weekend ends

Had a nice visit with Sam and Donna, and doted on their cats (Versace and Tiger) and dog (Chamois). Enjoyed shrimp cocktail and cherry/apple/peach pie. Seahawks lost. Oh well.

Bought an outfit for the holiday party. It's black. ::sigh:: The top does have a design "burnt" into the velvet and a little sparkle up around the neckline. Still, it would have been nice to have some green or maroon or gold or something. Oh well.

Uploaded some more music, although iTunes was being very temperamental as to the speed with which it uploaded. Some songs went at 20x or better, but more than a few went at 5x, 3x, 1.2x. So, between doing other stuff (football, shopping) and the speed issue, I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked. Oh well.

The cats always make me happy. When I work at the computer, there are three designated cat areas in the immediate vicinity. An afghan-covered kitty hammock on the floor to the left of my desk. A folded afghan on the desktop, at my right hand. A folded lamb's wool blanket on the floor by the bookcase, to my right. The hammock is exclusively Sadie's, and the lamb's wool is exclusively Schmoo's. The desktop spot can easily accommodate two cats, and does on a fairly regular basis. Milo probably spends the most time there, sometimes solo, but oftentimes he's joined by any of the other three cats. Milo is the ambassador of the house -- everyone loves Milo. Woodle will occasionally hang out there, but usually he abandons the room altogether and sleeps on an afghan-covered gliding rocker in the living room.

Tonight, Woodle spent a little time on the desktop afghan with Milo, but then decided he wanted his own spot. Sick of being the odd cat out, he moved over to the other side of the desk and proceeded to settle right down on a Walgreens flyer, at the top of my keyboard, under the banker's lamp. Didn't seem to me that it would be comfortable, but he was very happy there for a good hour or so. Then, he decided that the afghan would probably be softer.

So, I guess I'll have to clean off the newspaper flyers permanently and find another afghan to fold up and put in this spot for Woodle. You'd think they'd find any of the approximately one thousand other soft, comfortable spots in the 1600 square feet of space we occupy. But I like having them close, so I can't complain.

Here's a picture I took of Woodle on the desktop afghan this summer. It took me a good 15 minutes to get one of him with his eyes closed, because every time I turned the camera on to take a picture, he popped his head right up to inspect. What a funny boy. We love having them around.

Good night.

Song count: 12092

"Miniature Disasters" by KT Tunstall

hooky, part vi

A landmark! It took some time, and I could have been more aggressive today. But I was otherwise occupied at various times throughout the day. I'm not worried. I have a weekend ahead of me. My to-do list is a continuation of last week's list. Although the truth is that it's a perpetual list whose content is simply inflated and reduced. So the music odometer will continue to click.

In between chores and continued song uploading, I'll also need to squeeze in a trip to Orange in an attempt to procure a sparkly dress (and probably some sparkly shoes) for the company's holiday party, which is coming up very quickly. And Sunday will have us driving to our Seahawks' friends' house for game-watching. That is, presuming any/all of the four of us are up to it (all of us have some variation of a cold at the moment).

For now, sleep, dream, recuperate. TTYL.

Song count: 10152

"Butterfly" by Corinne Bailey Rae

hooky, part v

My relationship with football is a tenuous one, at best. Before meeting my husband, my only appreciation of the sport was that it takes about seven times longer to finish a game than the amount of time left on the game clock. Ted has done much to advance the cause of football in my life, to the point where I:

[A] participate in viewings with friends (although only of the Seahawks and the Superbowl),

[B] recognize key players (even on teams other than the Seahawks) and sometimes even know what makes them especially good (Josh Brown rules!),

[C] fully understand the most important plays (touchdowns, field goals, etc.) and partly get other stuff, and

[D] occasionally read articles and listen to new stories about football.

OK, so it's not much more than before, but it's more. The other day, I happened upon Ted's Sports Illustrated and found an article by Rick Reilly. Actually, I read a lot of Mr. Reilly's articles. This one is called "A Barber Who Won't Cut It Close." It's about Tiki Barber (one of a pair of twins who both play professional football... see? I know this stuff). And it makes me believe that he is one of the smartest men in football. Read for yourself.

In America, you do not quit at the top. You do not quit when you're the leading rusher in the NFL. You do not quit when there's millions left on the table. But Tiki Barber, a 31-year-old Giants running back, is retiring at the end of this season, his 10th in pro football -- and the country wants to sue.

