This morning as I trotted up to the store wearing a coat thrown over pajamas, a crooked ponytail and bent glasses, I realized that my life would be materially damaged by fame. You know those hideous tabloid photos of celebrities caught outside a Starbucks or going into the gym? Yeah, I'm afraid I'd be that type of celebrity. :p

But what was I to do -- my mom needed something and she wouldn't be caught dead at the store in her pajamas...and we're leaving for Senegal tomorrow so I'm in a charitable mood. ;) Actually, we're leaving before the crack of dawn. We have to be at the airport at 4:45a owing to our large group, many boxes and departure on the busiest travel day of the year.

When I returned from the store I washed down my malaria medication with a generous helping of airborne while reading the paper. The two top stories? One: BSU's heartbreaking loss last night to Hawaii. Two: the melee that took place at the mall Friday morning.

The game was a tough one and none of the BSU paraphernalia we were wearing seemed to have much effect. In truth, we were outplayed, and that's a hard thing to admit of the team you love. Especially disappointing after last year's amazing season and our history of coming alive at the end to win in the last seconds. But the headline of the sports section this morning was "Paradise Lost" and that just made me laugh out loud. Talk about an overstatement.

Our mall opened at 1a Friday for a "Rocking Shoppin Eve" or something like that. Unfortunately they were overrun, a few were injured and the paper found several people to quote as they whined about false advertising, overcrowding and lack of planning. My favorite quote was from a mall spokesman who said they wouldn't do this again since their intent was to make a fun shopping experience, not pander to greed. Good for him!

Whoops! I was meaning to have a ramble, but it's taken me two hours to write this much as I'm continually interrupted by Senegal prep. I guess I'd better get a move on and get out the door on errand duty.