Some Musings

My youngest niece turned five a couple of weeks ago. My nephew will be 10 in September. My middle niece is eight. I can't believe how old they're getting, or how old I'm getting. I still remember the day my nephew was born, and how I rushed to the hospital from Enron Field after I worked an Astros game to see him for the first time. And I remember driving up to Austin the weekend the youngest was born to take my nephew and middle niece to a Round Rock baseball game so that my brother and sister-in-law could get some rest and so that the kids wouldn't feel neglected.

And through this birthday process, I'm in the middle of packing up to move again. But this is the first time in my life that I'm not moving up in the world -- every other move I've made in my life has been to better conditions, but seeing as how I've turned into such a failure over the past year or so, I'm having to move to down, to a cheaper place that should fit within my reduced budget as I struggle to keep trying to make a paycheck.

But at least my nieces and nephew seem to like me. I've got that going for me, and that's a good thing. Right? I hope so, at least.

Now, if I could just find some way to get them to like The Beatles half as much as they currently worship Justin Bieber. If I can't pull that off, then I really am a failure.

Looking For A New Apartment

Wanted: One apartment, reasonable rent.

Renter: Me.

Reason: my lease is up and they're jacking the already unreasonable rent up another $100. So as much as I love my apartment and the location and the ease to which I can get anywhere in the entire city of Houston from here, I'm going to have to leave. So if anybody should know of anything in the city, let me know. Preferably in the midtown, Montrose, Heights area. Hopefully for around $700.

Thanks.

Dear Workout Dude

I just wanted to thank you for coming to my apartment's workout room today. Sure, it was my first time to use it in a long while, but you reminded me of why I hated using it. Never mind that there were already three of there, and that we had the TV tuned to the MLB Network. You took it upon yourself to turn it to World Cup, and since we were in the middle of workouts on the treadmills, it wasn't worth our while to stop, get off, and go change the channel, which you probably well knew.

I would also like to thank you for ignoring the close-captioning that we had turned on so that we could watch the action, read the words if we wanted, and listen to music. That wasn't good enough for you, so you had to jack up the volume to 11. My ears are still ringing from turning up the volume on my iPod in a vain attempt to drown out the soccer commentators.

I would also like to thank you for jumping on a treadmill, after your 15 minutes of stretching, running full speed, and texting people while you were out. And excuse me for praying you would lose your balance and fall on your face. That was wrong of me. After all, if I were in shape, I would be as awesome as you are.

Finally, I just want to thank you for finishing before the rest of us. And I know that you must have been a tight schedule because you walked out without putting the TV back on the MLB Network or lowering the volume.

And In The End

Houston is an ugly city. I'm a native. I can say that. It's got a beautiful skyline, but the land is flat and built on a swamp. There's just no there, there. But there is one really beautiful spot in the city. That's the Hermann Park/Rice University area. It's covered with green trees, and park space, and if you're standing in the right spot in a building, you can look over this and to the skyline.

My grandmother died tonight. She was 88. She was in a hospital room on the fourth floor at Memorial Hermann Hospital, which is in the Medical Center that borders Hermann Park/Rice Univeristy. The entire family was there. As she died, I couldn't help but look out the window. The sun wasn't yet fully set, so I could still the park, and some joggers. There was a fountain spurting high in the sky, probably from over by the zoo. And in the reflection, I could see my mother and my aunt and my uncles and brother and my sister-in-law and my cousins, and of course, my grandmother in her hospital bed. I couldn't watch. Yet I saw everything. It was kind of the beauty and the ugliness of the life, all together, in one window.

My family's still at the hospital. I couldn't stay. I don't know what this says about me. But I just had to get out. I comforted one of my young cousins the best I could. I listened as my uncle talked past me, into the space over my head in the waiting room. But after that, I just couldn't stay.

I think on it now, and I think Paul McCartney got it right: "And in the end/the love you take/is equal to the love you make." My grandmother took a lot of love, but in the end, she made a lot of love. I just wish that I had been more deserving.

What Scares Me Now

The more that I watch Rice's Anthony Rendon play, the more worried I get that the Astros are going to go on a spurt into full-fledged mediocrity. I'm worried because that means they'll climb in the standings, and instead of being in line for the number one pick in next year's amateur draft, they'll fall around nine, like they are this year. Because there's no way that Rendon, a slick-fielding third baseman who can pound the ball all over the park, is going to fall that far. He's that good. And he's from Houston.

But this is the Astros, and the Astros are going to find some way to screw up any chance of drafting Rendon.

To Remain Silent, You Must First Speak, Huh?

Let me see if I understand this correctly. Under the Supreme Court's Miranda decision from the late-1960s, you have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against in a court of law. But now, according to the Supreme Court, in order to remain silent, you must first speak and say that you're remaining silent.

Am I the only one, besides the dissent on this ruling, having problems with this logic? Shouldn't being quiet and not speaking mean that you're remaining silent? Couldn't stating that you wish to remain silent and invoking that right then be used against in Court? And if you're speaking up to invoke your right to remain silent, then how are you remaining silent?

The lack of logic here is really making my head hurt.

Happy Hurricane Season

Since today is the first day of hurricane season, I just thought that I wish all of us here in the States and any place that can be impacted by a hurricane a very happy hurricane season.

Hannah Does Avril

My niece Hannah is a huge Avril Lavigne fan. So my sister-in-law did this video of her signing one of Avril's songs. The audio's hard to hear, but I wanted to show off my niece. And seeing has my sister-in-law is the one who posted this on YouTube, I don't think she'll mind my putting it here for you to watch.

Logan's Re-Run

I read the other day that they're remaking Logan's Run, a cult sci-fi movie from the mid-70s. And I have to ask: why? Can't they come up with some kind of original sci-fi movie to make?

Logan's Run isn't the greatest movie ever made. I've seen it several times, and it's rather enjoyable, but there's nothing screaming remake. And I've not seen any sci-fi fanbase demanding that this movie be remade.

Oh well, since when has my opinion actually mattered, anyway? Right?

The Astros Draft -- Preparing To Screw It Up Again

So, even with the Astros having a nice draft position this season -- because of their suckiness last season -- it's still looking like they are going to screw things up. From MLB Fanhouse comes this scouting report on their projected pick, Arkansas 3B Zack Cox:

"Not only is this a fit because Houston has been on Cox heavily all spring, but it's also a match because the Astros are a team that has been quiet and Cox is a player on which there seems to be no consensus. Some scouts have described Cox's defense as borderline "comical" and others believe in his bat enough to overcome that. Houston may be one of those teams. They are in on several guys for this spot, including Choice, Brandon Workman, and Josh Sale. They'd prefer a college arm but the ideal guy may not be there."

The Astros supposedly won't give Chris Johnson a chance to play 3B in the majors because he's awful with the glove, though it's proven he can hit AAA pitching. But they want to risk a high draft pick on a guy with a "comical" glove who might be able to his enough to overcome this.

Does this sound familiar? Like a guy the Astros have down in Round Rock right now named Chris Johnson. Maybe, instead, the Astros should consider UT-Arlington outfielder Michael Choice, or a pitcher, then use their very high draft choice next year to nab Rice 3B Anthony Rendon, whom I've seen a lot and is a legit stud with the bat and with the glove.

Then again, I would have given Johnson his chance this year, and instead of signing Pedro Feliz, I would have gone after the likes of Orlando Hudson or Orlando Cabrera, both better players who can field, hit, get on base, and are making about the same amount of money. But what am I thinking, those guys never played for the Phillies, and Ed Wade is all about the failed Phillies.