Barb's Burblings

There's more to life than Sondheim (theoretically)

It was a weekend of culture for me--My Fair Lady on Saturday, Bernadette Peters on Sunday. The Peters review is from the Saturday performance, but basically applies to the performance yesterday; and I cannot believe that she's 58. Holy crap. Anyway, both shows were awesome. I honestly never really got My Fair Lady, though I certainly enjoyed the music. Why in the world would Eliza go back to him? But wow, Sally Murphy and Andrew Long just knocked it out of the park. I wound up with a bit of a crush on Higgins. They were flirty. She was funny. And naturally, Will Gartshore, who played Freddy Eynsford-Hill (and, um, John Wilkes Booth in Assassins earlier this year), was also awesome. But I managed to resist grabbing him and asking him to sing some Sondheim for me. Also distracting was the fact that I check out the blog of one of the actors every now and then; but I managed to stop myself from grabbing him and chatting about his blog. And, um, Assassins (he was the Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald).

Anyway, lots of culture. Good times!

Your 2006 World Champions

Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals! Since I had no personal stake in either the Tigers or the Cardinals, and since I had just gone to St. Louis and enjoyed my time there, I decided to pull for the Cards. Naturally, I was quite pleased to see them win it--in 5!--on Friday night.

And cute little David Eckstein won the MVP. Here's a nice article from ESPN on why more players should be like Eckstein--and Brian. (Though it doesn't mention Brian, but they're very similar, as is evidenced by Brian also being nominated for what the folks at Fire Joe Morgan call "the David Eckstein Memorial Ecksteiniest Eckstein of the Year Eck-ward.")

So...May isn't February?

I keep forgetting that it wasn't until I had been in my job for three months that I moved, so the last few days have thrown me off. Someone apparently decided to skip fall this year, so we've gone straight on to winter; it's in the low 40s when I'm waiting for a bus in the morning. "Weird," I think as I shiver. "I don't remember it being this bad in February!" It probably was that chilly in February, but at that point I was driving to the Metro from my old apartment, not waiting for a bus at my new place. It wasn't until the end of May when I started riding the bus. And let me tell you, I am not particularly looking forward to waiting around all winter. Brrr!

In happy news, Colin now has a little sister. I got Pemberley on Friday and she and Colin are getting along fairly well. Colin still regards her with suspicion, but there's also a lot of cute sniffing of each other. Dinnertime is a bit more interesting now, with Pem trying to get at Colin's wet food, then Colin later trying to eat her dry food. Pem is super friendly and follows me around everywhere. And she likes having her tummy rubbed, which is a nice change from Colin, who will expose his soft tummy, then attack me when I try to pet it. But it's so soft! He just doesn't understand.

Pop culturey stuff

I haven't been watching much of The Daily Show lately; apparently I'm getting old and need more sleep. Still, I've managed to catch a few episodes, and am particularly enjoying the fact that two of the new correspondents are British! Hurrah! And one of them wrote an article for a British paper about the show.

But if you don't feel like reading, or are perhaps too preoccupied by your desire to ask Tom Wilson (a.k.a, Biff from Back to the Future) (who, by the way, was really good in Freaks and Geeks as well, and if you haven't seen Freaks and Geeks, go add it to your Netflix queue) a question, maybe you should check out his "Question Song," which is awesome. If he ever does stand-up in DC, I'll have to check it out.

Belated

In my travels, I neglected to wish my boy a happy birthday! On October 9, Brian turned 29. Which is kind of scary, although he's still younger than Steve! It's funny, though, because I still think of Brian as part of the young core of Orioles players when he's really not, anymore. Sure, he's still part of the core, but Nick Markakis and Adam Loewen are each only 22. Chris Ray is 24. Daniel Cabrera is 25. Brian isn't one of the young ones anymore. Bizarre!

Anyway, happy belated birthday, Brian!

From summer to winter in a few plane rides

The odd thing about traveling at this time of year is the wide variety of weather you encounter. When I left Baltimore two weeks ago, it was quite warm. I probably could've gotten away with shorts and a t-shirt. And, actually, that would've been all right in St. Louis; the temperature there that day hit 94. Then...the temperature gradually dropped, but not too low (it remained warm enough that when we had dinner at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, I could wander around in a light shirt and a light jacket). I came home to a chilly, rainy, dreary DC. Then...the tropics! It was hot. It was humid. I was frequently sweaty and gross. It was like summer again!

And then I came back. We landed in DC and BAM! It was fall. It was a shock, but, you know, it was nice. I'd been having problems believing that it's already mid-October, but this weather sure does help. And I'm enjoying it (now that the heat in my apartment has been turned on, so it's no longer the icebox that it had been). I'm ready for Halloween. Plus, it means my birthday is coming up!

Decompression

Highlights from the cruise:
--The mashed potatoes onboard
--Parasailing
--Spending time with Carrie, whom I don't see enough
--Kayaking from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean
--The strawberry daiquiri machine at Breezes
--Snorkeling, seeing a stingray and a fish with a remora
--Looking at the stars; there are a lot of them, particularly when you're in the middle of the ocean
--The towel animals made by our stateroom attendant
--Getting a hot stone massage
--Pretty pretty blue water

Right now, though, I'm trying to accept the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow. It's been almost two weeks since I was last there, and it feels much, much longer than that. A lot has happened--I've met loads of new people, seen lots of new places. It's kind of crazy that things need to go back to normal tomorrow. Work is going to be surreal.

