A few random thoughts...summer seems to have finally arrived here, yay! It's been hazy, hot, and humid the last few days, but after the prolonged winter and spring that seemed as if it was never going to end, no one's complaining! Good, warm runs and workouts the last several days, even been able to get a lil color...aaaaahhhhh! :)

The NBA Draft was last night, the Celtics did a little wheeling and dealing to get the PG they apparently wanted, Marcus Banks. I hadn't seen a whole lot of him from UNLV, but the C's braintrust had him in for a workout not too oong back and obviously liked what they saw...I heard an interview with him this morning, he said all the right things, came across as confident and assured of his abilities, but not cocky or arrogant...they also made a deal to acquire Kendrick Perkins, a 6'10" high schooler; we'll have to see how that works out...hopefuly these picks will give them a lil more depth, help get them over the hump in the playoffs next season...

A couple of under-appreciated rock acts: Bob Seger, and the Allman Bros. Band...both of 'em have been around forever, lotsa hits, lotsa songs everybody knows, but they're seldom mentioned among the "elite" of rock (just my opinion...:) And I guess Springsteen is going to get to play Fenway Park in September, oughtta be interesting (tix sold out in no time!)...a friend of mine is in the midst of a trip to Italy- left last Sunday- and may come back having made a "committment" as it were...good luck! :)

Another weekend w/ yet the "same old, same old"- again...I sometimes wish I was "free-spirited" enuf to follow my own path, but I tend to be a fairly, I dunno, strait-laced or traditional-type person, at least in that sense...plus in this uncertain and shaky economy, there is something to be said for stability...but still...I know I'm letting myself miss out on a lot of things, a lot of people, by trying to maintain that "stability"...the manner in which I've maintained my life for awhile now- longer than I care to think, or admit- I know I've drifted apart from people, or alienated people because of my not being able to make more time for them...believe me, I don't enjoy doing that...and anyone whom I've disappointed, or appear to have blown off, please believe me- it's NOT you, it's NOT a negative reflection upon you at all...I suppose it's a negative reflection upon me, lacking the will, the courage, whatever, to let go of some of that "stability," to be a lil more spontaneous...I'm sorry...

"I feel the heat of your frustration/I know it's burnin' you up deep down inside..."

I saw the darndest thing in the sky this morning, wasn't sure what it was at first- it was this big, bright, sort of round, yellow-colored thing...oh yeah, it's called "the sun!" It's made very few appearances around these parts this spring!

Ran a roadrace down in my hometown this morning w/ a friend of mine from high school; it wasn't too long, just a 5 miler...was a little disappointed in my time, had hoped to have done a lil better than I did...I can make a bunch of excuses (my mileage is down this spring due to the weather and a series of nagging little injuries, my weight is- agh!- a few pounds above my optimal weight, ad infinitum...) but I felt good this morning, the weather was good- albeit maybe just a tad warmer than I'd have liked to run, it was a decent course...really, I need to push myself a little harder out there than I probably do...it WAS the first race I've run in quite awhile, but still...I'm hoping to run another one the 4th of July, if I can make it...

"I was born in a small town/And I can breathe in a small town/Gonna die in a small town/And that's probably where they'll bury me..."

A quick hit...the other night, while perusing a magazine stand, I came across- for $9.95!!!- a tribute magazine for Lebron James! Can you believe it?! Ten dollars for a magazine devoted to the HIGH SCHOOL basketball "career" of young Mr. James. Anything for a dollar I guess, but who (save Lebron's mother) would shell out ten dollars for a puff piece "tribute" to the "career" of a high school basketball player?! Maybe our society's values ARE out of whack...

"Basketball jones/I got a basketball jones/Got a basketball jones, oh baby, ooh-ooh-oooooh..."

No sense complaining about the weather, there's nothing I can do about it...(but ANOTHER weekend cool, cloudy, and damp- waaaaaaaahhhh...)

You know you're getting- gasp!- older when you start to hear more and more songs from your childhood on the "oldies" station...for me, it's when they start playing mid/late 70's songs from the likes of Bob Seger, The Eagles, Village People, Little River Band (quick- who remembers them?) and so on...oldies are supposed to be 50's do-wop music, or stuff from the early 60's, even hippie-era stuff, but not MY childhood!

