Wednesday, December 28

it's been a busy, busy time, but i guess that's the nature of the season.

highlights [or better said, events], briefly:

christmas was fantastic. older brother and girlfriend arrived 1ish, and we basically hung out for the next 10 hours. a blast.

it's become acceptable to package booze as a gift. my sister must have smuggled 12 bottles of various sizes back from the czech republic. rubbing alcohol seasoned with lemon juice [roughly]? yes!

back to the 'port monday. a long, long day. couldn't sleep sunday night [out for the night 4ish], out of the house by 830, to the 'port by 1115, dad's car packed by 1230, mom's car packed by 145 [at which point dad departed], lunch with former coworkers until 3, cleaning until 845 [breaks for falling asleep and various stall-tactic phone conversations], out after a subway run by 915, back the burbs by 1215, car emptied by 130. wow.

highlight of cleaning: clogged tub. what do you do about a clogged tub? use the water-scooped-into-bucket-then-into-sink method. then use the same method, but with a ballpark souvenir cup. then wipe down with a towel. then hope that the apartment people don't notice when they do their walkthrough.

tuesday night, out with chuck, back from the peace corps. what was supposed to be a danny's from 930 to 1030 run became glenview house until 1, then denny's until 2, then super-burbs bar dick's until closing. boy came along at 130. awesome.

lunch with former intern today. conversation was strong. he's taking over my job.

i've spent a lot of money.

other things upcoming...
didi tonight.
harry potter with the sister, perhaps, thursday.
nothing else really planned, i don't think.

- - - - - - -

i'm really really excited for the sun bowl on friday afternoon. i've got no read on it, although i'm hopeful. what's odd about bowls is the fact that, in general, i've basically forgotten a lot about the cats. which is the crappy center? who generally plays in the four-receiver sets? who exactly is in the defensive backfield? marquice cole isn't actually good, is he?

i'll be watching in the living room. hdtv. i think the boy will join me, and i'm not sure on my dad. i'll probably have microwave popcorn. my mom will probably set out chips and salsa.

- - - - - - -

my sister got the fiery furnaces' rehearsing my choir record for christmas. and, let me say, it's the most fascinating piece of music put out this year? is it great? no. is it even good? maybe. but is an absolute wild listening experience? yes, yes it is.

i use phrases like "the best working songwriter" [john darnielle, or carl newman] and "the best rock band around" [the strokes, maybe, because i'm a loser] and things like that a lot, too often, in fact, but there's no doubt that they're the most interesting band around. rehearsing my choir is now on my itunes, soon to be moved to the ipod, and i'll be a day-of-release furnaces purchaser from here on out, i think.

"the wayward granddaughter," for one, is just amazing. back-and-forth lyrics between eleanor and grandma olga [who sounds like a little cartoon man, the voice that i think mr. magoo might have], talking about the granddaughter's various high school love interests [in this case, neither character is the singer...a fictionalized song]. "kevin. and kevin. one black. one white." and eleanor sings about them meeting at [former depaul coach] "joey meyer basketball camp" and going to homewood-flossmoor high school. "one the point. one at shooting guard. one the point. one at shooting guard."

can i honestly recommend that somebody purchase rehearsing? probably not. but is it thrilling? hell yes it is.

Thursday, December 22

busy times starting to cool down. the boy came back to the 'port sunday night, and we got most of the stuff back to the 'burbs by monday night at about 9. i hope only one trip remains, coming the day after christmas.

it's certainly a shock for the parents - the boy back from school, my sister back from prague, and me beginning a glorious life of unemployment - all in a span of four days.

not really that much to report. i've hit the treadmill both days i've been back, and have slept past noon both days. i arrived here at about 9 on monday, and first left the house at 9:30 on wednesday, which is not necessarily something to be proud of.

but i'm back into productivity mode. the astros hired a pair of minor league guys, which means that the "trickle-down" is about to happen. i feel good about a pair of job leads, and had one play the "we don't want someone with your experience" card. [it was a paid internship, but it was also double-a.]

other than that, nothing really. done with shopping, and i have some wrapping to do. perhaps gurs thursday night.

