lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Fall Cleaning.
I have done a tad of it along the overcrowded righthand side of my blog. I have shortened my lists of archives, CDs, and movies and added links to the older stuff. So it's still there, just not on the main page anymore. And we have another new title. Though I'm not sure I'm digging this one so much. And stay tuned later today or tomorrow for a guest entry from my dear husband Josh, who apparently has something very important to say about baseball and statistics and the stupidity of certain people. Should be a blast.
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Monday, September 29, 2003
"Revenge.  Sweet, wonderful revenge.  With butter."
Let us go back to Friday for a moment, shall we?  The Cubs and the Astros are tied at the top of the National League Central with a mere three games left to play.  The Cubs game is rained out, resulting in a doubleheader on Saturday--something a team with so much at stake in each and every game would probably prefer not to have to go through, as fatigue can become a factor.  The Astros game goes on as scheduled, and they lose (thank you, Brewers!).  This now means that the quickest way for the Cubs to win the division would be for the Astros to lose their Saturday game and the Cubs to win both of their Saturday games.  So, now it is Saturday.  We are watching the Cubs game and flipping back and forth a bit to the Astros game.  The Astros lose (thank you, Brewers!).  Shortly thereafter, the Cubs win (thank you, Pirates!).

Now all the Cubs need to do is win the second game of the doubleheader and they win the division outright.  The game is not on television.  This upsets us.  We pay $.99 to watch the game on mlb.com.  The game is blacked out.  EVERYWHERE, not just the places that have Fox Sports Chicago, on which the game is being broadcast.  This makes less than zero sense.  This upsets us.  This upsets many a Cub fan all over the country and they all post on the messageboards explaining how this upsets them.  We get in the car and listen on the radio, as we can't get WGN Radio to come in very well inside the house.  We drive to various places around town with TVs in the hopes of finding somewhere we can watch the game.  We fail miserably.  We sit in various parking lots and finally hear the end of the game about ten minutes before we have to be at the bowling alley to fill in for the league partners of some friends from church (we got to bowl three games for only the cost of shoe rental.  Quite a deal, I'd say).

Oh, yeah, the Cubs won.  And the villagers rejoiced.  This was especially wonderful as the team could then throw in all their second-stringers and an inexperienced starting pitcher for Sunday's game, giving everyone else a much-needed rest.  So now they can bring their best against (gulp) the Braves.  They can do it.  I know this.  I have seen them step it up in September this year as they simply haven't done before.  Something is just different this time.  You can feel it in the air.  And even if they don't make it to the NLCS (let's face it, Atlanta has the best record in baseball this year), the Cubbies still made it further than most people thought they would.  Ha.  Ha ha.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
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Friday, September 26, 2003
Six Brilliant Songs.
This is the newest feature here at Beth-Annie's.  Not new in its concept, but new in that the concept now has a name.  I like names.  (note:  'Six Brilliant Songs' will not always feature exactly six songs.)

Calexico -- "Quattro"
Grant Lee Phillips* -- "You're a Pony"
Stereophonics -- "I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio"
Turin Brakes -- "Long Distance"
Turin Brakes -- "Rain City"
Joe Henry -- "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation"

They are very good.  Dig them.

*Also known as the town troubadour on the television program known as "Gilmore Girls."
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Thursday, September 25, 2003
Fun with thumbs.
Thumbs way up to the Over the Rhine concert.  It was pretty spectacular, as usual.  Thumbs up also to the venue (Luther's Blues).  It was a little smoky, but, then, it WAS a bar.  Other than that, though, it was nice and small, not crowded, and had tables and chairs so we weren't forced to stand the whole time.  It was very easy to just relax and enjoy the music.  Thumbs up also to being able to get cheap, surcharge-less tickets to the Josh Rouse/Leona Naess concert there on October 12.  (And thumbs up to the October 12 Howie Day concert in Chicago selling out so that they had to add another date on October 11 so that I can go to both Josh and Howie.)  Thumbs down to getting no sleep.  I will have to let you know later which thumb I give to the Big Brother finale I still have yet to watch (or, perhaps a different finger ;)).

