Bringing the Drama

yesterday was a sad day for me as a fan of sports in NOLA. in the afternoon, i got a call from the Saints ticket office about season tickets. i’ve been on the waiting list since 2006, but had only gotten a call to buy Voodoo season tickets. a couple of my friends had gotten calls from the Saints a couple of weeks ago with plenty of options for tickets including the cheap seats that are roughly $300 or under per year. i did not get a call though, so i figured i was too far down the waiting list to get a call this year. then yesterday a guy called me and told me i had come up on the waiting list and he had tickets for me, here’s how the conversation went:

Saints ticket guy: “your name came up on the waiting list and you can buy season tickets”
me: “really?!?”
STG: “yes. i can put you in the club level which includes access to the club and tickets in 227 for only $2150 per ticket.”
me: “ok. do you have anything cheaper?”
STG: “let me see, oh, i can get you tickets for $1350 per ticket.”
me: “is there anything less than $500?”
STG: “oh, let me see here. i can get you a single ticket for $330. that’ll get you in as a STH, off the waiting list, then next year i can help you get a 2nd ticket. you can sell this year’s tickets on the ticket exchange”
me: “hmm. i have Hornets STs already, i’m not really good with just one ticket.”
STG: “oh, well, our games are much different from Hornets games. you can definitely sell the ticket on TE.” (yeah, they are different. there are 8 Saints games and 41 Hornets games. TE jacks up the prices even if you try to sell it at face, because i’ve done that with Hornets tickets before. i wouldn’t want to deal with the hassle of going to a Saints game by myself, plus i think it’d be pretty difficult to sell just one ticket)
me: “where is that seat?”
STG: “section 6xx, row 37″ (the seats in the terrace at the Dome are very steep, row 37 would kind of be torture)
me: “oh, i’m going to have to pass.”
STG: “are you sure? you’ll be in the same situation next year unless seats come open.”
me: “i know, i’ll just have to hope the economy doesn’t improve before next year”
STG: “alright, have a good day”
me: “thanks, you too.”

i know i made the right decision, because obviously i want a PAIR of tickets, and i don’t have the kind of money to spend $2700 for 8 (not counting preseason) games. obviously i’m far enough down on the list that all they have left are the high roller tickets. my Hornets tickets are the 2nd cheapest you can buy, a lot cheaper than the Saints tickets i was offered, but i like them. plus i go to 40+ games, and it’s much less of a hassle. still though, it made me sick to turn down tickets after 2.5 years on the waiting list. i’ve waited this long though, i might as well make it count than jumping at the first chance that would cost me a ton of money. it’s more fun to have friends over to the house to watch a game on TV anyway.

- at lunch during the week, i usually go through news articles and keep myself current on the world. the best thing i read yesterday, an article with the backstory on different Muppets. did you know in Puerto Rico Grover is named Archibaldo? did you know in Israel Oscar lives in an old car? i found the article fascinating because i grew up watching Sesame Street.

- i called about my speeding ticket, and was told the procedure for taking the driving class to keep it off my record, etc. the lady at the court (where i called about the ticket) also informed me my license was flagged. she couldn’t tell me why, but that i should get it taken care of. she gave me the number for the DMV. i called this number at least 10 times during the day, and only on the 10th time did not get the “due to our high call volume, please try again later”. when i finally spoke to someone at the DMV, she said my license had no flags.

- did you know Food Network has entire episodes of shows on their website? it was great to finally see the Iron Chef with Bobby Flay, Giada, Rachel Ray, and Mario Batali. i watch a lot of my favorite shows online since i often times am not home to watch stuff, so i had no problem watching on my computer.

- all of the current economy stuff and how the government is handling it reminds me of this IBM commercial.

- yes i am disappointed A-Rod took steroids, and no i don’t believe him when he said it was only for 3 years and that he doesn’t take them anymore. at least he’s admitting it though, unlike only wanting to talk about the future or just flat out denial.

- Clemson scrapped to a great road win last night at BC. i watched the game and it was great to see them claw their way back, then maintain the lead to the end. i knew they’d be better than last year, but they seem to have the makings of a really good team. i mean, i know they crushed Duke and all, but i also look at team’s ability to stay competitive even when their shots aren’t falling and they’re just kind of going through the motions. they didn’t get down on themselves, and they made the big plays when it was most important. i don’t remember Clemson really doing that the past few years, but it sure is good to see now.

i got this idea from my friend Brandi. each thing has a story that may or may not end up being it’s own entry. think of these as monthly highlights.

