Long time no Blog

So it's been quite a few days since my last blog. I wanted to check in mid-week and let everyone know what's up. I'm still enjoying my time off very, very much. It's fantastic to have a week with nothing to do but see friends and hang out with Maria. Today we went to the Arts Institute (which I had never been to), and looked at things. Some of my favorite things are shown before, care of my camera phone:

An awesome fish made of marble (I think it was actually supposed to be a guy's head)

They had a pretty great display of suits of armor

AMAZING painting called "The Sherrif". He also had one huge red hand.

A painting called "Escaping Ghost". Note the arrow on the bottom.

Besides the Art Museum, I got lots done thus far this week. Maria and I visited Iowa for Christmas, and Brookfield the next couple of days. The Blogulution awards went down a few days ago, of course - thanks to Pat Hayden's tireless efforts. They were a smashing success, and my hard earned Hershey Kisses are well inside the candy bowl. When we got back, we engaged in battle against the now infamous Christmas tree. See below what happened to the hallway and the kitchen floor:

Of course the biggest news is that Ernie comes home on Sunday!! I'm not sure I ever posted the pictures I took of him with my phone when we met him, but in case you guys haven't seen these, here they are:

We're heading up to Madison for New Year's Eve (and Jess and Kat's wedding), and swinging by Ernie's shelter on the way home to pick him up. I just discovered that my camera is magically working again, so I should have some good pictures of the wedding and Ernie for my next post. We already have his bed set up and we bought him all the food and toys we'll need to get him started. Wish us luck, I'll see you all again when I'm a dog owner!

My Office is a Circus

We just hired a new content writer. And on the day of her final interview / tour of the company, she just happens to share the building with Kevin's two kids, Ed's dog, and several other visiting family members. A two year-old boy is chasing a little dog around my office right now. His name is Sulley, and he laughs and yells a lot. It's pretty awesome. Everybody is quite relaxed and laid-back; I'm pretty sure I'm the only one on the floor actually getting any work done today. Except for right now, of course.

This will probably be my last post for a few days at least, as I am about to head off to Iowa and Wisconsin. It could very well be my last post until after New Year's. If I dissapear, I hope you will all do okay in my absence. I'm pretty excited to be seeing everyone in Brookfiield soon, as well as having a few days off to do some tourist-y stuff in Chicago. But right now the overwhelming excitment in my mind is seeing Ernie the dog tonight. Which is saying an awful lot, as there's a lot to be excited about on the other side of that event. I'd say there's a pretty good chance that the next thing I post here will be a picture of that dog.

I'm going to cut this short today, as I want to grab some food and get out of the office as early as I can so we can hit the road. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday (which ever holiday it may be), and you all have safe travels. Feliz Navidad!

Latch Key Kid

First: Thanks to Harry for setting me up with a link to the spelling bee skit from SNL last week. It's right here.

It's been a pretty amazing 24 hours.

Last night was the I-S holiday bowling extravaganza, which was pretty deece. It was definately a little dull, but a good time with nice people. The main contingent of dudes got super drunk, and stayed out all night getting drunker still. Thus, I was the first person into the office today. Luckily I got a key when I first started, and I spent a lovely quiet morning around the office by myself. I'm not quite sure how it's noon already, but hey - that's cool.

I'm meeting Laura (of 208 S. Bassett fame) for lunch today, which is great! I haven't seen her for quite an age. She's in town for some sort of unidentified "interview", and I plan on asking her just what exactly it's an interview for today. As this is my first lunch I've had down here where I didn't just go to some fast food joint, I had to get some recommendations from my coworkers. I'm pretty sure I've got solid options.

Simulated Laura and Dave Lunch

The last thing I did before leaving for the party last night was sit down for a meeting with John and Ed who presented to me a pretty decent raise, and new bonus system which has the potential to be very lucrative. They really busted their asses to put together something that works for me, but is fair. I am consistantly reminded how lucky I am to be working here.

Tomorrow night we head off to the wilderness of Iowa, and on the way we get to meet Ernie. I'm pretty psyched about meeting him, and I must admit I was on pets.com earlier looking at toys. I hope he plays with toys, and I plan on getting him some sort of hippo or giraffe to tear apart. Also, suprisingly, dog beds are super cheap. I got a couple of visa gift cards from my bosses as a holiday gift yesterday at that party (again - amazing bosses), so I plan on taking Maria to a pet store after we sign all the Ernie paper work, and we can have a little shopping spree.

