what the hell is up with the college football bowl series lately? i seem to remember, back when i was a kid, if a football team wanted to be in a bowl, they pretty much had to be undefeated or have lost something like one game or MAYBE two games. now there are teams who have lost almost half their games whose bowls are getting advertised all the fuck over television. i just saw a commercial for a bowl game featuring a team that's 8-4 versus a team that's 7-6. how the hell do these teams get to play in bowl games? are there just more bowl games than there were before? what the hell happened? and how the flying fuck is LSU even playing for the national title after losing 2 games?! when has that ever happened before? i'm pretty sure never. and one of their losses was to Kentucky. the world is collapsing!
in related news, the patriots are still going to lose this season. at some point. the giants could have beaten them if they were at all capable of being consistent. but watching the patriots play for the last three weeks has confirmed my hypothesis (at least in my mind) that their "fantastic" and "perfect" team has done exactly what i expected they would do: simultaneously win every regular season game and completely lose the ability to improvise or think on their feet. if they run into a team who can force them to change their game plan, they're going to lose. and i'm going to laugh. and eat a sandwich. one of those things i'm actually going to do now.
Dec 31, 2007
thoughts on the holidays and space cacti
i decided to split my marathon post up into two posts because otherwise nobody, including me, would be willing to commit to reading the entire thing.
YOU'VE BEEN FOOLED!
now that you feel obligated to finish reading by way of my trickery, i'll continue.
it seems weird to let another holiday season pass by with me having a blog and not taking the time to write down tons of completely unfounded blather about american consumerism and act like my opinions about christmas are empirically provable fact and anyone who disagrees will be badly hurt in a physical manner. so here goes.
this christmas season has passed largely similarly to the last few, except for the susan's gig and all the action leading up to it. i've talked about that enough to last a dog's life, so i'll avoiding further digression. i came in from pullman, spent a few days deflating and finishing grading, then came up to kent, engaged in debauchery, went home, more debauchery, got drunk, missed church, woke up late, got lots of presents that i didn't deserve, felt guilty about being too cheap to really get anyone any good gifts, spent a few days scheming a way to get my instruments up to kent from canton, took care of that, watched a lot of TiVo, plotted filling my stomach with a huge Chipotle burrito so that i can drink for 10 straight hours tonight and not die, and everything else will likely play out according to plan and wind up with a few days of me sitting at my parents' house hurriedly finishing my lesson plans for next week and then the final emotional and physical turmoil of flying back to pullman mere instants before i have to start working again.
i'm definitely glad i got to come back here for break again, but it's also always really strange. on one hand, you have my parents/family, who are, in a lot of ways, used to a much different type of lifestyle than i am, and while i'm glad they don't really seem to think i need to be a lot like them to not suck, i still sort of feel like i stick out like a sore thumb. i suppose that's the weird balancing act that comes with having older family members and especially parents: on one hand, you feel like you're not necessarily good enough to live up to their expectations, but on the other hand, you often feel like the things you do actually think you do well sort of fly by because, well, let's face it, in the 10 years since you spent every living moment in your parents' house, you and they have kind of stopped having lots of things in common.
i just realized i nested the "on the one hand" expression inside of another instance of said expression and didn't finish the original instance of that expression. so here goes:
on the other hand, i have the whole scene in kent with my friends from KSU and the surrounding area, who all definitely get what it's like to be in the position that i'm in existentially, financially, etc. i'm also more certain on what their expectations of me are, at least for the most part. it's a much more stable environment in that sense, but less so in the sense that i don't have my own transportation, or my own food, or really any sort of personal space or schedule-planning ability.
i don't really know what i'm trying to get at; i think i'm just ruminating because i'm really freaking hungry and i don't want to start working on my lesson plans.
being with my family was really great this christmas again, and even though it seems everybody is getting more and more fed up with christmas-as-shoppingasm, it seems like they're actually scaling back the present-buying a little and focusing more on keeping themselves happy first, which is good (at least in my opinion).
the christmas gig we were going to do at the behavioral center didn't work out and neither did going to rochester, but all in all i think it's been a pretty great vacation, considering the amount of living that has to fit into 2 or 3 weeks. there's never enough hours in the day, really. i think regret is a natural consequence of time. which isn't to say there's not a yang to that, because there is. i'm just too hungry to figure out what it is right now.
YOU'VE BEEN FOOLED!
now that you feel obligated to finish reading by way of my trickery, i'll continue.
it seems weird to let another holiday season pass by with me having a blog and not taking the time to write down tons of completely unfounded blather about american consumerism and act like my opinions about christmas are empirically provable fact and anyone who disagrees will be badly hurt in a physical manner. so here goes.
this christmas season has passed largely similarly to the last few, except for the susan's gig and all the action leading up to it. i've talked about that enough to last a dog's life, so i'll avoiding further digression. i came in from pullman, spent a few days deflating and finishing grading, then came up to kent, engaged in debauchery, went home, more debauchery, got drunk, missed church, woke up late, got lots of presents that i didn't deserve, felt guilty about being too cheap to really get anyone any good gifts, spent a few days scheming a way to get my instruments up to kent from canton, took care of that, watched a lot of TiVo, plotted filling my stomach with a huge Chipotle burrito so that i can drink for 10 straight hours tonight and not die, and everything else will likely play out according to plan and wind up with a few days of me sitting at my parents' house hurriedly finishing my lesson plans for next week and then the final emotional and physical turmoil of flying back to pullman mere instants before i have to start working again.
i'm definitely glad i got to come back here for break again, but it's also always really strange. on one hand, you have my parents/family, who are, in a lot of ways, used to a much different type of lifestyle than i am, and while i'm glad they don't really seem to think i need to be a lot like them to not suck, i still sort of feel like i stick out like a sore thumb. i suppose that's the weird balancing act that comes with having older family members and especially parents: on one hand, you feel like you're not necessarily good enough to live up to their expectations, but on the other hand, you often feel like the things you do actually think you do well sort of fly by because, well, let's face it, in the 10 years since you spent every living moment in your parents' house, you and they have kind of stopped having lots of things in common.
i just realized i nested the "on the one hand" expression inside of another instance of said expression and didn't finish the original instance of that expression. so here goes:
on the other hand, i have the whole scene in kent with my friends from KSU and the surrounding area, who all definitely get what it's like to be in the position that i'm in existentially, financially, etc. i'm also more certain on what their expectations of me are, at least for the most part. it's a much more stable environment in that sense, but less so in the sense that i don't have my own transportation, or my own food, or really any sort of personal space or schedule-planning ability.
i don't really know what i'm trying to get at; i think i'm just ruminating because i'm really freaking hungry and i don't want to start working on my lesson plans.
being with my family was really great this christmas again, and even though it seems everybody is getting more and more fed up with christmas-as-shoppingasm, it seems like they're actually scaling back the present-buying a little and focusing more on keeping themselves happy first, which is good (at least in my opinion).
the christmas gig we were going to do at the behavioral center didn't work out and neither did going to rochester, but all in all i think it's been a pretty great vacation, considering the amount of living that has to fit into 2 or 3 weeks. there's never enough hours in the day, really. i think regret is a natural consequence of time. which isn't to say there's not a yang to that, because there is. i'm just too hungry to figure out what it is right now.
'bout to pop a cap in an ass
yet again, insomnia is having its brutal, evil way with me this morning. i actually went to bed (though not technically bed, since i'm sleeping on a couch) last night around 2:30am, which is early compared to when i've been going to bed lately. figured i'd earned it after staying up till 7am working on this new recording the night before. unfortunately, i woke up around 7am this morning for some godforsaken reason and wasn't able to get back to sleep. now it's 9:30 and the day is officially in full swing; i had had hopes of eventually collapsing back into pleasant unconsciousness, but it's starting to seem less and less likely. i finished separating the show from the other night into tracks, but i think i'm going to hold off on the actual mixing until i can listen on a better set of speakers. the sound is really good; i'm told that this is because we accidentally did a partial soundboard recording instead of a full-on audience recording. i'm pretty sure that's the first time i've ever screwed something up and had the result be actually better than it would have been had i did things correctly. though to be fair, mike was the one who hooked the things up in the first place, so props to him for the "mistake".
i went back and listened to the tape again this morning, or at least parts of it. we sound a lot better than we should considering nobody but me knew any of these songs until a week ago and we practiced a combined 8 or so hours. i'm happy with it. now i'm just trying to figure out how to do a show by myself that i can shop around pullman and moscow. first things first; guess i should get my car patched up and figure out what the hell i'm doing about my classes.
there were a few pictures taken at the show and the previous day's rehearsal at the church, but they weren't on my camera, so i'm working on getting those. i've pretty much let hair and beard hygiene go completely since break started, so perhaps i shouldn't be so excited about posting pictures of myself.
regardless, we may or may not be recording some stuff at the church tomorrow, i'm going to be working on lesson plans all morning, then sending 2007 back to where it came from by drinking until i can't see and talk in entirely consonants. probably more progress on the recordings next week, after tuesday.
i'm wondering about this insomnia thing. it could of course just have something to do with changing my sleeping arrangements every few days, i guess. normally when i have trouble sleeping it's because i'm worrying about something. i mean, i've got a lot of stuff on my mind, but i haven't really "worrying" about any of it, per se.
there's the matter of planning my classes, which actually shouldn't be too difficult because i still have a week of doing pretty much nothing else to get it done in, and most of the work has already been done in the previous five semesters. i don't have to print any new essays, reading packets, or anything like that. i just have to show up tuesday and go at it.
i'm a little worried about my car, considering i'm still in significantly more dire financial straits than i had projected i would be in june (to the tune of, say, four figures more dire) and most definitely need a working vehicle sometime in the next five months, since i will no longer have a job after that, and will probably need to drive around to find a new one. this also raises the concern that i might not be able to get to my much-anticipated back-to-back ryan adams shows at the end of january; which would be a little depressing, considering it's pretty much the only extraneous expense i'm allowing myself this entire semester. okay, so THAT'S something i'm actually "worried" about.
there's the matter of what to do about this whole music thing also. i'd like to keep playing shows, but the fact is that i was really only able to manage pulling this show off even with the help of lots and lots of other people (including musicians) and someone else's PA. i'm not sure how often places are capable of providing their own PA, but i'm imagining that one of those fuckers is pretty expensive, and i'm certainly not going to be rolling in dough anytime soon. there's also the matter of working at a job which routinely had me in my office or related location 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week last semester, which doesn't leave a lot of time for schedule extracurricular activities. on the other hand, playing that show was really fun, now i know the songs and am comfortable enough to keep playing them, and it seems like a great way to build experience and also keep me sort of forcibly engaged with the music end of things, so that i don't do what i usually do and just sort of work a little on playing and writing whenever i feel like it and then sort of let things slide for a month, etc., etc. i think it would be good for me to be accountable to something other than myself alone when it comes to music, at least to keep me on a reasonable work schedule as far as practicing and writing goes. i guess it'll depend on how many places in the pullman/moscow area have a PA. sigh. no wonder everybody talks about being a performing musician but nobody actually does it.
aside from all those fun things, there's the matter of getting ready to leave ohio and the seventy million people i know here, stop taking 10 hours a day to do whatever i want, and get used to living alone and working all week again, which doesn't sound like much fun, but of course needs to be done because that's generally how people stay alive. by working, i mean.
i'm in the midst of confirming that all my grad applications have been received. still not sure that i'm going to get in anywhere. still not sure if i'll go even if i do. still have no idea how i'm even going to make that decision if/when i have to. fortunately, at least three of the five schools have all my materials. so that's something. my shitty, shitty materials.
also of course having the usual feelings-for-girls-related problems too. everybody knows my feelings about blogging about those types of things, but being around my friends here and also it being the holiday season both seem to exacerbate said feelings, so it's not a good combination in that regard.
good thing i'm not worrying about any of this stuff. otherwise i'd be worried :)
i went back and listened to the tape again this morning, or at least parts of it. we sound a lot better than we should considering nobody but me knew any of these songs until a week ago and we practiced a combined 8 or so hours. i'm happy with it. now i'm just trying to figure out how to do a show by myself that i can shop around pullman and moscow. first things first; guess i should get my car patched up and figure out what the hell i'm doing about my classes.
there were a few pictures taken at the show and the previous day's rehearsal at the church, but they weren't on my camera, so i'm working on getting those. i've pretty much let hair and beard hygiene go completely since break started, so perhaps i shouldn't be so excited about posting pictures of myself.
regardless, we may or may not be recording some stuff at the church tomorrow, i'm going to be working on lesson plans all morning, then sending 2007 back to where it came from by drinking until i can't see and talk in entirely consonants. probably more progress on the recordings next week, after tuesday.
i'm wondering about this insomnia thing. it could of course just have something to do with changing my sleeping arrangements every few days, i guess. normally when i have trouble sleeping it's because i'm worrying about something. i mean, i've got a lot of stuff on my mind, but i haven't really "worrying" about any of it, per se.
there's the matter of planning my classes, which actually shouldn't be too difficult because i still have a week of doing pretty much nothing else to get it done in, and most of the work has already been done in the previous five semesters. i don't have to print any new essays, reading packets, or anything like that. i just have to show up tuesday and go at it.
i'm a little worried about my car, considering i'm still in significantly more dire financial straits than i had projected i would be in june (to the tune of, say, four figures more dire) and most definitely need a working vehicle sometime in the next five months, since i will no longer have a job after that, and will probably need to drive around to find a new one. this also raises the concern that i might not be able to get to my much-anticipated back-to-back ryan adams shows at the end of january; which would be a little depressing, considering it's pretty much the only extraneous expense i'm allowing myself this entire semester. okay, so THAT'S something i'm actually "worried" about.
there's the matter of what to do about this whole music thing also. i'd like to keep playing shows, but the fact is that i was really only able to manage pulling this show off even with the help of lots and lots of other people (including musicians) and someone else's PA. i'm not sure how often places are capable of providing their own PA, but i'm imagining that one of those fuckers is pretty expensive, and i'm certainly not going to be rolling in dough anytime soon. there's also the matter of working at a job which routinely had me in my office or related location 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week last semester, which doesn't leave a lot of time for schedule extracurricular activities. on the other hand, playing that show was really fun, now i know the songs and am comfortable enough to keep playing them, and it seems like a great way to build experience and also keep me sort of forcibly engaged with the music end of things, so that i don't do what i usually do and just sort of work a little on playing and writing whenever i feel like it and then sort of let things slide for a month, etc., etc. i think it would be good for me to be accountable to something other than myself alone when it comes to music, at least to keep me on a reasonable work schedule as far as practicing and writing goes. i guess it'll depend on how many places in the pullman/moscow area have a PA. sigh. no wonder everybody talks about being a performing musician but nobody actually does it.