"To me, [he's] quitting. That's not retiring." -- MICHAEL IRVIN, ESPN

Meet Earl Campbell. Heisman-winning running back at Texas and 1979 NFL MVP with the Oilers. His back is shot. Two months ago, at his old college stadium, a statue depicting a strong and virile Campbell from his playing days was unveiled. The man himself, though, had to be helped out of a golf cart and to the podium so he could speak to the crowd. He is 51.

Meet Jim Plunkett. Played quarterback for 15 NFL seasons. Yesterday was a very bad day for Plunkett. What happened? "I woke up," he says. Plunkett doesn't seize the day. It seizes him. He has constant throbbing in his back and neck. He's got arthritis in one hip and both knees. He can't raise his left arm past his shoulder. His spine is so curved, he tilts like a sinking oil tanker. The pain wakes him up at night. He's 58.

"I tell my kids, 'Pretty soon, you're going to be wheeling me around,'" says Plunkett. He's not laughing when he says it.

"I don't quite know why Tiki is quitting. Maybe being a Super Bowl champion isn't that important to him." -- JIM OTTO, HALL OF FAME CENTER

It meant a helluva lot to Otto, who never won a Super Bowl in 15 seasons with the Raiders but nearly destroyed his body trying. He's had nearly 60 operations -- 48 on his knees, three on his nose, three on his shoulders, three on his back and one on each elbow. His ankle looks like a science project. He's got rods up and down his spine. Arthritis in his feet and neck tortures him. He is 68.

"He could be leaving 3,000 yards on the field, which could put him on the wrong side of the Hall of Fame bubble." -- GARY MYERS, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

At the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony every year, we see the price of greatness. It gouges. Anvil-jawed heroes teeter across the stage as if it's their first time on stilts. It takes them longer to sit down than many drive-through transactions take.

Meet Paul Krause. He was enshrined in Canton after spending 16 seasons as an NFL free safety, 12 of them with the Vikings. Pain forces him to change positions every five minutes.

Meet Hall of Famer Jim Langer, 12 seasons, including 10 on the Dolphins' offensive line. He walks like a man with nails in his shoes, but he'll never use a walker. "If it gets to that point, I'll move on," he says. What's that mean? "That's my business."

Meet Dan Dierdorf. Lineman, Cardinals, 13 seasons, also in the Hall. Uses a cane when he walks, if you can call what he does walking. Blocking with his head first has left him two inches shorter than he was in college. He's already got two artificial hips, and he's planning to have a second knee replacement. His ankle needs fusing. "I've got more titanium in my body than in my golf bag," Dierdorf says.

Once, Dierdorf happened to be walking down a Canton hallway next to Dick Butkus. They looked like a pair of Iwo Jima survivors. Butkus's legs are so bad, he lumbers along as though he's about to tip forward on his nose. Dierdorf walks like a Maryland crab, from side to side. "If we could've found a guy who walked tipping over backwards," Dierdorf says, "we'd have had every direction covered."

"Honestly, I don't want Tiki around anyway if his heart isn't in it." -- DKATZ0, BBI CORNER FORUM

Tiki Barber has his money, his memories and most of his cartilage. What he doesn't seem to have is the right to live his own life.

"When I get home from work," says Barber, "my [two- and four-year-old] kids come running at me. They make me get on my knees, and we play tackle football. On replacement knees, that's not happening. I saw this video of O.J. Simpson once, and his kids came running at him and he couldn't even pick them up. So I can see that if I play three or four more years, like everybody wants me to, that could be me. But when I'm 50 years old, and I'm having trouble just getting down the stairs, will they be cheering for me then?"

Meet Tiki Barber.

He walked, while he still could.

A very smart man, indeed.

our grapes are not sour

I admit it. I've never really liked football all that much. It wasn't until Ted came into my life that I learned to have a greater appreciation of the sport, and then when our friends, Sam and Donna, came into our lives that I started watching it with any frequency. Even then, when we gathered for NFL Sunday Ticket (the only way East coast Seahawks fans can watch their games), I did more socializing than analyzing. Still, through mere osmosis (in combination with my husband's gentle-yet-insistent teachings), the important bits sank in.

