Busy week.

My back's been bothering me for two or three days. So I remedied it with softball today. It's kind of embarrassing how out of shape I am right now. Hopefully I can keep working out since it's getting warmer and ride my bike to class again.

Louisville lost yesterday. There was some bad officiating, but they still had quite a few opportunities to jump ahead of North Carolina. Oh well, this team is looking stacked for the future. Samadro Samuel, Kyle Kuric, Melquan Bolding and Jared Swopeshire are all committed. Not to mention, they still have a chance at landing Scotty Hopson and Edgar Sosa and Earl Clark are returning. I'm definitely excited about next year's squad.

Oh, come to the Ball State Poetry Gala on Friday. I'm going to be reading some of my poetry, as well as my friends Dan Bailey, Matthew Trisler, Joe Betz, Katie Kowlaski, Joe McHugh and Kendra Thomas will also be performing. Show up, please.

Suck my bubbles.

So yesterday was awesome. Why?

• Louisville obliterated Tennessee. Elite Eight, bitch. Now we're 5-0 against the Vols under Rick Patino. Bring on the Tar Heels.
• Watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Great acting and cinematography. It was a bit too long, though.
• Brianne and I got to cuddle.
• Turned in a huge paper for Non-Fiction 2. Thank God.
• Got to go to the Herot after that ridiculous rehearsal thing for ENG 409 in downtown Muncie. Drinking frosty beer + the best English majors ever = perfect.

And now... today is awesome because:

• I just farted
• The poetry gala is next Friday, and I'm pumped. There's gonna be some great poetry.
• I'm at work, and Abdalla (remember, he's from Egypt, this is verbatim) just said: "I don't know why he keep this movie for so long. It's about a man with AIDS. It's scary."

Just think, only a few more months of this. Awwww.

Thoughts n' shit.

I'm in ENG 409 and I'm bored. Dan and Joe are both drunk. It's funny, I think Dan was peeing on the ground in the bathroom.

Oh, the poem I recently posted was accepted to appear in the third volume of The Posit online literary magazine. I'm pretty excited. My writing portfolio is picking up fast.

I really have to piss. 

I graduate July 19th. Fuck yes. I hope I can buy new new Rabbit or Jetta.

Half-way around the world is right where I am

I like to lay in bed with my Cleveland Browns sheets
pulled up beneath my nose. After the light in the hall goes away,
I fix my sagging eyes on a crease that goes across my ceiling,
and imagine kids I’ll never meet. I think about what the phrase
“Half way around the world,” means, because to a kid in Poland
or Botswana, I’m half way around the world.

They probably have names I can’t pronounce. Their walls
might be a simple color or maybe they don’t have walls.
Some kids might go to bed hungry, a few undercooked lentils
and the heel of loaf of old bread swim around in their stomach.
Kids with ghosts for parents, kids who see
a sky filled with black and clouds shaped
like the unhinged jaws of a devil.

We hear different sounds. Some kids have never heard the blades
of a helicopter cut the air in half or train tracks bow
under the weight of a boxcar carrying cattle to be killed
behind barn doors and I’ve never heard a wild animal die.
I bet their friends like playing soccer
barefoot during the fall, so wet leaves stick to their feet,
and they drink glass bottles of cola because the glass
makes it taste better. A girl might fall asleep
to the sound of a fish tank filter humming. And
a Portuguese boy lets his cat rest on his chest
and they both rise and sink at the same time. Ones
heart doesn’t beat louder than the other.

I’d like to dream about us spending a day together.
We could pitch a canvas tent
in the vacant lot behind my house. From the sidewalk
you can smell a can of tomato soup cooking on a hot plate.
A boy from the Ukraine would sing
songs about his past while everyone else pokes
their heads out the fold in the tent
and feel the breeze blow against our faces,
filling a green windsock up with nothing.

MLB 2008 Season Preview

Tuesday needs to get here! Opening Night!

This year’s top story lines:

The AL isn’t even fair: And that’s an understatement. Every team outside of Kansas City and Texas (yes… I honestly think the Rays could win 80 games) have a shot at getting into the playoffs. Teams like Detroit, Chicago Seattle and Los Angeles all went out into the offseason shooting to improve. If you walked up to me and said that an 85-win team from the AL West doesn’t get into the playoffs, I would agree 100 percent. Hopefully with the huge drop-off in New York, they Yankoffs will finally miss the post season. Here’s to hoping. I’d love to see Seattle battle Boston’s pitching in October.

Johan Santana’s first tour in the NL: One of the three best pitchers in baseball going to a league that never sees him toss. Lock him up for a Triple Crown and the Cy Young, right? Not so fast… While I do believe Johan is going to impress the collective brass, it doesn’t come without warning. First off, the Mets offense isn’t as great as everyone thinks it is. You can pretty much pencil in Alou, Beltran and Delgado to all get hurt for a decent amount of time sometime during the season. Second, the NL has some potent offensive forces. Chicago, Colorado and Arizona should all score. Maybe pencil the Dodgers in there, too. Another interesting stat to note is that Santana’s pitched at least 219 innings in each of the last four years, and he’s never been hurt during his career. Maybe he’s due for some arm troubles. We don’t know. Still, I have to believe that he’s a lock to hover around 20 wins and 250 strikeouts, barring an injury. He’s just that good.

Are Barry and Roger done for good?: I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say, “Please God… Please.” Hopefully baseball officials have identified that the quicker they move on from the Mitchell report, and the embarrassment these two legends have caused the game, the quicker we can move on to restoring some dignity. Anyone who thinks that baseball hasn’t returned right back to where we were in the mid 90s needs to have their head examined. We’re in the toilet right now folks. We need a great year of baseball… and maybe a World Series that goes more than four games. I’m just so tired of hearing about steroids, the players are tired of talking about steroids, and management is tired of trying to reexamine steroids. We just need to move on. The only problem is… Barry can still swing a bat, and if teams could look beyond having a criminal on their team, he could be a valuable asset coming off the bench or DHing every few days.

