So these are random daily thoughts... basically whatever is going on in my life, and whatever I
may observe during the course of my day.  For example...

10/31/03- Frank: Hey honey, do you think KFC is open?

Last day of the month.  Yee haw.  I think next month I'll change up the background, just to spare you your sanity.  I like this color too, but not THAT much.

Write more later... computer is still a piece of poop.

Romantic wedding proposal

10/30/03- Therapist: Frank, this is a safe place. A place where we can feel free sharing our feelings. Think of my office as a nest in a tree of trust and understanding. We can say anything here.
                Frank: Anything? Well, uh I guess I, deep down, am feeling a little confused. I mean, suddenly, you get married, and you're supposed to be this entirely different guy. I don't feel different.                 I mean, take yesterday for example. We were out at the Olive Garden for dinner, which was lovely. And uh, I happen to look over at a certain point during the meal and see a waitress                     taking an order, and I found myself wondering what color her underpants might be. Her panties. Uh, odds are they are probably basic white, cotton, underpants. But I sort of think well                    maybe they're silk panties, maybe it's a thong. Maybe it's something really cool that I don't even know about. You know, and uh, and I started feeling.....what? what I thought we were in                    the trust tree in the nest, were we not?

Stomach was feeling kind of topsy-turvy this morning.  I think that Mr. Jack Daniels can be blamed for that one.

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: "I want it wall to wall with John Daniels."
Charlie Simms:  "Don't you mean Jack, sir?
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: "Son, when you've known Mr. Daniels as long as I have, his name is John."

 Went to Walmart to get my buddy costume for tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be able to put one of the pics on here.  I really need a scanner though :-(

OK this computer is going so slowly .  I'm tyyping this and right now the computer is on the word "typing", what the hell is going on here?  It's taking at least a minute just for this littlel thing to catch up on the screen.  BOO Dell, or BOO meteo dept... don't know who is at fault for this one.

Enough of that.  It's still going really slow, but whatever.  What am I suppose to do about it?  I guess if there are all kinds of typographical errors, you can attribute that to the words not coming up on the screen as I type them.

Went out to dinner at the Corner Room with some people tonight, including Matto, who's on leave from the Navy for a couple of weeks, and Hertta, his Finnish fiancee.  Most people from dinner -- Jeff, Vicki, and Mark G. -- went over to the Darkhorse for some of their awesome pazzo's choice wings.  Vicki spent half the night laughing at people's reactions to Jeff's jokes -- she especially liked Mark's facial expressions.  

I can't take this any more.  It is SO SLOW.  I'll get caught up another time... probably from home where things work properly.  

Take that back.  My computer at home doesn't work properly, but at least Netscape Composer works OK.  More than I can say for this sack of crap.

10/29/03- What are you gonna get arrested for?  Being awesome?  -Beanie

Happy birthday Beth...

Was watching footage of the fires in California this morning w/Jeff during breakfast this morning.  They showed a house on fire, and then for some reason, zoomed in on the Direct TV dish on top of the houes.

Jeff:  Oh, dish went out again ... (guy goes to call about it) Damn, phone's dead too!

According to Vicki, today is trick or treat day in State College, which is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of.  HALLOWEEN is OCTOBER 31!!  The reason they move it is very important though:  they don't want Halloween to conflict with their beloved high school football games on Friday nights.  (Sigh).  Maybe if some of these buddies around here would actually move out of their home town and stop going to every game from the high school they went to 40 years ago, they'd actually learn that high school football is really NOT a big deal.

What's next, moving Christmas to December 26 because it conflicts with a Nascar race?  "Now son, most years we celebrate Christmas on December 25, but this year Jesus was born a day later so that we can focus on rooting for Jeff Gordon on December 25."

Maybe due to the big solar flare of a few days ago, we'll get to see some Aurora Borealis tonight.  They saw it in El Paso last night, so you'd think it'd be visible around here.  

Superintendent Chalmers:  "Good Lord, what is happening in there?"
Skinner:  "Aurora Borealis?"
Chalmers:  "Aurora Borealis.  At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen?"

I love that.
I want to play
Tonight... going lifting, then grabbing a quick dinner and heading to the Cafe for Beth's birthday.  Yee haw.

10/28/03- That's how you debate!  -Frank
I hope you missed me, like I missed you
Yo today was another day of b.s. in Walker.  Stayed here all day, then swam.  It was an OK practice, but not really too tough, except for the 4x50s sprint at the end.  I held 'em all on :25-:26, which is pretty good from in the pool.

Otherwise a slow day... so since it was a slow day, how about an inappropriate joke:

A blind guy goes looking for a job at a lumber yard.  The foreman at the lumber yard says "Get lost, you're blind."

The blind guy replies "But I'm an expert.  I can smell any piece of wood, and tell you what what it is."  The foreman decides to let him take a shot at it.

He puts a piece of wood on a table, and the blind man smells it and says, "That's three year-old Northwestern Pine, one and a quarter inches thick."  The foreman is amazed, and figures the guy got lucky.

He puts another piece of wood on the table, and the blind man identifies it as "six year-old Vermont Oak, three and five-eigths inches thick."  At this point, the foreman decides to play a joke on the blind man.  He has his secretary lay down naked on the ground, facing up.  The blind man sniffs around and says "Wow, you've got me stumped with this one."  He tells the woman to turn over, so her butt is facing up.  The blind man tries again.  He thinks for a minute, then says "I'm not positive about this one, but I'd have to say that's the door to the shitter on a tuna boat."

10/27/03- You think I like avoiding my wife and kids to hang out with 19 year old girls every day?  -Beanie
Welcome back... I missed you
Didn't go into Walker today... had a lot of typing to do, which I can just as easily do from home, and home is a lot depressing than a certain big gray building constructed in the height of ugliness, the '60s.  

Someone is home from their trip a lot earlier than they were supposed to be.  They drove all night, but I'm not going to give them a hard time about it on here because I think they've taken enough grief from everyone. =)

Why would somebody commit arson in California?  At least if you kill someone, you're pissed off at them.  What could motivate you to start a massive fire?

In a related story, the Monday Night Football game sucked, but it was kind of funny because it was moved to Tempe (home of Arizona State U.) because of the fires near San Diego (they were using the stadium and surrounding parking lots for tents for people who had been evacuated or lost homes.)  At one point the announcers said something about maybe some students didn't come out to the game because they were studying (tickets were free).  That made me laugh -- studying and Arizona State do not belong in the same sentence.

10/26/03- Well why don't you give me your number, in case anything happens to my wife.  -Beanie
You've been gone too long.
Not a whole lot to report today.  Jeff got Madden 2004 for his birthday, so I gave that a whirl in the morning.  My team was good, but they get mad at you if you keep signing people and then trading them.  Apparently you get a penalty on your salary cap that's equal to the remaining bonus you owe them.  So I had $20 million in cap penalties.  Whoops.
Come back soon.
Watched NFL for some of the day.  Eagles won, and Donovan McNabb actually looked like a real quarterback.  Next week we play Atlanta, who we SHOULD beat... but the way this year has been going, who knows?

I forgot to mention this the other day... Friday, I think it was.  It was noteworthy b/c I actually had an encounter with a nice CATA bus driver.  There was a guy in town who was on the bus but wasn't too familiar with the area, and his car was at State College Park.  He needed to go somewhere out on 26, pretty far west of town.  He was going to just go back up Atherton and take a right onto College, but the bus driver actually volunteered the best way, which was Circleville to Science Park to 26.  She gave him pretty good detail on the directions too.  She was also nice to people getting off the bus, wishing them a good day.  Too bad more CATA drivers don't have such a pleasant disposition.


