steve-o
Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

Uncategorized

Ticked Off, To Put It Nicely

UC doesn't make the NCAA tournament. This is a travesty.

I know, anyone whose team doesn't make it into the field thinks it was the worst snub of all time but, I'm serious, this might be it; it's ridiculous. A selection committee that's supposed to pick the 34 best at-large teams, that's supposed to value a difficult schedule, that's supposed to look at quality wins. They took Air Force, Utah State, and UAB over Cincinnati. Check those stats and compare them to UC. This was a statement by the committee against power conference, elevating smaller conferences to something they're not: competitive. Put Wichita State or George Mason in the Big East and how many games do they win?

Totally moronic. It's an absolute joke. I question how many games the selection committee really watched this year.

As much as I love college basketball, I'm sickened to the point that I might not watch any of the tournament. My heart breaks for Andy Kennedy and all the seniors on the team who did an amazing job to make something good out of a horrible situation.

I might have more to say on this later, but I doubt it.

I'm rather angry.

Too Much Basketball

I've been a bit paranoid the last few days. I'm convinced that UC has made the NCAA tournament but I'm still sweating it out. I don't think I've ever been as passionate about a Bearcat team before [not even the infamous "Kenyon Martin's Broken Leg Year"] because I really want this opportunity for those guys. Since UC is a bubble team, all these other conference tournament are important to the Bearcats' tournament chances; i.e., I want all these other bubble teams to lose.

It's for this reason that I've been watching a ton of college basketball during the past few days. Seriously, my brackets should be awesome this year because I think I've seen ever team in the country play this season. By my best accounting, here's the number of games of various conference tournaments that I've watched since Wednesday [with a minimum of five minutes of viewing time]:

Big East- 7 SEC-5 ACC-4 Big Ten-3 Big 12-1 Conference USA-1 Atlantic 10- 2 West Coast- 2 Northeast- 1 Colonial- 1 Missouri Valley- 2

Please consider that I have the advantage of cable television which gives you two ESPN's and a Fox Sports in addition to regular network programming.

Yes friends, I need to get a life.

Lead On, O Kinky Turtle!

You know how I feel about Usher. Now I discover that, in addition to producing some of the best music the world has ever seen, Usher is an expert on administration and governance principles. He's going to be speaking at a teen leadership conference in Cleveland next week. I'll be looking for tickets if someone wants to make the road trip with me. Yes, I got it bad.

Is there anything he can't do?

I Just Don't Get It

Why do men's college basketball players, when the game is on the line and the situation is tense, always link their arms together when they're on the bench? In what other context do men act like this?

Have you ever been to a mall and seen eight guys with arms linked walking around together? I highly doubt it.

March Madness spurs some strange behavior.

Chad Canipe

I never met Chad Canipe, but I've read his blog for over a year now. Chad was planting a house church in Norwood in association with Vineyard Central. Chad was feeling under the weather this year and had some tests run on him. It was more serious than they thought and, after a valiant fight, Chad passed away this morning. He leaves behind a wife, Renee, and two sons, Colin and Aidan.

I know about Chad because of Aaron Klinefelter. If you'd like to send condolences or anything, it could be done through him.

Blessings

Had a very good meeting today about Echo. When we started the church, we resolved to boot-strap it: that is, we were going to run the church with as low as an overhead as possible. And I wasn't too thrilled at the thought of fundraising, so we decided we were just going to start with whatever we had. We were blessed with friends and supports who gave to Echo without having to be asked [thanks again!] and were able to get the ministry off the ground.

One of the bigger struggles we've faced is getting the word out about our new church. In an urban context, it takes time to earn trust. Plus, it takes considerable fundage to conduct effective outreach events to reach the community. So we sought assistance from the Christian Evangelizing Fellowship, a local church planting association to help Echo out. Aaron and I have been in conversation with them for about nine months now and today I attended their board meeting to discuss their supporting us.

As I laid out our vision to the group, they really seemed to understand what we are trying to accomplish. With relatively no questions asked, they decided to give us support. It was amazing! And afterward they prayed for me and our ministry. Also, many of the board members came up to and offered to help us out however possible.

This is another blessing associated with Echo. Nine months ago, when we sold our house and announced we were moving to Walnut Hills, we had no idea how God would provide for us. But He did. And I know He'll continue to do so.

God is good. Most definitely.

I Love It When You Call Me Big Papa

I don't think I'll take pictures of Kaelyn everyday of her life, but here's another one: We only had outdoor pets growing up. Low maintenance. You threw out some food for them . . . and that was pretty much it.

So I guess I really wasn't prepared for the 24/7 attention a baby requires.

Still, adjusting to having Kaelyn home has gone rather smoothly. She's on a pretty regular schedule: she sleeps, she poops, she eats. This reoccurs in three hour increments. I imagine it'll be a long time before we get to sleep through the night, but this is why people have kids, isn't it?

