stonecriesout

Two poems

Don't worry, I didn't write 'em.

It's been a few months now back in Bellingham, and I'm still stuck thinking of my life as "pre-tour" and "post-tour."  The whole "during-tour" thing is a blur.  But that's all for another post.

Here's a poem that speaks to me by way of voicing things I couldn't voice on my own while on tour.

Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river--
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life forever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger,
White as meal the frosty field--
Warm as the fireside haven--
Not to autumn will I yield,
Nor to winter even! 

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Robert Louis Stevenson
(The Vagabond) 

And here is one that speaks to me now that I'm home.  One that no doubt you've all been exposed to at some point (if you went to school), but one that now has a more special meaning to me.

I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees.  All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea.  I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and know--cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honored of them all--
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life!  Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains; but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought. . .

. . .The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes, the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices.  Come, my friend,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson
(from Ulysses) 

Damn, I've always loved that one.

Reflections & prayers on my mother's 65th birthday

It's October 13th, what would have been my mom's 65th birthday.  No more or less significant than any other year I guess, and October 13th doesn't seem to strike as much of a chord as February 19th (in about four months, it will mark the 15th year past her death), but hey, here I am.

Lately I have seen that denying myself time for reflection and prayer has disconnected me from my present surroundings, and the neglect for reflecting & praying on my past has disconnected me from it, also.  I suppose it's my instinct now, to protect myself from what the past might want to do with me now, but we all know pushing it aside will not make it go away.

I don't think of my mom often, or at least I don't think I do.  She's not much more than a distant memory to me now, a figure in my mind that is probably more so based on speculation and imagination than experience.  I didn't really know her then, and I don't really know her now.
I'm beyond wanting to judge her now, not concerned with what kind of person she was or if she was a good mother.  I'm bored with learning about her and analyzing the evidence.  She died, I didn't really know her, and I'm still alive.  So what else do I really need to investigate?

The part that does interest me is how people respond to learning that I grew up without her.  Some seem to pity me, which I guess I appreciate, but I also kind of despise it.  Some seem to want to joke about it, which actually makes me pity them.  Some are just sad for me, which is not totally necessary, but it's probably the most loving thing.
I think some people throw their "sons who grow up without mothers exhibit particular tendencies, and I recognize A, B, and C of those in you" on me, which just makes me want to throw up on their face.  Get over yourself already.

Occasionally I'll notice things in my life and say, "I wonder if mom were still alive if I would do that/be like that."  But I'll never get past wondering.  I'm not going to define myself based on imaginary situations.  What good does it do to wonder about such things?  Can I, by wondering, change my past or my present?  Bah, what a waste of time.

The way that I think I'm most influenced by my mom's life & death is in dating/romantic relationships (surprised?).  If a son's relationship with his mother "trains" him how to have relationships with women, then the correlation in my life is clear as day.
When anybody asks me what my "type" is, I tend to jokingly respond, "I like girls who don't want to have a boyfriend."  That's the simple, funny deflection, that is somewhat honest, but mostly serves to end the conversation I don't totally feel like having.
The longer explanation is that I see a pattern in past relationships, or at least in past interests of mine, of girls who may or may not be confident that she wants to date (not just me, but anyone), who receives love freely, but doesn't know how to reciprocate.  Girls who I feel I constantly need to be pursuing, because I don't get much indication back that the love is mutual.  Truth is, they probably do/have show(n) it, but for whatever reason I haven't recognized it.  Because I didn't deeply connect with my mom, I naturally fall in to relationships where the connection isn't so deep, and I don't know how to get it there.
I've also only dated girls who haven't had a boyfriend before (not as a rule, obviously), but I'm not especially sure how that ties in.  I guess my jealousy and insecurity would overcome my desire if I saw (in my perception) an even smaller window to the whole of my interest's heart.
As I'm living in the consequences of not feeling adequately loved by my mother, perhaps "low-risk, low-reward" is the name of the adventure for me.

