a few random things (note: this got waaaay long):

- heading back to chi-town this weekend. party at the wysock pad on friday night - always a blast, especially when a rosin bag is involved. the decemberists on saturday, laundry in glenview on sunday. perhaps even more demo cd burning, although that's a generally pointless and fruitless endeavor.

- bernie williams is getting old, and clearly can't play center field on a daily basis anymore. the boss loves him, and seems loyal to players in general and especially to williams (hall of famer? perhaps). the boss clearly overpaid for giambi, who's probably untradeable. you figure that, next year, williams dh's 80 games, plays center for 40 games, and is injured for the other 42. for those 80 games, giambi's gotta be the first baseman. what does that mean? NICK JOHNSON's going to be available at some point. get him. now. he's a young lefthanded bat. (and a good one, hee sop.) engineer a three-way deal. send choi somewhere else, have third-party send an overpriced, gloveless veteran to the yanks, have the yanks send the cubs mr. johnson. smile.

- watched bron-bron again tonight, and the kid does have a floor sense. he made a few turnovers, of course, while trying to force passes. but he also has a flare for the dramatic. with four minutes left in a six-point game, he pulled off one of those can-you-believe-he-threw-an-alley-oop-pass-now passes, reminiscent of kobe-to-shaq during portland's collapse in the conference finals in 2000. (although the game was a snoozer and an embarrassment to the dunleavy (?)-coached blazers, i rank that lob as one of the great plays i've ever seen.)

- why am i watching bron-bron so much? soon, the plan is to get paid to watch nba and college hoops games. tougher than it sounds.

- in 2002, i announced games for the great joe mauer, who received a five-million dollar signing bonus, straight out of high school. people were surprised that the twins would dole out that cash, but nobody openly rooted against him. sure, five million's not nine figures (although the cavs are probably paying bron-bron only about five-million per annum), but it's sure a lot for a high school catcher from minnesota. high school catchers never pan out, although it appears joe mauer, minor league player of the year in 2003, will.

- i saw this great band, the thrills, on conan last night. summery, shimmering, harmonic pop out of scotland. sort of beach boysy, sort of byrdsy...perhaps a latter day teenage fanclub. anyway, they're on some major label, and their debut, coming out tuesday, is getting the pete yorn discount. that is, they're selling it for $9.99, hoping the thrills break huge, and then upping the price to $17.99. (i saw the first train record, the one with "meet virginia," priced at $8.99 for about seven months. the single broke, and suddenly the price had doubled. supply and demand, baby.) i've got a discover card cashback bonus borders gift card a-comin', and i think the thrills record and the most recent belle&sebastian efforts are on the docket. or maybe b&s's if you're feeling sinister.

- nobody respects the black rebel motorcycle club. people say they're derivative and boring. they might be derivative, but they're awesome, i say. their most recent record, take them on, on your own, might be a top five release for me this year. it should be noted that i haven't bought much, and that gbv's earthquake glue might be my favorite. although that's just an off-the-top-of-my-head thought.

- i'm starting to question flax's commitment to the bigflax.com top 20 poll. i mean, it's thursday, dammit. how far did the huskies fall?

- go cats. beat the boilers. woof.

you get all excited because the mighty chicago bulls are about to make their return to the playoffs, and then they go and stink up the joint in their opener.

the only good sign? fans were booing. fans have expectations. i think the team can live up to them, although they have to now sweep the remaining games with the wizards to get up to the anticipated win total against that weak club.

i watched lebron james - or, as i like to call him, " 'bron 'bron, " - in his nba debut tonight, and i was duly impressed. he's got the floor sense, he was pretty smart with the ball, and he even did a ridiculous thing like give up the ball on the break - when he was completely alone, mind you - to give the uber-selfish ricky davis a dunk opportunity.

