Free period

My alma mater, Strake Jesuit, improved to 35-0 after a 30-point win last night in the third round of the Texas Class 5A playoffs.

Maybe I'll get to go to Austin after all.

Also:

1. The doctor treating the lone survivor of this weekend's tragic boating mishap in the Gulf Coast has invoked the words "providence" and "miracle" to describe the fact that he's still alive. I'm certainly inclined to agree. I can't even fathom the amount of mental and physical strength needed to survive in those circumstances.

2. With the impending closures of the remaining Virgin Megastores in the U.S., I may have to finally accept that music stores are dying a slow death. Which sucks. One of my favorite things to do in high school and college, when I had a little down time, was peruse the aisles of music stores. It was a great way to find something you weren't necessarily looking for. (That sentence covers a lot of ground). Now with Apple iTunes and Wal-Mart as the two largest U.S. music retailers, it's getting harder than ever to stumble into an unheard of album or unfamiliar genre of music. For obvious reasons, that's not a good thing.

3. Mostly through watching hours of reality TV and crossing paths with a few assholes, I've learned that lots of people have really terrible manners. You'd think people would know to not leave a public bathroom in a mess, or not to spit in public, or prattle on endlessly about their lives. But I guess that's not quite the case. So ... here's a list of the worst - and most common - etiquette mistakes.

4. Who'd have thought Meghan McCain (pictured above) would have a problem finding a proper suitor? I guess if she's going to completely write off men who voted for Barack Obama, she probably deserves what she gets.

5. Apropos of nothing really, I have to mention my lunch date yesterday. I went to my favorite spot in town for a Sloppy Joe omelette. When I walked through the door, a table of three elderly women saw me and nodded - I think they were impressed with the Jesuit lanyard around my neck. As the hostess came to seat me, one of the ladies asked me to sit with them. So I did. I can't say I remember their names. But they were from Indiana and Michigan. Two of them lived at a nearby retirement village. We just made general small talk. When the time came, I paid for their meal, which came out to about $17. As they left, one of the women told me "it's nice to make friends." And as someone who's generally antisocial, I have to agree.

6. I can't help myself: I really like Ludacris' new single, "Nasty Girl." I could do without a verse from Plies, though.

7. And for the record, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest is pretty awesome: