The First Step...

After reading this piece from Jemele Hill, I realized something that bothers me about the Michael Vick saga. I mean beyond the dog fighting, the lying, and the superhuman ability to blow through the better part of $100 million in about six years.

It struck me after reading this quote:

"We're going to root for him to succeed because his success is another example of how African-Americans can overcome," said James Powell, who was born and raised in Atlanta and has been a Falcons season-ticket holder since 1999. "It will prove we're not all dogfighters, thugs or drug dealers. It's another image of the black man in the media that will be more positive than negative. We don't want the lasting image of the black quarterback in Atlanta to be, 'He fell from grace because he was a part of a dogfighting ring.'"

Speaking as a white guy, I don't believe that all African-Americans people are "dogfighters, thugs or drug dealers". I don't believe most African-Americans people are any of those things. I have experience living in the deep south, where I was born and raised, growing up with large black populations in the schools I attended and the little league teams I played on. I have spent most of my adult life in the midwest, where, well, let's just say things are a lot more monochrome. I don't know anyone in either place that thinks all (or even most) African-American people are "dogfighters, thugs or drug dealers". Yes, there are small minded people in this world who do think that. Of course there are. But I think they're a minority (no pun intended).

But look again at the quote above. Supporting a dogfighter, thug and, well drug-user is the method many are choosing to employ to show that Vick is not a good representative for African Americans. It seems to me that the best way to take a stand against a stereotype is to condemn those who embody that stereotype. Unwavering support doesn't help the cause.

Hope that Vick makes good on his second chance. Absolutely. But acknowledge that to this point, he isn't living up to the image the community wants to project. Admit that he isn't being mistreated; not by the NFL, the Falcons or the legal system. Admit he's in need of redemption. Then hope that he earns it.

Gimme Back My Bullets

• This is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. Any enemy capable of such things is capable of anything.


• Cool story about the 1982 Atlanta Braves playing an exhibition during the season against some minor league all-stars and how mother nature conspired against the small town host. This sort of game doesn't happen any more, but probably should.


• I'm used to stories about various crisis being presented as though they have little impact on men (tornadoes strike Alabama -- women and minorities hit hardest!), but this is kind of ridiculous. It seems that while a man might actually have prostate cancer, it's the woman who is most affected, what with the worrying and the stress of being partnered with a guy who has, uh, cancer. Poor woman.


• On the one hand, I think the Democrats hiring a speed reader -- in response to a Republican attempt to delay voting by requesting the entire text be read out loud -- is funny and clever. Then I realize that Congress didn't read the stimulus bills at any speed before voting on them.

Two Vertebrae Surgeries Later, A Garden Grows

As promised, here are some pictures of the newly finished landscaping project in the backyard:

This is what we started with. I know. You've

seen meth labs with better landscaping.

Once you clear out all the dead hookers

and and other detritus, it's not so bad.

Hey! Now it look like two people
with college educations live here!

And so on...

Okay. That's enough.

That's one project down, about six to go to get the backyard where we want it. Don't worry, I'll keep everyone informed of our progress in this space, no need to panic.

Back To The Grind

I hope everybody had a good Memorial Day weekend. Donna and I spent a good chunk of it driving to and from Fleet Farm buying mulch and shovels and potting soil and weed killer and bandages. Our backyard looks like something you'd see on Cops, and this spring we're finally doing something about it.

Anyway, there's a long way to go but we've got one big project out of the way: replanting a flowerbed that had been taken over by the thistles of indifference and the dandelions of neglect (also actual thistles and dandelions).

I've got to put down a little more mulch this afternoon, then it's all finished. I have the before photos and they'll go up tomorrow (along with the afters). It looks pretty good.

All-Star Blast From The Past

From the better late than never files: I uploaded a bunch of video of Macy playing T-Ball last summer to my YouTube channel. Below is a taste, but follow the link to see it all. Then you can say, "I saw her when....".

Korean Restaurant Turn Out To Be Japanese, Causes Flashbacks And Rambling Anecdote

Donna and I had dinner recently at Kobe's, a new asian place in Fargo. I mistakenly thought it was a Korean barbeque because there's a sign out front that says "Korean barbeque". The reality is that Kobe's is a teppen yaki place with a menu that ranges across several aspects of asian cuisine.

