The Week...Etc.

So I had no idea how good last week was. I had some early week work (it gets piled onto monday and tuesday this quarter it seems) and then actually got to go to Athens Thursday night to spend time with Kelley. It was a blast and we saw In Good Company this weekend. It is actually a good movie, for people with the same sense of humor as me. Which most of you fit that quality, but whatever. I'm not going to spend too much time on here tonight but I might have a long entry because I've got some serious bitching to do. Anyways, the rest of the weekend was ok. I did very poorly at the magic tournament, going 2-3 in the pro tour qualifier and 2-2 in a side event. Tom played the same deck card for card (which I did well with last year in this format and I was the only person on our team to do well) as I did, and he went 6-1-2, losing in the semifinals barely. Had he won that macth he would have own the whole event I am pretty sure, and I would have to watch as he got the pro tour again. As it is I am just disgusted about the fact that he always seems to be more lucky in pro tour qualifiers. We play against the same people, we both play flawlessly...and I lose because of luck. Guess that's the game and I'm not really that pissed in retrospect. Just irritated as usual, same as always when I'm doing horrible at my hobby. The boys are going to Boston this upcoming weekend. I wish I could, but I bought my laptop so I have no money (personal choice and I LOVE my new laptop so it makes up for it lol) and I cannot go anyways due to school obligations on next Monday. Oh well the way my luck is going I'd probably suck there anyways. And I will go home to spend time with Kelley this weekend for sure...I just hope I do not have to go right back up after church since I want to watch the super bowl with my mom and my fiancee before I come back up. We have our senior design midterm oral and written reports due the next day so that's why I might have to come back. I feel so guilty about never doing enough work on that over weekends so far, but that's the only time I live since school sucks up most of my life here. The only things keeping me sane here are the occassional Xbox game, my Chi Alpha guys, and Magic on the weekends. If it were not for Kelley I do not know how I would stay motivated. Anyways, I did not do well at the tournament. Today I woke up late around 11 and basically did no good work until 5. 6 hours wasted...I mean 1.5 of it was a little cleaning up and eating and another 2 was spent on the xbox...but I still wasted time today. Guess that's life. I started working on my NE 735 hw tonight and only got about half of it done in 5 hours. I hope the rest of it goes quicker. On the bright side I am learning a fair amount about the material, but it seems like a lot of bullshit to get us there. That is due Tuesday at 7:30 AM. I will have 4 days a week of 7:30 AM every week for the rest of the quarter, and staying up late like tonight will kill me. I'll learn or I'll cope. I just cannot get my body to relax and go to sleep earlier some nights. So back to the complaining. I watched Eyes Wide Shut (effed up like all good Kubrick movies) with the guys while doing some hw on the laptop for the rest of the evening.
What I have to do this week is the following. I have to get NE 735 HW done by Tuesday morning and I already explained how much that sucks. I also have to update and revise an entire presentation on electrical systems of nuclear power plants for the same class by Tuesday morning since I am presenting that material to the class on Thursday. I still have no clue what I am talking about in that area and I haven't even started to update the slides. Tomorrow will be interesting just with that. But to top it off, our third teammate on the senior design project will have undoubtedly spent a lot of time over the weekend on the project which will make me feel like a slacker for doing nothing (Berens did not do anything either). I also have to pick up CAI problems to grade (money money money...thank god I get paid for something) god knows when this week. I will also have a one-on-one with Ken and this will suck because he cannot come to small group bible study on Wednesday. Which means I will have to lead it by myself for the first time. I am not ready for this, and so did not want it to happen on this week. I also have a length ME 571 HW and lab report due Wednesday. Funny how I really only have 2 classes worth of work (senior design is pretty independant as you can tell by our group's slacking and my other nuclear class has had 1 hw assignment and nothing else all quarter so far), but yet I find a way to screw myself being busy. This week if I survive through the presentation worth 30 PERCENT OF MY DAMN GRADE in NE 735 on electrical systems AT 7:30 IN THE MORNING on thursday, it will be time to catch up on the grading I will ubdoubtedly neglect over the week and try to get some of next week's work done before I go home for the weekend or else....I'll be back up here to watch the super bowl by myself.
