Bleacher Creatures

The scene was set for A-Rod's 500th homerun. We stood in anticipation of being a part of history. With each passing pitch, the fans held their breath. And each time a pitch came in, we were blinded by the thousands of flashes that would go off. Everyone wanted the picture of that time A-Rod hit his homerun! It was such an amazing sight.

I'd never sat in the bleachers before. We'd always gotten tickets some way or another in the box/reserved seats. But it was fantastic!! I loved it out there. The people are crazy and they really do give meaning to "bleacher creature." I hadn't been to Yankee stadium in a couple of years and the last time I actually saw the Yankees play was last year at Shea for a subway series game (and we lost - I don't want to talk about it).

The creatures were certainly drunk and loved to scream out obscene comments, which were uncalled for because a little girl with glasses and a pink Yankee hat just stared at them, confused. That poor seven-year-old girl was probably terrified! But the police came up to calm the rowdy crowd and I just watched and chuckled as I sat in my pink (yes, pink) A-Rod shirt. Hehe.

But this game was so exciting! All the runs that came in were through homeruns, save one sac fly RBI. We beat the Chicago White Sox (who won the World Series two years ago)! Final score: 16-3. We beat the pants off of them, so to speak. (or perhaps the socks!).

Though we hit eight homeruns (by seven different players) A-Rod failed to meet our expectations, going 0 for 5. Oh well, I had the best time and left the game with my souvenir cup! :)

The Grass is Always Greener...

"We whine when we don't have a boyfriend, we whine when we do." - Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes.

They say that the grass is always greener on the other side. And ya know what, it actually is. But is that always a good thing?

I've realized that we're never actually satisfied with what we have and are always looking for ways to better our situations. Jealousy, boredom, stress, and a low sense of satisfaction all lead to the times we say, "I wish."

Situation #1: When I was in school I couldn't wait to get out into the working world. And although I love the working world, I'm actually thinking about going back to school at some point for something more. I'll have to weigh my infamous pros and cons list of course.

Situation #2: When I was in Spain I longed for my family and friends and American culture. As much as I enjoyed myself, I couldn't help but feel homesick for the familiar. And now that I'm back to that regular routine, I kind of really miss Spain.

Two songs come to mind:

The first is from one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge. Satine (Nicole Kidman) sings "One Day I'll Fly Away." This is a perfect song for those who long to be in another situation. Of course, she was longing for a better situation and the things I'm speaking of are really on a smaller scale (like, I wish I had bought those shoes because they would've gone great with my outfit).

The second is a better example of what I'm talking about. "Part of Your World." Yes, I speak of The Little Mermaid. It's such a great movie. Ariel wants to be out of the ocean, walking around on land, sans mermaid fins. She gets her wish by trading her voice and gets to walk around. Of course she meets the dreamy Eric and has a fairy tale ending (regaining her voice AND legs, marrying the man of her dreams, and still is able to see her family in the ocean).

But, you see, there was a tradeoff for her initial wish: her voice to the evil sea queen, Ursula. It's almost like she needed to trade in her soul for that proverbial green grass.

I don't like to make wishes mainly because, in my experience, wishes have come true in the most terrible of ways. So I don't believe in wishes. But I guess what I should think about is when I long for what's on the other side of the fence. What will I be giving up? How might I already be fulfilling my so-called destiny? I wonder about these things all the time. But I know that everything happens for a reason so instead of conquering the green grass on the other side of the fence, I think I'll tackle what's already up at bat. And maybe someday, I'll have Ariel's perfect ending.

A Disney Coincidence

We were having a conversation about Disney yesterday. And I didn't realize the fact that most Disney movies don't have a mother! The female role is rather naïve or non-existent within Disney movies. What is that about??

Think about it:
The Little Mermaid only got scolded by King Triton (and Sebastian and Flounder)
Belle had that cute little absent-minded father in Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella only had a father and when he died, she was left with an evil stepmother
Nemo's mommy died in the beginning (though this was Pixar and way after Walt's time)
And let's not forget about Bambi… need I say more?

I did a little bit of investigating on the topic and here's what I found out. Walt's mom actually died when Walt was 37 from asphyxiation. There was a faulty furnace in the house that Walt actually bought for his parents. He never got over it and felt such guilt for the rest of his life.

But digging a little deeper, we can see that the classic animated Disney movies were all based on stories written by various famous authors (Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm). They are folk tales and fairy tales that were adapted into animated screenplays.

In any case, I haven't said much but I just think it's rather interesting to note that little fact. I had never thought about it like that before!

Random Acts of Meanness

This is the opposite of random acts of kindness - let's call it random acts of meanness. So I'm on my way to jury duty (let's not even go there) and I'm on my way to the Ferry (p.s. - it's raining and miserable out). I get there and I know I'm going to cut it close for the 7:15 boat (yes, I got up before 6am - I don't wanna talk about it). And I see people running, so I start to run, but carefully because the floor is slippery. What is about to happen is someone thinks they can flaunt their little bit of power, a power trip if you will. The guy who opens and closes the door (let's call him Mr. Mean) waits for me to get all the way to the door, only to shut it right in my face. What is that? Who does that?

I realize there is a schedule to follow but come on! You make eye contact with me and literally hold it open until I get to the door. Why not close it sooner? He was completely foul, too. I guess that's the only place where this short, balding man could be taken seriously? N-O-T cool! Of course i said "Why didn't you just shut it sooner," rolled my eyes, and walked away. I gave him the evil eye when I came back from getting coffee (where I actually got undercharged - points for the coffee man).