Thursday, December 15

subject to extreme change, my favorite albums of the year:

1) Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
2) The Clientele - Strange Geometry
3) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
4) The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
5) The Decemberists - Picaresque
6) Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
7) Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
8) Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers
9) The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
10) The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
11) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
12) Kanye West - Late Registration
13) Spoon - Gimme Fiction, although it feels odd having it this low
14) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl
15) Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
16) Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth
17) Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
18) ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart
19) Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
20) Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
21) Blackalicious - The Craft

Unranked...
Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins, although I sense it's really good
Editors - The Back Door, which I have no read on.

The moral here: I spend far too much money on music. I like music.

Revisiting 2004 [with the 2004 ranking in parentheses...UP=unpurchased when list was made; OBU=Owned but Unranked in 12/04, when the 2004 list was made)
1) The Arcade Fire - Funeral [UP]
2) Brian Wilson - Smile [1]
3) Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News [2]
4) The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows [3]
5) The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat [6]
6) Guided by Voices - Half Smiles of the Decomposed [12]
7) Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand [5]
8) AC Newman - The Slow Wonder [8]
9) The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free [4], 2004's "Gimme Fiction Award" winner
10) The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed [OBU]
11) Interpol - Antics [14]
12) The Futureheads - The Futureheads [UP]
13) Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill [8]
14) Wilco - A Ghost is Born [13]
15) The Killers - Hot Fuss [9]
16) Rogue Wave - Out of the Shadow [15]
17) The Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere [OBU]
18) Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose [UP]
19) Kanye West - The College Dropout [UP]
20) TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes [UP]
21) Dizzee Rascal - Showtime [6]
22) Mission of Burma - ONoffON [10]
23) Robert Pollard - Fiction Man [OBU]
24) The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy [OBU]
25) Elbow - Cast of Thousands [OBU]
26) Aberfeldy - Young Forever [OBU]
27) John Vanderslice - Cellar Door [OBU]
28) The Magnetic Fields - i [OBU]

Top One for the 1998-2003 [I started listening to music in 1998]
The Postal Service - Give Up [2003]
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights [2002]
The Strokes - Is This It? [2001]
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica [2000]
Wilco - Summer Teeth [1999]
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea [1998]

Wednesday, December 14

so now i'm spending my nights packing. boxing things up. putting clothing in suitcases. taking stupid crap down from the walls. it's fairly amazing, although not entirely surprising, how much junk one can acquire over three years.

i've managed to plan fairly well in an effort run out of all of my frozen foods by monday, aka, travel day. [although, now that i think about it, i've not allowed food for monday, which will be "move boxed-up stuff to the car" day. the following monday, perhaps, will be "clean the abandoned apartment in an effort to recoup like, say, 15 percent of my damage deposit" day. spices, pasta, cans of soup...those'll make the trip home, i think.

i've also planned out my clothing for the rest of the week (not tough: plaid shirt, some sort of pants), and everything else is now officially suitcased.

- - - - -

dare i say, terrible loss for northwestern hoops tonight. UIC 71, NU 62, although northwestern was down five inside of 20 seconds before a Hachad miss+offensive foul and, apparently, several technical fouls that were called.

so northwestern is 4-4 with, i think, three non-conference games remaining. dare i say, prospects for the NIT are about nil. sigh.

i do like carmody's "sad" quotes. from today's recap, courtesy of the AP: "Some of those other three's were pretty open, we just missed badly. They weren't always uncontested shots, but their defense was pretty decent. They weren't always guarding us closely, but that's good coaching because they knew we couldn't make shots."

1) it's really sad when a team of "a bunch of undersized white dudes" can't shoot, but that seems to be the case

2) does the associated press have editors. shouldn't the word "three's" be "threes."

3) i really hate misspellings in professional publications. [here, they're okay.] for like three straight days last week, the sports guy's website misspelled josh beckett's last name, headlining the story "mad about becket," or some such nonsense.

that's all.

