he put on his pajamas and grabbed his alarm clock from the nightstand, setting it to his usual time. climbing into bed, he prayed that tomorrow would be better and then he shut his eyes and fell asleep.
he awoke to the blare of a ac/dc tune and he jumped out of bed with a great smile on his face. he went into the bathroom and did all the usual bathroom morning things, ate breakfast and walked out the door. he skipped down the stairs of his apartment complex and got to the front door. he noticed an older gentleman who was coming inside from the snow and he decided to do his first good deed of the day and hold open the door for this gingerly fellow. the old man didn't look up, or even say a word, as he slid by the open door and went on his way toward his home.
he made his own way outside and toward his car in the parking lot on the side of the building. he climbed in and turned on the defroster and waited for the ice to melt on his windshield a little bit before he could scrape off the ice. next to him, he noticed a woman who was trying to use her credit card to deice her car, so he walked over and tried to give her a hand. she told him to please back away from the car, and that everything was fine. he turned around, got back to his car, scraped away the night air, and got in his car to go to work.
driving along the freeway, the traffic was pretty heavy. he didn't have very many miles to drive on it, so he stuck himself in the right lane and went on his way, listening to guster on the radio. while tapping his fingers to the beat of the bongo player, he noticed that his exit was coming up, but traffic was thick for the other drivers who needed to get over. he noticed a blue sedan to his left with the blinker on, and so he slowed down to let the person make their exit. as the blue car driver made his way into the lane, he noticed that he had his hand up and his middle finger extended back towards him.
he sat down at his desk a few minutes early, and noticed that nobody had made coffee yet. not being a coffee drinker himself, he got up and walked over to the station and decided to give it a whirl and let other people have coffee right away as they came in from the cold. after the pot was done brewing, people started to shuffle in from outside and grabbing cups to fill with the morning brew. they didn't ask how it got there, or who made it. a few of the people made funny faces after taking a sip and throwing the cups away, complaining about the taste. some of them just took the coffee and walked away, going about their day as if the shit magically made itself.
after work, he got in his car and went to the supermarket. he noticed a homeless man outside and was asked for any spare change. he told the guy that he might be able to spare what he could after he bought something. he went inside and corralled some things in his basket and walked up to the only person working a register just as another person walked up as well. as the person ahead of them grabbed their bags and walked away, the woman next to him didn't look or say a word and proceeded to go next with the cashier. he bit his lip and allowed it.
he paid for his few items and received 37 cents change. he collected his bags and walked out the automatic exit doors to see the homeless man still waiting there with the hopes of some money. he put down his bags and dug into his pocket and gave him the 37 cents. the homeless man took the change and looked at it with disappointment and asked him for more. he told him that he couldn't do anything with 37 cents. he apologized and said that that was all he had to spare.
he went home and cooked his food. he watched tv alone. he did the dishes from dinner, took a shower, and walked into his bedroom. he put on his pajamas, set his alarm, and got into bed.
he sat in his bed with his eyes open in the dark. he shoved the sheets off of his body and got out of bed. he stammered over to his window and slid it open. he took a deep breath and yelled outside as loud as he could:
"YOU'RE FUCKING WELCOME!!!"
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
a very real update...
it's time to reflect. it's also time to give an update on my life. it's time to tell you where i am at and where i am going and what i have been doing. it's time to come clean.
i turned 31 years old yesterday. to be honest, i never really expected to live this long so far. it's true. i always thought that i would have crashed and burned in the urban oasis of boston back some years ago. like a cockroach, i survived the atomic strike on my life and came out the other end shaking the fallout from off my collar.
i stayed in new jersey for some time before coming to florida. i was a fool for coming, but i had to give it a shot. it was for a girl with eyes that pierced my heart and i wanted my soul to be near them. it wasn't to be, but i gave myself this idea that i would stay. to finish something that i started. being here for so long now, i don't know what i started. i tell people that i am going back to school. it's been three years.
right now, i am sitting in an apartment in bradenton, florida writing this to tell people that i have no idea what the hell happened. i mean, i know what took place, but it all happened so fast. one minute, i am moving into a new apartment in florida and then next minute, i am staring down the barrel of an eviction that is soon to take place because i don't have 200 dollars to my name. at 31.
this apartment is not much at all really, but it is a roof over my head. today i got into a screaming match with my landlord because she told me not to bother her with non-emergencies after 10pm. my electric went out in my apartment two nights ago and i text messaged her to ask her to hit the circuit breaker that was located in her closed garage. i didn't fall asleep in the florida heat that night until four in the morning.
i also complained to her that my dishwasher didn't work and that i didn't enjoy the two inch palmetto cockroaches that i would see climb up my wall, but that was in one ear and out the other i presume. she complained to me that i didn't have a job. i shouted back that it wasn't my plan to get a new apartment and lose my job two days after moving in. she told me that she didn't want to support me and that she specifically wanted someone that worked so that the a/c wouldn't run during the day.
it's not so much that it is a bad situation, but more that i know i am better than it. the one thing that i know is free is my breath. i will always have that. i have always thought that my words could never be taken away from me either, and they cannot, but my eyes are the only ones that have seen what i have seen and know what i have done.
when i wake up tomorrow, i am going to go to work. i'm going to help drive cars for my father. i remember when i was 17 and arrived in boston and felt the city and the potential. that was 14 years ago. i have more to give than this. maybe florida isn't the answer.
i mean do i really want to finish what i have started here?
i turned 31 years old yesterday. to be honest, i never really expected to live this long so far. it's true. i always thought that i would have crashed and burned in the urban oasis of boston back some years ago. like a cockroach, i survived the atomic strike on my life and came out the other end shaking the fallout from off my collar.
i stayed in new jersey for some time before coming to florida. i was a fool for coming, but i had to give it a shot. it was for a girl with eyes that pierced my heart and i wanted my soul to be near them. it wasn't to be, but i gave myself this idea that i would stay. to finish something that i started. being here for so long now, i don't know what i started. i tell people that i am going back to school. it's been three years.
right now, i am sitting in an apartment in bradenton, florida writing this to tell people that i have no idea what the hell happened. i mean, i know what took place, but it all happened so fast. one minute, i am moving into a new apartment in florida and then next minute, i am staring down the barrel of an eviction that is soon to take place because i don't have 200 dollars to my name. at 31.
this apartment is not much at all really, but it is a roof over my head. today i got into a screaming match with my landlord because she told me not to bother her with non-emergencies after 10pm. my electric went out in my apartment two nights ago and i text messaged her to ask her to hit the circuit breaker that was located in her closed garage. i didn't fall asleep in the florida heat that night until four in the morning.
i also complained to her that my dishwasher didn't work and that i didn't enjoy the two inch palmetto cockroaches that i would see climb up my wall, but that was in one ear and out the other i presume. she complained to me that i didn't have a job. i shouted back that it wasn't my plan to get a new apartment and lose my job two days after moving in. she told me that she didn't want to support me and that she specifically wanted someone that worked so that the a/c wouldn't run during the day.
it's not so much that it is a bad situation, but more that i know i am better than it. the one thing that i know is free is my breath. i will always have that. i have always thought that my words could never be taken away from me either, and they cannot, but my eyes are the only ones that have seen what i have seen and know what i have done.
when i wake up tomorrow, i am going to go to work. i'm going to help drive cars for my father. i remember when i was 17 and arrived in boston and felt the city and the potential. that was 14 years ago. i have more to give than this. maybe florida isn't the answer.
i mean do i really want to finish what i have started here?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
the phillies recap 08/25/2010 - a loss...again
the philadelphia phillies stepped onto the field tonight hoping to catch ground with the atlanta braves in the battle for the nl east. what ended up happening was another failed attempt at victory against a mediocre ball club with one of the best pitchers on the mound in our efforts. yes, the phillies offense had failed again as they lost 3-2.
after last nights debacle of a game, where the team only could muster two runs in 16 innings, the phillies hoped to bounce back with roy halladay on the mound against former phillie j.a. happ. it was not to be.
ryan howard was given the night off, although he did get a pinch hit single in the ninth, the team failed to drive him in from first with two outs. besides that, the lineup was intact and could not muster up any meaningful innings at the plate. this is becoming a problem.
it's not the pitching that is the issue here and maybe it's just a case of the lineup needing to settle down and play together more. the team has fielded it's projected opening day lineup only 10 times this year which is pretty amazing since they are so close to the atlanta braves in the chase for the top position.
