Barb’s Burblings

On my way home tonight I was behind a guy driving a BMW with Texas plates. It’s a nice day out, and he had his window down, with his arm resting outside the window. It was so nice that he also had his sunroof open. He frequently had his other hand resting on the roof of his car. The problem here is that he frequently had both hands not inside the car. At the same time. Now, I have been known, on occasion, to drive with my legs. But in general, I don’t do that for extended periods of time. This guy only had a hand on the wheel when absolutely necessary. It was pretty unnerving. And also? Stupid. Hands on the wheel, idiot!

It was absolutely gorgeous yesterday. After waking up far too early and going to training for a new HOSC experiment and giving a First Ladies tour, I met up with Brent, Katie, Steve, and Becca to check out the cherry blossoms. Yep, it was just us and the eleventy billion other people taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Knowing that I’d be spending an afternoon in the sun, I planned ahead. No, I didn’t wear sunblock (don’t be silly!). I wore a shirt with a lower neckline, so I don’t have a stupidly high tan line. Again.
Anyway, after spending approximately 2 minutes at the Tidal Basin, we decided that yep, the blossoms looked the same as every other year we had seen them, so we wandered around for a while. We wound up on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House and spent a goodly amount of time checking out the sniper on the roof. It was, quite frankly, awesome.
The whole day put me in a good mood, which only improved when I got home and saw that Brian had hit another home run. After being told that he’s current on track to hit 81 home runs this season, he replied, “Yeah, I think that’s about what I’ll hit.”
Current song in my head:
“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma!

Right now, all 5 teams in the AL East are tied for first. Or last, depending on how you look at it. I’m pretty amused. I love the very beginning of the season, just for things like this.
And apparently Brian has turned into a power hitter. He got his second home run of the season tonight and was only a double (ironically) short of hitting for the cycle.

Scientific American has realized the error of its ways and apologized for its horrible, one-sided coverage of the evolution/creationism/intelligent design debate.

For decades, we published articles in every issue that endorsed the ideas of Charles Darwin and his cronies. True, the theory of common descent through natural selection has been called the unifying concept for all of biology and one of the greatest scientific ideas of all time, but that was no excuse to be fanatics about it. Where were the answering articles presenting the powerful case for scientific creationism? Why were we so unwilling to suggest that dinosaurs lived 6,000 years ago or that a cataclysmic flood carved the Grand Canyon? Blame the scientists. They dazzled us with their fancy fossils, their radiocarbon dating and their tens of thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles. As editors, we had no business being persuaded by mountains of evidence.

For one, I’m relieved and gratified by this. It’s nice to see such a prestigious publication correct itself in this manner.

It was another beautiful day for baseball, and Dave and I headed up to Camden Yards to catch the O’s second game. We got our free Sosa t-shirts (which I promptly got ketchup on, thanks) and after one inning moved down to Section 72. It wasn’t a good game; we got creamed, 9-0. There were some high points: Brian got the only hit against the A’s starter. Larry kicked up some turf and replaced the divot, which was amusing. There was a stare-down between Cabrera and Hatteberg and both benches were warned. Sosa almost hit a home run, which was kind of exciting.
And Dave and I were impressed by Naked Floppy-Hat Guy, who had a large “O’s” drawn on his chest in marker and was very proactive in starting a wave. (He had “Wave Man” written on his back.) (And I should point out that he wasn’t so much “naked” as “shirtless.”) He also managed to get together with some scantily-clad girls pretty quickly, so good job!
But even with the loss and lack of offense and crappy pitching, it was still good. A gorgeous night, the soothing sounds of baseball, and the prospect of 160 games left in the season. I’m pretty content.
Though I did try to get Brian to steal when he got on base (Me: “Steal!” Dave: “On a 3-0 count?”). Dang it, Brian, the doubles and steals need to start NOW! At least he’s helping my fantasy team more than Tejada (who I realized is only 28–he’s younger than my sister, which is incredibly freaky for me; I don’t know how I’m going to deal when it gets to the point that I’m older than a lot of the players).
Current song in my head:
“So What” from Cabaret

It was the perfect day for baseball. Maybe a bit too windy, but that’s okay. A tv crew filmed me entering the park, I got to watch batting practice, and sat near a fun group of people with a great sense of humor. I’d never been to an Opening Day before, and it was awesome. Such a great atmosphere. And the result was the right one, too. My boy Brian didn’t do too well until he was batting lefty, but that’s all right. I did wind up a bit sunburnt; sunscreen just never occured to me. Ah well. It’s the price I have to pay.
And if anyone was watching SportsNite on Comcast SportsNet last night, you caught a glimpse of my back. They did a segment on fan reaction to Sammy Sosa and filmed it right where I was watching batting practice. The camera scans by a couple kids wearing Sosa shirts, then you see a taller person in a Roberts shirt. Yep, that’s me. Yay! I was on tv!
Other than getting somewhat lost in Baltimore, it was a lovely day. Mmm, baseball season. How I missed thee.
And thanks to everyone who sent wishes about my aunt. The surgery went well. She should be back home next week, at which point she’ll have a few weeks off before having to get radiation. So things look pretty good for her, but continued thoughts and prayers couldn’t hurt.
Current song in my head:
“Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid

It’s an odd day. I’m really excited about going to the Orioles opening day. (And I’m working at home this morning, which is always nice–extra sleep!) I was pumped watching last night’s game, and there was a really cute segment on Orioles All-Access with Brian and Larry going mini-golfing and go-karting and riding a roller coaster. Totally adorable.
But I also found out yesterday that my Aunt Carol (my mom’s sister) has cancer in her mouth and is going in for surgery today. So if you could throw a thought and/or prayer her way around noon today, that’d be much appreciated.
Aunt Carol and Mom: