List item 1: Find somewhere to live

I am finally ready to greet March, which is good since it's coming tomorrow anyway. I've got an appointment to look at a rental house on Tuesday; I had an absolutely lovely day today, giving me an upbeat attitude rolling into tomorrow; Mom's made her travel arrangements for the end of the month; Daddy's home and doing well; and plans for the month are sliding into position. I also traded out all my Valentine' decorations for the St. Patrick's Day decorations. My house has gone from pink and red, hearts and love to leprechauns, shamrocks and greenness. I like it!
But the big news is, of course, entertainment and holiday related. Check me out, dear readers! I'm ready for Dancing with the Stars, which begins again on March 9! Just six days after U2's new album is released (3/3/09)! And just eight days before St. Patrick's Day, perhaps the holiday I take the most pride in, due to my fantastical Gramps!
Ah, yes. I think March may end up being a decent month after all. I just have to get my list together...

Even in a weird little poem

A haiku about February:

The shortest month is
needing the most stuff be done,
and now, ugh, it's March.

Clearly, my frustration over not getting much of anything accomplished this month has spilled over into my poetry-minded self, wherein I also have no regard for sentence structure. And one should always have regard for basic sentence structure.

And no, it's NOT a cute, little throw pillow either

I honestly did not think that so many days had passed since I last posted something here. Apparently, I've been quite the slacker while I was all sick, right? Highlights of the last few days: Daddy's out of the hospital; Sydney and I are back in Arizona; I still have the head cold, though everyday it's a little less; and we dropped Sydney's music class.
We dropped the music class because Sydney has had a hard time staying focused in the class over the last few weeks, and just seemed bored. This past Wednesday was the last straw. She wanted nothing to do with the class activities, and only ran around the space in circles. Bizarre, but she definitely got her point across to me and the teacher. No more music! Instead, something a bit more active that I'll have to figure out to add to our weekly agenda.
Also, I committed a ridiculous sin that I can't take back, nor can I remove the knowledge from my brain. Mom and I researched the nutritional information on our favorite Starbucks drinks. My decaf grande espresso truffle has 330 calories. Yep, you read that right: 330 CALORIES. That is just wrong. It does, however, explain where this random little pillow of FAT around my middle has come from. I've been partaking in the espresso truffle every morning, or so, over the last couple months ... and maybe even one in the afternoon, if I felt like it. That regular habit ends now. Well, actually, it ended last week, after I read that troubling bit of news. My mocha has 230 calories. The venti iced passion tea only has 120, so that'll become my go-to drink from now on. Damn the calories! So a chocolate drink of some kind is now a "special treat," instead of something that I am due, simply because I want to get rid of this random little pillow of FAT around my middle.

37% correct is not good at all

Dude, my picks sucked. I got exactly nine out of 24 possible correct selections. That, I think, could be the worse I ever did ever. I will blame it on my head cold. And the fact that the only movie that I'd seen out of most of the nominees was The Dark Knight. This year, I will see more movies. I vow it, here and now. I will probably fail, but at least I made a forceful vow, right? I will brag about some of my correct predictions: Penelope Cruz, Heath Ledger, Kate Winslet, Sean Penn, Danny Boyle, and Wall*E.
A few comments about tonight's telecast:
Hugh Jackman was frickin' awesome. Mom was consistently surprised by his talent, and I was pleased by his effort, flawless timing and the enjoyment that he obviously had for his task this evening.
I loved the presentation format for acting awards. The sheer volume of talent in that room sometimes was awe-inspiring. I loved the way they presented each nominee. Just fantastic.
The dresses were stunning. No one, really, had any outfit that made us say, "Wow," in a good or bad way. That was interesting.
Mom really enjoyed it. She loved the massive show of star power for the actor and actress categories.

