We Sittin' In Here Talkin' Bout Practice - Sharks Pracky 11/2/11

One of the best videos ever.  Ev. Er.

Allen Iverson can't get excited about practice but I sure can!  Especially when it's a San Jose Sharks practice and I rarely get to attend one due to my work schedule.  

So the day before the Penguins game, my daughter and I decided to head to San Jose in the hopes of catching at least one and possibly two practices.  Unfortunately, the Pens practiced at HP Pavilion which is closed to the public.  But we did not feel at all let down.

It's practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry. 11/3/11 Sharks/Pens

Or so says a guy named Joe Moore.  Thanks for the quote Joe.


In light of the major computer meltdowns that have occurred and prevented me from posting here, I've decided to scrap my original game plan of posting my events in order.  Well, I guess my move already did that...but I thought I'd be able to get back on top of it.  Now I'm sunk for sure.  lol


So from this point forward, my goal is to post my latest event within a week of it's happening.  And here we go. But first, a word of thanks to my "sponsor", L, who made this game possible.  Thank you - you rock - your kindness is appreciated!

We like the Penguins.  And no, not for Sid the Kid, although we don't dislike him.  So of course the Penguins coming to town was on our list of must see Sharks games.  We got a very late start out of Sacramento which translates into hitting rush hour traffic both here and through Walnut Creek to San Jose.  We were seriously in doubt of reaching the Tank before warmups ended.  Very stressful.


We exit the freeway just about when warmups are starting and get in line to enter the parking lot.  Having never arrived quite so late, imagine our surprise when the attendant tells us that they are in "restricted mode" and can only allow season ticket holders in!  I am not ashamed to say that I begged and begged the poor guy, and he was soooooo awesome and let us in.  Thank you awesome parking attendant dude!

"If You Build It, He Will Come" -- Barry Zito Rehabs @ The Ports 6/6/11

That's baseball, and it's my game.  Y' know, you take your worries to the game, and you leave 'em there.  You yell like crazy for your guys.  It's good for your lungs, gives you a lift, and nobody calls the cops.  [Cute guys], lots of 'em.  ~Humphrey Bogart

Okay, okay...so Bogart said pretty girls.  I'm sure there are a few of those there too.  But that quote pretty much sums up how I feel about going to the ballpark.  I can go with friends or alone.  But I never feel alone when I'm there.  Maybe it's the shared camaraderie of cheering for your team.  Or maybe it's just the peaceful feeling I get sitting outside with sky and grass surrounding me (yes...even at the "ugly" Coliseum...).  I feel as one with nature and humanity for those few hours.

Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton for the Athletics Single A club is wonderful in every aspect.  For the low price of $12, you can sit in the front row with nothing - and I do mean nothing! - dividing you from the players and field.  It is an absolute must to keep your eyes open and be aware.  Foul balls can and do come screaming into the seats at what seems like a trillion miles an hour.  Observe the views...

Never Forget! September 11, 2001

down ~ by Jesse Glass 

down
it came

down
from the
autumn sky

down
it came

down

& everyone
rose

& wept
in the city

(my city)

& some were
flying

& some were
falling

& some were
running

& some were
burning

where were you 

listening

watching then?

in the
shattered
earth?

in the broken
air?

in the oily
fire?

in the tainted
sea?

where were you

listening

watching

then when
everyone
rose & lookt 

at the sky

lookt at the sky

where they
stood

in my
city

& wept ?

I remember.

How could I forget?

Memorial Day with Mom 5/30/11 - The Average American Is Nothing If Not Patriotic

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. ~~ Mark Twain

5/29/11 There's No Crying in Baseball! O's @ A's @ OakCo

On a very rare occasion where Adie and I had the same day off, we headed for Oakland to see my two favorite AL teams battle it out, East vs. West style.  

I know some might question my love for the Orioles since they have not been a good team of late...but it has to do with a superstar hero with a pair of  to-die-for blue eyes.  The love affair started over 20 years ago and my loyalty remains to the only organization he ever played for. 

Okay, so I took that picture at Angels Stadium...whatevs. ;-p

Honestly, since this was a while ago and in the midst of the drama with my mom's illness, I don't remember too many details about the day.  At least at the beginning.  So I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves & narrate when I have something to say. Let's start with the visiting Orioles.

7/21/11 State Fair! I've Been Around...Does that mean ( I'm) a bad girl?

