I am totally full. Going over to my mother in law's house for the holidays can be very hard on my health. She is an awesome cook and makes insanely good cookies and pies. I do not have enough will power or intelligence to resist over eating. Today was the same as all other holidays there. I ate too much turkey, too much pie and too many cookies. It is 10:00 at night and I think I am going to die.
It was cool to have Quinlan's 1st Thanksgiving. He was awesome all day. He was not fussy at all, he loves the attention that everyone gives and boy does he get attention. He doesn't mind anyone holding him, whether it is his parents, grandparents or cousins, he is cool with it. He played most of the day and took two really quick naps on Daddy's chest. It is so cool to have him sleep on me. It is such a fun bonding thing; the only bad thing is that he rarely sleeps long when he sleeps on me. Today was no different; he only got to sleep on me for 20 and 30 minutes. He is pretty light sleeper. It is hard for him to help it, that is just the way he is. Unfortunately, there are people who feel the need to crap on Holly for him being a light sleeper. Apparently Holly is supposed to set off fireworks while Quinlan slept when he was 3 months.
That is the one tough thing about raising a kid. Some people feel the need to criticize the way you raise your child. Actually, I rarely get the brunt of the criticism, it is mostly Holly. She gets crap from other women who think they are the perfect parents. I have found that every child is different and every parent is different. Unless someone is doing something grossly wrong (like smoking in the car with the kid, not using seat belts, beating the shit out of them, etc.), it is best to keep your comments to yourself. A buddy of mine's wife said the best thing to me this past weekend when I was in Boston, you will learn for yourself what is the best way to raise your child on your own. You can listen to every friend or family member or read every book, but in the end you will learn what works for your kid and when you are ready to do certain things (like letting him cry it out when he goes to bed).
Personally, I think Holly is doing a wonderful job and I could not think of any way she could be a better mother. So it kind of annoys me when people criticize the way she raises Quinlan whether it is bluntly or (more commonly) passive aggressively. I have yet to meet someone that I felt was a flawless parent. Every parent does something that I personally do not agree with. That does not mean that I am a better parent or what they are doing is not the right thing to do. It is just different that what I feel is cool with my kid. But I feel the best thing to do is to keep the comments of their parenting style to myself because who am I to tell them what they are doing with their own kid is right or wrong?
I do not mind when people share what they did with their kids. It is cool to hear what worked for others. Sometimes you hear something that you think might work for your own kid, sometimes you don't. The key thing is, they are not ordering you to raise your child like they did theirs. I don't like it when people tell me that I am "supposed" to do a certain thing with regard to raising my child. They have no clue what works with Quinlan or what does not work with him. That is our job to do.
Wow, that was more whining than I normally do. I better quit while I am ahead.
Boston
I was in Boston last weekend for my buddy Greg's wedding. Great times. It was great to see friends again. It is always hard to fit all the time in to see everyone you want to. I did get to see most of the usual suspects as well as a few I usually don't get to see (Christy!!). The weekend went by quick and I was sick with a cold the majority of the weekend but it was a blast. This should be the last wedding for a while, so I do not have any definite plans to head back. I am going to try and head back for the annual golf trip with the guys. They now go to New Hampshire which is much cooler than the Cape. I have to admit, I hated the Cape. I do not know why, but I always did.
Congrats to Greg! You look happy and your wife seems like a great gal. Have fun making babies.
Comedy
This weekend should be fun shows. I am closing shows in Mankato Friday night and Forest Lake on Saturday night. I am working for most likely my favorite booker in the Midwest, Rox. Her shows are always a blast and she is so fun to work with. I get fired up to do shows for her because she sees the shows and she appreciates what I do. So many of the shows I do, the bookers never see it and it is hard for them to appreciate what I bring to the table by not seeing me. I am finally on that level where I can start closing rooms (and I do here and there), but with some bookers they are not seeing me progress and they are not seeing some of the headliners struggle to follow me. It is frustrating to know I can close a room (granted not as well as the guys that have been doing it a long time), but typically I do a really good job and there are several times I am being approached by crowd members and club owners and they are saying I should be "the last guy." I wish this stuff would get back to the bookers so I can start making more money headlining and making the long trips to some of these shows more worthwhile. I figure if I keep plugging away and always improve, my time will come. No matter what, it is still a ton of fun for me and I enjoy the majority of it.
