Study Away

I normally don't do this, but I think I'll study at a Starbucks or similar coffee house with some outdoor seating. It's a pretty nice day and we won't have many more of them. Beside I really need to stay away from the Black Hole. That place consumes too much of my life and my soul.

EDIT: the problem with the nearest Starbucks is the fact the outdoor seating faced NORTH! Shade was not what I was after. I got near the Black Hole and figured that I would walk across the field to a water pyramid sculpture we have and be in the light that way. There is a park across the street though and I noticed a few picnic tables in the sun. After the shadows reached me, I retreated to another table still bathed in light.

At least I had a little time in the light before the shadows reached me. They come too soon now.

Halloween Contest: Rest In Peace

The haunted hayride was the best part of last night. Parts of that spooked me out great. Phantasmagoria was okay, but they left me alone and went after the women. Meeting Lucifer was cool, but I wanted that pentagram to light up or something. Hi, we're law students and lawyers and we'll be running your place soon. In second place for last night was picking up bottles of amaretto and sour mix. Who caught "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" last week? Kind of wrong that it isn't being shown tonight.

Contest time, who knows where this Halloween song (okay I'm being a little loose with definitions here) comes from? Besides Robin or Kevin I mean. Oh, did you have to look it up on the internet to find the answer?

I died
So many years ago
You can make me feel
Like it isn't so
And why you come to be with me
I think I finally know mmm-mmm

You're scared
Ashamed of what you feel
And you can't tell the ones you love
You know they couldn't deal
Whisper in a dead man's ear
It doesn't make it real

That's great
But I don't wanna play
'Cause being with you touches me
More than I can say
And since I’m only dead to you
I’m saying stay away
And let me rest in peace

Let me rest in peace
Let me get some sleep
Let me take my love and bury it
In a hole 6-foot deep
I can lay my body down
But I can't find my, sweet release
So let me rest in peace

You know, you got a willing slave
You just love to play the thought
That you might misbehave
Till you do, I'm telling you
Stop visiting my grave and let me rest in peace

I know I should go
But I follow you like a man possessed
There's a traitor here beneath my breast
And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed
If my heart could beat, it would break my chest but I can see you're unimpressed
So leave me be

Let me rest in peace
Let me get some sleep
Let me take my love and bury it
In a hole 6-foot deep
I can lay my body down
But I can't find my sweet release
Let me rest in peace
Why won't you
Let me rest in peace?

First Halloween Party

Last night was Snow White, the pregnant nun (the one who won the costume contest not the other pregnant nun who arrived too late to be in the contest), a dancer, Dr. Lingus (OB-GYN), teen wolf (that had to itch after awhile), the Roman Emperor, Jesus, the Pope and a whole bunch of friars and monks, the flappers, a mariachi band, various other doctors and nurse, Superwoman, partisan skag, injured football player, Zorro, disgruntled ATA employee (complete with full ammo belt), and a whole bunch of others that I don't remember off-hand.

$3 long island specials are not a good idea for me, neither were the shots of Jagermeister, the free beer, and anything concerning Jack. I feel fine actually and there were no problems during the night, but there is a point where you go from happy from alcohol and dancing all over the floor to melancholy from alcohol.

Oh, and it should be against the laws of nature to wake up after 3 hours of sleep and then stay awake in bed for 2 hours until you can fall asleep again.

Hanna House tonight with the law review. I don't think any alcohol involved with this outing. At least not formally. A good idea I think.

I Pardon Thee Witch!

Can witches bring a class action lawsuit for this? Are witches the latest suspect class for constitutional review purposes? Are Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay going to walk into my office doors once I'm a lawyer?

Naked Chicks In The Computer Lab

It must be a difference in cultures thing. In Europe two summers ago I learned how many things were different in France than here in the good ol' USA. Hey I was propositioned twice on the same street corner when going to the internet cafe. I assume China has cultural norms that are different than ours. That being said I'm just not ready to see Chinese bush on our monitors when I'm over by the lab printer reprinting a syllabus. Can you watch that stuff in the privacy of your own apartment please. Now I'm afraid of what else he could be doing over that as he is clearing his throat a lot and I'm not looking to see if he's okay. I'm just sayin'!

Per Your Request: B.A.T.G.A.

Warning: I've been tinkering with this one for a few days.

I may not do the Requestline anymore as it doesn't get very many responses, but there was one question that greatly intriqued me because I wasn't sure how I was going to answer it. This was one that if I did answer it, it needed to be done right.

Let me get the others out of the way real fast. If you have a wart problem go see your doctor for the best solution. She went to med school and she needs to use all that knowledge that got poured into her. No, nothing on me has any names, nicknames, or other atypical identification at all including the toes. I would never say never concerning the viability of a third political party, but I don't see it happening anytime soon so we're stuck with the Republicrats for now.

What do I look for in a woman? I'm assuming Anon meant that in a relationship context. Umm, that is a good question actually. What we are dealing with are two standards that are the same thing: the permanent Confessions spokeswoman which boils down to a B.A.T.G.A. standard of review (Best Alternative To Gillian Anderson). Gillian if, by whatever major miracle, you happen to be Anon call me.

1. Brains. Oh Brian you are just saying that! No I am serious. Intelligence is a major, if not the most important, turn-on a woman can have. Someone who can keep up her end of a conversation is someone to be treasured. Talking with each other is ultimately the number one activity, timewise, two people will do with each other. Intelligence is great because it is so stimulating. It might even lead to other stimulating things. No, not just the obvious play on words, but experiencing music, plays, or idle conversation debating the merits of a movie you just saw. I'm not talking about sheer IQ points, but about having a brain and using it. Conversations are so nice to have (I guess communication ties into this point). The day I thought up the name 'CabbageHead' for my GF when I was 16 was a profound moment. Why that name you ask? Talking with her or talking with a head of cabbage produced the same results! What moron said that guys don't make passes at women who wear glasses?

2. Willing to be more than what you are now. People are meant to grow and experience new things. Whether that is deciding to get a high level graduate degree, wanting to learn how to paint landscapes using watercolors, taking a class in conversational Spanish, crawling through a neighborhood home tour that you've never been to, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute, we are not meant to be stagnant. I am growing all the time. If someone is with me she'll need to grow too, or the journey won't be as fun.

3. Explorative. This ties into the first two in some ways. Being willing to explore things. Whether a new country, a new restaurant, that left turn on the trail, a new play, or trying out something you read about the other day. I guess it really means have a sense of curiousity about things and the confidence and willingness to explore your curiousity.

4. "We defend each other." Loyalty and Trust. They are two interrelated concepts really. Once you have a degree of trust there should be a sense of loyalty. Not blind loyalty, but a sense of faith in the other person. It is okay to disagree. It is okay to try to change a mind. Sometimes you have to back the play even if you think it is wrong though. Odds are sooner or later I'll do something stupid, usually sooner. Please just back me long enough on the play until I figure out I was wrong. Oh and please don't say "I told you so!" These concepts work both ways though. I've been in relationships where I was trusting and loyal, yet the other person didn't uphold her end of the bargain. You have to let me back your play sometimes too.

5. Touch. I love the human sense of touch! It can be comforting in times of need, the simple holding of a hand. It can provide pleasure such as leaning into someone else when watching the movie that was rented from BlockBuster. A single touch can change a mood so quickly, whether the holding of hands, the back massage, a gentle kiss of the lips, the resting of a head upon a shoulder. This is one of the few times I really am touchy-feely. I simply don't understand women who aren't. Maybe it goes back to a sense of trust and an unwillingness to allow yourself to open up a little, an inability to let yourself be vulnerable to someone within your personal space?

