Finally, after several weeks and seemingly all sorts of twists and turns, the Miers nomination is officially dead. Obviously, given the increasing conservative disgust with the nomination, chances are that some sort of move was going to be made. Now will likely come the hardcore conservative, probably one rougher than Roberts, and one conservatives who want to jump Scalia and Thomas' bones will love. That's scary, because, until April or May, when the decisions from the court's term come out, we have no sense of the judicial philosophy of Roberts as chief, we don't know how the make-up of the court will change, especially with regards to social issues. Miers will forever be the one people think about when they think of disastrous nominations, as she never even got to the hearings, torpedoed not by her own insane ideas (as Robert Bork was) but by the base of her president's party and her own supreme underqualification.
Fitzgerald also came down with the first of his indictments. This time, it was Scooter Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, who resigned as soon as the indictment came down. Hopefully, more will be on the way soon, specifically, one for Karl Rove. While Libby wasn't indicted for outing Plame, there are so many issues here in the indictments, so many questions that need to be answered about what Dick Cheney's role was, and, ultimately, what kind of coverup there was. This isn't over.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the death of the midwife of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks. More than anyone else, Rosa Parks represented the beginning of the movement, with her one act of defiance. Its been said by many that she was simply tired when she refused to give up her seat. She said on many occasions, however that while it had been a long day of work, what she was actually tired of was her second class treatment by the government of Montgomery, Alabama and the United States. By standing up, by commiting even a small act of defiance, we saw the avalanche of history begin to run down the hill, and change the nation, for the better, forever.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Well then, Steve Perry's happy
Obviously I want to talk about the World Series. I was surprised, I guess, by how subdued the celebrations seemed to be, both by the White Sox and then the shots in Chicago. I guess, though it was to be expected. As many have said, White Sox fans, unlike their North-Side rivals, and well, New England Red Sox fans, tend to be very low-key about the fact that they've lost. You don't hear about the misery they've suffered the past 88 years. This is in part, I think, because very few Sox fans really buy into anything readily. What makes Cubs fans hurt so much about '69, '84 and '03, and Red Sox so very neurotic about Buckner, Boone and Bucky Dent, is that they bought into their team winning. Thus last year, when the Red Sox won, it was winning for an entire region, for generations of New Englanders and displaced New Englanders around the country. Its why Cubs fans walked around in a daze for weeks after the Bartman game. White Sox fans, I think, rather than being disappointed sort of just take this in and say "F--- you Cubs," it seems more of a pleasant surprise than anything.
Nationally, I think, because there isn't the romance tied to the White Sox and their futility, people have been underwhelmed. They only went to two World Series since 1917, and one, well, they threw. Maybe now Shoeless Joe, Buck Weaver and the rest of the Black Sox can rest easy, and Charlie Comiskey can continue to burn in miser hell. It should be said though, that this was one of the great runs ever, in terms of how they just rant through everyone, even though all of the World Series games were close.
Just a couple of observations about the series: Tim McCarver talked about how Brad Lidge had the taste of the Pujols homerun out of his mouth. The second he did, Scott Podsednik hits it out, someone who had exactly 0 home runs during the regular reason (though he had one in the playoffs) wow.
I stayed up, as long as I could Tuesday night, after all its my busy night. I stayed up to see the White Sox score, then I just sort of surrendered. Frankly, it was a very ugly game, even though it was close and long. The walks, the inability of either team to hit, especially the Astros, actually got embarrassing at one point. Still, it doesn't excuse Phil Garner throwing his team under the bus Terry Murray-style after the game.
The guy I'm happiest for is Jermaine Dye, the MVP. Besides now being a great bit of trivia (the highest World Series Batting Average), he's come full circle. In Oakland, he seemed to underachieve, dating back to the time he broke a leg via a foul ball in a division Series.
Well, I'll get back to other things later this week, see you then.
Nationally, I think, because there isn't the romance tied to the White Sox and their futility, people have been underwhelmed. They only went to two World Series since 1917, and one, well, they threw. Maybe now Shoeless Joe, Buck Weaver and the rest of the Black Sox can rest easy, and Charlie Comiskey can continue to burn in miser hell. It should be said though, that this was one of the great runs ever, in terms of how they just rant through everyone, even though all of the World Series games were close.
