Girls' View of Alba vs. Spears

Why is it that most girls don't have a problem with guys thinking Jessica Alba is hot, but freak out if you say the same thing about Britney Spears?

As someone who has made his admiration of Britney well known to everyone in the past few years, I have caught my share of negative reactions from girls. Some will acknowledge that she is attractive, but harp on her for being a hoe and lacking talent. Others won't even acknowledge that she's pretty, they just plain hate her.

I always figured it was just due to jealousy. But when I tell girls that I think Jessica Alba is hot, about 95% of them are so quick to agree with me, and I can't remember a single time I was ever chastised for expressing that opinion.

The thing is, if you stop and think about it, you could argue that Jessica Alba is less talented and done far less as an actress, than Britney has done as a pop singer. Although I enjoyed Dark Angel while it lasted, and thought Honey was a mildly entertaining movie, I don't think either of those performances compares to the accomplishments of Britney Spears in the music world.

So it can't just be jealousy, can it? I mean, if you want to rag on Britney cause you think she's a no-talent hack, how can you like Jessica then? Maybe I'm just missing something here.

*****

Wow... Possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen, in the pregame studio segment before the Illini/Mizzou game today, Rick Majerus said "You know, I'm not a big Gay guy".

What he meant was that he wasn't a big fan of UConn's Rudy Gay, but that didn't stop me from almost dying of laughter. Rick Majerus.... big Gay guy.... muahahaha

Steve Lavin next to him was noticeably trying not to crack up too. Oh man.... moments like those make me wish I had a TiVo. If anyone has a clip of that recorded please oh please send it to me!

Edit - By the way, here is a picture of Rick Majerus for those of you who don't know what he looks like:

March of the Penguins

Over the weekend, I watched March of the Penguins on DVD. I'm kind of bitter about the situation because back when the movie first came out in the theaters, and I told people I wanted to see it, I got all kinds of weird looks. Either "what the heck is March of the Penguins" looks, or "I know what it is, why the heck would you want to watch a movie about penguins?" looks.

But then as time went by, I kept hearing from friends who went to see the movie, and pretty much every one of them said it was good. To make things worse, some of them were the same people who gave me those weird looks before!

Anyways, I'm glad I finally got to see the movie and I did like it. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's basically a 90 minute nature documentary about everything penguins have to go through to mate, have a baby, and raise the baby until it's ready to survive on its own. But it's probably better than the typical show on Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, since it's hard to film in Antarctica and follow these penguins for months. Also, they got Morgan Freeman to do the narration, which must have cost a pretty penny. He did a good job though. That means I have now seen 2 movies that he narrated, and liked both of them.

I won't say too much about what happens in the movie because you should watch it for yourself, but I'll just say that it's pretty amazing how much those penguins have to go through, just to raise one baby and survive the cold. Before watching this movie, I didn't really know much of anything about penguins. Except that they always made me angry in MarioKart when they get in my way and make me spin out.

Actually at one point I did wish I was a penguin, because it seems fun to be able to slide across the ice on your belly. But now that I've seen that the Antarctic isn't very hospitable, I decided that maybe being a penguin is not for me.

Mariah, You're On Fire

I've been listening to a lot of Mariah Carey's stuff lately, new and old, and felt inspired to write a blog about her.

As most of you know, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for pop music, so it should come as no surprise that I'm a Mariah fan. Which I am, and have been for years. But I don't think I have ever fully appreciated her greatness until recently.

When I think about how her career and her image has changed throughout the years, it's pretty amazing. She started out as this young sweet girl with a fantastic sounding voice, who sang mostly cheesy love songs. As she got more popular, she started being categorized with other "divas" like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion. Her music also began to sound more hip-hoppy throughout the 90's, although she always maintained some of her pop music roots. At one point she even made a movie, although I don't think anybody ever bothered to watch it.

Mariah has worked with everyone from 98 Degrees, Brian McKnight, Boyz II Men, and Whitney Houston, to Bone Thugs, Busta Rhymes, Puff Daddy, and Jermaine Dupri. She's gone from being married to a record executive that Michael Jackson once called "evil", to dating the star shortstop on the Yankees. Who else can even come close to that list of accomplishments?

One thing I have never been able to figure out is whether or not I think Mariah Carey is hot. There's been moments when she has looked great, but so many other times when she's looked too fat, too hoochie, or both. Right now I'm still undecided about that so stay tuned.

But one thing that can't be questioned is that her voice has always been awesome. I think a while back, I made a list of best female voices in my blog, and I don't remember exactly where I ranked her, but she's gotta be in my top 3 for sure. Considering how much has changed in the music world since her career started, and in the pop genre alone, it's a wonder that she's still at the top of her game today, and a lot of that has to be due to her voice.

When I look at my current Winamp playlist, it's almost all Mariah songs. Part of that is due to it being Christmas season, but still, I can't believe how many great songs she had that I completely forgot about. If I may, I would like to present my personal top 10 Mariah Carey Songs:

10. Whenever You Call (f. Brian McKnight) - I'm probably leaving out a better song because of this, but I can't not include this song, because of the memories. One of my shining moments of college was when me, Anuj, and Brian were howling this song at the tops of our lungs while playing MarioKart.

9. All I've Ever Wanted - One of her lesser known, and most underrated songs (at least I think it is). Music Box was a great album from top to bottom, and this song probably just got lost among the others. But I think it belongs in the top 10.

8. Hero - Speaking of which, the most overplayed song from Music Box. I don't mind that much because it's still a great song though. Inspires me to look within myself, and find a way.

7. Everytime I Close My Eyes (f. Babyface) - I might have ranked this song higher, if Kenny G wasn't in it.

6. Vision of Love - I think this song came out before I started listening to music a lot. But that did not preclude me from appreciating it as much as her later work.

5. One Sweet Day (f. Boyz II Men) - Another song that was very overplayed at the time, but understandable because it was so good.

4. O Holy Night - Having grown up in the church, I remember when we had to practice this song in Sunday School for one of our kids' Christmas Eve shows, and I can say it is one of the most difficult songs to sing. But Mariah did an awesome version on her Christmas album with ease, which makes me all the more impressed. I haven't heard any other versions of the song that have even come near to the quality of her rendition. Except for maybe Eric Cartman's.

3. Breakdown (f. Bone Thugs N Harmony) - I always forget she did this song, but every once in a while I go back and listen to it, and it gets stuck in my head for about a week. Such a catchy song. "...well I guess I'm tryin to be.... nonchalant about it... and I'm goin to extremes... to prove I'm fine without you... but in reality I'm... slowly losin my mind..."

2. Dreamlover - The first Mariah song I ever heard. Loved it back then, still love it now.

1. Always Be My Baby - I could probably say the same thing for any of the songs on this list, but I can't imagine anybody except Mariah Carey making this song work. It might not be the most difficult to sing or even the catchiest tune, but I put it at #1 because it's quintessential Mariah.

My Real World Application

(Note: If it's not already patently obvious to you, THE FOLLOWING ENTRY IS A JOKE. I apologize in advance if nobody thinks it's funny, but I had fun writing it, so that's why I'm posting it.)

We often wonder why in so many years of Real World, MTV has yet to cast an Asian guy in any of its seasons. But I realized that probably none of us have ever really done anything about it. So I decided to put together an application that might finally help us (meaning male Asians) break through to MTV. See below

*****

Dear MTV Producers:

I have been an avid fan of the Real World for many seasons now, mainly because of how accurately it portrays the life of a young adult in America. I think I speak for all of my peers when I say that all of us can truly relate to the setup of your show.

We all know exactly what it's like to have a job handed to us, without ever having to apply for it or show any semblance of qualifications beforehand. It's also pretty standard for us to live in a posh house that is decked out with the most luxurious furnishings (short of the stripper poles that the rappers in Cribs have, of course).

But what makes your show the most worthwhile, in my opinion, is the tremendous effort that your producers make to incorporate diversity into each cast. Other than the fact that every season centers around one or two "alpha-male" Caucasian characters (Brad from SD, Steven from LV, Danny from Austin, MJ from Philly to name a few), to go with the Caucasian, preferably blonde and hopefully attractive, but more importantly, slutty females that desire them (Cameron from SD, Trishelle from LV, Melinda from Austin, and Sarah from Philly), the show's diversity is truly admirable.

Without Real World, I would have never been introduced to such characters as the big angry black man (David from New Orleans), the not as big but just as angry black man (Steven from Seattle), the dorky angry black man (Adam from Paris), the angry black man that looks like Dee Brown (Nehemiah from Austin), and the surprisingly gay but, you guessed it, angry black man (Karamo from Philadelphia). It's not just black men who are angry in the show, though. We've also witnessed the domineering angry black woman (Coral) and the crazy psycho lesbian angry black woman (Aneesa) as well, which is important to know.

However, if there is one shortcoming to the Real World, it is the considerable lack of Asian cast members on the show. Although we have seen a few of them so far (my count is 2.5 with Janet from Seattle, Jamie from SD, and Christina from Paris), it is hardly a complete representation of the Asian race. For one, all three of the above are Korean (Christina being half-German as well), and beyond that, all three of them are female.

In my opinion, what your show desperately needs is a real Asian male representative cast member. And yes, as you may have guessed by now, I would like to offer myself, a Chinese-American male in his mid-20's, to be a part of your next cast.

If you haven't already tossed this application to the trash heap after reading that last sentence, let me just assure you that I have a lot more to offer MTV and the Real World than you may expect. If you select me as a cast member, I promise to make your next season of Real World the greatest ever.