While there are other personality traits that I love if I get those five in a relationship I'll be perfectly happy. I'm a rather flexible person in that way. With those five foundational bricks, I believe the rest can take care of itself with a little effort on both our parts. Besides I need to end this post sometime! Umm...Brian you never mentioned things like tall, short, blondes, redheads, etc. You're right I didn't. Do I have physical preferences? Yes, we all do. We're very visually oriented creatures and there will be certain outward traits that interest us. Yet physicality may be an initial interest, it isn't a sustaining one. What I consider beautiful is not solely the province of the physicality, it is combined with the inner light of personality, soul, and the interaction with me. Done right all I need is a pretty smile. Besides, I really need to stay away from redheads. Third time is the charm my...

I'm Going To Be A Trained Commish!

According to the letter I got yesterday I need to show up for some training to be a commissioner for the election. I have a choice of 10am or 5pm training downtown. It's a good thing I don't have class on Friday! It looks like performing my civic duty is more complicated than I initially thought. Hopefully the weather will be nice as I walk from school to the City-County building.

I am THE MAN!

Growing up I fought against THE MAN! THE MAN represented all the power and had the boot heel on our necks. We, the people, just wanted to be left alone and do our thing.

Today I was given my own set of shiny leather boots. In my spring internship I worked with judges and their court staff. Anything I worked on was purely an advisory opinion on the cases that came up in a oral argument or on a point of law that my judge gave me to research. I also looked in case files to see if the criteria for a summary judgment default were meet and informed the judge of that fact. I just gave my opinion to THE MAN. Today my assignment at BIG GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT internship was to write up a complaint. I typed up a complaint saying that according to this statute and these administrative regulations you, citizen, have violated the terms of your permit and we, THE MAN, are now going to revoke it!

I have now written up a document that affects the legal rights of a human being and my supervising attorney thinks it looks great (after one edit where I used liberal amounts of my law review red pen). I am now THE MAN!

Hi-Ho Silver Away!

We're having our pictures taken for the composite. I looked at the Class of 2004's composite and saw all the men wearing black suits or dark navy blue suits and white shirts. The women were not much more colorful with their jackets but at least they can get away with more colorful blouses usually.

Naturally I had to be different. I demand to be noticed sometimes. Silver-gray jacket, with a sharp silver and blue tie, and a light lavender (because lavender is in for guys this year accordng to my fashion counsultant) shirt for color. A tad different from my other formal school pics, but I felt I looked good :-)

What Is Past Is Also Present

A recent post got me to thinking about my days in high school. I pulled out a dusty memory book that had my senior year in it. In it were things that seemed so important to me at the time: newspaper clippings about football and basketball games, ticket stubs from field trips, factoids about the school and the events that we did, a few school newspaper clippings that mentioned me, notes and messages from those who signed my memory book, lots of pictures (which luckily had names written in the back to help me remember who some of these people were), and a few writings. Yes, Confessions is merely a new interpretation of an old tradition I've had. At least it seems that way to me.

I wrote those words when I was 17. I was in total amazement after I read them. If I gave some of the writings to people to look at, would they know it was me that wrote them just by reading them? Some of the phrasing was incredibly similar to how I phrase things now. The themes appeared as if I had written them yesterday here instead of there in the far past. It was so incredibly odd to have a 17 year old me speaking to the current me through those old words.

Lately many of us have had discussions on how we've changed over the past few years. Things such as getting married, having children, going to school and seeing the world through legal blinder now, and other things. I am a poor observer of myself. I don't believe I have changed substantially these past two years, but if there are any subtle changes my classmates or my non-school friends will have to tell me of any differences. I'll initially disbelief anything said to be honest.

Yet there I was then in black ink and paper, the same as I am now on this electronic medium. In some ways I find it unsettling because it asks questions I can't answer. Am I the same now as I was then because my core personality and value system hasn't changed? If that is the question I can accept that. I like to think that I am basically a good man despite my numerous flaws. Or is the question(s) truly this one, why are things still the same? Have I not learned the lessons of the past? Do I have systematic flaws that keep me bound to my past? If that is the question, then I wonder about many things now.

I hope I was simply a wise 17 year old.

Look Upwards Tonight

Look up tonight for the lunar eclipse. I hope the clouds cooperate.

EDIT: Stupid cloudy night sky!

The Last Classes

I have to schedule my classes for my last semester in a week or so. I'm not sure what I want/need to take. The school provides a list of classes that are recommended. They're your typical bar subject classes so I figure I should take those just so I have some familiarity with the material during BarBri review time. Looking the list I only need Income Tax and a business law class like Secured Transactions. The school suggests taking two of three business law classes and I had Sales during the summer. I should be okay with that. Law Review is an automatic, but after those three classes I just don't know.

I don't NEED any other classes. I will not be lacking credits for graduation. I wouldn't be full time (which is 12 credits I think), but because of all the summer classes I've had I won't run afoul of the ABA residency requirements. The extra time off can be useful for job search, pro bono work, possible part-time job, running a law society, and who knows what else.

However, I want to take something interesting. It will be my last chance to be exposed to some atypical area of law and to see my friends one last time. Does anyone have any ideas?

Choices

With all the activities and meetings that the school provides me I can't go to all of them. I have to choose one over another. Sometimes other things come up that I want to take care of so I can't go to something that is also interesting.

Sometimes I think I choose the wrong meeting to attend yesterday. I knew almost exactly what would occur at the one I attended. The other one sounded interesting based on what other people said. *sigh*

PS: *ahem* speaking of choices SOMEONE forgot to lock the passenger door after Starbucks. A good thing no one wants to rob me.

Anyone Want To Be Spooked?

My law review is going to a haunted house/hayride/corn maze this Saturday night. We're encouraged to bring guests (more people = more discount). If interested lemme know.

I Proved Gravity Again

Normally when I talk I am not nervous yet this time I was. I had no idea how this conversation would go and I was extremely nervous about it. Like most people I decided to lean against something. It is a weird psychological motion if you think about it, we attempt to gather strength through the strength and permanence of the object being leaned upon as if that object will support you through the discussion.

Did I mention the object of choice was a flimsy plastic shell that wouldn't support the weight of a toddler? I'm surprised I didn't fall in with the lid. Sometimes I wonder if the dream of a trial lawyer is such a good one for me.

Confessions Spokeswoman Tryouts

First, I would like to thank Energy Spatula for this idea. You're a genius!
Second, ES get well soon. Maybe you should just stay home today and avoid inflicting germ warfare on your classmates.
Third, you know the world is getting smaller when you're instant messaging someone and think that 2,000 miles is just down the road compared to some other online friends you have.
Fourth, good luck on your Cabana Boy tryouts ES. I think you can whip a 1L into shape.

Okay, here is the plan. Let's have "Reality Blogging (TM)" by having you, my faithful readers be in a contest. The working title is "Who Wants To Be A Spokeswoman" until I can think up something better. For those unaware I select a monthly spokeswoman for Confessions. Past winners have been Gillian Anderson, Amy Wynn Pastor, and currently Sasha Alexander. I know many of you are just as qualified as those past spokeswomen.

The rules are simple: you need to be female (Chuck no faking it again), and just write down in the Comments or email me why you deserve to be the next Confessions Spokeswoman. I'll figure out the rest of the contest rules later as I need to see how much interest there is.

The duties are simple, you're the public persona, the face of Confessions for the time period (normally for one month, but if you only want one week we can discuss it). There might be some travel to perform your duties, we'll see. This is hardly a ceremonial post as the spokeswoman needs to be intelligent and articulate with the crowds, hence the writing requirement. I need to see your words to know you.

Good luck to all the contestants!

