Five on a Saturday

1. I'm amazed by the contributions made for the Outward Bound trip so far. I never would have imagined that people would do something like this, and it really is touching and gratifying. In about 36 hours, 80% of the trip has been paid for. Thanks so much. Outward Bound is really a great program and is so worthwhile for these kids. (Contribute here.)

2. We won our ballgame yesterday against a team that has been a thorn in our side for the last few years. Last time we played them, we squandered a 9-1 lead with errors and walks. This time, we jumped off to a big lead and didn't let go, and ended up mercy-ruling them after five innings. We're now 3-5. I expect we will be over .500 next week, and hopefully our tough, tough season and schedule will make the overall record at the end decent enough. We've still only lost the same amount of games we lost last year, when we were 11-5.

3. It's pretty fun to be a Tigers fan right now. They're 10-7 and are playing good baseball. A come-from-behind victory against the tough A's, featuring an epic 9-minute, 15-pitch at-bat by Brandon Inge, was the highlight of the week, but then they went and beat the Mariners last night in a well-pitched 2-1 victory. Chris Shelton, Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Jeremey Bonderman, Curtis Granderson... it feels great to have talented young players leading the way. In fact, it's the veteran names of the Tigers - Magglio Ordonez, Pudge Rodriguez - who really have been the only ones playing crummily.

4. On the way to Brewer's Art - the usual haunt for us teachers on Happy Hour Friday - I went by Joe Squared and realized that it's been months since I've been there. Next Friday, hopefully, we'll make it there instead. I like Brewer's Art, a lot, but it has to be specific. I like it upstairs, in the middle non-smoking room, and I like it before it gets too late and crowded. Downstairs is just too smoky, and often the front upstairs room is as well (especially when I'm eating, which is often at Brewer's Art, especially those romsmary garlic fries). So Joe Squared it is, next Friday. We'll see if Dad wants to get some thin crust pizza. He's up next weekend for a home doubleheader on Friday and a house concert on Saturday.

5. By the way, plenty of reservations for the house concert are left - click here for more info.