Mikey D

I feel like I never have time to post, but dammit I'm still going to try when I can!

~ Grace and I went to the Orioles-Angels game last night with a guy and his girlfriend I met at new teacher orientation in August. It was a good time, but I cannot believe how little support the Oriole's have right now. Grace and I planned on buying upper deck seats to the game for cheap, but when we got to the ticket window we were approached by scalpers. Well not really. We were actually approached by two people that gave their seats away. They had extra tickets (just like the Oriole's box office! Ooo burn!) and said we could have them. So we paid zero dollars for our tickets. We got in, and instead of going to section 347, we decided to go down to section 67 on the third base line. The usher didn't even check our tickets, but instead walked us down and wiped off two random seats close to the field. Cool!

I just remember the place being packed every single night, and it's just sad that so few people come to the games anymore, even if it was a Wednesday night. Grace and I walked through the concourse, and it felt like we were all alone. People were so far and few between. There were more concession stands closed than open. It was just weird.

If I was the owner, I would be embarrassed beyond belief, and I would do anything and everything in my power to fix that dismal situation.

~I got my first writing assignment from the local sports paper here in Baltimore. They want me to write an article about tennis, giving it a local angle. I'm still debating where I want to go with this one, but I'm leaning towards the decline in popularity of men's tennis, and how clubs and programs in the area are trying to promote interest in the sport. Just a thought. Anywho, this will apparently be my "free piece", where if they publish it in the paper I won't receive any sort of compensation. If it's good though, they'll put me on a schedule where I can write regularly for the paper and I can get some money for my writing. So I guess I better make this first one good.

~I had my first observation in school the other day. The principal, math department chair, and my mentor all sat in my classroom as I taught a 100 minute lesson. It was scary as hell the first twenty minutes. I was nervous beyond belief (Before class I actually was so nervous I had to rush to the bathroom to piss...otherwise I'd probably have pissed myself during my lesson. Thought you'd like to know that.). But I made it through, and the last half of the lesson I'd forgotten completely that people were even in the room. I think I did well, and I will find out Friday what they wrote up about me during my post-observation conference (gay).


~Here are some pics for you folks!

This is me at the Orioles-Yankees game. During this game the stadium was packed...with Yankee fans. It felt like the Orioles were the visiting team. It was a fun game to watch (O's won), as I was focused on all the action with my hands together the entire time.

Here's Colin and I in Ocean City. This was actually the first time I've been to the Atlantic, or any ocean for that matter. We had a gay old time. Pun intended.

We swam in the ocean...



...And the waves made me scared...



Here's Kev and I in front of the capital. Didn't you know we were Chinese??? God we look goofy in this picture.



This is Grace and I at her birthday dinner. She is glowing because she gets to be in a picture with me. Yeah, that's it...



Here's Me, Grace, Anne, and Bobby. Apparently they smell like poop because I'm not really that close to them. Or maybe I'm the one that smells because they're not close to me. Hmmmm....



Jimmy Rollins' home run ball. One-handed. Left hand. No glove. 400 feet from home plate. Booya mother fuckers. You can still see me, Grace, Amber, Anne, and Bobby celebrate on the Phillies homepage if you click the 9/8 game and find the "Phillies 4-run eighth" highlights. National TV baby, ooooh yeah.



In front of the legendary Pat's. This is where Rocky got his cheesesteaks in the movies. This place is really cool. Wiz wit, Wiz wit mushrooms. That's how you order cheesesteaks in Philly. It was my first too. I got immediate respect from the cooks after they found out that I caught J-Rolls home run ball. Thank you Grace for mentioning that everywhere we went that night =).

Delicious. Philly was really fun that day. It is a damn cool city. There's so much to see/do/eat. I loved our trip there. Grace was on TV twice that night, once during the home run ball, and later from the bar where her, Anne, Amber, and Bobby were doing the "Fly, Eagles Fly!" cheer for the news cameras. We watched the news at her mom's house that night, and it was a lot of fun seeing our faces all over the city. I got a lot of first in that day. My first Phillies game. My first home run ball. My first cheesesteak. My first national television appearance, haha. Good times; can't wait to go back.

~Mikey D