Notes and remembrances

Time to break down my life once again…

1) Of course I am still saying “When I get married” opposed to “if the good Lord finally smiles down upon me and allows me to get married”. I am an optimist at the end of the day after all. Plus, I have met a number of women in my life who I’ve thought, “I could be really happy spending the rest of my life with her.” The problem is their typical response is “I’m sorry, but I’m starting a trip around the world tomorrow” or “I’m married to the sea” or “I don’t want to kill you, but I will.”

2) I was thinking this afternoon about what analogy I could use to describe my social life. This is the best one I could think of. Growing up I was swinging for the fences, just looking forward to doing an arrogant home run trot. Then I switched to “let’s just make contact, put the ball in play, and move the runners.” Nowadays, I’m crowding the plate and just hoping to get hit by a pitch. So much for optimism, eh?

3) On an actual baseball note, today my White Sox swept the Royals for the third time this season. Man, I wish the White Sox could play the Royals every game, it would literally be a perfect season. This puts the White Sox 9+ games up in their division and it looks like maybe, just maybe, we might actually make the playoffs this year. Trust me, this gives me something to look forward to this summer and fall. I know I get weird looks from people when they find out I cheer the White Sox over the Cubs but when you’re a South Side kid at heart, there is only one allegiance.

4) There were two quick obituaries that hit the news wires yesterday that I want to mention here. With today’s “blink and you missed it” news cycle almost no one noticed them but I’d like to make sure that somewhere in cyberspace both of these men are remembered. The first is Karl Mueller, the bass player for Soul Asylum, who died of cancer earlier this week. When bands stop making records and stop appearing on MTV they tend to be forgotten really quickly but for some people like myself, music is such an ingrained part of their lives that songs never really leave and artists become a part of their extended family. Soul Asylum was one of those great Minnesota bands who you just enjoyed listening to when you were in college. You could put on Grave Dancers Union in your dorm room, turn up the volume and by passer by’s reactions you could tell if they were cool or not. So for those moments alone, you should find the CD hidden in your collection and play it this week.

5) The other person is a name that no one will recognize but in a perfect world you would. My fellow Illinois EE alumni Jack Kilby passed away. You haven’t heard of him but without him it would be impossible for me to write this blog or for you to read it. See, Jack Kilby is the inventor of the integrated circuit. All of the computer chips, all of the technical wonders that have become everyday are all descendants of his invention. I hope that some day schoolchildren will be made to memorize names like Jack Kilby and John Bardeen (inventor of the transistor, two time Nobel prize winner, Illinois alumni, and one of my personal heroes). What these guys did fifty years ago changed the world in the most profound way possible. All I can say is, the world owes you a debt of thanks, Jack.