For starters, my exceptionally charismatic personality, stinging sense of humor, and devastating good looks alone would most likely make me an instant star with your audiences. But in spite of those facts, my ultimate goal is much grander than simply generating a greater fan base and boosting Nielsen ratings.

I will make it my mission to broaden the scope of what the American public typically sees of Asian people in this country, which, if I dare say, is terribly limited if not completely inaccurate. In short, I wish to show everybody, through my presence on your show, that we (the Asian race) are much more than the quiet, exotic looking creatures that are generally content to blend into the social fabric of our country.

You might ask, "how"? Well, the ways are many, but to give you an idea of some of the things I could do on the show to enlighten your viewers:

1. Frequently talk about math.

Not many people know this, but Asians are good at math. I, for one, was on my high school's math team, went through 4 years of engineering curriculum in college, and have worked for the past 3 years as an electronics engineer. You can't do all that and not be good at math!

Anyways, I figure that instead of hooking up with hot chicks, or getting into fights at the bar, it would be cool to practice solving differential equations or something like that. And you never have to worry about getting arrested for doing integrals, which is nice. Nobody likes to see cast members getting hauled off to jail by the local cops, when that stuff happens it's just an embarrassment to the vaunted Real World franchise.

2. Eat lots of rice, with chopsticks.

Another little known fact is that Asians like rice. Actually, I'm pretty sure we invented rice, like maybe back in the 60's or something. And we don't use just forks or spoons to eat it - we use chopsticks. That may not seem like a big detail, but it's a crucial aspect of our culture that should not be overlooked.

Just the other day I was watching an episode of RW: Austin when Johanna was chowing down on some brats. How boring is that? So for me, when everyone else on the show is using forks to eat "salads" or "pasta casserole", I'll be the one scooping rice into my mouth with chopsticks.

As an added bonus, I know all the words to the song "Got Rice?", which is basically a 2Pac song with the lyrics changed to reflect AZN pride. So, in an ideal situation, you have a potential scene where I could be eating rice, with chopsticks, while singing "Got Rice?". Triple bonus!

3. Practice Kung-fu in the house

If you pay attention to the roles that Asian actors tend to get in Hollywood, it's surprising that none of them seem to ever reflect our proud heritage of Martial Arts. We're always cast as the sex symbol in romantic comedies, which is fine, but so limiting. Nobody seems to realize that Asians can also do jump kicks and fly from treetop to treetop, when that's one of our greatest assets.

So to make people more aware of our skills, I'll make sure to practice my Kung-fu around the house for everyone (and the cameras) to see. Unfortunately, I don't have a black belt in anything, but I have taken some classes in Karate and Judo and that should be good enough. Nobody will know the difference anyways, right?

4. Walk around with a crouch (to give appearance of being short)

While I respect Yao Ming's basketball skills as much as the next guy, his rise to fame has unfortunately led everyone in America to mistakenly believe that all Asians are super tall. It's an annoying stereotype, because I constantly have to deal with questions from my non-Asian friends like "Dudo, you're Chinese aren't you? How come you're not 7-foot-5?"

The fact is, there are a lot of short Asian people that are even smaller than me (I'm about 5'11 to 6' myself). The viewers of Real World need to realize this, so I plan on walking around with really bad posture for the 3 months I'm in the house. If there was an easier way to demonstrate that Asian people are not tall, I'd be all for it. But someone needs to show America the truth, and I'd gladly sacrifice my spinal well being to do so.

There's much more I could add to the above list, like wearing my thick glasses, watching Japanese anime, or singing Ricky Martin songs on Karaoke. But I think I've listed enough examples to point out some of the key elements that have been missing from Real World for so many years, due to the lack of male Asian cast members.

Hopefully the above has shown you the importance of including someone like myself in the next season of Real World. I urge you to consider my application seriously. Don't make me have to tree-hop my way over there and jump kick you!

The Choice For Me Is Not Lead-Free

Not sure how many of you out there will find this information useful, but in the past few weeks at work we have been getting briefings about a brewing problem in the electronics industry, which may or may not affect the general consumer population.

I won't bore you all with the details, because it's kind of a long story about the kinds of stupid stuff that happens when environmentalists and politicians get together. But basically what happened is that the European Union decided a few years ago that we need to eliminate the use of lead in electronic components.

The problem is that there is a reason people used lead in electronics to begin with, and that is the fact that there's not really many other solutions out there that work as well as lead. Again, won't bore you all with the details, but to make a long story short, lead-free electronic components tend to develop weird phenomena and don't last as long as their traditional leaded counterparts.

While research is still being done to see what can be done about the problems that come with lead-free parts, the world is already moving ahead and starting to follow suit with the European initiatives. Actually, many products have already made the transition to lead-free in the past few years - for example, if you bought a Motorola cell phone in the past 3 years, chances are good that it was built with lead-free solder. But as far as the electronics industry as a whole, 2006 is when this lead-free thing is really supposed to take hold.

Before you run out in a panic and file a class-action suit against some company for selling you a defective part, let me repeat that research is still inconclusive. Also, the problems seem to mostly affect long-term reliability. If you get a new phone every year or two anyways, which most of us do, then it probably won't matter that much. These problems do tend to affect engineers more than anybody else, and especially in the defense industry, where equipment is expected to last for many years without maintenance.

Still, certain "expert opinions" presented in our briefings have recommended the following tips:

1. If you ever have a choice of buying a "RoHS-compliant" vs. "non-RoHS-compliant" version of a product, go with the non-compliant one. (If you ask the employee at Best Buy about RoHS compliance, he probably won't have a clue what you're talking about, but just keep an eye out)

2. If possible, wait until 2007 or beyond before buying new electronics. The hope is that by then, some or most of the issues that are popping up with the lead-free transition will be worked out.

3. If you do buy an electronic gadget or appliance in the next year or so, it might not be a terrible idea to get one of those "extended warranties" that stores sometimes offer.

So take that for what it's worth. It could be a whole lot of industry uproar over nothing, like the Y2K mess. Or it might actually end up being the cause of Earth's final apocalypse. You just never know.

I'm not sure what I'm planning to do myself. I don't normally get those warranties, but maybe if I buy a new cell phone or X-box or something, I'll consider it next time. Especially cause I like keeping stuff for more than a couple years if I can. Anyways, we'll have to wait see what happens.

Gossip Folk

Yesterday I heard the news that Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey officially separated. Can't say that I'm all that surprised, based on what we all saw in their 2 seasons of Newlyweds on MTV.

What's interesting to me is that it seemed like the tabloids have been reporting that for months, if not more than a year, about their separation. All along, both sides fiercely denied the stories, from what I can remember. But in the end it looks like they turned out to be 100% right.

I honestly don't follow the "celebrity" gossip as much as some people, so I can't write that much in depth on the subject. But as a general observation, I'm starting to wonder if maybe these entertainment shows and magazines actually do know a lot more than we give them credit for.

Like with the whole Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie love triangle, it started with just rumors that Brad and Angelina had a thing developing on the side. Like Nick and Jessica, they all blew off the stories at the time. But next thing you know, Brad and Jennifer break up. And since then, what do you know, a relationship between Brad and Angelina seems to be revealing itself more as time passes.

Of course, there's the times when it's pretty obvious that the stories are being manufactured or blown out of proportion to attract more attention. When you take a picture of Matt Damon kissing some actress as they're shooting a movie together, and use it to suggest that those two are hooking up, that tends to not be so credible. Or if you run a headline in huge font that asks a question like "Is J-Lo marrying her 90 year old gardener?" and then force readers to turn to page 28 to find out the answer is "No", you can't realistically expect me to fall for that trick more than 8 or 9 times before I get wiser.

I'm just wondering if maybe there's really something to these "experts" and their analysis, like how they read between the lines and break down quotes of what the celebrities say in interviews to figure out what they're really thinking.

Or there's also the more obvious stuff such as a couple not showing up to an event together, not wearing their wedding rings, etc. Although with those kinds of things, I suspect it could all just be games their publicists play to work the media. You gotta think that when the celebrities say or do certain things in public, they must know that it's going to be studied under a microscope by people who do it for a living, so they better be extra careful. Some of the "clues" they drop might be subconscious, but it's hard to tell sometimes.

Then again, maybe these gossip shows are just throwing random crap out there to see what sticks, and when stuff actually comes true, they take credit for it for breaking the news first. When it doesn't, it's easily forgotten.

Maybe I just lack understanding of the industry, like there is some sort of hierarchy of gossip magazines with varying levels of credibility Like I get the sense that US Weekly is one of the most "respected" sources, while other magazines on the same rack may not be as believable.

Now that I think about it, the same stuff happens in the sports world too, except not in the "who's dating who" kind of story. More like who's getting traded, who's getting fired, who wants to move from one team to the next. I've lost count of the number of times a rumor comes out that some coach is about to get canned, followed by the team publicly denying it and giving him a "vote of confidence", then a few days or weeks later they give him the ax anyways.

Or if any of you follow college recruiting, the rumors that fly on the internet seem to come true more often than you would expect, all coming from nameless "sources". One kid will name School #1 as his leader, then all of a sudden another school's name will pop up, followed by his parents and coaches saying "no, the School #1 is still his leader, we still like them the best", but in the end everyone is surprised when he dumps School #1 for School #2.

The whole Larry Brown "saga" of last year might be the best example. All of a sudden he decides to take time off from the Pistons because of health reasons. Meanwhile everyone is speculating that he is unhappy in Detroit, and it's all a ploy to get him released from his contract, so he can take the position as the Knicks' coach, which was his dream job all along. Not saying he completely made up his health problems, but look at where he is now. Coincidence? I think not.

