The happy recap

That's a little shout out to the legend, Bob Murphy. It's appropriate considering I spent the last two days in New York City.

Well I arrived on Friday morning at Newark Airport and Dad and I immediately took the NJ Transit into Manhattan. Considering the airport is only 3 stops and about 20 minutes from New York, you would think the prices would be ok. Well from 8 stops away at MetroPark, a one-way is 8 bucks. From the airport, it's 15 bucks. Throw in round trip, multiple people, and you get the point.

So we took the subway to Katz's, a legendary Jewish deli on the lower east side. It's been around since 1888. If you've ever seen "When Harry Met Sally" (one of my faves, I must admit), this is the scene where Meg Ryan's legendary "faking it" scene was held. Even better, I got to sit at the table where she and Billy Crystal filmed that scene! Here's a clip of that scene. No Matt, I did not re-enact it. We split a hot dog, a corned beef sandwich and a pastrami sandwich. You can't get food like this anywhere else in the country. Amazing stuff. Then, we went to Merrill Lynch on 5th Avenue. This one is next to the Trump Towers, so it's the real deal. And long story short, we went over a few financial issues with the people who worked with my late grandfather.

Then it was home where I got whipped in five straight games of Acey Deucey (similar to backgammon) and painted yahtzee. It happens, but the dice just did not come up my way.

The next day, we planned to take an 11:45 train to NY. Well, it got delayed. And delayed. I guess there was a problem with the Amtrak in front of it and our train came at 12:45. After arriving at Penn Station we went northwest on the subway to Canal Street and walked to Little Italy. The streets were closed to cars, so we had the whole street to walk through. The red, white, and green decorations lit up the streets. And there were so many incredible restaurants to choose from, but we knew where we were going: Umberto's Clam House.

I first heard about this place on WFAN radio, when Joe Bengino and Steve Somers did a six hour radio show from there. It's so much smaller than I imagined it. 20 tables maybe. We had the best baked littleneck clams ever. The clams were fresh and lemon and bread crumbs were amazing. We also had biscuits, which were toasted crisp Italian bread smothered in olive oil and a ton of fresh chopped garlic. There was so much, I could taste the garlic for the next two days! The we had linguine and clam sauce, which was through the roof. I think I would stick with the white sauce over the red though.

Then, it was onto the Long Island Railroad and to Shea Stadum for the Mets-Reds. As I waked down the long boardwalk and approached the old blue stadium which will soon be gone, it was like stepping into a time machine. I used to go 3-4 times a year, but I think now I've been there three times in the last 8 years. Shea may be a dump, but it's our dump. And with Citi Field rising behind the left field wall, Shea feels smaller. Maybe it's that I wasn't there for so long. Walking into a sea of people dressed in blue and orange, that's the way it should be. The Mets paid tribute to lengendary broadcaster Ralph Kiner before the game, who was our Harry Caray/Ernie Harwell on TV. Very well done and I'm glad I got to witness the tribute live. And though the Mets won 2-1, they should have won 10-1. They kept getting runners on, but could not drive them in against the worst team in the NL. The Mets offense is so anemic, every win is like a tooth extraction. The win at home was great, but this team does not have the same mojo they had last year. I admit I am worried.

And their competition is far better than last year. The Dodgers and Padres are for real and we're playing them in seven games on the road. The Braves are red hot. And even worse, the Cubs are white hot and just acquired Jason Kendall to play catcher. There could be nothing worse than to lose to one of these teams in the playoffs. This team must get their act together.

Before I take a bite out of the apple

and head to New York in eight hours, I have a couple of things to say.

1) First and foremost, without going into detail, prayer has got to make a difference. And when groups of people do it sincerely, it can make a huge difference.

2) Why do DVD players on TV's and computers wear out so quickly?

3) The New York Jets are going to have a double DVD set released on August 7. Supposedly, there will be 2 DVD's highlighting this franchise. Now, are there really enough good moments in Jets history to fill up two DVD's? Come on. These are the Chicago Cubs of football. At least the Cubs have their own stadium! But they never get to the big game and break your heart with the way they lose and screw themselves up.

Here's what it should be. Disc 1 can be the good moments. The change from the Titans to the Jets, Joe Namath, the one Super Bowl, the Sack Exchange, Parcells' brief resurrection of the franchise, Curtis Martin, the Monday Night Miracle, and Eric Mangini coming in last year.