aside from all those fun things, there's the matter of getting ready to leave ohio and the seventy million people i know here, stop taking 10 hours a day to do whatever i want, and get used to living alone and working all week again, which doesn't sound like much fun, but of course needs to be done because that's generally how people stay alive. by working, i mean.
i'm in the midst of confirming that all my grad applications have been received. still not sure that i'm going to get in anywhere. still not sure if i'll go even if i do. still have no idea how i'm even going to make that decision if/when i have to. fortunately, at least three of the five schools have all my materials. so that's something. my shitty, shitty materials.
also of course having the usual feelings-for-girls-related problems too. everybody knows my feelings about blogging about those types of things, but being around my friends here and also it being the holiday season both seem to exacerbate said feelings, so it's not a good combination in that regard.
good thing i'm not worrying about any of this stuff. otherwise i'd be worried :)
Dec 30, 2007
@ Susan's
i've been awake for a very significant portion of the last three days and it's 430am now and a cold leather couch is calling my name, so i'll make this brief, but i wanted to just say quickly that i played at Susan's tonight (finally) with an actual group of people instead of my solo acoustic self. i think we did well considering that we had only 2 or 3 days of practices and i had never played in front of an audience not by myself before. turns out it's a lot harder to play along with other people than it is to just play by yourself. much more fun, yes, but also much more difficult. the result was that there were a lot of little screwups on my part lyrically and musically (i almost never miss chords, but seemed to be missing them like crazy tonight). we had to cut a few songs from the original ideal setlist to clock in at our 2 hour alloted time (we got there a few minutes late and our planned 5 minute break ended up running more like 15 for various reasons). all in all, though, it was a good experience. we practiced all week at mike's church in highland square, and i'm actually trying to get an expedition together to go back over there sometime this week and record a live set because i love the church and the sound in the church so much...but it's going to sort of rest on how free everyone else is and how easy it's going to be to once again move a drum kit from canton to akron. we'll see. for now, here's what we did end up playing tonight:
acoustic set:
angel from montgomery (john prine cover)
autumnsong
hey sue
winding wheel (ryan adams cover)
millie
back to ohio
california stars (wilco/billy bragg cover)
lady gray
i still miss someone (johnny cash cover)
dusty roads
friend of the devil (grateful dead cover)
electric set:
enemy
dreamed i was god
palace
not the one i see
the melody
love song in d
molly
sunshine
sample in a jar (phish cover)
not california
once i go back through and listen to the recording again, i'll mark off where everybody was playing what; justin ended up playing percussion on just about every song but the first 2 or 3, andrea jumped in with vocals and/or violin on a few songs, and mike alternated pretty frequently between playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass guitar. it was really fun, and practice leading up to it was really fun. the performance itself, quality-wise was, as i said earlier, "not as good as i'd hoped, but better than i feared". for my first time, i'm willing to take that as a win. and i say that reflecting completely on my own performance...having everyone else playing on these songs made them 100 times better-sounding and a 1000 times more fun to play. if i hadn't had to sing, mike and justin probably could have just played by themselves and it would have sounded much better :)
anyway, we made a recording, which was thrown together at the last minute when i realized i forgot the adapter for my mixing board at home. surprisingly, it sounds really good, but we recorded with two mics on two channels. so basically i need to go back through and mix each channel separately and then combine them into one mono track before the recording will be entirely listenable. i'm sure that'll be my project for the next few days, but i'll let you all know when it's done, because i know there were at least a few people who wanted copies.
alright, well i'm off to sleepyland. tomorrow it's back to grad school applications. i can't believe i was complaining about having to just play music all day :)
acoustic set:
angel from montgomery (john prine cover)
autumnsong
hey sue
winding wheel (ryan adams cover)
millie
back to ohio
california stars (wilco/billy bragg cover)
lady gray
i still miss someone (johnny cash cover)
dusty roads
friend of the devil (grateful dead cover)
electric set:
enemy
dreamed i was god
palace
not the one i see
the melody
love song in d
molly
sunshine
sample in a jar (phish cover)
not california
once i go back through and listen to the recording again, i'll mark off where everybody was playing what; justin ended up playing percussion on just about every song but the first 2 or 3, andrea jumped in with vocals and/or violin on a few songs, and mike alternated pretty frequently between playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass guitar. it was really fun, and practice leading up to it was really fun. the performance itself, quality-wise was, as i said earlier, "not as good as i'd hoped, but better than i feared". for my first time, i'm willing to take that as a win. and i say that reflecting completely on my own performance...having everyone else playing on these songs made them 100 times better-sounding and a 1000 times more fun to play. if i hadn't had to sing, mike and justin probably could have just played by themselves and it would have sounded much better :)
anyway, we made a recording, which was thrown together at the last minute when i realized i forgot the adapter for my mixing board at home. surprisingly, it sounds really good, but we recorded with two mics on two channels. so basically i need to go back through and mix each channel separately and then combine them into one mono track before the recording will be entirely listenable. i'm sure that'll be my project for the next few days, but i'll let you all know when it's done, because i know there were at least a few people who wanted copies.
alright, well i'm off to sleepyland. tomorrow it's back to grad school applications. i can't believe i was complaining about having to just play music all day :)
Dec 22, 2007
reese's pieces and diet coke...
...is what's for breakfast this morning.
after a long night of drinking the infamous Great Lakes Christmas Ale, precipitated by a fortuitous confluence of myself and various cars full of kent people, i woke up this morning with a terrible headache and a bizarre sense of dislocation...according to urbandictionary.com, this is known as a "hangover".
fortunately, just sitting around on the couch watching crappy cable all day is such a novel experience for me that i'm willing to roll with the head pain just to experience it. i'm supposed to be going to see andrea's gig tonight at susan's, but other than that, there's nothing on the menu.
it's generally been a few nice days in a row of a little practicing, a little sleeping, a little dealing with extraneous loose ends from last semester and preparing for next semester, and a lot of nothing. i have a feeling that after another day or so, i'll probably be a little bored, but fortunately there's that whole jesus's birthday thing coming up, so things should be hopping after that. then there's the gig and new year's, and then...oh yeah, then i go back to work.
anyway, i started this blog entry awhile back because i was going to say something important, but somewhere between then and now a few shitty SciFi channel horror movies and some Fox news intervened and i've completely forgotten. hopefully things will be a bit more worth reading next time...
after a long night of drinking the infamous Great Lakes Christmas Ale, precipitated by a fortuitous confluence of myself and various cars full of kent people, i woke up this morning with a terrible headache and a bizarre sense of dislocation...according to urbandictionary.com, this is known as a "hangover".
fortunately, just sitting around on the couch watching crappy cable all day is such a novel experience for me that i'm willing to roll with the head pain just to experience it. i'm supposed to be going to see andrea's gig tonight at susan's, but other than that, there's nothing on the menu.
it's generally been a few nice days in a row of a little practicing, a little sleeping, a little dealing with extraneous loose ends from last semester and preparing for next semester, and a lot of nothing. i have a feeling that after another day or so, i'll probably be a little bored, but fortunately there's that whole jesus's birthday thing coming up, so things should be hopping after that. then there's the gig and new year's, and then...oh yeah, then i go back to work.
anyway, i started this blog entry awhile back because i was going to say something important, but somewhere between then and now a few shitty SciFi channel horror movies and some Fox news intervened and i've completely forgotten. hopefully things will be a bit more worth reading next time...
Dec 18, 2007
been a long time since i rock and rolled...
so a lot has happened between the denver airport and here; i just haven't had much time to blog about it. and the 300mhz computer (P1, 16MB of RAM) i would have to do it on hasn't proven too excited to subject to my normal marathon-style blogging. but now i'm up at 697 marilyn, at the lord-of-sheffield-in-exile's pad, siphoning wireless bandwidth for my laptop. good times.
so far this break i've accomplished figuring final grades, catching up at least a little on sleep, kicking total ass at Return of the King for playstation 2, and trying to get these songs figured out before the gig. that's taking up most of my free time, and i don't know that i'll work much on planning my class until the gig is over, partially because the terror won't set in until then anyway, and partially because i can only do one thing with fear as the primary motivation at once.
mike and justin and i practiced a bit the other night, and let me tell you, these songs sound a million times fuller with percussion in them. it was really exciting. andrea and i are going to go over to mike's today to practice some more, so that should be fun; i haven't played with andrea for a really long time. i have some ideas for new riffs, new tunes floating around in my head, but with everything else going on, i don't really have the luxury of writing entire new songs while trying to rememorize 25 old ones, and still do all the socializing and 101 prep work required of me over christmas break.
andrea had a christmas-type party last night at her place, which was really fun; got to see some people i probably haven't seen in 2-3 years. and got to eat cookies, which is always a plus.
i've finally entered the technology realm with a new phone that can take pictures. not sure what i make of that, myself. i got all my mics and equipment home in working order, so it seems like we'll probably be able to not only mic everything but also do a soundboard recording of the show, which i'm excited as crap about. i keep using the word "excited", which is probably a misnomer right now, considering i'm caffeine-less and just spent 11 hours sleeping on a couch that's way too small for me and my spine feels like a giraffe tried to have sex with it. i'm not sure i'm capable of being excited about anything.
the whole work-out-my-life-over-break thing isn't going terribly well; right now i'm chalking it up to jet lag and getting used to actually living with people all day instead of being in my creepy, cave-like apartment and/or creepy, cave-like office. a few of my relationships with certain people are going in, shall we say, a less positive direction than i think is necessary, and i had hoped to gain enough presence of mind to try to improve these situations. so far, though, no go. my M.O. has mostly been really intentionally (and probably obviously) avoiding any situations where i have to handle negative feelings. this will hopefully get better after i get a little self-indulgence (i.e. being constantly drunk for a few days) out of my system.
so far this break i've accomplished figuring final grades, catching up at least a little on sleep, kicking total ass at Return of the King for playstation 2, and trying to get these songs figured out before the gig. that's taking up most of my free time, and i don't know that i'll work much on planning my class until the gig is over, partially because the terror won't set in until then anyway, and partially because i can only do one thing with fear as the primary motivation at once.
mike and justin and i practiced a bit the other night, and let me tell you, these songs sound a million times fuller with percussion in them. it was really exciting. andrea and i are going to go over to mike's today to practice some more, so that should be fun; i haven't played with andrea for a really long time. i have some ideas for new riffs, new tunes floating around in my head, but with everything else going on, i don't really have the luxury of writing entire new songs while trying to rememorize 25 old ones, and still do all the socializing and 101 prep work required of me over christmas break.
andrea had a christmas-type party last night at her place, which was really fun; got to see some people i probably haven't seen in 2-3 years. and got to eat cookies, which is always a plus.
i've finally entered the technology realm with a new phone that can take pictures. not sure what i make of that, myself. i got all my mics and equipment home in working order, so it seems like we'll probably be able to not only mic everything but also do a soundboard recording of the show, which i'm excited as crap about. i keep using the word "excited", which is probably a misnomer right now, considering i'm caffeine-less and just spent 11 hours sleeping on a couch that's way too small for me and my spine feels like a giraffe tried to have sex with it. i'm not sure i'm capable of being excited about anything.
the whole work-out-my-life-over-break thing isn't going terribly well; right now i'm chalking it up to jet lag and getting used to actually living with people all day instead of being in my creepy, cave-like apartment and/or creepy, cave-like office. a few of my relationships with certain people are going in, shall we say, a less positive direction than i think is necessary, and i had hoped to gain enough presence of mind to try to improve these situations. so far, though, no go. my M.O. has mostly been really intentionally (and probably obviously) avoiding any situations where i have to handle negative feelings. this will hopefully get better after i get a little self-indulgence (i.e. being constantly drunk for a few days) out of my system.
