our team had a bumpy ride to start the new season -- we lost more than 50% of our players for various reasons, including both of the guys that had been running the show, so i stepped into the roll of manager and tried to recruit enough players to fill our roster. through friends of friends and sheer luck, i managed to find enough players and even more fortunately, they happen to be decent softball players and cool, friendly guys who fit right in with our laid back vibe. as a result, the atmosphere at our games has been better than i ever remember it. everybody seems to be having a blast, and we actually won our first 2 games of the season! the cherry on top was this past Sunday, when the umpire for our first game came up to me afterwards and said, "Just Us League, what happened to you guys? it's like you are a new team -- a team that can play!" he was raving about how improved we were, which really made me feel proud. i feel like if we just put a touch more work in, we'll get a few more wins by the end of the season...and more importantly, it feels incredible to be back out there, soaking in the sun on Chicago's gorgeous lakefront, with a rockin group of boys, and my knee injury fading into memory.
one of our longtime team members is a well known LJ-er and incredibly talented photographer, Mikie aka
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
mikiedoggie. he typically brings his camera to our games and snaps shots of both the action and the downtime...and he does such an amazing job that i wanted to share. once again, thanks so much, Mikie!Here is his latest softball wrap-up post (he is way better than me about updating his livejournal).
Here is the link to the Flickr pool of this past Sunday's photos.
and HERE is a link to the entire set from the 2009 season, hopefully with more to come!
- Mood:
accomplished
Plaque
Originally uploaded by DialMforMurphy.
So...I'm back from an inspiring and fantastically fun weekend LA. And since my plane was delayed FIVE HOURS and I landed shortly after 4:30 AM Chicago time, I think trying to go back to sleep would be a bad idea. If nothing else, this gives me a moment to transcribe my contribution to the weekend's events.
I had the honor of reading at the wedding celebration...it just so happens that my two dear friends, Matty (mattycub) and Sean (zombietruckstop), first met on my futon on Memorial Day Weekend, 2004. When Matty asked me to prepare something, I decided that it was best to honor the humble beginnings of their amazing relationship...and I prepared the following poem. My secret weapon was that I had made arrangements in advance to whip out a "prop"...which is shown in the attached photo. The only people who knew about it in advance were Dave and Vinny. So without further ado...
The Mishkoff-Abley Memorial Futon
It was 9 years ago that I got my own place
in the Rittenhouse section of Philly, PA
It was cute and cheap, but short on space
so I bought a futon that I still own today
At the time I thought, "Hey man, what could be better?
it's a couch AND a bed, for any occasion!"
They delivered, I didn't even have to go get 'er
It was functional, stylish, comfy...and Asian.
And it's served very well over years short and long
no cracks, but a few random scratches and dents
Through 6 different apartments it's still going strong
which is amazing, considering all my fat friends
But the unquestioned highlight of my futon's existence
was Memorial Day Weekend, 2004
Cupid's Arrow met with very little resistance
when I told them they could either sleep there or the floor
Now, it's cheesy and random, but my theory is this:
If life is a salad, then love is the croutons
And I'm proud to stand here and say that your bliss
began in Chicago, right there on my futon
So to honor those first tender moments to savor
I did something both precious and clever
I ran out on Monday and found an engraver
and got a plaque to be nailed to that futon forever
It reads: The Mishkoff-Abley Memorial Futon
and the date to make it perfectly clear
and then 4 simple words there can be no dispute on...
"Something beautiful started here"
I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
- Mood:
groggy
Paris2008
Originally uploaded by DialMforMurphy.
the rest of our pictures are now up on Flickr. the second part of the set has some of the biggies -- The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, and Versailles among others. check it out!
Paris2008
Originally uploaded by DialMforMurphy.
i have started to upload our pictures from Paris. i'm almost halfway through, which means we've got Notre Dame, Ile de St. Louis, the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees, Musee d'Orsay, shots of our hotel, and a few random other ones from the first few days. hopefully i'll have time to complete the set tonight. click on the photo above to take a look at the set so far!
