Random Thoughts For Monday

Usually I have tons of random thoughts or ideas during the course of each day. Sometimes I will feel compelled to share these thoughts or ideas on this here blog. And sometimes, they are just little snippits of thoughts. You know, stuff that isn't worth a whole blog entry.

So I have decided to just throw all the random crap that I can think of into one humongous entry. Stuff that bugs me, stuff that makes me happy, chicks that are hot and what not. Just random crap like that. So here we go.

1. Stupid people are out there driving cars...

If anyone has ever been driving with me, you know that I am a completely different person when driving. It's one of my few weaknesses, you could say. I don't know what happens, but my mood turns into "pissed off" when I get into the car. I could be happy as can be before I get into the car, it doesn't matter. I still automatically want to run stupid people off the road, at the first sign of stupidity.

So the other day I'm driving home. My drive home takes about 30 minutes everyday. There is no city street driving, I take the freeway all the way out. The exit that I take is usually pretty busy. Troutdale is a suburb where a lot of families and commuters live, and so therefore more cars get off at this exit than most of the others. This exit is clearly marked by a big green reflective highway sign that has the words "Troutdale" on it somewhere. Like, marked at least a mile up the freeway. This sign doesn't just sneak up on you.

So I'm driving along in the one lane that is designated for this exit. There is a pickup truck driving next to me as I near the spot where the lane veers off into the exit. At first, I assume that he's wanting to get over to get off at the exit. People will do this all the time. But his blinker isn't on and he's not actively trying to get into my lane. So the lane starts to veer off, and out of freaking nowhere, this dude pulls some kind of Dukes-of-Hazzard-like move and cuts me off! Luckily I saw him and was slowing down anyway, so it wasn't like I was going to hit him.

But things like this cause me to wonder if people are actually thinking when they are driving?? I mean, you would think so right? You kinda have to be thinking on some level to drive right? Apparently, some people do not practice thinking while driving. And it really pisses me off. Do people plan ahead when behind the wheel? Like, did this truck not have any idea that he might want to get off at that exit??

And he didn't even wave to acknowledge that I was nice enough to not ram my car into the back of his. I mean it would have been his fault so I could have scored a nice settlement.

I think it's only fair to ask people to actually think and maybe know where they're going while driving.

(Wow that was a long first "random thought" huh? They aren't all that in depth.)

2. Myspace sucks...

Despite my disdain for Myspace, I do still have a profile. I don't really know why I still do, I just do. Hey, if it counts for anything, I have quit Myspace twice. I feel I am heading for a third time here pretty soon. I mean no matter how many hot chicks request to be my friend (this happens many times during the day), there are a few things that I just cannot wrap my head around:

First, I don't get why people set their profiles to "private." Does this make sense to anyone? Am I missing something here? You join Myspace, which is a site that was invented to display anything and everything about you and your personal life - not to mention as many down-your-shirt photos and photos of your pet you can think of - only to set it all so that only people who request your "friendship" can see? It's not adding up to me. If you're on there just to communicate with the people you know, why don't you try picking up the telephone once in a while?

Next thing I cannot stand is "overloaded" profile pages. Or as I like to call them "seizure pages." What is the compulsion that causes people to do this? What is it that clicks in someones head that makes them want to add two songs, three videos, flashing glittery graphics, and 6 different picture slide shows onto one single page? I swear, I've almost dropped to floor shaking uncontrollably about five different times because of all the stuff happening at once on these pages. I guess I need to stay away from Myspace even more, because if I see one more of these jacked up pages with, like, 10 things going on at once, I am going to snap.

On the odd occasion over my time spent on Myspace, I will send emails to my "friends" on my page. And occasionally, I will send a message to someone that I don't know very well yet, but would like to hang with, or learn more about. For example, someone that I meet through a friend and then request their "friendship" on Myspace. When they add me, I will usually send a quick note just to say what's up. Nothing special or creepy or even long-winded. Just a quick message. And then they just never write back. This drives me NUTS. If they didn't have any interest in actually communicating, why in the bloody hell did they add me? Please tell me why this happens.

3. New music I've recently discovered...
I never actually listen to the radio, so lots of times I don't hear about brand new artists when they first come out. This is perfectly okay with me. If it's good music, I will either find it myself, or hear about it from a trusted friend.

I have mentioned Ingrid Michaelson on here before. I thought it'd be a good date idea, to take a girl to see a show of hers, that is, if she was touring. Turned out she was. She was opening for a dude named Matt Nathanson. So, naturally, I checked out Matt Nathanson.

Turns out, he's pretty good. He is like Jack Johnson mixed with Dashboard Confessional. Well, I would say more like Dashboard, but not so heart wrenching. His music will make you sad, but it will stop short of making you wanna jump off the roof or anything like that. So if you've recently broken up or just want to feel like total crap, listen to Matt Nathanson. I know, that's quite the endorsement huh?

Still he's got some good tunes. So the next time you're on i-tunes, give him a listen.

4. Hot damn, I think the world is coming to an end...

The Minnesota Timberwolves just signed their starting power forward to a contract extension. Since trading away Keving Garnett this summer, all the Timberwolves have is a crap load of really really young players. Al Jefferson is one of their better players. His contract was for 5 years and valued at approximately 65 million.

Now, yes, that is an obnoxiously huge amount but it's not the most he could have asked for. Check this out from Yahoo Sports:

Jefferson ignored that advice and signed a five-year, $65 million deal just before the deadline Wednesday night. In the era of "Show me the money!" and "bling bling," Jefferson's reason was stunningly humble.

"I didn't even think I was worth max (money) this year anyway," Jefferson said at a press conference on Thursday. "I would've been a fool to go up there and ask for max, having not really proved myself for that. So the number I got was the number that was my goal from Day 1. And I think it was a win, win situation."

And the thing that shocked me about it is that you just don't hear stuff like that coming out of the mouths of pro athletes these days. It's actually sorta refreshing. Too bad we won't see it catch on. But it's really nice to see this guy not be so greedy. And Jefferson actually seems like a real likable dude.

5. My fantasy dominance is in jeopardy this week...
So a little background first. I was lucky enough to draft Tom Brady 18th overall in our fantasy football draft this season. Tom Brady is now the single best fantasy football player in the league. At the time of this writing, he has 172 more points than the next best player, which is Tony Romo. And we're not talking about just quarterbacks here, we're talking all the players in the league.

Of course I didn't know he was going to be this good, but I drafted him and it's very nice to have him on my team. He is the main reason that Goodell's Boys are enjoying an 8-1 record and are tied for first place right now in the season.

Anyway, Tom Brady's bye is coming this next week. Here is where it gets tricky. There are NO decent quarterbacks left in the league. I need to get someone that can at least get me half of what Brady usually gets me, or I'm going to struggle. This is harder than it sounds. Actually, it's quite impossible.

So today I tried to get someone that can be decent enough for me to squeak out the victory. I had my choice of Josh McCown, Brooks Bollinger and Cleo Lemon. Pretty slim pickins. So to maintain my first place standing and continued dominance, it's all riding on one man's arm. That man is Josh McCown. Ugh. Here is McCown's stat line for the year: 4 games, 57/96 att, 652 yds, 5 TDs and 8 int.

Uhh, so not exactly my usual Tom Brady-like numbers. Wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes.