Thursday, December 1st, 2005

Three Entries for the price of one and a half

Well, it's really more like 3 half entries for the price of a 30 pieces of Nerds. I will lead the pack tonight. Firstly, it's been a rough and wild week, but the countdown has already begun. Three weeks left. But this semester will not die easily. Technically, my classmates are done with thier stuff on the 15th. I, however, have to go to campus on the 19th to administer the Final Exam. But Nado, that's on Monday, and not a big deal. Well, shut up, cuz I'm not done yet. There's a strong chance I'll have to administer it again after that since I have a student who requires time and a half. That's gonna be a headache since I have no idea where Im supposed to do this. On top of that, I can't leave until I "check out" with my coordinator (and never have to see hera gain!).

Moreover, my prac site wants me to work throughout the four weeks that we have Christmas break, but I haven't told them yet that it's rather... well, not legal for me to do that since I won't be under the University liability coverage. Yeah, I know, the chances of me getting sued are small, but I'm not taking any chances. With my luck, you never know.

Today marks the deadline for PhD programs to have recieved all my crap. I really hope they got it. Despite my best attempts to get this all out of the way months in advance, it has been a headache, mostly because of incompetence NOT demonstrated by yours truly. "We don't have your GRE scores! We don't have your Wabash Transcripts!" Bah! I sent everything in this summer. I don't want to hear it.

For some strange reason, the more I think about the "end" of the semester and graduate school admissions incompetence, the more upset I'm becoming. Thus, I will end this thing sooner than expected and instead on elaborating on those trifles, I will discuss the even that made cracking up today.

So I handed back the exams to my students with five minutes left before class ended. People were pissed. They didn't do so well on the exam. This exam covered mostly the preterite with stem-changing IR verbs and irregular verbs

so for examples, yo preferí, tú tuviste, etc.

Anyway, in one section they had to conjugate verbs to complete a story and one of the sentences was Estuve cansado, asi que ________ (hacer/dormir/ver) una siesta.

You have to pick the verb that best fits and then conjugated. Obviously the verb there is DORMIR and you have to conjugated in the preterite YO form.

Estuve cansado, asi que dormí una siesta.

However, not a lot of people understood that. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you sleep a nap?" They had a point. It was a spanish expression that was mentioned in chapter 4 a loooong time ago and was rarely brought up.

Anyway, this girl said, "Why can't you say you take a nap!?" (referring to Hacer, which actually means to make or to do)."

I say, "well, technically, that's not what it means." How do you say "to take" in Spanish" I ask her.

She puts the test away angrily, and goes off - "I don't know! I don't care! I hate this test, I hate this class, I hate spanish and I hate everything Spanish!" and STORMS out of the room. LUckily by then most of the class had already left.

I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. I was actually waiting for her to say "and I hate YOU!" but she didn't go that far. She's a good kid, she was just feeling demoralized. In my infinite wisdom I decided to accept "hice una siesta," simply because that example was pretty bad. Consequently, she apologized for her tyraid, claiming that she was just being dramatic.

All right, since I'm too lazy to look up Scott's entry this week, which was nothing more thn more links to stuff, I'll just post Becker's late entry. So technically, you got a full entry and another entry which isn't that long at all..so in a way it's the same amount I promised you, just in different portions.

I HATE EVERYTHING SPANISH! lol her face was so red... ooooh mercy!

wed well thirsty instead

Finals suck.  Well, finals aren't so bad, I just suck at school.

Here's hoping to getting out in under 7 years.

Sorry I can't write more, but here's a picture of Chua making a funny face:
http://home.comcast.net/~becker0712/chuaforblog.jpg


Song Download of the Week
Blur - Tender

Nady Fertuesday will not be posted today

This is mostly due to the end of semester crunch. As of this moment, I have the following things to accomplish within the next two weeks:

1) What looks to be increasingly like a 70 page paper on my part on certian abnormal psychological disorders. Most of the reading is done for this. Now it's a matter of typing this bad boy, regardless of how sterile and lifeless the blasted thing is going to end up sounding.

2) a 6 page paper on the ethical dilemnas I've had experienced at my prac site.

3) Putting together a presentation on cultural aspects of the spanish language. I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. This has to be ten minutes. Maybe I'll just read an Aguilar story and talk about "la destruccion total del hombre!... y eso me interesa"

4) a final project for that stupid spanish class which my coordinator was so gracious to give me an extention on... of one day. How the hell did Jesus love people that were trying to kill him when I have a hard time not despising this Blubbertard who increasingly gets on my nerves for pointing out how horrible of an instructor I am at every turn? Bah!

And then finals week I have a bunch of stuff to do as well, but I can't worry abut that until I actually proctor the Final exam for my students.

Now that I've given you mini-me version of what's going on, here's Mellon-head.

I told Nando today that maybe he should re-title his website the Funk & Nando Show, considering those two have been responsible for the bulk of the last few weeks' coverage (the highlights being, I think, Nando's cover of Scott's Thanksgiving entry and Funk's awkward encounter not with his volumptuous customer but rather that elderly and blunt woman behind her in line).   Anyway, Funk's encouragement about rediscovering one's muse paired with Nando's threat of making me the next BBX fashion reporter has given me the jumpstart I needed to turn in something this week.  And I must apologize for slacking off ? I have roughly three excuses.

1. I've been struggling with some serious depression lately which has left me with little energy for anything (so nothing personal, BBXsters)

2. I still don't always know what to write for this or how personal to get.  I'm used to writing either only for myself or to people with whom I'm close friends and who I talk to regularly enough that they know my general context.  As overly analytical as it is of me, I guess I'm still finding my way of relating to all of you out there in Nandoland

3. And this may be the real culprit ? I think I'm lazy.  What I mean is that I often have great ideas of things to write or responses to other entries, but taking the time to put it all into words (which will hopefully appear witty and bright) can feel like a daunting task.  I want the instant gratification of having a thought, expressing it immediately (usually through the spoken word) and knowing it is being heard/understood/appreciated/whatever right away.  This may be why I spend so much time on the phone.  That being said, I do still love snail mail with a passion as well as writing in my journal, so maybe this doesn't make any sense at all.  Oh well.

For tonight, though, I shall bypass these obstacles to write about... well, whatever I feel like.  For instance, Nando's serious consideration of moving to Santa Barbara, CA.  Am I alone in seeing the humor in this?  If Santa Barabara were a person, he'd be a blond, tanned, blue-eyed (okay, one point - sort of! - in common with the Nandster), eternally cheerful, somewhat superficial surfer who drinks, parties, and works out a lot.  See the incongruence here?  But that's just my interpretation...  Quick! A BBX challenge: what city would match Nando in terms of temperment, personality and style?  Better yet, what city would you, dear reader, be?  I'll give my answer next week if someone else (and by someone else I mean Funk ? ha!) does too.