now what i don't get is the universal dislike of lebron. (universal, in this case, indicates the rest of my office.) i'm absolutely fascinated with the kid, from his rumored talent to his confirmed pre-accomplishing-anything wealth to the fact that his mom is one of the world's strangest women. i don't think the guy's done anything that warrants the dislike that he tends to receive. sure, he soaks in the adulation, but he's 18. 18-year-olds enjoy adulation. (to wit: the poly-cotton blend seats in my chevy are embroidered with the words, 'le rud.') i really, really hope lebron's a smashing success. he seems likable and relatively grounded and he continues to say the right things.

and why does nobody like him? al sharpton would say because he's a young, black, rich male. al sharpton's probably somewhat right on this one.

(it should be noted, of course, that much of the world, or at least my office, also wanted yao to fail. probably because he's young and rich and non-white. probably.)

the consensus (from sports illustrated and espn) seems to be that the chicago bulls will make their long-awaited return to the postseason this season.

that makes me excited. i figure curry's a shoe-in to be an all-star this season (what with the conference's top center in 2002, brad miller, now in sacramento and all) and chandler's going to explode and really figure it out.

it's going to be a fun team to watch, except perhaps on the road. the key is to get jalen to be a distributor, because curry's so nifty and unstoppable down low.

i'm still not sure how i feel about the return of pippen. he's still talented, and he'll only be asked to come off the bench, but i don't know if he's the kind of leader a team needs. then again, this is a leaderless team, unless you count jalen.

indeed, a whirlwind of a weekend, i'd say.

after some work 'round here on friday night, departure occurs from the 'port approximately nine. arrival at glenview at midnight, with alarm set for 745. (with anticipated arrival in evanston set for 915 so as to allow for weissman-time [no bio available here] as well as pre-departure visit-with-cousins time.)

while weissman-time was sadly limited (unless waving at moving live truck plus three minutes at halftime counts), the rest of the day was aces. a beautiful game, as the cats dominated wisconsin in a 16-7 win. (da fumbowooski wowked.) nemo and jenny made great company, and nevin's, jenny's wonderful apartment and soldier field made great locales to enjoy it.

departed sunday around 1130, which meant that i spent 2 1/2 hours listening to jeff joniak on the radio. as awful as i remember.

and now tonight brings one of the greatest accomplishments of my year in the 'port: yes, i now have a television and computer monitor on the same desk. whoa.

after a frustrating week - a monitor flameout on wednesday night shot any chance i had of getting any demo cd's out on thursday morning - i sent out 56 this afternoon and am working on another 12 or so this evening.

and then it's off to glenview/etown/wherever for the cats-badgers, which has potential to be interesting. (i always say that...i'm usually wrong.)

i'm not quite sure what's planned, although i'm sensing the word 'whirlwind' will come up at some point.

another trip into chicago - for the dropsy debut - comes the following week. that's not yet official, i don't think. my brother gets to see world series game six tomorrow. bitchin.

in other news, i've always liked that first shins record, but i've never loved it. however, based on universally positive reviews, i have purchased the latest, chutes too narrow. it's similarly pleasing, although i don't know if it's great. the album artwork - some sort of pop-up book in a sleeve - is great.

even though he blew the game, dontrelle willis remains my favorite player in the series and my favorite non-cub in baseball. he's so genuine and so excited and it's just a shame that he's lost his stuff at this point in the season. (he's at 175 innings...he went 160 last year.)

it's wild to think that i was actually calling his games as late as mid-july last season. he, as well as sergio mitre (cubs) and danny haren (cardinals) are all guys who played in the bigs this year who spent part of the season in the mwl last year. unbelievable.

it's ridiculous that i'm not farther along on getting out demo cd's. the thing's been done for weeks. i get home from work at 5 tomorrow, and i'll go like hell, as they say.

woof.