Oscars rock

Okay, it's the big day! Yay Oscars!!
I still feel like hell; am not fit for decent company due to the snot, cough and phlegm machine in my body; and may or may not be able to stay coherent throughout the entire broadcast. So, rather than have any kind of fun Oscar get-together or anything, Mom, Sydney and I will hunker down and watch the festivities from here on our own. It's all good. After all, check out my Oscar avatar!
So, you want picks? Here you go:
Leading Actor: Sean Penn; Leading Actress: Kate Winslet; Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger; Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz; Animated Feature: Wall*E; Art Direction: Revolutionary Road; Cinematography: The Dark Knight; Costume Design: The Duchess; Director: Danny Boyle; Documentary Feature: The Betrayal; Documentary Short: The Witness; Film Editing: Frost/Nixon; Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir; Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Original Score: Wall*E; Original Song: "Down to Earth;" Short Film, Animated: This Way Up; Short Film, Live Action: The Pig; Sound Editing: Iron Man; Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight; Visual Effects: The Dark Knight; Screenplay, Adapted: The Reader; Screenplay, Original: Milk; Picture: Milk.
As you can see, I'm going on record for some crazy upsets. While I do think that Danny Boyle will win for directing, I think the Academy will give Milk the statue for Best Picture. Call it guilt over Brokeback Mountain, if you want, but I believe there's a bit of backlash against Slumdog Millionaire now. And I also think Sean Penn will win for Milk, rather than Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler. Random gut feeling, if you will. Some of them are the givens, like Kate Winslet and Heath Ledger. Others are guesses, such as the documentaries and short films. I suppose we'll see as the evening progresses!
The red carpet coverage just began. I'm flipping back and forth between the ABC coverage and E! coverage. I'm intrigued to see Ryan Seacrest fall on his face a couple times this afternoon. I'll catch you after the big broadcast!

Even feeling well, they bug me

The 10 o'clock news that Mom watches, KTLA, in Los Angeles, used to be a well-formatted, informative newscast. But then Hal Fishman died, and the whole broadcast went to hell. Now the station's got all these younger, "hipper" personalities and anchors who are ... how do I say it ... frickin' irritating. I had thought, and was taught in journalism school, that news (actual news, not opinion) was to be delivered with objectivity, with no personal spin or arch to the voice. On KTLA nowadays, this is not the case. Every little segment on the show is accompanied by some kind of comment, or conversation between the anchors, or even sarcasm.
I will totally admit that because I am sick, I have a shorter fuse today. And because of that, I was quick to spew off an e-mail to KTLA tonight. I sent it to the station management e-mail address:
Hello:
Please, please, please ask your news directors, anchors and personalities to just deliver the news. Their attempt at cute patter is distracting from the news they are trying to deliver, and has me pushing the mute button until I am sure that the next segment has begun. I understand the need to put forth a hipper, perhaps younger-skewing broadcast, but the subjective comments, asides and giggles are off-putting. I realize that I am only one person, but if you could put my e-mail in the, I hope, ever-growing file of dissenters for this format, I would appreciate it.
Have a good day.
I should have added a "p.s.": If you're looking for a freelance editor, proofreader or person on staff to kick you in the head when you stray into the ridiculous, please keep me in mind!

The tea and bundt cake are helping

You missed me, didn't you?
I've been driving back and forth to Hollywood pretty regularly, hanging out with Daddy as much as I can, which hasn't been much since most of my visits have been with Sydney, who isn't allowed in the area Daddy is anyway, and tends to get all fidgety when corralled in a little space. He won't be going home tomorrow, which is what we were initially told, but I'm hoping he'll be out soon.
It's been a rough week though. And to make it even more painful, I woke up with a heavy head cold yesterday morning. It's even worse today. I could tell you all about it, but it's boring to me, so I won't. I'll say that it irritates me because now I can't see anyone, since I don't want to get them sick. It's a given that Mom and Sydney will get it in some form, but I'll try to spare as many others as possible. You know, I'd suffer through a cold ten times as bad if I had some kind of guarantee that Sydney wouldn't catch it. But knowing that no matter how I try to prevent the spread, I just spend too much close face time with her to keep her from catching my ick.
But tomorrow! Tomorrow is Oscar day! And I get to watch the show with Mom! I so love the Oscars. I hope I'm feeling a lot better tomorrow, so I can enjoy it even more.