i'm not saying that i am concerned just yet, but it is a small worry that i have when you play at home and in three games score less than ten runs against an okay squad. this right now is the phillies chance to reclaim the lead in the east with the braves getting swept by the rockies and to not take advantage of it could be a big reason when we look back later on as to why they are battling for a wild card spot and not cruising into the playoffs as division champs.
let's hope that tomorrow night brings a nice performance and we can move on from this because i can't even say that i'm angry just yet...just confused with it all. how can a team with this much firepower be so dead. i feel like when a man reaches first base, we hit a homerun. at the beginning of the year, i felt that even if we were five runs down, we would score six in the very next inning, and we usually did. now, i feel that being down one run is a dagger to the jugular.
i'm not seeing the spark. i'm not seeing the swagger. there is no confidence at the plate.
blame who you will, but a loss is a loss. the braves don't care how it's happening.
after last nights debacle of a game, where the team only could muster two runs in 16 innings, the phillies hoped to bounce back with roy halladay on the mound against former phillie j.a. happ. it was not to be.
ryan howard was given the night off, although he did get a pinch hit single in the ninth, the team failed to drive him in from first with two outs. besides that, the lineup was intact and could not muster up any meaningful innings at the plate. this is becoming a problem.
it's not the pitching that is the issue here and maybe it's just a case of the lineup needing to settle down and play together more. the team has fielded it's projected opening day lineup only 10 times this year which is pretty amazing since they are so close to the atlanta braves in the chase for the top position.
i'm not saying that i am concerned just yet, but it is a small worry that i have when you play at home and in three games score less than ten runs against an okay squad. this right now is the phillies chance to reclaim the lead in the east with the braves getting swept by the rockies and to not take advantage of it could be a big reason when we look back later on as to why they are battling for a wild card spot and not cruising into the playoffs as division champs.
let's hope that tomorrow night brings a nice performance and we can move on from this because i can't even say that i'm angry just yet...just confused with it all. how can a team with this much firepower be so dead. i feel like when a man reaches first base, we hit a homerun. at the beginning of the year, i felt that even if we were five runs down, we would score six in the very next inning, and we usually did. now, i feel that being down one run is a dagger to the jugular.
i'm not seeing the spark. i'm not seeing the swagger. there is no confidence at the plate.
blame who you will, but a loss is a loss. the braves don't care how it's happening.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
the return of the attack of the killer buicks
i can't take it anymore. you may think that it happens everywhere and i'm being dramatic. you may think that i need to just calm down. i tell you to take heed at what i proclaim in the following paragraphs and prepare yourself for the possibility that one day you will encounter driving in florida. one day you will develop the hate that i do for the elderly and oldsmobiles, or the young and their lifted four-wheeling pickup trucks.
one of the main things that needs to be known about driving here, as opposed to new jersey, is that there are no such things as jughandles. in new jersey for those that don't know, we have them. they are an exit ramp on all roads that come back around to an intersection that you go thru that you would like to go across, or to make a left turn to go back the way you came. in florida, if you want to make a left turn, you turn from the left lane.
what ends up happening is that you get no order of speed. in new jersey, and a lot of other places, if you want to drive slow, you get in the right lane. want to speed up a little because you may only be 30 minutes early to your doctor's appointment for an enlarged prostate? try the middle lane. if you really wanna push the boundaries of the speed limits and what cops may or may not pull you over for, then you my friend can observe the left lane. florida is a free for all. any lane is available for driving well below the speed limit. time after time, i see that bumbling cadillac moping down the road in the left lane preparing to make that turn in 3 miles. god forbid that you use the middle lane and change lanes when you approach the turn you need.
inevitably, this leads to the insurgence of the road rage out-of-staters, or the under 70 crowd that grows tiresome of waiting for these slugs of life to get out of the way and they all resort to weaving in and out of traffic like a game of Spy Hunter. it's either that or you tailgate the fiber out of the person's ass in front of you. all in all, driving down a normal city road in the towns of florida is either for the blind who don't know they are in the way, or it makes the normal humans conjure up the ability for one second to actually think about knocking on someone's car window, having the person roll it down, and throw newborn babies at them while screaming the most vile words imaginable.
i have seen some other crazy things to that the road ragers end up doing while most likely being pissed off. many times i have witnessed a driver weave from the far right lane and make a left turn on a three lane road. i have seen the same douchebags make a three lane bee-line for an exit on the highway and cut off about three or four elderly people that almost brake to a halt and reach for their inhalers. i also believe that every driver in the state of florida has a woody for their high beams as well. i almost always drive now with my rearview mirror tilted to the tint setting as the old folks need that extra light from god to get home.
i don't really have any fixes for this problem of driving here, but it does feel good to get some of it out. i think the bottom line is that i wish i had my own lane where i can go ten miles over the speed limit and never see the back of a buick, oldsmobile, or cadillac. the one good thing is that you don't have to worry as much about the terrible driving after 8 o'clock since they are all getting ready for bed after catching the early bird special at denny's.
one of the main things that needs to be known about driving here, as opposed to new jersey, is that there are no such things as jughandles. in new jersey for those that don't know, we have them. they are an exit ramp on all roads that come back around to an intersection that you go thru that you would like to go across, or to make a left turn to go back the way you came. in florida, if you want to make a left turn, you turn from the left lane.
what ends up happening is that you get no order of speed. in new jersey, and a lot of other places, if you want to drive slow, you get in the right lane. want to speed up a little because you may only be 30 minutes early to your doctor's appointment for an enlarged prostate? try the middle lane. if you really wanna push the boundaries of the speed limits and what cops may or may not pull you over for, then you my friend can observe the left lane. florida is a free for all. any lane is available for driving well below the speed limit. time after time, i see that bumbling cadillac moping down the road in the left lane preparing to make that turn in 3 miles. god forbid that you use the middle lane and change lanes when you approach the turn you need.
inevitably, this leads to the insurgence of the road rage out-of-staters, or the under 70 crowd that grows tiresome of waiting for these slugs of life to get out of the way and they all resort to weaving in and out of traffic like a game of Spy Hunter. it's either that or you tailgate the fiber out of the person's ass in front of you. all in all, driving down a normal city road in the towns of florida is either for the blind who don't know they are in the way, or it makes the normal humans conjure up the ability for one second to actually think about knocking on someone's car window, having the person roll it down, and throw newborn babies at them while screaming the most vile words imaginable.
i have seen some other crazy things to that the road ragers end up doing while most likely being pissed off. many times i have witnessed a driver weave from the far right lane and make a left turn on a three lane road. i have seen the same douchebags make a three lane bee-line for an exit on the highway and cut off about three or four elderly people that almost brake to a halt and reach for their inhalers. i also believe that every driver in the state of florida has a woody for their high beams as well. i almost always drive now with my rearview mirror tilted to the tint setting as the old folks need that extra light from god to get home.
i don't really have any fixes for this problem of driving here, but it does feel good to get some of it out. i think the bottom line is that i wish i had my own lane where i can go ten miles over the speed limit and never see the back of a buick, oldsmobile, or cadillac. the one good thing is that you don't have to worry as much about the terrible driving after 8 o'clock since they are all getting ready for bed after catching the early bird special at denny's.