The funny flip-side to this weirdness is my friendships.  Ever since seventh grade, almost all of my best friends and people I have spent my time with have been girls.  Up until sixth grade (the year my mom died), it was guys.  What's up with that?  Do I just miss being around women?
What I do know is that I could always find a circle of girls I felt safe and comfortable with, not as insecure as around guys or other circles of girls.  Sure, I've made close and lasting guy friends, but the vast majority are female.  In some ways you could say they've served as "mother" for me: protecting me, comforting me, expressing disappointment in my failures, showing support for my successes--in short, loving me.
I don't really think much about that whole part, just noticing.

I guess my prayer to go forward is for healthy instincts in relationships.  I pray that God would heal what lingers that is destructive.  For sure the lingering distrust of the institution of family, born out of response to the shoddy one my parents had going.  I pray that God would just teach me through current, old, and new relationships of all kinds how to better love and trust people.  I pray for peace with my life.  For freedom from insecurity and superficiality.  That God would show mercy on me by bringing people in to my life to show me how to love like I ought to.  That I'd see this and God would change my heart and I could respond by loving him and the people around me completely.  That as he changes me, I could see the way he is teaching me, growing me, and preparing me for what is next, and that I could bear good news of what I've seen done in my life.  I've already seen so much of this, and thankful doesn't even touch the surface of how I feel.  I'll just keep praying for a little more mercy and a little more love every day.

The Merry-Go-Round

Well people, it's been a while.  I've been home from tour for just over a month, and I feel like there is an overwhelming burden of story to tell, and I've only a feeble capacity to tell it.  I think what I'll do is just start rambling on and on and see where it takes me.

Understandably, most people are insatiably curious about my reflections on the tour.  The cynical part of me thinks that people just want me to give a 100% positive, packaged, "here's what I learned, and I'm so happy" response, even if it's insincere, but as we all know, we have to give people more credit than that.  I've been pretty dodgy with my answers, and the reason for that is that I don't really know what the heck just happened.  I'm pretty culture-shocked and feel as though I just jumped off a merry-go-round and am having to re-learn how to walk.

But hey, I'll give it a shot.

The tour itself ended in a way I can't describe.  Satisfying?  I guess.  Climactic?  Not really.  Emotional?  Only slightly.  I feel like I should miss the kids more than I do.  Sometimes I do, but only briefly, and only a couple of them.  The way we ended knowing each other was strange.  There was no way around it--we detached from each other, and we didn't even have to try to.  The kids were checked out for weeks before they actually departed, and I was hanging by threads.  I surely bonded with them, and made an effort to have a special relationship with each of them as individuals.  And of course it was natural with some and damn near impossible with others, but I do feel that each of them knew I loved them and as ill-prepared as I was to be their uncle, I gave it my best shot.
Of course, there was far more to the tour and the job and the year than just knowing the kids and being their uncle.  There was so much that they would never know about, so much that my staff will never know about, so much that only I will ever know about.  I realized yesterday that there is absolutely nobody in this world who can understand on a meaningful level what the last year was like for me.  Not former tour leaders--they had different staff, different children, and performed at 150 different places and are living different lives.  Not Sherae or other staff members, as they had different responsibilities, and this last year means something different to them than it does to me.  Not anyone in my office, because they have not endured the rigors of the tour, so their understanding is formed out of stories told to them and speculation.  Try as anyone might with only the best and most pure intentions, nobody can understand what last year was like for me.  And I have accepted that, as self-pitying as it may seem, and as lonely a place as it is.  So forgive me if I don't try to explain to you what's going on with me.  Forgive me if I just ramble.  It's all I've got.

I don't miss the job.  Make no mistake: it's hard.  I gave it my best, and I blew it sometimes.  All that failure compounded on me as the months went on and was really difficult to swallow.  I had to accept that I wasn't going to be able to do everything I wanted to do and was expected to do, and I had to choose which things to fail at.  I hate(d) that.  So I had to make choices that negatively affected the fewest people, or at least only negatively affected the people that were on tour with me.  Sometimes I had to make choices that pissed off my Ugandan staff in order to please the American hosts we had.  Sometimes I had to throw the 14 of us under the bus (figuratively) to ensure that our organization didn't let strangers down.  Sometimes I had to fight my bosses in the office, if only to delay having to cause more discomfort for the people I was responsible for on tour.  Sometimes I just had to eat shit, and sometimes I didn't do it with any kind of grace at all.  Sometimes I blatantly failed to do my job.  And failure is not something I am comfortable with or easily accept.  But it happened, it was a part of the job, and it's something I'm still dealing with.