Daddy and John Wayne are both tough guys

Thank you to everyone for the good wishes and kind notes: Daddy is doing fine. He should be out of the ICU tomorrow, and is looking really good. We got only a few minutes with him today, but I could tell that they took a toll on him. He seemed ready for a rest when we left. I'm excited to see how much better he will be tomorrow.
I figured out how to get my computer happily online for the rest of my visit, and for all my visits from now. We bought a 50-foot Ethernet cable, plugged it into the back of Mom's modem, rebooted said modem, and then ran the cable down the hall, over the banister and into the kitchen to the breakfast bar, where yours truly is typing away. And in 10 minutes, when The Mentalist begins, I will trade spots with Mom, who will then do all her e-mailing, Internets shopping and random surfing. It's a crazy simple solution, and I am very, very irritated that my head never rolled with this particular idea before tonight.
Andrea, Ryan and Lydia went to Disneyland today. I wish we could have gone with them. :(

Soccer "star" whines a lot

What kind of prima donna is David Beckham, the soccer guy? So he gets this tremendous paycheck to move to Los Angeles, is rescued from Spain to move to California, and he and Victoria are treated well by all Scientologists and celebrities alike, and now, after what, two years, he's decided he would rather play in Italy? What the hell, dude.
You knew that "football," or soccer, was going to be a tough sell in the U.S. You said you were looking forward to the challenge. Your brood was excited to live there.
And after two months of playing in Milan, you're all, "I want to stay here." Are they nicer to you there? Are you going to get more money? How long will you stay with the Italian team? Are you just trying to angle yourself back into the good graces of English football?
Major League Soccer was a good sport about it, I think, when they even negotiated with Milan about Beckham. Truth be told, he hasn't been the breakout fantastic player they thought they were buying, and I doubt the seats are selling any more than they did before Beckham arrived in L.A. But the Milan team, from what is being reported, wasn't too interested in cracking open the checkbook for Beckham. And now, Becks is all, "This is gonna be hard going back to L.A." (Insert a girlish whine in that statement wherever you want. It works throughout.)
Dude, get over it and deal with the contract you've signed. You seem to complain a lot, and never like where you end up playing. Just settle down and get over yourself.

I heart bundt cakes for Valentine's Day

I don't know if it's the new computer, or maybe someone who just doesn't care, but I've got a wireless signal in my house. Rock on! No more sneaking into the office, typing in the dark with only the brief shine of a flashlight to illuminate the keyboard, and being as silent as possible while Sydney sleeps in her crib a mere foot or two from me. Now, I sit in my own room, lights aglow, dog sitting next to me, typing away with no care to the staccato sound of my fingers on the keyboard.
I'm home now, for a few days. We'll go visit Daddy tomorrow and see how he's doing.
Oh yeah, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I heart Daddy

Well, Kimmie's had a rough evening. I found out tonight that my dad needs to have heart surgery on Monday morning. He's in the hospital now. So, as is my way, Sydney and I are heading out to California tomorrow, so I can be there with him. Of course, this is taking up every spare thought I've got, as I try to pack for us.
Crap, it's 11 p.m. already, and I still have to shower and wash my hair.
And I totally wanted to brag about going to the gym today, but now I'm kinda too tired.

I heart River (still) ... and a pretty lip gloss

I recently decided to sort through my make-up and hair accessories drawers to clean out the old, ugly and really old stuff in there. (Why does someone who rarely wears make-up need 31 tubes of lipstick just in case?) I had mascara that was so congealed and sticky that the bristles on the brushes were flattened and stuck there by the act of pulling the stick out. I had lipsticks that I remember putting on for our Bar Slut Nights out, and those were in the 90s. I had eye shadows from college. All that was trashed. And now, I've got a crazy list of stuff to buy new and replace. Expensive? YES! Remarkably and in a crazy yet timely coincidence, in this month's In Style magazine, there is a feature on the best make-up that can be bought cheap in a drug store or the like. Some of this stuff is stuff I need, and I can get it for only $8 a tube? Awesome! I've never been into an Ulta. I must check out that store.
Did you all see Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman last night? You know, I give this kid a free pass a lot of the time because I'm still in love with his dead older brother (I wanted to marry you, River!), but last night was so .... bleck. There is little a celebrity can do to make me fall out of like faster than give a bad interview, display poor manners and/or refuse to be at all sociable. And that was Phoenix in a nutshell. I'm not a huge fan of David Letterman -- I find him to be a bit rude more often than necessary -- but I was completely on board with his frustration level last night. A celebrity, or a guest of any kind, comes into your house to promote their project, and then they give bad interview? What the hell is that? Phoenix doesn't want to be an actor anymore. Fine, leave him be. He wants to be a hip-hop star. Fine, let him be. Again, bleck.