Don't be like Mr. Mean. As Justin says, "What goes around..."

Taurus, the Bull

I must admit, from time to time, I do check my horoscope on MSN Astrology. That doesn't necessarily mean I believe in all that stuff. I don't believe people can predict the future. What's reading my palm actually going to accomplish? How can that possibly tell me anything about my life? Not to mention, isn't it kind of scary to know things that are going to happen in the future? I think so.

We were driving around the other night and it became a good idea to stop at this psychic's house. First of all, she had a price list up, and her "PYSCHIC" reading costs $25 (you know misspellings drive me insane!). The girls decided to get a tarot card reading, where the psychic was able to tell them all about their life, karma, and aura. She may have said things that were true for my friends but usually they are very vague statements with many options thrown out at you. You can adapt what is said to your life somehow. It's pretty funny. Apparently I was raining on the girls' parade. But I don't believe in it.

Ang read my cards once (you can buy your own deck and follow the instructions). It was a horrible experience! I got all negative cards with death and destruction in them. And here I thought these cards and psychics tell you positive things so that you'll want to keep coming back to it. It's basically luck of the draw with these cards.

I guess I'm not too far off from the psychic thing because I read my horoscope - aligning myself with the stars. But check out my horoscope -

Good things to come in my career (well, yes, I think I'm doing well so far).
Increase in income would most definitely be amazing, but how far is that horizon? (haha).
Different profession (I have been thinking of going to grad school in the future).
Support from friends (all my friends support me the way I support them).

But I'm not sure I could just "Go for it!" because MSN Astrology tells me to. It's a nice idea though. A horoscope or psychic to tell you to do something and though you're nervous, do it anyway because it will all be fine in the end. My issue with these things is when they list different options off and use words like could, might, can, if. Coulda, woulda, shoulda!

Psychics also know how to read you - they deal with people all day long and depending on your reactions to certain things they say, they feed off of that to continue giving you what you want.

In any case, I don't think you'll bring me over to that school of thought. You can continue to try, though. And in the meantime, I'll stick to my horoscopes.

45 ...and umm Confused?

So apparently Scott Baio is 45 …and Single. And his career has gone down the tubes since Charles in Charge. Enter reality TV (if you recall it's one of my addictions).

I've only watched 20 minutes so far (thank you DVR) and I'm already hooked. Haha. The best part had to have been when he brought a bucket of chicken to the house of his first love. Here's the deal:

Scott Baio, of Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi, Charles in Charge, has been in a serious relationship with his girlfriend Renee for a year and a half. In the past he has never been able to make a commitment and has never been married. So he hires a life coach, Doc Ali, to find out why he has such commitment issues and see if he can ever bring himself to get married. The life coach tells him that he needs to sign a contract to do the following: no contact with Renee, no sex, and do everything Doc Ali tells him to do.

His first assignment? Reach out to his first love, to whom he brings that KFC bucket of chicken. Hilarious. I don't know what the rest of this show will bring but honestly it's mindless entertainment. And Scott Baio seems a little bit like a creep (except when he started crying, which actually kind of made me laugh). He's obviously a serial blonde dater and he's dated famous ladies, like Pam Anderson, Heather Locklear, and Nicolette Sheridan (all blonde, btw). I gotta tell ya, I wouldn't really want Scott Baio to be in charge of me…

We shall see how the VH1 show fares, but I guess the burning question on everyone's mind is: Will Chachi ever get married?!?!

Photo: VH1

The Ragin' Road

I've really been realizing lately how much road rage I have. It's actually pretty amusing.

I was driving to Caitlin's the other night and I was stuck behind this guy who was going 15mph. Umm, the speed limit on city streets is 30. Why are you going half the speed limit? I know there's grounds for a ticket when you're speeding, well how about when you're going too slow?? What's the problem, buddy? Don't know where you're going? Pull over and ask for directions! (Must have been a man driving...)

The way I see it, when I'm driving I'm aiming to get somewhere. Get out of my way. It's not me - it's them. Do you realize how many people really can't drive? It's unbelievable! Put your signal on! How am I supposed to know you're making a right turn? It's common road courtesy. Apparently I have to be a good driver - cautious, yet normal - AND a mind-reader.

I guess this stems from the impatient New Yorker within me. I always do this sort of thing while walking through the streets in NYC. I get agitated when a group of tourists is slowly sauntering as if there's no one else on the street. Either walk faster or move to one side of the street - but get out of my way!

Now, I realize my attitude seems a bit harsh. In fact, I think that each time Jess gets in the car with me, she says a little prayer to make sure that we'll get to our destination safely. (But I usually drive in the City when I'm with Jess and NYC driving is totally different than any other experience!!!) I'm cautious, I just get frustrated and don't understand how some people ever got their licenses. And traffic is something else that's very frustrating and a mystery to me, but that's a whole different topic.

All I'm saying is that people need to learn how to drive. I keep being accused of sounding like my grandfather, who has serious road rage issues. He's 80 and thinks that everyone is out to get him. He likes to curse at the drivers and I always worry that his blood pressure is rising as he flips off a newly licensed driver. Then we get an earful about the maneuver of said poor driver and the same poor driver doesn't get yelled at! I'm not that bad... yet...