here's a funny thing, probably something that you don't care about:

tonight marked a momentous event, as my employer, the quad city river bandits, introduced a new team name to the public. the name: the swing of the quad cities. (the word swing presents a local tie-in, as one of the innovators of jazz, bix beiderbecke, was born in davenport and paid tribute to the region in one of his most well-respected compositions, "davenport blues." he's our biggest local hero, i'd say, as the biggest event of the summer is the bixfest, which includes a jazz festival and a 7-mile run, the national championship in the "seven-mile run" category.)

i like the nickname, although i liked the previous one. (i'd prefer to not have the pretentious "of the quad cities" thing, of course, being that it's just faux-uniqueness.)

anyway, we had this unveiling party tonight at the imax theatre in davenport, and it was well-received and well-attended and everyone i talked to liked the name.

however, the poll taken online by our local nbc affiliate indicates that 92 freakin' percent of people disliked the change.

pretty ridiculous. but these things always take time. even the lansing lugnuts were unpopular when they came out. (they're not anymore.)

in other news, just as i had given up on vh-1, with their ridiculous (read: not as interesting as behind the music) shows like "the fabulous life of j-lo" and "driven: kid rock," they come with a gem of a new program: true spin. it's a pretty fascinating "what's that song really about?" show, with the one i saw featuring 'born in the usa' and 'losing my religion,' among others. also, i love the 80's: strikes back began tonight. woof.

quiet weekend. the developments:

- all it took was one bunt single, and i realized that, despite the events of last week, i'm still interested in this here world series. i want the marlins to win. it's been background noise for the first two games, however.

- further examination of my laundry this morning revealed that i have exactly one pair of wearable non-work pants, and even this pair of jeans is quite tattered about the cuffs

- the mighty willie's destroyers are back, spurred by a late-game passing exhibition courtesy of jake delhomme and another uncommonly strong perfomance from the tennessee defense. in addition, kelly holcomb's earned back his starting position, reports on michael bennett's health remain upbeat, and domanick davis is proving to be the best rookie running back from lsu, better even than labrandon toefield. the destroyers have won four of five; it's a good time to be a destroyer.

- i'm running out of space in my makeshift cd shelf. with the pending release of guided by voices' third box set, the strokes' room on fire and various other pending impulse buys, this could be a problem, and soon. i'll keep you posted.

- i did no redesigning on this unintentionally-redesigned site. as an f.y.i., the records i most enjoyed this weekend were guided by voices' sunfish holy breakfast ep (saturday, while doing dishes), and marvin gaye's what's going on (currently)

i sort of was immobilized last night, and for that i apologize. i figured a day-long delay in expressing my utter sadness was okay. don't want all the sadness on one day, i guess.

there really isn't much to say. there was an elderly woman that got a lot of face time late in the cubs game - she was crying, of course - and i thought of stan hack. people who loved stan hack have probably never seen a cubs team win the world series. talked to my dad (b. 1948) tonight, and all i could think was this is my '69, which was a bit sad.

i'm passed the sad stage right now, and am already into the angry phase. angry at nothing curveballs to mike mordecai. angry at steve stone for saying victory was certain, and angry at me for calling the twins about world series tickets. angry at deedz for planning her leave-work-midweek trip into chicago, and angry at all of us for assuming that duo was so unbeatable. angry at thom brennaman for being so insufferable. angry at steve lyons for trying to lick pudge's testacles while on camera (watch the tape, it's true). angry at flipping the channels after wgn news went off air at 11, and seeing john cusack excitedly tell dave letterman that he was going to the cubs game right after the taping, and angry that, because of this, i accidentally flipped to freakin' jimmy kimmel, who was showing cubs highlights. i'm especially angry at sammy sosa, who "works hard every day, because that's how we do it in (his) country." i'm probably angrier at the cubs who, on the final night of the year, could come up with no one better than billy corgan, who was last relevant in 1994, to sing the seventh inning stretch.

i'm not angry at darren baker, who drove his toy car over his daddy's microphone during that press conference. i smiled when i saw that. i'm also not angry at steve bartman - i would have done the same thing. i am angry at the sun-times, who probably ruined that man's life.

my brother stated (loosely quoted) "i've had a pretty nice life. this is the closest i've been to being depressed," and i'll agree, i think.

there are two really sad things that occured today: (1) the yankees are going to win the world series, and (2) i'm not going to be able to watch it. too tough.

good news: a co-worker's wife had a baby this morning. named samantha, she was at least partially named after the cubs right fielder. she weighed 8 pounds, 2.7 ounces, before she pooped.