I heart living in a house

I don't think that I've mentioned yet that we're planning a move in a couple months. Brian and I have finally decided to leave the life of apartment dwellers behind us and rent a house. Yes, yes, we should buy. We know this. Sadly, we have no down payment for a home. So, renting is in our immediate future. Happily, there is no shortage of homes for rent in this economy, too. I've made inquiries into four homes over the last couple days, and have heard back from three of them. I'll start scheduling viewings of them tomorrow.
Then, I guess, I should go out and pick up my first purchase of boxes, packing paper and tape. While yes, I enjoy settling into a new place, I hate boxing up all my stuff for a cross-town move. The fact that we've got 7,000 pounds of belongings (EASILY!), is no less intimidating. Ugh. Anyone want to come help me?

My new, and completely random, mission

I did a ridiculous Facebook thing today. I was sitting here, staring at my homepage this afternoon when I was struck with the idea to search the site for celebrities. (I had read somewhere about one celebrity, I think it was Kiefer Sutherland or someone, who has their own FB page under their real name, and is friends with anyone who requests.) So of course, I started with Angelina Jolie. Poor choice, as she is quite busy with all her children, charity work and movies. So, I decided to go local. For a giggle, I searched for the two anchors on my favorite newscast here in Phoenix: Steve Irvin and Katie Raml on ABC 15. Remarkably and happily, they both are on Facebook. I friend-requested both of them! To my utter delight, within an hour, Katie Raml accepted my request. Of course, she's got almost 900 friends, but I was pleased to see that she actually seems to be a Facebook addict, changing her status every day, including random stuff in it, and receiving posted messages from family, friends and fans on her page. Honestly, I think this is fantastic. Now, as I mention in my current status, I am compelled to come up with something so clever that she must comment on my status! I want to be in her "News Feed!"

I heart sleep

Well, people, it's almost Valentine's Day! Have you bought your paper cards, overpriced flowers, and if-it-isn't-See's-then-don't-bother candy? Me neither! I will roll with Valentine-inspired avatars until the big day, though. That'll be fun! And because I'm tired right now, I've decided to go with heart pajamas for the first effort of the week.

Countdwn to March 9

Alright, the damn show has got me hooked again. I had hoped ... hoped ... that this season's Dancing with the Stars contestants would leave me lukewarm, as the last group did, and I wouldn't care at all. I had thought that I didn't need another show to watch this spring. And then, I heard who all was slated to dance this coming March. Here they are, and assorted comments:
Belinda Carlisle, singer -- I so love Belinda Carlisle, and she'll be the big star I'm rooting for throughout her run on the show. She's the main reason I decided to dive into this again, if you must know.
Stephen "Steve-O" Glover, reality-TV star -- Except for the fact that he was on Jackass, I have no interest in him whatsoever. I foresee that he'll be the first jackass kicked off.
David Alan Grier, comedian -- When it comes to the comedians, I always fear that they will use the show more for fodder than as an actual entertainment. Please don't condescend or make jokes. Take this seriously!
Shawn Johnson, Olympic gymnast -- She's going to be amazing. She's another reason why I'll be tuning in.
Jewel Kilcher, singer, TV personality -- How did they manage to rope her into this? Awesome!
Lil Kim, rapper -- It's the boobs, really. She wears such crazy outfits sometimes, that I'm compelled to see how DWTS intends to embarrass her with her dresses.
Gilles Marini, actor -- This is Samantha's naked neighbor from Sex and the City: The Movie. What? You need more?
Ty Murray, former rodeo cowboy -- Murray and Jewel are married. They rock because they're doing this together.
Nancy O'Dell, entertainment anchor -- I quite like Nancy O'Dell. I miss her and Mark McGrath on Extra. (I don't like Mario Lopez. He's everywhere, like Ryan Seacrest.) I hope O'Dell does well!
Denise Richards, actress -- This is where they almost lost me completely. Who needs the kind of crazy that Richards brings? She's IRRITATING! Make her go away! I will be rooting for her to depart early so I can enjoy the rest of the show.
Lawrence Taylor, retired NFL player -- Football players are awesome, and LT is among the best. Let's see how he rolls with the fancy pants and satin shirts.
Chuck Wicks, singer -- I don't know. Indifference?
Steve Wozniack, technology billionaire -- This guy helped build Apple. He's a god just for that. Who cares how well he can dance? Me. He better be decent.

