Kenny Lofton
Jim Thome
Manny Ramirez
Omar Vizquel
Roberto Alomar
Bartolo Colon
Albert Belle
Sandy Alomar
Herbert Perry (The Milkman)
Julio Franco

Players who played in Cleveland Indians teams and have also played on the White Sox.

With Kenny Williams’ latest move of acquiring Manny Ramirez, I’m thinking it’s too little too late. Losing that series to the Twins last week hurt. And then losing this weekend series to the Yankees hurt. BUT losing all those games to the Orioles, I think, hurt the most. There’s 32 games left. The White Sox have 70 wins. This means that they need to win somehwere between 86 and 90 wins which means that they’d need to @ least play somewhere over .500 ball - but likely higher with the way that the Twins are playing. With the bullpen in disarray, I don’t know if that’s possible.

The sad thing about all of this if that the Bears look awful. I have nothing to look forward too.

Wednesday: I had to pick Mr. I up from daycare, so I left Evanston a little early. When I picked him up he was outside playing with everyone but I could tell already that he looked tired. When we got into the car he almost fell asleep and then when we stopped @ the car dealership to pick up a part he wasn’t interested @ all in the cars. When we got home, I took his temperature and it was a hot 103 degrees. So I gave him a bath and some Tylenol and he immediately went to bed.

Thursday: Couldn’t head into work since Mr. I still had a 102 degree fever in the morning. I took him to walk-in hours mainly because I wanted to rule out infection - especially since he did have surgery six weeks ago. No infection. Likely a virus. So he got a lollipop and we went home. Now, the main problem with Thursday’s is that is when our cleaning lady comes. So Mr. I and I had to go in the basement and play Wii and watch Bug’s Life until she was done. His nap was pretty uneventful and short. We went to Target to get some new Lego’s. And then we proceded to play with Star Wars Lego’s until bed time.

Friday: Mr. I slept until about 8 AM. I took a shower and then we headed into my office so I could check on a few things and also acquire some rubber bands since we needed some to fix a car launcher that was broken. Mr. I, of course, thinks my office is cool and I’m sure thinks it’s strange that all of these strangers not only know his name but also know that he was sick. After our visit to the office, we headed to the Home Depot to buy some washer cables since our new washer and dryer was coming that afternoon - during nap time. Me and Mr. I player Chutes and Ladders. Mr. I won - big. I never even get to the 40s in that game. Me and Mr. I played a game of Carcassonne. He won - big - with very little help. He still doesn’t really get the idea of NOT putting a meeple down everytime he puts a tile down, but he does love the tile aspect of the game. Washer/dryer guys come and haul away our old Amana’s and put in our new Kenmore Elite’s. Mr. I takes a LONG nap. We then went to get some new cars and a birthday present for one of his friends from school.

Saturday: Mr. I woke up super early today - 6:15 AM. I plopped him on the couch with a bowl of cereal and cartoons and slept for another hour. We then went to return some things to Home Depot and get some more cars. And it was @ this point where he had a meltdown. I knew he was pretty tired since he got up so early, but it culminated into my favorite game of “Daddy, I want a drink” then I hand him something to drink and it becomes, “I DON’T WANT A DRINK!” Eventually he ended up taking a longer 2 1/2 hour nap.

A couple of observations:

* It’s way easier to watch a 4 year old than say a 2 year old. If I have to go to the bathroom, take a shower or fold laundry I can say, “Mr. I, I’m going to be doing [INSERT ACTION HERE] in [INSERT ROOM HERE] are you going to be OK by yourself?” The answers always yes, and he’s able to entertain himself pretty darn good these days.

* I’m incredibly burnt out on junk food right now. It’s been days of mac and cheese, hot dogs, grilled cheese and chips. It’s been a nice vacation from cooking but I’m sick of junk food.

* Mr. I’s new favorite movie is Bug’s Life - I have to say every Pixar movie there is I can watch over and over again. I don’t really get bored of them at all.

* We got a Blu Ray player a couple of weeks ago, since our upscaling DVD player finally died. When I was getting one of L’s tired fixed @ the Costco they had a great deal on a good Samsung (~$120). It works natively with our Samsung TV and I have to say the picture for regular DVD’s and Blu Ray movies is outstanding.

* I literally sat in front of our new front loader washer for 40 minutes since I wasn’t convinced it was actually washing clothes with as quiet as the machine is. On top of that, I have to use so little HE detergent that I wasn’t really convinced. Pretty happy with the setup so far. However, our new steam dryer isn’t working so well (only powers up when you plug it in). I called up Sears and they’re bringing a new machine tomorrow.

After a couple of tries I’ve settled on the following combination for my burger grind:

1.25 lbs of boneless short rib
1 lb of trimmed chuck
1 lb of flat iron steak

I basically trim big pieces of fat and any rogue silver skin off of the meat and cube into 1 inch pieces. Then I let them (and the grinder parts) sit in my freezer for 20 minutes. And then I grind.

The results have been out of this world for now. I’d like to experiment more with two grinds and also try cooking in a cast iron pan. I’m of the mind that these are such stellar burgers that I’m thinking I might have to lug my Kitchen Aid to the Beach House next summer.