Dec 12, 2007
no sign of aliens or nazis...disappointment ensues.
so according to a bunch of partially insane, completely uncredible sources, the Denver International Airport is supposed to be home to all kinds of weird, cultish iconography, definitely involving racial supremacist rhetoric and information about aliens, and possibly information on the Colonel's secret chicken recipe, how they get jelly into donuts, and what makes those dryer sheet impart such a lovely smell to your clothes.
well, i just spent a comprehensive 45 or so minutes checking out nooks and crannies of various parts of the airport and didn't find anything but a bunch of off-brand fast food stores, a lot more bathrooms than are necessary, and that if you walk with headphones in, the dude driving the luggage cart will run your ass down with no mercy. granted, i didn't go through any of the really cool looking doors on account of not wanting to wake up in PMITA prison tomorrow, and my laptop/manbag is extremely heavy so walking is a bit of a chore anyway.
now i'm blogging from the gate because my only other choice for passing the time is obviously playing starcraft, and i think even my exceptional weirdness is not up to playing starcraft in public on my laptop. the drive up to spokane, as always, was interesting. we were having windshield problems, so we actually ended up having to strategically drive in the wake of semi trucks constantly so that the spray they kicked up would wet the windshield and allow the wipers to work. otherwise, things have gone off without a hitch, including getting my guitar, microphones, and laptop through security. we'll see how many pieces they're in when i get them back before i pass my final judgment.
i somehow managed to finish all my portfolios before leaving, despite the fact that i collected them on monday and left this morning. crazy. i basically graded for about 50 straight hours, with 2-3 hours of sleeping in there somewhere, and in that time also finished typing, printing, and mailing all my grad school applications. then last night, i was so hyped up from mainlining caffeine for two days that i fell asleep at the ripe old hour of 6am and was awakened by richard at 930 via telephone. then i didn't sleep on the plane. apparently, i don't need to sleep anymore. it's actually mostly pretty cool, except it's sort of like being drunk in that i keep having ideas that seem completely wonderful to me, but obviously aren't to anyone else, which has led me to start saying and doing things i will likely regret when i stop to think about it. also, i have the emotional stability level of a 14 year-old.
waaaaah. give me stuff!
boooo. leave me alone!
the world is misery/beautiful! let me stay out till 10 or i hate you!
those kinds of things.
it concerns me that i did not sleep on the plane. plane-sleeping is my personal substitute for sex. when i don't get any plane-sleep, i get bitchy, mostly because i know that plane-sleep won't happen again for like a year. actually, this metaphor is cooler than i thought...
my students are going to get better grades than some of them likely deserve: i know i graded high this time, but for some reason couldn't stop myself...i suppose it's better to go high than go low.
really excited about the show coming up. really excited by the idea of sleeping for a full eight hours tonight and then waking up, figuring out where the hell i am, eating, and then trying to figure out a little bit of what the fuck has happened to me since april. i will also play lots of starcraft and possibly watch movies. i will plan my classes for next semester, maybe go subway spelunking in rochester, and maybe even turn into a jet like that badass decepticon in transformers. hells yeah.
i still have an hour until my flight. might be back later.
well, i just spent a comprehensive 45 or so minutes checking out nooks and crannies of various parts of the airport and didn't find anything but a bunch of off-brand fast food stores, a lot more bathrooms than are necessary, and that if you walk with headphones in, the dude driving the luggage cart will run your ass down with no mercy. granted, i didn't go through any of the really cool looking doors on account of not wanting to wake up in PMITA prison tomorrow, and my laptop/manbag is extremely heavy so walking is a bit of a chore anyway.
now i'm blogging from the gate because my only other choice for passing the time is obviously playing starcraft, and i think even my exceptional weirdness is not up to playing starcraft in public on my laptop. the drive up to spokane, as always, was interesting. we were having windshield problems, so we actually ended up having to strategically drive in the wake of semi trucks constantly so that the spray they kicked up would wet the windshield and allow the wipers to work. otherwise, things have gone off without a hitch, including getting my guitar, microphones, and laptop through security. we'll see how many pieces they're in when i get them back before i pass my final judgment.
i somehow managed to finish all my portfolios before leaving, despite the fact that i collected them on monday and left this morning. crazy. i basically graded for about 50 straight hours, with 2-3 hours of sleeping in there somewhere, and in that time also finished typing, printing, and mailing all my grad school applications. then last night, i was so hyped up from mainlining caffeine for two days that i fell asleep at the ripe old hour of 6am and was awakened by richard at 930 via telephone. then i didn't sleep on the plane. apparently, i don't need to sleep anymore. it's actually mostly pretty cool, except it's sort of like being drunk in that i keep having ideas that seem completely wonderful to me, but obviously aren't to anyone else, which has led me to start saying and doing things i will likely regret when i stop to think about it. also, i have the emotional stability level of a 14 year-old.
waaaaah. give me stuff!
boooo. leave me alone!
the world is misery/beautiful! let me stay out till 10 or i hate you!
those kinds of things.
it concerns me that i did not sleep on the plane. plane-sleeping is my personal substitute for sex. when i don't get any plane-sleep, i get bitchy, mostly because i know that plane-sleep won't happen again for like a year. actually, this metaphor is cooler than i thought...
my students are going to get better grades than some of them likely deserve: i know i graded high this time, but for some reason couldn't stop myself...i suppose it's better to go high than go low.
really excited about the show coming up. really excited by the idea of sleeping for a full eight hours tonight and then waking up, figuring out where the hell i am, eating, and then trying to figure out a little bit of what the fuck has happened to me since april. i will also play lots of starcraft and possibly watch movies. i will plan my classes for next semester, maybe go subway spelunking in rochester, and maybe even turn into a jet like that badass decepticon in transformers. hells yeah.
i still have an hour until my flight. might be back later.
Dec 9, 2007
test post
for some reason, "test post" made me think of pop-tarts. and now i'm hungry again, dammit. anyway, facebook is being wonky with mirroring my posts, so i just signed up for a plethora of blog mirroring programs and am posting to see what happens.
sorry for all of you who are waiting with bated breath for my brilliant insights on internet culture and madden screenshots, but you'll just have to wait longer. i don't get paid to rock the party, you know.
sorry for all of you who are waiting with bated breath for my brilliant insights on internet culture and madden screenshots, but you'll just have to wait longer. i don't get paid to rock the party, you know.
Dec 7, 2007
somethin' cookin...
since my initiation into facebook not long ago, i've become a little bit fascinated about the idea of social network websites in particular, and the dichotomy of myspace and facebook in particular. i already had a feeling that some of the concerns i had about these sites tied in somewhat tangentially to some of the ideas i've been kicking around for a dissertation (globalization/class stratifications/technology/mass information/tourism/travel lit/etc), but i ran across a few essays today online that specifically target class stratifications in myspace and facebook, and it was one of those hilariously nerdy/giddy academic experiences ("holy shit, someone else in the universe has the same crazy-ass idea i do!"). so instead of starting portfolios, i've been reading articles online all afternoon. i'll most likely be following that up a bit later with some sort of ill-considered verbal diarrhea about social networks and classism.
so brace yourselves.
so brace yourselves.
Dec 4, 2007
oh my god, i'm going to die.
the AC is still on, and possibly more than yesterday. i've taken to blanketing the windowframe, and wearing at least one coat, a hat, a scarf, and typing with gloves. and i still can't feel my fingers. ah, the travails of being mutatedly tall.
Dec 3, 2007
MC AC
am currently getting pwn4d by the AC in fourth floor avery. it's 20 or so degrees outside; i don't understand why the AC is on...full...blast. probably karmic revenge for the fact that i've been bitching about how hot it is in here for weeks. and so it goes...
Dec 2, 2007
photographic evidence of my previous claims
colder than tacos in space:
colder than space tacos:
colder than the space between hot tacos:
spacier than hot tacos:
spicier than tacos that are so hot they're cold:
my captions are stupid, and i'm an idiot:
colder than space tacos:
colder than the space between hot tacos:
spacier than hot tacos:
spicier than tacos that are so hot they're cold:
my captions are stupid, and i'm an idiot:
the siege of Pullmangrad
it's like Siberia up in this beeotch. i wake up this morning, after about a week or two of on/off snow to find...you guessed it, more snow.
i love snow, so i'm okay with this. however, now that i'm sitting up on my office with a thin glass pane between me and the elements, the wind seemingly rocking the building, the electric flickering off and on and seemingly about to go out at any moment, my trusty laptop and wi-fi my ONLY CONNECTION TO CIVILIZATION...
okay, i'm overreacting. but i still have a 20 minute hike in the snow back to the apartment which i've heard through the rumor mill might be on the side of town that currently doesn't have electricity. i am "certified" in winter survival techniques, so i guess if it comes down to it i could strangle a grad student and sleep inside of their body until the snow lets up.
today, i've been trying to put the finishing touches on these statements of goals for the newest round of graduate applications. pretty much what that means is i've been sitting around, playing guitar, blogging, and messing with my facebook profile. in my defense, i do have a writing sample pinned down now (and a pretty good one if i do say so myself), and i've also got just about everything else lined up with the exception of one university whose application process has been causing a few gray hairs (but it's about half my fault, so i have no right to complain). it's just daunting to think that i have something like 9 days to get everything arranged and mailed out before i fly out of here. i'd prolong it for longer (what else do you prolong it for?) but the truth is with portfolios to fly home and all the equipment i'm going to be trying to get home, i may just utterly fail at having room to transport anything but a few changes of clothes. that means applications are either done by the 12th of december or not done at all.
i prefer done by the 12th. but that brings me back to the statements of goals. i have many goals, and to talk about them within the confines of 2 pages and five different departments' detailed ideas of exactly what they want to know is a little daunting. this is always the hardest part of the process for me, and this time is no exception. nine days should be plenty of time, right?
on other fronts that have had a dearth of blog-related information lately, i'm still working (sort of) on the EP, though the new LP is totally not even under consideration at the moment. i came up with a few new riffs the other day and briefly considered putting some words down for them, but the truth is there's so much else going on right now musically and otherwise that i just didn't feel like branching out in another direction just yet. the amp problem turns out to be completely in my apartment wiring/interference from other apartment things, as i took it down to atom heart and the guy there plugged it in and played the most pristine, dirty-ass blues riff i've ever heard from a non-professional-band amplifier. i was stunned. let's just say that power of amplifierage i have in my possession was a) totally worth the 600 bucks b) will be absolutely nuclear if i ever live somewhere that i can play it clean. if. ever.
the good news (that was the bad news; my apartment sucks) is that i've found a way to at least semi-effectively record without much static from the amp, and i'll likely be using this recording method from here on out for the EP. it's obviously going to get done after christmas, but right now i'm looking at something like four weeks until the Susan's gig and i still don't even know all the songs i'm planning on playing. so, while learning 25 songs in the space of four weeks might be easy if that was all i was doing, it's not all i'm doing. and so i've pretty much (sadly) put new projects on hold until the show is over, or at least until i'm comfortable enough with these songs to not feel like i have to spend every second of guitar-time memorizing them. i'm planning on recording the show and uploading it somewhere, so here's hoping it doesn't totally suck.
well, i'm going to sit here in avery until either i finish a few of these goal-statements or until i run out of caffeine and resolve, or until the armor-clad, polar-bear riding Siberian warriors crash the front door and drive me out into the cold night on foot.
or until i remember there are tons of DVDs in my office, conveniently located next to my bookshelf...
i love snow, so i'm okay with this. however, now that i'm sitting up on my office with a thin glass pane between me and the elements, the wind seemingly rocking the building, the electric flickering off and on and seemingly about to go out at any moment, my trusty laptop and wi-fi my ONLY CONNECTION TO CIVILIZATION...
okay, i'm overreacting. but i still have a 20 minute hike in the snow back to the apartment which i've heard through the rumor mill might be on the side of town that currently doesn't have electricity. i am "certified" in winter survival techniques, so i guess if it comes down to it i could strangle a grad student and sleep inside of their body until the snow lets up.
today, i've been trying to put the finishing touches on these statements of goals for the newest round of graduate applications. pretty much what that means is i've been sitting around, playing guitar, blogging, and messing with my facebook profile. in my defense, i do have a writing sample pinned down now (and a pretty good one if i do say so myself), and i've also got just about everything else lined up with the exception of one university whose application process has been causing a few gray hairs (but it's about half my fault, so i have no right to complain). it's just daunting to think that i have something like 9 days to get everything arranged and mailed out before i fly out of here. i'd prolong it for longer (what else do you prolong it for?) but the truth is with portfolios to fly home and all the equipment i'm going to be trying to get home, i may just utterly fail at having room to transport anything but a few changes of clothes. that means applications are either done by the 12th of december or not done at all.
i prefer done by the 12th. but that brings me back to the statements of goals. i have many goals, and to talk about them within the confines of 2 pages and five different departments' detailed ideas of exactly what they want to know is a little daunting. this is always the hardest part of the process for me, and this time is no exception. nine days should be plenty of time, right?
on other fronts that have had a dearth of blog-related information lately, i'm still working (sort of) on the EP, though the new LP is totally not even under consideration at the moment. i came up with a few new riffs the other day and briefly considered putting some words down for them, but the truth is there's so much else going on right now musically and otherwise that i just didn't feel like branching out in another direction just yet. the amp problem turns out to be completely in my apartment wiring/interference from other apartment things, as i took it down to atom heart and the guy there plugged it in and played the most pristine, dirty-ass blues riff i've ever heard from a non-professional-band amplifier. i was stunned. let's just say that power of amplifierage i have in my possession was a) totally worth the 600 bucks b) will be absolutely nuclear if i ever live somewhere that i can play it clean. if. ever.
the good news (that was the bad news; my apartment sucks) is that i've found a way to at least semi-effectively record without much static from the amp, and i'll likely be using this recording method from here on out for the EP. it's obviously going to get done after christmas, but right now i'm looking at something like four weeks until the Susan's gig and i still don't even know all the songs i'm planning on playing. so, while learning 25 songs in the space of four weeks might be easy if that was all i was doing, it's not all i'm doing. and so i've pretty much (sadly) put new projects on hold until the show is over, or at least until i'm comfortable enough with these songs to not feel like i have to spend every second of guitar-time memorizing them. i'm planning on recording the show and uploading it somewhere, so here's hoping it doesn't totally suck.
well, i'm going to sit here in avery until either i finish a few of these goal-statements or until i run out of caffeine and resolve, or until the armor-clad, polar-bear riding Siberian warriors crash the front door and drive me out into the cold night on foot.
or until i remember there are tons of DVDs in my office, conveniently located next to my bookshelf...
