Next stop? World Series.

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

 
THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! 

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

That's right. It actually happened. For the first time since 2002, the San Francisco Giants are headed to the World Series. There was a chance that they'd be playing the New York Yankees, but that dream ended yesterday and it's probably better for my brain. If I had to choose, my head might have actually exploded.

I only made it to four Giants games this year, but I watched many more on TV and suffered through the torture with thousands, probably millions, of other Giants fans. I was at the home opener in April and at the final regular season home game in October when they clinched the division. So much awesomeness!!

I love baseball. Always have. I've been a Yankee fan pretty much my whole life so seeing them lose yesterday was heart wrenching, but even I will admit that it's nice to see some different teams in the final series, especially when one of them is my other love, the Giants.

I was a pure American League fan until I moved to California, but I quickly glommed onto the Giants. It helped that one of my favorite players, Barry Bonds, played there, and for a while, I was mainly cheering for him; my heart was still in the AL. And then, I got hooked. I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but I'm a full-fledged Giants fan now, and I hope this trip to the World Series turns out better than the last. 

LET'S GO GIANTS!!!!!!

Baseball, College Football, Hockey...what more could a girl want?

IT IS TIME!!!

These arrived at my house today, and I can't really articulate in words how excited I am for the hockey season to start. We were bitterly disappointed again last season, even though we did get further than the several years prior. We wanted more. Now, with new goalies, maybe we can get it. It feels like the Sharks are everywhere in the community these days...for some reason I think this is a sign of good things to come. I realize it makes no sense. I don't care. Seeing Sharks is good. All good.

Recent Sightings:

• Joe Pavelski in the Sharks store during the playoff run
• Patrick Marleau at dinner in Los Gatos in July
• Ryane Clowe at the same hair place a friend goes to (also in Los Gatos I believe)

And as if that weren't enough, college football kicked off last week and I was 3 for 4 on the first full Saturday of play. And honestly, I don't really feel too bad about the team that lost because they were playing the #1 ranked team in the country. Way to get 3 points SJSU!! More games are on tap this weekend and in the near future I'll get to see some of the boys play in person.

And oh by the way, way to bring it Boise State!!

There's just really nothing like college football for me. There is so much emotion tied up in it, especially when my two alma maters take the field. They can give me more heartache and joy than pretty much anything else. Let's Go Devils! Mountaineers! Cowboys! Spartans!

And lest you forget, we're in the final days of the major league baseball season and I'm finding myself hanging on every pitch on two different coasts. The Giants, as usual, are so close I can almost taste the playoff home run dog, but the gap just doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. And the Yankees never cease to cause me agita. While they are more likely to be in the playoffs than the Giants, there are no guarantees today. They don't have a magic number listed yet, and until they do, I take nothing for granted. It's fun though, and I look forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks.

I know you thought all I did was go to concerts...well, there was only ONE of those in September, so I have to find some other way to spend my time and money. :-)

So tired...

I'm tired today. Tired of people writing and saying nasty things. Tired of people spewing their bitter diatribes for the world to see and hear. There is no redemption in the nasty.

Earlier today I was about to tweet about how the Giants bullpen was letting me down again, but then I thought about the friends and families of those players and how even my seemingly innocent statement could be considered nasty and mean. I made a personal vow to make every effort not to do it anymore. It doesn't help me to make a comment like that. It doesn't serve any purpose except to give me a venue to vent my frustration. Not that we don't all have the constitutional right to express our opinions, and certainly I'm allowed to be frustrated when my team is losing, but I have no right to call out a specific player.

My thoughts on this started earlier today when I was reading a particularly bitter and mean-spirited book review written about a friend's book. This person had every right to not like the book, but the comments directed to my friend had nothing to do with the book, and they were just mean. It really irritated me, and it really upset her. It was just not okay.

