Wednesday, May 26, 2004

The Heat!

Can men and women be friends? Well according to the biblical authors they can't. Why? Because of the heat. The inevitable heat that sparks between a man and woman when they get together. That heat that draws them together and plays on their natural urges. That heat will always get in the way of Friendship. This is according to my professor of my summer course. Since he can read biblical Hebrew and a PhD. in the subject, so I tend to believe that this is what the biblical authors say but I don't believe it. I have several male friends that I don't feel the "heat" with. Does this make the biblical authors wrong? Or was the idea of a man and woman being just friends in biblical times unthinkable? For centuries, Hell for 2 millenniums women were only wives, mothers and daughters. That was their goals in life. They were not expected to be the intellectual equals of their husbands and fathers. What would they have to talk about? So I guess I really don't know the answer and seem to be more rambling then anything else but with no disrespect to the biblical authors but I do believe that men and women can be friends with any sexual expectations. Believe me, I know.

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Roland Garros!

For the six people out there that actually read this know that I love Tennis. It's my favorite sport. I just love it! Well, Roland Garros, aka The French Open, starts tomorrow. It's the second Grand Slam of the year and the only one on Clay and in a non-English speaking country. That last point is mostly irrevelant but interesting point nonetheless. I've been to Roland Garros before for a Davis Cup tie and the atmosphere is like no other. I look forward to the day that I will go for the French Open.

This year is probably the most intriguing because it's so wide open, for both the Men and the Women. Both defending champions Justine Henin-hardenne and Juan Carlos Ferrero have been out because of illness and injury. Justine is set to play but JC is still in doubt and is more and more doubtful to play with every day. The poor guy, caught the chicken pox in Indian wells and then tripped and fell and sprained his wrist and elbow himself in the ribs! All I can say is that I hope that if he does play, he wins because even a hurt JC is still better on clay then most players healthy.

I guess the favorite is Roger Federer. He's world number 1 and just won Hamburg, a major tune up for RG. But it the one flaw is that he hasn't won a set at RG in two years and both years he had good preparations going in. What makes this year different? Well, he's not the same player, he's #1 world and has won Wimbledon, the Australian Open and The Masters Cup since his last lost. There won't be a repeat of last year.

There may be a repeat for Andy Roddick though. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy. He's one of my favorite players but he always seems lost out there on the European clay. He does have a very manageable draw however. He opens with veteran Todd "Marathon Man" Martin. Martin has this amazing ability to come back in matches in which it looked like he had already lost. That is just one of the reasons for Roddick to get this match over with as soon as possible. Another is so he can get that "not winning a match since his RG debut in 2001" monkey off his back.

Now some real favorites are Guillermo Coria, Carlos Moya, David Nalbandian, Marat Safin and to lesser extent Andre Agassi. Only because he is Andre Agassi but not because anyone thinks he is going to win. I'll throw in three time winner Gustavo Kuertan for Kat. Guga has never been the player he was since he had surgery on his hip but can really count out a guy that has won this tournament three times? If I was a betting person, I would say Coria is the best bet but even he is having to deal with an injury. Of course there are others but too many to list. One to watch is Fernando Verdasco of Spain. When he goes deep in the tournament, you can say you heard it here first!

You may have noticed I haven't spent that much time talking about the women. I usually don't pay that much attention to the WTA tour because honestly I don't find it that interesting. The usual subjects are still in the mix Henin-Hardenne (I mentioned her earlier), Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport. I think it's safe to say that one of these women will win.

I try not to make predictions because I feel like I give players bad luck so I'll say let the best player win!

Saturday, May 22, 2004

I am going to be so HOTT!!

Kat and I have been on the South Beach Diet for almost two months now and working out at Curves for a month. So far things are going great. I've lost 13 pounds and feeling great! Boy did that sound corny but it's the truth. Everytime I go work out or eat a bunch of vegetables, in my head I think "I'm going to be so hot!". I know it sounds vain but for a girl who has been overweight for most of her life it's a great motivation. I've never felt like I was "hot" before. I wonder what it feels like to be "Hot". Well, a year from now, I'll let you know.

I'm doing well but Kat is doing Great! I am so proud of her and jealous at the same time but mostly proud. I can really see a difference in the way her clothes hang on her. Today she is wearing an old pair of jeans that she hasn't been able to wear in a while and they are even a little baggy! How cool is that?! It's not just cool, it's fantabulous! She really has been my inspiration in this whole "Better Life Change" that I am doing. She wanted to try South Beach and I said what the hey. It would be easier for us to make one menu instead two. She does most of the cooking and is full of enthusiastic about the whole thing. I love her!

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

HECTORRRR!!!

So, I saw Troy on Friday. I had been looking forward to it for a while. I thought it would be good, entertaining and full of eye candy. Which it was! I enjoyed it. I knew going in that it wasn't going to be historically accurate or faithful to Homer's original text. I think because I knew that I could just relax and think of it as just another summer popcorn movie with lots of action and hot guys! Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt may not be the best actors in the world but do look good in Greek armor. *sigh* Eric Bana performance as Hector was the best of the whole movie and Sean Bean was excellent as always. :D

There is one scene that I just couldn't help but laugh at. Archilles (Pitt) is yelling for Hector (Bana) and all I could think was Marlon Brando and a Street Car Named Desire. STEEELLLAAA! I was trying my hardest not to laugh.

So Troy isn't the best movie I have ever seen but it was what I expected it to be, a good summer film. I do have one qualm with it though. I was promised Orlando, Naked and Honey and only got one of the three. Grr... Oh well. This week Shrek 2 opens up. I just have to remember to go at night, to avoid the horrible kid factor and then Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban! June 4th baby! This was always my favorite book of the series so they better not have messed it up!