Since U Been Gone

Mom and Dad left for Italy approximately A MILLION YEARS AGO.

...Okay fine, it's been two weeks BUT STILL.

They have clearly missed out on a number of awesome happenings in the life of their middle child.

Like:

1. I got a new iPhone case! The silvery sparkle one has been good to me, but it was time for a less glittery one that left fewer jewels everywhere. The solution?

Texas Forever. (Sidenote: I miss you, Coach Taylor!)

2. Good? Tacos from "Fresh." Better? Tacos from "Fresh" with Lori and Emily. Best? Tacos from "Fresh" with Lori and Emily followed by "The Proposal" with Lori and Emily and Lacey and Chili's chips and salsa and ranch and also peanut butter m&m's and cherry coke zeroes. WE? Know how to party.

3. The first two times my air conditioner went out? Hilarious. The third time? NOT SO MUCH. Thankfully two of the nights of heat I got to spend in Lori's guest room, and the final fix resulted in my old-timey thermostat being replaced with this:

The 21st century feels good, y'all.

Good and cool.

4. What's better than celebrating Cinco de Mayo once? Celebrating Cinco de Mayo DOS times! That's right: not only did I get to attend a rockin' party at Andrea's on May 5, complete with fajitas AND piñatas, I also got to attend the CUTEST little bilingual Cinco de Mayo music performance you have EVER seen on Cinco de Uno thanks to Emily, aka the best music teacher ever, and her adorable first graders. Top THAT performance off with some Tex Mex at Posados? Done and DONE.

5. Remember that time at work when we surprised a camper AT HER HOUSE? Yeah. There's a video of that awesomesauce:



6. Maybe I saw "The Avengers" one times, and MAYBE I saw "The Avengers" two times. All I know is: it was awesome and I couldn't stop laughing or having to fight the urge to high five the screen.

7. Oh, a Rangers game? Yeah, that happened. In honor of sweet Jacey's birthday, we loaded up and headed to Dallas to watch our boys put the hurt on Tampa. And when Jacey asked me what happened because she accidentally missed a play, I replied very knowledgeably, OF COURSE: "Umm, he hit it and then that guy threw it to that guy. And now he's out."

Baseball! I know things!

8. Point of Grace had a... less than stellar album release day, poor gals. I mean, they are FINALLY back with some new music, and they get bumped from the #1 album spot in the Christian/Gospel Music section on iTunes by a CAMP?

Because oh y'all:

YEAH.

And I know I can't speak TERRIBLY objectively here, but I must note that the "Summer Lights" album is actually really great, and I think you should probably check it out. No really: go.

9. I saw one of my TOP 5 FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL THE TIMES on the big screen. It's true: I got to go see "A League of Their Own" at the downtown theater with Emily and Jacey. And it. Was. Awesome.

10. Oh look! I finished my Galveston trip video! Boom shaka laka:



11. John and Lori hosted a "Cutie Cute Dance Party," (my name for the event that John made known he did NOT approve of) that was completely sparkly and delightful and wonderful. I mean, sure there was way less dancing than some of the ladies were hoping for, aka none for those of us not in a couple or related to one of the dudes. (IF WE'RE BEING HONEST HERE, AND I ALWAYS AM MOSTLY.)

But there were also s'mores, sparklers, great music, amazing pulled pork (high five, Lori!), laughter, a rainbow, TWINKLE LIGHTS, and time with fun friends.

So yeah, it was fabulous.

Well, that's all for now. Still on the horizon: a return trip to Dallas for a friend's documentary screening and a certain EPIC Pre-Summer Bash that I basically cannot wait for.

Good night all, and ciao to the world travelers! Miss you and can't wait for you to come back.

Can I Root For the Dillon Panthers?

Unless the Cowboys or the Longhorns are playing, I don't really know who to root for. I've gone through Super Bowls where I've been the champion of "just watching for the commercials." One of my college professors offered extra credit in his class if his team won the big game, so that made my team pick easier that year. I've cheered for the Bears because some of their players went to my alma mater, or for other teams because they've had a good story.

I don't know who to root for tonight.