Anyways, what is my point in all this? That we should all run and believe whatever rumors we hear on Access Hollywood or read in US Weekly? Of course not. As much as we as a society need to be grateful to the industry that brought us such brilliant nicknames as "TomKat" or "Brangelina", I don't think it's the greatest idea to take these people's word as gospel.

After all, most of us probably remember the day Princess Di was killed in a car accident as her driver was trying to outrun paparazzi. Don't be fooled by the pretty faces of Maria Menuous or the tower of manhood that is Pat O'Brien. These aren't the most respectable people who are bringing you all those photos and dishy details.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't believe the "celebrities" themselves either (and certainly not their "publicists" of all people). Someone denying a story has almost as little credibility as someone floating a rumor, at least it seems to be the case with these things.

So yeah, don't believe anyone, and you're good.

*****

Eric Gordon Verbals to Illinois

By the way, I can't mention the subject of college recruiting in a blog, without including a note of excitement for the newest future star of Illinois basketball, Mr. Eric Gordon!

As many Illini bball fans know, there hasn't been a whole lot to be happy about as far as recruiting goes in the past few years. In fact there's been a lot of downright terrible moments I could name. Just a few days ago I was reading a feature on Jon Scheyer in my ESPN the Magazine that made me want to puke. Among the highlights, "[Coach K] really gets me. I feel like he has my whole life planned for me", and him talking about facing racism on the court for being white. Poor, poor Jon.

Honestly, I didn't think I would ever see us win a recruit over Duke, and that just makes this news all the more notable. Hopefully this will be a watershed of more to come, but that remains to be seen.

Of course, as I've said before, recruiting and high rankings aren't everything. It's definitely nice to get guys who stay 3 and 4 years to watch them develop, instead of players who play one year and then declare for the NBA. But from everything I've heard about this kid, it sounds like he's going to be a great player, with a great background and attitude. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him in that orange jersey in 2007 and beyond. Assuming nothing big happens before then, of course. After all, we did witness the Bill Self/Villenueva debacle only a few years back. But I'll not ruin this fine moment with talk of those things right now.

True Life: I'm Not A Professional Gamer

MTV has been running one of their True:Life "documentaries" recently that covers people who are so good at video games that they started to play for a living. I don't know if any of you have seen it yet, but I thought it was a pretty interesting show and recommend that you keep an eye out for it.

If nothing else, the segments featuring the girls who play in Counterstrike tournaments is very lovely. Made me feel like I was a high school boy again, when I always had crushes on pretty girls who were out of my league. Okay, so I never really did that in high school, so I guess it basically made me feel like a 25 year old loser who falls in love with girls on TV who happen to be awesome at video games.

In all seriousness, though, I have to say I was impressed with how much "work" these kids put towards video games. The one girl was saying how "at LEAST 11 hours of practice per day is a must", while the SMASH Bros. guy stayed up till 6am playing the game like it was nothing. I mean in college we had our share of video game marathons, but I don't think it even begins to compare to these psychos.

And their payouts actually weren't bad either. At first when the SMASH Bros. guy was saying how he made $100 for a day of playing, I was like, "haha, $100, big deal". But then I thought about it more and realized that hey, I don't make that much more than $100 a day myself, after taxes. And they're playing video games while I gotta actually engineer stuff. Not to mention he was probably going to make more after signing with a managing company and playing in bigger tournaments.

I think it just goes to show you that you can do pretty much anything for a living, if you work hard enough and can get good enough to be one of the best at what you do. Obviously some professions are going to be more profitable than others, especially if you consider the long term prospects. I can't imagine anyone could stay on top of their game for more than a few years, and after that, how helpful are your video gaming skills going to be to finding another profession?

But there's still something to be said for doing what you love and making enough money to support yourself by doing it. Ideally it would be something that helps society, but that's another discussion. I do admire these kids (even the T-Squared guy, who's pretty much a tool outside of his Halo skills), for the fact that they found something they know they excel at. And since they know 100% that it's what they want to do, they can wholeheartedly devote all of their time and energy to it and become even better.

I compare that to my job and it's not like that at all. I go to work, usually 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and get paid fairly reasonably for it. But that's it.

I don't find myself waking up early or staying up late to become a better engineer. Not because I don't have ambition and not because I don't have the work ethic for it. I don't see anything wrong with working way more than 40 hours a week, and in fact I believe you need to do that to be truly successful at anything.

The only problem is that unlike these "professional gamers", I can't say wholeheartedly that what I'm doing now, is what I was meant to do. What I was born to do. Maybe one day in the future that will change, but right now my job is just my job.

To those kids their job and their passion is one and the same. If I could feel about my job, the way they feel about theirs, there's no question in my mind that I would work as hard and as long as they do, and maybe even more so. But as it stands, being an engineer means not much more than something I spend 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week on, and in return allows me to pay all of the bills.

Anyways, I didn't mean to turn this entry on a MTV show about teenagers who play video games for money, into another long discussion about myself which nobody else really cares. But yeah, if you all haven't seen this show, I recommend it because I thought it was pretty interesting and entertaining. Or you can just watch it for the pretty girls.

(Watch out for the girls team from China, though. They should have had a disclaimer: The following scene contains extremely unattractive FOBs. Viewer discretion is advised.)

*****

Oh, and on a side note, 60 Minutes did a segment this past Sunday about online poker and how it is a thriving industry despite being illegal in the United States. This was definitely not as interesting or well done as the MTV show discussed above. Kinda sad that I'd consider a MTV True Life show to be more worthwhile to watch than 60 Minutes, but that's my honest opinion and I'm sticking by it.

(Not saying all of the MTV True Life shows are good, but at least the "Professional Gamer" one was.)

ESPN the Universe

On a typical day, my clock radio alarm goes off in the morning to Mike and Mike on AM 1000. Once I'm awake enough to reach for the TV remote, I turn on the TV which is usually set to ESPN or ESPN 2 (from the night before). As I'm getting ready for work, I boot up my computer and open a web browser whose home page is set at ESPN.com.

As I head to work, it's more Mike and Mike on the car radio. Throughout the day, I'm periodically checking ESPN.com for updated news stories and articles. Lunch time is especially a time I like to read the latest Sports Guy article and/or blog at my desk. Or if I go out for lunch, I usually end up listening to Dan Patrick on the car ride there.

After work, it's more ESPN. If it's not Baseball Tonight, Sportscenter, NFL Live, or a good game on ESPN, it's World Series of Poker coverage, the Hot Dog eating contest, or Stump the Schwab on ESPN 2. Even ESPN Classic gets some play once in a while. Sprinkle in more browsing of ESPN.com on my computer. Even when I'm in the bathroom, none other than ESPN the Magazine serves as reading material.

That can't be healthy, right? I mean, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I'm going through ESPN overload right now.

What bothers me is that I don't even think ESPN is that great anymore, yet I still find myself watching, listening, browsing, and read as if it were a religion.

I can't stand half the personalities on TV, first of all. Woody Paige and Skip Bayless on Cold Pizza are a downright joke. Sean Salisbury is a loudmouthed know-it-all, and why should we take him seriously to begin with, considering he was never anything more than a mediocre backup QB? Don't even wanna talk about Steven A. Smith, quite frankly. Mike Greenberg on Mike and Mike really annoys me for some reason, and Dan Patrick's show is borderline unlistenable at times, how he constantly beats dead subjects into the ground. It actually makes me miss Jim Rome, to be honest.

The more general trends I'm seeing with ESPN are disturbing too. I think I've written before about how there's too many shows like PTI and Around the Horn, where all they do is argue for the sake of arguing. Seriously, I get the feeling that none of these "experts" actually have a real opinion, they're all just trying to create a spectacle to get attention.

Not only that, but it seems like they rarely talk about the actual sports anymore. It always seems to be off the field stuff. Steroids, player salaries, legal problems, personal feuds, the list goes on. Whatever happened to discussing X's and O's on the basketball court? Breaking down defensive coverage schemes or offensive formations on the football field? Analyzing a batter's or pitcher's weaknesses in the baseball diamond?

I know it's because that stuff doesn't attract as much ratings, but I guess that just means that I'm in the minority as far as the way I feel. From what I remember, ESPN wasn't always like this. I used to think Sportscenter was such a fresh show, and looked forward to watching every night because all of the anchors seemed genuine and likeable. The show was lighthearted and simple, and to me, that's what a sports network should be like, because that is the nature of sports.

Sure, there are many things about the sports world that transcend into the "real" world, and it's not wrong to observe that now and then. But in the end, we're still talking about a game. And the great thing about sports as a game is that it provides a temporary escape and release from life's more serious side.

My point is, there are already plenty of news media outlets that are supposed to discuss politics, economics, legal issues, that kind of stuff. Can't we have just one channel that just talks about pure unadulterated sports?

I picture some high-powered executive just walked into ESPN's corporate offices one day and said to everybody in the boardroom:

"We need to squeeze out as much profit as we can from this company. Having two TV channels isn't enough. We need ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic, ESPN U, and the Ocho. And now that we have all these channels, we obviously will need to come up with more shows to fill up our programming schedule. Let's give Steven A. Smith his own talk show. Let's make a whole bunch of reality shows and game shows like MTV does. Don't forget to explore all adjacent markets with shows such as ESPN Hollywood.