I can't comprehend that it's Christmas in three days. Sorry, no way. I haven't even gotten off of school yet, how can it possibly be Christmas already? It's a good thing I have a week off afterwards, or I think my brain might suffer a stroke from trying to understand what's going on.

I feel I need to go see a doctor at some point, as this cough just won't quit. It was revealed last night that I'm bugging my coworkers as well, so I really need to get it under control. I've been off medicine for a week or so now, but I grabbed some Dylsum (great cough stuff) today, which hopefully will help for the time being (I doubt I'll be able to see a doctor until next week). Hopefully I won't be at Maria's family's Christmas gathering coughing my brain out.

Oh, AND, I think I offically became a real person today. I went downstairs and discovered a package from my Uncle John and aunt Deborah. What's in there? Popcorn. That's right. My uncles and aunts all send each other these types of gifts around Christmas time, just simple things you can order online and send to 8 other people. But I've certianly never been a member of that great swap before. This offically recognizes me as an adult, independent of my parents. I will eat the popcorn tonight, and bask in my grownupidness.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Not Television
I was in a bit of a funky mood this morning. No reason, really, just sort of feeling dejected by the train taking a super long time and the dude whose backpack kept hitting me in the face. But then I got to work, and found a great one sentance email:

"You are in luck, the people have changed their minds. Are you still interested?"

While that may seem cryptic and meaningless, the truth is that I just have yet to tell you that this email is in refrence to our future dog, Erinie! I am extremely pumped about getting a dog. Maria commented on this happening on her blog here, and very accurately sums up the concerns I too had upon hearing of Ernie's availability. I'm guessing that, like us, this other family was looking at several dogs, and simply chose to go with another one. I'm hoping to set up an appointment to meet Ernie and handle paperwork next week, and pick the little barrel of fat up soon after New Years. There's a picture of him over on Maria's blog, check him out to see why I feel "cannonball" describes him pretty well. It appears that any problem can be solved just by throwing the weight of a blog behind it. Yesterday I comment that the dog search isn't going well - today we get good news. Enjoy non-dog blog posts while you can, folks; they're a dying breed.

Tonight is our office Christmas party, and we are all going bowling at an alley in the near north side. It should be okay, but I'm sure it will be somewhat boring and nothing I'll stay at all night. Then again, the first office party I attended soon after joining the staff here was actually quite a blast, so maybe I'll be suprised. More importantly than all of that, though, is the fact that tonight is the first time Maria meets all of my coworkers. I'm not concerned about her meeting them, they're all nice people, but there are lots of people who work here who I know by sight, but I am unsure of their names. It's never a problem, as I just give them a "hey" or whatever, but when I bring in my girlfriend, there's a real possibility I will be standing between Maria and that call center girl who I've worked with for months, trying to introduce them without saying names. My plan is to get Maria in, and get her sat down and deep into a conversation with Scott or John or Chris, one of the guys I know well. Then, if other people come over, I'll pretend not to notice, and perhaps they will introcude themselves to Maria. Oh man, this has hillarious sitcom disaster written all over it.

Television
There is none. Gilmore Girls was a rerun, despite my belief otherwise (I think due to the fact that I try to skim the descriptions on thewb.com, without really reading them, as to not give anything away, but to check if it's a new episode or not). Also, there was no West Wing waiting for us. The only thing we did have to watch was Family Guy, which was funny, and Law and Order reruns, which I'm getting back into. Ah, well. Soon it will be 2006 and Lost, 24 and Scrubs will flow like water from a mighty aquaduct.

Oh, actually, I did watch one thing:
Supernatural
This was the only episode besides the pilot that I've seen, and it had its moments. The two guys seem to be the world's best detectives, and can get anyone to tell them anything. This was the one with bloody mary in the mirrors, and man oh man did it rip off the Ring. So hard. Pat, I'm suprised you were okay with that - what with your pending engagement to the dead girl from that movie. OHHHH!! Burn.

Pass the Chronic (what??)

First and foremost, thank you a million times to Qualler and Brammer for setting me up with smiles forever. If you haven't yet, go to these links now - whatever you may be doing instead is stupid in comparison.

The Chronic of Narnia

Jack Black's Monolouge

That You Tube thing is pretty neat. I am digging around to see if I can find video of the spelling bee.

Not Television
The hunt for a dog is proving harder than I would have thought. The vast majority of dogs up for adoption out there seem to be large labs or retrievers - dogs that shed too much and wouldn't be very happy in my small apartment. I'm guessing that people are not posting as much to petfinder and such sites these days, as the holidays approach. Hopefully the new year will bring better luck.

