- Thanks to a bonus I got at work, I am taking Rosemary and her mom to see the Phillies' first game against the Mets on May 1. I got ninth-row seats in the section to the right of the dugout. I never thought I'd actually be buying baseball tickets. Someone help me.
- Also thanks to that bonus, I took the plunge into the year 2001 and ordered an iPod. I got the big classic one, since that will be most handy when I'm in the car. I debated getting it, but then I kept yelling at myself, "Get the free iPod, dummy!"
- Work is nuts. The future home run king, who was supposed to redeem the record by taking it away from Barry Bonds, tested positive for steroids and then admitted he used them for three seasons. Brett Favre, who was the face of the NFL for quite some time, retired (again). Michael Phelps might get a misdemeanor for that bong photo. Mass hysteria! Dogs and cats living together! Chaos is good for staying employed. It's also good for burnout. Talking to the bosses to alleviate that. Lots of all-work-and-no-play for me lately. But really, all is well.
- Rosemary is coming for Valentine's Day weekend. We haven't seen each other since the first weekend of the year, and she hasn't been to Connecticut since God-knows-when. Saturday night we're going on a double date with our friends Mike and Virginia to a Japanese restaurant. Means we should be back in time to watch the slam dunk contest. Ah, love and basketball. We'll likely see Tish, and do some exploring.
- I've been spending entirely too much time in Southington, which is a town next to where I live. Been in and out of the really good comic book store there, since they're having an action figure sale where they're all half-price. I won't say how many I've bought, but they've been plenty. Monday I went to this coffee shop there that makes a delightful chai, ate a huge salad and panini while messing around on the computer. No wireless, but no problem. Might make that place a Monday ritual.
- The Grammys were about as awful as they can be. I lost my religion watching Stevie Wonder sing a Jonas Brothers song. But then I got it back watching the one and only live performance of "Swagger Like Us," complete with a due-that-day pregnant M.I.A. Performing on stage in a ladybug preggo suit when you're about to drop is true swagger.
- I'm not a big SI swimsuit issue guy, but I might have to consider this year's since it's got
three of tennis' best-looking women in it.
- I saw "Taken" last week. Man, that was fun. Liam Neeson is quite the bad-ass, and it was nice seeing a lean, no-nonsense, straight-ahead action movie.
- My parents are all packed and ready to move into a house about five blocks away from Rosemary and her parents in Northeast Philly. They move at the end of the month, and I'll be down to visit them a few days afterward.
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"Watchmen" is coming. It looks brilliant.
- This new commercial for Nike's Jordan Brand, featuring Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Rip Hamilton and Joe Johnson, is fantastic. Really shows how frenetic the pro game can be. "That's what we do, boy. That's what we do." If you like basketball at all, you'll love this. If you don't, watch it and you wish you did:
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