Monday, August 16, 2010
a story about a house
i am a large house with many rooms and many places to sit. i have wide hallways and no carpets. i am an empty wall. white paint with bright lights. the kitchen is steel and appliances. the floor is tiled and cold. i've walked around this house for a long time.
it's funny that for being in this house for so long, i still come across new rooms all the time. they are on different floors that i have never been on and they are at the ends of different corridors that i find myself wandering.
some of the rooms have been opened before of course and i have spent some time in each one. i leave some of the rooms that i like open, so that i can go in them again. if you talk really loud in some of them the sound just bellows off of one wall to another and reverberates throughout the house. all of the rooms have two seats in them and i try to sit in them from time to time, but just find myself talking to myself. it gets old after awhile. i just pick myself up from one seat and move into the other seat and reply.
some of the other rooms in my house i have closed again. when i close the rooms, they lock behind me and the key that i have won't work in them again, so i need to be really careful that i want to close them. some of the rooms that i closed off just remind me of things that i don't want to remember, or they have pictures on the walls that i don't like.
a couple months ago, i came across this room that i never had seen before and the door was bright with all the colors of the rainbow splattered on it. there was loud music playing from inside and i just knew that i hadn't been in it before. i turned the knob and opened it to find you standing there smiling at me.
i felt like i knew you right away as we sat down to talk. everything that you said sounded like something that i could have said. it was funny. it was insightful. and you were beautiful.
i remembered how to get to your room and would go back all the time. we'd sit as the music played and would laugh and just pass the time. i asked if you would like to come around and look at the rest of the house with me. we walked and walked all over the property. up the stairs and down the stairs. to the far reaches of the mansion. a lot of the rooms we couldn't go into for some reason because my key wouldn't work, so we just kept going forward.
we would peek our heads into the ones we could though and found some great things to do. it seemed that the most fun that i had however, was when we just sat down at the two chairs that would be in the room, whether they be soft, reclining chairs, or foldout chairs in the basement, and just talk about the world and life.
one day when we were talking, i had said something about wanting to eat, and you got up and declared that you would make sandwiches and you raced out of the room towards the kitchen. while you were away, i took a peek around just to see if i had missed anything that i hadn't seen before. i went over to your bed and took a glance at your bedside table and noticed that it had a drawer to it. it's funny, but i hadn't noticed it from all the times that we had talked and i didn't even know if she knew it was there either.
i slid open the tiny, thin drawer and smiled at the contents. a key. it was bright, shiny and new. when you came back, you saw me standing there with it and i explained that i found it when looking on your table. i told her that i thought that it may be for all the rooms that we couldn't go into before. we talked while we ate about all the possibilities that may await if we just take the chance and open them just to see what would be inside. at the same time though, it felt pretty good just living the way we were. we sat and mulled the idea for what seemed like eternity and finally she got up, looked me in the eyes, smiled and said...
"let's go exploring!"
she grabbed my hand and we left her room, running down the halls laughing.
it's funny that for being in this house for so long, i still come across new rooms all the time. they are on different floors that i have never been on and they are at the ends of different corridors that i find myself wandering.
some of the rooms have been opened before of course and i have spent some time in each one. i leave some of the rooms that i like open, so that i can go in them again. if you talk really loud in some of them the sound just bellows off of one wall to another and reverberates throughout the house. all of the rooms have two seats in them and i try to sit in them from time to time, but just find myself talking to myself. it gets old after awhile. i just pick myself up from one seat and move into the other seat and reply.
some of the other rooms in my house i have closed again. when i close the rooms, they lock behind me and the key that i have won't work in them again, so i need to be really careful that i want to close them. some of the rooms that i closed off just remind me of things that i don't want to remember, or they have pictures on the walls that i don't like.
a couple months ago, i came across this room that i never had seen before and the door was bright with all the colors of the rainbow splattered on it. there was loud music playing from inside and i just knew that i hadn't been in it before. i turned the knob and opened it to find you standing there smiling at me.
i felt like i knew you right away as we sat down to talk. everything that you said sounded like something that i could have said. it was funny. it was insightful. and you were beautiful.
i remembered how to get to your room and would go back all the time. we'd sit as the music played and would laugh and just pass the time. i asked if you would like to come around and look at the rest of the house with me. we walked and walked all over the property. up the stairs and down the stairs. to the far reaches of the mansion. a lot of the rooms we couldn't go into for some reason because my key wouldn't work, so we just kept going forward.
we would peek our heads into the ones we could though and found some great things to do. it seemed that the most fun that i had however, was when we just sat down at the two chairs that would be in the room, whether they be soft, reclining chairs, or foldout chairs in the basement, and just talk about the world and life.
one day when we were talking, i had said something about wanting to eat, and you got up and declared that you would make sandwiches and you raced out of the room towards the kitchen. while you were away, i took a peek around just to see if i had missed anything that i hadn't seen before. i went over to your bed and took a glance at your bedside table and noticed that it had a drawer to it. it's funny, but i hadn't noticed it from all the times that we had talked and i didn't even know if she knew it was there either.
i slid open the tiny, thin drawer and smiled at the contents. a key. it was bright, shiny and new. when you came back, you saw me standing there with it and i explained that i found it when looking on your table. i told her that i thought that it may be for all the rooms that we couldn't go into before. we talked while we ate about all the possibilities that may await if we just take the chance and open them just to see what would be inside. at the same time though, it felt pretty good just living the way we were. we sat and mulled the idea for what seemed like eternity and finally she got up, looked me in the eyes, smiled and said...
"let's go exploring!"
she grabbed my hand and we left her room, running down the halls laughing.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
a new spin on things
there is this great calvin and hobbes comic that starts with calvin and hobbes both standing next to each other on the sidewalk in the middle of the day. calvin turns to hobbes and tells him to think about this block that they were on as their life. they look back at the first crack and calvin explains how that is the beginning of their lives and the crack in front of them is the end of their lives. everything that they do in between the two cracks is what makes up their lives and they better be proud of what they did because the end comes faster than you think.
the last panel shows the boy and tiger in the exact same spot, staring at their feet in total darkness.
i'm in the middle of my sidewalk and i have taken a moment to stop and tell you where i am at right now and the next step forward that i plan on taking. i have been told to remain positive, and that kind of reminds me of this thing that i read a couple weeks ago where the author said that even if you aren't feeling great, or things aren't going as they should, you should still act positive. they said that even putting on the facade of positivity will in turn bring positiveness to your life.
i don't know if i buy that. it kind of seems like being a little fake, or not letting people see how you truly feel, but i think i may be getting to the point where maybe people don't want to see someone who may be glum on certain days. i'm sure it's not a blast to be around somebody who isn't on their "A" game. things haven't been top notch yet either, so trying something new may be fun.
so...
i have been working at my job now for the past four months and it's been great! i have had a wonderful time struggling to learn this new job. every day that i go into work, i learn an exciting new challenging task while still doing things that i have been learning from previous days. my new job has taught me to even further develop my multi-tasking capabilities because i am given tasks by people who come up to my desk, by people that call me on the phone, by people who send me e-mails and through text messages! i think it's amazing the amount of work that i can get done everyday. i can see why i don't get a lunch break. who needs it anyway?
i am planning on moving into a new apartment in september. i love moving! the process of taking all of my things and packing them up into boxes to move isn't totally awesome, but it sure is something to do on a nice day outside. i have been dealing with some interesting potential landlords. i haven't met one yet that i have been completely comfortable with, but i know that it will happen soon enough. i may even be staying at the owner of my company's second house down the street from the office. that would be nice. 100 dollars a week with everything included will really give me a nice opportunity to be independent and to be able to save up some money. i am hoping that that goes through.
let's see, what else? oh yea, i am hoping that i can go to school next month. it would be nice to take some writing classes again. i think i am supposed to be here to write and i haven't done it to the capacity that i would have liked to up to this point, but that is all changing come september. the college isn't that far from anywhere that i am potentially going to live, so that's a good thing. i haven't taken a college class in about 10 years, but i know that i will do better than i did then! that was a mess back then! haha!
i met a girl that i like! she's definitely a breath of fresh air and although nothing is going on between us right now, i still am holding out hope for the future. she even knows it this time which is a plus and still seems to want to talk to me. i meet up with her and her friends a lot to play pool and hang out. it's been nice to actually hang out with people near my age group too. laughing has been great and i look forward to laughing more.
florida sure has been a challenge so far, but i feel that the next month could be a real page turner. i am ready to take another step forward on my sidewalk. hopefully, if i just do the right things and have the right outlook, i will be rewarded with all the right outcomes.
if not, my birthday is on the 15th of september. address to come...
the last panel shows the boy and tiger in the exact same spot, staring at their feet in total darkness.
i'm in the middle of my sidewalk and i have taken a moment to stop and tell you where i am at right now and the next step forward that i plan on taking. i have been told to remain positive, and that kind of reminds me of this thing that i read a couple weeks ago where the author said that even if you aren't feeling great, or things aren't going as they should, you should still act positive. they said that even putting on the facade of positivity will in turn bring positiveness to your life.
i don't know if i buy that. it kind of seems like being a little fake, or not letting people see how you truly feel, but i think i may be getting to the point where maybe people don't want to see someone who may be glum on certain days. i'm sure it's not a blast to be around somebody who isn't on their "A" game. things haven't been top notch yet either, so trying something new may be fun.
so...
