Wordsworth Comes to Mind

"Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun, above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife..."

-An excerpt from William Wordsworth's "The Tables Turned"

Ah my dear Wordsworth, this poem of yours keeps coming to mind. So after a wearying week, I've shoved my books aside here at almost 8 o'clock at night and have taken myself vicariously to the "long green fields" , not as you meant it, but to my soccer pitches in England. After all, it's dark and the fields and woods are blanketed with snow, so it's hardly fitting for me to go traipsing about at this hour. So to my soccer pitches I have went via the oh so convenient internet. Hehe, I kinda just rhymed there, but in doing so my grammar has become a bit atrocious. Anyway, I digress.

FA Cup action is going on this weekend and Chelsea doesn't play until tomorrow, so I just briefly checked out the Prem. previews and I have to admit I'm still bumming about this six point gap between us and Man. U., but I found a rather interesting tribute to Chelsea (on YouTube) regarding this very issue. It's a bit dramatic in its opening seconds, but then it gets to the real soccer action eventually.

In other news, today has been a pretty uneventful Saturday. I did get new tires for my car this morning which is a big deal, especially after almost killing myself on the way to Garrett's last Sunday afternoon in the snow. I discovered, almost too late, what happens when you wait too long to replace tires that have next to no tread.

And I'm also eagerly anticipating a call that I am supposed to get tomorrow morning from Jen & co. in Chicago. They are supposed to call me from a "special place" and I think I know what that special place is after chatting with Shannon about it this afternoon. Still eagerly anticipating the call though. :-) Well, nothing too much else to write about except daily stuff that God is teaching me, what I'm learning in class and how much I enjoyed TNT Thursday night, but that can wait for another day. It's getting late and I still want some quality time with the Lord tonight before it gets too late and I can't keep my eyes open. So I will end here.

Broadway!

Oh how I love Broadway musicals! I stayed up really late last night singing to my new favorite musical, Wicked. As I listened I found myself being filled with questions which caused me to hop online and dig up a synopsis, complete with spoilers. [Yea for spoilers!] My attraction to this play began with a duet entitled “For Good” and that’s basically the entire reason I asked for this CD for Christmas. As I have listened to the entire CD over the past few weeks, the questions it caused me to ask drew me deeper into the story and now that I’ve read the synopsis AND spoilers, I love this play on more than just a couple levels. I love a play that plays off of an audience’s prior knowledge and assumptions and I love when a play fills in gaps that a person didn’t originally know even existed. This musical is primarily the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. Now as a child I never like The Wizard of Oz, actually I loathed it. But after falling in love with this musical, it makes me want to give it another chance. Wicked is filled with questions of free will and destiny and all that fun stuff, which only serves to heighten my enjoyment (whether I agree or not). It’s also saturated with some cool political themes, which makes me love it even more. I am finding myself really caring about Elphaba (i.e. the Wicked Witch) and it makes me realize that there is often so much more to each person we meet than what we see at face value. OK, I know this is a silly post, but I had to post on something other than Prem. today and all that God is teaching me right now is a bit too personal for a blog, so here’s my fun commentary on a Broadway musical.

OK, so I’ve also been trying to rank my top ten favorite Broadway musicals in my head all this morning as I am cleaning house and singing to Wicked. And I think this is what I have come up with...

1. Wicked (at present)
2. The Light in the Piazza
3. Ragtime
4. Scarlet Pimpernel
5. Les Miserables
6. Phantom of the Opera
7. Jane Eyre
8. Little Women
9. Beauty and the Beast (I know that this should be higher on my list, since Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie of all time, but the musical just doesn’t hold up as well as the movie did.)
10. Side Show (Miss Saigon should really be here, but I really only like it because of four songs, so I couldn’t justify putting it as #10 because of just four songs).

All right, there are a few thoughts on my love of Broadway musicals!

WHO IS CHELSEA?!?!

Yikes, that’s an alarming question. I have been asked quite a few times in the past few days about my blogging on Chelsea. People honestly are telling me they have no idea who they are…one person asked me if Chelsea Football Club is a new NFL team (oh how I pray they were joking!!!). But I guess maybe I should be a bit more understanding…especially after what happened last night at Garrett’s when Nikki was telling us about her brief encounter recently with Peyton Manning on an elevator (I didn’t know who Peyton Manning was…I have been told to pack my bags and move to England post-haste, as a result of that lack of knowledge). But still, I think Chelsea is a worthwhile club to know about, so it’s time for a refresher course or an introductory course, if you care to learn, but Chelsea’s so wonderful, I think it’s worth the time, at least that’s my humble opinion (sheepish smile).