Who knows, maybe one of these days I will finally get on TV.
Well, I better get going. It is getting late and I need to drive 2 hours to my show tomorrow night (not including stopping at stores to see how much Plasma TV's are on sale for and maybe playing a little poker on the way to Mankato).
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Red Sox are the Champs!!
Red Sox
I used to strongly believe that I would not witness the Red Sox win a championship in my lifetime. Considering that my grandfather never got to see the Red Sox win it (they had last won it when he was 2 years old), I figured the same fate would fall upon me. I tried to give up on them before 2004. Even in 2003 when Grady Little single handedly gave the championship away by keeping Pedro in when EVERYONE knew he was toast, I somehow could not get away.
That was a tough night. I was still recovering from my back surgery (titanium rods installed onto my spine) and I was sitting in my recliner (which was very hard to get in and out of at the time). It was game seven in the ALCS. Pedro pitched an excellent game, but his pitch count broke 100. There were established statistics that showed that batters did very well against Pedro when he pitched more than a 100 pitches, yet Pedro was coming out in the 8th to pitch to the Yankees. He had a two run lead at the time. Personally, I would have yanked Pedro before the 8th, but out he came. Maybe Grady knew something we didn't, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. When Pedro gave up two hits to the 1st two batters, it was obvious he did not have it. Out came Grady to the mound, I assumed to say "Thanks for pitching a great game, Pedro" and bring out someone from the bullpen. When I saw Grady walking back to the dugout, I leaped off of my recliner and yelled at the TV (while almost sending myself back into the hospital). I could not believe that Pedro was left into the game. Not only did Pedro give an RBI hit, he was STILL left in to allow the tying run to score. It was mind blowing. It ended up going into extra innings and Aaron Boone ended up hitting a walk off home run against Wakefield. Everyone seems to remember "Aaron Bleeping Boone," or they remember Wakefield giving up the final pitch. Not me, I will always remember Grady. When Boone hit the home run, I just turned off the TV with no reaction. I knew they were going to lose when they tied it in the 8th. I said to myself, "I am done with this fucking team. No more of this crap." I was sick of putting my heart into a team that year in and year out breaks my heart.
I really thought I gave up on them, until Spring Training came and there I was getting sucked back in. They signed Curt Schilling made me wonder. Sure enough, as the season went on I was fully sucked back in. The Red Sox again met the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yankees came right out to take a 3-0 lead in the series. Not only was that awful, they got totally blown out by more than 10 runs in game 3. After game 3, I actually said, "I will not raise my child a Red Sox fan." I thought it would be child abuse to raise a child a Red Sox fan after what they had done to me. I tried to not watch game 4 because I thought they were going to be swept. Fortunately, I had a show in Mankato and I missed most of the game. I did get to see the 9th inning when Dave Roberts stole 2nd in the 9th inning and then scored on a Bill Mueller single. It went into extra innings and I listened to it on the way home and listened as Ortiz launched a walk off home run. Nice, they were not going to be swept. But I was still angry at the Red Sox, because they were sucking me back in and giving me a glimmer of hope.
They ended up going on and performed the greatest comeback in the history of sports and beat the Yankees to go on to the World Series. I had no doubt they would kill the Cardinals and they ended up sweeping them. It was unbelievable. I had no clue what to feel because this was something I never thought I would see. I got a little sad because I knew my grandfather missed it. He loved the Red Sox and he would have loved to have seen a championship, but he died in 2001. It also sucked because it was my 1st year in Wisconsin; I was not able to celebrate with friends.
Fast forward to last week when the Red Sox came back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Indians in the ALCS. They then went on a swept the overmatched Rockies in the World Series. It was not near as powerful. When the playoffs started, I EXPECTED the Red Sox to win it all. How odd is that? It is a weird feeling to have grown up a Boston sports fan and be cocky. We were so used to having our hearts broken by all our teams (except the Celtics in the 80's); we are not used to expecting our teams to succeed.