All Request Tuesday

Okay I'm going to be working on oil & gas revocation permits today (I hope) so no interesting things from me today until later or maybe Wednesday. Same rules as last week. Come up with some topic ideas for me to write about and I'll pick a winner or two later today.

Anything goes so be creative, although NO MORE automobile questions. Not that I didn't mind pontificating on the HEMI and rotary engines, but we covered that last week.

25 Years Of 'Bloom County'

I'll be honest, Bloom County was my favorite newspaper comic of all time just barely nipping Calvin & Hobbes. Who could resist Opus, Bill The Cat, the Anxiety Closet, and the Shuttlechair Challenger?

Berkeley Breathed is coming out with a 25 year retrospective. 25 years! Cripes! Okay I wasn't reading it right at the beginning, but still... Sadly Outland and the current Opus just aren't as good as the original.

My Election Wish

In the next election there will be two presidential candidates worthy of my precious vote instead of two numbnuts. One candidate gives me about 30% of what I want. The other candidate gives me 0% of what I want. Wow, talk about the lesser of two evils. Whatever happened to the spirit of debate and ideas?

Maybe if the Libertarians were a viable third party the other two wouldn't take advantage of us?

It's an election year Charlie. Everyone is stupid.
No, everyone gets treated as if they are stupid.
C.J. Cregg and Charlie Young - The West Wing

Commish Brian?

Item #3 on my To Do List was to call back the person who left me a message about working on Election Day. I am now a 'commissioner' and I have no idea what my duties will be nor where I will be working, but I assume all that will be in the letter being sent to me.

The only thing I know is this. 6am next Tuesday I'll be in the County Clerk's office with a bag full of absentee ballots for my polling place and a taxi will wisk me there. (Will a taxi wisk me back downtown so I can pick up the MGR that will have to be downtown somewhere for this?) Oh, and it appears that if there is some kind a dispute that requires reps from both parties I'm on of those persons, I think. It'll all be in the letter I hope!

Protector of Democracy Brian reporting for duty!

To Do List

I had eight items on the To Do List for today. Managed to get seven of them done. Number eight I'll have to limp through this afternoon. Not too bad a thing I guess. So many days if I get four out of eight that is a good day!

That is the essence of law school in case you're curious. Just triage the issues and try to get the most needed ones finished. I wish I could get seven out of eight done every day.

Fall Break Is Over

Oh yeah, fall break is over. CRAP! Things I got accomplished. Sleep, worked out, discovered television, and that's about it. Work on outlines? Nope. Work on assignments? Nope. Work on papers? Nope. Find guest speakers? Nope.

The spring flew out of me and 'work' had NO appeal at all. An ultimate mental veg and decompression. Perhaps it is what I needed, but I still feel guilty about it.

Request For Technical Help

Does anyone know a website/service (FREE) that I can upload photos to so I can link them to Confessions when I want to? I know Yahoo, through Geocities, allows the creation of websites, but I've never been able to get their template to work worth a %$#@.

FREE is very important as I've only spent $12 to pay for the enhanced comments here, but otherwise I just don't want to spend money on this. Thanks in advance.

Bless This Horse?

Yesterday I got to witness several parents baptize their children. The rituals, pomp and circumstance were nice to observe. It was truly a momentous event for the parents, though the babies certainly won't remember a thing about it. A celebration occurred afterwards where friends and family gathered. I appreciated the fact that lightning did not appear out of nowhere to strike me down as I got within 20 feet of the church doors.

Somehow the ceremony seems cheapened when things like this occur.

So Far Away

Heading southbound on the interstate from the game we could see the far off sky light up. Big flashes of light in a section of the sky so far away from us. One time we so three bolts of lightning strike the earth at once. So odd to see lightning in late October. Does anyone else enjoy stuff like that?

I'm going to be busy tomorrow. I've totally wasted the fall break and now I have to get two big things done for Monday. Oh yeah I should read for class as well I guess. I even had a textbook with me at the tailgate. Though I read it my mind was so far away that I likely learned nothing.

Chaney, By Northwestern Grow A Pair!

Octoberform

I had meant to get this out eariler, but was distracted. A shame for you deserved to know about this earlier. Perhaps some of you will decide to go tomorrow.

In high school band we had a phrase for what was needed to perform at the state championships, Octoberform. We needed to be perfect or as close to perfect as possible so that we could win state at the HoosierDome (yes it was still the HoosierDome at the time). For us it started in the hot muggy days of July. Band camp consisted of two-a-days in the morning/afternoon and the evening when things cooled down. When classes started up in August you had band class during the day to work on the music and the last class period of the day was marching band where we were outside working on the drill. The ability to play difficult music perfectly, hit a physical spot on the field at a certain time, and not collide with each other is a very difficult one to master and those who feel it is easy have obviously never tried it.

We sacrificed so much time, many weekends were contests throughout the state. Many a Friday night were home football games, and all the class time during the week. While many think of the gladiators of the gridiron encased in plastic armor, few realize that same drive is in the other people who take the football field at halftime. We wanted to be the best we could be, we wanted to be the best of them all. We wanted to be in Octoberform so that an announcer would proclaim through the muddy speakers of the dome that you were the state champions as everyone was on the field.

Tomorrow the marching band state championships begin at the RCADome. There are four classes of band based on school size. There are ten bands in each classes. One champion in every class. For those who win you will see that being the champion of moving music means just as much to them as it is for those who toss a football, or dunk a basketball. You should never underestimate the desire and sense of accomplishment of those musicians, athletes of an artistic nature.

Upstairs is a purple jacket that I will never get rid of though I'll never fit in it again. It has two patches sewn onto the sleeves. Those patches are in the shape of Indiana and say on them "Class A State Champions" and the year. I have accomplished much in my life. I have many things to be proud of, yet those two nights hold a special place in my heart. For two nights I, and 300 of my companions, were the best of the best. We were in Octoberform and champions.

The uniforms have changed. The styles of music and drill have changed. The children have definately changed over the years. The drive is still the same though. To all those competing tomorrow good luck, and on a personal note: GO YOU MARCHING GIANTS!

Satan's Defeat

I have a problem with the World Series. The Boston Red Sox already defeated Satan. Therefore, I simply don't care about the World Series. I know some friends are Red Sox fans. I know some friends that are Cardinals fans. I just shrug my shoulders.

My problem is that I'm not a fan of baseball. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the sport. I like going to Victory Field to see a game with friends. When I've traveled I liked going to see a professional game. I'm just not a fan. My family wasn't into sports when I was growing up. I was never encouraged to try out for any little league teams and certain never played ball when I was older nor would I ever make a team due to my lack of athletic ability.

The only thing about baseball that I truly care about is George "I am the left hand of Satan" Steinbrenner being defeated, and that has already happened. Good luck to whichever team you prefer.

Don't Come Up! Don't Come Up!

The water in a toilet is supposed to go down. It wasn't fun when it went over the top. It also wasn't fun when the shutoff valve didn't want to turn at all. It wasn't fun when using the wrench on the valve (while the water was still coming out I would like to note) and having only the handle spin, but not the shaft. I have the feeling this is going to be a fun project. At least it is only in the downstairs bathroom.

Skull On A Stick!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I think it harkens back to being a kid playing make believe when you get to dress up. You also get all the cool ghost stories this time of year. You can go to haunted houses and haunted hayrides (shaking the straw out of my hair is very funny to watch FYI).

Luckily we have lots of cool tours to see the good stuff with. This Saturday has a tour through the haunted Hanna House and next week you have a few tours of Chatham-Arch/Lockerbie and some Underground Railroad sites. Who wants to go with me on any of these?

