So as far as I can tell, my last post around here was at the end of July. Pitiful.
I've got a lot to fill you in on - and by "you" I of course mean "scott." Anyway...here goes. I guess I'll break it down into categories. I'll more than likely forget something painfully important, so I think I'm gonna have to write this thing over a few days to make sure I cover all the happenings worth a mention.
FAITH & IThis should probably go first.
Faith quit taking birth control a while back, and relatively soon after, we had a home test come back positive. We scheduled an appointment with her doctor to confirm, and started what-iffing in our heads. Before the appointment, she started having some weird goings-on and ended up having a very early term miscarriage. We went to the doctor and he checked everything out. He said she was fine physically, that there was no need for a DNC, and that we could wait about a month and start trying again.
So try we did.
And I'm proud to say that we'll be expecting the newest addition to the Taylor family in July. I'm rooting for a redheaded little girl, but I think my Scots-Irish genes will be massively outweighed by the Spanish, Mexican and Italian in Faith's blood.
So that's that.
FOOTBALLOk. On to the important stuff.
About the end of July/beginning of August I decided to make an effort to follow football (that's soccer to you Yanks). So I did a couple things to facilitate my efforts.
First thing I did was join a
messageboard through which I could download games and watch them at home. This is pretty sweet since ESPN doesn't show shit unless it's something huge like the World Cup. So I went online and started downloading games and watching as many teams as possible to hopefully find one that clicked with me that I could support.
Secondly I found a pub in the area that shows the games live.
Finn McCool's has become my weekend home away from home. They show basically every game I would ever want to see, and there are plenty of supporters of my 2 favorite teams - more on that in a bit. I love this place. I've drank more than my fair share of Carlsberg in the last few months, and I've actually made a few friends.
Choosing a ClubI tend to read into things too much. It was no different when I started the process of choosing a football club to support. I'll try to break it down as simply as I can.
I started by automatically ruling out the "Top 4" - Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. If you know me at all, you know I abhor bandwagonning. I wouldn't support a top club if you paid me. It just seems a little too convenient to start rooting for a team that you know will probably win something significant within the next year or so.
I then started reading a lot about different clubs. I'd looked at Everton a few years back, but with no way to watch the games the allegiance never really stuck. Then I saw
this picture and knew I could never really support Balboa's team. To be honest, I like to see them win, but they'll always be the Philly's to me...I like them and all and it's nice when they win, but if they're playing my team I'd rather they die in a fire.
Then I took someone from the messageboard's advice and just started watching games. He said if I took in enough games, there would be a team that just clicked with me. It would be a natural fit, and I'd know it when it happened. So I did just that. I used the forums to download as much from the last few seasons as I could get my hands on.
As I watched the games, I started to develop an interest in
West Ham United. This was a team that I'd originally written off because I didn't want to be that guy who was a fan of that team from
the movies, but the more I watched them struggle to stay in the
Premiership and struggle with
bad business deals, the more I related with the underdog team with loads of promise that occasionally shows up to the pitch and gives you something brilliant. I've grown up a Saints fan and for the better part of the last decade have followed the Red Sox, so it only made sense that I'd fall in with a crowd that finds little success and even less respect, but is a proud and diehard lot no matter the result. So that takes care of the English side of me.
The 4%A funny thing happened on the way to picking a football team...I found out a bit about my heritage. I traced my English side back 12 generations to Somerset - which is why I've recently started following the results for League One side
Yeovil Town FC. And I found out that my Scottish heritage is as close as my great grandmother Marion Lawson. I think I knew she was born in Scotland, but something about finding out when and where - Ayr to be exact - just made it real. So since I discovered that my Scottish side is closer than my English side, I decided to pick a Scottish team to support.
There's basically two to choose from:
Rangers and
Celtic. This decision I read even more into. First I looked into my clan - Lawson comes from the MacLaren clan - and where they settled. Glasgow was definitely one of the places they ended up, so either
Old Firm side was fair game. I then started reading up on both teams. They basically hate each other. Rangers are Protestant. Celtic are Catholic. Rangers are Loyal to England and Northern Ireland. Celtic are rebels against England and support the Republic of Ireland. Rangers wear blue. Celtic wear green. Um...ok that last one isn't so bad, but the first two have claimed lives in the century past.
So I looked at Rangers for a bit because I'm protestant. I'd followed their league position before, but never really developed any loyalty to the team. It didn't develop after watching a few games either, so I looked at Celtic.
It was pretty easy to start liking Celtic for a few reasons. The first would be that Finn's is run by and overwhelmingly patronised by Celtic supporters. If I were in Scotland, this would be a reason to support Celtic because the other option would be pain abruptly followed by death. But I'm not in Scotland, so it was almost like just starting to follow the pub team. The second reason I connected with Celtic is the politics. I could give a shit about religion so the Catholic v Protestant thing didn't bother me, but the fact that Rangers supporters are so loyal to "the throne" just kinda irks me. I know it doesn't make sense since I'm half English, but basically they'd be fighting
against William Wallace if they were around back then. That's just crazy. The rebel in me can't side with the Loyalists, so I find myself in the minority - about 4% - of Protestant Celtic supporters.
Oh...and I found out that my great grandmother's town has a football team. So that brings the total to 4.
Celtic
West Ham
Yeovil
and
Ayr UnitedIt's amazing how rabid I've become about this crap in such a short span.
The ShedClose friends will know the saga of the the shed. I bought a shed about a year ago thinking I could just throw it together myself no problem. Well after the first 8 hour day of trying to figure things out, I decided I didn't want to deal with it. So it sat under a tarp in pieces for the next year until Faith and I decided we might want to sell the house, and I was forced into actually dealing with the damn thing. If you know me at all, you know I'm not the best at mechanical stuff. I hate figuring stuff out. I usually do figure it out and get it put together, but I also end up throwing fits and breaking things in the process. I was not looking forward to the shed.
Ah the beauty of a willing friend.
My buddy Zach is the antithesis of my tantrum throwing "I'll just pay someone to do it" attitude. He's the perfect guy to help me tackle something like this. So he came over last Saturday and we put the damn thing together. Funny thing is: all the hard stuff was done that first aggravating day. I'd expected the rest of the shed to be just as annoying, but the hurdles that were crossed that first day were the biggest of all, and it was all downhill for me and Zach. We put in a good day's work, and almost got the whole thing done. We've still got some roof panels to put on, but that's cake. We'll probably take care of it next weekend.
Here's some pics on my chick's myspace if you care to check us and our manly skills out.
Whiskerino 2007Those of you who were around for
Whiskerino 2005 have no doubt been looking forward to November 2007 since March 2006. Once again men gather to shun the social norms and reclaim their faces in the name of the brotherhood and for the love of the beard. I went the full stretch in 05, but alas 2007 was to be interrupted early as I was scheduled to play in a wedding last weekend. The wedding came and went, and so did my facial hair. I did enjoy my time with the Whiskerians this year, but it must come to an end. You can check out my brief participation
here.
I will however continue with my participation even though my beard may not continue with me. I will be using this neglected blog of mine as JATerino from now until the end of February. Today's my official last day at Whiskerino, so I'll be picking up here tomorrow with daily photos. I'll follow the theme days and parody the Whrino pics much like the ladies of
Vaginarino. I'll probably be doing this all for my own amusement, but at least it'll keep me out of trouble and off the drugs.
So farewell Whiskerino. Hopefully I'll be around for a longer stretch in 09.
ConclusionI'm pregnant.
I've got half a shed.
My face had hair and now it doesn't any more.
I like soccer.
I still haven't posted a June mixtape.
cheers
