Almost nothing better than a Friday before a long weekend and today, I’m feelin’ good. For my selection this week, I chose Good Charlotte’s “the Anthem”. A lot of people hate these guys and I can’t say I’m fond of much of their work after this album, but this song just never fails to get me going and in a good mood. Have a good Labor Day weekend everyone!
Ugh…..not only is it a Monday, but it’s a rainy, gloomy Monday. It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to make my normal half-hour or so drive in to work this morning. So it’s Monday, it’s rainy, and I’m late for work. Well, at least I don’t have a broken heart like Jason Isbell did when he wrote “Goddamned Lonely Love” when he was with the Drive-by Truckers. Enjoy the sadness that is Monday with Mr. Isbell and the crew with this fan-made video. As usual, Crappy Monday one and all!
Today is my special lady’s big day once again. Hope all of your birthday wishes come true. Have a great day. I love you!!!
The Birthday Girl!
Yes, yes…..another Monday has arrived. Sadly we mourn the death of another weekend. I had a different song picked out for this week, but while hanging out with Leblanc and Cluttered Brain this weekend, I stumbled upon an even more appropriate song for Melancholy Monday. This is a band called Theory of a Deadman with a song called “Hate My Life”. Crappy Monday everyone!!!!
OK, since I am trying to get Melancholy Monday started, I guess it is only fair that I participate in Feel Good Friday as well. I don’t want anyone to think I’m one of these Goth or Emo kids that just sits in the dark crying to “Save All Your Love” by Great White.
My pick for this week is a song that pretty much everyone in my household has been rockin’ to over the last week or two. It’s one of those really fun feel good songs and super-catchy to boot. It’s called Whoa Oh (Me vs. Everyone) by a band called Forever the Sickest Kids or FTSK for short. The video is actually pretty fun to watch as well.
Update: I apologize for the crappy video…..it was the only one I could find that would allow me to embed. Better than nothing I guess.
I just saw this news story. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, originally scheduled to be released in just a few months in November, had now been pushed back to July of next year. No, it’s not because the production schedule was behind or the movie needed some editing work…..the movie would easily be ready to go in November. It’s because Warner Bros. saw a prime opening in next summer’s movie schedule and decided they could probably make more money by moving it. I was pumped to go check the movie out in November and to make HP fans wait eight more months just because of money is just wrong. I am seriously considering keeping my family at home next July and waiting for the DVD release just to spite Warner Bros. What’s a few more months’ wait after I’ve already waited eight months as it is? I’m sure losing the $100 won’t make the movie execs lose any sleep, but in my mind I’ll be giving them a HUGE-ASS middle finger.
Ever since I wrote my post about baseball, I have been jonesing to go see a game, so I was very happy when our friends Hooker and MF’er (nicknames lovingly bestowed by Crafty Momma) asked if we wanted to meet up in Jackson to hang out and watch the local AA minor league baseball team play a game. So Crafty Momma, Sweet Pea, and I (all other family members had other obligations/plans) jumped in the car at about 10:00 Saturday morning and headed west.
We had decided that since we had Sweet Pea and they each had their boys that we would go over to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and let the kids burn up some of their energy playing some games. Of course, the adults played a game or two as well…….we had to help the kids rack up some tickets, right? Going to CEC is always a mixed bag for me. I know the kids love it and I always look forward to taking them because I know that they’ll have a good time. However, once we are done eating, I inevitably remember why I hate going there. After an hour or so of chasing Sweet Pea around as she quickly goes from game to game while at the same time dodging about 500 other children who aren’t paying the slightest bit of attention as to where they are going, I am ready to get the hell out of there and not ever go back (or, realistically, not go back until the memories of all the horrors recede once again).
Once we did finally get away from CEC, the ladies decided they wanted to “get their toes done” at a nail place down the street that Hooker knew about. I started to get nervous as the game started at 7:05 and her it was creeping up on 6:00. MF’er and I sent one of the boys in to check to see how much longer the ladies were going to be and instead of the 30 minutes I was expecting to hear, they actually said to give them 5 more minutes. Amazingly, about 5 minutes later, they came strolling out with those funny toe separator-thingies in between their toes.