Yes, I'll still continue to visit

I got a response from USAToday.com this morning:
Thank you for your feedback. USATODAY.com is an advertiser supported site, free of charge to our readers. We design the site with the reader in mind, working to achieve an appropriate balance of ad messages and news and information so that the site is both effective for our advertisers and appealing for our users. We appreciate your feedback and hope that you will continue to visit USATODAY.com in the future.
Regards, The USATODAY.com Team
I do love the invention of the form letter. It doesn't respond to my concern, but does tell me, in a heartfelt and sweet kind of way, to piss off and let them earn their money how they can so I'm able to keep checking them out for free. I hope to get a real response from and real team member sometime this week. Odds on that? Lesser than average?

Half a minute can last a lifetime

It must be late, and I must be easily irritated, because I just wrote a short (100-word) complaint to USAToday.com. Of course, it was ridiculous! Of course, they'll probably laugh at me! Oh well.
Situation: I enjoy the USAToday.com web site. I like it quite a bit actually, as it's among my top bookmarks, and I hop on it frequently throughout my day. I even have the application for the web site on my iPhone. Tonight, I thought to check out the "Celebrities" photo gallery as well as the headlines. I clicked on it and the gallery window popped up, with its ad. It used to be that the gallery would just load and one could view the images unmolested. Lately, the gallery will only load completely after the window shows a 15-second commercial. The advertiser could be anyone, from Geico to Dove. You know, whatever. Tonight though, the ad was for Best Buy ... and would air for 30 seconds before the gallery would appear. Now, I'm all for a constant stream of advertising revenue, but 30 seconds is a ridiculously long amount of time to expect someone to sit in front of an ad ... ON THE INTERNET ... before showing them something.
I navigated away from the page before the ad was even 10 seconds through. Then, I went to the web site's "Contact Us" page and filed my complaint. I basically told them exactly what I just told you: That I would rather forego the gallery, and deny the advertiser the click-through, then sit at my computer for 30 seconds being forcefed an advertisement of this kind. I simply asked them to re-think their position on 30-second ads. Fifteen, I can sit through. Thirty is just too painful.

This could be Tara! Please vote!

Okay, everyone. I'm going to really need your help for my friend, Tara. I'm counting on you to do your part! Tara was one of the thousands of applicants for "The Best Job in the World," on Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. The position of island caretaker to house-sit the island is a plum gig, with responsibilities that include: posting a weekly blog, photo diaries and creating video updates to let the world know about the unique experiences available on the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef; interviews with members of the media; spending six months on Hamilton Island, one of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef; and travel to other islands and enjoy activities such as sailing, kayaking, snorkelling, diving, picnics, bushwalking and more.
Okay, so here's where you all come in. Tara can be one of the 50 finalists for the job. Take a couple minutes and go to this web site -- HERE -- and give Tara the highest rating you can (5 stars, please)! You can only vote once, so make it a good one! Thank you for your help!!

Because it is pretty harmless

So I heard on the news yesterday that someone posted on the Internets the instructions of how to hack into these highway construction signs. The picture I saw yesterday during the report was a warning against "Raptors" in the area. But honestly, this sign is so much better. How much would you crack up if you saw this? I know I would be hysterical, and would probably stop to take a picture of it, as this guy did. I love it when the people of the world get creative with their harmless mayhem.

They hit a, wait for it, grand slam

I've been waiting for these numbers ever since I saw the ad on Sunday during the Super Bowl. Denny's, a restaurant chain that came out on Sunday as frickin' brilliant in their marketing, served more than 2 million Grand Slam breakfasts, for free, yesterday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lines at some Denny's locations across the country were hours long, as people queued up way before stores opened, bringing chairs and the like, to be sure they got their breakfast on. Some locations even ran out of pancake syrup! (The Grand Slam consists of two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages and two pancakes.)
From USAToday.com: The entire promotion — including food, labor and airing an ad on Sunday's Super Bowl — cost Denny's about $5 million.
"We're re-acquainting America with Denny's," says CEO Nelson Marchioli. "We've never been thanked this much — and folks are saying they'll come back."
The gambit earned Denny's something that money alone can't buy: positive public relations, and lots of it. By Denny's estimates, it got $50 million in free news coverage, almost all of it positive. No injuries — or police issues — were reported at any locations, say Denny's officials.
Understand that the $5 million is still less than running two 30-second ads during the Super Bowl. And they're right, this move earned them tons of solid public relations and happy customers. Honestly, I think it was remarkably perfect.

