Trombone Trombone Trombone

Hold on to your butts.

Lack of Content

Hi folks, meager readership. Sorry for the lack of content the past few days/weeks. Last week was hellacious in terms of school, and I was down in Iowa this weekend. In just over two weeks, this whole "writing a law review article" bs will be over with. Not like I'm counting or anything.

Had a great weekend in Decorah - seeing friends, hanging around Luther, going to La Rana, listening to Concert Band, playing some frisbee golf, etc, etc, etc. I'm not typically one to get too nostalgic, but the thought that this was the last year that I am going to know actual Luther students, that was a bit disconcerting. Who are we going to crash with from now on?

In any event, it was a much needed break and a welcome respite.

I've really been trying to come up with a good album of the week, but I keep running into brick walls. I'll keep listening, keep thinking, and try to coagulate some words together.

Weekend

Fall break is over. Back to reality. Back to 50 page assignments on the law of the sea.

Fantastic.

To say that I had a tumultuous fall break would be an understatement, I think. Seldom have I felt such soaring highs juxtaposed with such plummeting lows. It wasn't the best of feelings, and I definitely am still suffering from a few nights of less than perfect sleep. But, what can you do. Not much, especially with this situation, and that is the unfortunate part. All that can be done is to adequately express how one is feeling, in the hope that it serves some sort of purpose. At the very least, I'm glad to have that upcoming opportunity. Oddly enough, even in light of the 99% chance of an ending that will be supremely dissatisfying to me, I'm kind of thankful to be able to unburden all these feelings. It's no fun to go through life sterilized of emotion, of detachment with others. Even if it's fruitless, I think it's important to tell people what you think. And that will be ironically satisfying.

In good news, my sole class for tomorrow has been canceled. Saved by the threat of H1N1, I suppose. Hopefully I can catch up on some sleep, and knock out a good chunk of this law review article. I need to come up with an initial draft in a week, and with my weekend excursion coming up, that needs to happen sooner rather than later.

I guess I have to go hear a band concert, and have Mexican food. Beer me strength.

Thursday Night

People ask me just what the hell I do on Thursday night. Now, I don't do what's on the video, because these people are crazy awesome. But I try.



What I really like about this video, is that it isn't scripted. Sure, you can find some crazy pre-planned swing dance videos out there, but I don't really get into that so much. Jazz is an improvisational music, I think lindy should be an improvisational dance. So, when two people go and do something organic like this, it just freaks me right out.

Another thing I like about this is that they don't waste time trying to do anything crazyass. Undoubtedly, it's pretty cool when you can do flips and stuff, but in reality, I think it's only really cool when it can be perfectly integrated. Most of the time, that's not the case (except in planned dances - see above paragraph).

On the Cusp of Fall (Break) - Thoughts

I've been busy lately, extremely busy. My procrastination with law review finally caught up to me this weekend, compounded by a corporations midterm today. I'm not usually one to fault teachers for the duplicity of exams, but in this case, I will. Although I feel like I did well on the exam, what she told us to study was definitely not the focus. Frustrating.

It's been a taxing couple weeks, for multiple reasons I suppose. As aforementioned, school is definitely kicking up a bit. That's always been to be expected though. A friend mentioned to me tonight that graduate school is school for people to go to who haven't quite realized that they're done with school. At this point, that saying is equally applicable to law school. Thankfully, mercifully, fall break is a mere 17 hours away. Yes, I know my fall break will be fraught with law review peril, but at least it will be some sort of break.

For me, the real break is in a week and a half. I'm going down to visit some friends in Decorah, which I think is long overdue and plenty welcome. It's time to get out of this city, to get someplace a bit more pastoral. I wouldn't say that our get-together's are mournful for the past, for the good old days of college. I don't think any of my friends has that sort of stagnant view of life. But what I would say is they remind me of how fortunate I was to have that period of time, and to have good friends. So yes, that will be good.

I'm not one to make this site some sort of repository of my private thoughts, at least those private thoughts that go to the core of relationships. So, there aren't any proper names of individuals here, there aren't any "dear diary" entries, there isn't much amorous poetry or vindictive diatribes. In general, I am a private person; someone who likes to control the amount of information I divulge about given situations to given people.

In light of that disclaimer, I will stay true to it. But what I will say, is that the past month and a half or so have presented me with a sort of personal-relational challenge, something that I don't normally encounter. Maybe challenge isn't the correct word. Maybe the better term is an ambiguous opportunity, made worse by my own shy and non-assertive nature. Actually, maybe the best explanation is the uncertainty of approaching something that you want so bad to turn into something else, but not knowing exactly what to do. Maybe realizing that what you have to do, just maybe, is wait. Or to the contrary, maybe you have to do something drastic. As it turns out, perhaps "uncertainty" is the key term here.

I get the sneaking suspicion that however terrible/joyful/confusing the whole range of emotion is, it's nothing unique to me. I think it's just the terrible/joyful/confusing nature of our own interactions. In any event, it doesn't make it any less emotionally draining.

