Back and Forth Across the Pond

I'm totally into the World Cup this year. This is my third World Cup series since I married Steve, but this is the first time I'm really engrossed. I think it's because of my thesis and its intimate ties to the birth of football in Preston. I feel a kinship with the English team, and am rooting for them wholeheartedly. We went to Five Points Theatre to watch the England - US match live. I went thinking I'd be happy regardless who won, but quickly discovered I was pro-England all the way. A big part of that was the behavior of the US fans. And that continues to be my beef as England and the US advance to the next round. Soccer is not a big deal in the US, which is a shame, really, because it's a great game. But we have our baseball, football (the one played with your hands), and basketball to dominate our sports channels. So soccer is an also ran. That means, most people don't know the game. Which can be a pain in the ass when you go to a big match like England v...

Last week, I waited for Steve as he did his physical therapy session at the Brooks facility in Deerwood (he has bone spurs which are wreaking havoc on his Achilles tendon). Brooks also contains a YMCA and the PT office is near the front of the building, so I was in a good position to people watch as folks came to work out. The thing is, the glass door on the PT office has a large stripe bisecting it that effectively obliterates the heads off people. All I could see was torsos ambling about. I could occasionally see hair if a person was either particularly short or rather tall, but I never saw a head. Let me tell you - it's unnerving. I didn't feel like I was watching people at all. It was like a Doctor Who episode run amok. I know the eyes are the windows to the soul, but I didn't realize that the head was the heart of humanity. I like people watching, but from now on, I want them with heads.