Cleveland's Corner

New Domain Name

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:12:00 +0000

So as of today I am the proud new owner of natecleveland.com. Currently there is nothing of value there, and I am not totally sure what I am going to do with it but I own it. I'll probably use it as a portal for messing around with various website templates, coding etc and maybe I'll eventually port this blog over there - who knows. It just seems cool to own my own name in cyberspace.

Health Care

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:46:00 +0000

I recently read this article in Newsweek about health care providers being able to opt out of providing medicine/advice/treatments if they ethically object to the course of action being taken. This of course is entirely focused on the ever raging battle in America around abortion.

While my own views here don't really matter I think the most shocking thing about this story was the slippery slope precedent it establishes in the medical world. If medical professionals can opt not to provide assistance to patients for"religious or moral reasons" where does this end?
If I am a doctor and a patient of mine refuses treatment for cancer, can I object to their wishes because it goes against my religious beliefs and force treatment upon them? Can I refuse to perform experimental treatment because it goes against my moral code?

Doctors are supposed to provide the options to their patients and then respect their informed decisions. If people want birth control, experimental drugs, risky treatments or none of the above as long as the facts were presented as a doctor you need to do your job.

Hodge Podge

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:35:00 +0000

So, for those of you who don't know - I've had a huge crush on Britney Spears since before her debut album "...Baby One More Time" dropped in 1998. I got a poster of her in her now infamous school girl outfit from my brother for my birthday. I got her album for Christmas - I think it's still at my parents house. Needless to say, it was hard to watch her crumble from a gorgeous young starlet to an overweight, mentally unstable divorcee with substance abuse problems. They were trying times for all of us.

While the new documentary style piece about her on MTV, Britney: For the Recrd clearly shows that everything is not entirely normal in her life (her dad essentially micro-manages it for her) she is turning it around and getting back on track. It evokes a lot of empathy for her and the high-pressure roller coaster he life has been through the years. Her new album, Circus is out in stores and the video for her single Womanizer clearly shows that her body has never been better - seriously check it out. Now I just need to see if I can find that poster again. Then again, maybe it's time to get a new one and support the "comeback" effort.

Changing gears a bit, I think Somerville has a disturbingly large population of slugs and worms. While the cold weather has sent them hiding now, the first 2-3 months of the school year while I would walk to work I would see easily a dozen or more slugs and worms all over the sidewalks. Why? It hadn't been raining often, so that's no explanation for the worms. I can't fathom why the Somerville sidewalks are so appealing to slugs either. Essentially the concrete sidewalks just morph into a walkway of death for these little guys and I have to dodge them on a daily basis. Anyone with any information as to what they are doing out there and why Somerville has such a high concentration of them would be greatly appreciated.

I'd also like to quickly plug the work of some friends. Neil has a nice little website I use to kill time at work and also keep up to date on what other people's opinions on various etiquette situations are so I can work to limit my social awkwardness. Check out www.definingetiquette.com if you want to see what it's all about or kill part of your workday.

Also, congrats to Bloom for avoiding a round of layoffs and remaining gainfully employed. If you want to see the high quality stories he is reporting on start here and it should be clear why he's still working hard out west.

As always, any and all commentary is appreciated and the tip for today is: Don't drive into downtown Boston with the idea that you'll be parking for free, that isn't happening.

Signs I'm Getting Older

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:07:00 +0000

About time for an update. I would love to update this more often, but it's blocked at work and by the time I get back home every night I'm usually too tired or have forgotten about making posts here.

I wake up sore much more often than I used to.
I complain about high school kids and am no longer referring to my peer group.
They are doing the exact same things as I used to, but now it bothers me.
I fall asleep near 10pm on most Friday nights.
I watch a lot of Jeopardy.
I wear a bathrobe and slippers all over the place.
I'm getting paranoid about my hair falling out.

Just some things I was thinking about earlier this evening. For those of you reading (Ciaran) who want a more steady dose of my writing feel free to check out http://www.207prospectus.com for sports related content. If you'd like to keep up to date with what i'm doing on a day-to-day basis keep an eye on my Twitter updates, or visit twitter.com, sign up and follow me.
If any of you are looking for Red Sox merchandise feel free to check out a site I own where you can find Sox gear on Amazon/eBay and other sites for sale all in one spot: http://www.redsoxshop.net. Makes for great holiday gifts!

I'll try and be more regular, both in my posting and other important areas of my life, but I make no promises.

Bob Newmeyer is an Asshole

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:12:00 +0000

Over the course of the Olympics there has been a lot of interesting commentary being bandied about in all the venues - some good, some awful. The most egregious so far has to be sideline reporter Bob Newmeyer at the Bird's Nest - home of track & field. On multiple occasions he has been totally heartless when interviewing athletes right after their Olympic dreams have been crushed. (see: Gay, Tyson; Spearmon, Wallace and Jones, Lolo)

Sure, I know we are all wondering what these people are thinking and feeling and it is the job of the media these days to get these scoops. However, I seriously object to the way that he poses the questions and the tone he takes with the athletes. For instance, after Tyson Gay failed to qualify for the 100m final, Newmeyer asked him if his hamstring was alright. A fair question, given his seemingly horrific fall in the 200m finals at the US trials 6 weeks prior.

Then he crosses the line, accusatorily asking him if he was sure. Really Bob, a gut who was to be part of the ultimate 3 man 100m showdown prior to the games who just failed to make that final is unsure how he feels. He said he was 100%, he said the leg wasn't an issue and that he gave it his all. Who are you to question him? He then went on to ask him how dissappointed he was with that performance, as if the crushing realiztion that his Olympic dreams were over without even the chance to run for a medal was going to be anything other than a huge dissappointment.

Later in the games, after Lolo Jones clipped a hurdle (the 9th) and lost all her momentum and faded from sure gold to 7th place Newmeyer struck again. He asked her what she must have been feeling after losing what looked like a sure gold medal. Clearly crestfallen, especially since that was very likely her one shot to do so. He also asks her what exactly happened, and how that occured. Come on, Bob. There's a way to ask these athletes these questions without seemingly like a completely soulless media android. Have some compassion, say something comforting to preface a question - these are young people (21-28 generally) who just saw 4 years of hard work, sacrifice and preparation result in heartache in seconds (or less).

