Monday, April 21-- Cubs v. Mets

It's baseball season and I am SOOOO happy. Last night I went to the Cubs v. Mets with Dan Weisberg (a Mets fan), Christian (Cubs fan) and Dan's friend Katie. Dan & Christian are college buddies of Ethan's and I've appropriated Weis as my own friend. Christian lives near Wrigley so we met up there, Christian grilled out and we made it over to Wrigley for the bottom of the 3rd. There was a fight in the stands. A Mets fan threw a beer at a Cubs fan who turned around and spit at the Mets fan. Unfortunately for this Mr. Met, he also got a VERY large man's daughter wet w/ beer and he was NOT happy. They all got tossed but somehow the Mets fan got back in. I'm sad to report that easily the most obnoxious fan in the stands was actually a Yankee fan sitting right behind us. He was yelling idiotic things the entire time but the worst had to be when he yelled that a player's mom "should have had the abortion". Yeah. Made me proud. Plus he had a mullet. WTF?

Afterwards we went to the Pianoman which is the antithesis of Morans-- never too crowded, lots of shady locals. A dive. It's awesome. That's where I learned that Christian spent his summers on the Jersey shore. This got me super emotional. So now I will digress.

Digression:

Everyone knows about the Bronx side of me, but there's also this Jersey side. You see, my dad's mom-- the one from Newfoundland Canada-- passed away when he was in college. So when I was growing up, it was her sister, my Aunt Alice, who was basically my grandmother. As a young lady, she had followed her older sister to NY. There she met my Uncle Bill who had built a hunting cabin in the woods of south Jersey and took her down there. The hunting cabin expanded into a home and she & my Uncle Bill lived there their entire married lives. My Uncle Bill was cranky and scared the crap out of me. We never saw him. But every holiday or special occasion, we'd go down to Port Authority and pick Aunt Alice up from the New Jersey Transit bus and go to a musical or out to dinner in the city. When Uncle Bill passed away, she was on her own and we started going down to Jersey every weekend. Seriously, every weekend. It was a 2 hr drive, longer on Fri. nights in the summer. But it was so worth it in the summer! Sometimes I would stay for a few weeks and hang out w/ my cousing Jonathan and we would roam around my aunt's 12 acres (which seemed like the hugest piece of land EVER) and we'd push each other off mounds at the gravel pit. But the BEST was going to Seaside Heights. I loved, loved, loved the Jersey shore. I loved the huge waves and I thought boogie boarding was the coolest thing in the whole world. No one was afraid of skin cancer back then and my mom would bake in the sun contently for hours. My family lived in Jackson, home of Great Adventure. So there was always a trip there. And I LOVED going to the Ocean County Mall and getting a sundae at Friendly's. In so many ways I was formed by Jersey rather than the Bronx. Well, probably a solid mix of both.

My Aunt Alice passed away the summer after my 1st year of law school. Matt & I hadn't been dating long but he came with me to the funeral. As we were driving through Lakewood, he said, "I really get Springsteen songs now." True, true. Since then I've only been there twice. But last night talking to Christian, it all came back to me. And I missed it.

Digression done.

Then conversation rolled all over the place. There were college stories told. Somehow Christian's plastic giveaway Cubs batting helmet led to a conversation about a torts exam hypo that Weis' dad had come up with and I found myself saying "contract of adhesion" and "assumption of risk" as a shiver shot down my spine. There was a debate about tort reform and of course the McDonald's coffee being too hot. I shouldn't have these conversations when I drink. I get hot and bothered and really, why? But it was an awesome night. We had been at the game. Then we drank. Outside. On a Monday. Life is sweet.

Tonight I'm going to Yankees-White Sox. And this one is a date. Wish me luck. It's going to be a long week.