tonight i rented the 1985 version of Alice in Wonderland for Kylie on VHS. Do you realize that Sammy Davis Jr., Scott Baio, Sherman Helmsley, and Telly Savalas are all prominently involved? It’s a ‘who’s who’ of hollywood hall of famers. who knew?

If you offered me, right now, an AL East finish with Baltimore winning the division, The Sox in 2nd winning the wild card, and the Yankees finishing in third with 85 wins, i would take it in a second. I LOVE to see the yankees struggle, I LOVE IT.

Mae’s The Everglow is going to be my favorite album of 2005. More on this later…

got back from our trip to cancun this week. we had a great time soaking in some sun, reading, swimming, eating, eating, and eating. i got sick the day before we left, and didnt go to the doctor’s figuring it was a little cold i could shake with some tropical air. turns out it was strep throat, and it was rocking me pretty hard until i figured it out and got some over-the-counter amoxicillin at the gift shop. the infection also rocked my sore back, making it seize up at one point so that i had to go get a muscle relaxer shot from the on-site doctor. geeesh, am i 28 or 48? not really sure. once i got the strep out of my system, i could actually enjoy eating food and had a good time.

i read 2 books while i was there. well, actually, i havent finished the second one yet. once i do i will review them both. the reviews will be terrible, i’m sure, but i will deliver as promised.

i’ll get some trip pictures up at some point too. geof will have to remind me how to put the pics up like i did for my trip to Ecuador with Caedmons.

let’s see, what else is worth mentioning? well, softball starts tonight for us. that is huge. i love playing softball. i guess i played so much baseball as a kid, it feels like i’m validating part of my youth when i step on the field these days. plus, i am pretty good at it, so that makes it fun too. i was an all-star as a kid, but that was usually because i hustled alot, was polite, and had a pretty good glove. these days i can still field, but i can swing the stick too. good times. here’s the stats from last year to prove it.

unfortunately its supposed to shower all day here, so 50/50 chance that we won’t play tonight. why cant it rain next friday, so the doubleheader that i don’t want to miss can be postponed. then i can go check out derek and sandra in York. i’m praying for rain, so we’ll see.

well, i need to go get some coffee and you need to get back to whatever you were doing…

headed to cancun tomorrow morning…

trip report and book reviews when i get back…

later

there’s nothing quite like having a good friend join you at a certain stage in life that you’ve been at for a while. Like when a good buddy gets married and suddenly can relate to the battle of somehow laying comfortably in bed after an exhausting day and not falling asleep while your beautiful wife waxes poetic about the social dynamics of her group of girlfriends. These are the things that can’t be explained, they have to be experienced.

So it is with great joy that I welcome, or get prepared to welcome, Bill Simmons into the fold as a father. He’s been the defining voice for me on being a Red Sox fan and a Sports fan in general for the past 5 years or so, and as he nonchalantly announced in a column today, he and his wife are expecting a little girl in June. I couldnt be more elated.

As a father of two toddlers, I can’t wait to go through it one more time. Only I’ll let him lose sleep, change diapers, and love something so much, it will make his love for a sports team look like a 1st grade crush. I’ve been there before, and I’m glad he’s joining the club. Welcome aboard.

forget solstices, longest days, and wearing white pants after memorial day. summer officially starts for me every year on the first day that i underestimate the power of the sun and get burned. sunburned. it never fails, every year i get selective amnesia and forget that pasty white skin + hours of warm sunshine = bright red epidermal pain.

i don’t know how far back this tradition actually goes, but i vividly remember a weeklong trip to myrtle beach following my college graduation. i got scorched so bad one day that every called me the Lobster King. A few years ago, i spent a warm April day putting together a new basketball hoop…shirtless. 3 hours later i realized my mistake. That night was painful. The following night was one of the worst of my life as the itching was so bad i literally slept about 2 hours total. This is how we should be interrogating Iraqi POWs: itchy sunburns.

This year’s version? Well, our first outdoor softball practice went off without a hitch yesterday. A gorgeous 70-degree day in Pennsylvania, spent shagging flies, fielding grounders, and taking some cuts. The sleeveless T seemed like a good idea in the morning, and would have been had practice gone 2 hours instead of 3. but alas, i once again forgot what happens when your white winter skin goes unprotected for 3 hours in the warmth of the afternoon April sun.

So i sit here at work, shoulders on fire, arms scorching, ears ablaze. The back of my neck feels as if someone coated it in napalm and set fire to it a few hours ago. good times.

You’d think i’d have learned my lesson, but i can guarantee you that next year, right around this time, it will happen again. And with the bright red skin i will once again welcome in summer.

and here’s a bonus tip, from me to you. i don’t care what month you’re in, don’t ever wear white pants.