Just a couple of observations about the series: Tim McCarver talked about how Brad Lidge had the taste of the Pujols homerun out of his mouth. The second he did, Scott Podsednik hits it out, someone who had exactly 0 home runs during the regular reason (though he had one in the playoffs) wow.
I stayed up, as long as I could Tuesday night, after all its my busy night. I stayed up to see the White Sox score, then I just sort of surrendered. Frankly, it was a very ugly game, even though it was close and long. The walks, the inability of either team to hit, especially the Astros, actually got embarrassing at one point. Still, it doesn't excuse Phil Garner throwing his team under the bus Terry Murray-style after the game.
The guy I'm happiest for is Jermaine Dye, the MVP. Besides now being a great bit of trivia (the highest World Series Batting Average), he's come full circle. In Oakland, he seemed to underachieve, dating back to the time he broke a leg via a foul ball in a division Series.
Well, I'll get back to other things later this week, see you then.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Game 1
I haven't talked a lot about the baseball playoffs, suffice it to say that I think a lot of it speaks for itself. The fact that the White Sox are there, for me, is surprising. When I got to Chicago, the Cubs made their run. I thought, along with much of Chicago that if 2003 wasn't the Cubs year then they certainly would make it soon. The White Sox weren't even a factor. Even after the Cubs blew it in Game 6 and Game 7, the odds, because of Prior, Wood and Zambrano seemed to be in their favor. Last year, both teams faded late (the Cubs still have never, in their history been to the playoffs in consecutive years). I was still there when they sent Carlos Lee to Milwaukee for Podsednik, when everyone expressed some shock, because here you were essentially giving away a big RBI man, after they'd lost Magglio Ordonez, for a guy who stole a lot of bases but didn't have the best On Base percentage for a lead-off man. Obviously its worked out (it worked well for the Brewers too). Still, I'm interested in knowing how Chicago on the whole, is embracing this, given that it is essentially a Cubs town. That being said, here are some observations from Game 1:
The way the White Sox started was a great indication that they had a game plan against Clemens. The at-bat Jermaine Dye had, working Clemens until he got the ball he could drive to the opposite field, was a thing of beauty. The way they attacked in the second inning, even before Clemens was hurt, showed they weren't going to be intimidated, despite the fact that their coaches and GM had twice as many at bats against him as the roster does.
Every playoffs seems to produce an AJ Pierzynski, someone who just happens to get rolling and ends up in the middle of everything. (By the way, my take on the umpires missing the two calls, first the Josh Paul third strike, then the catchers interference is this: get over it. The umpire made the call, that's it. He should have been more decisive, as decisive is sometimes preferable to correct on a close play, but he made his call and stuck, and then his colleague did the same.) Personally, I felt bad for him the way he got pushed out of San Francisco, but you can see how he could grate on people. He's the type of guy, like Claude Lemieux, Bill Laimbeer or Bill Romanowski that you just want on your side, because otherwise, you hate their living guts.
More than any other player these last two rounds, including Paul Konerko, the White Sox have been carried by Joe Crede, who's becoming a star before our eyes. My only concerns- the fact that he has a large zit near his mouth, or at least, he did during the Angels series, and his weird facial hair. He looks like, well, the brother of William Ligue, or just like someone who took the drive in from Calumet City or Chesterton (sort of white trashy). Still his isn't as bad as Aaron Rowand, who's pencil thin goatee makes him look like he's in the adult entertainment industry.
If these two teams will do anything, they will put on a great display of how to best play the game. Take Carl Everett's baserunning. He made sure to see where Lamb was going before breaking for home, and then he went, a lot of other players might not have taken the base on a ball hit that weakly.
Cotts and Jenks were incredible. It shows you, really, that for all the talk of control, of beating the hitter with great stuff, the great equalizer always will be a fastball no one can catch up to. Jenks may have served notice to the American League during the Bagwell at-bat, and in the ninth, that he's not a man to be messed with in the coming years.
One other observation from Saturday- the opening sketch of SNL (which was good, but they used the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones can sing just a bit too much) featured Darrell Hammond doing the most dead on Brit Hume I have ever seen. I was amazed. Just when I thought he couldn't top Matthews, but he did.
Oh yeah, one other thing. It's great to win two in a row, finally. This Michigan team, say what you will about it, has guts. To win the way they did last week, and then to go into the Jim Shilander House of Horrors known as Kinnick Stadium and beat a good Iowa team, that takes a lot of heart and determination. Hopefully the trip to Evanston this week will go well too.