i have been working at my job now for the past four months and it's been great! i have had a wonderful time struggling to learn this new job. every day that i go into work, i learn an exciting new challenging task while still doing things that i have been learning from previous days. my new job has taught me to even further develop my multi-tasking capabilities because i am given tasks by people who come up to my desk, by people that call me on the phone, by people who send me e-mails and through text messages! i think it's amazing the amount of work that i can get done everyday. i can see why i don't get a lunch break. who needs it anyway?
i am planning on moving into a new apartment in september. i love moving! the process of taking all of my things and packing them up into boxes to move isn't totally awesome, but it sure is something to do on a nice day outside. i have been dealing with some interesting potential landlords. i haven't met one yet that i have been completely comfortable with, but i know that it will happen soon enough. i may even be staying at the owner of my company's second house down the street from the office. that would be nice. 100 dollars a week with everything included will really give me a nice opportunity to be independent and to be able to save up some money. i am hoping that that goes through.
let's see, what else? oh yea, i am hoping that i can go to school next month. it would be nice to take some writing classes again. i think i am supposed to be here to write and i haven't done it to the capacity that i would have liked to up to this point, but that is all changing come september. the college isn't that far from anywhere that i am potentially going to live, so that's a good thing. i haven't taken a college class in about 10 years, but i know that i will do better than i did then! that was a mess back then! haha!
i met a girl that i like! she's definitely a breath of fresh air and although nothing is going on between us right now, i still am holding out hope for the future. she even knows it this time which is a plus and still seems to want to talk to me. i meet up with her and her friends a lot to play pool and hang out. it's been nice to actually hang out with people near my age group too. laughing has been great and i look forward to laughing more.
florida sure has been a challenge so far, but i feel that the next month could be a real page turner. i am ready to take another step forward on my sidewalk. hopefully, if i just do the right things and have the right outlook, i will be rewarded with all the right outcomes.
if not, my birthday is on the 15th of september. address to come...
Monday, August 2, 2010
a story about a tree
the seed was put into the ground one day years ago and everyone waited for it to come out of the soil and reach for the sun. some days while they waited, it rained and other days it was sunny, but they all gathered around the plot of ground that would give new life to the earth. it would have growing pains, and it would have good times. it would bask in the rays of the sunrise, and it would sleep during the moonlit nights.
and the sprout grew out and said hello to the world. the crowd of people gathered around it and praised this new thing that had appeared before them. some held each other close, while others danced around it. all of the people that had waited for it were smiling and grateful that the little guy was okay.
you could tell from the early days that this tree had the potential to be one of the great ones. it dug it's roots deep and made it's branches grow with the power of a tree 3 times it's age. it all seemed so easy to the sapling, and the people who gathered around nodded with approval and praise.
during it's young life, the tree was hit by hard times when some that were around him became enraged with others that this plant had taken up so much time from the ones that they wanted to be with. they shunned him ultimately. they tried to discourage the growth by snapping at it's twigs and kicking away the dirt from it's base. the tree still tried to grow up properly, but it had started to become hardened by the meanness of others.
he couldn't run away from it either. it would get worse as he grew, and the tree was showing signs of the abuse that had come his way. he developed a disease on his trunk and it stunted his growth. the few that were left that hadn't abandoned this once promising tree tried with all their might to patch the wounds that had afflicted it, but they couldn't do enough. the tree looked down at those that were there for him and appreciated all the help, but things were just going to be more difficult from this point forward.
he wasn't going to be the giant, blossoming plant that people expected. he might not even end up being like the others that had grown past him in recent years. his roots were strong though and he knew that things could be alright if he could just fix himself and grow again.
sometimes, a few people come around to the tree and point at it and put fertilizer down at it's base and tell each other about how great this tree could have been. they pat down the soil and rub it's bark and wonder what could have been. he hears all of that and appreciates the thoughts, but knows that those are words of failure.
the tree stands still, but that gives it time to observe everything. it sees a lot of the people that were once here, are not now. he wants to prove them wrong. he wants to be accepted as a great thing again. the sun shines down on it still and the rain gives life to it's soul. this tree will be great again.
this tree is not done yet.
and the sprout grew out and said hello to the world. the crowd of people gathered around it and praised this new thing that had appeared before them. some held each other close, while others danced around it. all of the people that had waited for it were smiling and grateful that the little guy was okay.
you could tell from the early days that this tree had the potential to be one of the great ones. it dug it's roots deep and made it's branches grow with the power of a tree 3 times it's age. it all seemed so easy to the sapling, and the people who gathered around nodded with approval and praise.
during it's young life, the tree was hit by hard times when some that were around him became enraged with others that this plant had taken up so much time from the ones that they wanted to be with. they shunned him ultimately. they tried to discourage the growth by snapping at it's twigs and kicking away the dirt from it's base. the tree still tried to grow up properly, but it had started to become hardened by the meanness of others.
he couldn't run away from it either. it would get worse as he grew, and the tree was showing signs of the abuse that had come his way. he developed a disease on his trunk and it stunted his growth. the few that were left that hadn't abandoned this once promising tree tried with all their might to patch the wounds that had afflicted it, but they couldn't do enough. the tree looked down at those that were there for him and appreciated all the help, but things were just going to be more difficult from this point forward.
he wasn't going to be the giant, blossoming plant that people expected. he might not even end up being like the others that had grown past him in recent years. his roots were strong though and he knew that things could be alright if he could just fix himself and grow again.
sometimes, a few people come around to the tree and point at it and put fertilizer down at it's base and tell each other about how great this tree could have been. they pat down the soil and rub it's bark and wonder what could have been. he hears all of that and appreciates the thoughts, but knows that those are words of failure.
the tree stands still, but that gives it time to observe everything. it sees a lot of the people that were once here, are not now. he wants to prove them wrong. he wants to be accepted as a great thing again. the sun shines down on it still and the rain gives life to it's soul. this tree will be great again.
this tree is not done yet.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Day That Was
"I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
- Invictus by William Ernest Henley
The daily grind of the everyday hustle and bustle, or even the dreadfully dull, can become redundant and tiresome. From a bird's eye view, we must appear to be ants among smaller ants. We run this way and that. We go to work and we come home from work. We eat at the same places for lunch. We all answer our phones at work the same way and we all try to do the jobs we are given in the hopes that we make our money to enjoy the weekends or the free time that we do have.
Through all of the hard work and living the lives we lead, we are given our breaks from stress. We are given time to leave it all behind. It can be spent with family and friends. It can be alone on a porch with a cold beer and the sounds of summer. It can reward you with clarity and direction. It can be a time for you to just breathe. It is the dessert of life.
And sometimes, it comes with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
While mulling through some paperwork and dealing with the telephone this morning at work, I navigated my way to the United States versus Algeria soccer match at the World Cup. The anticipation for this match had strangled me right up until the opening kick and I was not to miss the event. I had the match on with no speaker volume in a little window on the corner of my computer and tried to check in every now and then.
The U.S. needed victory bad for many reasons. They needed to score one more goal than the desert foxes from Algeria to ensure a birth in the 16 team tournament that awaited the victor. A loss here would send the Americans packing up their bags to head home to a plethora of media badgering and ignorant folks who would just dog soccer again. A loss would have ended any real shot at the growth of soccer for a very long time.
As the game drew close to the finish, the score was still tied at 0-0 and I could feel myself deflate as a tie would do us no good. When an assistant referee posted four minutes of extra time, I could already hear the sports talk old-timers pointing their fingers and calling soccer a non-issue.
Then, in a blink of an eye, Landon Donovan caught a rebounded shot off goal and slammed home a goal that shattered the new century with the alarm of a new era. By this time, I had stopped all work, jumped out of my seat and cheered. My twitter feed erupted in a fury of nationalism that I had not seen in a very long time. The United States went on to win the game 1-0 and secured themselves in the tournament, playing Saturday against Ghana.
The whipped cream can go on top, thanks.
After the rest of the day at work and after watching Invictus, I put on the Phillies game against the Indians with the Phillies down a run. Chase Utley had just protected the one run deficit with a great double play in the top of the 9th as the Phils came up to bat. With Valdez on second base, Jimmy Rollins stepped to the plate. Hitless since coming back from an injury that had sidelined him most of the year he took the count to 1-1 as Kerry Wood drew in and delivered a meatball that Rollins delivered to the right field seats. That's right, the Phillies won in dramatic, walk-off fashion 7-6.
Days like this keep people going. Today is an amazing example of living life to enjoy life. It was a reason to deal with all the peripheral things that really don't matter in the end. Sport is an amazing thing that wraps your soul in intrigue and wonder. Some days are just better than others. Some days you just have to stand and applaud even if you are the only one in the room. Some days, sport applauds your efforts.