And I'm trying to figure out why I'm so tired even after a week on a cruise (though it admittedly took me a while to stop thinking and start relaxing). This makes no sense.

An interlude from travel

I got back from St. Louis late Friday night. And as much as you normally don't get to say this about a business trip, I had a great time. Seriously. The conference was interesting, for the most part, though I admit that the session I got the most out of was the session on stress management, which had absolutely nothing to do with editing. And while now I have a bunch of things to do as a result of the conference, I'm quite pleased with it.

But what really made it awesome were the people. It was a small conference--just for the editors and designers who work across the country for the agency I work for. There were maybe 60 people there, so I got to know a bunch of people. I really clicked with the guy from England, who explained rugby and the Eurovision Song Contest to me, and to whom I explained baseball (though he had picked up an impressive amount of knowledge about it already). And I had a blast with the group from Kansas City, with whom I bonded over baseball. We wandered over to the new stadium and discussed following crappy teams.

So a good time was definitely had. And now I'm off to the Bahamas cruise. I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it; I'm still processing the St. Louis trip. But I'm definitely looking forward to some warmer weather; my apartment is freezing.

Current song in my head:
"Ridiculous" by Bowling for Soup

2006 Orioles: A Retrospective

I went to 19 Orioles games this year--1 at Fenway. They went 7-12 in those games, worse than their season percentage. Particularly bad, considering that at home, they went 40-41. Anyway, on to the recap.

There's been a debate about whether this year was worse for the Orioles than last year was. It's a tough call.

In a lot of ways, last year was crushing--they started out so well. They didn't go below .500 to stay until July 29. Hopes were high. People were seriously talking about the playoffs. Then...the collapse. Injuries. Palmeiro's steroid allegations. Mazzilli fired. The O's spent the last few months crashing and burning, ensuring that the O's will have to stay good for an entire season (at least) to bring the fans back to the Yard.

Then the offseason, with Tejada requesting a trade. I spent part of my Christmas vacation concerned that we were getting Pat Burrell for him. Gah. But the O's also went out and got Ramon Hernandez and Corey Patterson. There was some potential there; some of us had hopes for at least a .500 season. Is that too much to ask for, really?

Well, yes. Obviously. For all that last year was heartbreaking, the Orioles went 74-88. This year? 70-92. And it was just consistent badness. It was the Orioles finding new ways to lose (the intentional walk turning into a game-winning single; making the final out at the plate when you're not even the tying run; giving up a grand slam to a guy who hasn't homered in two years; a manager in love with having hot hitters sacrifice bunt, bringing up guys who are slumping). It was pitchers who had been decent last year (Chen, Lopez) turning incredibly craptastic. It was a bullpen who sucked beyond belief. It was playing utility infielders in left field. It was incredibly unclutch hitting and a talent for leaving men on base. From game 1 to game 162.

Not that there weren't highlights. There were things to get excited about this season. Corey Patterson made a great comeback, providing excitement on the basepaths (45 stolen bases) and fantastic defense in center. Nick Markakis, after a slow start, was fantastic in the second half, including a 3 homer game. There are a couple of lefty pitchers to be happy about--Erik Bedard and Adam Loewen. Ramon Hernandez proved to be a great signing. Daniel Cabrera has been a bit more consistent since his stint in the minors. Chris Ray proved to be more-than-serviceable as a closer.

So where does that leave the O's? They desperately need bullpen help (though some of the young guys--Birkins, Britton--have been doing pretty well). They need a #1 or #2 starter. They need a power-hitting 1B and/or LF. And unless they get both, they should not trade Tejada, because what's the point? You're just switching where your power is coming from. And really, I don't want Tejada traded anyway. I'm an optimist, though, I admit. I'm hoping that Jim Duquette--having now had some time to settle in--will get things done. More than in previous seasons, they do seem to be making the right noises. But...we'll see.

I'm practically at the point that even if they just release Russ Ortiz, I'll be happy.

(As for Kevin Millar, I like him. And the O's need someone who can hit lefty pitching. But this becomes a debate about who should be on the Orioles bench, which definitely shouldn't be the front office's top priority.)

Which leaves those pesky steroid allegations that the O's just can't shake. It hit me hard when I first heard on Sunday, I admit. Particularly upsetting is that my boy's name is included. Which...just doesn't add up. There is just nothing about Brian that has ever said "steroids." People will point to his power surge early last season, but these are the same people who don't realize that he hit 50 doubles in 2004, and that doubles + experience + a good offseason workout regime = home runs. And from everything I know about Brian's childhood and life...I just don't see him ever messing around with steroids.

Plus, there's so much back-and-forth about the validity of what Grimsley said. It comes out, then stories saying that there were "significant inaccuracies" and Grimsley's lawyer saying he (Grimsley) never named Roberts and Gibbons. So, I'm going to live here in my happy land. I certainly don't think that steroids aren't a problem, but I don't believe for a minute that Brian took any.

And time goes by so...correctly?

It seems that a lot of the time, time isn't moving correctly. You want it to be moving more quickly (e.g., when you're at work) or more slowly (e.g., during the weekend). And so it seems strange to me that lately, I feel like time has been moving exactly right. Sure, sometimes work drags, but usually not too badly. The evenings after work seem nice and long, and I usually hit Friday surprised at how quickly the week has gone. And by Sunday evening, I look back and feel like it's been ages since I was at work.

What I'm trying to say is, it's nice. I feel like there's a nice work-life balance going on with me. Although I'm having a hard time believing that today was the last day of the regular baseball season.