Random Facts About Your Friendly Host, Beth-Annie.
I hate it when songs fade out at the end.  That is a cop out.  Quit with the lazy and actually finish the song.
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Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Yes, I did it on purpose.  Just to be annoying.
So last night was the first new episode of Gilmore Girls (which we still haven't had a chance to see :-(), and tonight is the first new episode of Ed, not to mention the finale of Big Brother (and the premiere of The Bachelor, but I'm smart enough to know I'm by far the only one who cares about that).  And we will be in Madison.  Argh.  Not only that, but as the Over the Rhine concert doesn't start till 9pm and it's about two hours away, we figure we won't get home until maybe close to 2am.  What fun.  And of course the next morning is the one day during the week I have to be up for something (Bible study at 9am).  So I won't be able to find out who won BB until tomorrow afternoon.  So don't tell me.  moM.  Not that I care that much, really.  This is definitely one of those cases of rooting against who I don't want to win rather than rooting for who I do want to win.  I am happy that one of the openers for OTR is Steven Delopoulos, the former lead singer of Burlap to Cashmere who now has a solo record out (though I haven't heard it).  I'm looking forward to seeing his performance.  Stupid new primetime season starts up at the same time as everything else in life starts back up again, so I'm finding myself having to tape sixteen zillion things all at the same time because we aren't home and everything's on at once, and then having it take forever to get caught back up again.  Tonight, for example, I will be taping 6 hours of programming during the 3 hours of primetime.  (It would be 7, but I can't tape three things at once when one of them is Ed and I need a back-up for that due to previous experience.)  I would be very sad indeed (or perhaps well on my way to insanity) if my power were out right now.  Not that I can't live without television for periods of time--I've done it many times in my life.  I can go without, I just have to have stuff taped so I can watch the things I love eventually.  It's just the way I am.  Thank goodness we have two VCR's and our wonderful wonderful beautiful Replay.  I hope this club we're going to tonight isn't too "clubby," with smoke and drunk people and no chairs and all those types of things that made the Evanescence concert at the stupid Rave so miserable.  And of course Josh just found out he needs to be at work at seven-thirty in the morning, which means he needs to leave around 6:15.  When we're not getting home until 2.  I guess I know who's driving home.  Boy, Alison had better not win.  And there'd better be another season of The Amazing Race.  Of course, since it just beat out Survivor, American Idol, and Bob Hope's 100th Birthday special to win the Emmy for best reality program or special, maybe it's chances are a little better now.  Now I have to go take a shower and make myself pretty for our date tonight.  That's right, Josh, I just decided this is officially a date, since I was saying we needed to do something like that, so now we are.  I expect romance.  Of Ed and Carol proportions.  Except not that messed up.  And we're on to the next title.  I love shoes.  And Luke.  Oh, that's right, I'm supposed to explain where the sucker came from.  Okay, in the Gilmore Girls episode from last season in which there is a dance marathon (the one where Dean finally breaks up with Rory), the heel of Lorelai's vintage shoe breaks and she asks Luke to fix it.  To which he gives her that infamous give-me-a-break look and responds with, well, I think you get it.  Peace out.
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DISCLAIMER:  I do not believe in curses.
Everybody knows about the Curse of the Bambino (on the Red Sox), but if you're not a Cubs fan you might not know that there is a "curse" in their history as well.  In short, the story goes that the last time the Cubs were in the World Series in 1945, a local tavern owner tried to bring a goat to one of the games at Wrigley Field.  When his goat was denied entry to the game (despite having a ticket), he cursed the team.  And the Cubs haven't been back to the Series since.