Another bitch...when I was doing work tonight Tom called me and I was pretty short as I was working. The same thing happened when Kelley called...but more because Shep and Akil called during that phone call so I was balancing two calls at once and doing HW at the same time for whatever reason. I ended up being short with everyone I think. Why do I distance myself from society and the ones I love when I do work? I can be such an asshole. I guess I'll just try to do better but I realized I was such a jerk after hanging up with Kelley. And she was the only person I did not really get snappy with! She was the bright point of my day when she called me, and all I can do is be pissy. Her stepfather is being a real a-hole to her right now...she does not need that. I wish her family were less dysfunctional, as they make my family look somewhat normal (ha maybe not). While I'm on complaining about others, why the hell does my nuclear professor assign so much busy work over a weekend? Why does my dad completely ignore my emails about him helpng me pay for law school applications? Why did my old boss not at least give me a call back to tell me whether he wrote a letter or recommendation for me or not? Why can't the same company send me a W-2 for the second straight year? Why is my roommate borrowing money to pay the rent again? Why why why why why....
On another note, while I'm feeling depressed I'd like to take the time to mention how guilty I've been feeling about being overweight. My Mom is losing weight successfully, Kelley is on drugs which will help her...and I am just being a lardass. And it's because I'm lazy and do schoolwork all the time. When I'm not doing schoolwork I'm not out jogging, especially this time of year. I probably overeat...or if I do not then I eat on an unbalanced schedule which probably is not good. I'm 250-255 pounds...and I almost still look normal. I cannot suck it in like I could 30 pounds ago (a year and a half ago). I do not really have a huge belly, but my thighs and butt are so large that my size 38 jeans sometimes feel so tight. Sometimes they feel loose, but I should be wearing 36's or 34's easily. I have motivation...it's right in front of me. And I want to be the best looking guy for Kelley because she deserves someone much better than me, at least in appearance. Self-worth issues I know I know. I just cannot shake the feeling.
I've been stuffy in the nose all week and it's getting worse. Not a cold but just messed up stffiness and blah because of it all day. I'm so sick of it. Screw this Ohio weather.
Then tonight Kelley gave me a snippet of her latest private OD entry. BAsically said her fears about me finding some chic at law school and leaving her. How her life would be over and she would have to start from scratch. I made a committment...a lifelong committment to her. I'm not one to break promises like that, and anyone who knows me knows this is true. I will never cheat on her because if I do then I deserve a ruined life for giving up the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm in a true loving relationship. We are far from perfect, we fight, we have our problems...but we communicate and we survive this long distance well. That made me beleve I want to be in the foxhole with this woman for the rest of my life, and I can only hope to give her what she deserves in a man. I have no diea where I will be for the next three years, but I know we will make it. I will not leave true love for probable failure at the hands of some lawyer girl. I just hope she understands that while she was into me way deeper than I was into her sophomore year before we got back together...I am just as invested now as she is in me. If something happened to her I would be devastated. She is one of the only reasons I have motivation every day to finish work and be a good Christian man. And I hope she understands this and takes hope in it for the future. I love my princess, and I will spend the rest of my life with her no matter what happens.
I don't think I have much else to complain about. I mean life is so good at college, but I yearn for a day where I can spend time with Kelley every day and not worry about homework catching up to me and killing me all week. And I only have 2 heavy workload classes! I feel like I'm such a lazy-butt. If I make it out of this week I'll be ok. I just need to calm down and go to sleep. Getting this off my chest has helped...any comments appreciated although I do not know if anyone could make it through all this bitching. I thank you if you did. Have a good week.

