Federer in 2008 U.S. Open

The U.S. Open started Monday. Roger Federer played his first round last night. He got past the first round with no problems. I really hope he gets his head in the game, or out of it in this case, because he needs to focus on this grand slam and not others. Nadal beating him at Wimbledon messed him up.


There was article about Roger Federer in the USA Today on August 25th. I thought it was interesting.

At U.S. Open, Federer badly in need of just one grand
By Douglas Robson, Special for USA TODAY

NEW YORK — For Roger Federer, a season of illness, inconsistency and indignity reaches its last important juncture at the U.S. Open, which begins Monday.

A fifth consecutive title here could salvage his season. A loss, and the silken Swiss would go home without a Grand Slam tournament title for the first time since 2002 — bolstering the notion that Spaniard Rafael Nadal is here to stay.

After a failure in Australia, an embarrassing loss in Paris, the end of his hegemony in London and a failure to grab singles gold in Beijing, second-ranked Federer arrives with questions swirling about what is wrong with his game, his head and his once impenetrable aura.

Federer, who won so often and so easily during his 237-week run atop the rankings that he often eschewed coaches and seemed indifferent to conditions, admitted Saturday that a little love from the crowd could help. "I think I need the support a little bit this year," he said during a news conference.

Nadal, who took over the No. 1 ranking Aug. 18, has a chance to stamp his season as one for the ages after his wins at Paris and Wimbledon and the gold medal he captured in the Olympics in Beijing eight days ago.

Nadal said he felt great "satisfaction" to finally reach No. 1, but he said his approach to the year's final major is business as usual.

"When you want to win, the goal is still the same and the pressure is still the same," he said Saturday.

No one is counting the four-time defending champion out, especially on the U.S. Open's fast DecoTurf II hard courts, which play into Federer's offensive skills and movement. And by most standards, his season has been exceptional.

"I know pretty much every player except for one that would take his bad year," No. 9 Andy Roddick said. "So I think you have to use a little bit of perspective. He's created a bit of a monster for himself."

But since contracting mononucleosis at the start of the year, Federer, 27, has been a step behind his main rivals. He lost to eventual Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in Melbourne and suffered his most lopsided Grand Slam loss to Nadal at Roland Garros in Paris. The 22-year-old Spaniard then denied Federer a sixth consecutive Wimbledon.

If Federer keeps his cool he will be the top seeded tennis player in the world again. Nadal broke his spirit and he is "flustered" as someone put it.

And if Federer does that and plays like I know he can than we won't have a repeat of failure that Wimbledon turned out to be.

First Day of Work

Yesterday was my first full day of work. I got up fine and was even fine coming home. I almost crashed before dinner but I knew that I needed to stay awake so that I could actually sleep that night. I was pacing around the kitchen to stay awake. I slept really good. I am glad that my day can actually be filled with something now. I was started to get really irritated. lol. I think I am going to like this job. They got a new system and we are all somewhat trying to figure it out. Eventually, everyone will know what they're doing and it will be less chaotic. lol. Oh, and I got a name tag today. You know the kind that sit on your desk? It is silver which is cool. I never really liked the brown ones. Dad came in this morning, don't ask me why because I have no idea, I think he was going to lunch. I showed him my name plate thing and it almost slid off the holder. That was funny.

Movies and Me

I went and saw The Dark Knight this afternoon. I thought that it was scarily good. lol. Does that make sense? Heath Ledger did a brilliant job as The Joker. I nominate him for that Oscar that he is rumored to get. Overall, I thought the movie had a darker tone than Batman Begins. I guess that is what they were going for. I like it. Christopher Nolan did a great job on the first Batman movie and was glad to hear that he was back for The Dark Knight. Hopefully, he stays with Batman for a long time. One thing I did not like about the movie was the fact that the actor was changed from Batman Begins to The Dark Knight ... or in this case actress. In the first movie Rachel Dawes was played by Katie Holmes and in The Dark Knight the role was played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. It would have been fine except for the fact that I kept forgetting she was even Rachel. So the record setting million-dollar movie has a minor flaw ... big deal. I still loved it. Maybe in the next movie Bruce Wayne will have his house built and we can see the Bat Cave in its final format.

And on a personal note, I have been looking for a job for a few months now. I had a couple of interviews with the University of Utah. I have been waiting to hear back from them and as I was walking out of the movie theater I got a call . I got the job. They will pay me close to $12 an hour. I have never worked for that much so I hope that I don't disappoint them. I am going to be working in the Materials Department as an Associate Accountant. I start on Monday and I'm excited.

Great Jacket

I LOVE this jacket! I don't know where Josh got it but I am glad he did. It is so cool. These pictures were taken in May at Bryant Park for the GMA Summer Concert Series kick-off. Josh Groban was the first one. Sadly, I couldn't go to New York and see Josh perform. After stumbling across these photos last week I really wish I had splurged and gone for the concert. lol.

A World Without Color

A world without color. That would be strange. While I was reading The Giver this morning I was outside and I was looking at the mountains. To not be able see blue or red or black, well I guess you can see black, to see in black and white would be weird. You wouldn’t be able to see color or shades of color. You wouldn’t see the trees and the orange construction signs, which are everywhere in Utah. You wouldn’t really have the American flag; it wouldn’t be red, white, and blue. You wouldn’t see brown or green or I don’t know it’s just different. A world without color would be odd, one-dimensional. I like color and to even imagine a world without color is sad. It makes me sad.

post script

I was doing so good at the beginning of Project Black. I knew I couldn't get to the Internet often enough. At least I tried, right. lol. And this project was more difficult than Project Blue. I had a fun, hard time finding interesting shots of black.

Project Black #10

View through the bench.

Check out Anna's site for details and more Project Black participants.

Project Black #9

Check out Anna's site for details and more Project Black participants.

Project Black #8

Check out Anna's site for details and more Project Black participants.

Josh posted!

Josh Groban posted his first video on his blog. I like when he shows the view he has from his hotel room. And he realizes that it is to dark outside so it doesn't really work. And I love the part where he says "Okay, I was told this would happen. I am rambling on my video blog." He was so rambling from the beginning. I love it. Keep talking, Josh, because we'll listen. lol.