So with the Cubs being so close to getting into the playoffs at almost the end of the season, the good folks at WGN Radio decided to try to transfer the curse to the Houston Astros, the Cubs' main competition for getting into the playoffs (they were at the time half a game ahead of the Cubs in the division standings, and the division winner at the end of the season makes the playoffs).  So on Monday they sent some Cubs fans to Houston to try to get a goat into the Astros game.  When they wouldn't let the goat in, the fans stood outside the stadium with the goat (Virgil Homer :)) and spoke a reverse of the curse to transfer it to the Astros, all the while getting very strange looks I'm sure from all the Houston fans milling around.

Now, as I said, I don't believe in curses, but I will say that since then the Astros have lost both their games, 6-3 and 10-3, and the Cubs have won their only game 6-0.  And now the Cubs are in first place by one game.  Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha...

You can get a better description of the "curse" as well as photos and audio from the "reversal" here.  I love the goat bleating throughout the whole thing.  It adds a nice dramatic touch.  :)
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Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Wanted:  Your prayers.  Lots of them.
After talking to my parents last night I found out that many members of my immediate extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents) are going through some tough things right now.  Unemployment, heart surgery, mental/behavioral problems, etc.  My father's parents especially are declining in their health very rapidly, with my grandmother's Alzheimers and my grandfather's severe depression and the physical pain that has accompanied it.  He is also currently really struggling in his relationship with God, and is in great need of prayers that he might resolve those things in his mind and come to some sort of peace.  My parents have been running themselves ragged going back and forth and back and forth to western Iowa to help take care of him and take care of the basic business matters he can no longer handle, and they need prayers that they might continue to be able to deal with both the emotional and physical
hardships of what they are having to do.  Any of you who are inclined to pray (which I believe is pretty much anyone who would read this), my whole family
would very much appreciate your prayers.  It is awfully depressing to think about how much so many people I care about are having to deal with right now, but it has made me very aware of how blessed I am at this moment in my life.
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Friday, September 19, 2003
So the "blah, blah, blah..." was getting on my nerves even more than the "The World of Beth-Annie."
But I still haven't made a concrete decision about their replacement, so over the next little bit I will be experimenting with those I feel are contenders. Because sometimes you just can't tell if a wacked-out (or otherwise, for that matter) title will work until you actually stick it at the top of your blog and see what it looks like. So that is what I am doing. It's trial-run time. Now if I could only figure out a good sub-title that contains "Beth-Annie"...
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Thursday, September 18, 2003
Formerly Lovely Spot That Is Now or Was Earlier Today Severely Under Water Picture of the Day.
Taken by Beth-Annie exactly two weeks ago. RIP.
Buckroe Beach, VA

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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
This is a pathetic excuse for an entry, but at least it's something.
Anyone with a Papa Murphy's near you, do yourself a favor and try their Gourmet Chicken Garlic Pizza.  It is one of the most perfect pizzas I have ever had the privilege to taste.

Random Facts About Your Friendly Host, Beth-Annie.
I love magazine perfume samples.  Absolutely adore, in fact.  We don't get the kind of magazines that contain them very often (thank you again, Kim, for the six or so you gave me), but when we do get them I save them.  Not to rub on myself or anything like that in an attempt to wear for free perfume that I would never spend the money to buy, but just to smell.  Men's or women's, doesn't matter.  I am odd.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Ah, yes, it's that time of year again.  The new fall television season officially started for me last night as I got my first new episode of "Everwood."  It was so good and very poignant.  I cried.  (No, not because the new season has started--it was the story, you silleyheads.)  So, one cliffhanger resolved, about seven to go.

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No fair that all the fun comes to Virginia after we leave.

