10/22/04: Malled and Battered

This is what it's come to: I have become a connectivity whore.  I will hop from connection to connection to satisfy my jones. No emotional commitment whatsoever. Just biznizz. Each day we come to a large shopping mall, and each day I make a quick path for the nearest Starbucks or Barnes and Noble Cafe so I can get on the internets. Right now I am in Mission Viejo, where it turns out there is no Starbucks or B & N.  So I have latched onto the signal being emitted by the Apple Store.  Take that, Apple. Update 10/23/04, 1pm PST: I got the boot from the Apple Store so now it's a day later and I am in the internets lounge thingy in LAX. Should be home at around midnight.*

The worst song of all time that also at the same time manages to be one of the most enjoyable songs to sing along with at top volume: "What's Going On" by Four Non-blondes.  Just an awful, awful song. But if it comes on the radio and I'm around, watch out!  You might get one of these out of me:

And I say, "HEY, YEAH, YEAH YEAH. HEY, YEAH, YEAH. I SAID HEY! (now I slip into my Cher voice) WHAT'S GOIN' ON?!?!"

Just give me my space and ride it out.  There's no point in trying to stop me.

I managed to get down to Laguna Beach today as I had hoped.  I guess I played 5 games. My record:

1 on 1: 1-0
2 on 2: 1-1
3 on 3: 0-2

Not great, but my 3 on 3 team was pretty beat. A bunch of shooters who couldn't shoot, and our opponents were three pretty good guys who live together. I did have a couple of nifty moves.  There was one play where I caught an errant pass with my right hand as my defender reached for it, and I managed to switch it to the left in one motion for a nice lucky scoop on the other side of the basket.  One of the guys on the other team asked me if I was left-handed. That felt pretty good.  I actually scored about half my points with the left today.  I used to have a pretty decent left hand, but in recent years it's deserted me. As Fast Eddie once said, "I'm back, baby!"

Not really.  I am as slow as Jorge Posada carrying Tony Clark, and I lost my breath after about seven minutes. But it was fun.  Playing basketball at the beach.  You just can't argue with that.  Laguna Beach may be a tourist trap, but I am OK with that. People were pretty nice, and just about everybody I talked to expressed their deep satisfaction with life in Southern California.  Not a bad place to be.  I took some pics but I left my camera in the car, so you will have to wait until tomorrow.  It's going to be a tough wait, I know.**

Oh, and I guess I'll say Cardinals in 7.  The WS is always 7 with the Red Sox, and they always lose.  Let's see if they can change everything in one year.

* That estimate allows time for me to thwart some bad guys on the flight (if necessary) and fill out the appropriate paperwork once we're back on the ground.
** Holy Crap!  It's tomorrow! Here is one bad pic.