Octopus can be wrong!

I woke up today singing Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" in my head. Because today, unlike last night, I am feeling good. I have a new assignment for a paper I write for, and I squared away payment for something I wrote for another paper. This something, once my check is in my hands, will be my first paid piece of writing. Last night feels like a blip; now I've got a belly full of nectarines and Chinese food, the World Cup is on TV, and I feel content.

I really regret not getting into the World Cup sooner. I guess I was never home, and I could never get the TV to myself. No one else I live with is so into it. I caught part of the Netherlands vs. Uruguay match yesterday and was riveted. Soccer is just so easy to watch. The rules are simple and the ball stays visible on the ground, unlike American football where the ball gets tucked under huge arms and a lot of it seems like a bunch of big dudes body slamming each other without reason.

So I love watching the game, and I love the international aspect of it, but living in the middle of nowhere in a house full of women, I also love gawking at hot men in soccer shorts. There's a certain je ne sais quoi about these guys. They're athletes with godly bodies, but they're also emotional and expressive. They're not afraid to cheer, cry, or do flips of joy on the field, nor to hug-tackle their teammates after a goal. In fact, I just heard a commentator say of one of Germany's players: "He needs a hug. He responds well to positive reinforcement." I just can't get over the fact that saying that about him doesn't make him any less manly to anyone. I bet if Tom Brady or Reggie Bush were told they needed a hug, they'd be told to grow a pair.

I only know who those two guys are because sometimes I read Us Weekly at the doctor's office.

So I'm just waiting for this game to start now. There's just pregame commentary now. But some of it is interesting. Apparently some people use an octopus to predict the outcome of the matches. They take two boxes and put a playing country's flag on each one, then put a clam in each box. Whichever box the octopus takes a clam out of represents the winning team. It hasn't been wrong yet, and just picked Spain. The German's held up a sign in return saying "Octopus can be wrong." I just love this game.