You have your traditional haunted houses where the minimum wage staff comes out and scares you. Nightmare on Edgewood is a personal favorite of mine every time I go. In high school I was grabbed from behind there and it did spook me for a few seconds. When I realized it was 3 high school girls who grabbed onto the nearest guy they could find to protect them my mood improved greatly. My mood disappeared when I saw the look on my GF's face when I finally exited with all 3 on my arms. It wasn't my fault I swear J! Necropolis and Fright Manor sound good but I've never been to either before. Anyone want to go to any of these? It's not as much fun going by myself.

Then you have the costume parties. School will have one next Friday. I just need two more things and my costume will be set. I'm in a Halloween store today and I've come to the conclusion that as an adult I can truly appreciate the new costumes that are out now for other adults. Forget Victoria's Secret as some of those witch, sorceress, vampress, and she-devil costumes are just as...enticing. Come to the dark side, Brian. I couldn't resist when I saw it: skull on a stick! I should carry this around a lot. In school I can keep Chuck in line and out of school I can keep Stokes in line. At 5'4" this baby has some reach! (Random Thought: at 5'4" this thing is taller than most of the women I've dated. Yikes!)

Okay, who dares have some Halloween fun with me? To all the scary stuff we go!

Per Your Request: Putting The Wankel In The RX!

E.McPan asks why the Mazda RX-8 has a rotary engine (the Wankel) in it. The short answer is simple: TRADITION! All RX cars from Mazda have had the rotary engine in it therefore the RX-8 has one in it. The "R" does stand for rotary after all.

Now for the longer answer. When Dr. Wankel created the rotary engine the major attribute going for it was more power from a lighter weight engine. As weight is bad for cars, especially a sports car, a lighter engine is a good thing. Mazda installed the rotary in cars in the late 1960's, but the first sporty car with it was the RX-7 in 1979.

The rotary has many advantages, lower center of gravity (car turns easier), revs very quickly(engine develops power faster), lighter weight (weight is always the enemy for starting, stopping, turning). Why is it not used more often? Traditionally the rotary created lots of pollution and guzzled lots of fuel. Two not so nice traits in the modern era. Though modern engineering has helped with those problems, it is unlikely we'll see rotaries in more mainstream cars as the fuel economy penalty would be too great. On a sportscar like the RX-8 that isn't a problem though. The buyer expects a fuel economy penalty for the enhanced performance.

There you go E, I hope you enjoyed the Confessions Requestline.

Energy Levels Dropping

I don't get it. Yesterday I did my typical warm-up workout consisting of 30 minutes on an elliptical trainer and another 30 minutes on my favorite precor stairmaster, which was followed by a 1.5 mile jog on the track. Not too shabby for not being in the gym for a long time.

Today I did the 30 minutes on the elliptical just fine, but within 10 minutes on the stairmaster I was tired! I wasn't exhausted from the exertion, I was simply and suddenly tired as if it was 3am. I finished my half hour, but decided against my jog (I wanted to see if I could hit 2 miles easily again).

I don't get it. I had a decent amount of sleep, but I'm feeling drained now.

Oh E. I did have a good chuck of a post per your request, but Blogger ate it! I'll recreate it later tonight or tomorrow so don't think I've forgotten about you. If anyone else has topic ideas feel free to put them in the Comments field!

All Request Thursday

Yes, I am challenging you. I can talk about anything I want, and believe me I have topic ideas already. However I want to see what you got so I am challenging every visitor to come up with a post idea. You can post anonomously, psuedonaomously, or even tell us who you are.

Anything goes and I'll choose what I feel are the winners later today and write something on what you suggest. As intellectually opinionated and curious as this audience is this could be very interesting. Come on you peanut gallery, hit me with your best shot.

EDIT: Ohhhhh!!! I see Haloscan is having fits again. It will be difficult for you to suggest anything if the Comments aren't working. *sigh* Well, time to go workout. I want to see if I can get back to 2 miles after not doing anything for most of this semester. Yesterday was 1.5 miles before my ankle said BUG OFF!

West Wing Premier

About time! I need to see the last year of the Bartlet presidency. Some leftover brats, the last of the peach schnapps, and my favorite fictional president. It should be a good hour of TV.

Per Your Request: The HEMI

Ummm....34 people visit today and only ONE suggestion? I expected a little better I guess. Okay, is DaimlerChrysler overdoing the Hemi? No. The Mexican plant can only produce 440,000 Hemi V8 engines in a year. Those engines are only available to the Chrysler Group division of DCX so no Hemis in a Mercedes. Chrysler Group sold 2,607,000 vehicles worldwide last year with 2,127,451 units in the U.S. last year. While DCX hopes to sell more vehicles, especially using the famed Hemi trademark as a propelling force to drive up sales, we'll use the current numbers for this analysis.

The Hemi V8 will only fit into large rear drive vehicles that can handle the power of the engine. Guess what vehicles have been recently revamped? Dodge Ram full size pickup trucks, Dodge Durango nearly full sized SUVs, Dodge Dakota mid sized pickup trucks, Jeep Grand Cherokee mid sized SUVs, and the LX rear wheel drive sedans (Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum). What you're seeing is a push of new, high profit margin vehicles that just happen to be big enough to accomodate a 340 horsepower V8 engine as an option. With all the new vehicles marketing wants to push them off the dealer lots and we get a perception of too much Hemi (no such thing in my horsepower addicted mind).

All the replacement front drive vehicles (Sebring/Stratus, Neon replacement which can't come soon enough to fight of the new Mazda 3 and the replacement VW Jetta, minivans) are not due for another two to four years and they will not be able to accomodate this monster motor. DCX is simply trying to get as much money for their investment now that they can. Shove the motor in the vehicles that can use it and it which it fits. At best you'll still have a less than 1 in 5 chance of a new Chrysler vehicle having the Hemi in it. That sounds about right for an uplevel engine.

Addicted To Avril

On the off chance you haven't turned on your car radio in a week, Avril Lavigne's latest song "My Happy Ending" is on. In fact you can change to a different station, catch the song again, and change to a different station and catch the song again! This just happened to me.

Here's the catch, I really like the song! It's very easy to hear the lyrics with my damaged ears and easy to see along with (scary image I must confess). I first caught it on Smallville where they played about three lines of it and I could tell it was a good song. I have to admit this girl (at age 20 she seems like a girl to me) who writes her own songs and plays her own guitar has some serious talent. I'm just hoping the play rotation on the radio lets up a little bit or the song will burn out. How many great songs can you simply not stand anymore because it was played every five minutes for three months?

All Request Wednesday

Okay, same rules as below. Come up with something interesting that I'll need to talk about when I get back. Be creative folks.

I'll be editing a student note candidate outline, working on two papers, and possibly going to a museum for one of those papers. Oh the fun! Surprise me when I get back this evening.

I Get To Wear The Holocaust Cloak!

I LOVE this movie. It is the perfect date movie.
And I thought there are four of us. If we ever find the lady. Hello lady!


You are Fezzik! Your power and strength are only
matched by your unfailing loyalty to your
friends. Although not the sharpest stick in the
bag you have a great gift for rhyme, which,
though you are not one to brag, impresses your
friends most of the time!


"A princess bride personality test!"
brought to you by Quizilla

Stolen from E McPan.

They Grow Up So Fast

I like the way you smile at me when I talk to you. It has been two months since I've seen you, but you've grown so fast. Your mommy says that you're crawling everywhere now and even walking if you have something to hold onto. Eleven months and you're moving! It's hard to believe a year ago you were still inside her belly. I even have the pictures to prove it. Oh you're mommy is now grateful to have those pictures now as a reflection of a special time in her life. Though your mommy was grumpy at the time, but that's another story for later. Your even eating some solid food now, cauliflower and carrots! Sounds yummy I feel. Oh thank you for the little puppy, oh I have to give it back now. I understand this game now. Oh look you can swing the spoon that stirred the tea like a drumstick. Perhaps you're a budding drummer? Oh you want your bottle! I can hold you and give it to you. I'm sure your mommy wants to eat her dinner.