Dec 1, 2007
bowes finally shares the trophy!
well, my prediction came through. it was 50-20 with 2 minutes left, and the fuckers managed to get two touchdowns to make it 50-35, but who cares? we destroyed the dolphins in the super bowl. there were more interceptions, a punt return for touchdown by tasker, and touchdown passes to scholl, barber, and bunting. good times. and for once, someone else got to hold the trophy. 3 super bowls in 5 years...i think in a few months when i start another season i'm going to crank the difficulty level a little bit...
bowes runs it in early to make it 7-7:
minutes after recovering a fumble, sparks gets a pick:
and then, ironically, runs over fiedler on the return:
webster jumps in on the wrong-team-catches-the-ball action:
tasker gets a punt return for a 65-yard touchdown run:
bunting dives over his pursuit for a touchdown:
and sparks wrests the trophy away from bowes:
bowes runs it in early to make it 7-7:
minutes after recovering a fumble, sparks gets a pick:
and then, ironically, runs over fiedler on the return:
webster jumps in on the wrong-team-catches-the-ball action:
tasker gets a punt return for a 65-yard touchdown run:
bunting dives over his pursuit for a touchdown:
and sparks wrests the trophy away from bowes:
halftime report
the dolphins suck. this might end up biting me in the ass if we lose the game, but they suck. they've mustered 136 yards in the first half, but they've had one play for 76 yards and one play for 50 yards, so essentially they've had 10 yards the entire half. and 2 first downs. they have 10 points by virtue of the one 76 yard play (the second play of the game) going for a touchdown, and the 50 yard play (the second-to-last play of the half) going for a field goal.
however, thanks to jay fiedler going 3 for a bazillion and the dolphins receivers dropping 5 passes, as well as sparks getting an interception and a fumble recovery on back-to-back drives, we're winning 19-10. the only reason we're not absolutely slaughtering them is because their defense suddenly gets good in the red zone. we have one touchdown and four field goals. however, there's absolutely no good reason that it's not 35-10 right now.
i'm going to finish decimating the crap out of them, and then i'll be back with pictures.
however, thanks to jay fiedler going 3 for a bazillion and the dolphins receivers dropping 5 passes, as well as sparks getting an interception and a fumble recovery on back-to-back drives, we're winning 19-10. the only reason we're not absolutely slaughtering them is because their defense suddenly gets good in the red zone. we have one touchdown and four field goals. however, there's absolutely no good reason that it's not 35-10 right now.
i'm going to finish decimating the crap out of them, and then i'll be back with pictures.
impending fishy football doom!
once again, the niners are going to put up with the dolphins' pathetic attempts to keep them from becoming super bowl champions.
i don't have pictures or details because i played two of these games awhile back and then sort of went nuts for a few days, but the niners beat the panthers 31-24 in yet another dramatic comeback effort to advance to play the seahawks (who sadly beat the saints...i really wanted to play the saints because they're the only team in the league who had a better record than me). but the last time we played the seahawks it was 45-41, and this one was a shootout also, though we pretty effectively dominated 41-24. so, dolphins and niners in the super bowl, right now. results later.
also, i got tickets for the seattle and salem cardinals shows in january. well, at least i ordered them both...didn't get a confirmation for the salem one yet. i'm a little worried, but i'm gonna email them and i'm confident it'll work out. i hopped on the presale, so i got both nights inside the first 10 rows. i'm way over in the left corner for the salem show, but it's ryan's side of the stage so i'm not too heartbroken about that.
here's a picture of ryan from graboff.com in celebration:
i don't have pictures or details because i played two of these games awhile back and then sort of went nuts for a few days, but the niners beat the panthers 31-24 in yet another dramatic comeback effort to advance to play the seahawks (who sadly beat the saints...i really wanted to play the saints because they're the only team in the league who had a better record than me). but the last time we played the seahawks it was 45-41, and this one was a shootout also, though we pretty effectively dominated 41-24. so, dolphins and niners in the super bowl, right now. results later.
also, i got tickets for the seattle and salem cardinals shows in january. well, at least i ordered them both...didn't get a confirmation for the salem one yet. i'm a little worried, but i'm gonna email them and i'm confident it'll work out. i hopped on the presale, so i got both nights inside the first 10 rows. i'm way over in the left corner for the salem show, but it's ryan's side of the stage so i'm not too heartbroken about that.
here's a picture of ryan from graboff.com in celebration:
Nov 26, 2007
Nov 25, 2007
the newest turtle picture
coloring pictures of ninja turtles seems to have usurped online scrabble and Daily Evergreen crosswords as my hobby du semaine (gender?). here's the latest:
Nov 24, 2007
dueling shitty quarterbacks
who both turned out to not be so shitty in the niners' regular season closer against the packers. in the last few years, the packers have sort of replaced the rams as my arch-nemesis, on account of the fact that they generally like to beat me and knock me out of the playoffs and make my life miserable. today was no exception. their defense held us to 3 points in the first half, and it would have been a really nice 3-0 defensive battle were it not for the fact that shortly before the end of the half the packers scored on a 40 yard pass, then got the ball back on an interception 2 plays later and scored on another 40 yard pass to make it 14-3, then tacked on a field goal in the final seconds of the half to make it 17-3. the niners got inside the red zone three times, but due to the always-infuriating packers defense, they only came away with three field goals, so it was 17-9 early in the fourth when finally smith connected with scholl for a touchdown. the 2 point conversion went to hell though and so it was 17-15. things seemed to be done for when the packers scored again on (what else?) a 40 yard pass play with six minutes left to make it 24-15. smith managed to get the niners to midfield with a few shaky passes before throwing an interception and the packers kicked another field goal with four minutes left to make it 27-15. at this point i actually hit myself in the face with the keyboard. unfortunately, this seems to have made the "m" key sort of sticky. anyway, the niners scored almost immediately once, and kicked off with 2 minutes left, and used 2 of their timeouts to force the packers to punt with under 1:30 on the clock. crazily enough, with one timeout and 80 yards to go, the niners converted four times on third down, once on fourth down, and then once again on fourth and goal with three seconds left to win 30-27. this season has been a series of absolutely ridiculous games...i suppose it's only fair that it ended this way. we finished 14-2 and advanced to the second round (bypassing the wild card) where we'll be playing the panthers, whom we beat earlier in the season 45-41. bowes got his 100 yards and ended the regular season with 2065 yards and the MVP trophy (for the second time). and here's a random picture of julian peterson intercepting a packers pass:
Nov 23, 2007
blast from the past
i typed "blast from the pants" at first. i guess that would have been a more interesting blog entry. too bad for you, huh?
every once in awhile i like to look back at blog entries from previous years just to see what was going on back then at this particular day. well, there's no entry for the 23rd of november from last year, but by reading the surrounding entries it sounds like things were pretty hectic but amusing. i was finishing up "Not California" over thanksgiving break (ironically, i had planned to record all this week too, but various things ruined my plans), and by the end of the week the Rocktopus had emerged. there was also the infamous "OH SHIT JIGGLYPUFF!" Picture Contest.
2 years ago i had just recently moved into the westview in pull-man. i was having my first thanksgiving here (with real food and people and stuff). i had just invented the phrase "bitch rockets", soon to become one of my favorites. i also had a blog post titled "the tampa bay fuccaneers", which is pretty freaking immature.
the niners won their first super bowl in november of 2005, and here's a random hilarious comment from 2 years ago, regarding madden football and the posting of screenshots: "i think when you get to the point of hanging a fantasy football plaque on the wall or posting 10 photos a night of your fake video football team on your livejournal, you don't need a life anymore, because you've created an entirely different and bizarre entity that doesn't even really classify as a "life" in any way, but is completely incompatible with it."
there was also this awesome quote about thanksgiving: "i'd like to thank my local manifestation of god for life and i'd like to thank our culture for once again memorializing and celebrating bigotry and genocide, and providing me with a humungous legacy of guilt and misunderstanding to carry around just because of my skin color and speaking accent." such a cynical young boy i was.
there was also the infamous "googling the carnivorous erection" incident, which i won't get into here again. you can figure it out on your own if you really need to.
every once in awhile i like to look back at blog entries from previous years just to see what was going on back then at this particular day. well, there's no entry for the 23rd of november from last year, but by reading the surrounding entries it sounds like things were pretty hectic but amusing. i was finishing up "Not California" over thanksgiving break (ironically, i had planned to record all this week too, but various things ruined my plans), and by the end of the week the Rocktopus had emerged. there was also the infamous "OH SHIT JIGGLYPUFF!" Picture Contest.
2 years ago i had just recently moved into the westview in pull-man. i was having my first thanksgiving here (with real food and people and stuff). i had just invented the phrase "bitch rockets", soon to become one of my favorites. i also had a blog post titled "the tampa bay fuccaneers", which is pretty freaking immature.
the niners won their first super bowl in november of 2005, and here's a random hilarious comment from 2 years ago, regarding madden football and the posting of screenshots: "i think when you get to the point of hanging a fantasy football plaque on the wall or posting 10 photos a night of your fake video football team on your livejournal, you don't need a life anymore, because you've created an entirely different and bizarre entity that doesn't even really classify as a "life" in any way, but is completely incompatible with it."
there was also this awesome quote about thanksgiving: "i'd like to thank my local manifestation of god for life and i'd like to thank our culture for once again memorializing and celebrating bigotry and genocide, and providing me with a humungous legacy of guilt and misunderstanding to carry around just because of my skin color and speaking accent." such a cynical young boy i was.
there was also the infamous "googling the carnivorous erection" incident, which i won't get into here again. you can figure it out on your own if you really need to.
two ugly games, two purty outcomes
i played two games today on account of my day being something like 36 hours long.
the first one (way back when it was dark the first time) was a strange game in that there was only one offensive touchdown per team all the way through, and one defensive touchdown, something like six turnovers, one safety, and 8 field goals (between the two teams). smith seems to have come down to earth as quarterback...he still has the highest rating in the league since coming in to replace bunting, but it's mostly because he's riding the wave of those first two crazy games. we ended up winning 22-19, but since i don't really remember anything from yesterday/today, i have no pictures or anecdotes. it was a really weird, highly offensive game, but nobody could get in the end zone. the deciding factor was really a rashan holman touchdown on a punt that bounced off the punt returner's head as he was running under it and rolled into rashan's arms for a 20 yard run and touchdown late in the game.
the second game took place in a crushing FOG an RAIN and was even WEIRDER.
on the very first drive, the giants took the lead 3-0 when a field goal landed on the crossbar and actually balanced there for a split second before rolling over the edge for the three points.
the niners countered immediately with a drive featuring three 20-yard bowes runs, and things seemed to be well in hand. for a minute. then smith fumbled on the sideline during a quarterback sneak and strahan recovered in what was obviously one of the game's fake "error" calls, as the ball was clearly out of bounds. the very next play however, the giants running back got absolutely karate chopped in half and fumbled back, leading to a niner touchdown.
there was even an altercation after the play on account of the sheer brutality involved.
then it was 7-3. a few seconds later, jeremy shockey went 78 yards for a touchdown and made it 10-7. for a game that was being played in mud and fog, the usual no-offense-in-adverse-conditions condition didn't seem to be applying. things went back and forth around midfield for the rest of the half, including a giants punt that was turned into a first down due a roughing the kicker call and a giants interception that was given back to the niners due to a pass interference call.
at halftime it was 20-7 giants, and they had amassed 311 yards to the niners' 101. something changed significantly (apparently) in the second half because the giants ended with 390 yards and 20 points to the niners' 28. it didn't help the giants that akili smith led the team to a 12 for 16 third down conversion rate, including two touchdowns on third and long, including this toss to bunting on third and goal from the 21:
the giants were outscored 21-0 in the second half and put up 2 more fumbles and an interception...
last game of the season probably tomorrow against the packers. brett favre is already injured so i can't break his face this year like we did last year. pity.
bowes is 48 yards shy of 2000 on the season and 85 shy of his personal all-time rushing record of 2036. he also taught the giants an important lesson tonight, which was "GET OFF THE TRACKS WHEN THE TRAIN'S COMIN' THROUGH!!"
the first one (way back when it was dark the first time) was a strange game in that there was only one offensive touchdown per team all the way through, and one defensive touchdown, something like six turnovers, one safety, and 8 field goals (between the two teams). smith seems to have come down to earth as quarterback...he still has the highest rating in the league since coming in to replace bunting, but it's mostly because he's riding the wave of those first two crazy games. we ended up winning 22-19, but since i don't really remember anything from yesterday/today, i have no pictures or anecdotes. it was a really weird, highly offensive game, but nobody could get in the end zone. the deciding factor was really a rashan holman touchdown on a punt that bounced off the punt returner's head as he was running under it and rolled into rashan's arms for a 20 yard run and touchdown late in the game.
the second game took place in a crushing FOG an RAIN and was even WEIRDER.
on the very first drive, the giants took the lead 3-0 when a field goal landed on the crossbar and actually balanced there for a split second before rolling over the edge for the three points.
the niners countered immediately with a drive featuring three 20-yard bowes runs, and things seemed to be well in hand. for a minute. then smith fumbled on the sideline during a quarterback sneak and strahan recovered in what was obviously one of the game's fake "error" calls, as the ball was clearly out of bounds. the very next play however, the giants running back got absolutely karate chopped in half and fumbled back, leading to a niner touchdown.
there was even an altercation after the play on account of the sheer brutality involved.
then it was 7-3. a few seconds later, jeremy shockey went 78 yards for a touchdown and made it 10-7. for a game that was being played in mud and fog, the usual no-offense-in-adverse-conditions condition didn't seem to be applying. things went back and forth around midfield for the rest of the half, including a giants punt that was turned into a first down due a roughing the kicker call and a giants interception that was given back to the niners due to a pass interference call.
at halftime it was 20-7 giants, and they had amassed 311 yards to the niners' 101. something changed significantly (apparently) in the second half because the giants ended with 390 yards and 20 points to the niners' 28. it didn't help the giants that akili smith led the team to a 12 for 16 third down conversion rate, including two touchdowns on third and long, including this toss to bunting on third and goal from the 21:
the giants were outscored 21-0 in the second half and put up 2 more fumbles and an interception...
last game of the season probably tomorrow against the packers. brett favre is already injured so i can't break his face this year like we did last year. pity.
bowes is 48 yards shy of 2000 on the season and 85 shy of his personal all-time rushing record of 2036. he also taught the giants an important lesson tonight, which was "GET OFF THE TRACKS WHEN THE TRAIN'S COMIN' THROUGH!!"
Nov 21, 2007
bunting who?
saddled with the loss of their starting QB for the rest of the season, the niners came into st. louis today to face their archrivals-of-death, the rams, for the second time this season.
the won the first matchup in a "burn-barner" or something, 27-24, and won this one in significantly more convincing fashion, 36-29...though until the last few minutes it was 36-14. any concern that the niners were hurt at all by the loss of their 8-million-dollar-a-year QB were pretty much extinguished. in the last 1 1/2 games akili smith has gone 29 for 35 for 422 yards and 4 touchdowns, three of which happened today and were all to raymond scholl. also, bowes picked up 216 yards on the ground, bringing his total to 1711 for the season, setting him up for the possibility of getting 2000 yards in the regular season for the second time in five years.
the offense was pretty much unstoppable but the deal was sealed by 3 st. louis fumbles, two of which were clearly incomplete passes; but st. louis still failed to use their challenges, which set up two niner touchdowns. kurt warner threw for almost 400 yards, but it took him 50 passes to get there, only 22 of which were completed.
three more games left; the first two should be relatively simple, and the last one is against the packers, who are one of only a few teams with records comparable to the niners' 12-2 (interestingly, the saints are 13-1).
the won the first matchup in a "burn-barner" or something, 27-24, and won this one in significantly more convincing fashion, 36-29...though until the last few minutes it was 36-14. any concern that the niners were hurt at all by the loss of their 8-million-dollar-a-year QB were pretty much extinguished. in the last 1 1/2 games akili smith has gone 29 for 35 for 422 yards and 4 touchdowns, three of which happened today and were all to raymond scholl. also, bowes picked up 216 yards on the ground, bringing his total to 1711 for the season, setting him up for the possibility of getting 2000 yards in the regular season for the second time in five years.
the offense was pretty much unstoppable but the deal was sealed by 3 st. louis fumbles, two of which were clearly incomplete passes; but st. louis still failed to use their challenges, which set up two niner touchdowns. kurt warner threw for almost 400 yards, but it took him 50 passes to get there, only 22 of which were completed.
three more games left; the first two should be relatively simple, and the last one is against the packers, who are one of only a few teams with records comparable to the niners' 12-2 (interestingly, the saints are 13-1).