10/25/03- True love is hard to find.  Sometimes you think you have true love... and then you catch the early flight home from San Diego, and a couple of nude people jump out of your bathroom blindfolded like a g**damn magic show ready to double team your girlfriend...   --Mitch
I miss her already
Happy birthday, roommate Jeff...  

Another day of watching college football, and another day of watching Penn State lose.  They really really suck this year.  

Had a few beers while watching Michigan vs. Purdont, then went over to Champps because Jeff and another guy in the department had birthdays this weekend, so they got free meals if 8 people went to eat with them.  It's a good place to watch football, and the food is a lot better than your usual sports bar.  I had a cheesesteak and some birthday cake... and washed it down with a pitcher or two of Yuengling.  It promised to be an interesting night.

Got over to the Phyrst around 7:30-7:45... we really should go there more often.  For those of you who aren't from the area, the Phyrst is this Irish bar that gets really rowdy on Saturday nights.  They have "Table Wars" where a certain table, let's say Four (each table has a number) starts the table war by yelling "We are table Number Four, Number Four, Number Four, We are table Number Four, where the hell is Table Two?"  And then table two has to respond right away or they get booed loudly and sometimes have to chug.  Most of the time when a table gets called they just respond with the "We are Table Number..." thing and call another table, but sometimes your table can just start singing or yelling something else, which usually causes you to be booed.  Some times people weren't booed, for example: One time, our table did the jingle from a local car dealership when we were called, singing "Gene Stocker, what a great great guy!"  We were heartily booed for that, and the whole bar erupted into "F*** Gene Stocker!"  The band that plays there on Saturday nights, the Phyrst Family, came on at 10:30, which was good b/c I was starting to lose my voice from all the craziness.  I mostly stuck w/beer, except for eating these cherries that had been soaked in some sort of booze - bourbon maybe?  I also watched the Yankees lose, and found myself rooting more for the Marlins as the end of the game approached.  I guess it's b/c even though the Marlins owner is a scumbag and their "fans" are a bunch of bandwagon-jumpers, and they don't deserve to have a winner, they do have a lot of likeable players on their team.  Another reason was that I was stunned by the effort that the Marlins' 23 year old starting pitcher gave in the game, shutting out the Yankees on just 5 hits with only three days rest since his previous start.  To go into Yankee Stadium, against that lineup, with all that pressure, and pitch that way shows some remarkable cohones.  Yes, Josh Beckett is very cocky and arrogant, but if he can throw like that, he's earned the right to be overconfident.

Switched over to water at the end of the night... it's been a long day of boozing and I think tomorrow might be a rough one :-P


10/24/03- I am colorblind / Coffee black and egg white / pull me out from inside / I am ready, I am ready, I am ready / I am fine   -- counting crows

Vick stopped by briefly before heading out of town for the weekend.  I surprised her (I guess it was an "un-birthday" present since yesterday was her un-birthday -- i.e., 6 months after her birthday).  I wonder why we just say birthday.  That's like every year on your anniversary, calling it your wedding day.  Shouldn't it be the anniversary of your birthday?  
Anyway (wasn't that a dumb tangent?) I surprised her with some Boo-Berry cereal.  Yeah, great present Bob.  Seriously though, she told me that when she was little she always wanted to have Boo-Berry cereal but her parents wouldn't let her b/c of the sugar factor.  I think we had similar rules at my household.  Vick didn't want to buy a whole box of it b/c what if she didn't like it?  Then she'd have an almost full box that would either be hanging around or be thrown out, thus wasting food.  But Jeff likes Boo-Berry and I figure I'd try some as well, so it wouldn't go to waste.  Vick liked the cereal and said she definitely would've liked it when she was little.  Now if only we can get rid of that Reese's Penises cereal that's hanging around.  If I wanted that, I might as well just serve myself a bowl of Milk Duds in the morning.  By the way, this guy is the biggest Boo-Berry fan on the face of the earth.  Check out the "Boo Boxes", the ghost looks all stoned and amorphous back in the day.
Went to the Corner room with Jeff and Christina and had a burger that might have been a bit too pink on the inside.  Whatever, I was hungry and I ate it.

Someone's going to start working on getting me some data for my research... yippee.

Was gonna lift tonight but didn't get a chance.  Talked to an old friend for the first time in almost a year... she's doing well and hopefully getting rid of that "problem" in her life will make things better for her... and hopefully this time we'll stay friends so that I can see her sometimes when I'm home.  Even though things haven't been so great between us in a while, it'd mean a lot to me if we can stay friends, because she's a wonderful person and is a big part of who I am today.

There are so many directions my life could go in right now.  A year from now I may be as happy as I've ever been... or I may be very disappointed.  In math/meteorology we'd say I'm at an "unstable condition".  

10/23/03-

You had plans for both of us
That involved a trip out of town
To a place I've seen in a magazine
That you'd left lyin' around

I don't have you with me
But I keep a good attitude
Do you miss me, Miss Misery
Like you say you do

A lot of the usual stuff today.  Good ol' CATA made me late to practice.  I read on their website that the Loop runs every 10 minutes from 6:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.  Oh really?  That doesn't quite explain why I was waiting for the bus from 7:10 to 7:35 today, now does it?  I can't believe we all (meaning PSU students) have to chip in and pay for them to screw up for a year.

Got an e-mail today:

I read:  "It was so impassioned, so well delivered, so meaningful to me."
I think:  "Wait a minute.  Dawson's Creek?   DAWSON'S.  CREEK!?!?

Sorry but I can't believe that anything on Dawson's Creek was well-acted.  Another beef I have was that this was somewhat in reference to the Pacey-Joey thing.  That whole thing was dumb.  If I were Dawson I would have either beat Pacey's (what kind of a name is that, anyway?) ass or told him to take a long walk off a short pier.  Maybe that pier even drops off into Dawson's Creek... who knows.  The point is, if your "best friend" mows your grass by dating your ex-girlfriend who you're still in love with, they aren't a friend any more.  With friends like that... (you know the rest)

Funny "Family Guy" tonight.  Stewie got really fat, and Brian called him Orson and then started spinning him around on the floor.


10/22/03- I could make you satisfied in everything you do / All your ’secret wishes’ could right now be coming true ~Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith committed suicide today at just 34 years old.  I guess his lyrics -- usually pretty dark, sometimes about substance abuse -- were pretty true about his own life...

I saw you in a perfect place
It’s gonna happen soon but not today
So go to sleep and make the change
I’ll meet you here tomorrow -- "Independence Day"

I remember watching the Oscars (I have no idea why I was... I think someone on my hall was having an Oscars party or something) and they had the performances by some of those nominated for best song from a movie, or whatever it's called.  Anyway, Elliott Smith comes out holding his guitar, wearing tattered jeans, sandals, and a beige jacket over a t-shirt.  Then he stands there and performs "Miss Misery" -- by himself, playing his guitar, sounding great but looking very uncomfortable to be on that stage.  After him came Celine Dion, wearing a gown that cost something like $20,000, a $1.5 million diamond around her neck, a huge orchestra behind her dressed in white tuxes, and fog being pumped onstage for dramatic effect during the singing of that God-awful, "claw-your-ears-off-of-your-head" song, "My Heart Will Go On."  I learned a few things from this:
 That last point was reinforced when "Titanic" won best film.  TITANIC!  Ahead of "L.A. Confidential", "Good Will Hunting", "The Full Monty", and "As Good as it Gets".  Give me a break.

I know you don’t think you did me wrong,
And I can’t stay this mad for long,
Keeping a hold of what you just let go -
You’re just somebody that I used to know.