- Mood: tired
a quote from Mr. Rustin, who seems like he certainly qualified as an expert:
"The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it's the gay community. Because it is the community which is most easily mistreated."
- Mood:
curious
at the rally there were all sorts of folks on every corner hawking Obama gear...what could be more American than showing your entrepreneurial spirit, right? the merchandise ran the gammut -- buttons, t-shirts, hats, towels, posters, even chocolates (?). many of the vendors were selling gear that said, "YES WE DID!" or "Yes We Can!" with the "can" crossed out and "DID" stamped over it. i thought that was cute -- i bought a few of the buttons for Dave and i. some of the Obama shirt graphics were so out there, so completely over the top...full portraits in gold leaf, tie dyed, graffiti style...i found it striking to see all of the urban design influence, and thought about how horrified the rural populations that went so solidly for McCain would be if they saw them selling like hotcakes. EAT IT, YOU BACKWARDS BITCHES. do you know the last time America elected a president from an urban area? John F. Kennedy in 1960.
on our way into the rally venue itself, we were going through the main chutes, headed up to get our tickets checked. standing to the side about 10 feet from the ticket-takers were these two cute young blond girls...probably 22 or 23 at most. they were calling to the passing crowd looking for tickets because they wanted to get in, but got shut out when tickets were issued. it just so happened that we had 3 tickets, with each allowed 1 guest, but we were only 4 people. so we totally took them in as our guests. they were ECSTATIC and we ended up having this really sweet moment helping them get in...we took some pictures with them and then headed down to the main field and said our goodbyes. then, on the way out after Obama spoke, as we filed up the hill with the huge mob, we ran into them again and had another WOOHOO moment of pure random karmic cuteness. it was a wonderful little part of the night.
when i got home last night, our internet connection was down, so i'll be posting my photos tonight.
another notable element of this election -- the country has elected a President who is currently serving in the US Congress. the last time that happened? John F. Kennedy in 1960. it had been a string of Vice Presidents and Governors for over 40 years (which would have been broken either way, since McCain was in a similar position).
i know that everyone hates Joe Lieberman for being a backstabbing, turncoat douchebag (accurate)....BUT, i think if Barack is smart, he will extend a public olive branch to Lieberman at some point. not only do they need him on their side in the Senate, but it would once again prove that Barack intends to be true to his word -- no more politics as usual. just because the Dems would be justified in casting him out, and punishing him for backing "the enemy" that still doesn't make it RIGHT. i see a lot of potential with Obama for resisting these partisan urges. would the GOP scorn Lieberman if the roles were reversed? hell yes. but if anything, that's a reason NOT to do it. while he's at it, he should pull Pelosi aside and tell her to ditch the "I'm the Democratic version of Newt Gingrich" act. she is blowing it! two wrongs do not make a right! we need a fresh approach. forgiveness. understanding. a focus on RESULTS. i honestly believe Obama will help lead us in that direction.
i know everyone wants Palin to go back to Alaska and never show her face again, but i secretly hope that she stays around and that those fucking GOP bastards back her for 2012. i would LOVE to see Barack the incumbent against Palin the GOP darling. as much as she whoops up the base, she absolutely sickens the middle, and the middle decide these elections. almost as much as the economy, i think the way she polarized people was the difference in this election. and i'd love to see her eat more shit in 4 years.
_NIK4871
Originally uploaded by mikiedoggie.
the rally last night was an absolutely incredible experience. it was strange, and different than i anticipated, because things started falling Obama's way so early...i was still at home eating dinner with Dave when they called PA so everyone knew, as of 7:20 pm or so, that McCain had an extremely narrow path to walk if he was going to pull it off. hooray for my home state....they went blue and they went blue HUGE.