The other disc can be all the ageda. Think about the chapters:
1) The peple we lost: Verlon Biggs, John Riggins, not being able to pull off the trade for Brett Favre the year he was drafted, Dennis Byrd getting paralyzed, Al Toon having to retire because of concussions, Vinny Testaverde tearing his Achilles in Week 1 in 1998 when we were supposed to win the whole thing, and of course, Bill Belichick quitting to coach New England and win all those titles.

2) The draft choice busts: Kenny O'Brien (over Dan Marino), Johnny Lam Jones, Kyle Brady(over Warren Sapp), Blair Thomas (over Emmitt Smith), Russell Carter, Roger Vick, etc.

3) And of course, the heartbreaking games: The 1982 Mud Bowl loss to Miami for the AFC title, the 1985 Cleveland double OT playoff debacle, the losses against Detroit and Houston that cost us playoff spots in Week 17 in two separate years, the 1994 Fake Spike game, the 1998 AFC championship loss in Denver, and Doug Brien's missed field goals in Pittsburgh.

Of course, I will be buying it nonetheless. I'd better get a few hours of sleep before I have to wake up. Later.

With that out of the way...

OK, now that I have the aggravation in one post, let's move on to other stuff. All in all, I have to be pleased with this past week. Had another week with a day off, which I think makes 5 in the last 6 weeks.

Ribfest was a solid way to spend the 4th. No broken subways, just long lines waiting for the shuttle buses. It was quite a bit hotter than Sunday. Mom actually dropped by and it was cool to not be there by myself. We split half racks from Texas Outlaws and Uncle Bub's. Outlaws' bold sauce and meaty ribs never fail to satisfy me. Now Uncle Bub's, based out of Westmont, IL, was winning awards for best ribs this year. I really have no idea how. Maybe we got the end of the rack, or we just got bad portion, I don't know, but the meat tasted overcooked and dry. Nothing that a few fresh lemonades couldn't satisfy. One funny moment though. On one of those ribs, I couldn't get a good bite. The meat just kept coming off and I had to eat all the meat in one bite. I couldn't get it down and I accidentally spit a little bit of it and a little of the sauce must have hit Mom's beige shirt...

Randy Travis was excellent and I liked Marshall Tucker Band as well, though I only knew two or three of their songs. But on both days after I was at Ribfest, I had a bad cold for about 6 hours and then it was gone with some Vitamin C and Benadryl. What gives?

Got a raise in pay at work at CEC. Not huge, but it's noticeable.

The summer just began, which for means I have to start finding fall schedules for all the local high schools and entering them into the computer. One school already down, 16 to go.

I'm off to a Kane County Cougars baseball game. And special props to a certain someone who got the left field deck, which means free concessions!

Pure aggravation

I can't take it anymore. The Mets may be in first place in the NL East. But you know what? They stink. The Mets are not a good baseball team anymore. This offense is embarrassing. Four hits in nine innings off Wandy Rodriguez. Five losses in six games.

Jose Reyes does not know how to take a pitch. Jose Valentin's knees have robbed him of his hitting power and fielding range. Julio Franco should be confided to a senior's home for the immobile. Shawn Green had a great start but has shown no consistent hitting in eight weeks. Carlos Beltran is hitting .266 and swings at pitches above his head. Carlos Delgado has lost the ability to hit faster than anyone I have ever seen. And the bullpen. What a falloff from last year. Guillermo Mota is the one major leaguer who should actually be allowed to use steroids. Joe Smith has lost his luster. Aaron Heilman gives up a lot of big hits. Aaron Sele makes me wish we had Mel Rojas back. And what a bust Scott Schoeneweis is.

I don't care they're still 3 games up in the division. Omar Minaya has to make a couple of changes to this complacent group. Because right now the Mets are a joke. This season is headed for a miserable finish.

Ribfest Day 1 recap

Well, these festivals are still fun, but they're becoming less and less fun when you go alone. I guess when you start having friends you want to do this stuff with, it changes your perspective.

