It's been kind of a weird day. I seemed my most awake at the beginning of the day (a first), and have since gotten sleepier and sleepier (even with my nap from 2 to 4). I recall unintentionally cracking jokes in the bathroom this morning while applying water and a comb to my completely mussed-up hair, and advertising my knowledge of Theory at my 8:00 class.
Since then, and especially the last few hours, my brain has been jammed on neutral. No, it is not a feeling of helpless- or hopelessness, but perhaps one of sentimentality. I spent the last hour or so reading articles from the online Trib, and was once again served a reminder as to how temporary life, or a situation was.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the Lefkow murders. A year ago, I was still contemplating whether or not to start a blog, not really sure if I wanted my first post to cover something profound and close-to-home as this. For a novice blogger, I had hoped to start with a few easier topics before delving into deep philosophies and sentimentalities. So I decided to wait until I started feeling better (spiritually, etc) before embarking on such a commitment. March 6th, I recall, was the first relatively sunny (and spring-like) day St. Olaf had seen in a while. I had gotten new shoes (a chunk of ice ripped a hole through the bottom of my old ones the day before), and Tyler and I rearranged the room as well. So it was a new beginning (at least temporarily), and I've been here to analyze the past year as it has happened.
Speaking of new normalcies of life, I also read an article about Frank Thomas' end with the White Sox. Like Sammy Sosa with the Cubs, he had been a long-standing player, slugger, and diva on a Chicago team, and in a city during a time when its citizens needed a superstar (after MJ retired). Just as I identified with Sosa on the Cubs, I saw Thomas as the rep for the Sox. But like Sosa, Thomas was also discarded like a piece of unused styrofoam, and now is a pariah in Sox world. The Oakland Athletics are to Thomas now as the Baltimore Orioles were to Sosa last year. Of course we have no idea if he will be healthy and perform as he did in his prime years, or break down like Sosa.
It's pretty hard (for me, anyway) not to bring up Thomas without bringing up his Cubs counterpart. After all, the two were baseball in Chicago when the city's baseball teams sucked, and even when they were good. I recall writing an essay freshman year in high school comparing the two of them. What I mostly remember included my inability to keep Mark McGwire out of the paper. But I apparently had a good reason for putting them together, but at this point it's fairly difficult to single out my views in 2000 when I mostly remember their respective last days in Chicago. But then again, that's Chicago sports in a nutshell; ask anyone how they will remember players like Mark Grace or Magglio Ordonez. Or mention the managing careers of Jim Riggleman, Don Baylor, or Jerry Manuel. The trio never really did much with their teams; what I remember most is that all three were fired from their jobs at some point.
So those have been my thoughts on the day. I am still waiting for a few people to call me back on my cell phone (as each call will partially determine the rest of my semester or something of other significance), and I still have snap out of my "lazy" funk and get to work. If I have more free time, I should go to the library and listen to more folk songs written by Luciano Berio (I got a not-so-anonymous tip on finding out the first name). Thanks for the notice.