A breif update into my mind

"Sky is falling down" - 'Mayfield' - Augustana

I passed the required drug screening for the job at Lowe's. So, I got the job. I'll be making $8 + change, working the 5-10:30 AM shift. That'll suck. But, my dad made a valid point (he does this quite often). In the summer, I can be up early on the weekends and get in 18 holes before most people are even up. I still get to work at the radio station too, which is the most important thing. Right now, we're just trying to sell ad time for football (we've got a few spots sold, and a few months to go, but would like to be done by May at the latest). I do wish that I didn't get my degree in Telecommunications, but rather something way fucking cooler, like lifeguarding, drinking, video game playing, roller coaster operator, exotic pet store owner (good call Kowert), or even porn viewing.

I'm looking forward to an obnoxious amount of golf this summer, so, if you (the one looking at the screen) would like to join me, let me know. I'll be looking to play at a lot of random places throughout Chicagoland, Indiana, Michiana, and maybe even Illinosin (that one doesn't work as well as Illiana + Michiana).

Today was a rough day at the gym, due to playing some hockey for the first time this season. But, it was raining all day today, so naturally, me wanting to play, couldn't.......again. Seriously, it's frickin' freezing Mr. Bigglesworth, then boom! it's warm/raining/ice melting weather.

Ah, I can't wait for the summer. I've got two weddings to go to, and lots of booze to drink (which is really the only reason I'll be attending them.......hahaha). However, it's going to be another summer without a convertible, which sucks. Because, lets face it, the Toreass, is well, sucking. It sucks gas, it sucks my money. It's dirty, needs an alignment, new tires, has no A/C, the hood doesn't pop without using a tire iron or screw driver (don't ask), oh and the "check engine" light has been on since god knows when. I'd like a convertible. Even if it's a bigger piece of shit than that of the Ford Taurus I currently drive. At least the top would go down.

I'm still working on the "Drug Wars" blog/article that I'm writing. It's a continuation piece on what I wrote about in college about the "Drug War" being fought by the U.S. Government, and whether or not it's worth it (money, time, other wars being fought, thinning out of troops, etc...).

Until next time kids. Don't do drugs, stay in school, and ignore the last two things.

Peace!

White Sox Offseason So Far....

It's that time of the year when the small child in all of us gets excited. There's snow on the ground, it's 30 degrees outside, and only a matter of weeks until pitchers and catchers report to the sunny skies of Arizona and Florida.

Of course, if you're like me, you're wondering what in the hell your G.M. is doing to your ballclub. My G.M. is the brilliant man behind the 2005 World Series Champions. He's also the guy behind the team that missed the playoffs the following year, with 90+ wins (only the second time in MLB history that it happened - the first being to the 2005 Indians). No biggie, right? Well, he was the guy in charge of the team that almost finished at the bottom of the A.L. Central, if weren't for those wonderful Kansas City Royals (thanks fellas).

To get things started this offseason, Williams sent Jon Garland to the Angels for Orlando Cabrera. At the time it made sense. "Okay, we've needed a shortstop for years, and we've got some great pitching in the minor leagues that's getting ready to move up. But, couldn't we have sent Jose Contreras to L.A.A.A. (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)?" I said to myself.

Well, along with Cabrera we got some "straight cash homie" (thank you Randy Moss for a quote that will never get old - well, until you bust your knee and your career is over). Cash is good. Moving the little extra money from Garland out is good. Torii Hunter is good. Torii likes cash. We're clearing room for him. Yay!

Noooooooooo! What's this? The Texas Rangers have taken our future center fielder? So, why were we clearing up room? Kenny Williams, you've gotta try harder. We don't accept screw ups at our G.M. position.

Well, Dontrelle Willis, is a good pitcher, and he's avalible. We could use him. We've got money. I'm sure he likes money. Dammit! Detroit gets him? A Central Division rival? Jesus Christ Kenny, what are you thinking? Not only do they get him, but they also get Miguel Cabrerra at third base. We didn't need help there, but still, they're loading up Ken, what are you doing?

Williams kind of pulls his head out of his ass. We get Carlos Quentin, our new left fielder, for minor league 1st baseman Chris Carter (not to be confused with the Vikings great reciever who seemed to destroy the Bears every chance he got). Carter, though, is or was, the #4 ranked minor league talent in our farm system, http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6912. Wait, it'll get better. Just keep reading.

Then, he went out and got Scott Linebrink from the Padres and Brewers. Bullpen help is always usefull, especially when you're getting rid of quality starting pitchers and not replacing them. Anywho, Linebrink looks like he'll be Bobby Jenks' new set-up man. $19,000,000 for four years ain't bad. But, that's money we could've given to Hunter.

Alexi Ramirez, formerly of Cuba, was also signed for $4,750,000. If he doesn't suck, he can earn another $3,250,000. Not too shabby for a Communist. Ok, that's not a loss.

Now, here's the swift upper cut to the ovaries. Nick Swisher, the outfielder and 1st baseman for the A's of Oakland is now a White Sox! Yes! Screw off Torii Hunter. We don't need you. Winner, us guys.

But......wait a tick.

Damn, I hate when that happens.

Williams sends to Oakland, a team once so deep in minor league talent that you could drown to death in a pool of them, three of our top 10 minor leaguers. Numero uno on that list, Fauntino De Los Santos. A young stud pitcher, you know one of those guys that could've replaced Garland. Next on the list is Gio Gonzalez. We had him, then sent him to Philly (in some random trade, I can't remember ever non-sensicle thing Williams does), then we got him back. Only to send him to Oakland. Brilliant! Here's the kicker. They're both pitchers. They're both good, they're #1 and #2, http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6912 , on our top prospect list. Then, Williams decides to throw in our #8 guy, 3rd outfielder overall, with the two pitchers. Yeah, you know that postion that we had problems filling, due to one certain base stealing fella who could stay healthy. This does not make me happy in my pants.

