Yes, Steve remembers that he occasionally blogs.
The occasions, however, have been few and far between.
After conquering an especially busy time in my life, I'm on the cusp of completing another. So a few rambling factoids/opinions in case you're interested.
1. I'll be graduating from Xavier in a little over four weeks. I have to finish the coursework from my last class and defend my thesis. In a future post, I'll attempt to summarize that entire academic experience. I've decided not to participate in graduation as I've done that before. Instead, I'll be able to celebrate with my brother-in-law Josh who's getting his Masters.
2. Speaking of Xavier, I think they did well to hire Chris Mack as coach. He's a Xavier guy, so he'll be more likely to stay longer. Just like I still hold that Mick Cronin was a good UC hire, Mack will be good for X. Hopefully at next year's Crosstown Shootout they'll go Huggins/Gillen on each other.
3. The culmination of marathon training will happen in a couple of days: I'll have my last, long training run— 20 miles. Looks like the weather will cooperate, so that's cool.
4. We're going on a sans-Kaelyn vacation after marathon/graduation. Since we didn't get away last summer for our 10th anniversary, this will hopefully fill the void.
5. Easter at Echo is always a little downplayed. Few people think "Easter Sunday NIGHT" so our attendance (as it has been for the previous three years) was a little low. We still, however, had a great time. A great group of our folks who made it out for the gathering. Preaching on Easter is pretty awesome. And if anyone's interested, we're doing the pot-luck deal after church this week. We love to eat.
6. In other Echo news, Emily is finally coming home from London this Saturday. She was there at the very beginning of our church and (I hope I'm not going to far to assume this) she's now back with us. She already has a project to keep her ultra-busy back in the States: Stop Traffick Fashion.
7. I'm tiring of Facebook. I've almost reached 600 friends, but I'm still lonely. Actually, I'm just thoroughly annoyed at it. Sure, I can now "hide" news about friends in whom I'm not as interested, but they constant surveys in my feed is driving me crazy. I'm hiding those like an addiction and yet people continue to find more. Here's my plea to you: STOP ANSWERING THOSE STUPID SURVEYS (yes, the need for all caps is justified here). I have no interest in which muppet most becomes you, or what kind of rock you most resemble. I'll tolerate what you're fixing for dinner or what funny thing your kid said with relative ease, but keep your surveys to yourself.
8. Speaking of Facebook, I also can longer check the site while shows that I'm DVR'ing are on. There is no Facebook "spolier alert." Some of you might doubt my allegiance to certain programs as I don't watch them live, but I save a significant amount of viewing time by waiting to watch them later. In these difficult economic times, I'm hardpressed to encourage you to increase your spending but, if you do, upgrade to a DVR.
9. I'm no prophet, but I predict increased sexual frustration among Chinese males.
10. Baseball's back, and I'm glad. The Reds are going to be OK, as long as Fox Sports stays awake at the control panel. Misnomer if there ever was one: The Best D*mn Sports Show Period.
11. Here's a funny one: I've been accepted into grad school . . . again. I've decided to continue in my educational exploits at the place where it all started: Cincinnati Christian University. I'm going to take some Seminary classes starting in a few weeks and will be enrolled in a couple this fall. There are some who think I'm trying to stay in school the rest of my life. I promise, that is not my intention.
12. I will sleep well tonight as my taxes are finished. Money back from the Feds and the State, but we owed the city as we haven't paid taxes since moving here.
13. My TV updates for you:
- I'm loving 24 this season. Tony goes from bad to good to bad. It's a soap opera . . . with guns.
- The Office has its swagger back. I'm feeling it. Parks and Recreation, not so much. I'm afraid it needs to come on strong in order to survive.
- Speaking of survival, how long can Jimmy Fallon last? I loved Jimmy on SNL, but late night talk is not his gift. I actually feel awkward watching it.
- The producers at American Idol are screwing up the show. They don't have enough time in an hour to let the people sing full songs and hear from all the judges? The only judge I want to hear from is Simon, and his voice is much more influential in voting than producers realize. So, in essence, not having Simon speak about certain performers is actually influencing votes. And obviously, the fourth judge was a huge mistake. Kris sings the Swell Season, and is now my dude.
- I love watching the Masters every spring. It was great TV this year . . . until the end. It was like no one wanted the green jacket. I felt bad for Kenny Perry. Really wanted to see him pull that off.
- This is the first year that I have no horse in The Amazing Race. I find all the remaining teams to be somewhat unlikeable. I'll still watch, though.
All for now.