A quick note...

Dear readers, this is just a quick note (inserted ahead of a new post - don't miss it!) to alert you to a change to the blog you may otherwise miss. I decided to go back and update/edit my link list. The list you find now is the list of websites that I run through every night at work, in the order that I go through them. I really have no basis for my ordering of these sites, save for the fact that the Economist generally takes the longest to read so I try to save it for last. So, if you've ever wanted to emulate your favorite blogger, here's your chance. Read what I read, read what I write, and then write me comments to tell me how boring both were. I was going to keep this short, but I thought it might be nice if I wrote a brief description of the sites I linked to:

• Mouseprint - This website is updated every Monday with information on various items hidden in the fine print of credit card offers, airline vouchers, laundry detergent, etc. Sometimes it is useful, sometimes it is just frustrating.
• Gamespot - This website is generally updated every weekday with reviews and previews of video games.
• Snopes - Usually updated daily, Snopes is the source for the debunking urban legends. It also can be useful for determining if an unknown Nigerian is really going to send you money.
• The Indianapolis Star - The online version of the Indianapolis newspaper. I mainly read it to see how the new airport project is coming along as I imagine I might be a frequent visitor to the facility once I move even further west.
• ESPN - I'm a male. ESPN covers sports. I look at ESPN.
• Lawyers, Guns, and Money - This is the Wife's blog. Read it to find out about everything I've been lying to you about. Oh, and how glad you are that you're not in law school.
• Yellowbrick Road - This is my cousin-in-law Christine's blog. Always entertaining to read, and a good way to keep up with what is going on without appearing to be a stalker.
• The Blue-Gray Sky - The best Notre Dame football blog out there. If they don't discuss it, it's not worth talking about.
• The House Rock Built - Another Notre Dame football blog, but one that is high on the hilarity meter. Recruits are judged on a basis of "angry drunk Vikings" if that gives you an idea of what to expect.
• The Rakes of Mallow - A Notre Dame blog that covers a multitude of sports. Written by a couple of students, it can be spotty on updates when they have exams or a lot of classwork. Nerds.
• Irish Insights - A Notre Dame blog written by the Notre Dame beat writer of a Fort Wayne paper. Updated almost daily and good for getting info from practices (at least the portions open to the media).
• The Economist - I used to read Newsweek. Then I started reading the Economist and realized that I had been reading a slightly more acceptable form of the National Enquirer. Now I don't read Newsweek. While nearly all the articles are superb, keep in mind that the primary focus is on economics and the magazine can be a little light on current events at times.

There you are. Hopefully that helps you decide if you would like to start checking out any of these websites. I should note that I also check my e-mail (Hotmail) and use MSNBC as my homepage at work. Altogether, looking at all these sites can take anywhere from half an hour to two hours or more, depending upon how many have been updated since I last looked at them. Okay, that's enough explanation for the new link list - onward to the new post.

Sometimes you just have to wonder...

I imagine, dear readers, that you are nearly overcome with joy at the prospect of two posts in two days. Not since the heady days of this blog's first posts have you been treated to such abundance. Please try to not get too worked up over it.

Anyway, the Wife and I have often joked that should we ever create small children (we're only prepared to do it if we can skip over the whole baby part - you know, the part where they wear diapers and smell bad) we would choose a name that incorporated Fighting Irish lore to some degree. Or maybe that was for the dog's name? I can't really remember, which I'm sure will get me in trouble later. At any rate, apparently we aren't the only people to think this way. In fact, this couple actually followed through with naming their children odd names in order to support Alabama football. I'll give you a minute to read the article, and another to digest it. Yes, you read that right - apparently they've named their sons Tyde and Saban. I only have a few suggestions for these obviously insane Southerners:

1. Learn to spell. Last time I checked, the "tide" in "Roll Tide" had an "i." Perhaps I am mistaken, having attended a decidedly Yankee school, but when even the University of Alabama's official athletic site uses an "i," it ends up making you look stupid. Additionally, misspelling one child's name may lead people to conclude that you misspelled the other child's name as well. Do you really want people to think that your second child was supposed to be called "Satan?"
2. Go with your gut. Your first instinct, to name your second son after "Bear" Bryant (although with an intentional misspelling of "Bear," according to the article), actually has some merit. Bryant was a good coach, and is a legend at Alabama, for what that is worth. Saban's only accomplishment, as near as I can recall, was to get Ricky Williams to briefly return from the land of magic mushrooms to the NFL.
3. Stop being insane. If you've ever wondered why Southerners have a bad reputation north of the Mason-Dixon line, stuff like this goes a long way towards explaining it. Toss in Kenny Chesney and a stubborn refusal to admit that the South lost the Civil War (or "War of Northern Aggression" as some seem to like to call it), and it becomes pretty clear that the heat and humidity south of the Ohio River must warp the minds of some residents.

Now, I realize that not everyone from the South is crazy. But people like this certainly make me wonder. Tyde and Saban? I guess it's better than Gamecock and Spurrier (just try to get a shortened form/nickname out of the first one).

The substance rarely lives up to the hype...

Oh, dear readers, how I'm sure you've yearned for this post. I've kept you in the dark for too long, and for that, I apologize. Unfortunately, as you can probably gather from the title of this post, I did not emerge from this past weekend's wedding/St. Patrick's Day festivities with any good stories. That being said, I must admit that the wedding was lovely, and the reception was probably the best I've ever been to. Now, I realize that the bride and groom probably did not intend this, but the fact that there was a steady stream of college basketball to be viewed in the bar area as an alternative to dancing easily moved this reception up the list of favorites (but it was still nowhere near as good as ours, honey. Please don't hurt me). Other than that, it was a good weekend, with the exception of the fire alarm in the hotel going off at four in the morning. That was somewhat less than amusing.

Speaking of less than amusing, I'm afraid that that pretty well sums up this rather short post. I'll try to come up with something longer and more interesting to write in the two additional nights of work I have remaining this weekend. If not, I'm afraid that you're in for a rather long wait (nothing new there, though) - the Wife and I will be in Kansas City most of the week. So, if you're really desperate for me to write something substantial and funny, then I suggest that someone "take one for the team" and get arrested for something insanely stupid.

Hmmm...

Wow. Apparently that last post was so boring that I even stopped checking in on this blog. For that great disservice, dear readers, I owe you an apology. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to talk about at this point. I've found that one of the worst things about being out of school, other than the fact that people actually expect you to do work, is that I lack great sources of inspiration for posts/rants on this site. Sorostitutes and frat boys are much harder to write about when one is not confronted with their stupidity on a daily basis.

So, unfortunately, I'm at a loss for things to write about, and have been for the past couple of weeks. Luckily, this weekend it's home to Indianapolis for a day or two with a trip to the Bend for a wedding at ND thrown in. Call it a hunch, but a wedding at Notre Dame on St. Patrick's day ought to wind up providing some material for future posts. Of course, I'll keep my eyes open for opportunities to poke fun at national leaders, but with March Madness set to begin, don't expect too much from me.