Sick but not awful

So I think I am finally starting to feel better after getting a 24 or 36 hour bug, which of course intersected with Kelley coming up for a surprise visit. We had a good time Tuesday as I cleared my schedule pretty much to spend time with her. I still got all my schoolwork done on time, just a matter of grading work now. Realizing this, I had an interesting Wednesday too. Despite being sick and not preparing a very good small group for Tuesday night, we had a lot of good discussion. Our small group could be growing from 6 to 9 regular members in the next couple weeks, and that would be the first ever small group to ever grow so much that we have to break apart (probably not until next school year). Much different from just Ken, Kevin, and I meeting on a random night fall quarter. But got through that, slept beside my princess and woke up with her on Wednesday (nothing brightens up the middle of the week like that as it felt nothing like a Wednesday). Then after class I graded all the HW for the week and at 5 I went to go get the exas from the two Essenhigh classes. It took about 1:15 to get through all of that and finally waitied over by Smith Hall before going to dinner and a 1-on-1 with Glenn. Right after that I get a call from my campus pastor inviting me to a poker party at 8:30. So over to the GFZ [Girl Free Zone, large house where a bunch of XA guys live but I would never lve there with those regulations they impose like no girls staying overnight EVER, no alcohol, etc] I go, and we played a couple games of 5 dollar buy in. The first hand of the first game I chased an A-9 suited for about half my stack against another guy and he had A-J to beat me when only another Ace came up in the 5 community cards. So I was shortstacked all that game. I finally get a decent 7-7 and I go all in which elicts two calls. One guy has a 8-3 offsuit (what the hell?) and the other had J-J. Let's just say no 7's came up to save me from the Jacks and out I went. The guy who took half my stack on hand 1 defeated the guy who knocked me out with Jacks in the final two, but I had a good read on everyone but the runner-up at the table when we started again. I again played some hands to the flop and became short stacked when no winners came up for over an hour. Then all of a sudden it was ridiculous cards every hand. I double paired the board on the flop about 3-4 straight hands and finally got someone to call my all-in and doubled up. At this point I had breathing room and my cards were so good I started bullying the table a little and buying blinds. My three opponents were Ian (the guy I had no read on), Munn (second best poker player there behind me), and Michelle (ultra-conservative player) and this was a surprisingly tough field. I finally got Munn out of the game and then worked on bullying Ian because he was short stacked. After a long hard battle where not many hands were played out, Ian goes all in after a flop of A-5-6. I have A-K so I go all-in, and to my surprise Michelle has the first good hand she has had in a while and goes all-in as well. She had A-7 and Ian had J-10. No straights of sevens came up in the last two cards and I took the pot. Won 20 bucks on the night, and had a lot of fun. These random mid-week activities. So now what am I doing today? I have to go see Katsube and pick up some Quizzes to grade and start working on Essenhigh's exams. I also have some reading for history and I just remembered I have a stupid one page paper for my ethics class tomorrow. Oh well not too bad. So off to my life.
Oh we are finally decided upon G/b/r Snakes for the Pro Tour. It is a fun deck to play, so we'l; see if I cannot win some money with it now. Weekend plans to go home and see Title IX. Good stuff.

Busy Week, Random Monday

GP Detroit was fun, but I did no work over the weekend on the history paper. I had the worst sealed deck of the 8 guys from our shop who went and was happy to salvage a 2-1-2 record, staying in contention for Day 2 for 5 of the 8 rounds. Akil snores loudly like Darth Vader, so it was hard to get sleep over the weekend. He can be OK but he can be really irritating. We threw trash on him Saturday night to get a little revenge for fun, and overall the weekend was ok. It did snow all over Michigan and Ohio this weekend, but it was nice again today. Could not enjoy it though because I worked on my history paper all day. I got it done and hopefully it will get an A or a B as it is worth 30 percent of my grade in the class. Writing on the industrial revolution is so exciting! This week is kind of busy for me with all kinds of grading, more than I've ever had to do in one week. Oh well more money for me I guess. Kelley might come up tomorrow, but I had planned to attend a free poker seminar and teach small group tomorrow night. I hope she comes up but I will be away for 4 of the 10 waking hours we would spend together. Well either way I'll get work done tomorrow and have a little fun in this hectic set of two weeks. One other thing of note is I got my rejection letter from U Chicago. So now unless the highly unexpected call off the waitlist at Northwestern happens, I will be going to Ohio State as planned.
They also announced our commencement speaker today. Good guy from OSU but I was kind of hoping for someone more famous like Bill Cosby, George W Bush, or Christopher Reeves (2001-2003 speakers). Next year they are going for Tony Blair, yes that one. Oh well.
Well it is off to bed. Got a long day tomorrow and must pay close attention in class or else I will not know my stuff for our midterm coming up next week (I am taking it Wednesday, rest of the classon Friday when I am in Philadelphia). Somewhere in all this work and fun I'll practice some more for the PT....don't want to be embarassed and walk away with nothing you know. So talk to you all whenever I get another chance to update!