Besides TV, make sure to expand into radio, magazines, even restaurants. Our website definitely needs to maximize its profitability as well. Let's make people pay for the same articles they used to read for free, and call it 'Insider'. Also, Page 2 isn't enough of a divergence from sports, so create Page 3. Finally, use the most intrusive ads possible because they pay the most, even if it does piss off a lot of people."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everything ESPN has added in the past few years is bad. I mean I liked "Teammates" and "Stump the Schwab", and as I said before, every once in a while there's a game on ESPN Classic that's definitely worth watching.

But overall, I think it's simply become too much. Like when I walked into ESPN Zone a few weeks ago and found myself surrounded by mugs, t-shirts, jerseys, just about everything emblazoned with the ESPN logo and overpriced to boot. Or when I flip on the TV and see AC Slater hosting a show that really belongs on the E! Network. And when they actually have made up "cartoons" on ESPN.com (I'm not talking about the Sports Guy cartoon or Off-Mike either, there's one that's actually completely fictional), it's clearly going too far.

Which brings me back to my question of why I continue to let ESPN dominate my life, despite the fact that I don't even like it that much anymore. Maybe it's because the alternatives suck more. Like Mike and Mike might not be the greatest morning radio show out there, but at least it doesn't make me want to pour acid in my own ears, which is the urge I get everytime I happen to listen to Drex in the Morning for more than a couple minutes.

Anyways, if there's anything I learned from the whole Terrell Owens saga of last week, it's that ESPN has taken too big a chunk of my daily life. In other words, when I find myself reading reports about how much of a tip TO left for a pizza delivery guy, it's probably a sign that I need to make some changes.

Laguna Beach, Season 2 Finale

Well, looks like this Monday will be the finale of Laguna Beach, Season 2. This season hasn't been as "good" as the first, but still entertaining. As a tribute to the enjoyment that watching the last 2 seasons of LB have brought me, I have decided to write some notes about each of the main characters:

*Steven*

He went from the guy who was dating Kristin, hooking up with LC on the side, and who had a model at some fashion show tell him he was "super gorgeous", to this unbearable loser who couldn't get either girl in the end. After season 1 you would've thought he would be scoring with chicks left and right in college, but that does not appear to be the case. Instead, the world seems to have passed him by and now he's just a whiny loser. So sad.

*Jason*

No other character cracked me up as much as Jason. This guy did it all. Making out with Jessica in front of his LC and her entire family and all her friends while they were supposedly dating, goofing around on the basketball court with his buddies when Alex was trying to talk to him, and best of all, the following scene:

[Before their date, deciding how to get to the restaurant]
Jessica: So, should we drive together or drive separate?
Jason: Drive separate
Jessica: (rolls eyes)

*Jessica*

Supposedly she was in the first season, as Dieter's girlfriend, but I don't remember her. Anyways, most of the drama of this season seemed to surround her. At first, I didn't like her at all. Then, I kind of felt sorry for her. After that, she got annoying again. At one point, I actually started to think she was kind of cute (not just physically). Finally, I realized she was dumb as rocks and that was that.

*Kristin*

By far my favorite character. Wouldn't wanna date her or anything, but she's definitely the most attractive one on the show, and with the most interesting personality (notice I said "interesting", not "great"). I think my favorite thing about her is how she talks. I wish I could talk like that or at least had a friend who talks like her. It takes ditzy to a whole new level. Very very entertaining to watch.

*LC*

I know others will argue me here, but I always thought her face looked funny. That aside, I think she was the most well-developed character in the show up until a few weeks ago. Her high point in my opinion was probably the final scene of Season 1 when Steven picked her up from the airport. But I still think her little "fling" with Jason of the past few episodes was set up by MTV producers just to manufacture ratings. They probably just thought it was their chance to showcase their acting abilities. Not good enough if you ask me. And it ruined the show for me.

*Alex H*

Thank goodness for someone normal like Alex H. In a weird way, she was possibly the one person I identified with. In the midst of all the drama, and emotional ups and downs of her friends, she was a constant. Never one to stir up controversy, and generally a voice of reason who was usually very likable. She never was the center of attention and was content with that role, but there's something to be said for someone like that. I like people like her, maybe because they remind me of myself. Alex H was also was very underrated in the looks department, maybe due to her unassuming personality. She'd probably be the one I could most see myself dating.

*Alex M*

Perhaps the polar opposite of the other Alex. By the way, is it just a Cali thing, or did everyone decide to name their daughters Alex 18 years ago? I always thought Alex was a guy's name, but there was at least one other mention of a girl named Alex in this show, which makes at least 3 in the same high school class. Anyways, this Alex was about as unattractive as you get, both physically and personality wise. I honestly don't see how anybody would ever think she's good looking (sorry Chras), especially considering what a psycho she is. If I lived in Laguna I would steer clear of that girl at all costs.

*Talan*

Last year when I first saw this kid, I thought he looked like a runt and couldn't figure out why girls liked him. This year, I still don't see it. But hey, I don't want to hate on him too much cause he's got a somewhat likable personality at least. The only other thing I have to say about Talan is that they should show more of his mom.

*****

Many of you out there who don't watch the show, if you didn't stop reading this entry already, probably wonder why I waste my time watching a "reality" series about high school kids.

Don't underestimate the power of Laguna Beach. Not only did they resurrect an old Journey song months before White Sox fans adopted it as their anthem this October, but they added words like "Done-zo" to our vocabulary, and introduced such awesome jokes as "What comes before Part B? Part-Ay... tee-hee-hee".

But it goes deeper than that. There are valuable lessons to be learned from watching this show. For example, now I realize that I had it all wrong back when I went to high school. Instead of being a nerdy Asian kid on Math Team, I definitely should've been a slutty white girl. Some very poor decision making on my part. My life would be so much more interesting and glamourous right now if only I had been dumb as rocks too.

Like tonight, when a bunch of the "cast" will be at Crobar for some KISS-FM event. When I was 18, I had never even been near a club, but right now people are actually buying tickets to go see them as if they were celebrities! Or a few days ago, when Paris Hilton crashed her car into a parked vehicle and among her passengers, of all people, was Talan. You don't see Paris hanging out with many engineering students, do you?

Well obviously it's too late for me now, but see, these are the kinds of things that our nation's youth need to know early on in their development. That "whatever happens in Cabo, stays in Cabo". That they should "hate the player, not the game". That graduating high school is overrated, as long as you look like you're 25 and act like a jackass to every girl you hook up with. What better role models for America's teenagers to have, than a bunch of rich kids who are never shown going to school and always seem to be partying in some lavish setting?

My only regret is that this will most likely be the last season of LB that I end up watching. They have announced Season 3, but supposedly there will be no connection between next year's characters with Seasons 1 and 2. More importantly I feel that the integrity of the show has been breached, as I alluded to earlier, with the sham hookup of LC with Jason. In the grand scheme of things I plan to pretend that storyline never happened and get on with my life.

Don't stop.... belieeeeeeevin'....

Cheap Gas

For as long as I can remember, we've always complained about gas prices being too high. This summer was especially bad when prices jumped up to almost $4 a gallon around here.

But in the weeks since then, the prices have been falling steadily back to normal, and if I'm not mistaken, even lower than they were before the summer spike. They're in the $2.50 range now, which lets me fill up a tank for less than $40 again, even at premium ("Hey, that smells like Regular... she needs Premium dude! PREMIUM!!! DUDE!!!"). Still a lot to pay, but not nearly as bad as before.

I'm not sure how the numbers compare in the larger picture of historical trends or whatever, but if I had to guess, I'd probably say these are much lower prices than they should be, when you account for inflation and everything.

I guess I'm bringing this up because like I said, it's rare that we ever hear people talking about falling gas prices. So rare that I'm not sure how we should be reacting to it.

Should we feel thankful, to whoever/whatever is responsible for reducing these prices?

Should we feel suspicious, that this is just a knee-jerk reaction by the oil industry and/or government to keep this country addicted?

Or should we just enjoy it while it lasts, while fully expecting the prices to reverse any day now and continue its long term upward trend?

*****

Did I really just hear a remake of a Seal song, done by Alanis Morissette? What is this world coming to?

If You Sell It, They Will Buy?

Happy Halloween, and bday to Olivia.

So I was looking for a birthday card today, and I noticed that in addition to the expected sections for Birthdays, Weddings, and Thank-You Cards, there was also a pretty big section for Halloween cards.

It made me wonder to myself, do people actually get each other Halloween cards? Have any of you out there ever given or received a card for Halloween?

I guess I just can't picture that happening. Can you imagine the following scene ever taking place:

[A group of friends are hanging out, watching the game. A handsome Asian guy approaches with a stack of envelopes]

Dudo509: Hey guys, happy Halloween! Look, I got you all some Halloween cards!
Friend #1: Wow, you're the greatest friend ever! Sorry I forgot to get you one though. I owe you one.
Friend #2: Yeah, this is sweet man. Halloween sucked until you came along with these awesome cards!
Friend #3: This is the most flaming thing you have ever done. I'm gonna kick your ass.

[A giant can of Milwaukee's Best falls from the sky and smashes the handsome Asian guy]

Or maybe I'm just ignorant, and giving Halloween cards is completely normal. Maybe they should even be selling "Happy Belated Halloween" cards for guys like Friend #1.

Another card I don't understand is a birthday card for a 1-year old. In case you didn't notice, babies don't freaking know how to read yet. They're barely awake to begin with. The only good I see for those cards is when you buy them as a joke for your adult friends on their birthday. Never ceases to be funny, on someone's 25th birthday, to give them a card that says "Congratulations on turning 4!"

