The Sox

I’m a Red Sox fan. I used to be a big fan when I was little (I even have Roger Clemens’ rookie card), lost interest, and am now a big fan again. I love Fenway Park. The uncomfortable seats, crowded T, $7 beers and the best hog dogs around. I saw a Yankee fan harassed by Sox fans at a Devil Dogs game. It was great. (Really. Why would you wear a Yankees hat in Boston to a Boston/Tampa game? The kid was clearly asking for it).

I was at the Yankees game with the infamous Varitek/ARod fight. My thighs were bruised from jumping up so fast I hit them on the seat in front of me. I almost cried when the Yankee fan behind me called Varitek a pussy. And my throat hurt for days after screaming for Bill Mueller’s walk off home run off of Marian-A Rivera, and chanting “Yankees Suck” to the tune of Dirty Water.

I cried when they won the World Series. And I stood in the rain for hours by Mass General to see the “Rolling Rally." You know those teeny boppers you see on tv crying and fainting because N’Sync signed their CD? That was me, except at 26, knees shaking and trying not to cry as the Boston cop assigned to keeping our section in line led us in a rousing round of Sweet Caroline. I swear Bronson Arroyo looked right at me (my friend said it was because I screamed “Bronson!” at the top of my lungs).

After the rally, we walked to the Common and took pictures in front of the World Champions banner outside of the State House. It was one of the best days of my life. And, on a bittersweet note, I gave a picture of J & I in front of the banner to my Papa for Christmas. He passed away after a hard battle with cancer less than 6 months after the Sox won the Series, and I’m so glad he lived to see it. We buried him with a Sox cap.

Ohio: A Photo Essay

For a state with no ocean, these people sell an awful lot of lighthouse stuff. And saltwater taffy. Yes, I know the lake is really big, but its not an ocean. I don't care if its like an ocean.

The Amish make some great cheese. And they are not stingy with their samples. Hundreds of teeny cheese cubes everywhere! I thought I was in heaven.

And by the way: Rainbow sherbet flavored cream cheese is every bit as nasty as it sounds. Trust me.

Cleveland fans get cranky when they lose. Especially when they are sitting in front of a row of Boston fans. They also don't seem too thrilled with the original dirt dog, Trot Nixon. He must be sad out there, what with the weird accents and all. But it was a heck of a game, and the Jake is a pretty cool stadium. (The Jake is a cool name for a stadium, by the way. "The Fen" just doesn't seem to work very well).

Drive thru liquor stores = brilliant! Plus, they sell live bait & dog food. And, three different kinds of Zima (if you're into that kind of crap, er, stuff).

One stop shopping, and you don't even have to leave the car!

People in Ohio (Ohioans?) know how to cook my favorite things. Sausage Gravy & Biscuits. Chicken & Noodles over mashed potatoes. Who comes up with these things? (Aside from Bob Evans, of course). I'm fairly sure my ginormous breakfast was at least 1,500 calories. But, I can't find the info on Bob's site, so I'll just say it was 300 and call it a day.

Fireworks are legal to buy, but are illegal to light.

Define that logic. (Best sign ever, by the way).

Dollar dogs don't taste great, but they're only a dollar. 6 per person limit though, which was a bit sad. I heard they sold 27,000 hot dogs. That's a lot of, well, whatever actually goes in hot dogs.

The beers at the Jake were only slightly less expensive than at Fenway. But they're twenty four ounces. And they sell them in the stands. Unfortunately, they pour the big cans into a cup. I love beers in cans as big as my head, so I was a bit disappointed.

The Amish also know their wine. Which kind of surprised me. Goes well with their cheese. And, if you wrap a bottle in a sweatshirt really well, it will survive the flight to Boston.

Basically, I can't say for sure if Cleveland rocks or not as we were only there for a few hours. But this lamp in a downtown window definitely does rock. Careful! Its Fra-gee-lee... that must be Italian!

Cleveland Rocks!

To be fair, I'm not really sure if Cleveland does, indeed, rock. (I actually couldn't even spell it correctly). But I'll find out this weekend and be sure to let you all know! J & I are headed out to Ohio for four days to visit some friends. I've been to Columbus for the weekend, and was so mesmerized by the flatness and lack of ocean, that I can't wait to return!

