Monthly Archives: November 2008

Thanksgiving

A long, long time ago, my dad once said that Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday. Being young and not yet refined, of course, my brother and I were befuddled. Thanksgiving was just dinner and passing out with football in the background, and of course, a couple days off. But there was no real buildup, no excitement, not like Christmas which was coming around the corner. That was the exciting holiday. So, you know, we just didn’t get it, being young and foolish.

But as time goes on, I’ve come to really realize that Thanksgiving really does kick Christmas’s butt all over the place, and I’ve thus come into total agreement with my dad. There’s no pressure, no buildup, no politics — just turkey, football, tryptophan-induced comas and thanks, lots and lots of thanks — for health, for friends and family, for stable work, and for the gift of life. And, this year, a special treat from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.

It’s going to be a gorgeous day in Charleston. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with the family, tossing a football with my brother — the little things.

Take care of yourselves and each other, and have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Deploy The Thermals

So yeah. It’s cold outside, in case you haven’t noticed. Consider today’s numbers at the College of Charleston’s weather station — the temperature was only above 50 for a short time past midnight — we didn’t get back there. Temperatures are freefalling into the 30s at the time of this writing (roughly 9:30 PM) and will continue to drop.

This is fairly out of line for November — we’re usually dipping into the 40s for lows fairly regularly at this point, but we still typically see mid-to-upper 60s. We’re getting close to record cold, actually, for this time of year — the record low for this time of year was 29 set back in 1965, and we could blow that away.

Needless to say, the growing season will likely end tonight. Bring your plants inside, if possible, because they will likely not survive the night. Also, stay bundled up — layers, layers, layers! I know I’ll be digging for the long johns a bit earlier than I anticipated this time around.

The forecast indicates a small rebound later on into the week, but even if we top out at 60 degrees on Friday, we’re still well below normal for this time of year. Stay warm out there…

Trevor Time No More

This is depressing. The Padres have withdrawn their contract offer to Trevor Hoffman, effectively ending his time in San Diego and apparently on very lousy terms.

This isn’t the way it was supposed to happen, not in the slightest — Hoffy was supposed to end his career as a Padre, in triumph, with the blare of Angus Young and Brian Johnson mixing into the soundscape — but sadly, owner John Moores’ divorce proceedings and a breakdown in the front office has trumped all that.

So, in 2009, there won’t be any more Hells Bells. No more opposing batters flailing at Hoffman’s bedazzling changeup. No more Trevor Time.

With the likely trade of Jake Peavy and probably several other players in what is shaping up to be Fire Sale II, 2009 promises to be a very lousy year for San Diego baseball. It will be especially hard without Hoffman, especially knowing the circumstances of his departure.

Will the 41-year-old Hoffman play again? Probably. His agent will shop him around, and there’s no shortage of teams that need a proven closer. He would have to be a closer, too — statistically, he’s proven to not be as effective in middle relief or non-save situations. Also, at 41, his stuff isn’t what it used to be. The few times I’ve seen him, I’ve seen that his fastball is low even for Hoffman’s standards; he’s only throwing 84, 85 now. The changeup helps offset for that, but he’s simply being figured out more. I’m sure a team in desperate need will pick him up for a year, but you know, there’s something really disheartening about Hoffman being a stopgap solution for another team in what will likely be his final season.

The Final Countdown

It’s that time of year — the final stretch into the exam period and the end of the semester (and, for me, the long-awaited end to my college career). So, expect relative silence on the blog and in my social media space for a while. I’ll try to come up for air on weekends. (I do need to post a review of my BlackBerry Bold, but I’ll do that after a couple more weeks with it on my belt…erm…under my belt.)

So while I frantically conclude my undergraduate years, here’s a funny video to watch (BlackBerry-themed, of course):

Catch you in the valleys…

A historic moment

Amazing

I never thought I would see something like this so soon in my lifetime. Being an optimist, I was sure I’d see it maybe when I was 40 or 50, but 24? Incredible.

There will be more to write in the days ahead. For now, though, silence. And sleep. And rejoicing in the end of a nearly two-year presidential campaign cycle that couldn’t be over soon enough.

Welcome to November!

Editor’s note: I’m writing this from the BlackBerry. There may be related typographical errors; apologies in advance.

I’m on location at Mellow Mushroom downtown tonight, ringing in November after a reasonably successful Halloween. It’s amazing we’re so close to 2009. It’s amazing that next week, some sort of history will be made: We’ll have elected either the first black president or the first woman vice president. And, it’s amazing that I’m done with school in a month and a half.

October was a good, if not insanely busy, month. The highlight was absolutely ConvergeSouth and the Independent Bloggers’ Conference that followed. Head on over to Patrick’s blog for his epic roundup and awesome photos of me in front of a green screen.

I’ll have more when I’m on a bigger QWERTY. :)