"What part of 'meet me at the stick' didn't he understand?"

Plants.

Take a moment, if you will, and think about them. If possible, go outside and take a look at what might be growing in your yard.

Got that?

Now, take a moment to ponder some of the stranger plants you've seen growing around. Odds are, there's not much around here that's too exciting. I will admit I've seen some pretty funky stuff growing on a bagel I left in a drawer for waaaaaaaaaay too long, but that stuff was so odd it may not even count as actual plant life.

Is a fungus a plant, or is it just a fungus? I'm not sure. Both tend to be green, and they grow. But I digress.

Getting back to weird plants. I can almost guarantee that whatever you thought of is nothing compared to some of the plants I saw today at the Botannical Gardens with Janice. Ho-Lee Cow. Damn, man. The climatron has got to be one of the strangest, weirdest, coolest place I've been in awhile. There are some trees in there that defy description. There were palm trees (I think) with leaves that had to be nearly 8 feet across, and almost as tall as the dome itself.

Do yourself a favor and check it out if you have the chance. The Gardens are vast, so it's easily an all day excursion.

I want to grow my own herbs now, too.

Just so you know.

Friday night is opening night for the 2004-05 Traffic Club Bowling League at the Trop. We're down to 3 person teams this year, so things will move along quicker, and, I think, more competitively. We'll see. I've not bowled since April or something like that, so I can only imagine how horridly I'm going to bowl. Despite the grueling pace of our league's season, we don't get anything like spring training. If we burn our mouths on the toasted ravioli, we don't get time on the DL. Blisters are suffered through. It's rough, yes, but we are professionals, and we do what we can.

Lets' compare some examples from the day in baseball.

Cardinals: Pitcher Jason Marquis picks a man off second, and pitches 7 innings of shut-out baseball en route to his 13th win of the season. The Cards win 4-0 and sweep the Pirates.

Cubs:Mike Remlinger hits a man to load the bases in the top of the 8th, and hits* the very next batter to drive in a run, before surrendering another4 runs as the Cubs lose to the Astros. At the moment, they are tied with San Diego for the wild card, and if the Giants hold on, the tie will be three-way.


*He may not have been hit. The ball was up near his head, and may have hit his bat and/or hand. Regardless, the pitch was way too high and inside.

I don't mean this as any slight against fans of the Cubs (Max, Leah), I just wanted to point out why I think the Cardinals have a good shot to go all the way this year, while the Cubs may have trouble making the playoffs. Time will tell. The Cubs have a good team, they just have trouble with the fundamentals and their emotions. When you can't consistently do the little things, it's hard to get anything big done over the course of a season.

Anyways, I think I have to go.

Don't I?


Turn the key. Start a revolution.
Dave


p.s. 24 and 48 are not the same number.