OK, so check this link out, it’s a good starting point showing all the players, manager, owner, Stamford Bridge, etc. So without further ado…meet my beloved Chelsea…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh0fiFdub0Q

And if there are any more questions about Chelsea, please let me know because I really do love blogging about them! :-) And since I only recently defected from Newcastle to Chelsea (World Cup did it, watching Lampard, Terry, Joe and Ashley Cole, as well as Drogba and a handful of others made me want to watch them all season long), hence my switching to this club in August (much to the chagrin of some dear friends of mine who also love Prem., but can’t stand Chelsea, primarily because of the Russian billionaire who owns them)….I really do still have a lot to learn about this club, so blogging will help me research and learn what I don’t know yet. All right, that’s enough for now about Chelsea. And I promise, my next post will be about something else, but I really had to get this off my chest first. Oh ya and if anyone is looking for Newcastle gear, let me know, because I have quite a bit I’m more than willing to part with now. Especially two jerseys in particular (one official jersey and the other a training jersey, I think they both are from 2003 or 2004)! No takers?! I didn’t think so. I don’t blame you. Just kidding. :-)

Soccer Commentary During the Storm

OK, I'm well aware that it is after 2:30AM, but it's storming out and for those of you who didn't know this about me...I'm incredibly scared of storms. I know that I should trust Christ more and not be scared of nature ( in all its wrath) as I am. But I cannot seem to convince my body to listen to what I know to be true in my head. Hence the trembling and the inability to sleep. So I thought instead of laying in bed shaking like a leaf, I would come and share some thoughts on soccer to distract me and cheer myself up [yikes, a gust of wind just shook my back door...freaky!].

SO... Chelsea had a rough weekend in the 2-2 draw against Fulham. They played on FSC Saturday at 10am and at noon I received my official jersey in the mail (no I didn’t get Lampard’s name and number plastered on the back of it….it would have been too expensive…hehe). And although since 2001 I have shifted support from two teams (i.e. Liverpool from 2001-2003, Newcastle 2003-2006)…I am now entirely devoted to Chelsea (hence my jersey…the Newcastle gear is being shoved to the very back of my closet, we’ll pretend it doesn’t exist any longer). Ahem...(Awkward pause), I was saying in reference to my devotion to Chelsea that it will remain rock solid…as long as they stay on the up and up (I’m a little nervous about that Russian billionaire who owns them, hehe, just kidding) and Lampard, Terry, and Drogba don’t leave for another club. Hmmm...I guess I am a bit of a fair-weather supporter, aren’t I?!

Well, anyway…the disappointing 2-2 draw against Fulham has led me to want to garner some excitement for my new dear club. They are just in a bit of a slump, what with Terry out because of surgery (he was back in training yesterday though!), Cech out on injury (think surgery on a fractured skull…ya it’s going to be awhile before we see him) along with Joe Cole and Arjen Robben out on injury and our wonderful (please note just the smallest bit of sarcasm here) £30million signing, Andriy Shevchenko, not performing.

OK, about Shevchenko, I’ve been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt for the past few months, even going so far as to pointedly defend him when some friends critiqued his performance this season, but I’m sorry, I can’t keep it up much longer…he just isn’t producing for all the money we signed him for!!! He’ll pull through yet though, I know it (this is optimism at it’s finest people). :-) I am happy to announce though, in the midst of this sadness, that Lampard (who’s having his go at being skipper in the absence of Terry) was instrumental in both Chelsea goals!!! Yea Lampard! One goal was a nice deflection off of a Fulham player (can’t remember his name, that’s how inconsequential Fulham is to me) and the next was an absolutely gorgeous assist to Drogba who had no problem finding the back of the net after such a beautiful feed from my man Lampard. So, even though it was a disappointing result for me as these two West London clubs went up against each other, I am still hopeful for what will come throughout the remainder of the season. And to pay my respects to my beloved club and to garner a little excitement as I had mentioned earlier, here is a great tribute…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_rgoOOH_UE

Oh and almost to the end of the clip is an aerial shot of Stamford Bridge (oh Jen, when I finally get you to defect from Liverpool, we’re going to go there and enjoy a wonderful game at the Bridge together! Someday, that is, and I’m looking forward to it!)

All right, so the wind and the rain outside are still raging (at least the thunder has stopped), so I am off to use this time awake to spend with the Lord, but before I go, I leave you with these words...

Blue is the colour, football is the game
We're all together, and winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
'cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name

Here at the Bridge whether rain or fine
We can shine all the time
Home or away, come and see us play
You're welcome any day

Blue is the colour, football is the game
We're all together, and winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
'cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name

Come to the Shed and we'll welcome you
Wear your blue and see us through
Sing loud and clear until the game is done
Sing Chelsea everyone.

Blue is the colour, football is the game
We're all together, and winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
'cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name