Baseball season is nearly begun, and since I post most baseball- related comments elsewhere for my baseball friends to read, I'll simply announce my hearty endorsement of the coming Twins' season. The team is always a work in progress, with high turnover rates due to lack of $$$ and the injuries every team goes through, but there's some comfort in that, too. When the Twins break camp with a few under performing veterans and roster wastes, there's no reason to worry. As soon as we get sick of them we have the next fleet arriving. We have exciting prospects waiting to break through and a competitive streak which runs through the entire organization which characterizes the Twins in a way that it doesn't characterize, say, the Vikings.
I'll be participating in fantasy baseball for the second time, and I'll send out a late invitation to absolutely anyone interested to join the league Shaun and I have started. It takes very little time and doesn't absolutely necessitate baseball knowledge (though both help). You would need to respond quickly, though, as we draft Saturday from the comfort of our own homes.
Fantasy baseball has been great for me because it gives a usage to my previously strange and superfluous enjoyment of mathematics. It's all very fitting though; I learned how to figure percentages and decimals by examining the batting averages and ERA's on baseball cards, so I suppose my enjoyment of math was never really linked to academics, it was founded in baseball.
3/23/07
Small Talk/Personal Ad
A gentleman came into the station the other day and informed me that Foshay Tower is being converted into a luxury hotel- not a bad idea for the stately old tower. He was on a crew charged with transporting away many tons of marble which is being removed from the current restrooms (etc).
He said rooms will go for an excess of $1200 a night.
I said something to the effect that it would not be an ideal cheap date.
He assented, though with demur characteristically sporting for a demolition specialist, declared he would spend a night there if a lady would care to foot the bill.
I'm pretty sure I can put you in touch if anyone is interested?
On an entirely separate note, I keep raving about the movie Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room to random people. I usually don't recommend movies because so many of my recommendations go so, so horribly wrong, but Smartest Guys in the Room is a perfectly cut bit of docu-drama. It puts Tom Waits to good use while splicing interviews and courtroom footage with some great matter-of-fact analysis of how a house of cards almost became the largest company in the world. I was completely ignorant of the impact of the company's tactics- that they were responsible for the California blackouts and the election of an inarticulate action movie star to governorship. Aside from the well-known facts about Enron, the movie explores the morality tale that can be found in the examination of the company's braintrust and the darwinian atmosphere that propelled many in the company to invent and execute some very bold, pervasive means to make a lot of money (for themselves).
Anyway, see it.
He said rooms will go for an excess of $1200 a night.
I said something to the effect that it would not be an ideal cheap date.
He assented, though with demur characteristically sporting for a demolition specialist, declared he would spend a night there if a lady would care to foot the bill.
I'm pretty sure I can put you in touch if anyone is interested?
On an entirely separate note, I keep raving about the movie Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room to random people. I usually don't recommend movies because so many of my recommendations go so, so horribly wrong, but Smartest Guys in the Room is a perfectly cut bit of docu-drama. It puts Tom Waits to good use while splicing interviews and courtroom footage with some great matter-of-fact analysis of how a house of cards almost became the largest company in the world. I was completely ignorant of the impact of the company's tactics- that they were responsible for the California blackouts and the election of an inarticulate action movie star to governorship. Aside from the well-known facts about Enron, the movie explores the morality tale that can be found in the examination of the company's braintrust and the darwinian atmosphere that propelled many in the company to invent and execute some very bold, pervasive means to make a lot of money (for themselves).
Anyway, see it.
3/16/07
The Bates House- Pilot Episode
Many boxes are being filled in the beat-down little house in Lauderdale which resides next to the stately log cabin of holistic wellness. Preparations are being managed for transportation to the Bates house. A Silverado, abandoned by its (or my) parents has been parked just down the block. Three music students currently residing at the Bates house await their fate, driven, like all good musicians, to the streets by cruel, heartless landlords. They are forced to resort to such means as moving to Uptown or back home to Oregon.