Wow...I really can't believe that I am this far behind in posts.  I still have Sharks games to edit and post!!  That's what happens when a major shakeup happens in life.  So my "diary" - which I vowed would never be posted out of order - is now going to be crazy, messy, and -- out of order. 

Especially since my photo cd's are lost in the thousand boxes I currently have littering my home and the storage unit I had to rent.  Which reminds me...need to pay my storage rent...ok done.  Thanks for waiting.

Hopefully I will be able to get my shite together soon and find my photos which are precious to me.  But in the meantime, here is the latest in the out of order events of my life.

After working in the morning and then prepping for the adventure by taking a nice nap, Adie and I headed to the fair at about 2:45 p.m. The plan was to arrive just in time to see the fmx demo...but traffic and stupid parking rules/lack thereof dictated otherwise. 

We arrived at the end of the demo, just in time for some backflips...but not in time to get in a good position for photos.  Happy to see that the riders were still two of the old standbys - Tommy Clowers and Myles Richmond.  And a "local" whose name I did not catch.

It was pretty hot, so we quickly headed for the indoor exhibit buildings.  We don't do too much on the midway...Fair time is usually all about the exhibits, horses, shows, etc., as you will soon notice.

Life Lessons thru Bad Parenting - Washington Capitals @ SJ Sharks 2/17/11

I'm working through my extreme lack of energy to post this.  The photos have been (roughly & quickly) edited for weeks but life has been coming at me too fast and too depressingly for me to find the wherewithal to put jumbled thoughts to fingertips to screen...

But without further ado, 

 The life lesson I learned at the Capitals/Sharks game:

Bad parenting and a bratty kid trumps 
well-behaved kid and meek parenting.
  

At least when it comes to getting hockey pucks.

Here's the story.  We arrived pregame and took our customary place in the second row (okay, our customary place is often right on the glass but that hardly matters, now does it?  Back to the story.) on the visitors side.  There was a woman sitting with two youngsters, a girl and a boy, right in front of us on the glass.

The girl was a bit cra-cra as we like to say. Yelling, running back and forth, banging the glass, etc.  All in good fun.  The boy was also having a good time, talking excitedly, laughing, etc. They were wearing Capitals gear and had made a couple of signs for Ovechkin.

 They were sitting with a nice woman we shall call Mommy. Daddy, apparently, was sitting over on the Sharks side.  So after causing a bit of mayhem, the girl decides she wants to go see her dad.  Mom says okay.  Exit the kids.  

Return the kids + the dad who now sits about 3 rows behind us.  The kids make their way back to the glass and resume sitting in the exact seats that they were sitting in before.  

Nostalgic for Disaster ~~ Oakland Supercross 1/29/11

Once upon a time back in the day when I actually had free time and money,  I went to as many MX/SX/FMX events as I could.  Fun times resulted as well as some ridiculous drama.  For the record, I definitely don't miss the drama...  But I do miss the bikes and riders and smell of premix in the morning.

So I decided to have Whit work for me and take the day off from responsibility to head over to Oakland for the AMA Supercross.  Well, part of it anyway... 

No one was available to watch me mum, and  Adie had to work so I had to head back to be home to help her with dinner and get her ready for bed.  BUT I was able to wander the pits and watch practices in the rain and generally have a really relaxing fun time.

So here, without further ado, are my photo memories from that day. As I mentioned, it was chilly and raining - at times fairly significantly.  So pictures were hurried, camera didn't like to focus and I didn't like to take the time to make it focus.  Sos you gets what you gets.

The day didn't cost much except for the commute costs since I had a free ticket; when I got there shortly after 12:30 p.m. there was a practice going on so I stopped there first.

Backtracking to Reunion Week

"Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection." ~~ Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), German philosopher

Sometime in 2010, I think it was October, I was blessed to be reunited with dear friends and family whom I have not seen for some time.

The reason(s) for the estrangement? Distance, life, circumstances...whatever...

In my book, there are people in your life that you love and always love. No matter if life dictates that you not see that person or speak for lengths of time.

Sometimes you form an attachment to a person that isn't what some people consider "normal", especially in this day and age of the interwebs. 

Sometimes friendships such as these are even more special because of their rarity.

Anyhoo, enough philosophizing for now...on to the photos.

As usual, it's been so long that I don't remember the exact chronology of events; in any case, these reunions all happened within a month of each other at the most.  So I'm just going to put them all here.

MEL AND ME

I love Melanie's parents; the sweetest people in the world!  Nita didn't make an appearance this day, but PaPaw came over... 

... and we suitably mugged him.