I've been eating Pop Tarts at work for a little breakfast action this week, and it's pretty sweet. I enjoy having just about that much food once I'm settled into work. It's somewhat amazing that Pop Tarts require no refridgeration, no cooking, and basically never expire, yet taste pretty decent. Good job, Kellogg's - my stomach salutes you.

I'm being suprised over and over lately by how quickly the holidays are approaching. I just spoke to Laura, who's comming down to Chicago for a couple of days, and made plans to see her during my company's holiday party (oops). How on earth is that tomorrow already? Last weekend already I was blowing my mind by realizing Christmas was a week away. I'm going to go out today to hopefully find a present for my Dad, and I need to make sure to wrap the others tonight. Plus, before we go driving all over the midwest, I really need to get my oil changed, put on my new license plates and update my iPass account. If all of that happens between now and Thursday night (as we're leaving Friday night), I'll be impressed and amazed.

Television
The Packers
The Packers got chopped up into little pieces last night by the Ravens. I stopped watching after the first few unchallenged drives by the Ravens, but was suprised to tune in later on and find Aaron Rodgers under center. He looked okay, but I didn't see him play very much. It's good to see him getting at least a tiny bit of experience, finally. This showing finalized my belief that this is Favre's last year. Back when I was expecting us to go 6-10 I thought he'd definately be back for another year - one more to redeem himself. What with all the injuries and lack of talent, the team will be better next year (with or without Favre), so he could have come back for one last decent ride. But the way he's just getting pulverized every single game now, I can't imagine he'd sign on for another year. Perhaps his competitor's spirit will bring him back, but I'd really hate to see him ever ride the bench unless it was his choice. It was suggested to me that it would be great if Favre volunteered to come back, but specifically as a backup, and have Rodgers' back for a year or so. That'd be pretty awesome - he could really help teach him, and if we ever needed a backup, you know the team would respond to Favre trotting out onto the field. Not a bad idea at all.

Arrested Development
One of the last new ones was one last night - pretty damn good. The photo-montages were fantastic. It always makes me a little sad afterwards to think they'll be gone soon, but I also think the knowledge that there are only so many left makes the remaining ones better. Fox also then showed an AR rerun after the episode, which makes no sense to me. The show's ratings are so bad that you're cutting it, but you're showing primetime reruns?.. Unless the show's gotten a ratings boost due to the stories of it's cancellation, I suppose. Best moment I can remember right now: when GOB is trying to get the banana stand recipie out of George Michael "Dip it in what?? DIP IT IN WHAT?!?"

Upcomming
It sounds like there's finally a new Gilmore Girls tonight, and I think we have Family Guy and West Wing already waiting to be watched. I'm very interested to see how the West Wing handles Leo's untimely death. He'll be missed - I really enjoyed watching him. Once we get into the holiday travels, I doubt there will be all that much TV watched, but once 2006 rolls around, we'll have tons of good stuff on the horizon. Until then, Lost.

A Bad Day to Forget One's Scarf

I was given Thursday evening and Friday off by my world's-most-amazing-boss John, largely because almost everyone else was out of the office, and because I'm still fighting this chest cold. The three day weekend was amazing, full of hanging out with friends, and getting to spend a little time with Maria (something which is oddly a rarity these days). The weekend was spent almost entirely on the couch, except for a trip to Evanston and a party on Friday night. I got most of my Christmas shopping done, and also hit the grocery store. Really one of the better weekends I can recall, and a great way to head into my last week of work before taking a bunch of time off with Maria!

The Beast Rears his Ugly Head
So last night, whilst imbedded in the mass of a really quality seven-hour Sunday on the couch with some close friends, I witnessed what very well may be remembered as the beginning of the end of the world. Rex Grossman, once-starting, ankle-breaking, backup quarterback for the Chicago Bears trotted out onto the field. I'm not sure if everyone is as familiar with the Bears' QB issues as those of us forced to watch their games, so just in case; Kyle Orton was the Bears' reserve, he came in when Grossman broke his ankle in preseason (I think, it may have just been a very early game), Orton was terrible, and basically the reason the Bears lost any games. Everyone hated him pretty much (except me, as previously discussed). Orton just got his ass sat down at halftime last night, and Rex Grossman, who has become better and better in the memories of Chicagoans everywhere as the Orton days grinded by, trotted out onto the field. What makes this moment truely terrible, though, is that he was good. He put together two decent drives agains the Falcons, and sealed up the game that the defense had been winning up until that point. So I'm just saying, if the unthinkable were to happen, and come late January we're all swallowed up in a hellish sea of orange and dark blue, last night will be the moment I look back on and kick myself for not running down to Soldier Field and breaking that ankle again.