I think I'll have two cherries on top, please.
I am the captain of my soul."
- Invictus by William Ernest Henley
The daily grind of the everyday hustle and bustle, or even the dreadfully dull, can become redundant and tiresome. From a bird's eye view, we must appear to be ants among smaller ants. We run this way and that. We go to work and we come home from work. We eat at the same places for lunch. We all answer our phones at work the same way and we all try to do the jobs we are given in the hopes that we make our money to enjoy the weekends or the free time that we do have.
Through all of the hard work and living the lives we lead, we are given our breaks from stress. We are given time to leave it all behind. It can be spent with family and friends. It can be alone on a porch with a cold beer and the sounds of summer. It can reward you with clarity and direction. It can be a time for you to just breathe. It is the dessert of life.
And sometimes, it comes with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
While mulling through some paperwork and dealing with the telephone this morning at work, I navigated my way to the United States versus Algeria soccer match at the World Cup. The anticipation for this match had strangled me right up until the opening kick and I was not to miss the event. I had the match on with no speaker volume in a little window on the corner of my computer and tried to check in every now and then.
The U.S. needed victory bad for many reasons. They needed to score one more goal than the desert foxes from Algeria to ensure a birth in the 16 team tournament that awaited the victor. A loss here would send the Americans packing up their bags to head home to a plethora of media badgering and ignorant folks who would just dog soccer again. A loss would have ended any real shot at the growth of soccer for a very long time.
As the game drew close to the finish, the score was still tied at 0-0 and I could feel myself deflate as a tie would do us no good. When an assistant referee posted four minutes of extra time, I could already hear the sports talk old-timers pointing their fingers and calling soccer a non-issue.
Then, in a blink of an eye, Landon Donovan caught a rebounded shot off goal and slammed home a goal that shattered the new century with the alarm of a new era. By this time, I had stopped all work, jumped out of my seat and cheered. My twitter feed erupted in a fury of nationalism that I had not seen in a very long time. The United States went on to win the game 1-0 and secured themselves in the tournament, playing Saturday against Ghana.
The whipped cream can go on top, thanks.
After the rest of the day at work and after watching Invictus, I put on the Phillies game against the Indians with the Phillies down a run. Chase Utley had just protected the one run deficit with a great double play in the top of the 9th as the Phils came up to bat. With Valdez on second base, Jimmy Rollins stepped to the plate. Hitless since coming back from an injury that had sidelined him most of the year he took the count to 1-1 as Kerry Wood drew in and delivered a meatball that Rollins delivered to the right field seats. That's right, the Phillies won in dramatic, walk-off fashion 7-6.
Days like this keep people going. Today is an amazing example of living life to enjoy life. It was a reason to deal with all the peripheral things that really don't matter in the end. Sport is an amazing thing that wraps your soul in intrigue and wonder. Some days are just better than others. Some days you just have to stand and applaud even if you are the only one in the room. Some days, sport applauds your efforts.
I think I'll have two cherries on top, please.
Monday, March 29, 2010
my day at the doctor's office
so, i woke up today a little earlier than usual. i was up and at em at about 8 o'clock to get to my first real physical in over a decade at the doctor's office. to be honest, i really hate doctors or hospitals. i am not really sure why, maybe it is the old people. i left the house at about 8:40 and got to my appointment on time.
i was shuffled into the examination room and was told to sit down. i was given a blood pressure test and i was like 116/90. the 90 part was kind of high, but she said it was because i hadn't had a chance to rest. she checked my pulse, but didn't tell me what that was, so i assume i wasn't dead. then, she asked me some general questions about things and told me to take off all my clothes except my undershorts. undershorts? um, ok...
right around then, i thought it was funny that i wore boxer shorts today because it'd be hilarious to think as a doctor just wandering into a room with a fully nude man sitting on a communal chair with both socks on and wearing a watch. i sat there in my seat though, in my boxers, and awaited the doc.
she walked in and greeted me. she was nice and made me feel comfortable. i told her about how i had lost 20 pounds recently and she told me to keep it up and my blood pressure should get even better. now, if any of you really no me, you will know that i get freaking amazingly dry skin. especially where a unibrow would be and the sides of my nostrils. well, i haven't been to a doctor and told her about it. she said it was psoriasis. okay, that's not life threatening. i can deal with that. i even had a cream at home that i never thought to use on it because i thought it was eczema, but i didn't mention that at the time.
also, some of you may have seen this before or not with me, but i have had this problem with my hands and fingers for a long time. they shake upon movement. it is really annoying. i have been doing it since i was like 13. i remember back in the day, not being able to eat a real watery kind of soup because i would sometimes lose the contents on the spoon on the way to my mouth! even to this day, i sometimes have issues with placing small things or moving things. about a month ago, i took some change and put it in a pile between my pointer finger and thumb and when i went to give it to a cashier in a drive-thru, all the change started to shake in my fingers and then they splurged out onto the pavement between my car and window. so embarrassing.
i told the doctor about it and she performed this test on me where she held her finger out in front of me and told me to point my finger to my nose and then back to her finger with both hands. i was soooo off! shaking my way to the destination. it was ridiculous. she was like, "wow!" i don't think you want to hear your doctor say that.
after that, we got to the grand finale of male physicals: the hernia test. she told me to put my butt against the end of the exam table and stand up. she told me to drop trow. i did. then, she starts explaining to me all the things that she is going to check for and why and what she will be looking for. yo doc, i'm already naked! check my junk and let's get out of here. you can tell me procedure when we are done. damn. anyway, i'm all good down there too.
i kind of thought about what i would do if i was a doctor and had to look at male genitalia from time to time during these exams. i think it would be funny to bust out one of those back scratchers with the hand at the end to perform the test. also, if you had to give a rectal exam, i think i would get some laughs if i put on a coal miner's helmet first and turn on the light.
so after i put on my clothes, she came back in and sat down and told me the outcome of her exam. she stated that she was giving me a steroid cream for my dry skin. she warned me not to use it on my face though for a long time because it could develop spider veins. that'd be weird. i think i am gonna try my other cream first, or maybe i can use steroids and hit many homeruns in professional baseball!
then, she told me that she wanted me to see a specialist about my shaking. a neurologist to be more specific. she said that since it only has gotten a little worse over the last 17 years, she didn't think that i had...wait for it...a brain tumor or parkinson's, but she wanted to do a test to make sure! WTF?! she said that she thought it was what is called a familial tremor or something, but it was odd because you don't develop that so early in life. crazy. i'm not gonna get all worked up about it until i hear what it really is, but that's crazy.
so that was my trip to the doctor. i got a referral to see a brain doctor, some steroids, and my junk is fine.
talk to you soon.
i was shuffled into the examination room and was told to sit down. i was given a blood pressure test and i was like 116/90. the 90 part was kind of high, but she said it was because i hadn't had a chance to rest. she checked my pulse, but didn't tell me what that was, so i assume i wasn't dead. then, she asked me some general questions about things and told me to take off all my clothes except my undershorts. undershorts? um, ok...
right around then, i thought it was funny that i wore boxer shorts today because it'd be hilarious to think as a doctor just wandering into a room with a fully nude man sitting on a communal chair with both socks on and wearing a watch. i sat there in my seat though, in my boxers, and awaited the doc.
she walked in and greeted me. she was nice and made me feel comfortable. i told her about how i had lost 20 pounds recently and she told me to keep it up and my blood pressure should get even better. now, if any of you really no me, you will know that i get freaking amazingly dry skin. especially where a unibrow would be and the sides of my nostrils. well, i haven't been to a doctor and told her about it. she said it was psoriasis. okay, that's not life threatening. i can deal with that. i even had a cream at home that i never thought to use on it because i thought it was eczema, but i didn't mention that at the time.
also, some of you may have seen this before or not with me, but i have had this problem with my hands and fingers for a long time. they shake upon movement. it is really annoying. i have been doing it since i was like 13. i remember back in the day, not being able to eat a real watery kind of soup because i would sometimes lose the contents on the spoon on the way to my mouth! even to this day, i sometimes have issues with placing small things or moving things. about a month ago, i took some change and put it in a pile between my pointer finger and thumb and when i went to give it to a cashier in a drive-thru, all the change started to shake in my fingers and then they splurged out onto the pavement between my car and window. so embarrassing.
