ego was slightly (not slightly...seriously) bruised today. seriously. i mean, completely. sent out the press release regarding my pending departure (used the phrase "pursue other opportunities..." and everything). i shaved for the occasion.

but, alas, only one phone call. one of the local newspaper guys who "found out on friday" because he's enterprising. the other paper, presumably, will run the release with slight editing (i don't punctuate well). and the tv stations...0-for-4. (to be fair, 0-for-3, as the fourth doesn't actually cover local sports...why would someone watch local news for local sports?)

now, i can justify two stations - one had on tonight a new guy who doesn't actually know me except for brief handshake sessions, and the other had "the guy who doesn't cover us because he doesn't like my boss" - but the third, with a guy who has been in town for two or three years and to whom i gave my def leppard-bryan adams tickets this summer (i mean, that's friendship)...just inexcusable.

sigh...below the fringe, fringe, fringe celebrity status.

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perhaps because the office is largely empty this week, or perhaps because i'm trying to leave a strong legacy, i've been uber-productive the past two days. usually i'm "kinda" productive, but, this week, uber. i've banged out about two-thirds of our (their) media guide in the last two afternoons, which is an accomplishment, i think.

that may have happened because W musicians make a fantastic afternoon of listening. On the iTunes list, i played mermaid avenue v2 followed by yankee hotel foxtrot followed by a ghost is born followed by car wheels on a gravel road followed by the official smile. wilco-wilco-wilco-williams-wilson. strong. i've never purchased anything else by lucinda...worth it?

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it's certainly nice that the cubs picked up juan pierre, but it seems to me like they're still missing a middle infielder and both corner outfielders. [by saying "a middle infielder," i'm assuming that cedeno gets one of the spots, although that's by no means a lock. dusty factor.]

and it seems like the rotation - zambrano, maddux, prior, jerome williams, rusch, according to cubs.com - appears to be not-that-good. (maddux=old, five innigs; prior=about to get hurt; rusch=check out his career history...zambrano's obviously strong, and williams is very very very intriguing)

because i'm a dork, i'd like to point out that the rule five draft is tomorrow. i don't know where they pick (i think the same order as the june draft, so i think about 12th or so), but the cubs should draft cincinnati's kevin howard if he's available. pure baseball player, out of the university of miami. he was one of my favorite players in the league in 2003. he'll get drafted by somebody, and he'll stick the full season in the bigs.

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i've begun the packing process. i'll be bringing boxes back to the 'burbs this weekend, prior to the gurs experience.

this brings up an interesting (to me, only) question:
sometime, hopefully in the next few months, i'll be re-moving out of the parents house. in this ipod age in which my itunes and ipod are both loaded with every bit of music i own, is it worth it to move the cd's with me?

on the one hand, i've got the music, and it's about the music, man.

on the other hand, cd's look nice, don't they? not LP-nice, but still nice, right?

and yes, i'm obsessing (not really, just mind-wandered-to) about a total collection that takes up three small-sized boxes. sigh.

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slightly related, antony and the johnsons performed on letterman tonight. it's so off-putting and so odd, but it's also strangely alluring. and, no, i wouldn't like it if it wasn't, you know, hipster-cool. but is it any good? please tell me.