We sat at the hibachi table so we could experience a professional chef pretend to throw bits of food at us and make jokes whose sole claim to humor was the speaker's inability to speak english. It was totally worth it, as from experience I know that there is always a customer who will provide way more entertainment than the chef. I'll get into that experience and its attendant horrors shortly. First, let's talk about the man I'll call Old Joe, because I can and because I don't know his real name. Old Joe was saddled with poor hearing and an inability to understand that most Japanese restaurants don't actually employ Japanese people. Kobe's has a strong Indonesian contingent (by way, apparently, of New York).

Old Joe asked whereabouts in Japan both our server and chef were from. Despite the answer in both cases being "not from Japan -- Indonesia!", Old Joe was quick to point out his Japan-friendly bona fides by relating that a good friend of his from Hawaii was Japanese and coming to visit this summer. I kept waiting for the inevitable, "I was in Japan in 1945. Seemed nice." line of conversation to erupt, but Old Joe was too crafty for that. Instead, when told that the chef and server liked Fargo more than New York except for missing the Statue of Liberty, he replied with a hearty (if nonsensical), "well Fargo doesn't like you either!" Can't wait to see the photos from the Japanese Hawaiian guy's visit this summer.

The dinner was not all fun and bigotry though. You see, my first job experience was as a dishwasher in a Japanese steakhouse in Columbus, Ga. There, all the staff were Korean[*] except for the dishwashers. It was a terrible job, always coming home smelling like soy sauce and minimum wage, but it was the kind of job you got when you were still in high school. All the chefs were talented and nice to us, even though they didn't speak a word of English. I'm sure that if they could somehow get green cards they could have gotten jobs as chefs where they got paid more than fifty cents an hour.

But the memories that haunt me still all revolve around the owner's wife, who roamed that restaurant looking for reasons to yell at us occidentals, always in korean (she somehow knew less english than the chefs, who knew none) and always for no apparent reason. I'll call her "Grandma", because, well, that's what we called her when I worked there.

Grandma was an old school Korean lady who didn't cotton to those newfangled western ideas of "respect for employees", "wasting time cleaning" or "not putting half-eaten soup back into the pot". I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. I'm not claiming that food brought back to the kitchen from customers was re-served to different customers. That would be disgusting. No, I just mean that Grandma would come though the kitchen sometimes and help herself to a bowl of egg drop soup, eat half of it, then dump the rest back into the pot. No harm there. She did the same thing with the ice cream.

I know what you're all thinking: surely the health inspector closed that place down. You would be wrong. Sorry.

I used to have some fun with Grandma. She had a strange desire to make people think she understood english even though it was obvious she didn't. You could start a conversation with Grandma in which she would nod and agree profusely with whatever you said. A typical conversation would go something like this:

Me: Hey, Grandma, where do you want this tray of chicken?

Grandma: [string of korean words]

Me: Think we'll be busy tonight?

Grandma: [speaking korean, nodding vigorously]

Me: How 'bout that whole invading Panama thing, huh? That's some crazy crap!

Grandma: [speaking korean, nodding vigorously, dumping half-eaten soup into pot]

It took me a long time to eat in an asian restaurant again after working there. I love the food, but I didn't trust the restaurants. Every employee, from the hostess to the server to the chef to the cashier reminded me of the hideous grinning visage of Grandma, who was easily 115 years old back in 1987. But I got over it with time. Don't let this story discourage you. That restaurant has since closed down, and I'm sure Grandma must have passed on by now.

That rambling anecdote was certainly not intended to put you off Kobe's, which was really good. Excellent food, quick service, entertaining employees. Fargo needed more places with character and non-cookie-cutter menus. If you live in the Fargo area or are planning to visit you should try it. But if you see a 140-ish looking woman in there with a bowl of soup, go somewhere else.

[*] Do Japanese people exist? If so, do any of them work in Japanese restaurants? If I go to Tokyo for sushi, will it be served by a Vietnamese person?

Bullets Over Broadway

• Two thoughts I had while reading this article: (1) I think this guy might have gotten into the wrong business (economics writer) and (2) I am so glad I am dating someone who knows "where money comes from and where it goes".

• I don't care that various media sport a bias. I expect it. Newspapers, magazines, news programs and blogs are made up ultimately of people, and all people have their biases. I just wish most were more upfront about it and didn't hide behind claims of "fair and balanced" or "objective reporting" while infusing everything they produce with said bias.