The best part of the job and the worst part of the job are the same: the people we met.  Just like any other group of people brought from any context or community, there are probably about 10% you naturally hit it off with, 10% you can't stand, and the rest are just around.  The 10% groups are what I remember the most about the tour.  10% inspired me to live life better, 10% made me question everything.  10% gave me life & spirit to carry on with the mission, 10% drained the life out of me.  Is this a surprise?  It's the same with any job, I just happened to meet thousands of people in my job.

Now that I'm back, I think about the tour as a whole, and I reminisce positively about some of the wonderful things that happened.  I think about how I was shown that God is indeed still here, still good, still worth fighting for.  His is still a good providence, a good moral will, and also still an eternally-confusing idea.  I saw that we don't give people enough credit.  That most everyone has a deep hunger to be generous, to better the world, and to love.  Most everyone is not as vapid and vain as we think they are.  That people are more complex than any of us will ever understand, and that all my ideas about how people are or who people seem to be are almost all surely loaded with crap and nonsense.  I really need to give that up, as we all do, but of course...thinking that way is how we're wired, and I doubt any of us even on our best days can really do that.  But we'll keep trying.

I recently drove through some of the areas of the state that the tour was on in the beginning, and I was surprisingly filled with warmth and comfort.  I didn't know what to expect--but I really liked it.  It made me want to drive the tour again, just by myself, and go see everyone we had met (well, maybe not everyone).  Of course I won't, but it was nice to have that feeling.  Like it was no accident I went on tour.

I'll keep posting as I keep re-learning how to walk.  The merry-go-round ride is over, that's all I know for sure.  Thanks for checking in, and stay tuned.

Prayer?

Prayer is weird.  Right?

Every faith (or even professed lack of faith) includes some kind of element of prayer in theory and in practice.  And yet... how many of us really have a conscious understanding of what prayer is, how we practice it, and have a sense of it's significance?  Less than we'd hope, I think.

Why do we pray?  Because we have an unfulfilled desire to commune with God, like we are unwilling to be mere spectators in sovereignty?  I think of sports fans (of which I am one), and how we find new ways to commune with the game, it's players, it's teams, and it's happenings--Fantasy Sports, Brackets, rocking apparel, to name a few.  It isn't enough for us to sit, watch, enjoy the thrill of the game, find joy in the game, and sorrow in unfulfilled expectations.  Is this a similar model for our drive to pray?

Or is it so much more, as many people would claim?  Many inspiring men & women in history are said to have prayed for hours a day.  Like breathing--if they didn't, they'd cease to be alive.  How does that work?  I've seen power in prayer.  I've been both the pray-er and the prayed-for, and been shocked by the power of those experiences.  When confronted with this, we have no choice but to turn back to the God we believe in, right?

Well, I have a short memory.  And even though I've been devastated by the power of prayer, I still spend far more time wondering about why and how to pray than actually praying.  As a Christian, I wonder when I hear fellow Christians pray to God, pray to Jesus, and pray to the Spirit.  What's going on there?  Being a Christian, like prayer, is weird.
 
 Seems to me that most of the Christians I've encountered have some distinct "prayer styles."  Humor my indulgence, if you have a few minutes.

1.) Prayers of Petition aka "Letters to Santa"
 

  
- These are most often the prayers I hear from others.  A brief, scripted Thanks is offered first, and then a lace-and-doily wishlist--prayers for new jobs, financial help, prayers for plans to be fulfilled, prayers for blessings (the most ambiguously-used word in prayer) for loved ones, and prayers for "God's will."  The last petition is ironic, because the entirety of the earlier prayers were asking for God to carry out our wills.
** My thoughts when hearing these prayers are all over the place.  Do we really think that bringing these wishlists to God, who we claim to believe to be sovereign, Creator of All, is the best offering in prayer we can bring?  If we do not think that the things we prayed for (asked for) were delivered, does that mean God was unfaithful?  Were those prayers unanswered?  Is there such thing as an unanswered prayer?  Why are these prayers and the following events the gauge by which to determine whether a prayer was answered?

