Chris Tillman

With last night's win against Cliff Lee and the Texas Rangers, Chris Tillman and the Orioles have made me so proud because they emerged against guys whose averages are mostly around the .300's. Tillman also gets his first win of the season after a see-saw of bad starts or silent bats. But with an almost no hitter and almost complete game for Tillman, the whole hoopla still surrounded Cliff Lee who has been recently acquired from the Mariners less than 48 hours before game time. With Lee's seemingly "bad" start, commentators (ie: ESPN's Baseball Tonight) still pointed at how Lee's presence in the Rangers clubhouse became a way for the bullpen to have their break. Silly!

But I am not here to bash them some more, I, as an Orioles fan would like to look at another point instead. Chris Tillman and how he manages to spoil the fun for home team fans. If last night's game at the Rangers Ballpark was all about Cliff Lee's start and how I can imagine most fans must be crazy the whole time about this, I look back at Chris Tillman starting during their Sept 11, 2009 game at the Yankees Stadium. It was the night that everyone went to see Derek Jeter break Lou Gehrig's hits record, and lots of fans came their way just to see it. It was all about Jeter that night, and even after a rain delay of about more than an hour, no one retreated and stayed until a final word was out about how the weather should affect the game (I should know, I was there!). After a memorable 1st inning (to us near foul pole coz A.Rod hit his homer and I wished the ball landed on my lap), and after Jeter just hit 2722 on his 2nd at bat, the Orioles supported Tillman's strong innings (though the 4 Yankee runs that night came from his outing) with 7 runs towards the sixth, and 3 more the rest of the night. It felt great! It felt great to be an Orioles fan on the midst of a sea of Yankees fans (I was the only Oriole fan on my section), plus during the 6th inning rally, I watched the game on the lower section nearest to field level (after getting some snacks), and cheered loudly while a burly Yankee guy shouted "who's that cheering?" which freaked me out but I laughed to myself at how brave I was to cheer for them besides being alone (note: there were 6 guys in between me and burly Yankee guy). The game ended at around 1 AM and a WIN for Tillman.

These wins are indeed memorable as we get to cherish how this young team is still a source for enjoyment and hope that the clubhouse will be picking up pieces and soon bring back the magic that should have been there the whole time. How will we know that we've managed to emerge from the slump? Get runs to earn wins to earn standings to earn our time during Baseball Tonight, after that we can all be proud and say, "Y'all just suck it!"

Good luck always Orioles team and fans. May the magic and force be always with y'all.

(Thanks to MLB At Bat Gameday for some recall.)

Links to: O's @ Yankees 091109 and 9/11/09 @ Yankee Stadium

Writing

I've been wanting to write coz I surely miss it, yet what can I write about?

Honestly, I have three drafts and maybe a dozen other things to write about. My aim was to put up another blog site just to detail my rants and cheers to the Orioles but that never progressed due to (gasp!) lack of time. Yes, as much as I am "unemployed", I do not have enough time to deal with all the things I want to deal with. Why is it always like that? Coz when you are unemployed, you are everyones errand girl, you are everyones slave, you hear everyone say "can i ask you a favor?" (and you end up saying, "sure!").

I'm not ranting on those things really, its just that my hopes to put up a new blog was put on the side. I ended up throwing 140 characters (spaces included) on Twitter every 15 seconds. Sometimes, due to time difference, I end up sleeping during live games. Somehow I failed on my aim to practice my writing by pouring my heart out on something I like to do. Its tough being me (a reason that we always hear, right?).

Yet I have been doing writing lessons for kids these days. Wait, change kids to young adults. Its summertime and besides the need to polish my brothers writing, I wanted to gauge my cousins as well. Weeks ago, I asked them to write down five songs that they really like, and later on revealed to them the task at hand. They were fearful when they heard that they had to write. Write a three paragraph review of each song that they picked. I thought it was awesome, they thought otherwise. So I subjected five kids into writing without their permission? What happened afterwards is a nice study/ observation/ experiment for either behavior specialists or psychologists.

The youngest was the only one to accomplish five essays on the prescribed time period. My brother submitted his completed work three days after the prescribed time. My girl cousin finished the first essay right away, the second essay was submitted a day after the needed submission time, and essays 3 to 5 are not yet submitted. My two other cousins did not do anything, sadly.

It is such a hard task to impose writing to kids these days. With all the information on their hands, they do not make use of it by using their minds to analyze information and pour out their opinions about these. They pour out their energy using the internet as a means to play computer games, watch episodes of their favorite shows, and use social networking sites to know what the latest scoop on AI, on show business, or whats the latest emo song. It is tough being older and not seeing them spend their time doodling on paper, reading love stories or detective stories, writing phrases then sentences then essays. It is hard that they do not know how to properly express themselves in writing.

