Final Fantasy Football

I've been "playing" fantasy football from the beginning of the season, though the drafting of players was automated, so I really had no choice on my initial selections of players - thus removing most of the 'fantasy' element. They do allow you to trade for undrafted players, which I have done to decent effect, leading my team to an undefeated record and a first place ranking so far. Anyway, I was talking to my girlfriend's roommate about it the other day, and he brought up the fact that it changes your perception of the game. You only really care about one or two players in each game, so you end up concentrating on them and sort of missing the rest of the game. But being that I never really cared much about the games that didn't involve the 49ers or the Bears, I consider raising any interest in the other games an improvement. Also, the fantasy football season ends before the playoffs, so you are able to enjoy the end of the season undistracted. I personally think it's a good thing for the league to generate real interest in games that people, definitely myself anyway, would not have much desire to watch otherwise, and also gives you something to cheer for. It is quite addicting, however, almost to the point of obsession when you get into it, so you kind of have to watch yourself unless you really want to get immersed in the world of professional football teams, players, stats and matchups. So have fun, but be careful kids. I'm Dan, and I approve Fantasy Football.

Just another magic Monday

So, after a Zicam-assisted sickness avoidance, I managed to put a full weekend under my belt, including watching some less-than-exhilarating presidential debate and a trip to the Big E in Massachusetts. The debates really didn't spur much in the way of new thought about either of the candidates. I pretty much felt exactly the same by the end as I did in the beginning. It seemed to me the greatest value that was extracted from the debate was that it appeared to be the first time the candidates had ever really expressed their opinions in front of each other. Neither appeared to have any previous grasp of what the other thought going in, so I suppose it was a growing experience for them, and hopefully when one of them inevitably loses come November, they will be able to part as friends and there will be no hard feelings. The glossy eyes of McCain and the marionette-like movement of his arms make me wonder if he's actually just a robot prop, replacing what used to be a decent guy with pretty respectable values with a Bush-esque old man who doesn't even know what he stands for anymore. The debate appeared to be more of a lesson in public speaking, with Obama occasionally flashing a knowing smile in spite of McCain's rambling, increasingly frustrated responses to Lehrer's cues. It did not appear McCain was really prepared to speak with someone else there to contradict whatever fell out of his mouth. That said, I can't say they really expressed a lot of their ideas to the public, thus the lack of any real value for the audience (i.e. the country). Hopefully the next one will have more substance, less sputtering semantic arguments over the meaning of "preconditions".

Invasion of the Body Wreckers

I went out to a happy hour with my coworkers last night, had a few beers, some wings and nachos, went home, watched some TV, felt tired unusually early, around 11:00, and went to bed (my usual bedtime is around 1:00 AM). I woke up at 5:30, with a headache and kind of a hangover feeling, which was odd because I really didn't drink that much. It was a bit of a struggle to get back to sleep and by the time I woke up at 9, I felt a little better hangover-wise, but infinitely more tired and less inspired to get up and take on a full day at work. So after a few hours at work, my sinuses start paining me and my nose is running (but that is the usual now - I associate it with what is likely a moldy AC duct), so now I'm starting to think I somehow managed to contract a virus... which makes me a very unhappy camper. So now I have to go to the store and blow hard-earned money on some Zicam, just in case I'm right. And if I don^t have a virus, !t's a11 money d0wn t#e tube$ an& kt$hai#^ 3yE3ao1 #9 2j!okj%01 09j 102Rs9?J3 1@jk-&12i=3 3k;j32 5k>jh[af?/skdna 9d 30a0\j09sh|35j saje.3 l'23;l 4t6, 34-_)(# u93 jh,]0F2e 509 j#P (okj;o;J# Oj;lL#J

Dreams and revelations

Last night I slept through the entire night without waking up for the first time in at least two weeks. I attributed this, of course, to the fact that I stayed up later than I have in at least two weeks the night before. Anyway, without the interruptions of somnia, I was able to have long, involving dreams. What I realized in the morning, however, is that all of the dreams I could remember were basically along exactly the same lines as my daily life. Nothing odd or out of place happened, just stuff I do and the average levels of emotion that go along with them. It then occurred to me that it's possible, without the odd or emotion raising elements, that my dreams had allowed me to complacently sleep through the night. So if my more odd dreams were waking me, why now were my dreams suddenly so... pedestrian? I suppose I must have reached some level of contentment in my life that hadn't really revealed itself to me previously but seemed to be relatively correct. I'm pretty happy. Shit... now what do I do?

Damn you TV, be less easily entertaining!

So the fall television line up has officially kicked off, and that, combined with the continuation of the football season has effectively rendered me completely incapable of keeping up with my DVR and Netflix. Try as I might, the 40 hours spent at work and 50 hours spent sleeping each week are enough to prevent any sort of dent. My DVR is slowly but surely winning the war, accumulating approximately one extra half-hour per day, while my Netflix lie on the floor making me wonder just what the hell I'm doing with my time if I don't have enough to watch the movies I specifically requested be sent to my house, practically placed at my feet with no excuse not to watch. Saturday was usually my day to catch up if I fell behind, but now with a girlfriend, it's much more difficult to justify spending between 6 - 12 hours in front of the tube on the weekend when we could be outside or at the fair or in bed. And that coupled with football make Sunday impossible (of course football actually extends its influence all the way into Monday), so I'm left catching what I can, filtering out the swag of my DVR schedule until I have a managable, meaty line-up that I can handle. I'm such a loser.

TRUEBLOOD, the soap opera.

I was watching that show True Blood on HBO last night when I realized how very soap-opera-y it really is. With the random sexual encounters and unnecessarily complicated relationships and the cliff-hangers at the end of every episode... I'm just waiting for somebody to go into a coma or find out it's not their baby. It's sadly pathetic that the only original thing about the show seems to be the least important - THE VAMPIRES! Using vampires as a dramatic device seems like kind of a waste. At least they started killing people right away... only a matter of time for the torches and wooden stakes to come out. I suppose that's the only reason I keep watching. That and soap operas are fucking addictive.

For you and for me

So I just decided to make this blog in case you all wanted to keep up or keep in touch with me or what it is you all think about whatever. So here you go. One blog to rule them all.