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Just got back to the hotel and got showered. Hopped in my comfy bed and felt compelled to say that it was, indeed, a good time. Mark N.'s set rocked as did the other music I heard. The new people I met from the hardcore scene were almost all great and we had a generally good time "people watching". Even better was seeing the old skoolers, john/dove, mark l., brett, josh/anonymous, etc. etc.
Mark and I also ate at a pretty cool restaurant in the Capitol Loop called The Old Fashioned. Had two of their signature Old Fashioneds. Delish. Transcendent even.
http://theoldfashioned.com
True Wisconsin food! Made him try the deep fried cheese curds. Mmmm. He liked them which justified my whole project. :)
More later... |
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So, I leave Iowa yesterday where everything is flooded. Basically just made it through Des Moines before I-80 was closed. Get to Manhattan at 5, go out to dinner and then for drinks. Sitting outside of Coco Bolo's drinking sangria, tornado siren goes off. $20 mil.+ damage to the K-State campus across the street. This town is totally wrecked.
Got a call tonight that there are 2" of water in my basement. Just hoping that the shittiest books are on the bottom shelves :( NEVER had water down there. This is bullshit.
Best moment from last night:
*tornado siren*
*winds kick up and things look ominous*
Drunk Megan: "Come on fuckers, I'm not getting killed over five bucks worth of sangria."
Wendy and Tim look at me like I'm crazy and Wen insists that we "suck it down"; we go home to the basement.
Sheesh.
Natural disastery crap from last few years:
500 year floods, 2 tornados, 6 feet of snow and ice this winter, and a fucking earthquake. What's next? Plague of locusts? |
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So, today I was given the opportunity to fulfill one of the only remaining life-long dreams I've had. At first there were three:
1. To be a NASA astronaut.
--Foiled when I failed to procure a graduate degree in Physics or some other such sciencey thing.
2. To be a member of the US Olympic Gymnastics squad.
--Foiled when I quite gymnastics at 16... though really, foiled at age 5 when my parents wouldn't send me away to train at Karolyi's.
3. To be on Jeopardy!
-- ACTUALLY HAPPENING. Got the call today and I'm going to LA to tape at least one episode July 17-18. Holla!
I haven't been this truly giddy in ages! |
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Weirdest spam subject line EVAR:
Subject: Getting Iraqis out of the World Cup audience is just another point into making Iraq look just like another mainland US state, clean, democratic and healthy-eating.
My spam just keeps getting weirder and weirder. And more persistent. Jerks.Current Mood: bleary-eyed Current Music: some stupid derivative blues crap on the sound system |
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Last night I had an insane dream that began with a bizarre instance involving a cat and the roof of my house being ripped off by the fire department (without my permission, of course) and ended with a cameo appearance by an ex-boyfriend that I dated so long ago that I lived in the dorms.
It's not like he's in my thoughts, well... ever. Nor do I ever dream about this person. But sure enough, I got a phone call from him tonight around 10pm. How's that for strange? Hadn't heard from him in at least 9 months, but now it looks like he's coming to visit next week and bringing some weird German exchange student/hesher from someplace not Hamburg that starts with "ham"... Dino was never one for precision. He did point out, though, that we're old and we haven't seen each other in like 8 years since he transferred to that hippie school out east. le sigh.
Tonight: Clerks II. Perhaps poker, but probably not.
In other news, still looking for someone to go to the MLS All-Star game v. Chelsea FC in Chicago. My buddy I watch Oranje matches with has a wedding. Dammit. Johnny C, you feel like attending? :) |
| » weekly re-cap for myself, and "you" if you care. |
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So, the last week has been pretty eventful. Last week I had some serious back problems. Pinched nerve or some such nonsense. Missed my poetry class twice which sucked. Last Tuesday, I taught my own class and then went on to lecture for a bit over half the period for Lathor's New Wave SF class. Lectured on Vietnam related SF, Joe Haldeman, and other cultural products/expressions of the Vietnam War. Think it went pretty well. Had a student come up after class to get my full name so she "could take a class from me in the future." I guess that's a decent enough review. And Rob seemed happy enough.
After I met with a student last Wednesay-- which I really didn't want to do with my back feeling as "hurty" as it did-- I got in the car and drove straight back to the Dodge at top speed. My bro had been holding down the Fort on the Annual KICB Trivia competition all by his lonesome from 8am onward. I didn't get to his place until about 4:30 after the 2.5 hour drive and a brief stop at Mom and Dad's place to give a "what's up" to the G to the B. Needless to say, after two days of 8am-10pm trivia (with a question every 3 minutes and a scavenger hunt and Hidden DJ factor) we ended up in third.
It sucked that we didn't win, but there were two really conciliatory factors. First, we got about $500 in really useful prizes. But second, and even better, my brother gave a full-on "call out" to the idiots who won-- people we know-- making it clear that the trivia competition is now just a festival of "grind it out" and not a true match of intellect. Ah, how sweet it is.
