I hate having to apologize for blogspot's stupidity, but I'm sorry. There. Bunch of idiots.

Well, yesterday I spent most of my day off out in the garden, sitting, thinking, planting, transplanting, relaxing. I also noticed that some plants that I thought were dead and gone were actually coming back. That's awesome, at least for me it is. As I've said before, my garden is my "art." There no rhyme or reason to most of it. I just think things will look good and I put them in. And usually, I'm right. Plus, when I need a morale or confidence boost, which I've needed lately, I go out and just sit and take in all that I've done. It amazes me. I sit there and think, "Wow, I planted all this stuff and with only minimal care, really, look at how much it's grown." Or I'll go out front to the evergreen bushes and the spruce tree I planted the first year I was here, and remember just how tiny they were when I planted them and how much bigger they are now. It's like a reward. I love it. Something tells me that if I have kids someday, they'll be my pride and joy. But for now, my plants are my "kids" (even though I leave them outside in the wintertime. ;) ) Anyway, typically after being in the garden, I feel better about things, most of the time. Sometimes I'll just go out there and sit and clear my mind completely. And I feel refreshed afterward. Yesterday, I think at one point I took a "nap" (eyes open, sitting up) between several of the flowers. And I was re-energized for softball after a long day of all of the above things.

Of course, we proceeded to lose in softball 11-8. We sleepwalk through the first couple innings, and then our bats suddenly wake up late...too late now in three straight games. So I suggested we hit around before the game, just to get the muscles and brain going. We'll see if that happens and then if it helps if we try it. Who knows. I start beach volleyball on Wednesday, which should be a pseudo adventure. At worst, it'll be a ton of fun. I hope. :)

Lots of music-related blogging going on here lately.

Went to see Vodka Moxie at Elbo Room in what was no doubt a stunning appearance by myself to some of the others there. :) It was the first time I'd heard them play (and the first time I'd been in Elbo Room), and they were damn good. I'm not a big fan of live music with lyrics and such...I'll go see a show, but I'd almost rather listen to the stuff on CD in most cases. But Vodka Moxie did a fine, fine job and I'd see them again. Check out their site and go see them, even if you don't know them. They're well worth your time.

Finally, at work, we've hit the end of the tunnel. I plan to celebrate by taking a half day today (as soon as I find my supervisor) and a full day off tomorrow, giving me a 4.5-day weekend. Sorry Jimbo...I know you'd like to have Friday off. So now, I can relax, work-wise, for about a month. And then we get back into it again, what with training camps starting in July.

Still loving the new Live album, by the way...

My review of the new Live album, "Birds of Pray," that I sent to Andrea and Barb already via email.

Most of the first half of the album has a very similar sound to "Throwing Copper," but more advanced...

After hearing "Heaven" on the radio, I was not impressed at first...because of the lyrics--I thought it was a Christian rock type song, and that made me gag...but then I listened closely and really like them because I think they apply to me, if I'm reading the song right (other than the daughter part, but you get the drift).

"She" and "The Sanctity of Dreams" are quite good..."Run Away" is a solid slower paced song...but not a knockout.

The next three songs are my current favorites. "Life Marches On" is a fantastic song in all facets. I love the guitar work--the rolling, buzz-like background stuff during the verses on "Like I Do" kicks ass. Plus, anytime Dalheimer (the bassist) drives a song, as he does here, it kicks major ass (see "Heropsychodreamer" off "secret samahdi").

"Sweet Release" is by far the most beautiful song I've EVER heard from Live, and it's currently my favorite on the album. It's so beautiful lyrically and musically...but it's got a great tempo on top of it. Plus, Ed's voice is fantastic, as is Chad's on backup for the refrain ("up to better times, sweet release"). It's an amazing song, and I hope they release it as a single, because I think people will eat it up.

The rest of the songs are very good, but I haven't listened to them as closely as the first seven yet. "What are We Fighting For?" I don't necessarily agree with, but it's a song for the times I guess...and it's pretty solid. If it was simply a terrible song musically, I'd probably hate it flat out. But musically, it's pretty decent. It concerned me when they briefly released it when the war started just "to make a statement." My thought is, shut the hell up--just because you're in a position to share your opinion, doesn't mean you have to. But the song's OK. "Bring the People Together" seems a bit basic, but it's OK. It actually seems to be a clone of "Stage" off "throwing copper", but I can't confirm that perfectly yet...

All right...enjoy. The album is definitely worth picking up if you haven't already.

Luis is sitting right here, being a jackass. He wants me to shave my goatee off for my new PFW mugshot. He thinks the hair there covers "20 percent of my face." That was refigured after his outlandish statement that my facial hair covers HALF my face. I am NOT cutting my goatee off for the mugshot, however...it makes me look older and more esteemed. :)

Without facial hair, I look like I'm about 10 years old. :) Luis thinks that I'm completely serious...he's now telling me the noxious fumes from my commute have killed brain cells. Unfortunately, he's wrong...it's all the beer that has killed my brain cells.

Anyway, it's fun to type out a blog about someone when they're right here.

"24" was good. Yeah.

