What Am I Going to Do With Myself Now?

The World Series is over. How do I fill my nights now?

Happy Halloween, by the way!!

Tap the Rockies!!!!!!!

The Red Sox did it....AGAIN!



Dice K finally looks happy. After a choppy season, he put in a fine performance in the World Series!



I love this photo of Hideki Okajima because while he is humble in the face of the fans, this Red Sox fan feels justified in doing a little in-your-face GLOATING!!!!! I've held off all this time and its been killing me! Red Sox Rule!!!! Woo-hoo!!

Ok, end of gloat fest. I fear that any overdoing it could lead to impending doom in future seasons. But come on, you gotta give me a little gloat time!



Here's my dude, Papi, having a little post-game celebration.



So, tomorrow, before you head out to the Red Sox parade (route shown below)......



make sure to gather up your cheering strength in a nice bowl of Josh Beckett Wheaties!!!

Voila!

Finally, I am able to upload photos taken on my new Canon camera.

My subject, of course, is Fenway Park. This is where some magic happened last night. Let's hope Dice-K can bring it tonight.

PIcture's Worth a Thousand Words...When I Can Actually Post One, That Is!

Bummer. The picture-post function doesn't seem to work right now.

We went to Best Buy today to replace the Fujifilm camera we returned earlier this month. I think I wanted that camera to be great, but in the end, it just wasn't. And, if I allow myself to toot my own horn for just a moment here, I'm not such a bad photographer. I might as well have a decent camera to practice my "craft."

Anyway, last night, I saw a great little Canon at BestBuy online, marked down from 250 to 220. I figured I would just go to the store today, check it out, and pick it up if I liked it.

Funny thing was, at the store, they had the exact same camera, but instead of being black around the lens (which was a pretty cool accent look), the camera was entirely silver. I asked the guy about the sale price (not really caring whether the thing was silver or black), but the guy said the sale price was only for the back camera, which is only available online.

After toying around with the camera for a while, I decided it was the right one for me, but also determined that I would just order it online to save a few dollars. Before I left the store, I decided I would ask the dude whether the store protection plan and memory cards were also available online. Smelling a decent sale, the salesjerk told me to hang on a minute so that he could go ask his manger whether they could just offer me the online sale price on the model they had in the store.

Ten seconds later, he was back, telling me his manager approved the sale price.

I guess in the end, it was worth them to take the 30 dollars off in order to make a sale with all the attaches (memory card, protection plan, etc.)

And before you admonish me for taking the protection plan that you probably would never buy, just keep in mind that I'm a total klutz, and that I screwed my last Fujifilm camera (that I LOVED) by busting an entire bottle of Gatorade on it in my backpack. The Best Buy protection plan even covers water damage, which is pretty unusual for a store protection policy. I know at the Apple dump, we didn't cover water or otherwise "accidental damage."

Anyway, we took some pretty kickass pictures of Fenway Park after we bought the camera. (The Best Buy is right in the shadows of Fenway Park), which I would love to have posted. However, the blogger website has decided it shan't be.

Perhaps posting pictures would be akin to gloating, and so it might even be better to post nothing at all.

I quit. I give up.

Ok, so before I get to the true thrust of this post, let me just say that Red Sox pitcher, Josh Beckett, can BRING IT!!!

Make no mistakes. This is not gloating. This is stating a clear and undisputable fact. The kid is impeccable. At this point, it almost seems as if the entire Red Sox team is resting on this kid's shoulder. But perhaps that's where they should be looking because, as I said, this kid is a sick pitcher!!!!!



OK, onto my real message.

I quit.

I give up.

I have been trying to continue my usual regimin of step aerobics classes in spite of my horrible, hideous, hateful, motherfucking plantar faciitis. However, the time has come for me to admit that I cannot continue any longer.

I have altered my schedule to replace some of my step classes. I've been limiting my step classes and trying to work in alternative workouts. However, this week I've learned that I can no longer even afford to get the occasional step workout.

Last night, I almost wept as I watched my usual Thursday step class get underway, as I walked into the neighboring studio for a spinning class.



I really dislike spinning. The techno music preferred by a majority of the instructors is not to my liking. My ass kills by the end of the hour. And the thought of sitting on a stationary bike and going nowhere drives me nuts. But the workout is good and I can't deny the fact that I sweat my ass of.



On Tuesdays, I've begun to abandon my step class for kickboxing. It is still somewhat taxing on my poor foot, but when the class is over, I still have some limited ability to walk from the studio.

Tonight, I decided to screw it and take a step class. I would not even mind,but it was just a 40 minute step/20 minutes weight class. I survived the step portion of the class, but had to take my leave during the forward lunges portion of the class. I was either placing all my weight in my left heel to lunge into it, or keeping it constant flexion to lunge into the right foot. Either way, I was screwed.

I am sleeping in the below pictured splint every night. I am wearing my Dansko clogs as perscribed. I've had the cortisone shots. All to no avail. My doc says surgery by February if all isn't well. Somehow, based upon what's going on, I doubt I'll be well by February.




I'm starting to be bummed out big time.

At least I have the Sox game tomorrow night.

Papi, Don't Fail Me Now!