Not only has the Red Sox won two titles in 4 years, they have positioned themselves to continue to win by having a bunch of young talent. Not only do we have one of (if not THE) best pitchers in the league in Josh Beckett, but we also have Dice-K who should pitch better next year after a year of getting used to the US. Papelbon has turned into a stud in the bullpen with Oakajima. Then there are also the young future star pitchers like Lester and Bucholtz. Add in the young talent in the field like Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youkalis and this is a team that should compete for a while.
I love the Red Sox right now. Hopefully, they do not make a play for A-Rod (I think they will sign Lowell). Did you know that Dice-K had more playoff RBI's (2) than A-Rod (1)? Screw you, Gay-Rod.
Patriots
This week is the biggest game of the year in football. The Patriots and the Colts face off in the battle of the unbeaten. The game is in Indy and the Patriots are favored by 5.5 points. Every media outlet is talking about the game and the proper hype is being applied. The only annoying thing is the Manning/Brady comparisons. Even though Manning is great, I still can not understand how people can not have Brady as the 1 QB in the NFL. Brady has succeeded in the NFL with pedestrian WR's while Manning was always surrounded by awesome talent. Now that Brady has equal talent, he is blowing away Manning's numbers. Even when Manning finally won the title last year, he did it throwing only 3 TD's and 7 INT's during the playoffs. He got completely carried by his defense and Bob Sanders (the true MVP of the Colts). How does a QB throw 7 INT's during a Super Bowl run and he is considered on the same level as Brady who has won 3 Super Bowls with less than 7 INT's COMBINED over those three playoff years.
I think it will be a good game and a high scorer. I think the Patriots defense is a little over-rated and the Colts will be able to move the ball, especially Joseph Addai. But I think the Patriots will just score more. Maroney should have a solid day and Moss will haul in a TD or two. Brady will have at least 3 TD's. I doubt it will be a blow out, but damn that would be fun to see the Patriots destroy the Colts in the Dome.
Celtics
Tonight the season kicked off with the new big three. Garnett and Allen were on the court with Pierce and they did not disappoint. They kicked the snot out of the Wizards and all three had good games (including Garnett's 20 rebounds). They should finish near the top of the conference in the end and have a chance at the Finals. I am interested in the Celtics for the 1st time in a while. It will be fun to watch Garnett in green.
I used to strongly believe that I would not witness the Red Sox win a championship in my lifetime. Considering that my grandfather never got to see the Red Sox win it (they had last won it when he was 2 years old), I figured the same fate would fall upon me. I tried to give up on them before 2004. Even in 2003 when Grady Little single handedly gave the championship away by keeping Pedro in when EVERYONE knew he was toast, I somehow could not get away.
That was a tough night. I was still recovering from my back surgery (titanium rods installed onto my spine) and I was sitting in my recliner (which was very hard to get in and out of at the time). It was game seven in the ALCS. Pedro pitched an excellent game, but his pitch count broke 100. There were established statistics that showed that batters did very well against Pedro when he pitched more than a 100 pitches, yet Pedro was coming out in the 8th to pitch to the Yankees. He had a two run lead at the time. Personally, I would have yanked Pedro before the 8th, but out he came. Maybe Grady knew something we didn't, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. When Pedro gave up two hits to the 1st two batters, it was obvious he did not have it. Out came Grady to the mound, I assumed to say "Thanks for pitching a great game, Pedro" and bring out someone from the bullpen. When I saw Grady walking back to the dugout, I leaped off of my recliner and yelled at the TV (while almost sending myself back into the hospital). I could not believe that Pedro was left into the game. Not only did Pedro give an RBI hit, he was STILL left in to allow the tying run to score. It was mind blowing. It ended up going into extra innings and Aaron Boone ended up hitting a walk off home run against Wakefield. Everyone seems to remember "Aaron Bleeping Boone," or they remember Wakefield giving up the final pitch. Not me, I will always remember Grady. When Boone hit the home run, I just turned off the TV with no reaction. I knew they were going to lose when they tied it in the 8th. I said to myself, "I am done with this fucking team. No more of this crap." I was sick of putting my heart into a team that year in and year out breaks my heart.
