May I culpa?

I had it revealed to me that on this blog I sound like I'm fueled only by Xanax and the soft winds that blow as the yacht of failed dreams leaves the harbor of false hopes. But that is not either accurate, or really all that interesting. So, I choose to make it clear: I am very happy. Whether it is my birthday or some other day, normally I'm smiling.
I have an excellent female companion (some say girlfriend) Kathryn, who is a great friend, a good cook, funny and has the added benefit of being good at putting up with me.
Also, there is her brother, Eric, the third and final member of the Z Team. He plays drums, is learning to play bass and is an accomplished photog. And he takes some of the blame off me for things we don't get done that we're supposed to when Kat is at work.
Circling back, we're called the Z Team because we're the last group of people you call to hang out with after everyone else has gone on to better things, like the beach or binge drinking.
Anon, back to the explication of my joy. Just yesterday, I heard a woman say, "It's what you make of it. It really is. It's what you make of it." I think she's right, and that's what I've tried to keep in mind when I feel like I'm going nowhere and achieving nothing. You can still enjoy the ride, in fact, you must.
But even more than what you make of it is what you think of it. If you think you'll be miserable, you likely will be. So I don't want my blog to read like a suicide watch. I'm generally sunny with only very occasional showers of sadness. And since I live in Yuma, that isn't likely to change.

Legend status

The Z Team, of which I am one-third, likes to do gifts on the night before the actual event. Thus, this photo shows off my new shoes, given to me for my birthday. These are both old school Larry Bird converse with a splash of Flash in them. And that, to the left, is Lucy's lovable snout. I also snagged a new combo DVD and VCR because my old one crapped out and a subscription to the Washington Monthly. Score!
In NBA news not related to my new sneakers, the Suns lost, which I sort of predicted after Game 1. But I'm too excited about my new shoes for that to bring me down.
Tomorrow, I turn 25. That's a quarter century, but I'm not feeling old. What life comes down to is what you make out of it. And I still hope to make a lot out of it. And with a pair of beautiful shock white legs like these with those shoes on the ends of them, are you going to question whether I can? The sky's the limit, or, well, at least pretty high is the limit, I think. Ciao.

Nobody goes there anymore, too crowded

Today I found out that there were some misguided efforts by those friendly with me during my college years to get me to join the scourge that is myspace.com. Well, sorry, but I won't be found in that hangout, even if it means I'm the last holdout. Never one to be where the cool kids were in my past, I can't understand changing my ways now. If they are industrious, they might find this blog, my tiny cupboard of desperation where I tick down the hours until my light is snuffed.
But let me be clear about why I have chosen not to have my own space. My list of friends is small, my list of hobbies is small and my list of accomplishments is small. Myspace will not change this reality. Instead, it will only make it more clear to people who once knew me and suspected as much.
I live in an undisclosed location in the desert where I have a job that pays the bills, assuming the bills are small. And I live a blogger's life, which is one of quietude and isolation, not a myspacer's life, which is one of e-mailing photos taken on cell phone cameras and chatting. I aim not to impugn either - though you may sense a slight bias - just show the difference and explain my decision.

