Barb’s Burblings

I’ll be happy if I’m not greeted with a scene like this when I arrive at conference this year:

Snow in Salt Lake...October 12

I love my cats, but one of things that bothers me about them is their steadfast refusal to be lap cats. There have been a few times when it’s been cold and I’ve been sitting on the couch under a blanket when one might sit on me, but that’s about it. But for some reason, Pem decided that today would be great for laptime. Yay! I didn’t even have a blanket!

…Which turned out to be the problem, as I’m wearing pajama bottoms, which are not exactly the thickest material. Pem’s happy, getting her tummy rubbed, and kneading my legs. At first, I could deal. But that only lasted so long, and quickly became me going “Owowowowowow.” And I had to move her off my lap. Argh! Why couldn’t she have tried this while I was wearing jeans?

A writer at Sports Illustrated named My Boyfriend Brian Roberts captain of his All Underrated Team–the best players at each position who didn’t make the All-Star Team. Nick Markakis also made it, though the writer–after naming Nick the representative right fielder–keeps referring to him as playing left field. Bizarre, but I’m obviously not going to hold it against him. Not when he writes nice things like this:

How underrated has Roberts been this year? He has more home runs (15) and RBIs (73) than reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia and more hits (164) than Chase Utley. He has a higher on-base percentage (.355) than Robinson Cano, and a higher slugging percentage (.463) than Dan Uggla despite the fact that Uggla has almost twice as many home runs. Roberts is also going to finish the season with over 30 stolen bases, is currently tied for the most runs scored (100) by a second baseman and will likely lead the league in doubles.

Hearts, Brian!

(For the record, my boy Brian Matusz is duking it out with Jeff Fiorentino for Reserve Oriole Boyfriend. Matty [which is my nickname for Matusz] has the brighter future, but I have a soft spot for Screech.)

I turned on iTunes and the first song it played is the version of “Walk Like an Egyptian” we tapped to in the 2007 Cherry Blossom Parade (my first Cherry Blossom Parade). And I realized that I have absolutely no recollection of that number. So I did what anyone would do: I Googled it. And, amazingly enough, there is actually a video of it on YouTube! From the back, but still.

Sadly, I can’t seem to find any other years, though I know that they were on the local ABC affiliate’s website. Anyway, no, you cannot see me in the above video; I think we were farther left. I don’t know. I’ve tried to block it from my mind. (No, I wasn’t a huge fan of the routine.) But still, it’s neat to see that it’s sort of saved for posterity.

Of course, if I were ambitious, I’d pull out the routine notes. But if I there were one word I wouldn’t use to describe myself, it’s “amibitious.”

(However, if anyone is feeling oddly motivated, feel free to see whether you can find the other numbers I did in the parade: “Singin’ in the Rain” in 2008 and “I Go to Rio” this year.)

Having taken a couple of months off since that last big freelance project I had, I’m in the midst of another one. Thankfully, this is one is super short-term; turnaround of a bit over a week. Of course, that means it’s been a busy week.

I did take a few breaks, one of which was to check out the Labor Day festivities here in Kensington. Kensington treats Labor Day like a bigger deal than I’ve experienced anywhere else. There was a parade and a street fair. The parade went right in front of my place, arriving at the time that I had planned to wake up, which worked out nicely. The parade actually ended around the corner–which I can also hear very well from certain rooms in the apartment. So I’d hear a band on one side of my apartment, then hear it again a couple of minutes later. The street fair was also neat, and it was nice to see a lot of people wandering around, even with the overcast weather.

It’d be nice to actually go out and watch the parade. It’d also be nice to have someone to wander around the street fair with, but honestly, after reading 400+ pages about underprivileged children in Michigan, I’m pretty grateful for what I have.

I’m a bit clumsy. I can’t imagine myself in heels or anything of the sort; I tend to trip when wearing flats. And by “flats,” I mean “Birkenstock sandals.” I do OK when I’m wearing my Chucks, but that’s about it. But more than tripping over nonexistent things on sidewalks, I’m very bad with spatial relations. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into the corner of my coffee table. I guess I’m convinced it’s not as long as it is? I also have a tendency to walk into doorways. Maybe 90% of my body is fine, but that left or right 10% (usually left side–hmm, I wonder if that means something?) will *wham* right into the door.

You know, now that I’m thinking about it, my problem generally is the left side. The latest example is yesterday, when I went to lunch with some colleagues. I noticed a fire hydrant in my way, and dodged right. However, I managed to forget about the nozzle (or whatever that thing on the side is), and I slammed my leg into it. Absolutely clobbered. Don’t believe me? You can come see the huge bruise just above my left knee. It kind of hurts to walk.

Maybe I should just wearing full-body padding from now on. Do they make bubble wrap for people?

So today’s the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, the invasion of Poland. That seems like an insanely long time, doesn’t it? I’ve been following a blog done by the Orwell Prize, which is run by by the Media Standards Trust, the Orwell Trust and Political Quarterly, posting the diaries of George Orwell. It started about a year ago and will go, presumably, until 2012, when Orwell’s diary ends. For a long, long time it was just him wandering around and had a lot about eggs. Seriously. A lot. But lately it’s gotten more interesting as he chronicles the political maneuverings that led to World War II. They’re also including newspaper images from those days. The beginning of today’s entry?

Invasion of Poland began this morning. Warsaw bombed. General mobilization proclaimed in England, ditto in France plus martial law.

It’s just kind of neat to see a firsthand account of it. Also, fewer mentions of eggs.

In other news, September 1 means September callups for baseball. Huzzah! Jeff Fiorentino, a.k.a. Screech, was called up from AAA Norfolk and that made me happy. He’s been doing really well. He was first called up in the middle of 2005, which probably didn’t help (he was only 22, was called up from AA, and probably was just not ready, though he did OK then [.640 OPS] and in 2006 [.683 OPS] in very limited at-bats). Anyway, yay, Screech! I admit I’m partial to him, too, because he bats lefty, has super nice blue eyes, and I have a cute picture of him from photo day back in 2005:

Screech and me

He looks OK, but it’s actually a great picture of me. Yay! (I have one with Javy Lopez from that same day, and I look wretched.) Anyway, I went to a game at Bowie last year or the year before, and the players were signing autographs before the game. I went up to Jeff and got his, and said that I was bummed I didn’t realize it was autograph day, because I had this great picture of the two of us, and bless his heart, he looked bummed and was like, “Man, that does suck!” Aww, Jeff.

(In mixed news, it looks like he actually may get a decent amount of playing time, due to Adam Jones spraining his ankle in tonight’s game. Good things never happen to Orioles in September games against the Yankees.)