One last thing for now: I know God is in everything, but is he/she/it really in Wisconsin in December?  I mean it's 3 degrees here (that's right, I just checked)!  I was thinking about this cuz lately I've felt the need to find some sacred space other than my own cozy room where I can go to for prayer, meditation, whatever, and my instinct would normally be to just spend some time alone in ?nature.?  Except this is Wisconsin.  In December.  And it's 3 degrees.  *Sigh*  At least in a few weeks I'll be going back home to California for a while.  It'll be relatively warm there and I can go to the ocean.  In the meantime, I think that at least sometimes I can catch a glimpse of God here, like when the snowfall sparkles in the sunlight or when I pay attention to the trees, bare but sturdy and waiting patiently (like they do each year) for spring.  laters...

Well, here I am on another Wednesday.

On the Blockbuster front, our store manager transferred, so we got a new one.  She's okay, other than treating me like I'm a new employee, even though I've been working there for 11 months.  But I guess she probably wants to establish her authority since she's only like 24.

I watched The Deer Hunter recently.  (My dad bought it for me last christmas, just now got around to it).  Really good film, although very looonngg.  What was it about Vietnam that messed up the minds of so many soldiers?  I mean, there were dire consequences of every war the U.S. has been involved in, but Vietnam more than any other seems to have lasting effects on the mental health of its veterans.  Was it guilt over possible killing of innocent people, due to the difficulty in distinguishing the enemy from the allies from armed civilians?  (Seems like a similar problem to what's going on in Iraq right now:  Soldiers forced to kill 14-year-old boys running at them because they don't know if they're wired with explosives or not).  Was it internal turmoil at being used as a tool in an unnecessary war?  (World Wars I and II had pretty straightforward and justified purposes, so I imagine those soldiers had less mental conflict at their roles).  Or was there something about the jungle that drives a man mad?  Or is it that all soldiers in all wars have had the same problems, but that previous to Vietnam mental health care was atrocious if existant at all, so maladies were simply misdiagnosed, covered up, or ignored?  And maybe Gulf War I vets are suffering the same fate, but there's simply multitudes less of them than there were in Vietnam, so we don't notice it as much.   Whatever the cause was, lets hope it doesn't affect the vets of our current war.

I have finals going this week.  Luckily, out of my 4 classes, one final was a paper and another is a take-home.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to motivate myself to study for the other two.  They are coming up tomorrow and Friday, so wish me luck.

This year, my extended family is starting a new tradition for Christmas, or as I like to call it, Jeebusfest.  We drew names out of a hat for our gift recipients, in essence a Secret Santa.  I'm glad we're finally going this route, because when everyone buys presents for everyone, it just gets ridiculous.  Plus the youngest cousin is now 11 years old, so we're all mature enough to handle less presents.  But the real reason I'm happy is because it's that many less times I have to fake enthusiasm when unwrapping gifts.

Finally, to answer Melanie's question of "Where is God in Wisconsin in December?"  Most Wisconsinites would tell you he lies inside Brett Favre's arm.  But my Chicago Bears broke that last Sunday, so you're out of luck now.


Song Download of the Week:
Monty Python - Bright Side of Life

He Speaks!

So... this week has been crazy, besides all the personal
uproar in my
life, I have been working my ass off since sometime last
week... think
it was Tuesday.  Nabors are drunk,and are jumping very
loudly on the
sealing of my room.  Don't want to talk about school, but
will give
you a short story about life... it is good, bad, and some
times
sucks.. have to run and pick up friend...

Saturday, December 10th, 2005

My raging hatred for this season should be enough to keep me warm

It's that time of year again. The time where I drone on and on about how much I dislike the Winter Season. But this year, I thought I would take some time out and actually ask myself why it is that I consider winter to be so horrible. So, after thinking it through for a bit, I think I have come up with an explanation. I think I'm just a really impatient person. And no season tipifies "a big waste of time" like winter.

Let's walk through a typical day in summer and compare that to a typical day in winter.

So, in the nice month of July, I wake up and notice that there are still 20 minutes before I have to walk out the door. Ah, tis no problem! THat gives me plenty of time to brush my teeth, make a quick meal, and put on some shorts, sandles and a t-shirt. Before you know it, I'm out the door.

In January, I wake up and notice that there are twenty minutes left! Holy hell! That sucks. I rush out of bed, brush my teeth, put my pants, shirt, sweater, jacket or coat, socks, and boots on, plus my gloves and hat- can't forget about those! Crap! No time for making any food! I should have woken up earlier...but i fell asleep so late!

In July, I go to my car and start it up. After about a minute of selecting which song I want to cruise to, I set Betsy to Reverse and pullout of the drive way.

In January, I leave the house and Good LORD! It's cold! And there's snow everywhere! I better start the car first to warm the engine. I proceed to brush the snow off the car, which takes forever. Plus the fact that it's freezing outside doesn't help matters. After giving a few whacks at it, I can finally put the brush away... and then commence to shovel the snow so that I can have some way to escape. Argh. It's 20 minutes since I got up and already I'm forced to do manual labor! This sucks!

In July, I'm cruising like no one's biz. Going 50 in a 35 zone, letting the wind hit me from all directions, blasting my tunes. THe whistles go WOOOO! The sun is hining and it makes me happy.

In January, I'm still shoveling/warming up the car. But once that is done, "one must drive very carefully" out on the roads because fellow motorists act like they have never seen any snow before despite the fact that it falls 6 months out of the year here!! "Move it, you moron!" However, any attempts to go anywhere near the speed limit are futile as that would cause your car to spin out of control because not all the streets have been plowed yet... again, this mystical element invading the city known as "suh-no" captivates people to the point of gawking as it falls down and not worrying about getting it off the roads! idiots! Two options here. Either everything looks gray outside (mixed with brown mud) or the sun is glaring since it's bouncing off the snow, making it impossible to see anything!

In July, I finally get to where I need to be, and once I get out of the car and can either stroll casually to the next place I need to go, or jog there (I often had to drive my car to the bus stop so we'll say that's the next stop).

In January, once I get out of the car, the wind hits me from all direction and makes me want my face to fall off. Crap! I forgot my scarf in all the hustle and bustle this morning! bah! I need to get to the bus stop but I can't run because of all the snow, slush and ice on the sidewalk, so my options are 1) walking very slowly or 2) walking. All with the wind freezing me! If there's snow on the ground, good luck getting to the bus stop on time. Guess I shoulda gotten there earlier!

Now, in July, I'm on the bus. The air conditioning inside comes as a nice refreshing boone to taking public transportation.

