I Need to Know

"Because I don't know how long
I can hold on
And if your makin' me wait
If you're leadin' me on
I need to know"
--I Need to Know, Tom Petty

A few questions I have that someone out there might be able to answer...
- If you're Zach Braff and you wrote and directed a highly-acclaimed film and got a Grammy for executive producing the soundtrack, wouldn't you feel kind of weird going back for the new season of "Scrubs?" It'd be like Will Ferrell making "Elf" and "Anchorman," then deciding to return to the cast of SNL to do more sketches with Rachel Dratch. Or like Michael Jordan winning his sixth NBA title (and sixth Finals MVP award) on a last-second jumper, riding off into the sunset (figuratively), and then deciding to come back and play two years with a bad team like the Wizards. Oh wait...
- Who really thought that the cheeseburger pizza idea (now at Domino's) was a good one? Are there really people out there that are so indecisive that they can't make a choice between eating burgers or eating pizza? If you feel like a burger, go to In-N-Out or Tommy's or something. If it's pizza, call up Domino's (for a NORMAL pizza) or Papa John's (or visit Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock--mmmm). No need to be indecisive. Also, from what I'm told (by approximately 12 people after our new sponsor, Domino's, brought a ton of pizzas to the set and everybody--sans me--partook), it's the worst pizza of all time. If you really wanted pizza, it's not quite pizza, and if you really wanted a burger, it's definitely not that. Indecision evidently doesn't taste very good...
- Why is there a fire sprinkler located on the ceiling of the shower room at 24-Hour Fitness? The room has a tiled floor, metal-framed doors to the showers with glass walls, and WATER EVERYWHERE. Nothing even close to flammable, except the people, I guess, but I haven't known too many folks to spontaneously combust, especially not in the shower. However, in the odd case that a fire did start, say, on the cold tile floor (?!?), then do you suppose we might be able to find any water anywhere to put the thing out? Honestly, if someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the showers, there would be minimal damage, if any. Water puts out fires, or so I'm told. Now I guess this could be an emergency thing, like if all the water lines are messed up and the showers don't work. Oh wait, don't sprinklers use water too? Hmmm...
- Why are the Clippers so much better than the Lakers? This is somewhat rhetorical, I suppose, but the fact that the Clips have two point guards better than any the Lakers have is a start. The Shaun Livingston Line of the Day award: Shaun Livingston 15 and 10 assists in another Clipper home win. They're a game up on the Lake Show with four to play...
- Is "Panda Express" really Chinese for "yummy?" Side, maybe you can help with this one. I have heard Chinese words at various points in time, and none of them really sound like "Panda" or "Express," but I've been wrong before...
- Has everyone seen the Ball State sportscaster? The poor kid is hilarious (very unintentionally so), losing his place on the prompter about a hundred times, mispronouncing names, probably losing his job. But he does get his SportsCenter catch phrase into the Pacers highlight (listen closely to that part; it's priceless). We're trying to get the clip cleared to play for the show...
That's six questions, hopefully enough to ponder throughout the day. Now, just a quick quote from Plaschke's column on the Dodgers this morning--he gets it: "This is a pain-in-the-butt team. Literally. The new wooden dugout benches? They are regularly delivering splinters into the back of the players' pants, and you can fill in your own joke." Nice job there, Billy.
Bible study tonight, which continues a good week for me in a lot of ways. Something popped into my head during a prayer at Bel Air Sunday morning that seemed so simple, yet so profound. My life needs to be about wanting to please God more than I want to please myself. It's idealistic and naive (Evian spelled backwards) to think that I can be that way all the time, but it's been refreshing to have that mindset when I'm making choices or just going about my normal day. It affects tiny things, like the way I approach my (limited) free time or the way I handle an inept subordinate at work, and big things, like the grander goals I have for my life and the people with whom I choose to spend time. I've really already seen the effect of thinking that way several times this week, so I'm encouraged that it will only grow from here. That's my deep thought for the day, and now I can get to my mental preparation for a wonderful day/night doubleheader between the Pads and the Cubbies--Peavy vs. Wood in game one, Prior (making his season debut) vs. the Bulldog (Brian Lawrence) in the nightcap. Again, the b-word is not mentioned. Respect.