Nov 19, 2007
awesome. just awesome.
i love this building. it's 28 degrees out right now and snowing. and the air conditioning just turned on. hell. yes.
"clowns, evil clowns" or "my own best left foot"
hello tyrants and ladies. and men who are not tyrants (we are in short supply these days, are we not?). i bring great a terrible news from the pacific northwest.
sometime in the night, the sky-god used his foul magicks to turn the rain to ice, and now our fair borough has been encased in ice and treacherous, foul cold. see for yourselves!
i've decided, after knocking out 2 of my 3 classes in 2 days, to come in "early" today and attempt to knock out all 26 papers in my last class. it's a gargantuan task, but one i feel like i've been training for for these last three years. so onward, and may men and tyrants both remember my heroic deeds when my shattered body is borne away on the icy wind!
sometime in the night, the sky-god used his foul magicks to turn the rain to ice, and now our fair borough has been encased in ice and treacherous, foul cold. see for yourselves!
i've decided, after knocking out 2 of my 3 classes in 2 days, to come in "early" today and attempt to knock out all 26 papers in my last class. it's a gargantuan task, but one i feel like i've been training for for these last three years. so onward, and may men and tyrants both remember my heroic deeds when my shattered body is borne away on the icy wind!
sea of red madness
it finally snowed tonight. then i got to drive my car down the treacherous-as-balls hill that you just absolutely have to descend in some fashion to get back to my apartment in that frantic first-snow-i-can't-remember-how-to-drive-in-these-conditions condition. also, i realized as a result of these circumstances that i haven't had a windshield scraper for three years. the last one i had was andrea's, which i broke. then i remember briefly having one my friend sarah gave to me. which i also broke. i used my arm this time. it might not be easier to scrape ice with, but it's sure harder to break.
generally.
anyway, here are some pictures of outside. i seem to remember snow being awesome, but tonight it was just cold and quiet and lonely. wait, can snow be lonely? shit. no, that must have been me.
here's a picture of a kit-kat i bought with a dollar. i had been wondering for weeks what was so special about this kit-kat, such that it would cost a dollar when all other snacky-foods cost 80 cents. imagine my surprise to find it to be thoroughly gigantic and emblazoned with a stentorian "KIT KAT" label imprinted in its tasty chocolate skin.
and lastly, after three days of constant grading and eating nothing but peanut butter and constant comment (which isn't really a food), you can actually use my coloring as a litmus test for sanity. first, look about 2 posts down at the picture i colored on friday afternoon. now, look at this picture:
it's 230am. time for lunch. much love.
generally.
anyway, here are some pictures of outside. i seem to remember snow being awesome, but tonight it was just cold and quiet and lonely. wait, can snow be lonely? shit. no, that must have been me.
here's a picture of a kit-kat i bought with a dollar. i had been wondering for weeks what was so special about this kit-kat, such that it would cost a dollar when all other snacky-foods cost 80 cents. imagine my surprise to find it to be thoroughly gigantic and emblazoned with a stentorian "KIT KAT" label imprinted in its tasty chocolate skin.
and lastly, after three days of constant grading and eating nothing but peanut butter and constant comment (which isn't really a food), you can actually use my coloring as a litmus test for sanity. first, look about 2 posts down at the picture i colored on friday afternoon. now, look at this picture:
it's 230am. time for lunch. much love.
Nov 18, 2007
i'm gross
in addition to having spent almost every hour of my waking life at work in the last few days, i've also run afoul of the semi-suspect water delivery system in my apartment complex again. i thought the maintenance guys has dealt with it a month ago after they tore apart my upstairs neighbors' bathroom, but now my bathroom ceiling is once again ominously sagging and dripping weird orange-brown liquid into my shower and onto the floor.
cleverly, it didn't begin to do so until friday afternoon, when i stopped in to pick up my car and drive back to avery, so i was unable to get anyone in to look at it or stop the leak before the weekend. extra awesomely, i hadn't showered since thursday night...so by the time someone gets in tomorrow (at the earliest) i will have accumulated 4 days worth of ugliness and dirtiness.
this is extreme even for me.
and, now that i've told everyone on the internet, i'm off to grade more papers in the stairwell.
cleverly, it didn't begin to do so until friday afternoon, when i stopped in to pick up my car and drive back to avery, so i was unable to get anyone in to look at it or stop the leak before the weekend. extra awesomely, i hadn't showered since thursday night...so by the time someone gets in tomorrow (at the earliest) i will have accumulated 4 days worth of ugliness and dirtiness.
this is extreme even for me.
and, now that i've told everyone on the internet, i'm off to grade more papers in the stairwell.
Nov 16, 2007
24 season seven trailer. and the word "balls".
in case you haven't seen it yet or like spoilers, here's the season seven trailer for 24:
can't wait. looks great, as always.
balls.
can't wait. looks great, as always.
balls.
satan's ass!
so i got my research papers/packets today. i just spent a good hour just organizing them all according to class and student, and stapling them together. now comes the hour or two it will take to actually record the grades. and then the thirteen hundred days it will take to actually read and comment on them all. i think i'm in over my head, trying to teach a lesson plan for two classes with three classes instead. i've always sort of suspected this, but it wasn't until i got research paper packets the size (each) of my Riverside Chaucer that i knew how deep the shit i was in was:
on the other hand, while i was waiting for papers today, i got to play a little starcraft on the ceiling projector in one of my classrooms, also using the room's audio setup, which is pretty snazzy. then i was interrupted, so i defaulted to coloring pictures of ninja turtles.
on the other hand, while i was waiting for papers today, i got to play a little starcraft on the ceiling projector in one of my classrooms, also using the room's audio setup, which is pretty snazzy. then i was interrupted, so i defaulted to coloring pictures of ninja turtles.
the world at my fingertipz
oh my goodness! the wifi on campus today is so fast, i feel like an elderly lady from the 1950s getting to ride in a mid-90s sports car.
mercy!
it must be the complete absence of student-ness on campus today. i wonder if it's going to be this fast all break. too bad i can't use my school connection to access bittorrent to download COMPLETELY LEGAL LIVE CONCERTS using SPEED THROTTLING because of course all high-bandwidth traffic on a school's internet connection MUST BE COMPLETELY ILLEGAL!!!
sitting in class just getting papers and talking to random students whilst secretly saving the world from the zerg and watching behind-the-scenes "24" videos on fox.com is awesome. i should just do this every class period.
mercy!
it must be the complete absence of student-ness on campus today. i wonder if it's going to be this fast all break. too bad i can't use my school connection to access bittorrent to download COMPLETELY LEGAL LIVE CONCERTS using SPEED THROTTLING because of course all high-bandwidth traffic on a school's internet connection MUST BE COMPLETELY ILLEGAL!!!
sitting in class just getting papers and talking to random students whilst secretly saving the world from the zerg and watching behind-the-scenes "24" videos on fox.com is awesome. i should just do this every class period.
don't poke the bear pt. 2
since i'm obviously obsessed with statistics this week (see madden posts), let's take a maddenesque look at my sleeping statistics. on monday night and wednesday night, i totalled almost 25 hours of sleep. however, on sunday night, tuesday night and last night, i have totalled three hours of sleep. there is something very, very wrong with that. and somehow, alternating between sleeping through the entire day and not sleeping at all makes you feel inexplicably worse than just never sleeping at all.
so don't poke the bear. RAWR. and all that.
in other news, the cardinals *gasp* just announced january dates at UCLA and in san diego. you know what that means. it's only a matter of time now. i was already planning routes to seattle, boise, and portland last night, trying to figure out what days the shows could fall on and still allow me to either cancel class only once or not at all.
the bell rings! i'm going to class to wait for people to come in and drop off papers. and mostly play starcraft. possibly on the big projector if i can figure out how. mostly because i'm awesome at starcraft. and at projecting.
so don't poke the bear. RAWR. and all that.
in other news, the cardinals *gasp* just announced january dates at UCLA and in san diego. you know what that means. it's only a matter of time now. i was already planning routes to seattle, boise, and portland last night, trying to figure out what days the shows could fall on and still allow me to either cancel class only once or not at all.
the bell rings! i'm going to class to wait for people to come in and drop off papers. and mostly play starcraft. possibly on the big projector if i can figure out how. mostly because i'm awesome at starcraft. and at projecting.
"west coast shootout" or "the beginning of the end"?
the niners bested the seahawks for the second time this season to advance to 10-2. this time they won 42-35 in a game where the teams totalled almost 1000 yards. especially odd considering that at the end of the first quarter it was 3-0 seahawks, both teams had under 100 yards total, and five turnovers between them. things shaped up shortly after, and by the half it was 17-14 seahawks, and then eventually 42-24 niners, mainly based on a bowes assualt that included four touchdowns. this play was not one of them:
i'm not quite sure why he's high-stepping it with 2 guys left to beat. he was clobbered shortly after this screenshot was taken.
the good news for this game was akili smith came in for the niners partway through the third quarter, threw for 224 yards and went 12-14 passing, and racked up 28 points in the second half. the bad news is that the reason he was in in the first place was bunting was sacked on a muffed handoff late in the first half and went out of the game with a torn groin. recovery time is estimated at 11 weeks and there's only about four weeks left in the season. not only is he one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, he's also currently leading the league in pretty much every category and was looking to be on track for a record-setting season. this is going to shift the focus a lot to the secondary, who really needs to step up their game, and bowes, who's likely going to get a lot more carries. smith isn't bad at QB, but he isn't good either. if he can occasionally get the ball to scholl and prewett (who continues to have his best season in the six years he's been on the team), the air attack might not completely combust. but let's just say the super bowl seems a lot farther away than it did last week...
st. louis is up next week. if we're going to get absolutely slaughtered by anyone, it'll be them. after all, the only reason we got to the super bowl last year was because ryan sparks broke kurt warner's kneecap halfway through the first round playoff game...not on purpose...
i'm not quite sure why he's high-stepping it with 2 guys left to beat. he was clobbered shortly after this screenshot was taken.
the good news for this game was akili smith came in for the niners partway through the third quarter, threw for 224 yards and went 12-14 passing, and racked up 28 points in the second half. the bad news is that the reason he was in in the first place was bunting was sacked on a muffed handoff late in the first half and went out of the game with a torn groin. recovery time is estimated at 11 weeks and there's only about four weeks left in the season. not only is he one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, he's also currently leading the league in pretty much every category and was looking to be on track for a record-setting season. this is going to shift the focus a lot to the secondary, who really needs to step up their game, and bowes, who's likely going to get a lot more carries. smith isn't bad at QB, but he isn't good either. if he can occasionally get the ball to scholl and prewett (who continues to have his best season in the six years he's been on the team), the air attack might not completely combust. but let's just say the super bowl seems a lot farther away than it did last week...
st. louis is up next week. if we're going to get absolutely slaughtered by anyone, it'll be them. after all, the only reason we got to the super bowl last year was because ryan sparks broke kurt warner's kneecap halfway through the first round playoff game...not on purpose...
Nov 14, 2007
thank you, kristen schaal, for getting me through these papers
before i start in on another round of statement-of-goals writing, i just wanted to say that i've made a habit of having pretty depressing, sort of brooding or possibly even emo-ish desktop wallpapers on my work computer all semester. it never occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, they were undermining my resolve to succeed until the other day, when thanks to matt i received this picture of kristen schaal, which i immediately tiled on my desktop:
now, i've probably, in the midst of working on one thing or another, covered this desktop with window clutter 100 times in the past few days; however, without fail, i always at least chuckle and fairly often laugh outright whenever i close my windows and am faced with 30 identical copies of this picture. how could you not?
anyway, kristen schaal is freaking hilarious, and were the creative parts of my brain not completely useless right now (though they are, as evidenced by my use of the word "parts"), i would probably write an ode, or a lyric, or a lullaby, or a dirge. no, wait. not a dirge. besides being an excellent desktop wallpaper-person, ms. schaal is also on the HBO show "flight of the conchords" (and many other things), and happens to have some of the absolute best comedic timing and body language awareness of anyone attempting to be funny that i have ever seen. here, have a clip as well (from the aforementioned show) while i go buy donuts and eat them until i pass out.
now, i've probably, in the midst of working on one thing or another, covered this desktop with window clutter 100 times in the past few days; however, without fail, i always at least chuckle and fairly often laugh outright whenever i close my windows and am faced with 30 identical copies of this picture. how could you not?
anyway, kristen schaal is freaking hilarious, and were the creative parts of my brain not completely useless right now (though they are, as evidenced by my use of the word "parts"), i would probably write an ode, or a lyric, or a lullaby, or a dirge. no, wait. not a dirge. besides being an excellent desktop wallpaper-person, ms. schaal is also on the HBO show "flight of the conchords" (and many other things), and happens to have some of the absolute best comedic timing and body language awareness of anyone attempting to be funny that i have ever seen. here, have a clip as well (from the aforementioned show) while i go buy donuts and eat them until i pass out.
i'm an enabler
i was taking a rare smoke break today with a few people between classes (i've successfully scaled my nicotine intake back to 2 or 3 a week, thankfully), when a guy asked if he could borrow a cigarette (it's not "borrowing", it's "having" or "taking", but anyway). being the conscientious carcinogen-sharer that i am, i let him have one. we talked for a few minutes about music, and i asked him if he was in the music program at WSU. that was when it came out that he was a junior in high school. i'd forgotten how big of a deal it was to smoke in high school, and how "cool" and "illegal" it made you. however, i immediately felt like a humongous tool for giving this kid a cigarette. i don't know why; it just bothered me.
in other news, my office wi-fi connection is too damn slow to handle the video feed from the at&t blueroom...so instead of watching DMB live on my computer, i guess i'm actually going to do work.
in other news, my office wi-fi connection is too damn slow to handle the video feed from the at&t blueroom...so instead of watching DMB live on my computer, i guess i'm actually going to do work.
title change
i decided, after much pondering today while my students were doing peer review, to change the title of my blog. it's an essay-grading joke that i won't explain so as to not crush the hearts and/or souls of various up-and-coming young essay writers. suffice to say i am pleased with the new title and it doesn't seem as pretentious or as "i'm worth listening to" than the last one, which was bugging me. because honestly, i'm not really worth listening to. pretending otherwise is just hypocritical.
i'm going to mix the subtitle around a lot, in an effort to amuse myself and others. i'm already feeling like maybe the last little bit could be construed as slightly misogynistic. and of course, i'm about as un-misogynistic as they come. except for when it comes to funshine bear. but she's just a bitch.
i'm going to mix the subtitle around a lot, in an effort to amuse myself and others. i'm already feeling like maybe the last little bit could be construed as slightly misogynistic. and of course, i'm about as un-misogynistic as they come. except for when it comes to funshine bear. but she's just a bitch.
don't poke the bear
once again, i completely failed sleeping last night. i did lay in bed from about 6am to 7am, but when the garbage truck showed up and started beeping right the hell next to my head, it was all over. i'm just giving you fair warning that there may be some crazy blog entries in the near future.
