Dear Minnesota Twins,

Let’s make one thing clear: we still love you.  Yes, all of you.  Even you Jason Kubel.  And guess what?  It’s not the end of the world.  This season was different for me because I was not able to adequately cheer you on enough in person or on television.  (And for your information, the four games I did attend at the Dome you won, so I brought good vibes!)  I didn’t believe that you would make it this far.  Let’s face it, everyone put you down!  But you proved everyone wrong this season, and maybe (just maybe) you’ll get some credit come February.  Maybe.  You accomplished the seemingly impossible.  Thursday’s game was magical.  And I was glad to be part of the crowd.  I have been thinking of all the silly ways I could have jinxed you guys tonight.  For starters I was wearing a black sweater until the 9th when I realized I looked like the fans down there in Chicago.  I quickly threw on a classic 1991 world champs shirt, but the magic wasn’t there.  Sorry.  I also predicted at the end of the 6th that it would be a 1-0 game.  Then Thome decided to score that run.  Again, sorry.  And there was the fact that I split my baseball allegiance 51-49 this season to share the love with the Brewers.  (Don’t worry, I still love you more.  You’re the 51 half.)  They made it to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.  I’m thrilled for that!  Which made me ready myself for a loss last night so I wouldn’t be as sad tonight if that happened.  So I wasn’t the most optimistic during the game.  Yet again, sorry.  I promise I really love you.  It could have been the fact that I really wasn’t in a position to justify buying a division champs shirt and homer hankys by the dozen again.  (I am a little relieved I won’t have to do that.  Sorry.)  And there’s the fact that I really needed to go to Target tonight and buy shampoo because I was all out and didn’t really want to go showerless in the morning and knew that if you won I would have stayed put and watched all the postgame festivities.  In the back of my mind I was hoping I would make it to the store on time.  And I did because immediately after the game I turned off the tv and left.  I think you’d be proud of me that I didn’t indulge in junk comfort food to drown my sorrows.  (I splurged on bright green and purple and blue nailpolish instead.)  I am glad I have shampoo for tomorrow.  And I’m not entirely sorry about that.  But what should we be happy about?  Well, for starters…second is a lot better than 5th!  Or fourth like everyone predicted.  And Joe Mauer?  Hello?  Batting Champ!!  And the Mets aren’t in the playoffs which proves that Johan can’t carry that team all on his own either.  Just think of how awesome everyone will be next year, when everyone has over a year of experience!  The future is beautiful boys!  Are you ready for the FINAL season in the crappy hunk of Dome?  Cause I am!!  So let’s not drown our sorrows just yet.  Baseball is never over, kids.  And let’s root for the Rays and Brewers, huh?  Because let’s face it…Chicago is dead to us be it the White Sox or the dreadful Cubs.  And who wants an LA team to win?  Boring!  Don’t get me started on the Red Sox.  Boston is my number one pet peeve.  And the Phillies?  Who cares.  Let’s hear it for the underdog!  Sorry I cursed you with all my follies, but you know what?  You could have scored at least ONE run.  Good gracious!

Love,

Megan

Photographic Evidence

Twins = Love

The Best Baseball Game of My Life, take two…

Sorry May 30th, but September 25th is now the date of the greatest baseball game of my life.  Last night I went to see the Twins play the White Sox at the Metrodome with Doug and Christina.  We planned this game awhile ago because Christina and I usually try to make plans to go to a game together.  I figured this game would be important, but I didn’t think it would be such a fantastic game!  This was the final game in the 3 game series, and the Twins won the previous two.  By winning this game, they moved ahead of Chicago by half a game in the division for first place.  The game was nearly sold out, about 43,000 people were there.  For awhile it wasn’t looking promising when we were losing 6 to 1.  Fortunately, the Twins are awesome and were able to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, and score the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.  I haven’t been to a game that was so loud before!  Everyone was screaming, clapping, and standing practically the entire game.  And after they did win, people didn’t leave at first!  It was probably a good five minutes or so before everyone started to herd out of the dome.  And what a herd it was!  We decided to walk back instead of waiting forever to get to a bus.  All the cars were honking and everyone was chanting, “Sweep!” or “AJ Sucks” or “Twins! Twins! Twins!” or “Sox sucks” over and over again.  On the bus ride over to the dome it was full of people going to the game (mostly students) and there was a group of particularly noisy drunken guys getting the entire bus going!  Even the bus driver was in on the fun!  It was probably the best bus ride of my life.  We sat in the Home Run Porch area and on Thursday nights the deal includes a dome dog!  That is one thing I will miss when the Twins move to “Target Field,” because they will cease to exist.  At least for Twins games.  But I doubt I will go see the Vikings anytime soon…or ever.  (I still can’t get over the naming of the new stadium.  Too corporate these sports venues.)  What else was great…oh, my favorite pitcher, Kevin Slowey was pitching tonight.  Unfortunately he gave up 6 runs and had to leave no thanks to the ball almost breaking his pitching arm’s wrist!  But I still love him.  Because he reads.  I think the Brewers game I went to in May can still be the greatest game I’ve been to in Milwaukee, but this game in Minnesota was wonderful for entirely different reasons.  The only thing that would have made it better?  The view of the skyline while sitting in Target Field.  Now I just have to wait and see what happens these next three days.  It’ll be a stressful weekend.