Weekends

Man I hate leaving Kelley. Gets harder every time. At least we see each other about every week. First PTQ in Extended tomorrow...praying the elf mojo from last season continues and I can repeat my two top 8 performances. Except this time I want to win the event and go to Pro Tour Philadelphia of course. More updates tomorrow.

The Weekend of Betrayers

This was pre-release weekend for "Betrayers of Kamigawa" in case you wondered about the title. But since you all probably ignored the last entry (and rightly so because it was more for me)...let's review the rest of the weekend. Definitely did not get much work done, so I'll be working like a dog over the next week. That's school. So anyways Friday was not bad except Kelley was not able to come up until way later than we had planned. We still went out to Lone Star for dinner and out to see Coach Carter. Coach Carter is not bad...here's my review written for my Chi Alpha webpage: "Well a mediocre movie at best here guys. The gist of the story if you could not tell from the obscene overhyped commercials is a retelling of a true story of a high school basketball coach who locked out his players and forfetied some games when his team was undefeated and looking for a state title. Of course while set in Cali, the main problems the players have other than grades is discipline outside of school. We have a drug dealer, a player who is dealing with his girlfriend being pregnant, and other less impressive people. A cute premise for a based on a true story movie, but as a rule those movies usually suck. Although Eric is all about telling you how much sexual content or f-bombs we have in the movie, I generally do not care enough to warn you. Obviously if I go see another pulp fiction then I'll let you know but don't shy away form the story if you are interested. Samuel L Jackson makes this movie not just watchable, but enjoyable. You really feel like he is the main character turning these boys around into men. Some decent plot twists arise, but nothing you will not expect. The best scenes are seeing how the parents react to Coach Carter's tough resolve in the first weeks of practice and the scenes pertaining to the relationship between a player and his pregnant girlfriend. The one other point I would bring up is that the movie pace is dragging a bit, clocking in at almost 2 and a half hours to cover a story better said in 1:40. So I give Coach Carter a 4 out of 10, which on my scale is just out of buying range when it comes out on DVD." The dinner was expensive but very good at Lone Star as well. I love a fantastic steak dinner and it had been over a year since I went there (I had never gone to the one in Ohio but used to go every sumer in Iowa at least once). So Saturday we hung out, went to Old Navy, and went to the hockey game. Well at least no Michigan team left Ohio with a winning record this weekend. OU choked at home to Eastern Michigan 1-0 on Friday but won Saturday 3-2. OSU beat Michigan 4-1 Friday but lost 3-6 on Saturday when we went to see them. Man that walk from the campus parking lots across the river to the Schott was absurd with the wind and snowstorm and cold. The game we went to was scoreless after one period and then Michigan went ahead 5-0 in the second. Our team looked so bad it was pathetic. In the third period we came out swinging and got it back to 3-5 with 8 minutes left and a full power play ensued right about then. We had about 4-5 great shots but could not cut the defecit to one. Michigan put in one more in irrelevant time to ice the victory. It was fun and hopefully we will get to use our tickets to the Miami game since neither of us can make it to the Bowling Green game in February. Well that's about all to say because then Kelley left for home and I went to Tom's tok playtest and hang out with the boys for the rest of Saturday night. Then came Sunday and the pre-release which I described already. So there ya go. Hope you start your week well everyone and I'll see you sometime.

Pre-Release

I'll try to catch the rest of the weekend up later, but I wanted to write about the Magic pre-release today. We played in the team event, and for the first time in 5 tries we did not get top 4 and prizes. I went 5-0, 10-0 in games over the day so it was not my fault since I was having an absurd day playing. I even won in our between round playtesting for next weekend and found the old cards I needed from people trading (I thought I might have some real trouble finishing my deck)...yay! But round 1 Tom and Shep lost (the team was not good but the stuff they opeend in their sealed deck was amazing (we registered those cards)). Round 2, 3, and 4 maybe lasted 15 minutes apiece as we swept 3-0 every time quickly. Round 5 we were playing for the top 4 against our nemesis Vegeta (they have played against us the last 3 pre-releases and were 1-2 against us in that span) and Shep and tom got mana screwed. Both of them...I watched it. So we finished 3-2 and 7th place which is nothing. Very disappointing, but I hope my absurd luck continues into next weekend's PTQ and beyond as I have not had good luck recently (until today anyways). Our whole team walked away with NOTHING in this 2-day pre-release and other than Tom Saturday and our team today, nobody even came close to winning prizes. First time that's ever happened...we usually all walk away winners because of the low skill level at these events. Oh well it was still a blast and the new set is not too shabby. Moving on...