Taking the world over in clipper ships

Well the past three days have been pretty good. Kelley came up and spent Sunday with me just for the heck of it. I love that! I cannot wait to be able to wake up next to her every morning. She subscribed to a mp3 service this week, so maybe I can get some new songs for my player which I cannot get normally. I don't remember the last time I downloaded a song.
Monday was relatively unmemorable. I actually went to Stats on a Monday since we had homework to turn in. I finished my novel for history and now should start working on the paper due next Tuesday. When I left stats I ran into Tom and went out to lunch with him. We decided to playtest for the PT at his apartment later that night, and we did after my one-on-one with Kenny. Gameplanning for Chi Alpha is for this quarter and beyond. Ken and I are co-leading next year's big outreach theme with Dronen and Paula. I think we are calling it Come Home, this year's was Read the Red. I also decided to lead 2-3 small groups in the next 5 weeks (Ken and I are splitting leadership for the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. After I get my paper turned in Tuesday I will prep up to lead a shorter than usual small group. Fun fun fun.
Tuesday I went to class, had a group meeting with the mechanical guys and we split up writing tasks for the proposal. I swear Abhi (finally figured out his name) fully lives up to his last name which is Shitti. He likes to show up extraordinarily late and then insist on leaving as quick as he can. Oh well that's what group evaluations are for. At least when we asked him to do some work on the proposal he did deliver decent stuff (not much but it was good stuff). Playtested online (expect a lot of this in the next 2.5 weeks as the last dash to prepare for the PT continues) for a couple hours and then off to small group.
Today I went to class and then took my opportunity to go to the noontime Clippers game I had a free ticket to. Unlike Saturday night when I went, Columbus lost 10-3 this time. At least it was free and it was an absolutely beautiful day to sit in the sun at a ballgame. I also got some grading done that I neglected to do last night. Then I went back to campus, dropped off the papers and had a 2 hour group meeting to prepare our proposal and presentation for tomorrow. It is so bad, but the professor seems to have low expectations at least. Well its off to some playtesting and maybe work on my paper.
If you want to follow how we do at Grand Prix Detroit, go to www.magicthegathering.com and look for the link on Saturday to live coverage (middle left of the page under tournaments heading). Erik Schoeppner, Akil Steele, Tom Wood, and of course myself Dave Fitzgerald will be there. Hopefully one of us will make day 2 on sunday, but this is not a format any of us are all that good at.

Song of the week

This song has been stuck in my head since I heard it. The video is ridiculous, and if you have not seen it watch for the insrumental bridge where a playboy playmate is playing the lead singer's guitar as he watches on. The look on his face is absolutely golden. Anyways, here are the lyrics to the silliest song I've heard in a while.
Beverly Hills by Weezer
Where I come from isn't all that great My automobile is a piece of crap My fashion sense is a little whack And my friends are just as screwy as me I didn't go to boarding schools Preppie girls never looked at me Why should they? I ain't nobody Got nothing in my pocket Beverly Hills That's where I want to be Livin' in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills Rolling like a celebrity Livin' in Beverly Hills Look at all those movie stars They're all so beautiful and clean When the housemaids scrub the floors They get the spaces in between I wanna live a life like that I wanna be just like a king Take my picture by the pool 'cause I'm the next big thing Beverly Hills That's where I want to be Livin' in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills Rolling like a celebrity Livin' in Beverly Hills The truth is I don't stand a chance It's something that you're born into And I just don't belong No I don't I'm just a no-class beat down fool And I will always be that way I might as well enjoy my life And watch the stars play Beverly Hills That's where I want to be Livin' in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills Rolling like a celebrity Livin' in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills

Garbage

My roommate is watching a Garbage music video marathon on Fuse. Why do I dislike this band? I mean I like Nine Inch Nails and they are a lot alike, but whatever. Something about Garbage rubs me the wrong way. Maybe I'll like them eventually. I gave in to rap music and like some of it now, anything is possible. But for now, the only Manson I want to listen to is named Marilyn.
The yoga commercials on MTV Hits and MTV 2 have got to stop. I put it on for background noise, and they play that commercial every 2nd break. Only one way to fix it, tackle my roommate and take the remote away from him! Man today is an inactive day. I'm writing about MTV, so you know I'm bored. Can we sue MTV for not playing music? I mean ESPN might have 4 networks but at least they play SPORTS. If you tuned into Animal Planet and saw a special movie about DDR players, wouldn't you be offended? Well MTV...have it your way.

Watching a movie

Dawg. Interesting movie about a guy going and apologizing to 12 one night stands to get his 1 million dollar inheritance. Very funny. Anyways, today is kind of boring. Chi Alpha is tonight. Oh here's an interesting note from today's Lantern, the school newspaper.
Definition of the word CHOCH, the word of the day: The guy who wears pooka shell necklaces, has frosted tips, goes to tanning salons and believes that he is God's gift to women. He usually ends up gay.
Wow, the world could certianly do without a lot of those. But anyways, if you want to avoid them don't go to campus bars around here. Whatever, I just hate the fashion world. Anyone stuck on appearance that badly needs to get a life. Well the article was really funny because they were trying to get OSU students to admit this is a big party school and this guy who was interviewed just would not do it. Oh well. At least we don't burn couches every time we win a game (yes I'm referring to you Morgantown). Well I'm back to my movie. What a wonderful afternoon.