That said, the SuperBowl was frustrating. It may be trite that the losing team's fans complain about the referees, but in this case, the officiating was genuinely bad. The Seahawks have said that they know what their mistakes were, and that they could have played better. They've been good sports about it, but they would be remiss not to acknowledge the influence of officiating. What makes us all feel better (how presumptuous of me to speak on behalf of the Seahawks and the horde of people who are collectively the 12th Man) is that we of the blue and green are not the only ones crying foul. The commentators during the game even mentioned it. And the post-game press has covered it thoroughly.

The Seahawks were robbed of a fair chance to win the SuperBowl.

So we move on. I, for one, think their season was great, and first trip to the SuperBowl well-deserved. But for now, we enjoy life for a while (and maybe some curling), and come fall, we'll be in prep mode for Miami.

disquiet and quiet

I'm wrestling with some turmoil lately, deciding if I should break the window. That is, when I should... . It consumes my time and saps my energy. Hence, the recent silence of the blog. And the continuing silence.

No more for today, other than a salute to the ephemeral. The team we've been rooting for for years made it to the SuperBowl this year. Yet despite an amazing record, a determined coach, and a host of talented players, they get dissed by the football establishment. During the Carolina game last week, it was painful to watch the bias against our Seahawks by the commentators, during the game and between quarters, despite the fact that we decimated the Panthers.

On the other hand, we, as faithful and long-time fans, continue to believe. In fact, we have temporarily renamed our cat, Milo. He is now Milofa. Here's to proving the critics all wrong (again). Go 'hawks!

fresh raspberries and party shuffle

We've been to Costco twice this week. That's not terribly unusual, especially when there are several factors such as:

1. Passport coupons to buy great stuff at even better prices than usual

2. Amazing fresh produce (this week: mixed greens, green beans, raspberries, and red grapes)

3. A huge influx of items that make great Christmas presents (yes, we're already well underway for our 2005 shopping with 39 gifts procured thus far)

4. Stocking up on our contribution to pre-season football viewing at our friends' house

5. I love Costco and use almost any excuse to go there

So, Costco, football, and planning for next year's vacation took up a chunk of the weekend. When I was here and working on/around the computer, I was listening to iTunes (easier than setting up my iPod dock or plugging in the earbuds). The "party shuffle" option lists up to 100 of the last songs it has already played and up to 100 of the next songs it's going to play. Cool feature. Here are the last 37 songs it's played:

"Genius" Julia Fordham
"You Know How I Do" Taking Back Sunday
"Devil" Staind
"Nobody Not Really" Alicia Keys
"Freddie Freeloader" Miles Davis
"Bruised" The Bens
"If You Were Here" Thompson Twins
"Heaven" Los Lonely Boys
"Mr. Wrong" Sade
"My Funny Valentine" Constantine Maroulis
"Everything Is Everything" Phoenix
"Say Yes" Floetry
"Edges of Happiness" Harald Johnson, Jarle Vespestad & Tord Gustavsen
"No Matter What" Def Leppard
"Cantaloop" Us3
"There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)" Eurythmics
"Roof Garden" Al Jarreau
"Chains" Duran Duran
"How'm I Gonna Sleep" Tim Finn
"The First Taste" Fiona Apple
"Haunted" Go West
"Skin" Ephraim Lewis
"Through With You" Maroon 5
"Illusion" Soulstice
"78 Stone Wobble" Gomez
"Night in Tunisia" Dizzy Gillespie
"The Game" Trapt
"You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" Wolf Parade
"Freddie Freeloader" Jon Hendricks
"Future Love Paradise" Seal
"Kaleidoscope" Matt Bianco
"Powerless (Say What You Want)" Nelly Furtado
"Rocksteady" Marc Broussard
"Motorcrash" The Sugarcubes
"Everything" Alanis Morissette
"Mothers Talk" Tears For Fears
"Smooth Criminal" Alien Ant Farm

I'm working on my old computer, which is being incredibly uncooperative tonight (and my new one still isn't set up -- watch this space for an anticipated rant against the maker of said computer, if I don't get those recovery disks soon), so this is all I can do. It's not letting me format the list to make it a bit more readable, and I don't want to just kill the entry (after all, how intriguing to see the combination of music I'm listening to, right?). So, that's it for now. Maybe tomorrow night I'll be busy setting up my new and incredibly fast and cooperative computer, and be back to blogging in style by Tuesday.