2.) Prayers of Healing aka "Lucy's Narnia Potion"

 
- These prayers are tied to the Letters to Santa.  They usually come about when someone has been injured, or is undergoing surgery, or has fallen ill, or has been diagnosed with some major disease.
Now, I don't want to discount the power of healing prayer--I believe whole-heartedly that I have seen healing come through this with my own eyes!  I guess what I wonder about here is what we specifically pray for.  Healing?  Speedy recoveries?  Favorable test results?  For the Lord to guide the hands of surgeons?  For actual warfare against cancerous or diseased cells?
** Are we honestly open to God's sovereignty over our health, or are we so wrapped up in the idea that God wants us all to be healthy all the time that we expect a drop of Lucy's potion upon receipt of our prayers of healing?  Is it even wrong or misguided to believe that?
- On the one hand, we claim to believe that we are at peace because "God is in control," but then we pray for our wills to be done.  Health is the primary subject of these wishlist/healing prayers, and I wonder why.  If we are healthy, are we "more blessed" than someone who has cancer?  Have we some sort of favor over them?
** This is fresh on my mind, because a friend of mine has recently discovered she has breast cancer.  She's 26 years old.  Can anyone honestly believe that she has any less favor or has any less faith than the rest of us, who are not living with cancer in our bodies?  Has anyone read John 9 recently?

3.) Prayers of Protection aka "Suit of Armor"

- As we travel, we are often prayed for by the pastors or other hosts.  This is basically a prayer for safe travel, for safe play, for all-around safety.  Sometimes we even hear the borderline-ridiculous "hedge of protection" prayer, which always makes me bury my snickering face in my chest.  What is a hedge of protection?  Why not a moat of lions on trampolines?  <regards: Jonathan Acuff>
** I don't have any beef about these prayers.  Why wouldn't we pray against unforeseen accidents?  But then again... without those prayers, would we be any less safe?

There are many more prayers that we hear that I think are quite powerful and authentic, and bring true worship to God.  I kind of hate that I'm always criticizing the way people worship, but I hope that it will process and morph in to some Socratic questioning, and in to more pure offering and service.

I'm processing now what I've seen in prayer that has really inspired me, and maybe I'll follow this rambling post with one that outlines some of those.

Most importantly, though: What do YOU think????
I want to know what YOU think about prayer, and what I've just written about prayer.  Why do YOU pray?  How do YOU pray?  Is it meaningful?  How do you think GOD receives your offerings in prayer?

Go nuts.  I'm really curious.

Upgrade: t2i

I have upgraded.  Welcome to the family, Canon Rebel t2i. 

Stall Odd-ities

Church to church, house to house, you're going to find some quirky things.

Last Sunday, I went to use the Men's room at two different churches, and found two strange stalls.

Stall #1

 
My first thought was, "Wait... shouldn't the toilet be... inside the stall?"

Sure enough, the toilet is just out there in the open (along with the user).

Stall #2

I opened this stall door, and instead of a toilet, I found a hot water tank.  What am I supposed to do with that?

On a sidenote, I think it would be a great idea to have urinals installed in home bathrooms.

