Cut the crap. Give me a drink.

The Cubs beat the Cardinals 9-3 yesterday, thanks in large part to pitcher Ted Lilly.  Lilly worked seven solid innings, recorded his 1,000th strikeout and added his second career extra-base hit.  Not bad for a day's work.

Possible bad news on the way for Cubs fans--Alfonso Soriano might be down with an injury for awhile.  Soriano left the Cubs game against the Cincinnati Reds last night in the top of the first inning with a strained right calf.  Cubs manager Lou Piniella told reporters that Soriano was undergoing an MRI and the team would know the results on Wednesday.

Moving to his left for a shallow fly ball to left field hit by Ken Griffey Jr., Soriano made what has become his trademark skip to make the catch and landed awkwardly. He immediately began to limp, favoring his right leg, and was helped off the field.

Here comes trouble.

Evidently the jinx is still a major belief in the realm of professional baseball.  A construction worker working on the Yankee's new stadium buried a Boston Red Sox jersey in 2 feet of concrete in a service corridor.  The Yankees plan to donate the jersey to charity, and may pursue a lawsuit against the construction worker.  That seems a bit excessive for me, but I guess if you believe in curses, a jersey from your rival team might not be something you want buried in your stadium.

Well, what do you know...the Cubs lost AGAIN.  They've won one of their four games this season which is not too pleasing, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's way too early to worry.  All the same, it's not a strong start. 

I'm going to tomorrow's game...hopefully I'll bring good luck?

Here's some sickening news--New York Yankees third-baseman Alex Rodriguez tops the major league baseball salary list at $28 million, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press, making more than everyone on the Florida Marlins combined. The 33 players on the Marlins' opening-day roster and disabled list total $21.8 million.

How has society gotten to the point where a baseball player can be paid such an insane amount of money???  It's sick.

Here's a chilling thought: Wrigley Field may not be "Wrigley Field" for much longer.

Sam Zell, Chief Executive Officer of the Tribune Company, is planning to sell the Chicago Cubs and the stadium separately.  Whoever buys the stadium will have naming rights; a handful of potential buyers have already been approved by Major League Baseball.

I think any baseball fan out there would agree that this is beyond upsetting.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Joe Kennedy, a journeyman left-hander who pitched for three major league teams last season, died at his in-laws' home Friday. He was 28.

After going to bed early, Kennedy woke up at about 1:15 a.m. Friday and collapsed as he was leaving a bedroom at the home of his wife's parents, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue took Kennedy to Brandon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, she said.

"We were terribly shocked," Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey told The Associated Press. "From what we understand he was in Brandon ... to be the best man at a wedding today."

Godfrey didn't have particulars on the cause of death.

"Obviously, when a 28-year-old man dies, ballplayer or not, it's a terrible, terrible thing," he said.

Finally, two of my favorite things are coming together.  Chicago Cubs' first baseman Derrek Lee is going to be on an episode of ER this season.  In the episode, John Stamos's character grants a little boy with a terminal illness his big wish--the chance to meet Derrek Lee.

In exchange for Lee's appearance on the program, ER will run an episode this season about a patient with Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, or LCA, which causes blindness.  It is the same disease that Lee's daughter was diagnosed with last year.

I'm watching baseball's all-star game.  I got all excited when the National League got an early lead, but I guess my excitement was premature...they're losing 3-1 now.  It's been so long since they've won the all-star game, I'm beginning to lose hope.  It's not like there's a scarcity of talent....they've got plenty of awesome players.  They just can't manage to win.

Vlad Guerrero won the home run derby last night.  I miss him being in the national league.

1. Regular naps prevent old age... especially if you take them while driving.
2. Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you a referee.
3. Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband.
4. I believe we should all pay our tax with a smile. I tried - but they wanted cash.
5. A child's greatest period of growth is the month after you've purchased new school uniforms.
6. Don't feel bad. A lot of people have no talent.
7. Don't marry the person you want to live with, marry the one you cannot live without. 
8. Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me.
9. Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
10. Marriage is give and take. You'd better give it to her or she'll take it anyway.
11. My wife and I always compromise. I admit I'm wrong and she agrees with me.
12. Ladies first, pretty ladies sooner...
13. A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
14. You're getting old when you enjoy remembering things more than doing them.
15. Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address books.
16. Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.
17. They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom gets to speak !!

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is "heading toward" suspending Jason Giambi next week if he doesn't cooperate with the steroids investigation by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, USA Today reported on its Web site early Thursday.

