• The following entry contains no artificial sweeteners

    I began to conceive this entry while sitting in an awkward position. You see, I’m not really good at being the center of attention – and I found myself the guest of honor of a most unlikely celebration for the male of the species: a baby shower.

    It had been a surreal day to begin with. I was suffering from sleep deprivation due to a late night, acute release of emotion. Yes, I’m talking about the Red Sox again. I was still trying to assimilate the fact that we live in a world where the Red Sox won the World Series. Further, I was a little self-conscious due to my combined display of team pride and employee disobedience (I was wearing a Sox cap, which is verboten in the dress code). And finally, I was still not fully recovered from three weeks of leave taking, following the birth of the child which led to this whole thing to begin with.

    Now that I’ve drawn you a full relief map of the setting, what exactly is the point of all this? It was at this moment of self-imagined hazing, at the commencement of the shower, that I felt really lucky. As I opened the first gifts meant for my precious new son, I knew both the affection for coworkers (and friends), and the joy of having a new child. When you can simultaneously enjoy some time with friends and indulge your love of your children, you have the recipe for a special time. Yes, it can even trump a little social phobia.

    What we have here is a chronic case of gratitude. Now I just need perfect the application of said gratitude.

  • Sweet irony

    This political season is much like other political seasons; the hacks are out in full force repeating the sound bites like dolls with pull strings. My favorite is the line about government run health care, shortages, and rationing.

    While there is a rational explanation, and it is only one isolated example, I think it is just precious that the industrialized world’s most free market driven (flu) vaccination program is also one of the industrialized world’s only (flu) vaccination programs suffering from shortages and rationing.

    I’m a big fan of irony when it works for me; but alas, irony is but one of life’s many bitter mistresses.

    (Source: “Critics Call for Govt. Control of Flu Vaccine” on NPR’s “All Things Considered”, 10/25/2004.)

    **Note: the above link likely won’t work for more than a week or so after this post.

  • No Alex? No Nomar? No problem.

    The other day I was talking with a coworker about how I always manage to get on the wrong end of a rivalry, or in other words, the only team that saw it as a rivalry. Dunedin High School versus Clearwater (basketball and football), UF versus FSU (the last fifteen years or so in football), Red Sox versus Yankees, Rays versus, well, I guess we don’t really have a rival there, but you see the pattern.

    But you know what? Being raised in the Boston area and the Tampa Bay area has really worked out the last several years. Think about the Patriots (twice), the Bucs, the Lightning, and now the Red Sox. Three years or so, and five championships? Not a bad run, is it?

    The Red Sox? Sure, they’ve got a big payroll. But hey, they’ve been trying to buy a championship for years (80 plus?) – they did it this year.

    I’ll let others, more capable than me, talk about the significance. I’m just going to sit in front of the TV for a while and nurse my voice back to health.

    After the game, the Sox manager was asked how he wanted this team to be remembered.

    “As winners.”