The 2008 NFL Season has Started!

(no, I'm not sitting in my apartment like a dork watching the game like this. This was Halloween 2 years ago.)

Go 'Skins!

Are You Ready for Some Football Pt. 3

Finally. The last of my 3 fantasy football drafts. This one was especially challenging because the commissioner of the league decided to mix things up this year. Instead of just going with a team defense, he decided we should go with individual defensive players(IDP). In all my years of fantasy football (and I've been doing this a LOOOONG time), I've never been in a league with IDP. And quite honestly, I still have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I based my IDP picks solely on a cheat sheet I got from my favorite fantasy site that I use every year, thehuddle.com. So with this league, we field a team consisting of 1 QB, 2 RB, 1 RB/WR (flex position), 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, and instead of 1 team defense, there is 1 LB, 1 DL, 1 DB, and 2 other DPs. Because of the added positions, this was a 20 round draft instead of a 13 to 15 round draft. And now, I present to you Izzy's Bullies:

QB: Drew Brees, Marc Bulger
WR: Santonio Holmes, Brandon Marshall, Reggie Brown, Isaac Bruce (side note - I still thought Bruce was with St.Louis. I just found out today that he is now with the 49'ers. I got really rusty in the offseason!)
RB: Joseph Addai, Jonathan Stewart, Chris Johnson, Steve Slaton
IDP: Jared Allen, Kyle Vander Bosch, Terrell Suggs, Kirk Morrison, Barrett Ruud, Calvin Pace, Bob Sanders, Nate Clements
TE: Chris Cooley
K: John Kasay

The regular season starts tomorrow night! I'm psyched! I just wish it wasn't Redskins/Giants. The Skins are notoriously bad in nationally televised games.

Are You Ready for Some Football Pt. 2

Some brilliant people decided to hold my 2nd fantasy football draft on Labor Day. Labor Day! Because it was good for some. The rest of us had to come home early from vacations, beaches and cookouts to be there. And then they changed the time to a half hour later. THEN we didn't even get started for at least another half hour after that. That was probably another hamburger and a half I could have eaten at the cookout! Not to mention that I had to get up at 3:30 am for work the next day. This one league is notoriously SLOOOOOOOW when it comes to making picks. Needless to say, 3 hours after this draft was supposed to start, we were done. And people wonder why the hell I was so tired at work yesterday. Anyway, I present to you the Dewey Devils 2008:

QB: Drew Brees, David Garrard
RB: Steven Jackson, Chris Perry, Ray Rice, Maurice Morris
WR: Marques Colston, Nate Burleson, Joey Galloway, Reggie
Williams, Antwaan Randle El, DJ Hackett
TE: Jason Witten
K: Nate Kaeding
Def: Chicago

This league starts 1 QB, 2 RB, 3WR, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 DEF. Also this league is a keeper league meaning we keep 2 players from our previous year's team. I kept Drew Brees and Steven Jackson and actually picked up another player I had last year, Marques Colston, with my first pick (3rd) of the draft. Another thing to note is that this is my money league. $50 entry fee and $5 a roster move. (Up from $32 entry and $3 a move.) So it's a nice pot of money at the end of the year. We also are having a $20 prize each week for the team that scores the most points. And so everyone stays involved thru the playoffs, we also have a Toilet Bowl. All the teams that don't make the playoffs get to play and the point is to lose your game. The biggest loser wins $20. So really, the chances to win money are endless. As are the chances I don't get squat! Heh. Such is life in fantasy football.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

In case you're new here, I'll let you in on a little secret: I love professional football. Football season is my second favorite time of year. (What's first? My birthday of course!!! :)) I'm a lifelong Redskins fan mixed in with a bit of Steelers love due to the fact that my parents are from Pittsburgh...we had some great Steelers Super Bowl parties when I was a kid. I had a brief flirtation with the '85 Chicago Bears (see McMahon, Jim) but pretty much bleed burgundy and gold. Then a now ex boyfriend taught me about fantasy football and an obsession was born.

I am now in 3 fantasy leagues. One for big money, one for small money and one for no money.

Tonite I had my draft for League No Money. I was pretty unprepared for this draft and since my money leagues draft next week, I'll consider this my "practice draft".
In this league we start 1 QB, 3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE, 1 flex WR/RB, 1 K and 1 DEF.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to Team MamaRockerBitch:

QB: Peyton Manning, Brett Favre
RB: Clinton Portis, Reggie Bush, Chris Brown, Justin Fargas
WR: Santonio Holmes, Jerrico Cotchery, Reggie Brown, Amani Toomer, DJ Hackett, Darrell Jackson
TE: Chris Cooley, LJ Smith
K: Shayne Graham
D: Green Bay Packers

(I had the 10th pick of a 10 team draft so I drafted back to back each round. I swear by mid draft I was just picking people and trying not to screw myself during bye weeks. Still not an awful team. It just depends how I can work waivers during the season....)