King Kong
I hate to over sell this movie. But it was amazing. This was the first movie I can remember seeing that made me feel like a kid seeing his first movie ever (before TV and whatnot made that commonplace). It was a spectacle from beginning to end (well, after a brief warming-up period at the beginning - which you should use to do things like blink and breath). I'm not going to discuss the plot, as I really don't want to give anything away, but talk about action-packed. I saw a spider in the shower this morning and I swear I had flashbacks to this movie. (shudder) I highly recommend everyone go see this, and go wanting nothing but to have your socks rocked off.

Maria and I saw Kong on Saturday, and sat infront of a very annoying woman who just kept on talking right through my multiple requests for her to be quiet. She also got into an argument with her son before the movie when the son asked why they showed a featurette for Walk the Line before the movie. The lady told him it was a "comming attraction", to which the son deftly pointed out the movie came out a month ago, and the mom was incredibly rude and dismissive, laughing at him, "It was before a movie, it said it was comming out at some date, it was a comming attraction! You are so hard-headded, you'll be lucky to find a woman who puts up with you, like daddy was." I was not a fan.

Surround Sound Video Games
Wow. So good. I never hooked this up before - it's awesome. If you have the ability to get this going, I give it a thumbs-up.

Saturday Night Live
A while back I believe I announced the death of SNL. I am happy to report I may have spoken too soon. I saw the episode with Jack Black last night (not all of it, unfortunately), and was STUNNED by two genuinely funny things! First was the knock-me-on-my-ass-fantastic rap video by Chris Parnell and one of the new guys, and the second was the spelling bee bit at the end. I am hoping to find video of at least the music video. The rap was one of those moments when they let cast members produce something and put it in the show (things which have traditionally been highlites of whatever show they land on). They should really do this more often. And the spelling bee succeeded largely thanks to a suprise use of Tenacious D. I just read in Brammer's post the the monologue was also good, but I missed that part. (Kicks floor.) Anyways, good job, SNL - I'll be keeping an eye on you.

Looks like I might have to get Showtime...

Showtime may rescue 'Arrested Development'

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Will the pay-TV environs of Showtime be a friendlier place for the Emmy-winning comedy "Arrested Development," which just got canceled by Fox?
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Word around town this week is that Showtime is in talks to pick up the comedy about a chaotic family. Sources stressed that the talks are still exploratory and that it would be a big financial commitment on Showtime's part to pick up the show in its current form with a large ensemble cast that includes Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter and Will Arnett.

"Arrested" was an instant hit with critics following its debut on Fox in late 2003, but the show never pulled in much of a crowd, even after it won the Emmy for best comedy series in 2004. Last month, Fox threw in the towel, cutting its episode order for "Arrested's" third season from its initial 22-episode ticket to 13.

Representatives for Showtime, and the series' producers 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV declined comment late Tuesday.

Arun-ish

I am feeling almost all better after my cold, but the one problem still going on is my impressive back pain. I don't feel like I was coughing that much while I was sick, but perhaps combined with our not-so-firm mattress it was enough to wrench my back into one big muscle ache. The idea of laying on a floor for about an hour sounds amazing right now. But hopefully by tomorrow I will be fully mended, and running around in meadows.

Upon arrival at work this morning I noticed a large orange box sticking up out of our garbage can. I checked it out a little closer, and it is from a costume shoppe, and labled "Medium jacket size". Clearly someone is about to burst into my office dressed as a horse or a clown or a fireman or something. I can't wait.

The neon gave us a scare last night. When I started it up to head over to wine night one of the cylinders didn't seem to be hitting. I gave it a bit of gas and let it spin for a while and finally it kicked in. It was scary, though, for a minute my mind was reeling about what on earth I would do if my car died. I really could live without a car within the city, but shopping would become much harder, and visiting people would become a huge hassle. The Neon has always been a war horse, though, and I had just left it in the cold for two weeks with an 1/8 of a tank of gas, so hopefully this was a one-time problem.

Wine night was lovely, Amy hosted in her uber-creepy ex-hotel apartment building. There was a expansive lobby area which was just a few chairs away from being the scariest place on earth. Remember that MTV show Fear? They definately could have filmed one there. It was pretty cool.

