celllessness

I know at least seven adults who don't have cell phones- and I don't know how they survive. I left my phone at home this morning (lost between two couch cushions, of course), and I don't know what was more disillusioning- not feeling the comfort of the phone on my right thigh all day (I can't tell you how many times I patted myself down in panic) or sitting in traffic on the way to my oil change with no means of communication to the world outside my car. Sure, I find it sad, even disturbing, that 40% of all drivers on routes 90 and 95 are on the phone at any given time (more like 80% if you're only surveying the right lane), but rarely does a 45-minute ride home from work elapse when I don't make a single call. I'm hooked, and I'm ashamed.

And I broke a wine glass tonight.

5000 miles

At a toll booth on the Mass Pike today, my car cleared its 5000th mile, 85 days after I brought it home for the first time. At this rate, I'll have put 20,059 miles on it by the end of the year. Possible refinancing aside, by the time the car is paid off, I'll have driven 110,824 miles, almost exactly the number my mom and I drove the old '96 before I traded it in for the left rear hubcap on this one.

Perhaps it's time to rethink this Framingham-to-Burlington commute.

Prenuptial activities

I'm sure all of you who are married know that the weekends before prior to the big day are spent raking leaves, cleaning up after family dinners, and of course purchasing music, all while your fiance shops for wedding-related toiletries and practices getting her hair done. Feel free to read those last five words again. It's true.

Back to the music purchasing part. After getting some recommendations from the Best Man, I picked up a couple albums yesterday, including The Chambers Brothers' "The Time Has Come" (for which I had to travel all the way to a record store) and Country Joe & the Fish's "Electric Music for the Mind and Body", whose third track, "Death Sound Blues" was the 6000th song added to my iTunes library. This morning's additions were the new Flaming Lips album, "At War with the Mystics", and "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears", credited curiously on the album cover to the Mama's and the Papa's (the apostrophes were removed by the time of their next album's release, hopefully after the person responsible for the oversight was fired and kicked in the teeth).

Jill and I caught our first 2006 baseball game at Fenway on Thursday, an 8-6 loss to Toronto on a beautiful night with wonderful company and a prime standing room location behind home plate. Dingers indeed.

Dingers, ho!

In honor of opening night, and the fact that I haven't blogged in a while, and the fact that I'm too lazy to start my next major blog project, my 2006 baseball predictions:

AL East
New York 95-67
Boston 90-72
Toronto 88-74
Baltimore 73-89
Tampa Bay 71-91

AL Central
Cleveland 93-69
Chicago 92-70
Minnesota 85-77
Detroit 77-85
Kansas City 61-101

AL West
Oakland 91-71
Anaheim 84-78
Texas 80-82
Seattle 69-93

NL East
Atlanta 94-68
New York 93-69
Philadelphia 82-80
Washington 81-81
Florida 57-105

NL Central
St. Louis 93-69
Houston 86-76
Milwaukee 85-77
Chicago 81-81
Pittsburgh 69-93
Cincinnati 68-94

NL West
San Diego 85-77
Los Angeles 84-78
San Francisco80-82
Colorado 73-89
Arizona 70-92

White Sox over Y*****s in 5
A's over Indians in 4
Braves over Padres in 4
Mets over Cardinals in 5

A's over White Sox in 7
Mets over Braves in 5

A's over Mets in 4

AL MVP- Travis Hafner (.305, 43 HR, 125 RBI)
AL CY- Johan Santana (19-5, 2.38 ERA, 270 K)

NL MVP- Albert Pujols (.348, 49 HR, 144 RBI)
NL CY- Roy Oswalt (22-7, 2.50 ERA, 208 K)