Hey all, I realize that this is the second time this week I've done a "memories" post, and I have a feeling that nobody is terribly interested in this stuff, but a look at the 2 PM update of the tropical weather map has me going again, and I just have to write, sorry.  Some things are bigger than baseball, and if you're not interested in these things please feel free to skip what I have to say.

( Yes, this is indeed bigger than baseball... )

Y'all, I do apologize for being incommunicado for an ungodly long time.  Truthfully, I've been so stressed out by work that I haven't had the energy to post...just drive-by comments on other people's blogs.  I have a LOT to talk about and will have to post it in bits and pieces. There's just so much going on in my head lately, so much to think about, I guess maybe I'm going into my midlife crisis along with menopause (yes, I am, LOL).  But anyway, it's late and I'll get to the meat and potatoes of that stuff a different day.  I have a whole list of things that I want to post about soon.  I'll certainly have time over the next week, thanks to our guys being on the West Coast.  I pretty much have to check in and then check right out when the games don't start until 10:00 on a work night.  At least I can catch up on other stuff...posting, e-mails, chores. So that's good.

But then there's our guys, who simply couldn't get it done tonight.  I loved the two HRs, at least what I heard of them on the radio.  Other than that, it was one big epic fail.  I mean, I stayed up late for this 11-3 debacle?  And Manny is being totally foolish lately.  I know everyone else's blogs will go into the details, but suffice it to say that if he doesn't watch out he won't get his wish to retire in a Red Sox uniform, which would be a damned shame considering how beloved he's been for the most part while he's been in Boston.  Insulting the ownership AND laughing about screwing up in the field (with Theo and Boras sitting right there!) is NOT the way to win friends and influence people, Manny.  I'm so disappointed in his recent behavior that I just switched my default picture to Papi, who is all things wise and wonderful and loveable.  I'm sure I'll lighten up after a good night's sleep, but right now...BAH!

Okay, so tonight on the gameday thread over at Center Field a few ROFLBOT macros were posted.  Technodummy that I am, I had never before known how those funny LOLpics were created on the fly.  I thought that folks painstakingly pasted pictures into their Paint programs and added text to them (which is as far as I've gotten, although thanks to Liza's advice I will be soon downloading a free photoshoppesque thingie off the Internet and playing with that a bit).  I had the good sense to scrutinize one of the macros and then Google "roflbot" and voila!  I made a few and saved them back to my computer.  Next up...creating a Photobucket account.  I know that all this stuff sounds SO elementary to you guys/y'all, but to me it's new wonderful bright and shiny toys that I can use to fool with the zillion and a half Sox pics that I've saved on my computer.  I'm looking forward to posting some of my creations right here in this journal a little ways down the road!

And along those lines, please do feel free to "steal" my icons (the ones that say "made by me"), as long as you give me credit for them.  Folks around here have been generous with sharing theirs, so I certainly want to return the favor.

One more thing.  It's past midnight, which means it's July 19...the birthday of my favorite cousin who I posted about awhile back.  Actually, two of my cousins have birthdays today (my family is chock full of duplicate birthdays), so I'll honor them both.  A shout out to Mark in California, who is 37, but the big hug and a wave across a thousand miles goes to Andre' down in Houston, who is now 31 and thinks he's old.  No matter how old you get, Andre', I'm still 19 years ahead of you!

So it's late.  As I said, I have a bunch of other stuff to talk about, but not tonight.  Right now I'm headed for a bedtime snack of Blue Bunny "Peanut Butter Panic" ice cream with chocolate syrup.  Ahhhh, sinful.  Something to send me to bed with a smile on my face.  Stay tuned.