Lifted today... my neck hurt :-(

10/21/03- Think about it Josh, you're in college. The window of opportunity to drink and do drugs and take advantage of young girls is getting smaller by the day. ("Road Trip")

Just not a whole lot to report today.  Did a lot of the usual... came in to school, did research, went swimming.  It was another good practice, although quite tiring.  The last set (8x150s, first 100 fast, last 50 EZ) was really tough, especially b/c the coach said he wanted me and the guy in the next lane to be around 1:00 for the 100.  That is NOT easy to do from the water.  Also, the guy next to me is this Asian dude who is definitely faster than me.

Did some fantasy football scoring today... we're only 7 weeks behind on it, although by tomorrow we should be 3 weeks behind.  Tonight while I was trying to do that, I knocked the hard drive back into the outlet, and I guess that wasn't cool, b/c all the power went off in my room.  I called up the emergency maintenence number for Copper Bitch, and we had an interesting conversation.  I kept thinking that the fuse box was in by the washer/dryer and the water heater, since there WAS one there.  But that's not the main one.  So the guy was insisting that there is a door on it that should swing open easily, and I'm saying that there's no way it can do that b/c there's a screw through the front of it.  Finally I realized that he was talking about a different fuse box that was back in the closet w/the heater and stuff.  It was just a tripped fuse so I just had to turn it back on.  No worries.

10/20/03- I know what I have to do, it's just that I'm afraid to do it

Woke up real early... not quite sure why I couldn't sleep in.  Shower was not well behaved this morning... too hot and cold.  Still, it felt good...

Ran a few errands in the morning, then headed into school for research.  I'm tired and not feeling very motivated today, but I do have all the programming books I need now since the Perl book came in the mail over the weekend, so I guess I have to do some work.

Vicki, on the other hand, is not working hard, but rather is doing online tests, so that means I have to do them as well.  The first one she did was the "Pick-up test", which I was disappointed to find wasn't intended to determine what kind of pickup truck I'll be driving.  It's supposed to measure how "pick-upable" I am.  Let's see what they had to say:

You have achieved the Golden Mean.  You are 38% pickup-able!   You're like Jen. Do you know my friend Jen? You're just like her—she's like this cool girl who's attractive and funny. I should call Jen. Or maybe you're like my friend Steve. Regardless, you like to flirt, but not with ugly people. And when you lock eyes with the right person, you know how to turn the sparks into a towering inferno. But sometimes you won't give people the time of day, which is mean when they really just need to know what time it is. In general, make sure you smell good.

Not bad, I suppose.  I don't think that I blow people off, but maybe I do without realizing it.  I hope I usually smell good... or at least smell like chlorine.  58% of people are more pickup-able than me, and 37% are less, including Vicki, who is only 26% pickup-able.  Apparently she is cold and unapproachable... who knew???

Next is the test to determine how datable I am... chances are this is gonna be a low number.

OK here's one question from the quiz:

  • Which statement most closely resembles your philosophy on dating?
       There's more fish in the sea
       There are more fish in the sea
       The sea is polluted
       I hate the smell of fish

    • I didn't have a choice... I HAD to answer "I hate the smell of fish" for this one.  Nothing to do with dating, but I H-A-T-E the smell of fish.  BOO seafood, BOO.

    The results are in and I am 63% datable -- mildly datable.  This seems like a high figure, but it tells me that 76% of people are more datable than me.  I think that's still a little low.  The best part of their write-up is the last sentence:

    Avoid seafood and walks in the woods.

    Well they got that seafood part right, at least!  As for walks in the woods... I don't see the problem with that.  Unless the walk is up on Tussey Mountain, and I'm completely lost and 4 miles from where I should be, and sunset is coming up pretty soon.      Vicki is more datable than me... she saw my story from 10/12 and was excited that her write-up included the following:

    Attractive and confident, witty and charming, a healthy ambrosia-based diet...

    There's that damn word again!!!

    Good swim practice tonight... big pulling set, which is always welcome, although many of the females at practice tend to disagree.  Got in 4000 yards in just over an hour, which is quite impressive for a bunch of old farts.

    10/19/03-         It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing.

    Got up at around 9:30... slept like a log once again.  It was a little colder outside last night, so it got colder inside the house.  We didn't spend a lot of time there in the morning... went over to the Cataldos (Laura's parents), where Laura was fixing waffles, Mark making some bacon, and Joe (Mr. Cataldo) had made some HOME FRIES.  Quite a good meal.

    After that went over to Mark's office to take care of some fantasy football stuff, and back to his place to pick up our stuff and get ready to leave.  Not going anywhere until after the football games, however.  Eagles and Pats were both on, which meant we had to keep flipping back and forth.  The Eagles played like crap, but won on a punt return for a TD with about a minute and a half left.  Still their offense SUCKS.  The Pats won on a long TD pass in OT, but we only heard about that in the car b/c we left right after the Eagles game.  Listened to football on the ride home... when we were passing through New York we got the terrible Jets vs. Houston Texans game.  The announcer was a big homer (i.e., clearly rooting hard for the Jets, clearly not providing an unbiased view of the game), and he kept flipping out about how much the game means to the Jets.  Dude, the Jets suck, and Houston sucks.  Don't go thinking that was a huge win for the Jets just because they beat a team that didn't exist 2 years ago.

    Had a long talk w/Homey about my research.  As he said when we were about done discussing it, "My brain hurts, dude."  He also told me more about his work in the syncotron, and what he'd be doing if he were to work for Edmunds Optics.  I still want to figure out a way to get someone into the syncotron while it's running.

    Hit a traffic jam in Scranton at 10 P.M... PennDon't doing nighttime construction.  Maybe even more annoying than rush hour traffic... at least then you KNOW you're SUPPOSED to be in traffic.  Sunday night traffic jams aren't supposed to happen, unless you're on the Schuylkill or something.

    10/18/03-     If by my life or death I can protect you, I will.

    Actually slept quite well last night, once we went to bed.  Woke up at around 9, and Mark and Brent were already getting started working on the house.  Laura did a good job of bringing us donuts to give us energy.  I guess that was our payment for free labor -- that, the other food we ate, and shelter.

    Homey cracked open a beer around 10:30, maybe to wash down his donut.  Who knows, but we decided that it would be good to have some beers while working on the house, and polished off a case of Yuengling today.

    Cranked up the radio real loud for some tunes... Homey went nuts to AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"... he started out not too riled up, but by the end of the song he stopped jumping around and was on the ground looking like he was having some sort of panic attack.  He was hitting himself in the face with a pillow, so Steve and I jumped in on the action and started pounding him with pillows and cushions.  At the end he was all tired out, and we realized that his nose had started bleeding and he'd cut the side of his face slightly.  It wasn't as bad, or as funny, as the time we were just sitting at Mark's watching football, and his nose EXPLODED.  For no reason whatsoever.  But it did take a long time for it to stop bleeding.  Unfortuantely there was some blood on many of the pillows, sheets, blankets, etc., that were in the living room... not too much on most things.  I guess that it's partly our fault since we started pounding him.

    Did a lot of chores around the house... I painted the front and side entry doors three coats each, but they'll still need another one.  Sorry Mark, but that last coat is all you.  We also stained the window trim and frames, along with various other wood throughout the living room.  Mark and Laura's cousin Brent built a tub deck upstairs.  I felt like we got a lot done.

    Went over to Katie's (Laura's sister) for a little while, and saw a lot of people.  Also saw Bledsoe and Coates, their two dogs, whose namesakes were the starting QB and favorite receiver during the mid-late 1990s for the New England Patriots.  Even more funny is that Coates is black and Bledsoe is light-colored.... just like in real life.  Coates is a spaz and Bledsoe is very laid back, but they're both cool dogs.

