Tuesday morning, one of my two Uncles Bob (my mother's brother, not my mother's sister's husband) offered me a pair of tickets to The Game. Holy wow, I haven't seen the Michigan-Ohio State game with my own eyes in years! I accepted his generosity right away, the potential price of the tickets being all that gave me pause, but by late Tuesday night circumstances compelled Uncle Bob to rescind the offer. He apologized profusely and I had no cause to bear him any ill will; easy come, easy go. Still and all, boy howdy, that would have been something!
For the record, I would have invited The Impossible Ingenue, but in the full knowledge that she'd be working and would thus almost certainly decline. My real plan, then, was to invite Doctor Hee Haw, whom I have not seen in far too long. It would have been classic, Doc!
Ohio State 21-10 Michigan
5-7, Big Ten 1-7
Wisconsin 45-24 Michigan
5-6, Big Ten 1-6
Purdue 38-36 Michigan
5-5, Big Ten 1-5
Illinois 38-13 Michigan
5-4, Big Ten 1-4
Penn State 35-10 Michigan
5-3, Big Ten 1-3
What can I say? I'm sorry I haven't blogged more about the football season. I'm sorry Project MERCATOR prevented me from watching several of this season's games. I'm sorry a year in which we all expected to make a great leap forward ended up resembling (and I'm sorry for the insensitiveness of this reference) the Great Leap Forward. I'm sorry we're terrible.
But I'm not sorry for believing in Rich Rodriguez. Lloyd Carr liked to use the words of Rudyard Kipling as instruments in his job, which he saw as not so much to coach football as it was to guide boys into honorable manhood. So, in defense of Coach Rodriguez, I submit some words of Rudyard Kipling's, from the poem "If—," the pattern after which I am attempting to lead my own life:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
…
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
…
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
…
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!
Go Blue!
Project PANDORA
I had mobile telephone conversations this afternoon with my erstwhile best friend, K. Steeze, and The Guy, seeking their counsel on how, or even if, I should pursue The Impossible Ingenue. Each handled the imposition with aplomb and I thank them for their sage words. I am tremendously fortunate to have such friends. Thank you, kind sirs.
Project MERCATOR
I was out late Thursday night (more to follow) and out late Friday (the second consecutive Friday spent at The Impossible Ingenue's house), but mercifully The Anonymous Friend had to postpone the poker night scheduled for this evening. Instead, I washed up after some post-game leaf-raking (during which I had the confabs with the aforementioned trio of advisers), ate a delicious home-cooked meal, washed the dishes from same, and caught up on the Monk and White Collar episodes I taped during the last two Fridays spent with The Impossible Ingenue. There are tentative plans to see a movie tomorrow with The Most Dangerous Game, and I hope to corner her into a serious conversation about what's been bedeviling her, though she is by turns evasive and vague when the discussion turns to anything substantive.
World of woe, I'm even farther behind on entries in my journal than I am on posts to The Secret Base. Cursed twenty-four-hour day!
The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" from A Saturday Tradition (T.L.A.M.)
Commentary: Go Blue!
Freitag, 20 November
The Puppini Sisters, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" from The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo (T.L.A.M.)
Commentary: Swing dance lesson with The Impossible Ingenue: free. The opportunity to dance with The Impossible Ingenue: priceless.
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