Hello Happy Pitbulls

Where's Marilyn?

I just had to read about this on another blog: I guess I have been in hibernation. It's been 2 weeks since my last post.  Where the heck have I been?

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see that I've more or less recovered from my bronchitis, and spent a bunch of time in San Francisco at a conference.  If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see that I've been spending a lot more of my time writing in short, 140-character bursts, than spending time writing here.  I guess I'm guilty of being a bit lazy.  I've also been spending lots of time on Facebook. Are you my friend yet? Friend me up!

My 25th high school reunion is coming up next year, so there's this flurry of activity and reconnecting happening with my old pals.  I went to a tiny school.  I don't even think there were 100 people in my graduating class.  The problem is, I blocked out a lot of those years from my memory.  It's kinda fun seeing what everyone is up to and how they are mostly normal people now (relatively speaking, of course).  Facebook is a great way to reconnect with people...I've even found people from my 10th grade Jewish summer camp in the Berkshires!

There's been lots of celebration about the change that's going on in our country.  Have you seen the new transition web site: change.gov? I am enormously encouraged by what I am seeing in terms of openness in the upcoming administration.  I made comments previously here about how the candidates embraced web 2.0 concepts during the campaigns, but then questioned whether they could make the transition to candidate 2.0 to president 2.0.  I think that's where we are going.

Also, I stumbled upon this site as well: http://obamacto.org/, a site that is gathering info from the wisdom of "the crowd" regarding technology priorities for the yet-to-be-appointed Chief Technology Officer in the Obama campaign.

Other things?  The Dead Pool.  RIP to those who have recently passed:

• Mitch Mitchell (drummer from Jimi Hendrix Experience)
• Yma Sumac
• Michael Crichton
• Studs Turkel

And November, I remember my mom, who passed away November 12, 2000.  As I said on Twitter, it's gotten easier, but I don't miss her any less.

Oh, and on a lighter note: Dustin Pedroia wins the MVP!!!  (Sadly, I was briefly friends with his imposter on Facebook, but I won't give up my campaign to get him to be grand marshall at the Woodland Christmas Parade!)

Sending Happy Thoughts to Number 8

The news came out yesterday that Carl Yastrzemski, better known as Yaz, my childhood Red Sox hero had bypass surgery. As a kid, we all had number 8 jerseys, batting helmets, batting gloves and other Yaz paraphernalia.  Of course, there was the time my little brother, who was probably 5 or 6 at the time, yelled out "Come on Yastrzemski, you BUM!" at the top of his lungs at Fenway, much to the amusement of all of Section 29 along the left field line where we used to sit.

Our favorite memory of Yaz is owed to his theme song which we frequently sang along with from the Impossible Dream record as kids.  It makes me feel unbelievably nostalgic everytime I listen to this.

Just wanted to pass along some digital love to Yaz on behalf of the crazy Zalkan clan.  His name made ours seem plain and we loved him for it!

Sox Swept in Oakland, Without Me

The day tickets went on sale for the 2008 baseball season, I was online securing tickets for my dad and me to see the Red Sox in Oakland.  It's been a bit of a fuzzy ritual.  We've been twice now, but didn't go last year because I put work first, like an idiot.

I got tickets for today's game way back in February. That was before I knew I was going to have my ankle surgery.  I scheduled my surgery around this game so I could be sure I was able to go. As it turned out, my dad forgot about the game, booked a flight to see my brother and his family, and I ended  up selling the tickets.  I sold them to a Sox fan, and I'm feeling slightly guilty that the Sox lost.  In fact, the Red Sox lost all weekend.  Now I feel relieved I didn't drive all the way down on a holiday weekend to sit amongst the A's fans and watch the Red Sox lose.

It's probably just as well.  I spend a few hours wearing my brace and walking around the house (on crutches, but wearing a shoe!) and it wore me out.  I'm icing.  I think it would have been too much.

Attention Woodlanders: Red Sox anyone?

Back in February, on the very day the Red Sox tickets went on sale, I bought tickets for my dad and I to go down to Oakland on Sunday, May 23 to see the Sox play the Oakland A's.  Who would have thunk that I would have ankle surgery and be boot bound at the time of the game?  As it turns out, my dad is also heading up north to see my brother and his wife and child this weekend, and my other niece graduates from high school.  We have an action packed weekend planned.

So, all you Dustin Pedroia fans in Woodland -- anyone want some tix for the game on Sunday?  Email me if you are interested in some great seats and I'll give you the details.  I'd hate to see these tickets go unused!

Why I Had My Surgery Sooner Than Later

When I heard I was going to have surgery, I was given some options for surgery dates.  I ended up picking March 26th for a couple of reasons:

• I have a pair of killer seats for the Red Sox and A's game on May 25th.  The first eligible surgery date improved my chances that I might actually get to go to it.  Since I can't drive until I get my ankle rehabbed enough to control the brake and gas without pain, I'm still a little tentative about that date.  Since my baseball date (my dad) is legally blind, I don't think I'll be letting him drive, but as a last resort we can train and BART to the Colliseum if necessary!
• Have you ever been to Sacramento in the summertime?  It's hot here.  Really freakin' hot.  So I figured if I could get out of the boot before summer, I'd be a happy girl.  So far I have been really lucky that I didn't get casted.  I can still take my stinkfoot out of my boot a couple times a day and ice it, flex it ever so slightly, but mostly let it breathe. The last couple of days have been hot.  My foot is sweaty, stinky, and full of dead skin, and there's only so much I can do about it because it still hurts like a mother to touch it or move it too much.  I couldn't imagine doing this in 100 degree weather.  It would suck.

