Alright, so its been about a month since the last update. Now that Shannon has returned to Notre Dame (with the ring on her finger, for those of you wondering if she might have said 'no'), I suppose there is a lot more time for me to do the update sort of thing.

While Shannon was home we took care of a bunch of wedding stuff. Photographer, cake, florist, that sort of thing. It was exciting stuff, but nothing was as exciting as registering for gifts at Bed Bath and Beyond.

We have registries set up at Crate and Barrel and soon at Sears, but Bed Bath and Beyond is the creme de la creme. So cremey, in fact, that it took us three trips to do it. This is my own fault; I'd much rather break it up into three seperate but shorter trips than what Shannon had in mind, which was one, or perhaps two, loooooooong ass trips in.

I'm sorry, but in my old age, I just couldn't handle it. I had been looking forward to setting up the registry since Eric and Jen's wedding, when Blaskie said how cool it was to go around with the gun and shoot things that they wanted. I enjoyed that, but after an hour and a half of standing around, sorting through towels, avocado slicers, and coffee makers, my body just rebelled. And when the body is sore, the mind is elsewhere, and nothing good can come of it.

Alright, it looks like there are some things for me to do at work now, so I should go get to it. Enjoy the snow, Buffalo, catch ya later.


-B

.

I'm looking forward to seeing what people end up purchasing though. Shannon said alot of the cookwear and dinnerwear gets purchased for the shower, but all I care about is someone buying me my banana hanger. She didn't seem too thrilled by it, but bananas are awesome and it'll be a good reason to always buy bananas. I mean, does anyone NOT like bananas? Anyone that says they don't is covering up some latent phallic phobia. They can get over it.

This whole wedding planning thing is pretty fun, so far. I don't know why people say that you need at least a year, its not like you have 365 things to do, and even if you did, so many of them are like, "Pick stores to register at", "Register at store" and "Follow up on registry" that really, its like one big thing, and can all be done in a day.

Well, after making some very carefully laid plans, its now safe to post this entry. You see, at this very moment, Shannon is just getting off the Ohio Turnpike to meet up with her best friend for brunch in Toledo. She left to come home from her first semester of law school only a few hours ago, and I know that she is now unconnected to the internet in any way (unless, of course, that Bob Evans eateries in Ohio are wi-fi.... if thats the case, then I deserve what I get).

What she doesn't know is that I will be waiting for her at her parents house when she gets home, with a nice bottle of champagne, candles and a roaring fire in the fireplace, and a shiny box containing her engagement ring. This engagement is nothing close to a surprise to her, other than the fact that its coming today. As of now, I've (hopefully) led her to believe that its coming sometime next week, or even as late as Christmas Eve if she was willing to believe it (which I doubt she was). Since we formally asked her parents first, and we went ring shopping together, and we've already moved ahead with minor details such as a wedding date, location, and dresses, ties, and the like... well, like I said, not much of a surprise at this point.

I can, however, point to a few minor details to enhance this little event. First off, TBJ can finally say that they broke a news story. Of course, most of my friends were aware of this little plan already, but when Shannon next reads TBJ (and she's prone to at law school, at least) she'll know that the rest of the world knew of her impending engagement before she did... and knowing her, she'll stomp her foot and sputter like a bumblebee ;o)

So after weeks of waiting with the ring in my possession (I'm proud that no one, save Shannon's mother and her aunt, have yet seen the ring before she will), and weeks of trying to convince her that I had a surprise brewing next week, I will be engaged in ...about 6 or 7 hours. Before then I need to buy the last of her christmas presents, get my hair cut and beard trimmed, pack for an evening at her house, and go get everything set up there. It should be a long day, for sure :o) I can't get started until she finishes brunch with Jenny though, but after that the countdown will be about t-minus five hours. Ha. Hahahahhaha. Damn... me, engaged! Its pretty sweet.

So to all those members of the Loyal Readerate out there who have been wondering where I've been for the last month, don't despair. I've been spending that time either with my soulmate, or trying to figure out how to best lie to said soulmate. Which, I'm sure, she'll be quick to point out once she realizes whats going on.

Here's hoping I don't get into a car accident or shot today, too... that would be very poor timing.