To get myself excited about our trip out (mid-) West, I looked up some fun facts about Ohio:

• "Hang On Sloopy" is the official state rock song. (The MA state song is "All Hail Massachusetts" Yawn).
• Akron is the rubber capital of the world.
• East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland was the site of the first pedestrian button for the control of a traffic light. The boy chosen for the 1948 newsreel to demonstrate its operation was Louis Spronze.
• Dresden is the home of the world's largest basket. It is located at Basket Village USA. (Basket Village! That must really be the happiest place on Earth!)
• Ohio is known as the Buckeye State. (This I knew. And, I've had buckeye candy. Its almost like I'm an OH resident!)
• Ohio gave America its first hot dog in 1900. Harry M. Stevens created the popular dining dog. (Now, this I like. We're even going to Dollar Dog Night at the Indians/Sox game. They're going to lose money on me -- I can eat a lot of hot dogs!)

I hope you all (all = my 5 faithful readers) enjoy your weekends/week beginnings and pray I don't get beat up on Tuesday night for wearing a Dice-K shirt to Jacobs Field. While you're at it, please pray for the Red Sox to actually win a stinking game in July. Seven games is a sad, sad lead.

Oh, the hilarity

This news article is so riddled with dumb jokes, it makes me think "Huddala, Huddala" ala my favorite comedian, Lil Jimmy Norton.

Robber disguised as tree hits N.H. bank
July 8, 2007
MANCHESTER, N.H. --Leaf it to New Hampshire, where a bank branch was held up by a man disguised as a tree.
Just as the Citizen Bank branch opened Saturday morning, a man walked in with leafy boughs duct-taped to his head and torso, and robbed the place.
"He really went out on a limb," police Sgt. Ernie Goodno said Sunday.
Police said the leafy man didn't saying anything about having a weapon, just demanded cash, and was given an undisclosed amount.
Although the branches and leaves obscured much of the man's face, someone who saw images from the bank's security camera recognized the robber and called police.
Officers said James Coldwell, 49, was arrested early Sunday at his Manchester home and charged with robbery. Arraignment was not expected until Monday

Rock Lobster

The Nana was a big winner at the 7/7/07 drawing at the casino, and she left J & I some cash for dinner. I've been jonseing for a lobster, so we headed down to the water, intent on getting lobster and hopefully trying somewhere new. We're really good at coming up with tons of restaurants we want to eat at, but never going to them because we like to go to the same old comfortable places where you know the food will be good.

We tried to try somewhere new, really we did, but we looked at menus for two new places and neither of them had lobster. What the freak? I could see the water from the restaurant, how could they not have lobster? Can't you just go pluck them out of the harbor? (Hah-bah, for those Bostonians playing along at home.) Anyways, we headed to a place we've been to numerous times, a place with the best clam chowder ever. Why is it the best clam chowder ever, you ask? Well, because it is served with a pat of butter on top. How can we make an uber-fattening food even more fattening? Add tasty lard! Brilliant! (No, seriously. It is brilliant.)

Have you had lobster lately? Do you know what they cost? Almost as much as a tank of gas! $30 for a 1-1/4 pound lobster with some sides. Thank goodness for the Nana's gambling problem! And they're a lot of work. I probably should have gotten extra bibs for the patrons at the tables near us, as I'm pretty sure half of my meat landed over there. At the price I was paying, I wanted to pick it out of the hair of the girl at the table next to us, but I thought it might be awkward for her date. J looked at me at one point, while I had my bib on, crackers in one hand, tongue sticking out in concentration, lobster juice flying everywhere, and said "I really can't take you anywhere, can I?"

Thankfully, the lobster did not look like this one. I may have never eaten lobster again. Despite the price and the mess, the lobster was fabulous. And the waitress seemed genuinely impressed that J & I could put down as much food as we did. Woo-hoo! Eat that, Kobayashi!

So.

I've got a blog. Well, I already had a blog, but I didn't like the name, so a made a new one. I've been thinking about making a blog for a while now, but the main thing holding me back was the name. Its hard enough to pick an e-mail address, for the love of Jimmy. Creating a blog name that's catchy and defines me is even harder. And then the options that come with the responsibility of a blog are almost enough to make my anal little mind spin out of control.

Okay, I didn't really create the title, I stole it from one of my favorite shows, the Office. It fits me to a tee some days, usually on days I'm at work or in crowds of people. Neither happen to be my favorite places to be. Beer helps me deal with both.

If you found this blog, its most likely because I know you IRL or I know you from the internets. So you most likely know about me, but, just in case you care to know more, here's me in a nutshell: I live near Boston and love the Red Sox. I'm creeping up on 30 and not looking forward to it. I just got married and love my husband (obviously. If I didn't I wouldn't have married him). I send out junk mail for a living, and, depending on the day, like it (love is a strong word in this situation) or hate it. I am a runner, and, also depending on the day, love it or hate it.

So, that's me, and this is my blog. I don't know much about blogging, and may inadvertently steal ideas from some of my favorite bloggers, but I'm sure they'll either understand or bitch slap me as needed. I'm cool with that.