And for you State fans, try and remove the purple tire tracks from your back, its kind of embarassing.
The way the White Sox started was a great indication that they had a game plan against Clemens. The at-bat Jermaine Dye had, working Clemens until he got the ball he could drive to the opposite field, was a thing of beauty. The way they attacked in the second inning, even before Clemens was hurt, showed they weren't going to be intimidated, despite the fact that their coaches and GM had twice as many at bats against him as the roster does.
Every playoffs seems to produce an AJ Pierzynski, someone who just happens to get rolling and ends up in the middle of everything. (By the way, my take on the umpires missing the two calls, first the Josh Paul third strike, then the catchers interference is this: get over it. The umpire made the call, that's it. He should have been more decisive, as decisive is sometimes preferable to correct on a close play, but he made his call and stuck, and then his colleague did the same.) Personally, I felt bad for him the way he got pushed out of San Francisco, but you can see how he could grate on people. He's the type of guy, like Claude Lemieux, Bill Laimbeer or Bill Romanowski that you just want on your side, because otherwise, you hate their living guts.
More than any other player these last two rounds, including Paul Konerko, the White Sox have been carried by Joe Crede, who's becoming a star before our eyes. My only concerns- the fact that he has a large zit near his mouth, or at least, he did during the Angels series, and his weird facial hair. He looks like, well, the brother of William Ligue, or just like someone who took the drive in from Calumet City or Chesterton (sort of white trashy). Still his isn't as bad as Aaron Rowand, who's pencil thin goatee makes him look like he's in the adult entertainment industry.
If these two teams will do anything, they will put on a great display of how to best play the game. Take Carl Everett's baserunning. He made sure to see where Lamb was going before breaking for home, and then he went, a lot of other players might not have taken the base on a ball hit that weakly.
Cotts and Jenks were incredible. It shows you, really, that for all the talk of control, of beating the hitter with great stuff, the great equalizer always will be a fastball no one can catch up to. Jenks may have served notice to the American League during the Bagwell at-bat, and in the ninth, that he's not a man to be messed with in the coming years.
One other observation from Saturday- the opening sketch of SNL (which was good, but they used the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones can sing just a bit too much) featured Darrell Hammond doing the most dead on Brit Hume I have ever seen. I was amazed. Just when I thought he couldn't top Matthews, but he did.
Oh yeah, one other thing. It's great to win two in a row, finally. This Michigan team, say what you will about it, has guts. To win the way they did last week, and then to go into the Jim Shilander House of Horrors known as Kinnick Stadium and beat a good Iowa team, that takes a lot of heart and determination. Hopefully the trip to Evanston this week will go well too.
And for you State fans, try and remove the purple tire tracks from your back, its kind of embarassing.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
The Vikings...Definitely not purifying themselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka
The big story in football the last two weeks has been the Vikings ill-fated trip on Al and Alma's cruises on Lake Minnetonka. To me, the issue isn't them having a sex cruise, its the trying to force the horrified waitstaff and barstaff of "the bad boat," into, well, some compromising situations. The Cowboys used to have "The White House" a kind of safe house where they could do any number of drugs or have any number of women, and be in a relatively controlled situation. Maybe the Vikings thought they had a a controlled situation, what with the strippers and prostitutes brought in from other states, which by the way, violates the Mann Act. Obviously they didn't, and now the whole Vikings organization has an issue. The year has been disappointing enough (the defense, which was supposed to come around, has not, and the offense's struggles without Randy Moss has truly been surprising), now this. Mike Tice had better be looking for a better price on his Super Bowl tickets this year, he'll likely need it. By the way, what does this say about Minnesota's strippers and prostitutes, that the Vikings would have to risk violating federal law to bring them in? For Shame.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
And I'm spent...
It's rare, frankly to have a day like today, where every game you see is great. Early today I was able to see most of both the Axe game and BC and Wake. Now for those of you who don't know, meaning, you don't go to BC, Wake had beaten BC the last two years, in dramatic fashion. This time, they got up big early, and BC clawed back, only to see Wake go up again. BC then came back to win late. Meanwhile, in the axe game, Laurence Maroney performed brilliantly, but so did Bryan Calhoun and Wisconsin, and they won on the blocked kick late. My only question about that play, for the punter, is this. Way not punt the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety? Minnesota would still lead, but it also puts the pressure on the Badger offense and kicker to make a late field goal.