After Come Thirsty in the morning and walking Hogan, I drove 40 minutes south to Naperville, IL, home of the rich yuppies. Unlike last year, there was no extra admission ticket waiting for me at the window this year, I actually had to pay my 10 dollars to get in. I went with an ear of corn to start off. Very sweet flavor. Just the right amount of butter too. The I hit Mojo's for a 3-rib taster. Nice smoky sauce. I give these a solid thumbs up. Then I hit Texas Outlaws, my fave. Instead of ribs, I wanted to do something different. So I went with a pulled pork sandwich. I got a long hoagie bun with a lot of pork and dripping with a rich sauce. Amazing. I got a half slab at Pigfoot, which is one of the higher rated vendors at Ribfest. Not bad, but they could have been better.

But the story here is the sauces at Pigfoot. They have five sauces, the new applewood, sweet, mild, hot, and killer. I was going to do hot. One guy dared people to do killer. He said he couldn't handle the heat and his mouth would have burned if he ate ribs with it. So I gave it a taste. Wasn't too bad. And I said it. Out loud. Then the lady with this guy said words that are haunting me now. "You should smother that all over your ribs!"

Now 10 people are watching this. And I couldn't back out. I squeezed that Killer sauce right onto my ribs. The when they were gone, I added a little hot and sweet so I would still be able to breathe. They were fine, but I'll stick with Texas Outlaws in the future.

As for the shows, Los Lonely Boys were very good. They didn't play too many familiar songs, there were a lot of long instrumental jams. But you should have heard the crowd erupt when Henry Garza played the opening guitar lick of "Heaven." And at the end of the song, thousands pf people sang "How far is heaven?" at least 15 times. And you know what's really cool? I know a lot of people at this event weren't Christians but they were singing a song that is really a prayer, a cry for help with a message of hope.

I'll be returning on Wednesday for Randy Travis and the Marshall Tucker Band.

PS The best wrestler in the world, Bryan Danielson, just sent me a second myspace message. Yes, I marked out!

Other thoughts from this past week

1) First of all, when the ROH show I attended last Saturday is on pay per view next September, you MUST MUST MUST buy this show. 110 bucks, two hours, and an absolutely amazing, fun, entertaining show.

2) Monday at work will be insane. My partner is out most of next week, so I have a lot of work to make up.

3) Mets sweep Philly on the road in a doubleheader. Billy Wagner records both saves. Ain't
payback a stitch?

4) It's summer time! So why can't the temperature reach 85 degrees?!

5) Sad news from the world of competitive eating. Takeru Kobayashi, the king of the Nathan's hot dog eating competition, wrote on his blog last week he seriously injured his jaw during training. He stated that he can only open his jaw about the width of a fingertip and his participation in the July 4th Nathan's contest is seriously in doubt. Hmm, considering Joey Chestnut's 59.5 dogs and buns in 12 minutes broke Kobayashi's record of 53 a few weeks ago, could he be playing possum?

6) Do I feel differently from the last blog I wrote about Chris Benoit now that more details have been released? I'm feeling a lot of emotions. I'm feeling denial, bewilderment, disbelief, shock, anger, disappointment. I guess a part of me wants to believe this isn't true.

7) I'll be at Naperville Ribfest on Sunday and Wednesday. Los Lonely Boys, randy Travis, Marshall Tucker Band for entertainment, Texas Outlaws, Howling Coyote, and roasted corn on the menu. I am pumped up!

8) I love the Knicks' draft day trade for Zach Randolph. A tough power forward who rebounds is exactly what we need playing beside Eddy Curry. Throw in Jamal Crawford, David Lee, Stephon Marbury, Nate Robinson, Renaldo Balkman, Randolph Morris, Quentin Richardson, Mardy Collins, our two more draft picks, and there's something exciting to watch. And considering we only gave up Channing Frye and Steve Francis, this is a steal. The Knicks are still a long way from being where they should be, and that's contending for a title, but I feel they helped themselves tremendously with this trade.

9) Gotta renew my driver's license tomorrow. And this comes one day after getting a parking ticket in downtown Wheaton.

10) I'm amazed how much good and confusion is in my life at the same time.

Moving forward

I've written tributes to people who have passed away for my last two posts that I felt I had to put something new on here.

A lot has been going on. First of all, I was at the Cubs-Brewers game in Wrigley today. The game was incredible, with Milwaukee leading 5-0 after 1 inning and the Cubs rallying back with 3 runs in the ninth to win it 6-5. I brought the tickets off my boss, and since he's a diehard Cubs fan, he's probably kicking himself right now for letting me go!