So to Shannon, sorry I made you wait so long, congratulations(?) and HAHAHA for letting me fool you. And thank you for saying yes. August 19th can't come soon enough. To everyone else, either look for your save the date card, or else you'll have to wait for pictures on the internets. You and the rest of the world at large will just have to wait patiently for that sort of excellence. ;o)

And I mean her, in whatever dress she picks out. Thats going to be beyond excellence.

Later gators ;o)



-B

.

I'm not one to write personal stuff here, but this is as close to an outlet as I have at the present moment so I'm going to utilize it.

Over the past month or so, since the night before I was to go to the doctor for a physical, I have been prone to succumbing to panic attacks. I was never one to get too worked up about anything; when I did, it was usually simple nerves and the nausaeousness that comes with them. Now, though, I confess to being totally at a loss for this situation.

It comes and goes, and seems to be triggered by some form of physical discomfort or another. If I had to venture a psychological guess, I'd say that I'm some sort of hypochondriac. Every little ache and pain, I look at and see some major potential catastrophy waiting to happen. The past week or so I've had a rib out that I've been going to the chiropractor for, but the troubling sensation I get out of that is my heart. To be honest, I'm not convinced that there isn't something goofy there, that was wrought on by the stress of dealing with a few major panic attacks. But that'll be something else to go to the doctor for, I suppose.

As it stands, this morning I'm posting this entry a little after 9am because I've been up since 3am. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I've been up for six hours. The night before I wasn't able to get to sleep until pretty late, probably 4ish or so, but that wasn't so much any form of insomnia as it was a few late phone calls to and from Shannon, and a very important, significant discussion between the two of us. I don't know what it was tonite that kept me from staying asleep, but since then I've just felt uncomfortable, mostly in my chest.

As I have done numerous times since this started, I called Shannon around 5ish, I believe it was, just to hear someone's voice and try to mellow out a bit. Being the hour that it was, its no surprise that I didn't get a lot out of her in that phone call (to be expected, for sure), so for the rest of the night I sat up reading, doing crossword puzzles and sudokus, or trying in vain to fall asleep.

The anxiety itself is just troublesome. Its become pretty common for it to affect me worst at night, when I'm trying to sleep. The last big one I had was last Wednesday when I was at work. That seems to be the only other discernable commonality between these attacks: I'm usually alone. Whether its at home late at night or at work early in the morning, its just hard to deal with. Its why Shannon has made herself available at any hour for me, which is something I can't stress enough how much it helps, just knowing I can call her in the middle of the night.

I don't want this to be a lifelong thing, but from everything I've heard there isn't really much of a chance to shake it completely. Its just something I'm going to have to learn to deal with. Hopefully I'll be getting a new job soon that will give me the tools to go to therapy, whether its individual or group or whatever, just to know that I'm doing what I have to do to get over it. Or at least deal with it.

I've never felt so helpless, so useless as I do when this anxiety rears its head. Even when its not actively affecting me, when I think about it, like the last big attack I had or whatever crosses my mind, it just gets in my way. Something that I have to think about, to deal with... I don't want any of it. I'm sure it was triggered specificially by my trip to the doctors, since I hadn't been in a long time and have all these little things that I'm sure most other people have too.

In fact, those few days before my trip to the doctors, my right arm was twitching pretty constantly. This was definitely a manifestation of my anxiety, but it never really did anything to me until that night before, and mostly afterward, when I was actually at the docs. That was the same arm they took my blood pressure with, and it made it feel awfully strange. I pretty much was tweaking out the next two days. It was ....terrifying.

Anyway, just sitting here typing about it for the last ten minutes has helped, at least its helped me realize that I'm more hungry than I am anxious about anything. I hope that going into work today (something that I didn't have to do yesterday) will help break me out of my funk. And even if it doesn't, Shannon will be home again Thursday night, and no doubt THAT will help me out too :o) So much to write about on that front, but so little desire to speak of it here at TBJ. Ahh, the paradox of TBJ.

I guess thats all for now. If you read all that, wow... you must really be bored. Thanks, though. I appreciate it. Talk to you later, have a good one :o)


-B

.

