Friends With Babies

Gnome and Danielle...aka the best married couple on the planet...have a kid. Gnome is a Dad. Evan. He is the coolest, and littlest human being I have ever seen, but Ralph loves him.

I <3 Todd Jones

sorry there's no embedded player...here's a must-see link though:

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806263007133

The Ill-adelph

47.9 miles to the gallon as I drive over the Walt Whitman Bridge into Philadelphia. It pounded into my head how much, when I was my ideal self, I loved Whitman. The original "beat" poet, and he didn't even know it (that rhyme should be punishable by law).

I went back to read Song of Myself and hit it hard. The fourth stanza, well yeah, it's me, and I'm about to bust out some copyright infringement on y'all:

Whitman from Song of Myself

Trippers and askers surround me,
People I meet, the effect on me of my early life or the ward and city I live in, or the nation
My dinner, dress, associates, looks, compliments, dues,
The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love,
The sickness of one of my folks or myself, or ill-doing or loss or lack of money, or depressions or exaltations,
Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events;
These come from me days and nights and go from me again,
But they are not the Me myself.

Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, or bends and arm or an impalpable certain rest,
Looking with side-curved head curious what will come next,
Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it.

Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders,
I have no mockings or arguments, I witness and wait.

This is me again -- So the part I bolded and italicized really struck me. There are those moments where I look at the world like an absolute passenger, or even an alien. Like, "this is the world I fucking live in?" But at the same time, like my day in Philadelphia, I feel so much like a cog in the world, like I am in it and entrenched in it, and life is washing over me in such a positive way that I know life can be always good and always be like THIS.

I wasn't tied to any plan on Philly other than the baseball game. I met Byrns after the game and we winged it. Went to the Irish festival, went for a "non-tourist" hoagy, and drove/roamed the streets of Philadelphia...with a stuffed gorilla that Jay fell in love with I think.

...Citizens Bank Park in Philly. Just OK. But why did I have to hear "Eli Manning Sucks" 25 times during a baseball game?

...That's the Link where the Iggles play. Not impressive from the outside. I think M&T Stadium in B'More and the new Mile High are the only NEW football stadiums that look cool from the outside. These new parks are all bland as hell from the outside.

I ended up sleeping at Jay's, un-planned, and like a scene from Dharma Bums, he rolled out a small, like patio furniture pad for me to sleep on, and it was more than I needed.

....real steak, not some stupid Steak 'Ums

Jersey

I bugged out of Pittsburgh Saturday morning a lot later than planned no thanks to my ol' medication that zombifies me in the mornings. Eventually I found the hotel in Jersey at about 4:00, just in time to see the ridiculous ending to The Netherlands vs. Russia game. I had a 32" flat screen in my room to watch it on...pretty silly, but when you are a priceline.com baller like me, you expect that kind of treatment.

Surreal moment of the trip, a moment of Being one would say -- Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" came on the radio as I was pulling onto the section of the highway where you can see the New York skyline as you drive in the NJ Turnpike towards Giants Stadium. The sun was just coming down, so it created this late day haze, the temperature was cooling off, the windows were open in the car, and everything, at that very second felt 100% perfect. Life is made of those moments, I just haven't been good at seeking those moments out lately. They don't happen when you're in bed or your motivation murders you and keeps you from exploring this amazing country. I wish everyone in the world felt like I did for those 5 minutes.

From beauty to garbage. Giants Stadium is a humungous pile of concrete shit. It's a hell-hole. It's dark and dingy, old and crusty. I was pumped too, I was in a great mood thanks to Billy Joel and the fact that I was at my first MLS game, but this stadium -- seriously -- is a disaster.

...Ralph was hating Giants Stadium too. The only positive, not a trace of the Jets anywhere in the building.


Structure issues aside, in the parking lot kids were kicking around the soccer ball with their friends or with their Dad. This was life-assuring to me! There ARE Americans like me out there who appreciate the beautiful game. They celebrate it, and kicking a soccer ball on concrete isn't the easiest thing in the world, but kids were doing it ALL OVER THE PLACE! I just chilled for a little while with the windows open, smelling the charcoal, watching kids kick it around and loving the energy in the pre-game tailgate.


The game was fairly dull. The only goal came early, a nobody defender knocked in a header from a corner in the sixteenth minute and that was it. Red Bulls won 1-0 over FC Dallas.

After the game I still had energy from my sleeping in that morning so I rode the Lincoln Tunnel into the city. Saturday night, 10 PM, Manhattan......Ummm, not a great plan. I don't know that there was a place anywhere in the world at that moment where parking would be at more of a premium than the Times Square/Broadway area of New York City. And there I was, looking to park and walk. Didn't happen. So, I just drove around, listened to some Jay-Z with the windows open, pissed off some cabbies, and headed back to the hotel disappointed in my lack of finding parking in the city. I took my sleeping pills and forgot all about it within 10 minutes of pill time.

That was New York. On to Philly tomorrow....And check out what I was driving all weekend:



...Ralph is SUPER eco-friendly, rocking the Prius and loving every minute of it.

My Current Favorite Song

If you dislike this song, something is wrong with you.