Today is our Independence Day

(Editor's Note: This post was originally intended for Wednesday 24/10/07. Unfortunately, the internet went down and it had to be posted the next morning.)

I have some spare time this afternoon and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to expand on some topics I have neglected to discuss.

I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone back home a Happy Zambian Independence Day! Personally, my vigor for Zambian Independence couldn’t be confined to a single day, so I have dedicated the entire week to celebrating. How? Wearing different colored shirts for all four work days this week to correspond with the 4 colors of the Zambian flag: Green, Orange, Red, and Black. I’m almost TOO proud of this idea.

Here is a list of ‘exotic’ animals I have seen since arriving in Zambia:
(1) Tacooo, the stray cat
(2) zebras
(3) giraffes
(4) monkeys
(5) a baboon
(6) hippos
(7) elephants
The sarcastic part of me wants to make a joke about how unnoteworthy these sightings are for anyone who has even been to a zoo, but I won’t. It really is pretty exciting when you put it in perspective. As my sister put best, "I am still impressed that you go camping and see hippos and elephants. I go camping and I see a squirrel and a deer hooah." (Side note: A few co-workers, hearing about the failed camping trip the previous weekend, generously took us camping this past weekend. It was a fantastic time, even for an experienced camper like me.)
Tacoo Tuesday did happened again last night and I am optimistic that it can be a weekly tradition.

Montana State-Billings, my simulated D-II college basketball team on the site WhatifSports, once again lost in the Elite 8 in heartbreaking fashion. For those who may not be following the team that closely (side note: Shame on you.), this past season marks the 6th consecutive season they have had an RPI of 10 or better and the 3rd time in 6 seasons I have advanced to the Elite 8 and lost. For some reason, this loss crushed me more than previous losses. I genuinely felt bad for the group of 6 seniors who graduated without a Final Four appearance and so I took a 5 day break from the site to mentally collect myself. Did I mention the players aren’t real? Have I mentioned that I’m living in Zambia, a country with a 60% unemployment rate?
I really want to implement a Zambian-themed mailbag. This was jointly motivated by me reading a Simmons column and a hilariously funny question from one of my buddies about my hatred for Topenga. Let’s be honest, I don’t live that interesting of a life and I am going to eventually run out of interesting topics to dedicate a blog to. The basic premise of this mailbag is that you would be providing me with material to post and I would take the easy task of responding. My simple request is that you start e-mailing me questions about anything you want (about life in Zambia, Boy Meets World, my man crush on B-Roth, etc). I knoe for a fact that several of my readers can come up with humorous questions. Don’t disappoint me like you all did by not supporting my fan club. You should all have my e-mail address, but if not post yours in the comment section and I will send mine. If no one sends any questions, I’m going to start making up questions. Your choice.

I mentioned that I read several Bill Simmons columns this morning. Don’t worry, I avoided all columns specifically about the NFL in my failing attempt to not follow the regular season (and by failing, I mean pretty much completely failed. I watched PTI the other night and ‘heard’ about the Steelers losing a game to Denver on a last second field goal this past weekend. I am spending half of the time acting like I never heard the result and the other half convincing myself that there is no way B-Roth could possibly lose to Jake Plummer (is he still the QB?) and that this was further indication that he was executing his plan even more perfectly than I could imagine). Anyways, Bill Simmons is easily my favorite writer and probably a partial inspiration for my writing style so it was nice to finally read his columns.