So, with those being the primary motivating factors behind the schedule for my surgery, I have been in baseball heaven this weekend.  Not only has it been in the 80s the last three days, it's also been the weekend of the biggest rivalry in my world -- the Red Sox/Yankees series at Fenway.  I've been lucky to be able to watch the games (I've been watching tonight's game for just over 4 hours now) and they've been great fun!  Since I can't really go outside without supervision, I've been chilling in the house and catching up on work while enjoying the game.  I couldn't be any happier.

Except that the final score was 8-5: Red Sox!

Big Papi Called Me!

My little brother sent me an email this morning to tell me if that if I see a phone call from area code 904 to answer it -- Big Papi was going to call me.  You know, Big Papi - David Ortiz - from the Boston Red Sox.  WTF?

Then it came true.  Except I got an email from Big Papi who tried to call, but I guess it was too early in the morning, so he left me this message.

What a great marketing thing for XM, although I'm still waiting until that damn Sirius XM merger goes through so I can listen to baseball on satellite radio.  I have been following the Red Sox so far this season via Twittercast following @redsoxcast.  But it would be great to get chrystal clear audio of the game from everywhere.  Yes, I love my satellite radio.

So Baseball Fans, whether you are a Red Sox fan or a Yankee fan and you have David Ortiz call you or Derek "the loser" Jeter is more your speed, have fun with this site.  Coming soon - turn yourself into a bobblehead!

Pitchers and Catchers: Baseball Feeds for Spring Training

My news feeds are jumping in my Google Reader under my Baseball category.  For those interested in following spring training news and the Red Sox in particular, here's a list of my favorite sites to follow.  You can get great quotes like: "Even though he's looking more like John Candy than John Candelaria..." referring to Curt Schilling (ouch!).

• Ballbug
• Call of the Green Monster (it's more of a spoof than anything else)
• Only Baseball Matters (mostly Giants-centric)
• Red Sox Stories from Boston.com (in-depth Sox coverage by the Boston Globe)
• I follow @TelegraphSox on Twitter (my new favorite way to get news in 140 characters or less!)
• Surviving Grady (ultra-funny fan site for the Sox)

Now that the weather is getting nicer, I start to need my fix of baseball news.  It's right around the corner!

Countdown to Baseball

With pitchers and catchers reporting in a few days, it's feeling close to baseball season.  We're starting to see news about the players reporting, and signings, like Keith Foulke coming out of retirement to come back to the A's.  Now--do you think there can be a ban on steroid-related media?  Yeah, I guess neither do I, but it's sure getting irritating.

And to make things more exciting - I got my Red Sox v A's tickets for May 25th in the mail!  Good times with good seats!

Baseball is Just Around the Corner. Got Tickets?

Single game tickets went on sale today and I picked up a pair for the Sunday afternoon matchup between the Red Sox and the A's in May.  It seems like forever since the World Series.  Catchers and pitchers are reporting in 3 weeks!

Woodland Christmas Parade a blast, minus Dustin

Yesterday my dad and I got bundled up in our Red Sox gear, grabbed some hot coffee and folding chairs and headed out to Main Street in Woodland for the Annual Christmas Parade, sponsored by the Woodland Chamber of Commerce. It's one of my favorite things about Woodland -- that the city still respects tradition.  Everyone from town comes out, both High Schools are represented, you're bound to run into someone you know, and the Mayor knows every one.  It's like a storybook small town.

So who started the rumor about Dustin Pedroia being the grand marshal?  My dad and I were convinced that it was going to be this big surprise -- our hometown hero riding to acknowledge all of those converted Giants fan waving with glee.  It was a bust.  No Dustin.

Highlight for me? Throughout the parade, there's all kinds of groups handing out candy and candy canes and leaflets telling heathens like me how to avoid going to hell and burning for eternity.  At this one moment, a little boy, maybe about 7 or 8 years old wearing a Giants beanie, walked straight up to me to hand me candy.  I had kids all around me, but he made the bee-line for me.  He said, "Merry Christmas, and go Red Sox.  Yeah, Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox World Champions."  It was awesome.  Wearing a 2003 Playoff sweatshirt (a year they were eliminated in the playoffs, and prior to the World Series win in 2004) admits you to a club of die-hard Red Sox fans who existed before the Bandwagon fans.  It was cool.

As for Dustin, no news of his non-appearance.  Today the Democrat mentioned that next year, they may be working on getting a Disney Character to be the grand marshall.  Come on guys -- haven't you seen the Charlie Brown special about commercialism?  Bring us our hometown hero!  Come on Dustin, I'll pay your airfare from Arizona if I have to!