I started at the bottom and worked my way up, as you should do. Those people have waited the longest, so reply to them first.

In the end, I answered a few, wrote a few new ones, and spent several on-and-off moments throughout the day determining how to respond to someone who made me so angry that I cried.

Listen now: I don�t cry unless there�s threat of an arriving period (in which case, all bets are off), I�m in some heavy-duty pain, or you did something to seriously piss me off.

I may tear up at an initial hit from shock or taking the blunt of its force too close to my eyes. I may get droopy when my friends are supposed to meet my dad and brother and then bail on me without a good reason. I may let out a trickle when I watch the last thirty or so minutes of Amelie. But there�s little that can be done to upset me otherwise.

Someone ticked me off to the point that he�d better watch his shins the next time we�re in the same room. However, at this point I think I have a workable response that conveys that I�m disappointed but doesn�t scream that I think he�s an inconsiderate ass-fuck-shit-damn-hell-bitch.

Although he is.

Instead, I filed his snotty little remarks and cheap shots into my miscellaneous email file titled oh-so-generically �Stuff�. This works something like the break-up list I once mentioned, except it�s to remind me when certain so-called friends are shitty and don�t deserve any consideration from here on out.

So now I�m at 41 messages that date back to the 7th of this month.

+4 from this morning. Those of you who wrote me recently can expect a response sometime in the year 2007. Thank you for your patience.

However, one good thing about purging personal emails and old friends is that the momentum from there took over at work today. My files are organized. My emails are sorted. Unnecessary stuff has been thrown away. Everything�s sparkly and ready to be productive in the very near future. Whee!

I took a late lunch today and talked with my dad and brother. They showed up to the Devil Rays thing early and talked with a college coach for a bit. When the DR�s scout got there, the 50 people who showed up all broke into groups according to position.

Everything went really well, and my baby brother hit 100% of the pitches thrown to him -- using both a wooden and an aluminum bat!

For those who don�t know these sorts of things, high school and college students don�t use wooden bats, and pro players only use them. Kyle took half of his hits with wood and half with his game-play bat. There are differences with each, but it didn�t seem to hinder him in any way.

After all was done and people were leaving, the college coach was all over my brother with stuff like, �You�re only class of �06? Your athletic build is amazing for being only an �06!�

The Devil Rays guy was similarly impressed with Kyle and talked with him a bit.

In the end, Kyle shook both of their hands and gave them his baseball resume.

Next up is the Univ of Texas All-Stars baseball camp in Austin and a viewing by the Astros a couple weeks later.

He won�t necessarily play for these teams (although I�d love if he were eventually an Astro, a Ranger, or a Cub) since he�s only 16 right now, but this is to get him out there and ready for it when he is allowed to sign contracts and whatnot.

He�s amazingly talented, patient at the plate, superbly enthusiastic, and such a nice kid. He�s one of my favorite people, and it makes me wish there was a Brother�s Day so I could wake him up early with breakfast in bed, potted flowers, and pages torn out of my coloring book.

All right. I�m heading home. Nothing�s going on tonight, but I want to change into more comfortable clothes.

Have yourself a great night! �