I'm sorry, sometimes I simply can't wrap my mind around the idea that people willingly, intentionally, and intelligently elected George W. Bush to two consecutive terms as President. The people who can take credit for this fiasco have to be ignoring the world around them now, or at least feigning ignorance in an effort to keep away blame. It shouldn't have had to be that way.

I was reading an article about how Bush is going around stumping for his GOP gangmates, touting the "success" of his tax cuts. I love the things he comes up with to say to try to blow smoke in people's faces. If people really buy into this stuff it just scares me how uninformed the average citizen is.

So far my favorite one was this:

"As we expected, this rate is slower than in previous quarters," Bush said. "Yet the evidence still points to a vibrant economy that is providing more jobs and better wages for our workers and helping reduce the federal deficit."


Hmm... the federal deficit isn't being reduced. Thats just a flat out lie. Ironically, it was this same president who stripped the country of its miniscule surplus in the form of his legendary tax cuts, only to increase federal spending tenfold by pouring billions of dollars into Iraq and Afghanistan a day.

Its impossible to ignore the falsehood in his statement. Imagine that you make $1,000 a week at your job. Every week you used to squirrel away $50 of that to build up a nice little slush fund, to get a new car, or a boat, or maybe just an emergency fund. After all, unexpected expenses have a habit of rearing their heads when you least expect them. However, you decide that instead of putting that extra $50 off to the side, that you just give it back to your employer. "I don't really need it anyway," you say. Then a week later you find out you and your significant other are pregnant.

You incur the initial cost of the pregnancy alright. After all, you DID have some money squirrelled away. That money, obviously, is already gone, and now that the baby is born, expenses should go down, right? After all, the crib was bought, the nursery was painted, the toys were collected... what other costs could there be?

Then you realize that you're paying for that baby for the rest of your life. Welcome, my friends, to Irag.

I recognize that the $50 a week would not have equalled the costs of the baby. But to simply stand in front of a crowd of people and suggest that not having that $50 to spend on the baby is a great thing, and that you're happy to be spending the majority of the rest of your paycheck (if not more) on your baby, and then not have money for things like, oh, I don't know, your mortgage, your internet, your heat, etc.... it just sounds foolish.

Yesterday I had the privilege of reading an op-ed from the Buffalo News written by Eugene Robinson (courtesy of the Washington Post Writers Group). I enjoy Eugene's writing; he uses facts to make an argument. Its not like reading George Will or Cal Thomas. Wow, those guys make me sick. Anyway, Robinson pointed out a few things that the President and Vice President said recently, things that very clearly suggest they are either out of touch with reality, or they don't care about speaking the truth.

Cheney had said just recently that the situation in Iraq is getting better. This, of course, during the most violent month in the past year, seeing 98 American casualties in the month of October (with a few more days to go). Its hard to ignore the fact that things are NOT getting better when MORE people are dying. But thats Dick for ya.

Bush, though, was even better. He had the nerve to look at reporters and tell them that "we've never been about 'stay the course' in Iraq". Apparently as pressure builds for the Administration to change its failed Iraq strategy (if there even IS a formal strategy), he's trying to distance himself from the language he's been using for the last six months while campaigning for his GOP cronies.

"Stay the Course" has been the mantra for months, diametrically opposed to the label being given to Democrats, the "Cut and Run" label. Now that its no longer convenient to use such bold and patriotic language, well... now its just revisionist history rearing its ugly head again.

Remember when they determined there were no WMD in Iraq? And Bush and Cheney got on TV and tried to tell people "Well, we never really SAID there were WMD there"? And reporters were replying, "Yes, yes you did, I have it right here, you said it on my show just six months ago, here, we can watch a clip!" And then they saw these clips and said they were being taken "out of context". Its great. Its fucking great.

Whats so great about it, though, is that it apparently works. People like my dad, to this day, will be watching the news, hearing criticism of the Administration, and mutter under their breath, "At least he's not getting his cock sucked in the Oval Office". I hear that at least once every two months (in not-so-colorful language, of course). Bush's mistakes are killing 100 American soldiers a month. They have been for three and a half years. Clinton got his rocks off with an intern and people still seem to be programmed to believe his was the worse of two evils.

People choose to ignore the facts. They see things in front of their faces, and they either believe what the Administration is telling them, or they want to believe it so badly that they do, or they know they're being lied to and they just don't care anymore.

