Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 in Review

Well folks, here we are again at the end of a year. And I’ve decided to bore you all once again with my best and worst for 2007. So, without further ado, here we go!

Best moment of 2007:
Welcoming my second nephew into the world. Welcome, little guy! We’ll try to keep the world in one piece until you’re old enough to take over.

Worst moment of 2007:
Seeing a well-liked boss leaving a post he had held for 12 years. Stupid voters. Not ALL Republicans are bad (just most of them!)

Best Sports moment of 2007:
OSU: 14
UM : 3
‘Nuff said

Worst Sports moment of 2007:
Florida: 41
OSU: 14
Again, ‘Nuff said

Best movie of 2007:
Transformers
Hearing the voice of the original Optimus Prime and hearing the familiar Sound of a Transformer after years nearly brought a tear to my eye. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was a close second.

Worst movie of 2007:
Ghost Rider
This movie nearly made me throw up in my mouth. Little tip folks: When the main character becomes a hero by SELLING HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL then it might be just a little too dark for the big screen. Not EVERY Marvel comic deserves to be made into a movie. Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer was a close second.

Best new TV show of 2007:
I’ll let you know if I ever find one worth watching. Nothing so far. Seriously. If this is the best the writers can come up with, maybe they should STAY on strike!

TV show I will miss the most when it’s gone:
Scrubs. This show is one of the funniest, smartest, most thoughtful sitcoms I’ve ever seen. And you can count the number of sitcoms I’ve said that about on the fingers of one hand.

TV show I will miss the LEAST when it’s gone:
Far too many to list here!

New Year’s Resolution I’m most likely to keep:
Umm…can I get back to you on that? :)

New Year’s Resolution I’m LEAST likely to keep:
To write more often in this blog!

That’s all I’ve got for now. See everyone in 2008. Have a safe and Happy New Year.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Merry Christmas?

Two days ago, at work, I received a call from my father, who informed me that one of my best friends from High School (and for a long time thereafter) was found dead in his apartment. He apparently died from self-induced alcohol poisoning.

So. Here we are. 3 days away from Christmas. And I find out that a man who once was as close to me as a brother decided that his life wasn't worth living.

What goes through a person's mind when they reach such a state?

Oh, I've heard all the usual theories. It's a chemical imbalance. It's the time of the year. It's despair. It's any number of things.

I don't buy that.

This man and I were almost the same age. We both were unmarried. We both lived alone.

But he chose to end his life. Perhaps accidentally, perhaps on purpose. We may never know.

So why did he do it?

I think it's because he wanted to take the easy way out.

I know that someday someone who knew both of us may read this post and be very angry at me for saying that. I don't give a flying fuck. I'm seriously pissed off.

My daily life is miserable. I'm stuck in a dead-end job with little or no room for advancement. I'm 40 years old and I live alone except for a neurotic dog. I have little to be happy about.

But I keep going. Because I know that the people in my life would be miserable if I didn't. Like I am right now.

And I am mad at him for that.

It's irrational. It's insensitive. It's wrong on many levels. But it's how I feel.

And I hate myself for it.

And I hope that venting myself like this will help me get over it. And remember that this man was my best friend, and that I should be happy for the time we spent together, and for the many fond memories we created.

As a final word, let me say this: My friend, I will miss you. And although we drifted apart over the years, I treasured your friendship. I didn't have many friends in High school, and the fact that you chose to be my friend when you could have had many friends who were cooler makes me happy. May you find the peace in death that apparently eluded you in life. Goodbye.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Burn On, Big River

I make no secret of the fact that I am a fan of Ohio State. You need only to look at the colors of the banner ads to the right of this post to see that. And I have little or no use for the NFL.

(By the way, I remind the 3 readers of this blog that any revenue I receive from clicks on the banner ads from this blog will be donated to the USO)

That being said, I am a fan of the Cleveland Browns. Throughout history, there has been NO city that has experienced the loss of its professional football team, only to gain ANOTHER NFL franchise, AND keep the name of the original. 3 cheers to Cleveland. This is a city that was immortalized in song by Randy Newman for being infamous for having the only river that actually caught on fire.

This is a city that has the Cleveland Indians. Another Major League franchise that has the dubious distinction of winning 3 games in the American League championship and then losing the last 4.

This is a city that allowed lobbyists to put an issue on the ballot that would've allowed a casino.

But this is also a city that has cleaned up its river to the point where it is no longer in danger of catching fire.

This is a city that was strong enough to regain an NFL franchise. With the same name.

And The Browns have kept themselves in Playoff contention for the season. With defense.

It will be poetio justice if the Browns manage to make the playoffs on the strength of their defense.

Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Another One.

So. There has been another random psycho shooting.

I picked up The Blade the following morning and saw that the story about it was sharing space with a story about a local refinery merging with another company.

Are we, as a country, so inured to random acts of gun violence that we believe such a story is no longer deserving of exclusive front page coverage?

If so, I fear for our future.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Go Sooners!

I am getting so sick of every sports talking head and their mothers saying Ohio State does not deserve the number 3 ranking they enjoy. Everyone complains about their "weak" schedule, because they played, among others, Youngstown, Akron, and Kent.

First of all, while none of these teams will ever be considered a college football powerhouse, you have to remember where OSU's coach is from: Before gaining the Buckeye coaching job, he was Coach at Youngstown. He is a product of Ohio, plain and simple. And he likes being able to give college football teams from Ohio the national attention (not to mention the money) they get when they play prestigious teams like Ohio State on national television.

Second, there is no such thing as a "weak" schedule when you play in the Big Ten Conference, particularly when you are leading the conference. Every team you play brings its A game to the field. It's no coincidence that 9 of the 11 Big Ten teams (yes, I know it makes no sense) have winning records, and that 10 of them are bowl-eligible.

Third, people make a lot of the fact that OSU lost to Illinois. Fact is, Illinois is a LOT better than many people give them credit for. I knew they would be good LAST year, when I saw their quarterback play. Mark my words: You will see this guy playing on Sundays in a couple of years (barring injury of course). And this year, when they got a good running back to go with him, they became great. They may very well win the Big Ten next year. It's no surprise Ron Zook was named Big Ten coach of the year.

So I will root for Oklahoma to beat Missouri tonight. And if they do, thus allowing OSU to sneak into the championship game through the back door, then I will be happy without any remorse. Maybe they'll get a chance to avenge their loss last January. If not, well, that's football.

Oh, and one other thing: Wherever the Buckeyes go for a bowl, about 50,000 loyal fans follow. Lord knows, New Orleans could certainly use the economic windfall they would receive from that!