over the knoll

I have never dreaded a birthday before... not that I'm even really 'dreading' this particular birthday THAT much, but it HAS been in my thoughts more than any other that I've ever had... and only because of the number associated with this one.

October 5: I'm turning 27.

I know that most of you that read this blog are older than I am so maybe you can back me up here (either that, or just shake your head in amusement)... presently, I am 26, feeling good about life, feeling young, feeling like I'm in my mid-twenties... but 27, well, now that's just staring 30 right in the face.

So, we have a huge shift here... mid-tewnties to late twenties... one minute I'll be here, and the next I'll be there... the clock will strike at midnight and it will all be over... my youth will be swallowed up with 12 chimes of the ol' grandfather clock...

when the crap did I get this freaking old?

sneakers

My brother thinks this is the funniest word known to man. I don't know why. He is weird.
I think he finds this particularly piquant for the duality of the word...
for the record, here are the two definitions for 'sneaker' in the dictionary:
1. One who sneaks.
2. A sports shoe usually made of canvas and having soft rubber soles (Perfect for sneaking*). Also called tennis shoe.

*my addition

This leads me to think about who should be wearing these sneakers...

Maybe we should refer to hunting boots as sneakers.

And what about the cunning cat-burglar? If anyone needs a good pair of sneakers, it is most definitely he.

The SWAT team should invest in some as well...

the list could go on...
bottom line: my brother's mind is warped.

But those with warped minds always turn out to be geniuses.

AG Silver

Last night I was nostalgic yet again. Many of you can't really understand what this band called AG Silver does to me. The best way that I can properly explain this is by simply saying "they make me happy". For those of you who know me well know that I hate going places by myself, especially social settings like concerts... and it's even worse when I have to drive longer than a half hour to get there... but I knew I couldn't miss this for the life of me.

I was introduced to AG Silver in the fall of 1998. I was a mere freshman in college and thought I'd go check out my friend Dustin's band (also a freshman). From that point on, I was in love.

Now 8 years later, after a hiatus and a new bass player, I am even more in love. Something about this music sends me skyward. I can't put my finger on why, but it happens.

So last night... I'm sitting by myself (but hardly, in a packed Knickerbocker Theater), smiling like a school girl in a pretty new dress, singing every word to every song...

my mind transcends time...

for a few short seconds...

re-living moments from past shows...

in the spring of 2000 I was able to perform a song I had written with them at their Quincerpalooza show... The year they won Aris' hometown rock search I was back stage, doing the 'guitar-hand-off' thing with Chris... Celebration on the Grand... with Dexter Freebish at the old Intersection... too many more to list...

all this floods through my mind rapidly...

just snapshots...

I was by myself, but last night that was okay. There was a theater full of people celebrating the same thing in their own minds, doing their own transcending. It was a beautiful night of music.

AG Silver.

something about them makes me happy.

yet again....

One year ago on this blog I called a Notre Dame win... UM was ranked 2nd in the nation, and I bet against my Wolverines... and, to my shagrin, I was correct. This year is even a tougher call... Notre Dame is the easy pick for three reasons... They are the number 2 team in the nation while Michigan is number 11 (the most meaningless reason)... Notre Dame has handed it to Michigan the last two years and Michigan hasn't won on the road in South Bend since '94. This has all the makings of a Notre Dame win... the third reason that this is an easy pick is because if I pick Notre Dame to win and they do, then I was right... If Michigan wins, I was wrong, but I'm overjoyed with the outcome despite my err in prophecy...

pickle.

Okay, so here are my keys to a UM victory:
1.) Don't let Brady Quinn beat you. He has, in my opinion, two of the greatest receivers in the nation in McKnight and Samardzija.
2.) Get Hart involved early and establish the run. If ND has a weakness it's their run defense. UM has two solid backs in Grady and Hart which should punish ND's soft defensive line.
3.) Give Breaston 10 touches besides special teams. If you put the ball in his hands, he is bound to make a big play.
4.) Break Darius Walker's leg.

My call today, however difficult this may be for me, is Michigan outlasting the Irish in overtime 38-31. (here's me crossing my fingers)


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I just realized how hard it is to look at that prediction... I am willing to live with it and take my helmet of shame with me everywhere I go if I am proven wrong...

(sigh)

dreaming of alpacas

This last weekend I went with good friend Aimee to her home town of Olivet, MI. I knew that her family raised these lovely animals called alpacas, but I didn't really know anything about them before I went. As it turns out I got to help wrangle these animals into a pen so they could give them shots... and they hate shots... they were acutally whining audibly about the situation. It was pretty funny. They also have a llama named Vinny. He's like the body gaurd for these alpacas... he didn't like me too much. Everytime I would try to walk up to him he would lay his ears back and cluck at me... I really didn't have anything against him though... On our way home Saturday night I told Aimee that I'd probably have dreams about alpacas and llamas, and I actually did... I don't really remember what the dream was about, but I just remember them being everywhere and all around me and I didn't really know what I was doing there amidst all these animals! Oh alpacas... I'll never be the same.

just kidding.

post one hundred and twenty

2:53 am

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Tonight my thoughts are held hostage by the past. I am not allowed to sleep until I indulge my memory of every moment I can conjure up. Right now, there is no escape. It is, however, curiously entertaining.

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Photographs... many photographs... why do I still have these? I don't think I ever could let go. All these years I've known that they were still there waiting for me, but tonight I looked at them. I looked at them knowing full well the danger of what it might stir up.

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Everything is re-lived tonight in my mind... what-if's loom largely, emotions hang in the balance.

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I say to myself: 'No. No, that could never work.' But I'm still a hostage to the thought. It's funny how a chain of events can lead me to this entrapment.

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coincidence? Aw, who am I kidding.