Maybe a bigger question to ask is, "is there anything people won't buy?" Like when my sister was doing consulting for Staples, they started selling those "Easy buttons" that you see on the commercials. She actually bought a few, and gave me one, which I eventually brought to work. And since then at least 3 or 4 people have seen it on my desk and been like, "man, those are cool, I got to get me one of those!"

I mean all that thing does is have some guy's voice saying "That was easy" when you press the button. I dunno about paying 5 bucks to get one, but there's obviously a market out there for these things. One that apparently includes my sister and several people I know at work.

Or you have those jeans companies, I've always wondered how they can take a pair of jeans, rip holes in it and make it look as worn as possible, then mark up the price and sell it for hundreds of dollars more than a normal new pair of jeans.

That might lead one to the conclusion that you can sell anything if you just market it well. But I don't know if even that explains it. Just do some browsing around on eBay. For every item I see that makes me wonder, "who the heck is going to buy that?!", there always seems to be at least a few bidders out there who are willing to pay money for it. Never fails.

So on that note, I guess the lesson learned is, people will buy anything. You know how a few months ago I wrote something about how all the good ideas have already been thought of? Now I realize that it doesn't matter, cause there's plenty of dumb ideas left out there for me to think of, which I can still probably make millions selling.

"...And the White Sox have won the World Series!"



The most beautiful words I have heard in all my years of being a sports fan finally became a reality last night. As I'm writing this right now, less than 24 hours after the fact, I can still barely believe that my team has actually done it. It's too good to be true, it must be a dream. But it's not a dream, and it is true - the White Sox have won the World Series!

What a game, and what a season. I don't know what to write right now. Sox fans probably know exactly what I'm feeling without me having to say a single word. Others probably don't care one way or another. But for something as great as this, I have to write something down, for myself if nobody else.

Friends and family have asked me throughout the years, why do I care so much about sports? Why do I waste so much time, money, energy, and emotion on a bunch of people hitting a ball with a stick and running around the field?

It's because of moments like what I experienced last night. For all the trying times that can come with being a fan, it all becomes more than worthwhile when the team you love rewards you with the joys of becoming champions.

I'll never forget the moment. After the 14 innings of Game 3, I was too tired to go out to watch Game 4. It might have been nice to celebrate with fellow Sox fans last night, but I'm also kind of glad that I got to experience the moment in the peace and quiet of my own bedroom.

Because as I watched Juan Uribe fire yet another perfect throw to Paul Konerko to seal the championship, followed by the mob of teammates on the field, a million thoughts ran through my head. All the memories and emotions I had ever associated with the Sox filled my mind as they were topped off by this wonderful rush of celebration and joy:

I thought of all the times my Dad, someone who never liked to let me watch sports, brought me to Comiskey Park when I was a kid.

I thought about chanting with the crowd when Bobby Thigpen came in to save the game.

I thought of all the nights when I was supposed to be sleeping, but stayed up and secretly listened to the Sox radio broadcasts under the covers.

I thought of how much I idolized players like Frank Thomas, Lance Johnson, Bo Jackson, and Robin Ventura while growing up.

I thought about my old plastic SOX helmet, which I tried so hard to polish so it would look like those players' shiny helmets on TV (I thought Vaseline would work - it didn't)

I thought about 1993, how excited I was when Bo clinched the AL West for us, but how disappointing it was to run into a hotter Blue Jays team. Or 2000, when we again made it to the playoffs but got immediately rolled by Seattle.

I thought about when I moved to Taiwan, and I would still check the newspapers every day to see where the Sox were in the standings, and if Frank Thomas was leading the Triple Crown categories

I thought about how shattering it was when the players went on strike, how terrible it was in the years that followed as we never fully recovered from the damage.

I thought about all the free agent signings I have been excited about, from Albert Belle to David Wells, that never panned out like I hoped.

I thought about the years I kept drafting Joe Crede and Jon Garland on my fantasy team, hoping they would break out, and they kept disappointing.

I thought about all the stuff I wrote in my blog only 4 months ago about the difficult times of being a lifelong Sox fan.

And then I thought about this amazing season and the whirlwind that has been the 2005 White Sox.

I thought about how we came into spring training with such low expectations.

I thought about how we lost two huge hitters in Carlos Lee and Magglio.

I thought about the unknown that was Tadahito Iguchi, the supposed one-trick pony that was Scott Podsednik, and the injury-prone Jermaine Dye.

I thought about how we jumped out to a huge lead in April and May, and kept on winning when everyone insisted we were a fluke.

I thought about A.J. Pierzynski's walkoff home run one game and how it made me spontaneously jump up and pump my fist for a White Sox Winner for the first time in years, even though I was home alone.

I thought about how the local Sox fans mobilized to vote Scotty Pods into the All-Star game over Derek Jeter for the final spot on the AL team.

I thought about how we continued to build our lead to 15 games, making the playoffs all but inevitable, but critics continued to shoot us down and compare us to the Seattle team we lost to in 2000.

I thought about when Cleveland got hot and cut our lead down to 1 1/2 games in September. I thought about how everyone called us chokers when that happened, including fellow Sox fans, but I still told everyone not to worry, that we would definitely make the playoffs, and that from there we still had as good a chance as any to win.

I thought about jamming the "Refresh" button on my browser to buy ALDS tickets on Ticketmaster.com and being absolutely thrilled when I got 4 for Game 2.

I thought about the sweep of Cleveland on the last 3 days of the regular season to lock up the division and home field for the playoffs.

I thought about how pumped up I was to face the defending champion Red Sox, the same team and fan base that I trashed last year, the team that so many "experts" in the media were picking to win instead of us.

I thought about following the first few innings of Game 1 on CBS.Sportsline.com at work, trying to contain my shouts of excitement when we jumped ahead on Pierzynski's 3-run jack, then going home to watch us continue the rout.

I thought about tailgating in the parking lot and being at Game 2 with Olivia and the boys. How annoying the fans sitting behind us were when we fell behind 4-0, saying we should trade Buerhle. But how sweet it was when Iguchi put us ahead with that home run, and the excitement in the air as we walked down the runways of Comiskey and out to the parking lot.

I thought about how I left work early to catch Game 3 at home, the sinking feeling I had every time Ortiz and Manny came up to bat, but El Duque of all people coming in to save the day and eventually sweep the series.

I thought about how I went to go work out right after that win, and the adrenaline from the game made it the best workout I have ever had.

I thought about watching game 1 of the ALCS with Chras, and seeing us get completely outplayed and outmanaged by the Angels, in what would turn out to be our only loss of the playoffs (!)

I thought about the frustration of that game continuing through all of Game 2, up until the now-infamous "Strike 3" play with AJ running to first, followed up by Joe Crede ripping the double to win the game and tie the series.

I thought about how smoothly Jon Garland won us Game 3.

I thought about the festive times at my place for Game 4 as we grilled some food, drank lots of beer, and watched the only other blowout win of the playoffs (other than Game 1 against Boston).

I thought about Jose Contreras finishing off the Angels in Game 5 with our fourth consecutive complete game (!)

I thought about how happy I was that we were going to the World Series, watching the players celebrating after the game and imagining how much greater it would be if we actually won the whole thing.

I thought about the cheesy songs that had come to be associated with the team - "Let's Go Go-Go White Sox", "Livin on a Prayer", "Nananana Hey Hey Goodbye", "Don't Stop Believin"

I thought about how we watched Games 1 and 2 of the World Series at the Mirage sportsbook, high-fiving random people after the super clutch Cotts/Jenks strikeouts, the Konerko grand slam, and of course Scotty 2 Hotty's walkoff shot to put us up 2-0 over Houston.

I thought about Game 3, how mad I was when our relievers kept walking the Astros' scrubby hitters, how tired I was as the clock ticked past 1am but how determined I was to finish the game, and the most pleasant surprise of all pleasant surprises, Geoff Blum's go ahead home run in the top of the 14th with 2 outs and nobody on base.

I thought about the morning after the game and barely being able to wake up for work, struggling to make it through the day, and then 8+ innings of scoreless baseball.

I thought about the Sox scraping out yet another run and Bobby Jenks coming in for the biggest save of his career.

And finally....



Like every sports fan in the world, my #1 wish every year was to see my team win a championship. I can't describe how lucky and happy I feel that this year was my team's year. It's like going to a Roulette table, putting all your chips on one number, and then that number actually hits, except better.

Not only did we win, but this team was honestly the most fun to watch of any baseball team I have ever seen. We might not have had a single legitimate "superstar" in the lineup or pitching staff, and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't have any player on the roster who will make the Hall of Fame (except Frank who only played a few weeks), yet as a team they just found a way to win throughout the whole season. I'm still trying to figure out how.

Watching this team, I never felt like we were out of any game. Unlike in previous years, we didn't depend on 1 or 2 big bats to hit home runs. Everyone in the lineup was capable of getting a big hit, which we saw so many examples of in these playoffs. Iguchi, Pierzynski, Crede, Konerko, Podsednik, even Geoff Blum all had their big moments.

I gotta say the turnaround this team made on defense was awesome too. For the first time in years, I would see us get a ground ball and feel 100% confident that the play would be made. The speed in the outfield turned so many singles or doubles into spectacular running and diving catches. It really was so much fun to watch as a fan, and made me feel like I was rooting for a true, pure baseball team.

But my favorite thing about this team was to watch all the characters involved, the unique personalities that combined to make this magical season happen. Admittedly, it's easy to love everyone when they're winning, but still I think I geniunely liked and appreciated everyone.

