BALLIN'

The Buckeyes need to adopt this as their logo.

It Is Finished

I'm home. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. More later. Too tired.


Me as a sleepy cat.

Eurotrip

Yes, Michelle. Free them... free the Trachtenbreasts.

Well, I'm off in a few hours, bound for the mighty and most worthy Federal Republic of Germany. Ten days of the ease and convenience of the Euro. I can't wait. I'll be taking copious notes and making every effort to bore you to tears while I'm overseas at Internet cafés, so I'll spare you a preview of all the art and culture and bullshit for now. What I'd like to address is what I'll be missing out on, though. I have a list. Okay, here we go.

1. Getting my new e-fed off the ground (NERD NERD NERD)

2. The release of The Hills Have Eyes 2 (now with less DOUG~!) and my fear that people will see it without me.

3. Next week's RAW and THE SUPERKICK OF FUCK that I'm sure is to come.

4. Playing through Shenmue again (this is something I can do at any time, but I just dug it out of a drawer and I'd been looking for time to get into it).

5. Next week's editions of America's Next Top Model and that "Be a Pussycat Doll" show that I haven't learned the name of yet.

6. Some of the final precious days of Jonathan's life.

7. The next seven episodes of Pardon the Interruption and the NCAA tournament analysis they would bring.

8. Oh, and the FUCKING FIRST FOUR ROUNDS OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. Woeful trip planning.

Hate hate hate.

Anyway, I'm off to the races. Go Bucks, go Cena, Go Diego, Go!

A Boy and His Dog

I was planning on posting something next week before I left for Europe, but something happened yesterday that I thought was worthy of mention.

In December of '05, I wrote about my good friend Ben and his passing away where he was stationed in Hawaii. It was a terrible thing to lose him so young, and I don't think a day has gone by since then that I haven't thought of him or his young wife and daughter.

Yesterday, Ben's dad Michael called and told me that Ben's dog Sparky had died. He was 15.

Sparky's always been connected to Ben in my mind. His sister got a cat, so Ben had a dog. It was his dog. Sparky slept in his room, he played with him, took him to the beach on vacations with us. The first three quarters of Ben's life, when I knew him best, they were inseparable when Ben was at home. So whenever my parents and I would go over to Charleston and visist Ben's parents this past year, it was nice to see Sparky, old and gray as he was, still beboppin' around. And now he's gone. And in a way, it feels like Ben's been taken all over again.

I don't want to get overdramatic about a dog, but I guess the two were just so connected in my mind that it was inevitable that I'd be a little teary about it. He was a really good dog, just a little Jack Russell that never hurt anyone and was a friend to Ben unconditionally. I'll miss him.