A Loveable Lou-ser

Just when you think you've seen it all as a Cubs fan, turns out not. I didn't think the Cubs would be in contention this season. But I had no idea things would go off the rails like this. Guess I should have had a better imagination.

I wasn't all that shocked to hear about Lou retiring at the end of the season. That seemed to be coming one way or another. But then the weird stuff started happening. We trade Derrek Lee to the Braves and then start playing the Braves. One day Lee plays for the Cubs; the next for the Braves - at Wrigley - against the Cubs. It's just too much to adjust to all at once.

And now today, Lou announces his retirement will start after the game - today. There's no arguing with his reason. His mother is apparently in failing health, and he has been on leave several times. Certainly he needs to be with her and put family first. I just hope he is really being allowed to do what he needs and isn't being forced out. At this point, he could coach the team from Tampa over Skype and it probably wouldn't make much of a difference. But if he's being elbowed out, that's pretty scummy, even for Chicago politics.

typical

so i got the swine flu the other day. well, i'm getting ahead of myself. i was told it couldn't be 100% confirmed absent a test from the CDC (which i didn't want to pay for), but it was a type a (like my personality) strand, so chances are better than not. we caught it early, so i got some good meds (100 bucks worth to be exact - about half of which was, from my medical opinion, totally useless), and i'm all better now.

now comes the question: will i start getting the flu shot? here's the thing, as far as i know i've never had the flu before. i get lots of sinus things which may also be related to allergies. who knows anything really? but, the one time i actually did get the flu shot, i got sick as a dog. it was awful. so yeah, maybe i'll just take my chances. i'm a strong believer in prevention but when that prevention makes you sick and you might not get sick anyway, not so much.

but yeah, me a total hypochondriac getting the swine flu. classic.

sorry coco

so i'll be watching conan's final "the tonight show" tonight in sort of a perplexed daze at all that has transpired. i guess nothing in the hollywood world should ever surprise me/us anymore, but after what took place years ago when leno took over (robbed) the show from carson (GRHS), i simply thought the circus had left town. oh no.

i don't want to be completely one-sided. i used to have no use for jay at all. but over the years he has gotten funnier to me. i think he's usually pretty self-deprecating, and he was great in "comedian." but i've always been more of a letterman guy, just more zany, loopy, and ridiculous all around. that being said, i like conan more than them all. i make no bones about it, it's because of his work on "the simpsons." he's hilarious and brilliant and to hear people he worked with on "the simpsons" talk about him...well it's kinda like hearing nuns talk about Jesus. and it rings true. i don't know if anyone in hollywoodland has any sincerity or much integrity, but conan seems to me to come closest. so far no ridiculous affairs or insanity about his life, i guess until now.

i feel pretty sad that i haven't really watched "the tonight show" until tonight. not sure i would have made much of a diference. but i'm sad that he worked so hard and is so talented and is being shown the door simply because it's easier to do what is easy than it is to do what is right.

house musings

so i bought a house a couple months ago. most things have been wonderful. but, of course, i have to keep with the spirit of this blog and whine about the things that have not been so great. the main thing is that i have yet to receive a single service at the house (cable, internet, etc) that did not start with an incorrect bill. i was, of course, always overcharged. today i tried to pay the internet bill, which the lady i spoke with last week assured me would be corrected online, and it was still wrong. i called and they told me that the bill had been fixed in their records, but they wouldn't correct it online or send me another one. so i payed the amount they said, but i know this will come back to bite me because i've done this dance before. next month it will be wrong again and/or i'll be charged for the amount of the incorrect bill i didn't pay. i know it's not a big deal maybe, and there are surely things that could be going wrong that would be tons worse. but it is annoying, and dare i say preposterous that NO ONE can seem to get this stuff right the first time around.

i'm an adult - please treat me like a child

i try really hard to support local establishments - especially restaurants. i didn't used to care all that much, but now it's more of a big deal to me. but a couple of major restaurants in town are not helping me help them. in both places i have been barred from ordering off of the kids' menu. sometimes i'm hungry, and sometimes i also have money. in those cases i'm more than willing to pay for a full entree. but sometimes i just want a burger or i don't wanna spend so much money. and in the case of the restaurant last night, the burger was ONLY on the kids' menu (along with chicken strips - which i also love). what gives? isn't this somehow unconstitutional? i promise i'm an adult, and if i want to order off of the kids' menu you should let me. i have the money - i will decide what food i want. how can you deny me food based on my age? that's totally discrimination. i see a sit-in on the horizon. watch out dixie castle and catfish cabin!

pastor dave's parenting advice

maybe this is too broad a generalization to support, but i'm gonna go ahead and say that if you are walking around wal-mart with a screaming infant at eight past midnight you probably don't need to save room on your mantle for that "parent of the year" award. i mean really people, what's going on? i know i'm not a parent, but then again, perhaps you aren't either. common sense - not so common after all.

for the love of lambuth

my college has been through a rough spell lately, and i haven't said much openly about it. well, that ends now. yesterday i got a forwarded message that contained a letter written from the interim president to the editor of The Jackson Sun, the local newspaper. even the most objective reader must confess that the paper's coverage of lambuth has been biased toward the negative slant of things. "failings" have made front page headlines while successes have barely gotten any coverage.

all the while, the paper's coverage of union university has been pristine. granted, union has been doing very well lately, and i'm thrilled for them. i applaud all that that university has done to establish itself as a nationally recognized faith-based school. but there's nothing in me that feels like i can't be happy for union and also want the best for lambuth. i want lane, jackson state, and west tennessee business college to excel also. a rising tide lifts all ships, eh?

but the paper seems to operate under the assumption that it can only support one college in the city and must pan (or ignore) the others. it was essentially like this in high school as well. the private schools got great coverage. the public school i attended, which won the state academic decathlon year after year, only made the news when a fight broke out. and so it goes.

well, i guess the interim president has had enough of the lousy treatment. he wrote an excellent letter to the editor. he questioned their motives for continually rejoicing in lambuth's struggles. i would do the same. do those that work at the newspaper not understand that the very survival of their livelihood depends on a literate community - at least to a point? let's say lambuth goes under. how does this in any way benefit the paper? fewer people in the community will be pursuing college degrees, and in all likelihood the overall education level of the community will decrease rather than increase - thus jeopardizing the paper's existence. newspapers are already going bankrupt left and right in this digital media age, why does the paper insist on pressing its luck?

i have a favorite word that few people at the paper may know - schadenfreude. it essentially means "harmful joy" - rejoicing in someone else's misfortune. it's a sick thing to do, and we've all probably done it a time or two. while few people at the paper may know it, it seems they are practicing it routinely in the case of lambuth. i would ask those at the newspaper to question their motives and, perhaps above all, their journalistic integrity. journatlists are to be as objective as possible - reporting, not commentating.

i have no idea if they'll print the letter the interim president wrote. probably not. nor do i know if they'll print the positive stories of recent alums such as me, but here goes nothing. i received an excellent education at lambuth. due in large part to the training i got at lambuth, i was offered a full scholarship to the divinity school at duke university. i'm not at all the exception; a fraternity brother of mine who graduated the year before me was also granted a full scholarship. two of my close friends are now studying at princeton theological seminary and yale's nursing school. all this is to say, the school is not a bad school - it just has faced some tremendous financial difficulties. it needs some help, especially with money, but in the words of my favorite band coldplay (kinda) "just because it's losing, doesn't mean it's lost." i hope more people in my community will discover this, perhaps even the paper, which for the moment at least does seem to have lost the plot.