I'm suddenly surrounded by so many babies. Five years ago I would have likely freaked about the concept. Now I live vicariously through them to an extent. Some are suddenly moving around and wanting to see if Mr Butterfly floats in a toilet. Some are younger and still immobile, but about to be baptized into their parents' faith. Others are even younger and simply wanting to sleep all day. One is simply being created now and waiting to be born in 8 months.

One would think that I feel old and mortal when surrounded by so many of this new generation. They should be a reminder that time continues on, that aspects of my life are in temporal hold or don't even exist, and that eventually I will be surpassed by this new generation. You're wrong though, when I'm surrounded by these little babies that are discovering the world I feel young. I get to see the world through their innocent and curious eyes. What a joyous thing to behold from this old soul's point of view.

Protector Of Democracy

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, but I signed up to be a poll worker on Election Day. You can't just be working at a polling station you have to sign up for one side or the other. I'm a little miffed about that. Can't all sides be interested in safeguarding democracy for the sake of democracy?

It's very humorous how to become a poll worker. A school email said to contact your local political party office so you have to choose one. If you're not politically savvy if you go to the county Democratic website they have nothing concerning the topic of being a poll worker. If you go to the Republican county website they do have info. It talks about signing up for the May primaries! Ladies and gentlemen of both parties, might I suggest updating your websites a little more often.

Luckily the city-county government's website has an online form you can fill out. You still have to select R or D, but you fill in the blanks, select a position you want to apply for and the info gets sent to the respective party machine. What do you know, the county government has it right for a change.

I don't know where I'll end up or if I get to select something, but if you run into me on Tuesday November 2nd, please say hello.

Per Your Request: The Life Of Brian

Geez Robin (non-Cookie Monster) you actually put TWO requests in one comment! Let's deal with both one at a time.

Part I: Brian's Day.
5am: wake up! What's up with this? The alarm isn't supposed to go off for an hour, but I'm wide awake! ACK! It is fall break and I should be catching up on all the sleep I can get. AND it interrupted a fantastic dream I was having. I normally don't remember most of my dreams, but can I go back to sleep and continue talking with that fantastic redhead please?

8:30am: get to my internship office to see if anything needs my attention. One person on vacation, one in a meeting up in Munster, one MIA, one getting coffee, and the chief is wherever the chief likes to be. After 45 seconds I've determined that I should take an early lunch and get other work done elsewhere as there is nothing for me to do in the office at all.

10am: figure that I could go across the street to the museum and work on an assignment for class. Part of the assignment is to take a tour of the museum!

noon: leave internship and call mom. Mom hasn't had lunch yet and I love a free lunch. I'm a poor student you know!

12:45pm: have lunch with mom at a local pizza place.

1:45pm: until I got into school I never even owned a suit. I currently have two suits and about 4 jackets as my formalwear. I can use a black suit (always good for Blues Brothers or Men In Black costumes...oh and job interviews and stuff like that too I guess) so head over to The Men's Wearhouse. Is TMW a little expensive? Yes, but price is what you pay, value is what you get out. All the stuff from TMW has lots of value. I end up with two suits (black and silver/gray) that I can mix and match for less suity occasions, a light gray/silver and a burgundy shirt (either one of which would meet my fashion consultant Lawren's approval), brown belt, brown shoes, and one real classy tie! This is my Christmas and birthday present according to my mom and I'm fine with that. Sometimes a lawyer needs to look like a lawyer! I have to admit that when I did have the shoes and one suit on for the tailor to figure out the measurements to trim that looking in the mirror I went, damn I look good!

3pm: mom and I drop by the grandparental units to see how they are doing.

4pm: at mom's house and start paying bills before they become overdue. I've been finding bills and stuff the last few days and some were a tad late. *sigh* I just haven't been at home much these past 6 weeks. I used to be pretty organized financially. *sigh*

4:45pm: driving home and my treasurer informs me she has secured a guest speaker. She's also acquired a checking account for the society so we're finally joining the big leagues as a club! My treasurer works hard for me and I appreciate that.

5:15pm: see the responses to my requestline and notice there is a lot of fury, but not much requesting! Start post.

Part II: Most Embarrassing Moment?
I have so little pride it's hard to be embarrassed anymore, much less have most embarrassing moment! Anytime I'm playing football? That should count. There are too many to choose from!

• High school bandroom where I'm giving instructions to the tuba section on how to do something and one of the new guys decides to pull down my shorts. I still remember having my finger pointing at something and looking down to realize what has occurred. Have I ever mentioned how rambunctious tuba players tend to be? Oh, luckily it was ONLY the shorts and not everything else.
• I thought I read the signals right. We're in Hawaii, the cool night breeze is blowing off the ocean, and tiki torches are lit. It appears one of the hottest saxophone players is coming onto me. Then I tried to kiss her and was sent 3 feet backwards from her fist. Did I mention that baritone sax players tend to be pretty strong from having to hold up their instruments on the field?
• Contrabasses are the shoulder-mounted tubas. With all the tubing you would think the right side of your head is protected from everything. A flag found the one gap in all the tubing that would allow her pole to whack me. I fell to the ground so fast you would have thought a big metal pole hit my head. Oh wait a second, it did! Nothing like having 300 people looking at you and wondering what happened as I'm gasping for air wondering where I was.
• My first introduction to alcohol was Everclear and I'm not even going there.
• The roommate is gone for the weekend, the candles are lit, some soft music is on, the coffin is full of interesting things, this chick from my calculus class is with me, and we have the best $5 bottle of wine my 21 year old friend can buy. Why is my floor counselor (who knows I'm in my room), my buddy down the hall, and my other buddy down the hall all knocking on my door? Don't they know what a mood killer being interrupted is?
• The Atlantic Ocean is so big. You would think I should have been able to avoid falling into it. Note to self: when at Southern Most Point on Key West don't decide to clean the sand out of sandals after a rain storm. I was so wet, bruised, bloody, and scraped up I didn't even bother coming up with a lie upon returning to the B&B.
• A perfectly timed sneeze on the conductor's introductory downbeat.
• Okay Tony where did you hide my tuba? I don't know what you're talking about Brian. This thing is almost four feet tall, you don't have too many places in the Hall of Music that you can hide it.
• The problem with dating a 5' tall woman is that she's 10 inches shorter than me so kissing her can be a logistical problem sometimes. If she is a stairstep or two higher than me it helps out tremendously. If she's on level ground then when trying to scrunch down I could loose my balance. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a natural klutz? Luckily she was a med student and figured out that my head was okay after hitting the concrete.
• The problem with wanting to date a woman who is 4'10" is that she's a full foot shorter than me. I try to be a nice guy and didn't want her to strain her neck to talk up to me so I decided to bend my legs enough to be at her level. At which point I'm now sliding into her locker like I'm wanting to steal a base in the World Series. It was worth it, she became my GF after that.
• After 2 plus years at law school I don't think I can be embarrassed anymore!

Confessions Requestline

When I was a D.J. I liked getting requests from callers. It was sometimes a pain to find the song the caller wanted, but I got exposed to some interesting music.

Here's the deal. I'm going to be away from the internet for a good chunk of the day so you're going to make good use of that time. When I get back online, what do you want me to write about? What requests do you have for me? You come up with some suggestions and I'll pick one or two and write about them.

Just put your requests in the comments and let's see how much fun we can both have. Anything goes, just make sure I understand the request. Have fun readers.