But this blog is about the landlords who kicked them out. Passive- aggressive words were exchanged such as:
"We really want to make this as easy for you guys as possible" and "Hey, that's pretty cool you guys got this place, and it works out perfect because I just got done with school and I was needing to move out anyway. I'm glad these guys didn't get stuck with a year lease they couldn't pay for."
But behind all the civility and beneath all the death-metal music and well-wishing on midterms, there was one woman's desire for her husbands' approval to buy a fabulous slab of marble for the small yard outside those very windows which looked in on the sordid scene and outward at the whisper of possibility...
And later, as a child runs rampantly through interior decorating facades, recklessly pouring glass after disposable glass of spring water to hand to other people, the woman reveals the fractured marble to the fellow landlord, who surveys that the piece would, in its perfection require about the same compensation he had so rigidly demanded of the lame-duck musician tenants by depositing the check they had proffered him. And...(we got a few things for a fraction of the original price due to minor and major defects that will be really great for the new house...skip ahead...)
The deal is closed. Just like the musicians' chances of remaining at the Bates house past April 1st. Or at least, April 5th or 6th.. whenever they'll have enough time to vacate the premises and clean up nicely and all.
But the renters/laid-back musicians have one last parting shot for the high-rolling, confoundedly- attractive landlords:
"Make sure you get us the water bill..." one says with a straightforward smirk and small-town tricksterishness. "It hasn't been coming for the last several months and we don't want you guys to be stuck with it."
But this blog is about the landlords who kicked them out. Passive- aggressive words were exchanged such as:
"We really want to make this as easy for you guys as possible" and "Hey, that's pretty cool you guys got this place, and it works out perfect because I just got done with school and I was needing to move out anyway. I'm glad these guys didn't get stuck with a year lease they couldn't pay for."
But behind all the civility and beneath all the death-metal music and well-wishing on midterms, there was one woman's desire for her husbands' approval to buy a fabulous slab of marble for the small yard outside those very windows which looked in on the sordid scene and outward at the whisper of possibility...
And later, as a child runs rampantly through interior decorating facades, recklessly pouring glass after disposable glass of spring water to hand to other people, the woman reveals the fractured marble to the fellow landlord, who surveys that the piece would, in its perfection require about the same compensation he had so rigidly demanded of the lame-duck musician tenants by depositing the check they had proffered him. And...(we got a few things for a fraction of the original price due to minor and major defects that will be really great for the new house...skip ahead...)
The deal is closed. Just like the musicians' chances of remaining at the Bates house past April 1st. Or at least, April 5th or 6th.. whenever they'll have enough time to vacate the premises and clean up nicely and all.
But the renters/laid-back musicians have one last parting shot for the high-rolling, confoundedly- attractive landlords:
"Make sure you get us the water bill..." one says with a straightforward smirk and small-town tricksterishness. "It hasn't been coming for the last several months and we don't want you guys to be stuck with it."
A Figure in the Darkness
I was headed out to jog the other night, and as I opened our back door, I braced myself mentally to be confronted by a man standing in our porch. He would be alerted to my presence by the sound of the door- it squeeks terribly- and if he had been waiting for awhile he would have been prepared for me more than I for him had I not braced myself for the surprise of his presence. I think that rather reverses the advantage, doesn't it? My lack of surprise, that is? He certainly wouldn't have expected to be expected.
There was noone there, but the weather has been unseasonably hospitable to jogging early mornings.
There was noone there, but the weather has been unseasonably hospitable to jogging early mornings.
3/10/07
Between the Night Job and the Day Job
Many hours are wasted in this gray area between night and morning shifts. When I only have 4-6 hours between times I need to be at work, I'm not always able to maximize the time by getting sleep. Usually I get a nap in, and check my e-mails, do some dishes, (recently) pack some boxes, stare blankly at the tv, jog (if it's not freezing or slippery as it's been), or do something much less productive with my time.