Fall is certainly here, maybe even with a quick skip into winter. I was listening to Garrison Keillor on the radio the other day, and he said something to the effect that fall is a perfect time to think about mortality. Now, I haven't been thinking about mortality. But I think there's some truth to that thought, fall (at the very least) encourages you to think about some of the bigger issues in life. I can agree with that.

On a final note, I can't recommend enough last week's episode of The Office. It's Jim and Pam's wedding episode, but it is also absolutely hilarious.

Almost 16 hours to fall break now.

Well...

Well shit.

I know the Twins played horribly during this series; they missed countless opportunities and made mistakes at the worst possible moments. But that doesn't erase the sting, I suppose. I hate losing to the Yankees more than anything else, ever. That season 0 for everything mark is incredibly distressing to me.

But on the other hand, I think this team gave all that they had to give, especially in that epic tiebreaker for the ages. They let the Metrodome go out with some style, and I think if the Metrodome could speak, it would appreciate that.

We'll just have to get them next year. After all, spring training is right around the corner.

Yes.

I watch quite a bit of baseball, but I've never seen a game like that before. I damn near had to give myself oxygen.

Amazing. Today's a good day.

Metrodome Memories

It's not really common knowledge, but as it turns out, I am actually quite the fan of my hometown Minnesota Twins baseball team. And for as long as I can remember, nay, the entirety of the 23 years which I've walked this earth, I've been watching my beloved Twins play underneath the teflon sky of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Of course, I knew the demise of the Metrodome has been coming. In fact, I've been cheerleading it, ever since the construction of a new outdoor ballpark became reality in 2006. I've been poring over photos of the rapidly rising Target Field almost daily for at least two years now, and awaiting with bated breath for that "countdown to outdoor baseball" sign in left field to reach zero. I can count on one hand the number of outdoor major league baseball games I've seen, but I don't think you need any special gnosis to know that baseball isn't meant to be played in a concrete warehouse with plastic grass, a garbage bag for an outfield wall, and a dull roof that looks kind of like something I pulled out of my grandma's basement.



But now, shockingly, against all odds, it's here. Barring a miracle, there are only two more games of Twins baseball to be played inside the dome. I'm happy to say that I'm attending the final regular season game on Sunday afternoon. I can only hope that the Twins are still playing for something, but even if they aren't, something good is going to happen.

In my retrospection, I've been reading a lot of these "farewell to the Metrodome" articles, where these out of town sportswriters wax eloquent about the quirky playing atmosphere, the jet-engine decibel crowds, and the beautiful moments that were had. Which is all well and good, but it all seems somewhat prosaic to me. Everyone knows about the '91 World Series, the ball that never came down, the superball bounces, etc. But there are some things that are unknowable to the average person, because they run much deeper.

Next year, sitting outside at Target Field, I don't think I'll give much of a second thought to the Metrodome as a field, as the mundane fusion of astroturf and dirt into a diamond shape. But what I will think of are the games my parents took me to as a kid, always preceded by a visit to Matt's for a jucy lucy. I'll think about wanting nothing else in the world but to see Kirby Puckett hit a home run, and then screaming wildly as he made a young boy's wish come true. I'll think about having a Dome Dog, and trying to convince my dad that I really needed the pop in the souvenir cup. I'll remember waiting in line with my mom for two hours in order to be one of the 15,000 people to get the autographed Kirby Puckett retirement card (yes, he actually signed 15,000). I'll remember when my letter of encouragement was posted in the Twins' locker room. I was pretty young, but I can remember watching the 1991 World Series on TV, and seeing the sea of typically mundane midwesterners going euphoric with Homer Hankies. In my more recent years, I'll remember stretching out in the cheap seats with a Summit, squinting to see the field while still watching out for beach balls. I'll remember going to the 2004 ALCS. Who can forget the trough, or getting blasted out of the Dome by the air pressure? And surely, I'll remember the Hormel Row of Fame song.

Musical Interlude: Now that you are at the game, are you in Hormel's Row of Fame? If you're in a lucky seat, you'll win a Hormel hot dog treat! Great for lunch, great for dinner, you will be a wiener winner in the Hormel Rowwwwww offff Faaaaaammmmmmeeeee!

Now, I can only hope to everything that is good on this earth that the Hormel Row of Fame will be transplanted out under the sun. I can only hope that the Twins play with as much joy as they have (at times) in the Dome. I'm a believer though, I know they will.

But as I've intimated, what I will miss about the Metrodome, is the connection it gives me to myself. For an entire generation of people like me, watching the Twins has meant going to the Dome. We don't know anything else. But, I suppose, why should we, when it's been such a ride? To paraphrase Torii Hunter, it wasn't a great place to play baseball, but there sure was some great baseball played there.

So Metrodome, it's been fun, and I really do mean that. Your passing is going to be bittersweet. It's always hard to say goodbye to an old friend, maybe even harder when they're the kind that no one else appreciates.



Hell, let's go win the division. I think the Metrodome deserves it.