Kel and I were just talking about how small she is. She gained six ounces in the first twenty-four hours after we brought her home. In a few weeks she'll be a big[ger] baby and we won't have these days where we can handle her like she's a doll. Gotta enjoy it while we can.

Good times.

NBC = Nothing But Crap

I, like many of you, was enthralled by the Lazy Sunday short ["the Chronic-{what?}-les of Narnia" rap] that was on Saturday Night Live a couple of months ago. After being posted on You Tube the clip was viewed over five million times. The sketch became a cult classic, reigniting interest in SNL and giving it a fresh new attitude. But somewhere along the way greed took over. NBC gave You Tube a cease and desist order, also demanding that they take all NBC content off their site. In addition to this, they started selling Lazy Sunday on iTunes for $1.99 [isn't that the same price for an entire episode of Lost or The Office?]. This money-motivated move has squelched the clip's momentum and has drawn the ire of many in the blogosphere.

Church of the Consumer did an excellent job of tracing the rise [and fall] of this fad and also criticizing NBC for getting too wolfish. It's amazing that these networks are supposed to employ some of the sharpest minds in the marketing world and yet they were oblivious to the PR goldmine they had on their hands.

I've been a fan of SNL since junior high school. From Dana Carvey and Mike Myers to Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, the show was hysterical. But they're in the midst of [by my count] an eight year slump. They need all the help they can get to convince the public that the show is still relevant. The Lazy Sunday clip was a great ambassador. But NBC didn't want to lose out on the short-term cash cow. Way to be near-sighted.

For you entrepreneurial types out there, this goof by NBC is a great lesson. What's the goal of every successful business? [Be honest] It's to make money. But sometimes you gotta spend [or sacrifice] a little money to make even more. Nickle and diming will only get you so far.

So you can still call me Aaron Burr from the way I'm dropping Hamiltons but, rest assured, it's not on SNL iTunes downloads.

Now That She's Home

Now this, my friends, is living: In case you can't tell, that's Kaelyn sleeping in the playpen.

After a 24 day hospital stay, Kaelyn is finally home.

It's sorta surreal. Most people get to bring their baby home after a few days and we had to wait three-and-a-half weeks. It's only been a couple of hours now, but it seems like she's adjusting rather well. She and mom got to take a nap together.

I had no idea how much noise she makes. When we were in the NICU, everything seemed quieter with all the machines and people around. Now, every few minutes, Kaelyn makes squeeky sounds. It's awesome. At least for now it is. Wonder if we'll get any sleep tonight . . .

So now the fun starts. Just eighteen years more and we'll be done.

Almost Home

Sorry about the light blogging as of late. I sat down wanting to post something last night, but again I had nothing I wanted to say. Well, that's not entirely true. I wanted to talk about the rappers that won the Oscar last night, but that's like shootin' fish in a barrel. Oh, and I was just watching Deal Or No Deal for a couple of minutes. How is this a popular show? Watching adults play Memory with Howie Mandell isn't my idea of compelling television. Anyway, tomorrow is the big day! We're bringing home the little girl. She looks amazing and we can't wait to finally have her under our roof. Unfortunately both Kelly and I felt under the weather today so what should be an ultra-exciting time is sorta stressing us out. I'm hoping a good night of sleep will solve everything.

So here she comes!

Dropping Dimes

I love college basketball. There's nothing quite like it. This season has been particularly interesting to me. Watching my Bearcats trying to scratch and claw their way into the NCAA tournament has been suprisingly fulfilling. So here are some quick hits this afternoon as I eagerly anticipate the madness that accompanies March. Andy Kennedy should be offered the UC job. President Zimpher miscalculated how much this town loved Bob Huggins and she's paid the price. All Kennedy has done is save her butt. He took a rag-tag group of scholarship players and walk-ons and has the Bearcats on the verge of getting into the tournament. Not offering him the job would be even dumber than firing Huggins. It's true I'm emotionally invested in this one, but it's time to make the right decision and remove "interim" from his title.

Mid-majors are overrated. Bracket prognosticators are saying that the Missouri Valley Conference should get five teams in the tourney, and the Colonial conference should get three. Are they serious? Since when should these leagues get more teams to the dance than the ACC? I attribute this misinterpretation of greatness to the oversaturation of college basketball coverage. If these lower echelon teams are going to get all this run, then I'd encourage teams struggling in their power conferences to drop down to lower ones and start kicking butt. This is getting ridiculous. Cinderella isn't Cinderella if her last name is Trump. Keeping with this theme . . .

Gonzaga is overrated. If they're the fifth best team in the country, then I'm Gheorghe Muresan. I watched these guys the other night need a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat San Francisco at home. The San Francisco Dons [what a mascot] used to be awesome . . . back in the 50's when they had Bill Russell. Gonzaga needs some real competition to deserve that ranking. My prediction: they're out by the second round.