(p.s. i confess that the new look wasn't really intended. the site was way screwed up - like no text appearing - when i checked it before turning off the computer. i have no idea what i'm doing, so i had no way to actually solve the problem. perhaps i'll have links, etc., at some point. the shoutouts remained, though!)

depressed as hell.

completely freakin' depressed.

here's a passage (edited to fit within the contexts of this series) from ball four, in an entry dated september 9 (bear in mind, of course, that the book was written in - gasp - 1969):

"The (Marlins) are beautiful.

Here they are...tied with the cubs and the panic is on in Chicago. ... I don't have to be there now to know that their clubhouse is like a morgue. And here's the funny thing: The (Marlins) have the same record and they're going crazy with joy. The players are happy, the manager is happy, the fans are happy. Now what's the difference? It's that the (Marlins) won their games at a different stage of the (series). The point is that right now they both have an equal chance to win the pennant, yet the (Marlins) are up and the Cubs are down. And the Cubs are down because they think they should be down. Why? If they were as happy as the (Marlins) they'd win more games."

I have no gut instinct for tomorrow's game. I'm just sad that it's being played.

my younger brother (often called my "little brother"), whom i've been lovingly referring to as "the boy" since mid-1996 (i've continued this practice despite the fact that he's been able to whoop my ass since at least 1997), is an enterprising individual. he purchased something like 70 cubs tickets this season, sold half to brokers and on ebay and the like, and turned a healthy profit while also catching eight or so games at wrigley himself. he purchased something like 40 single-game seats to this season's notre dame-michigan "battle," used four, and sold the rest at cost or at profit, paying for his ticket and then some.

my enterprising brother, this morning, acquired tickets to game six of a potential world series at yankee stadium. four tickets at 110 bucks apiece. with service fees, a total of about 500 smackers.

he's on something called "fall break," will be off of school beginning friday afternoon (this friday - the 17th), and had been planning to watch the irish take on boston college that day (saturday the 25). instead, he'll be spending that night at yankee stadium, should the yankees be in a series of that length and regardless of whether the cubs are there. you don't get many chances to see a world series game after all.

i've done the research, and moline-to-newark flights are going for as low as 241 bucks. it's a 16-hour drive from the 'port. i've talked to the boy, and i think i might have an inside track on a ticket. (his, and his roommates' are accounted for. the other two are in question. i don't think he likes me that much, owing to the fact that i call him "boy.")

how wild would that be?

in other news, the credibility of my friend nemo has sadly been called into question. in his stirring account "deer vs. honda: who wins?", he tells the story of a trip into toledo, with "streets" and "fulton," both members of the exclusive GOIPAO (glasses on, in pain, and old) club. however, i did the research based on nemo's provided link here, and it appears that the man referred to as "streets" clearly is not wearing glasses. a letdown, i guess.

note: this was only a ploy to encourage more user participation from the -mo sect. this means you nemo. this means you sumo.

thanks for checking in. go cubs.

last tuesday, when i thought i had tickets for game one of the nlcs, i was asked by a coworker "where are you going before the game?" i politely explained to him that the wrigleyville bar scene had no appeal to me, at least on a game night, and that, if i went anywhere, it would be to batting practice. he was incredulous. i explained that, for me, the game's the thing.

i violated that belief this afternoon, and therefore have very little to say about today's 4-0 loss. (another co-worker called about 4:00, middle of the second inning, and asked what i was doing. i said, watching the game, and he invited me to watch with him at a bar less than a block from my apartment. i couldn't say no.)