Lastly, after Wallace Spearmon celebrated his apparent bronze medal in the 200m, only to discover he had been disqualified for stepping out of his lane Newmeyer immediately got him for an interview. The man just realized that he was going to lose an Olympic medal and Newmeyer chimes in with the ever brilliant: "What are your emotions like right now?" like he could even possibly answer that. Next question was asking him when he found out (just now) and how he felt about his race. Spearmon did a good job not punching him, I thought, and kept reiterating that he would be filing a protest.

Newmeyer has no compassion, not a lot of class and is lucky that all these athletes are being such good sports professionally answering his rudely toned interrogations. I wouldn't be upset if people stopped talking to him. If I were there, I would certainly avoid him like the plague.

The ongoing Brett Favre Saga

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:56:00 +0000

I know I am not the only one out there - the people who are so sick of hearing about every little machination of his life. I thought that this would die down somewhat after the trade was finalized and passed, since you know, the whole situation was over and done with.

Not so much, it seems.

Literally, every day for weeks we got constant coverage of the Favre saga on all 3 ESPN networks, simultaneously! I mean, even the normal news networks had this shit on it. And it was even the most minute details.

Favre has a private plane! Offered $20 Million to stay retired! Might consider possibly talking to Jets or Bucs about the possibility of a trade! Had steak for dinner! What about the cover of Madden 2009?

It was incessant. There was constant analysis, most of it over the most inane details. They interrupted Brett Favre news with breaking Favre news. It was totally absurd and out of control. The only thing even remotely close to this much media saturation that mattered so little was the Barbaro injury/recovery/setback etc. debacle of a few summer's ago. By the end how many people even cared?

I mean, this sucks for Aaron Rodgers, since I am sure he just wants to play QB and have a shot but now, since he is replacing Favre we get tons of analysis on him too. Honestly, we really care about his 4 series at QB vs. Cincy in a preseason game this much? And I know that Green Bay is a big football city and all with a ton of tradition, but their media share can't be so large that we need nonstop coverage of the Brett Favre reinstatement/trade saga and then endless analysis on every sports station and show nationally for weeks, right? Am I wrong here. There are other sports stories in sports that are currently in season. Can't we overanalyze the Tampa Bay Rays, or the chase for the Single season saves record, or NASCAR races or something? How about the Olympics? Michael Phelps probably needs more media love for dominating the world. Can we pur Brett, Aaron and Green Bay to rest for awhile guys? Please?

I feel like any more overexposure on this and I am going to want to kill the power to ESPN headquarters or take out Brett Favre to put an end to all this madness.

The Meaning of Optional

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:05:00 +0000

As defined in the Webster Dictionary:

left to one's choice; not required or mandatory: Formal dress is optional.

Given this definition, one would think that things deemed optional would be totally up to one's discretion and they could attend optional functions as they saw fit and follow the clothing optional rule at establishments governed by that rule.

This seems never to be the case in all of my experiences with "optional" things in my life so far though. As a member of numerous sports teams, I have attended all kinds of practices that were billed as optional, although they were certainly not optional by any means. Of course, I was fine with this as I enjoyed running, working out, competing and being with my friends - but still, not optional.

I have also been invited to innumerable workshops, trainings and events that have been billed as both "optional" and "completely optional" and then caught flack when I opted not to attend. If you are planning an event or a function of some kind and seek to bill it as optional, don't get all pissy and hostile when people choose not to attend. If you want people there, say so.

I have no problem showing up when my presence is required but frankly, I have plenty of stuff to do with my time and if it's a choice between an optional weekend work function and, say, a weekend spent with friends and family I don't see a whole lot of reason to go to work.

I'm tired of all this optionally-mandatory crap and passive agressiveness. Either accept that people will decline optional things or make them mandatory - just don't make thinly veiled sarcastic comments when people exercise their right to opt out.

The Next Frontier in Sport

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:21:00 +0000

Right now on ESPN they are televising the National Spelling Bee. I can't really describe how awesome this is in words. Watching a stage full of 12-15 year olds spelling words I have usually never heard of, asking for alternate definitions, pronunciations and sentences involving these words is fantastic. Every kid has some nervous tick, like hair twirling, rocking back and forth etc.

It's pretty straightforward right now, with just a couple of commentators commenting on how excellently little Joey gathered the two roots of the word based on their language of origin and a panel of judges providing additional info and monitoring the spelling timer. The phase of the competition we are in now is down to the top 21, eliminating down to 12 for tonights live finals at 8pm EST on ABC. I'm stoked.

What we need to do is get a sideline reporter to get reactions from contestants after elimination, some backstage gossip and interviews with the parents. How great would that be?
"Hey Jenny, really tough break there on hyssop (a type of European mint often used to treat bruises, by the way). What was going through your mind when you were up there?"

"Well, Ryan, I was really nervous the whole time, since I am 13 and not used to TV crews filming me spell obscure words so I had to focus on relaxing. Then, uh, I tried to get it through the root of origin, but since it got passed around Europe faster than Paris Hilton I couldn't really garner anything helpful from that. Then the scary timer lady yelled at me and I got really flustered and just guessed. Who knew it was an "o" and not a "u" at the end? Also, um, I, uh....thinkyou'rereallycute, bye."

High comedy right there. You all ought to be tuning it, if not now then tonight at 8pm for the LIVE SPELLING BEE FINALE!

Edit: Apparently, they already have this sideline reporter thing taken care of with Erin Andrews. Sorry, Ryan Seacrest, I thought I had something there for you. Tough break. In other excellent news, she is cute and will keep me watching for awhile longer.

Book Review: Rant

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Book Review: Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

One of Palahniuk’s more recent works, Rantis a story told in the form of an oral history. This stylistic approach requires the interviewing of witnesses who knew, knew of or wanted to talk about the subject and compiling them into the history of the given individual. As he states in the author’s note at the front of the book, anytime you interview multiple people about a given topic, their views are bound to contradict each other in places. It is from this contradictory and fragmented viewpoint that the genius of Rant is revealed.