The next batch of games...well, was some of the best football I've ever seen. Michigan/Penn State probably ended the way it should have. Penn State had been living dangerously all year (witness the last second win over Northwestern) and Michigan had lost late (Wisconsin, Minnesota). Mario Manningham, frankly, deserves the #1 jersey now, though I'm sure it won't be given til after the season. He's stepped into the role Breaston was supposed to fill, which also seems to be helping Steve Breaston play better, now that he's in a more familiar and comfortable role. Henne played better in the second half than he had in previous games, and it showed in the final drive, though he nearly killed me by not going into the end zone.
Notre Dame-USC? Well, its hard to say a lot about a game that basically speaks for itself. You had two great, and I do mean great, coaches matching wits, and their charges going at it in one of the great games I've ever seen. The cliche of the heavyweight fight is about the only thing I can come up with to describe it, with that final, desperate quarterback sneak, USC hit that last powerful jab for the knockout with 10 seconds left in the 12th. The two people made by this game, though, are Brady Quinn, who actually looked better than Matt Leinart until the final drive, and Reggie Bush, who, frankly, should by all rights have clinched the Heisman.
Like a dessert after a big main course, I watched a lot of Virginia-FSU. Now UVa was having what was essentially a big anniversary party of their win over FSU in Charlottesville 10 years ago, which gave the Noles their first ACC loss. Well, they hadn't beaten them since. Still the effort by their defense, and the effort of their pixie QB Marques Haggans, surprised me, and they led big at the half, only to see FSU rally, then finally to put the Noles down. All and all, one of the great sports days ever.
I'm tired, I'm footballed out, I'll blog more next week.
The next batch of games...well, was some of the best football I've ever seen. Michigan/Penn State probably ended the way it should have. Penn State had been living dangerously all year (witness the last second win over Northwestern) and Michigan had lost late (Wisconsin, Minnesota). Mario Manningham, frankly, deserves the #1 jersey now, though I'm sure it won't be given til after the season. He's stepped into the role Breaston was supposed to fill, which also seems to be helping Steve Breaston play better, now that he's in a more familiar and comfortable role. Henne played better in the second half than he had in previous games, and it showed in the final drive, though he nearly killed me by not going into the end zone.
Notre Dame-USC? Well, its hard to say a lot about a game that basically speaks for itself. You had two great, and I do mean great, coaches matching wits, and their charges going at it in one of the great games I've ever seen. The cliche of the heavyweight fight is about the only thing I can come up with to describe it, with that final, desperate quarterback sneak, USC hit that last powerful jab for the knockout with 10 seconds left in the 12th. The two people made by this game, though, are Brady Quinn, who actually looked better than Matt Leinart until the final drive, and Reggie Bush, who, frankly, should by all rights have clinched the Heisman.
Like a dessert after a big main course, I watched a lot of Virginia-FSU. Now UVa was having what was essentially a big anniversary party of their win over FSU in Charlottesville 10 years ago, which gave the Noles their first ACC loss. Well, they hadn't beaten them since. Still the effort by their defense, and the effort of their pixie QB Marques Haggans, surprised me, and they led big at the half, only to see FSU rally, then finally to put the Noles down. All and all, one of the great sports days ever.
I'm tired, I'm footballed out, I'll blog more next week.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Yeah, Yeah...
So I think I owe everyone an explanation as to why I haven't been blogging a lot lately. Mainly, its just been a matter of being busy, and point of fact, being out of the state for the last two weekends. Last week, I had another crazy plane adventure, to go home for my friend Keith's wedding. I woke up at 9, when my flight was at 10:30. My alarm, which had been set for 7 a.m. had not gone off. I literally raced out, stopping just to throw things in an overnight bag and grab an apple. I made it fairly quickly to the airport, but still late. I then made arrangements for another flight, to leave at five, but I'd have to be put on standby. I took a shuttle to a movie theatre, only to find that no movie was playing for another 4 or 5 hours, and then went to a nearby Barnes and Noble. After a few hours, I headed back to the airport, where I actually ended up with a ticket to Chicago at 5. After wasting a few hours, I was headed to Midway, not sure of how long I'd be there, as the flight back to Metro was oversold, not just full. Well, I got to Midway just as the White Sox were knocking Mike Timlin around, then about 15 minutes later, I heard cheers going around the airport from a bunch of crazy Southsiders. Anyway, I waited until 9, already with a contingency plan in hand (stay at John's and leave in the morning), but I guess that the offer of $200, a flight in the morning and lodging for the night tempted enough people that I got on.