so i drank and watched and conversated and i've come up with this: at least there's a sixth game on tuesday. and more importantly, if marky mark does his job that night, we're set up for a kerry (extra rest) - prior (regular rest) - whomever rotation. i think it's very important to get those guys at the top of the rotation, for obvious reasons.

in other news, saturday was a wonderful day: the cats won, the cubs won, the irish won. my joy was only tempered by another painful eastern michigan loss. ugh.

and finally, i've been reading larry dierker's recent book, this ain't brain surgery: how to win the pennant without losing your mind, and, with the holiday season coming up, it comes recommended as a gift for that sports fan who has everything. (does anyone buy books for themselves? i mean it. this was a dpl acquisition, if you're wondering.) the only thing that confuses me is the title itself - i mean, dierker never sniffed the grass at a world series. but it remains a good read. interesting stories about people you've heard of, along with an informative perspective on baseball itself.

there's nothing more satisfying than run-of-the-mill ass-whoopings administered by the cubs.

that's all i've got for now.

this is wild. absolutely wild. the big polach blows the game, then keeps the team in the game for two innings. mike remlinger, with all of zero saves, closes the game, sort of. groundout. strikeout + wild pitch. blown 1-6-3 double play. game ends on an E5 (although it was, per the rule, scored FC).

the cubs got past that no-man's land - the realm before the seventh, when you need to use alfonseca or veres - and then the 'pen gives it up anyway. randall simon gives them a top of the eighth lead, and they can't make it stand up.

this just makes no sense and is too wonderful to put into words.

(by the way, lost in the records that have already been set and noted by fox - combined HRs by two teams in an NLCS, combined triples by two teams in an NLCS, and consecutive hits [6 - Lofton] during an LCS, is a record I've just made up: pinch-triples by one team in a playoff game. perhaps even in a game, period. goodwin had the triple before simon's jack, and the great doug glanville of course came up with the game-winner on a triple.)

i'd also like to agree with senor unstadt (see: previous shoutouts) about the ridiculousness that is steve lyons. and al leiter is going to be a great color guy...he'll be the ace when mccarver dies, should he want to (in this case, "he" means leiter). my favorite moment was when psycho was pontificating on "control," "finesse" pitchers in the playoffs: because umps don't expand the zone like they do during the regular season, said psycho, glavine and maddux have struggled. leiter responded by saying "did you ever see whitey ford pitch?" referring to arguably the greatest postseason pitcher ever, never considered overpowering.

and i'm already angry with fox. how can they justify starting the second game only 3 1/2 hours after the first game of the day? i don't plan to be able to see the first 2 innings of the cubs game.

it'll be a beautiful one. i think clement makes his splash here, and i think dontrelle can't stay with 'em.

i'd like to thank my good friend nemo for doing such a wonderful job of explaining the emotions that a cubs fan goes through on the day of the playoff game. complete incapacitation, essentially.

like, i get nervous. all day. starting at about 11 a.m. i start thinking about pitching matchups and what i'm supposed to eat that night to keep the club in good luck (i blame myself for losses, sadly) and how great it is that they're where they are.

yesterday was just a super, super day. a whirlwind of a super day. left work just before 1, got home just before 4:30, departed with dad and the boy for wrigley about 5, and got to the ballpark just after 6. made idle, nervous small talk for 45 minutes, at which point dad headed up to his seat (he's a master finagler [like, "one who finagles"], apparently).

the game was just a blast. like randall simon, i was in disbelief. not the electricity of a tight game, but it was nice to just enjoy the game, and not have to spend the time biting my nails and things like that. there was a strange phenomenon: in person, i was considerably less nervous, perhaps because i couldn't see the closeness of the pitches or perhaps because the boy and i were goofing around. it was relaxing.