I found the method of story-telling to be not only refreshing, but a great way to explore the title character and broach many of the subjects that Palahniuk touches on in the novel, including: religion, genocide, segregation, time travel and alternate realities. As you take the journey into the life and death of Buster “Rant” Casey you get exposed to small threads of a larger, more complex web that Palahniuk is spinning in this story. While some people have said that this from of delivering the story is disjointed and detracts from the overall value of the novel, I found it to be thought provoking and delightful.

While the novel will make you think and recall past events mentioned, I find nothing wrong with the author forcing the readers to engage the material and piece the events together ourselves, reaching our own conclusions. In fact, this very facet of the book lends it to a certain sustainability, as this is the type of book that you can read over and over again an pick up on details overlooked in a first reading or reach a fresh conclusion you hadn’t considered the first time around.

While the formatting of the book is a break from the usual mold by being an oral history, the writing is classic Palahniuk - vivid imagery, dark humor, a capacity for the macabre that is unparalleled and an outside the box approach. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read through it very quickly. Once I got to the heart of the story, I had to plow through to the end without putting it down (in my eyes, the mark of a great book). If you liked his earlier works, you’ll enjoy this one as well and if you are new to Palahniuk or only recognize him as “the guy who wrote Fight Club” then you should give this book a look

Also of note, he has a new novel, Snuffthat hit shelves May 20th. I got my copy this weekend and will have a review up once I get around to reading it.

Four and Half out of Five Stars

False Advertising

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:59:00 +0000

I watch a decent amount of television, mostly sports, and anyone who watches their fair share of TV knows that the same commercials appear all the time. I obviously understand the point of advertising from both ends, and don't really have a huge issue with it. Successful advertising will make consumers want the advertised products, be it cars, food, legal advice whatever. What DOES bother me though is when I am constantly bombarded by ads for food chains that do no exist within any sort of geographical range of my house. What good is it advertising these products to people who couldn't possibly buy them?

Our biggest offenders here in the Northeast are: Sonic, Red Lobster and to a lesser degree Red Robin.

These restaurants constantly advertise on my TV stations (including local channels!) peddling their food to me. The closest Sonic is 215 miles away. The closest Red Lobster is 68 miles away and the closest Red Robin is 49 miles away (although they have one "Coming Soon" a mere 27 miles away). Why then, if it is incredibly unreasonable for me to head into town or take a short drive of 10-15 minutes and get to your restaurant, that I must see your incessantly stupid advertising all the time?

Red Robin, I somewhat understand the advertising blitz in preparation for moving some new locations into the area and wanting to create buzz. Red Lobster has been doing nothing but retreating out of New England for years though, so I don't really need a reminder that the locations up here weren't good enough to keep open. We'll get our seafood fresh somewhere else anyway, jerks. And Sonic - my God. I mean, 215 miles with no influx to the area in sight and terrible advertising to boot. It's a wonder I haven't firebombed one of these places yet.

I CANNOT BUY YOUR PRODUCTS! YOUR ADS SUCK! PLEASE LEAVE MY TV ALONE!
Isn't there some prescription drug some company ought to be convincing me I need instead?

Catch-22

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:09:00 +0000

This afternoon I was told I wasn't qualified enough for the undergraduate admissions position I had applied for next year and thus, they would not be considering my application. Now I understand that they have minimum requirements and that I didn't technically have one year of experience in undergraduate admissions. However, as I outlined in my cover letter, I have been working in a very related field doing college advising and worked in partnership with a collegiate admissions office all year. They had me sit in on their meetings, I sat in our their candidate interviews and participated in making the decisions on a couple of applicants by using their admissions formula so I felt that this experience was relevant and would make me at least a worthwhile candidate for an interview.

I was hoping to get an interview so that I could further explain all the work I had been doing this year, how it was related to admissions work and how I thought this gave me a unique perspective on the process and made me an ideal candidate for the position. Obviously, I was hoping to get the job, but I would have been happy just getting an interview and putting my credentials out there in person. Naturally, they saw it otherwise and decided to maintain their rigid qualification standards and hence, we get the catch 22.

This is the most entry level position in admissions, the general admissions counselor, and yet it requires one year of experience. How is it that one gets any experience if the lowest rung on the ladder requires experience to get in? I don't understand where all these other people are getting experience in the first place as I always assumed that related experience like my work in college advising and admissions would be helpful. Apparently not. I don't know exactly how this problem can be rectified, but I think it's a systemic problem in many workplaces and in my opinion they are screening out a lot of potentially qualified applicants by having such a seemingly backwards system of experiential requirements.

I'm not saying I would be the most qualified person for the job, or that I even should get the job, seeing as they had 100's of applicants. I just feel that the way they are operating is a little antiquated and needs addressing.

It was the best of times, It was the worst of times

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Yesterday seemed like it was going to be the perfect day. I didn't have a full day at work, which is always nice, since I was attending a luncheon at Smith College and was going to head out after it was over. This is significant since not only does that mean I got to leave work early but the Red Sox were playing an afternoon game at 3pm so I would be able to cruise in from an easy day at the office, make myself a drink and watch the game. To make things even better the weather was absolutely gorgeous so it was great to be outside touring a college campus and not stuck inside the office. One would think that this would be a near perfect day, as I mistakenly did.

Everything was going according to plan as I met my co-worker Tristan at the office and hopped into his car for the drive up to Smith. As we always do, we had a great conversation about sports on the way up there and arrived a few minutes early. This event was sponsored by Smith to serve as a networking function to promote the college to area high school staff in an effort to increase local enrollment, especially among minority students. Tristan and I were in it more for the tour and the food.

The tour was great as we had a very knowledgeable tour guide who showed us all the relevant parts of campus and constantly highlighted the things that made Smith unique (other than being a women's college that is). Their campus is beautiful and were I a female high school student I would seriously consider going there, even given the single-gender nature of the University.

The luncheon was alright, but much more formal then I had anticipated. The school's President was there, as were numerous other staff members and students who were going to speak about the school during lunch. At this point I strongly regretted not showering that morning. The food also left something to be desired, as I was expecting more dining hall/buffet fare which is much more in line with my tastes then what we were given. The meal started off with some strange salad concoction containing perhaps 5-6 spinach leaves, mandarin oranges and potentially some radish bits covered in a very sweet dressing. Not being a fan of oranges, this was not a very appetizing option. I washed this down with a full glass of water and a dinner roll.