Starting with the guys who I watched develop into solid players over the years like Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Mark Buerhle, Jon Garland, and Aaron Rowand. Josie Contreras unexpectedly becoming a shutdown pitcher in the final weeks, and the return of El Duque the clutch playoff performer. The consistent defense and fundamentals of Iguchi, not to mention the occasional knack for putting the big "hit" in Tada-"hit"-o. Not my-ribe but Uribe's cannon for an arm, Scotty's ability to work the counts and obviously his electrifying speed (gotta love his girl Lisa Dergan too). "Fun Bobby" Jenks and his big belly and dirty hat, World Series MVP Jermaine Win-or-"Dye"-trying, the great closer in the first half that was Dustin Spermanson, even the jerk that everybody who's not a Sox fan hates, Gay-J Pierzynski. Freddy Garcia and Geoff Blum are great not only because of their contributions on the field, but because they look like The Rock and the white guy in the Mad Real World on Chappelle Show respectively. And I think my favorite of them all is "Jurassic" Carl Everett.

And how awesome is it to see all the old Sox players back as part of this thing? Obviously Ozzie gets a lot of attention, but Harold Baines, Joey Cora, and Tim Raines as coaches were also all Sox players I grew up watching and rooting for. Kenny Williams (who looks like Phil Ivey by the way), for all his rocky years in the beginning, deserves GM of the year in my opinion. Jack McDowell on the Fox coverage is definitely nice to see too. All we're missing is Dan Pasqua and Ron Karkovice and it would be perfect!

So anyways, now that we've won it all, what next? I guess we'll have to see. The Sports Guy on ESPN Page 2 says there's a "5-year grace period" after your team wins, where you don't complain about your team no matter how bad things get. I think I agree with him, except maybe for me it will be a much longer period than that. I mean it's definitely been more than 5 years since the Bulls won their last championship, and I still don't get angry if the team loses.

Of course I'll hope they keep winning, that they re-sign everyone and maybe even start a dynasty. But honestly, I feel like I'm playing with house money from here on out. No matter what happens I'll always have 2005, right?

You know what's the weirdest thing, is that I almost think I'm going to root for the Cubs to win one too. Fellow Sox fans might think I'm crazy but the thought really has crossed my mind. I think maybe since most of my friends who are Cubs fans haven't been jackasses, I don't hate them like other Sox fans who have had bad experiences with Cubs fans.

I guess I just feel like this experience of winning the World Series was so great, that I would probably be happy for them if the Cubs fans got to experience it too. I mean I still won't root for the Cubs more the Sox, but after all, they are both Chicago teams, so if the Sox don't make it, it'd be cool to see the Cubs win so our city can dominate the championships in the coming years. Like Ozzie said, it doesn't say "south side" or "north side" on the jerseys, just "Chicago". Maybe it would even shut up all the incessant talk about the Yankees and Red Sox every year, but I won't hold my breath.

For now, I'll have to let this all sink in and continue enjoy the moment. I think it's gonna take a while... the longer the better!

Upgrade Schmupgrade

I don't know how much this affects you guys, but at work our computers are frequently getting upgraded with newer versions of software. Every now and then we are forced to upgrade programs like Microsoft Visio or Adobe Acrobat as the company tries to stay "current" with the latest versions of the software we use.

On my home computer, I don't use a lot of programs, but am still often reminded to upgrade the ones that I do. Such as ITunes, AIM, or the latest Windows service pack or security patch. Usually, I find myself either choosing the "Remind Me Later" button or check the "Don't Show This Again" box.

It used to be that I liked to upgrade my programs. When a newer version of something came out, it usually meant more features and better performance. The perfect example I can think of was in Broodwar, where the patches helped fix bugs and prevent maphackers (temporarily, at least).

But lately I've been feeling like upgrades don't do much anymore, and in a lot of cases they actually mess things up more than they help.

- In AIM, the newer versions let you use buddy icons and whatnot, but now I can't get rid of the ads, which for that matter have gotten more irritating as well. I actually think twice before signing on sometimes, because I hate dealing with those noisy commercials that come on at random times in my buddy list window. No amount of buddy icons or advanced talk features is worth that, in my opinion.

- On my old computer, after I formatted the hard drive, I refused to install the Flash plugin for my browser. Sure, there's some cool Flash animations out there and a fun game once in a while, but more often than not it's used to make websites needlessly complicated and their ads exponentially more intrusive.

- I haven't upgraded my Winamp since college because I'm afraid the newer versions will take away some features like CD ripping, due to all the legal hubbub about mp3s and copyrights and stuff in the past few years. That, and I just like my Winamp as it is: simple, loads quickly, and doesn't take a lot of memory to run in the background.

- I stopped keeping up with the Windows patches and security fixes after one of the Service packs slowed down my computer severely. Not like my computer is old either. It just slowed everything down so much that I decided I'd rather live with the security risks than deal with a bogged down system every day.

When did the word "upgrade" turn into a negative instead of a positive? It's kind of become like registering your software, which if you're like me, you say "F that" whenever a program asks you to register. These were supposed to be good things yet I no longer want to go near either one.

Pretty Much My Favorite Animal

I thought it was just an imaginary thing, but my coworker told me today that there are such animals as ligers, and that yes, in fact they are a mix of a lion and tiger. For more info see the description in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger



Specifically, they are the offspring that result when a male lion is mated with a female tiger (a male tiger mated with a female lion produces a "tigon"). I guess due to genetic factors, ligers actually grow to be bigger than either lions or tiger. I'm not sure whether they are actually bred for their skills in magic though.

Nevertheless, this blew my mind. I gotta say, those things are pretty cool indeed. I think I am gonna have to make it my favorite animal as well.

New Furniture

Today I finally ended up getting a dinner table and a coffee table. They only had 2 chairs in stock so the other 2 will have to wait another month or two.





It's now been almost 3 months since I moved in, I thought it might be a good time to do a before and after of the living room:

Before: 7/11/2005


After: Today


*****

Congratulations to the White Sox for a great regular season, clinching the AL Central, and making the playoffs. I honestly don't know what to expect from here on out. This team has been so exciting at times and then disappeared completely other times. If we get hot the next few weeks we can definitely roll any other team and win the championship. If we play like we did for most of September, then it could be another quick exit. I guess that's true of the MLB playoffs and any team in general though.

On that note, here is one of the things I am looking forward to this month:


*****

Every night this week I have woken up in the middle of the night around 2 or 3 am, for no apparent reason. The thing is, on one of the nights I woke up, I distinctly remember discovering what was causing me to wake up. At the time, I said to myself, "oh, so that's why I keep waking up. Now I'll be able to fix that and sleep soundly from now on."

Problem is, I went back to sleep, and when I woke up again in the morning, I forgot why I was getting woken up. Obviously I would still know the cause on a subconscious level, but since then I haven't been able figure out what my realization was that night. So I've still been waking up around 2 or 3.

At first I was thinking it was just kind of weird. But I told the story to a friend and she seemed really freaked out. So now I'm a little scared too. I've got a notebook and pen next to my bed just in case I have another revelation.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Not sure if it's true, but someone told me that today is the last official day of Summer 2005. Every year around time, I feel a little sad that the summer is ending, but this year feels a little different. I don't know if I have ever been happy at the end of summer, but this year I actually feel kind of relieved that it is going to be over soon.

Not that I had a bad summer, but it was definitely very busy and lots of work. Obviously a lot of that had to do with the new house, and the many things that go along with it. Trying to shop for furniture has been a challenge, and taken much longer than I hoped. Either I am looking in the wrong places, or I am being too picky. But I'm feeling optimistic about finally deciding on some permanent furniture by the end of this weekend.

The past few months of work have been really busy too. It's probably been the most stressful time since I started working, with my project reaching some critical stages where deadlines and milestones start to get tight. I think by the end of this month, though, things will settle down and it won't be nearly as crazy.

Maybe it's not so much that I'm glad that summer is ending, as I am looking forward to what's ahead. For one, I think my favorite thing about owning my own place is knowing that all the time, energy, and money I spend on my house is worthwhile because it is going to the place where I live. And when I actually do get the time to lay in my Love Sac, listen to some music, and just relax for a while, those moments are that much more valuable and meaningful to me, because they kind of represent everything I have worked for.

As an aside, I want to say to anyone out there who is thinking about buying a house, has enough money for a down payment, and job stability to commit to a few years of staying at one place, DO IT. Not just because it is a financially sound thing to do (Rich or Vira can probably provide more statistics on that), but because of everything I just described above.

And make sure you get it in a location where you want it to be, even if it means you can't get as nice of a place. For some of you it might be downtown in Chicago; for me, I couldn't be happier with being in Schaumburg. In 2+ months of living here, I absolutely love the area and all the conveniences around this place.

As far as work goes, I wish I could say the same things I said about home ownership, but I can't. My project is probably headed for a very profitable future, but other than maybe some increased job security, I won't be seeing a whole lot of added benefits directly related to my hard work. Although soon I might be able to tell people that the next time you get on a plane, you can feel the assurance that goes along with being protected by one of the products that I worked on. Or maybe that doesn't make you feel that safe after all?

Aside from everything else, October in general feels like it will be a great month. It remains to be seen whether or not it will live up to expectations, but I am excited nonetheless. More to come.

Personal Statement?

In the past few years, I've known a lot of people who have applied for grad school, and a few of them asked me to look over and edit their personal statement on their application. I don't know whether it's because they think I'm a good writer, because they don't trust their own writing, or simply wanted someone else's opinion.