Separated At Birth?

Ben Sheets

Do you see a resemblance?

Brady Poppinga

Week Four

-I completely forgot to purchase one of the books for my Brit Lit class.  Which means, I miscalculated how many novels I have to read this semester.  It is now 12.  And I have to go find a copy of A Passage to India soon.

-The Twins and Brewers both won this evening, which makes me very happy.  I won’t sit easy until Sunday.  I’m going to the Twins game tomorrow night, and hopefully they won’t let me down!

-I turned in my first history paper today.  It is the greatest feeling in the world after you’ve turned in a paper.  Once they are returned is another story!

-I really love the house I am living in currently.  My room is small, but it works for me.  Cozy is a way to describe it.

-TV premieres are happening this week!  I watched Heroes on Monday and Thursday I have Ugly Betty and The Office to watch.  There are other shows I keep up with, but those 3 are probably my favorites.  If I had to pick one…The Office.  But Heroes is a very close second!

-I have a new cousin, Jonathan.  AND my friend Sara had a baby the same day I think.  His name is Carson.  I am definitely feeling older now that a lot of my friends are married and having babies!

-The weather has been lovely lately.  Next week is going to be even better I think.  In the 60s, which is ideal.  I love spring, but autumn is having a great effect on me!

-I am starting to worry about graduation.  This economy thing?  But I felt a little better last week about having a versatile English major.  This way, I won’t be tied down to one specific field, right?  At least I’m not counting on a finance job or something like that…

-Last Tuesday Comcast came and installed internet and cable in our house.  I waited the entire three hour window they gave, plus and hour and a half extra for the technician to show up.  Apparently he got lost.  For an hour and a half.  He waited that long to call me for directions.  Then it took almost 2 hours to install.  But it is here and it works and that is all I care about.  Even if I didn’t get to the grocery store and make dinner until 10.

-The new Interstate 35W Bridge re-opened last Thursday.  I drove across it twice (once each direction) with my roommate Emma.  It’s really nice to have it back.  There’s a really cool design to it as well.  There’s colored under lighting along the bottom edge and these wavy pillar-like things that apparently neutralize pollution or something like that.

Dreams of late.

Last night I may or may not have had a dream that a bat was stuck in my closet.  I say may or may not because I am pretty sure I was awakened to a strange sound somewhere in our house and my 4 in the morning brain assumed that it must be a bat.  In my closet.  Perhaps this was a dream, but I cannot be entirely sure.  I checked this morning.  There is no bat.

I also had a dream that Sarah Palin and the entire family came to a picnic I attended.  But she was flying in the Presidential jet.  I’m not sure how I feel about that one.  She was really nice in the dream, however.

This might have been in the same dream as the Palin one, but I also dreamt that I was using a circular saw and cut a big chunk out of my left forearm.  Fortunately I awoke to find my arm intact.

Then there was the dream about a new classmate.  I don’t remember the particulars, unfortunately.

I know that most of the dreams I have occur right before I wake up in the mornings.  I have been waking up early because one of my windows faces West and the blinds are white and of course the light shines through.  I did have nice curtains on the windows in our place last year and it made my room nice and dark all day long.  But whoever put the blinds on the windows in this current house was an idiot and I cannot attach the rods necessary to hang those curtains.  I did put them to use in our living room.  We have a large picture window right in front and it’s a little unsettling to know that anyone can look directly into our house.  Especially since we have an original Nintendo in the living room thanks to one of the new roommates.  It’s all we do now.  Play Mario and Duck Hunt.  Oh yeah, and homework.

