Friday, December 01, 2006
typical
soooo, i'm at work, streaming nrk, ladeeda, checking out what's going on in p-town, and wadaya know, in the next two weeks
snow patrol
the SHINS
PETE YORN
eric brachman
jet
TED LEO
are alllll going to be gracing my city, and wadaya know,
by the time i get home, who am i going to be able to catch???
oh yeah
incubus. and barry manilow.
wwwwhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyy
[takes consolation in that radiohead and muse have not confirmed US tour dates while in AUS ... yet]
Saturday, November 18, 2006
while her loyal sons are marching
ive been sitting here for two hours, attempting to put in writing what the past two days have been like.
it hit me with full force yesterday afternoon, when i read this article online at work, and before i knew it, i couldnt control the tears streaming down my face.
it's unbearable to think that im never going to see zib's banner on my way to my section in the stadium; no more rediculous samardzija catches or touchdown high fives; brady's runs for first downs; zibby's returns??
after oct 15 last year, i knew it was going to be impossibly hard to let these guys go. i was a diehard ND football fan before that, of course, but since that game i have loved this class individually and intensely. the anguish i felt leaving the stadium that night was partly the pain of loss, but mostly overwhelmingly trying to grapple with the utter impotence of needing to tell each and every one of them how incredibly proud i was, and it would be impossible for me to love them more.
we bleed the same blood, and it runs blue and gold.
ever since, despite rediculous games and stupid mistakes, i still love them so much. brady, jeff, zibs, laws, landri, carlson, rhema, geoff, morton, chinedum, frome ... these are the guys i know.
i eat with them, i pray with them, i go to class with them, and on the weekend, i cheer for them like there's no tomorrow.
so i was sitting there, reading all the highlights and trying to get my mind around it. the pep rally didnt help much, the whole school loves these guys. they announce every senior individually, and they come out with their parents and have pictures taken. its a long process, and usually a little boring. but this time, i dont know, it was a little overwheming that i knew who almost every player was. we clapped and cheered for all the players, it was great. but by the time we got to the big guns (no alphabetical order here, definite higherarchy), it just got louder and louder. when zibs and samardzija were annouced, the applause lasted well after the pictures were taken. when they finally got to brady though ... before anything was even said (they introduced everyone, started off with his highschool highlights, then ran through his records here, etc), the slow clapping started, and honestly i couldnt tell you if they ever even said his name, it escalated to the most defening roar i'd ever heard in the jacc. it lasted long after he sat down.
yes i was crying. again.
i suppose you can imagine how the game was then ... here's a couple of favorite moments
-the army golden eagles (about 10 i think) paracuting into the stadium. in an interview afterwards one said the coolest thing ever was when the roaring was so loud they could feel the vibrations as they were decending
-the moment of silence for Bo Schembechler. how many times are you surrounded by 80,000+ people, and the loudest noise you hear is your own breathing.
-the jerseys. it's comforting that weis knows how much those guys deserved the recognition, and that we arent going to define the jerseys by sc.
-brady's last play. he and the rest of the first string were on the field, but got switched out in the last seconds ... i guess that's what you do, but anyway, the second string was running out, and brady just stands and turns around, looking .... i dont know where it started but before i knew it the entire stadium was chanting "brady" ... rhema raised his hand for him ... and i thought it couldnt get more emotional than 'rudy' ... it was beautiful, and i wasnt the only one losing my voice through tears.
before i knew it, the game was over. it flew by faster than most -litterally. over in about three hours. our boys joined army on the other side of the field for their alma mater, then came back to the student section. we sang the fight song, our alma mater, and when in a normal game they would leave, they just stayed.
the seniors broke off, kind of huddled up, and then took a really slow lap around the stadium.
i was suprised by how many regular attendees stayed. id be willing to say at least 50000 were there. its hard to justify how exactly i know this, but these guys weren't just going around and basking in the adoration, they were genuinely saying goodbye, and thank you. paradoxically enough, there was something gloriously humble about it all.
they were notre dame seniors, just like the other 2000 in the stands. and they didnt want to leave.
i was holding up ok, still cheering, singing the fight song, clapping, screaming, but when they got around to the student section again, it got 10x more chaotic, and when brady came running up and jumped up into our section, standing in with us all, raised his helmet and started the chant, "beat sc" ... i lost it. again.
being in that stadium is an experience. its night time, all the light from those glorious field lights, the score board lit up to say "ND 0 - SC 0" [first quarter 15:00] ... the andrenaline, defiance, love, pride.
there's no where else but notre dame, but i dont know what im going to do without them.
i suppose all i can do is wonder at the power of memory, thank God for a glorious two years, and pray the BCS knows what its doing come bowl time.