A few notes on the experience. First, there is nothing like the subway ride to Wrigley. After a few minutes, you can even tell what deodorant people around you use, if they use any at all. There is literally no room to move in that subway car. Here's what I want to do. About two stops before Wrigley (we had about a 35 minutes subway ride), I want to say out loud "I'm getting off!" Everyone clears out of the train to let me pass and then I just shrug and say "Kidding!"

I would love to be able to sit in one of those rooftop seats across the street from Wrigley Field. That and the seats on top of the Green Monster at Fenway have to be the two biggest seats in baseball stadiums. But here's another connection between Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. In Fenway, they have one seat in the right field stands painted red where Ted Williams once hit a home run 502 feet, the longest home run hit in the Park. I think Wrigley should paint the seat where Steve Bartman sat for the NLCS Game 6 in 2003. I'd pay 50 extra bucks for that seat!

Now a few words on Cubs fans. I realize this addresses some people reading this, so be it. I respect that most Cubs fans are passionate. I respect they've endured some tough moments. And I respect that they don't do the wave in their ballpark. Now here are my gripes. I am amazed how condescending and arrogant and they are. If you're not a Cub, you're scum in their eyes and have no business being in the same zip code. They NEVER credit players from the other team, they just hate their own. And if you root for another team and step into the so-called Friendly Confines, you're treated like the Pope in a brothel. After the game was over, a few fans even screamed at me, "Get the Brewers out of here and get the f'n Mets out of here too." This was with no provocation.

And to hear clowns like Ron Santo complain about how other team's fans only cheer when the scoreboard tells them too. Well, for eight innings, 85 percent of the crowd wasn't even paying attention to the game. Wrigley Field is becoming a cool place to hang out, it's becoming less about the baseball. And the curse. The fans want to blame a goat, a fan, the devil, and who knows what else, maybe they should learn the game of baseball and then they can point their fingers in the right direction.

Thank you Chris Benoit

I figured I would come here tonight and type about how great Ring of Honor was on Saturday or the great meal I had at Wildfire or how I will never eat another lingonberry. Maybe later.

I worked until 7 pm tonight. Around 6:45, I was running out of things to do. So I decided to jump on the ROH message board to see if anything was going on. And the pages were loading so slowly, which is really strange. The only time that board ever runs slowly is after an ROH event takes place. After about 3 or 4 minutes, the page came up. And there I saw the words that are still chilling me. "Chris Benoit is dead." Then I found out, not only was he dead, so were his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son Daniel.

I hvae posted an article to give you more details on this life and career. Here's my take. Benoit, 40, is in my mind, the greatest technical professional wrestler of this generation. I could tell from watching him for 15 years in and our of the ring that he was an absolute gentleman, a family man, passionate about the business, simply everything that is right about pro wrestling. And he's gone with no warning. In an era where the term pro wrestling has been replaced with sports entertainment, Benoit was one of the last links to pro wrestling. He wasn't about entertaining with his words or being flashy, he wasn't the greatest interview ever. He was just simply a hard working, no-nonsense, kick-ass wrestler and he did it that way for 22 years.

He was supposed to wrestle in Houston Sunday night at a pay-per-view. I found out this morning he didn't make it because he had to fly home to Atlanta for personal reasons. And then to find this out...even though I'm not one who reserves emotions very much, it takes a lot to make me cry. Well, I have shed a few tears for this. Nancy was also in wrestling, having been a manager for many years under the name Woman.

I have the Hard Knocks DVD and I will certainly watch it in the next few days. He never should have gone so soon and certainly not this way. Here is my final thought.

Chris, you were one of the guys that made me proud to be a fan of wrestling, when so many ridicule me for watching it. You were easy to root for, easy to admire, and easy to respect. Thanks for the memories. You will always be missed. You and Eddie will be main eventing in heaven's wrestling ring tonight.

For Madeline Bartolo

My dad's mother passed away last night after a five-year battle with Alzheimer's. I still don't know what the official cause was but I knew things hadn't been great lately. She'd had a fever and went in to the hospital about two weeks ago. After a few days the doctors were able to regulate her temperature. Last Sunday, she was in rough shape and on Monday she was doing well. Then Tuesday, things weren't going so well and that's the last thing I'd heard until my mother woke me up at 6 am this morning to break the news.