This was made even more prescient when I got my audition time for Jeopardy! during our final day of trivia. Either way, it was hella fun and intense as it is every year. It's a really great time to hang out with my brother for two days straight working on a common "intellectual" goal regardless. And then we get to torment some unsuspecting CC student at the end. What could be better?
Got back to IC on Sunday around 6:45 then had to immediately proceed to a screening of the 70's "narrative" porn classic _Behind the Green Door_. It was horrible for me... mostly because I spent much of the 72-odd minutes stifling hysterical laughter. I wanted to MST3K the thing from second one. Blarg. But felt as if I couldn't. And also repeatedly contemplated the desperate struggle on the part of my many "innocent" male classmates to keep the hard-on inconspicuous. *For those of you on my LJ list, sorry... I can't help myself. It was a thought in my mind at the time...*
I have to admit, there were elements of the film I found to be erotic. The problem is, those scenes were only erotic for 120 seconds.... not 20 minutes. Overkill is bad. It leads to boredom, even where porn is concerned. What I wouldn't have given for a laugh riot like "Sex Trek VI" at that point...
In closing, for those of you who are in the I to the C at the moment, please be advised that there will be a big Birthday/End-of-Semester bash taking place at Fort Awesome (aka Chez Bygness) on May 12. Printed invitations will be going out soon.... That is, as soon as my graphic designing wunderkind/roommate/lazy bastard friend makes them....
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming..... *kchschkchkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk*
Apr. 26th, 2006 @ 02:36 am
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| » Gloating |
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I just got the word. June 9th. Chicago. My audition with the producers of Jeopardy!
I passed the written test and there's just this audition between me and the contestant pool.
I had three major goals in my life when I was 6ish:
1) To be an astronaut
2) To be on the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team
3) To be on Jeopardy!
27 is a bit old for elite gymnastics and not too many English Ph.D.s get into the space program. So, I think this is my only chance to fulfill my dreams...
YES!
Apr. 20th, 2006 @ 07:34 pm
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| » The S-O-Vee! |
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So, my buddy Luke is the sound guy for this band The Nadas. He recently went with them down to SXSW in Austin and met Lady Sovereign who has a very unsavory crush on. :)
Luke and my brother turned me onto Lady Sovereign, this crazy lil' 19 year white girl from London who is a ridiculous, quirky grime MC. Sick tracks so early out.
She's only got one EP out right now called _Vertically Challenged_. Gotta love that. She must be about my size if Luke is that big next to her! :)
Here's the photo.... what a cutey :) Well, Luke and her both.
Apr. 19th, 2006 @ 12:02 am
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| » slipping into a much-needed coma... |
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Got a ton accomplished today but was beat by 5:30. It's pretty sad that six hours straight on campus is that draining to me. My office was totally blinding me today though. Sunlight directly puncturing my eyeballs. Unavoidable. Hate that.
Gave a lecture on Vietnam and SF in Rob's 60 student New Wave class. Think it went pretty well, but I didn't exactly have a chance to talk to him afterward. I am looking forward to hearing his comments. One girl did come up to me afterward to get my name so she could "take a class with me in the future". Mmmkay.
Matt also made me go do recycling with him tonight. He wanted to cash in cans for money to buy candy. I swear. I wish I were making this up. I did get the new Coca-Cola blak. It's freaking WEIRD stuff. I can't decide if it's any good or if it's totally foul. One thing's for sure, if it is in fact able to use it's power for good instead of evil, it's only within a very narrow temperature range. Too warm, assy. Too cold, assy. It has to be just right I'm gathering. Something about the coffee extract. Red Hook Double Black had the same issues...
Anyway, tomorrow after Poetry of the American Left and a short meeting with a student I'm taking off to Fort Dodge for the weekend to participate in an annual event with my brother, E: the 89.7 KICB Trivia Challenge. Last year we won the whole thing and $1600 worth of interesting/cool/weird prizes. Including a ukelele! How strange. But it's hella fun. 7am-11pm for two days straight including this psycho scavenger hunt. Good times.
Going to stay up there for the weekend. Taking books with me. If I stay there I'm less likely to waste time. Perhaps I'll actually manage to get some things done. That or my mum will hassle me for days on end about all sorts of random things. That's pretty likely too.
Think I'm going to relax and let this totally legal prescription medicine kick in before I have to get up in a few hours to get some writing accomplished.
Apr. 18th, 2006 @ 11:38 pm
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| » With love from a Cardinals fan... |
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"Dusty Baker Not Worried About Cubs' Hot Start"
excerpt: "Despite their impressive 4-2 start and the fact that their pitching and offense appears to be clicking on all cylinders, Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday that he has "no doubt" that his team will be able to turn things around in time to miss the playoffs."
Third place by May :) lol
Apr. 17th, 2006 @ 02:30 pm
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bygnerd's journal
