Believe It!

The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl! It's just amazing what can happen when you give yourself a chance and start to believe... What an amazing reminder that the pieces can all fall into place when you let them.

A Nice Bowl of Puttanesca

One of the things I've learned over the years is that the Universe speaks to me in metaphor -- that is, I've come to believe that certain aspects of events going on around me are a mirror for internal things going on in my life. It's like watching other people act out the stuff that's going on in my head.

I finished my latest CD a few days ago. I've really been trying to focus on myself and rediscover the joy in my life -- I really do love so much of what's going on in my life right now, though it's sometimes I lose track of it. Anyway, I've felt like this latest CD is really reflects the core of what I'm trying to learn -- to relax and enjoy myself and find the things in my life to feel good about, instead of worrying about how to "fix" things. I really do believe that that's the freedom I've been looking for: the ability to enjoy life as it is and to trust it to unfold as it should. I've been working to reach that point that Mary J. Blige talks about -- "I wouldn't change my life, my life's just fine." I've felt like coming to really live that on a deep level is the missing piece I've always needed.

Alex emailed me after listening to the new disc, commenting that he thinks that it's the best he's heard from me and that he can tell that I've really been in a good space. On balance I've felt like things are coming together, like I'm on the brink of the things I've been asking for to finally come into place. So, when Notre Dame's hockey team made it to the championship game, I felt like it was a nudge from the Universe telling me that I'm definitely on the right track and that I'm almost there. There have been other things going on that make it clear that my life is going to change soon, one way or the other. So, the past couple of days for me have been about wondering whether I'm ready to take that step forward, whatever that may be, and feeling like, yes, I'm ready to go.

So when Saturday rolled around and Notre Dame got their asses kicked in the championship game, I tried to downplay it. "Oh, it's not a big deal, it really doesn't have anything to do with anything." When Alex sent me a cute photo of a box of Fusilli Puttanesca he saw in the grocery store because he thought of me, I thought it was oh so cute and was thankful that I really haven't a nasty "Puttanesca!" moment in a while and maybe I'm done with those. Ah, wishful thinking. Rather, they were harbingers of what was to come.

The details of it aren't really important. Instead, just focus on the essence of it -- that blinding anger that says, "After all the fucking work I've done, why the fuck do I have to go through this again?!" Hello darkness, my old friend. In the scheme of things, it wasn't a big deal (and before you ask, I'm fine, everything is ok...), but nothing quite like a steaming shit sandwich to remind you that the job's not quite done.

Go Irish!

Congrats to the Notre Dame Hockey team, making it's first trip to the Frozen Four in Denver. They just beat Michigan in the semifinals to face Boston College on Saturday for the national championship. The Irish have never been known for hockey and it's been great to see them play the underdog to beat Michigan. It'd be even sweeter to win our first title by beating Boston College.

GO IRISH!
Beat Eagles!

USC Weekend

The Spirit of du lac

Its the day before we play USC, we've been having a rough season and the chances of winning the game are few... there are times it feels like a metaphor for most of this year for me. Nonetheless, this video reminds me that no matter how the game or the season turns out, I am proud to be a part of such a special place and in my heart I know that in the end, "old Notre Dame (and I) will win over all."

GO IRISH!

Marc's Midweek Baseball Playoffs Beef Haiku

"Keep eyes on the ball,"
they always say. I'd rather
watch you swing your bat.

Marc's Midweek College Football Veal Haiku

Now back in session,
its time for college veal who
love to play with balls.

Marc's Midweek Soccer Beef Haiku

"Will you watch Beckham
now he's with the Galaxy?"
"No, but I'd watch him!"

Thanks again to Bill In Exile (NSFW).

I Love Brady Quinn

Toward Equality

Its easy to bitch about what's wrong with the world. Lord knows I've done enough of it. One of the things I've been working on has been shifting my attention to those ways that this world is already becoming a better place. Today's example: Wimbledon. The world's oldest and most prestigeous tennis tournament has announced that it is finally awarding equal prize money to women. Certainly Wimbledon isn't the first tournament to eliminate the pay gap -- that honor belongs to the U.S. Open, in 1998 -- nor was the gap particularly significant in recent years. "Last year’s women’s singles champion, Amelie Mauresmo, earned $1.117 million, 95 percent of the $1.17 million men’s champion Roger Federer," reports the New York Times. Still, Wimbledon overcame myriad rationalizations why it should continue the practice and instead put them all aside and is finally treating men and women equally. You can argue about their motivations or that they should have done it years ago but you can't deny that today we're a step closer to equality, and that's good for all of us.

I LOVE Sweaty Basketball Players!

(Thanks, Queerclick!)

You Go Girl!

Today the Toronto Star ran a story about a philosophy professor who appears in drag once a semester to teach gender and transgender theory in his class at York University. I found several points to be incredibly valuable -- first, this isn't the campy, humorous drag of Halloween or drag shows. Rather, he asks he's simply trying to "express my womanly self, what's the big deal? " Why indeed? As he so aptly asks, "Why is this thing that I do so terrible? Half the people in the world are women." Of course, there are people out there who live the transgender experience every day as a way of life. Kudos to him for working to bring a level of acceptance to a group that is often marginalized, even by the gay and lesbian community.

Second, he's straight, married, as well as a father and grandfather. He's been "out" as a crossdresser to his family since 1994. More kudos to him for being willing to be open, honest and willing to live his life in the open.

Third, what really struck me was the relatively mild reaction he elicited, both from his students and in the story in general. His students apparently are overwhelmingly supporting and rate him highly. Further, the story didn't include any sort of the type of polarization that you'd expect here in the U.S. -- no students who feel that he's violating their religious or moral rights, no groups who are protesting him, etc. Is that a function of the difference between American and Canadian society or that the Canadian media isn't covering it the way American media does? That's not clear at all. Still, I was surprised by the complete lack of a sense of scandal that you'd expect if something like that happened here.

Speaking of a lack of scandal, former NBA player John Amaechi came out on ESPN's Outside the Lines over the weekend. For the most part, the announcement so far seems to be a collective yawn, both from within the NBA and from media I've seen. Again, its refreshing to have a reaction that is so completely humdrum -- it makes me feel like we've made much more progress than we generally recognize.

Marc's Midweek NFL Playoffs Beef Haiku

I lay down to sleep,
Dreams of sweaty beef, tight pants.
My mind on football...