Today, a message for the goat

I can't help but feel like, because I don't check my horoscope until after lunch, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage rolling into my day.
February 3, 2009: All you have to do when faced with a challenge today is concentrate! Keep your eye on the ball, and you will be sure to win. The goal you have in your sights right now is yours to lose, so do not worry about anyone taking the power out of your hands or ruining things for you. Just to make yourself feel better, try to avoid flighty people who say one thing and then do another. You don't need them adding to your frustration level, even if they are harmless.
I don't think I ran into any flighty people today. Sydney and I tried out a new library story time, which was awesome. We had lunch at Chik-fil-A (I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but I'm not going to look it up), and enjoyed some waffle fries. I don't think I had to concentrate too much on that. And no one added to my frustration level.
Still ... I would have liked all this information sooner than 1:15 p.m. this afternoon. I know what you're thinking: Check your Internets earlier in the day if it's that important to you. I don't really like to crack open the laptop before naptime though, as it takes time away from the kid. I do need some kind of solution. Hmmm. I wonder if there's a horoscope application for my iPhone.

I want to shop at Gap!

I'm saying it right now: I am seriously starting to chafe over this whole Lack Of American Express situation I've got going on. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll tell you that my AmEx card was confiscated, sequestered and put away, and I'm not allowed to use it for a while. I added the "for a while" in that sentence, actually. I'm sure Brian would prefer I cut the card into pieces, but I say no, the card is a part of me. I can leave it for a time, but its draw is too strong to stay away forever. Back to the point: I want stuff. I would normally buy this stuff, these things, with that credit card. But without it, I am ... impotent ... to fulfill my needs. (What a bizarre collection of words to string together that way.)
This is bothersome.
Honestly, it's bugging me every minute of every day lately.

He should bite him for that

You know, if I didn't live in Arizona, i.e. The Land of No Real Winter, I'd probably be disappointed by our friend, Punxsutawney Phil. According to The Groundhog Club, Phil did indeed see his shadow this morning, thereby predicting that winter will last another six weeks.
Here is Ben Hughes, handler of the weather-predicting groundhog, holding Phil in the air after removing him from his stump at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
I can't help but feel like this photo is borderline animal abuse. Poor little Phil, just hanging out in his little "stump," chilling through his morning, and then, BOOM! This person reaches into his living room, pulls him out of his cozy space and into the brightness of day (cloudy or not), and then holds him up for the world to photograph. It's just ... ... weird. What a bizarre little ritual.

Meet me on the lido deck

Well, that was a bit disappointing, wasn't it? I actually thought that maybe the Cardinals would pull this game together. When Larry Fitzgerald caught that touchdown pass, I was beside myself. I thought, "Holy crap. They might actually win this thing." But then I realized how much time was left in the game, and I knew that there was an even more real possibility that this might go down another road. I won't wax poetic about this ... anymore than I already have ... since I really didn't care all that much.
So here's this month's avatar: I'm a cruise ship captain. NOT Julie, your cruise director!

Cardinals win it?

I'm watching Super Bowl pregame coverage right now. Sydney's sleeping, Daisy's crashed out in her room next to the crib (cute!), Oliver is somewhere also sleeping, and I'm chilling on the sofa in front of the television. You know what's on? They're recapping last year's big game, if you can believe it. And still, a full year later, I'm frickin' bitter about the damn Giants beating the Patriots. Ridiculous.
Anyway, a random thing happened to me as my kid and I walked to the car on our way out to lunch today. Some guy ... a stranger ... walked past us, smiled and exclaimed, "Go Cardinals!" Honestly, it stunned me a little bit. You just don't see team support like that on a random Phoenix afternoon. Of course, I know today isn't a random sports day, but still, that kind of unsolicited spirit was a bit surprising.
I'll be cheering for the Cardinals, as I've told you all before. The people out here need the happy.