watch the wire. be someone you're not.

the wire is a great show. it's one of those things. you know, that you hear about for a long time, and everybody keeps saying that this great show/band/whatever is going on, and you need to check it out... but what do you (i) do? watch the same reruns of law and order svu and iron chef and listen to the same garbage you've been listening to for the last three years.

i'm not comfortable with change.

that's not entirely true. i'm just a big fan of routine. some call this boring. some like a life of more spontaneous action and constant change and excitement around every corner. i like to come home each night and eat dinner with my wife, watch jeopardy, take a walk around the neighborhood, and get to bed early enough that i can get up from the bed the next morning and strap on some sneakers and go for a jog (or run... controversy still unsettled regarding the difference and/or definition of these two acts - or is it one act - with two names?).

but this is about the wire. if you don't know... it just finished it's five year run on HBO, and was seasonally touted as "the greatest show that nobody is watching" by all the critics. i don't really read the critics, but i have my ear to the pop culture landscape, and have been hearing about this show for some time. most notably from my good friend bill simmons, who writes my favorite column for my favorite website, espn. (i don't know bill simmons, but i wish i did.)

sidenote, i always have a list of "guys who live a life i am jealous of." this isn't the superstar athelete or the top-of-the-world movie star. i'm not into that much fame (only moderate fame) and i'm really not that into ridiculous wealth (again, moderate wealth would be fine). but here's my list of guys that live a life i think is pretty sweet:

bill simmons. he's funny as hell and gets paid to write about his greatest love in life - sports. he's married with a couple kids and lives in LA, and he has great stories about epic times with friends. i listen to his podcast each week just to hear him argue and banter back and forth with his friends about their favortie teams and politics, and tv shows and anything else. this is a good life.

jack johnson. this is the 2000-01 version of jack johnson. when he was this laid-back professional surfer who also just happened to be pretty natural with a guitar and simple lyrics about summer and girls. this is a guy who surfs, makes surfing movies, plays music, and doesn't really seem to get caught up in all of it. he just seemed like a laid-back and happy guy. that is pretty sweet to me (i haven't liked a single one of his albums since brushfire fairytales, but that is another story)

matt chandler. i don't know much about chandler, but he is a young, super-successful pastor of a huge church in dallas, tx. matt started there just a few years ago when the church was nothing, and now it is 5000+. he makes me laugh and think hard on the big quesitons... you know, life, God, right and wrong, sin, Jesus Christ and all that stuff that i like to think hard about. but matt's another one of those guys, that i see/hear him a few times a week, and i just think, "this guy is fascinating and seemingly fun. i'd like to hang out with that guy, and spend some time with him."

other candidates include: justin timberlake, brad pitt, tom brady and conan o'brien, but all of them have to big a star above their head and therefore, don't qualify. i think there are more, but i didn't expect to write this list, so i haven't done the necessary searching the archives of my mind to pull up the files. feel free to make your own suggestions.

and i guess that's the point of this list. i really like my life. it's not a list put together out of displeasure with what i've got. i love what i got. wouldn't trade it for the world. no way in hell that heidi isn't a part of my life. she's the best. the list is just guys that i would love to hang out with. i only know about them because, obviously they are famous, and i guess that makes them more important than you or i. but when it comes down to it, i really respect the guys who get the money and the fame and all the attention, and just remain "one of the guys" or so it seems. i don't know. they might be jerks in real life... but i don't deal in real life.

back to the wire. in the third season. watching it as much as possible. heidi and i both love it. i get to remind her repeatedly who is who and she has to wake me up repeatedly (i have this disease where i fall asleep if i watch television for longer than 35 minutes. there is no cure). it's good. and not in a way i expected it to be good. it's the drug war in baltimore. a place i've never been. it's a cop show. and it's a crime show. my favorite character is a drug-stealing homosexual thug named omar, who, for whatever reason, makes me really happy and has this humility and conscience to him that is rather endearing (that and he weilds a shotgun to heist other drug dealers' stashes and while whistling "the cheese stands alone."

so watch the wire. break out of your routine and break into another one. that's the beauty of new things. it's scary to take that leap. to try that new food, or band, or show, or way of wearing your hair (what?), but if you like it, then you get to adopt it as a new routine, a new comfort, and then it's good.

