Keep the Change

There is a reason why I keep a ton of change in my car. Last night at the supermarket, my milk and soda was $4. But I only had $2. And they don't let you pay with debit unless it's over $5. And no credit unless over $10. So, I was screwed. The milk alone was over my $2. So, I asked them to hold it and I checked the truck. Whew. Change galore. I almost added items just to show that I could.

I played perhaps the best game of Ultimate Frisbee of my life last night. (Of course it'd be about a mediocre game for anyone athletic.) As per my style, I made lots of diving catches. That's mainly because I lose balance and fall over a lot. But it look more exciting. I had grass in my underwear. That's when you know you played hard.

And then, I was so tired I laid on my couch all night watching the Sox-Cardinals pitching duel. Good game. I was kinda hoping that after Jermaine Dye reached on that error that AJ could have gotten him in on a sac fly. Then, we could have won even if the opposing pitcher got a no-hitter. That would have been funny. Instead, we got one hit--a bomb by Mr. Incredible, Jim Thome.

I thought I'd share something today. I cleaned out my old bedroom's closet back home at Easter. I've slowly been going through all the old papers and baseball cards. Last night, I found a bunch of old stories a young Todd wrote. First off, they are bad. Second, they are really dark and hopeless. This really got me. I am not sure what that is all about at all. To let you see what I mean, here's a short story I wrote:

The Nine Planets

Once there were nine small spherical shapes grouped together in a tiny cluster. Each was inhabited by tiny lifeforms who took care of their domain and really only concerned themselves with their own lives. Though they all knew of the other eight planets, they knew not of the creatures who lived there. Instead, they assumed they were the only ones who mattered. Every day, the entities on each planet wondered, "Who are we? Why are we here? Where is here?"

Until one day, a giant white mass entered their vicinity, traveling faster and faster. One after another, the planets were hit by the white mass. The impact sent the planets flying in different directions. One after another, the small planets fell into six tremendous blackholes.

As all this happened, there was one brief moment when all the lifeforms realized the answers to their questions. For that brief second, they all came to the realization that they were just balls on a pool table in an intergalactic bar somewhere.

I honestly am not sure where this lack of meaning and existential edge came from. If it were just this one story I'd be like, "Whatever." But I was really caught up in this idea of just hopeless abandon and meaninglessness. Maybe I was reading some dark stuff. I did like Camus and have always been drawn to darker movies where things don't end nicely. Or maybe my faith just wasn't making sense to me yet and so I didn't get the hope and menaing that provides into a life.

But whatever the case, we can all agree that short story is pretty bad.

Quotes of the Week

"Bake from scratch? Who wrote this list? There's also apparently a bird house and dancing involved.. I don't want any of this before I go to heaven." - Doug F. reading a magazine's list of "The 10 Things to do Before Going to Heaven."

"Whenever AJ has doubt, he just runs to first in hopes they will let him stay." -John Miller on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.