Whatever reason it was, these people were asking me for a favor, and I tried to help them out as best I could. But the interesting thing is, as I read each one of those personal statements, I found myself wishing that I could turn around ask them for help instead.

Why?

Well, reading these personal statements by other people made me wonder about myself, and what I would write in my own personal statement. As I've talked about many times before in my blog, ever since I graduated college and started working, I have been trying to figure out what exactly my personal statement is. What is my "next step", and when and how do I take it?

See, even though some of these personal statements I was reading weren't the most organized or grammatically correct, they all described at least some sort of definite direction. A clear sense of a personal mission, specific goals, and ideas on how to achieve those things.

One person felt that pursuing an advanced degree in Electrical Engineering would help them towards a life of researching cutting edge technologies to help people. Others wanted to study certain fields of medicine to help specific groups of patients they felt were most suited to their talents and interests. All of them had stories and experiences they could point to that helped to explain how they came to choose their paths.

Now, it is entirely possible that all of these personal statements were filled with layers of BS, laid on thick for the sake of whatever admissions officer was going to read it. But from what I could gather, most of their statements seemed very genuine and sincere.

And I guess that is something I really envy. I don't know if there is one single thing that is more valuable in life, than to know exactly what your life's purpose is.

In my entire life I don't think I have ever written a personal statement. For undergrad I only applied to U of I and I'm pretty sure there was no personal statement required there, just the basic stuff like test scores and class rank. It's just as well, because I wouldn't know what to write or even where to start. I certainly don't have any stories or experiences in mind to draw from, that would inspire me to write a personal statement around it.

As a graduating senior at U of I back in 2002, I was definitely tired of school and felt that it was time to get a job and step into the "real world" instead of applying for grad school. While I still feel that was the right decision, I've always had a feeling in the back of my mind that eventually I would pursue some sort of higher degree. The plan was to work for a few years, figure out what I'm interested in, and then go from there.

Well now I have been working for those "few years". And I kind of thought I would have gotten inspired by something by now, but I really haven't. The thing is, I still think I will eventually go back to school for something, at least part time. I just don't know when, where, and most importantly, what I want to study.

Should I get a Masters in EE? If so, what field? Analog, Digital, RF, Power...? Should I get an MBA? What about law school or medical school? The worst would be to waste a couple years pursuing some degree, only to discover that I really wanted to do something else. Especially now with the house, grad school would be a huge committment even if my company pays my tuition.

But going back to what I was saying about personal statements, I guess reading all those other people's statements made me realize how important it is to have direction in your life. In their cases, they were forced to write them because of the application process for grad school. But I think ideally, everyone should take the time to write a personal statement, whether applying for something or not. After all, Jerry Maguire wrote one, right?

Anyways, if you don't have a personal statement (like me), then I suppose your personal statement should be: "To come up with my personal statement". Kind of like if you don't have a job, your job becomes: "To find a job".

In both cases, you probably need to work just as hard at finding a personal statement/job as you would at executing your personal statement/job if you had one, because unless you're lucky, you aren't going to just stumble upon it. So yeah, I need to find my personal statement.

*****

Actually, I think I've got it. I think my personal statement is to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. With the recent passing of Chief Justice Rehnquist, I was watching the discussion on the news and it just seems like a really good job to have.

I mean the Supreme Court is hands down the coolest club in the world, and as Chief Justice you basically get to be the top dog of this club. On top of that you get to wear those really sweet looking robes, and if you're the Chief you even get those stripes on your sleeve. That's right, if I was Chief Justice I would make people call me "the Chief", just because I could.

The best part is once you're in, you're in for good and you pretty much have to answer to nobody. Say you get pulled over for speeding, what are they gonna do, try you in a village court? I'd just keep appealing that shiznit until it gets up to my court, and then what? That's right, I reign SUPREME baby. That's what sign on the building says. Call me the Chief.

Kanye and Katrina

Just watched the clip of Kanye saying Bush doesn't care about black people for the first time and I must say it is entertaining if nothing else. It was kind of surprising to see how noticeably shaken Mike Myers was by the whole thing, considering all his past experience in live TV. Chris Tucker's face was pretty priceless too.

I was thinking hypothetically, the funniest possible reaction to his little rant would have been something like the guy on track 3 on Kanye's first CD (College Dropout): "What in the f--- was that??! Kannnnn-hyeeeh??! I told you to do some sh-- for the kids!!!" If only I had the power to make such things happen, those would've been the first words out of Mike Myers's mouth.

Seriously though, that was pretty bad. I mean I don't care so much about the things he had to say. Just don't do it on a program that's dedicated to raising money for the victims. There are plenty of other places to spout off your opinions, but this was clearly not one of them.

Think about it for a second, if I want my opinion on a subject to be heard, the most I can do is post it on this blog and hope people read it and link to it. I don't have the luxury of going on TV and complaining about stuff that pisses me off. Kanye West, meanwhile, has no shortage of media outlets to express his views. Because of his celebrity, any magazine, newspaper, or TV station would trip over themselves to interview him.

Yet instead of using any of those outlets to speak, he found a way to choose the most inappropriate moment and place to do it. On top of that he came off sounding like an incoherent idiot - if you are going to hijack a national broadcast to speak your mind, at least have something more meaningful to say than some pointless garbage about Iraq and "George Bush doesn't care about black people".

Believe me, I am not one of those people who thinks everything and everyone should be "politically correct" at all times. It didn't really bug me when Kanye went on his little ramble at that awards thing last year about how he was insulted that he didn't win. If he really felt like he was that much better than the other nominees, then fine, say how you feel (although it would've been funny if the other nominees were like Dr. Dre or 2Pac or something, and they got pissed and decided to cap his ass in the parking lot).

It just bugs me when people are so self absorbed and arrogant that they act like rules don't apply to them. You know those people who do whatever they want, act on emotion or impulse, with no regard for anybody else or whatever potential consequences might ensue. It shows how little you respect other people and how much you adore yourself. Sure, everybody's opinion is important, but what makes you feel like yours is so important that you can just decide on a whim to interrupt a charity event and preach your agenda? I though Michael Moore during the Academy Awards was bad, but at least in that case all he was interrupting was some meaningless entertainment show.

As far as the rest of the Hurricane Katrina stuff goes, I've kind of been trying to avoid watching the news too much, for the same reasons I tried to avoid coverage of the tsunami last year. But unless you live under a rock, it's nearly impossible to dodge the news entirely.

And I must say, seeing how all the people involved in the situation reacted is pretty depressing. How can anyone not be disillusioned with the human race after seeing all the ugliness that followed the disaster? You got politicians pointing fingers at each other, blaming everyone but themselves. You got chaos in the streets, people looting for plasma TVs of all things. And the ever present race issue was brought up almost right away.

I don't know whether the federal government or local government was more at fault for the utter lack of preparation, but as an admittedly uninformed outsider I'm leaning towards local. I mean if my basement is prone to flooding, it's my responsibility to make sure I have sump pumps and backup plans. Maybe my parents would help me pay for some of it or the neighborhood would even pitch in some money. But ultimately it's up to me to take care of my own shiznit you know?

In other words if your city is built below sea level, in a hurricane zone, and the only thing preventing your home from being a giant lake are these levies, then you better make sure you spent your money on the best levies money can buy, and dedicate a large chunk of your budget to maintaining and upgrading those suckers every year. And you better also have a contingency plan in case everything fails, something better than "let's shove everyone in the football stadium and wait for someone else to come bail us out". I don't know how much money they spend on Mardi Gras or whatever else they spend money on down there, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be holding one of the largest parties in the world every year until I'm 110% positive that my place is safe.

And say my place does flood and I need help. Do I call up my mom and yell at her for not calling all the Greyhound buses in the country to pick me up immediately? If my neighbor comes by to rescue me, would I shoot my gun at his helicopter or curse him for not coming sooner?

Honestly if I were part of the rescue team, and the people I were rescuing were reacting that way to my arrival, I would probably kick them in the face and just leave them to die (yes I realize I should be more compassionate and it's a good thing I am not in the National Guard). If you want to be mad at the government that's one thing, but get a freaking clue and don't take your frustration out on people who are trying to help you and had absolutely no control over when they got sent on their mission.

It might sound like I'm defending President Bush, but I'm not. I'm sure he has his share of blame in the lack of preparation and slow response. What bothers me, though, is that it seems like more and more people in this country find it convenient to blame the President for every last thing that goes wrong. It's certainly your right to hate the guy and the things he does or stands for, but show some sense please and don't go overboard.

I'm listening to some of these people calling into radio stations, and it's as if our President stirred up these winds to make a hurricane, because he likes to destroy part of his own country like that. Or if you listen to someone like Cindy Sheehan, it almost sounds like George W. Bush is the one who is planting roadside bombs in Iraq, firing rocket propelled grenades, or running suicide missions to kill her son.

It's like nobody realizes anymore that whether you like it or not, bad stuff happens in this world and it's not always up to someone else to deal with it for you. Everyone's reaction to these things is to shove the blame or responsibility elsewhere, let someone else worry about it. "Hey look there's a mess, shouldn't someone be cleaning it up? Shouldn't someone be doing something about that? Oh, not me of course!"

Anyways, I think I've written enough for now. I knew I shouldn't have started writing about Katrina.

The Answers

I'm sure you have all been anxiously awaiting the answers to my little quiz. Well most of them have already been answered correctly by those of you who left comments, congrats to you guys. Very impressive. The ones that were not answered were definitely obscure, but I threw them in anyways just for some added challenge.