Gilmore Girls and Lost are both reruns again this week. What on earth, I ask you? Could we please get some fresh episodes?? They really need to hit their stride of that middle of the season new-episodes-for-two-months-straight binge. I'm quite sick of having to check if there's a new episode every week. I don't remember it being this bad in the past? Also, with 24 starting in January, I think I'll get back into that (I missed most of the second half of last season). I'll have to catch up on last season's events. They keep saying the new season is "non-stop". Does that mean there will be 24 weeks of new episodes, or does that just mean it's action-packed? Man, if it was really 24 weeks straight I would be very happy.

Finally, I hate to break this before it's ready.

Sports Personalities I Can't Help Liking

Shaq
Say what you will about the guy, but he's a monster of a man, yet sweet as molasses. He is a deputy police officer in Miama, does children's movies, and somehow manages to make me laugh when he does stupid cell phone commercials. He just seems like such a genuine, nice guy, and doesn't come off as an idiot. Shaq feels like someone people would hate, but there's not an ounce of hatred in there.

Kyle Orton
I know I should hate him. He's a Bear, and thus should garner my despise, but perhaps its the fact the he sucks so hard (and thus tears the Bears down from the inside) that makes him seem okay. More likely it's the fact that he's handling his situation (sucking at football, and lots of people yelling at him for it), as well as anyone possibly could. He never gets mad or defensive, he just says he knows he needs to get better, but he's proud of his team, and is going to try his hardest to improve for next week. What a smart, level-headed answer from a rookie thrown into a starting position. I can't help it, Orton, you're an okay guy - just don't start throwing completions, ya hear?

LeBron James
Everytime I hear this guy talk I'm suprised how eloquent and smart he seems. After skipping college to play in the NBA I'd expect him to be a cocky bastard, but he doesn't seem to carry himself like that. On top of his general likeability he has these new commercials now where he plays every member of a family, and while these are not great performances, he manages to pull them off and seem natural. And on top of all that, he's actually as good at basketball as he was hyped to be.

Brett Favre
Everyone in Wisconsin thinks Brett Favre is still the best quarterback ever. At one point you could have made a great case for this fact, but these days it's just not true. He leads the league in interceptions, and when half of your team's 10 loses are by five points or less, and you're trying to figure out why that keeps happening, turnovers sure aren't a bad place to start looking. But despite the way he angers me by throwing into triple coverage, and the way the everyone else still adores him, I can't help liking Brett. He still seems so simple and down to earth after all these years, and he plays with such joy. Hell, I practically grew up watching the guy. Watching Brett play well automatically makes me feel nostalgic.

Not Television
And yet also television...
Maria and I went out to dinner last night with her parents, and while out we saw that man to the right there. His name is Danny McCarthy, and he played a sercret service agent on Prison Break up until last week, when he was killed. (He is so very not famous that this picture, from a local theater's website, was the only picture of him on both Google and Yahoo! search, making him as famous as Pat Hayden.) Like all actors I've seen in person (I think the count is up to three?) he was significantly shorter than I expected. He seemed very drunk, and left at the same time as us, getting in a woman's dented '98 Grand Am with paint flaking off. It didn't seem like he was having such a good time, which was sad. But he did have a hold in his jacket that he had covered with tape! Just like me! Where mine was duct tape, his was a clear tape, perhaps packaging tape. Whatever the specifics, I take my hat off to you, Danny McCarthy, for sharing in my love of covering holes in our coats with tape. You must have made at least some cash appearing in several episodes of a prime-time Fox drama, though. Go buy yourself a new jacket and perhaps a new car. You deserve it, big guy. (Wouldn't it be great if Danny McCarthy himself posted a reply to this??)

Other than that outing to Mia Franchesca (I definately spelled that wrong), my weekend was spent on the couch being sick. Maria's friend Helen visited, and they went off shopping and eating, while I let my sick body beat up on some germs and watched Helen's dog, Dodger. Dodger weighs in at about eight pounds, and fits comfortably on the head of a pin. She and I watched The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,The Grinch, and lots of Football. I also played a ton of Xbox. It was a pretty good way to spend a couple of days, and I'm feeling significantly better today, so I'd call the weekend a success. Due to this lack of activity, I have little to blog about.

Movies
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Really good, actually. This currently holds the title as the oldest movie I've actually liked. Suprisingly weaving story line, good characters, and lots of desert. I had a strange craving for a western, and this definately fulfilled it.

The Grinch
Better than I remembered it. I thought it was awful the first time I saw it, but it at least has enough going on that a sick, almost sleeping Dave will keep it on the television. Bonus: George Bluth is the mean mayor.