In January: DAMMIT! WHY DOESN'T THE BUS GET HERE!! I'M GOING TO DIE! GET HERE! Once the bus arrives I go in, only to be jam packed in with a bunch of weirdos, half of whom have some nasty flu or cold, which I'm probably going to get. Bah!

In July, after the chores are completed, I can relax and stay somewhere for a while. After all, it gets cooler at night and the sun doesn't even set till eight-something or other. There's plenty of time to go here or there.

In January, after the chores are completed, all I can think of is going home - my nice hot home where I can sleep and not have to worry about this again until I wake up the next morning. It's already dark at 4:00! What the crap!

In July, Hey, the bus is here, time to go home.

In January, "Expect delays if you're waiting for the bus, as the snow is making it difficult to get around." So... cold.

And there you have it. Now, summertime isn't all peaches and cream, I know that much. You have bugs - particularly mosquitos- to worry about. And they're just nasty. Also, I think I would much rather shovel snow in the winter than mow the lawn in the summer. HOwever, one has to be done every day, pretty much, or at least every week, while the other every fortnight about. And you need to shovel/brush off snow in order to get from one place to another. Mowing... not so much.

I think it really just boils down to the fact that I am really, really lazy. moreover, I can't stand having to do all that crap before I finally am able to do what I was supposed to do- and what would have been accomplished in half as much time during the summer. Plus, I'm not sure about this, but I think summer might kill more people than winter. I'll have to check.

Still, tHe combination of dressing in twice as many layers of clothing, warming up the car, removing snow in some fashion, driving really slowly or even walking really slowly - it all adds up. And it don't fly where I come from... Chicago.  And that's another thing. I cannot stand it when people look at me strangely after I rant about winter and they say "What are you talking about? You're from Chicago." Then I just give them the old Nando-saying, "Hey, just because someone hits me over the head six months out of the year from the day I was born doesn't mean I have to like it."

And then people talk about how pretty the snow is. Well, yeah, if I just stayed home eating bon-bons I would love to look at the snow or go out and play in it. No bon-bon-eating for me this year unfortunately, as I have to trek through the damned winter. I think the fact that I have to make my phD program decision right in the heart of winter will have a huge influence on my choice. Arizona, here i come!

Now that I've discussed that matter, I wanted to give a better representation on my last meeting with my coordinator. Last as in previous, not final. So, as you all know, I have a ton of stuff to worry about this semester, and rather than rushing through my assignments, I wanted to have some time to do them at my own leisure. With this in mind, I went to my coordinator to ask her for an incomplete in her class so that I could turn in my final project sometime next semester. Here's how things went down:

Cooridnator: So the policy that the university holds is that you can only request an incomplete if something comes up where you almost die. My policy is never to give them  because students usually never turn it in and I have to chase after them constantly to hand their stuff in. Why do you want an incomplete.

Nando: well, things are rather hectic and busy--

C: well, I just don't give them out. I have even extended the deadline. They used to be due on the 16th, but then i realized I wasnt going to read through them that weekend, so I made them due on the 19th. [she pauses to look at her calendar]. How about if I give you till the 20th?

N: Sure, I guess.

C: Well, what are you at right now? A 'C'?

N: I don't remember.

C: When I handed you your grades.

N: that was a long time ago. I think I was at a C or something.

C: Well, you've been missing a lot of class. Why?

N: [1) this person is not inspiring me to confide in her, 2)You act like you're entitled to know about what's going on in my life, which I find insulting] I'd rather not talk about it.

C:And you haven't been turning in your homework. You also didn't do that well on the exam. [67%, baby! - woo!] You answered the questions... but you didn't... but not completely.  YOu answered sections of each one. Why?

N: [shrugs]. I'm doing well in the papers though [90, 95 and 98]. So that should help me. [this was my attempt to bring myself back from the road of despair she was taking me through].

C: I also saw your videotaped class... and I was pretty dissapointed.

N: [I hate you.]

C: You didn't engage the class- well you did, but blah blah blah [nando zones out and puts his gloves on at this point].

So, it was at that point that I reaized that I am glad that I don't have to worry about being her servant anymore. She definitely has 'mother issues.' So, I have no idea how I'm supposed to prep a presentation on culture the last day of class on the 16th and then submit a Final Project four days later. Boy does this suck. If anyone knows anything about Hispanic Muslims for my Final Project, that would be super. 

All right, gonna see what the heck I can accomplish in the next 29 hours. 

Shepherd Sundays

Holy crap, nando has more time to write again? Did he get all his work done? Nah, just doesn't care at this point.

Before I head to bed and start this final week of actual classes (I still have a boatload of stuff to do the following week), I thought I would just mention a few things that made me smile this week.

On Monday, I was going over how to use Superlatives in Spanish. The rule is that the adjective comes after the noun unless you're saying Best or Worst. So in a two-pronged exercise, I had students translate questions I had written down in English, and then answer them in a complete phrase.

THe first question: Where is the best team in the NFL from? That translates to: "De donde es el equipo mejor de la NFL." After we established that, I elicited a response. Not surprisngly, I heard some utterances of "Green Bay" here and there, but most of my students were quite since hardly any human being can claim the Packers to be even decent this year. I asked "Cómo?" to get a better answer - or at least a louder one.

"Son de Green Bay" one of the Girls said.
"Oh," I responded. "No. Creo que hay confusión. Es el mejor equipo," I said in my best, 'let me clarify' tone. "No el peor. El mejor." I circled the word "best" as I said it and a lot of people started cracking up... rather reluctantly.

Then, later on, when talking to Melanie, she goes, " Okay, becker's thing about God being Wisconsin... I'm guessing... is that a football player?" I immediately started cracking up. It was mindboggling to me that someone could live in Wisconsin and not hear about how Brett Favre was the best Football Player to EVER live! Melanie seemed to take my teasing well. Then I came up with a great idea. I told her to go up to the first person she saw on the street and ask, "Hey, who the heck is this Brett Favre guy I keep hearing about?"

"Is this something that's gonna get me beat up?" she asked.

"No," I told her, "But they'll probably talk your ear off for about four hours going on and on about how Brett Favre is the greatest Quarterback in the history of Football."

Let's see what else. Oh, yeah Yesterday, when I went to buy my weekly package of Fresh half pound of Turkey for my sandwiches, I had an interesting exchange withthe person behind the deli counter. "Can I have a half pound of the Oven Roasted Turkey, please" I asked politely.

She stared at me. "Mercy, youve got some beautiful eyes," she said. "Are those real?"

I blushed. "No. They're contacts."

"Well, don't go telling anyone that, okay?"

"Just you." I said with a smile.

"Oh mercy. Check out his eyes," she told her fellow workers. "They're sexy. Sexy eyes."