Chi Night

So how is everyone? Don't be afraid to note...I'm always interested to meet other diarists and I swear I will not bite :-)
Well I think senioritis has hit full swing. I stay ahead some on some things and on other things I don't want to touch them until the last minute. I seem to get everything done, so let's hope that continues. I'm going to busy playing a lot of Magic and seeing Kelley this quarter on every weekend (no kidding....it's either one or the other or both every weekend but that's good because that's getting to spend my fun time with my guy friends and my fiancee). So last I left you we were going into the short week, but it certainly did not seem short. The Tu-Th class I have at 8 or 7:30 AM every other week sucks because it is every other week. In two weeks I have to give my class presentation on Electrical systems of a nuclear power plant and it is worth 40 percent of my grade. Can you say stress? After I get that done the rest of that class comes in little manageable chunks (like 20 percent tests etc). I also feel like the least experienced out of the 6 people in the class by far. 3 are graduate students, 1 girl I cannot tell, and my roommate who has taken at least one more class in NE than me. My other nuclear class was bearable this week but I still do not really understand the messy formulas he explains in the notes...but at least the first HW has been easy. Speaking of HW for nuclear, in my every other week class we have about 18 written problems and my presentation which all has to be turned in Tuesday Feb 1 for review...let me tell you that's a lot of stupid HW. Hopefully I'll learn something and it still is my favorite class. Almost wish we had it every week, but at a different time. Overall my classes are going well...our proposal presentation for our senior design project was so much better than the other 4 groups in our class. (And the powerpoint slides actually worked this time around, but we had my laptop just in case lol) So classes have kept me busy, but I've actually had a little time to breathe this week. The big thing was getting the law school applications done, I've seemed so less busy since then.
Today was a good day but I woke up at 7:20 for my 7:30 class. Let's just say we were not quite on time but close. It stared snowing again today and the weather people say perhaps 6-8 inches in accumulation more. I love snow and it is fun to drive in it with my truck (I fishtail at will basically). I hope it snows enough this winter quarter to keep it white all the time...makes me feel happy for some reason :-)
Tonight I finished watching Welcome to Mooseport. Just like most comedy movies in the past year, it unjustly got hammered by the critics. It was very funny and not horrible at all. Then I went to Chi Alpha and that was ok. Nothing special, but Jeff preached that Jesus is The Light of The World tonight and gave us some interesting ways to look at that simple lesson that is so common in church. I love it when he puts a good spin on things and makes us all think a lot. Looks like I might be leading our small group sometime this quarter and maybe take on leading a 1-on-1 with one of the guys in our small group. Basically we have a small goup which is a bible study for 5 guys (for now) every week and we are a closer group of friends within the large Chi Alpha fellowship. Then our small group leader Ken meets with each of us one per week for lunch or dinner just to chat and go over whatever we need to address spiritually. It's good times, but beginning to lead these somewhat freaks me out. I'm sure I'll adjust to it as Ken and I started the small group together and he took the leadership role only because he has more time to lead it this year. But that's what consumes my mid-to-late week evenings and I'm living it up. Go God lol.
Well off to popcorn and perhaps a little grading papers before bedtime. Have a good one.