Spam has made me promise him that we'll play each other in the finals. And no matter who wins, I buy him dinner. I'm not so sure that's fair though. ;)

Pissed Off

Maybe that should be Pissed On. You see, Izzy peed in my bed yesterday. I guess a dog peeing someplace they shouldn't isn't completely out of the ordinary. But my dog is 2 1/2 and completely housebroken and papertrained. She is also crated when I'm not at home because a bored bulldog is a destructive bulldog. However, when I'm going to be gone for a long period of time and can't find anyone to watch her, I gate her in my bedroom. She has lots of room to hang out plus plenty of food and water and puppy pads for when nature calls.

This past weekend, I went to the Virgin Festival. I found out late in the week that I was definately going Saturday. And then even later that I could go Sunday after I got off work. Saturday passed without incident. She slept all day and used her puppy pads and all was well. But Sunday was a different story. She wasn't even alone that long on Sunday. But I guess she had had it with being home alone. I come home to a massive wet spot on the comforter. and the sheets. AND THE MATTRESS. Grrrr.

Yeah, I know. I should have had the protective waterproof mattress pad thingy on the bed. But she's housebroken! I haven't used the waterproof pad since she was a wee pup! *sigh* My mistake. But it didn't stop me from being mighty angry. One frantic call to M later and I was trying all sorts of home remedies on my poor mattress. (I'm too poor to be able to buy a new one.) And today I found a local laundromat so I can clean the comforter. Until then, I have a couple crappy blankets that I'm using.

And Izzy is no longer allowed on the bed. She wasn't too happy about sleeping on the couch last night but maybe she should have thought about that before she let it all out on my side of the bed.

More on Virgin Fest later....

Bad Blogger

Hi. Remember me? Yeah. I know. I suck as a blogger. But I have half of a really good excuse as to why I've been gone for so long. I took a really awesome 2 week vacation at the beginning of July. The first week was a cruise with my whole family. The second? A much needed "staycation" at my humble abode in Baltimore. I came back with a ton of stuff to blog about. And then? Nothing.

Those of you who know me know I'm an expert procrastinator. Add a heapin' side of lazy and there ya go. Plus,after I went back to work, all that vacation rejuvenation went right out the window.

Anyway. My point is I'm back and I'm blogging. Stop by whenever you get a chance.

Party on, Rufus.

I was so sad to hear of George Carlin's death this morning. Last year, I had the pleasure of hearing him speak about his life for something that was to be broadcast on the radio. He was so snarky and full of life and entertaining. He had the greatest stories and even after 2 + hours of recording, I was left wanting to hear more. RIP George. You will be missed.

Meet My Dog: Isabella Claire Puddy Kessler

RIght Here Right Now

It was such a beautiful day yesterday that M and I decided to head into Fells Point after work to walk around and check out Soundgarden and the Natty Boh store. Windows down, Ethel on the XM, found a parking spot in no time. The Boh Store was kind of a waste. I was looking for this cool shirt I saw at the O's game last Friday but it wasn't there. Plus it was HOT in there. We pretty much walked in and back out, wondering how that guy does any business. Anyway, from there we headed to Soundgarden. If you're local to or familiar with the B'more area, then you know Soundgarden. It's pretty much the greatest music store ever. CDs, vinyl, dvds, lotsa used stuff for sale. And it looks like they're expanding to hold even more stuff including video games soon. Nice.
I always feel like a kid in a candy store in there, never knowing where to start looking first. I quickly picked up the new Fratellis CD ($9.99) and set off looking for the used CD section. Found the Essential Neil Diamond for $9.99. Almost got it. Decided against it and put it back. M was excited about some old Bowie stuff in great condition but left those there too. Then on to the $5.99 or 2 for $10 bin. Lots of great CDs in there. The sad thing? I had almost all of them. It was like someone stole my entire CD collection out of my apartment and was selling it at Soundgarden for cheap. *sigh* How depressing. My entire life in CDs are only worth $5.99 a piece. See, I was thinking of selling off alot of my CDs because of a stupid $160 speeding ticket I got the other day. (That a story for another time.) But if they're only worth selling for $5.99 a piece, I bet I'd only get a buck or two for each. and I'm not parting with 150 or so of my personal collection.
So back to the shopping - I ended up with a copy of Jesus Jones -Doubt. Surprisingly, I don't own this. I think I have it on cassette which these days is pretty much like not having it at all. M was not impressed but I loved me some Jesus Jones in the 90s. So there ya go, Fratellis and Jesus Jones. M got The Pixies and some other stuff that I can't remember. Plus we both got some free compilation CD they had at the front counter. Always a good way to discover new music.
Put the Jesus Jones in the CD player on my way to work today. Not as good as I remember. But still worth the $5.99. However, the Jesus Jones made me think of Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Kill Your Television. Grey Cell Green. Happy. Not Sleeping Around. Now I wish I had looked for Ned's. Looks like I'll be making a return trip to Soundgarden. Ned's is even better than Jesus Jones. When I worked the weekend overnights at HFS and I was running short on an hour, I would always fill with Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Or 40 Acres. Or Oasis if I needed something long. But I digress. Ned's rules.
One more thing. The new Fratellis? Eh. So disappointing. Was expecting so much more. It's catchy but nowhere near as awesome as Costello Music. I wonder how much I'd get for it at Soundgarden if I tried to sell it back to them?