Before you know it, I had everyone checking me out while the attendant kept going on and on to herself about how beautiful my eyes were. I heard her mutter something about, "makes me wanna leave my husband! MMM-mm!"

At that point I thought, "Hmm, i think this qualifies as sexual harassment."

And no sooner had I thought that then, the woman herself told her coworker "this probably is considered sexual harrassment." as she sliced my tureky. "Oh well."

"Will that be all?" she asked with a smile.

"Uh... yes." and I skipped on out of there.

Now something else that has made me smile this week wasn't really funny... but just freaking awesome. OF course, I am referring to the X3 teaser trailer. It looks remarkably good. I've been following the production of it for some time, so I knew who some of the cast members featured in this one were going to be. For instance, Fraiser's Kelsey Grammar plays the part of the Beast. I too had my doubts, but when you see how great his makeup job is, you'll pretty much know that they took care of every single visual aspect for this movie. My one concern though is that this is going to feature way too many characters. And with word that this might be the last film featuring most of the cast, I think it's rather sad.  WHen you have well over 20 different mutant characters dispersed over the course of two hours, and about 3 different plots, things are going to be rather tough to resolve quickly.

But I'm excited. My only question now is... who I will see this film with. In 2000, I saw Xmen with Chua and a friend of mine from the pre-St. Joes era, Rick. Then in 2003, I saw X2 with Becker and Scott in Urbana, as a nice, relaxing end-of-academic-year form of relaxation. Then I saw the film again with Jason, Kevin, and Michael Bricker. But now, I'll probably be in Wisconsin when this comes out, and it comes out almost in June, way too late for an end-of-semester relaxation thing. Maybe I'll go to chicago that weekend or something. Or maybe... just maybe... I can convince Melanie to watch it with me... I mean, one of the story lines deals with Jean Grey becoming the Dark Pheonix - a creature powerful enough to destroy an entire solar system with a mere thought (in the comic book version) - that's empowering, right? She'll have to go through training though. I don't think you can just fall into x3 without seeing the first two.

Well, that's still a ways away... and then Bond comes out in November. Followed by transformers in July of 2007. I'm set for every six months from here on out. Actually, I've been wanting to see a few movies lately. Syriana sounds like something I would enjoy - spies, conspiracies, globe-trotting, Matt Damon...er, exotic locales. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I also have an interest to see King Kong, which surprises even me. When I first saw the trailer 6 months ago, I thought, "that looks stupid." Now I watch the trailer and think, "Lord, that looks fun!" Guess I'm just at a place right now where I need mindless violence along with Compelling espionage and intrigue.

Finally, and I feel like a tool for saying this - more than for wanting to see the King Kong movie. I'm interested in seeing that gay cowboy movie. I know, i know. There's probably nothing in there that is going to be amazing about it, and it probably is only getting huge acclaim because it's the first gay love story shown in wide release. But dammit, maybe there's more to it. Maybe it's more than just a huge vehicle for conning horny gay dudes out of their money to see a sex scene between Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Time was that I could rely on Roger Ebert for an unbiased review, but he's been losing his street cred ever since he gave Tomb Raider "thumbs up." And that new sap he got to replace Siskel is such a doormat...

Roeper: I liked this movie a lot.
Ebert: actually, I didn't think it was that great.
Roeper: Yeah, you're right.

Bah! Grow a spine! So there you have it. A spy thriller, a giant ape and gay cowboys are what would get my 8 bucks. Tell me which you wanna see with me over the holidays.

It's late. I need sleep. Hasta luego.
 

thoughts on Peter Jackson's "King Kong"

KING KONG IS THE LONGEST MOVIE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

Tuesday, December 13th, 2005

Too Cool for Mondays

Becker: I appreciated your answer to my theological concern, despite not knowing who Brett Favre is (Nando filled me in so now I get it).  In answer to your questions about Vietnam veterans, I have to offer a book recommendation: Achilles in Vietnam (by Jonathan Shay).  It's a brilliant book about combat trauma and what made Vietnam such a unique situation. 

I'm afraid I can only respond partially to my own challenge cuz I'm really having trouble coming up with a city for Nando (Funk's offer of Orlando was pretty convincing).  I'll keep thinking about it, though, and will hopefully have something to share next time.  For now, though, I can think of a city that seems to be reflective of me.  Despite getting the impression that there may be a slightly anti-Seattle sentiment shared among certain BBXers, I have to say that's the city that comes to mind.  Mainly I'd say so because when I'm in a good mood I think I can be as fabulous and interesting as Seattle on a sunny day; however, I also often have my darker moments, just as Seattle is often overcast and rainy. 

And now...

MELON'S ADVENTURES IN MEDITATION

So the other night I went to this Buddhist meditation center near my house for half an hour of mindfullness mediation.  In the room where this took place there were a few chairs and several cushions on the floor.  Having usually sat in chairs before when I meditated, I thought I'd push myself this time and sit on a cushion, which forced me to maintain a straight posture without anything to lean against.  Several other people were in the room as well, all sitting up perfectly straight and still.  Someone rang a bell, signaling the start of the meditation (just as I assumed they would ring it at the end).  For the first, oh say, two minutes I was fine.  Paying attention to my breath, letting go of bothersome thoughts, trying to keep my body relaxed while still sitting up straight.  Soon enough my back started hurting.  A lot.  And then my legs began cramping.  I knew it had been a mistake to sit on the floor.  I'd never been able to keep this up before for more than five or ten minutes ? what made me think I could do for an entire half hour!  I glanced furtively around the room; everyone else was still sitting perfectly calmly and quietly.  My body was aching!  But I didn't know if getting up to move to a chair would be rude so I forced myself to stay as I was.  By this point all thoughts that would normally be swirling around in my brain had been completely eclipsed by one fervent prayer: Ring the damn bell!  This became my mantra as I wondered desperately how many minutes I had left to endure.  At one point I found that I could dissociate somewhat from the pain in my body but that would mean pretty much holding my breath, which negated the whole point of mindfullness meditation: paying attention to one's deep breathing.  I was trying so hard to keep from jumping up and leaving that I could feel myself gritting my teeth and scowling ? very un-Buddha-like I'm sure.  But I have a very low pain tolerance not to mention frustration tolerance and this was excruciating!  Finally (and it was actually 50, not 30, minutes later) the bell was rung again.  Free at last!  I stretched out my legs, arched my back, massaged my neck and stood up, filled with relief.  I have to admit there was a certain satisfaction (looking back) in seeing myself stick with such an uncomfortable process, but will I do it again?  Um, I'm not so sure... 

