World Series v 2.0
The first baseball game I ever went to was back in 1989. I was 7 years old and I went with my Uncle Bill and Father. It was a game at Fenway against the Angles, and I still have the program (Box seats were $16, bleachers: $6). That was the day I decided to become a Red Sox Fan for life. (Also a day I was introduced to Boston drivers as my Uncle drove down the sidewalk to get out of the gas station he parked at for free during the game.) Funny enough Clemens pitched that game, now he "plays" for the Evil Empire. Back then and even before 2004 a lot of people thought they would never see the Red Sox win a world series, now I've had the luxury and privilege to see it happen twice.
This year it just seemed different, like is this really happening twice? I think my cousin Kristy said it best when she said the "'07 team had better skill, but the '04 team had more spirit," I think I agree. I was near Fenway back in '04 when they won and will never forget that day. This time I had to watch from afar but was still just as into it, and even had party poppers to celebrate! That being said, here are some images that say it all:
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FIRESTORM 2007
We'll, I'm still okay and finally back at work. I had the last three days off. Where I live has little evidence of fires except for the slight smoke and the ash that acumulates on the cars. As Amanda said in
her post, rather then sit on my ass for three days and watch news coverage of FIRESTORM 2007 she and I decided to answer the call for volunteers. We started by setting up tons and tons of tents with the Boy Scouts all around the stadium. The whole thing was much more organized then I expected and her and I ended up working with some elderly that were evacuated from a nursing home up near where I work. I've been there the last few days and have made some friends that I look forward to continuously visiting once things are back to normal.
I want to thank everyone for there E-mails and phone calls of concern, it means a lot. Also I want to thank all the fire fighters and police officers who read my blog (none) for doing such an amazing job considering the circumstances. It was great to see fire fighters going in to get peoples stuff out of houses before they burned. Other then that I'll keep you updated and if I ever see anything burnt I'll throw some pictures up. Until then here are some from google images and facebook.
Oh yeah again...GO SOX!!
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Fire!
Well if anyone is wondering, I'm fine. But a lot of San Diego is not, it's on fire. Back in 2003 they had something called the
Cedar Fires. They were the worst fires San Diego had seen. All this happen because of hot desert winds called the
Santa Annas. It happens almost every year around the same time. As of right now those winds and very dry conditions have started more fires. They have the potential to be worse then the 03 fires. The fires are burning all they way from LA down to Mexico.
As you can see it's the whole coast. I'm closer to down town and should be fairly safe from any fires. I did not go to work today though because the highways are closed, as well as fires all around my office. Here are some shots from my house from yesterday afternoon.
This is how it started, slowly moving in
By the evening the whole valley was filled.
Deep red sun from all the smoke.
I awoke to ash covering my car.
I'll keep you updated, and sorry about the very unorganized and sporadic writing.
Oh yeah....GO SOX! Great game last night!
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My Mop
Okay, so I've heard just about enough comments about my mop. For those of you not up on the lingo, it's my hair. Yeah it's long, and moppy, but I have reasons.
First and foremost, it's cheaper. Lets do some math; most guys get their hair cut every two weeks for about $10 with tip is $12. Thats $288 a year. For the average male thats
$23,040 in his 80 year lifetime. I on the other hand get my hair cut once every two months for about $7 with tip thats $10 a haircut. Thats $60 a year. For my average life I'll be paying $4,800.
So my number one reason for not cutting my hair: I'll have $18,240 extra to spend during my life.
Secondly, I happen to live in San Diego, CA on the beach, which resides in Southern California.
Me not cutting my hair has no negative effects on my life, I actually happen to blend in better. Here are some examples:
This is what I'm dealing with out here. Most dudes have big huge blonde mops and they surf all day. This really only gives me a superficial reason, but it's a reason none the less. Mine will never get that big, and definitely won't get blonde.
Lastly, my girlfriend thinks it's cute. Some might say it's a pretty lame reason, but I could care less about my hair so if someone else cares, I'm all for it. And she is one more reason to save money, and itchy trips to the barber.
I'm going to go figure out what to do with $18,240 when I'm 80, so don't bug me about my hair.
Save on!
Boston and Nana
Boy I love Boston!! It's a city that I never get sick of visiting, although I've never been there during the dead of winter. I know eventually I'll be moving back to New England, more specifically Boston sometime in my future (much to the dismay and confusion of Lin). I was there over the weekend for my Nana's services.
First, I met up with some local friends and my sister. Weirdly enough, the Red Sox won the
American League East Championship which is a huge deal as they haven't gotten to the playoffs that way since 1995. We almost decided to go to the game but figured there was no way we would get tickets, at least on our budgets. Anyway, we went to a local bar to watch the game. They won and everyone was happy, the Yankees at that point were winning which is always a bummer. The game and baseball went to the back of my mind until later that night the whole bar erupted in cheers. I realized that the Yankees must have lost and we clenched for the first time in 12 years the AL East!
Red Sox fans come in all shapes in sizes, but I've never see one that doesn't make the teams success or failure personal. My friend Chan at one point thought him being out of the country made a difference. His brother, my roomie, Eli, thought he should stop watching games on TV because they lost every time he watched and won when he didn't. Which brings me to the thought I had that night, that I somehow end up in Boston, I'm sure to the envy of others, during all the great events. The
World Series Win (click here for the pictures from Fenway) and now the AL East game. Which is going to be expensive because during any important game I'll have to fly to Boston to help out the team. I think thats why Boston fans are so passionate they take every game, every win or loss, personally.
While in Boston I also had the chance, as almost anyone in Boston does, to ride the T. (now called for some reason
"Charlie") It seems that every time I ride the T or any subway or mass transit system for that matter, I think about deep intense thoughts. Despite being surrounded by people you don't know, and being in one of the most public places you can find. It's a time where I always find my self thinking the most intriguing things. I'm not sure why this is the case, but it never fails to happen. I think about everyone on the train, make predictions about their life based on clothes, interactions with others, accessories, books and so on. It's a place where you can have people from any class, race, country, etc. It's ends up being a surreal moment that quickly ceases to exist the moment the door opens at your stop.
Anyway, Saturday was Nana's services. It was a wonderful celebration of her life. It was exactly what she would have wanted it to be. Family and friends from all over coming together to catch up and reminisce about what a wonderful woman she was. It was a beautiful fall day and the only crying was tears of joy. I found myself crying a few times, not because I was sad but because I realized so much of who she was had become part of who I was. I didn't realize until now probably because I was young at the time, but a lot of what she did and who she was rubbed off on me, my family, and friends that knew her. Habitat for Humanity, caring for people, eating healthy, recycling, and death being part of life, to name a few. She was always way before her time. All these connections came up as I heard story after story of who she was. Also at the end of the services we played the lullabies that I talked about in my
last post. It was beautiful and magical, it seemed like she was there with everyone, letting them know she was happy where she was, and not to worry about her. It was a great way to end things.
Live on!
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Rock On!