1 – got over the headache i had in the morning and relaxed to watch the Clemson bowl game. that lasted until the 2nd half where watching the game turned into a bad thing. also did laundry.
2 – the Hornets won at Portland and i watched the game as i chatted about it. first time i had done that.
3 – made a wheat version of the Bobby Flay biscuits
4 – Sunday School was good and got to have dinner with my family.
5 – found the motivation to go to the gym even though i left work late
6 – took charge of a travel possibility with the youth group, felt good about what i did and why i did it (also, Hornets beat the Lakers)
7 – good email convo with my Dad, talked to an old youth group friend about SS
8 – found out Ryan Adams scheduled a show in Baton Rouge
9 – had a great time at the Hornets game with my friend Vince
10 – went for a run for the first time in 2009, watched Clemson move to 16-0
11 – helped one of the youth kids with some physics HW
12 – bought front row tickets for the Punch Brothers
13 – presentation at work went better than expected
14 – first practice for flag football in 35 degree weather and it was awesome
15 – got 3rd row tickets to RA in BR; CJ Spiller announced he was returning for his senior year
16 – had some awesome soup my aunt made
17 – saw Brad Paisley in concert
18 – had a great time at youth group
19 – saw Chris Paul hit a game winning shot at the buzzer
20 – got to see the inauguration address live
21 – football practice in the freezing cold
22 – found motivation to run at the gym
23 – made won tons for first time ever and they were awesome
24 – had a nice relaxing Saturday and still got stuff done
25 – had a great time playing broom hockey
26 – went to a Hornets game with a friend i hadn’t seen in a couple of months
27 – finished my homework and faxed it on time
28 – went to a Hornets game with my Mom and they WON!
29 – Clemson beat VT on the road with a comeback win!
30 – white russian nightcap
31 – BUNCO!

i haven’t blogged in a while, but it’s not from not having stuff to talk about. i have two things that i just have not typed about that i will eventually very soon. so i’ll just muse about stuff that’s happened in the past 48 hours, some good some bad.

- i went to the dentist today. they had called me a couple of weeks ago and told me the hygienist who usually cleans my teeth won’t be there when i go and if this other lady can do it. i figured it’d be okay. i was so wrong. she failed to read my chart to see that i had sensitive gums, so when she was using the hook thing to scrape my teeth, it was PAINFUL. you know when you push your cuticles down on your nails? it was like she was doing that on my gums! i asked if she could go easy when she got to my front teeth, and then looked at my chart. “oh, you do have receeding gums”. i didn’t freak out or anything, and after i said something things worked out. i scheduled my next appointment though and made sure to get my old hygienist back.

- White Shoes and i have been working together on a part. i don’t know how i keep getting paired with him, but i do. maybe it’s because they know i can do my job AND his job if i have to. anyway, i’ve been asking him if we have deadlines for what we’re doing, and he’s said no. then tuesday afternoon he comes up and says “oh, (our boss) wants us to present at the 8:30 meeting tomorrow morning.” i told him that was fine, if all we had to do was give a status. on Wednesday i get there and WS is not there. i go to the meeting, and everyone is wondering why i’m in there. so i told them about what WS had said. (our boss) says “oh, i didn’t mean today, just sometime soon.” i told him i could talk the work if he wanted, but he said it was okay. i don’t think WS showed up at all yesterday. typical, and why i kind of hate my job right now.

- the other day i ordered some stuff from Nike because they were having a sale and someone on slick deals had posted a coupon for another couple of discounts. i ordered some Air Jordan wristbands, among another couple of things for running. the wristbands were less than $4 after the coupons. i thought i’d be getting the stuff next week. i got my shipping email today and clicked the tracking link. the package was delivered today and was outside. awesome.

- i watched the Clemson/VT basketball game tonight. it was an amazing comeback. i’m kind of superstitious about things, so when they were doing well in the 2nd half as i was cutting up a rotisserie chicken, i stayed standing in that spot even after i was done with the chicken. it worked and they won by 4.

