Five for Fighting

When all else fails, an easy post is to make lists. So to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Najib Mikati becoming the new Prime Minister of Lebanon, replacing Omar Karami, who resigned for a second time after seven weeks of frustrated efforts to form a consensus government, (I hope you sent flowers to commemorate such a momentous occasion), I give you Five Lists of Five.

Five Books I Want to Read by the End of the Year: 

Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell) - I've read Blink and Outliers so I figure I need to finish off his books. Plus, it makes me sound smart to say I'm reading books by Gladwell.

The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America (Joe Posnanski) - I've read a good number of books on baseball, but one topic I've managed not to read enough about is the Negro Leagues. I first learned of Buck O'Neil from Ken Burns' Baseball and regret it's taken me this long to read more about his life.

Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs (Chuck Klosterman) - After reading Eating the Dinosaur and listening to Downtown Owl, I know that I don't think about the world the same way Klosterman does. Fortunately, he's written books that help me expand my view of the world.

A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy O'Toole) - To be honest, I know nothing about this book other than ESPN's Keith Law listed it in his top 100 books and of his list and it seemed the most accessible and understandable to someone of my limited intellect.

The Big Short (Michael Lewis) - I'm not a political policy guy, don't follow it, can't speak intelligently about it (see previous entry regarding my intellect), but Michael Lewis can tell a damn good story. (He wrote a little book called The Blind Side that you may have heard of.) I read it and his other sports book, Moneyball, and if this is anything like that, the story will be compelling and complex ideas will be explained in such a way that I could explain them to someone else.

Five Websites I Visit Daily:
Fark.com - Weird news stories AND snarky comments. Where do I sign up?


Facebook.com - How else would you have found this blog if it wasn't for Facebook?


Twitter.com - Unless you found this blog through Twitter.


ESPN.com - Shocking, I know.


Fantasysports.yahoo.com - Those fantasy teams aren't going to run themselves.


Five TV Shows I Enjoy:
Lie to Me (Fox) - It's going to be canceled, I'm sure (It's been on hiatus ever since 24 came back . . . makes its Spring debut later this month). Nevertheless, I'll keep watching as the Lightman Group searches for the truth using the science of microexpressions to tell when someone is lying. I still wish I had this talent for spotting microexpressions, because if I did, I'd be a much better poker player.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Yes, I know that no father would tell some of the stories to his kids that Ted Mosby has told his kids. And Yes, I know no kids would still be listening to a story that's been ongoing for three-days, non-stop. And yes, Robin and Lilly are hot. And Barney is hilarious.

Criminal Minds (CBS) - Another crime drama that focuses on the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit as they track serial killers. It's rather intense, so much so that Yes Dear refuses to watch it at night.

Law & Order (NBC) - When I go to buy ice cream, there are a lot of different flavors. Some are really good, some are not so good, and then there's chocolate. It's good, you know what you're getting. There may be better flavors out there (in fact, there are), but sometimes you just want a couple scoops of chocolate. Law & Order is chocolate ice cream.

The Daily Show (Comedy Central) - Jon Stewart could break into my apartment, spit on my dog, steal my Wii and insult every member of my family and kick me in the gonads repeatedly before taking my wife and I'd still watch his show every night (granted, with an ice pack on my groin).

The Five Best Bon Jovi Songs of All Time (In no particular order)
Living on a Prayer
You Give Love a Bad Name
Bad Medicine
One Wild Night
It's My Life

Five Places I Want to Visit In North Carolina
Cape Hatteras - Yes I live near the beach, that doesn't mean I don't want to see other beaches.

Blue Ridge Parkway - Seems like it'd be a nice weekend trip to the mountains.

A Durham Bulls minor league baseball game - The nearest Major League teams to me are the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, both of which are six hours away. For two less hours, I can go see a team that's likely as good as the Nationals.

Cameron Indoor Stadium/Dean Dome - I'm not a college basketball fan, but these are two areas (along with Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. and Fog Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas) that I'd love to see a game in.

Moore's Creek National Battlefield - It's 20 miles from me, so I should be able to knock this one out fairly easily. Then again, I've been saying that for 10 months now, and here we are.