And The Hockey Talk Prevails

Trade Deadline Day 2015 has come and gone. It didn't seem nearly as exciting for me this year. I didn't see any big names that make me say "Wow, they're going in the right/wrong direction!" I know Florida picked up Jagr recently. That's usually my "bum deal" thought. I don't know, I'm just not big on Jagr. He's like the Brett Favre of the NHL. Well, at least Favre knew when to let go and let football be a younger man's game. It's not like Jagr has been a part of a team that has WON the Cup since he's come back from retirement. Though, I was heartbroken for the rest of the Bruins when Chicago came back and took the Cup from them a couple years ago. THAT was rough going. I don't blame him, I'm not that kind of non-fan, and I'm not saying he absolutely sucks. He's a good player in his own right. He's just not my cup of tea.

Anyways, the Detroit Red Wings made a good move I think picking up Zidlicky. I've got a soft spot for the Devils organization and I've got respect for the Red Wings, who've overcome the conference switch last season and are still competing at playoff level hockey. I regret my decision to write them off before the season even started last year, and ate my words come playoff time. Though, I was more wrapped up in my prediction that the Columbus Blue Jackets would soar in the Eastern Conference, which they did, sort of. They really should've beaten the Penguins. I'll say that forever, I'm sure, but you can't change the past, and the Pens didn't play like a team that won the first round of the playoffs come round two.  Here's hoping for something a little bit better this year.

The Blue Jackets made a good move keeping Atkinson, I know that. He and Foligno and Johanson... solid team. Too bad they got rid of Comeau in the off season. But he's in Pittsburgh now, so if I ever make it to a game, I'll be wishing I could show off a tiny flare of Blue Jacket Blood. And I'm not sure how the Horton / Clarkston trade will work out, but as long as they're both healthy for the rest of the season, I wish them both the best.

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I realized today that I can listen to NHL games in my car. Any NHL game, I should say. When I left work I listened to the Sharks / Canadiens on my way home. That will come in handy come playoff neuroticism next month.

I'm looking forward to some good tough-it-out hockey for the next month as the playoffs are looming on the horizon. Now that my schedule gives me week days off, I have been soaking up as much NHL action as I can. And even soaking some up at work when the opportunity arises. All that's left for me is to actually check in with the standings. I've been pretty bad at keeping up on that. Here's hoping my teams excel. And maybe the Panthers will make it to the playoffs so I can see some NBC crappy coverage of the "Travelling Jagrs" like when he played for Philly, and Boston. Not so much when he played for New Jersey.

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AND.... MLB Spring Training games really start tomorrow! I got pre-emptively excited for a game I couldn't watch today.  Spring is Springing. And that means it's time to dig in my cleats and absorb as many sporting events as I can. If only I could find something to actually participate in a sport. Time to turn up the the initiative.

AGAIN WITH THE DRESS

Dresses are gold and white
Dresses are black and blue
Dresses aren't worth a fight
Dresses aren't worth a poo

More Randoms

-- Remember that time when everything was simple? Remember when thinking only took seconds and the decisions we made didn't need to be final? [...]

-- I've seen FRIENDS enough that the discrepancies are much more obvious now. Like Phoebe says her birthday is February 18th when she meets her brother, but it's right before Halloween in the episode where nobody shows up on time for her party. Ironically, that's when Frank Jr. says his birthday is. Or when in the first couple episodes the apartment numbers are 5 and 6 then switch to 19 and 20, but go back to 5 and 6 for a minute, then officially switch to 19 and 20.

-- The darkness clouds the road, but each mailbox is clearly visible. I haven't slept in weeks, or at least it feels that way. It doesn't really matter where we go, as long as we're not gone long, or coming back to where we started. The Texaco is still ablaze in the rear-view mirror. How could we have let things get this out of hand? What started off as a simple hobby has gotten so mixed up. Who would have guessed there would be so many of us with the same name? [...]

-- Do people still use matches to light cigars?

-- The view from down here. (up here? in there? out there? and any other possible way to view it)

-- St. Patrick's Day.

-- Wow, February is pretty much over.

--  If I had a million dollars I would buy you a gold and white dress or a black and blue dress (but not a real gold and white or black and blue dress, that's cruel)

Cleaning Always Makes You Feel Dirty

They say for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, right? That's one of the basic laws of physics or something. So what? (Or So....what? I guess it's all about inflection isn't it?) I always feel like when I clean the dirt doesn't really go away, it just attaches itself to me. As such "I clean" would have the equal and opposite reaction of "Therefore I become dirty." Right? I guess the dirt has to go somewhere.  And with that thought, it seems I'm going nowhere.