the kid next to me is going to be a tremendous cubs fan. he was about seven. when veres came in, he said 'there goes the game.' (for the record, he predicted veres allowing six runs, borowski allowing three, and guthrie allowing three more before farnsworth struck out everyone else.)

i think the two best non-pitchers in this series are miguel cabrera and pudge rodriguez. nobody else on the marlins is particularly scary.

friday's garb is my kerry wood jersey. hy-vee brand long spaghetti is the dinner of choice.

i don't really know what to say. it's a tough loss when you get a clutch hit from sammy in the postseason. that shot reminded me (in monkey-off-back ramifications only) of that grand slam he hit in arizona in about july of 1998, the first one of his career. as i recall, he did the same thing in san diego the next night. hopefully a few postseason homers will come in bunches here too.

at this point, of course, the cubs need to win four of six from the fish, which is what they did during the season. you've got to believe that prior will get the win tomorrow - he's just a better pitcher than penny. wood-redman would appear to be a great matchup, although wood gets the edge. the biggest edge comes on saturday, i think. clement is a better bet than the d-train, who's a better story.

i've got no further comment on the game.

i'll be on the road at 1 tomorrow. home teams are 4-1 at major league games attended by yours truly this season. they are 3-0 in the first game of a 'rud homestand.' (i saw back-to-backs at kansas city and at san fran.)

and finally, governor arnold. yay democracy. ugh. i learned the news via the fox news channel, where the words "congratulations on the great victory" were uttered by an anchor to an interview subject. fair and balanced indeed.

update: 4:30 p.m.

five hours ago, my dad called. "Goof up. Two tickets are for tomorrow!"
and so it shall be. me and the boy, watching prior.

one of the tickets is for tonight. hopefully dad's getting a win.

nervous. nervous. nervous.

so here's the deal: in the strangest, most beautiful bit of string-pulling ever performed, my father, the greatest man alive, managed to acquire 4 (check that - 3) tickets for tuesday's game one of the nlcs.

after initially turning him down - owing to work and the drive and 'i just got through using four vacation days and i'm not sure how many i have left although it could be just one' and the fact that there's a bit of work to do - i realized what i was passing up. and so i called my boss but got his voicemail. and so i called my boss at home and got his wife. she said 'i'm authorizing you - don't wait for (my boss).' so i called my dad and said 'dad. i'm going. i can't not go.'

and then i began shaking uncontrollably. i'm nervous. for no reason. i have no bearing on the game.

i have to convince myself of that. because, while on the phone with my dad, i was in the process of making lucky chili (for tomorrow), which will be served with lucky generic spaghetti. and now i most certainly won't eat either.

and then there's the issue of the lucky shirt. i'm 2-for-2 when kerry starts and i'm wearing my wood cooperstown classic jersey. can i use this on a non-kerry day? i've decided no...i'll go with my cubs jersey, purchased in sixth grade (perhaps stolen from my dad?), that still fits.

i'm shaking. still.

but i'll be ready to leave work tomorrow at about 1245. and i'll change into my cubs jersey. and i'll go east. and i'll arrive home around 4. and then i'll hope for the best. back at work at 830 wednesday morning. i'm thinking it'll be worth it.

and a note to the politicos: isn't it sad that the california recall thing ends tomorrow? high, high, high comedy.

Whoopeeeeee!

there's little else to say at this point.

i forgive the bears for winning. it still worked out alright.

i hope kerry wood - one of three regular readers - can forgive me for doubting him. what dominance.

part of me feels bad for the atlanta fans - there's been a lot of heartbreak out there. but then i realize that at least a third of their stadium was cubs fans - for a decisive game - and i realize they deserve nothing but what they got.

i happened to flip on wgn-tv at 10:30, and there was still celebration going on at turner field...players emerging from the clubhouse to spray champagne on the screaming fans. quite a picture.

bring on the fightin' fish. i hear jack mckeon said there was no chance the cubs would make the postseason. jeannie zelasko said so.

