Rainy Days and Saturdays

I'm sitting here in smug satisfaction. It's pouring in Atlanta.

As I sit at work, watching the Braves face the St. Louis Cardinals, Cory is at Turner Field, hopefully getting soaked.

Do I sound bitter? Because I am. Once again, I'm working while Cory's at a baseball game, having a grand old time. This is his second Braves game this season. Not counting our little spring training excursion, I've been to three Braves games in 3 1/2 years in Georgia. And one of those times I was having a really miserable time, lugging around a 25-pound camera, and feeling guilty because I was at a baseball game and Cory wasn't.

Weenie.

(UPDATE: Cory's Cardinals lost in the bottom of the ninth inning. HA!)

Be True to Your School

Just about midnight tonight, just as I was about to log off my computer and come home from work, something caught my eye on the AP broadcast wire. The slug on the story: MIteenkillsmom. Translation: Michigan, Teen kills mom.

Maybe it's homesickness, maybe it's schadenfreude, but for whatever reason, when I see a news story about my home state, I usually click on it. Since we subscribe to the Alabama/Georgia news wire, only the more shocking and unusual stories about Michigan make the wire.

So I click. And I read. The story was fed by WJBK, the Fox affiliate in Detroit. About halfway down the page, it says that the boy's murdered mother was a psychotherapist in Rochester Hills.

That's my home town.

Further into the story, it mentions the boy's classmates at his high school are shocked. It does not, however, say what high school he attended. So I log onto our digital video server to look at the streaming video clip from WJBK.

And there it was, in all its glory: Rochester Adams High School. The alleged mother-stabber not only went to my high school, he lives on the same street as a friend of mine from junior high school. By the way, my best friend from high school is now a teacher in the school district.

Oddly enough, when I went to WJBK's website to find the story, they hadn't posted it. Instead, there was much more newsworthy information like "Ask the Michigan School of Gardening Experts," "Tigers to Play Twins Today," and "How to Report a Pothole."

WDIV, on the other hand, is all over it. If you click on the first streaming video link ("Students React To Teen Accused In Mom's Death") you can even see my alma mater... and even one of the teachers that was there 20 years ago when I was fifteen.

I guess the old saying is true. You can't go home again.

Deep Purple

What did I tell you? I look freakin' great with purple hair! Now all I need is some semblance of musical talent, and I'm ready to become a rock star!

Idol Worship

One of the posts that blogger swallowed a few weeks back was a lengthy manifesto about the new Billy Idol album. I sense eye-rolling from those of you that have known me since Van Hoosen Junior High school.

The essence of the missing post? I heard a song on the radio that I really, really enjoyed. It sounded like a cross between "Fire Woman" by The Cult and "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. Then the DJ came on and said that it was the new Billy Idol single, "Scream."

Whaaaa? New? I thought he'd resigned himself to the world of greatest-hits-album releases and occasional cameos in movies (we've all seen The Wedding Singer, right?). After all, a life-threatening motorcycle wreck, a drug overdose, and (even scarier) teenage kids, could make any rock star fade into obscurity, right?

So I bought the new CD that day. It's pretty damn good, with the exception of a couple of songs that just don't fit in very well.

This Tuesday, Cory and I headed up to Atlanta to see Billy Idol at The Tabernacle. For being nearly 50 years old, the dude still rocks. Some impressions of the concert and the album:

1) It was really, really nice to go to a concert and be the same age as everyone else there. Hell, I was younger than a lot of the crowd.
2) The Tabernacle is an awesome place to see a show. We got there about half an hour before the show started (it was general admission), and even though we were in the upper balcony, I'd guess we were less than 100 feet from the stage.
3) Billy Idol's been working out. The dude's 49 and he has a freakin' six-pack.
4) Steve Stevens is the one of the most under-rated guitarists of all time. He pulled out all the guitar-god tricks... playing his guitar behind his back, playing it with his tongue. Someone even flung panties at him during a solo (No, it wasn't me. We weren't within panty-flinging range).
5) Somebody's been listening to a lot of Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash. "Cherie," the Diamond-esque new song, is the next single.
6) Yes, I bought a t-shirt. You don't go to a Billy F*cking Idol concert and not buy a t-shirt.

By the way, I dyed my hair purple for the concert. It looked very cool. The unfortunate side effect is that now I want to quit my job as a professional sportslady and become a rock star instead.

Oh, the Places You'll Go

It's no secret that Cory and I don't want to live in C-Town forever. In fact, that's the primary reason that we really haven't started planning our wedding.

Today, we made a major step towards moving onwards and upwards. No, I didn't update my resume. No, Cory didn't hire an agent.

We bought a Places Rated Almanac.

Just out of curiosity, I took a gander at our little 'Ville in the Peach State, and how it ranks (or did in 2000) among the 354 largest metropolitan areas in the US and Canada. (1=best in the nation, 354=worst)

Cost of Living= 71
Transportation=195
Jobs= 215
Education= 219
Climate= 83
Crime= 158
The Arts= 188
Health Care= 211
Recreation= 203

Overall, our fair hamlet ranks #160 out of the 354. Not the best, definitely not the worst either. I'll keep that in mind.

Grrr...

I hate when I spend half an hour writing a long post, complete with links, downloads, and other fun things... only to have the computer freeze up and swallow it. It's so discouraging, because I become afraid that if I try to reconstruct the post, the same thing will happen.

That's part of why you haven't heard from me in a while. Part is also that I'm lazy, and part is that I tried to enjoy a few days off. I had planned on blogging Thursday night, but then I got a call from Cheryl, a former co-worker, and we met some other girls from work for dinner and a comedy show at The Loft. The comedian, Johnny Millwater, was hysterical. Even funnier was when Cheryl blasted him with a fire extinguisher during his grand finale (in her defense, he'd dropped a flaming ball of something-or-other on her shoe).

Friday, I actually went out with co-workers again. We headed out to the Cannon Brewpub (which for some ridiculous reason, has no website) for dinner, then checked out a new piano bar afterwards.

Guess What? I got a Saturday off! I know, it sounds insane... and it's only because I have to work every stinkin' day for the next week and a half to cover Dave's vacation. This week is his 20th anniversary, so I suppose he should be able to take a little time off. Big kudos, by the way, to Dave's long-suffering wife, Vicky, for putting up with him for two stinkin' decades!

So Saturday, Cory and I got to spend the whole day together. We spent a couple hours at Auto Fest (a WTVM-sponsored event), kissing hands and shaking babies... er... I mean kissing babies and shaking hands. Then we headed over to another co-worker's barbecue and spent the rest of the evening eating yummy hors d'oeuvres, roast pig, and cheesecake.

I also learned two lessons on Saturday. First, I discovered that I don't particularly like Tequiza. I only like limes in margaritas and key lime pie. Second, I also learned that I'm not very good at Texas Hold 'Em. I wear my heart on my sleeve, so you can read my face like a book. Fortunately, it only cost $5 to find this out. Well, actually, $10... but $5 of that belonged to someone else (thanks, Chuck!).

Eventually, I may post again. I may even try to reconstruct one of the posts that got swallowed last week. Who knows... maybe even more vacation pictures will materialize. But probably not until next week.

Road Trip

Winky and Wanda are packing their trunks and headed for Cali.