i told the doctor about it and she performed this test on me where she held her finger out in front of me and told me to point my finger to my nose and then back to her finger with both hands. i was soooo off! shaking my way to the destination. it was ridiculous. she was like, "wow!" i don't think you want to hear your doctor say that.
after that, we got to the grand finale of male physicals: the hernia test. she told me to put my butt against the end of the exam table and stand up. she told me to drop trow. i did. then, she starts explaining to me all the things that she is going to check for and why and what she will be looking for. yo doc, i'm already naked! check my junk and let's get out of here. you can tell me procedure when we are done. damn. anyway, i'm all good down there too.
i kind of thought about what i would do if i was a doctor and had to look at male genitalia from time to time during these exams. i think it would be funny to bust out one of those back scratchers with the hand at the end to perform the test. also, if you had to give a rectal exam, i think i would get some laughs if i put on a coal miner's helmet first and turn on the light.
so after i put on my clothes, she came back in and sat down and told me the outcome of her exam. she stated that she was giving me a steroid cream for my dry skin. she warned me not to use it on my face though for a long time because it could develop spider veins. that'd be weird. i think i am gonna try my other cream first, or maybe i can use steroids and hit many homeruns in professional baseball!
then, she told me that she wanted me to see a specialist about my shaking. a neurologist to be more specific. she said that since it only has gotten a little worse over the last 17 years, she didn't think that i had...wait for it...a brain tumor or parkinson's, but she wanted to do a test to make sure! WTF?! she said that she thought it was what is called a familial tremor or something, but it was odd because you don't develop that so early in life. crazy. i'm not gonna get all worked up about it until i hear what it really is, but that's crazy.
so that was my trip to the doctor. i got a referral to see a brain doctor, some steroids, and my junk is fine.
talk to you soon.
Monday, February 15, 2010
A tale of two skippers
Welcome, my friends, to year six. The train is set to depart in a couple days on another long season of comfort sounds. The balls are set to smack the back of a catcher's mitt and the sounds that crackle off the barrel of a wooden stick careening a baseball 350ft away into the roar of a crowd are soon at hand. Yes, my friends, it is year six that our train is set to depart and at the helm of the engine is our skipper, Charlie Manuel.
Expectations are high this year, but so has every year that Charlie has taken the reigns of the club. He comes into the season with a newly acquired pitching phenom that will surely bolster his rotation and he has reloaded the usual cast of offensive bullets in an attempt to shoot down the rivals of the division as he has in years past.
The ride hasn't been as smooth as one might remember it being though.
When Charlie took over after the 2004 season, he took the place of the recently let go Larry Bowa. Bowa was a charismatic leader of a team that wore his heart on his sleeve. You always new what you were feeling out of Bowa. He was never afraid to show his true feelings towards the umpires, the media, and even his own players. Bowa was a favorite among fans. He helped bring the Phillies back to the winning ways of the early 1980's by teaching a game of all out hustle and grit. The Phillies had a many losing seasons before Bowa grabbed the helm of the club and quickly brought the team to the bright side of baseball compiling 3 seasons out of 4 of winning baseball and even won a manager of the year award.
He lost his team though and couldn't quite get over the hump of making a deep run into the playoffs. He was fired, and I must say, I was not to pleased at the time.
Fans and the media did not take long to notice the difference between Bowa and Manuel. He tended to not speak out against his players and he didn't really offer up much of a reply for decisions made during games. He didn't seem to be quite comfortable sitting in at press conferences answering the questions and having the spotlight solely on him and the media ate it up. Teasing him about his mumbling answers and down home approach to the professional nature of the game, Howard Eskin and others started to mention him as Uncle Charlie. They would berate him in the newspapers and on the radio constantly, second guessing every call. I have to admit, I was among them with my friends. We would almost use our Foghorn Leghorn voice as Manuel's.
You know what seemed to happen though? He won. Charlie Manuel has never finished a season with less than 85 wins. He has gotten over 90 wins twice in five years. He has been voted by fans as the best manager in baseball on one occasion. He has the absolute backing of his players. He even has won over this writer.
A new season is upon us and I sat back today and wondered what would have happened if Larry Bowa had remained the coach of The Philadelphia Phillies all this time. You know what, I'm not sure. What I do know is that what has happened has happened. Results are results. We have our ring. We came damn close last year. Sometimes I think that coaching is overrated in sports and that if you have the talent, anybody can win sometimes.
Manuel reminded me though back in 2007 that he cared deeply for his team and his players when he finally confronted Mr. Eskin during a press conference. Eskin was really egging Charlie on about why he didn't get in his players' faces and pressed their buttons and try and motivate the players through pressure tactics. What Charlie did instead was defend himself and his team at the same time by telling Howard that he would gladly talk to him about it in his office anytime and actually had to be pulled out of the room.
That showed me what we had as a skipper. Fire. Determination. Passion. Leadership. I didn't realize it before then and I really believe the team has been a different one since that day.
Charlie Manuel is the coach of our Phillies. As fans we have trusted in him and he has given us all that we could have asked for. I am ready to ride the train again.
Welcome to year six. All aboard.
Expectations are high this year, but so has every year that Charlie has taken the reigns of the club. He comes into the season with a newly acquired pitching phenom that will surely bolster his rotation and he has reloaded the usual cast of offensive bullets in an attempt to shoot down the rivals of the division as he has in years past.
The ride hasn't been as smooth as one might remember it being though.
When Charlie took over after the 2004 season, he took the place of the recently let go Larry Bowa. Bowa was a charismatic leader of a team that wore his heart on his sleeve. You always new what you were feeling out of Bowa. He was never afraid to show his true feelings towards the umpires, the media, and even his own players. Bowa was a favorite among fans. He helped bring the Phillies back to the winning ways of the early 1980's by teaching a game of all out hustle and grit. The Phillies had a many losing seasons before Bowa grabbed the helm of the club and quickly brought the team to the bright side of baseball compiling 3 seasons out of 4 of winning baseball and even won a manager of the year award.
He lost his team though and couldn't quite get over the hump of making a deep run into the playoffs. He was fired, and I must say, I was not to pleased at the time.
Fans and the media did not take long to notice the difference between Bowa and Manuel. He tended to not speak out against his players and he didn't really offer up much of a reply for decisions made during games. He didn't seem to be quite comfortable sitting in at press conferences answering the questions and having the spotlight solely on him and the media ate it up. Teasing him about his mumbling answers and down home approach to the professional nature of the game, Howard Eskin and others started to mention him as Uncle Charlie. They would berate him in the newspapers and on the radio constantly, second guessing every call. I have to admit, I was among them with my friends. We would almost use our Foghorn Leghorn voice as Manuel's.
You know what seemed to happen though? He won. Charlie Manuel has never finished a season with less than 85 wins. He has gotten over 90 wins twice in five years. He has been voted by fans as the best manager in baseball on one occasion. He has the absolute backing of his players. He even has won over this writer.
A new season is upon us and I sat back today and wondered what would have happened if Larry Bowa had remained the coach of The Philadelphia Phillies all this time. You know what, I'm not sure. What I do know is that what has happened has happened. Results are results. We have our ring. We came damn close last year. Sometimes I think that coaching is overrated in sports and that if you have the talent, anybody can win sometimes.
Manuel reminded me though back in 2007 that he cared deeply for his team and his players when he finally confronted Mr. Eskin during a press conference. Eskin was really egging Charlie on about why he didn't get in his players' faces and pressed their buttons and try and motivate the players through pressure tactics. What Charlie did instead was defend himself and his team at the same time by telling Howard that he would gladly talk to him about it in his office anytime and actually had to be pulled out of the room.
That showed me what we had as a skipper. Fire. Determination. Passion. Leadership. I didn't realize it before then and I really believe the team has been a different one since that day.
Charlie Manuel is the coach of our Phillies. As fans we have trusted in him and he has given us all that we could have asked for. I am ready to ride the train again.
Welcome to year six. All aboard.
Friday, January 29, 2010
2010 Phillies
What was your New Year resolution? We all know the drill. I'm gonna lose 40 pounds. I'm gonna make it rich. I'm gonna ask that girl out in the office. Whatever the goal was, few of us have pulled through on the big plans. We have hope.
The Philadelphia Phillies begin their new season this year with a new batch of members that they hope can get us over the hump this year. The Sound of Philly is here now to give you a rundown of the newest members of the team. Please hold your applause until the end of the lineup...
