A Blimp in the Sky.

My head hurt from a long day of drinking and a long week of working as our designated driver drove us out of the comfort of downtown to the the typical suburban bar that we usually gather at after work. A beer there, some excedrin from the gas station next door and we eventually found ourselves near the Indiana border and I-74 at a party filled with high school kids. A "solid bro" named Ray wanted to fight me for making out with his cousin. I wasn't familiar with Ray or his cousin, nor had I made out with anybody.

Ray eventually fell down amid his drunken stumbling and we left. On the drive back, I realized parties, people and places like that were why I hated college initially (the last course I ever took at Ohio University before transferring was a baseball history course that taught me a greater appreciation for the sport). I watched reruns of Family Matters at my apartment and fell asleep.

My summer has gone too fast. The annoying commercials of back-to-school clothing sales still depress me as if I was 11. I feel like I spent too much of my summer "vacation" working, worrying about money and experiencing stories like the one mentioned in the first paragraph. One thing I haven't regretted is the amount of Reds games I've seen.

I like going to Reds games. Great American Ballpark is where I spend a lot of my free time. I like baseball, I like the national anthem before the game and I like when Brandon Phillips calls the cardinals expletives. Many evenings my dinner has been three hot dogs and two small lemonades from the $1 stand, with a Moerlin beer for desert. I've seen the Reds play 25 times this season (22 times at home, three times in Pittsburgh). Tonight as I was riding my bicycle from my Northern Kentucky apartment to the game, I saw a blimp in the sky.

- Who doesn't appreciate Head Groundskeeper Doug Gallant's lawncare tips between innings?

- Concourse.

- Pampers presents Santa.

- Cincinnati was home to the first major league night game.

- The other day I was looking at a picture Pittsburgh photographer Mike Muder had taken of the town's hockey arena and you could just barely see a blimp in the sky. "I don't think I've ever seen a blimp in person," I thought. That was until today.

- Fireworks setup.

- Can't you do this shit at home? There's a major league baseball game going on right behind you.

- The Banks rising.

- Once "The Banks" is complete, GABP will feel like its right in the neighborhood.

"Go Reds." Often times, that quote is all I got, all I need.