esprit de l'escalier

White Sox 7, Twins 3

I went to the Sox game yesterday with my friend Marietta and two of her friends. She was able to get free tickets from a friend, 13th row behind the 3rd plate dugout! AMAZING seats. I took the picture above from my seat! Homeruns came in pairs, it seemed yesterday, and Uribe had two of them. The day was beautiful, though as soon as the game ended the temperature dropped 10 degrees. I had an excellent time.

It was a busy weekend. My Australian friend Alex has been in town and I've been visiting with her and my old coworkers from Doha. Friday night I went to see Josh Ritter at the Double Door. It was a late night (he didn't go on til 11:30), but it was a spectacular show. He and the band have gotten better every time I've seen them. I made Libby hang around a while til he came out so I could get my hug and him to sign my cd. (If you want to stream some of Josh's music go here and look to the right sidebar for his picture. A window will pop up and you can listen to some songs. Nice acoustic, solo versions of some new and old songs, as well as a Neil Young cover.)

I blame Bertie (and possibly Dave)

My friend Bird has twisted my arm to join her pool for the NCAA championships, and I should have realized by the extreme fervor in her voice that whatever she was selling was going to be addictive. I was hesitant about joining because I follow NCAA basketball very peripherally and didn't want to appear like the idiot that I am. (Because it is always about protecting your image, right?) But as soon as I signed up the program on Fox Sports was so helpful and easy to use that I filled out my bracket quickly and then anticipation and worry set in and set my blood buzzing. I haven't done so poorly so far-- I picked 5 out of 7 games thus far. (Go Grizzlies for winning!!) I plan on watching the IU game (c'mon Hoosiers don't fail me yet!), at least after the Office is finished.

I heart Joey Cheek

This morning, I heard on NPR how Joey Cheek won the gold in the 500 meters speed skating competition yesterday. I don't pay very close attention to the Olympics and am a little sad this year that I haven't, but this news didn't really catch my ear until I heard why the story was really being covered. It turns out that Mr. Cheek is not only speedy and apparently very easy-going and likeable, not mention mighty cute, but compassionate. He's donating the $25,000 of prize money to an organization that will help Sudanese children. That's amazing. And from what I heard on NPR, he's trying to get some sponsors to give money as well, and so far Nike said it will donate $30,000 in equipment. What kills me about all of this is that besides on NPR, I neither heard nor saw anything about it. I had to search on NYTimes, and even then, I don't think it said that the charity he was targeting had to do with Sudan. What is with that? I know there are lots of stories at the Olympics, because many hopes are being realized and broken, but can't we take a moment out of the news cycle to showcase a selfless act?

So, Mr. Cheek, congratulations on your win, your country is proud of you. You have a fine spirit, thank you for sharing it with the world.

Brief thoughts as I kill some time

I drove home to my parents' house this weekend. I think I was in the car for about as long as I was home, but it was well worth the trip. My parents threw a Burns Supper and it was very successful. They had a bartender in a kilt (who at one point warned my roommate Natasha to take it easy on the Scotch, that "it wasn't Kool-Aid" and all she thought was, "I'm the soberest person in the room!"), a haggis, poems, copious amounts of food (all delicious Dad), and a lot of drunk people. A couple of friends from Chicago made the journey with me, and a friend from Columbus came over for the night. We all had a great time. I reconnected with a couple whose youngest child I babysat. (The youngest child is now 17 and looking at colleges! Good grief! Blue Girl has some thoughts on a similar manner here.) I'll post some pics in a bit.

I'm waiting out a half hour at work before I go to meet some friends to see Paradise Now, the movie about Palestinian suicide bombers. It's a little heavier fare than what I'm feeling at the moment, but it's not enough cause to flake out on a friend. It will be my brain fiber for the day.

Since it is the time of year where I become vaguely interested in basketball, I'll write a bit about it now. I think that the Hoosiers may break my heart (yet again). Seriously guys, I missed the win over Illinois because of my class, but I'm really glad I missed you all getting your asses handed to you by Minnesota. I'm going to watch the game against Connecticut on Saturday, but I'm not holding my breath. I have caught some great non-Hoosier related games though. Or at least the ends of some. Like the great game between Georgetown and Duke. It is always nice to see someone else's streak end. Especially when it is Duke's streak. I don't believe in perfect seasons. It's no fun.

Through the Broadsheet on Salon, I found out about a women's media conference and I think I'm going to go. It fits really well with what I'm studying, and I want to get more entrenched in media related issues. I'm excited.