- speaking of superstitions, i’ve taken my mom to a couple of Hornets games earlier this year. both were against teams the Hornets should beat, but they did not, they lost both games. so Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets was going to be one i thought they’d lose. my friend Gary ended up not being able to go, so i called my mom and asked if she wanted to go, because it’ll be like a reverse curse. if she went to games the Hornets should win, and they lose, then wouldn’t they win if she went to a game where they should lose? two starters out and playing the Nuggets who were playing well? the plan worked though, and the Hornets won the game. i told my mom on the way out that now she’ll be on the list of people to go if the Hornets are playing teams that are above .500, and she’s okay with that.

- last night i had a dream that i helped Ally Sheedy set her old house in NOLA on fire. she wanted to burn it down to collect the insurance, so she bought a bunch of gunpowder and explosives and had them in the garage. i poured a gasoline trail from the garage out to the street. she told me to light it, but i thought if i lit it we’d be tracked down. two other people were there but i don’t remember who they were. she took a match out of my hand and lit the gasoline trial. we all jumped in our cars and drove away as the flame raced up the driveway. i remember thinking that i had to drive normal, and saw in my rearview the plume of smoke rising from where the house was. then i woke up and realized my clock radio was on and they were talking on the radio about a big fire downtown this morning.

most of my friends read an insane amount of books. they can read more in one month than i read all of last year. i have no idea how they do it, but i am in awe. i used to be good about reading, i really did. i read LOTR in a month and a half. anyway, i got a bunch of books for Christmas again (i asked for them again) and started reading the book i got about the theory of Gen Patton being assassinated. it’s a pretty fascinating book, if only right now it’s all theory. there hasn’t been any concrete evidence shown, but the evidence is pretty convincing. i didn’t really learn all that much about Patton in school other than a high level view, but now i’m all about trying to rent the movie soon. i’ll let you know how the book ends up, but so far i’m enjoying it.

hopefully i’ll get to some of the other books i have and not have to be put on hold by the class i registered for this semester. i got what looks like the easiest class, which isn’t saying much. it doesn’t involve a project or working with other people, so it should be the least painful. we shall see though. i have high hopes. i’m still on the job hunt, but i couldn’t not take a class and still be considered in grad school. they only let you take two semesters of leave.

last week i got an email from the Hornets that the first 100 people to respond to it got invited to a special pregame autograph session before the game tomorrow night. i responded and was confirmed today. they have not said who the mystery player is going to be, only that pictures were discouraged because of their very busy pregame schedules. the game tomorrow tips off at 8:30, and the autograph session thing is 6:20. only 100 people (maybe 200 since it said ‘and guest’) will be there. if they are being such sticklers about the pregame schedules, it better be someone who plays a lot and not some guy who’s been inactive since the beginning of the season. we shall see. (i hope it’s Peja!) incidentally, the game is against the Spurs, and the memories of game 7 from last year are still fresh in my mind.

i made a chocolate pie to bring to work tomorrow for a Christmas party in my home department (i haven’t worked there in 3 years). i’ve become more involved the past couple of months with them, and wish the lady who i’m technically still management chained to was my boss when i worked there. maybe i would not have become so bitter towards work, and maybe i would have enjoyed my time in that department better.

speaking of work, i got an email about finishing a job application related to one of the jobs i applied to in Birmingham. i figure that’s encouraging, right? i mean, i got a guy’s phone number in the email so i could call him to tell him i was done.

oh, and to bring closure to a post i made a few months ago…..i quit the carpool. too much drama was associated with the current version, so i bowed out last week. it was kind of sad, but the past week of driving myself to work has been awesome. no rushing around in the morning freaking out about being late, being able to listen to what i want in the car, being able to be alone with my thoughts in the mornings. it may not be helping save the planet, but it has been saving my sanity.

lately i’ve noticed something that’s been bothering me. some people do not seem able to go without having a cell phone on them at all times. at the gym, people are sitting on a machine and texting. TEXTING! they aren’t working out, they’re just sitting there wasting everyone’s time so they can send a text. sometimes when i go running in the neighborhood, people are walking AND TEXTING! wouldn’t sometimes going for a walk or a run without a phone be more fun?