Nov 10, 2007
lassoed the cowboys, but the indians got me.
two more madden games have passed in the midst of all my blogging about Real Life. in the first, whose score or stats i'm too lazy to look up, we fragmented the cowboys by, like, a billion points. here are some pictures of that.
bunting flying into the endzone again for another rushing touchdown:
and the spear-rattling that took place afterwards:
sparks getting in on the touchdowns after an interception:
then, the redskins infuriatingly good QB and two rookie wide receivers trounced us in the next game. it didn't help that we were in the red zone twice in the first six minutes and turned it over on fumbles both times. we ended up with a total of 3 turnovers, bowes only had 60 yards, and we had 300 yards through the air, but most of them came near the end and were only in desperation. we were trailing 24-7 at the beginning of the fourth, and managed to come back and tie it 24-24 with 2 minutes left. the redskins had the ball and couldn't do anything with it, then we had a three-and-out, and then with a timeout and 37 seconds left, they went 60 yards on two plays pretty-as-you-please, and kicked a field goal to win 27-24. kill. oh, and they also infected me with a disease that made me black, which might have accounted for some of our offensive confusion:
bunting flying into the endzone again for another rushing touchdown:
and the spear-rattling that took place afterwards:
sparks getting in on the touchdowns after an interception:
then, the redskins infuriatingly good QB and two rookie wide receivers trounced us in the next game. it didn't help that we were in the red zone twice in the first six minutes and turned it over on fumbles both times. we ended up with a total of 3 turnovers, bowes only had 60 yards, and we had 300 yards through the air, but most of them came near the end and were only in desperation. we were trailing 24-7 at the beginning of the fourth, and managed to come back and tie it 24-24 with 2 minutes left. the redskins had the ball and couldn't do anything with it, then we had a three-and-out, and then with a timeout and 37 seconds left, they went 60 yards on two plays pretty-as-you-please, and kicked a field goal to win 27-24. kill. oh, and they also infected me with a disease that made me black, which might have accounted for some of our offensive confusion:
rest easy, galactic friends.
the zerg have been beaten back into the dark reaches of space for yet another night. now, with 43 hours of near-constant consciousness under my belt...
i'm going to bed. see you in forever.
i'm going to bed. see you in forever.
Nov 9, 2007
guess what? i hate a few things.
thing number one: college/university websites. i should stress that the forthcoming rant isn't directly towards any website in particular; these are just general observations in my now majordomo-level of experience when it comes to applying for schools. i understand that often when applying for a program, the Graduate School at the university and the department you're applying in have separate expectations, criteria, etc. but why the FUCK can't the department take the five seconds it would take to collect the Graduate School's criteria and address, stamp it into a generic-looking .html document and patch it with their own criteria on a page, oh i don't know, maybe linked directly off the "Graduate" part of the department website? the sheer amount of time i always have to spend just figuring out what to send to what department and where that department's address, or email, or .pdf submission form, or online application for aid is located is staggering. and of course requirements are always completely different for each school. i routinely have to call/email personnel in the department just to find out simple things like if there is an included cover sheet necessary for letters of recommendation, or what the zip code of the building address is. i don't understand why they could have someone in the department, upon conception of the department website, sit down and simulate the application-information-searching process for 20 whole minutes so they could realize how totally fucking whack it is and maybe take another 20 minutes to do something about it. i know that for the most part the idea behind applying to grad school is making yourself attractive to the school you want to get into, but seriously, it makes a huge difference when i'm trying to narrow down school choices whether you can just hop on to the school's website and go straight to an intuitive application page, or whether you have to run through the labyrinth for 2 hours before getting devoured by the minotaur at the end. i got rid of at least two really promising looking programs from my list this year because i simply could not figure out how to get information about applications off the website, and when i contacted the graduate english department asking for help, i was treated like i was obviously just too unintelligent to figure out the information on my own. i very nearly completed a BS in computer science...i have a pretty good idea that if that information had been readily available i could have navigated a simple webpage and found it.
i'm so glad blogs exist so that i can spew my impotent rage across the internet.
RAAAAAAAWR!!
the second thing that i hate is dad's weekend at WSU. first of all, i appreciate the idea that parents should come visit their kids at college (esp. during the first year) to see where they live, where they eat, which floormate they buy pot from, etc... but why can't they be expected to take the initiative to be interested in their son's/daughter's life on their own? why do all 30,000 sets of parents have to be encouraged to come to campus on the same week? and on a football week, no less. my god. i drove in circles around campus for 45 minutes earlier trying to find a parking spot, and not only did i not find one, i almost killed so many pedestrians because they streets were clogged like it was mardi gras and all the bars were closed. then there's the whole wonderful part of dad's and mom's weekends where all these really great, kosher, community-building exercises go on every day that entire week, essentially simulating what the university apparently wants itself to be seen as, rather than what it is. this morning, there were dads playing the piano in the old german-style frat house on the hill that i always walk by on my way home from work. quaint, yes...but compared to what usually goes on in that frat house at 2am...it's just weird. i guess i'm being cynical and i should think it's cool that parents come out and visit their kids, but it just seems sort of like another huge, well-orchestrated sham. and on top of that, it makes pullman nigh unlivable for something like five or six days. and if you're lucky, a parent or two will swing by your office and try to kick your ass for failing their son/daughter.
well, i just tested my amp in the fourth location after being assured by the local music shop that the hum was just feedback from a ground loop set up by the shoddy electronics in my apartment complex...yeah...apparently every other building in pullman suffers from the same problem except the music store. go figure. i'll have to break up my schedule of working on statements of goals and being bored as elephant testicles tomorrow to haul the thing back there again and see if they can't at least prove to me that it works correctly SOMEWHERE. i don't know what i'm going to do if it turns out their definition of "pristine" sound turns out to be what i've been hearing all along. because that's not 650 dollars worth of sound. that's like 100 dollars worth of sound. i get clearer tone out of my roland microcube and that's just disgustingly sad. i'd like to believe this thing works, but so far i've seen no evidence. i'm just never going to buy anything for myself ever again. every time i do it's broken, and then it ends up costing twice the original price before it actually works. well, time to play starcraft until someone comes by and makes fun of me for still being at work and then i leave.
i'm so glad blogs exist so that i can spew my impotent rage across the internet.
RAAAAAAAWR!!
the second thing that i hate is dad's weekend at WSU. first of all, i appreciate the idea that parents should come visit their kids at college (esp. during the first year) to see where they live, where they eat, which floormate they buy pot from, etc... but why can't they be expected to take the initiative to be interested in their son's/daughter's life on their own? why do all 30,000 sets of parents have to be encouraged to come to campus on the same week? and on a football week, no less. my god. i drove in circles around campus for 45 minutes earlier trying to find a parking spot, and not only did i not find one, i almost killed so many pedestrians because they streets were clogged like it was mardi gras and all the bars were closed. then there's the whole wonderful part of dad's and mom's weekends where all these really great, kosher, community-building exercises go on every day that entire week, essentially simulating what the university apparently wants itself to be seen as, rather than what it is. this morning, there were dads playing the piano in the old german-style frat house on the hill that i always walk by on my way home from work. quaint, yes...but compared to what usually goes on in that frat house at 2am...it's just weird. i guess i'm being cynical and i should think it's cool that parents come out and visit their kids, but it just seems sort of like another huge, well-orchestrated sham. and on top of that, it makes pullman nigh unlivable for something like five or six days. and if you're lucky, a parent or two will swing by your office and try to kick your ass for failing their son/daughter.
well, i just tested my amp in the fourth location after being assured by the local music shop that the hum was just feedback from a ground loop set up by the shoddy electronics in my apartment complex...yeah...apparently every other building in pullman suffers from the same problem except the music store. go figure. i'll have to break up my schedule of working on statements of goals and being bored as elephant testicles tomorrow to haul the thing back there again and see if they can't at least prove to me that it works correctly SOMEWHERE. i don't know what i'm going to do if it turns out their definition of "pristine" sound turns out to be what i've been hearing all along. because that's not 650 dollars worth of sound. that's like 100 dollars worth of sound. i get clearer tone out of my roland microcube and that's just disgustingly sad. i'd like to believe this thing works, but so far i've seen no evidence. i'm just never going to buy anything for myself ever again. every time i do it's broken, and then it ends up costing twice the original price before it actually works. well, time to play starcraft until someone comes by and makes fun of me for still being at work and then i leave.
i have a fever and the only cure is more blogging
i can't stop. i'm sorry; i just can't.
i just had lunch, which consisted of a huge bag of dates, two slices of pizza, a lot of candy, and an ice cream sandwich. i hadn't eaten in a ridiculous amount of time and somehow once i got in line at the bookstore everything went black and a few minutes later i was sitting at my desk with a veritable mountain of food in front of me. living on my adjunct salary, trying to pay off my credit cards and loans before next year, i don't usually eat all that much and so this was the first time in a long time i actually ate until i was stuffed. it's a weird, but good feeling. unfortunately, it's multiplied my desire to sleep by like ten.
i'm getting to that point in sleep deprivation where the idea of sleep itself is almost becoming this ecstatic, semi-sexual idea. every once i awhile, i start thinking about sleeping tonight and my response is "OH MY GOD! I CAN'T WAIT TO DO THAT! IT'S GOING TO FEEL GREAT!" it's actually a little creepy-but you figured that out when i used the word "semi-sexual", didn't you? you're clever.
i just hope, when i finally do sleep, that it lasts longer than ten minutes, and there aren't any awkward moments when i wake up where i wonder if it was in fact as fun as it should have been or if i should have done it at all. and i'll get to take myself out to breakfast afterwards, which will be nice.
okay, now that i've completely creeped the fuck out of everyone including myself, i have to go teach.
i just had lunch, which consisted of a huge bag of dates, two slices of pizza, a lot of candy, and an ice cream sandwich. i hadn't eaten in a ridiculous amount of time and somehow once i got in line at the bookstore everything went black and a few minutes later i was sitting at my desk with a veritable mountain of food in front of me. living on my adjunct salary, trying to pay off my credit cards and loans before next year, i don't usually eat all that much and so this was the first time in a long time i actually ate until i was stuffed. it's a weird, but good feeling. unfortunately, it's multiplied my desire to sleep by like ten.
i'm getting to that point in sleep deprivation where the idea of sleep itself is almost becoming this ecstatic, semi-sexual idea. every once i awhile, i start thinking about sleeping tonight and my response is "OH MY GOD! I CAN'T WAIT TO DO THAT! IT'S GOING TO FEEL GREAT!" it's actually a little creepy-but you figured that out when i used the word "semi-sexual", didn't you? you're clever.
i just hope, when i finally do sleep, that it lasts longer than ten minutes, and there aren't any awkward moments when i wake up where i wonder if it was in fact as fun as it should have been or if i should have done it at all. and i'll get to take myself out to breakfast afterwards, which will be nice.
okay, now that i've completely creeped the fuck out of everyone including myself, i have to go teach.
i can't be rid of me that easily!
i just remembered i wanted to mention this crazy dream i had during one of my brief sleeping escapades yesterday.
so we were playing in a baseball game at the old Cleveland Staduim (and no, i'm not sure who "we" is referring to), and for some reason, even though we were playing against the indians, everyone in the crowd wanted us to win. anyway, i was on base and was waiting to come in to score the winning run, but the guy who was batting wasn't very good and so i didn't have much hope for a good outcome. luckily, the very next pitch after i had this thought was a passed ball, and as the catcher hurried after it, i decided to try to steal home. unfortunately, just as i decided to do this, i was transported to left-center field. so i started running from there. the entire time, the catcher kept fumbling with the ball, and i was running in that super slow-motion way that you do in nightmares when the evil care bears are about to rip off your clothes and kill you or something. i finally got to the infield after what seemed like an hour, and was tearing through the middle of the infield, past the pitcher's mound, when i realized the catcher was Sandy Alomar. in that same instant i thought to myself "oh fuck, it's Sandy Alomar, if he has the ball when i get to the plate he's going to kill me". and this was actually true. in the dream-world, it was completely acceptable for the catcher to just fuck me up if he had the ball when i was trying to steal home. knowing that i couldn't take Sandy in a one-on-one free-for-all, i had to get home before he got the ball back or he would literally beat me to death while 20,000 people watched. luckily, he fumbled with the ball at the last second and i scored, and then just as i was taking off my helmet and returning to the dugout, someone (who i thought in the dream was Sandy) kicked me in the kneecap and as i was laying on the ground i saw a baseball bat descending towards my head and then i woke up. hilarious.