BUT I do know that I am capable of getting caught up in the drama of a football game- if Matt Saracen is playing quarterback or if Gerry Bertier is leading the team. In fact, just this afternoon I was watching an episode of "Friday Night Lights" over lunch, not able to tear my eyes away from a football scrimmage when Smash was trying out for the Texas A&M football team, watching every pass and play with vivid interest. That's how I know that I CAN get wrapped up in a game: when I know the stories of the team and the players that are participating.

That's where you come in (if you see this before tonight).

Steelers or Packers? Who has the better story?

Holy Brackets, Batman.

What a day for college basketball. Madness has begun.

I'm currently last place in my pool... but it's early. Anything can happen, right?

Sic 'Em Bears.

I am Michael Phelps.

Like most of the world, I've been pulled into watching the Olympics every night, usually well past 11:00pm. I've never been so motivated at the gym. I went almost every night last week for close to two hours at a time. The television at my rental place is finicky, so I rely on L.A. Fitness to get me through. If you ever want to truly motivate yourself, just watch some of the swimming races while on an elliptical. Are my legs moving or is that a whirlwind? Can't tell, can you?

I think my favorite part of the games have been...well, me. I know, sounds ridiculous, but I'm ridiculous. I can't help but imagine myself as a better athlete than I actually am. For someone who played pretty much every sport growing up, I'm now a certified klutz. I can't do anything without hurting myself. But since the start of the games in Beijing, I've seemed to recover that sparkle. I leap from room to room and walk as though I'm a gymnast headed to my next event. I can barely move today from all the "Olympic-ing" that's taken place.

And while I admit to being committed physically to this process, I would be lying if I didn't happen to commit emotionally as well. You should have seen me as I watched the women's all-around gymnastics competition. I was watching on my roommate's couch, which is suede, not wanting my newly washed hair to get her pillow wet, so I had a kitchen towel draped over the pillow. So glad I had it, because I cried through the entire thing. I hadn't even heard of Nastia's name a week ago, but here I am sobbing "Go Nastia! You can do this. Make us all proud. You've worked so hard for this!" I now speak of her as though she is my best friend. I've been to her website. It's sad. I was telling someone about her crying through the National Anthem and I started crying just talking about it. And don't get me started on those Morgan Freeman Visa commercials. They get me every time.

I don't even remember watching any of the Olympics when they were in Athens or Sydney. Bejing has become my Atlanta. I'm going to be so sad in another week when I have to go back to watching NBC summer programming. Blech. For now I will continue to stick my landings, win the gold by a fingernail, and cheer like the athletes can actually hear me.

*Photo: Winning the gold in ocean running at the Galveston '06 Olympics. Watch out Phelps.

Bracket Ball

So today I'd like to talk to you about...brackets. Basketball brackets. Why do they matter? It's almost impossible to always do really well on them, right? And no matter how much research you put in, or how many opinions you have on the top teams, someone who knows absolutely nothing about the sport can just as easily be the one to win it all.

Case in point: me. No, I'm not winning the bracket I'm currently entered in, but I am in second place, which is not bad for someone who doesn't know what an SEC is or who still wonders if Xavier really is a real school.

Aside from picking all the schools with a little "one" next to their names to go to the final four, my picks were all at the height of randomness. My process involved reading the team names, closing my eyes, and trying to visualize someone telling me who had won. So I guess I was quite literally attempting to predict the outcome of the games. And judging from my current standing, I would say that that technique worked even better for me than actually knowing anything about basketball.

So the question returns: why does it matter? If you can know everything about the NCAA and still not be able to rack up as many points as I, a person who still doesn't even really know when March Madness ends, then why bother?

I guess it must end up being for the same reasons that I would agonize over my own picks for the Academy Awards. Just scroll a few entries down and you'll see just how much time I put into my Oscar preparation. It doesn't matter, really, and I won't get everything right. And left up to chance, someone who knows nothing about movies or the Oscars could possibly even do better than me with predicting the winners. It can be frustrating, but I still do it.

This all to say-- even though we may think we know everything about a subject, the odds could be that anyone at all could randomly do better than a so-called expert. So why do we bother, when there's nothing stopping a person who knows nothing about your passion from making a few blind picks shaming you on your own bracket? Possibly because it makes watching more fun. Maybe because we want to brag about our expertise when it's all over. Most likely though, it's probably just the oldest answer in the sports manual: for love of the game.