my frustration with people on cell phones has been documented from that time the lady with the Bible verse front license plate almost hit me because she was on a phone. if you can’t talk on the phone and also pay attention to the road, then do not use a phone when driving. stop hogging up the left lane on the interstate because you’re lost in conversation!

i hate hate HATE people who let their phones go off in a movie or a concert. you’ll be sitting there during a very dramatic moment in a movie and hear a cell phone ring. seriously, why is someone so careless (or inconsiderate) that they can’t either turn the phone off or at least to vibrate? it honestly took a couple of months for me to not think of my friend Chet in a bad light after the cell phone incident at Nickel Creek.

are the calls that important? can you not take an hour of your life back from technology? are people so addicted that they can’t unplug?

today i saw an article at lunch today that gave numbers on what percentages of people would rather be online than have sex. i don’t know how many of those people are married, but i know people who are married where one person spends an inordinate amount of time on the computer or playing video games. WHY DO THAT? there is a real person in your house who wants to interact with you!

i don’t say any of this to sound better than anyone else. i probably spend more time online than most people when i’m at home. i have no one else to talk to though when i’m home alone. i spend time on facebook or msg boards, but when i have the opportunity to spend time with real people, i do that. when i went to Europe, i went without internet and a cell phone for a week and a half. it made me feel so free! why don’t more people want that feeling, if only for an hour or two? it makes me sad so many people are chained to the matrix. don’t let the machines win!

on Thursday before i left work, i had a good talk with my home shop manager. a quick rundown, so in the program where i do rotations in different departments, i’m still badged to the department i was hired in, which is called ‘home shop’. anyway, so the manager who’s my home shop manager now is different from the one i originally worked for, and IMO much better. the past month or so, i’ve gone to talk to her a few times about my job and my job prospects. it’s awesome to have someone at work who’s higher up than me to go talk to about some of the frustrations with my current job and have them listen. she’s able to give me some advice, and i feel better about the current state of things….up to a point anyway. i went and talked to her about my current job hunt and filled her in on my meet up with a guy in town from ATL. one of my friends in ATL told me about her old boss coming down to NOLA and arranged me to meet him. i went and talked to him Thursday AM for probably an hour. he gave me some advice on job searching, and about what he was working on. why does almost every other job i hear about seem cooler than mine?

back to the home shop manager, she told me about maybe why one of the jobs i bid for got turned down so quickly (because apparently the people in Denver aren’t very open to hiring non-Denver people). she also told me that i probably wouldn’t hear much until after the new year starts. yuck. this means i will probably have to start up taking grad school classes again. i’m not really excited about that. hopefully i’ll just find one class i can take which won’t cause me to lose my mind. i am DEFINITELY not going to schedule two classes ever again, one is bad enough.

so probably a month or so ago i noticed the Reba McEntire/Kelly Clarkson tour was going to be hitting Biloxi. i didn’t really know who to ask, because all the people who i went with to see KC two summers ago live far away. last Sunday in Sunday School, i brought up the show, and as soon as the words left my lips two girls went “OMG! FOR REAL?” newly listed last week was a 4 pack of tickets that lowered the per ticket price from $47 and $57 to $25, take that TM! (of course after the fees they were $35 each)

i knew the show would not be as cool as the last time i saw KC. that weekend will go down as one of the greatest weekends ever. nothing was going to come close to my friend Mike and i wearing American flag bandanas, nothing was going to be as great as jumping and flailing about during the show. sure, The Reeb would be there but really, would all of the fun?

i met the girls i was going with at the carpool meetup spot and we set off for the coliseum. immediately upon getting there we were stuck in traffic. the people directing traffic were not professionals and that getting out would be a nightmare. i parked on the last row of the parking lot, avoiding being blocked in. i’m not sure who suggested it (not me) that to kill time after, we could go wait by the tour buses. i figured that would be fine, since it would be either that or sit in the car for 30 minutes.

when we got inside we walked up to our seats, and saw it wasn’t really that crowded. we watched the opening act, who was the girl who played Barbara Jean on Reba’s show doing a comedy act. it was alright, but most of what she said was how cool Reba was, which got old after a while. the lights went down and Reba and Kelly took the stage! after the 2nd song (Why Haven’t I Heard From You?) we moved down to seats opposite the stage, so we had a great view of the video screen and everything. after we moved down there, i saw plenty of other people move. why sit in the $25 seats when you could move down to the seats twice as expensive?

