the area dividing the brain and the soul
is affected in many ways by
experience –
some lose all mind and become soul:
insane.
some lose all soul and become mind:
intellectual.
some lose both and become:
accepted.

-Charles Bukowski

My stepdaughter Alexis had her third Tae Kwon Do tournament today in the Chicago area. She entered two events – forms and breaking – and in both events she won gold medals, but this story gets even better. As a result of her two gold medals, Alexis got to compete in the tournament grand championships in both events, and what’s better than winning two gold medals is winning a six and a half foot tall grand champion trophy for board breaking.

Here’s a few video snippets:

Now granted, it’s only Week 2 of the 2008 NFL season, but I’m liking what I’m seeing of first-year starter Aaron Rodgers. In his second start since replacing Brett Favre in the Packers lineup, Rodgers played well, passing for 328 yards with 3 touchdowns and more importantly, no interceptions.

Now sure, two good games does not mean Aaron Rodgers is the second coming of Favre, but he has impressed me, especially considering the game he had against a tough Minnesota defense. Rodgers may not be able to win games single-handedly, as was sometimes the case with Favre, but he has shown himself to be more than capable of managing a game and not making critical mistakes. What’s more, I’ve been impressed with Rodgers’ mobility, which gives opponents of the Packers one more thing to worry about.

Thanks to the steady play of Rodgers, the Packers are off to a 2-0 start, with wins against two division rivals. Now call me overly optimistic, but given the Packers’ schedule, I see no reason why the Pack can’t repeat their 13-3 record from a year ago, and in doing so, they’ll hopefully put an end once and for all to all the talk about how they would have been better off with Brett Favre.

…I guess that’s the downside of being so opinionated about my political beliefs.

I guess my inability to regularly update this blog stems from the fact that I don’t really consider much that goes on in my life to be “newsworthy,” and I don’t wanna be that guy that posts ten times a day about nothing. I’d rather post once every few months about nothing

She brings home White Castle cheeseburgers on her way home from work.

So apparently forward Richard Jefferson isn’t happy with the trade that brought him to Milwaukee. Acquired on draft day for forwards Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian, Jefferson – or anyone else for that matter – hasn’t commented on the trade, that is until today. According to a report in the New York Post, Nets team president Rod Thorn received a text message from Jefferson which led him to believe Jefferson was not happy with the trade to Milwaukee. “He didn’t seem very happy,” said Thorn, who emphasized yesterday he had not yet spoken to Jefferson.

What remains to be seen is if Richard Jefferson is simply unhappy to be leaving the only team he’s called home during his NBA career or whether he’s unhappy to be a member of the Bucks, because the last thing the Bucks need is another player who doesn’t want to be a part of the organization. Here’s hoping that GM John Hammond and coach Scott Skiles can smooth things over with Jefferson, because I think he’d be a great addition to the roster.

I’ve updated the photo gallery with some new pictures of Patti, the kids, and our family. Feel free to take a look!

On an unrelated sidenote, I never realized how hard it would be to find a set of headphones for my cell phone. I recently bought a memory card so I can use the phone as an MP3 player, but apparently my phone needs 2.5mm headphones and all the headphones I’ve been able to find at the store are 3.5mm. Who knew technology could be so complicated?

Speaking of technology, I’m loving the newest version of Firefox; it’s well worth the download.

And finally, I want to brag about my kids. Alexis got straight A’s in school yet again, and according to her report card she’s reading at a level slightly above 6th grade. Keep in mind that she’ll be entering the 4th grade next year, so how amazing is she? Nicholas is amazing too; he’s talking a ton more each day, and I can’t wait to see how he does in 5k next year. My cup runneth over when it comes to my two kids; that’s for sure.

Color me one happy guy, especially considering how long we’ve been without a camera here.

Celtics versus Lakers in the NBA Finals….it doesn’t get any more old-school than that. As a lifelong Celtics fan, it’s great to see the boys in green back in the Finals, but putting aside my allegiance to the Celtics, these two teams meeting in the Finals has to be good for the NBA. Though the Celtics haven’t had much success in recent years, they still have to be considered one of the NBA’s flagship franchises, and this renewed Lakers-Celtics rivalry is undoubtedly a great thing for the league.

Most interesting to me are the subplots to this Finals. Sure, both teams want to win the championship, but you’ve got Kobe Bryant trying to a win a championship without Shaquille O’Neal, thus securing his place as the rightful heir to Michael Jordan. On the other hand, you’ve got three veterans trying to win the first championship of their long and illustrious careers, and this year may just be their best shot at winning it all. In parting, here’s a little footage of Larry Bird and the Celtics winning their 16th title in 1986:

There is a war that
rages in all of us –

love versus hate

which will win
depends on which gets fed.