And to think, in 2000, more people voted for the other guy. Its a shame that didn't work out though. God I hate the Electoral College.


-B

.

All I want is a ruddy glass of milk.

Its been, I don't even know, two months since Shannon "diagnosed" me as being lactose intolerant. I don't even know if thats the right term for what I have. I don't get sick, I don't seem adversly affected by milk per se, except that I seem to get a bit.... gassy.

So after a few experiments back in August, around the time that Shannon left for Notre Dame, I came to the conclusion that she was right. On days that I drank milk, I farted. On days that I didn't, flatulence was around zero. I couldn't really argue with her anymore.

And so I just stopped drinking milk.

There are still about six boxes of cereal upstairs that I won't eat now. I used to love, absolutely LOVE drinking a glass (or three) of chocolate milk. And in a month or two I don't even KNOW what I'm going to do when Egg Nog comes out. Its as much a part of the holidays to me as trees and presents. I'll cry without Egg Nog. Guarentee it. Like a fourth grader. No, like a second grader, even.

I think Shan has been more enamoured with the fact that her law career may cost her a fortune, but her excellence in medicine was apparently a gift at birth. Good for her, but that doesn't make my throat crispy cool and yummy like a glass of milk would. She says I can drink soy milk. John says soy milk is the devil's milk, and it tastes as such. I feel like I'm betraying a lifelong friend by even considering getting soy milk, anyway.

There are two quarts of milk upstairs right now. I could go have A glass, just one, and not be too much the worse for wear. After eating a bowl of Clam Chowder for dinner, I've been.... rumbly, I guess you could say. So I don't know what a glass of milk would do to make it worse. Except, I just can't seem to get myself to do it. Part of it is because the milk is upstairs and I'm not, and whats the point of going to get it, I have water and coke down here I could drink anyway.

I will say this, though: the not-drinking-milk thing, coupled with all the other random shit I've been dealing with physically over the past month, have made me drink buckets of water. I feel better for it, for certain, and drinking that much water plus losing my appetite for a couple weeks has apparently made me lose a bit of weight. So obviously it has its benefits anyway. But still....

... milk.

I mean, it does a body good. My body has felt like it was falling apart since I stopped drinking milk. Hell, my MIND has started to fall apart since I stopped drinking milk. Maybe I should just drink milk the next time I get a panic attack. Might be MY turn to strike it rich in the expert-at-medicine gig.

For now, though, I think I'm just going to get a water, and continue moping about the fact that I no longer drink milk. I'll get over it. Sooner or later. And if I don't, well, Shannon will be the one to deal with my complaining for the rest of our lives, so that'll be her punishment for diagnosing me.

For now, I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be out in half an hour.


-B

.

There does seem to be a fair amount of news out there in the world on a regular basis. I've written this type of entry before, though. "I'm so sick of it, I feel so disenfranchised, I can't write about all that, blah blah blah". Those don't do any good.

I haven't been in the mood for a good old Republican bash-fest, either. Lord knows we're overdue. Between the local congressional ties we have to the whole Foley scandal ...which, ironically, I have yet to hear termed "Foleygate" ... so often the hacks in the media rush at that obvious name... either I missed it or maybe they looked at themselves in the mirror and said, "Woah. We really DO suck." I'm not holding my breathe, however. Anyway, even with local ties to the story, and several other noteworthy things to talk about, it just seems too easy.

Its like making jokes about Bush being inbred or mentally handicapped. Its not as funny once you know its true.

I could write more personal stuff. Like about my newfound penchant for panic attacks, or more preferably, the utter perfection of my relationship. However, it was a long time ago that TBJ established the "we don't get mushy here" precedent, and I'll try to hold true to that as long as I can. I suppose when there's a ring on her finger, TBJ will know. But I seldom get any satisfaction about sharing anything too personal here. Only if I can spin it into some comedic anectode. You know. "Today I did this. Hilarity ensued." Not feeling that either.

So, I could waste your time and just write about all the different entries that I could write. After all, I get the most complaints about not posting from the ridiculous amount of procrastinators that seem to make up the majority of the Loyal Readerate. Procrastinators like that won't be too upset that they wasted at least a few minutes of their lives on such a worthless, useless, completely unentertaining post like this one. Minutes of their lives that they will never, ever get back. It doesn't seem to phase these people, though. They're troopers, through and through.