Oh yeah, and we won in softball today, amazingly enough...especially when you consider we were down 16-2 at one point and won 19-16. Seventeen unanswered runs. How about that? I started the game in right field, but when we were down roughly 10-0, our coach (he really is, he doesn't play, just coaches) came to me in the pen. I proceeded to shut down the opponents' bats pretty well. And then our bats responded. Our first 8 runs were on four two-run home runs in the first few innings. I did pretty well at the plate and on the basepaths, but nothing spectacular, really. My pitching was the gold-star earning feat of my day. :)

Today has been a pretty useless day here at work. I have 50 minutes to burn, catching up on my reading of NFL news that has gone nearly on hold what with the magazines being edited and written and all. For whatever reason, I feel as though I've done nothing today, and i wonder if I'm the only one here who has "done nothing?" I can't ask...that would create a ruckus and I'd be "exposed." Then my guilt for doing "nothing" all day would be justified. I think I'll just sit this out and go to eat at 5 in advance of softball. I just hope I make it that long without being "discovered." God, I hate days like this.

Uh-oh...I didn't post yesterday. Oops.

We had softball practice and then me and Luis went for good ol' 10-cent wings at Hawkeye's. It's nice to eat cheap. Of course, when our friend Erin is bartending, it doesn't turn out that cheap because we take care of our friends...but it's still much cheaper than going to, say, TGIFridays or some other bar.

Tonight there is a softball game, and then I go home and watch the season finale of "24." I'm peeved that the second part of the Hitler miniseries is on at the same time, so I hope Gerard tapes the Hitler show for me. He's watching it too, so maybe he will do that. Then I can watch that sometime in the future.

Oh yeah, and Live's new album comes out today...I'll be picking that up during lunch probably. Although there are only probably a couple of people reading this who will care. :)

It was nice to see the old high-school stomping grounds again, but I was stunned at the few teachers that were still teaching there since I left eight years ago. Mrs. Teacher who reads this (not naming you for a reason), you might do well to send a resume to St. Rita... :) Or not. I was also surprised at the number of young women teaching there. We had maybe one or two young women teaching or coaching when I went, and any guy who had them for a class or sport was the envy of many others. Now, it seems, there are many to "go around." Remember, St. Rita is an all-boys gig...

I was happy to see Dr. Kisicki, whose nickname (Dr. K!) was borrowed for "South Side Andy and the Baha'i Temple." He's my third-favorite teacher, behind only Dr. Don Racky, who passed away a year or two ago and who was my homeroom and English teacher 3 of 4 years and the newspaper moderator, and Jim Misiora, my junior-year history teacher and the only teacher I'd ever really consider a good friend. Mr. Miz died last year also, quite unexpectedly in his 40s. He was the teacher who joined my fantasy baseball league the first year I ran it, and then when I had a BBQ in the fall to give out the awards, Miz and his wife showed up at my parents' house, brought all sorts of food and cooked and everything. He was simply a great, great man who treated me, Tim, and Eddie excellently. He's probably the best friend teacher I've ever had...no one comes close. Doc Racky is by far the best teaching teacher ever, and he's the man who helped me realize I could write and should study journalism, though he did not pressure me into it. Dr. K has bits of both. Of course, Dr. K remembers me and Tim, and had Eddie in his honors English class this year...his big schtick, or at least it used to be, is to give all his students and any others he interacts with nicknames. Mine was, simply, the name you all hate, Handy Andy. I couldn't be South Side Andy then, because, well, we all were from the South Side, or the area at least. Dr. K has this booming laugh that is unmistakable and was very audible in the cafeteria full of people talking after the ceremony today. I missed that laugh. And it's not a patronizing laugh either if you can hear it across the room...he's deeply amused. :) He's also was the man I went to in an attempt to film part of "South Side Andy" in the school's basement, and he really pushed for it. But the board, or whoever, turned it down because of liability and all. So the first thing he asked me was how the movie-making business was...I said, well, it's dried up, but only because that was a one-time deal.

At any rate, it was good to see the couple of faculty members who taught me and Eddie and Tim and remembered me. It's amazing how some of those folks can be with their memories. There's a priest there who's really old--Father McNicholas (Fr. McNick)--but I could walk up to him, even though I didn't have a ton of interaction with him while I was in school there, and he'll know me by name and everything. It's stunning. It's that amazing family-like atmosphere that makes me want to find some way to get back involved there...I was going to ask Dr. K if they needed an assistant football coach or something...but I'll save that for later. :)

Much has happened, yet nothing at all.

The power went out at work yesterday at 3pm, and we were let out at 4. Then, I had a 16-inch softball game at 8:30. We were down 4-1 heading into the top of the sixth inning, and the floodgates opened for our opponents. We fell behind 11-1, and if we didn't score, the game would be over. We put up two runs, bringing it to 11-3. Top of the seventh, they scored two more runs. So we needed 10 to tie, and 11 to win. We got two more, leaving the final at 13-5. No one was hitting the ball on our team at all, except me this time. I went 3-for-3 with two singles and a double.

Today was Chocolate Fest. It rocked only because I went with Troy and Eulalia. If I had to go myself, I'd probably crash intentionally into a draining ditch. The chocolate was cheap, which is fine...but to drive that far just for Nestle products (personally, I prefer Fannie May, Cadbury and World's Finest chocolate over Nestle and Hershey) would have driven me nuts. Thank God for the camaraderie. :) Anyway, the event has lost its luster to me, I think because it's really the same freakin' thing every year...we didn't even get to see the break dancing troupe that was supposed to be there. But it was a beautiful day and nice to see that Burlington has gotten progressively more "diverse" over the years.

On Sunday (today, I guess) I visit my high school for Eddie's graduation ceremony. He's done with high school and is headed, I assume, to Northern Illinois, where my other brother went. We're supposed to hit a restaurant afterward, so it could be a pseudo long day. But I'm sure it won't be bad. There's bad long days and good ones. This one ought to be fine.