Lots of interesting random thoughts today...(okay..probably not overly interesting to anyone but me)

Item 1: Hockey

The NHL season kicked off last night and the game is so much better with all the new rules. The elimination of the red line has opened up passing and made the game much more exciting end-to-end. The smaller goalie equipment/limitations on where goalies may play the puck has led to more scoring. (Well...that and the increase in powerplays due to the stricter enforcement of the obstruction/interference rules) The shoot-out rule is brilliant, even though it did cost my Leafs last night. However, the best rule change in my opinion, the one that has led to the greatest increase in flow/pace of the game is the new icing rule. For those who don't know/didn't notice, the team that ices the puck now DOES NOT get to make a line change. This rule has single-handedly eliminated about half of the play stoppages in a given game. For example, in the Toronto/Ottawa game last night I think I counted 5 icings. 5!! In an entire 60 minute game. That's amazing...that's easily 1/5 of the icings we used to see in the average pre-lockout NHL game. Combine that with the elimination of the two-line pass (for all intents and purposes) and you've got a game that truly is the fastest game on ice.


Item 2: On living alone

I sincerely think it drives you crazy...slowly, insidiously. You start doing things that you'd never do when you lived with roommates/family. For instance, it's now a great idea to simply not put clothes on after showering upon getting home from practice. "Why put on a t-shirt or shorts? This towel works perfectly!" Or putting on a random CD and singing at the top of your lungs. (We won't get into my wonderful rendition of "Wicked Game" the other night) You start thinking that things like cereal can be the only thing you need to eat, because cooking for one is the biggest waste of time on earth. (lol) Or even better...being on a first name basis with all of the delivery people in the neighbourhood. You stop remembering that there's a reason to be quiet when you go over to "friends with roommates"'s houses. At 4 in the morning. Or maybe it's just me.


Item 3: The desire for things that are "new".

I'm not talking about material possessions here really. More along the lines of new experiences. I was going to call this item "need more fun", but that gives the wrong impression. It's not that I don't get out with friends or have fun, it's more the desire for "new" fun. For instance, my weeks usually roll by with me spending Monday through Friday and work, going out with the team on Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons. Friday nights are usually nights out with my non-rugby friends (the group of friends that is comprised of friends from childhood/college who all hang out, go to bars/clubs, and drink together). This is all well and good. I get out, I socialize. But it's all starting to become stale. I've heard the same stories, the same jokes, been to the same bars/clubs 9 trillion times (roughly). I get stuck doing the same things with the same people...and it's fun...but not the same as the "new" fun you have hanging out with a new crowd. It's that same "fun" that you have in new relationships. That's what I'm really looking for at this point. Not entirely sure how to go about finding it...but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Ideas? Thoughts? On any of this? Or am I just completely crazy (from living alone too long..lol)

Hockey is back!! Thank god...I couldn't take another winter without my beloved Maple Leafs taking to the ice to thrash the likes of the Buffalo Sabres. As a kid who grew up bleeding the blue and white (both sides of my family are from Ontario...), it's a dream come true. Time once again to hear the strains of the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme...to religiously spend the first intermission listening to Don Cherry grumble about what's wrong with hockey...to remember all the days spent at the rink with my grandfather as a little kid.

Go Leafs Go!

So they're really going to build that damnable casino in the old rail terminal, eh? WHY??!! I pass that stupid building everyday on my drive home....I don't need all that extra traffic!! My nice 15 minute drive home is going to become a half hour long nightmare everyday...I just know it. *grumble*

Well...as some of you already know, I actually came out to meet you crazy bunch of folks on Friday. I had a good time.....you guys aren't a bad (or very crazy..lol) bunch at all. Had a few beers, talked to some good people....a good "first date" with a new group of people..lol.

The rest of the weekend...well...more of my boring life. I went for a quick little jog on Saturday, about 2.5 miles. (It was our bye week for rugby, so no match) Then spent the rest of the day lounging around, watching some TV and generally being a vegetable. Saturday evening was a quick birthday party for a friend, with a few beers afterward. Sunday was a total write-off...I went to Wegmans in the morning and spent the rest of the day watching the Bills basically be the Bills and, upon becoming too disgusted to watch that any further, went up to read and take a nap.

Of course I had to be up by 9 last night...to watch "Rome", which is by far the best thing HBO has ever done. (Except maybe "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers", which was also on recently..but I digress) Of course this is coming from the guy who spent 5 years of high school plowing through translation in Latin, so I may be a bit biased. Regardless, it's got a bit of everything...drama, comedy, sex, and all with a fairly accurate (if occassionally overly dramatic) portrayal of Roman society.

As a further aside to the previous paragraph, it's here that I'd like to offer my very public apology to every language teacher/professor/tutor I've ever had and to the Modern Languages Department at St. Lawrence University. Having studied Latin, Spanish, New Testament Greek, Japanese, and Russian, I'm guilty of having studied them only (or mostly) for the sake of learning about the culture behind them. Yes I could have taken those stuffy, boring cultual courses, but I've found you don't really learn half as much as you do by studying the actual language along with the culture. So there it is, my apology for wasting everyone's valuable time...lol.

Sorry to be a bit scatterbrained today...but it is Monday morning.

Possibly some more later....

Why is it that there's no real warning that the seasons are changing here in NY (or Southern ON for that matter...used to live in Toronto and it was the same way...)? One day it's sunny and 70...the next day it's rainy and 50. No gradual temperature shift...just one or the other, black or white, central air or the furnace. (There's another pet peeve...there is no break from utility bills...it's either a high gas bill for the furnace or a high hydro bill for the AC) The leaves are still green and I'm freezing my ass off when I get out of bed in the morning. As Chris Rock says, "Can't a n**** get a lapdance?" Sheesh...

On a bright note...it is Friday...and a payday at that. Not that there's a lot left after rent, gas, cigarettes, food, etc. But hey...it's a living. I still don't have any plans for the evening...but I'm sure that'll work itself out. And if it doesn't...well...there are those 8 loads of laundry staring at me everytime I look in my closet. Anybody doing anything tonight? lol

Back to actual work for now...maybe more later.

EDIT (9:13am): How scary ARE you guys? lol I may be tempted to head down to Ladycroft's get together.....

Where to begin a journal about my life?

Well....first off...it's not very exciting. I'm a 26 year old business-world working stiff handling claims for a major insurance company here in Buffalo. (No, not Geico...oy..lol) I put in my 8 hours a day, mostly dealing with people who don't take the time to read anything (pet peeve for an English major...) and generally using only 2% of my brain in any given day. I've got all the usual accoutrements that go along with life...rent, car payment, student loans, bills, etc etc. *laugh*

So that kills 40 hours each week....the rest I spent sitting on the couch, playing rugby (wonderfully violent), heading out with friends, drinking, eating, and sleeping.

Like I said...not very exciting (well..except the rugby..lol)...but it's life. I've got good friends, a good family, and live in reasonable comfort.

And really, what else is there?