Speaking of a Salon blog, have any of you noticed the Video Dog blog? I sort of ignored it at first, but I was wrong to. It has some hysterical things on there. Like a clip from Creature Comforts about snoring. And this kid is totally adorable. There is also a clip of Felicity Huffman that reminds me of why I think she rocks.

Alright, now I need to get going. Hope everyone out there is well!

End of kickball season

The outlook wasn't brillant for the Mudville nine that day; The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.

Last night was the last game of the summer WAKA season for the Kicktators. It was the first came of the tournament, and we were seventh out of nine, playing the second best team, Ferocious. The night was warm and dusty-- we haven't seen much rain in the city in a while now-- and we played hard. The game started well-- our fearless co-captain Kristy started and she kicked herself a double. Then Andy got to first, and Rachel got a double, getting both Kristy and Andy home. That more or less ended the inning. (I kicked, but got out running to first.) A strong start to the game. Kristy loves this game. Loves it. She gets disappointed when we lose, and I don't want to let her down, so feel especially bad when I screw up. I think this is what has caused my competitiveness for kickball. You should have heard me out in far right field! I was getting downright shrill in my admonitions of my fellow 'Taters! Shrill! About kickball! But it's so much fun! The worst part about WAKA kickball, though, is that the games only last 5 innings. Once you hit your stride and warm up the game is over! Last night I was so wrapped up I was honestly surprised and upset that game had ended.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville-- mighty Casey has struck out.

Actually, the game didn't end that dramatically. Rachel got out at first on a bad call. Neither ref had really seen what had happened (the dust and all), so we kinda got screwed on our last out. I was a little cranky afterwards, but we walked to the bar and I was able to let off some steam to Kristy, and to wax poetic on my new-found love for kickball. Then we went to the bar, ate ridiculously cheap hamburgers and play flippy cup. While the Kicktators may not excel too highly in kickball, we are strong of spirit and excellent at flip cup.

The Cubs and some musings on tennis

Yesterday I went up to Milwaukee with some new kickball friends to see the Cubs play. I met Rachel and Alex at their apartment, and met their friend Natalie (who used to play on our kickball team) and we picked up Jeff (who plays on an opposing team) and headed north. I was squished in the middle in the back, which wasn't so bad on the way up. Even though I was the second tallest in the group, the tallest being Alex and she drove.

The game was fun-- not too exciting-- but there was beer and brats aplenty. This was my second game at Miller Park, and our seats were much better this time around (right behind home plate). I love Miller Park because of the sausage race. I always bet on the German brat, I think I secretly have a thing for leiderhosen. The brat was slow and lost. Oh well.

On the way home, I found myself in my own personal hell. I let myself get stuck in the middle again, and was promptly surrounding by sleeping people. I was in an uncomfortable position with my shoulders scrunched inwards, hunched up on the seat, listening to a mix made entirely of Jimmy Buffet. Now, I never was much of a fan of Jimmy Buffet, but I had never really listened to his music, so never made a big deal about it. Now I know I hate Jimmy Buffet and his stupid, stupid songs.

In other sports-related news, I am very sorry to hear that Justine Henin-Hardenne is out of Wimbledon. She forever changed my views on tennis, for the better. I always thought that watching tennis matches were akin to watching golf or bass fishing. I used to make fun of a family friend of ours for being so obsessed with watching tennis matches. I just didn't get it. Then last spring, when I was living in Doha, Qatar for two months, there was a women's tennis tournament in town. I went with two other young women I worked with. One of whom said she used to be one of the best girls tennis players in Jordan when she was a kid, and she was into it. We got great seats, right behind one of the players, essentially for free. I went as a lark-- I'm always up for new things to try and expand my horizons, etc. I had know idea how great watching tennis was. We watched two matches. One between Jennifer Capriati and a skinny French player, whose name escapes me. Capriati was amazing only because she was so well coifed. She had diamond earrings on, perfect makeup, very frou frou. I was kind of surprised. The second match was between Justine Henin-Hardenne and someone I completely forget. I got really into it. There is a sizable French community in Doha, and I remember lots of little French girls cheering on the French players. There were some Belgians there as well, though, and I remember some fans holding the Belgian flag aloft. It must be really heartening, as an athlete in such a personal sport, to see your country's flag in strange countries. When I saw her play she was ranked #1, though I didn't know it at the time. Suddenly I found myself cheering in French, "Allez Justine! Allez Justine!!" It was great. Now I have a soft spot for tennis. I'm considering lessons. I watch it when I can and enjoy it. I'm sorry to hear that Justine is out of Wimbledon already. I'll have to wait for next year.