The main course was grilled chicken topped with onions and chives, sweet potatoes and asparagus. I dislike sweet potatoes strongly, and so I avoided eating those. I scraped the offending vegetable-like paste off my chicken and ate that quickly (chased with some sparkling pomegranate juice) and then sucked it up and choked down the asparagus so as not to be rude or look like the vegetable-phobic fast food whore that I am. I should not that both the director of admissions and the President sat at my table. So unlucky.

After some mildly interesting Smith propaganda speeches by those in attendance, we were out of there and things were looking up. The lunch wasn't amazing, but I would last until I got home and could make a sandwhich. If that was the worst part of my day, no big deal.

Ah, but the ride home. After getting back to the parking lot and jumping into my car, I sped off towards I-90 to make my hour long journey home. After traveling a brief 7-8 miles, traffic came to a dead halt. I had no idea what was going on, but I was hoping it was a near accident ahead as incoming highway traffic merged with us and that we would be moving again shortly. 15 minutes and all of 6 inches of progress later I knew this was not the case and I was faced with a decision. Stick it out and wait for this mess of indeterminate length to clear out or force my way two lanes to the right and exit the highway a mere 100 meters ahead. Already sweating more than an overweight convict in an interrogation room, I opted to invent a new way home.

I knew going into this mission that there wasn't another good East-West route anywhere near where I got off and this could end in potential disaster, but it was a risk I was willing to take over sitting in a highway parking lot for several hours. I headed North on some random country road, map pressed to the steering wheel and hoping for the best. After 15 minutes of aimless driving without locating the road or town I was in anywhere on the map I threw it in the floor in disgust and realized what needed to be done. If I was going to get home to see any of this game at all I was going to have to treat this problem like a final exam and going in guns blazing.

For those of you who don't know me, you may think this means that I am well prepared and have a though out plan of attack and have researched my subject. This couldn't be more untrue. I started making random turns and used bizarre rationalizations like "there is no way A-OK gas can be open with prices of 3.17 a gallon. Therefore, if they have a lack a business and had to close, nobody drives that way. Nobody goes to Western Mass. so I better got the opposite way." Also I made several right turns because I am right-handed and awesome, so right has to be correct; I also loosely correlated moving right as heading East.

Finally I stumbled blindly upon Rt. 9 East, which runs right past my house, so I knew I was all set. As I drove through podunk town after ramshackle shithole, I was feeling better about seeing the last 6 innings of the game. I had only gone 35 minutes out of the way, burned a bunch of extra gas and sweat all the way through both my shirts and the entire driver's seat. No big deal, I needed to lose 5 pounds anyway. This day could be salvaged from the brink, I thought to myself.

No sooner had I turned from marginally suicidal, sweaty kid to hopefully optimistic, sweaty kid when I passed an elderly gentleman biking the other direction. He was in the bike lane and I was squarely in the road where I belonged. I made eye contact with him and waved as my mood has drastically improved. Obviously this geriatric ass-wipe was nearing death, hates anything and everyone spawned after 1975 or mistook me for a drowned rat driving a motor vehicle because he decided that I was dangerously encroaching on his biking space. Granted, the bike lane was a good 6 feet wide and could have easily fit a small motor vehicle, but that isn't the point. He stared me down, flipped me off and then loogied on my windshield. That's right, the old bastard spat his disease ridden phlegm on my windshield. That was pretty much the unraveling point of my journey. I was furious with this random guy on a bike and wanted to run him off the road. He had AT LEAST 8 feet of clearance from my car, I wasn't going to hit him. What the hell was his problem!

From that point forward, I hit every traffic light, got behind every person who felt the need to drive 10 mph under the limit and lost my radio signal of the game. I was completely and utterly owned by the old biking man and his snot (which took a long time to wipe off the windshield I might add). To cap it off, my transmission started acting up as I neared home and I was out of gas. I made a stiff drink and watched the rest of the Red Sox game coming in right after the amazing grab/high-five combo by Manny and right before the Craig Hansen suckfest in the 7th inning. Naturally.

I hope there was a giant sinkhole that opened up on I-90 East yesterday and made the highway impassable for 6 hours and backed up traffic to Albany otherwise I am just going to be bitter about the whole thing. Amazing how some old dude and his deteriorating vision and social skills could totally ruin what started out as such a great day.

The Delicious Express

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Seeing as I am rather lazy and rarely bring myself enough to eat for lunch, I found myself need some additional nourishment after lunch yesterday. Since my co-workers were going to pick up some Taco Bell I decided to tag along and maybe get a taco or some cinnamon twists to quell my hunger until dinnertime.

As we pull up I remember the awesome Taco Bell commercial I saw recently on TV for the Bacon Club Chalupa and instantly decide that I must try it. I wasn't sure how the bacon would fit in with the mexican theme of the food, but I am pretty sure bacon is good with anything. I pick one up, get about 40 napkins and packets of hot sauce to take back to the office and my taste buds are ready for some excitement.

The first bite gives me mixed reviews: I can't quite pick up the bacon flavor, the hot sauce is dripping everywhere and there wasn't enough meat in my first bite. I was disappointed and worried that the delectable concoction of awesome I had been salivating over for a solid 20 minutes was going to be a bust. Boy, was I wrong.

As I mowed through the rest of the chalupa, there was ample bacon with great flavor and much more meat to go along with it. The sauce they put on there mixed beautifully with the rest of the flavor explosion going on inside that soft shell and after I finished I was craving more. My conclusions are as follows: The Bacon Club Chalupa is delicious and bacon goes with anything. You must eat this. Your life will be altered.

If you'll excuse me, I am now going to get some Taco Bell for lunch.

Hollywood is full of Whores

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:18:00 +0000

Flipping through the channels the other day, I happened upon some random reality show "A Very Brady Baby" (i think it was called) which features Christopher Knight and his wife Adrienne Curry and their decision to have a baby. It should be noted that this is the third season of this show, and these two met on the set of another reality show, "The Surreal Life."

