The AL is better

I'll get to the All-Star game in a second, but first here is one sick site:http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve
OK, now the All-Star wrap up: I'll just admit it, ESPN has force-fed me this for the past week and having heard it 392 times, I believe it. The American League is just better. I also believe there were WMDs in Iraq and that's why we went in but now its OK to just have unseated Saddam. I'll believe it if you send it my way enough times. Fine, fine, the AL has the offense and the power and the prestige. We NL fans have to settle for better pitching and, um, Barry Bonds. That's about it. There were 5 Cardinals and the manager and from my vantage point, none of them did any harm. Eckstein's hits could've fallen (but nice play in the 2nd!) and Jimmy could've actually hit the ball but Pujols and Carp did their jobs very satisfactorally. If Peter Gammons' head was any further up Francona's ass he'd need surgical amputation. Why do I listen to these creeps? Its like watching CNN, you just can't turn away!! Yes, the YANKEES rule and have ALL the history! I buy it!! Yes, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway are the biggest news of the year! Bring it on! I'm sucking it all in like a vaccuum!
Ugh.
One new lovely thing about my state is that we executed a guy who was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. There is enough evidence for this to have been publicized nationwide, so its a pretty strong possibility that this is exactly what happened. So now we are #1 in syphilis, puppy mills, meth, slacking at work, and while only #3 in executions we get the label of executing the innocent. This is the reason that Illinois instituted a moratoriam. Will Missouri follow suit? With King Blunt in charge of methodically decreasing the chances of poor Missouri infants living to see adulthood, I doubt this is any kind of priority. To top it off, Renquist is about to kick off and Bush will get to throw two proper pro-death judges into the business of amending the constitution so I'm sure the opposite of a moratorium will happen. God Bless America!!
I'm going to Thailand, speaking of leaving the country!! I'm headed out on August 25 (August 26 if you are my supervisor, I feel a cough and headache coming on around 3PM on August 24 requiring a sick day 8/25) for Connecticut, DC, and New York (Cards v. Nationals!) and from there its on to Bangkok for 2 weeks. I have no current plans for the smaller trips within Thailand, probably south to the islands and some beach activities like scuba and snorkeling. I'm very, very excited about the trip and also for the traveling bug to bite again as I know it will about 3 days into the trip. Mark my words, when I get back I will be planning my around the world excursion again. Money be damned, its going to happen! Thailand is like the 4th appetizer course. The first was Mexico, the second my massive road trip, and third China. I'm not certain I'll have the money for a fifth appetizer before the main (8+ country) course, but I got a good deal on this trip so we'll see. I could make a goal of seeing one new country per year, but in the short-term I'll just keep saving for the yearlong jaunt.
That one must include parts of Africa and India, more of southeast Asia, and South America. Europe will be saved for a time when I have more disposable income. Given that I am a social worker with no retirement fund, unless Mark Mulder gets his butt in gear and asks me to travel with him while he foots the bill, I think Europe may not happen. Eh, that's OK. Enough people around me have been to fill in the gaps and my priorities are with the cultures that are SO different from my own that my head spins. It's happened before, I can't WAIT for it to happen again!!!
Mark F. will meet me there. We've never traveled together before without anyone else, should be fun and interesting given his silence. I miss that kid, I'm ready to hang with him again. Before I leave, I have about 120 things to do, the least of which is vacating my apartment. I am overwhelmed by that concept, so overwhelmed that I've so far done not one damned thing about it.
I can live in this country and this ass-backwards state for another month while planning my departure. How nice it will be to be gone for even a short time.