Saturday was disappointing (not the wedding). Obviously the Michigan game sort of ruined my day. The wedding started really late, it turns out that the bridal party didn't get picked up until after the wedding was supposed to start, and so the reception was also late (we got dinner after 10) and we ended up leaving early, as my parents and myself needed to head out to New Hampshire in the morning. We did, and the trip was really quite long, and once we got closer to NH, kind of harrowing, driving in the dark in Vermont, when its raining, isn't something I'd recommend. But we had a lot of fun during the week, highlighted by a trip up Mount Washington Thursday. It was great to see my parents, but its also been a busy week, and so I am still tired, and feel the need to catchup on everything, not just blogging. With that, I leave you til tomorrow...
Saturday was disappointing (not the wedding). Obviously the Michigan game sort of ruined my day. The wedding started really late, it turns out that the bridal party didn't get picked up until after the wedding was supposed to start, and so the reception was also late (we got dinner after 10) and we ended up leaving early, as my parents and myself needed to head out to New Hampshire in the morning. We did, and the trip was really quite long, and once we got closer to NH, kind of harrowing, driving in the dark in Vermont, when its raining, isn't something I'd recommend. But we had a lot of fun during the week, highlighted by a trip up Mount Washington Thursday. It was great to see my parents, but its also been a busy week, and so I am still tired, and feel the need to catchup on everything, not just blogging. With that, I leave you til tomorrow...
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Two Ladies...
So obviously, the big news of the week has to be the appointment of Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court, and the surprising conservative response to it. I had no problem with the nomination of Roberts on an intellectual standpoint. He obviously has more then met the qualifications, intellectually, to sit on the bench and to be chief. But here, we have someone who is stunningly underqualified. Not only has she no experience as a judge, but no experience as a constitutional scholar either. That's scary, especially for someone who will likely face all kinds of questions from Conservative groups wanting to take us back to pre-Griswold v. Connecticut days. It seems fairly clear that George Bush picked her because he knew her, that was it.
Usually, in situations like this, you would have conservative groups rallying to the flag, trying to protect Miers from questions about her competence, trying to deflect criticism. Well, we obviously haven't seen much of that. What we've seen is an incredibly palpable sense of betrayal, the sense that Conservatives have waited decades for this nomination, one that could swing the court, and potentially bring back illegal abortion, overturn Miranda, Griswold and affirmative action. Conservatives have spent billions in treasure and decades of work in getting producing legal scholars beholden to their point of view, now, rather than going for one of those, Bush grabs someone out of Texas, someone he personally knows, which seems to be her only qualification (and spare me the comparisons to William O. Douglas, who played cards with FDR before he got nominated. Douglas was beyond brilliant, he was one of the foremost legal minds of this century, and one of the last great liberal voices on the court.). I guess if I had waited all that time, I too, might feel betrayed.
One quick word on the Britney Spears news this week. Its incredible to me the fall Britney has taken in the public eye. I recall that after her third album was released, Britney appeared at a Michael Jackson concert on CBS, taking over the role of the object of MJ's affection in "The Way You Make Me Feel." CBS promoted the appearance as that of "the hottest female star in the world," and they were probably right, at the time. But then came the breakup with Justin, and it all fell apart. No one, I think has ever won a breakup in Hollywood the way Justin Timberlake did. Not only did he get sympathy from people, but he got the ultimate revenge in the "Cry Me a River" video, one that's stuck with Spears ever since. Justin went from the "boyfriend of..." to the main attraction, Spears went from America's Sweetheart to Little Girl Lost. Justin recovered from the Superbowl incident, and dates Cameron Diaz. Britney got married, got that annulled, dated (or slept with) Colin Farrell, Fred Durst (maybe) and other not so fabulous characters. The kiss with Madonna, if it did anything, lowered her in the eyes of people, they didn't expect her to do it, and they felt that she shouldn't have, which I think turned so many people on her. Now, she's married to probably the scuzziest man on the planet, one who not only seems a significant step down from her level, but from the level of the guy she married first. K-Fed just seems to be the least well thought of guy on the planet, and the way the two of them dress when they go out, as if they'd just gotten up from a nap in the double-wide, doesn't help things either...neither does K-Fed walking around with that "undeserved sense of accomplishment" (thank you Family Guy).