So, having all but accomplished that goal, I suppose this entry is done with. I do hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it; it really put my rambling abilities to work, and its so good to do that with my fingers and not with three minute long voice mails like is often the case. Keep it real!


-B

.

Those of you who have been members of the Loyal Readerate for any amount of time know my economic ideology. I'm about as close to being a socialist as one comes without actually being a registered Socialist. I appreciate capitalism in its purist form: the mom'n'pop stores. Large corporations like Walmart, however, taint that market and make it a joke. They undercut the competition by being so massive, yet they take their profits and don't pass them on to their workers. The evils of Walmart have been chronicled here at TBJ time and time again, so I won't get into it any more than that.

In fact, I probably would have said that the only major chain retailer that I am not ashamed to admit I wholeheartedly support is Starbucks. They might be everywhere, but they still employ but a fraction of the work force that Walmart does. Plus, Starbucks is better to their employees (especially with benefits) and since they were founded in Treehugger Central, they're always pushing some environmental thingy or another.

I probably would have said that as recent as ten minutes ago, but now I find that I appreciate the works of not just Starbucks. This doesn't come so much from the I-appreciate-what-you-do-for-your employees/the environment angle, but just a you-are-an-American-institution angle. You might disagree, but here's the way I see it: McDonalds will always be there.

I came to this startling-yet-terribly-obvious revelation just a few minutes ago. Pa Dukes had obviously been to Mickey D's earlier this evening, for he left a half-drank cup of coke on the table. He also left the gameboard from the McDonald's Monopoly game.

No matter what you say about McDonalds, and I'm willing to agree with just about every argument about them (especially the that-shit-is fucking-terrible-for-you argument) but no one can deny the impact the game of Monopoly has had on America. Its roots are from a very basic, yet all-encompassing idea: the American Dream. Let me spell it out for you:

--> Start with $X.XX (in this case, $1500 in bills of various colors).
--> Spend that money. Travel in a large circle.
--> Occassionally stumble upon extra money. Occassionally are forced to give some away.
--> Spend more money, with the goal of making money off of your investments. Either you will, or you won't.
--> Attempt to cut deals with your associates. Some deals are better than others. Almost all are unfair to at least someone you are dealing with. Repeat.
--> End up rich, owning everything in sight and being able to ride any railroad you want.

All of this while acting as a dog, a cannon, a steamboat, an iron, a race car, a horsie, or my personal favorite, a thimble. The thimble is a tip-of-the-cap to our textile industry past, just as the iron is a nod to housewives trying to make a name for themselves at what was previously "man's work". So many sociopolitical motifs that few people ever picked up on. So unbelievably American.

And McDonalds knows it.

Every year, every freaking year, I go to McDonalds as often as I can during the game period. I never entertain the idea of winning a grand prize. They've become so outlandish in years past that you know mortal human beings are ineligible to win them. You can, however, be virtually guaranteed of free fries, apple pies, and soft drinks nearly every time you go. Its just like any lottery game: give the masses the faint idea that they could win something of value by letting them win something of no value, and you have them at your whim.

I understand this perfectly, yet I choose to turn a blind eye. I'm just so attracted by the whole mess I can't say no. But its just part of the McDonalds lore. Because exactly half a year ago, they had me under their figurative thumb courtesy of another age-old promotion: The Shamrock Shake.

Anyone of European descent is raised to enjoy St. Patricks Day, and everyone else catches on because of all the alcohol involved. That stupid clown and his Double Arches are well aware of this, and the novelty of a bright green shake, one that you can make at home with mint flavored ice cream and a bit more food coloring, is a novelty that so many people crave. I actually haven't had a Shamrock Shake in several years, because every time I go to get one they're already sold out. This past year our group of friends hit two or three McDonalds in a single day, and all of them were out. I wasn't really surprised.

These are very obvious sales ploys. They have others, but none that I become so entranced by as I do with the aforementioned. But I don't care. I know it, and I smile and nod. Because I'm one of the many, one of the masses that has come to expect these things year after year after year. Some people like change, but even the most liberal, most forward thinking people like myself are drawn to tradition, nostalgia, and comfortable repetition at times.

