I needed this

The sunset tonight was pink for twenty seconds, and then it dissolved into orange and blue. I know because I was outside -- paying attention for once -- my old softball glove on one hand and one of those pitted practice softballs in the other, readying to hurl it toward my brother, who was intent on hitting it over the bales of hay far behind me and into the pasture.

He never did hit it that far, but he did manage to get it stuck underneath the rusty old white car sitting beside the shed on my grandmother's property. It took four of us -- me, Evan, and the nephews -- hunting for that damn ball for ten minutes before it turned up. I can't believe no one got bitten by a snake.

I have successfully consumed three different types of meat today -- four if you count hot dogs as a type of meat all their own -- and I'm pretty sure the combination of meat and running around like a moron, trying to relive my glory days as a softball player, has rendered me very nearly immobile. I can hardly move. I'm doing the old-lady groan every time I get up. Everyone kept warning me: "You better scoot up; you're not as young as you used to be!" But I threw caution to the wind and hurled that ball from amazing distances of twenty -- no, twenty-two! -- feet.

All the aches in the world are worth it.

Little things

• I woke up yesterday with a brand new grey hair. Funny thing is, I can probably pinpoint the exact moment it sprouted Thursday night.

• Our office calendars use the Futurama credit-sequence font for the names of the months. This pleases me to an exceptional degree.

• Speaking of calendars, I still don't have one in the apartment for 2008. I've also decided that I need a datebook so I can write down appointments and meetings and stuff, which seem to be occurring with alarming frequency these days. Actually, I've decided I need a smartphone. I realize there's a substantial price difference there, but I can get a pretty killer corporate discount on several different models of refurbished Blackberries. I'm just not sure that I should get a refurb. Anyone have any strong opinions on that?

• It's not raining right now. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Just kidding. Maybe we'll see some sunshine this weekend. I suppose I could check the Weather Channel, but that would require more effort than a throwaway guess, and this is a blog, therefore that's a big no-no.

• I hate the phrase "big no-no."

• Yesterday I waited in line at Circle K with part of the WMC-TV crew, including a regular reporter whose name I should probably know but don't (because I rarely watch the local news; sorry, but I'm usually working during it). I had hoped he was buying scandalous things so I could come gossip about TV reporters hopped up on No Doz and Red Bull and pork rinds, but I didn't see what he bought so that idea was a bust.

• My managing editor told me they held up my Martin Luther King special coverage front page on CNN yesterday morning. I didn't see that either.

• I dreamed in Pixar-like cartoon last night. It even involved a kitchen at a restaurant, but there were no rodents or French people. It was quite beautiful the way my brain rendered things (for example, a wax-paper bag of beans ... wtf?) and it was almost as if I was kind of floating through the atmosphere, observing the goings-on of the kitchen without actually being a part of the story. Weird. I'll try to collect the memory scraps and post about it over at NA.

• The Tigers play tonight in hopes of making it to the championship. It's weird living in a town where there is such vehement and loyal support for a college sports team that actually wins a lot. Murfreesboro, it ain't. Slowly but surely I'm beginning to understand Tigermania, and I don't altogether disapprove.

Serenaded

My dad just called and sang Rocky Top to me.

[In case you're living under a rock, there's a big game today.]

Weirdness

• I watched the Superbowl last night, probably for the first time (intentionally) ever. It was boring as shit until the last quarter, when I actually found myself emoting over football, and getting happy when Eli Manning did his little anti-sack dance and threw that awesome pass that turned the game around. Could have been the bottle of bubbly, could have been all the food, could have been the company I kept, but whatever it was, it was neat.

• Everyone always makes such a big to-do about Superbowl commercials, but last night's were remarkably lame. Naomi Campbell dancing to "Thriller" with CGI lizards? Talking babies? What is this, 1998? The best commercial — hands down — was the talking stain. Yes, a talking stain. It was funny because that's exactly how it feels to have a stain on your shirt. I also laughed at the man in the rat suit. Don't judge me.

• I worked out today until my face went numb. There is only one other thing on the planet that makes my face go numb and it and working out aren't even in the same league. Odd.

• My apartment building has shifted and settled or something. Our outside door is nearly impossible to open and close, and suddenly neither of my bedroom doors will latch, which means I have to barricade myself in there every night — stacking laundry baskets and clothing and cat houses in front of them — so the cats don't breach the fortress and pounce on my eyelids all night while I try to sleep.

Madness

Well, the Tigers have done it. They move on to the Elite Eight.

Tonight they butted heads with the Texas A&M Aggies and came away victorious. It made for an interesting night at work; two of my friends/co-workers are spirited A&M alumnae, so they spent a good portion of the night getting razzed by the Tiger fans (read: everyone else).

I've gained quite a reputation in the office for being completely apathetic about sports. But tonight, I have to say, I felt more than a little excitement when that kid from Memphis shot those beautiful free-throws to put the Tigers ahead and, eventually, send the Aggies home.

And, while it would have been cool to see the Vols win too, it was awesome see Memphis rise to the top of something other than a list of the most corrupt and crime-ridden cities in the country.

Enjoy this sneak peak at your Commercial Appeal A1 for Friday. I put lots of blood, sweat, and tears into that thing. Also, lots of curse words.