so we were playing in a baseball game at the old Cleveland Staduim (and no, i'm not sure who "we" is referring to), and for some reason, even though we were playing against the indians, everyone in the crowd wanted us to win. anyway, i was on base and was waiting to come in to score the winning run, but the guy who was batting wasn't very good and so i didn't have much hope for a good outcome. luckily, the very next pitch after i had this thought was a passed ball, and as the catcher hurried after it, i decided to try to steal home. unfortunately, just as i decided to do this, i was transported to left-center field. so i started running from there. the entire time, the catcher kept fumbling with the ball, and i was running in that super slow-motion way that you do in nightmares when the evil care bears are about to rip off your clothes and kill you or something. i finally got to the infield after what seemed like an hour, and was tearing through the middle of the infield, past the pitcher's mound, when i realized the catcher was Sandy Alomar. in that same instant i thought to myself "oh fuck, it's Sandy Alomar, if he has the ball when i get to the plate he's going to kill me". and this was actually true. in the dream-world, it was completely acceptable for the catcher to just fuck me up if he had the ball when i was trying to steal home. knowing that i couldn't take Sandy in a one-on-one free-for-all, i had to get home before he got the ball back or he would literally beat me to death while 20,000 people watched. luckily, he fumbled with the ball at the last second and i scored, and then just as i was taking off my helmet and returning to the dugout, someone (who i thought in the dream was Sandy) kicked me in the kneecap and as i was laying on the ground i saw a baseball bat descending towards my head and then i woke up. hilarious.
the sun is screaming at me
well...i pulled my first work-related all-nighter of the year last night. i've had a few since august, but before they were just caused by an overload of diet coke and concern, not Work Stuff.
and i guess this might not be entirely true because i did sort of doze in and out for something like 45 minutes or so before my 80db demon-possessed-foghorn/alarm clock went off and my heart rate went from 50 bpm to 350 bpm faster than a bear goes from just hanging out to eating your legs. so sue me.
oh man, that was so 90s. i'm so "fresh prince of bel-air" today. or is it still yesterday?
anyway, i came up with my class plan for today at around 5am last night, so i'm thinking it will probably go perfectly smoothly and without a hitch.
see, this is the problem when i start working on grad applications. there are just so many little, frustrating details, and so many little, frustrating forms, that once i compile all the requirements for all the schools, i go completely OCD and have to really crazily spend like 40 straight hours getting a large portion of that list completed at the expense of everything else including eating and monitoring personal hygiene. otherwise i just sit and worry constantly that it's too much and it's going to overwhelm me.
well, i filled out five online applications yesterday, made arrangements for various letters of recommendation, mailed requests for most of my GRE score reports and transcripts, and did some other things i'm not proud of, but goddammit, i might actually be able to sleep soundly tonight. once i put in another 12 hours of work or so on the statements of goals and critical writing samples, that is.
this brings me, indirectly, to another point: KSU's flashline service. how the hell did KSU, of all places, manage to invent a student UI that is intuitive, actually helpful, and customizable? it baffles the mind. i've been using WSU's student UI for two years now, and let me tell you there are parts of it that are easy as pie, and there are parts of it that are easy as moldy pie, which is to say not easy at all. but here...i know my metaphors are a little crazy, so here's a solid example. yesterday i had to request a bunch of transcripts. so, i log on to flashline, click immediately on the "request official transcript" link under the really obvious "offical documents" (or something similar) tab, and there's a quick form to fill out addresses, names, etc...then you click on how many copies you want, hit "submit" and you're done. that's it. here's the comparable task using myWSU. first of all, you don't use myWSU at all. to even find the link to the transcript request pdf, you have to either spend 45 minutes surfing the entire WSU internet infrastructure, or if you're used to being forced to do this, you type "request official transcript" in the search box on the homepage. this, as mentioned, will bring you to a pdf. you save, the pdf, then have to find somewhere to print it out (in my case, the avery computer lab). you print out a copy for each transcript request you need, then fill them all out (the form itself is as byzantine as heavy cavalry and doesn't need to be explained in detail), envelope them all up, and mail them by campus mail or walk them the 20 minutes over to the graduate school. oh, and did i mention that each request form includes a space for your credit card number, since it costs 5 dollars for each copy of your transcript you send out? this is especially awesome if you're applying to five grad schools x 2 copies per school = 50 dollars. it was even better last year when i was applying to eight schools. this is merely a taste of handiness that is flashline. i may have many various gripes about KSU, but not in this regard. carry on, gentles.
oh man. i have to be at least slightly aware in 30 minutes in order to teach composition. that's a bad, bad thing. thank you for enduring my rant on college UIs. stay tuned later for another rant (most probably) on various department of english graduate school websites.
and i guess this might not be entirely true because i did sort of doze in and out for something like 45 minutes or so before my 80db demon-possessed-foghorn/alarm clock went off and my heart rate went from 50 bpm to 350 bpm faster than a bear goes from just hanging out to eating your legs. so sue me.
oh man, that was so 90s. i'm so "fresh prince of bel-air" today. or is it still yesterday?
anyway, i came up with my class plan for today at around 5am last night, so i'm thinking it will probably go perfectly smoothly and without a hitch.
see, this is the problem when i start working on grad applications. there are just so many little, frustrating details, and so many little, frustrating forms, that once i compile all the requirements for all the schools, i go completely OCD and have to really crazily spend like 40 straight hours getting a large portion of that list completed at the expense of everything else including eating and monitoring personal hygiene. otherwise i just sit and worry constantly that it's too much and it's going to overwhelm me.
well, i filled out five online applications yesterday, made arrangements for various letters of recommendation, mailed requests for most of my GRE score reports and transcripts, and did some other things i'm not proud of, but goddammit, i might actually be able to sleep soundly tonight. once i put in another 12 hours of work or so on the statements of goals and critical writing samples, that is.
this brings me, indirectly, to another point: KSU's flashline service. how the hell did KSU, of all places, manage to invent a student UI that is intuitive, actually helpful, and customizable? it baffles the mind. i've been using WSU's student UI for two years now, and let me tell you there are parts of it that are easy as pie, and there are parts of it that are easy as moldy pie, which is to say not easy at all. but here...i know my metaphors are a little crazy, so here's a solid example. yesterday i had to request a bunch of transcripts. so, i log on to flashline, click immediately on the "request official transcript" link under the really obvious "offical documents" (or something similar) tab, and there's a quick form to fill out addresses, names, etc...then you click on how many copies you want, hit "submit" and you're done. that's it. here's the comparable task using myWSU. first of all, you don't use myWSU at all. to even find the link to the transcript request pdf, you have to either spend 45 minutes surfing the entire WSU internet infrastructure, or if you're used to being forced to do this, you type "request official transcript" in the search box on the homepage. this, as mentioned, will bring you to a pdf. you save, the pdf, then have to find somewhere to print it out (in my case, the avery computer lab). you print out a copy for each transcript request you need, then fill them all out (the form itself is as byzantine as heavy cavalry and doesn't need to be explained in detail), envelope them all up, and mail them by campus mail or walk them the 20 minutes over to the graduate school. oh, and did i mention that each request form includes a space for your credit card number, since it costs 5 dollars for each copy of your transcript you send out? this is especially awesome if you're applying to five grad schools x 2 copies per school = 50 dollars. it was even better last year when i was applying to eight schools. this is merely a taste of handiness that is flashline. i may have many various gripes about KSU, but not in this regard. carry on, gentles.
oh man. i have to be at least slightly aware in 30 minutes in order to teach composition. that's a bad, bad thing. thank you for enduring my rant on college UIs. stay tuned later for another rant (most probably) on various department of english graduate school websites.
props to neil
so, i have a quote-of-the-day widget on my google homepage (doesn't everybody with a degree in english?)...and usually it sticks to the pretty dry, semi-pointless Cullen Hightoweresque i-have-a-subscription-to-reader's-digest drivel, though occasionally there are flashes of brilliance (douglas adams and kurt vonnegut, i'm looking in your collective direction, which i suppose is up, now...or down, but i prefer to think up). anyway, it just switched quotes since it's...ugh...2am...and today's quote is from neil gaiman, who is, in my opinion, just about the most versatile and interesting fiction writer writing today. here's the quote itself (from "sandman"):
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."
not nearly his best quote, but cool to see it on there nonetheless.
listening to "yoshimi battles the pink robots" right now (the album, not the song) from the flaming lips. it's so good. those guys are sonic geniuses. of course i love "yoshimi", but "fight test" and "in the morning of the magicians" are both really good, and really lovely songs. soon i'll be ego tripping at the gates of hell.
god bless the few of you who will get that.
farewell for now.
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."
not nearly his best quote, but cool to see it on there nonetheless.
listening to "yoshimi battles the pink robots" right now (the album, not the song) from the flaming lips. it's so good. those guys are sonic geniuses. of course i love "yoshimi", but "fight test" and "in the morning of the magicians" are both really good, and really lovely songs. soon i'll be ego tripping at the gates of hell.
god bless the few of you who will get that.
farewell for now.
Nov 8, 2007
"everything's a little bit spinny" or "whoa, dude. whoa".
sorry i never got back to finishing that blog yesterday (or tuesday? what day was that?) but a lot of little, meddling tasks sort of overwhelmed me and i forgot about it.
i also forgot to download house, which sort of scares me since it is, in fact, the most important thing in my life right now. it was sort of like the feeling you get when it's midnight and you're lonely and you realize you forgot to pick up your girlfriend for dinner at eight. not that i've ever done that.
andrea, you're not allowed to comment on this entry.
things are getting crazier by the minute; a combination of the end-of-the-semester madness and my own planning-the-future madness. i suppose i should be comforted by the fact that i'm choosing what to do next year from a bevy of good options, and not a dearth of options, which is something i've been through before. at the same time, there are certain things that have just, of late, become important to me, and i'm afraid in the midst of making another dramatic move/change/disappearance i'll forget about them and it'll take another five years to remember "oh yeah, that's pretty important, huh?" i guess beginning to apply to Ph.D programs as a travel writer is a bad time to decide you don't necessarily want to wander solitarily across the earth, responsible for nothing and having no attachment forever...
listening to "exile" for the first time in months tonight. actually on the third repetition right now. my last.fm is going to be fucked. what a beautiful cd. everybody knows how i feel about dylan, but i'd put "exile" up against "highway 61" any day; and that's saying something.
i saw "once" last night at the audian, and it was everything everyone has said it would be. it pretty much tore my heart out and threw it across the room, but in a good way. i've been trying so hard lately to underplay emotions (and especially ones of the romantic variety) because i'm not too sure about how to deal with them, and this movie was great for saying "hey fuckface, people have these feelings and you can't just ignore them. they probably won't go away if do, but then if they do actually go away, that's like ten times worse". actually, that's a line from the movie.
no, it's not.
there's a fine line for me between self-destruction and just plain self. that's a little meta, i guess, but it's fucking 12am and i still have 5 hours of work to do before work at 8am, so lay off. jerk. i think what i'm saying is in my new "revolution" of the last few weeks, i've sort of gotten it into my head that i should take better care of myself, that i should shape up and live up to my Potential. yeah...about that... i mean, sure, there are some things i do that are self-destructive, and i shouldn't do those things. but at the same time, i'm not all about obsessively making sure i sleep enough every night, that i eat perfectly correctly, that i'm not prone to occasional fits of beautiful or destructive madness. that's not my thing. micro-management isn't for me. there's a certain amount of just semi-unhinge-ed-ness that is part of my personality. i'm never going to be that completely straight-laced guy that gets along with everyone and everybody "gets"...not because i'm not capable of it, but because everytime i try i just get miserable. so fuck that shit, yo.
so i'm back to straddling the maniac fence, i guess :)
"once" is incredible. go see it. it's about love, but not as much as you'd think from the previews. not love in the boy-girl sense, though there's a little of that and it's awesome. just love in general. but. it's mostly about music and music translating into a social/emotional/personal experience. at least half the movie is just footage of glen hansard and the girl-whose-name-i-can't-spell either singing together, writing songs, or (and this was the best part) the long scene near the end when they get a band together and record an album over a weekend in a professional studio. that part, at one point when they were all totally into one of glen's songs, actually put a lump in my throat as i was sitting there just watching these five people rip into this number for the first time (and the movie is incredible at communicating that feeling, if you've ever played music with anyone you'll know what i mean) and i thought to myself (literally) "oh my god, that's what i want to do with my life. that's the only thing i really want to do"...it was a great moment in the film, and although i was obviously overreacting personally a bit, i can't really explain how just down-to-earth and simultaneously transcendent this film is. i came home and amazon'd it immediately after the film.
anyway, i should get back to work. i still have dreams of someday finishing this madden season. i'm sure you'll hear about it when it happens. and see about it. and neil gaiman is awesome.
i also forgot to download house, which sort of scares me since it is, in fact, the most important thing in my life right now. it was sort of like the feeling you get when it's midnight and you're lonely and you realize you forgot to pick up your girlfriend for dinner at eight. not that i've ever done that.
andrea, you're not allowed to comment on this entry.
things are getting crazier by the minute; a combination of the end-of-the-semester madness and my own planning-the-future madness. i suppose i should be comforted by the fact that i'm choosing what to do next year from a bevy of good options, and not a dearth of options, which is something i've been through before. at the same time, there are certain things that have just, of late, become important to me, and i'm afraid in the midst of making another dramatic move/change/disappearance i'll forget about them and it'll take another five years to remember "oh yeah, that's pretty important, huh?" i guess beginning to apply to Ph.D programs as a travel writer is a bad time to decide you don't necessarily want to wander solitarily across the earth, responsible for nothing and having no attachment forever...
listening to "exile" for the first time in months tonight. actually on the third repetition right now. my last.fm is going to be fucked. what a beautiful cd. everybody knows how i feel about dylan, but i'd put "exile" up against "highway 61" any day; and that's saying something.
i saw "once" last night at the audian, and it was everything everyone has said it would be. it pretty much tore my heart out and threw it across the room, but in a good way. i've been trying so hard lately to underplay emotions (and especially ones of the romantic variety) because i'm not too sure about how to deal with them, and this movie was great for saying "hey fuckface, people have these feelings and you can't just ignore them. they probably won't go away if do, but then if they do actually go away, that's like ten times worse". actually, that's a line from the movie.
no, it's not.
there's a fine line for me between self-destruction and just plain self. that's a little meta, i guess, but it's fucking 12am and i still have 5 hours of work to do before work at 8am, so lay off. jerk. i think what i'm saying is in my new "revolution" of the last few weeks, i've sort of gotten it into my head that i should take better care of myself, that i should shape up and live up to my Potential. yeah...about that... i mean, sure, there are some things i do that are self-destructive, and i shouldn't do those things. but at the same time, i'm not all about obsessively making sure i sleep enough every night, that i eat perfectly correctly, that i'm not prone to occasional fits of beautiful or destructive madness. that's not my thing. micro-management isn't for me. there's a certain amount of just semi-unhinge-ed-ness that is part of my personality. i'm never going to be that completely straight-laced guy that gets along with everyone and everybody "gets"...not because i'm not capable of it, but because everytime i try i just get miserable. so fuck that shit, yo.
so i'm back to straddling the maniac fence, i guess :)
"once" is incredible. go see it. it's about love, but not as much as you'd think from the previews. not love in the boy-girl sense, though there's a little of that and it's awesome. just love in general. but. it's mostly about music and music translating into a social/emotional/personal experience. at least half the movie is just footage of glen hansard and the girl-whose-name-i-can't-spell either singing together, writing songs, or (and this was the best part) the long scene near the end when they get a band together and record an album over a weekend in a professional studio. that part, at one point when they were all totally into one of glen's songs, actually put a lump in my throat as i was sitting there just watching these five people rip into this number for the first time (and the movie is incredible at communicating that feeling, if you've ever played music with anyone you'll know what i mean) and i thought to myself (literally) "oh my god, that's what i want to do with my life. that's the only thing i really want to do"...it was a great moment in the film, and although i was obviously overreacting personally a bit, i can't really explain how just down-to-earth and simultaneously transcendent this film is. i came home and amazon'd it immediately after the film.
anyway, i should get back to work. i still have dreams of someday finishing this madden season. i'm sure you'll hear about it when it happens. and see about it. and neil gaiman is awesome.
