the fighting scooter libbys never say die

i am sad to report that my kickball team, the fighting scooter libbys, did not win their first game. we lost 5-6 to nkotb. it started raining before the game even started, and because of that I had to take off my glasses, so i was blind, cold, wet and, upon sprinting from second base to home to score one of our first runs, extremely winded.

despite these hardships, i think everyone had a good time. we will play this sunday at noon at field 4 in piedmont park. as i told the team in my weekly inspirational e-mail:

our narrow loss -- by one point! in the pouring rain! with no beer! -- is nothing to be upset about. trust me. i lose a lot, and i know when to get upset and when to let the failure wash over me so that i may rise, phoenix-like, to win another day.

i also went to a benefit called baconfest this weekend. all proceeds went to dad's garage, and i was luckily able to convince fowler to go with me, because i knew next to no one. it's still jarring to come from athens, where i knew everyone and their junkman's daughter's brother, to atlanta, where i work at night and barely see people i know anyway, much less make new friends.

an improv show followed the bacon+beer+bands. every time i see improv -- even bad improv, which this definitely wasn't -- i'm reminded of how fun it is. i really miss making an ass of myself for the amusement of others.

which brings me to another item of note. remember how you told me i was the funniest bitch you knew? no, not that time. the other time. well, you were right. i found out last week that i won first place in the georgia press association's humorous column competition. this is awesome, because it means i am retroactively hilarious. i've thought about going through my old news stories to make sure i wasn't cloaking any morsels of hilarity within tired prose about bostwick's possible subdivison regulations that they might talk about maybe thinking about getting some time in the indefinite future maybe if the cotton crop doesn't spoil.

i doubt that venture would be very successful. i won a feature writing award as well, and a couple of minor design awards, but my staff won a general excellence award for lifestyle coverage. it was gratifying , because i know everyone at my old paper (ok, most people) worked incredibly hard, and we busted our asses week after week for a labor of love and a miniscule paycheck.

i now have a job where i don't routinely have panic attacks, though, so i guess that's nice too.