Wednesday, July 16, 2008
What I'll be doing at 12:01 AM on January 1, 2009
January of next year is going to rule. No, not because we'll get a new President. (Well, yes. That, too.) No, because next January they're launching the MLB Network. Finally! The NFL, NBA, and NHL all already have networks. Really, it seems like it should've been first--baseball has the most games per season (162, compared to 16, 82, and 82, respectively) (and, on a side note, why does basketball have an association, while the others have leagues? Is the NBA headquartered in the DC area? If not, it should be. All the other associations are.) Plus, baseball has been around so long, and there's so much footage there... It just seems natural.
Of course, part of the reason that it hasn't existed is probably that each team pretty much has its own channel to broadcast games, though it's MLB that owns the games, not the networks, so hopefully there won't be anything to prevent the MLB Network from airing classic games, etc. And, since the various cable companies own part of the network, hopefully I'll actually get it. (Yes, I'm still bitter than Comcast took away my ESPN Classic.) Huzzah!
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Monday, July 14, 2008
Baby bear is all growed up!
My little Colin bear turned 5 today! Hard to believe that I've had him for almost 5 years now. (I didn't get him until late August of 2003, but estimated his birthday. It's easy to remember because it's Bastille Day!) He was so teensy tiny, but even then the vet said he would get big.
Which he did. And he also has scary glowing eyes! And despite what people want you to believe, he's much less a menace than Pem, who cruelly chewed the Post-Its I left on a manuscript.
Anyway, happy birthday, Colin!!!
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
Cute British men
Last night I had one of those nights where I just kept having really weird dreams. The last one of which involved Colin Firth. We only hugged, but it was lovely--I felt very safe. It was a very fatherly-type embrace. Maybe I've just seen too many commercials for Mamma Mia!? Anyway, I woke up just completely disoriented. Like, stumbling around the apartment, as those drunk, disoriented. It was bizarre.
Can't complain about dreaming of Colin Firth, though.
On an unrelated note, I hate Sarah Parish. She got to make out with Damian Lewis in the Much Ado About Nothing remaked AND she got to make out with David Tennant in Viva Blackpool.
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Friday, July 11, 2008
Ethical dilemma
At work, we have a monthly all-staff meeting. They bribe us into attending by having cake (in honor of that month's birthdays)--which is enough for me, honestly. They also have us fill out attendance cards, and then hold a drawing. One person wins free parking in the building garage for a month and one person wins Metro passes. And I won at the June all-staff! It was very exciting. And I discovered that parking in the building itself is incredibly superior to parking in the garage right next door. (That yes, even has a walkway between the two. I am that lazy.) Also nice was not having to pay and sleeping in a bit later.
Anyway. I picked up the clicker to get into the garage and the window tag on June 16. And we had the July all-staff this Tuesday. Which means that the next person should get them starting next week. Only...nobody from HR has contacted me to tell me that. And when I picked them up, the HR person didn't say anything about returning them. I really probably should take the bus on Monday and turn in the parking pass, but...man, I don't want to.
Although driving such a short distance is killing my mileage.
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Tuesday, July 8, 2008
My future home
Holy crow, you guys. I found it. I found My Perfect House. I drove by it yesterday and thought, Wow, that's a nice house. And I didn't even realize how awesome it is. It was built in 1913 and has that Victorian look--complete with a front porch, which I love!--but it's been renovated. It has central air and a really nice kitchen. It has wall-to-wall carpeting in some rooms. It has a bay window in the master bedroom. It's within walking distance of the Takoma Metro station. There is nothing I don't like about this house.
Well, except the price. But it's dropped $20,000 since I looked at the listing yesterday. So at that rate, I'll be able to afford it in, like, a month. Or someone could just give me a million dollars (have to account for taxes, etc.). That'd work, too.
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Monday, July 7, 2008
Going for three
So the rosters for the All-Star Game have come out, and George Sherrill will be representing the O's. He's probably not the best representative; he can be a lot of fun (if somewhat heart-stopping) to watch, but there are other Orioles who are more deserving. Including my boy Brian, who, after a bit of a slow start, is doing pretty well.
Luckily, Brian is on the ballot for the final roster spot--along with Evan Longoria (Rays), Jason Giambi (Yankees), Jermaine Dye (White Sox), and Jose Guillen (Royals). Sadly, Brian is currently fourth in voting, even though he's clearly deserving. He's leading the league in doubles and triples, is hovering around .300, and has stolen 24 bases. He's totally the sparkplug for the Orioles. And is more deserving than, say, Jason Varitek. (Seriously, players, what were you thinking? Ramon Hernandez is having a better year, and that's saying something.)