It takes me 5 minutes to iron a shirt (not using spray starch), the problem is when you multiple that time with 10 shirts.

Mr. I: Jack at school says that once we’re done with Kindergarten we go to high school.

Me: Well, you have to go to elementary school first. But he’s right, then you eventually go to high school.

Mr. I: We pass the high school everyday.

Me: You know what’s after high school, right?

Mr. I: No.

Me: Remember where Steve goes to in “Blue’s Clues?”

Mr. I: Right! College! But where’s college, Daddy?

Me: Wherever. Most of the time you move away to go to college.

Mr. I: But I don’t want to move away! I want to stay with Mommy and Daddy. [crying , seriously]

Me: OK. Well, there’s always Northwestern that’s by downtown Evanston.

Mr. I: [still crying] OK. That’s closer …

Me: But trust me when I tell you this, when you’re ready to go to college you’re not going to want to hang out with your Mom and Dad. It’s just one of those things.

Me: That’s a cool shirt you have on! You know who Naked Raygun is right?

Kid: It’s my dad’s band.

Me: Wait, your dad likes the band or your dad is in the band?

Kid: He’s in the band!

Me: What’s your dad’s name?

Kid’s Sisters: Pierre!!!!!!!

And just like that I realize that one of my punk idols families goes to the same pool I go to.

Home

We have a rotting deck, a leaking skylight and my lawn is full of crabgrass. What a pain in the ass owning a house is.

Mr. I

Bounced back from his adenoid removal quite well. There was a stretch post-op where he wasn’t eating or drinking anything that had L. and I worried, but eventually he returned to his old grouchy, picky eating self.

He’s been working hard in swimming lessons @ the YMCA. Getting him into the pool is no longer a major trial and he’s a great listener. If anything, I think he’s forced to work way harder in these lessons than he had too in past lessons. L. and I are convinced he’s going to have to repeat this class, but that’s OK with us. He’s also decided that the Devonshire pool trumps Lee Street beach.

Work

Don’t even ask. Next question.

Reading

I started Game of Thrones awhile back. I then read Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords basically back to back. I’ve logged over 2400+ pages of Mr. Martin’s series and I’m liking it. I started Feast for Crows, but I’m mildly burnt out on reading to be honest.

Wii

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a pain in my ass. Fun, but a pain in my ass.

Music

Listening to a whole host of stuff. Band of Horses, Male Bonding, Black Keys, Broken Social Scene, Tallest Man on Earth, Frightened Rabbit + some old Chicago punk.

1. Really liked the pressure the ‘Hawks brought right out of the gate. They controlled the first two periods, quite well.

2. Credit this Philly team. Man, I think Daniel Briere is incredible. And Scott Hartnell, what a tough guy. Mike Richards, incredible. Michael Leighton, solid. Simone Gagne, solid. Ville Leino, great talent. Philly’s gonna be good for awhile.

3. Happy that Toews pulled in the Conn Smythe trophy.

4. Roenick got me all choked up when he said:

“For that kid that was there in 1992, who was crying when I was came off of the ice after we lost Game 4 in Chicago Stadium, you waited 18 years - I hope you have a big smile on your face.

Pretty unbeliveable when it’s all said and done. In 1985, I was 11 years old and was able to witness the Chicago Bears win a Super Bowl. In the 1990s, I was spoiled by an overpowering Chicago Bulls team that won multiple championships. In 2005, the Chicago White Sox won the World Series. And now in 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks are Stanley Cup Champions. It’s an amazing, amazing feeling.*

*Note: The Chicago Cubs are conspicuously absent because I hate them.

Things I Liked

1. Line Changes - I was a bit shocked when I saw Hossa/Kopecky/Toews on the first line and then even more shocked to see the rest of the line changes, but they worked. I appreciate the overall team chemistry that the ‘Hawks have.

2. Even Penalty Calling - The first 4 games we’ve been totally hosed on the calls. Even the crappy makeup calls at the end of game 4 were infuriating since the ‘Hawks haven’t had any real chances until last night. It was very nice to see Hartnell get tagged for elbowing and Pronger nailed for cross-checking.

3. Neutral Zone Passing - Coming out of their own end and through the neutral zone, the ‘Hawks have looked sluggish and appeared to be relying on long passes through the neutral zone from board to board. Last night it looked like the shortened it up a little with better skating and shorter passing when bringing it into the Philly end.

4. Special Teams - John Madden on the penalty kill was huge and the last power play goal - when Pronger was in the box - was as pretty a play as I’ve seen in some time.

Things I Didn’t Like

1. Pronger/Timonen Getting Away With Murder - I still feel like we’re not getting the calls on these guys.

2. Versteeg - A couple of times he looked like we was being too cute with the puck. If anything, I wish he’d put it on net more and not try to make the pretty passes.

3. These New Sticks - Duncan Keith didn’t have a chance on the last goal when his stick broke.

4. The No Call on Hartnell - Clearly interfering with Niemi when sprawled on the ice.