    Went back to Laura's parents house, where Mark and Laura fixed some steaks and potatoes for us.  Much needed after a long day of housework.  After that we went back to the new place and watched "Road Trip" and "Van Wilder", and then fell asleep around 2:00.

    10/17/03-     So do all who see such times, but that is not for them to decide -all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us

    Got ready today to head up to Massachusetts to Mark & Laura's new place.  They just built a house, and although it doesn't have heating or plumbing, it should be a good time.  We can always pee off the deck, and I'm bringing LOTS of blankets with me, as well as a lot of warm clothes.  I'm excited for them, but also I want a house of my own, and seeing that reminded me of how far away I am from ownership of any type of significant abode.

    Anyway, met up w/Homey at a random gas station along the first exit off of I-84 (Tigue St.) -- right outside Scranton.  This was actually the second time that we operated this plan -- I think the first time we did it I just said get off at the first exit on that road, find a gas station or something, and then find a pay phone and call my cell phone.  Worked like a charm... back to the here and now, I left my car on some random road in front a random house (I'm sure those people were wondering what the hell a red Sebring with New Jersey plates was doing parked in front of their house from 4:30 P.M. Friday to 9:15 P.M. Sunday).  Oh yeah, I saw a huge buddy on the road around Scranton.  He had this decal on his pickup truck, along with several numbers on the back:  two BIG #3's (Dale Earnhardt), #8 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), #15 (I had no idea about this one -- looked it up and it's Michael Waltrip.  YEE-HAW!  He also had a #3 on the side of his car, a #3 front license plate, and a big Chevy Racing decal stretching all the way across the top of his front windshield.  HEY.  BUDDY.

    Rather uneventful ride the rest of the way.  Maybe McDonalds wasn't the best idea for dinner.  We got to Mark's at around 9:15 or so, and they were watching the first "Lord of the Rings".  I really had no interest in seeing that before today, because I thought it was some nerdy Dungeons and Dragons type of thing.  It was actually quite good... some real good battle scenes, especially in the second one (they put that in right after the first one ended).  The best part was when the bad wizard's orcs burned down some of the forest, so the trees joined in the war and totally whooped ass.  When the two hobbits were trying to get the trees to fight the war, I asked "What the hell can a tree do in a war?"  But then they started fighting, and they just picked the orcs up and chucked 'em around, and threw boulders all over the place.  It was also funny when they broke the dam holding back all the water, the water flooded the valley, and one of the trees that had been shot and set afire by a flaming arrow just put his head in the water to put out the fire.

    Don't think we watched anything else after that... just went to bed.  It was kinda chilly inside, but not too bad b/c we had a roaring fire going, and I was sleeping in sweats and under a lot of blankets.

    10/16/03-     Even our Jianghu world has a certain code. Integrity, trust, friendship.  Without rules, none of us would survive very long.

    In another splendid mood.  We're still not talking about last night.  What I WILL say is that last night I renounced being a sports fan for the first time in my life.  The Flyers and Eagles have put me through a lot, so that should give you a sense of last night.  The Cubs will NEVER, EVER, EVER win a World Series, and I understand that now.
    What I would like is us... together as we are here. It gives me a sense of infinite peace.
    According to the Death Test, I will die on September 16, 2053 at the ripe old age of 75.  What am I going to do for the last 3 years??? :'-(
    The most likely causes of death are:
     The rest of today... we'll see.  Doing more work today... got a lot done already, and wrote up a good summary of Model Output Statistics for my advisor.  Going swimming at 7:45, then taking the bus home around 10 of 10.  That could be a problem since I am speaking with the Penn State Off-Campus Living lawyer at 10, by phone.  If CATA is punctual (are they ever???), I'll make it.  If not... we'll see.

     Hey, I did slow dance to "Love of a Lifetime" with that bitchy girl at the wedding on Saturday.  Come on, it's Firehouse.  Gotta love that.  Although not if it's a couple who played "Love of a Lifetime" as their slow dance song at their wedding, like some hick couple around here.  They were written about in the CDT, and if anyone can help me find that article I'd be very grateful.  It was written on 5/15/03 ... I found it on their website but they won't let me look at it for free.  But I think it's gotta be on the web somewhere.
    To be strong and supple is the secret to ride out the storm.
    I disagree with Vicki on the "Real Men of Genius" thing.  I don't think putting it on TV adds much to the bit, but they're still funny.  Change it from "Real American Heroes" after 9/11 isn't a big deal, really.  It's the spirit of the ad.

    mr. hawaiian shirt pattern designer

    bud light presents real american heroes
    (real american heroes)
    today we salute you, mr. hawaiian shirt pattern designer
    (mr. hawaiian shirt pattern designer)
    you provide us with colorful loungewear capable of hiding any stain we can dish out
    (gettin sloppy)
    who else could create flowered shirts that are still so unmistakeably masculine
    (ooh)
    a single shirt that matches every pair of pants we own, and really sets off a white belt
    (looking good now)
    sure women say they hate them, but inside they're all swooning for the big kahuna
    (ooh kahuna!)
    so crack open an ice cold bud light mr. hawaiian shirt pattern designer. your shirts may not be made in hawaii, but taiwan is an island, too.

    Xiulian, the things we can touch have no permanence. It is all an illusion. The Master would say," A man's primary need is to let go. Only then can he possess what is truly real."



    10/15/03-When it comes to emotions, even great heroes can be idiots.

    No big surprise, I'm in a grouchy mood today.  I'm already resigned to understand the fate of my beloved Cubs.

    Got a little stuck on my research so got caught up on my page.  Now available is the South Jersey list.  Enjoy.

    Wow... I actually made it onto the USA Swimming website during my lifetime.  It's only my name but that's cool:  Results

     And a funny article by a guy I beat by 40 minutes in the 10K, who looks like Ted Kennedy.  I hope I can do what he's doing when *I* am 57 (well I don't want to be so overweight, but it seems like he thinks the race through pretty well, at also has a good time while doing it.
    One night, when I was little, I saw a thousand stars fall out of the sky. Where they all go? I wondered. Then I thought, maybe if I ride to the end of the desert to find them.
    Had a better practice... I'm not a big fan of the sets we've been doing, mostly because the intervals are too slow or we're kicking.  I DON'T KICK.  EVER.  Well I guess I do during kick sets in practice, but then I go an do some freestyle and it's back to legs floating uselessly behind me.  

    By the way, I forgot to clear Vicki of any wrongdoing in the "porn name" thing from 10/8/03.  She relented and let me enter a friend's porn name as my own, since mine was probably incorrect anyway.  I guess I can play her reindeer games now ;-)    Anyway, her page is no longer null and void.  I also forgot to publicly congratulate her for her tremendous effort in the Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK run.  I'm looking forward to the Philly marathon!  I'll have an Amish pretzel waiting for you at the end!

    But when the choice is yours, to choose a certain life, and when you are free to choose whom to love and how to love [them], that is real happiness.


    10/14/03- A faithful heart makes wishes come true.

    Well today WAS going well.  We won't talk about what happened tonight, except that it included me throwing things, slamming doors, and punching walls.

    Got a LOT of research done today.  I have to poke through lots and lots of files to find National Weather Service forecasts and computer model forecasts from three different models.  I'm looking at data from 5 years ago right now, and I've actually found most of the stuff I needed to find today.

    Worked out at the Gay Lounge this evening, and it was gay as always (zero girls).  Did lots of abs... surprising since I haven't been working out much lately, so I figured it would hurt a little more than it actually did.  They played another lifting classic on QWK Rock:

    "So lay down
    The threat is real
    When his sight
    Goes red again

    Seeing red again"   --Chevelle, "The Red"

    It's an OK song, but do they have to play it 3 times an hour???