P.S. Hey Nadie, you know I'll see the gay cowboy movie with you  ; )

[Nando: yay!]

thoughts on Peter Jackson's "King Kong"

KING KONG IS THE LONGEST MOVIE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

Scott wrote stuff!!

I did not know gmail has this cool safe feature...  well it
is kind of
annoying at this time of the morning.  If you enter the
wrong password
too many times, you get a little pictures pass word lower
in the
screen.  So I read your entry in half bitching about a
student with
time and half... and some Spanish stuff... I should learn
Spanish some
day.  Any how, I can understand how painful setting up a
place and
location for taking a test for time and half is.  I still
am waiting
for one of my teachers to email my exam location.  Effect I
have been
yield at by teachers in the past due to my accommodations
(Spring 05),
and you know what I have to say... "and it just burns your
ass don't
it?"

So you my be wondering why I'm up at 7am on a Saturday...
well 7am is
10pm in Japan during winder, but 9pm in Summer.  Yeah they
don't have
a time change.  So just waiting to talk to Kami, but looks
like she
might be coming home late again.

Last Wednesday I was up till around 4am working on a
project.  Right
after I wrote that very very short email to Nando, with was
around
9ish I think, the next time I was home was 4:30am.  Was
going to write
you more, but just got caught up.  I turns out that my
group was
having trouble finishing their part of the project, and so
I went to
lend them a hand.  One of my group members just slept at
the
Mechanical Engineering Lab, it is sad when I realized that
I was one
of the last cars to leave the lot, but the other few cars
had a good
lay of snow on them.

Any how, how can I be mad while I'm watching music videos.

This coming week is going to be mad too... I have a project
due this
Wednesday... in the middle of finals week... a long with 4
finals...
getting one of my teachers to fallow university rules was
like running
a toaster through a car wash.

Oh funny thing happen last night... I got my truck stuck in
the snow
last night.  Took a good 30 minutes to get it out.  I was
just going
for a fun winter drive, and one curve was a little too
slick...
yeah... I was the guy in the back pushing.  When I first
walk around
to the back of my truck, I did not realize there was a 3 to
4 food
ditch leveled with snow... next thing I knew I was up to my
arm pits
in snow.  It got all in my boots and pants.  I WAS FUCKING
COLD!!!  So
after the fun, we get back and my roommate take the shower
right a way
which just sucked because he took most of the hot water. 
But feeling
good this morning, so don't think I got sick.

My sister's eyes turned green this week.  For some odd
reason, some
people's eyes in my family change at some point in their
life.  Her
eyes were dark brown, and now they are a dark green.  It
was the same
for my bro and dad.  I don't think it will happen to me as
my eyes are
a lighter brown.

Well back to watching hot women dance to semi-craptacular
and repetitive music.

***Minutes later***

Saturday, December 17th, 2005

Catching up as things slow down.

You can tell things are wrapping up when Nando cleans his desktop. For those of you who have had the pleasure of seeing my computer, you know that my desktop can get pretty messy. In fact, oftentimes, you can't even tell what the wallpaper consists of. That usually happens because I have tons of papers to write and to access them rather quickly, I just leave them on my desktop. So, you can imagine how cluttered my desktop was this semester. But since it's over, for the most part, there's no reason to keep a messy house.

Lots of small stuff has gone on this week. Small stuff, which is really of no consequence right now, but still matters I guess. Some good, some bad, all small.

Firstly, I got a call on Monday from Columbia MO saying that I was one of the few candidates who applied and have been selected to the second round of the application-offs. Can I make it to the Finals? Only time will tell. They said they were really impressed with my statement of purpose, accomplishments and letters of rec. They want me to go down there and do an interview on the 20th  (it would be with most of the other applicants).

      There are several problems with this. First, they can't guarantee me any type of funding for the trip down there, which sucks because it's 430 bucks a trip. They didn't really sell me on the experience either, when the dude said, "we have an airport but it's kind of expensive. Most people decide to fly into st. louis or Kansas city and then drive two hours here."

      Two hours from civilization. Even Indy was only an hour or so away from C-ville. I checked out the campus using Windows Live Local and Google maps, and it seems nice. But I couldn't help but feel a bit depressed thinking that that's where I would be for the next three or four years of my life. I've done the college town thing - if you can call C-ville a ?college town?, but in my defense, I never really liked Lafayette either. I think Jason said it best when he called it a "fake town." I don?t mind the slow pace of life in a small town, but with a University, it turns a bit different. I can?t explain it. All I know is that I start feeling the same way I felt when I visited Urbana. Lost. I don?t know what that means. So, I?ve decided to stick closely to cities from this point on.

So, starting this week, I will do a periodic University Power Rankings   

Rank:	How Come?
No 1.	Minneapolis - Surprise, Minneapolis is still on top. The winters are a deal breaker, though. However, after talking with some of my fellow cohortians who lived up there, I got a little reassurance. Yeah, the winters are horrible. But I got the impression that they're worth it for all the stuff there is to do and how beautiful everything around there must look during the spring and summer. Boone for it: it was recently ranked the third most literate city.
No 2.	Bloomington, IN - 45 minutes away from the South Side of NapTown so I can easily catch a lil Ronnie concert out in the Trailer Park. 16-0 Superbowl bound! Besides Madison, this is the closest to home.
No 3.	Arizona - the fact that my phd decision will be made during the heart of winter will heavily influence my choice on where to go. I know nothing about Tempe, cept it?s a hell of a lot warmer than it is here, without that bloody humidity.
No 4.	Missouri - I've already mentioned a few things that get me a bit concerned about going there, but we have to be realistic. They're the only ones who have even flirted with me at this point. Doesn't mean you gotta go home with the guy that brought you to the dance though. Still, they may be the only offer I get. So, the possibility of me ending up there is strong right now.
No 5.	Madison - holy crap! What's going on? There are plenty of reasons why this moved up 7 spaces. Firstly, on the list, it's one of the bigger cities. Secondly, though I would probably move after this year, it will still be an easier transition for me. And finally, there?s tons of security for me here as far as getting the second half of that fellowship those bastards gave me and maybe even teaching Spanish again... hmm. Maybe that should be a reason to not come back here, come to think of it. Anyway, the tough sell is that I?m not entirely keen on the PhD program here. And isn't that really what I?m here for?
No 6.	Austin ? dead center. It?s ?the Madison of the Southwest?. That?s the pitch I?ve heard for it. Many times. I need to do some more research on Awes-ten, but the fact that it?s all the way in Texas, far from intelligent or un-racist life, makes it a tough sell.
No 7.	Boston ? city. That?s a plus. I read an article that said the city is experiencing it?s worst homicide rate in 30 years. That?s bad. I can catch Celtic games. That?s.. okay, I guess. Worst part ? Foxboro is still a hell of a long ways away.
No 8.	Athens, GA- Now, everyone knows that Atlanta is the gay black mecca of the world. And everyone knows that the hawks are on fire after beating the spurs and the cavs in the same year. And everyone also knows that Athens is a mere hour or so away from Atlanta. What I don?t know, however, is anything about Athens. Gotta get my crack team on that place.
No 9.	Eugene, Oregon ? as much as I would like to live in the northwest, I am not sure if a small town would be the best place to start. I have it on good authority that Seattle, the emerald city, is the best place God ever told man to create. How do we know? It was recently picked as the top literate city in the nation.
No 10.	Penn State ? in reality, 8,9, and 10 are all pretty much tied. They?re all far enough from home that I wouldn?t want to drive back, and I would probably take a plane. Also, they?re all in the middle of nowhere (Athens being the closest to any city). What makes Penn state just a bit worse is the huge KKK presence that makes itself very well known around the town every year leading to protests and all sorts of other crap I really don?t want to care about.
No 11.	Gainesville ? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. What was once a powerhouse in these things has hit almost rock bottom. Why the sudden change in direction? The humidity, the old people, the recent bout of Hurricanes that have me kind of worried about living anywhere near an ocean, but most importantly, it was that Modern World comic strip that Funk sent me about Florida.
No 12.	Maryland ? last time I checked, they didn?t have all my stuff. In fact, they were missing over half of my application. That coupled with the fact that this place is too close to DC, and that I have to take the subway to get around, makes it far less appealing anyway.
No 13.	Santa Barbara ? no offense to the sunny beaches of California, which I really wish I could enjoy. But the grad school is requiring me to provide proof that I needed to apply through a special program (project 1000). With the deadline already passed, and my energy level at ?9, I don?t see me doing any work to get in. It would have been nice though.