So to McDonalds, I say congratulations. Your continued use of the Monopoly game has won you a dirty liberal pinko commie hippy-wannabe. I'm sure you're ecstatic over it.


-B

.

There really isn't much to this post. The Bucktastic Journal is being simulcast live on Facebook.com and its only fair to post a quick blurb here at TBJ.

I haven't posted anywhere nearly as much on TBJ this year as I have in the past three years, but thats attributed to a few simple facts:

* - No longer work 40 hours a week at a desk in front of a computer. That hopefully will change though.
* - I'm not single. For years, the Loyal Readerate was my significant other, and my drive to sustain her was constant and strong. Now, I tend to divert my extra attentions to my better half, and things that I would have taken the time to sit down and bitch about just aren't as important.
* - Overall apathy with the world. Trying desperately to fight it, but its taken its toll on me. There are things I can't stand and those things used to fuel my desire to write. Now, they just piss me off and make me cranky, but the writing just isn't there.

But now that TBJ is being simulcast on Facebook, hopefully we'll get a few more readers and a few more people complaining that I need to post more. I can think of entire groups of law students at Notre Dame that might be looking for distractions here and there, especially in classes in which they've already been called on.

Thats all for now. As usual, thanks for reading, and tell all your friends!


-B

.

Haven't just done a personal update in a while, and I suppose its worth updating people on.

I returned last night after visiting Shannon at Notre Dame since last Wednesday. On the way out there, my car's wiper blade (the one I just had "fixed" the week before) decided to not work during a torrential downpour in Cleveland, and while that storm came with the coolest rainbows I've ever seen, I still almost crashed my car in what would have been a newsworthy accident. Thankfully the proverbial cat and his nine lives pulled through again :o)

I had a blast visiting Notre Dame, finally meeting a few of Shannon's law school friends and getting to see more of the campus and surrounding area. Mostly, though, it was just good to see her. I'd never done the long distance relationship thing, and it had only been a month since I'd seen her last, but was missing her terribly and seeing her was fantastic, to say the least.

The weekend was good to solidify the fact that I fully intend to find a job out there in the area and eventually do the whole live-together thing. Its something that even 12 or 9 months ago I just wouldn't have ever expected to be thinking about, but everything with Shan clicks so well... I don't know how how to describe it, I just know how it is.

Its funny, I've told other people this, but I've always been the rational, deliberate, cautious type that often gives friends and family the typical well-are-you-REALLY-sure advice. At times I admit feeling something of a hypocrit, knowing that I haven't been in this relationship for more than 6 months, but... I don't know, those few good friends of mine who know her and have seen us together are quick to reinforce my feelings that this is right, that its true, and that it'll last, so I guess I can take that to the bank :o)

Its ironic, actually, writing about this here at TBJ where I know Shannon will read it (she's been one of my most loyal of the Loyal Readerate of late, probably because she's the only one that gets email alerts when I post an entry). I've generally never let TBJ be just an emotional soapbox where my personal life takes too much of a center stage; if I wanted to put really personal stuff on this thing, I'd have a journal in a book under my bed instead of something posted to the internet.

I know it won't bother her at all to put this up here; I'm not secretive about things by nature, and most of my friends have heard this story to some degree or another. And it'll be nice to be able to look back on this entry and realize when I knew my life had finally come together in a way that seemed impossible not-so-long ago. Its just important for me to get it all out there, I guess.

This last trip to see her may have only lasted about four days or so, but in that short amount of time I feel that so much has become clearer now, and I'm looking forward to sharing what that means exactly to everyone else... as soon as I can, anyway ;o)


-B

.

Well, its the sport I know the least amount, usually the sport I care the least about, and the sport that makes me care less about sports in general, what with all the doping allegations going on. But its time that Baseball got its due at TBJ, and here are a few brief musings:


* Derek Jeter went 0-0 in last night's 12-4 rout of the Devil Rays, but the Yankees' shortstop and captain somehow managed to keep his 21 game hitting streak alive. In four plate appearances, Jeter walked three times and was hit by a pitch. But without an official at-bat, his streak is still good to go.

I'm not complaining, since I love streaks and record-breaking opportunities like no one else, but its still weird. Baseball is weird.