Christopher Knight is 50 years old and is best known for playing Peter Brady in "The Brady Bunch" back in the day. Adrienne Curry is 25 and was the winner of the first season of "America's Next Top Model" and has had numerous modeling gigs, including Playboy, since then.

HOW IS IT THAT THESE TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?! What does she see in a middle aged former child star? And how the hell is he landing model ass at age 50?

The answer, of course, is that nearly everyone in Hollywood is irrevocably fucked up and operate in a completely parallel universe from the rest of us where attention and money take the place of common sense. Just check their Wiki pages for further info.

She won a modeling TV show, made money modeling and got the adoration of millions by doing multiple Playboy shoots and appearing in Maxim's top 100 hottest women. As the modeling hype surrounding her dimmed, she went on The Surreal Life to get more exposure and met Chris, who was clearly trying to worm his way back into the spotlight through that appearance.

Once they started dating on/after the show, they parlayed that into a "Newlyweds"-esque show about the two of them dating, where at the end of season 1 he proposes. Not only is that a great season finale, but hey! - that means we can do a season 2 about the wedding planning! Naturally season 3 is focused around them figuring out if they want to start a family and her getting breast implants.
Watching just 10 minutes of one episode was proof enough how damaged they both were, as there were two huge fights and multiple crying fits by both parties. I think they even have couples therapy sessions, in addition to individual therapists. Good lord.

I stopped watching when he got upset about her taking sexy pictures of her, and a girl friend as well, for his birthday. He flew off the handle and worried about her fidelity, while she got all upset that a relatively unattractive 50 year old wasn't turned on by her or something. Unreal.

The upcoming Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz drunken Vegas wedding movie seems to be an accurate portrayal of the lengths people will go for money, fame or both. Although people could do worse then Cameron Diaz and Adrienne Curry....

The Makings of a Solid Afternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:27:00 +0000

As I was out and about this afternoon doing some errands, I stopped at CVS to buy some much needed deodorant and get passport picture taken. While I patiently waited for the pictures to be processed and cut for me, I browsed around the snack aisle looking for something small to tide me over until dinner. This delectable item leaped off the shelf at me:

Needless to say, having devoured half a bag of these one drunken night a few months ago, it was the perfect snack. Of course, remembering the last time I had these made me start thinking about beer, since I was less-than-sober last time the delectable collision of Zest Taco and Chipotle Ranch graced my lips, and lo and behold CVS sells beer now.

Side note: I used to work at this particular CVS in high school and the person taking my passport photos was none other than one of my old managers whom I had always thought was really attractive. I was 16, scrawny and awkward around women when I worked there and she was about 24 or 25 and had an decently attractive and menacing looking boyfriend so needless to say I didn't have a whole lot of success there. She still works there, and still attractive, and now I am 23, significantly less scrawny and slightly less awkward around women. This still led nowhere, although I did make her laugh with some inane banter, which is a step....right?

Anyways, so I peruse the beer cooler looking for some good prices on tallboys, because why not have a tallboy and some delicious chips while I wait for my laundry to dry? I was going to go with the standard Bud Light, but as I was walking away out of the corner of my eye I saw that distinctively lame looking can of Natural Light. For $1.15.
That's right, 24 ounces of scrumptious smooth pilsner for $1.15.

Needless to say, things are looking up for the afternoon and that was easily the best $2.25 I'll spend all day. Now if only my parents had cable TV and a more comfortable couch....

(images courtesy of taquitos.net and naturallight.com)

Fenway Opening Day 2008!

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:38:00 +0000

I posted this in it's entirety on my other, sports related blog - www.207prospectus.wordpress.com - which you should also be reading, but felt like I should repost it here as well just because. In the next day or two, I'll be uploading some pictures to the post over there, so you can check those out as well.

Every sports fan has their favorite team, the one they are a little too invested in, spend a little too much time rooting for and do borderline crazy things in support of. It should be quite evident that my favorite team is the Boston Red Sox and even though this is obvious homer-ism, I find Fenway Park to be one of the most magical and enchanting ballparks in the majors. So it should come as no surprise that every time I get to catch a game there in person I still am in awe of the park and all of it’s loveable (and sometimes irritating) quirks.

I was lucky enough to attend several playoff games this fall by camping out on Lansdowne St. underneath the Green Monster with scores of other diehard fans. It was an awesome experience and something that I was excited to have the opportunity to do again. Naturally, opening day 2008 with the presentation of the 2007 World Series rings was a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a fiasco involving the camped out fans, Fenway staff and the Boston Police, which resulted in a termination of our camping trip. Luckily, I was privileged enough to have been offered a ticket to the game from my former roommate, Scott, and so I was able to attend despite that snafu on the streets. I won’t get into detail about it here, but needless to say, I wasn’t impressed with that.

The rest of the experience and the game were unbelievable. It was a warm, sunny afternoon with a light breeze and a frenzied crowd; perfect weather for springtime baseball at beloved Fenway. The pre-game ceremony was pretty impressive, with people lining the outfield holding flags representing all the countries in Red Sox Nation. The Boston Pops provided musical accompaniment to the proceedings and past Boston sports heroes from the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and 2004 Red Sox were called onto the field each sporting their respective sport’s championship trophies. Greats like Billy Russell and Bobby Orr strode in from left field in their jerseys and then took their place on the third baseline to watch the ring presentations. It was a really cool scene and a great way to demonstrate the rich history and tradition of Boston sports that these Red Sox and vaulting their way into.

After this, they draped the Championship flags from each of the Red Sox’s previous World Championships over the Green Monster with increasingly loud cheers from the crowd. I have a great picture of the 2007 World Series Champions banner billowing out over the 2004 banner, at last moment in the spotlight for that momentum changing and agony ending title. Then they called out the players and staff from the 2007 team, with each person, be they assistant strength coach to fan favorite and All-Star receiving a good cheer. It was great to see Doug Mirabelli again, and he was enormously well received by the crowd when he went to get his ring. After the presentation of rings, Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky and David Ortiz, surrounded by the team raised the 2007 Champions flag on the center field flagpole. It was a really picturesque moment pairing legends old and new and the stadium was shaking with joy, the very walls vibrating with our collective good fortune.