Tuesday, December 13

so, i wrote last week about being pretty productive at work despite the pending departure. that was the case agian today, in my return to the office. time-wasting to a relative minimum, which is good, and a fair amount of idea-generating and team-improving.

the boss was gone at this point, with meetings out of town or something.

so he returns at 3:30 and, BOOM, personal phone call. ten minutes wasted. then, after the ten minutes are up, BOOM, personal phone call. half-hour wasted. a valuable half-hour for me, but wasted in the boss' eyes, i'd imagine.

i've never been one comfortable talking on the phone when people are around me. no real reason, just something i prefer not to do. so it becomes pretty apparent when i'm doing something un-worky, as i retire to an unused conference room and pace around like an idiot. but it'll happen, i guess. i've got nobody left to impress here, but it's nice to put in a good-faith effort.

- - - - -

second personal phone call was a complete rarity: an actual critique of my work. i sent out some work to a triple-a broadcaster that i met during the season, more seeking to pick his brain than find employment. so i sent it out shortly before thanksgiving, and hadn't heard anything.

fired across an email this afternoon, just making sure it arrived there, and BOOM, second personal call.

the critique was far more in-depth than expected (not really, but it was more than "pretty good...say the score more," which nemo and i agree is the most frequent critique), and included a simple thing to pay attention to.

essentially, too much "story-story-story-story-story-CRACK" and not enough "story-story-story-"here's the pitch"-CRACK." Not a big deal, he said, but something worth taking note of. good criticism (good criticism, not "you suck") is tough to find, so it was rewarding.

he didn't, however, offer me a job.

Sunday, December 11

no blow-by-blow recap of a successful jaunt back to the city. from the moment i saw unstadt (then rico) at o'hare on friday night to a quiet ducking-out with unstadt and gurs and slater sunday afternoon, it was memorable and near-perfect.

the only imperfections were, i think, probably caused by me. it happens, i guess. and eric's got fine, fine photographic proof.

next time this whole group will be together? probably a long, long time from now. outstanding.

- - - - -

the bears were outplayed by a very good pittsburgh team today. despite a nine-point offensive performance, lovie smith says that orton's still his guy. this makes less than no sense. great day to be a steelers fan. (san diego, kc losses) not a great day to be a bears fan (vikings win, with mike vick looming.) i'm really excited for sunday night against mike vick at soldier field. i think i'll make rud-wings, with the boy possibly present.

zach strief was named an all-american by the national football writers association on saturday afternoon. that means two more items added to the wall of honor for 2006. what a nice year for northwestern football.

my most-promising job lead was filled by someone other than me, which is disappointing. i believe that my tardiness in sending materials was probably a factor. one door closes and another opens, a truth in this case. the new door isn't as promising, but is probably worth investigating.

also, i'm going to pick up some coin getting mri's soon enough. woof.

Wednesday, December 7

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.

- - - - -

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?

- - - - -

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.

- - - - - -

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.

- - - - -

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.

Tuesday, December 6

is there any scientific proof linking water consumption to headaches? beccause i've got a fantastically painful headache, and i've consumed a lot of water tonight. i've also played video games and watched the office. i also ate meatloaf for the first time in at least six years. it was not heart-shaped meatloaf, a former mom-rud tradition. [one of her oddest, it should be noted.] perhaps the meatloaf caused it.

awful news revealed tonight: nbc's moving the office and my name is earl to thursday nights. this means, presumably, that these two shows will anchor thursdays once will and grace ends its run (i've never seen w & g, but i know it's ending this season, right.) this means, i would imagine, that they'll get dumber. (for the record, i don't like earl. chuckles, not laughs. the office is belly-laughs only, i think.) this also means the the boy-fueled hope that nbc would buy the rights to arrested development and have it join the office and earl in a not-laugh-track-fueled tuesday (that was my idea) is quite unlikely. i'll miss arrested development.

i'd like to state that i'm quite excited about the sun bowl, although i'll be in the C-H-I instead of the E-L-P. but it's CBS' only bowl, and always gets more network-fed publicity that "Big Ten No. 5 vs. Pac-Ten No. 3" deserves. i'm confident, but that's because i always am. i've got 4 1/2 hours on december 30th blocked out for the first three quarters. should be fun.

this will likely be my most in-depth pre-game analysis, not that you're interested.

