well, I'm a moron... I'm 2000 words in and I'm already blocked....
but I'm gonna watch the WSU-ASU game and maybe get inspired

Those freakin' Cougars!

Maybe I did jinx them.... who knows. Last week they played some sort of bizarre Football Blackjack against Arizona (2, hit me...3, hit me, 3 again, hit me, 6, uhh, hit me, 7, hey, that's 21, I'll stay) where they had a 5 with the dealer showing a 10 at halftime (and did an honor to the concurrent World Series with the following score progression: 2-0, 3-2, 5-3 in the first half.

Now, this week, a fight in the locker room over a... female type person (wouldn't you know it) has the PAC-10's interception leader, and a guy having an all-america type year, out for the season with a broken cheek bone, and a starting linebacker likely off the team for throwing the punch. What the....!??

So do I reverse the jinx by picking Arizona State in one of the marquee games in the country tomorrow? More and more, the Sun Devils look like one of those "teams of destiny" that seem to spring up in the PAC-10 every couple years (and a gig the Cougs know well from '97).

As for Dawg fans who seem to be losing their minds. You're having an off year... christ, it happens, okay...! You're playing a reeling team with a freshman QB this weekend, this oughta be a win.

I'm going to say it right here, that Oregon State is turning things around and will be a tough team to beat from here out. They had a "flash in the pan" start against four non-conference patsies, then dropped their first three league games. They have found themselves, becoming one of those "we're gonna run the ball and play tough defense" type teams that can be a nightmare to play, especially on the road.

Oregon over Stanford
OSU over Arizona
Washington over UCLA
WSU Fightin' (over) Pussies over Arizona State

and I solve my philosophical quandery by picking WSU in the 5-point game

I haven't the motivation for a Seahawks rant right now. But I will say that Drew Bledsoe might be the MVP so far this year. The Patriots had to trade him (or let him go) but maybe it was a mistake to trade him to a team in the same division. Yikes... it'll be a bit embarrassing when a jacked-up Bledsoe leads the Bills to a convincing win Sunday.

Green Bay over Miami
Buffalo over New England
NY Giants over Jacksonville
St. Loius over Arizona
Seattle over Washington (that's right, I'm picking the 'Hawks to WIN)

A bunch of us got together for Tyler's birthday observance last night (Tyler's official birthday is October 30, and I'll note he was born on the very day of the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between Muhamad Ali and George Foreman in 1974). I could tell you all about it, except a picture tells a thousand words, and I guess that means I've got 41,000 words right here.

So I had an interview at Arenasports in Redmond this morning. It went okay, I guess maybe I was a bit rambling, but whatever. There are two positions open, one is a normal 9-5 Mon-Fri type thing working at the counter, the other is as a coordinator for the youth leagues on the weekends, which means working 6:30 to 6:30 on Sat and Sun, then on Monday and or Tuesday, with the rest "whenever." I have to say that intrigues me, because of the flexibility involved and the free time I'd have during the week, but it would constitute a major lifestyle change.

But, in my dour, pessimistic worldview, I won't get the job(s) anyway, because this may actually be a place I would Want to work.

On a completely unrelated note, KZOK just played "Gimme Shelter" esaily my favorite Rolling Stones, and they're following that up with "Here comes the Sun" easily my favorite Beatles song.

I should probably say something, at some point, about our Halloween "party" here at the house last Saturday. If this is to be a "Journal" of my life (and as I've ranted before I've done a lousy job of that) the we should at least discuss it... very well.

I spent most of the day at a memorial service for Syd Purdue, who was my dad's cousin, and figured very prominently in the Whidbey Island family cabin structure. By the time I got home, I just wasn't in the mood for a party. Of course, people were due to start showing up about 8, so I had to get in the spirit for things.

In hindsight, I felt bad for not doing my part to help make things better. Rich was pretty disappointed in the turnout, and I admit the atmosphere seemed lackluster, and I definitely contributed to that. I could've put on more of a "game face" and worked at making a positive contribution to the party, but I didn't. It was an okay time, I suppose, but I felt like it woulda coulda shoulda been something bigger and better.

All the requisites were more or less there. We had done our usual bang-up job of creative pumpkin carving Friday night. Rich rented a full-on ape costume, Greg was wearing his new kilt in a "Braveheart" type get-up complete with blue facepaint, and I was "hapless jogger who got mauled by a badger or something." Tyler came as a "corporate whore,' highlighting the "costumes" of our guests. There was beer drinking, with the debut of the "barley wine" which is pretty strong stuff.

Greg, for the first time any of us know about, was quite sick the next morning. I'm thinking it was the "barley wine," as Greg really hadn't had that much to drink. Sometimes bad things just happen to good people I guess.

Also Sunday moring, as Rich was brushing his teeth, I discovered water dripping down from the ceiling in the corner of the kitchen. Assuming it was coming from the bathroom, I immediately considered the floor had flooded, and ran upstairs to see what was going on. Rich was merely brushing his teeth, and so the next assumption was broken pipe. Greg found the shutoff for the pipes running upstairs in the basement, and shortly thereafter, Greg's dad, Steve, came over to asses the issue. We pulled the panel off the wall along the stairs, exposing the pipes. No breaks. After some troubleshooting, we discovered the drain was backed up, and fortunately had manifested itself with "clean" sink water.

The plumber came Monday afternoon, and cleared things out. There was some minor inconvience around here for about a day, but things are flowing smoothly now.

"Pick 'Em" games for next week:

NFL
(Sunday night) Jacksonville @ NY Giants
(Monday night) Miami @ Green Bay
Washington @ Seattle
New England @ Buffalo
St. Loius @ Arizona

PAC-10
USC and Cal-Berkeley have bye weeks, so scoring will be 8-7-6-5 like two weeks ago)
Arizona State @ WSU
UCLA @ Washington
Stanford @ Oregon
Arizona @ Oregon State

Well, I cleaned my room today... partially, at least, which is still a major accomplishment. Basically, I got rid of the enormous pile of clothes which existed in the area described by the foot of the bed and under the window. Maybe I'll work on the rest tomorrrow, or the next day... or sometime.