Honestly, Brian would probably benefit from the time off, but it's the principle of the thing. I won't be upset if Longoria gets it, though. The Rays are having a stellar season and their presence at the ASG should represent that. It's kind of odd that when the O's had their crazy good start in 2005, they had 4 representatives (including two starters--Brian and Miggy). Right now, the Rays have two (Scott Kazmir and Dioner Navarro). Plus, Longoria? Kind of hot.
And if anyone's feeling generous, feel free to pick me up an All Star Game shirt or something. I really, really like the logo.
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Sunday, July 6, 2008
Impediment
I try to do my work. I have a manuscript to proofread, and what do I have to deal with?
You try getting those papers away from him.
(And isn't it super cute how he looks so casual with that leg on the manuscript? Too adorable!)
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Friday, July 4, 2008
Rightie must pay!
I remember noticing in 1992 that both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were left-handed. Woo! was my opinion. Lefties rule! I wasn't a huge fan of 41, but at least he was a lefty. I hadn't realized that we have that situation again--both McCain and Obama are left-handed, and the Post had an interesting story on it this morning.
One of the most interesting quotes, to me, was this:
"Those with a strong right or left hand are more likely to cling to beliefs and discount new information that contradicts those beliefs," says Stephen Christman, a professor of behavioral psychology at the University of Toledo. "Mixed-handers are better able to see both sides of the story. If you want change, you might be better with a mixed-handed candidate."
Admittedly, I'm pretty mixed-handed. I write and draw lefty, but throw righty, and freak out every time I play kickball because I can't remember which leg I use. (...Right? Maybe?) I use both to brush my hair and teeth, depending on which side I'm working on. It does make me wonder how many righties do things with their left hands.
I'm hoping for one of them to come out strongly against those desks in college that were suited solely for righties. Each classroom maybe had one for lefties. I'm going to blame any back troubles on having to contort myself in those things to take notes.
And needless to say, I enjoyed a series of strips in The Knight Life on this topic.
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Well, at least the museums are air conditioned
DCist did a museum roundup today that reminded me of all the exhibits that I want to check out. I've wanted to spend a day at the Newseum since it opened, but right now it has an exhibit on the FBI. They have the Unabomber's cabin! That's awesome!
And I'd totally forgotten about the exhibit at the Holocaust Museum on the 1936 Olympics. I haven't been there since college, and I think it's high time to get back.
There's an exhibit at the Anacostia Community Museum on black baseball in DC, which should be fascinating. (On a related note, if you haven't read it, you should read The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America, which was just fantastic.)
Then there's the new Museum of Crime and Punishment, which opened recently. There's nothing about that that doesn't sound awesome. I mean, the car Bonnie and Clyde were killed in! Come on!
And, of course, President Lincoln's summer cottage recently opened to the public, so I have to check that out. Why? Because Booth's original plan involved kidnapping Lincoln as he traveled between the White House and the cottage. (Ironically, on the day Booth planned on doing it and thus spent a good chunk of the day waiting along the road, Lincoln was visiting someone in the hotel Booth was staying.)
(What? It's been far too long since I've mentioned anything Booth- or assassin-related. Like how the handcuffs originally used on Guiteau, Garfield's assassin, were recently found in a closet.) (By the way, today is the anniversary of the shooting. Garfield didn't die until fall, though.)
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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Wuv...twu wuv
I've done the online dating thing off and on through the years, with limited success. (And that limited success is far more success than I've had in meeting guys through more organic means, so...) Maybe once a year, I'll decide to give it a go, and I might get a few dates out of it, and then unsubscribe and continue my hermit-like, tragic spinster ways.
Anyway, I'm going through another round, fairly unsuccessfully. I did get a match that interested me, and went through a couple rounds of questions and such. It's been a few days since I last heard from him, so I went to the website and saw that he had closed the match ("Pursuing another relationship"). And I was actually a bit bummed, which is rare. I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I was sad about getting that closed message--including the times I made it to actual dates.
His loss, I guess, though a lot of what he had in his profile resonated with me. Plus, his name is Ken, so obvy we were Meant To Be! (Or "Meat To Be," which is what I typed first. Hee.) I guess I'll just have to assume that tonight I'm going to meet my True Love at the O's game. He'll be bowled over by my fandom and mad scorekeeping skillz. (Or Brian will finally see me and realize that our love is eternal, come to his senses, and dump his girlfriend for me.)
Edit. I didn't meet anyone, so I'm just going to go ahead and assume that Brian hit that home run just for me.
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