    Good job on the pasta sauce, Robert.  Yes Jeff, it was better than Olive Garden.  Of course, if you took a dump on the plate that would have at least a 50% chance of being better than Olive Garden.
    I want to tell you with my last breath that I have always loved you.  I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side as a condemned soul, than enter heaven without you. Because of your love, I will never be a lonely spirit

    10/13/03-     No growth without resistance.  No action without reaction.  No desire without restraint.
    When it comes to emotions, even great heroes can be idiots.
    More dealings with Copper Bitch in the morning.  Unfortunately Blonde&Blonder were back in the office, meaning that I again had to talk to the intellectual equivalent of a wall.  Despite the obvious language in the lease, they still think it's a valid argument on their behalf that the whole apartment be unlivable before they give somebody a reduction on their rent.  Maybe they can just destroy every room except the kitchen and then expect us to live in that for $1137 a month.
    "I am very angry with that man -- Part II"
    Went in to Walker for most of the afternoon and evening.  Finally got some data to look at, although I still have no idea how to write a program to go in and extract the data for me.  I ordered some UNIX and Perl textbooks last week, so help is on the way.  Made a little progress on my research but the real fun will come in a while.

    Didn't swim tonight b/c I was rolling along on my work.  Went home around 9:00 and watched baseball and football.  Glad the Yankees lost, of course.

    "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" kept me up until almost 2:00 tonight.  What an awesome movie.
    To repress one's feelings only makes them stronger

    10/12/03-     Women, you can't live with'em, the end

    Woke up pretty early (before 9:00) for some reason... Homey woke up soon after that, and Steve came over for a while.  We played a 1984 version of Family Feud, which can be quite funny.  For example, one of the questions was "Name something at home that you'd have installed by a professional."  We tried Cable TV, but that just got us an X because very few people had cable back then.  The funniest questions are the ones like "Name the age when a girl starts dancing," because there are about 12 answers, and you just start at around age 8 and then just go up and down from there.  Way too easy.  Two of the highlights - we got the same final Jeopardy questions two times in a row.  The second time we were happy about that, until we remembered that we didn't get 200 points the first time and had no clues about some of the answers.  The other thing that got us fired up was the question "Name a food that contains coconut."  We answered four of the five on the board (cake, cookies, candy, pie) but couldn't come up with the fifth answer.  The computer family stole the points with the answer "Ambrosia Salad."  AMBROSIA SALAD?!?!  WTF IS THAT?!?!  Anyway, one of those final Jeopardy questions was "Name something that clicks."  If anyone has a good answer to that I'd love to hear it.

    Eagles and Cubs both lost today.  The Eagles loss pissed me off more because their $100 million QB can't throw an accurate pass.  On the good side, the Pennsauken Mart is staying open for another year, meaning I'll still be able to fill my yummy-soft-pretzel fix whenever I'm home.

    Had dinner w/the fam, then drove back.  Had a good talk w/Lauren on the way back -- I miss her.  Hopefully next time I'm home I'll get to see her for a while b/c I feel like we haven't spent time together in forever.

    Question I pondered over the weekend... how do people get whipped?  I don't get it.  I've been in love before, and I've dated someone for a long time... but I just don't get completely changing who you are because of one person.  Sure, you might spend a little less time with people you used to see more often, but don't just fall off the face of the earth.  That's just saying, "I like you, but only if I don't have anyone better around."  My parents and I debate this idea, b/c apparently they are of the viewpoint that people SHOULD completely change once they're in a serious relationship.  B.S., I say.

    10/11/03-     Four weddings and a funeral, where's the difference?

    Woke up early to get my car inspected.  When I got there, I found out that my insurance wasn't valid because it's Pennsylvania insurance, and my registration is wrong because the accurate, efficient DMV sent me registration for a car that our family doesn't even own any more.  What a waste of time.  

    Steve, Homey, me, and Steve's latest young floozy (just kidding) went to Philly for some grub.  I had a cheesesteak from Rick's Steaks in Reading Terminal Market, and I still contend that their pepperjack cheesesteak is the best cheesesteak in the world.  Prove me wrong someone.  After that we went down by the Italian Market, where Steve bought a braid of mozzarella and gorged himself on it for most of the ride home.  Homey waited outside b/c he didn't like the smell of the deli (the cheese CAN be somewhat offensive to the olfactory senses).  

    Had a wedding to go to at St. Peter's in Merchantville.  The wedding was between Greg, who was my best friend when I was little, and a girl I'd never met before.  To be honest, I'm kind of surprised I was invited to the wedding, but it was good to see Greg and a good time in general.  The wedding ceremony was way too formal for my liking.  I can take a Catholic wedding like the one Mark and Laura had, but this one was a little too much.  It also kind of made me sad, for reasons that won't be discussed here.

    Went back to Homey's for a little while between the wedding and the reception.  The food at the reception was really good, especially before we were let into the "ballroom" (or whatever they call those places).  I guess all that stuff was hors d'oeuvres.  They had really good bread, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, fruit, some kind of stew... thumbs up for all of it.  Too bad there was so much stuff to eat, but only an hour to eat it.  As I commented that evening, "It's like an orgy for the mouth."  That could be taken in so many ways, most of them inappropriate.

    Got our seating arrangements and we got put at the single people table, which was better than being with our parents.  I felt no need to take a date to the wedding, although perhaps in future weddings I will.  At the table next to us were my parents, and believe it or not, our next door neighbors, the Orems, from all the way back when we lived on Maple Ave in Cherry Hill.  For those of you who don't know my timeline, that's where I lived up until age 10.  Apparently Mrs. Orem works with Greg's mom.  Small world.  We recalled a couple of old stories, most notably the one where I got stuck in our pull-out sofa while my dad was out of town, and Mr. Orem had to come help me get out of it.

    Got to know some people at the wedding... Steve was talking to this guy Barry and mentioned that he works at Mercedes in Ft. Washington, and Barry said that he works as a mechanic for Mercedes in Cherry Hill.  WAIT A MINUTE.  I asked him if he knew a guy by the last name of Gauntt.  His response:       "oh, Billy Gauntt?  Yeah, that guy's a pain in the ass."  Awesome.  Billy Gauntt is Vicki's father.  I found out that he smokes like a chimney at work (already knew that), sleeps in his car for an hour at lunch (didn't know that), and I told Barry that 10/13 is Billy Gauntt's birthday.  He didn't know that before I told him, so he said he'd make sure to bust his balls on Monday.

    People got pretty sloshed.  One girl couldn't stand up.  My drink of choice was Parrot Bay and pineapple, which aren't very strong.  So you have to have lots of 'em.  During dinner I went and sat next to this one girl at our table since her friends had gotten up and she was sitting alone on one side of the table.  I won't go into it, but I came to the quick conclusion that she is one of those snobby sorostitutes who looks down on most people.  BOO on that.  Still Steve and Homey busted my chops to dance w/her, so I did just to get 'em to stop.  I guess she wanted someone to dance w/her b/c she sat there w/this peeved look on her face.  Take away the personality and she was a good looking girl... but sometimes the personality is just too much to overlook.

    What is up with me and weddings?  Why do I get hit on, or at least told how attractive I am, so often?  I think weddings & estrogen must be directly related somehow.

    Went back to Steve's for a while and watched Old School, then back to Homey's, where we played a game of NHL '93 on Super Nintendo and then hit the sack.

    10/10/03- Kids, take a good long look. This is worth a thousand condom commercials.