Storming the court has gotta stop. Last night Florida State was given a technical foul when their fans stormed the court with 1.7 seconds remaining in their game against Duke. The game was in hand, but still, the game wasn't over. Fans rushing the court is bush league, especially Florida State who defeated Duke at home two seasons earlier [they rushed the court then too]. With all the drunk loonies in the stands, something is eventually going to go wrong and a visiting player will be hurt. If colleges can't control the environment, they should have to forfeit these games.

All I got for now. More as the madness draws nearer.

I Don't Swim In Your Toilet . . .

I left Kelly at the hospital this afternoon so I could return home and get ready for our prayer gathering. I spent about two and a half hours in the NICU; I keep feeling better and better. Anyway, I hit a red light at the intersection of Dorchester and Reading, where there's a little garden area on the side of the road. I noticed a man standing by the landscaping, staring down at it intently. I then noticed a stream being projected from his midsection.

Yes friends, the guy was peeing on the garden.

Now this wasn't the first time I have witnessed public urination in an urban setting. I grew up going to church in Price Hill so you could say I have a unique understanding of the communal whiz. But here's what I found puzzling about this gentleman I observed this afternoon:

1) It was in broad daylight. If you are going to take a leak out in the open, it's best to wait until after hours. If it was night, this guy could've gone on the sidewalk and the cover of darkness would've made it too difficult to discern what he was doing.

2) It was during rush hour. The clock hit 5:00 as I was driving through the intersection. This is the busiest time of day for this particular intersection. Seriously, any other time of day and fewer cars drive by. This guy picked the ultimate drive-time in which to let loose.

3) There were acceptable alternatives available. This little garden area butts up to a wooded area. Accessing the wooded area only required an additional six steps and would've allowed optimal coverage.

So even now, I'm confused. I wish I had rolled down the window and asked the guy why he decided to micturate before all God's people next to that landscaping. But any guy crazy enough to tinkle on a garden in broad daylight would most likely be crazy enough to kill me. So maybe I made the right decision in not asking, but this will most definitely haunt me for years to come.

And to think: I get gun-shy in airport bathrooms . . .

Still Yellow, But Less Mellow

This is me . . . turning the corner. By far, the best day of the past couple of weeks. I'm still a little out of it, but I'm heading out into the clearing.

This morning Kelly and I were preparing to go to her doctor appointment. Her appointment got cancelled so we went out and bought Kaelyn a crib. We now officially have everything we need to bring the little girl home.

And speaking of the little girl, my nine-day hiatus ended this evening as I felt good enough to spend an hour with her. Holding her was great; she had this grin of contentment on her face as I explained to her where daddy has been.

Kaelyn is growing well; she's regained the weight she lost and is now at 4 pounds, 8 ounces. Unfortunately, she had another apnea episode last night so it restarts the clock. She has to go seven days with no episodes. So now we just wait till she's ready to come home.

Life's getting better. It looks like we've made it.

Day By Day

This was probably the most depressing week of my life. To go an entire week without getting to see your new child is nothing but suck. I think I've turned a corner, but I'm still struggling. I'm still trying to keep a positive attitude about things, but if I don't get back to normal this week I might have to go on a shooting spree. In an effort to let you in on my world, here's some of my observations about my Hepatitis A.

  • It's felt like someone punching you in the gut. I guess it's a swollen liver that puts stress on your stomach that makes you feel this way. My appetite vanished; I finally forced myself to start eating on Thursday. And even though I haven't eaten, I feel bloated.
  • My temperature would spike in the evenings. So I'd feel OK through most of the afternoon only to get a fever at night. Fortunately I've had two nights in a row with no incidents, which is another thing that has led me to believe I'm on the back end of this.
  • I'm jaundiced. Kaelyn had some jaundice and I struggled to see it; mine is noticeable. Since my liver isn't working right, I have a yellow pigmentation in my face and upper body that looks freaky. The worst is that the whites of my eyes are yellow too. So far this has no sign of stopping.
  • I'm constantly exhausted. Simply walking a few steps causes me to lose my breath.
  • In addition to all this, I lost my ability to concentrate which made it almost impossible to read. So it was a full week of watching television. I forgot how much bad TV is televised in the course of a week. And this is the first day I've felt like typing in a few days as well.

But, like I said, I think the end is near. Tomorrow marks two weeks since I first developed symptoms so that's quite long enough as far as I'm concerned.

So here's to no more Hepatitis. That would rock.

Thriller Night

Well, since Steve is on hiatus with his hepatitis status, I figured I should entertain the masses in his place.

Steve's jaundice gives him a look as if he has a bit of a tan. Except for those yellow eyes. A little creepy and yet kind of cool at the same time. Reminds me of the Michael Jackson Thriller video. Remember it? I had the video with the whole behind the scenes making of stuff (that we take for granted on DVDs today). Anyway, I remember when they showed how they made Michael Jackson into the werewolf character pictured here. They put these HUGE yellow contact-like things that covered his entire eyeball. Ick! I can't imagine what that felt like! Anyway, when I see Steve right now, I am reminded of these yellow contacts.