fucking bears. it's like the sports gods are saying 'the cubs are losing tonight. let's throw those pathetic chicago fans a freakin' bone." i sure hope i'm wrong.

i think it can safely be said that kerry wood is a horse. which is a good thing. 235 innings. an injury-free season. the most dominating pure 'stuff' from a starting pitcher this side of pedro martinez (i think gagne's is best...but he can only do it for 3 batters at a time). so the question becomes, why the hell does he make me so nervous?

i guess because he's always two walks away from a mental meltdown.

here's the other question: can a team that has had only three big hits (kerry's double, simon's single, ramirez's double - sorta big - on friday) in a four-game series get enough big hits in the fifth game?

i don't know. i sure hope so. either way, playoff baseball, when it involves your team, rules.

in other news, you can say barry bonds changes the game like nobody has ever (and you'd be right), but is he more valuable than pudge rodriguez? probably. and, in the junior circuit, was anyone more valuable than shannon stewart this year? hell no.

and finally, former river bandit johan santana goes for the twinkees. go twinkees.

as a wise man once said, f--- f---in' espn. the cats have been moved from espn2 to espn-plus and, sadly, they will not be shown in the 'port this saturday.

also, congrats to my friend nemo, newest voice of wolverines volleyball.

nemo: chicks dig. (volleyball joke. works on so many levels. or none.)

october and november are shaping up as outstanding rock and roll months. dropsy (ee?, ie?, ey?), decemberists, guided by voices (X 1, X 2, or X 3). i've never done back-to-back-to-back gbv shows...this may be the chance.

i remain (perhaps stupidly) confident in the cubs, despite this evening's frustrating loss.

it should be noted, however, what bobby cox did tonight and what dusty baker did not: coxy went to his bullpen ace before the time typically reserved for that person. (it didn't work as planned for the braves, but it worked.) as joe morgan wisely said referring to the wonderful top of the eighth inning, where dusty used five guys off the bench, "you don't want to leave any bullets in the chamber." in the same way, with veres looking as awful as he was looking, why leave the big polack in the 'pen?

if facing extra frames, you've got cruz. while not great, cruz is about equal to horacio ramirez, who would have been the bravos guy.

in other news, this series is taking over my life. my sink is dish-ful at the moment.

and i'm going to my cousin's wedding on saturday. this could mean that, similar to sixth grade, i'll be the dorky guy in the corner watching tv while everyone is dancing. as will my dad.

i'll try to mention a few san francisco things as i recall them. let's see if i can come up with something interesting.

it was a strange, wonderful trip - always busy, always at something, but never eventful, if that makes sense. in many ways, it was like long phone conversations with numerous friends at the same time (in more halcyon days, we might have said "i'll three-way to unstadt," and not realized how hilarious it was).

there were highlights all five days: wednesday brought the a's game and grace cathedral hill; thursday included the arrival of unstadt and five-buck beers at the fillmore; friday saw us getting burritos (but no drugs, sadly) at haight-ashbury, hitting the legendary amoeba records (and 'limiting' myself to only three purchases) and taking in our first giants game; saturday included chinatown and little italy and city lights bookstore and another night at pac bell; sunday brought the golden gate (can't believe i almost missed it...stunning) and wine country and the long-rumored meeting with the amazing zach.

i think saturday was my favorite day, perhaps. we got out earlyish and walked through chinatown (20-something per pound of scallops - wild!) and wandered into little italy (is it okay to eat a meatball sandwich? it was good) and went to city lights, once the hangout of the beats and now a hangout for faux-intellectuals (myself) and real intellectuals (unstadt) from all walks of life, apparently. and the second pac bell game was great, with me getting a demo cd two degrees from jon miller and with me getting on the jumbotron yelling "northwestern number one baby!"

yes. i violated my 'no mugging' rule.

in other news, cubs one, bravos none. quiver.