    Tried dealing with Copper Bitch today -- again.  Fortunately someone with a decent head on their shoulders was over there, and they were somewhat helpful.  They understood my beef about having to pay full rent even though I haven't been able to live in my bedroom for a month and a half.  Maintenace came over today and guess what -- they think they found the source of the problem outside!  Now if only they'd put the effort in a month ago, maybe we wouldn't be going through all of this right now.  We also went into our neighbors' townhouse, which was vacant even though Al-Qaeda is leasing it (I'll explain in a minute).  They had mold behind their washer/dryer, and the mold didn't appear to have come from their room, so they thought that water came through my room into their room and then dried up.  Before that, they had taken a tone pretty much accusing me of lying about the problems in my room.  Listen, buddy, just because you can't figure out why water's coming into the room doesn't mean that it isn't.  I wish that I WERE lying because then I could go back into the room w/o worrying about my stuff getting wet and being forced out of the room by more rainwater looking for a home.

    About the Al-Qaeda mention above -- 3 guys are renting the place next to us, but haven't been seen since the lease began 2 months ago.  We found out about 3 weeks ago that two of the guys are named "Sultan" and "Mohammed", and their last names are all al-Something.  Now I don't like to be prejudicial or anything, but isn't that what we are supposed to look out for?  Middle Eastern people setting up residences but not actually living there?  Chances are they're finishing up at another school right now, and will be out here in the winter.  But you never know... I think it's better to be safe than sorry.  Anybody have any ideas on this one?

    Had a fun drive home... avoided the Schuylkill like the plague.  Made it to Athens Cafe just in time to meet my parents and brother for dinner.  Had loukaniko (Greek sausage) for appetizer, along with lots of warm pita bread dipped in     tzatziki sauce (yogurt, garlic, chopped cucumbers and mint).  Good stuff.  Then I had pastitsio for dinner.  Athens Cafe just reopened after a 15 month hiatus, partly because they were moving locations, and I think partly because of poor business.  I really hope they do well though... the food there is some of the best Greek food around, and it's very reasonably priced.  I think for the four of us it was less than $100, and in the past I've gone for lunch, eaten a gyro, and spent less than $8.

    Talked to Steve... some people were going out in Philly tonight, but I wasn't going unless the Cubs game turned into a rout.  It certainly didn't, so I stayed home and watched w/my dad.  It was quite the emotional roller coaster -- the Cubs took an early 2-0 lead, held onto a 2-1 lead til the 7th inning, when that bastard Pudge Rodriguez hit ANOTHER 2-out single to right, and the Marlins were up 3-2.  In the top of the 8th, everyone's favorite sausage-basher, Randall Simon, hit a 2-run homer to put the Cubs back up 4-3.  Of course, the Marlins had to come back and tie it on a 2-out single by, of all people, TODD HOLLANDSWORTH.

    The Cubs escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 9th, and got a run on a triple by (again, of all people) DOUG GLANVILLE.  Remlinger struck out the first two Marlins to bat in the bottom of the 11th -- but this being the Cubs, the catcher let strike 3 on the second guy go right through his legs, and the guy got to first with one out.  The next batter hit an easy double-play ball to the mound, but (this being the Cubs) he dropped the ball, so they only got the out at first.  The next guy hit a tapper to third, but (this being the Cubs) the ball hit the cutout between the grass infield and the dirt, and the Cubs third baseman couldn't handle it.  Fortunately, the dummy on second started running to third and got caught in a rundown.  As usual, the Cubs couldn't make it easy... but unlike usual, they won.  My dad and I agreed that this game was excruciating and that too many more like this will lead to ulcers/heart attack.


    10/9/03-     She's got you shaking like a frenchman in a thunderstorm.

    Took the bus in this morning.  They had on the awesome station 95.3, 3WZ.  Their hits this morning:  "Papa Don't Preach", by Madonna, and "Hero", by Enrique Iglesias.  Still can't believe that had that station on in the gym that one day (you know, the time Cher started belting out a song, I was doing the bench, and I almost dropped 175 lbs on my face).

    Reports on last night:  lost our football game 21-0.  For the third time in a row (2 games, 1 practice), I played WR and didn't get a pass thrown to me.  Once I can handle, but three times!?!?  If I weren't getting open, that would be one thing.  But sometimes I am getting open, and it's not like they really look my way.  They draw up plays for John, or Robert, or Jeremy, and then they say "Oh yeah, you're on our team too.  Just go run around and be a decoy."  Those aren't the exact words, but there hasn't been one play when they've wanted me to be the first option.  It's just not much fun.  Since I'm a swimmer and get more exercise and enjoyment out of swimming, I think I will be using my Wednesday evenings for more productive athletic endeavors from now on.

    Watched the Cubs game w/Vicki last night.  They went up 11-0 so there wasn't a whole lot of drama in the game.  Fine with me, b/c if every game were like game One I'd have an ulcer by the end of the series.  Jeff went to the Good Charlotte concert and Robert hung out w/Lindsey, so it was nice to have someone to watch the game with.  Jeff came home and we rooted against the Yankees until they lost.

    Went to Walmart briefly this morning.  They had Oh's cereal for $1.93.  I couldn't pass it up.  I love that stuff.

    By the way, these little snippets are from The Onion, an amusing fake newspaper produced by people at Harvard.  They are not to be reproduced without the expressed written consent of The Onion.  I.e., don't do what I'm doing.

    VOLUME 37 ISSUE 35 — 3 OCTOBER 2001 (Holy F%&*ing Sh*t Issue)
    U.S. Urges Bin Laden To Form Nation It Can Attack
    WASHINGTON, DC— Speaking via closed-circuit television from the Oval Office Monday, President Bush made a direct plea to Osama bin Laden to form a nation the U.S. can attack. "Whether you take over an existing nation like Afghanistan or create a new breakaway republic called, say, Osamastan, the important thing is that you establish an identifiable nation-state with an army, a capital, and clearly defined borders," Bush said. "Maybe you could also sign some quick treaties to definitively establish who your allies are." The president then pledged $600 million to bin Laden for the construction of a state-of-the-art defense headquarters that the U.S. can bomb.


    Now on to "Family Circus".  I don't know who Bil Keane is.  I don't really have anything against him, except that whole "One L" thing he's got going on in his first name is kind of annoying.  His son's name Jeff (shouldn't it be "Jef?") has been added to the cartoon, so I had to look up on www.deadoraliveinfo.com just to figure out whether Bil Keane is still with us.  He is.  It seems to me like these have been getting more and more inane as Bil gets older and more senile.  The jokes which used to be somewhat droll are now just dumb.  I don't think anyone under the age of 95 finds Family Circus funny any more.  Well apparently Jeff does... he told me at lunch that he likes the ones where the little kids say little kid things.  I'll provide examples another time.


    10/8/03-     Al: The home shopping network! There's a good idea for women! It was a little too hard driving to the mall with a couch strapped to their ass.

    Vicki has this thing going that WAS cool on her page.  Her friends are sending in the names of their first pets and their street names.  That is supposed to be their porn star name.  Anyway, I wanted to submit my friend's porn star name since I wasn't allowed to have pets when I was little.  I had an angelfish that probably wasn't even the first fish I had, and it may or may not have been named Angel.  I don't really care, since it's a fish and those don't count as pets.  Also I grew up on Maple Ave., so the name, based on the fish which wasn't the first one I owned and may or may not have been named Angel, would be Angel Maple.  Aside from that not being valid, it's a horrible name.  ANGEL stands for     "A New Global Environment for Learning" and is the dumb course management system here at Penn State, while Maple is an incompetent math application software program.  So all it does is make me think of computers.  I withdraw my participation from Vicki's game, and no longer will I be playing her reindeer games.  Her page is rendered inaccurate and invalid, and I declare her "Random Thoughts" null and void.