* The Mets' come-from-behind 6-4 victory over the surging Florida Marlins was obviously a good win for a club thats been coasting towards its first division title in ages, but it also accomplished the impossible: The Atlanta Braves are now eliminated from the NL East pennant race.

This ends Atlanta's streak of 14 straight division titles. Everyone knows that World Series wins are what counts, and while 14 division titles are nice, they don't count for much. But come on, that was one hell of a fucking run. In the days of free agency and big contracts, its impossible to keep a run like that going. In the last 7 years, the Marlins have won two titles, and subsequently blew up their team the following year. Their payroll is now down to less than $20 mil for the entire team. That underscores the ability to rise and fall so easily, yet the Braves maintained a level of excellence unparalleled in baseball history.

Everyone keeps wanting to annoint the New England Patriots as the only dynasty in major sports, but people should look no farther than the Braves teams of the last decade and a half to see what a dynasty is all about.


* I hate Barry Bonds.


* No one seems to remember that less than a month ago, the Red Sox were neck and neck with the Yankees. Oh how things can change.

In that time, Boston's David Ortiz was forced to sit out games with an irregular heartbeat. But even before that, the team was in obvious disarray. Now the Yankees get slugger Hideki Matsui back in the lineup, and in his first game back from a near-season-ending injury, he goes 4-4 with two RBI.

Ummm, what?

The Yankees are going to have some trouble in the playoffs, because the teams they'll be playing have waaay better pitching than the Devil Rays do. But it was only a week and a half ago that they beat the Tigers twice out of three games, showing that they might have a little surprise for people come October.

I hope not.


* I REALLY hate Barry Bonds. Its making me want to root against the Giants as an organization, and thats not cool. I mean, I already hate the Yankees, I don't need to hate anyone else.


* This morning was really the first day I paid any attention at all to baseball since football started a week ago. I guess thats what happens. And I'm ok with it.


Well, thats all I have from the diamond. Enjoy yourselves, I'll be in Indiana until late Monday night visiting Shannon. So not only will I most likely not be posting, I won't be hearing about the fact that I'm not posting from my most vocal thorn-in-my-side ;o) Its a win-win.


-B

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You know how most household cleaning chemicals say something to the effect of "Don't Mix With Anything Else"? Usually right on the bottle... right in clear sight. Well, they mean it.

A few weeks ago I was scrubbing down the bathtub. I've gotten accustomed to taking baths lately; ever since the summer heat waves it seemed like a cheaper indoor swimming pool, just with bubbles. Well, I decided that the OxyClean powder that is supposed to be mixed with water seperately to create a cleaning paste just wasn't wasn't going to be enough. So I threw that stuff in the tub, then used the toilet bowl cleaner too.

Yeah... that chemical reaction caused the tub to... well, bubble, I guess. instead of a slippery, smooth bathtub bottom, its now rough... like sandpaper, a bit. Mostly right in the middle though, not really anywhere else.

Now before you make fun of me for my stupidity, consider the following: people spend a fair amount of money on various saftey devices to prevent that slippery-when-wet condition of a bathtub floor. Anything from little clingy critters to giant rubber feet to whatever. So all I did was make my tub safer without spending any money.

Who's the stupid one now??

Let it be stated for the record that the room was well ventilated, and I had a floor fan running to even better circulate the air. So there. :oP


-B

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Freedom is on the march.

Three years ago I wrote this entry, reflecting back on the two-year anniversery of September 11th. It was a personal reflection on those tragic events, the significant impact it made on us as individuals, as well as what it did to us as a society.

Three years since then, and things haven't really changed much. Every day that goes by gives the world a chance to offer another opinion on the topic of those attacks. Its a topic that we remember today... as if we could ever forget it.

Five years is not a lot of time. Yes, there are children who have been born into this world since the attacks, but none yet are old enough to have intelligent discourse on the topic. Ironically, some of those children started kindergarten just last week. What do you think their teachers are going to talk to them about today? Fingerpainting? Tying their shoes? Or do you think they're going to try to impress upon them the significance of this day?

