To: Tony, From: Abrasivist

Subject: A lonely cubfan speaks

I’m the only one in Cleveland here that is writhing in pain at recent Wrigley Field final scores. Although not on local television and often at work, the wonders of technology send messages to my cellphone as to what the score was of the latest loss. I would think even Pete Rose bet against the Reds going into Wrigley and doing that. I hope someone has informed Atlanta that the Cubs play all the bad teams in September so they are a lock for the wild card spot. OOPS…it’s October now. Yikes.

Now Atlanta in town for a final three games and payback on their mind for their disappointing exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Cubs last year. I predict a loss in the final game of the year will do it. As a Cub fan I would expect nothing less than the usual crescendo of hope before all is lost. It’s kind of like knowing that your plane is about to strike the side of a mountain but thinking that perhaps it’s the soft side of the mountain and all will be ok.

Will someone please take that darn goat to the ballpark?

signed,

Abrasivist

Dear Fellow Cub Fan,

i dont know whats worse, frankly, losing in the playoffs last year after being up 3-1 with wood and prior ready to rock, or not even making the wild card this year with a far superior team.

i know the good Lord loves us, but He seems to be taking this free will shit a bit too far.

last year i made a pilgramage to the Billy Goat Tavern in september to put all this away once and for all.

my mom thinks i was there to suprise her for her 50th birthday, but no, it was to make peace with the goat.

i drank a large stein of Old Style, i had a cheezebuggah, cheeps, and a frigging pepsi.

i even bought my mom a burger and a beer.

we hugged the waitstaff, we lit candles under the goat, we even put the super bowl shuffle on the jukebox to cover all our bases.

little did i know that i should have, instead, slashed the tires of one Steve Bartman. which, trust, me, i would have definately done.

i dont know what to say about this season. we were stacked. we had the best line up ive ever seen on the north side.

and that pitching staff was sick.

i cant say that the front office didnt do enough because Maddux, Ramirez, Lee, Nomah, Barrett, even Neffi fucking Perez were all key pickups. but when Borowski went down they never reacted to get a quality closer.

the cubs blew 20 games this season including the game tonight.

am i to believe that the phillies wouldnt have let 40 year old Jose Mesa loose for kyle farnsworth?

and i, sadly, will also have to put some blame on our pal dusty baker, who had the best team in baseball all year and still failed to put together any sort of serious winning streak (other than the 12 for 15 run a few weeks ago) and ultimately coming up short against the mets, pirates, and now reds.

sports illustrated needs to share some blame, naturally, for putting the cubs on the cover of their baseball preview issue.

and then theres the matter of the goat, whose owner cursed the cubs decades ago when he was not allowed to watch game 4 of the 1945 world series with his friendly pet.

if i was the ceo of tribune corp., i would give that fucking beast box seats to the entire season next year.

i would also re-sign clement cuz he looks like a goat, nomar cuz he twitches like a goat, and i would trade away maddux because we need a closer.

but now im going to go home, cry, and watch the presidential debates

and then cry a little more.

your pal,

tony

abrasivist + mass live makes the best headlines + sk smith

ok so this will be the notes for the big pitch tomorrow.

i will go to this as a shortcut to examples of things that i have done on the blog and site over the years.

please feel free to add any other busblog moments in the comments.

42 photo essays

links page

fifteen minute photo essay

best week ever + wonkette + gawker + metafilter + boing boing

interview with an escalator

2001 a year in review

summer of 2001

technorati results for tonypierce.com

auctioning a link on ebay

the day i sold my fro

interview with a skinny x model

how to blog

how to vote

this years stats

riggs bank

zack braff

woman of the year 2003

man of the year 2002

when it rains it pours.

today i have another appointment to pitch a blog idea for a big time web site.

im terrified.

seriously terrified.

i can talk about anything. but when it comes to talking about myself for a job, i freeze up and freak out. i dont know why.

its my kryptonite. call me napoleon dumbomite.

for five years i was the manufacturers rep for philips/magnavox. i traveled around most of california, oregon, and nevada telling salesmen and managers and store owners why they should sell our products more, how they could sell them faster, and i gave them tips on how things worked.

after that i worked for webtv and microsoft doing pretty much the same thing.

for all of those companies i was one of the main people at the booths of trade shows like Comdex, CES, and local events. i stood out there with my stupid polo shirt tucked into my stupid Dockers and i answered questions about our products, our company, and the competition.

i loved it.

i even loved the hecklers. Loved the hecklers. just like how you see me handle the occassional jagoffs who try to leave negative comments in here, i handled people who tried to diss me and my company as i was making a buck.

god i loved the hecklers.

you will never have a more attentive crowd than when a heckler tries to fuck up your shit.

but pitching myself for a gig is really hard. the demons that rarely infest my head awaken. and even though i have landed a high majority of the jobs that ive interviewed for, it was a fight between the good angel inside and the bad ones.

today for example i have probably 50 ideas for how this web site should utilize a blog. i can get so deep with them, or totally surfacy.

all the demons are saying, if you keep it basic they will think its not a real thing. then the other demons are saying, if you present it as too involved, they wont go for it because they will think that its too much to do.

hecklers in the head.

so now im waiting for a confirmation of the meeting but i havent heard from them in weeks, and im getting deja vu of the last time i was justthis close to a dream job and justthatquick the lines of communications ended with no warning.

my astrology though says that good stuff is right around the corner, so thats hopeful.

UPDATE: just like that i got confirmation that the meeting will be tomorrow. if you love me, pray for me.

LA Voice called this the best personal blog in LA + blogging LA has a great list of other best of LAs