It's already a long season...

Sigh.

Week 3 of college football, and I'm on the verge of throwing in multiple towels. I follow five teams:

1. Arizona State (alma mater #1)
2. West Virginia (alma mater #2)
3. San Jose State (current employer and the town near which I live)
4. University of Wyoming (team I grew up with...and former employer)
5. Northern Illinois (former employer)

I was pretty jazzed in the first full week of the season when I went 4 for 5. But that joy was fleeting. INow? I'm just hoping they all don't lose the rest of their games. This weekend, which began in the football world on Thursday, was just awful. I went 1 for 5. Thank you, NIU, for not making it a total wash.

It was sheer torture two weeks ago to watch WVU self-destruct against East Carolina. Adding insult to that still throbbing injury was ASU's OT loss last week to unranked UNLV. While nursing that wound, I then had to endure WVU losing in OT this week to unranked Colorado. OY! Needless to say, both ASU and WVU are no longer ranked. And ASU just made it worse tonight with it's less-than-stellar showing (at home no less!) against Georgia. UGH. Not UGA. UGH. To add insult to today's injury, SJSU lost to Stanford...never a pretty sight, and Wyoming got destroyed by BYU...who apparently just doesn't let anyone score anymore.

So, for ASU, they are still 1-0 in the PAC 10, which I GUESS should make me happy, but I've been burned too many times before. My Sun Devil pride is wounded and I fear the conference play that ensues very soon. I mean, USC is still in the PAC 10 last time I checked, and oh joy! we play them in SoCal. I restate my earlier sigh...

WVU hasn't played a single conference game yet, so yeah, there's still some hope there. But they were poised to win it all last year and faltered at the end, so the Mountaineer part of me doesn't have a lot to hold onto.

Wyoming is likely done as they've now had two huge conference losses, but that is not really a surprise. I don't think anyone expected them to do a lot this year.

Poor NIU has only won one game, and one of their two losses was in conference, so they're not really on an uphill swing either.

SJSU losing to Nebraska was not surprising, and while it's a total bummer to lose to Stanford, I guess I wasn't that surprised. At least we've won both of our home games. We'll see what happens going forward. At least I know the national anthem at the Boise State game will be good. :-)

I hope your teams are having more success than mine. Please don't rub it in if they are. That's just mean. If your teams are in a state of ick like mine, I'm happy to commiserate with you. Say it with me now: Sigh. Take comfort in knowing that basketball starts in a month, and the NHL drops the pre-season puck this week. Go Sharks!

I'm out.

In response to CW

Yes.

It's too much to ask.

Of Toyotas, Tea and Tantrums

Well yes...it's been a while...I've tried to tell you I'm not good with the updates...why don't you believe me? I don't make this stuff up...okay, sometimes I do, but this is for real. Now, on to what's going on in the life that is me...

I've long thought about blogging about Toyotas...about how every time a lane of traffic slows or goes haywire, the inevitable culprit is a Toyota. Seriously. It's 98 times out of a 100, maybe 99. The exceptions seem to be 4-Runners and Land Cruisers, but even they have their moments. I know others who have noticed this phenomenon, so I know I'm not crazy (at least not about this). What is the deal here? I know some of you drive Toyotas...can you enlighten me? Is there something about owning a Toyota that naturally makes you a slower, less-interested-in-what's-going-on-around-you driver? Is there something that happens when you take the wheel? And don't even get me started about Toyota drivers on cell phones...we'll save that for another day.

Earlier this evening I was in Panera having dinner with a lovely friend...drinking tea (of the iced variety) and listening to the beginning of a child's tantrum. At one point, we actually thought the child might leap across the table at the other child. And then, the mother laughed. Um, what??? What exactly was going on there that caused this child to screech in agony and several seconds later caused the mother to laugh? Believe me, there was nothing funny for the rest of us hearing the screeching.

This reminded me of another experience a few weeks ago at Chili's (yes, I eat out a lot...get over it) when a young girl (beyond old enough to know better!) threw a little tantrum. This is not out of the ordinary...as many of you are painfully aware, the restaurant tantrum is a highly popular activity among the young. However, what was interesting about this was that we actually watched the girl prepare for the tantrum. Oh yeah. She started with the pouting and then some heavy breathing and then came the tears. Un-be-lievable. And as it neared its end? Oh yeah, the mother laughed! What is up with that???? Seriously. I have no words.

So, there it is for today. Apologies to those of you that drive Toyotas. Maybe you are the exception to the rule. Now it's time for cake...

Confessions...the Amendment

Okay. I'm amending yesterday's post to say that I certainly did NOT mean to exclude hash browns when I said "anything involving the word hash is also off my list". I was referring to things like potato hash which just sounds wrong. Hash BROWNS on the other hand, actually deserve their own list of bests:

McDonald's - but only if they're well done, otherwise, ick
Burger King - again, well done
Stacks - a downtown Campbell favorite
Peanuts - a downtown San Jose favorite

Thank you Amy for pointing out this glaring problem with my original post!

By the way, as a side note...all things tater go excellent with a side of Coke. Just in case you were wondering...

Confessions of a French Fry junkie

It's no secret to anyone that has known me for more than say, a day, that I'm addicted to French Fries. I thought I was addicted to the potato...and that may be true, but I started thinking about it today, and there are actually several potato dishes that I have no need to be involved with...

• Potato salad - it's like an oxymoron to me...potatoes in salad? it's just wrong.
• Potato pancakes - seriously? the breakfast potatoes should be fried people!
• Sweet potato pie - there are just no words; and really, the only way I can be involved with a sweet potato is if it's in the form of a sweet potato fry made by The Counter.

Anything involving the word hash is also off my list. I also don't need to be involved with snooty potatoes served with snooty food and snooty restaurants. It's a potato. It's simple food. It knows it doesn't need to impress me.

But by and large, if it's a potato, I will probably eat it. There's no question, though, that the fried variety is my favorite. When I order fries as my side dish, I know in my heart that they are really my main dish. I just get the meat to be nice. Sometimes at home, I just have the fries. Hey. I'm grown. I can. You can't stop me. My mom said it was okay!

Here are a few of my favorite French Fry makers:

• McDonald's
• In-N-Out
• Outback
• Armadillo Willy's
• Wingstop
• The Counter (the sweet potato variety as previously stated)

But hands down, the best ones are made by my mom. She learned by watching my great grandmother, and try as I might, I cannot perfect the skill. It's her true gift. Yes. I'm jealous.

I don't know why this is important...it probably isn't. And yet, I'm sharing it anyway...because, as previously stated, I'm grown, and I can.

So, what are YOU addicted to in the way of food? Do you also crave the crunchy goodness of the fried potato? Do you yearn for the yummy goodness of the baked potato skin? When someone uses the term couch potato, do you secretly hope there's actually a couch made out of potatoes? Okay, me either...in fact, that's a teensy bit creepy.

Anyway, that's all for today. Hope you're having a fabulous Monday! I'll be back later with more interesting insights to the world that is me.