Speaking of which, I better get to reading.  I finished Pride and Prejudice and am now onto The Mill on the Floss.  I am also reading Frankenstein and a book entitled Germans into Nazis for my History of the Third Reich course.  It’s very interesting.

I feel older.

During the first week of classes, walking around campus I felt differently than years past.  I often forget that I am a senior and will graduate in less than 9 months.  Unlike high school graduation, I am not particularly looking forward to graduating this time around.  Four years ago I knew where I would be post-matriculation.  Even though I did not know exactly which college I would end up attending, I knew I would be going somewhere for sure.  Today, I know that after graduation I will end up getting a job.  Where?  What?  I have no idea.  I am more adult today than I have been even a year ago, but I think I have quite a bit more to accomplish and realize before May arrives.  For starters, if I am being serious about wanting to write for a living, I need to dust off my notebooks and get my ideas out of the confines of my brain.  My technical writing class this semester will help me realize what I need to do to get “job ready,” I suppose.

My room and the rest of the house are starting to look lived in.  I bought a new bookshelf yesterday at Ikea (which is named Billy by the company and therefore I will refer to it from now on by the same name) and am in love.  Yes, with a piece of furniture.  It is 7 feet tall and beautiful.  I have it filled with my many, many books already.  What’s really great about this purchase is the fact that in the future when I have a place of my own, I can buy more of the same style of bookshelves to match.  (My dream is to have a room with at least one wall floor to ceiling bookshelves.)  I am reading Pride ane Prejudice for my senior seminar currently and will finish the book for Tuesday.  I forgot how much I love this book.  It has been one of my all time favorites for quite some time and know that I love it, but re-reading is such an indulgence for me that I rarely allow myself to appreciate my favorites unless I am required to do so.  I think having us read this book first is a good thing because I was able to get into the text quickly and devour the story.  Hopefully when I start George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss this week I will feel the same way.

We are going to see the movie Hamlet 2 this evening.  I am thrilled.  I hear it is hilarious and Hamlet just so happens to be my favorite Shakespearean tragedy.

The Stress of Moving…and the Beginning of Senior Year

In normal situations, leases around campus begin on September 1st.  This is not a problem most years, but in this case Labor Day happened to fall on the first of the month.  Unfortunately, classes started on the 2nd.  I was afraid of moving because of all the hectic scrambling it causes.  I was able to haul all of my stuff into our new house I am renting with 5 other people, go to Target and the student bookstore all before 2 in the afternoon!  Now the fun part lies in organizing all the piles of stuff that currently resides in our living room.  My bedroom is rather small, but I like it and can make it work once everything is put in its place.  I need to make a run to Ikea to get a new bookshelf.  I have 2 at home, but they are both overflowing already and decided that it was time to get a new one that I will need eventually anyway.  Once I have that installed, I think the room will come together better.  That and organizing 6 sets of dishes, pots and pans, and silverware to fit in the kitchen.  More than a few items will be eliminated.

I really love this house we are living in and I enjoy having 5 other people around.  It makes life much more interesting and we have been having fun these past four days it seems.  It’ll be a good year.

Classes will be extremely reading-heavy.  I didn’t think it through very much when I registered for 2 literature classes.  One being my Senior Seminar, which will have extensive writing as well.  Every one of my professors have reiterated the fact that there will be a lot of work and a LOT of reading and we should know ahead of time how much it will be.  I should be scared off, but I can’t quit things I have already committed to.  For the seminar, which is on the works of Jane Austen and George Eliot, we have 6 novels to read.  We started Pride and Prejudice the first day.  I had to read the first 89 pages for today and will finish the book for this coming Tuesday.  We’ll be going through one novel every two weeks.  The Eliot novels are longer, the longest being 700 pages.  I will basically be reading at every spare moment I am guessing.  I have done that in the past already, but I will be more aware of it now.  At the bus stop, on the bus, before class, waiting for my computer to start, while eating dinner…you name it.  Reading a lot isn’t a problem for me.  I don’t think it should be much of a problem for anyone in my opinion.  While others say they just don’t have the time to read I say that they aren’t looking in the right places.  Instead of doing nothing waiting in line, pulling out a book makes the time go by faster.  (I think you should all know by now how much of an advocate for reading I am.)

I am finished with my responsibilities for going to class for the week.  I’ll start working on Monday.  So far, so good.  I am caught up in homework and such for the time being.  How long this will last however is beyond me.