Dr. Feelgood

In case you ever asked the question, "Whatever happened to Tommy Lee of Motley Crue" here is your answer. Scroll about three quarters the way down to Dr. Feelgood Story. Courtesy of my Atlas homies.

Emergency Catholic

Warning: I had nothing to do with this incident except for the actual wounding. If you're offended by any of this post, don't blame me!!!!! Blame my two friends.

I impaled my palm Saturday night with a nice sharp metal tent stake. Yes it did hurt and it bleed a bit. If my palm touches anything, like a inbound football, I get lovely spasms of pain in my lower arm. After a humiliating game of football Sunday a few of us hit BW-3s. I got to show my wound for the first time by holding up my palm.

S: Oh wow, that's a real passion of the Brian moment there! You know when you give the stigmata to yourself it doesn't count.
Today I looked up whether stigmata is the process of getting the wounds or the wounds themselves. According to the internet it is the wounds themselves. Hey I learn something new every day!
That's okay. You're now an Emergency Catholic.

Me: Wow, first I was Catholic-By-Proxy (long, yet possibly funny story), now I'm an Emergency Catholic. What does that mean?

S: Next time all us Catholics go on a Crusade and there aren't enough of us, we're bringing all the Emergency Catholics with us.

Oh great. Now I'm in the ready reserves for any future holy wars.

Homecoming: The Ties That Bind

The too brisk autumn air blew through the area. The multi-colored leaves on the trees provided brightness against the gray sky. I managed to get away from the minivan full of beer, brats, omelets, satellite dish, and TV tuned to ESPN. It was good to be at a place I once called home. Much has changed in the time since I was there on a daily basis. Old places gone, new ones taking their place. Many parking lots and streets have been razed to be turned into grassy plazas and more pedestrian paths.

You could hear the percussion section having their practice session. They were working on marching cadences. You'll always go into step when hearing a cadence, at least if you're an old bandsman. Tents were up celebrating various schools and activities. The band had one to celebrate 50 years of The Golden Girl, the best twirling position in the world. Many alumni were around some of very recent vintage. Others in the twilight of their lives. Yet all of us were a part of the Purdue family. We had shared a special common experience, though each of us shared it uniquely.

For my own memories of this far away home, I often don't think of Purdue as being a psychology major, as being a one time physics major, as being a Quad Dog. When I mention Purdue to others, my first thoughts of are of being in the band, that large family of purely voluntary musicians. We don't have a school of music, so everyone there wants to play. Everyone there was willing to be part of something bigger than what we were, something far older than what will are, something that will last far longer than we will.

How strong are the forces that rule this adopted family? Most of my closest friends, my adopted family, the people I care about, all marched in the band. Yet very few of those people were in school at the same time I was; most are all younger than I am. They were friends of friends and I was the old outsider to them. Yet the band is an accepting group. We accept our own, we protect our own, we adopt our own. I adopted this ragtag rowdy group, they adopted me as the resident old man. Our experiences in band are the ties that bind us together. The common traditions we hold dear are what makes us the same, regardless of the fact not all of us were together at the same time.

So really I have two adopted families in this case, the band as a whole, my friends specifically. Ultimately it is the memories I hold dear. I don't miss the work, but I miss the fun, I miss the people. The people are the memories, and Homecoming is a chance to relive them for a too short and fleeting time.

I can't wait until next year when we're back on the field in front of 65,000 people one more time. It's good to be young again in your home, for a little while at least.

It's a shame the damn football team laid an egg during the last 5 minutes of the game and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. *sigh*

Guilty Pleasures

With no cable and no Buffy or Angel, a distaste for reality TV, and only 5 functioning channels you would think I have nothing to watch on TV. You're right for the most part and that is actually good in some respects. I have no reason to go home and be distracted.

BUT: I got addicted to Smallville when I was in France. Not the most deep show especially the first two seasons. The fact I could follow the plot pretty easily when everyone was speaking French proved that. It was something American though and I loved that in France. When I got back to the good ol' USA I was addicted. When I dumped cable TV to save money I ended up losing the WB as well! Channel 4's transmitter is notorious for sucking donkey as that thing is so weak. Great, now I can't even watch Smallville, but since Angel was no longer on I could live with that.

Guess what fell into my hands today? A tape with all 4 "fresh" episodes of the new season. Oh great, Lois Lane gets introduced and she is a royal pain. Chloe starts off dead, but is really in hiding. Lana Lang has run away from Clark and now finds a nice guy in Paris. What a beginning for the first few episodes. Poor Chloe when she realized she was number 3 on the depth chart for Clark's feelings.

A piece of advice Clark, when a girl who loves you comes onto you and is wearing your football jersey, it is NOT a selfish use of your superpowers to give her the night of her life. I'm just sayin'!!!! I'm also looking out for us as an audience as if you two finally hit it on it would add lots of depth to the show as we watch you two figure things out afterward. Forget Lana Lang because redheads, whether natural or bottled, are nothing but trouble. Trust me I speak from experience.

Oh well, at least I can see my other new guilty pleasure when it comes on. The ABC transmitter is in much better shape.

Hot Chocolate

Because Robin and the Fabulous Kelly P. are right!
Yummy. It was so good to have a tall cup of hot chocolate. The perfect fall day once the sun came out a bit.

Did We Just Lose To France & England?

First, where are the Americans in this survey? An internet survey with 350,000 respondents sponsored by condom maker Durex has found that the French make love 137 times a year. The survey average is 103 times per year.

"As it was a Web-based survey, people could be very frank about their sex lives
-- possibly even more so than with their partners[.]"

I'm sorry but as a web-based survey isn't it just as likely people are going to (ahem) exaggerate their claims? Who's EVER been completely honest on the internet? Perhaps it is because I'm single, but 137 times a year? Even with 103 times I'm just having visions of sexual marines clearing through ranks of clarinet players (not thinking of nor naming anyone specific). Then again twice a week extrapolating the length of 52 weeks would firm up those numbers reported to be average. Okay those of my audience involved in a relationship, do these numbers make sense to you?

Britons lead the pack when it comes to foreplay, devoting an average of 22.5
minutes compared to a global average of 19.7. . . But despite their efforts on
foreplay, Britons appear to be among the least satisfied by their sexual
experiences, with a third saying they had faked an orgasm in the last year.

22.5 minutes should be long enough for two people to communicate what they want done! This is just another example of how couples often fail to communicate and why relationships go sour. When I'm spending 22.5 minutes of my time I want to know exactly what is desired so I know that my effort is appreciated. (Edit based on misunderstanding I've seen in the comments: 1) I was using the generic "I" which is similar to the 'Royal We.' Generic "I" is not the personal "I." 2) I'm talking about feedback people, ESPECIALLY from the one receiving foreplay. If you're not liking what is being done, then it is YOUR responsibility to explain what you like. If the one giving is any good then that person will be happy to oblige the receiving's needs and wants.)

When it comes to spicing up sex lives, pornography emerged as the most popular choice, with more than a third of lovers worldwide admitting to having used porn. Pleasure-enhancing condoms were second and bondage equipment such as blindfolds and handcuffs third.

With all the adult bookstores just down the road from me I'm happy the material is useful for spicing things up between people. I wouldn't want all those mags to go to waste. As for the handcuffs, don't ever lose the key.

EDIT: Imagine my pleasant suprise when Lawren has her own version of this story. I'm tellin' ya LKM great minds...

Sleeping In The Rain

A gentle rain is so peaceful. The gray skies and soft burble of the raindrops drown out the world. As long as you don't have to go anywhere or do anything at a certain time, isn't laying in bed between the twilight of awake and asleep a guilty, yet wonderful, pleasure?