the show was a lot of fun, and they both went through their major hits and some covers. KC only did two songs off her newest album, which was kind of surprising. she of course did the big hits off Breakaway, and i noticed Reba learned the words to a few songs this time since i saw her with KC on Crossroads. i only knew 5 or so Reba songs before the show and she did all of those. they also did some older Reba songs which probably made the older people in the crowd happy. you could tell Reba was really good at telling stories between songs, but Kelly wasn’t. there were a lot of old ladies in the crowd, so when Kelly would say something that she probably thought was funny, it would feel awkward because the older people wouldn’t really cheer.

they finished the main set having not sung “Since U Been Gone” or “Fancy”. you knew they HAD to do both of them. so the crowd’s cheering, and the arena is dark, and then the bands come on stage and start playing music that ended up being SUBG. Reba and Kelly emerged back to back from a riser at the top of the stairs. OMG! they sang it and everyone’s going crazy, and then they started Fancy. the entire crowd is up on their feet screaming and yelling and singing. the lights on the stage are at their peak, and then they finished. it was amazing!

after the show, we sat in our seats as the crowd was leaving. there were so many hair and fashion disasters, it was almost hard to believe. i went past the merch booth on the way out and while there saw a guy with a Reba tour shirt and i think it said either 1991 or 1998 (is either okay?). he was telling the girl he was with, which shirts he saw that he already had. it was kind of scary. he kind of looked like the brother from Napoleon Dynamite. after we walked outside, we saw the insane amount of traffic, so we walked around to find the tour buses. there were probably 30-40 other people back there, including one group of ladies who i think were intentionally trying to channel Reba. they all had sequin type shirts on and that mid to late 90s Reba haircut. i almost asked to get a picture with one of them, but i didn’t. the security guards were kind of jerks and made up stories to get everyone to leave. i felt bad, because most of the people back there seemed to be normal people who just wanted to catch a glimpse of their heroine (Reba). by the time the tour bus drama ended, the traffic had cleared out, so we hopped in the car and headed home.

as if i didn’t need anymore motivation for the football games to watch today, i went to my high school alma mater (Northshore) and watched them take on their main rival (Slidell). my senior year was the FIRST time Northshore ever beat Slidell. beating them was a BIG DEAL. it takes up at least a couple of pages in my senior book (yes, i felt compelled to make one of those, but it’s basically just pictures and newspaper clippings). i was a jerk about the rivalry the rest of the year to people in my youth group. it was kind of awesome.

i haven’t been back to the school for a football game in a long time. i may have gone with my friend Ryan (who’s now in NC) but i don’t think so. for last night’s game, i emailed the young adult group at my church to see if anyone wanted to go. i had a couple of takers, so we were all going to meet at the school. the parking was INSANE! i made it in and walked up to the bleachers just as they kicked off. my friend Ehren was the first one there, and as we walked up to the bleachers, i told her i used to hate walking in front of everyone in the bleachers when i was in HS. i don’t know why, but i was. last night, we walked in front of everyone looking for a seat. we found one about the 35 yard line.

the only bad part of our seats were this lady in front of us who brought confetti to the game. CONFETTI! everytime Northshore did something good, she’d throw it, all over, which meant it got all over the people in front of her, and around her. i’ve heard of air horns at games, and signs, but confetti? i don’t recommend bringing it to a game unless you’re surrounded by a good sized radius of people who are cool with it.

the game was fantastic! of course, it had it’s sloppy moments with a lot of fumbles and penalties, but for a high school game i thought they looked decent. both QBs played really well i thought. apparently the NHS QB went 20-32 for 327 yards! they don’t give you stats during a HS game, and there’s always that announcer who’s RIGHT IN YOUR EAR it seems giving you a sort of play by play using the nicknames of the players. my old AP Am History teacher made an XP at halftime and apparently won a year’s supply of Chick Fil A sandwiches. the 2nd half was a lot more exciting, esp the 4th quarter. Northshore scored with 7 minutes to play, then Slidell scored with 3:27 to play, then Northshore got the winning TD with 46 seconds to play! the D finally rose up and stopped Slidell on the final drive, and then pandemonium ensued. it was great. i don’t know exactly how many times Northshore’s won this game since i graduated, but i felt very proud.