Category: Opinions

Fifteen Frapping Innings!

It took fifteen innings for what I already knew would happen to go ahead and happen.

The #$%&ing AL beat the NL in the All Star Game.

I’m a devout NL girl. I loathe the Designated Hitter. I love that using the pitcher’s lack of hitting ability can become a strategy.

But even I have to admit after watching many of the interleague games this year…and last year…and years past…oh and most of the World Series for the past ten years…the AL is, probably, the stronger league.

*gah!* It gives me agita to actually say that out loud.

At least the NL made it sporting this year…

There were a few bright spots. The Giants entry to the fun, Brian Wilson, a closer coming in as middle reliever, didn’t embarrass us!

(Atlee Hammacker anyone?)

Our star boy, Tim Lincecum was a no-show after being admitted to a New York hospital with flu issues.

I was a bit sad about that, I would have loved to see Prince Tim pitch on the big stage. Oh well, he’ll continue to be our little ten-game-winner-at-the-All-Star-break secret.

Highlights were also the Rocky I love to Hate, Matt Holliday, depositing one over the fence. Also the NL battling themselves out of two innings with bases loaded and no outs. That they got FIVE outs in a row at the plate is really something.

Low light was the Marlin’s entry, one Mr. Dan Uggla. Nice three errors in two innings, meat!

*sigh* And so tonight, a day off for MLB. No baseball.

But something too look forward to: The Good Man and I got KICKIN’ seats for Friday’s game at AT&T Park.

C’mon Friday! Probable starters are CC Sabathia and Matt Cain.

w00t!

/geek out

Thar she blows!

Yup. There you go. The Good Man and me are legally licensed to run off like two crazy kids and hitch our lives together, willy-nilly without regard for consequences!

YIPE!

juuuuuust kidding!

The good news is that the county produces this handy illustrated booklet to help us get through “the rough patches”.

Last evening, we solemnly flipped through the pages.

Who knew that keys to a happy marriage included regular exercise and washing your vegetables before consuming?

Ah well…: plugs nose and jumps in :

____________________

PS: ok, that’s not the *actual* license above, rather a pretty souvenir the State of California provides…the real one is quite ugly…form-like, in triplicate and all that governmental schtuff.

Manditory fun!

Hey all, I’ll be brief today as my work team is headed out for an offsite at which we’re all supposed to bond, and be team-y and, you know, find the love for our employer and employment.

The good news is, we’re going somewhere fun.

Remember this?

Yep, I get to go back!

:crackle: Uh…we have a geek out on aisle one. Repeat, clean up on aisle one….

Schadenfreude

–noun
satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune.

Yup. American society, in general, seems to love them some schadenfreude.

Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes

Really? Why?

I mean, if you say to me, “Well, I don’t really care for Starbucks coffee because it’s too strong/weak/bitter/strange for me”, then great. No one says you gotta like everything.

But if you say “feh! F–k ’em because they became so successful”…well that’s just mean. And elitist.

So while the coffee snoots are busy scribbling bad poetry in their local coffee shop, feeling superior that Starbucks seems to be faltering, they seem to forget it was the coffee snoots themselves who made Starbucks what they are.

Starbucks used to be the low-down cool thing. It used to quietly be the “in” thing, where the coffee snoots went for a cuppa and conversation. Starbucks was filling an unfilled need. Or they created a need.

That is capitalism at it’s finest!

So suddenly they go from being good to being dirt because they are worldwide? And making money? So neener neener now that you’ve come upon hard times?

As a Starbucks stockholder, I see this retrenching as a good thing, actually, for the long term health of the company.

It blows that people will be out of work and stores will pull out of neighborhoods, but I honestly believe “getting back to core competencies” is the right thing to do in this down economy.

Ah, that’s just me being rational again. I hate it when I get like that…

(note to my favorite New Mexico Barista: Hang in there friend!)

The iTunes Phenomenon

One of the really cool features of iTunes is Sharing. So the deal is, when there are other people on your same network, if they turn sharing on, you can listen to their iTunes library. Not copy, but listen.

Cool, no? Working in an office like I do, there is a whole long list of other people’s music I can check out. I’ve found some good stuff this way. For example, it’s how I got turned on to the Gypsy Kings.

I’ve also been on the sharing side. I say without shame I’m the proud owner of “Ultimate Daryl Hall & John Oates”, a two disc best of compilation. And I’ve discovered LOTS of people are really into Hall & Oates, because they stop me in the halls and comment on listening to my iTunes Library.

But here’s what gets my OCD up…

When I look at other’s iTunes collections, they are SO neat and quite tidy. Full albums. All band names and titles in their proper place. Neatly arranged and ordered for maximum findability.

My library on the other hand is a mish-mash. One song from an artist here. Six full albums from another artist (*coff*FleetwoodMac*coff*) over there. Chock a block full of “iTunes Artist of the Day” downloads from Starbucks.

And then there are the oddball Christmas downloads leftover from the Napster free-for-all days. No, the RCIAA didn’t come after me for payment on that copy of Billy Squier‘s “Christmas is a Time to Say I Love You”. I’m sure they snickered when my download log came across their desk.

Comparatively, my iTunes library looks like a twister came through and jumbled all the pieces.

Ah well, I hit “shuffle” and it all seems to work out.

The other fun thing about Sharing on iTunes is that you learn a LOT about people based on what music they have in their collection.

The most startling so far is an older gentleman I work with. A quiet gent, hails from Ireland and speaks with a soft brogue. Been married over forty years, kids long raised, he’s a quiet respectful guy.

His iTunes library contains, and I’m not making this up:

Pussycat Dolls
Jessica Simpson
Ashlee Simpson
Britney Spears
Rhianna

Just to name a few. TOTALLY unexpected. He claims he enjoys these artists for the music……

Then again, what does MY iTunes library say about me? Hmm……I think I’ll go uncheck “Sharing” now…