Morning Thoughts

1) I stopped by a convenience store this morning to purchase a scratch-off lottery ticket and a bottle of water before heading to the office this morning. The lady behind the counter wore a badge that read: "Hi! My name is TAAKA." Taaka? Really?! Her mom and/or her dad named her after a brand of vodka? If that's the case, couldn't they have named her after another brand of vodka, like Skyy or Grey Goose, or--even better--after a liqueur, like Tia Maria, Kahlua, or Bailey's?

2) Watched a full episode of WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW last night for the first time in over a year. It was mediocre at best. The wrestling was okay, while the promos looked scripted and contrived. I won't comment on storylines and angles because I've been out of the loop for too long. I'll give it another chance next week, but I think I'll be sticking to archived footage of old-school NWA action in the long term.

3) I'm tired of hearing people complain about the vuvuzelas at the World Cup™. It's a part of the South African soccer tradition, and I hope it becomes a World Cup™ tradition. If you want to get rid of one tradition at sporting events, let's do away with the drunk, obnoxious sports fan.

4) If you have questions or comments, feel free to e-mail shamelessselfproductions@gmail.com. Some of the best ones will be answered in a weekly post called "Mailbag" every Friday.

5) Happy birthday to Olympic-champion speed skater Joey Cheek, who celebrates his 31st birthday today. Joey won gold in the 500-meters and silver in the 1000-meters at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He also won the bronze in the 1000-meters at the 2002 Salt Lake City games. Joey is also an activist, humanitarian, philanthropist, and budding statesman who, as founder of Team Darfur, has raised awareness and funds to stop the crises in the Sudan and whose work with Right to Play has helped teach children in underprivileged areas of the world learn life skills such as teamwork, communication, and integrity, just to name a few, through sports. Joey will be a senior at Princeton University next year, and I had the honor and pleasure of getting to know him during my time there. It is also an honor and a pleasure to call him a friend. Happy birthday, Joey, and best of luck to you in all of your future endeavors!