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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!
--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka
When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:
For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

For all my Chargers talk, I have to admit that I'm not your typical sports fan. I don't hang out in sports bars, I don't call up my buddies and shoot the shit about hockey, I don't shoot hoops in the backyard -- hell, I don't even enjoy watching most sports, and certainly not on television. Most days, I'd prefer to spend my time in my home library or a movie theater than a baseball stadium. When it comes right down to it, I rarely watch sports, unless it's football, and then only on the odd Sunday afternoon I happen to turn on the television.

At least, that's how it's been in past years. This year, however, has been different. I've been really paying attention to football this year, both the NFL and the NCAA. Perhaps it's because I've been spending more time with my father. Dad's a big football fan; he not only watches NFL and college games on t.v., but regularly follows high school games as well. And he follows those games; you'll often find him on a high school bleacher on a Friday night, mentally recording the performances of the rising athletes. Dad played football in high school, and he played it well, and legend has it that he was offered a scholarship to play in college but served in the military instead. Then he had a child and...well, you know, life ended.

Yet though I've been spending more time with my father, I haven't been spending that much more time with him, so perhaps my newfound Mr. Football status is due to some other reason. Perhaps it's because of this year's fervor over our local college teams, USC and UCLA. Both teams had stellar seasons, and their December 3rd matchup had me struggling to decide between loyalty and betrayal. Choosing the Bruins (my alma mater), I was disappointed they lost, but kind of relieved that the better part of the college season had ended. I was ready to watch, what I consider, real football: the NFL.

Now, you're not required to have a favorite team in order to enjoy football, but it certainly helps. I chose the San Diego Chargers, partly because they're a Southern California team and partly for reasons I might relate on another occasion -- though I will mention one other detail now, and that is this: the Oakland Raiders. If you're a Raiders fan -- a member of that darkly elite squad many refer to as the Raider Nation -- you may understand why I defected to the Chargers. The Raiders have simply broken my heart for too many years. I haven't given up on them entirely -- I doubt I ever will -- but I was yearning for a winning team this year, and the Chargers filled that role quite nicely.

Once I had my team chosen -- a team that didn't always win but clearly had the potential to win -- I could invest my time and heart into the season. The Chargers have certainly made it an exciting season, with their close losses, near misses and late-season electricity. Today, as you may or may not have heard, they beat the undefeated Indianapolis Colts; they're now looking like a team that could -- and should -- make the Playoffs. So now I'm a whooping and hollerin' punch-my-dad-in-the-arm kind of guy, rooting for my team and acting like a real sports maniac on Sundays (and even Mondays, and sometimes even Saturdays).

Anybody have the latest line on next weekend's game?
posted by Harold  12/18/2005 10:38:00 PM
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I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? Ads? Oh, hell no! It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.