky [doing] porn." Hmmmm. I was pretty obsessed with the show, but don't recall her porn career, whatever its magnitude, as part of her career on NBC. I will say that Jump is a neat idea, but needs better regulation of outside input.

In other news, as I came back from a job application at the Wal-Mart in Cranberry Township, for some odd reason I had "Come Sail Away", by Styx, stuck in my head. I suppose that band is a guilty pleasure. Sometimes Styx (and Rush, for that matter) irritates the living daylights out of me, and sometimes I get rather geeked at hearing their music, which I get on VH1 Classic. Regardless, it annoys me when something like that gets inside me for several hours at a time.

I am freaking tired right now, people! However, I realize that I will wake up at about 3:30 EDT if I go to bed now, and I hate that sort of thing.

21 JUMP STREET!!!! *dances away from the computer*

New Orleans Vote '06, part 2

2006-05-21T00:26:00.000-04:00

Incumbent mayor Ray Nagin wins.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060521/ap_on_el_st_lo/new_orleans_mayor

You know what I wish? I wish we could get local stations from other markets besides WGN, which everybody and their half-godnephew's pet hyena recieves. Why not make it easier to catch up on the local news that affects New Orleans, or even Rae, or Laura, or Russ?

OK, I'm getting mildly creepy, now. End of post.

New Orleans Vote '06

2006-05-20T14:01:00.000-04:00

Looks like Nola is up for a mayoral vote, with the black incumbent facing the white challenger. I have yet to read up on much of this, however, I know the incumbent mayor is supposed to be kind of a racist, and very stubborn about that. The concensus seems to be that he really needs to reach out across color lines, and of course somehow get folks to...well, basically overlook Katrina. I suppose I'm showing my colors already. Nagin didn't, from what I see, do much to help his city through the disaster, so therefore, he is as much to blame as the U.S. Government for the slow response and recovery.

Yahoo article

WWL 4 (CBS)

With apologies to Laura...

2006-05-19T18:16:00.000-04:00

*tag*

I declare myself it.

Appetizer: What is the last thing you had to have repaired?

I had my glasses tightened fairly recently.

Soup: If someone gave you $2,000 with the stipulation that you had to spend half of it on yourself and give the rest to charity, where would you spend the $1,000 and which charity would receive your remaining $1,000?

I reckon I'd use $1,000 to overhaul my wardrobe. I have most clothes given to me by my parents, so my wardrobe does not really reflect my tastes in clothing, except where I do actually by stuff. I like college t-shirts/hoodies, and khakis. Charity is a hard one. I think maybe Landmark College, where I got my A.A.

Salad: What is one of your favorite songs from the 1980s?

My favorite 80s song is "Whole of the Moon" by the Waterboys. EDITED TO SAY: I was posting on a bulletin board tonight, and was reminded of Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey". Another very good song!

Main Course: You enter a pet store. Which section do you go to first?

I dig fish, like, really hardcore. Aquarium City, dude.

Dessert: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how athletic are you?

1