Major League baseball is back! I went to my first Dodgers game of the season, the second game of the year for the Dodgers and it was without a doubt the best baseball game I've ever seen, in person. My roommate and I decided to goto the game almost on a whim. We watched the season opener on TV, in which Nomo lost the game, giving up a grand slam to stupid Phil Nevin. After watching that game, he said "we should goto tomorrow's game" and so we went. I like being sort of spontaneous. We bought some tickets from the first scalper who approached us, and while we probably overpaid (face value $25), they were good field level seats, first base side.

The starter for the game was Odalis Perez and he spotted the Padres 4 runs early and was out by the 5th inning. Things weren't looking too good as the Dodgers seemed to be continuing their double-play offense and couldn't drive anybody in. But things changed when Jake Peavy balked in Dave Roberts and later Adrian Beltre hit a line drive that barely, barely cleared the left field wall to tie up the game. Eric Gagne came in to pitch the top of the ninth. This was the first time I'd ever seen Gagne pitch in person and it was pretty darn exciting. He gave up some well hit balls and hit a batter but it was no problem. Then in the bottom of the ninth inning, former Yankee, Robin Ventura comes up to bat and singles down the first baseline to drive in the winning run. Exciting stuff! The Dodgers look good this year, with Milton Bradley, they seem to be in the thick of things in the "wild wild" NL West. Playoffs? I sure hope so. Baseball games are fun! I'm going to goto many more this season and at $6 tickets for the outfield bleachers and upper deck, I can't complain! Come out to a ballgame with me!

As far as school goes, its actually pretty interesting this quarter. Fiction & Film, a lower-division class about transferring books to the film format and how stories are put together, is very enlightening. While discussing Fight Club, my teacher asked the class if the themes in Fight Club apply to everyday life. When the protagonist goes to the support groups, he is simply in search of meaning in his life, because he has become to dull to the world around him. He is surrounded by the commercialized world and he tries to fill his life with IKEA stuff because thats what he's been brought up to believe will help complete his life, but this only leads to furthering his problem. "The things you own end up owning you," as Tyler Durden says.

Anyways, I'm still having problems grappling with the larger issue of finding meaning in life and why I am the way I am, but I think I've realized yet another little part of myself. Being a decidedly unreligious person, I find it difficult to find meaning in life oftentimes and there is a constant battle for me to find motivation, etc. Life is no longer about "living" in the most basic sense because all of our survival instincts are satisfied, so there is no true desire to "survive" and thus I and most everybody I know spend their time trying to find meaning in their lives. Most people find religion/faith in some form or another and I'm glad that most of them have been able to be fulfilled by that, but I still struggle with faith, finding meaning in life, etc. Thats the reason I enjoy anything that makes me feel sentimental or emotional because it makes me feel more human, if that makes any sort of sense.

Shakira - Octavo Dia (Unplugged)