I was perusing cnn.com today, and I started reading these things about President Obama's education speech, and how people are trying to ban it from being shown to kids. Seriously? I skimmed the speech, reading more than half of it word for word. Any of you that know me personally know I'm not about politics. I just don't play. If someone asks my opinion I'll tell them, but I really don't dig into any of it. I don't agree with a lot of Mr. Obama's politics, but I fully respect that he's the president.

For the record, I didn't agree with a lot of Mr. Bush's politics either. I'm certainly more conservative than I am liberal, but really, I'm just trying to live my life like Jesus, and frankly, I don't think he signed a voter registration card picking one party over the other - just my opinion. This speech? Oh my goodness, it's so NOT controversial. I loved that Laura Bush came out in support of the speech. She gets it. She always has. Really people. Heaven forbid we try to encourage our kids to stay in school. Yeah.

The thing that just sent me over the edge today though was a video I saw of a pastor (a pastor!!) in Arizona saying from his pulpit that he hated President Obama and asked God, again, from his pulpit, to break his teeth or something. I was appalled. I'm still appalled. Certainly this man has the right to his opinion, but to say something like that as a spiritual leader really made me ill. I hope Mr. Obama knows that this is not representative of Christians.

Okay, I'm tired again. I have to go watch something on TV that will make me happy. I believe it will be David Boreanz as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.

The 'foot never fails me

Oh Switchfoot. How I love thee. You never cease to bring the rock. I could have used about two more hours of you tonight.

This was the 9th time for me to see Switchfoot in concert. There's no one I've seen more, and I can't wait to see them again!!

What was different about tonight was that they were the opening band, and when they were done? We left. I think that's the first time I've ever done that. But the fact is, we were only there for the 'foot. Blue October? Yeah. Just not that interested. It's weird to be home this early from a concert. But I'm okay with it. Extra sleep? Yes. I will take that.

Two more concerts this month...one band I've seen before - Daughtry...saw them open for Bon Jovi on their last tour. It will be my first time seeing Green Day, and I'm pretty excited about that. Small venue for Daughtry, big one for Green Day. And, they're two days apart. Should be quite the week!

Until then, I'm going to rest up...and go see the Giants play tomorrow.

Enjoy this little video from the Switchfoot concert tonight...first time using the video function on my camera...not bad! I have one more video which I'll try to post tomorrow...it was taking too long and my body needs sleep. Until then...

Games people play and the music they listen to

The past few weeks have been a blur. My calendar was full of events. Games and concerts, outings with friends. Where does the time go? Since we last spoke, I've been to two more concerts and several sporting events. I've also procured tickets to a variety of other concerts. Oh yes, I'm a junkie. So, let's get it to it, shall we?

Matchbox Twenty (that's lead singer Rob Thomas in the photo). This was my first time seeing them in concert and they did not disappoint...neither did Alanis Morissette who opened for them. Great show and great seats!

Bon Jovi. This was my third time seeing them, and with the exception of their misguided tour of the country scene, they just rock! And I just really don't think it's legal to look as good as Jon Bon Jovi looks. Goodness. I wish I would have been closer so my pictures would have been worth sharing. Yum. It was great to see their opener too...Daughtry. He was a fave on American Idol a few years back, and I think it was great he didn't win that show, because his music is great...and he didn't have to record anything cheezy like the winners always do.

Sharks. Sun Devils. More Sharks. That's been my March and April and will hopefully continue into May with the Sharks...provided we make it deep into the playoffs. They'll start this week...against the hated Calgary Flames. I've got tickets for one game per round, and have vowed to put a teal streak in my hair should we make it to the final round. My Sun Devils didn't fare too well this weekend at Stanford, winning only 1 of 3. But the sun was good, and my tan is much improved.

Tomorrow, the Giants. Their season has not started well, and we don't expect much from them this year. But it's baseball, and skipping work to go to the home opener is always a good idea.

Coming soon...Mamma Mia, Alicia Keys and George Michael.

Anyway, better go to bed and rest up for the big day. We'll chat again soon...