Usually, in situations like this, you would have conservative groups rallying to the flag, trying to protect Miers from questions about her competence, trying to deflect criticism. Well, we obviously haven't seen much of that. What we've seen is an incredibly palpable sense of betrayal, the sense that Conservatives have waited decades for this nomination, one that could swing the court, and potentially bring back illegal abortion, overturn Miranda, Griswold and affirmative action. Conservatives have spent billions in treasure and decades of work in getting producing legal scholars beholden to their point of view, now, rather than going for one of those, Bush grabs someone out of Texas, someone he personally knows, which seems to be her only qualification (and spare me the comparisons to William O. Douglas, who played cards with FDR before he got nominated. Douglas was beyond brilliant, he was one of the foremost legal minds of this century, and one of the last great liberal voices on the court.). I guess if I had waited all that time, I too, might feel betrayed.
One quick word on the Britney Spears news this week. Its incredible to me the fall Britney has taken in the public eye. I recall that after her third album was released, Britney appeared at a Michael Jackson concert on CBS, taking over the role of the object of MJ's affection in "The Way You Make Me Feel." CBS promoted the appearance as that of "the hottest female star in the world," and they were probably right, at the time. But then came the breakup with Justin, and it all fell apart. No one, I think has ever won a breakup in Hollywood the way Justin Timberlake did. Not only did he get sympathy from people, but he got the ultimate revenge in the "Cry Me a River" video, one that's stuck with Spears ever since. Justin went from the "boyfriend of..." to the main attraction, Spears went from America's Sweetheart to Little Girl Lost. Justin recovered from the Superbowl incident, and dates Cameron Diaz. Britney got married, got that annulled, dated (or slept with) Colin Farrell, Fred Durst (maybe) and other not so fabulous characters. The kiss with Madonna, if it did anything, lowered her in the eyes of people, they didn't expect her to do it, and they felt that she shouldn't have, which I think turned so many people on her. Now, she's married to probably the scuzziest man on the planet, one who not only seems a significant step down from her level, but from the level of the guy she married first. K-Fed just seems to be the least well thought of guy on the planet, and the way the two of them dress when they go out, as if they'd just gotten up from a nap in the double-wide, doesn't help things either...neither does K-Fed walking around with that "undeserved sense of accomplishment" (thank you Family Guy).
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
The weekend from crazy
So last thursday, I prepared myself to head out to Manchester Airport. I had everything , in terms of my luggage, and most everything else was prepared. Then I had to find my wallet. This took a while. By about quarter after two, I was fairly frantic, and it began raining hard outside. I sprinted back and forth between my apartment and my car, getting totally soaked in the process. Then, half an hour, and about 3 panic attacks later, I found it, sitting under a small phonebook. I rushed out, only to get stuck behind a trailer for much of my time on 28. Luckily I had been told of a new way to the airport, one that had me using more of the freeway, and less of the two lane highway. I made it in time.
On the way to Chicago, I was kind of surprised how, the closer the plane got, the more real anticipation I felt. As it was still light out, I saw many of the sights of my time in Chicago, the Borman, the Skyway, the Dan Ryan, and the skyline. I was ready to go out and enjoy them, except that it seems that Southwest misplaced one of my pieces of luggage. I filed a report, then headed to John's, where I got to ride the El again and met up with Chelsey. We ended up going back to her apartment, so she could get clothes for work the next day. We also found time to stop at Chili-Mac's 5 way, which was as good as I remembered it being. Chelsey and I also were able to talk about her new situation (new job, new apartment, now living in the same town as John) and how she was dealing with it. We headed back to John's, but everyone seemed exhausted and we pretty much went right to sleep.
The next morning, I headed out rather early to go and visit Chicago magazine. I was able to briefly see Cassie, my former supervisor, but she had an inteview to do and only could speak briefly. Still, it was good to see her, and good to see that little had changed there. I then caught the South Shore Line into Indiana, where Robert picked me up.
After we got home, I headed back to Albion, obstensively to see the play and to take Audrey and Karen to dinner. I have to say, I felt such a sense of relief, such a sense of joy, to see the both of them. I nearly lost them, at least in my mind, on July 7, and then I saw them at the KC, they seemed a lot more real. I went with them, along with Amy and Jordan, out to Olive Garden. We were there a little longer than I thought, so we missed the play, but I ended up having a lot of fun hanging out with everyone that night.