I was pretty miffed today because I discovered that I have lost all of the scans I made of the Articles and Dissertations (well over 1000 pages)I ordered from libraries all over the world during the summer for my Thesis. Oh well. It?s not a big deal, since I?m a lot more comfortable reading stuff in my hands as opposed to reading it off a computer screen, anyway. But the bad part is that I have to re-order all those books again. I guess I?m more concerned over my frame of mind. What was I thinking in not backing up my files or saving them onto my D drive? That?s so strange. Maybe I?ll find them. I don?t know. The good news is that this means that even if I wanted to, I can?t do any work on this until after I get back from Chicago.

In other news, I?m pretty pumped because Funk is supposed to come up here and visit me. Im not sure if anyone will be around for his visit, but with a Family Video only a block away, and a store with plenty of Pringles 4 blocks away, I really don?t think anything else will matter. I hope Funk comes up here for New Years. It would at least get me out of the house. Ha ha, I remember last year we went up to catch a Timberwolves game and during one of the timeouts they said ?all right, turn to the person next to you and give them a kiss this new Year?s? or some crap like that. I wasn?t sure if Funk didn?t say anything because I?m gay, so I decided to take the initiative and said, ?don?t even think about it!? in my best Strong Bad voice.

I have no clue what there is to do here in New years, but I?m guessing that it can?t be as bad as going to a nonexistent party at St. Anthony Bay. Maybe there will be a Capital party or a Capital Countdown or something.

Speaking of Funk. It?s his birthday today so everyone join hands and sing!

Louder!

And I guess now would be a good time to announce the future of the BBX-community posts. As you may all be aware, this semester, I was extremely busy, so I couldn?t update my website as much as I would have liked. Luckily, mostly due to Funk?s ingenuity, he, Melanie, Scott and Becker all were able to write my website for me. Next semester, though, shouldn?t be so hard. Thus, I must thank you for your contributions, but inform you that starting next month- January- your services will no longer be mandatory. While they have all been hilarious, it would be far too easy for me to become lazy and not work on my site and just rely on other people?s hard work to get by.

     However, to every situation there is a middle ground. I would like to continue the BBX-change online even next semester. How? Simple.

One of the most annoying things ? for everyone- was that anytime you wanted to see a post on my site, you would have to send me an email, and then wait until I had time to update. Starting next January, we will have BBX-remote, a link on the Main page to an outside Post page, where you can post any and all of your stuff, all by yourself. You can even respond to others? comments. And as I said, the best part is that you can do it all live, without Nando permission. 

More information on this next week, hopefully.

Well, I would have liked to have talked more about this week, but I?m getting tired and the Bulls game is on. So I shall catch you later.

Oh PS - don't send any feedback to me through my website. I think there may be something wrong with my Mamut service since I haven' recieved any feedback in over month. I tried sending myself some and it didn't show up. So, use email from now on. Oh well.

Friday, December 23rd, 2005

Catching down as things wind up!

I've had the most bipolar week of my life.

Monday: Final Exam for the spanish class i teach. I had students get together for a class picture before the exam and I expressed to them what this had meant to me: "In a way, it's fitting" i said, "that I not do this again next semester. This allows me to preserve the memory of something so pure and meaningful, whereas if I were to teach again, I would probably end up with a horrible class." Right before they left, I had them sign my text, which I have not read yet and before they walked away, I thanked each one personally for being in my class and gave them a handshake. It was my way of being sybollic since that's the very first thing I did the first class. It's sad. I won't lie. But I think I've come to terms with it. I'll never forget it.

I came home that afternoon and wanted to get some food and to my surprise, my car wouldn't start. I figured it was the battery. Not knowing what to do, I called Melanie and asked her to bring her car over and give me a jump. She said that she could not because she didn't have it at that moment. SHe said that the next morning would work best for her. Having no other choice, I was content with that. I spent the night grading.

Tuesday: Melanie came over and we tried our darndest to get Betsy going again, but she was a stubborn little soul and we couldn't do anything. Melanie was kind enough to take me to the store so I could get some milk. THANK YOU! I couldn't call a tow truck or anything cuz i needed to jet out of there and go administer a second exam to a special needs student. I was so bummed about my car. What was I going to do? Before I left I checked my email and I saw a message from Athens, GA:

Fernando:
I have read your application to UGA. Very impressive! Can 
we find some time to 
talk in early January about UGA's program and opportunities 
we have here? 

Let me know.

Not too shabby, ey? I had to hop on the bus right away and when I did, I got a phone call from Melanie.

Fernando: Hello?
Melanie: Hey.
Fernando: What's up?
Melanie: I called to tell you I need a new battery!
Fernando: [what?]
Call Waiting: Beep
Melanie: I need a new battery for my car.
Fernando: [checks to see who's on the other line on his screen - it's from Minnesota!]
Fernando: Hey, can i call you back?
Melanie: sure.