An Update

You know some days I question everything. Like today I've been sort of working all day but not really getting much done. Oh well. Heard what happened to Kelley's diary with some guys leaving awful notes and stuff? How awful, some days I am glad nobody reads my diary. Of course if you do, feel obliged to speak up.
Update on the law schools. I do not know what I said last time, but anyways I sent in my seat deposit this week and am continuing to plan as if I am staying in Columbus. That would make everybody in this neck of the woods happy. If Chicago comes knocking (or Northwestern) I will go but everywhere else I am rejecting even if I get in.
Pleasant surprise today. Ants. My nastiest roommate moves out, and then after that we get an ant problem. It could be much worse because I can handle ants, but if the situation does not get any better in the next couple days a trip to target for some traps and poison will be in order. The funny thing is where they are showing up (and since we don't usually get bugs I'll call this an infestation but seeing 1-3 ants and killing them when you go to the kitchen is not really a huge issue yet). They are around the sink and dishwasher. It's as if they like the clean areas of the room, and no there are not a bunch of dirty dishes there. I looked in the drawers trying to find if there is a bunch of them somewhere but no. And our kitchen is poisitioned so that it is a SECOND FLOOR room. So anyways, nice surprise on a random wednesday. In a way I am glad I did not find a source of why the ants are here, but I wish I knew so that they could go away. Maybe this will just be a couple day problem. I've been keeping things clean to help in that regard.
I just realized I get paid for a lot of the work I did today. So no matter how ineffective I was, I will get paid eventually for it. Which is good because I am running short on the old provident fund. I just need to buy tires and then I'll be set.
Well that's all for today. Have a good one!

An Interesting Monday

So I just watched UNC smoke their third straight Big Ten opponent and they now join Ohio State as the only teams to beat Illinois this year. Damn you Illinois I wanted to lay claim to being the only team to beat the champs! Oh well.
So today was interesting. No law school news of note, just a letter from Notre Dame asking my current interest. Screw them...I still want to know so I'm telling them I'm still interested. I want them to make a decision I paid them to make. No the news today was much better...
So I leave Athens with plenty of time to beat rush hour traffic or fight it to get to the class I needed to pick up HW from thisafternoon. 5 minutes away from Athens I hear a loud clunk from my truck and all of a sudden the gas will not make the engine drive...so I'm slowly coming to a stop. I pull it over to the side of the road and turn it off to check under the hood. I do not see anyting really obvious so I try to start it up again and it would not start despite having a good battery and starter. So get Kelley's AAA to tow me to Marietta and tomorrow I will know whatis wrong with it. If it costs a lot (AKA transmission) then it is probably in my best interest to buy a new car and ditch the Ranger. I'm sad about it but gas mileage improvement would help if I get a small car for now. Well we shall see tomorrow. More details to follow...certiainly been an interesting weekend. Time to get to work and see if I can get it all together.

Kelley's Birthday Weekend

Well if you know Kelley's diary then you can read about her birthday. Very nice until the end when we were the only eyewitnesses to a nasty car wreck. Fortunately the guy in the truck which flipped 3 times only had bumps and bruises, while we found out the guy in the car that ran the red light broke his ankle and tore a lot of leg ligaments. They should consider themselves very lucky given the circumstances. But regardless, still was an unforgettable capper to Kelley's birthday. I don't think she would get into Chi Alpha much but she was ok with it and took some notes for her services at our church. I was doing research tonight for fun in differences between Catholicism, Lutheran, and Chi Alpha...well they are all Christian we'll leave it there.
What a good quarter this should be. My design project class looks easy and has low expectations except for the weekly 2 page paper HW that will stink. My history class has 2 papers and 1 test (which I have to take early...of course our ONE TEST is on the Friday I'll be playing in the Pro Tour). My stats class looks super easy. The only thing keeping me busy will be preparing for the pro tour and grading for 3 classes...I need the money for summer and the future. Well the class work will be busy at times too but it is not bad.
Law school situation has cleared up significantly. Basically it comes down to this. Michigan is my only rejection, Northwestern and Notre Dame waitlisted me, Ohio State and Cincinnati accepted me, and still waiting on Chicago (anxiously). I have narrowed the choice to the two Chicago schools and OSU. I will send in my deposit to reserve my OSU seat assuming I hear no good news from UChicago in the next two weeks. Then I will make plans to stay in Columbus, and will only change those plans if Northwestern or Chicago offer me admission.
Went to Title IX recording this weekend and looking forward to seeing them live in a few weeks. Unfortunately that will be the next time I'll see Kelley at this rate. Anyways, Chi Alpha and magic have me busy while solo ensemble and Title IX have her busy. Also went to Lisa and Tom's wedding, and it was nice despite every attempt by the mother of the bride to be a hinderance. Well time to go as we started a movie and Kelley needs lotion on her dry back. As a loving future husband, this is what I will gladly do :-) Things are going well, talk to you later!