Edmonton Oilers @ Da Sharks 12/21/10

Wow, I really have to keep more up to date on these blog posts!  By the time I get around to editing the pictures and actually blogging, I've forgotten what was going on!  lol  Sucks to be old and blonde.

So this was a mystery puck game and I really, really wanted to go. 

It was a bit stressful leading up to it because we bought the tickets pretty far in advance and then, before I knew it, game day was there and I hadn't made arrangements to take care of my mom.

Again, the blondeness! 

Luckily Jeanette (not me, the other Jeanette) came through and we were able to go.

We got there in time and I bought two mystery pucks. 

I unwrapped the first one to find a Ginner puck!  Yay!!  The second one was a John McCarthy puck, which made Adrienne happy.  We do love our Wooster boys...

After we got settled in, I couldn't help myself...I wanted another puck. It was pointless to resist because I couldn't!  The third puck was a Devon Setoguchi which is a pretty good get. 

After getting our pucks, we made our way down to the glass. 

Mysterious Curse? Or Coincidence?

Just call us the Black Widows. 

Three times this season we have spread our evil curse upon the opposing team.  Three times this season our black hearts and blacker thoughts (that's racist!) have spewed a severe punishment upon unwary athletes with a malignity they never anticipated. 

Behold the evidence...

On the dark night of October 27th, in the year of our saviour jesus toews 2010, we gazed with dark eyes upon one Zach Parise (who, appropriately enough, plays for the Devils).

Shark Revenge! Bite the Blackhawks on 11/24/10!

So, because I'm obviously bad at timely posts...I can't remember tons of detail about this game.  Plus my head was spinning from the sexyness that was (and is) Patrick Sharp.

Things I do remember:

1. Patrick Sharp is extremely yummy.  I mean extemely.
2. Patrick Marleau had an excellent game.  Very physical.  To bad it was his last for awhile.
3. Jonathan Toews didn't skate near me.  Booooo. 
4. Seabs took a shot to the cojones. Pictures of his suffering to follow.  The funnier thing was, he took another shot to the same sensitive area the very next game against the Kings.  I wonder if there was a conspiracy.
5. I think this was Justin Braun's first game as a callup. I could be wrong.  It could have just been the first game we saw him at.  I also could be wrong about that.  lol (EDIT:  I was right!  He was called up the day before.)
6. Apparently, Adrienne & I were on t.v. in Chicago during this game.  My friend texted me and told me that he saw us.  haha  I assume it was when they interviewed Duncan Keith right before the game and I was taking his picture.  Slightly embarrassing, but my friend did think we had seats on the glass so that made up for it.  lol

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Sharks 11/6/10...and a few other things...

Holla. Sitting here watching the Sharks apparently on their way to another loss, this time against the Oilers. *le sigh*  Today was a good/bad day and appears to be ending on a down note with this game.

On the good note, Roman at Guitar Center in San Francisco is a gem.  Actually a lot of the dudes there are pretty nice.  Had a nice little drive with fairly light traffic except a couple spots on the Bridge and in Berkeley on the way back.  Sonic tots are always a plus. And able to help my daughter out after she had a very, very bad day yesterday. 

On the bad notes...why mention it?  Alzheimer's is a bitch.  Add in fairly acute hearing loss and life is pretty stressful and ALMOST unbearable.  I really, really pray that she gets her audiology appointment soon and hearing aids soon thereafter.  AND  I really, really, really pray that once she can hear better, she will be more responsive and regain some of the independence she has lost over the last couple months.

Holy hello!  Jumbo just scored on the PP after nice passes from Patty and Heater.  Nice puck movement boys!  Is there life in this team after all???  Oh...maybe not... Oil with a 5-3.  This will be telling....please kill this boys!  Oh.  Killed it and then they scored.  Wow.

*******************

Alright, let's go back to when the Sharks were decent and we all had hope for a future filled with bright, beautiful, silver cups.

Once upon a time a fan drove to a Sharks game with a feeling of optimisim that the home team was badass and would overcome even an opponent who was playing as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning. 
That day was November 6, 2010...

There was a lovely air of pissed-offedness amongst the fans since this was the first Free Jumbo game.

Sharks Mid-Season Rant

I was going to post my pics & thoughts from my trip to see Ryan Malone and the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Sharks in November but first a few random thoughts:

Another brutal Sharks loss last night.  This team is talented offensively and there is just no damn reason for the lack of scoring.  Our defense is not as atrocious as previously anticipated but it's not good enough to support a dearth of scoring .