Yanks don't sign Japanese short-stop which is a vote of confidence for the Captain, a good sign for Nunez sticking around and most likely means that Chavez gets re-signed for this season and I approve of that. I thought that there was a chance that Zambrano would be in pinstripes (they'd need quite a lot) this year, but maybe Epstein won't deal with Cashman even though he's no longer in beantown. But I am pretty psyched from one standard to see Zambrano and Ozzie in the same dug-out. Things should be interesting in Miami this season. Actually the NL East could turn out to be the most exciting division in MLB this year. Unless you're a Met or a fan... Expect them to be cemented in the cellar. I hear that Tom Seaver has as big a chance of starting this season for the Mets as Johan Santana...

So, I am out of the loft space, effective immediately if not sooner. Need to go pick up my stuff and it's okay. The energy has been changed and it's no longer conducive to writing in there. I will still be able to get it on a as-needed basis for events such as the book release party (more on that in a following paragraph) as a rental, but I wanted not even a drop of bad blood between myself and the friend who is the lease-holder. So it just makes sense...

As for Rose, I have a near-ready cover and although it meant changing something that I wanted, the more important things are what's between the covers and that it just gets out there. It feels something like a cork in a bottle, and even if much of the champagne winds up making my hands sticky and my feet wet, I will be okay with that. I think... But it's time and if I move with some haste, a release around the appropriate Valentine's Day holiday seems perfect. Failing that, there is always Steak & a Blowjob day a month later...

Working on the other project in a notebook for now. There is no other blog -- I swear -- so don't go looking for one...

Cheers,
Brian