Saturday, well, was probably the best day. Why? Because Michigan won, and I got to see it. The other two Michigan games on TV this year, they lost, and I felt crushed, this time, I felt raised up on high somehow. It was probably the most excited I'd been in a while about a Michigan game, especially given all of the people saying Michigan was going to lose 5 games, or even a losing record, after the Wisconsin game. Oh yeah, I also went out to Albion, and I actually got to see the show, which I thought was fabulous, as well as eat at Lopez with Heather Schweitzer and her mom, which also gave me a brief visit with my nephew, Mr. Nick Mourning. After the show, myself, John and Chelsey, and Kopec and Sadler headed to Relli's, where there were still a lot of alumni there, including Pat Hopple and Dory Lerew.
Sunday I had lunch with my family, and then my grandmother took me to the airport. Then I got my boarding pass, and waited, and waited. Then we got word of storms in Chicago that forced a delay. Then we waited, and waited some more. Finally I got word that I missed my connection in the waiting and then had some confusion about what I'd do. The earliest flight from Metro wouldn't get me here until about 6 p.m. So I ended up flying to Chicago, without knowing when I'd be leaving in the morning. I did, however, get to stay with Miss Stephanie Mann on my return trip to the Second City, and had a great time talking with her. I ended up with an early morning flight, and got here in time to accomplish things yesterday.
Thanks for listening, I'll blog some thoughts about the playoffs and some other odds and ends tomorrow.
On the way to Chicago, I was kind of surprised how, the closer the plane got, the more real anticipation I felt. As it was still light out, I saw many of the sights of my time in Chicago, the Borman, the Skyway, the Dan Ryan, and the skyline. I was ready to go out and enjoy them, except that it seems that Southwest misplaced one of my pieces of luggage. I filed a report, then headed to John's, where I got to ride the El again and met up with Chelsey. We ended up going back to her apartment, so she could get clothes for work the next day. We also found time to stop at Chili-Mac's 5 way, which was as good as I remembered it being. Chelsey and I also were able to talk about her new situation (new job, new apartment, now living in the same town as John) and how she was dealing with it. We headed back to John's, but everyone seemed exhausted and we pretty much went right to sleep.
The next morning, I headed out rather early to go and visit Chicago magazine. I was able to briefly see Cassie, my former supervisor, but she had an inteview to do and only could speak briefly. Still, it was good to see her, and good to see that little had changed there. I then caught the South Shore Line into Indiana, where Robert picked me up.
After we got home, I headed back to Albion, obstensively to see the play and to take Audrey and Karen to dinner. I have to say, I felt such a sense of relief, such a sense of joy, to see the both of them. I nearly lost them, at least in my mind, on July 7, and then I saw them at the KC, they seemed a lot more real. I went with them, along with Amy and Jordan, out to Olive Garden. We were there a little longer than I thought, so we missed the play, but I ended up having a lot of fun hanging out with everyone that night.
Saturday, well, was probably the best day. Why? Because Michigan won, and I got to see it. The other two Michigan games on TV this year, they lost, and I felt crushed, this time, I felt raised up on high somehow. It was probably the most excited I'd been in a while about a Michigan game, especially given all of the people saying Michigan was going to lose 5 games, or even a losing record, after the Wisconsin game. Oh yeah, I also went out to Albion, and I actually got to see the show, which I thought was fabulous, as well as eat at Lopez with Heather Schweitzer and her mom, which also gave me a brief visit with my nephew, Mr. Nick Mourning. After the show, myself, John and Chelsey, and Kopec and Sadler headed to Relli's, where there were still a lot of alumni there, including Pat Hopple and Dory Lerew.
Sunday I had lunch with my family, and then my grandmother took me to the airport. Then I got my boarding pass, and waited, and waited. Then we got word of storms in Chicago that forced a delay. Then we waited, and waited some more. Finally I got word that I missed my connection in the waiting and then had some confusion about what I'd do. The earliest flight from Metro wouldn't get me here until about 6 p.m. So I ended up flying to Chicago, without knowing when I'd be leaving in the morning. I did, however, get to stay with Miss Stephanie Mann on my return trip to the Second City, and had a great time talking with her. I ended up with an early morning flight, and got here in time to accomplish things yesterday.
Thanks for listening, I'll blog some thoughts about the playoffs and some other odds and ends tomorrow.
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