Anyone for seconds?: Teams looking to fill some holes in their lineups still have a decent crop of unsigned players to sift through. Freddy Garcia, Corey Koskie, Ryan Klesko, Reggie Sanders, Russ Ortiz, Aaron Sele, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Weaver, Bob Wickman and Preston Wilson all remain unsigned. I’d wager that none of these folks are going to turn into All-Stars, but they could all definitely fill in as role players and spot-starters for the right team.

Who’ll be this year’s surprise team?: Raise your hand if you thought Colorado was going to win the NL last year? Shut up, liar. Sure, it makes a lot of sense right now. Look at their roster. Loads of young talent all over the field. Leadership from Clint Hurdle and veteran Todd Helton, and best of all, they got to play with a “nothing to lose” mentality. They won’t have that luxury this year. Now I’m not saying that either of these teams is a lock… but if Toronto’s pitching stays healthy, and all of the Mariner’s new pieces congeal: watch out. Halliday and Burnett should both win 15 games if they pitch in 30 games, and the Mariners have one of the most well-rounded offenses in baseball. Ichiro can swipe bags and hit .330, not to mention his Spiderman skills in centerfield. Beltre, Sexton and Guillen provide pop. Both should make the AL Wild Card very interesting.

Most Valuable Players
National League: Matt Holliday, COL. .329, 34 HR, 128 RBI, 113 R, 219 H, 13 SB
American League: Vladamir Guerrero LAA. .330 35 HR, 125 RBI, 96 R, 200 H, 5 SB

Cy Young Award
National League: Johan Santana NYM. 20-5 2.98 ERA 259 K, 1.04 WHIP
American League: John Lackey LAA. 18-6 3.05 ERA 219 K, 1.18 WHIP

Rookie of the Year
National League: Chase Headley SD. .278 14HR 68 RBIs
American League: Evan Longoria, TB. .282 21 HR, 88 RBIs


Playoff Picture

National League
NL East: New York Mets (92)
NL Central: Chicago Cubs (90)
NL West: San Diego Padres (86)
Wild Card: Colorado Rockies (84)

American League
AL East: Boston Red Sox (95)
AL Central: Detroit Tigers (91)
AL West: Los Angeles Angels (89)
Wild Card: Seattle Mariners (88)

NL Winner: San Diego Padres
AL Winner: Boston Red Sox

World Series Champion: San Diego Padres in six games


Remember, this is my Cubs' 100 year anniversary of their futility. Here's to hoping it ends.

I'm just saying....

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080310

Reason 14 & 13b are friendly reminders why I hate my sports life.

Smash Brothers Brawl

Finally. After several delays, countless hours of speculation, and having to sit through watching tons of Japanese footage that was still days away.... Smash Brothers Brawl has finally hit US shores. And what am I doing to celebrate?

I'm working.

Not by choice, mind you. My boss thought it'd be great to make me work, because three other people signed up to work the 10-2 shift on Sunday, and bailed because it's spring break. So I'm stuck here while my copy of the game sits at home, unopened.

Speaking of Spring Break, SHIT, you could've fooled me that it was that time of the year already! There's eight inches of snow on the ground, ice everywhere, and the temperature is buried below freezing. Wow, great way to spend my ten days off from school. That, and working in this damn library when NOBODY is going to come in because they're out of town.

All of the bull shit aside, I'm still not deterred from playing Smash Brothers. On the contrary, I'm even more excited. I knew the reviews were going to be fantastic, but IGN and GameSpot (my two sources for gaming reviews and information) have both popped equally large digital boners, praising the level of depth and polish in this game.

35 characters? Check

Tons of new levels? Check

Level editor? Check

Touched up graphics? Check

ONLINE PLAY? Check

Revamped single-player mode? Check

Sounds like a plan to me. My God, I cannot wait. Meta Knight, here I come.

10 Long Days

The semester is really coming into a crunch. Everyone hates the middle part of the semester. Tons of shit is due. Tests and papers are virtually due everyday. The weather keeps jumping around. One day it's 25 degrees outside, the next, you're wearing sandals and a t-shirt. Not to mention, I'm inching closer to graduating and starting my "big boy" job. About five months away right now.

That's just really weird to think about. Not being in school anymore. Sure, the window is wide open to return in a year or two for my Master's, and it's essentially a done deal that it's going to happen. Even so, that time without school is going to be awkward. I was talking about it with one of my English buddies. He was like, "It's just going to be weird when you get home from work, and know that your day doesn't need to keep going. With homework and papers and projects, there's always something on the back burner with school. When you work, all you have is your job. That's it."

I dunno... that's both a relief and a curse. It's nice being in college and having something always pushing you to well, do something. I'm guessing having my 9 to 5 job is going to feel like Summer break for a while. Sure, it's nice not having anything to do, outside of your job, but I can sense that three weeks into it, it'll be stale.

Plus, I have twenty grand in debt staring me in the face. Not to mention, I'll be getting a new car over the summer (God willing), maybe a new place to live. Lots of adjusting, and it's strange thinking that it could take months to adapt. I guess I just got so used to college and its mundane schedule that having a total change-up thrown at me is probably gonna' cause me to whiff once or twice.

Oh well, Spring break is next week, which means I have the GRIMEWAR concert on the 7th, Smash Brothers on the 9th, and an entire week to do NOTHING. Hooray?