It does raise another minor question, however: We remember former presidents, veterans, workers, mothers and fathers, and many other people, places and things with holidays. Will 9-11 become the next holiday? I personally can't see it happening, what with Labor Day the week before. Yet its not impossible to imagine the topic of making this day a holiday becoming a significant political issue in the very near future, if it hasn't already.

Five years might not be a lot of time, but a lot has happened in that time. The United States lashed out at the first thing they could think of: Osama bin Laden and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan.

Freedom was on the march.

Yet it was no cakewalk, to be sure. The Taliban were armed well; thanks to their involvement in a proxy war with the Soviet Union twenty years before, the United States had supplied them with ample weapons to make this little soiree in the mountains of Afghanistan less than simple. Regardless, the US now is the world's only hyperpower, and no force the Taliban could throw together would rival the might and majesty of the US Military.

Which is why five years later, there's still no Osama bin Laden.

Oh well... freedom is still on the march.

The connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq was apparently drawn strongly enough to fool most of the American people for at least part of the time. The Administration uses wordplay to avoid admitting mistakes throughout the Iraq campaign. Wordplay that either people aren't smart enough to see through, or aren't concerned enough to try.

First we went into Iraq because they were helping bin Laden. Then we went in find the infamous WMD. Then it was because the strategic importance of removing Saddam from power and how it would help in the war on terror. Eventually it became a conglomeration of all three, plus dashes of this and that on the side. Now, its been so long that no one worries about why they went into Iraq; the Administration can simply argue about why we need to stay now that we're already there.

Funny how those arguments usually go. Good, patriotic people here in America are concerned about the safety of our men and women in the armed forces, are morally at odds with the illegality of our invasion of Iraq, and are angry at an Administration who seems to have lied and erred throughout this entire operation. They are concerned about all those things because they care about this country; they want to see the Stars and Stripes held high in all corners of the globe, not burned in every other country but this one.

Yet when dissention hits the ranks, the neo-cons claim these people aren't patriotic at all. Every vote in Congress against this Administration, they claim, is a vote of confidence for the terrorists.

Freedom on the march, indeed.

No one should have to worry about being branded an Al Qaeda sympathizer simply because they disagree with the course of action in this country. There was a time when the ruling body of this country was overthrown by the people who lived here. Those people are called patriots in our history books, but they aren't called that in British history books. Everything is a matter of perspective.

So when you see peace in the Middle East collapse, just like we did during the recent Israeli-Hezbollah conflict this summer, remember that freedom is on the march. Its still marching in Afghanistan, looking in every cave, under every rock for someone our vaunted military claimed they could find years ago.

And with every step freedom takes there, the odds increase they'll step on a land mine still held over from that proxy war from decades ago. One of our land mines.

Freedom is still on the march in Iraq, where every day they lose lives to the insurgents who march along against freedom in an effort to impede US policy at every step. They march against freedom because they don't believe its freedom they're fighting. They see our brand of freedom and they see an oppressive foreign power imposing its will on another nation. They see our brand of freedom as contradictory to the Islamic faith they were brought up in, a faith that is incorporated into law much more than western democracies realize.

Again, its all a matter of perspective.

There are dozens of other places in this world that freedom should be marching to. The people of Darfur would love to see freedom make its way there, before another hundred thousand innocent Africans are slaughtered by the Arab Janjaweed. Violence in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, even Mexico of all places should be grabbing the attention of freedom. The nuclear weapons and long range missiles that North Korea is brandishing like a trophy wife should be getting freedom's attention, too.

Instead, freedom is hunkered down, trudging along as best it can, sometimes down misguided paths that has it walking in circles. Yet we applaud freedom and its infinite stamina, because we still think its the endgame of September 11th. On that day, this country was attacked. Attacked in a way it had never been before. Attacked in the bloodiest act since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Imagine if someone had come and killed your parents. Or your kids, for that matter. You want to see justice served. You might want the murderer locked up for life, or put to death on the spot. Maybe you hope they stay free from the cops long enough to give you the chance to kill that person yourself. Though does there not come a time when vengeance has been served? The pain of loss would never leave you, but wouldn't the drive for retribution subside?

There will come a time when the collective pain this country feels for September 11th will subside. As citizens of this country, it will be up to us to let freedom know when its march is over. It will be up to us to let everyone know when freedom can come home.


-B

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