I click on over and it's this dude from University of Minnesota congratulating me on my acceptance into the program at U of MN. He seemed like a rather nice, funny guy, too. The interesting part of the whole thing is that because of the cold and my dead battery, I was reconsidering going to MN. I hate winter! But the fact that I was so excited about being accepted there made me realize that I actually do want to live in MN despite the lack of warmth. So I was in a good mood for the rest of the day. Oh, and I did end up calling Melanie back and telling her the news, and she was happy for me :-) What ended up happening was that she went to get her oil changed and the guys there told her that her battery was kinda low and that she should replace it if she had the time and money. So, that's why it didn't help my car despite the 15 minute charge we gave it.

After administering the exam, I got home and called a tow service, asking for a jump and it took about 4 hours for them to get here. After about 5 tries, Betsy's motor was back up to speed, but I had to let it run for a hell of a long time. I spent 30 minutes just letting it run and then another 30 minutes with the heater on to melt the ice and snow. Lord, that was horrible.

Wednesday: Not knowing what to do or if my battery would survive another day, I decided to take my car to get serviced before my 10:00 check out appointment with my coordinator. I left betsy there and went to the Van Hise building (spanish department) and looked over my grades one last time. When Ten O'Clock rolled around, I was so sleepy and exhausted. Still I managed to have a good session with my coordinator. She apologized to me for not being able to fit me in a spot for next smemester, but I doubted it's sincerity. Still, I took the opportunity to thank her for having given me such a great opportunity and a meaningful experience. I headed down to the TA's offices and got some things on my desk and then walked to the elevator. Down to the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor where I taught. 11:00 am every day right on schedule. Never late, never absent. Always there to say "buenos días, clase" no matter how sparse the room was. With a deep sigh and a slight watering of my eyes I turned off the light and walked on out of Van Hise for what would probably be the last time. I could go back if I wanted to see what my evaluations looked like. But that doesn't really matter anymore.

I went to pick my car up and then just drove it to my prac site on Wednesday since I was already pretty close and it would have taken way too long to go back home and wait for two busses. I probably would not have made it there on time. So, it was nice to finally be able to drive home from my prac site for the first time. No more late night rushes to catch a bus!!

Thursday: I couldn't sleep very much on Wed. night. I woke up and was still groggy, but before I knew it, after showering and goffing off online, it was close to 10:00. I had to be up from around 10:00 to noon on Thursday because the cable company said that they would be over during that window. So I waited and waited and waited. And at around 11:30, my toilet flooded. Not knowing what the heck to do, and without a mop, all i could do was throw a bunch of paper towels on the floor and called maintenance but there was no response so i left a message. I wanted to leave the house but I couldn't because I was so groggy that I was in no condition to drive on account of not getting enough sleep. At around 12:15 I called the cable company, and told them that the guy never showed up. Their response: "have you checked your television to see if it's been reworked? sometimes they don't need tobe there." Sure enough, I had cable again. I was so angry. How dare they not even mention that there is a chance that this could be done from afar, so there I was like a moron waiting for some dude to show up from 9:30 till 12:15 wanting desperately to go to sleep so that I could be alert enough to drive later on to buy toilet-fixing and bathroom-cleaning supplies. They didn't even need to pull up to my apartment or anything- I never saw them! arg! Regardless, I have cable again due to a special deal they were running where I would end up paying like 7 bucks morefor 80 channels than what I have now. it's pretty neat. Ironically, I had it scheduled for Thursday because that was the only day I knew I would be home for a two hour period. If I had known about the remote wiring, I would have done it sooner. Now I can finally enjoy some NBA action agan. woooo! and I promise not to work as hard this semester. After all, in about 5 months, none of this will matter cuz I'll be in sunny Minneapolis!

Then, I wanted to hang out with Melanie because it had been a long while since we last got to chill. We went to get some cleaning supplies at Target and some cool lights for my apartment. When we got back, we ate some sandwhiches, and where I commenced to clean the toilet water in my bathroom, Melanie undertook the task of hangin up the lights. A blast was had by both. I must say, Melanie sure hammers nails rather seductively, with her leg bent back so far it nearly touches her bottom. Hey, I notice these things! So much so that I asked her to pose that way again and I took her picture (oh, you bet your butt it's gonna be here sometime soon).

Then Melanie FINALLY said she would watch a Bond movie with me. I had to be strategic in choosing the right one for her. Nothing with Connery since the women in those films really are just kinda thingsin the background. Obviously the best film to show would have been TWINE, but I am still rather afraid that she might not like it and start to criticize it, so I went the Goldeneye Root. I've always liked Natalya as a character who actually useful (unlike almost any other bond girl who just needs rescuing) but doesn't go too over the top by being uncharacteristically aggressive/stupid (Jinx from Die Another Day). Besides, Xenia Onatopp provides a lot of great moments. Finally, many people seem to say that that's the best Brosnan film. In the end, Melanie said that she enjoyed it more than she thought she would.  That opening scene, really is cool still after decade.

Finally, Melanie and I stayed up till like 2 just talking about stuff and I came to a rather interesting realization about Homosexuality as a sin. Well, I mean, I plan to do a bit more research on this, but it seems that sins stem from choices that we make. Like, God gives us that power - to do good or to do bad. So, like if you lie. You had the choice to tell the truth, but opted not to. Same thing with killing, or thinking about committing sins etc. So, when you die, and you have that moment when you look back at your life and realize all of the bad choices that you made, you can ask for forgiveness (or even before hand). Now, with homosexuality, there is no choice in the matter. How can you be sorry for being born a certain way that God made you?

But nando, you forget that while homosexuality may not be a sin it is still a sin to act on it.

Pipe down, I'll get to that. So, while some my sbscribe to that, it hasn't always been what that they believed. It was not too long ago that even being a homosexual was a sin. But in order to still prevent homosexual relationships while at the same time not wanting to look ignorant, many have opted to say that it's okay to be gay as long as you don't do anything about it. Now, here is where I had an intriguing thought. How can it be wrong to love? I mean, isn't God about love? If I were to die and look back on my life and if had been in a committed, faithful relationship, what would that sound like? "god, I'm sorry for having loved another faithfully?"

Oh, nando, you're so blind. What about pedophiles? Their only crime is loving children. We tell them to not act on their feelings. Would you support that they should also pursue relationships?

No. And that's because children may not be ready for that. It wouldn't be consentual love. When pedophiles die, I don't think that they should apologize for having had those feelings, but if they acted on them, they may have caused a lot of harm to the children that they made thier  objects of affection. Similarly, when someone cheats on their spouse. The sin there isn't the having feelings for another person. It's the hurt that they cause the person that they are with -either in their mind or through acts. But I don't think you should ever apologize for having had these feelings of love- genuine love, not just lust- for anyone. If that love turns into thoughts of acting in a way that hurts someone or that God would disapprove, then the thoughts are the sin, not the feelings. ANd maybe if it is a sin to have sex with another man, I still feel ten times better for realizing that it's perfectly okay for me to be in a committed relationship with someone who I love and who loves me. It somehow minimizes the sin of sleeping together after marriage at least in my head, because now the sin only involves the acts and not the feelings of love (which interestingly enough stem from a mutual love from both parties, so there's another inconsistency which I shall have to deal with at another time).

