basketball sucks

The NBA season starts today. My question is.....who cares? There is always big hype at the beginning of every sport season, but it dwindles. The only time I really watch basketball is when the Pistons are on. But the amount of their games on t.v. have been shrinking as they have been getting worse. They are past their prime, but are slowly starting to re-load their team.

I didn't watch any of the playoffs last year. Usually, I will watch a little bit, but I didn't watch one game. I don't even know who the Lakers beat.

Books

I finished reading a book last night and as I tried to pick out another one, I came up with a thought. If I could only choose three books to keep, which would they be? I came up with two of them, but can't think of the third one. These aren't books that I picked because I have just recently read them, these are books that I have read over and over again. Books that I can start even when reading other books and will finish before finishing any other book.

The first two are The Catcher in the Rye and The Road. I first read Catcher in high school, tenth grade. The perfect time to read it. Perfect character association for any boy of fifteen or sixteen. Immediately I was hooked. Because of this book, I went out and bought the rest of the short stories that J.D. Salinger wrote and just read through them like they were the Sunday paper. I suppose I also admire Salinger for giving everyone the big middle finger and going to live in the middle of nowhere. Reclusive lifestyle is the way to go.

And then there is The Road. With Cormac McCarthy it all has to do with style. Once you get use to reading the way he writes, you are done. Some of the sentences that he puts together are just mind blowing. I re-read several paragraphs in this book just because they were beautiful. My brother bought this book for me, and I can never thank him enough. After finishing it the first time, I started reading it again. Yeah, it is that good.

But that is it. I have yet to find that last great book that I can read and read and read.

Weekend ahead

This weekend coming up is much needed. I have the day off tomorrow, and the weekend off as well. I can't wait. My six day stretches at work go by quickly, but these weekends are a great relief.

The only problem is that we don't have any plans for the weekend. It is nice enough to go do stuff outside. I want to go out and enjoy the weather before the 'winter' comes and gets too cold and rainy. As great as it is to relax all weekend, I do get bored with it. I need to get out and do stuff, even if it is just getting out and driving around town for a little bit.




This could be an optimal time to try out a new frisbee golf course.

Early morning activity

I have given up on being upset when I can't sleep. I woke up today at three thirty (that's a.m.). Wide awake. Don't know why. Thought about turning over and going back to sleep, but decided to get up and put some extra water in the coffee maker. I don't have to work until six this morning, so the option of sleep was there. I will justify it this way: if I went back to sleep, I could over sleep my alarm and be late for work. I'll go with that.

Normally if I wake up a few hours early and feel extra tired, I'll curl up on the couch and get in something resembling a nap. I do this because when I wake up really early I have a tendency to toss and turn in bed, and that makes for an angry wife. And no one wants that.

I have gotten some things done while being up. I took a shower. Listened to a podcast (Art of Manliness has started podcasts and they are great). Got my fantasy football (nerd) groove on. Now, come about ten or eleven o'clock this morning I may regret not going back to sleep but I'm good for the morning.

I feel a big fat nap coming my way right around three o'clock this afternoon. That is when I will catch up on the sleep I missed out on this morning.

The weekend

I had this past weekend off. I did nothing, and it was great. It was everything I hoped it would be. I now see why some people don't get jobs. The weather was very fall-like, overcast and a little rainy.

Saturday we sat around the apartment and did some cleaning (and by some I mean very very little). The only thing I planned was watching the Michigan football game. Although they ended up losing the game, it was an excellent one.

Sunday was another lazy morning. I went frisbee golfing with Marc and Jason. Even though we all threw horribly, it was a lot of fun. It was cool enough to wear long sleeves and hats but not cold enough to really bundle up. Afterwards, we all went out for dinner and a couple of beers.

That was the weekend. It was one of the first weekends when nothing was planned that went by quickly. If I don't set things up for the weekend, the days seem to drag and I end up looking forward to going back to work on Monday (weird, right?). Even though the past two days were enjoyable, I think one more day off would have capped off a relaxing weekend.

Ernie and cancer

Earlier this year, Ernie Harwell announced that he has inoperable cancer. Dude....bummer. I had one of those moments when after I read it, I was speechless. I sat there looking at my computer screen. Almost in a state of denial. I vaguely remember listening to him call games when I was a kid. As I got older, I fell in love with his voice. Classic is the only way to describe it.
I was lucky enough to be watching the Tigers Royals game when he gave his thank you/farewell speech near the end of the season. It sent chills down my spine. It is my generation's and my team's 'Luckiest Man' speech. Which, by the way, is one of the greatest sports moments of all time (despite the fact that it involved the New York Yankees). He almost made me cry, and I am not afraid to admit that.

Tis Fall

The weather is starting to turn. It is great. Fall has shown up in Kansas, it is in the forties in the morning when I go to work and it has been raining a little bit. There was no gradual decline in temperature this year. It just kind of happened. It all of a sudden went from being in the eighties to the low to mid sixties. I am very very okay with this. I hate the hot weather. I suppose I just enjoy being bundled up in a big heavy jacket with gloves and a hat on. It hasn't gotten that cold yet, but when it does, I do enjoy it.

One nice thing about the fall is it is that we can go out and play frisbee golf and not have to worry about dying from the heat. We would go out sporadically in June or July only in the hopes of there being some wind to cool us down. The only problem is that the wind felt like it came out of a hair dryer. Now, not so much. It is jeans and sweatshirt weather baby! Comfortable weather to walk around a field and amongst the trees.

Album revamp

Last year, I posted my top ten albums. Since then, I have expanded my horizons. I have had a falling out with U2 (Bono is too full of himself), recently posted at number three all time favorite album. Same goes for Beck, but he was posted at number ten. Just barely on the list. So...here ya go. Over a year later.




10. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Raising Sand (the best bluegrass album I have ever heard)
9. Johnny Cash Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison (the best live album I own, just ahead of RATM)
8. The Clash London Calling ('Guns of Brixton' and 'The Card Cheat' are brilliant)
7. The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely (is there anything Jack White can't do? My generation's Pete Townshend maybe?)
6. Fugees The Score (One of only two rap albums I own. The other being Licensed to Ill)
5. The Who Who's Next (Pete Townshend, I love you.)
4. Rage Against the Machine Evil Empire (I could listen to this album for months at a time)
3. The White Stripes Elephant (Jack and Meg are at the forefront of the re-birth of Alt. Rock)
2. Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin (best first track EVER)
number one still remains.....



1. The Beatles Abbey Road

German food!

We had spatzel and sausage for dinner last night. A great hearty German dinner. The only thing that was missing was cabbage or sauerkraut, but we were not going to make that if only one of us was going to eat. I also found a German beer. Not one that is brewed in Milwaukee or Chicago, but straight from the Father Land. How do I know? Everything printed on the packaging and bottles are in German. Below are pictures I took to commemorate the event.

New favorite picture

For the longest time, the favorite picture I have taken was of two little birds in an alley way in downtown Wichita. I still feel lucky to have captured this because I had to get very very close to them before taking this. The bad thing with using a film camera (yes, they exist still) is if you have a subject like these little birds, you usually have one chance. And in fact, after snapping this photo I lowered my camera and they had flown away. My first thought was 'Shit, oh well.' I was very happy afterwards.



Recently, I have found a new favorite. I took it at the Wilson's Creek National Park in Missouri. It was in the Ray House, the only original building left standing at the park. In the house, visitors had some free reign as far as pictures were concerned. They can get close up and take pictures like this one. Everything that a visitor can get to is a recreation, any original was behind ropes or glass.



For the time being, this candle on table ranks highest on all of the pictures that I will take credit for.