Nov 7, 2007
pre-class thoughts
well, i have ten minutes to grace you with my internet-y presence, so here goes.
lately i haven't been blogging much, partially because of a lack of madden and partially because i'm in a world of shit. shit of my own making, no doubt, but shit nonetheless. just within the last few days it's become painfully obvious that winter is coming around again (as it often does this time of year), and now that it's getting mighty close to the infamous 3:30pm Pullman sunset, bits of cheer are coming around as seldomly and as awkwardly as bits of chicken stuck between your teeth.
that was a horrible metaphor. i'm sorry.
anyway, i love winter. it's my favorite season with the possible exception of autumn. it's cold, and there's snow, and it pretty much kicks ass. however, unlike a lot of the rest of the year, which i generally equate with doing bizarre things, spending long stretches of time on the road with myself, and generally doing things that may or may not involve other people, i've always associated winter with socializing, communitizing, hanging out in tightly knit groups of people all huddled around a huge pile of food or perhaps a game of Perfection, and (if i'm really lucky) being all warm and cuddly with someone (usually not multiple someones). i don't know where i got this association, but as useful as it's been in the past, it hasn't served me terribly well in the last three years. last year wasn't as bad, for various reasons including the fact that i had some great friends around here and my christmas break was particularly excellent...but this year i'm a little worried.
oh shit. time to go to class...i'll have to finish this later...
lately i haven't been blogging much, partially because of a lack of madden and partially because i'm in a world of shit. shit of my own making, no doubt, but shit nonetheless. just within the last few days it's become painfully obvious that winter is coming around again (as it often does this time of year), and now that it's getting mighty close to the infamous 3:30pm Pullman sunset, bits of cheer are coming around as seldomly and as awkwardly as bits of chicken stuck between your teeth.
that was a horrible metaphor. i'm sorry.
anyway, i love winter. it's my favorite season with the possible exception of autumn. it's cold, and there's snow, and it pretty much kicks ass. however, unlike a lot of the rest of the year, which i generally equate with doing bizarre things, spending long stretches of time on the road with myself, and generally doing things that may or may not involve other people, i've always associated winter with socializing, communitizing, hanging out in tightly knit groups of people all huddled around a huge pile of food or perhaps a game of Perfection, and (if i'm really lucky) being all warm and cuddly with someone (usually not multiple someones). i don't know where i got this association, but as useful as it's been in the past, it hasn't served me terribly well in the last three years. last year wasn't as bad, for various reasons including the fact that i had some great friends around here and my christmas break was particularly excellent...but this year i'm a little worried.
oh shit. time to go to class...i'll have to finish this later...
Nov 3, 2007
video football makes me want to punch real people in the face
i was reminded again this weekend that nothing makes me as angry as madden does. ever. i even threw an entire bag of candy across the room AWAY FROM ME at one point. now that's serious anger.
regardless, after the embarassing-ass loss to the titans, the niners came back and smashed a highly ranked colts team 35-14; both of the colts' touchdowns were on special teams or defense and peyton manning went home with one of his fingers in multiple pieces. even our quarterback had 50 yards rushing in this game, including this very unquarterback-like play on third and goal:
last night's game was against the panthers, and turned out to be another of the craziest madden games EVAR. we were trailing 24-0 at halftime, getting totally dominated by the usually shitty panthers. the second half opened with a 54 yard pass to prewett, but we ended up only getting a field goal out of it. fortunately, jason webster made one of two clutch interceptions, running this one back 92 yards for a touchdown. we managed to close to 24-17 before bunting fumbled in panther territory, setting up another panther touchdown. then, on the ensuing kickoff, we fumbled AGAIN, and suddenly it was 38-17. somehow, partially as a result of a few ridiculous offensive plays and another webster pick we closed to 41-31, then the panthers scored another field goal to seemingly put the game out of reach with eight minutes left (yes, both teams totalled 48 points in the third quarter and the first half of the fourth). somehow, though, we managed to get two scores one right after another to make it 44-41. we got the ball back one last time with 2 minutes or so left, fifty yards away from the end zone. thinking originally to just shoot for a field goal to tie it up, i ended up being a nonissue when bowes ran twice for 15 and 20 yards and then a minute or so later prewett caught his second TD pass of the game to make it 48-44, just before time ran out.
the decorations in panther stadium make kicking field goals scary:
jason webster singlehandedly winning the game (sort of):
regardless, after the embarassing-ass loss to the titans, the niners came back and smashed a highly ranked colts team 35-14; both of the colts' touchdowns were on special teams or defense and peyton manning went home with one of his fingers in multiple pieces. even our quarterback had 50 yards rushing in this game, including this very unquarterback-like play on third and goal:
last night's game was against the panthers, and turned out to be another of the craziest madden games EVAR. we were trailing 24-0 at halftime, getting totally dominated by the usually shitty panthers. the second half opened with a 54 yard pass to prewett, but we ended up only getting a field goal out of it. fortunately, jason webster made one of two clutch interceptions, running this one back 92 yards for a touchdown. we managed to close to 24-17 before bunting fumbled in panther territory, setting up another panther touchdown. then, on the ensuing kickoff, we fumbled AGAIN, and suddenly it was 38-17. somehow, partially as a result of a few ridiculous offensive plays and another webster pick we closed to 41-31, then the panthers scored another field goal to seemingly put the game out of reach with eight minutes left (yes, both teams totalled 48 points in the third quarter and the first half of the fourth). somehow, though, we managed to get two scores one right after another to make it 44-41. we got the ball back one last time with 2 minutes or so left, fifty yards away from the end zone. thinking originally to just shoot for a field goal to tie it up, i ended up being a nonissue when bowes ran twice for 15 and 20 yards and then a minute or so later prewett caught his second TD pass of the game to make it 48-44, just before time ran out.
the decorations in panther stadium make kicking field goals scary:
jason webster singlehandedly winning the game (sort of):
Oct 31, 2007
maiden madden post
ah. this is my first real chance to soil what has - so far - been a pretty serious and straightforward blog by posting madden screenshots. my day is complete.
sadly, the niners' run at a perfect season came to an end two nights ago as they lost 31-28 to the HOUSTON TEXANS. yeah, i didn't believe it either.
it was seriously one of the best back-and-forth games i've played in my long madden history, and as much as you can respect an AI (which is not much), i think the AI really brought it's A game and proved it could hang with the big boys.
despite being outgunned, outmanned, and under-dogged (that sounds dirtier than i intended), the texans jumped right out to a 10-0 lead early and totally shut down the niner offense for the first quarter. then bowes got it back to 10-7 when he pretty much singlehandedly covered 78 yards in five plays.
from there, it was back and forth until the final six minutes when the texans tied things up with a score and a ridiculous two-point conversion involving a fumble and a QB sack. then the niners took the lead again with another touchdown with about five minutes on the clock. then the texans drove down to the 1, and were held three straight downs until 4th and 1 with 3 minutes left, when the pass bounced off a DB's shoulderpad, off the running back's helmet and into the hands of a diving tight end in the end zone for the tie. they added a field goal almost immediately, and then the niners - down by 3 with 48 seconds left and no time outs - got down to the 40 and appeared to score on a bomb to mike prewett with no time left on the clock until the referee reversed the call, saying the catch was out of bounds.
i guess if your perfect season has to be ruined, that's the way to do it. oh well.
i'm going for revenge against someone (i'm not sure who) in a few minutes. only working for like 9 hours in a day rocks.
bunting pulling in a TD pass on third and goal early on:
scholl tying the game up late...but for NAUGHT! FOR NAUGHT!!!
bowes harnessing the power of his inner cheetah/demon party animal:
sadly, the niners' run at a perfect season came to an end two nights ago as they lost 31-28 to the HOUSTON TEXANS. yeah, i didn't believe it either.
it was seriously one of the best back-and-forth games i've played in my long madden history, and as much as you can respect an AI (which is not much), i think the AI really brought it's A game and proved it could hang with the big boys.
despite being outgunned, outmanned, and under-dogged (that sounds dirtier than i intended), the texans jumped right out to a 10-0 lead early and totally shut down the niner offense for the first quarter. then bowes got it back to 10-7 when he pretty much singlehandedly covered 78 yards in five plays.
from there, it was back and forth until the final six minutes when the texans tied things up with a score and a ridiculous two-point conversion involving a fumble and a QB sack. then the niners took the lead again with another touchdown with about five minutes on the clock. then the texans drove down to the 1, and were held three straight downs until 4th and 1 with 3 minutes left, when the pass bounced off a DB's shoulderpad, off the running back's helmet and into the hands of a diving tight end in the end zone for the tie. they added a field goal almost immediately, and then the niners - down by 3 with 48 seconds left and no time outs - got down to the 40 and appeared to score on a bomb to mike prewett with no time left on the clock until the referee reversed the call, saying the catch was out of bounds.
i guess if your perfect season has to be ruined, that's the way to do it. oh well.
i'm going for revenge against someone (i'm not sure who) in a few minutes. only working for like 9 hours in a day rocks.
bunting pulling in a TD pass on third and goal early on:
scholl tying the game up late...but for NAUGHT! FOR NAUGHT!!!
bowes harnessing the power of his inner cheetah/demon party animal:
Oct 29, 2007
dispatch from the trenches
there’s always something a little surreal about conference week. I like the idea, both in practice and in theory, of setting aside a week without classes to interact one-on-one with each of my students. especially considering the dearth of students in general at office hours and after class, it’s often the only time I get to talk to a lot of them directly through the entire semester. however, it’s always just a little weird once I get into the rhythm of actually doing it. before, when I worked on the third floor, it was the weirdness of needing to essentially wall myself off in the middle of what was normally a constantly social environment for me. I was always physically around in my usual workplace during conference week, but wasn’t really able to do anything but be constantly vigilant, always presentable, always on the lookout for the next student, never allowed to be purposely exploding things in the communal microwave or throwing huge 1,000 page tomes down the hall at random like I would normally do.
well, as sadly close to the truth as that actually is…
…I’m also uncomfortable projecting that appearance any more than I absolutely have to.
I haven’t gotten to go on my usual diet coke binge today on account of the fact that my throat is still fucked up from my sinus infection and not keeping it immensely hydrated = not being able to talk. the result of drinking water instead of diet coke appears to be that I become super bitchy and my head feels like humungous wooly caterpillars with metal, spiky shoes are tromping around inside of it.
but after not smoking at all for 2 weeks or so, stopping the diet coke infusion too is nice…I might have a roaring headache, but it’s nice to know that my brain is entirely under my control for the first time in probably 5-6 months, maybe more like a year.
well, sometime between the beginning of this entry to the end it moved from
I’m really excited for this december show…partially because of all the new bridges, segues, and jams that I’ve been working on, and partially because I’m not at all scared anymore to perform. it’s hard to be scared when you really don’t care anymore about what anyone thinks of you or whether they think you’re good or not. I’m just much more focused on trying to be happy than I was previously, and worrying excessively over other peoples’ appraisal of my worth morally, artistically, professionally, etc. is just more trouble than it’s worth. I’m a harsh enough critic when it comes to me that I’ll probably catch most things that really need fixed on my own…
I’ve had 21 fucking 15-minute conferences today. do you know how many conferences that is? wait, I just told you…
two left. then it’s off to maybe not actually work all night. maybe. it depends on how stressed out I’m feeling about my grad school applications…of course, without 500mg of diet coke, I’m not really feeling uber-stressed about anything. on the other hand, my bladder is about to explode. so that’s pretty sweet.
I’m sorry for all the rambling, but I’m going to try to get back in the 2005 habit of long, rambling blog posts that don’t mean anything, as well as stepping up other meaningful hobbies such as playing starcraft, writing song lyrics on napkins in diners at odd hours of the night, writing impromptu poetry in book jackets of books that may or may not belong to me, playing starcraft, swinging on swingsets, learning more weird guitar scales and ways of chording that result in crazy-ass jazz sounding slide transitions, playing starcraft, learning how to cut my hair in a mirror without looking like robert smith, playing starcraft, generally trying to be less bitchy, playing starcraft, and…uh…oh, yeah: playing starcraft.
so what I’m really saying is that I’m not sorry for all the rambling.
I’m hoping that having some productive, creative things to do in my “spare” time will help offset the desire to destroy my ability to have feelings using various drugs and intentional sleep deprivation. and who knows, I might finally get a few of these damn short stories/essays published, or apply to a grad school by mistake or maybe even *gasp* play starcraft!
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