Byron: April 2007 Archives

I love Chicago in the summer! While it's not quite summer yet, the thermometer hit seventy today, and the town is hopping.

Last night, my upstairs neighbor had a surprise birthday party. It was great. The theme was celebrity, so I donned a pair of Harry Caray glasses and had a ton of fun. Today, the Bulls got their playoffs on against the heat... and I was there. Look at the ticket picture closely.

It was awesome! I was literally ten feet away from the court. And the Bulls won! (And no, I didn't pay for that ticket!)

The Cubs played the Cardinals... and won!

And the Fire played at Toyota Park... and won!... and I was there too.

So, to recap, I went to both the Bulls and Fire game. Both teams won, the weather was great... and the Cubs won too. Great sports day.

Over the weekend, I decided my new place needed a name. I'm never sure what to call it. It's a condo, technically... but the term condo conjures up an image of a quadplex with grass and little lawn mower service flags sticking out from under the hedges. In other moments, I'll refer to it as an apartment, but I don't really feel that is accurate either.

So, I started thinking about what to call it. Some of the residents at my current place refer to the house as Keystone, or 'The Stone', but neither Lake nor Wells seems specific enough. Frankly, this is because I'm not actually very near to either streets.

Next I thought about famous houses. There's Mount Vernon, Monticello, 10 Downing Street, and even The White House. I toyed around with the idea of a Mount or Mont in the name, but let's be honest: no mountains around, and just because you use an elevator to get to your place doesn't give you the right to call it a mountain.

After sifting through some more ideas, I finally settled on one on Sunday. I was driving to a place that sells Murphy Beds and I started thinking about the character of my place. It's small, elevated, shrouded by nearby buildings... and I've likened the passing El trains to rolling thunder. THUNDER, great idea... but it needed a modifier, and so I thought of some and have settled on Thunder Keep. It's a fine name, if I do say so myself.

In other news, I've been doing some shopping/browsing and am getting increasingly excited about the remodeling work to be done. After the Murphy Bed store (which was closed), I spent a few hours at the Home Despot and picked out a new laminate floor. It's called Cinnamon Cabreuva and is really awesome! Anyhow, I tried to find a sample online, but The Google can only find the first few sentences of a lame self-published book. I'm a little concerned it might be discontinued.

It's been a good day that feels more average than good at this point, but I've got a soul smile, so that's what's important, no?

The Cubs opened up their season in Cincy, and got beat 5-1 on the back of two Adam Dunn homeruns. I waited lunch 'til 1:10 and was able to watch most of the first four innings, and then listened to the rest of the game at my desk as we scrambled to shovel several million dollars out the door.

Anyhow, despite the loss, it felt great to watch baseball and to be emotionally invested in the game. There's a certain joy about getting angry when an ump rules that a guy went around on a check swing when he CLEARLY did not. Jeez! What was that guy thinking? Did you see that pitch! Holy moly, he's really popping the mitt today.

These are the things I love about baseball. It's a rhythym that makes life familiar and comfortable. Baseball is the backdrop of summer. Baseball gives a daily meaning to the rise and set of the sun on long summer days. The first pitch heralds warm weather, the last pitch feels like a slow tortured death. If I die of natural causes, it will probably be in early November. Baseball is one part of life that gives clarity. Life is complicated with shades of grey... but baseball isn't. It's either good for the Cubs or not. Ahhh! A breathe of fresh air. Hallelujah!

Also, in an overlap of winter and summer, the March Madness finale was played tonight. I watched the game in the basement with Jarrett, Nate, and Adam... it felt good to watch the Gators dominate. It was the kind of win that doesn't leave a lot of room for denial. The Gators are champions again. That's pretty sweet in my book.