OK, FINE... I've been driven to it... It's time for me to vent. I NEED A FUCKING JOB! I love my mother dearly, but the fact of the matter is that her daily calls that check on the jobless-status are not at all helpful. I know she's calling because she cares, and she loves me, and she wants me to find something that will pay my rent and not be too unbearable, but in the meantime I have to cope with the loaded silence every day after I tell her I'm looking for something but that the job market sucks. I'm not yet a college graduate, so I can't get any job that requires a degree, I can't get a job in foodservice because nearly all of them require experience, and I don't have any of that. I don't have a car, so I can't get a job that says a car is required, I only have like 6 months of retail experience, so people don't want me for that either, I've got 6 months in an office as an administrative assistant, but people want more than that... so basically I've got 2 years behind a desk at the gym that are good for nothing, and 6 years on a lifeguard stand that aren't good for much else. I love my mom more than anything, as all of you know, but if she asks me about the job search one more time, I'm gonna have to put the smack down. I will talk to her for hours about anything else, but being jobless doesn't agree with me, and having it brought up on a regular basis doesn't put me in a better mood.

Furthermore, as I write this, Kerry Wood was taken out of the game after 2 innings because of a sore arm, which is never a good thing... especially considering we don't have Prior at the moment. And so of course we're getting beaten by the Dodgers...(Final score Dodgers 7, Cubs 3) Weaver is still an ugly mo-fo, and that's all I've got to say about that. But on a related note, I will say that LA is (in my humble opinion) a soul-less puddle of urine, and the Lakers are much like the Yankees... Utterly unrespectable because they BUY their titles instead of working hard to get them. And I don't want to hear all that "well they're in a bigger market, so they have a larger fan base, and therefore bigger budgets at their disposal" because that is BULLSHIT. Those teams (Lakers / Yankees) buy titles by obtaining championship-quality established players from other teams! When was the last time that you heard of the Yankees developing some talent and bringing people up out of their farm teams?? HUH? YOU DON'T! WHY? BECAUSE THEY BUY THEIR TITLES WITH THE GOOD PLAYERS FROM OTHER TEAMS! The Lakers are the same damn way... and there really is no denying it especially considering the aquisitions made at the begining of the regular season this year. And I don't care to debate it with any of you, because we all know that as a sports purist debating the logistics of those two teams would just piss me off... so unless you're IMing me to tell me you're on my side, I don't want to hear it. If you insist on saying something in support of the Yankees or the Lakers despite my warnings, I will just call you a soul-less idiot who knows nothing about the true joy of competitive sport, and then I'll insult your mother and kick you.

On a similar, though tangential note I hate the bandwagon fans... ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO SAY THEY AREN'T BANDWAGON FANS! Basically, if you didn't follow the team you say you support a minimum of AT LEAST 4 to 5 years BEFORE THEY GOT HOT, (didn't attend a game, didn't consistently listen to games on the radio, or watch them on TV for at least 4 to 5 years prior to an awesome season) then you are a bandwagon fan. And please, don't call yourself a fan at all if you can't intelligently discuss the sport... for example, I can't intelligently discuss rugby, or lacrosse, and I know I can't keep pace with the genuine hockey fans, despite having a little interest, and having been to a few games in my day. Similarly, I would appreciate you kids knowing your sports limitations. The reason I'm irritated by the bandwagon fans is pretty much the same reason that older siblings get irritated with younger siblings... Allow me to elaborate on this simile... When you are an older sibling, your younger siblings look to you to see what's cool. For example, you decided you wanted a cheese sandwich for lunch, now despite having just cooked up some spaghettio-s for your younger sibling, they decide that they want a cheese sandwich too... they don't want the spaghettio-s that they told you they wanted like 5 damn minutes ago. So you give them a cheese sandwich. This might not seem like such a big deal, but when done 4,000,000 times over the course of time by one person (As by a sibling) or done by 4,000,000 people all at one time (like the bandwagon fans,) it bothers those who had it first... especially when those newcommers claim that it was their original idea all along. Now I'm not going to lie, I know I did this to my older brother (And Scoot, I gotta say, I'm sorry about that bro,) and I know my little sister does it to me, so I assume that this is not an isolated thing. In this scenario, I'm the older sibling, and the Cubs are MY CHEESE SANDWICH!!! But here's the thing, we diehard fans, we know our shit, and we have our gear, (gear we've had for years, gear that we've cried on in the defeats, and we've gotten blood and sweat on when we wore them to our own competitive events.) We've attended games, we've spent hours listening to and watching game broadcasts, wigging out over horrible calls, bad plays, and stupid decisions, (See Grady Little in the ALCS 2003). We jump up and down with screams of elation when our team makes a huge play or wins a big game, and we roll on the floor in the agony of defeat when we don't win. We do this because we have suffered the shitty years to get here. The bandwagoners don't understand the depth of emotion that a team can incite. They don't get this because they haven't been around for the lows, so the highs don't seem as high.
Jesus, I'm rambling...

So anyway, I've also been irritated by people who think that since it's baseball season that baseball is my life. DAMMIT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS! (Albeit, they are insignificant, in comparison, but still) I appreciate a little diversity in my conversations as much as the next person. So don't lead off with a platitude about baseball, or sports in general... and if you don't give a damn about baseball, or in other seasons any other sport, please spare me, because I guarantee I'm sitting at my computer reading your message thinking "God what an idiot... how long do I have to talk to this person before I can make up a polite excuse for leaving?" Since I know my audience here, I know that there are a few of you out there who are thinking "Jeez, is she talking about me? I hope she doesn't mean me!" Well if that's the case, then yes, it probably is you. But for real kids, I don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt... these are just my rantings, and considering that I've been in a really pissed off mood lately, I'm a bit more abrasive than usual so don't take it to heart... If I don't want to talk, I'll tell you.

I think that's enough of a rant for the time being, so with all of that out of my system, I'll leave you kids with the quote of the day;

QOTD
5.12.04 -
Liz: I didn't even know you were here.
Anthony: Yep, I'm here... wait, when am I not here?
Liz: Good point.

Side note: Day 4 of not talking to Rachel.