...or, a day with David at the gem of a ballfield that is PacBell Park, San Francisco.

10:30 p.m.
aw man, i just totally lost it... and i'm not even officially an American yet. they just played the national anthem for the 4 American women who completely obliterated the world record in the 4x100 medley relay... Dara Torres, 33 (an unheard-of age for any Olympic-class swimmer), her eloquent face streaming with tears... and something hard forms in my throat and i find it hard to swallow. the purity of athletic competition at its best is about as good an expression of humanity and fellowship as there is. and the point isn't entirely about winning either: i'd have felt the same, had the US team won the bronze and seen Dara's faces riven with tears.

and speaking of athletic endeavor, David and i spent the day in San Francisco and at the ballpark, for the first game of the Giants-Diamondbacks double-header. alas, Dusty Baker decided to rest his starters for the afternoon dust-up... a smart move since the Giants had already won the pennant, but watching the B team was almost like watching a Triple A affair. starter Shaun Estes wasn't sharp, and the only other regulars in the game were catcher Bobby Estalella and rightfielder Ellis Burks.

still, for the 8th inning, Barry Bonds, J.T. Snow, Jeff Kent and Rich Aurilia were inserted in the game, Giants down 3-7 and threatening. it didn't quite work, but it was cool for David to see the first-stringers for a little bit (today was his first time to see the Giants play, and of course the first time at PacBell Park as well). we spent some time wandering around the ballpark, just enjoying the atmosphere, snapping a few pix here and there. (speaking of which, i'll post 'em tomorrow. after dropping Dave off at the Dublin BART, i took the same train back to Berkeley, picked up my rat and cabbed it back up to Jane's for the evening's Olympic viewing. no time for pic uploading.)

11:15 pm
and to wrap up the evening: i get choked up again as i see Marion Jones' sublime, ecstatic face as she wins the 100-meter dash in the largest margin of victory ever in the event. the fastest woman in the world is also among the most beautiful and charming. what an abundance of grace...

{ net.casting }
^