Writing for me is the best means to express oneself, and I do admit that I do get the moods too when writing. In numerous occasion I feel that anything I write does not make sense. It seems like I lack the complete thought or I was not able to equip my essay with words that makes itself understandable to the reader. I too encounter times when I do not feel like I am writing the way I should or that I lack the level of writing that I have put on myself. I always wish to be better, I wish to always improve my writing. But how do I even find out that I want to improve my writing?

BY WRITING, what else?

One of the tips in writing that I kept on telling them was that to know and improve how you write, you must write. There is no other way to know these things but to do it. You have to keep on doing it and have someone read it so you'll know how you fare. Later on you'll get the knack on writing and end up editing your own work because you have practiced it repeatedly. Writing is a trial and error process. Even the best writings can be improved by supplying better words or re-phrasing, whenever the need is there. Not only you exercise your writing skills but you exercise your brain, language skills, analytical skills.

It seems like a dead end task when they don't take things seriously as you do, but I am not giving up. I will think of ways to make them write, to let them understand that polishing their writing skills is important to do now than have their teachers criticize them. Oh Lord have mercy! Please shine the light on them.

i dunno who's wrong, maybe it is me

i was trying this flickr to twitter photo posting for dinosaur phones. unlike having the iphone app Twitterfon (that lets u post directly to Twitterpic with a tap of the button), flickr to twitter has steps where u have to send this text message to this number, then follow this step so u can set it up like this. its such a caveman approach really. driving me nuts earlier. so yeah, i tried with a pic in my phone but it ended up here on my blog! well that works too though. i mean if i cannot tweet my sports escapades this weekend, then i guess i have to blog it directly! sounds fun? extra!

this sounds awesome!

im not a Spidey fan but this on Broadway sounds REALLY amazing. http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com/

planning my get away for the summer

 Boston or Seattle?

hello shining sun!

 I hope it's not cold outside though...

Going Christmas (3)

dude, seriously, this is so late. this list wouldn't help you at all coz its two days before Christmas. now maybe read this and then plan it for next year. if you happen to decide to go to one of these places, like Carol City, FL, maybe send me a postcard.
but then again... how far is Carol City from Orlando?
http://news.skyscanner.net/articles/2008/12/000807-worlds-most-christmassy-places-top-10-festively-themed-destinations.html

Where to Go? What to Do? (6)

before i forget, i should have this to my disposal. a cheat sheet of where to go for wifi hot spots. im not bringing my big baby, as i cannot handle too much stuff, but i have my little baby, the iPhone look-alike. hihihi! i just checked my Starbucks card as well, $13 still. cool! now i can activate it and be ready to log on when I want to surf while drinking Espresso Truffle or while reading Twilight (yes, i am planning to continue reading it this time).
http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/browse/us/2000260/2019671/

Where to Go? What to Do? (5)

girls love to shop, but given this state of the economy, and the heaving sound of my card, then i should spend my shopping time in the halls of good looking shops with crazy prices and look around. that is the best way i can think of that will prevent me from spending.

by the looks of this site, the links that they put on the page have pretty shops with pricey tags. then that is near to perfect for me. be able to just give justice to the words window shopping.

but then again, it doesn't prevent me from getting some trinkets...

http://www.ci.winter-park.fl.us/2005/arts_culture/merchants.shtml

a ****ing dilemma

its such a packing dilemma. i don't know what to bring...

where to Go? What to Do? (4)

vacation + food = awesome! or in any case, good food is like the highlight of any trip, besides the scenery. these were lifted from the Best Cheap Eats of 2008 for Orlando. will Hotdog Heaven be heavenly at all?

Where to Go? What to Do? (3)

i don't know about you, but i really don't mind going for city haunted tours. i mean city haunted tours are surely to make you laugh, i really don't know why i'm thinking that it will make me laugh.
ok, ok, ok. maybe i watch too much Travel Channel last Friday.
http://www.orlandohauntings.com/

Where to Go? What to Do? (2)

one of the things that me and my brother share in common is our love for cars, and if i get myself into this place and take lots of pictures, i know he will bawl around and scream at me the next time we get to talk. for now, he should see this link and drool over the pretty cars. they are too sexy and sweet looking. =D
http://www.exoticcargallery.com/

Where to Go? What to Do? (1)

 not the Choose Your Own Adventure kindda fashion, but more of Travel Channel's Samantha Brown's suggestion page. I'll try to do this from today until Saturday. This is like the guide to some little stuff i like to find out in any other place. this time, its Florida.

so what great way to start it than to find an article called Where to Find A Great Chocolate Shop. sound interesting? i bet it is!

its some sign

 so on a sunday, we opened the TV on Travel Channel. i love watching travel channel especially Food Paradise shows. like earlier this week, i was watching Donut Paradise and Steak Paradise II. i think Food Paradise is the most awesome show coz they show food and sights. =D

so anyway, i rarely watch Samantha Brown, but i stopped the flicking the controller when i saw that she was to feature Miami, FL. it was a weekend girlfriend getaway in Miami, which was followed by a non-theme park weekend in Orlando, FL, and what it is to have Christmas in Disneyworld.

call it a sign, it made me realize that there's two weeks before FL Christmas week! awesome!

makes me want to go to Macau!!!

ive only been to two provinces of China, and to count maybe Hong Kong (btw), then that makes it three. but i havent been to Shanghai or Beijing or Macau, and Karla Redor's pictures certainly drives me nuts and makes me want to visit it.

woah! im back!