I was naïve enough to think that after the jets did a fly-by of the stadium that it couldn’t get any better and there were no more surprises to be had. Obviously, I was wrong. Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch was none other than former scapegoat Bill Buckner, back at Fenway to be recognized as a valued member of our team, a pariah no more. Clearly the 2004 and 2007 World Series wins went a long way in easing the pain of Buckner’s miscue in 1986 and a lot of healing has happened since then. I thought it was great to finally welcome him back to the park and hopefully the monkey is off his back for good now. As a great omen for the game (and hopefully the season) Buckner tossed a strong strike to his former teammate Dwight Evans. If you thought the cheers for the banner unveiling, or Manny, Ortiz or Papelbon were loud - Buckner’s ovation was a deafening roar of several minutes equal to the noise the jets produced overhead.

The rest of the day was a really picturesque baseball orgasm filled with peanuts and beer, Dice-K dissecting the surprisingly anemic Tigers offense and the Sox grinding out runs all afternoon. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a day off from work or a better way to open the season. I also got my picture taken wearing a 2007 World Series ring that they are raffling 9 of off to the public.

The season is long and will have plenty of downs (see getting swept in Toronto) and ups (see winning 2 of 3 from the Yankees and battering Phil Hughes) but this was the perfect start to another great season of baseball at Fenway. Here’s hoping 2008 is as great as 2007 was and that I can bask in the glory of another championship on a warm afternoon in April 2009.

End of an Era

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:47:00 +0000

The other day my favorite pair of jeans suffered the inevitable death blow. Already having numerous holes and weak spots, I completely blew out the left knee making the already existing hole large enough to fit my head through. This renders them as not acceptable attire for going out most places and they will no be relegated to wear around the house or for doing work in.

It is a sad day, as they were my most comfortable pair of jeans and will be near impossible to replace. Me being the type of guy that I am though, I will be holding onto these jeans for a while even though they have essentially fulfilled their usefulness to me.

A Graphic Description of Food Poisoning

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:09:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I had the unfortunate experience known as food poisoning. For whatever reason, I seem to get afflicted by this more often than most people. I don’t know exactly why, but I surmise it has something to do with my penchant for late night eating and fast food. Here’s how things transpired.

After going to bed at my normal time of about 11pm and feeling fine, I awoke around 2:30AM to some mild stomach discomfort. Since it was preventing me from sleeping comfortably I opted to get out of bed, head to the kitchen and get a glass of water or something to quell the rumblings. I figured it was just a cramp or something and so I had some water, walked around the apartment for a few minutes and everything seemed to be settling down. Thinking I was out of the woods I got back into bed and tried to get back to sleep. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, I realized something was horribly wrong. Maybe the water had taken my fragile stomach above critical mass, or maybe I had been a ticking time bomb all along, who knows. What occurred next can only be described as the worst 18 hours of my life in recent memory.

I sprung from my bed and sprinted the 8 feet to my bathroom to unleash what can only be described as a torrent of vomit. The puke spilled forth from my body so violently that my back and abs ached and my throat felt like someone had scrubbed it raw with a hairbrush. We are talking a 3 to 4 flush affair here – the volume of vomit was impressive. After this massive outburst of vomit, my body strained and abused, I passed out on the living room floor for a brief while which allowed me to recover enough energy to crawl back into bed for several hours sleep.

Upon waking back up at 7:30AM, I actually felt pretty good and almost considered going to work. However, as I got dressed I felt that sharp, terrifying pain in my stomach again and new I was going to be in for a long day. I raced back into the bathroom and dispelled even more chunky, vile-smelling waste into my poor toilet. Hoping this would be the end of it but knowing in my heart that the worst is yet to come, my body kicked the expulsion into high gear.

In between rasping heaves, I realized this evacuation procedure was rapidly about to go full body and prepared for the worst. Moments later, a full-on colon eruption occurred the likes of which mortal man should ever have to experience. My ass felt like a fire hydrant that had been broken open and was spewing water into the street on a hot summer’s day. Only problem being that this wasn’t a summer’s day, and nothing resembling water was pouring out of me. Of course, for those of you wondering, I was also simultaneously throwing up while this occurred into my nearby sink. As you can imagine the aftermath on both the bathroom and myself was unholy. I briefly considered setting it ablaze in lieu of cleaning up, but decided against it at the last minute.

The rest of the day was spent interchangeably lying on the living room floor resembling a corpse, shit-splattering my toilet bowl, or heaving up bile. At one point my cat came over and pawed lightly at my face, presumably to check for signs of life. I have no idea how after both my late night bombing of the plumbing, or my early morning blast session, my body had anything left to expel besides some internal organs but it managed throughout the rest of the afternoon. I was able to think about eating a cracker or two at 6pm, and managed to hold down some soup by 8pm that night.

I retired to bed that evening feeling as if a hammer had bludgeoned my midsection, my throat had been seared in battery acid and my ass had been scrubbed raw. I was a broken and defeated man with my only glimmers of hope being that the soup I managed to slurp down an hour before hadn’t made a reappearance and that I had lost about 7 pounds in less than a day. The moral of the story here is, don’t get food poisoning. I only wish I knew what I got mine from.

This is my life

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:34:00 +0000

So one of my students just now came into the office yelling about how the freakiest thing happened to him last night and that we need to protect him. Here's essentially what he said in his weirdo-rant:

"So last night I was having a peaceful dream about Care Bears and stuff when I felt a cool breeze over my body. The windows weren't open or anything and my fan wasn't on. The door was closed so there was no breeze or nothing and my cat was sleeping on me so I should have been extra warm. Then all of a sudden I got really cold and the Devil popped into my dream, totally at random. I felt a sharp pain in my heart because the Devil had just pierced my soul and possessed me. It was really freaky and I almost peed in my pants. Then he took me into his lair in Hell and started beating the crap out of me and I felt all of his pain and saw all the things he could see and he said I was next and that he was going to kill me today. My grandfather has been convinced I have had a possessed soul since I was 3 and he has been trying to get me ever since and do an exorcism or something on me but my grandmother wouldn't let him because her good soul is protecting me from evil like him, but she couldn't stop the Devil.
Now I'm watching my back and seeing 6's everywhere, the sign of Satan you know, and I don't know when or how but I am going to die today. What do I do?"

