Sad Day in Yankeeville

It is a sad day in Yankeeville for one reason more than another. Yes, the Yankees are probably not going to make the playoff this year for the first time I can remember. And that is very sad for us who are accustomed to making it to October. I mean what is Derek Jeter going to do with this time off? But a tragedy in national history is occurring today; tonight the last game (probably) is being played in the original Yankee stadium. For anyone who either doesn't like the Yankees or has been living under a rock, NYC has decided to build a new Stadium for the Yankees (and fairly one for the Mets too). This means they are tearing down the House that Ruth Built. Now I believe they are using the land to build little league baseball fields, so at least it's going to good use.

But for me as Yankee fan, who has never gotten to go to the Stadium, it’s really sad and it makes me kind of angry. This is the Stadium where Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and a host of other Yankees played. It’s a piece of Americana. Its part of the history of the Yankees and part of the history of America, and its disappointing to me that in the name of progress NYC has decided to tear it down. America doesn’t have that many historical monuments. It’s like France demolishing Versailles; London getting rid of the Tower Bridge: Russia destroying the Winter Palace. That Stadium is a legend within itself. It makes me sad to know that I can never take my children (when I have them) there and say this was where the Yankees won 26 World Series championships. So to Yankee Stadium: Goodbye. It won’t be the same without you.

Keep Reading >>>

Walmart= New Jersey?

So recently I have started to do my own grocery shopping. Grocery shopping before had always consisted of stopping by Food Lion on the way home to grab something from dinner. But now that i walk to work and I haven't found the Food Lion in Greenville yet, I've been doing my food shopping at Walmart. What a mistake. Food shopping at Walmart is like driving in New Jersey. People are doing whatever is convenient for them. They won't get out of your way. They stop wherever they feel like it. You can't turn around. People look at you like they are going to cuss at you every three seconds. It was bumper to bumper madness. What should have taken all of an hour to do managed to take almost three. I was ready to kill people by the time i left. What amazed me the most was how inconsiderate everyone was. I mean people just didn't care if their carts were in the way. They didn't care if they blocked the whole isle while they were halfway down it looking at whatever. I mean one lady looked like i was inconveniencing her to move her cart from blocking the isle. There were some isles i couldn't even get down. I gave up even trying to find certain things. Needless to say I don't have any notion to go back anytime soon.

Keep Reading >>>

Status Update: A New Direction

So for those of you who haven't heard from me in awhile and are wondering what I am up too, it's been a very busy month. First of all, in my never ending quest to move all the time, I have moved again. This time to bright and sunny Greenville, North Carolina (and it’s been raining since I got here frickin hurricanes). So I’ve been spending alot of time unpacking my first apartment. Moving in was no piece of cake, as I live on the second floor of my apartment complex. And I have a two bedroom apartment and no roommate, which leaves me an empty room I have no idea what to do with. So suggestions are welcome.

Second, I was admitted into ECU's Master program for history. Now anyone who has lived in NC knows that ECU is considered a party school. But lets be honest, it's me; the likelihood of me partying and getting drunk everynight is rather minimal. But I digress, I've been in class for 3 weeks and it’s tough. I will not be sailing through class like I did in undergrad, but it’s totally worth it. I'm a little daunted by the fact that I have 20 months to write a 100 page thesis that I don't have a topic for yet. I'm even more inundated by the fact that my German and French is not up to par and that Russian is probably on my itinerary as well. So pity me and if you have suggestions for a thesis I’ll take those as well.

Third, I got a totally awesome new job. Not that I didn’t love working for the bank because I did, but I’m doing something now that is much more up my alley. I got a graduate assistantship to work at ECU’s library doing cataloging. The best part is what I’m cataloging. ECU’s library got some 80,000 pictures from the local newspaper from the years 1949-1967. It is imaging 6000 of them for a website that will make them searchable for research. My job is to look at the pictures and create titles and blurbs for them. I’ve only been doing it for a few days and I already love it. Some of these pictures are fantastic. I mean who wouldn’t love a job where they get to look at old photos all day long?

Keep Reading >>>