33 emails on my inbox. 3 mails at home. couple of days of mad food.

good to be back though. =)

@ Central Park

Central Park
Originally uploaded by Margeeboo.

i uploaded pictures from my camera, and i saw this. the original is lighter and blurry, so i used the Picnik editing tool from Flickr. at least it looks like a painting now.

New York, New York!!!

i want to go back!!! overnight is not enough. 26 hours is not enough being there. there are a lot to try out in this busy city, and you cant get enough of it. this is the nth time ive been here, and its always the same story.
Hot dog fever ended up with only one brand which was Nathan's, and it wasnt even the one in Coney Island. i wasnt able to grab one from your friendly Sabrett. had a taste of New York Cheesecake. it was okay, but im not fond of cheesecakes. Chocolates... never mind. i wasnt able to grab any, besides the Dove Extra Dark 63% Cacao available in that corner store Duane Reade. it was really bitter. Teuscher Chocolates in Rockefeller Plaza was closed when we got there. bummer. plus, i was dreaming of going to Max Brenner in SoHo, but i wasnt able to. the other thing, i wasnt able to go to SoHo at all! what else? the nearest to Japanese that i got was to go to a Japanese bakery and buy a sweet jelly thing with red bean filling thinking that it was the sweet bread thing with the red bean filling. it was good, i would like to go back there, but when i took it out of the wrapper, i was lost thinking what this dessert thing was. it was good though coz i bought a bottle of green tea that i downed right away like a thirsty kid. i was successful with not buying much. we were in the Garment District, that was rather too crowded, and i was able to buy only one shirt!!! and it was from H&M!!! haha! and i only bought it out of need. if not for that, then i wouldnt have had it. we went to the Guggenheim Museum. it was okay. they had an exhibit of Louise Bourgeois works. i ended up with five pages of reflection on my little notebook, though honestly, i wasnt too fanatical about her works. she expressed some sullen mood in them, but the one that leaves me in awe is her craftsmanship and the symmetry to her works. there was only one though that i loved, and i wasnt able to get the title of it. it was how she used wooden doors to create a room, glasses and mirrors to set the mood, a bathroom mirror to reflect the light from the ceiling and reflect the image, a slab of stone (unfinished marble) to represent the table, and mannequin hands holding each other signifying an intimate scene. it was just fantastic! the other artworks in the museum were from other modern artists who expressed their work in the light of cubism and other abstractions. there was a point in my reflection that i feel myself vomiting from too much abstract works which was actually a surprise for me. i usually have a certain level of fondness for abstract works yet some of the featured works ended up with images unfathomable for my out of the box understanding. the other thing i liked was also the Imageless exhibition which featured Ad Reinhardt. the genius in Rhinehardt came after the deconstruction of his works. at first look, the painting is just a piece of black canvass. the more you look at it, the more you see that there are panels of different dark shades in the painting. however, what they did with some of the hard to conserve painting was to deconstruct them using scientific processes such as laser. they were able to determine the material or type of paint that was used, like acrylic paint. it was just amusing how they were able to do it. oh! and of course our epic bus ride. pfft! thanks for having a friend and toys, it made the epic bus ride bearable.

overall, i of course want to go back there. i want to eat a variety of food, dance to some club music, listen to a band in Central Park, watch the Mets in Shea, eat chocolates, go to more art museums, go to Flushing for the US Open Tennis, and just plain have fun. come on! lets go!!!

PS: i forgot to tell you that i was a little too early for the MLB All Star Games. the Yankees are hosting it this year before they bring to pieces their Yankee Stadium.

for this weekend

i hate packing more than i should need, so i packed up last night. not that im excited (im half-excited), and while packing up, the mental note was, "its only for a night. its only for a night." so i packed light. the only heavy stuff were toiletries. why should there be a lot of toiletries that i'll need? then i put in my book, my phone charger, and an umbrella. just in case. the only thing im gonna do today and tomorrow is pack on information to my ipod. im loading My Blueberry Nights right now for when i get bored with reading, and a load of songs and pictures. also, i made bookmarks and sent myself maps, and list of addresses to where i want to go. so far, i have a list of the hot dog places, the hotel, and the nearest shopping area. the next on my list to find out is where the nearest hang out places are and what is the name of that expensive Japanese place that has Kobe sushi.