baseball and basketball. (don't bother reading further if neither of these subjects interest you... seriously)

it is of no interest to anybody, but my friend kevin posted his fantasy baseball roster on his blog (he's listed as skip on my links if you are interested), and i can't help but respond with a nerd-post of my own. now, don't miss the subtle (or blatant) ridiculous act of posting a fantasy baseball roster on a blog. i'm not sure why, but i smile when i think that, and i think there is something culturally and socially significant about it, but i am sick and too lazy to investigate further. so here's my team, "barry bonds' legacy:

c: jorge posada
1b: prince fielder
2b: ian kinsler
ss: michael young
3b: adrian beltre
of: carl crawford
of: alex rios
of: hunter pence
util: griffey jr.
bn: jeremy hermidia
bn: josh fields
bn: edwin encarnacion

sp: eric bedard, dan haren, james shields, matt garza, dustin mcgowan, zach greinke
rp: rafeal soriano, kevin gregg, heath bell, pat neishak

not that you care, or that any of this is interesting to anybody, but i feel pretty good about the team in general. i've been playing with the same group of guys for the past four or five years, and it's rather competitive. i enjoy it. and there's a large sum of money at stake - losers pay winners. i see a finish in the top three.

bring on baseball. i'm ready.

in related news... march madness is upon us and it's exhillerating to say the least. if i were more tech savvy, i would post my bracket for you all, but a) i don't know how to do any of that stuff (notice how there are never links in my blogs), and b) i haven't finished mine yet and don't even know of a pool to get into (this is terrible).

i love EVOO. Yummo!

south x southwest is happening right now, and of course, i would love to be there. do you know who is there? do you know who is causing the biggest controversy amongst the hipsters and indie rock cool kids? rachel freakin ray. seriously, read this article

this cracks me up. people are so pissed that rachel ray could possibly have a taste in music, and God forbid that she might share some of your musical preferences as well. is this the end of the world? i guess it's kinda like when your mom hears you listening to nirvana in your room all the time when you are in high school and she says, "i really like that 'smells like teen spirit' song... who is that by?" rachel ray is your mom.

rachel ray is a polarizing figure. she has 32 shows on the FN and has written more recipe books than shakespeare wrote plays. if you don't know who she is, then figure it out. i know who she is because my wife loves the food network, and somehow, i have come to love the food network. i watch it pretty regularly. i can't really stand rachel ray. her voice is nails on a chalkboard. she makes some good food, sure, and she loves what she does, but it's over-saturation... too much.

if rachel ray came out and said that modest mouse, or battles (who she invited to her party but turned her down), at the drive-in, pinback, band of horses or (fill-in-the-blank) are her favorite bands, what would my reaction be? what should it be?

anger. of course. this is the indie mindset. it's cool because you know about it and nobody else does. i hate seeing my favorite songs played for car commercials (thanks modest mouse and band of horses). why do i hate this? i enjoy the music these bands produce, but once it becomes mainstream, or widely heard, will i then abandon them for finding success and paying the bills?

all of this is ridiculous. good for rachel ray. i'm "through being cool" and i don't really care anymore. if rachel ray has the same songs on her ipod, then so be it, if she wants to throw a huge party with good food and decent bands, then great. why is this a problem? why do the cool kids hate so much? get over it.

four x four

this is what i'm tired of this week:

1. presidential primaries: i will be thankful once the primary in ohio passes us by so i don't have to see any more ridiculous commercials of hillary saying that she can answer the red phone better than obama. seriously? this is the campaign?

2. (preemptive) brett farve worship: the retirement announcement just happened today, so it isn't ridiculous yet, but i'm getting ready for a good long line of hero-worship for the gold and green number 4. he was great, i don't dispute this. but enough is enough (or enough will be enough)

3. heidi working loads: she is subbing every day. and that's good. she likes it, and the money will be nice. but she is also working fill in shifts at american apparel a few nights a week. i can't remember the last time we watched jeopardy together. poor girl is tired from working so much (taking a nap as i type) and i don't fancy eating dinner alone.

4. the weather: sunday and monday were glorious. we walked neil (the dog), went for nice runs in our shorts and t shirts, girlled out with the 'rents and began to really get excited about the forthcoming spring. then today we have this? flood warnings from the excessive amount of rain? come on. temperature has dropped a cool 30 with sub-freezing temperatures to come. enough is enough already.

this is what i'm looking forward to this week.

1. kevin's back in town: 'nuff siad.
1a. wednesday nights with kevin. where will the next adventure be?

2. the book of galatians (bible): i'm teaching chapter 4 of the book of galatians tonight at our small group/bible study. i have been learning a lot about freedom and what it means to call God "dad." it's pretty cool.

3. the weekend: of course. each monday and tuesday i am slayed by the realization that the weekend that i spent all last week looking forward to has come and gone and i have to set my eyes upon the promises of another two-day set that can barely be seen on the horizon.

4. watching espn2 each morning (mike and mike) and seeing the scores of spring training games (baseball) pop up on the bottom line: baseball. it's almost here. that means opening day, fantasy baseball, the giants being terrible, and yelling at adam dunn from the left field bleachers all summer. glorious.