We are Virginia Tech.

Below is a speech by Nikki Giovanni given at a memorial on the Virginia Tech Campus. The words are expressive and eloquent, but the video of the speech (seen below) is nothing short of powerful and momentous.

"We are Virginia Tech
We are sad today
And we will be sad for quite a while
We are not moving on
We are embracing our mourning

We are Virginia Tech
We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly
We are brave enough to bend to cry
And sad enough to know we must laugh again

We are Virginia Tech
We do not understand this tragedy
We know we did nothing to deserve it
But neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS
Neither do the invisible children walking the night away
To avoid being captured by a rogue army
Neither does the baby elephant watching his community be devastated for ivory
Neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water
Neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of night in his crib
In the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder
Because the land was destabilized
No one deserves a tragedy

We are Virginia Tech
The Hokie nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands
To those who offer their hearts and minds
We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid
We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be
We are alive to the imagination and the possibility
We will continue to invent the future
Through our blood and tears
Through all this sadness

We are the Hokies
We will prevail
We will prevail
We will prevail
We are... Virginia Tech."

Phillies Mathematical Equation

Let's do some math:

• 1 Phillies Game which also happens to be both College Night and Dollar Dog Day PLUS
• 1 $21 ticket for $14 (sect 428) PLUS
• 1 inning sitting in section 422 PLUS
• 7 innings waiting for the dollar dogs (yes, I did say 7 innings)^ PLUS
• 2 innings of regulation sitting in section 317 spent eating hot dogs, yelling at the players, yelling at the umps, getting support of my adopted section PLUS
• 1 turkey hill iced tea bottle filled with spit from someone doing chewing tobacco% PLUS
• 1 statement by a CBP employee saying that if anything else is thrown from the upper deck, I am permitted to retaliate (though no preemptive strikes)% PLUS
• 1 statement by the same CBP employee who said that he's watching my back while I watch the game and if he sees who throws the next thing, hes going to tell me before telling the police so I have time to get to the upper deck before the cops% PLUS
• 2 extra innings in section 317 spent yelling at the players and challenging the crowd in the upper deck PLUS
• 1 binocular flask with jagermeister on one side and jager-bomb on the other (not to mention the pregamming shots or the mini bottles of various liquors) EQUALS

1 interesting & fun night which left me hoarse, semi-drunk, semi-sick, and tired.

^While waiting for hotdogs, a group of guys cut to the very front of the line with their one friend. I yelled out to the front telling them to get to the back, and all left except for one. So I walked up to the front of the line, got right up into this guy's face and told him I've been waiting for about 6 innings (at that point) and that he needed to get to the back of the line. He tried giving some BS answer, but I repeated that he needed to move to the back. The one lady behind the counter asked what the problem was and when I told her, she told him to get to the back and asked me if I wanted 1 or 2 hot dogs (even though none were currently out). Instead of getting any, I returned to my spot in line to wait my turn.

%Seeing as how it was college night, the upper deck was full of drunk people who decided that hotdogs and drink containers made good projectiles (they were right in that aspect). The spit filled iced tea container landed right behind me and I turned and challenged anyone from up top to throw something at me again. I lined up a row of my own projectiles for return file, including the iced tea container (which I was going to remove the lid prior to launching), a hot dog, and a plastic spoon (still in the plastic wrapper).

BTW, the Phillies lost again to start the year 0-2. Looks like good times are ahead.

My Humps

So apparently Alanis Morissette did a cover of "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas. It's actually quite humorous. I've included the original followed by the Morissette version. Enjoy.

Dinner and a date

I noticed a bumper sticker today that made me laugh. It said:

"If you're going to ride my ass
At least buy me dinner first"

Simple things never cease to amaze me.