Children's Games

In addition to today's earlier post, I would like to share about the game I went to on Saturday night. While the game itself was exciting (I believe the 4th inning was almost an hour long?), we were standing in the picnic area (read: children everywhere). There is a distinct sign that says "No Ball Playing" by this little strip of mulched ground where I suppose children attending the games like the start their own games of baseball but could potentially harm/distract others. Needless to say, the children at Saturday's game created their own version of baseball using empty plastic bottles.

It was quite amusing. It always amazes me how children who do not know each other can start up a game and act as if they are all best friends (or enemies in some cases-there was quite the rule enforcer present). So there was this adult rule enforcer who could not stand the fact that there were children present and they were enjoying themselves. There seems to always be that kind of adult present wherever fun is to be had. So she tells them to recycle the plastic bottles they are using instead of continuing their game. I have to add at this point that we are standing in front of a recylcing bin. Suddenly we hear a wave of chants- not for the baseball game-but for "recycling!!!" and five or six little boys proceed to find every plastic bottle within a half mile radius to put into the recylcing bin. At one point Matt was like, "I don't know what more surprising, the enthusiam these kids are showing for recylcing or that so many people litter." It was quite a sight. They filled the recycling bin completely. Now if only we could get the adults to have that same enthusiam...

The U Fan

So I went to some UM baseball games this weekend. It was a lot of fun to feel like part of the community. Strangers were giving high fives, people were cheering, overpriced food and beverages were being consumed...it was rather nice in all. Anyways, on Sunday's game we actually made it in time to sit in the regular general admission seats (as compared to Saturday's game when we foolishly arrived late and got to stand under a tree out by left field for the marathon 4+ hour game which I'm actually not complaining about as there was a nice breeze and the tree offered protection from the rain). I don't know if it's just Miami as I don't have a lot to compare to, but I feel like UM fans are particularly funny/mean to opposing teams. Yesterday had two prime examples.

So apparently on Friday (I wasn't there) one of the Arizona players hit a home run and I'm guessing the crowd started booing and so the AZ guy turns to the crowd and shooshes them. I guess he didn't know what kind of fans he was dealing with because for the rest of the tournament (Saturday and Sunday) whenever this guy went up to bat the crowd started making shooshing noises. They also shooshed him whenever he made a bad play on the field. It's all about the U.

The second one, which I found a bit mean but that's because I always feel sorry for people who get picked on without deserving it, involved AZ's catcher. He was very tall and very skinny. And his name was Dwight. So on Sunday, at this guy's first at bat, a fan runs down to the walk way at the stadium and holds up a sign that says "muscle milk" and the crowd starts chanting "muscle milk." This went on for the entire game, every time this kid was at bat. It was funny. But I also felt kind of bad for the kid. I mean his name is Dwight and he's tall and skinny. I doubt he needs a full stadium pointing that out.

So is this normal fan behavior? Maybe, but that is one of the fun things about experiencing the U.

And now the Canes are advancing to the College World Series, so C-A-N-E-S CANES!

Road to Adulthood

So I think I'm becoming an adult. Matt is out of the house on Thursday nights, and during my alone time I choose to clean. Yes. We're talking sanitizing, mopping, vacuuming, dish doing, etc. I am CHOOSING to do this, and the worst part is, I kind of enjoy it. I turn up the ipod, get in the groove, and the next thing I know I have a lavender scented clean apartment (Ms. Myers cleaning supplies are AWESOME in case you were wondering. I get them at Wholefoods). It's kind of nice. I also enjoy baking pies and meatloaves. When did this happen? Next thing you know I will being hosting dinner parties.

9-5ish

I am having a really hard time sitting at a computer for eight hours a day. This is not the job for me. I want to be up and moving and interacting with people, not destroying my already weak eyes and losing muscle mass. Save me. Even now, when I have projects to be working on, I have no motivation to do them and would rather keep staring at the clock in the right hand corner of my computer screen. I also pass time by drinking lots of water, which means I am constantly getting up to use the restroom. People must think I have some kind of problem. Maybe I do. But all I know is that right now I want to run out of the office and be anywhere but here.

In other news/observations, I suppose it is my lack of real employment thus far, but since I am working full time (for the most part) this summer, I always assumed an eight hour working day also included lunch. Apparently it does not. This saddens me greatly, realizing that if I choose to eat lunch, I will be forced to sit at my lonely work station for at least another 30 minutes. LAME.