I really thought I gave up on them, until Spring Training came and there I was getting sucked back in. They signed Curt Schilling made me wonder. Sure enough, as the season went on I was fully sucked back in. The Red Sox again met the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yankees came right out to take a 3-0 lead in the series. Not only was that awful, they got totally blown out by more than 10 runs in game 3. After game 3, I actually said, "I will not raise my child a Red Sox fan." I thought it would be child abuse to raise a child a Red Sox fan after what they had done to me. I tried to not watch game 4 because I thought they were going to be swept. Fortunately, I had a show in Mankato and I missed most of the game. I did get to see the 9th inning when Dave Roberts stole 2nd in the 9th inning and then scored on a Bill Mueller single. It went into extra innings and I listened to it on the way home and listened as Ortiz launched a walk off home run. Nice, they were not going to be swept. But I was still angry at the Red Sox, because they were sucking me back in and giving me a glimmer of hope.
They ended up going on and performed the greatest comeback in the history of sports and beat the Yankees to go on to the World Series. I had no doubt they would kill the Cardinals and they ended up sweeping them. It was unbelievable. I had no clue what to feel because this was something I never thought I would see. I got a little sad because I knew my grandfather missed it. He loved the Red Sox and he would have loved to have seen a championship, but he died in 2001. It also sucked because it was my 1st year in Wisconsin; I was not able to celebrate with friends.
Fast forward to last week when the Red Sox came back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Indians in the ALCS. They then went on a swept the overmatched Rockies in the World Series. It was not near as powerful. When the playoffs started, I EXPECTED the Red Sox to win it all. How odd is that? It is a weird feeling to have grown up a Boston sports fan and be cocky. We were so used to having our hearts broken by all our teams (except the Celtics in the 80's); we are not used to expecting our teams to succeed.
Not only has the Red Sox won two titles in 4 years, they have positioned themselves to continue to win by having a bunch of young talent. Not only do we have one of (if not THE) best pitchers in the league in Josh Beckett, but we also have Dice-K who should pitch better next year after a year of getting used to the US. Papelbon has turned into a stud in the bullpen with Oakajima. Then there are also the young future star pitchers like Lester and Bucholtz. Add in the young talent in the field like Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youkalis and this is a team that should compete for a while.
I love the Red Sox right now. Hopefully, they do not make a play for A-Rod (I think they will sign Lowell). Did you know that Dice-K had more playoff RBI's (2) than A-Rod (1)? Screw you, Gay-Rod.
Patriots
This week is the biggest game of the year in football. The Patriots and the Colts face off in the battle of the unbeaten. The game is in Indy and the Patriots are favored by 5.5 points. Every media outlet is talking about the game and the proper hype is being applied. The only annoying thing is the Manning/Brady comparisons. Even though Manning is great, I still can not understand how people can not have Brady as the 1 QB in the NFL. Brady has succeeded in the NFL with pedestrian WR's while Manning was always surrounded by awesome talent. Now that Brady has equal talent, he is blowing away Manning's numbers. Even when Manning finally won the title last year, he did it throwing only 3 TD's and 7 INT's during the playoffs. He got completely carried by his defense and Bob Sanders (the true MVP of the Colts). How does a QB throw 7 INT's during a Super Bowl run and he is considered on the same level as Brady who has won 3 Super Bowls with less than 7 INT's COMBINED over those three playoff years.
I think it will be a good game and a high scorer. I think the Patriots defense is a little over-rated and the Colts will be able to move the ball, especially Joseph Addai. But I think the Patriots will just score more. Maroney should have a solid day and Moss will haul in a TD or two. Brady will have at least 3 TD's. I doubt it will be a blow out, but damn that would be fun to see the Patriots destroy the Colts in the Dome.
Celtics
Tonight the season kicked off with the new big three. Garnett and Allen were on the court with Pierce and they did not disappoint. They kicked the snot out of the Wizards and all three had good games (including Garnett's 20 rebounds). They should finish near the top of the conference in the end and have a chance at the Finals. I am interested in the Celtics for the 1st time in a while. It will be fun to watch Garnett in green.
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