GO IRISH.
it hit me with full force yesterday afternoon, when i read this article online at work, and before i knew it, i couldnt control the tears streaming down my face.
it's unbearable to think that im never going to see zib's banner on my way to my section in the stadium; no more rediculous samardzija catches or touchdown high fives; brady's runs for first downs; zibby's returns??
after oct 15 last year, i knew it was going to be impossibly hard to let these guys go. i was a diehard ND football fan before that, of course, but since that game i have loved this class individually and intensely. the anguish i felt leaving the stadium that night was partly the pain of loss, but mostly overwhelmingly trying to grapple with the utter impotence of needing to tell each and every one of them how incredibly proud i was, and it would be impossible for me to love them more.
we bleed the same blood, and it runs blue and gold.
ever since, despite rediculous games and stupid mistakes, i still love them so much. brady, jeff, zibs, laws, landri, carlson, rhema, geoff, morton, chinedum, frome ... these are the guys i know.
i eat with them, i pray with them, i go to class with them, and on the weekend, i cheer for them like there's no tomorrow.
so i was sitting there, reading all the highlights and trying to get my mind around it. the pep rally didnt help much, the whole school loves these guys. they announce every senior individually, and they come out with their parents and have pictures taken. its a long process, and usually a little boring. but this time, i dont know, it was a little overwheming that i knew who almost every player was. we clapped and cheered for all the players, it was great. but by the time we got to the big guns (no alphabetical order here, definite higherarchy), it just got louder and louder. when zibs and samardzija were annouced, the applause lasted well after the pictures were taken. when they finally got to brady though ... before anything was even said (they introduced everyone, started off with his highschool highlights, then ran through his records here, etc), the slow clapping started, and honestly i couldnt tell you if they ever even said his name, it escalated to the most defening roar i'd ever heard in the jacc. it lasted long after he sat down.
yes i was crying. again.
i suppose you can imagine how the game was then ... here's a couple of favorite moments
-the army golden eagles (about 10 i think) paracuting into the stadium. in an interview afterwards one said the coolest thing ever was when the roaring was so loud they could feel the vibrations as they were decending
-the moment of silence for Bo Schembechler. how many times are you surrounded by 80,000+ people, and the loudest noise you hear is your own breathing.
-the jerseys. it's comforting that weis knows how much those guys deserved the recognition, and that we arent going to define the jerseys by sc.
-brady's last play. he and the rest of the first string were on the field, but got switched out in the last seconds ... i guess that's what you do, but anyway, the second string was running out, and brady just stands and turns around, looking .... i dont know where it started but before i knew it the entire stadium was chanting "brady" ... rhema raised his hand for him ... and i thought it couldnt get more emotional than 'rudy' ... it was beautiful, and i wasnt the only one losing my voice through tears.
before i knew it, the game was over. it flew by faster than most -litterally. over in about three hours. our boys joined army on the other side of the field for their alma mater, then came back to the student section. we sang the fight song, our alma mater, and when in a normal game they would leave, they just stayed.
the seniors broke off, kind of huddled up, and then took a really slow lap around the stadium.
i was suprised by how many regular attendees stayed. id be willing to say at least 50000 were there. its hard to justify how exactly i know this, but these guys weren't just going around and basking in the adoration, they were genuinely saying goodbye, and thank you. paradoxically enough, there was something gloriously humble about it all.
they were notre dame seniors, just like the other 2000 in the stands. and they didnt want to leave.
i was holding up ok, still cheering, singing the fight song, clapping, screaming, but when they got around to the student section again, it got 10x more chaotic, and when brady came running up and jumped up into our section, standing in with us all, raised his helmet and started the chant, "beat sc" ... i lost it. again.
being in that stadium is an experience. its night time, all the light from those glorious field lights, the score board lit up to say "ND 0 - SC 0" [first quarter 15:00] ... the andrenaline, defiance, love, pride.
there's no where else but notre dame, but i dont know what im going to do without them.
i suppose all i can do is wonder at the power of memory, thank God for a glorious two years, and pray the BCS knows what its doing come bowl time.
GO IRISH.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
i cant think in any other terms right now
read this and tell me why i hadn't heard until today
i wanted to believe it wasn't true.
some nonsense horrific blogging legend
but my dear friend molly is is cairo, and she's witnessed it herself
the stories told in that blog happened three blocks away from her apartment
she's going to try to go to a protest today
but she is very scared
please keep her in your prayers
not so comfortably numb
wondering
what kind of world do we live in, where
you go to a main news webpage, and you find stories about
reese and ryan [so sad]
bumbling politicians and their pathetic word games
go to 'world politics'
nothing
'middle east'
nothing
what kind of world do we live in, where
immortals' crying to heaven for vengence is drowned by the clamor to get elected
make money
nba predictions
gas prices georgia
be seen [hiding]
pathetic little games, distractions to keep us from truly seeing
our pathetic little lives
"we are responsible to everything, we are responsible for everything"
but no one's listening in ...
Monday, October 30, 2006
brief explanation
: )
however, until i head off to AUS, posts will be few and far between ... if that.
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