I've been having only four to five hours of sleep a night this week (this semester). I deserved to sleep in a few extra hours today. I haven't felt this good in a long time. Now it is time to catch up on all the other things I've let slip by for such a long time. Right after my breakfast of Wisconsin provolone because I haven't gone to the grocery store in over a week and this is the only dairy product in my place.

Da Scoop!

Random thought from today: why is it that I spend 10 minutes with three women yesterday and learn more dish on my fellow classmates than I've learned in the entire two and a half previous years?

When it comes to gossip I'm never in any of the circles. Then again I really suspect that as a general rule men and women look at gossip in entirely different lights. He is dating her, she broke up with him, those two were at this club, etc, etc, etc. Things I never knew nor would have ever expected.

Makes me wonder if there is any gossip on me? Last time I was aware of any of my own gossip I was in high school and it was inaccurate no less.

Great Wedding Roadtrip Quotes

It appears that you have been expecting great quotes from my weekend roadtrip. Since I aim to please I'll let you in on some of the dish from wedding roadtrip. Although I am annoyed that you don't seem to appreciate the profound thoughts posts, the detailed analysis of life posts, the rememberance posts. Sigh, but give you bawdy humor and you seem to go nuts. Oh well. No I did not SAY all of these things. I only said some of them, but I did hear them all. I’m not going to separate the quotes because that would make this post ridiculously long. But if there are multiple people saying something I’ll use different colors to make it easier to follow.
Words of Warning: part of this the Catholics in my audience will love or hate.

Friday Night (it all went downhill from here)
So what we're dealing with here is a very advanced tiger with access to power drills and opposable thumbs?
No, the tiger has the drill on a helmet. Would that be a trill or a driger?
Are we so scared of 80-90 traffic that we're willing to take back roads to nowhere to avoid it? Yes!
Wow, FM isn't picking up anything. It must be all these cornfields.
Hey isn't this where the car breaks down and all the field monsters come for us?
Okay our choices are high school football and the presidential debate. Are we that desperate for entertainment?
Brian, you're the lawyer! Translate what they just said.
Hey, if Bush doesn't answer the question I guess it's okay for Kerry to not answer it as well.
I can't find the hole. Sounds like a personal problem to me.
Wow, we're near where my ex lives. No wonder I felt a dark presence.

Saturday (going up to the wedding in Milwaukee from Chicagoland)
Oh change the channel. Enough of politics. Find something important like college football!
Great we're with the driver that can drop ass in the megatons.
I'm sorry but it had to come out now!

(wedding)
Okay I'm approaching the church, but lightning hasn't struck yet.
Oh wow, the guide has instructions for us non-Catholic folk. Stand, sit, knell, and how to approach the priest but not get communion. It's nice they remembered us heathens.
I don't know what to do (nice Jewish lady). Don't worry we're the hardcore heathens, just follow our lead.
Wow, I'm Catholic and never knew we had all these alternate rules. Yes, the heathens aren't allowed to use your rules.
Did anyone else think the priest was like Peter Sellers?
*not a quote, but the swords and ass-tap was a nice touch*

(peaceful lull in between wedding and reception)
Alright we haven't missed kickoff!
Hey this is a hotel lounge not a sportsbar. The game is on so it's a sportsbar!
You hit the baby with the sword?
Hey cash me out. (hand over $20 bill) What? Cash me out for the second amaretto and sour. What you didn't pay? I paid for the first one, I didn't pay for the second one yet. Thanks for being honest. (hands me the $20 bill back) Wow, can I mention this incident when the bar examiners are wanting to know about my ethics and honesty?
Okay it's halftime so we can go to the reception now.

(the reception)
*cell phone vibrates* Yo, what's the score?
What is this, the table of misfits?
This was supposed to be all the single guys but Mike had to bring a woman! I'm sorry guys I didn't mean to disappoint you.
*tap* HEY! *chug, chug, chug* I thought you liked it when you got head? If you gave me head I would like that. If you gave my beer head that I don't like.
Y. M. C. A!
Hey, if there is any thrusting in my general direction let me know about it ahead of time!
*me doing a spin move that freaks out everyone and one guy is damn near on the floor laughing*
First I limp to the side like my leg was broken. Shakin' and twitchin' kinda like I was smokin'. Crazy wack funky. People say ya look like M.C. Hammer on crack, Humpty!
Wait a second, you got these two together! Okay, I’m a third year law student, have no problem with Southern women who say ‘y’all’, can you work that magic for me?
Oh Mickey you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind. Hey Mickey. Hey Mickey.
Well I was drinking that night and the next thing I know …
I’m too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts.
Did we just do salsa moves to disco? Yes. That was pretty cool!
Okay, put the little woman on our shoulders we’ll carry her home! WHOA, WHAT!!!

Sunday (homeward bound)
Why has my voice dropped two octaves?
*hearing shower running upon getting back into the room* Aha, the Whoompa has arisen!
Excellent I get to drive the Saturn of Doom!
I love construction. We’re heading north to go south!
MARS CHEESE CASTLE!!!!
Hey look, everyone is in the castle!
Hey Scott, can you buy alcohol on a Sunday here. Yes, you can get Point today. God Bless Wisconsin!
String cheese, summer sausage, gouda, provolone, beef sticks! God Bless Wisconsin!
9% of your daily sodium, 27% of your daily cholesterol. Wow, this stuff tastes so good you’ll be dead when you finish it!
Yeah, just turn at left at the breast feeding mom and its right there. You can’t miss it.
Where the hell is 294? It’s got to be around here somewhere.
Illinois Nazis, I hate Illinois Nazis.
Okay we’re back in Indiana, the state that isn’t under construction!

Under Construction

Pardon the dust but I'm tinkering with a fair amount of HTML code. Have I ever mentioned I'm not a coder. I just copy and past HTML and tinker around with it and see what happens when I hit the PREVIEW button.

Technically I'm on break as my last class was yesterday. Still I did some of my internship and I'm here doing some research. At least tomorrow I'll sleep in.

Sometimes You Just Make Lemonade

When life hands you lemons you just make lemonade.

I can appreciate the sentiment of the above statement, but I've always thought it was a silly saying. Yesterday was just a bad day. I was extremely rushed to get things done and totally uninspired, a very bad combination. A lot of us are blaming the rain. Maybe that was it?

My friend was supposed to pick me up after classes so we could get a bite to eat in Broad Ripple then dance at The Red Room. I'm standing outside on the corner in the cool rain waiting for her to arrive. Okay why is she not answering her cell phone? At 6 I get very concerned. I can drive up there by 7 o'clock easily, but where is she? I was just about to give up on her when she calls at 6:20. A stupid VP needed something not important right now so she got held up at work. The class started at 7 so I figured it would be tight, but we could make it if everything went right.

When I said, "turn left just after the stoplight" I meant if you were heading north on West Street. When you're heading west on Michigan Street you'll arrive at a corner near me, but not where I'm looking. It took awhile to figure out where she was so I could move to a corner near her. We went stupid, it must have been the cool autumn rain.

We're parked near The Red Room (after I forgot to say turn here...whoops) but we're over 20 minutes late. I'm not Gene Kelly, but I know the lesson plan for tonight and I wouldn't have had a problem going right in. My friend has never salsaed before so she would be lost if we just went in. Those basic steps in salsa are critical to learn or else you'll clueless. We're late, we're tired and crabby, we're being drizzled upon, and there is no way to do the thing that we planned on doing. What do you do with all these lemons? Realize you're in Broad Ripple and find a good place to have dinner and drinks!

The Jazz Cooker is a nice place. After some shrimp and two Amaretto Sours I knew I was happier. We ended up at The Red Room later for some more drinks and conversation. It appears her new boytoy was jealous she was supposed to be dancing with me that night. Oh well that was his problem. We managed to get into an interesting discussion concerning men & woman. Perhaps I'll share some of the insights later.