1. Garth - Wayne's World
2. Weird Al Yankovic - "It's All About the Pentiums"
3. Michael Corleone - The Godfather Part I
4. Happy Gilmore - Happy Gilmore
5. Chubbs - Happy Gilmore
6. Kristin - Laguna Beach Season 1
7. Brad to the Miz - RW/RR Challenge: The Inferno II
8. Dave Chappelle - Killing Them Softly
9. The President - Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Love the Bomb and Stop Worrying
10. Michelle - Full House

*****

By the way in #5, someone told me that this is not true. Supposedly when putting, it is all in the shoulders. Any golfers out there care to verify? Maybe learning golf technique from Happy Gilmore is not the best idea after all. And here I was all along, thinking that I should putt with a hockey stick.

As I have mentioned before in this blog, one of the things I miss most about college is reading the DI (student newspaper at U of Illinois), and in particular the Police Blotter. The stories are usually short and lack much detail, but the fun part is reading between the lines and trying to figure out and picture what happened.

"19 year old man arrested for underage alcohol consumption and battery at 300 block of John, resists arrest" - Hmm let's run that through the translator: "Drunken frat boy gets into fight on way back to the house from bars". I think we've all seen the story before.

And then sometimes there's just a story that flat out cracks me up:

DI Police Blotter 9-2-05

Check out the first item under Urbana, it's priceless. It could easily be one of those joke headlines on The Onion: "8 year old boy steals a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, flees from police".

*****

Sometimes I feel like I am the only person who

- doesn't think Family Guy is a very funny show
- thinks Black Eyed Peas sucks
- doesn't think Anna Kournikova is very hot

*****

Since I'm bored, let's play a game. Name the quote and who said it:

1. "If she were a President, she would be Baberaham Lincoln"
2. "If I ever meet you, I'll CTRL-ALT-DELETE you"
3. "It's not personal Sonny, strictly business."
4. "What? Friends listen to Endless Love in the dark!"
5. "It's all in the hips. All in the hips."
6. "My car is DONE-zo!"
7. "Congratulations, you're a meathead son. But don't you EVER touch my underwear again"
8. "All right, a Cheeto!"
9. "The 'Baby on the Corner' trick, eh? I'm not falling for that s**t!"
10. "Gentlemen, you can't fight here! This is the War Room!"

Sorry I have no prizes to offer so there's no need to respond. I will post the answers in a few days.

Now that I think of it, whatever happened to Stork's blog and quizzes? I miss those.

*****

Oh, and once again for those of you who love pictures, here's one of my Love Sac (don't worry it's work safe):

Went to the 3rd wedding of the summer this weekend, with possibly 2 more to attend next weekend. As you all know, weddings aren't my thing, but I don't mind going as long as:

1) I know and like the bride and/or groom
2) It's not too long

Thankfully, this one met both requirements. The ceremony was short and sweet and I was definitely happy to see the two lovers get hitched. However I had to leave a little early from the reception, because of some important business to attend to.

On a related note, the McNown league draft took place last night and I think I did alright. At the 6th spot I wasn't expecting much anyways. I doubt people outside of our league care about seeing my whole team but here were my first 5 picks anyhow (10 team league):

1. (6) E. James
2. (15) K. Jones
3. (26) A. Gates
4. (35) A. Johnson
5. (46) T. Green

For those of you who like to see pictures, here are a couple:

Generic wedding picture


Pride of Taiwan (the Chen Family)


On a sad note, I just saw Sportscenter highlights of Serena Williams beating Taiwanese 16 year old Yung-Jan Chan. But watch out for her in the future!

Waiter Rant

Over my many years of eating out, I have had probably hundreds of waiters/waitresses, but I have always wondered what it's like to be on the other side. I don't know if any of you out there have worked as waiters before, but I have not. Other than a brief one-night charity thing which doesn't count, my expeence has always been from the perspective of the one being served, not the server.

From my view of the situation, it's pretty simple. Just don't be rude to me, serve me the food I ordered, refill my drinks in a timely manner, and maybe check on my table now and then to see if we need anything. Almost regardless of how dinner is, I will generally leave between 15-20% as tip.

Beyond that, there's not much more to it. Rarely do I talk to waiters or waitresses about anything beyond the most superficial of small talk. I almost never make special requests, like changing ingredients in a certain dish, or ask to be seated in a booth vs. table or whatever. If they completely mess up my order, I might send it back, but even then, I sometimes just eat what they gave me anyways.

When I leave the restaurant, my short experience with the waiter or waitress is usually over and done with for good (unless I happen to get the same person the next time I'm at a restaurant). At most, if he was really rude, I'll say to myself, "wow, our waiter was a real jerk", or if she was really cute, I might say "wow, our waitress was really cute". But I don't go home thinking about what the person is like outside of work, what he/she does for fun, what his/her family situation is like.

Anyways, like I was saying, I've never been a waiter but I've wondered what the view is like from their side. And recently, I came across this blog that has given me a some insight into that very subject. The site is called Waiter Rant, basically a blog written by an anonymous guy who works as a waiter at some NY restaurant.

Before you dismiss the thought of reading some random guy writing about his experiences as a waiter, let me just say that this blog is actually very well written and, at least in my opinion, worth reading. I've spent a good amount of time in the past few days going through his archives, and I do recommend it to anyone out there who has any amount of interest in what it's like to be a waiter (if you have none, then skip it). I would say that if you don't mind wasting your time reading this blog, then you will probably find his stuff pretty interesting. Just something to consider.

He's got some pretty entertaining stories about customers and behind the scenes stuff at restaurants that people like us don't normally see or know about. Also shares a lot of thoughts that you wouldn't typically expect your waiter/waitress to be thinking about, but they obviously do. You'll have to read those for yourself though.

If you don't feel like reading through his stuff, I have picked out a few pieces of knowledge I garnered from my reading that I will summarize here:

1. Waiters/Waitresses prefer tips in cash, not credit cards

2. If you want your server to like you, don't order tea

3. The amount you tip your waiter/waitress means much more to him/her than it does to you

4. There are a lot of really bad restaurant customers out there

5. If you make a really bad impression, there are many ways your waiter/waitress can get revenge. They also have long memories when it comes to that stuff.

Have a nice day everyone.

Pictures

Thanks to everyone who swung by the place this weekend. I hope you all had a good time as I did. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few that I did get:

The fridge BEFORE:



The fridge AFTER:



Where it all went (besides the toilet, of course):



Don't ask me when the next time will be, because I don't know yet. Hopefully at least once more before the end of summer, but no guarantees. Definitely will be busier the next few weekends and I still need to get furniture, so I can fit more people and not have to ask them to bring their own chairs and tables next time.

The First Month

I got a package in the mail from the Village of Schaumburg the other day. It was kind of nice, they sent me a detailed map of the area and some info on the local scene. Made me feel so welcome in my new home. I must admit I even felt tempted to buy a "Schaumburg Flyers" jersey, but I decided to wait on that impulse. Not sure there will be too many occasions where I bust out a jersey for a minor league baseball team, you know.

Based on my first month of living here, Schaumburg seems like a pretty cool place. Although it is kind of a stereotypical "white bread" suburb (the town newsletter they sent me is called "The Cracker Barrel" - no joke), there's more diversity than I expected. I noticed there's more than a few Asian families that live on my block. And there's a wide variety of ethnic restaurants around here to choose from, whether you're looking for some Chinese food (Yu's, House of Hunan, Jockey), Indian (various), or Diarrhea (White Castle).

The past few weeks have been mostly spent looking for furniture, random household items, and setting up stuff in my house. I did buy a grill, for those of you who might be wondering. For the charcoal purists out there, I'm sorry, but in the end I decided on gas. Josh and Tina made me an offer I couldn't refuse (10% off at Home Depot and delivery using Josh's pickup, thanks again guys!). And in my defense, I really have used the grill a lot in the past week alone, much more so than if I would've gone charcoal. So hopefully nobody will come over and kick my grill over as threatened. If it makes anyone feel better, I did cut myself numerous times on the hand while putting together my grill (watch out for those Flavorizer Bars!). But seriously, thanks for everyone's input on the subject, it was all much appreciated.

It might seem silly that I got a grill before I got a dinner table, coffee table, or patio furniture, but hey, them's the priorities. What can I say, I am just not as interested in that stuff as I am in firing up some burgers and brats. And looking for furniture just plain sucks. Dealing with salespeople is a chore to begin with, and it seems like most places you gotta wait at least a few weeks before you can even get the stuff you buy.

On another subject, I would like to say that I do not like Bed Bath and Beyond. It's too bad, cause there's one located about 30 seconds from my house. The thing is, they lure you in with those coupons in the mail every week, but when you get there you realize all the prices are so jacked up to begin with.

I couldn't believe how much it costs to find bedskirts to match your sheets. I mean, I can understand if you wanna spend more money to get nice sheets, pillowcases, and comforter. But you never even touch your bedskirt! I don't need it to be 600 thread count or whatever. Honestly, I don't care if it's woven out of diseased goat hairs - as long as it somewhat matches the rest of my bed and doesn't cost me 70 bucks, I'm happy.

A disturbing thought that crossed my mind while shopping for house stuff is that maybe it is time for me to trade in my car for a minivan or SUV, so that I would be able haul my own stuff home when I buy furniture, grills, etc. But by natural reflex, I immediately buried that thought in the deepest part of my brain, where it won't be able to bug me again for at least a few more years. *shudder*