Not sure what kind of road block I've been experiencing lately, but things feel very much like a purgatory scenario. I'm not necessarily "in between jobs" but I feel like the transition isn't flowing very well. I'm not particularly sure what to do with time off, even if it's not a LOT of time off. And I'm not particularly sure what to do when I'm not off. It's like I'm expecting a learning curve but there is none, and the equal and opposite reaction there is I'm not learning anything.

I think I'm going to start a "writing prompt" challenge next week. Ironically, given my new schedule, I suspect that next week could mean any time between tomorrow and Monday or Tuesday. Maybe I should just say I think I'm going to start a writing prompt challenge soon. No commitments. That sounds more doable.

I think it's time to bring back the accountability chief.

My hockey teams have been playing out west this week. That's been exciting. Well, not as exciting as the fact that it's time to consider whether or not I'm going to re-subscribe to MLB.TV this year. Spring training is getting going, which means with the subscription I can watch Spring Training exhibition games. I wish more things were free. That would make them easier to consider.

It might also be easier to think about baseball when it's not minus-anything degrees outside.

Wonderings

What makes for good reading? Vivid imagery, captivating action, the combination of the two? What makes something worth continuing past the initial sentence? Does the title reflect on how one will dive in? 

Maybe it's because it's been so long since I've been to a work shopping group, or maybe it's because I just watched Jurassic Park and that movie really pumps the adrenaline for me, but I spend more time lately wondering about what gets me into thing things I read, watch, or listen to. 

I guess it's hard to imagine Jurassic Park as a book. Imagery like that is something I wouldn't be able to picture with just the words. But I haven't read it as a book, so I don't know how the island is described.  That's kind of the downfall of books going to movies too, isn't it? Take something like Chronicles of Narnia. I have yet to see any of the movies aside from the first one because I prefer my vision of Narnia and my vision of the Snow Queen to not be clouded with actors and actresses. Sort of like if I would have gotten into Harry Potter. Being inclined to watch movies with Alan Rickman, I would have never been able to read them the same knowing Snapes to be the sad robot from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. And I wouldn't be able to read LOTR without thinking of Radio Flyer every time I see the word Frodo (or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy with the other guy). 

So I tend to lean more towards a flow of action to keep me interested in something to read. I was absolutely Fascinated with the Chronicles of Narnia series. I feel like literature and film should be separate entities. It seems like literature would be a bigger money maker if people weren't set on "waiting for the movie version." I mean, books are still more expensive than movie tickets, right? 

..and come on, apparently only four movies get featured at the Oscars. 

24

24

The drinks we pour
at hour twenty-four
cost no more
at the Jersey Shore.

Signs on the door
say "feed the poor"
with coats they wore
left on the floor.

The crowd will roar
as number twenty-four
makes his average soar
and golfers yell, "Fore!"

Rhymes galore
for 24
but there's no more
this poem's a chore.

Have a Coke and a Smile

Four friends gather together for a group project. Seniors and Freshmen working together on a presentation. Who would have ever imagined that 13 years later it would still be a memorable event? We may not see each other regularly, or at all, we may not communicate, keep in touch, or anything of the sort, but when it comes to the date February 23, 2002, we will never be out of touch.

We get together in the basement, play some pool, watch some veggie tales, and talk a little bit about our project. We jump in the Fangmobile and take a drive to Taco Bell, but we end up getting Little Caesar's Pizza. We trade drivers for the drive back, but that doesn't exactly work out in anybody's favor and it goes into the "we don't talk about that" folder. We have coke with our pizza and discuss the advertisements for coca cola and it appears as though we have been "drugged" by the caffeine.

There were bonds formed that day that I will never forget. And I can't go a February 23rd without drinking at least one coke. I haven't got a Little Caesar's around that I can find, but I generally try to find a Taco Bell. It didn't happen this year, but I did think about it.

I think about this day more than annually, and it's definitely an abridged version of a day that was DEFINITELY one of the highlights of my senior year in high school. I know that I made at least one strong friendship, and the two of us had a pretty interesting week to follow the 23rd. Our group celebrated March 23 at Big Boy with a band trip and created a tradition where we gifted somebody with the taco salad box and mementos relating to our time together. Funny story about that...it involves a tapioca pudding filled water balloon, a car, and some really mad zoo animals. I'll have to save that one for another time.

I really expected this to be a little longer, but the fact is that I did more reminiscing than writing. More thinking about things I don't regret regardless of how life happened. We're all stronger, smarter, and happier.

But all in all, even though the 23rd has technically passed, it's still the 23rd cause I haven't gone to bed yet. There's no pumpkins on this ride. And no fairy godmother. Just one memory of four friends who had no idea what was going to happen on that snowy Saturday. But with every great day, we always have to be prepared for the horse fallin' in the trailer at McDonald's...cause that always seems to sneak up on ya.

But you still get a happy meal, a coke, and a smile.