Most of my memories of her are a little faded, because most of my time with her was spent when I was a kid. She always lived in Brooklyn. When I moved to Illinois in 1997, I didn't get to see her and my grandfather as much as I used to. What was 6 or 7 visits a year became 2 or 3. But I can remember little things. I remember her insisting I wash my face before she took me out for the day. She said she wanted my face so bright she would have to get her sunglasses to look at me. Come to think of it, she never took the glasses out. And that was in the one bathroom in the house. Its walls and ceiling were painted flamingo pink! I remember her semolina toast in the mornings. I remember her slipping me dollar bills when dad wasn't looking. I remember her playing cards with me and my grandfather. I remember watching Victor Borge videos and laughing hysterically at his performance. I remember those Italian Thanksgivings and Christmases in that tiny house. How we got a dozen people in such a cramped place, I'll never know. I've stayed in hotel rooms that were larger than that house she lived in for what must have been 50 years.

But mostly I remember her warm spirit. She was simply one of the most compassionate, selfless people ever. Many times, I'd be riding in the car with her and my grandfather and I'd convince them to put the country music station on (this was so long ago that New York actually had a country music station). I would sing every word to every song and she would try to sing along with me, though her tastes were Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow. I would have to say she was a little out of the box. She never worked as far as I know, she was a stay-at home wife and mom. She never learned to drive a car. She was tiny, maybe 5-5 and 110 pounds. But she could gamble. She frequently won large sums in Atlantic City and Wildwood, NJ.

Then around 2000, she had two strokes. About 2003, as my college years were winding down, I heard she had the condition. I knew how devastating it is and that it is incurable. I knew things would never be the same.

I saw her three times over her four years in that nursing home. I remember the first time, my dad wheeled her in. From my seat in the lounge, I really thought he was wheeling someone else into the room. She looked so different. The round brown hair was now silver and black and neatly combed over. The left side of her mouth wouldn't move. She could barely speak and I don't think she even recognized me. If you've never dealt with Alzheimer's, that experience will shake reality right down to your boots. The second time she moved a little better. It was a balmy summer afternoon. Dad, Uncle Brian, my cousin, and I took her outside and we sat down by Sheepshead Bay. The last time was about a year ago, about six months after my grandfather had passed away. I don't recall too much, except the visit was pretty quick.

I do remember one thing she said to me at a restaurant in New Jersey around 2001. I was feeling uncertain, a little lost about where I was headed. I explained what I was feeling to her, I just didn't want to go to mom and dad for a change. And I could tell she was slowing down just a little bit. But her heart and wisdom were right there. And she said this to me twice. "Adam, you have to be your own best friend."

Thanks, Nanny, I'm trying. Tell Papa I said hello and I miss him.

One young man's prayer

More and more every day
I see the struggles of my ways
What I long for, what I yearn for
Is to see your peace working in me.
I have been busy, I have been hurried.
I have been taken, I have been burdened.
What I would give to live these moments in freedom.
Not free of the responsibility, but free from the pressure.
That gently turns me away from what I want.
This life sometimes feels like I'm surviving instead of living.
I can't expect to know my future.
But shouldn't I feel like life is more
Than just making it to the next day?

Then I consider more than me.
I sense the world.
I sense the blindness, I sense the doubts.
I sense the fear, I sense our apathy.
I sense the anger, I sense the confusion.
Then I see our search for meaning, for significance.
I see how the people in this world need you.
How can we be chosen by you?
To be accepted, to be honored?
To be forgiven, to be set free?
To be loved?

Yet I still struggle to give you even ten minutes a day.
I mean more than passing thought, more than my cries for help
But to truly know what your mercy and love can do
And have already done.
Help me to see me as you see me.

I know life on earth was never meant to be easy.
Yours wasn't.
But I want mine more clear.
Where do I fit?
How can I matter?
Right now, do I matter?
I know I want to know you more.
Never forsake me.

Arizona recap Part 2

Day 3
Thursday was Spa Day at the Camelback Marriott in Scottsdale up in the mountains. After working out for about 45 minutes, I checked in for my Swedish massage. I've never had anything like this done before. It lasted an hour, and it was an experience like none other. Dark room, southwestern music playing, it was so relaxing. The foot massage was probably the highlight.