oddest part of leaving your job: constant "if there's anything i can do to help" statements.

example:
one of my main offseason duties is an elementary school reading program. on friday, i missed a call from one of the principals whose school participated in 2005: "yes, we're certainly planning to join up again. be on the lookout for our registration."

he was returning my follow-up call. so, because he's a good conversationalist, i returned his call today. i also explained that i'd be leaving the organization, and gave him the names of the people that will be taking over my related duties. "if you don't mind my asking, what are you planning on doing?" i explained my impending purgatory, and the fact that i'm planning on staying in the business, or at least a related business. and he said, "well, if there's anything you ever need...just keep me in mind and i'll give you whatever help i can."

it's a nice sentiment. but, let's be honest, he'll probably never be able to be any help. and, after all, why should he? we've met in person once, and spoken on the phone six times. he shouldn't feel obligated at all.

but it was still nice.

- - - - - - -

i've made some pretty good friends throughout the league, which makes sense because we're all pretty similar people. and because you've got to be pretty humble to stick it out here. ("i'm probably the most modest person i know.") well, although there's been no official word released, i've spoken directly to three colleagues and, with the baseball winter meetings going on, real word is starting to spread.

so the calls roll in to me. very friendly calls. "is it true?" kind of calls. "why?" kind of calls. and they're all very friendly and very flattering, but i also feel like i'm on the defensive, like i should be apologizing.

i'd imagine that i'll probably stay in reasonable contact with at least four of the people from around the league, and probably two of my former co-workers, even if i don't return to the league. good friends, all.

- - - - - - - -

thinking of a potential schedule for january...what does one do when unemployed?

9 a.m. : wake up
9:00-9:45 : rud family treadmill, cold pizza on espn2
9:45-10:45 : chicago tribune: first tempo, then sports, then skim
10:45-11:00 : prepare lunch for my mom
11:00-11:25 : visit with my mom, who gets home for lunch at 11
11:25-12:25 : try to find a job. this includes calling teams and searching for radio stations
12:25-1:00 : read espn.com page 2, pitchfork, and blogs
1:00-end : watch movie on family's on-demand hbo
3:30 : watch jeopardy!
3:30-sleep: drink myself into bolivian

as you can see, i'll be very busy

Saturday, December 3

so, in what was about the most difficult moment in my "adult" life, i resigned on friday afternoon. as (sort of) documented in the previous post, the letter wasn't the difficult. that's a formality, i learned. the anxiety was the tough part.

i crawled in bed at about 115, a standard time, on thursday night. and then i didn't get to sleep until 345. 3-freakin'-45. a combination of several things, including some ill-timed (although not that late) coffee consumption, and an improperly-closing window that allowed some of the chill of the winter's coldest night to seep in. but mostly, it was nerves.

this would happen to me before the first day of elementary school, also, when i would have to start the radio two or three times before actually falling asleep. (the 59-minute sleep function, of course. i like not-silence.) but it's been a long, long time since something other than alcohol or (exclusively) caffeine kept me up like that, and it was awful.

so, i woke up, not refreshed. and the office was freezing. the plan was to get it done at 11, before lunch, bringing in both people to whom i'd feel obliged to resign. and i was nervous, and showed it. fidgety. walking around aimlessly. trying to look busy. i know i wasn't myself. in an effort to calm myself, i renamed the "resignation letter" file "GOOD TIME FUN." i printed two copies, then immediately sprinted to the printer. i signed the copies, folded them in half, then sat down and shook some more.

number 2 had a meeting at 11. scheduled to go "about 20 minutes," it was still going strong with no obvious signs of imminent end at 1135, thwarting the "double team" plan. so i resolved to talk to number one, the person who hired me, the person who may or may not have tried to steal my money (i'm 99 percent sure he didn't), the only person there who's been there longer than me (scary!), exclusively. he had something scheduled for 1 p.m., and was headed to lunch at noon.

so, shoulders more-slouched-than-usual, voice quavering... "hey, uh...you got a moment?" and then i waited for no answer and i closed the door and i sat down at the table in the office and handed over my letter.