Fingers crossed. The Sox absolutely HAVE TO do something in this game tonight. They have to. They just have to!!!

Good Morning.

Is it just wrong that when I wake up in the morning, it is so pitch black that I can't even find my way to the light switch?

Just asking.

Anyway, here's the camera I'm eyeing.



The only drawback is the fact that the thing takes regular batteries (as opposed to using a rechargable battery.) My experience with my last camera was that the thing ruled, but the bateries died every three seconds.

I guess I should keep my search open.

Anyway, did you see the Sox last night? Let's not talk about it.

Killing Time

It is 10:30 Sunday morning and I'm at the gym. I 've just finished my workout, but I need to go to TJ MAXX, which does not open until 11:00. I figured I'd use the gym computer to update my blog while I kill a few minutes. You see, the store is just a stone's throw from here, and if I leave the gym now, I'll get there way too early. You probably already figured that out, though. I think sometimes I overexplain thing. That's probably typical of teachers.

I digress...

Anyway, not much to report.

I could start with the Red Sox, I guess. Last night's game was an exciting, close, into-overtime game. I fell asleep when the Red Sox were down just 5-4, and woke up at the top of the 11th inning. Just in time to witness the wheels come off of the Red Sox bullpen. Jesus. In game one, the Red Sox tore the wheels off the Indians in the 4th inning. But last night was awful. It would have been one thing to fall apart early in the game, but the fact that so much time and energy was invested to keep things close throughout the entire 9 innings, only makes the huge loss in the 11th all the more devastating. And believe me, the loss was a devastating one. Not just a one or two run defecit in the end, but rather a 7 run shortcoming.

But that's OK. The Sox are headed to Cleveland where, after a day's rest, they will try to reclaim some ownership of this series. Fingers crossed.

And remember....NO GLOATING.

In an entirely different rambling subject...

I feel like I must confess.

I was only partially responsible for the lovely pictures posted in my last "Fall in New England" entry. You see, I did in fact take the pictures, but then I treated them on iPhoto before publishing them. I did some color boosting, adjusting of exposure, temperature, contrast, shadows, etc. iPhoto has some fantastic tools for editing photos. But the problem was that the original pictures were rather flat and lacked all that vibrancy of photos taken with my previous camera. (You know, the one I drowned in a bottle of gatorade on my honeymoon.) Stephen bought me a new camera for my birthday. Like my last camera, this was a little Fujifilm. I was really excited to use it. One of the things I always loved about my last Fujifilm camera was the fact that the colors were always so freakin' brilliant, even before I tweaked little things on iPhoto. With this camera, however, I had to practically alter the entire photo to get it where I wanted it to be.

So, with a heavy heart, I decided to return the camera. It was purchased online, so I'm hoping the return goes smoothly.

I haven't given up on Fujifilm yet. I think I will try to get the camera I had before and see if that's any better.

Damn!

OK, I have to get going. We have a wedding today. Lots of stuff to iron, etc. And of course, there's that TJ MAXX pit stop to make before going home.

Peace out, fools!!

Memo to Red Sox Nation

Date: 8 October, 2007
Time: 16:05:00
To: Red Sox Nation
From: Nants
Re: Gloat Free Zone

In 2003, encouraged by a promising performance by the Red Sox against the Yankees in early ALCS games, I jumped the gun and began gloating about the team's prowess and jumping to the conclusion that they would take the ALCS, and then move on to sure victory in the World Series. My most shameful gloat fest took place during a phone conversation with my friend Leslie, a Yankees fan. How can we be friends, you ask? That's a topic for another day.

We all know what happened in 2003. Leslie was quick to remind me of my premature gloating, and ascribed the demise of the Sox to it.

I promised her, myself, and anybody who would listen, that in the future, no matter how well the Sox are doing, I will not gloat.

I have not allowed myself a single word of premature gloating since.

I urge the members of Red Sox nation to join me now, in this pivotal hour, to refrain from premature gloating. Yes, the Sox swept the Angels in the ALDS, and this is wonderful, celetration-worthy news. But please, folks, limit your rejoicing to a celebration of the Sox good work and fortune. Do not let your revelry cross the line into gloating. I beg of you.

If you do gloat, please make sure that I don't hear a single word of it. I can't be party to premature gloating.

So, with that said, I will close in saying that I am celebrating the ALDS victory, and I'm looking forward with non-gloating optimism, for the upcoming ALCS.

I sign out in reminding my readers that this is a gloat free zone.

Autumn in New England

Stephen and I went to the cabin this weekend. It was a typical cabin outing. Bad food. Too much beer. Stupid movies. Well, I say "stupid movies" although I don't think I have ever seen a full movie through to the end at the cabin. I usually fall asleep long before the end. Usually I fall asleep through the opening credits.

Anyway, I digress.

I usually can be herd complaining loud and hard and at length about the absolute torture of a New England winter. Here, however, are a series of photographs I took of the glorious New England Autumn.

The pictures were taken with the great new Fujifilm digital camera Stephen bought me for my birthday.

My god...

My school year has been crazy so far. Two students arrested already. It is early October.

Whatever.

I turn 34 tomorrow. Woo-hoo.

Celebration