1. When I call you to confirm your address, I’m doing so because the ticket says “78 So-and-So Circle”, and the people at that address claim they didn’t order pizza. When you tell me your address is “76 So-and-So Circle”, fine, someone wrote the address down wrong. No big. When I knock on the door and you open it, you don’t have to ask if I need you to give me directions to your house. By this point, I’ve found it. Which is why I’m standing at the door. Because I found your house. See?

2. Three people this weekend stopped me at deliveries or gas stations to ask for directions to “the new Wal-Mart.” It wasn’t until I gave directions to Hunt Valley Town Center to the fourth person, who shook his head and said “No, that’s the old Wal-Mart”, that I realized Cockeysville does, in fact, have a New Wal-Mart (apparently, it’s a “Super” Wal-Mart, which apparently means its trying to pass itself off as a poor man’s Wegmans, which is bullshit, because Giant is a poor man’s Wegmans*). I’m not certain if the Old Wal-Mart is still in Cockeysville (contrary to popular belief, Hunt Valley Town Center is in Cockeysville) or if it just got relocated. For the record, the New Wal-Mart is right across York Road from the Hummer dealership (there’s some irony, for you).

3. With the DVD release of HBO’s “The Sopranos” season six part 2 (because releasing and promoting that last stretch of episodes as season seven would’ve made every sense in the world, so why the fuck not just do it that way?), I’ve been able to catch up with what everyone and their cat has been talking about for the last several months. Oh, there were no surprises for me, I knew everything: Bobby beating up Tony, Stephen Baldwin playing a “Tony” like character in a low budget horror, Tony’s murder of Chris Moltesanti, Phil Reatardo getting his head popped like a watermelon, the black-out at the diner which left most of HBO-viewing America wondering “WTF HAXXOR!” and mass-contemplating how best to kill David Chase (the bastid!)

Here’s my take on the ending: Tony Soprano is dead (I made my case the afternoon the final episode aired). Meadow walked into the diner in time to see that bloke on the counter draw down and pop her dad dead in the head. Remember what Bobby said about dying in the first episode of the half-season? “It just goes black”, or something similar. Why’d the episode black out? Are we supposed to believe that Paulie fuckin-Walnuts came up behind us, the audience, and strangled us with a wire? Please.

I know that David Chase is going around telling everyone who’ll listen that Tony Soprano isn’t dead, but an ending like that invited interpretation. Okay, so I’ve interpreted. It just seems to fit the pattern of the season: you go fucking around, making bad mistakes, there’s bad news coming for you. Johnny Sack takes up smoking and his life expectancy (even in prison with cancer) goes from three months to episode #2. Chris M. falls off the wagon, murders the one friend he’s got who wants to see him kick his habit, and the next episode, Tony’s got his hand over his nephew’s nose killing him. Phil Leotardo gets all power-trippy, and he’s shot in front of his kids/grandkids. Tony’s been a mess for the show’s entire run, and this last season: hoo-yah. His one redeeming action might be in not killing Paulie W., but of all the choices he made, that was probably the worst. He kills his nephew. He has his rival, Phil, popped in front of Phil’s family. And he died in that diner.

Or, maybe he was able to foil the hit, but his family got killed instead.

Either way, karmic retribution was big this half-season, and I doubt Mr. Tony Soprano got off quite as lucky as David Chase might want us to believe.

*Wal-Mart will always be a poor man’s K-Mart.

This comment from Standing Cheese was left on my post regarding my contemplation of a move to the Washington D.C. area. Now that I’ve been contemplating his comment for a couple of minutes (which, when coupled with this post, is more time than anyone should spend thinking about SC), I’ve got two trains of thoughts on his comment, but I’m not quite sure which one is right.

1.) SC’s memory is going bad.
2.) SC is utilizing reverse psychology so I will move far, far away from him.

Oh, SC is right about a couple of things: I did want to buy a house in Remington. I do want a job in a cubicle farm. But I’m confused about his apparent failing in remembering that I graduated Towson last spring — particularly given the context in which he mentions it (i.e., “things I’ve wanted to do but have so far failed to accomplish or given up on”). While I haven’t found a job yet, that hardly means I’ve “failed at” or “given up on” finding a job. Perhaps SC found a job quite quickly out of college, but when I send out batches of resumes and cover-letters and recieve no or scant reply, I find myself taking comfort with a comment left by TFG: “When I graduated, I sent over 500 resumes and it took 3 months to find a job.” Okay, so I’m at five months (not three), but then again, I’m also not “the greatest Engineer to walk the face of this mofo” (and I haven’t taken TFG’s advice and begun stapling $20s to my cover-letters, especially since I’ve been e-mailing them).

But this post isn’t about Standing Cheese. Or, at least, it isn’t supposed to be, although his comment certainly got me thinking on the subject: namely, you know, the revelation that came to me while contemplating his cryptic message. That while I could be overly critical about what I haven’t yet accomplished, I choose instead to be happy in what I have, and resolute that the beginnings of my various successes have only done just that: begun.

Meanwhile, don’t forget, this Friday is the Octovember Blogger Happy Hour in Hampden. I remember wondering what reception I would find as a newcomer when I went to my first Blogger Happy Hour in March ‘05, and I like to think that Baltimore bloggers are still as friendly and welcoming as ever.