Then came the pedicure. My toes are pretty sensitive, so I really didn't know how I would handle it. For the most part, it was cool and I won't bore you any further. Then I figured I may as well take advantage of what they had, so after an hour of tanning by the pool, I hit the steam room, the sauna, the shower, and that was that. Now it's onto downtown Phoenix for some baseball.

We went to the Diamondbacks-Giants game on Thursday and the D-Backs-Red Sox game on Friday. A few things about Chase Field. On the plus side, they have Cold Stone ice cream, the facility is maintained well considering the heat, watching the retractable roof open is cool, and the parking availability is great. Onto the negatives. Those would be changing the team colors from teal and purple to a generic red that half of baseball already has, you can barely hear the PA announcer, and the presentation is more like Triple-A baseball. Let me elaborate on that last one. I like entertainment. But this was what you would see in a minor league stadium. I don't need to see fans shagging fly balls in between innings to win frequent flyer miles. I don't need to see in-game hosts between every inning telling us the new black wool D-backs cap is six bucks off in the team souvenir shop. The presentation wasn't enough about baseball for me.

The big problem with Chase Field? The fans are dead quiet. A game there is like a morgue. For the Giants game, with Barry Bonds playing his only game of the series, there were 21,000 for the paid attendance, 44 percent capacity. The only time there was much noise was when they booed Bonds. For the Red Sox game, you would figure things would get better. Great team coming to town, the attendance will go up. And it did. 40,000 people, but I bet 20,000 of those fans were Red Sox fans. The D-Backs have a lot of good young players and one of the best records in the National League. But that franchise has to learn to market better.

I will give the D-Backs credit for one more thing. They have garlic fries, famous from San Francisco. Their "Taste of the Majors" stand features concessions from stadiums throughout baseball. These fries are basically potatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, a little butter, and a TON of fresh garlic. And they are the ultimate depression food. And I needed that. The Mets had lost 5 of 6 games and just got swept at home by Philadelphia. Suffice to say those garlic fries hit the spot. Of course, nobody dared come near me for the next four days...

Day 4
Friday started with a veggie omelette at the Good Egg for breakfast. Then we drove 40 minutes southeast to Mesa. We went to the end of Highway 202 and then the highway ended and turned into Tonto National Park, filled with just mountains, sand, and desert plants. Not a soul around. It was barren, yet beautiful. Suddenly, we arrived at the Salt River. Then, we got our inflatable tubes and floated for 2.5 hours down the Salt River surrounded by the Tonto desert. Now my father is not exactly an adventurous man. He's certainly not an outdoors guy, except for golf. He was very apprehensive going into this and mom and I begged him to do it. After 20-30 minutes of figuring out how to maneuver the tube, we could tell he started to enjoy it. How? He stopped complaining! We all really enjoyed it and he later said it was 100 times better than he thought it would ever be.

Two problems with the tubing. With the position of my body facing up in the tube, for hours in the Arizona desert heat, I got the strangest shaped sunburn. The middle of my stomach is fine, but my ankles, shoulders, and both sides of my stomach are cherry red. It's not pretty, but at least the pain has gone down. Second, my mom had my black sleeveless t-shirt in a plastic bag and at some point, it snuck out of the bag and drifted down the river, so I lost my shirt. But better to lose a t-shirt than a wallet or a cell phone.

Then we stopped in downtown Scottsdale and I purchased a belt and a few Native American necklaces, which I enjoy wearing. After going home to clean up, we had a top-notch Chinese meal at PF Chang's (lettuce wraps, ahi tuna, pork dumplings, spicy chicken, crispy honey shrimp, stir-fried spinach with garlic, pork fried rice, and for dessert, banana spring rolls). Then, it was one more baseball game with just Dad and I, went back to the Sheraton, and woke up at 4:00 am for the airport.

Being in the Southwest after coming in from the midwest is like coming to a completely different country. The colors, the heat, the mentality. I'm not saying it's better or worse, but it's different. And sometimes, we need that. I know I need a break from the familiar every once in a while. This was a good place to do it. More than that, my parents got along pretty well, thankfully. It's just as the years go by, I realize more and more how different they are with their personalities. I didn't make it to In and Out Burger like I hoped, but did pretty darn well with food.

