So I picked up Skip Schumaker in my keeper league – right now Yahoo has him listed as an outfielder, but I’m pretty sure my beloved Redbirds are switching him to second.  Hopefully he goes ape shit this season – I need it, but don’t worry… homeboy’s not holding his breath. I’m prolly screwed anyways cause I have no starting pitching.

On that note, I got a nice message from my bud Curt Dale Clark reminding me that baseball season has officially started! (Incidentally, he’s in Jupitor, FL where the Cardinals have spring training doing Evita…the show…) Though we butt heads when it comes to Big Ten basketball (IU v. Illinois, Eric Gordon, go figure), we do have ourselves a common enemy in MLB – the Cubs… (I feel dirty just typing that four letter word). Now I know all you north side Chicago fans are all hyped for this season, and really… all I got to say is 100 years and counting baby.

Go Cards, Go Sox (for Curt)- White Sox that is… none of this Boston crap! ——-> Expect some overly gratuitous and highly awesome rantings this season.

On an entirely different, and five million times cooler sport, I’m making a run for it in my fantasy hockey league… stay tuned – pretty soon I’ll have to start growing my playoff beard.

So my friend Jen is helping produce a HUGE event next Monday at the Gershwin… I’m going, and I think you should too… so check it out. Oh, and I heard that even Al Sharpton will be there – you don’t want to miss this!

What: Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert. A star studded event featuring stars from Broadway, television, fashion, music and film coming together to stand up for marriage equality.

When: Monday, February 23 at 8:00pm

Where: The Gershwin Theatre – currently home to the Broadway production of Wicked – 51st street between Broadway and 8th Avenue

Who: Hosted by the cast of Wicked, scheduled to appear: Marc Shaiman (Broadway debut of Prop 8: The Musical), Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked), David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein (Hairspray), Carson Kressley (Queer Eye), Tamara Braun and Cameron Mathison (All My Children), Rue McClanahan (Golden Girls), Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), Mark Indelicato and Michael Urie (Ugly Betty). Performances by Broadway stars including Nathan Lane, Jonathan Groff, Shoshana Bean, Stephanie J. Block, Adrian Lenox. Performances by casts of at least 10 Broadway shows including Wicked, Spring Awakening, Hair and The Little Mermaid.

Why: There are over 1100 federal rights, benefits, and privileges given to married couples in this country. Unmarried couples, as it stands now, are not entitled to those same rights and benefits. It is our belief that EVERYONE should be entitled to equal protections under the law. We are raising money to benefit organizations that are working to promote and protect equal rights for the gay and lesbian community. Some of the rights and benefits provided to married couples only: income tax deductions and credits, family visitation rights, right to inheritance of property, Medicaid benefits, next-of-kin status, permission to make funeral arrangements.

Beneficiaries: Family Equality Council, Empire State Pride Agenda, Equality California, Garden State Equality, The Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force. 100% of the proceeds of this event will go directly to these organizations.

How to purchase tickets: Ticketmaster or our website www.defyinginequality.com

So for those of you on facebook, you have probably seen the 25 random things phenomenon going around. Anyways I got together some random facts about me and smashed ‘em thogether… so take a look!

One of the most influential people in my life is a former hockey coach, Bill Naucke. He taught me what it means to play every shift like it’s the last time I’ll ever skate. I am eternally in debt to this man. I believe in LOVE, positive thought, and action. I aim to live the hell out of every single day. I love to travel, but I hate being labeled as a tourist. A goal of mine is to become fluent in multiple languages. I have learned more since I graduated college than I did in the combined 17 years of schooling prior to that. A busy day is infinitely better than a day spent doing nothing. Smoking cigarettes is the single most unattractive quality a person can have. I was such a picky eater as a kid, my mom had to institute a 5 minute “complaining time” before every meal where my brother and I would tell her how disgusting her cooking looked. My motto is “keeping it real”. Ask me what I think it means. I was scared of Goofy as a kid. Unfortunately, I had Disney bed sheets. Every night, I would try to hide from the multiple Goofys on my sheets. I pride myself on my ability to compose and take amazing pictures. (On other peoples’ cameras, of course, because I don’t own my own, and frankly, I think sometimes we can get so caught up in getting a picture we forget to have the experience.) People in authority positions that do not understand leadership is about building people up piss me off. I am a people person, I dine on constant exposure to awesome people and I go crazy if I’ve spent all day by myself. My lucky number comes from Brendan Shanahan, my favorite Blues player as a kid, who wore # 19. I am a creative genius and I am an artist; therefore I choose faith over fear. I LOVE what I do. I feel sorry for people whose work is actually a job. Ice hockey is my weakness. I love the sport more than anything. I have a couple awesome scars to prove it, too. A goal of mine is to write a paper using only famous quotes and song lyrics. I have no idea what this paper will be about. Suggestions? I’m incredibly romantic for the right person. And I’m picky as shit. I run a 4.5 40. Odds are I’ll smoke you in a foot race. I am currently boycotting Stella Artois – can you guess why? I can drive a mean stick shift and I secretly love the old Disney movie musicals. I would much rather talk to someone than read a bunch of random things about them.