Game 3: Angel Stadium

< Home Plate Gate - Needless to say, the best I saw >

Before I got the opportunity to attend a game at Angel Stadium, the only thing that I remembered hearing about the games was that the Angels give a great "Fan Experience."  Well, believe it.  The Angels by far make the most effort of the 5 home teams we saw to engage the fans in the game, in a family-friendly, fun, and close-up way.   The first thing I noticed was that they wasted no space--by that, I mean that they used every square inch of surface to engage fans in the game and team.  Outside the Home Plate Gate, the bricks on the ground are formed in the shape of a baseball field, with engraved bricks at each "position," marking the name of the player who started at the respective position on each Opening Day.  The banners outside the stadium are just the beginning--inside, there are tributes to every Angel great you can think of, leaving each passerby with a compounded sense of the history of the team.  I, of course, appreciate that sort of thing.  The next Fan Experience-related feature was purely architectural: all around the field, the seats run right up to the playing surface, and in many places along the outfield, are at the playing surface level.  This allows fans to see their favorite players at real-life size (although this probably actually just contributes to them appearing larger-than-life).  Kids and families at Angel Stadium do not have to feel as though they are in an entirely different physical place than their favorite players, do not have to feel as though they are under surveillance (though I'm sure we were), and are thus free to enjoy the game with as few barriers as possible.
The Angels also do not waste time.  At many stadiums, when play is dead, so is the stadium itself.  The Angels make every effort to make sure that between innings, there are girls on the field shooting t-shirts in to the upper decks, kids are on the big screen giving game updates, and an endless supply of cleverly-edited popular film clips designed to galvanize excitement in the crowd (and they work!).
We entered as soon as the gates opened, and stuck it out for all of Cleveland's BP session.  Standing up against the outfield fence, you are basically on the field.  It was great fun.

< Watching BP.  Look how close & low the LF fence is--that Security guy is on the Warning Track. > 

Our seats were just a couple rows back from the 1st base line, about halfway between the dugout and the foul pole.  We were surrounded by Koreans, all there to cheer for Indians Right Fielder Shin-Soo Choo.

< Shin-Soo Choo, the best Korean player in MLB (regards to Chan Ho Park) >

The game itself was exciting, too!  (MLB recap here) I was looking forward to watching Ervin Santana go for the Halos, as he's been a guy who I think ought to be among the elite in the AL (what's up, Erv?  Were '07 and '08 just flukes?).  Dude is just inconsistent.  His '09 and '10 seasons have been like a Jay-Z album: 20% undeniable classics, 70% mediocre but interesting efforts, and 10% exercises we'd like to forget.  On this day he was up against the Tribe, which we had seen suffer a disgustingly humiliating effort a few days prior against the As (remember this?).  Today though, the Tribe would send Jake Westbrook to the bump, a middle-of-the-road guy, who did show some signs of promise before losing most of the '08 season and all of the '09 season to recovering from Tommy John surgery.  It is totally unnatural that a human should have this type of re-constructive operation and again be able to throw a baseball 85-95 MPH about 100 times every few days, so I tend to root for these guys--but today, I was an Halos fan, and chose a good day to be.

My boys Ervin and Jake were making a quick game of it going in to the 6th, when Ervin showed some of those erratic tendencies, and it got him in to some trouble.  He gave up the 2nd and 3rd runs of the game, the 3rd by hitting 2005/2006 Golden Boy Travis Hafner with the bases loaded.  Ervin was lucky to get out of the 6th only down 0-3.  The Halos are known for their responsive rallies, and in the bottom of the 6th got exactly that.  Torii Hunter had been showing signs of his age so far in the season, but with Erick Aybar and Bobby Abreu on board, he showed a sign a life, crushing his 2nd HR of the season.
The game stayed tied at 3-3 going in to the bottom of the 9th, and the more dangerous section of the Angels lineup coming on.  Hunter and Juan Rivera got to 1st & 3rd, and Howie Kendrick came up and dropped a surprise bunt, scoring Hunter from 3rd!  Carlin & I and the entire stadium went nuts, as the Tribe was caught completely off-guard (some even complained that it was a cheap way to win)!  Howie got a post-game pie to the face, and we all left feeling elated.

The Angel Stadium fare offers a ridiculous variety of both product and price.  It's like Baseball-themed Disneyland, not like the dirty Mall Food Court-esque stadiums of yesteryear.

Tickets:
$13 each

Parking:
Free - We parked at a Starbucks about 3/4 mile from the stadium and walked.