Unreal. Like, how the hell am I supposed to even react to this?

Other gems included this: "Everyone knows that if you go to a cemetery at midnight and do a grave dance you can raise the souls of the dead." This was in response to our claims that this was just a nightmare and that it wasn't really going to happen.
He also was shouting the whole time, despite the fact that the office is inside the school library and getting very exasperated when no one would believe him.

Clearly he watched/read Harry Potter recently and saw The Number 23, which would explain the "feeling/seeing what the devil does/sees" bit and all the 6's he is seeing all over the place.

Totally bizarre. This is pretty close to a typical day too, which is the crazy part.

The Greatest Parking Spot Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:16:00 +0000

Last Saturday night I was heading to a bar in Harvard Square. I was driving there. I wasn't too happy about it, but driving there and fighting for parking in the cluster-fuck that is parking in Harvard Sq. on a Saturday night outweighed paying for a cab. For whatever reason, I really dislike paying to get driven around when I could just as well do it myself.

So as I have mentally prepared myself for the arduous task of hunting for parking, I round the corner where the bar, Red Line, is located and pull off to the side of the road opposite the bar to let out my passengers as I embark on my parking mission. As I sit there, waiting for them to get out, I happen to glance to the other side of the street. In my head I know there isn't going to be parking spots right in front of the bar I want to go to at 10pm on Saturday, by habit forces me to look.

What do I see as I glance over, but a wide open, uncontested parking spot feet from the door. My brain stumbled over this visual information as I tried to instruct them to close the doors and hang on, as the red light stopping traffic and potential spot-stealers won't last forever. I hastily cut back into the lanes of traffic, back up 20 feet down a city street and parallel park my car in the miracle spot, first try.

Easily the best parking spot I have ever gotten at a busy place relative to the distance traveled to the doorway. I will most likely never have as good a parking spot as this ever again, unless of course I get handicapped plates and personally, I'd rather spend 20 minutes looking for a spot and walk 5 blocks. As I got out of the car I declared that we couldn't leave until the bar closed on principle because our spot was so awesome.

Work Sucks - Or Why I'm A Bitch

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:10:00 +0000

So it's March. I've been a full-time employee for about 6 months now and I am already starting to get frustrated with showing up to work. This has been a common problem for me in the past, where after awhile I just get tired of some facet of the job I am doing and it makes it very difficult for me to find the requisite motivation to go to work.
I am currently trying to identify why it is that I don't feel like going to work at my current job, because as far as I can tell it's a pretty sweet deal.

Let's review:
I have virtually no direct supervision, so I am free to take the job in whatever direction I want really and I never get my balls busted for being a few minutes late in the morning.
I am working with high-school kids who are for the most part very cool.
I am working on getting kids into college, which is something I am relatively knowledgeable about and find both interesting and rewarding.
I get all school vacations [Thanksgiving, Christmas, February, April].
I almost never have to "bring any work home" with this job. Once I am out of the office, I am done with work.

Where is the downside in all of this you might ask? Here are a few issues:
I work with high-school kids and they ca be very frustrating.
I work on a salary and it is not very high.
I have an hour commute to work - each way.
School starts at 7:45AM. I operate better on a 10/11AM-1/2AM schedule then a 6AM-10/11PM one.

Basically, I am complaining because I have a long commute to work, don't make as much money as I want to and can't sack up and adjust my lifestyle to fit my life.

I AM NOT IN COLLEGE ANYMORE. NORMAL PEOPLE WORK. EDUCATION RELATED JOBS DON'T MEET NIGHTS.

I knew what the commute was going to be like, I knew what the salary was going to be and I knew what the time requirements were when I signed up and now I am using all of these things as a complaint and an excuse to gripe about my job. I have a pretty sweet deal and I just can't help but get away from the slippery slope that is "the grass is always greener" argument. Sure I could be making more money. I could also be working a ton more hours, be doing something I abhor or worse yet, be unemployed.
Sure, maybe this isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life but until then I need to grow up an accept the fact that I have a pretty sweet deal. Meanwhile I'll be looking out for a job that let's me work from home on my own time and still pays the bills.

Subway and Children

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:21:00 +0000

The other night I went to Subway to pick up some dinner since I had a buy one, get one free coupon and I love Subway. The store is about 600m from my house, so I figured I would be in and out in no time. Naturally, I was wrong but in the process of being at this Subway for 30 minutes I learned some things.

First of all, the scene in there upon my arrival was frightening and I almost bailed immediately. There were 5 people in line in front of me and several of these people had young-ish kids with them. There was only one person working which just compounded the wait and everyone in front of me kept making all these really complex orders. Throw in the fact that as I approached the front of the line the bread supply was down to about 4 pieces and things started getting pretty edgy in line. It was like some scene out of the third world where people were fighting over the scraps from the aid trucks. People were bartering for line position behind me and the poor guy working had to inform everyone coming in that they were essentially out of bread. Not only did this excruciating wait watching the bread dwindle in front of me and people stumble over their orders teach me a lesson in patience it made me acutely aware I am nowhere near ready to have children.

Having kids changes your entire life. I have no idea exactly what this feels like, since I have no kids, but I can imagine it is something you can't really wrap your head around until your right in the middle of it. You can't do anything quickly with kids I learned. They are small, and slow and their brains don't operate as fast as they will once they grow up. Ordering food with kids is like pulling teeth because they are too shy to talk to the person behind the counter, so they have to relay the order through their parent. Don't even think about ordering for them either, as that is a huge insult likely to result in a tantrum. They also like really weird combinations of food items that only kids would like; pepperoni, bacon, turkey, tomatoes, oil and vinegar and mayo? what the hell?

They are also small and in the way and find a reason to be underfoot at all times. Kids are constantly banging into things, other people, each other; it's a 24/7 cluster fuck with them.

Given my current lifestyle of inhabiting other people's domiciles on the weekends, liking to take off on a whim and always looking for a way to shirk responsibility having kids would essentially ruin that. I mean, I had to take care of the cat for a week on my own and that derailed lots of small travel plans. I couldn't take it with me, but I couldn't abandon it for a week and hope for the best either. Nor could I afford to pay someone else to care for it, let alone the fact that I don't like strangers being in my apartment. And this is all with a cat, human children are easily 1000x as needy as a cat.