A Monday Off

Well let me start by showing you the pictures of my new laptop I am working on now. I will get to know this baby very well over law school when I plan on using it a lot. Also shown is my new desk area after I moved my desktop monitor over. It is SO NICE to have space to work finally.
Anyways, today Kelley and I woke up really late and finally got a move on for a late lunch. Moe Mondays is 5 dollars for a big burrito and chips and a drink. Then we went to see Phantom of the Opera. Musicals are not my cup of tea really, but this was really good. I enjoyed it but pretended not to just to bug Kelley :-) It really was a good story...kind of wished I could have seen it for the first time in a Broadway setting, but oh well. Eventually we'll have the money to go do stuff like that quite often (and hopefully we will be in a big enough city to do such things). We'll be the only couple I know who is just as likely to go to a heavy metal concert as go to a Broadway show. But I recommend seeing Phantom if you are in a big enough city to see it (limited theatrical release). Next weekend I will bring you my review of Coach Carter. I was going to go see Elektra this week but it got abysmal rottentomatoes ratings. So then we go to Old Navy for over an hour. My God Kelley can shop at that store all day, but she gets so many good clothes for so little money. She even got me another hoodie for being her shopping cart around the store. I like it because it is exactly like my favorite old navy hoodie except this one is green instead of maroon. Then we went out to dinner at TGI Friday's and are now lounging on my bed because it snowed and she does not want to drive in it until morning. So she will leave Tuesday morning and come back Friday night...some weeks are good :-)
So we are watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding tonight...our wedding will be crazy like that but in a different way I suspect. I better get off here since I have early class tomorrow and the next couple days. TTFN.

MILK Weekend

Well I guess you are wondering why my entry is titled like it is. Well on my planner it looks like it says MILK weekend and so that's what I call this extended break from work and school.
So anyways, my classes seem kind of hard this quarter. I have Nuclear 708 - Reactor Theory which is a really boring mathematical based class. Nuclear 735 - Power Plant Operations looks like a cool class because it has a great professor and we get to run a simulator at a power plant for 2 days in late Feb early March. The buildup to doing this seems like a ton of memorization and reading...so we'll see how hard this gets. Mechanical 571 - Automatic Controls covers how feedback control systems such as flush toliets and cruise control and thermostat-furnace systems respond to certain inputs. This is also a math based analytical class but not as boring except it is at 730 AM. My last class is Mechanical 564 - Senior Group Design Project. We are designing a lightweight portable crane to lift roofing shingles or something onto house rooves. We must build it so that it can hold 500 lbs up to 30 feet in the air and 15 feet horizontal reach. Oh and the crane has to be mounted on a regular or superduty size pickup truck (AKA not my Ranger). It should be a lot of fun for a design project even though we do not get to build anything, but it is a lot of paperwork and presentations and BS. Should be an interesting quarter but now you know the background info in case I start complaining. Oh and I have a weekly lab with ME 571 which will suck but not like last quarter...and this is my last lab ever.
So I did get my law school applications out this week. I will keep you updated as well as my webpage on whether I got into the schools and what kind of financial aid I get. Should be an ineresting next 3 months or so as I decide just where the heck I will be for the next three years (including the first year I am married).
Last team PTQ of the Pro Tour Atlanta qualifying season was yesterday. We went 1-2. On the whole the season was bad for The 888 Collective (Shep, Tom, and I) as we won a Grand Prix Trial (went 6-1) in Columbus, went 1-3 at Grand Prix Chciago, went 5-2 and missed the top 4 on tiebreakers with insane decks at the PTQ in Chicago, and 1-2 at a Detroit PTQ. Overall record on the season was 13-8...and we got crappy luck every ime except for the grand prix trial. Our main local nemesis from Detroit got 5th at GP Chicago carrying away an invitation to the pro tour in Atlanta and $900...and we beat THEM in the trial handily. Oh well. Next week is the pre-release of the new set and for the first time in a long time (since Torment came out in January 2002) I will only be playing in one event over the 2 day weekend. The 888 Collective will try to defend our absurd pre-release dominance and we'll actually have our usual team of Tom Shep and I to do it. We won the Mirrodin team event, won the Darksteel team event, got 4th in the Fifth Dawn team event, got 3rd in the Champions team event...so we are 4 for 4 for winning prizes at these events. Extended season started today with a grand prix trial in Delaware. I did not go because Kelley is here with me and I do not want to win byes to Boston as I decided to not go due to money (new laptop, cruise, summer, Origins, truck tune up, law school apps, etc) and school (midterm report and presentation due monday morning for senior design project after that weekend) and other reasons (Super Bowl Sunday, going to Boston for spring break). Anyways, 7 teammates made the trip and 5 of them made top 8 which is very impressive. Apparently Tom W (trinity) and Burton (goblins) did not make it at 3-2 as well which means the whole team had winning records on the day. Tom L (tog), Shep (trinity) lost in the quarterfinals. Villa (goblins) lost in the semis. Chris P (desire) beat Akil (new rock) in the finals for the byes which means he will go to Boston and he did not plan on going initially. Assuming Chris N. and the BG boys made it down for the tournament, they probably go thwacked by my teammates since so many of them made top 8 and all of them did well. Of course it had to be funny if Chris N played Shep since we all drafted together all summer in Marietta and we all go to school across the state from each other. After the pre-release the next weekend is the first PTQ for Philadelphia pro tour and I will be there. I love this format and this is the only format I have ever made a top 8 playoff in (twice last year). We'll see if I can finally make it to the pro tour...it's my last big goal as a Magic player. I love the game and it will be hard but eventually I will have to give it up. Well that was more than enough magic wasn't it?
I see all 4 top seeds won in NFL today. I hope Pittsburgh beats New England and Philadelphia again for the title because I really do not like anyone left except them. I was cheering for Indianapolis but they cannot seem to win at New England ever and my Packers got canned by the lowly Vikings last week (and my other team the Buffalo Bills just missed the playoffs this year). Should make for an interesting couple of games next weekend.
So the rest of the weekend has gone well. After the PTQ I stayed at Tom's for a bit and we all played MArio Party 6. Very impressive new version of the game. Today I went in to the lab to work on our senior group project for 3 hours and then Kelley came up. We watched football while she played on her laptop and I graded my large stack of papers for the first time this quarter. Tonight we went out to Mongolian BBQ and while I was full I did not kill my belly and steps like this are good for my losing weight. I want to get more healthy but I will struggle because I have no motivation yet to excercise and eat better. It doesn't help that I look a lot better than I am. I am so far overweight and most of it is in my legs so I do not look too bad at all. Just don't want health problems...and I'd like to do it for myself and for Kelley. Then tonight we've been playing on our new laptops on the bed for a couple hours like a married couple lol. A good day overall. Chris P cancelled the practice draft we were all doing tomorrow before his trip to Japan for the pro tour next weekend so Kelley and I get to hang out all day. I only have 571 HW and our proposal and oral presentation due for our senior design class on Wednesday this week (I have all the other work done) so I can probably not do much tomorrow and be fine this week.
We are watching legally blonde right now. I giggle whenever I think about the main character sending in a video personal statement. It's so unrealistic but the movie apparently started a short fad over the past few years of people doing just that instead of an essay. Anyways, I probably should get off here since this is getting long. TTFN.