Last, but not least, I got some time to reflect and get some quiet time, which I needed. I could have done more than I did, but I spent some time pondering my place in the world, and how I've been doing this past year. I'm not getting into specifics here, but I came away with a few clear thoughts and feelings about certain issues. I think that's enough said about that.

Arizona recap Part 1

I'm back from Phoenix. I'll just touch on a couple points from my journal that I kept.

Day 1

As the plane was approaching the southwest from Chicago, the first thing that popped into mind was "So this is what a mountain looks like?" Hadn't seen one in person in a few years.

The only thing worse than sitting right in front of a screaming baby on a plane? Sitting in front of two businessmen who don't shut up for four hours, compare stories, and don't quit swearing. For four hours, I had to hear "I put a $5,000 investment in this project, I passed it onto my son, and he's doing great with it. In fact he just brought a house.." Shut up!

Sudoku puzzles are downright addictive. I spent 90 minutes on one puzzle alone. And I'm still kicking myself for not solving it!

Bobby Q's has the best BBQ in the world. A real smoked flavor, rib meat falls off the bones. My favorite had to be the BBQ sliced pork. the baby backs, brisket, and the grilled vegetables were all excellent. And I don't like bananas much, but the sub-zero banana cream pie with the whipped cream and almonds is to die for.

Day 2

It is so refreshing to be away from the hurry, pressure, and expectations that I've gotten so accustomed to.

Three holes in one in mini golf. Not bad.


This is the same hotel I stayed at 5 years ago. It's for people who own timeshares, so it won't have a lot of people my age. It's mostly families and seniors. There aren't a whole lot of activities here either, but that makes some sense, considering there's a lot to do in the area. The waterfall at the pool is a great sight and running under it feels awesome. Actually I did play water basketball with a few kids for about an hour. They were probably about 10, 8, and 6 years old, respectively. The ball was tiny, and I had absolutely no touch shooting long range. So I decided to let them do all the shooting. I just grabbed the rebounds and passed the ball back to them. Hanging with those boys was fun. After you walk away from doing something like that, you definitely feel you spent time that was worthwhile.

Dinner at the Salt Cellar was excellent. This is an underground (literally) seafood restaurant in south Scottsdale. I had Yakimono Hawaiian ahi tuna with rice pilaf and veggies. They served it with soy sauce, fresh ginger, and the hottest wasabi known to man. I took one little taste of that green wasabi... four days later, my eyebrows have just about grown back. But this place has a lot of flair and charm. It's dark, very rustic, and intimate. If you like good seafood, I'd definitely recommend it.

Just a post before I go...

To Whom it may concern.
Traveling twice the speed of sound.
It's easy to get burned.

For the record, Crosby, Stills, and Nash can't sue me for posting the chorus to their song, reason being I changed one word.

I haven't been on here in a while, but I need to say a few things before I leave for Phoenix tomorrow morning. First of all, I don't have too many set plans for the next four days. I do know a few places I'll be: getting a spa treatment (seriously), couple baseball games, and exploring downtown Phoenix. I also have a little bit of interest in southwestern culture, Native American artifacts, etc, so I'll be sure to get into that in some way. And I've heard so much about In and Out Burger, I'll have to get into that also!

With the files I process at work, there's a lot of pressure from my boss and the powers that be to fill everything out right. So when I get an error, I get upset. It bothers me. I've been doing better lately, but today, everything collapsed. I had three errors. It just ruined the rest of my day. I spent the last 90 minutes of my work day counting down each minute until it was time to go home. Sometimes I wish I was a little more resilient with that stuff.

My grandmother needs some prayer. She's had Alzheimer's for 5 years now and lived in a nursing home for about 4. Sunday morning, she was rushed to the hospital with 104 degree temperature. We don't know why, but she's being examined right now. And Dad's in Arizona, 3,000 miles away from Brooklyn, where she is.

My work day started to get lighter early last week. Since that happened, I've found myself going to sleep earlier and earlier. Can anyone make sense out of this for me?

