Jasper Jones

Had the chance to watch the Cardinals play the Cubs in St. Louis last night. It was an awesome game - up and down with many close plays and at the top of the 9th it looked like the Cubs were going to wind their second game in the Cards series, but hang on to your seats! because at the very last possible minute the Cardinals got the 2 runs they needed for a BIG WIN! Whew! That game was really exciting. I hope they can pull off another win today to send the Cubs home with 2 losses in a row.

We are still hoping to find a way to get to Chicago for one of the games when the Cards come to Wrigley in August. We’ve done that every year since I was a kid and hope that the high price of gas doesn’t ruin all our travel plans this summer.

You may have noticed that I don’t go into a lot of details about my love life here on my blog. That’s on purpose, as I want a little privacy there and I’m sure that the person I am dating wants her privacy, too. So to everyone who’s been wondering, I’m fine, OK.

Would really like to go to the beach for a few days. It seems like all my friends are going to either Destin or Cancun and here I am at work instead of sitting on the sand watching the bikinis go by. It’s making me chafe a little, I have to admit. However, I have responsibilities and one more year of college before I can have all my finances in order and afford to take time off for fun and games.

Instead of driving 8 hours down and back to have a few hours in the sun, I’ve been making the most of the fun things that are around here. We have tons of parks and there is always the lakes and rivers. Lake beaches are not the same as ocean beaches, but they are sand and water and sun, with a few bikinis worth watching, too.

The news has bee full of stories about flooding this past week all along the Mississippi River. The flooding took out millions of acres of farmland and crops. Iowas and Missouri have been the worst hit.

My buddy in St. Louis called this morning to ask if I’m interested in coming up there to work with him the rest of this summer. He has a great job installing carpet and flooring, and with all the damage to homes in businesses from the flooding, there will be a lot of work to do. He’s been in touch with a disaster cleanup company called “Water Restoration 911″ and they are going to be really busy over the next 2-3 months in Missouri.

Water Restoration 911 can respond to emergencies nationwide, 24/7. Their website has a toll free hotline people can call for help, and their team of technicians can be on the scene, often within 30 minutes of the call. There’s going to be a lot of carpet and flooring that needs to be replaced, so there’s lots of work, with almost unlimited overtime, for contractors in the flooded areas. Not sure I want to leave here to go do that, but the money might change my mind.

My cousin John just finished his freshman year at Princeton and came home to visit his mom for a weekend, so she threw a party for the family to come have a picnic and hang around her house to visit with each other. That was nice to see everyone all together with the pressure of a holiday, exchanging gifts, etc. We just hung out and chatted, played some lawn games and chowed on burgers, potato salad and watermelon. Really nice time.

I was asking John about his summer plans and turns out he’s going to work as an intern for a program that Princeton runs. It will be his first 9 to 5. So I told him that’s cool and all, but what about for fun? Well, he’s on a college kid’s budget and says he can’t afford to do much this summer. That’s when I turned him on to the beaches at Wildwood.

We used to go to Wildwood when I was a kid. Anyone who’s been to Wildwood knows that Morey’s Piers is a great place for a “New Jersey vacation” and all the fun things you want to do at the beach. They have arcades, concerts, rides, food - everything. Morey’s Piers has several hotel/motel properties to choose from - each one with a different price range, so even college kids have a place to stay.

This summer Morey’s Piers is hosting free concerts all throughout July at the Radio Disney stage next to the Giant Ferris Wheel on Morey’s Mariner’s Landing pier. There are two afternoon shows each weekend and then the Radio Disney Summer Concert Series finale will be at 2 pm on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oceanfront Arena.

He didn’t know about any of this - and he’s right there at Princeton for goodness sake! So I told him to get online and look for Wildwood events. Surely there will be a bunch of other Princeton kids that want to carpool and spend a fun weekend at the beach. I hope he takes some initiative and makes those plans or he’ll be missing out on some great summertime fun.

I have always passed judgment on a pizzeria by trying its Margherita or plain slice. Did you know that Margherita means a plain slice - not a frozen cocktail at your bar?

To me, that’s the only fair way of putting one pizzeria against another — every pizzeria makes a pizza with just cheese and sauce. A plain pie has always been my favorite to try at a new place and summarizes what pizza is all about to me: simplicity and balance.

Everyone raves about the regional pizza’s such as New York style or Chicago style. I like Italian style. The fun part of visiting a new city is finding the local pizzeria and seeing what they serve up as a Margherita, and if it passes muster then we can go from there.