Roy Halladay - If you don't know who this man is, then you must have been out of the country for a while (and Canada), but we’d be glad to fill you in. Halladay has been the ace of the Toronto staff since about 2002. His record since 2002 has been 130-59 with an overall career E.R.A. of 3.43. Impressive stuff considering that he has been pitching in the more offensive American League. The Phillies may have had to give up a bunch of prospects, including pitching stud Kyle Drabek, and they had to depart with ace Cliff Lee in the blockbuster three team trade done this offseason, but the Phillies have stated that they are committed to winning during this golden window of opportunity that they have. The front office made a move that will ultimately save money (Cliff Lee is looking for Sabbathia money next year) and in return for making the move, they are getting arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the peak of his career who has not been injury plagued. Knock on wood.
Danys Baez - Welcome to a below .500 pitcher lifetime with a journeyman status. A defector from Cuba, Baez hopes to resurrect his career with the Phillies and give a much needed boost to the setup position now that Scott Eyre is gone.
Juan Castro - This 37 year old is out trying to prove that he has something left in the tank. Castro is a journeyman that we hope can give help to the bullpen in case one of our beloved starters has a bad game.
Placido Polanco - Polanco is a new third baseman for the Phils that will give a little umph to the bottom of the lineup. Last year, I know that some of us were a little frustrated with the way that the old third baseman showed up to the plate in the postseason. Fingers crossed again.
Jose Contreras - The 38 year old is ready to help out in anyway he can. Born in Cuba, like Baez, Contreras is going to play any role that the Phillies give him at pitcher. He can start, although he will most likely relieve, the team needs a healthy Contreras to make it through the season if the team looks to improve.
The Phillies have decided to make moves this postseason. All last year, we were screaming for a bullpen that we didn't have to worry about. Ultimately though when Lidge came into the game, we held our breath, which was uncharacteristic due to his performance in 2008. The Phillies lost over 10 games that they had the lead in going into the ninth inning last year.
The Phillies new additions this year included three bullpen pitchers. We gained a phenomenal starter in Halladay, and we picked up a good position player. The other three are pitchers that are hiding an inconvenient truth.
The truth is, is that the bullpen will be considered great if Brad Lidge gives us a great year. In the end, we are going to be giving the ball to the guy that our skipper has the most trust in. It reminds me of how we gut out every game with McNabb at quarterback because he is all that we have at that position right now for who can give us the best shot at winning.
Is Lidge the Phillies equivalent to McNabb? I wouldn’t say so. Lidge has a ring, but when meeting our new Phillies, I think that we can see the management trying to build a more solid support group around “The Weakness” in the hopes that a strong offense will carry him.
Nothing was done to fix the closer position, except a hope that Lidge will be better. In the end, we have what we had. Solutions to the problem may be that we need to make a deal for a new reliever at some point during the season. They say that once a closer loses it, it’s gone, but can the men in the front office make the business decision when the time is necessary for Mr. Lidge to have a seat or find another place to go? We shall see, but we may have to play the first few games before making any brash decisions.
And we have to hope that he pitches lights out.
Play Ball.
The Philadelphia Phillies begin their new season this year with a new batch of members that they hope can get us over the hump this year. The Sound of Philly is here now to give you a rundown of the newest members of the team. Please hold your applause until the end of the lineup...
Roy Halladay - If you don't know who this man is, then you must have been out of the country for a while (and Canada), but we’d be glad to fill you in. Halladay has been the ace of the Toronto staff since about 2002. His record since 2002 has been 130-59 with an overall career E.R.A. of 3.43. Impressive stuff considering that he has been pitching in the more offensive American League. The Phillies may have had to give up a bunch of prospects, including pitching stud Kyle Drabek, and they had to depart with ace Cliff Lee in the blockbuster three team trade done this offseason, but the Phillies have stated that they are committed to winning during this golden window of opportunity that they have. The front office made a move that will ultimately save money (Cliff Lee is looking for Sabbathia money next year) and in return for making the move, they are getting arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the peak of his career who has not been injury plagued. Knock on wood.
Danys Baez - Welcome to a below .500 pitcher lifetime with a journeyman status. A defector from Cuba, Baez hopes to resurrect his career with the Phillies and give a much needed boost to the setup position now that Scott Eyre is gone.
Juan Castro - This 37 year old is out trying to prove that he has something left in the tank. Castro is a journeyman that we hope can give help to the bullpen in case one of our beloved starters has a bad game.
Placido Polanco - Polanco is a new third baseman for the Phils that will give a little umph to the bottom of the lineup. Last year, I know that some of us were a little frustrated with the way that the old third baseman showed up to the plate in the postseason. Fingers crossed again.
Jose Contreras - The 38 year old is ready to help out in anyway he can. Born in Cuba, like Baez, Contreras is going to play any role that the Phillies give him at pitcher. He can start, although he will most likely relieve, the team needs a healthy Contreras to make it through the season if the team looks to improve.
The Phillies have decided to make moves this postseason. All last year, we were screaming for a bullpen that we didn't have to worry about. Ultimately though when Lidge came into the game, we held our breath, which was uncharacteristic due to his performance in 2008. The Phillies lost over 10 games that they had the lead in going into the ninth inning last year.
The Phillies new additions this year included three bullpen pitchers. We gained a phenomenal starter in Halladay, and we picked up a good position player. The other three are pitchers that are hiding an inconvenient truth.
The truth is, is that the bullpen will be considered great if Brad Lidge gives us a great year. In the end, we are going to be giving the ball to the guy that our skipper has the most trust in. It reminds me of how we gut out every game with McNabb at quarterback because he is all that we have at that position right now for who can give us the best shot at winning.
Is Lidge the Phillies equivalent to McNabb? I wouldn’t say so. Lidge has a ring, but when meeting our new Phillies, I think that we can see the management trying to build a more solid support group around “The Weakness” in the hopes that a strong offense will carry him.
Nothing was done to fix the closer position, except a hope that Lidge will be better. In the end, we have what we had. Solutions to the problem may be that we need to make a deal for a new reliever at some point during the season. They say that once a closer loses it, it’s gone, but can the men in the front office make the business decision when the time is necessary for Mr. Lidge to have a seat or find another place to go? We shall see, but we may have to play the first few games before making any brash decisions.
And we have to hope that he pitches lights out.
Play Ball.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
start your engines
today, i turned on the computer to begin my journey. if i am to run for office here in sarasota, i need to start making some serious moves. as google came up on my screen, i sat wondering what to put as my search. i decided that i needed to speak to someone, but i didn't know who. so i did a search for the state of florida and obviously i was brought to stateofflorida.com. i clicked on contact us and came to a page with a bunch of links offering me different groups of phone lists that i could click and see. unfortunately, everything that i clicked on did not load, so i was back to the drawing board. in the back of my head i made a mental note that when i had the power to do so, i would fix that webpage.
after a moment of perplexion, i decided that if i was going to do this, i would start with the most basic question. i typed into the computer: how to run for office. i pressed enter.
the first link that i saw was for a website that was called runforoffice.org. jackpot! i went to the page and filled out some basic information and was able to see what was available for me to run for this november. they included: governor, state senator, state representative, lieutenant governor, attorney general, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, state attorney, justice of the supreme court, circuit court judge, and school board member.
a couple of these i threw out right away since i haven't passed the bar exam. i was left with governor, state senator, state representative, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, and school board member. i then realized that i am going to be doing this locally so i could throw out governor and state senator since i wouldn't be able to campaign all over the state.
even though originally i am from the garden state of new jersey, i know absolutely nothing about agriculture except what old macdonald had on his farm, so i dropped that effort and seeing how i am not skilled in the art of bookkeeping, i stopped considering chief financial officer. i was left with two choices: state representative and school board member.
i had a decision to make. i had to figure out if i was going to go for it really, or was i just going to keep it extremely local. a school board member is admirable because you can shift the lives of tomorrow's leaders by making good decisions, but i just don't see myself being taken seriously by parents since i don't have children myself, or ever even attended the schools in florida as a youth. i think i can do better with getting a younger vote by just going for the gusto and trying to become a state representative. so that is what i chose.
what are the requirements was my next question. well, i saw that right off the bat i had to be 21. check. then it said that i have to have been a resident of the state for 2 years prior to the election. check.