Football
I am kicking myself today. The Packers played a late game last night (7pm kickoff), which I watched the first three quarters of, then had to hit the sack, as I was tired and sick and trying to rest up for work today. I recorded the rest of the game, but stupidly did not record the thing after it, so I missed the overtime!! But the good news is that the Packers won 16-13. Here's to winning our third game!

Gado was great in this game - basically the only reliable thing the offense had going. And did you see that incomplete pass he threw from the endzone to avoid a safety?? HA HA HA, genius!! The defense was amazing (three goal-line stands in the first half alone), repeatedly making up for Favre's mistakes. And we managed to escape the season with at least on of our big streaks in tact: the Packers have beaten the Lions the last 15 times we have played them in Lambeau. It's not much, but at this point I'll take it.

Lots and lots of snow

Snow


It snowed an awful lot here last night. It was fun to run around in, and Maria and I went out to eat at a restaurant with a fireplace. I am also now extremely happy about getting a garage. Very nice. I am getting a little sick, unfortuantely, but I knocked myself out around 10 last night with some Nyquil and slept for a long time, and I feel pretty decent this morning. I'm looking forward to a nice weekend full of videogames, good food, and general laziness.

Also, good work-related news today: We've been running tests on new forms for one of our sites; tests I was in charge of. I vouched for one of the forms, and it ran by itself yesterday - converted at three times the rate of our old form. Awesome.

Slow Blog-Week

This week has not thus far provided the usual glut of blogable material, but a few good things have been happening in the last couple days, so I figured I'd throw together a post.

Not Television
It's snowing like a banshee out there, folks. It just began snowing about fifteen minutes ago, and it's already covered the streets and the park. There is going to be an assload* of snow tonight. Which is sort of awesome, as it's not even Christmas, and we're getting a good snowfall, but it also sucks because I'll have to walk home in it. Note in the picture to the left that you can't even see the lake. It's so foggy and snowy outside that it sort of looks like our windows are painted. Up at this height you also get to see the snow going sideways and even upwards - which is always a bit off-putting.
*technical term

My Xbox returned to me last night, which was a very joyous event in the world of Dave. I broke it out and played through the first two levels of Perfect Dark Zero, and a few races in Project Gotham Racing. I love PGR, it's such a great game. I can't remember the last time I've really enjoyed a racing game this much. I also sat down this morning and played around in the "dashboard" quite a bit. It's really cool how you can rip music to the hard drive, then play it any time, even during a game. And the built in / downloadable arcade games are fun to screw around with for almost unlimited time. I played Hexic (just like every silly java game you download from the internet) this morning for quite a while. It's made so much better by letting you listen to any music, being big and pretty in HD, and also building your "gamer score" as you play. (Your gamer score is sort of an overall number that is increased by completing specific tasks in different games - even in offline play! Very cool.) I'm just loving this thing, it's such a great overall package.

People that Annoy Me During my Commute
Commuting to work every morning has made my skin thicker to everyday annoyances. But despite not letting people get to me, I still notice them. And despise them. I am slowly growing to hate 99% of humanity, and I've started a list. Do not judge me by my hatred of others, for this is my blog. This is where I complain.

1. People who walk in zig-zags, and/or do not pay attention to where they are going.
These people drive me CRAZY, and they're EVERYWHERE. I tend to walk faster than most people on the street here, and when I'm trying to pass people they often drift over into my path, resulting in a horribly awkward moment when they suddenly realize someone is there, and then they almost always act like I'm somehow being inconsiderate, or like I'm about to mug them. Idiots. I had an exceptionally bad experience with this the other morning. I was walking up the stairs to the train platform, and passing a lady on her left. She began to drift left, but just kept going. Turns out that for some reason she decided halfway up the stairs she had to know if a train was sititng on the track silently right away. She leans way over left to look, and runs right into me, almost hitting me in the face with the back of her head. I didn't comprehend how far she was comming over until it was almost too late. I got out an "excuse me", and a neck-evasion just in time to avoid touching her near-empty head. Walk in a straight line, or pay attention to your surroundings, or hey - how about doing both?

2. People who stand on the left side of the escalator
This one is a little weird, but in my short time using the subways, I learned almost immediately that the right side of the escalator is for standing, the left side is for walking. If you want to stand, just get out of the way for people who want to walk. There's always some lame brain who stands there without a clue, as twenty people stare at the back of their head - hating them.

3. People who walk slowly in the middle of the stairs
These morons tend to be either substantially wide, carrying twenty bags, or swing their arms obnoxiously. On top of that, they walk in the middle of the stairs incredibly slowly. And usually just as a train can be heard pulling into the station below. When one tries to pass them, they risk being clubbed by a massive arm full of bags, a wildly flailing hand, or just the general girth of the individual. Move over there, sir.