Annoyingly, tomorrow is my one "full day off" this week. We have a 2 hour meeting at 7. As a supervisor, I need to lead a "break-out" portion of the meeting for my department. That's going to be great.
I also have daylight savings to look forward to, as it will fence-in another hour of my day off by getting me up, effectively, at 4am Sunday for a split- shift (I also work Sunday night). It's rarely this bad anymore, but I'm plenty annoyed right now.
Annoyingly, tomorrow is my one "full day off" this week. We have a 2 hour meeting at 7. As a supervisor, I need to lead a "break-out" portion of the meeting for my department. That's going to be great.
I also have daylight savings to look forward to, as it will fence-in another hour of my day off by getting me up, effectively, at 4am Sunday for a split- shift (I also work Sunday night). It's rarely this bad anymore, but I'm plenty annoyed right now.
3/8/07
This is Hard to Read
I will half apologize for my blog being somewhat difficult to read due to my color choices. I'm trying to weed out those who like my blog for the way it looks, and those who like my blog for what it truly is. Thanks for stopping by!
3/7/07
We Are Homeowners!
Jenny and I became homeowners the other day, and are looking forward to moving. We accomplished the goal of finding a great place within a nice area of STP. We have 3+ bedrooms, 2+ floors, 1700+ ft2, appliances, 2 bathrooms, and easy access to downtown, parks, walking trails, and both 35E and I94 (and 61 & 52, for what good that will be). It also satisfies my great desire for a circular floorplan- on two floors, no less. I will finally have an office space for all my stuff and we will be able to house guests with ease.
If you wish to locate the place on a map, the adress is 604 Bates Ave, STP, MN and it has a zip code.
Thank you for all of you who have already wished us well. Those who haven't- please get with the program.
If you wish to locate the place on a map, the adress is 604 Bates Ave, STP, MN and it has a zip code.
Thank you for all of you who have already wished us well. Those who haven't- please get with the program.
Welcome to Maudeline Park
Who doesn't have a blog for their personal life available for the general public to read? Still a vast majority of people, thankfully, yet such a large number people I know do, and the idea of cyberspace autobiographies being pushed ever more tightly into a web of interlinking networked familiarity has always intrigued me. You are reading a minute portion of immediate grassroots international history from primary sources. Enjoy.
Actually, my brother-in-law began writing a blog for his life recently, and I found it inspiring because you discover all sorts of things people will write about themselves which simply do not surface in conversations-or by any other means. A person like myself, especially, is likely to reveal numerous facets of his character/personality which he otherwise would find little occasion to do. The only question is whether anyone really cares to familiarize themselves with such information?
On the other hand, I now have several out-of-town friends and family who may want to shuffle through my hazardous, wayward musings and altruistic essays toward the good of mankind for practical information on, say, what Idris did today after his nap.
I have no idea what sort of information/thoughts I will post here. I just know that I occasionally enjoy reading my friends' blogs and one person once asked me to write a blog so he could keep up on my life more easily. I'm terribly obliging.
Thanks for reading.
PS The title for this blog is derived from my e-mail address, Maudeline@hotmail.com, and people asking me what "Maudeline" means, in case you were wondering
Actually, my brother-in-law began writing a blog for his life recently, and I found it inspiring because you discover all sorts of things people will write about themselves which simply do not surface in conversations-or by any other means. A person like myself, especially, is likely to reveal numerous facets of his character/personality which he otherwise would find little occasion to do. The only question is whether anyone really cares to familiarize themselves with such information?
On the other hand, I now have several out-of-town friends and family who may want to shuffle through my hazardous, wayward musings and altruistic essays toward the good of mankind for practical information on, say, what Idris did today after his nap.
I have no idea what sort of information/thoughts I will post here. I just know that I occasionally enjoy reading my friends' blogs and one person once asked me to write a blog so he could keep up on my life more easily. I'm terribly obliging.
Thanks for reading.
PS The title for this blog is derived from my e-mail address, Maudeline@hotmail.com, and people asking me what "Maudeline" means, in case you were wondering
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