March Madness

With selection Sunday just around the corner, I'm shaking in my slip on vans.

Why, you ask? Because my bracket last year simply rocked. My first round was nearly perfect (I think I missed 2 games out of 32) and my second round was nearly the same. I was on top in my BU law pool and a BYU law school pool. It was the first year I didn't bet any money and I was totally kicking myself for it. But this year, I have a feeling I'm not going to do as well as last year and that will leave me deflated. How can you beat a nearly perfect first round of your bracket? (I still brag about it)

I do have hope though. Last year I followed college basketball a little more than this year (and besides, there seems like there is a lot more fluctuation in team performance this season) but I still predicted 0 out of 4 final four teams.

The goal this year is to still have fun picking my teams (I still dont think I'll pick BYU, they always choke and as much and I'd love to cheer for them, if they are really going up against Texas Tech...puhlease...), watching all the games (if only it was on my plasma...hee hee I'll be at home instead), and drawing up my family's bracket (a tradition I started in the 5th grade after realizing how much fun the NCAA tourney was). Btw, I had a winning streak for my family's bracket for like 5 years straight. It was beautiful. I think JB (?) won it last year w/ Florida...or maybe it was Hillary. Maybe I can regain some of the family bragging rights. (we just choose names out of a hat, its all luck)

March is my favorite time of the year b/c of March Madness. I have very fond memories in undergrad of skipping class and watching all the first round games. When else can you have 16 games in a day? March Madness also got me through the one weekend I spent in the hospital recovering from sepsis my freshman year. Last year I skipped property and watched the Boston College first round game in T's pub on Comm Ave. Skipping class was a good choice last time. March Madness also reminds me of the time in 1994 when my dad decided we should scalp tickets for the final four and I got to go to it. There was also the time sophomore year when Mike and I went up to the U and got tickets to see the Gonzaga-Arizona game that went into triple OT. I screamed so hard I had a headache for about an hour. Now I'm just rambling about my favorite March Madness moments...anyway...It also signals the end of what I think is the most exciting sports event (all those college players play with so much heart, and each time they just have one game to play) while it signals the start of...BASEBALL. :)

So I will definitely do my research this year and choose carefully. But I vow not to be disappointed and I will love every minute of the double OTs, incredible last second shots, the endearing cinderellas, and hopefully the teams I hate exiting early. I seriously can't wait.

UPDATE: I ended up with all 4 of my final 4...I was quite happy with my results. And I beat my roommate who bragged about her bracket for a long time...she ended up with 0/4.

Nostalgia

This weekend whilst in DC I was talking to someone (I really wish I could remember who it was...dang) about how much I love U2. We were talking about our favorite albums and I said Achtung Baby and Zooropa. He agreed that Zooropa was awesome (I think it was a he at least..) and then dawned on me that I hadn't listened to that album in SO long. Zooropa was my first CD I purchased when I was in 5th grade and I just got a new CD player. I felt SO cool going to Sam Goody at Bellevue Square to purchase my first CD. $13.99 was so worth the hours and hours of play time that the CD got in my room. I was just talking about how awesome the album is with Karren on gchat right now...and we decided the WHOLE album is so good. Lemon, Zooropa, Babyface, Stay, Who's Gonna Pay for your Crashed Car, Dirty Day, the Wanderer...seriously the whole album is awesome. And who could forget the music video for Numb w/ the Edge?



Anyway, I just looked up Zooropa in my itunes and I'm listening to it right now. It's bringing me back to dancing around in my room on Yarrow Point when I was 11! I can still remember exactly how my room looked too. I felt so cool b/c I could finally put up my own posters (my mom didnt let me hang posters in Menlo Park). I had a big U of W Huskies poster along with a big Squaw Valley Poster (which I still have somewhere I think). I even had the U2 calendar from 1995 hanging up in that room.




Anyway, thank you U2 for bringing me back to my elementary and middle school days. I'm so enjoying this.

What are your favorite albums that bring you back in time?

Recharging

This weekend was so perfect and it was exactly what I needed. At the last minute I booked a ticket to DC and stayed with my friend Amber. I couldn't have picked a better weekend for the weather (sunny and 60), friends (one of my best friends from growing up was randomly there with a bunch of my other friends), fun (parties, shopping, museums, tours, late night chats, french toast, going out to dinner, etc) and other random things.

I was in such a good mood when I got home. Then the weight of the reading assignments, work, papers, etc came down on me along with the realization that we have mice in our apt.

I'm still smiling about the weekend though. And instead of reading, I watched Laguna Beach. How's that for escapism?