• Oops. A campaign promise seems to be circling the drain. Wasn't Guantanamo a hellhole that had to be shut down to begin restoring American prestiege? A place full of political prisoners who were being unjustly denied basic human rights while being tortured? Now it is a apparently a place full of terrorists that no state wants to house. Weird.

• Who wants to go camping this summer? Seriously. I've got a tent that can sleep a small army I want to break in. Anybody up for it?

Star Trek And Lost: Separated At Birth?

We went and saw the new Star Trek movie last night. It was actually pretty good. Very entertaining. The plot moved along, the actors were fine, although I thought the dude from Lord of the Rings was trying a little too hard to be like Deforest Kelley's McCoy. The guy from Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead was great as Scotty.

That said, I was struck by how many parallels there were with Lost. I was kidding yesterday, but it turns out I shouldn't have been. There were a lot of common elements:

	Star Trek	Lost
Lack of respect for the current timeline	Romulan miners go back in time to wipe out the planets of the Federation, rewriting the original series canon and invoking howls of outrage from nerds everywhere.	Turning a donkey wheel causes the island to start skipping around in time randomly -- Undoubtedly because no donkey was involved in turning the wheel, a clear violation of OSHA guidelines.
Guy stuck in a box waiting for his relief	Scotty hanging out at Ice Station Zebra with some sort of Chernobyl monkey.	Desmond in the hatch, pushing the button, ready to shoot first and ask questions later. Questions like, "are you here to relieve me?"
An overt symbol of the protagonist's plight	James T. Kirk (the "T" stands for Tigerbeat!) playing with the miniature starship in the bar after getting his ass totally kicked.	Kate's toy airplane, a memento of happier times. Like when her best friend got killed and she blew up her father in his trailer.
A man out of time destined to set things right	Spock, looking every bit the 240 years old that Leonard Nimoy must be by now.	Daniel Faraday, with his plan to detonate an H-bomb on a small island populated by his friends, thus saving them all. Wait, what?
Man of science / man of faith dichotomy	Spock, boldly embracing the logic that Uhura is hot and he should totally mack on her, and Kirk, whose faith in his ability is matched only by his determination to get his face pounded by everyone else in the movie.	Jack, the stoic doctor who doesn't go in for any of the religious mumbo jumbo but is totally down with time travel, and Locke, who believed the island had a destiny for him. Said destiny turned out to be getting strangled by an extension cord and wearing someone else's loafers, but still.

Nonchalantly Going Where Millions Have Gone Before

Donna and I are going out to dinner and to the new Star Trek movie with a famous food blogger and her not-insignificant person-to-whom-she-is-married (you'd think the english language would have a better way to express that).

We are going to a new Korean joint, which is exciting because my only previous experience with Korean food consists of:

• a Korean restaurant in Columbus, GA that served us almost the entire menu family-style for $20 a head. I mean, the table was covered with about thirty dishes. It was incredible.

• the traditional Korean meal once served to me by my high school buddy Joe's mother back around 1988 or so: KFC and kimchee. It was pretty good as well. Who knew the Colonel was Korean?

As for the movie, it is from J.J. Abrams, the genius behind Lost, only the greatest show in the history of television (unless they screw up the series finale next season) and Alias (never saw it). I understand the plot revolves around time travel (just like Lost!), so I can only assume Mr. Abrams is going to borrow some other plot points from that show. The ones I'm hoping to see:

• A "neutrino cloud" that attacks the ship, judging those with dark pasts.

• A Scottish crewmember that can see into the future.

• A character named Nurse Kate who repeatedly gets abandoned and/or phasered in the face.

• An antagonist so creepy and perfect you find yourself fascinated by him even though you know he's evil. I'd name this character, I don't know, say, Len Binus.

• Two words: Commodore Eko.

Again With The Macy Videos

Here's another video of Macy playing spring soccer. In this one she weaves through half the defense to get a shot on goal, but misses just wide:



If you want to see more videos, check out my YouTube channel. I'll be posting more videos there as they become available.

Macy Takes It To The House

As promised, here is some video of Macy get all freaky-deaky with the futbol:



More to come as I can get it edited.

Ride The Wind

Island Park Cycles, the place where both Donna and I bought our bikes, has a family bike ride every Monday night starting in May. It was a lot of fun, as we got to ride six or seven miles, get a little sun and fresh air, and stretch out the old muscles.