It was a bad day, but at least it ended up okay. I just wish I could make more lemonade sometimes, I have plenty of lemons laying around.

No Political Commentary Concerning The Debate

I'm with a friend tonight and I doubt either one of us will catch the debate as we'll be busy with other things. Don't expect any commentary from me tonight.

You'll get a little commentary concerning the second one in an upcoming post. Suffice it to say the last 15 minutes was highly accentuated by being in the middle of corn and soybean fields on a dark and foggy Friday night. That post has been worked on for 3 days now and it is almost done.

Question Of The Day

"Does anyone have any questions?"

You have no idea how hard it was to resist putting up my hand and stating, "Yes, could you please repeat the last 20 minutes in English?"
I'm getting a supplement tomorrow.

EDIT:
Continuing the theme of so much fun. From my class notes:

"Case is flexible and it finds a pragmatic solution…whatever it ended up being."

What is so wrong with today? Everyone seems depressed and moody.

Poll: New Confessions Motto?

I'm mulling changing the motto to Confessions. I do LOVE "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do" from Angel, but sometimes you just need to shake things up. I'm curious what opinions you have.

Here are potential candidates:
Without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace, but we'd be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we'd be truly dead.
- Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. You can never go wrong with anything from Buffy or Angel.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the Men In Black are back to protect the world. When the enemy is near, the elite is here.
- Will Smith, Black Suits Comin' (Nod Your Head). Theme from Men In Black 2.

I am vengence. I am the night. I AM BATMAN! Damnit Alfred, quit letting chicks in the Batcave!
- Me, a punchline to one of my jokes.

Game over man!
- quote from Private Hudson (Bill Paxton) in Aliens.

Common Sense Is An Uncommon Virture.
- Me, you're heard me say it a million times.

You dare mock me!
You know me, of course I dare mock you!
- General Jack O'Neil Stargate SG-1

Number 5 Baby!!!

I think we're ranked too high, but I'm not an expert in these things. My Boilermakers are ranked #5 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls. Homecoming is this Saturday against a tough 10th ranked Wisconsin (those EVIL Badgers). It's a battle of the last unbeatens in the Big 10 with ESPN's College Gameday broadcasting from there. The stadium will be rocking! The Big 10 Championship will be decided in the next 3 weekends. At least the road goes through Rose-Ade Stadium.

This beats the days of 1-10 teams. Bring it on!

Happiness Is...

...realizing that you've made someone's day by one simple act, one simple email. I can see the smile on the other end of the screen in my mind. Today will be a good day. I'm going to make it that way.

Fall Break starts in 5 days. Perhaps we can all get together then?

Jog For Justice

It sounds like it went well. A nice cool morning job by the canal sounds like a great time. A shame I couldn't do it as I was in Milwaukee. At least EJW got my money as a donation so I'm sure they're happy. Right Kevin, you do-gooders that want my money!

Good Bye Superman

Christopher Reeve has been inspiring for decades. First he inspired millions by being the greatest comic book hero of all time. Later he inspired others with different roles. In the end he inspired us for his courage to fight the paralysis that crippled him.

The public persona of Christopher Reeve began as an ideal. A personification of the best qualities of us. The perfect hero that saves the day and meets the challenges of the world. In the end, that ideal hero came to personify the man in his fight to live and overcome his physical limitations.

But to me he is simply Superman, and don't you think I say that lightly. As a small child he inspired me to always do the right thing and to jump off the bed to achieve flight. When I was older he inspired me to help others, because you should always help others. And in strange coincidence, for the past month or so he's inspired me to continue on with all of my struggles as the extra strength I've needed lately.

I've been quoting Superman here lately or writing about topics that have the thematic elements espoused by Superman. With so many struggles of late the Superman DVD I bought a month ago goes in just so I can hear the John Williams score. If you're ever having doubts and feeling the weight of the world on you, just listen to that theme. Trust me, you will feel a new resolve to battle whatever forces of evil are befuddling you. You'll want to be better than what you were before.

They can be a great people, Kal-El, if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son.
-Jor-El (Marlon Brando) to his son Kal-El/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) in the Fortress of Solitude- Superman: The Movie (1978)

Sadly Christopher Reeve's light has dimmed forever, yet Superman still shines brightly as the beacon to show the way. At least when I need him. I hope you can carry and inspire others as well as you've carried me for 26 years.

With This Ring I Thee Wed

I like going to my friends’ weddings. I like being witness to my friends combining their lives into one. I take comfort in the certain rituals that are common to all the weddings I’ve been to. We’ve been developing new rituals as well. All the new babies had their joint coming out party as well. Some of the new significant sweethearts appeared as well that may lead to future weddings. The family of friends is growing and the weddings are a rich affirmation of that.

I rarely get to show it, but one of my numerous sides is a romantic. Some marriages lack the love that will sustain them. The type of love where you share yourself with the other soul. The type of love that creates more energy than what the two need to put into it. The type of love where you can leave yourself vulnerable with your flaws exposed, and the other will still love you. The type of love where you think in terms of ‘we’ and not ‘you and me.’ Too many of my friends didn’t experience that kind of love.

Yet with this marriage I feel good about it. It has grown for years. It has survived moves to two states and two different law schools and as too many of us know; school is a destroyer of relationships, not a creator of them. You can see the subtle difference in personas when they’re around each other. You can see the passion and compassion of their love. You can see the synergy between the two that is far more than the sum of their parts.

The rituals of the wedding are one step in watching the strong foundations of a marriage being created. Maybe one day I’ll get to experience it myself. I hope so.

Colors

The leaves are definitely starting to change colors.
They've probably been doing that for a few days, but it is nice to notice them finally.

Ode de gasoline

You know the clip on a gas nozzle that allows gas to be pumped into your car as you check the oil and clean your windows? You know how sometimes the clip doesn't release when your tank is full? I like how my entire right arm now has that lovely 87 octane smell. That'll bring the women to me. Forget aftershave, just go for Shell!

Debate Memo

Due to prior commitments I won't be able to watch Round 2 of the Presidential debates. To be honest even if I did I'm not sure I would even want to comment on them.
However, here is the extra but unoffical memo that lays out the ground rules. Link courtesy of Evan at Notes.

Darth Vader Mugs Pizza Dude

I knew Lord Vader was down on his luck after having two Death Stars nuked on his watch, but I never imagined the Sith Lord would stoop so low as to mug the pizza guy.

"This is a criminal mind trying to think of things to do to victimize people," Osceola County Deputy Sheriff Al Dearmas told WFTV-TV of Orlando.

NO KIDDING! All black, big flowing cape, that odd breathing sound. Darth Vader is baddest man in black in history! He is the epitome of being a B.M.F.! (Bad Mother...) Go to the dictionary and look up 'badass' and there's his picture. When I was a pizza delivery guy that would have victimized me in a heartbeat. Dobermans are pussy-cats compared to a man with a lightsaber and force powers.

He [pizza guy] got back into his car to drive away, when Darth Vader, mask, black outfit and all, suddenly materialized. In a presumably commanding voice, the evil Sith Lord ordered the deliveryman to give up all his cash.

We delivered to the worst neighborhood in the area. No other stores would even touch this place. It was a dark and evil place and Vader could have easily slummed here. You have no idea how scary it was to hear the pocket change jiggle as mugging bait when I walked around with 2 pepporoni/sausage specials in hand.

The pizza man hit the gas and sped off, but not before getting a good zap from what may have been a laser blaster, a light saber or perhaps just a stun gun. [Nothing happened to the victim,] "[b]ut things could have been much worse," he added, possibly considering the awesome power of the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan Kenobi you're our only hope now!