Finally an Update!

I think I'm going to try and write in this just a little more lol. I got my law school applications out this week and I really have no clue where I will get in. I think I have the qualifications and good essay to get into all the schools, but they are looking for perfect fits or gaps in their classes to fill. We'll just see where I fit in according to admissions councils. I am guessing I will get into 2 of the 4 great schools (Northwestern, Chicago, Michigan, and Notre Dame) and both of the OK schools (Ohio State and Cincinnati). Then I'll have a decision to make. Well for magic team limited season is over as of today. We basically had a disappointing season with a complete failure at the GP in Chicago and again today at a PTQ. On to extended, the only format where I have top 8'd a pro tour qualifier...I'm hoping I will make it at least once more this season. Things with Kelley and I are going well...we are trying to see as much of each other as possible around school and my magic and her choir/church obligations. This weekend we had the PTQ in Detroit, then Kelley is coming up tomorrow afternoon after our senior design project meeting and hanging out until monday early evening...then we are helping Chris P do one more draft before he heads to next week's pro tour in Japan. Somewhere in there I'll get my work done LOL. I got a laptop this week...I love it. It's a dell with a red cover. Maybe I'll post some pictures on here later. School is going ok...but this quarter looks like it will be relatively tough. All of the professors seem to expect quite a bit, so we'll see how haggard I am by spring break. At least I have my weekends with Kelley and lab reports and the guys. I need to update this more...so hopefully I can do it at least every other day or so...would like to remember all of this jazz when the work seems ridiculous next year. Have a good weekend everyone! Happy MLK Day!