Unfortunately, after biking from home to the shop, Donna realized she had forgotten her inhaler (she sometimes suffers from asthma-like symptoms, but doesn't have full-blown asthma) so she had to beg out. Macy and I soldiered on alone.

Macy got a thorough workout on her new tricked out bike. She's going to sleep well tonight.

Bonus trivia: Island Park Cycles is housed in the old Fargo train station, which also used to be the Great Northern Restaurant & Brewery, where I waited tables while in college.

Macy The Goal Scoring Machine

Better late than never: here are some pictures from Macy's latest soccer game. I had a couple of guest photographers this weekend: my friend Tim from the Cities took about 40,000 pictures and Donna got some nice video. I haven't had a chance to edit the video yet, but I'll get some clips up when I can.

For now, check out some pictures of Macy kicking butt on offense and in goal:

Not pictured: Macy (13) erupting into her goal-scoring dance.

Making the textbook save.

A Perfect Day

I think today may have been the perfect day. There was barely a cloud in the sky. The temperature managed to find the balance between cool enough for jeans and warm enough for shorts. A bare hint of a breeze only seemed to blow at the right time.

My good friend Tim from the cities visited this weekend. He headed back this morning, but not before a nice breakfast and some good conversation. It was a fine cap to the previous evening, which included a great meal at Grazie's, a bottle of wine and some cards.

I even kind of enjoyed mowing the lawn! I'll be damned if that lawn mower didn't start on the first pull while seeing its first action since last fall.

Obviously, I had to pull the grill out on a day like this (may as well push my luck). Burgers and dogs on the grill followed by a long bike ride with Macy and Donna. Donna got a sweet new bike that she got to ride for the first time.

If every day was like today, life would be paradise.

Music To Drink By

Def Leppard was one of the greatest rock bands ever. For three albums. Then there were overdoses and amputations and late '80s production values and it was over. But their first three albums, On Through The Night, High -n- Dry, and of course, Pyromania were some of the best rock n roll out there.

So grab your favorite libation and turn up the volume.

Day Of The Myconids

Donna discovered a thing growing through the crack in a basement window yesterday. Obviously, some organic matter got trapped in between the window and the well and grew some sort of fungus using some handy moisture. Combined with a leaky old window you've got your basic fungal infestation. Donna was a little freaked out, but I don't know. Looks like a truffle to me.

Anyway, I'm going to clean it out and then get into the window well and see what's what. But first I want to get a closer look at this thing.

Seems pretty harmle-- arrghh! Ahhhhhh! What are those things? Ahhhh! Spores of some kind -- attacking me! Ahhh! Get 'em off! Get 'em off! Ahhhh! Ahhh! Ahhhhhhhh.....

Update: THERE IS NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. THE JAY IS FINE. I MEAN I -- I AM FINE. THE ENTITY IS NOT DANGEROUS. IT HAS MUCH TO TEACH AND WE HAVE MUCH TO LEARN. ALL IS WELL. END HUMANOID TRANSMISSION.

I Have Some Theories You Might Be Interested In, Diane Sawyer

There was a breathless report on GMA this morning (I know -- that show is going to kill me) about a report from a scientist who helped develop the anti-flu drug Tamiflu. He posited that the recent outbreak of swine flu wasn't caused by unsanitary conditions at a hog farm, a lonely farmer just looking for love, or even a homicidal pig bent on bringing about the desctruction of the human race.

No, his idea was that the flu escaped from a lab. He wrote up this nice paper and sent it out. According to GMA, this report is gaining widespread attention around the globe and raises "a very intriguing question". What if the swine flu was accidentally unleashed on the population by a lab?

GMA talked to the WHO and the CDC, neither of which seemed overly impressed. How could these organizations so casually overlook such a provocative theory that could blow the lid off a huge scandal? Well, according to both organizations the reason is simple: the "report" is long on conjecture and short on evidence to back up the claims.

You'd think that would either be mentioned earlier in the story or, you know, cause the producer to say, "gee, there's no story here at all".

Well, after having checked "buy a hooker a razor scooter", "direct a feminie hygeine product commercial" and "eat a live raccoon" off my bucket list, there's only a few things left. One of them is "get reported about on GMA for a completely unsubstantiated 'theory'". Listen up Diane Sawyer:

1. This "Cheerios is a drug" thing is really a plot by oat farmers to increase cereal consumption (and thus raise the price of their cash crop) by equating this important part of a balanced breakfast with hip designer drugs like ecstasy and spray paint.