joey (profundojoe), chris (dedos) and i took the red line downtown to Harrison...we met up with Mikie (mikiedoggie) at Congress and State and it was already a complete zoo all around us. we walked East and got through the surprisingly not-that-tight security in time to hear them call OH and the entire place went insane. after that it was all but certain. they called VA and then mere moments later there it was on the screen -- Barack Obama will be the next president. seeing those words on that jumbotron was probably the most surreal moment of the entire campaign for me. the roar was deafening. people were crying and hugging each other. it was so fascinating to see people's reactions...the crowd was profoundly mixed -- old/young, black/white/hispanic/asian, male/female, well-dressed/scruffy, gay/straight -- in a way that hit me as genuinely inspiring.
after the call, they did a bunch of lead up to Obama coming out. first came McCain's decidedly classy concession speech (we were joking that it seemed like he had finally woken up from the trance or exorcized the rove-ian demon..."whoa, i'm me again! where am i? the last thing i remember is clinching the republican nomination...who is this bitch with the bright red lip gloss?"). then there were guests for a blessing, the pledge of allegiance, and the star spangled banner (the singer flubbed the words in several small instances, which was the only pockmark on the entire evening me...I HATE THAT), followed by several video pieces. when they showed that campaign video set to The National's Fake Empire everyone cried again -- SO GOOD. and then a few minutes later, out came President-Elect Obama, who proceeded to deliver that phenomenal speech. it was such a wild moment to be a part of...pure world-changing history, on a pristine evening in this city i am so head over heels in love with, alongside 3 great friends (thanks, boys!), and amidst a crowd of hundreds of thousands, all bursting with good vibes (little known fact about me -- i fucking LOVE huge crowds, which i guess is weird because tons of people hate them), and Dave texting me every few minutes with the electoral college updates and "i love you"'s from his command center back home. i will remember it until the day i die.
as i got home, the evening certainly took a bittersweet turn when i got the news about Prop 8 in CA. it sucks. it's completely, overwhelmingly unfair and my heart aches for my friends living there who are directly, immediately affected. but please don't despair. this is not the first or the last kick in the teeth our cause will take on the way to victory. in 2004, when all 11 states passed their anti-gay ballot initiatives by double digit margins, i cried my eyes out on election night. i believed that CA was different, and i was hopeful going into this year's election. but i urge everyone to resist the temptation to look at this in black and white. it passed, but CA is indeed different...prop 8 carried by a significantly smaller margin, even with buckets of money behind it thanks to those fucking hate mongers (sickening). and if this thing heads to the Supreme Court, as it's all but assured to, we made a huge step forward last night by electing a new President who will have a direct influence on the composition of that court, and i have to believe his selections will reflect what we all see in him -- intelligence, compassion, and a revolutionary understanding of what's fair and what's possible in this modern age. i saw this quote in Dave's journal (e_ticket) this morning and it's too good not to share (courtesy of -- of all people -- Andrew Sullivan):
"We must never let popular votes affect our own internal sense of our worth, our equality, our dignity as human beings. Our marriages are real; all that is at issue is whether a majority will recognize them in law. The next generation already does."
click the photo at the top for more amazing shots of the Obama rally, courtesty of Mikie (mikiedoggie)...
- Mood:genuinely inspired
but on to more important things:
1. last night it became official -- i am finished with physical therapy. woohoo! i ran full speed, full impact and it was fine. i hopped up and down on the bad leg and it was fine. it's still weak as far as the impact/agility goes, but i've got a laundry list of exercises to continue on my own that will continue to recover my strength/flexibility, and a 100% recovery is now easily in sight. i can't fucking believe it.
2. WHO IS GOING TO THE OBAMA RALLY TONIGHT IN GRANT PARK? we need to sort out these details, my friends. at first i thought i'd just stay downtown, but now i'm leaning more toward going home and coming down around 8:30 or 9:00 pm...its bound to be a late night. anyway, i totally want to see if we can get a group of folks together. who is going? what time will you be there? are you meeting up somewhere first? how are you getting down there? Chris Lopez aka
dedos was kind enough to give me his guest slot...i couldn't miss it! it's gonna be wild!- Mood: excited
