Just Older

"I like the bed I’m sleeping in
It’s just like me, it’s broken in
It’s not old -- just older"
--Just Older, Bon Jovi

I've decided that I feel old this morning. Not old like aching-back, trick-knee, thinking-about-retirement old, but more like responsible old. There are still definitely large parts of me that are quite young (immaturity does have a way of frequently rearing its ugly head), but the last few weeks have given me a different sense of feeling grown up. Most of this is work-related, as I've been fortunate enough to receive an increasing level of responsibility on almost a daily basis, putting me in situations to lead and supervise, allowing me to feel more and more significant in the show's framework. It is a pretty cool thing to realize that I'm old enough (and capable enough) to be in a higher-level, decision-making, action-taking spot. I like it...

A weird corollary of the whole old thing is a push to the periphery of less significant, less productive activities, one of which is blogging. While I do love to write, I'm almost conflicted about where that writing energy should be going now--this little on-line journal thing, the show, the Outlook (um, no), a book (the Clausens?), a screenplay, songs--lots of different possibilities and definitely not enough time for all. Obviously the show gets the bulk of my attention, but there's other stuff up there in that noggin that needs to go somewhere. It'll all work itself out, I know...

Other less productive activities that have been moved to said periphery:
- XBox. Fell way behind in my Padres season on MLB 2K5, so there's no use trying to catch up (though I will say that the Roberts and Klesko for Beltran deal was an outstanding move on my part), Halo's just not the same without Charlie or Side (did manage one session with Side his first couple days back), and even FIFA has lost its luster...
- Evening television. Other than occasional "Seinfeld" viewings and the one show I'm about to mention, it's out, even SportsCenter. Of course, if the Padres are playing on the West Coast, I'm watching on the computer, but that doesn't really count. I'm around enough TV all day--I don't need any more...
- Nikki Time. Yeah that one was quick. Maybe it's part of feeling old, I don't know...
- Chess. Not really. I never played chess to begin with, though it seems like an interesting hobby...

I'm a day late, but "Entourage" continues to impress on Sunday nights. I don't know how I missed out on this last year, but by all accounts it was on a similarly genius level then, and has only gotten better. Piven drives the show, but the four dudes complement each other so well, and now there are guest star spots from people we know? It's getting a little out of hand. The lone drawback at this point is the move to a 10:00 Sunday night air, which guarantees me at least a 10:30 bedtime (usually much later, unfortunately). Not so great when 5 a.m. comes and I've gotten less than six hours of sleep. Still, I'm willing to make the sacrifice, at least until January, when "24" makes its triumphant return for season (and day) 5...

I need to qualify the following statement by asserting that I do not believe in karma at all. It's a convenient way for people to explain the rhythm of the universe, but there's no such thing. That notwithstanding, I was on the wrong end of some karma the other night in our rec league game. After ripping on one of the bonus teammates we had in our loss two weeks ago (the one who couldn't find a loose ball to save his life and couldn't make a simple layup), I proceeded to miss five or six layups myself and brick five of my six free throw attempts. I played okay defensively and on the boards, even making a big layup late in the game, but I jinxed myself big-time with the layup-missing comments. Of course, in reality, it's got nothing to do with this other cat, it's just that I decided to really suck in this particular game, but it's nicer when I can blame it on someone--and something--else...

I've decided that Buster Olney (need password) is to baseball what Peter King is to football. He's not that good on TV (yet), but he does two things very well: 1) he spans the globe (not literally) to provide the most interesting stuff from all of baseball every morning, and 2) his opinions on everything baseball-related are very well thought out and explained, never arrogant and always asking for input. He's touched on a lot of different things all season, from controversial things like steroids and Kenny Rogers to fun things like the All-Star voting, and it's always balanced. He doesn't stray from the sport as much as King does (coffee talk and random other observations from big Pete are commonplace), but it's everyday and it's incredibly insightful. If you do have the benefit of an Insider password (and you don't hate baseball), check him out...

Moving sucks. We have to move out of our lovely little Manhattan Beach home by the end of the month, and I'm not excited about that prospect. Every annoying thing that goes into it, not just the packing and carrying and throwing stuff away, but the changing of address forms for the credit cards and banks and money managers and payroll people--it all sucks. People move all the time and I know it's not that awful, but I can still be annoyed by it all. Looks like it'll be a two-bedroom place somewhere in Manhattan, but there's a bit of searching still to do...

Major League Baseball All-Star Red Carpet Show today at 4 p.m. PST. Fox actually gave us another shot after the Super Bowl debacle, and while this one does air on FSN, it's a big stage. I got here at 6:30 this morning, so it better be a good show. Should be fun...