|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| The Rules of FandomLast night I made yet another trip out to the ballpark. Yes, the weather looked bad, yes, they had lost the last 5 out of 6, yes, I had to be at work at 7:00 this morning, but I went. And for the first time in a long time, the boys played. The boys played well. As I sat there, watching the game unfold, umbrella overhead, I thought about what it takes to be a true baseball fan. Not just anyone can do it. There are rules, and sometimes it is not easy to follow these rules, especially when in the company of other fans who don't understand. To help alleviate this problem I have decided that the time has come for these rules to be made known to the world. As a tribute to my own team, the White Sox, these will be known as the Grinder Fan Rules. GRINDER FAN RULES: 1. Each fan may only support one team during his or her lifetime. This team is often chosen at birth, and may not be changed except in the rare case that this team is disbanded. You must remain loyal to your team through staff changes, roster changes, uniform changes, location changes, name changes, and losing seasons. 2. It is preferable for you to go to any game you have tickets to. If you MUST sell your tickets, they should be sold to a fellow fan (that is, one who is a fan of your team) for face value. When neither of these options are available, tickets may be sold to fans of the opposing team at a price that you deem fair. When selling tickets to a game in which your team will not be competing face value pricing is preferred as a gesture of good will towards other baseball fans. Tickets may go unused only in cases of extreme emergency. Bad weather will not qualify as such an emergency unless the game is officially cancelled. 3. If your team is not in the playoffs and/or World Series do not buy tickets to the playoffs and/or World Series! This will only take away from the enjoyment of fans of the participating teams, who have earned the right to these games. 4. Should you have extra tickets to a game it will be acceptable to invite fans of other teams, so long as it is not the opposing team, as this will typically lead to conflict. If, however, you are invited to the game by such a fan, you are highly encouraged to attend the game and defend the honor of your team. 5. When going to a game, ANY game (even if your team is not playing), something with your team's logo must be worn. Caps are preferable but shirts or any other item that will be visible to other fans are also appropriate. If for some reason such an item is not available to you, team colors are the minimum requirement. 6. When attending a game it is important to arrive on time or early, if possible. Doing so will aid in compliance of rule number seven. 7. Except in cases of extreme emergency, one should not leave his or her seat while the game is in progress. Every effort should be made to make all food and beverage purchases as well as trips to the restroom either before the game or between half innings. In most seating locations vendors will be available to assist you in compliance of this rule. 8. The purchase and enjoyment of alcoholic beverages is allowed, and in fact, encouraged at ball games. It is, however, inappropriate to lose sight of the game in light of said beverages. Such fans should be shunned for the remainder of the game. 9. Standing is mandatory at several points in the game. These include the national anthem, player introductions, home runs, the seventh inning stretch, and the final out, as well as following any achievement worthy of recognition. In addition to standing, singing is also required during the seventh inning stretch. 10. Should the ever elusive "wave" make an appearance, it will be acceptable for you to stand three times to facilitate its progress if you choose to do so. Anything beyond this provides an unnecessary distraction from the game. A good way to remember this rule is as the "Three strikes, you're out" rule. 11. Though it is preferable to cheer only for your own team, there are some circumstances under which it will be acceptable for you to cheer for an opposing team. For example, you may cheer for any player who is a former member of your team. It will also be suitable to cheer for outstanding achievements, such as a triple play or a no-hitter. This rule should be used sparingly and at your discretion. 12. Do not interfere with a ball in-play. If it helps your team, it will cheapen the win. If it hurts your team, you are just stupid. Either way you will be asked to leave the ballpark before the game is over, which is unacceptable (see rule number thirteen for details). Home run and foul balls may be kept. If one is unsatisfied with a particular home run and does not wish to keep the ball, the ball is NOT to be thrown back onto the field. This is a show of immaturity and poor sportsmanship at best. Instead, the ball can given away to a nearby child (preferably a fan of your team) who will appreciate it. 13. It will not be acceptable for you to leave the ballpark early for any reason, ranging from sheer embarassment at a poor effort by your team, to, worst of all, a desire to beat the traffic. One must do anything in his or her power to stay until the final out of the game. If one is disappointed in the performance of his or her team, booing and/or jeering are allowed, and sometimes encouraged, however leaving the ballpark is STILL not permitted. This rule may be overlooked only in cases of extreme emergency. 