and it lasted 25 minutes, and it went incredibly well. better than i could have hoped in my most optimistic moments. we reminisced a bit, even. (even though we haven't really gotten along since about june of 2003, i'd say.) i laid out some of my most basic ideas for the future - same job, different place; big city radio; small-town radio; player development... - and he asked if i had applied for another job known to be open in our league. i said i had. he offered to put in a good word for me when he sees their ownership next week. i don't think i told a single lie ("this has absolutely nothing to do with [events of november 9]" was again, about 99 percent true), and i'm fairly (80 percent) confident that he didn't either.

and then i went over the same things with number two, and he said, honestly [i think], that he'd be sad to see me go. he'd only been my boss for a year, but we've had gradually-increasing small-talk sessions over the last few months, mostly because i'm interested in his personal histories of 1960's psych-rock shows and excessive drug use, whether they're true or not. he appreciates that i'm interested, and embellishes.

the only downside of the pre-lunch events was that, predictably, number one wanted my letter to signify my "two weeks' notice lite," owing to the fact that he'd prefer to be owing me less. so i know i'm working monday the fifth. and i know i'm working tuesday the 13th and wednesday the 14th. and i'm reasonably sure that i'll be receiving my final paycheck and on december 16th, which is the day i set as my final day. and i'm pretty sure i'll be turning in my keys and my cell phone that day. and i know he agreed that i'll be owed for eight vacation days. but i don't know how much i'll work. i know i won't be working friday the ninth or monday the 12th, although i'd prefer to get at least one of those in the office.

other events of the day...
it was determined that, being that i'm a fringe-fringe-fringe-celebrity and that, more importantly, i count the local media folk among my closest friends [and so, therefore, i'll plan to call them personally with the news], there will be a press release regarding my departure. i'll publish that sometime early next week. because we'd be releasing publicly, and because two people in the office already had learned of my decision [i conferred with one...i apologized to the other], it was also determined that i'd personally tell the others rather than waiting for a staff meeting.

so my conversation with a newer coworker was sort of brief. i won't particularly miss him, although we're friendly. i've learned he's boring. when i told him, he got very sad to me. "i hope i find a new job. i don't think i really like this." i counseled him to wait for at least a year because, "you're not that employable right now." but it was a friendly use of the word "employable," referring to his just-graduated status.

my other conversation, with a coworker who just 'celebrated' his one-year anniversary here, an older coworker who took a deep pay cut and made a complete career change in his mid-fifties, was difficult. "you're fucking with me, right?" "i'm not." "you can't." "i have to." and then we talked about life. it probably lasted an hour, with starts and stops and some lingering disbelief on his part. "i'll miss you a lot," he told me.

i had told only two other people in the league of my plans (one sort of slipped out wednesday afternoon, and i told a second to dispel some of the nerves at about 945 friday, when he returned a previous phone call), and there was one other that i really wanted to get in touch with. mentor is the wrong word, but certainly he is somebody on whom i try to base a lot of my attitudes towards my work and, more importantly, towards people and towards life. we're pretty tight friends, although we've had only one social event together in four years.

i had left a voicemail on wednesday, when the decision was irreversible. i tried him again and got a "i'm on the phone right now" voicemail solicitation friday morning. when i called ten minutes later, he was gone. so i called again at 2:30. out. rather than voicemail, "can you just leave a note on his desk. it's sort of urgent." nothing by 3:48, so i tried again. "listen. i'm going to be resigning here, and i want him to know before it goes public. do you have his home phone number so that i can try this weekend?" and i got the number.

but then he called back at 415. and we were on the phone for a solid hour. and he said all the right things. affirmation of the decision was far and away the most important thing. encouragement was clearly the second-most important. and phrases like "friend for a lifetime" were neat to hear too.

so, i began the weekend completely happy. then i got home and fell asleep for three hours.

- - - - - - - - - - -

following tonight's OT win over delaware state last night, dave eanat asked, "what does this team need between now and [its next name] december 13?"

response: "how about a seven-footer and a coupla guys who can hit some shots?"