After running back into the nail place to get directions to Pringles Park, we were on our way. We got to the stadium in about 5 minutes and quickly and easily located parking spaces…..this game would be far from sold out. We asked for tickets on the first base line, but instead got seats behind the plate about two rows up……..which gave us a great view but also did away with any chance of us catching a foul ball since we were behind that big net behind the plate. The little stadium was pretty cool and seemed to be fairly new. I was thinking that the team there, the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx was an affiliate of my beloved Cubbies, but it turns out that some years ago they switched over to the Seattle Mariners. I was a little disappointed by this but my baseball jones (and the $2 draft beer special) helped me quickly overcome this.
The game itself was pretty exciting. The Jaxx were playing the Huntsville Stars (the Brewers’ AA affiliate) and took an early 2-0 lead on them but the Stars evened the score after hitting back-to-back homeruns. Later the game was knotted at 3-3 when catcher Adam Moore (or the HOT Catcher, as Crafty Momma dubbed him) doubled with a man on second to drive home the eventual winning run. I won’t be surprised to see this guy up with the Mariners in the next couple of years as he is among the Southern League leaders in average, homeruns, and RBIs.
There was a very scary moment later in the game…..I had decided to get one last beer and since I had climbed all the way up the damned stairs, I decided to have a smoke to go with it. MF’er joined me shortly after. Smokers have to go to a designated area on the upper deck off the first base side, which is cool as it is a prime area for foul balls. Sure enough, not long after we got up there a batter sent a foul ball about a mile high and it headed our way, but I could tell it wasn’t quite going to make it. So I relaxed knowing I wouldn’t have a shot at it and watched its descent. It looked as if it was going to be caught by an older lady but unfortunately she apparently thought it was going to go over her head and so didn’t put her hands up. With a sickening crack, the ball came down and slammed right into her upturned face. It was an extremely frightening moment but the medical crew did an excellent job of getting over to her very quickly. Fortunately it had hit her glasses and it appeared that she had a cut and some swelling around her left eye, but otherwise she seemed to be fine.
We went back down to our seats and watched the remainder of the game. The kids got to run the bases once the game was over and there was a HUGE line. Sweet Pea was looking forward to going out there, but decided she didn’t like the dirt that got into her shoes and cried from second base all the way home.
We got back out into the parking lot and took a couple of pics. Then we said our good-byes, jumped back in the car, and made the trip back home to Nashville. We made it back into town at about 1:00am where we all exhaustedly went straight up to bed. It was a pretty fun day, though. I wouldn’t have normally thought of Jackson as a fun destination, but I guess when you’re with friends you can pretty much make it fun no matter where you go.
I have seen several folks in the Nashville blogging community, including good friends Leblanc and Cluttered Brain (aka the School Girl and Mrs. Mixologist), participating in what is being called “Feel Good Friday”. While I tend to normally feel good on Friday, I also feel like crying on Monday knowing I have to fight my way through another week to get to the fun of the weekend. Not to mention that I tend to like sad, tearjerking ballads. So I am starting my own thing, which I’ll call Melancholy Monday, in which I will pick a sad, depressing song to go along with those emotions equated to the beginning of another work week.
I’ve decided to begin the tradition with a song that has a very strange effect on me….I never fail to get choked up when I hear it. It’s called “Autumn” by a very talented singer-songwriter named Paolo Nutini.
So, Crappy Monday to everyone and here’s hoping the week goes by quickly and the beer is cold once the weekend finally arrives!
For the second week straight, I have received sad news. You may have read my previous posts here and here about Thomas Bickle and his fight against cancer. I was crushed to open my blog reader this morning to find that Thomas passed away yesterday afternoon. I have been blessed to have been able to follow his story since 2006 and to have his story touch my life and that of my wife’s as well. I admire his parents greatly for sharing their story with me and I’m sure countless others feel the same way. Still, I am saddened beyond words at its conclusion although I knew that only a miracle would keep it from being so. But I am lucky in having my faith in God as it brings me the comfort to know that Thomas is in a better place and will no longer be in pain.
I wrote and discarded several posts about Thomas today because it’s been so hard for me to put into words the way I feel. I hope Thomas’s parents won’t mind me posting this. I just wanted to draw a little more attention to his story if I could so that other people might be touched by his life the way we have. Please keep Thomas’s family in your thoughts and prayers.