    Aside from that... had cheap burgers today at Sports Cafe, met w/my advisor (we're still waiting on all the data for my research), and tonight I'm playing football and then watching the Cubs.  Exercise has really be cut back due to the Cubs having so many night games.  I have to be home at 7 or 8 every night, so I haven't swam in almost a week! :-(  At least they aren't playing tomorrow, so I'll be able to practice.

    Was reading some of the Funny Pages today.  How come in "The Lockhorns", there's usually one (there are 4 separate one-frame comics on Sundays) where the guy is talking to some hot chick?  This cartoon needs more themes.  First of all, what are these tall, leggy, busty blondes doing talking to a short, overweight, balding guy.  And what's with the guy being named Leroy?  He's white!
    Other common themes of these cartoons:

     It really does get quite tedious.  I understand that it's hard writing a comic every day.  But still, if these people hate each other so much, what are they still doing together???  Leroy tries to womanize, won't talk to Loretta and hates her food.  Leave, Leroy!  And Loretta thinks his clothes are ugly, he doesn't listen, and he's fat.  You leave too!

    You know what else sucks?  CATHY.  Those cartoons are the WORST.  Here's today's wonderful cartoon.  I should note that this is probably copyrighted by somebody, at someplace, so don't steal it like I did:


    Gee what a surprise!  Cathy's complaining about being fat!

    99% of Cathy cartoons deal with these topics:

     Quite the creative range there.  Here's a suggestion Cathy:  lose some weight.  Take a walk around the block.  You'll feel better about yourself and eliminate about 90% of your problems.  They really should explore this possibility.  Then none of her old clothes would fit, she'd go shopping, have trouble finding stuff, flip out at the saleslady, have an emotional meltdown, run home and eat bon-bons for 5 days, and then we'd be right back where we started.  At least that could kill a couple of weeks.  I also suggest that Cathy get on Zoloft or whatever rejected middle-aged women with wild emotional swings take these days.

    Tomorrow:  Family Circus

    10/7/03-     Al: Who are you talking to, Peg?...It must be your mother. Tell her I said 'oink.'

    So DAWG...

    Don't think there was much that happened today, so I'll tell old things that I forgot along the way.  I did watch the Cubs game, which they lost 9-8 in 11 innings.  Disappointing, but still an exciting game and they've got two of the best pitchers in the league going the next two games.  So confidence is still there.

    Last time I drove up here there was a guy with the license plate "69HO".  Isn't the DMV supposed to screen that kind of thing out?  

    Also saw a license plate that was amusing:  "If I want to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'll put shoes on my dog"  Not sure why they had to share this w/everyone, but OK.

    "    I know I was born and I know that I’ll die.
    The in between is mine. I am mine."

    Funny article from "The Onion":

    VOLUME 39 ISSUE 06 — 19 FEBRUARY 2003
    Bacon Good For You, Reports Best Scientist Ever
    ROCHESTER, MN—Bacon, long believed to contribute to heart disease and obesity, possesses significant health benefits, according to a study released Monday by Dr. Albert Gruber, the best scientist ever. "My research has found that three strips of crispy, mouthwatering bacon every morning can actually reduce cholesterol and help slow the aging process," the awesome Gruber said. "What's more, the bacon's positive effects are enhanced when combined with milk shakes and/or marijuana." In 1997, Gruber, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, was awarded nine Nobel Prizes in Medicine for discovering that frequent oral sex with models cures cancer.


    10/6/03-     Al: You're not fat and don't have an attitude so you can't be looking for me. But how can I help you anyway?

    Did errands most of the morning.  Wrote up a little to Copper Bitch saying you aren't doing your job, blah, blah blah, rentcakes.  Now I'm paying $125 less per month on rent.  This hasn't been agreed on with them, but it says clearly in the lease that if a part of the residence is uninhabitable, I can continue living in an inhabitable part of the place at reduced rent.  According to the Pennsylvania Renters Guide or whatever that thing is that the lawyer gave me, a room may be uninhabitable if it is not secure from water or from bad weather.  Sounds pretty black and white to me.
    Had a lunch break I'll never forget.
    Vicki (coming back from her car): "I think I left my sunglasses on the steps"
    Bob:  "They're on top of your head."

    Made Swedish meatballs for myself and the roommates.  They turned out good -- not as good as at home (probably using cheaper ingrediants), but still quite tasty.  One of my favorite recipes.

    Watched a barn-burner between the A's and Red Sox.  I got mad at the Red Sox fans who kept their caps in the "rally" position (i.e., inverted - supposed to be good luck to rally your team) when the game was tied 1-1, and then after Manny Ramirez homered (just after I got done bad-mouthing him for being a choker in the playoffs).  I blame them for the Red Sox almost blowing the game.  Fortunately for them, Derek Lowe, who my friend Sean's mom thought I resemble, came in and put out the fire in the 9th inning.

    Turned off the football game b/c Tampa Bay was up three TDs with less than 5 minutes left.  Indianapolis won 38-35 in OT.  What the hell?!?!?!

    Funny Leno headline:  From a midwestern menu:  "Pitcher of poop: $2.95"

    10/5/03-     Kelly: Mom, when I grow up I want to be just like you. I want to do nothing, I want to be nothing.

    Got a ride home from another geog guy who also spent the night at Amy's.  She made pancakes, which was nice, but woke me up to eat them, which was not nice.

    Watched football and baseball much of the afternoon.  Got a big laugh at the Giants, b/c they lost and b/c their kicker got hurt, forcing them to use their punter to try a field goal.  My roommate Jeff said, "You get way too much enjoyment out of watching them lose."

    A great day in sports.  My picks for the week were looking outstanding, especially with the Packers blowing out Seattle.  The Eagles, on at 4:00, played OK, not great.  They put a big scare into me by almost blowing a 10 point lead in the last 2 minutes.  Took a bad throw on a Redskins' two-point conversion attempt to hold on 27.25.

    Went out to G-Man with Katie, who was back in town for a couple of days, John, and the Jeffs.  Talked to Katie some about her job in D.C.  Sounds like it's going OK, but her advisors aren't being very nice w/her and keep piling stuff on her even though she is basically done and needs her Masters.  She's worked like crazy the past couple of months, trying to finish her Masters while also taking a new job.  So back off Frank and Verlinde ;-)

    Big news of the evening:  CUBS WIN!

    Their first playoff series win since 1908.  On to the Marlins!!!

    Other stuff that happened - met with a lawyer today and got some advice on the apartment, and watched my football picks go down the tubes as Pittsburgh lost to Cleveland, a club whose football team is the color of poop.


    10/4/03-     Fat lady: It's because of guys like that that I don't wear shorts anymore.
                            Al: You sure it wasn't because of the guys with the harpoons?

    Finally slept in some, although sleeping til 10:30 isn't as great when you went to bed at 4:30.  Still, it felt nice.  Watched some of the Penn State game and some baseball playoffs while Doug drifted in and out of consciousness on the futon.  Guess he was a little hung over.

    After the Penn State (loss), my roommates got back, along with Vicki, and two BRAVES fans came over (they're both from Georgia though - so they're excused).  Anyway, the Cubbies lost what became a pretty close game at the end.  Sammy didn't miss the game-tying homer by much.  We also watched various college football games on the other TV - brought my TV up from the basement and had both TVs going at once.