Another thing to add-I have no phone by my desk. And no cell phone reception either. So if someone calls me or I have to make a phone call, I have to wander around the office looking for a vacant desk to use their phone. The lamp shipment guy with the Lion King cell phone ring has his own phone. What the heck? Where does that place me in the office food chain? There are also no windows in my section of the office. No windows, no phone calls, off-white walls everywhere...seriously I'm going crazy. Get me out of here.

Happiest Place on Earth

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Disney World with Matt and his family. Although not the most relaxing trip, we had such a fun time just being kids and running from ride to ride and show to show.

There are a lot of dumb people out there, and Disney World was a showcase of a lot of them. I'm guessing most of you have been to Disney World at some point in your life, but in case you need a refresher on how a fast pass works, let me explain. You take your park entry ticket to rides and shows that have the fast pass option and stick it in these machines that give you a ticket for the ride you want with a return time (usually about 30-60 minutes from the time you get the fast pass). Once you can use your fast pass, you get in the fast pass lane and are typically on the ride within 10 minutes, regardless of the normal wait. Wonderful. Amazing. So we would get fast passes to the big rides and then go watch a show or do a smaller ride while waiting for our return time. Also note that these are available for anyone. No extra fees, special tickets or anything.

With that said, people would wait over an hour for a ride that they could get a fast pass for. Who are these people?? In some cases we would walk by over 100 people in the normal line and get right on the ride. I simply cannot rationalize waiting in line for an hour for something when I could come back in about an hour with a fast pass and get on the ride immediately. There are even descriptions of how to use the fast pass on every copy of the park maps. We never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride or show. Not only are you bored standing in line for an hour, but that is also time you could be spending doing other fun things. I don't get it. But as I walk by these people, I think to myself, I am smarter than you. And it feels good.

Capitalization

Whenever I read self-help/spiritual type books, I find it incredibly distracting/annoying when certain words are capitalized. Such examples include Oneness and Being and Essence. Bleh. It just makes the book seem so hokey. I mean I guess I get what the author is trying to do, but to me it's just distracting. I like to save capitalization for the beginning of sentences and proper nouns.

ASIDE: I'm not huge into the self-help type of literature, but every once in awhile it makes me stop being so stressed about silly little things, so I find that's good.

In a somewhat related note, I am that person on the current Stuff White People Like entry-the grammar freak. Grammatical errors are the first thing I notice when reading something. I think it's the engineer in me. To continue this stream of thought, I find I can relate all too well to many of the SWPL (sorry got lazy) blog entries. I just realized I also like to capitalize abbrievations/acronyms. I feel that that is acceptable. Also, once I throw myself out there as a grammar nut, I am now more aware/worried about people being more judgemental of my errors. Then I realize that the only people who would do that were probably already judging me anyways, so it's no big deal after all. See what the self-help books have taught me? Don't sweat the small stuff. ;) Easy in theory; hard in practice. I'm working on it though. Now I should get back to work.

Homeless

So I was reading in Reader's Digest (stop judging me-I mainly read it for the jokes) about cities that are taking old parking meters and using them to donate change to the homeless. This is supposed to reduce panhandling while still giving people the opportunity to make a difference. For an example, read this:
http://cbs4denver.com/local/Colorado.news.Denver.2.557029.html

I, as usual, have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, seeing homeless people with their ratty clothing, missing teeth, frazzled hair and cardboard signs proclaiming their love for the Lord makes me incredibly uncomfortable, so getting rid of pan handling is a definite plus in my book. However, seeing these people every day when I drive to work does make me aware that they are real people. Simply dropping some loose change into what looks like a parking meter makes me feel like I'm doing something "good" without having that uncomfortable interaction with the homeless. However, because actually seeing a homeless person is undesirable for the average American, the homeless might get more benefits because people would actually drop money in a meter but not into a used McDonald's cup. This also removes some question as to what the homeless person will purchase...alcohol/drugs... (you know you've thought that at least once in your life and if you haven't, well, I'm impressed), so I guess after listing the pros and cons, I'd say it's at least a nice effort.

On a some what related note, whenever I see a homeless person, I wonder how they got to that point in their life. Did they attend school until they were 16? What were their families like? Did they ever try to find a job? They most likely weren't born homeless, so what happened to their old home? Did they get kicked out of the house when they were teenagers? These are just a few examples.

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone, and the next time you see a homeless person (if you are in Miami that will probably be on your drive home) maybe he/she will make you stop and think a little. With that said, I would like to note that I do not give out money to panhandlers, but it does make me wonder what is happening to our society.