Minor celebrity sighting

I saw Joe Buck outside of a Starbuck's today. Actually, I saw him go in, then come out again with some guy and sit down. I was on my way to meet someone, but got lost and stopped to call for directions. There's not really much more to say than that. Not as cool as the time I ran into Ben Affleck in a bookstore in Harvard Square, but close.

Are you ready for some.....fantasy football?

Despite my hesitation and fears that it would detract from things like, you know, grad school and the rest of my life, I am now the proud owner of two new fantasy football teams, The Sons of Tom Brady and Left Arm Tan. Now don't ask me to pick favorites, I love them both equally. Yes, Sons of Tom Brady is having its draft sooner than Left Arm, but these things happen at different times for different leagues. Everyone has a draft sooner or later. And I have already stressed to them that they are not in competition with each other...just with all of the other teams out there. So here goes nothin...

Start me up

In honor of the Rolling Stones playing at Fenway, a fictitious Stones set list, with Red Sox references (courtesy of bostondirtdogs.com). I can't say that I understand all of the references myself...

Exclusive Set List: (I Can't Get No) Statistician; Sympathy for the Devil Rays; When the WHIP Comes Down; AL East of Burden; 9th Inning Nervous Breakdown; Everything is Turning to Gold Gloves; Get Off of My Mound; Honky Tonk Kevin; It's Only John's Payroll; Let Pete Go; Might as Well Get Juiced; Jumpin' Jack McCormick; All Sold Out; Kevin Brown Sugar; Winning Ugly; He's So Cold; Crazy Papi; Let Curt Bleed; Lowe Down; Hang Curve; Luxury Tax; Anybody Seen My Baseball?; Manny's Brand New Car; Bye Bye Johnny; Wild Card Horses; Money Man(ny); Before They Make a Run; Paying the Cost to Beat the Boss; Tumblin' Rice; One Hit (to the Outfield); Tito's Little Helper; Little Red Sox Rooter; Paint the Corners Black; Ruby Tuesday and Widescreen Wednesday; (Home Run Records) Shattered; You Can Sometimes Get What You Want; Waiting on a Contract

Three and out

Tonight, Kia and I celebrated our three year anniversary, which began one fateful night back in the old apartment in Rockville. Ahh, the old Rockville apartment. So many memories...actually, not so many memories. Fewer than you'd think. Too many parties, I guess. But good times all the same.

Anyway, it's been three years, and I realized recently that this is going to be the last time that we celebrate this date in any formal way. After next June 18th, August 23rd will just seem less important. Still valid and noteworthy, and with a fair amount nostalgia attached, but without the life-changing significance of an event that will forever be etched in your mind. Maybe it's how you felt about your skateboard after you learned to drive. I don't know. I never owned a skateboard. The point is, it's weird that all of a sudden, a date that used to be quite important fades into the background and will most likely be forgotten in the not-too-distant future. I'm sure if we ask each other five years from now when our "dating anniversary" was, neither will know. But three years -- it's quite something.

Oh, and the herbal supplements I took did nothing.

A little R&R

I returned Thursday night from a week in Lexington, MA. Very nice as usual, relaxing, good to see the fam and any friends I could locate. I spent some good times with Mithu (and Ella, her cat), Sarah McKeever, Molly and Steve, Pete and Bekkah, and my mom, dad, and Kate. I got new golf clubs which are going to be ready in a few weeks. I'm telling you, some of the woods (which are actually metal) are as big as my head. The drivers have just gotten laughingly enormous. So I got to bring those along when I played a round of golf with my dad. I think I had about 3 pars, not bad for only playing once a year.

I saw "Mad Hot Ballroom" but won't make the comparison to "Spellbound". See it.

Didn't attend any Sox games, but did get to watch them on TV whenever I desired. Can't beat that.

Went to a vigil to support Cindy Sheehan and hold candles around the Frog Pond on Boston Common.

And on the plane ride home, I had a seat right next to someone else in my program who is from Boston and had just been back to check out potential wedding spots, since she just got engaged in May. We both lamented going back to STL after being in Boston again. Another person who was on my flight was the ex-boyfriend of Kia's twin sister, Kristin. He is from St. Louis but works in Boston now. Kia ran into him in baggage claim. The coincidences just keep on coming.