    One of the new grads, Amy, has a house out in the middle of nowhere - Milesburg, actually.  She had a gathering tonight.  We watched and cheered on the Red Sox, mostly to spite the two Yankees fans that were there.  Still, about 20 people were clearly anti-Yankees, reinforcing my belief that they are the most hated team in professional sports, with the possible exception of some club soccer teams like Manchester United.  Also watched Texas Tech's quarterback throw for like 400 yards and 5 TDs in the first half of their game.  I kinda wish they were on all the time.  Their defense isn't that great but they throw the ball every time, and are quite entertaining to watch.

    Things got bizarre at the end of the night.  People changed clothes so that males were wearing females' clothes and vice versa.  Especially disturbing was this supposedly-not-gay geography dude Isaac, who was wearing some tight belly-showing shirt.  I didn't want to see that so I held up my hand, and he spent much of the time after that pretending (hopefully) to come on to me.  Let's try not to gay up the parties from now on, OK?

    Thought we were going to play beirut, so decided to spend the night since Jeff was leaving.  Didn't end up playing though.  Talked to Amy for a little while and then passed out.

    I'll always look out for you, that's what I'll do

    10/3/03-     Al: Sure selling shoes is fun. But behind the glamour, it's like any other minimum wage slow death.

    Ate lunch w/Vicki today at Green Bowl, a pretty neat place in town.  You get all these fruits and veggies, whatever you want cooked, and put it in a bowl, put some sauce on top of it, and then put a certain colored stick in your bowl and leave it at the counter to be stir-fried.  The food was good even though I'm not a big fan of cooked veggies, especially the lettuce.  The only problem with that place is that it's absolutely dominated by the smell of stir-fry, and when you leave your clothes totally reek of it.  Vicki pointed this out during lunch, although it would've become very obvious to me within about three seconds of stepping outside.

    Did research the rest of the day, then went lifting.  The homecoming parade was today, although there are some of us who don't care about floats and are more annoyed that our bus schedules get screwed up.  CATA was messed up as usual, and I spent 35 minutes waiting b/c they didn't show up when they were supposed to.  

    Went out to Crowbar with Vicki to see something called JR & Sharon Band.  Apparently they used to play in State College all the time until Sharon got married and moved east.  Now JR plays with some other girl... the new band I described as "JR & Some other bitch."  Anyway, they weren't starting until 10:30, which gave me plenty of time to sit on a barstool, root on the Cubs, and drink.  Mark Prior pitched his usual masterpiece, giving up just two hits in nine innings as the Cubs won 3-1.  I got more nervous the whole time... can't help it, no matter who is on the mound.  I wore my Prior shirt, and the bartender covered the cost of one of my pitchers of beer since she was a Cubs fan.  Jeff and Doug joined us for a little while before heading off to the Gaff.  While they were there, trampy looking girls in plastic outfits showing lots of cleavage circulated through the crowd, and Doug got suckered into buying shots for these two girls.  I'm not one to buy shots for a random girl, but if I did I certainly wouldn't do it for a girl who came up and asked me to buy her a shot.  Lessons we learn, I suppose.

    Got home at around 2 but hung out w/Vick til after 4.  Guess I was kinda drunk... fun night though.

    10/2/03- Al: "A Bundy never wins, but a Bundy never quits."

    Went over to the Copper Bitch office.  Blonde & Blonder called yesterday after I mentioned Board of Health and lawyers.  Guess that made 'em pay attention.

    Anyway, the compromise we reached is that they're taking up the carpet from the room and I'm going to look for water coming in the next time we get a lot of rain.  The main problem I have with that is:  what if it doesn't rain a lot in the near future?  I'm still gonna talk to PSU's free Off-Campus Living lawyer on Sunday, both about that and about what to do about paying rent.

    Found a perfect life mate for my roommate:  HEY BUDDY

    Today at around noon, we were walking to Golden Crotch for lunch when what starts falling out of the sky?  LIGHT SLEET!!!  WHAT THE %*$@!?!?!?!?!?!

    Last I checked, it's October 2nd.  If we're getting frozen precip now, we'll be getting it for 7 months of the year (now thru April.)  Jeff the Frog Canadian was happy about it, everyone else is pissed.  I think there's going to be a big batch of students wanting to transfer in the middle of the semester to U. of Miami.  They have a better football team too.

    Swimming tonight and then goin' out on the town w/whoever is up.

    Junk mail of the day:

    Well I haven't checked my Yahoo(!) mail since I never get anything in there, but today I did.  452 junk e-mails... holy cow.  And no Vick, you're not the only one getting mortgage e-mails...

    From:      Tropical Financial Credit Union
    Subject:      Ben & J Lo can't join

    This was one of the avalanche of financial e-mails I receive in my Yahoo(!) account every day.  This one was quite amusing.  The body had nothing to do with Ben and J. Lo.  I just want to know:  Why can't they join?  That's kind of a stupid bank... you'd think they'd have a lot of money to deposit.  Please, oh please, just don't let them deposit their money under the name "Bennifer".  If they do, run them over with a cement mixer.

    10/1/03-          Lie if your wife is awaking. Lie if your belly is aching. Lie if you think she's faking. Lie, sell shoes, lie.
     I wonder what it's like going through life that dumb... (re: blonde & blonder)

    How we doin?

    Still in a good mood about the Cubs victory yesterday.  Dropped off my note of last warning to Copper Bitch today, basically saying tell me by Friday what's going to be done to fix my room, I'm filing complaints with the PSU Off-Campus Living people and the Centre County Board of Health.  If that doesn't make them pay attention I don't know what will.  Then took BOO Cata in to school today.

    Swam an exciting practice on my own at 11.  The practice:

    200 SKPS (Swim, Kick, Pull, Swim)
    4x150 pull, breathe 3/5/7 x50            @2:15
    100 ez
    6x300 descend 1-3, 4-6                      @4:00
    200 warmdown

    I'm so creative... not really.  The trademarks of a bob practice are (a) very little kick; and (b) a big set that's at least half of the yardage in the practice.  Beth wasn't able to join me... something about "studying" for this "test" she has tomorrow.  What kind of priorities are those???
    I look forward to the day when the hidden text on your pages either isn't there or isn't depressing/negative/sad
    Met w/my advisor and did other various work this afternoon.  Tonight I have an intramural football game (if BOO Cata behaves itself -- if it's very late or full, I won't make the game in time), and then I'm coming home to watch the rest of the CUBS game.  GO CUBS
    And when I am afraid of what I'll see when I highlight everything :-(
    Doug is coming to visit, partly to see people and partly b/c he's stuck in Syracuse at a station that promised him he'd do on-air TV weather, and then screwed him over.  

    We won our football game last night, 14-14.  Yeah I know that probably doesn't seem like it makes a whole lot of sense.  See, intramural football has this dumb rule where whoever has more first downs wins the game.  We had 3 more than the team we were playing -- so we won.  I didn't get the ball on offense - again - but I wasn't out there as much b/c we have 15 people and we're only allowed to play 7 at a time.  I played pretty good pass defense though; nobody had a catch on me.  They could've, b/c there was one time I slipped on the wet grass as I was trying to cut and totally bit it.  But that was pretty late in the play and the QB had too much pressure on him to throw it all the way to the guy I was covering.

    Cubs lost last night.  It's not the end of the world but a win would've been nice, especially since they were 1 strike from being out of a jam in the 8th inning.  Also, they loaded the bases w/a 2-0 lead and no outs in the 1st inning, and then 3 guys in a row struck out.  The Cubs have to be the least clutch team in major league history -- especially the usual culprits of Eric Karros, Damian Miller and (the second half of the year, anyway) Alex Gonzalez.  I take it back on Gonzo.  His inability to hit isn't limited to clutch situations.


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