Voodoo needed...

I’m listening to a CD I made about a zillion years ago (okay, “a zillion” is probably a bit of overkill… it was more like two years ago…) when Eric and Faisal were here visiting and we went to Starbucks to hang out and make CDs. Because, if you’ll remember, Starbucks used to have those little music stations, where you could listen to all kinds of different albums and pick and choose the songs you liked. So you could make your own custom CD. My Starbucks CD ended up being rather bizarre and eclectic, with music by Blink 182, Beck, Nellie McKay, Gwen Stefani, Sum 41, Iris Dement (“Our Town” – my fellow Northern Exposure fan Nick will recognize that one…), Rob Thomas, Linkin Park, the Wallflowers and Etta James. I think Eric’s CD ended up being mostly country, possibly with a little rock thrown in for good measure… and Faisal’s CD was composed of mainly 80’s music – including the Cindy Lauper classic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” And I may have given him a hard time about choosing that particular song… (Sorry, Faisal. :))

But like I said, Starbucks has removed the music stations from their stores – at least the ones in Austin. (Although I haven’t seen them in any of the other Starbucks stores I’ve been in on various travels across the country.) Maybe too many people have iPods now and just download music from the internet. But I sort of miss the Starbucks music. It was really fun to order a cup of coffee, settle into an overstuffed chair, and wander through thousands of different songs in dozens of different genres. I suppose now I could just order a cup of coffee, settle into an overstuffed chair, and listen to random songs on my iPod. I don’t know… there was just something so satisfying about creating your very own unique CD… even if it turned out to be slightly crazy (which, incidentally, was the title I gave my Starbucks CD…).

Anyway… since Greg wanted more baseball talk – what is wrong with the Yankees??? Six losses in a row??? I have Andy Pettitte on my fantasy team, but I’m afraid to pitch him tonight because the Yankees seem to have fallen into some sort of “we suck” vortex. A black hole of baseball, from which even runs can not escape. Dad actually said he was going to start rooting for the Mets. Which is blasphemy, by the way… we must not give up on the Yankees just because they suck so badly right now…

I have to blame Eric, because Eric and I have a Yankee Voodoo system set up. When it looks like the Yankees are in trouble, I’ll send a text message to Eric asking for more voodoo. Eric, in turn, will gather bat wings and eye of newt and a little pincushion doll that looks like the opposing pitcher and do his best to change the course of the game. Lately, however, I’ve noticed that Eric ignores me a lot when I send text messages (Eric… where aaaaaareeeee you?)… probably because he’s busy moving all his furniture into his new condo (I believe “all his furniture” consists of a couch, a bed, and a coffee table… you’d think he’d be done moving by now…). And, of course, fighting crime on the streets of Chicago by, uh, engaging in detective stuff. You know, detecting and such. With his big magnifying glass and Sherlock Holmes pipe.

So my best chance to catch Eric when he has time for Yankee voodoo is during his daily stopover at the Pancake House. If I can somehow send a message before he’s gotten his plate of French toast with fruit on the side, then he’ll be so bored and hungry that Yankee voodoo will be just the thing to get his mind off the grumbling in his stomach. Unfortunately, even when I DO get a hold of Eric, Yankee voodoo is not always effective. I must also blame Eric for this, as I refuse to take responsibility myself…

Of course, the Yankees COULD just be having a streak of bad luck right now… Nah, I’m gonna go ahead and blame Eric…




That's right -- they CAN hit a ball now and then...