14. If an extremely good effort by your team is followed by an on-field celebration it is appropriate for you to remain at the ballpark for the duration of this celebration. It will also be appropriate for you to enjoy continued celebration as you are leaving and once you have exited the ballpark, so long as your celebratory efforts do not cause injury to yourself or others. 15. Should your team go on to win the World Series, bragging rights shall be retained for approximately one year following the win in question. Exception to this rule, however, may be taken when conversing with a fan of a particularly dreaded rival who has not won a World Series more recently. Reminissing on this achievement has no such time limit, and should be enjoyed throughout one's lifetime. So there you have it, my 15 rules of being a grinder fan. Follow these rules and you will earn my respect, no matter what team you may hail to. I wish all of you a happy baseball season and a lifetime of true fandom! The above rules may only be reprinted by the permission of Jennifer Stromberg, copyright 2007, patent pending. | | |
| Exciting Times!Working in the Department of Surgery My first week at work went by really fast...and I mean it because it was only 2 days. Day one was all that day one goodness of meeting the rest of the department and hours of HIPAA training (yes, I've now been through it at 3 out of 5 Chicago medical schools, which allows me to expertly rank this one at most long boring time ever). Day two felt like it took forever, but it was also (forgive my nerdiness and/or geekiness) totally awesome. First I went to a couple of departmental meetings, the first of which was interesting, the second of which I may no longer attend, then I got some scrubs and went to check out a surgery! Let me tell you- just standing there for 3 hours is enough to make you exhausted! (Of course, maybe a little more so for me because little did I know my fever from the night before which I had attributed to poor nutrition and lack of sleep was about to rear the ugly head of digestive malfunction, as I like to call it) After lunch and a short break I learned how to scrub in for the second procedure! I got to stand next to the attending during the whole surgery, and he even allowed me to stick my hand in to feel the tumor he was removing. When it came out it was HUGE (like baseball sized) and really surprisingly heavy! After that I even got to help put one of the chest tubes in place and stitch shut the wound! Another 3 hours later I was completely exhausted, but...wow, what an experience! (Sadly I had to call in sick for what should have been day 3, as my intestines were under heavy attack.) Viva Las Vegas! Feeling a little better on Thursday morning (and not wanting to let my digestive problem ruin another trip), Andy and I headed off to the city of lights, Las Vegas. Going into the trip I was vaguely excited, but actually being in Vegas was quite the experience, as you don't can't quite get the magnitude of it from home, even if it is on a nice HDTV. While we were there we stayed at the Golden Nugget in the downtown, which I thought was really great in every aspect except for proximity to the actual strip, though that wasn't too much of a problem. We spend most of Friday at the fabulous pool, which had a huge shark tank in the middle that the water slide ran through! The weather was AMAZING (which means "too hot" in Andy-speak) and it was a great time. Later on we did a little bit of gambling and headed out to Fremont street. Now I had seen Fremont street before on the CSI finale this year, but wow. It was just insane. I never ever could have dreamed up that project. Wow. If you go to Vegas I highly suggest making a stop downtown just to see it, it was that impressive. Friday, feeling a little better, we ventured down to the strip to meet up with Andy's sister Betty (the birthday girl) and her boyfriend. We had a great time, first going out on motor scooters for an hour touring the strip (impressive) and then the buffet voted best in the city (at which point I decided to forget about only eating things my digestive system could handle- though I did pass on the raw oysters, which were apparently phenomenal, and also the only thing Andy went back for seconds on). Finally we headed off to see Cirque de Solei's 'O' at the Bellagio (thanks to the boyfriend's sister's boyfriend for the tickets- figure that one out!), which was amazing. The set by itself was super-impressive featuring a pool which they were able to change the depth and shape of throughout the performance. As we left the show we caught the fountain show outside, which was again very impressive, and finally did a bit of gambling before heading back to the good 'ol Nugget. After a few photos, some shopping, and a few final bets (some of which even paid off- I finally got Andy to stop at the "Fotune Cookie" slot machine we had been eyeing all trip where we doubled our money in no time!) we were flying home...oh and did I mention we sat in first class? Thanks to Andy for the seat upgrade after we found out we were assigned to 23B and 24B or something stupid like that. At any rate, it was a great ending to a great trip! Ah, summer goodness... | | |
| Beginnings and EndingsIt's been awhile yet again- here's what's up!!