Well, when Crede gets dealt early in season, if not during Spring Training, Williams had better get something in return. Like a pitcher, or two. Joe Crede, the guy that should've been the World Series MVP in '05.

I Can't Get to Sleep

"I think about the implications, of diving in too deep" - Men At Work 'Overkill'

After writing the first blog, see below, I realized that I've got a lot of shit running through my head. Now, please keep in mind that this will be a very open blog, about news/sports/music/life/anything else I can think of, I've told a friend this, so someone will hold me accountable to make sure I don't turn this thing into a 14-year-old girl sob story.

Considering it's early Monday morning or late Sunday night (I'll let you pick), and I need to get up at a decent hour tomorrow for work (one of the few times), I've got a million and one thoughts going through my brain.

In two days I will say goodbye to Sox, my Pomapoo (Pomeranian/Poodle), the dog that my former girlfriend (you can use the term "ex" but I'll use "former") and myself got while we still lived in Muncie (Ball State). She, however, moved to Phoenix and got a job in advertising out there and he's now going to live with her. I don't know how I'm going to give him up, it's going to be hard. We'll be down to two dogs (Clover and Molly). Clover has been very sick and has a severe spinal cord injury/problem. She's on pills to help her walk, and she'll stay on them for the rest of her life, whether 2 months or 2 years. Who knows. Then there's Molly. She's a moron, but she's Sox' best friend here (Clover is like a mother to him). They wrestle and play, like dogs do, much to the dismay of Papa Dan(grandpa), who is Molly's owner. He lives at home too.

Then, on top of that wonderful (I use the term 'wonderful' very sarcastically) situation, the thought process of finding a full time job (you know, with benefits, a salary), which is harder than a "bodybuilding elf" (Bloodhound Gang), has got me going mental. The radio industry doesn't like to open its doors to anyone, including people whom are already in the building.

A few thoughts have gone through my head on what to do. Maybe get my master diving certificate and move somewhere "where the weather suits my clothes" (Jimmy Buffett). Paradise, if you will. Then, there's also the stand-up comedy thing. Lets face it, I can make people laugh (I've got skills), but, I'd need more schooling in terms of being a better sketch writer and being funnier in general. Besides, someone's gotta rescue SNL. That show has gone down faster than a $3.00 hooker. The downside with those two dreams is that they'd cost more money than I'm currently worth. I'm not worth a lot. While either/or would make me very happy for the rest of my life, regardless of how poor I am, they're both just dreams.

Yeah, I know there's still the Lowes interview on Friday (that's not really a career choice), but I've also put in an application for Agricultural Commodities as a meat grader/inspector. I used to be a butcher, so it wouldn't be a stretch, and I could handle the job. But, it's with the government, and one can only assume that I wouldn't even get thought of twice for it...considering how many people from the inside are probably applying for the job as well.

Then again this shit won't fall into my lap, as one person put it (then again, she's a lot better off than me - as are most people). It's times like these that I wish I had a surplus of cardboard so I could make up crazy signs and stand next to the highway on/off ramps and shout at people for their capitalism and greed and how that will in time cause the end of the world, meanwhile having a cup available for "tips" or "donations." Then again, that wouldn't work either. My teeth are too nice. Someone would notice.

The only thing that makes a lot of sense right now is to get back into writing. I enjoy writing short stories and have got a layout for a movie script about Blackbeard (the pirate), in my head, however there's a ton more research I need to do on one of the most infamous pirates, who also happens to not have a lot of factual history behind his name. Figures. I rather enjoy getting lost in books and characters, and perhaps that can open my mind and release some of this shit that's going on right now.

Well, here's to hoping that Kenny Williams (White Sox General Manager) does something dumb in the next day or so, so I can rant about that, rather than my "So Called Life" (No musical reference here, that one used to be an actual T.V. show)

How does it feel?

As you can probably guess, assuming you've got some sort of musical intelligence, that the title of the blog comes from Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" of off 'Highway 61, Revisited.' It's my favorite Dylan record, and he's got some great ones to choose from.

I was going to go with something from Jimmy Buffett, but it seems that almost everything to deal with him, his songs, or albums have already been booked. Who'da thunk it?

As of right now, I'm working at an on-line radio station in Crown Town. I've been there for around six months and love it. I work with the boss, creating a massive playlist of tunes, broadcast high school boys basketball and football, oh, and I get to make my own hours. Which generally means I'm not out of bed until well after the sun rises. However, it's only part time, and doesn't look like full-time is right around the corner.

So, I've begun lookin' around for another source of income (lets face it - you can never have too much money). The S.O.B. who got me the gig at the station may have also hooked me up with a job at Lowes. I've got a second interview on Friday, so we'll find out how that goes later.

I also like to dabble in stand-up comedy. I'm actually pretty funny, but you'd need a few drinks in you first. Nothing new has been going on there since I moved back from Indy.

And by back, I mean, with the folks. Ouch! Could be worse though, I could be in a box or under a highway overpass. No, seriously, my family is great. Free bed, parking, food, and they haven't kick me out, yet.

Other things that I enjoy, aside from being broke and stand-up comedy are; tunes (which is why I got into radio), reading (I'm actually more well read than I ever thought I could've been), sports (baseball, hockey, football, college basketball), and weight lifting.

I like to make my goals almost unattainable, so I've got something to reach for. Yes, I could change the goals once I get them, but, that means I'm not pushing myself hard enough......right.....