I have such a respect for people who are talented with the written word, and moreso, those who possess that talent and follow through on it, be it creatively, or journalistically (which in itself involves creativity)...part of it is simply that I'm a reader- I love to read, just about anything; newspapers, magazines, web content, books, you name it...and part of it is that I believe I have, or had, some aptitude in that field, if I had followed through on it, way back when...it may sound sort of selfish, or maybe "New Age-y" but there is something to be said for following one's bliss, one's calling as it were...I'm thinking of the classic story told about Kris Kristofferson (yes, I'm a huge Kristofferson fan- at least, of his music)...this guy was a Rhodes Scholar, a brilliant and multi-talented individual, who, in the late 60's, kind of left his life and worked sweeping the studios on Music City Row in Nashville while trying to break into music (I guess you could do that kind of thing in the late 60's!)...but the point is here was a brilliant guy who, in pursuit of his dream, his "calling", worked what many might consider a pretty menial job for a Rhodes Scholar to try to make his own break...(of course, I imagine there are countless more folks who have similarly chased dreams and crashed, but...) I often wonder how folks can scare up- what, the courage, the sense of self, the overwhelming need- to pursue their bliss, their calling, their happiness, be it in terms of livelihood, how they choose to live, etc...

"Its fun to stay at the YMCA..."

Sippin' on an ice cold Diet Vanilla Coke on a- rare!- warm and sunny day...

Had a very good run this morning- finally feeling close to 100% again (my Achilles had been bothering me for quite a while)...now I just need to get my mileage- and times- back up there...good workout at the gym, too...and even shot around a lil bit today! Gosh, have my basketball skills atrophied! My shot was terrible (I was always a better defensive player anyway, lol!)...and worked on my tan, too! :)...Of course, in about an hour...agh...:(

Has anyone seen those television ads for Sheraton hotels, the ones w/ "Let's Spend The Night Together?" Wonder how much the Stones got for that? Has Mick Jagger EVER met a dollar he didn't love?! You have to have some respect for that- an "artist" not afraid to be "sullied" by money...I've been fiddling around w/ my website a bit, adding a few music .wav files, hope you like 'em! Hope to add a few more if/when I have the time when I do my weekly update Sunday...Looks like the Devils will win the Stanley Cup; if the Nets win the NBA Finals, will East Rutherford, NJ be considered the sports capital of America? What a scary thought, lol! (Of course, if the Ducks come back to win, w/ the Angels having won the World Series, the same could be said for Anaheim)...And I am STILL looking for that perfect yellow dress!

RIP- "Classy" Freddie Blassie

"If she knew what she wants (He'd be giving it to her)/If she knew what she needs (He could give her that, too)/If she knew what she wants (But he can't see thru her)/If she knew what she wants/He'd be giving it to her/Giving it to her..."

Random thoughts from yet another rainy weekend...I REALLY luv that early 60's look and vibe in "Down With Love"...the fashions, the attitudes, the music...femininity was still in vogue, albeit one with a bit of an edge, a saucy, less subservient but still decidedly feminine milleu...Renee Zellweger looks absolutely yummy!...At times I think I'm getting into this too much...while on the StairMaster at the gym the other day, they had ESPNNews on several of the televisions...while watching the woman sportsreader do her thing, all I could think of was, "girl, your eye liner is waaaaayyyy too heavy!"...I won't name her, and she IS a talented woman, and an attractive woman in that sort of field hockey player-ish look that I think looks healthy, desirable...but at least that day, WAY too heavy liner! (I hope that doesn't sound too catty- I should look half as attractive as she!)...And I HAVE to stop biting my nails so much, agh!

I see Roger Clemens is STILL looking for #300, this time denied by the powerhouse (hee!) Detroit Tigers! Actually, I'm a Clemens fan, and most likely he'll get it his next start...And how about that Nets-Spurs NBA Final? Two old ABA teams meeting for the championship...someone in one of the papers asked if they'd be bringing back the red, white, and blue ball for it!...Nets in five...What does anyone think about the proposed ACC expansion? Does anyone care? BC, Syracuse, and Miami to the ACC...what further repercussions might occur? Big 10 expansion? The Big East looking for ANYONE who plays 1A football? And wither the Big East, the remaining D1 football schools vs. the others? I've enjoyed Big East basketball over the years, but time to face facts- football is the straw that stirs the major college athletics drink...and the Big East commissioner is being just a BIT disingenous in his outrage at one conference "raiding" another...I didn't hear Mike Tranghese whine when HIS conference took West Virginia, Rutgers, and Virginia Tech from the Atlantic 10...what goes around comes around, payback is a...well, you get the picture...this move should be good for BC and Syracuse, but I wouldn't want to be the UConn power that be that has to explain to the taxpayers how their recent upgrade, including new stadium, to D1, is a sound move...(yes, much of this IS sour grapes from a frustrated UMass alum seeing her school increasingly on the outside looking in at major college athletics! :)

And I hope a certain someone's arm is alright, and everything turns out A-OK at the doctors this week... :)

"And I wonder, still I wonder/Who'll stop the rain..."