ENDINGS
No longer an M1!
Well, finals were no breeze (the first week at least), but I survived them! Anatomy, Histology, Brain and Behavior, Physiology and Microbiology- all done! And unlike usual, I actually feel like I learned a lot this year, which is a good thing. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn't easy, and I never seemed to have too much free time, but I made it work. And I liked it. Thank goodness
Bye Bye Bridgeport!
Yep, that's right! No more broken ovens, broken garage doors, laundry machines that back up into the bathtub causing the drain to clog, broken fences, broken toliets, broken heaters, poor insulation leading to high gas bills and a need for space heaters leading to high electric bills, frozen pipes, burst pipes/flooding or loud early morning repairs to the upstairs apartment that was pretty much trashed by the former loud tenants, who just happened to be drug dealers! (And yes, I have only lived here 10 months) No more incompetant lazy landlords that have to be told 3 times to do the same job! No more half-assed repair jobs! All in all, I do enjoy Bridgeport. It's a great area and walking to Sox games has been a blast, but thanks to my TERRIBLE landlords, I am more than happy to say GOODBYE to this crap shack of an apartment!
BEGINNINGS
Back to Work...
Starting Monday I begin my internship at the University of Chicago Department of Thoracic Surgery. I am pretty psyched for it too. The doc I am working with seems like a really nice guy, and not too uptight either. In a strange small world coincidence I recently discovered he was actually my Grandmother's surgeon back in 1993. (The surgery went well, FYI) The job itself should be pretty cool, I will probably get to see a surgery or two, and even if it sucks anyways I have already been paid and it's only 8 weeks! Hehehe. I will miss my lazy days of tv, sims, cleaning, and Harry Potter, but they'll be back before long.
Hello Medical District!
Yep, we are moving! To a BEAUTIFUL 3 bedroom, 2 bath in the medical district! Hardwood floors, a working fireplace, central air and heat, AND a dishwasher! Hooray! And all only a mile from school for me! Furthermore, I will have a roommate again! That's right folks, the one and only Andy Chang and I are going to be officially be living together, sharing an apartment! (Though maybe not a bathroom, since there are two  ) Just me, Andy, Yukon, Staley, Peanut, Butter, and Hammie. 2 humans, 2 hedgehogs, 1 ferret, 1 hamster and 1 dog. Oh my goodness, it is going to be a zoo...
In other news...
I am proud to be one of the fans at Mark Buehrle's no hitter. It was fun being at what turned out to be a Yankee's double-header. Andy and I went on a nice trip to Lincoln Park zoo and saw some cute animals. It was nice being in Bridgeport for the crosstown classic this year. Last night Andy and I went to a casino in Indiana, which was surprisingly lots of fun. Just practicing up for this weekend when we go to VEGAS, where I will be meeting Andy's sister for the first time. Yep, life is going pretty good right now, and I can't complain too much. I hope the same goes for all of you!
| | |
| Life as usualHappy spring...well I suppose it's spring, although the weather has had me fooled as of late. In my efforts to take a stand against snow I took a snow day this past Wednesday...oh yes, it was actually snowing. Not sure how I felt that would change the weather, but it was nice to be home at least. I have had a bad habit of staying home as of late- last Thursday Sox game, last Friday day off with Andy, this Wednesday snow day with Andy and then again this Friday random day off. To be fair though, the only day I really missed anything important was the day of the Sox game, and that was just necessary.
Yes, baseball season is upon us once again! Sad as I was about missing Opening Day for the first time in a few years, I was happy to be at the first win of the season, as per usual. Things started off a bit rocky, but are starting to look up, as we took our first series in Oakland in many many years. Today we are in Cleveland, and they are back in Cleveland after snow sent them to Milwaukee, which is actually a bummer because Andy and I were all for seeing a game there. Alas. I guess I get more studying in this way. And without cable I am forced to limit myself to watching about 2 games per week, which is probably a little more reasonable. I'll be sad come May though, when I have almost a month off before starting my job. Hopefully my grant money comes through around that time so I have a chance to enjoy it, though I believe I'll be spending most of my time getting ready to move in July or August.