On an unrelated note, Lit Up by Buckcherry is on Lucy XM 54 right now. Excuse me while I crank it up and sing to myself in my studio....

Random Sightings

At my job, you never know who you're going to run into walking down the hall. Just the other day, Night Ranger walked by my studio. And on my way out the door to go home yesterday, I passed last year's American Idol Jordin Sparks. (who is way smaller in person that she appears on tv. and I don't mean that in a "fat" way but in a "big/tall in stature" kinda way. She always towered over Seacrest on the show. She's tall but not too tall and very pretty.) There's always some random band recording down the hallway and usually, if I ask who it is, I'm familiar with them even if I don't recognize what they look like.
But my favorite sighting has to be the day I swear Nick Lachey thought I was stalking him. He was making his rounds of all the different studios and it seems that everytime I had to leave my studio, he was whereever I was going. Standing out talking to my coworkers? He walks by. On my way to get my lunch out of the kitchen? Walked right by him. Done nuking my lunch? There he is again. Later on, on my way to the bathroom? Yup. Nick. Right there. It almost got embarrassing. Heh. and I'm not even a fan of his. But he is way cuter than he looks on tv. Also, 2 people who I used to think were big a-holes but turned out to be way cool and way nice? Sebastian Bach and Constantine Maroulis. Go figure.

I am barely breathing....

...but I'm still here. It's been a difficult week or so and I'm not ready to talk about it yet. So no blogging. Because while I'm sure there are plenty of other things to write about, this whole thing is at the forefront of my mind. and weighing heavily.

I'll spill all eventually. But right now, I don't wanna talk about it. Sorry.

I know I don't look my age but this is ridiculous.

Get this...I got carded for CIGARETTES today. Not alcohol but cigarettes. Isn't 18 the age for buying cigarettes? I know alot of people mistake me for being in my 20's but a teenager? No way.

The look on the guy's face when he saw my ID was priceless.

And before you start getting on my case about the smoking thing, yes, I know. You thought I quit.

It's been a shitty week. Case closed.

So this is 40.

40 is the new 30 is such bullshit. 30 is 30. 30 will always 30. As 40 will always be 40. Why do we feel the need to create new sayings just to make us feel younger? What is wrong with being who we are?

I admit, turning 40 was the first time I actually was apprehensive about a birthday. I've always loved my birthday. It's my very own national holiday and I celebrate it big. Why not commemorate the day I was brought into this world? Age is only a number and all that. I passed 30 with ease. 35? No problem. 39? Bring it on. But 40. 40. 4-0. It just sounds SO OLD. Especially since this isn't exactly how I'd envisioned my life at 40 when I was younger. I pictured the typical married with 2.5 kids, nice house, white picket fence, blah blah blah. Instead I'm single with a bulldog, renting an apartment in the city and in debt up to my ears. And I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe I'd change that debt thing. But the rest. Not really.

So why was 40 such a big deal? I dunno. And the fact that I was so freaked by it bothered me. "Have a party" is what everyone said. "You have to. You're turning 40." Really? Okay. I guess. Big parties aren't my thing. Especially ones I'm planning. You stress over all the details and then once it happens, you worry if everyone is enjoying themselves. But I soldiered on, trying to plan the perfect 40th birthday party. And hating every minute of it. Luckilly, life intervened and a friend planned her wedding the same day as my party. Minor attempts to reschedule my little shindig didn't work out so I scrapped the whole thing altogether. Thank the lord. I ended up celebrating my birthday my way, spreading it out over the whole Memorial Day weekend. And it was one of the best weekends ever. Really. Friends. Family. Food. Lots of food. A Carvel ice cream cake (thanks Mom!). Drinks. Lots of drinks. Plus my karaoke debut (fueled by alot of those drinks). Good times.

Now it's all over. And I'm just here. And I'm 40. And that's okay. I'm the same me I was at 39. My face didn't fall over night and my body didn't head south. In fact, I find that my attitude is the only thing that's undergone a minor adjustment: I just don't give a shit anymore. In a good way.

Say it loud: I'm 40 and I'm proud!