Stadium fare consumed:
Nachos - $6
Hot Dog - $5
Budweiser - $9

< This afternoon in the sun turned my skin about 6-7 shades darker. > 

< The view from our seats! >

< The Ageless Wonder, warming up between innings >

   

Game 2: AT&T Park

< Baseball Heaven >

It is a pleasure to share with you about my experience at AT&T Park!  Anything you've heard about this stadium is probably true--it is surely as beautiful and pleasant a ballpark as any fan could ask for.  Being from Seattle, I was completely comfortable with the in-city dwelling of the park, which apparently deters some fans.  I don't get that.
Anyway, the view from any seat in this stadium is gorgeous.  The photo above is not from our seats--we sat in the upper level near the LF foul pole, and enjoyed the view of Willie McCovey Cove, the water, and of course: the ballgame!

< The view of Willie McCovey Cove from our seats > 

I was excited to see this game in particular (MLB recap here), as my favorite starting pitcher Roy Halladay was going for the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, and the Giants are my favorite NL West club.  Big Doc got touched up for 10 hits and 5 earned over 7IP, but it was encouraging to see the SFO boys putting rallies together.  Giants' starter Jonathan Sanchez was able to grind out 5 productive innings against the NL's most feared offense, only allowing 1 ER, despite 5 free passes.  2010 Giants' newcomers Mark DeRosa and Aubrey Huff drove in 3 of the 5 SF runs, and little-used backup catcher Eli Whiteside provided the other 2, including a solo HR off of Halladay in the 7th.

The fan experience at AT&T Park is very well-suited for a fan like me.  AT&T Park pays tribute to the storied history of the Giants, and so many of the larger-than-life legends who have donned the black & orange (one notable exception, you can probably figure it out).  I gained the true sense that the folks who constructed the experience at AT&T Park really had a deep sense of the importance of appreciating the history of the game, even while watching the present teams.
Fans at the Giants game seem to be a fair representation of their home city: passionate, savvy, and yet, still amiable and non-threatening.  I appreciated feeling as though I was attending the game with fellow baseball fans, rather than with bar rats or vigilant know-it-alls.  Sadly, a group of girls who suffer from some sort of debilitating disillusion that they are the only people on the planet did sit down behind us, and quite conspicuously rehash their recent sexcapades, and hopeful plans for future partners.
Our party relocated.

< A little colder, but still a great view.  And no disgusting commentary! >

Stadium fare at AT&T Park is nothing short of impressive.  Variety, variety, variety.  Prices jumped from those of the Oakland Coliseum, but that was expected.

Tickets:
$7 each (thanks, StubHub!) 

Parking:
City Parking Garage - $10

Stadium fare consumed:
Polish Sausage - $7
Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries - $7.50
Hot Chocolate - $3.50
Gordon Biersch Marzen - $9

This was also the first game at which we were able to come and watch Batting Practice.  We hung out near the LF foul pole, and also stopped by the Phillies dugout to say Hey to a friend of Carlin's!  I ended up walking away with a ball, picked up by a stadium staff member and tossed up to me.  Hey, I'll take it!

If you didn't know, Carlin and I have been friends for about 12-13 years now, after meeting at church Summer camp.  Through our junior high and high school lives, there was a core group of us who all attended these camps each year and became great friends for that time in our lives!  Well, when Carlin and I were in the Bay area, we reconnected with another Pilgrim Firs friend, and stayed at her place for a couple nights!  Turns out, another camp friend of ours had just moved from Chicago to LA days before, and came up for the weekend and we all got to go to the game together!

< Alice (have fun in LA!), Beth (thanks for having us!), Me, Carlin >

You just never know what is going to happen or who you will see when you go on a baseball pilgrimage.

I must say that anyone who has the opportunity to see AT&T Park ought to absolutely jump all over it!  I'd happily go out of my way to see another game there, only next time I'd probably be willing to spring for the seats between RF and the Cove.  Everything about AT&T Park facilitates a greatly enjoyable fan experience!