Softball season has begun. We opened against the navy blue team that had our number all last year and knocked us out of the playoffs. We looked dead for most of the game. We trailed 10-5 and we came up in the bottom of the sixth as the heavy rain had begun to fall. We scored seven runs, need three outs to put the win away. Before we could get just one out, they got two runs and had a runner on second. Their hitter lined a low shot to me in short center field. I could quickly tell the ball was not going to travel far and I ran in. I reached out, caught the ball at full stride, and managed to flip the ball to the second baseman. The ball beat the runner back to the bag for two outs. They scored twice more and it was our turn in the seventh, needing two runs to tie and three to win. After we made two outs, we got two runs to push the game to extras. Neither team scored in the eighth, the time limit expired, and we tied 14-14. I'm not one for moral victories, but considering how we were playing for the first half of the game and the quality of our opponent, it was a great feeling to get a tie. For me, I batted 2-for-4 with a walk, drove a runner in, and scored once. I was really proud of my defense though. I made about 8 or 9 catches, a few of them while diving. Something is just sweet about sliding face first on a soaking wet outfield.

The Mets released Chan Ho Park today. Pardon me if I'm not shedding any tears.

I almost went to the Cubs-Braves game Saturday, though I wound up having to do other things. Although Atlanta won, it still would have been fun to see Lou Piniella blow his top live and in living color.

Music pick: "Cherokee Fiddle" Johnny Lee.

And let me leave you with this. I just realized something. Every girl I've gone out with more than one time is now married. And no, I'm not disclosing the number!

How do we put the cicada in perspective?

Seems like the two most fascinating topics in the news right now are gasoline prices and the arrival of the cicadas.

According to the Tribune, we who live in Northern Illinois could see as many as 5 billion cicadas emerging over the next two weeks. If you haven't heard about these insects, they are flying creatures with red eyes and splendid wings that only appear once every 17 years. They emerge from the ground when they soil hits a certain temperature (around 65 degrees), and the males start singing to attract females, and this singing is loud! It can be as loud as a kitchen blender or food processor and can be heard from 440 yards away! From there, well, they mate, and they lay a new generation of eggs and then both parents die off pretty quickly.

What a life. Kind of like the live fast, die young attitude of insects. But consider it. They live in the soil for all this time and feed on tree roots. In the insect kingdom that has to the closest thing to jail. If I had to live in jail for 17 years and suddenly got released, well, I'd be feeling pretty excited too! Not that my singing would be my first method to get attention

Oh here's the PS from National Geographic.

"Cicadas are said to make good eating because they are low in fat and high in protein. They are considered a delicacy by many people around the world. The European settlers in North America observed the Indians eating them. During the emergence of Brood X cicadas in 1987, a number of people in Cincinnati and Illinois were reported to have tried deep-fried and stir-fried cicadas. There was also talk of cicada pizzas and cicada candy, and local newspapers printed cicada recipes."

I'm always looking to get some protein in my diet. With 5 billion of these around... ah, who am I kidding, that just sounds disgusting.

Well, I'm up way too late right now, aggravated with baseball, and just loaded up on BBQ chips and pretzels. Better hit the bed. Hopefully, the cicadas will not be singing me a lullaby...

Delgado hits a ground ball...Put it in the books!

Oh baby. That was one of the best wins I can remember in some time. I extend my deepest sympathies to any Cubs fan reading this...

Nothing like hearing Ron Santo whine and moan. I know he's been through a lot with diabetes, he's a done a lot for charities, and I respect that. This is different. I'm tired of hearing him lament over 1969. I'm tired of this talk about him wanting to blow up Shea Stadium when it closes next year. Look, Ronnie. It's been 38 years since your boys choked. Get over it Ron. Or at least stop lamenting about it over the air when I want to hear a baseball game.

Now I have a few other things to talk about. There seems to be an urge for people I know to get married. The funny, and somewhat weird, thing is I know a number of women who have either recently gotten engaged to are are dating guys who look way way older than them. I'm not going to name names, but it's like being around Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall.

I miss Peter Pan peanut butter. Jif just isn't the same.

In the last 3 months, I have killed at least 50 moths in my house.

Surprising stat: One-fourth of all calories Americans consume in a day come from soda/pop.

White Fence Farm has some incredible fried chicken.

A fourth Die Hard movie is coming out? I'm thinking about this like the last Rocky movie, I'm somewhat intrigued, but with low expectations. I don't go to many movies, but chances are I will check it out.

Music pick: "Every Which Way But Loose." Eddie Rabbitt

Thus concludes my most random post ever.