On a tangential note, I just took some stuff that I got for free in the mail. It's called "Up Time Herbal supplement," and their slogan is apparently "Perfecting the Power to Achieve". I'm not sure what - if anything - it's supposed to do, but Kia predicts that it will have some deliterious effect on my digestive system. Only time will tell.

One of the best city names ever

As a post-script to my cell phone post, I am in the process of sending my rebate to a city in Minnesota called Young America.

Young America, MN

Does this place exist? ABL, a little help?

Can you hear me now??

No, I can't, because I have to put this dumbass earpiece in so that people I talk to can hear me!!! And so it looks like I'm trying to be cool and suave and use a phone earpiece, when in fact it's simply the only way I can be heard when talking to people on my phone!

Until yesterday.

New phones are fun. Especially when they're free. And mine was....in exchange for me promising my business to Verizon for the next two years. Which I did. I now possess camera phone abilities beyond my wildest imagination. My ringtone is a juiced-up version of the Bach cello suite (you'd know it if you heard it).

An interesting exercise (that I have been forced to undertake) is to go through your phone and transfer all of your old numbers to the new phone. I came across some people I haven't heard from in a while...or ever. Random co-workers of people I knew, roommates of friends of friends, people you think you might need to call sometime, at some point, but now you realize you'll never need their number again. It's a fun process to go through all those names. I'd recommend it.

Speaking of long-term contracts....hey Dave, remember when you brought me to Bally's to sign up for a gym membership 3 years ago? Yeah, I was only able to cancel my membership as of yesterday....so yesterday was a big day for contracts.

Best seller?

Just finished "The Kite Runner". Good, but best seller worthy? Has anyone read it? Thoughts?

West Siiiiiiiide

Wednesday night we went to a production of West Side Story at the MUNY in Forest Park. I think it's something like the largest outdoor musical theater in the country, or something crazy like that. I'm not sure. Check the website if you really want to know. I also don't know what MUNY stands for. Municipal.....something. It's just the MUNY.

Anyway, the MUNY has free seats available in the back rows of the theater to those who want to show up early and claim them. So food in hand (and plenty of water), this is what we did. We arrived at the theater to see a line winding way down the street, but fortunately everyone was allowed in, and we managed to get some pretty decent seats. So then it was just us (all the early-coming cheapskates) and the rest of the empty theater. It sort of felt like a baseball game, and I thought it would be funny if someone came around selling peanuts or beer. And sure enough, a few minutes later someone came around with bottled water and juice. Not quite the same, but you get the picture. Eventually, the actual ticketholders showed up, and the place filled up quickly.

Another way in which the play was like a baseball game: right before it started, an announcer asked everyone to stand for the National Anthem. I can honestly say I've never done that prior to a theater performance before. At the end, the urge to scream "Play ball!" was overwhelming.

Overall, the play was good. Pretty standard production, I think. It reminded of the production I was in during high school, when I was a Jet. And let me tell you, I was a Jet all the way. It also reminded me of some of the bloopers, if you will, from rehearsal:

-one of the characters is supposed to say, "Maria, where are your parents?" But with his accent, it always sounded like, "Maria, where are your pants?" Classic.

-during rehearsal for the final scene, Maria and Tony are running into each other's arms, and the gun goes off, supposedly to shoot Tony, but Maria slipped and fell right at that moment, prompting cries of, "You shot Maria!"

Ok, I could only think of two. But there were more, trust me.

Worth the Trip

On Sunday, I awoke with a purpose. I asked Kia what plans she had for the day. Disregarding everything she said, I told her we were going to take a little trip: to Dunkin Donuts. Despite the complete lack of DD's in STL, the handy-dandy Dunkin Donuts website told me that there was one located in Fairview Heights, Illinois, a mere 28.4 miles from my abode. Off we went.

Actually, as it happened, it was a relatively uneventful trip. We found it with no problem and spent a long time in line, since there was only one person working behind the counter. My bagel sandwich was subpar, the coffee was pretty good but not all that hot, and Kia wasn't liking her peanut donut too much. Yeah, I don't know about that choice. But somehow, it was all ok. After we left, and I looked down and saw that I was carrying a Dunkin Donuts cup, I realized it was "Worth the Trip"*

Shortly thereafter, we explored some of the stores in the area, and on the trip home I found to my surprise that I had purchased $50 worth of clothes. All at one place. A rarity for me, to say the least. I'm not going to say it was the Dunkin Donuts, but I think we all know the answer to that one.


*former Dunkin Donuts slogan