4. The "Save the Children" people
Stop asking me for donations. You stand in the exact same spot EVERY DAY and ask everyone you see for donations. Do you really think that by standing on the same ten feet of State Street every night at the same time you're going to find a lot of new people?? Honestly, leave me alone! I'm sorry, I politely refused the first fifty time I was asked, but now I just walk by. So yes, cop an attitude with me, and act like I'm an ass, just please stop talking to me. I am aware that I seem to appear approachable, and that's good. People ask me for directions all the time, and I try to help out. Unfortunately, this also translates into people selling things or asking for money talking to me all the time. I am not interested in your orginization, be it religious, social, or political. I am just trying to get home. (Suprisingly, the most considerate person selling stuff on the street? The Streetwise** guy outside my office.) I have a good example for this one as well: It's late summer, I'm walking him in the worst downpour I have ever seen. I'm wearing a t-shirt and shorts, shivering, and I even have headphones on. I'm almost jogging to the train I'm walking so fast, and this jackass from some charity steps right infront of me (out from under an awning) and asks me to stop and talk. The only time I've been verbally rude, I look him in the eye and I say, "You've got to be kidding me," and walk around him. He gets all pissed at me and yells, "I have to be out here, too, you know!" And all I can think is that no, he does not. And that they're really dumb to still ask people to stop and talk in the rain. Go inside for a while, wait for it to stop. Do not assume I am as stupid as you are.
**Streetwise = a paper written by homeless people, typically sold by semi-crazy folks.

5. People who sit in the outside seat exclusively
They won't move in for people, and pull this swiveling manuver to let people squeeze past them into the inside seat. If you're going to claim the outside seat, at least stand up so people can get in. The time these folks get really bad is when they have a bag. People will get on the train, sit in the outside seat, and put their bag on the inside seat. Then pretend not to notice people standing up around them, waiting to sit down, until someone asks them to move it. Then they act indignant and put-out, put it on their lap, and pull the swivel. Have you really never been on the train before? Do you not understand how this works? You do not get a seat for your bag.

Television
The Office
I'm not 100% sure about this episode. There were a few things I really liked, and a few things I really didn't like. I loved the Jim & Pam stuff. (Especially that he pulled the card out at the last second.) I didn't like Dwight being kissed by another woman so much, nor did I like the other other woman exposing herself to Michael. There's too much office romance going on, and the show is starting to get away from the insane boredom of office life that it's supposed to be about. Still very fun to watch, though. And I suppose they were all supposed to be drunk, so none of it will have a lasting effect. Finally, Dwight's face when he was shooting paintballs was literally amazing.

Six Months Down

Not Television
Hey everybody, this week marks my sixth month in Chicago. Tomorrow is my sixth month at working at I-S as well. It's been a good six months thus far, I must say things have really come together. I was sitting around yesterday, though, and thought how great it will be once Pat is in town and we can spend lazy days just watching bad TV and playing Tetris Attack. It seems like having Pat in town will be that final piece of the pie. The delicious pie.

There was a lot of activity this weekend, mostly centering around getting a jump on Christmas. First and foremost, we got ourselves a tree, which is that thing on the left there. I missed my digital camera during the whole Christmasing-up process, and I'm hoping to get my grubby little mitts on this camera phone sometime soon. I also mourned the passing of my electric razor this weekend, a void which will need to be filled soon. With Christmas comming up, I have chosen to cross my fingers and wait until then (especially seeing as how I blew far too much money last week). Also, writing emails with extremely blunt hints to your Mother never hurts.

Maria also put up some nice lights on our porch, we upgraded the bathroom, and put down some floor mats for snowy shoes.


The result of all this is a very nice, festive apartment which smells of pine and has an ample supply of candy canes. The other parts of the weekend were spent hanging out with friends, bowling, and laying around. Unfortunately I was oddly grumpy Saturday night for bowling - despite the super-incredibly-overly-debilitatingly-cool bowling alley we visited. Ah well, Sunday's complete lack of all activity purged me of the shopping stress and agony of over spending that haunted me on Saturday.

Television
The OC
A suprisingly entertaining episode. I guess this was their "everything gets back to good" episode - I didn't realize they were doing a period of "everything is crap" - I just thought that was how they show is now. Lots of Seth and Summer (with far more Seth-Summer legitimate chemestry than usual) - and the whole thing was talking about going to college. Seth was very funny - the whole climbing on the couch thing, and his various antics of acting afraid of Summer were delightful. Again, let me say that Seth in college is shaping up to be very enjoyable. Almost Gilmore Girls-esque, possibly. I hope that the trip to college serves as an excuse to minimize Ryan-Merissa screen time.
(Good gard there were a lot of hyphens in that.)