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We are going concert crazy.  Sept. 24 we see Over the Rhine in Madison.  Oct. 1 we see Guster (finally!) in Milwaukee.  Oct. 11 we see Howie Day (finally!) in Chicago.  And if Josh isn't in Germany and it doesn't sell out, Oct. 17 we see Turin Brakes in Chicago.  Whew!  I am rapidly running out of acts I really want to see in concert but never have.  After these the only ones I can think of that are left are Fleming and John, Coldplay, Jason Mraz and Sheryl Crow (now that I can cross PFR and Steve Taylor off my list).  And I would still really like to see Michael W. Smith in a show where he actually sings his own songs.
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Monday, September 15, 2003
God bless the Golf Channel.
The Solheim Cup was this weekend (explanation of what that is here, if you've forgotten), and thanks to the Golf Channel's unprecedented coverage of every single minute of every single match,  I watched approximately 26 hours of golf this weekend.  Literally.  This is not an exaggeration.  The only other things I did were go to church, watch Iowa State get pounded in football, go to the driving range, and watch Bruce Almighty.  Okay, I guess that kind of sounds like I did a lot of other stuff, but that's really not much over three days.  And now tonight I can watch another 2 1/2 hours of Michelle Wie and John Daly vs. Nancy Lopez and Hank Kuehne.  And you know I will.  It is a sickness.  Go Nancy and Hank.

Random Facts About Your Friendly Host, Beth-Annie.
To keep with the theme of this entry, here, for all of your information, is the official list of my favorite LPGA golfers, in order:
1.  Annika Sorenstam (#1 money list, 46 career victories in 10 years on tour)
2.  Angela Stanford (#14 money list, 1 career victory in 3 years on tour)
3.  Heather Bowie (#26 money list, no career victories in 4 years on tour)
4.  Laura Diaz (#27 money list, 2 career victories in 5 years on tour)
5.  Carin Koch (#58 money list*, 1 career victory in 9 years on tour)
6.  Cristie Kerr (#16 money list, 1 career victory in 7 years on tour)
7.  Beth Bauer (#73 money list, no career victories in 2 years on tour)
8.  Charlotta Sorenstam (#102 money list, 1 career victory in 7 years on tour)

So now you all know who I'm rooting for.  Congratulations.

*Has only played this year since July.
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Friday, September 12, 2003
Choose the best answer.  Please use a no. 2 pencil to fill in the circle completely, without straying.

A)  This is where fun comes to die.

B)  Do I look like a cobbler to you?

C)  Beth-Annie, Lewis and Clark had a journal.  You, my friend, have a diary.

D)  Raisins.  They're nature's candy.

E)  I have created a level of lameness that can only be recreated under pure laboratory conditions.

F)  Pants and back-up pants.

You may praise your most favorites, shun your least favorites, or modify your middle favorites to make them your more favorites.  Either direct credit or directly inspirational credit goes to the television programs of Ed and Gilmore Girls, the sources of all my power.

Oh, yeah, and these are the nominees for Beth-Annie's New Blog Title.  For your consideration.
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Thursday, September 11, 2003
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up for the offer of a lifetime!
That's right, for the low, low price of $2.00 American you can now be the proud owner of the Motorola ringtone of Over the Rhine's "All I Need Is Everything." And you all thought the world couldn't get any more bizarre. What fools you mortals be.
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Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Adventures in nine states plus the District of Columbia whose license plates say "Taxation Without Representation" how cool is that.
We drove.  We disc golfed.  We drove some more.  We disc golfed some more.  We saw Matt and Kim.  We disc golfed.  We went to Washington, D.C.  We  saw Uri.  We went to Baltimore.  We saw fishies and sharkies.  We saw Matt and Kim some more.  We went to Hampton Roads and "swam" in the ocean for the first time, where we did not see any sharkies (thank goodness).  We saw Matt and Kim some more and disc golfed some more and said goodbye to Matt and Kim some... just some, no more.  We disc golfed.  We arrived home.  We sleeped.

Okay, if y'all want a little more detail than that I can start sharing tomorrow, including pics.  Tune in for such details as how many rounds of disc golf we actually played and where, how I lost my favorite pair of sandals (or, perhaps just that I lost my favorite pair of sandals, since we still haven't figured out the "how" of it), who Uri is and why the hick we would want to have dinner with him, and the results of the Great Prinsiana Root Beer Taste-Off.  It will be riveting.
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