Needless to say, I haven't reconsidered my overall life plan of fathering children and being a stay at home dad someday, but I think that day needs to be a little further down the line given this experience. I just kept thinking that if I had kids right now, they would probably starve to death or drive me to commit a violent crime on some stranger out of sheer frustration.

Soda

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:29:00 +0000

I've been trying to not drink soda as much, in addition to not really drinking alcohol, because it is pretty terrible for you. It's bad for your teeth and it's essentially liquid fat. It's got caffiene in it, which is a rough drug in and of itself. It costs money, which when you are downing as much soda as I am, it becomes a substantial amount of cash.

Why is it that I continue to drink soda even though I really don't want to? For one, it tastes much better than water, so it's hard to choose the bland water when the soda is right there. Secondly, it's like a vice. The combination of the caffiene and sugar shoots straight to the brain like an express train and the flavorful goodness coats the taste buds like a warm blanket. I know I shouldn't drink it is much as I do, especially since I'm not exercising nearly as much as I used to.

I think that's the point though; everyone has vices and everyone does shit they know they shouldn't. I've got plenty more than just a massive soda indulgence, believe me, and everyone you and I know has similar imperfections. People cheat, gamble, steal, lie, cut corners, cut classes, drink, do drugs - you name it. As humans, we all are built to have imperfections. It is what defines us as people, makes us unique and defines who we are oftentimes.

Having a problem controlling one's soda intake is really minor in comparison to some of the other issues and vices people carry around. Hell, it's hardly in the top 10 of my own. We just have to learn to accept and embrace some of the deficencies people have and work with them on those that are larger problems.

People are coded to take risks and make bad choices. It makes me wonder what other kind of vices people have that they don't even know about? What else is wrong with you? With me?

The Manning Escape

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:18:00 +0000

The Manning Escape. The Miracle Grab of David Tyree. Immaculate Reception II. Whatever you want to call it.

Everyone in New England will certainly remember what they were doing, where they were and who they were with for The Manning Escape. I can easily see this being akin to Buckner’s Error and The Shot Heard Round the World and various other sporting moments that get names of their own and come to define games and legacies.

The Manning Escape was one of several defining moments in Super Bowl 42, one of several opportunities the New England Patriots had to seal the game or change the outcome to ensure their perfect 19-0 season and establish a Patriots dynasty for this decade with their 4th Super Bowl win.

This was not to be though. After the Pats went ahead 14-10 with less than 3 minutes to play on a TD pass from Brady to Moss, New England was much more relaxed than it previously had been. While far from over, the game had taken on a new life now that we had the lead late in the game and it was up to Eli Manning to lead a drive and beat us on the biggest stage of them all.

After a second down play that saw a game sealing interception graze of the outside of Asante Samuel’s knuckles (he was a split second too quick in trying to catch the ball) we had the giants at 3rd and 5 from near midfield with a minute to play. Eli dropped back to pass, and for one of the few times in the game it seemed we had a strong pass rush. Two of our guys got to Eli and had him wrapped up, or so it seemed. Somehow, someway the little bastard managed to spin away from two would be tacklers, who had a grasp on his jersey and get into open space. While actively running for his life he finds David Tyree somewhat open across the middle and heaves a pass towards him.
What happened next can only be described as other-worldly.

Everything was going in slow motion and the pass felt as if it had been in the air for 30 seconds, at least. Rodney Harrison was in coverage against Tyree and the pass was high. Both men jumped, going up for the ball in perfect harmony, slowly reaching out for it arms fully extended. Tyree and Harrison both have a hand on it, and the pair begins their descent to Earth as gravity takes effect. As they fall to the ground the ball is pinned against Tyree’s helmet, held there by both his and Harrison’s hand and each man trying with all their strength to take sole possession of it. Somehow Tyree manages to get his other hand up and cradles the ball tightly, bringing it down towards his chest ever so slightly as Harrison forces him into an awkward back bend as the two men crash into the turf.

With their collision to the ground the world comes back to full speed in an instant and I am screaming unintelligibly at the top of my lungs. “Harrison’s got it! Fumble! Offensive pass interference! OffsidesHOLDING! SHITASSFUCKNOWAY DOES HE HAVE IT!”
Turns out I had been screaming the whole play and hadn’t realized it. With that catch the Giants converted the 3rd down and kept the drive alive and were now in the redzone. Several plays later they went on to score the go ahead TD with 35 seconds left. That two play sequence was unequivocally the dumbest, most random and absurd sequence of professional football I have ever witnessed – especially given the implications.

Where was I you might ask? In a cramped living room surrounded largely by people I didn’t know who were predominantly Giants fans (dumb ones at that). The lesson here is, when your team is in the big game do not break routine. I should have been with people I knew, eating pizza like I had for all the past Super Bowls not branching out in hostile territory.

Excuse me while I go bash my head through a plate glass window.

I rule

noreply@blogger.com (Cleveland) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:53:00 +0000

So today I finally have internalized the old grade school addage involving spelling and the placement of i and e next to each other.

For reference: "i before e except after c and sometimes in words like neighbor and weigh"

For whatever reason, it took me about 15 years to really grab a hold of this and actually implement it in my spelling actively. This results in my being cognizant of the fact that I had been spelling numerous words incorrectly for quite some time and now no longer need spell check to clean up my verbal diarrhea as often.
I have no idea why it took this long for me to get this, or why I randomly started humming that little ditty in my head, but for whatever reason the 10,000th time I did it in my life it made sense.

Also today, while on my lunch break, I planned on getting gas. I drove by the gas station on my way to grab some food (not in according with my NY Resolution btw - shame) and decided that despite the cheap price (2.96/gal compared to 2.99-3.01 near home) that I would get it on the way back.

Lo and behold, as I pulled in on the way back past the station, the attendant was in the process of LOWERING the price of gas to 2.92/gallon! I WIN! total awesomeness.

That shit totally made my day. In other news, I need a life if that is the type of crap that makes my day.