- - - - - - - - - - -

i know i'm about two weeks late, but i'd like to comment briefly on the ten-million per year given to b.j. ryan, who's had one good year. for obvious reasons, it's a universally panned deal (right?).

i've referenced one of my favorite websites, baseballreference.com here before, and i think they offer the most clear example on why this is a ridiculous deal.

according to "similarity scores," the players most similar to b.j. ryan are ricardo rincon and scott sauerbeck. congratulations, j.p. ricciardi, you're dumber than you look.

- - - - - -

in what could be an upset, the clientele's strange geometry is creeping closer and closer to the top of my albums of the year list. it's become the absolute "go-to" record when i've got nothing in mind. and it never disappoints. however, it's lushness makes it a perfect wintertime record, so i may be displaying a seasonal bias here.

Thursday, December 1

i'm not one to quote the great bill simmons, because 90 percent of readers here [in fact, i'd guess that it's mathematically impossible to have 90 percent; i'd imagine that the highest possible non-100 percent percentage may be 75 percent] probably read him regularly anyway. but i love his nba work; i don't watch the nba, outside of about three quarters of bulls basketball a week, but he's got the ability to make me feel educated about the league, even though i rarely read the standings.

from wednesday's column, rating all 30 teams [full column here]:

3. Indiana
I caught them in person Sunday at the Staples Center -- great team, great coach, great balance, great everything. And they're flexible as hell. Near the end of the game, Carlisle brought in Danny Granger but kept Jackson and Artest in the game, then stuck Artest on Elton Brand (who had been killing them all game). Are you kidding me? How many teams could even think of trying something like that? I don't care if a crazy guy is their best player -- I wouldn't want any part of them in a seven-game series. Of course, I wouldn't wager on them, either.

(Highlight of my Clippers season so far: During a stoppage in the second half, Ron Artest was standing right near us by the 3-point line, with the name of his record album carved in the back of his head, of course. So somebody screamed out, "Hey Ron, I bought your album ... IT [STUNK]!!!!!" First, everyone giggled. Then we quickly realized that he might charge into the stands and inexplicably beat the hell out of one of us. So Ron turns around, searches the faces to see who yelled at him, finally finds the guy ... and gives him a big wink. High comedy. I like Ron Artest. He's my favorite NBA player who was ever suspended for a season for attacking a fan.)

- - - - - - -

monday was uber-productive. i didn't get to sleep until 3:30. i finished getting work done at 3, then read for a half-hour. i was at wal-mart purchasing padded envelopes at 2:30. i woke up 4 1/2 hours later [that is, at 8 a.m.], completely refreshed.

tuesday, i enjoyed the fact that monday was uber-productive. this took the form of playing video games and watching basketball [sadly the office was replaced by the season finale of the biggest loser, so i was relegated to illinois-unc and bulls-somebody.] i also made two steaks that i had stolen from my parents at some point. i had never purchased steaks before - afraid to screw 'em up, you know? - but this went particularly well. garlic-rubbed. and pan-fried. so juicy. mmm. and i began reading phil jackson's book about the 2003 season, which won't be particularly good but reads at a pace of about 20 seconds/page. not much there.

wednesday, i went to the local "sports bar that actually can get games on channels like espnu" to watch the cats. it was disappointing. the event was to take the form of me-and-duve. then it was me-and-duve-and-rocket. then it was me-and-rocket. it turned out to be me-and-rocket-plus-about-seven-friends-of-his-with-whom-
i'm-not-particularly-interested-in-socializing-[except-for-one], which also meant that i was there much longer than i intended. although i hardly drank after the cats game. they were quite disappointing. [on 11/14, i guessed at 'at least 8-3 in the non-conference." it took only six games to get those losses, an impressive pace!]

[warning: survivor spoilers! - funny to write...]

tonight, i watched survivor and made and received some reassuring phone calls. survivor featured the greatest vote-off scene ever, when judd said, "i hope you all get bit by an alligator. freakin' scumbags." outstanding.

spoilers over

- - - - - - - - - -

i also did some research. did you know that richard nixon's letter of resignation was only 15 typed words long?

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States.

Sincerely,

[signature]


more, although not of the redhothalos variety, here.

- - - - - - - -

i've also finished my crate of clementines.

over and out.