Now, the traditional photos:

 

 < The Home Plate Gate, with two nerds in the way >

Game 1: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

< The view from our seats, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum > 

I'm not sure what you have heard about the city of Oakland, but I'm sorry to say that much of it is probably true.  We arrived at the Coliseum a little rushed, just before game time, and instead of paying for the stadium parking, we opted to look for a place to park & walk.  The nearest place we found was littered with broken glass and beer cans--not the most comforting sights--but, in broad daylight, we gave the surrounding sketchy community the benefit of the doubt.

Sad to say, the inside of the stadium was not much better than the outside of the stadium.  Filthy, unsightly, and altogether not a place to take your young children.  Carlin and I acknowledged that we are spoiled by our home stadiums (me - Safeco, Carlin - Chase), and should remember that not every team can have as beautiful a park as those.

The game itself was a laugher, with the home team bringing in an 11-0 victory (MLB recap here).  I was pleased to see young A's starter Gio Gonzalez throw 7 scoreless (albeit against Cleveland's flaccid offense), and the pre-Iron Man Robert Downey, Jr. of MLB, Eric Chavez drive in 3 runs on 2 timely hits with RISP.  Also encouraging was seeing young A's 2B Eric Patterson leg out a triple on his way to 3RBI.  As the A's play in the AL West, we didn't love seeing them distance themselves further from the Mariners, but we were just happy to see the home team win and play well.

The stadium fare was sparse and low-key.  Almost exclusively ballpark-only brands were represented, but that also does help the prices stay low.

Tickets:
$13 each

Parking:
Street Parking - Free

Stadium Fare consumed:
Chili Cheese Dog - $7.75
Coors Light (2) - $5 each

 < Justin Masterson, on his way to giving up 7ER over only 4IP >

As I mentioned, the surroundings of the stadium were not pleasantly scenic.  Check out what we saw as we walked away from the stadium and back to the car!

 < Unattended barrel of fire in the pay-to-park Stadium parking lot >

 < This is what you see as you cross the bridge away from the Stadium and back to the city >

When it's all said and done, I can't complain too much about an MLB park.  They're home to a team, and they all have their own personalities.  Like I said: my home park is Safeco, so I'm pretty spoiled.
But, the Coliseum is not a place I'll go out of my way to return to.  As the home for the A's and the NFL's Raiders, the venue matches the teams--ugly, mediocre, in need of rebuilding, and maybe even total replacement.  Thanks for the offensive display, A's--but I don't think I'll be returning for another home game.

 < My 2 empty cups and Carlin texting his Wife, no doubt! :) >

< The only A's representation on the entire outside of the Coliseum > 

The California Baseball Pilgrimage

< I got this fortune at a restaurant in LA's Chinatown. Perfect! >

Call it cliche, call it frivolous, call it whatever you want.  I don't care.  In the last week of April, 2010, my longest-tenured friend and I embarked on a Baseball Pilgrimage through California and saw a game at all 5 MLB stadiums.  Carlin left his pregnant wife (thanks, Kristen!) at home in Phoenix, and met me just North of the Bay, where we began our trip.  Our game schedule went like this:

Sunday, April 25 - 1:05PM - Oakland Athletics vs. Cleveland Indians - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Monday, April 26 - 7:15PM - San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies - AT&T Park
Wednesday, April 28 - 4:05PM - L.A. Angels of Anaheim vs. Cleveland Indians - Angel Stadium
Thursday, April 29 - 7:05PM - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - Dodger Stadium
Friday, April 30 - 7:05PM - San Diego Padres vs. Milwaukee Brewers - Petco Park

It was by far one of the most fun things I've ever done.  It was borderline ridiculous that I took a week off from my 10+month touring road trip to take a road trip, but it was nonetheless awesome.  Since we were travelling in to areas that we had already been through on our tour, I was familiar with the drive, some of the delicious eateries, and I think that only enhanced the week experience even more.  We got out of the week for almost outrageously cheap, even with the tickets, gas, food, and $10 stadium beers.  We stayed with friends (thanks, Beth!), family (thanks, Davidsons!), and a sketchy motel in San Diego (thanks for nothing!).  Gotta give a plug to StubHub for helping me find the cheapest way to attend all our games.  

I'll be posting recaps of our experiences at each stadium for anyone who is interested!