2. Those people that turn into cartoons in the Esurance commercials are actual living cartoons being converted into people. They shoot the commericals in reverse to fool you.

3. "5-Loxin", "Bifida Regularis" and "L-casei immunitas" aren't made up names for chemical ingredients contained in yogurt and laxatives -- these are newly discovered miracle compounds that can cure cancer, make your immune system impervious to attack, and make you poop like clockwork -- guaranteed!

4. The eyes are not really the windows into the soul. They're actually the peep hole into the ego. You can see the id by looking into one's navel and the superego by looking down one's throat. The only way to gaze into a person's soul is to remove it through trepanning and put it in a jar of formeldehyde.

5. Vampires are real. They are just uniformly unattractive despite how they are portrayed in movies, so you don't notice them.

I'm waiting for your call, Diane.

#1 With A Bullet

* What happens when some hippies try to sail across the sea on a boat made of idealism (and some plastic) to decry carbon emissions, only to be rescued by an oil tanker when the weather turns to crap? Duh: I laugh.

* You can totally trust the government to run your healthcare, your companies and your life. They totally have their crap together. Everything's going to be great.

* Playboy has seen its profits drop yet again, this time suffering a decline of $13.7 million for the first quarter of 2009. In a world of easy access to every kind of debauchery from fetish porn to cats eating cheeseburgers and cracking wise, is there a place for big glossy magazines full of airbrushed pictures of surgically enhanced nekkid women? Throw in dubious commentary on the arts and politics and consider me skeptical.

* The economy is in a recession. The government is looking for new taxes to pay for, well, everything. Ordinary Americans are looking for ways to cut expenses and weather the storm. Times are tough for the dedicated men and women in our government, who are working night and day to solve this crisis. What haven't they tried? I know: giant fundraiser in Vegas!

Pimp My Bike

Macy, as some of you may know, grows like a weed. At her current pace, she will be eleven-foot-nine by the time she graduates high school. As such she has once again outgrown a bicycle. Since I bought a new bike last spring, my old mountain bike has been languishing in the shed, gathering dust and a sense of failure in equal measure.

I let her try to ride it, and after a couple days of tipping it every time she stopped (it's very heavy), Macy mastered it. She was very persistent, Jeebus bless her. The only problem was that the bike lacked that certain something, that undeniable Macy-ness that would shout out to the world: hey everybody -- look at me! I am the rainbow unicorn Barbie doll puppy dog baby seal of bikes! Look upon my cuteness and despair!

Well, that problem has been fixed. Macy sketched out what she wanted her bike to look like, including the color scheme and the decorative accoutrements. Tonight it made its maiden voyage. Behold:

Before: a drab lifeless paean to maleness.

After: Macy's vision realized.

The Bachelor

Donna is out of town this weekend partying with all the moms in Harding for Mother's Day. I usually travel with her, but because I have a soccer game to coach on Saturday, I am skipping this trip. Since Macy is with her mother, that means I am home alone.

Party at my place! I've got some beer. If somebody can score some Boone's Farm and a grainy VCR copy of Debbie Does Dallas from their dad's porn collection, we're set.

My MP3 Player Won't Stop Playing... Down In A Hole

Alice In Chains lead singer Layne Staley died from a heroin overdose. He obviously had a very hard time of it dealing with his addiction, as approximately 114% of AiC's songs were about heroin. They alternated between Staley bragging about his use and his ability to control it and his struggling with an addiction that was clearly spiralling out of control.

Anyway, I've heard this song about eight times this week. (Video not embedded because Sony BMG somehow thinks they will lose revenue.)

What it may mean: My mp3 player has been projecting my own fears in an uncertain economy, ennui about my job and my current residence in a down-cycled mood.

What else it may mean: It's hooked on sweet lady H and nothing short of an intervention by Michael Landon, Mrs. Garret, and Punky Brewster can save it.

10:39

Macy did her annual mile run for school today. Four laps around the track in 10:39. She had soccer practice tonight. Tomorrow she is doing the Kids' Mile at the Fargo Marathon. Then a soccer game Saturday morning. She is going to be worn out.

Macy, early in the run


At the finish line.