The Packers
Oh, my poor Packers. They just can't catch a break. That game was ours. We outplayed the Bears at every turn. Our offense was much better, our defense held their offense at every turn, we were even proving productive against the very good Bears defense. But a couple of bad plays blew the whole thing for us. I'm looking at you, Favre. Interception in the endzone with six seconds left in the first half? Ouch. Interception again as you're driving for a good, legitimate win? Double ouch. It made me sad to see Favre play with sporatic moments of Favreish greatness, only to screw everything up. Also, too bad Bubba got hurt again - that has to suck an awful lot.

The West Wing
Another episode about Santos proving himself. He keeps having to do this, which is sort of okay, but getting a bit old. We understand he's the "I don't want to be king - that's why it has to be you" kind of guy, it's time to make him seem legimately able, not just a good guy. I think they'll get their shit together on this soon. It's odd that the eldest daughter's wedding has become a big plot line - she was barely in the show before. This type of to do would have been better put towards Charlie marrying the younger daughter.

Cow Tipping

I am from Wisconsin. Very much from Wisconsin. And since moving to Chicago I have heard people claim to have tipped a cow once in a while. It seems that only people from Wisconsin (and perhaps other non-urban areas) know that cow tipping is an urban (or, I suppose, suburban) myth. You can not tip over a cow. What strikes me as funny is that people are like, "Yeah, we went cow tipping..." and obviously they know that's not true, but they think it's possible, so they lie about it, and the people they are talking to think it's possible, so the myth grows.

For the future refrence, cows are big and heavy. And wide. And they don't actually lock their legs or go paralyzed when they sleep. You can not tip them over.

"I'm BUSTING, Jerry! BUSTING!"

To quote George is to sum up my current mood - that of very happy.

Why, you ask? Oh, the reasons are many-fold. Let's just start a list, shall we?

Not Television
REASON NUMBER ONE: I just saw on my online banking site that the secretary of state cashed my check for my registration! This means that the forms went through fine, and I should recieve my new plates / registration soon, and I can stop worrying about all that nonsense! This moment has been six months in the making.

REASON NUMBER TWO: Jigsaw's Blog. I love this thing. It makes me smile every time I read it - and clearly this blog should be the basis for the next film. Serial blog-murderer? It's like a horrible Atlas scene based on a genius idea that could be done right if not fucked up. I anticipate the first inevitable blog-murderer film with great interest.

REASON NUMBER THREE: Xbox 360. This thing is great. Dispite it still being messed up, I'm able to play Project Gotham Racing pretty normally, and it's a fantastic game to sit down and play for a few minutes at a time (as you can be racing and done with said race and out of the game in like five minutes - perfect for prework gaming). I should be reciving my box today so I can ship it to Microsoft. The only thing I'm worried about at this point is that DHL may not get it to me until Friday, as they may need my signature, and then I may not get the Xbox back until after next week. But anticipation just makes things sweeter.

REASON NUMBER FOUR: Snow/Christmas. It's snowing pretty well here this morning, as seen in the picture below. I do not particularlly like walking in snow, but I do like how it looks, and how it makes things feel holidayish. I look forward to some substantial snow this year, hopefully. The only down side to this is that it makes the train super packed, apparently. There were no seats this morning already by my stop (which is pretty unheard of), but I managed to secure the standing spot leaning against the sheet of metal which protects the ladder. It's a good place to stand as you can wedge yourself in between the ladder's legs and the sheet of metal and the seat infront of you and do crossword puzzles.


REASON NUMBER FIVE: Vacation time comming up. Somehow it's December already, which is nuts. And I just got the okay to take the week between Christmas and New Years off, so in just a few weeks here I'm going to have 10 days off! That'll be pretty sweet, especially as so many people will be around Bfield during that time.

Television
REASON NUMBER SIX: Lost. HOLY MOLY, last night's episode was amazing. I really need to watch it again, there was so much to catch. They've been off the main story line for a while, but damn did they come back to it hard this week. There were several huge revelations, plus the character development was outstanding. A few of the characters just went through some crazy shit, and they're handling it extremely well. I only saw the first frame of the scenes from next week this time, and it along gave away too much for me. (But nothing we didn't know was comming up anyways.) We're back to a rerun next week, I hope it's only one week of downtime.