The sound of concern

The Suns win, and yet I type before you feeling that I may have been a bit bold with my prediction. I feel the series could possibly go the Lakers way, but it will come down to how Kobe plays. If he continues to get his teammates involved as he did Sunday, L.A. can win. If he feels that doing so isn't working (i.e. it was the Suns who won the game after all, right?) and tries to do much more himself, I think that plays into Phoenix's hands. Odom, Walton, Parker, and yes even Kwame Brown played serviceably today. Brown did miss some easy shots - shots I believe Elvin Hayes would have made in his prime.
But the way for the Lakers to exploit the Suns' obvious weakness down low is by Kobe not dominating the ball. Kobe played a smart game, and if he keeps it up his team can win. I hope the me-first Kobe returns, especially in front of the home crowd in Hollywood, to help the Suns steal some wins.
But have no doubt, I am concerned. The Suns were playing at home in front of a jazzed crowd and they had to scratch and claw to hang on. I think the Lakers got away with offensive fouls when backing down so powerfully, but the Kobe beef (ah, language is my tool) about no foul call on Tim Thomas was legitimate.
However, do not misconstrue this as shying away from a prediction. I stand by a Suns victory, but I fear an upset made of Zen, Odom and a dash of luck.
As for the other series, they are not exactly Masterpiece Theatre. LeBron was impressive, the Pacers-Nets series is destined for seven games, the Spurs showed they are ready and the
Clippers won a playoff game. In some cases, wake me when round 2 starts.
In other news, I watched Everything is Illuminated last night on DVD. Solid flick although I felt they edited out too many of the humorous scenes. Obviously, it's a serious book and a serious movie, but many of the scenes that made the book so fun ended up excised. The DVD does include some of them in the deleted scenes.
In what I'm reading news, I've moved on to The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster. For anyone that has not read Auster, I highly recommend him. That is if you enjoy dark, brooding tales about the randomness of life.
In what I'm listening to news, I don't have a new CD, but I've decided to rename the category Blog-a-rhythm. Because it' s a pun. About math. And I like math puns.

On the brink

The NBA playoffs commence today. Devoid of the type of upsets that riddle college basketball in March, the playoff system is set up to find the best team. And with four rounds of seven-game battles, it usually does.
The only real upset possibilities by seeding are the Eastern Conference 4-5 matchup (Cavs v. Wiz), which could go either way and the 3-6 Western matchup between the Clippers and Nuggets. Due to a seeding quirk that has been discussed enough already, the Clippers have home-court advantage, despite the lower seed, based on a better regular season record. Other than that, to my mind, it's just chalk.
Notice I am leaving out the de rigeur upset special of Lakers over Suns. It seems everybody, including many folks at ESPN, think that the Kobes can take the series, despite one important fact: since the tiny Canadian came to the desert, he has never lost a game to the Lakers. Nash sat out the final matchup of the season, a meaningless game the Lakers won. Now, Nash may lose his first during the series, but I don't think it will be four.
Since I moved to the desert - around the same time as Nash did and when the fortunes of the Suns changed (although I have not been extended any credit by the franchise or had any of my e-mails returned) - the Suns have played about 180 games, including playoffs. I've probably watched 120 of them. The team has changed dramatically during that time, but they have always been able to beat teams that are one-man shows or don't play excellent defense. That is what the Lakers are. There is no causal link between Kurt Thomas and Stoudemire being out and Kwame Brown miraculoulsy turning into the second coming of Elvin Hayes, however, many pundits have been saying this will happen. I don't buy it. If Nash stays healthy, and Raja Bell doesn't punch Kobe and get suspended, the Suns will win.
The other series don't seem too intriguing. I hope they end quickly because round two should be excellent (Mavs v. Spurs being a marquee event). The East appears to be nothing more than prelude to Heat Pistons 2, although I don't think the Heat are better than last year.
Suns Lakers Une is this Sunday afternoon. A full report after that.

A couple of ongoing items to add

What I'm reading: Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley because I'm a Hollywood follower without any original ideas.

What I'm listening to in my car: Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol because I don't have an IPod or a Rio or a cell phone with mp3 capapbilities, and thus, I can only listen to music in my car which has a single-disc CD player.

raison d'etre

I created this blog for a simple reason: I needed to have my own blog in order for me to post comments on my brother's blog. He said that only three people read his blog and then named those three people. I was not included on the roster even though I read it regularly.
I'm going to try to post here when I can about what I'm reading, listening to and watching on TV. The timing is advantageous because the NBA playoffs start very soon. I will be watching far more of them than I should. I might even list some of my thoughts about it.
Those are unimportant things, though. I need to get to commenting on my brother's blog.

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Is this thing on?