The sad thing is that we forget that God is love. You hear so much about how much God Hates Fags, which is like the worst thing in the world. I mean, even if homosexuality was a sin, why the hell is that bigger than women wearing pants? Why can't we accept that we're all sinners? I mean, to say otherwise would be blasphemous! Of course the danger is that then you get a whole bunch of people that believe that since God is love and that He forgives, that anything goes.  Still.

So, again, the thing I realized, in case I wasn't too clear, was that you should never apologize for loving anyone. Loving in the truest sense - no agenda, no manipulation- just love. And that's a damn good place to stay for a while. 

On that note, I must depart. I thank you all for having read through that, and I thank all the BBXers again for helping me with my website throughout the semester. More news on BBXRemote after the first week of January. In the meantime, if you have any stuff you want to post, send it to me regardless of what day it is and I'll put it up here. However, I will not have access to my website from now until the 28th of December, so you're going to have to live withou me for five days. I leave you now with the Power Rankings for the week. HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HOLIDAY, FROM BBX!!

Week Two, Rank:	How Come?
No 1.	Minneapolis - Hellz yeah! I have a guaranteed place to go to for my PhD, no interview or anything needed. They just have to know by the 15th of April. I am a little worried about Funding, so I'll have to ask about that. It's the only deal breaker at this point, if I get a better offer somewhere else. Week One: 1
No 2.	Missouri - I've thought it over. Maybe a small town wouldn't be that bad. It's not like I do anything in Madison anyway, and it's a bigger city. I need to get in touch with the fellas here and let them know that unfortunately I will not be able to make it to the interviews and will require a phone interview instead sometime before January 20th. I aso here that two people in the program can tell me a bit about Missouri. Week One: 4
No 3.	Bloomington - The latest I heard from them, they had recieved my complete application. however, their application deadline isn't until January at some point so it will be a while before I hear back from them. Still, the fact that I place a lot of emphasis on a school that has yet to accept me over another one that has expressed interest tells you something. Week One: 2
No 4.	Athens, Georgia - well, this is a big mover this week. I liked the email I recieved from them. I have yet to speak with the guy, but hopefully we can set somethng up for early January. These 'opportunities' the guy spoke of better involve free Hawks tickets, as they are still on fire, having beaten another team this season. Week One: 8
No 5.	ASU in Arizona - Melanie at Express for Men: "if you go to Minneapolis youre going to need to invest in a nice coat like this one" Me: "Yeah, but I'm still not 100% sure that I'd go there." Melanie: "Oh yeah. That's right. You could end up in Arizona." Me: "that would be great, getting off the plane with my thick coat, 'all right, let's get it started!' Another luxury - no expensive coats to buy. Week One : 3
No 6.	Madison - slips a little bit this time around on account of the opportunities that have become available. I'd like to be a fly on the wall when they look through my file. Well, he sounds like a good candidate... but he causes too much trouble. He has little respect for ethics too. And we don't owe him shit either.  Week One: 5
No 7.	Florida - Florida comes back from the dead this week like a character killed off in a Marvel Comic - with force! However, the thing about resurrections in the Marvel Comics world is that the character never really regains the same fan base as before. Similarly, I think that I would want to go down to Florida now just because it's not cold (can you tell what the theme of these power rankings is?) Besides, I bet the dudes are wholesome down there. Week One: 11
No 8.	Boston College - dear lord, can you imagine me in Boston? All the annoying people that I'd have to put up with? The ridiculous accents that I'd have to get used to. Compare "Pahk the Cah at Hahvahd Yahd" to the awesomeness of the Minnesotan accent: "Oh yah, you betchah we got balogna nights up here, dontcha know" Still, it's civilization Week One: 7
No 9.	Eugene, Oregon - stays the same this week. Although I have a feeling I'm going to be doing much thinking about this place come next month since 1) i like rainy places 2) i dislike the cold, 3) A part of me wants to experience the world outside the midwest... not a big part... but it's still there. Week One: 9
No 10.	Maryland- this place moves up a couple of spaces because I think they recieved all my stuff this week... I think. We'll see. Week One: 12
No 11.	Austin - big drop. Primarily because it's in Texas. And I'm sorry but Texans are annoying, even if located in a liberal city.  Funk (10:54:35 PM): Austin IS Madison, by the way Bossboy X (10:54:38 PM): oh? Bossboy X (10:54:40 PM): how so Funky (10:54:41 PM): yes. Funky(10:54:54 PM): exact same. College town. Really really liberal and really really sold on itself week One: 6
No 12.	Penn State - not hearing anything from Penn State - even to confirm that they got my crap (most places sent a letter or en email) -really prevents them from showing up on my radar. Week One: 10
No 13.	Santa Barbara - I toyed with the idea of paying the fee for SB, but even if they accepted me, I'd still pick at least four places over this one (two of which have already expressed an interest) so it would be kind of wasted. Besides, there's no point in sending them verification that I need a fee waiver since the fact that I was approved to apply through Project 1000 shold be proof enough. Week One: 13

Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

Excellent...

After making it back to Madison safely, my parents finally made good on their promise and brought me a pair of tables and a many chairs - I have no clue what to do with so many now! But the good news is that I can finally read while I'm sitting! I was getting so sick of leaning back and lying on my stomach every time I needed to get something done. Now if only I can get some decent couches. Too bad that most likely, one way or another, everything in this apt will have to be relocated after July. Even if I stay in Madison, I'll probably move to a different location. One with more frequent busses.

Now, I'm just trying to finish up my portfolio this week - it's such exhaustive work. I don't know what the bigger insult is- that I have to do this meaningless busy work, or that the Department pretends to take this crap seriously. Once that is out of the way, I'll have other stuff to worry about, but Chua got me a reason why I probably won't be graduating on time. That's right. Somehow, he figured out that I would enjoy a nice little game called Civilizationi IV. Whatever could have tipped him off to that? It's been incredibly difficult to not play these last few days. I just really want to get my stupid portfolio out of the way, but for some odd reason, the more work I do on it, the more work I have left. It makes no sense. Maybe I should just leave it the way it is.  I'll let you all know if it is everything I had hoped and dreamed.

Look for more crap later. Right now, I need to rearrange stuff around since I have my tables and chairs now!