I am very exciting about the new place...AND the new roommate! Yep, Andy and I are finally becoming official roommates. Don't have a place yet, but I am sure we can find something better than the crap shack I am currently holed up in. And it will be nice to split the cost of utilities once again...my heat and electric KILLED me this winter, even though it was still cold enough to have multiple pipe freezing problems...argh!
One month of school left now- it has gone FAST! At this point I am just getting ready for some major cramming by spending almost every minute I get going over my notes. Bleh. I am looking forward to my slight diversion next weekend when I am going with Andy to Milwaukee to see his first bike race, yay! Follow it up with lunch with the Steiners in Kenosha, and it should be a great day, though I am sure Yukon will miss us. He has been behaving much better as of late...well that is until yesterday until there was a bad dog rebellion on our block- Princess the other pound puppy next door decided to run around the neighborhood and Yukon decided not to come in the house for awhile. What a pain. I think the real problem is that we are both so ready for warm weather but all we got was a short tease of it. My ultimate plan was to start going for Saturday walks/picnics downtown, where I could study and Andy could read or play with the dog, but sadly my heater just has not had a break. Hopefully soon though. Until then, as the Sox say, it's "back to the grind" for me...
| | |
| 2 blogs in 1 month?Yes, that's right! (Less material to update on at a time this way!)
Good news/Bad news
Bad news first...had to call the ambulance today to take Oldie in to the hospital again, tear. It's not enough that she recently developed cancer and a heart transplant, but now she needs a new pacemaker! (In mechanic's terms: Car got towed today and within the past few months the bottom began rusting, right through the break line, the battery died, and the alternator is now dead as well.) Poor Oldie.  The good news is that hopefully she can come home as soon as tomorrow, provided a suitable pacemaker is found and the surgery reveals no additional complications. I need her to come with me to the post-honeymoon brunch on Saturday! (Yep, Sammy's back in town! And for some great wedding pics check out www.picture4ever.com)
Good news...summer job obtained! The one job I applied for and was hoping for came through, woo woo! Not only will I be observing thoracic surgery while conducting research at the University of Chicago, but I will also be able to...PAY RENT! (As a med student, this is a serious concern!) At any rate, for those interested, I am going to be part of a research project evaluating the validity of different systems of pre-operative risk prediction, particularly those involving non-objective physician judgement. Sweetness! The best part is, of course, that I will be getting a closer look into the field of surgery, which I have thus far found to be quite intriguing, though also very intimidating.
In more general news, I passed all of my most recent exams, hoorah! Simply passing might not exactly be the best cause for celebration, but I take what I can get! So far the latter portion of my M1 year seems like it will be manageable- Immunology, Gastrointestinal & Endocrine Physiology, Brain & Behavior, Histology, and Arm & Leg Anatomy. Lots of stuff to squeeze into the next couple months, but nothing that I shouldn't be able to handle. Might be only the second week in, but I am already starting to get back to the uber-organized person I was back in the fall, which ought to make things a bit easier come test time. I even started a more consistant work-out plan! (Of course today was day one, but if I write it down for the world to see maybe I'll be more likely to stick to it...right?) I guess the main point here is that I am feeling good and things are going pretty good as well, thank the Lord for that. Speaking of which, I am also involved in an effort to actually read the Bible, which just adds to my uber-organized bliss which has resulted from embracing my inner (inherited) OCD tendencies. There's some good stuff in there- make the time if you get a chance. I should also take this time to thank the always charming Mr. Andy Chang for purchasing mine as a Valentine's gift, and if you don't think that's sweet and cute enough I can tell you about the card! (Hehehe..what a sap I've become!)
Well! Before I make anyone gag over anymore sappiness, I think I better go 'head and check out for this evening. Hope everything is going well with all you wonderful people, and thanks for taking the time to check in with me.
| | |
|