the next two were tricky. i have to pay as a filing fee 6% of my annual salary to the state to declare that i am running and i have to receive the certified signatures of 1% of the registered votes in the state. now, i am not sure if that means in my district that i am running, so i have to find that out. the filing fee is going to be a tough task. i might need to see when the deadline is to pay that fee, but seeing how i don't have a high paying job at the moment, that fee could be minimal. also, it says that if i don't get all those signatures i might be able to pay a qualifying fee. i need to see how many people exactly would have to sign and how i certify them.
hey, i am on my way!
while perusing the internet, i went to craigslist to check out some part-time jobs because my dad was saying that he would help with some classes in september if i got one on the weekends or something. i stumbled across the u.s. census bureau and decided to click on what they were hiring for.
i called up the number and a woman named nancy answered and told me that they were looking for help going door to door this year to help calculate the actual census. cool, i thought. she asked if i was interested and i said that i definitely was, so she told me that tomorrow morning there was going to be a test administered at an office building near where i live. it is a two hour test on who knows what, but she gave me the link to a practice exam that i am about to tackle. she said that if i do well on that then in late february i could be hired to do the job!
i thanked nancy and closed the laptop. it was a productive morning. i bundled up my things, i grabbed my lunch from the refridgerator, and i drove myself to work. let's see what tomorrow brings.
after a moment of perplexion, i decided that if i was going to do this, i would start with the most basic question. i typed into the computer: how to run for office. i pressed enter.
the first link that i saw was for a website that was called runforoffice.org. jackpot! i went to the page and filled out some basic information and was able to see what was available for me to run for this november. they included: governor, state senator, state representative, lieutenant governor, attorney general, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, state attorney, justice of the supreme court, circuit court judge, and school board member.
a couple of these i threw out right away since i haven't passed the bar exam. i was left with governor, state senator, state representative, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, and school board member. i then realized that i am going to be doing this locally so i could throw out governor and state senator since i wouldn't be able to campaign all over the state.
even though originally i am from the garden state of new jersey, i know absolutely nothing about agriculture except what old macdonald had on his farm, so i dropped that effort and seeing how i am not skilled in the art of bookkeeping, i stopped considering chief financial officer. i was left with two choices: state representative and school board member.
i had a decision to make. i had to figure out if i was going to go for it really, or was i just going to keep it extremely local. a school board member is admirable because you can shift the lives of tomorrow's leaders by making good decisions, but i just don't see myself being taken seriously by parents since i don't have children myself, or ever even attended the schools in florida as a youth. i think i can do better with getting a younger vote by just going for the gusto and trying to become a state representative. so that is what i chose.
what are the requirements was my next question. well, i saw that right off the bat i had to be 21. check. then it said that i have to have been a resident of the state for 2 years prior to the election. check.
the next two were tricky. i have to pay as a filing fee 6% of my annual salary to the state to declare that i am running and i have to receive the certified signatures of 1% of the registered votes in the state. now, i am not sure if that means in my district that i am running, so i have to find that out. the filing fee is going to be a tough task. i might need to see when the deadline is to pay that fee, but seeing how i don't have a high paying job at the moment, that fee could be minimal. also, it says that if i don't get all those signatures i might be able to pay a qualifying fee. i need to see how many people exactly would have to sign and how i certify them.
hey, i am on my way!
while perusing the internet, i went to craigslist to check out some part-time jobs because my dad was saying that he would help with some classes in september if i got one on the weekends or something. i stumbled across the u.s. census bureau and decided to click on what they were hiring for.
i called up the number and a woman named nancy answered and told me that they were looking for help going door to door this year to help calculate the actual census. cool, i thought. she asked if i was interested and i said that i definitely was, so she told me that tomorrow morning there was going to be a test administered at an office building near where i live. it is a two hour test on who knows what, but she gave me the link to a practice exam that i am about to tackle. she said that if i do well on that then in late february i could be hired to do the job!
i thanked nancy and closed the laptop. it was a productive morning. i bundled up my things, i grabbed my lunch from the refridgerator, and i drove myself to work. let's see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
my new year's project
well, it's the new year. last year wasn't the greatest year for many reasons, but i don't want to delve too much into that, and by not too much i mean at all. so, with that being said, i would like to jump straight into this fresh new year feet first. i'm not holding my nose first either because it's not cool.
i haven't posted much recently because i had been on a rollercoaster of a vacation. i went back home to visit family in new jersey. it was a blast, but it was a lot of late nights and a lot of driving around. that was cool and all, but it definitely was not like a corona commercial. living in florida is kind of funny. most people in new jersey would take a vacation in florida to get away. i got away from florida by going to new jersey. it was perfect.
before my trip, i thought of something that may be fun and interesting for me to do this year. fun for the reader and fun for me to try. something that will keep my attention and, hopefully, help the community. i'm going to run for a public office position.
yup. this year is a voting year and the elections come up in november. i better get a move on it. i need to do a bunch of things here in these first couple of weeks. i need to see what kind of seats are up for election and what my eligibility would have to be to secure a place in the debate. i need to find out where to debate!
i know what you may be thinking now and that's, "oh, that's just mike being mike." nope. i am serious. i talk all the time about what i would do or what i think is wrong with the world. well, i'm here now to do something about it. it is as grassroots as it can get. i have to do this with as little personal money as possible and i have to get the word out to start with just my sole voice. i think i can win. win what? i don't know yet, but i will, and you can follow my adventure here with me, on twitter, or on facebook as i make my way through the trials and tribulations of what it takes for the average everyday american with little social standing to become a voice for the people.
also, i think at some point, i may need to get married because from what i have seen there aren't too many single politicians and i'm going to need to get the senior vote by showing everyday family values. i am in florida, you know. i will have to deal with later down the line if my campaign gains momentum, which it will.
so, first things first will be to see what kind of seats are going to be open this fall when the public casts its' vote for who they want and think is right for the job. let me be the first to tell you florida that i am here to do your work and i will not stop campaigning to win your trust! except at first i can't really campaign monday through friday from 12-7pm because i have to work. you see, i truly am the everyday man looking to make a difference. i will have to take on this task at first by working hard in the mornings and getting the word out on the weekends to take down my opponent, whoever he or she may be.
i'm ready to make that splash. join me in the pool. the pool of democracy. where everyone is invited in and it's only an adult swim! splash!!!
www.facebook.com/hendrimike
www.twitter.com/judenewcomb
i haven't posted much recently because i had been on a rollercoaster of a vacation. i went back home to visit family in new jersey. it was a blast, but it was a lot of late nights and a lot of driving around. that was cool and all, but it definitely was not like a corona commercial. living in florida is kind of funny. most people in new jersey would take a vacation in florida to get away. i got away from florida by going to new jersey. it was perfect.
before my trip, i thought of something that may be fun and interesting for me to do this year. fun for the reader and fun for me to try. something that will keep my attention and, hopefully, help the community. i'm going to run for a public office position.
yup. this year is a voting year and the elections come up in november. i better get a move on it. i need to do a bunch of things here in these first couple of weeks. i need to see what kind of seats are up for election and what my eligibility would have to be to secure a place in the debate. i need to find out where to debate!
i know what you may be thinking now and that's, "oh, that's just mike being mike." nope. i am serious. i talk all the time about what i would do or what i think is wrong with the world. well, i'm here now to do something about it. it is as grassroots as it can get. i have to do this with as little personal money as possible and i have to get the word out to start with just my sole voice. i think i can win. win what? i don't know yet, but i will, and you can follow my adventure here with me, on twitter, or on facebook as i make my way through the trials and tribulations of what it takes for the average everyday american with little social standing to become a voice for the people.
also, i think at some point, i may need to get married because from what i have seen there aren't too many single politicians and i'm going to need to get the senior vote by showing everyday family values. i am in florida, you know. i will have to deal with later down the line if my campaign gains momentum, which it will.
so, first things first will be to see what kind of seats are going to be open this fall when the public casts its' vote for who they want and think is right for the job. let me be the first to tell you florida that i am here to do your work and i will not stop campaigning to win your trust! except at first i can't really campaign monday through friday from 12-7pm because i have to work. you see, i truly am the everyday man looking to make a difference. i will have to take on this task at first by working hard in the mornings and getting the word out on the weekends to take down my opponent, whoever he or she may be.
i'm ready to make that splash. join me in the pool. the pool of democracy. where everyone is invited in and it's only an adult swim! splash!!!
www.facebook.com/hendrimike
www.twitter.com/judenewcomb
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