The newspaper, citing a high-ranking Major League Baseball official who had spoken with Selig, said the commissioner wants a decision from Giambi by Tuesday. The official was not given permission to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, the paper said.

Selig said June 6 that he wanted Giambi to meet with Mitchell within two weeks and to "cooperate fully" with the probe, which began in March 2006. Baseball said Selig would make a decision on disciplining the New York Yankees designated hitter after Giambi "completed his activities" with Mitchell and that Giambi's level of cooperation would be taken into account by Selig.

The players' association said Giambi, currently on the disabled list with a foot injury, would make his decision after consulting with his lawyer and the union. No active players are known to have spoken with Mitchell.

Giambi told a federal grand jury in December 2003 that he used steroids and human growth hormone, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in December 2004. Before the start of spring training in 2005, the 2000 AL MVP made repeated general apologies at a news conference but never used the word "steroids." He told USA Today in comments published May 18: "I was wrong for doing that stuff," comments many interpreted as an admission he used steroids.

Baseball and its union didn't ban steroids until September 2002 and didn't institute penalties for a first offense in most cases until 2005. Michael Weiner, the union's general counsel, said no grounds exist for disciplining Giambi based on the remarks published by USA Today or Giambi's decision about whether to meet with Mitchell.

My new apartment is pretty sweet, and I love that it's furnished.  Sure, the style might not be quite up to par with what I'd choose, but it's way better than having to get my own furniture.

Move in went great, and I had the help of some friends.  That definitely sped the process up.  I'm still in the process of putting stuff away, but I'll work on that this weekend.

I'm moving.  Physically moving, from one apartment to another, at the end of the month.  And also moving in terms of the great social structure...moving up in the world.  My new apartment building is, quite honestly, fantastic.  To me, it seems very sophisticated.  I'm pleased; I feel that it's something I deserve, and something I've worked hard to get.

"True to the Arts & Crafts and Mission styles, the building's simple, geometric limestone details communicate the beauty of the materials brick and stone, peppered with the flowery ornament associated with the Art Nouveau. Interiors have been restored to highlight the original tile mosaic floors and hand-crafted wood banisters, with the additions of Tiffany and Mission style light fixtures."

And the fact that the apartment is furnished is a really awesome thing.  I'll have plenty of nice furniture, all to myself.  I'm moving up in the world.

It sounds pretty minor, but Kerry Wood is injured again.  Since he's been with the Cubs, he's had a lot of injury problems.  What's the worst, though, is how the injury happened--he hurt his rib when he slipped getting out of a hot tub.  Seriously?  It's the first day of spring training, and one of the team's best young pitchers got injured getting out of a hot tub??!!

Here's what to consider if you're making a notebook purchase in the new year.

• CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo is just now arriving on laptops, and it's the CPU of choice no matter what type of user you are. However there are some great deals to be had on Core Duo machines, most of which were released only a few months ago. Most users will find the original Core Duo plenty fast.
• Memory - As with desktops, get all you can afford. 1GB minimum, especially for Vista.
• Operating System - Same deal as with desktops. If you're planning to go with Vista, wait until 2007 to buy a notebook. Driver issues are far more complex with portables than with desktops, and you don't want to be stuck trying to upgrade only weeks after you bought the machine. See my comments in the desktop shopping story for more detail.
• Hard Drive - 160GB is tops for notebooks right now, but about 80GB is more common and less expensive. That should be plenty for most users for the foreseeable future. If you're a digital movie collector, go with the big one.
• Optical Drive - A few systems are now including HD-DVD drives instead of standard DVD, however I've found all HD-DVD laptop drives slow and very buggy. I'd stick with a DVD-RW drive now, dual layer of course.
• Graphics Card - This varies widely, as manufacturers are still putting year-old graphics cards in laptops in many cases. High end cards like the Nvidia Geforce 7800/7900 series are pricey, but they're absolutely required if you want to have any hope of playing the latest games on your laptop. Remember that graphics cards are generally not upgradeable, so it's important to get the best you can afford right when you make the purchase.
• Screen - A critical decision. Widescreen displays comprise virtually the entire market now, so don't expect to find many 4:3 aspect ratio machines for sale. The big question here is whether you want a 17-inch monster display, a standard 15.4-inch display, or something smaller. The weight of the machine will vary accordingly: Expect to carry 8 pounds and up for a 17-inch system, 6 to 7 pounds with a 15.4-inch machine, and as little as 3 pounds with an ultralight. Laptops aren't going to get much lighter in 2007, so don't hold out for anything that'll be easier to pick up.