Getting her time

I'm Back, Baby

Well, the home internet is back up. Apparently, a virus is to blame. I noticed a suspicious Windows alert popping up from my system tray last weekend. I say "suspicious" because, despite the many flaws attributed to Microsoft by its detratctors, poor grammar is not one of them. What I'm trying to say is, if you get a message on your desktop that says, "Windows has detected a virus in computer. Do you want to blocking this threat?" you can safely assume you have a virus of some sort.

I ran my suite of virus-killers and got rid of the problem (no more warnings utilizing the ebonics language pack) but suddenly couldn't connect to the internet. I ran through my internet connection knowledge store fairly quickly: the modem was reporting a good connection, I had a valid IP address that contained my ISP's prefix. I could release and renew the address. Turning off the firewall didn't fix it. After a brief bout of laziness coupled with having other things to do, I contacted the ISP to figure it out.

Basically, I had a couple of viruses. One was the laughably obvious one with the 2nd grade education. The other was of the trojan horse variety. It hijacks the computer and uses it as a bot. The problem was that it changed my browser settings to use a proxy server to report back to its evil masters. Removing the virus didn't reset the browser settings. You'd think I would have thought of this, being a computer guy and all. To that I say, shut up.

How did my pristine blogging machine become a veritable Mos Eisley of computer scum and villainy? According to my research, the most likely culprit was a "social networking site". Damn you, Facebook! Either that or the nazi midget lesbian vampire cuckold fetish sites I frequent.

Still Down

My internet at home is still suffering from the swine flu, so posting will continue to be light. Rest assured we are taking the issue seriously. Your call is important to us and we value you as a customer.

In the meantime, some randomness:

* It's probably just me, but I think there is a building backlash against President Obama's administration. I say this after the latest bailout-related WTF moment, the decision to basically throw out contract law in order to bump the UAW union to the front of the creditor line in the government-"guided" Chrysler bankruptcy.

My admittedly unscientific proof is the comment boards on many of the non-political sites I frequent. Most of these boards are generally left-of-center in their readership as evidenced by the discussions when those sites do veer into political territory. The Consumerist. The Onion. Heck, even Slate. Comments on the Chrysler thing have been going steadily in a "WTF" direction on this one, even from those commenters who wear their conservatism hate on their sleeves. There are still those who say it's all legal, it's the Republicans fault, etc. But those numbers are dwindling.

* In a related note, I'm not in the market for a car right now. If I was, there is no way I would buy a Chrysler. After all, if the government can take over a company and ignore contract law to decide who gets control of the assets, what's to say they can't ignore contract law to tell me they aren't going to honor my warranty? I find it telling that the President felt the need to tell us, "...if you decide to buy a Chrysler, your warranty will be safe." Thanks, but when your words and actions contradict each other, I'll believe the actions.

* There's a lot of complaining about how the Chrysler investors rejected a plan that would have kept the company out of bankruptcy, instead choosing to use default swaps instead of taking pennies on the dollar, thus trying to recoup their losses. The major hangup is that by exercising these default swaps, the investors may get paid out of stimulus funds (i.e., taxpayer money). Here's why I laugh at those complaints:

1. You can't blame investors for wanting to recoup their investments. Just because investment is risk doesn't mean you shouldn't use all the tools available to recoup losses. Default swaps are a legal tool that was available.

2. If you don't want those evil capitalists getting their hands on taxpayer money, then maybe the whole idea of stimulus funds should be rethought. Just an idea.

3. I'd rather no taxpayer money had been used to bailout Chrysler (or anyone else). If the government is going to throw my money around though, I'd much rather it end up in the hands of people who will use it to reinvest back into the economy rather than unions (who will use it to pay themselves, much like politicians) or airports to nowhere.

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

My home internet is, how you say, "in the fritz", "doing haywire", "not of this order". Until it's working again posting will be light.

Pray for me in this time of need.

Return To The Pitch

Soccer is slowly pulling me deeper in. For a sport I've never played and know little about, I am getting more and more involved. I am on the Moorhead Youth Soccer Association's recreation committee. One of my main duties is coordinating with the technical college on which our fields reside to make sure said fields are ready for use.

Macy's first spring game was rained out last week, which worked out well since we had the MS Walk anyway. So tomorrow is our first game (Macy as player, me as coach). Expect pictures and the like in the near future, though I will have to rely on Donna for the pictures. This is because I'll be too busy waving my arms and saying things like, "way to midfield" and "goalie up" to take pictures.