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Wednesday, November 6, 2002
|
The Happenings
loose ends
Random story I forgot to tell last week: so I was going through my work
Friday like I normally do... and I had to go to the mailroom to get whatever
stuff I printed out, and, as I was walking by, the receptionist she was
called and that I was needed in the KCSA office. Jim was walking by and
said, "we should get you a pager." So, then, I asked "Frank had a pager.
Whatever happened to it?" In response, I was told that it was in his other
desk and that I should find it and see it it works. Well, it does, and now
I'm officially leashed by the university. And you can send it e-pages if
I'm in the Champaign County area (which is almost all the time)... I think.
Suck It Up
In my random workingness of life, there are times when I need to suck it up
and take it for the team. And, last week it happened. I braved the cold,
cruel world to put up posters for the Krannert Center resident productions.
And, post-cold ness, I did none other than stay cold by running some Halloween
eve errands. These include, but are not limited to getting a costume and
buying some candy to share. I was wrought with indecision in deciding what
I should be, and was also faced with multitudes of choices in the sweets
selection process.
Take It For The Team
Since I was so close to the mall, I figured I should stop by for some Cheese
on a Stick from Hot Dog on a Stick. Yay, cheese. This such fine treat was
first tasted by me at Horton Plaze in San Diego back in 1993 or something in
the way-back machine. I got a two stick combo with a large cherry lemonade,
and paid, and the yumminess was delivered in minutes. And, at the conclusion
of the transaction, I said, "sorry to be a dork, but I didn't get a receipt.
Do I get my money back?" It was the first time I ever had the opportunity to
capitalize on the "Purchase is free if you don't get a receipt at the time of
purchase" thing. The cashier said "so do you want your receipt?" to which I
responded with "well, you have that sign thing." So, he said, oh, well, then
I guess you got a free meal, and I got my $5.25 back. Too bad I couldn't do
the same thing with "Crocodile Hunter" this past summer.
King for a Day
Special thanks are in order to Target, who had a decent supply of non-kid-sized
costumes still available on Halloween eve. As implied by the title, I was, in
fact, a king for a day? King of what? Does it matter? As with most days now,
my day began sometime around 10am. I was decked out in the attire all day long-
from working for a tiny bit in the morning and late into the night. Lunch was
had at Buffalo Wild Wings before returning to Krannert for a night filled with
the house managing of Othello and another round of GRE math with Basia. Even
the performance information sheets that evening were a bright orange to
celebrate the occasion. Studying ended as the building closed, and my night
continued at Les's Lounge where the patron services house managers and
supervisors enjoyed the remainder of the night!
Non-Stop Schedule Action
The overnight rest didn't last long as Anna and I had a breakfast scheduled
for Friday morning. She was in town to help translate for the Georgian State
Dance Company, who were performing later in the evening. And from breakfast
to work... where I spend the afternoon filling in the Director's Office before
getting a very quick dinner and taking an even quicker trip to Walgreens to get
some pictures. And then the evening arrived, where I'd imagine the world was
flipped around when people realized I wasn't working, I was attending a
performance as a patron, and I was going with a girl. But to dispell any
rumors, she's just a friend. But that won't stop any of you, I know. It was
an enjoyable experience and a great show - and for me to actually enjoy
something at Krannert these days is very difficult! (I feel I've lost some of
the magic that was there before I did tons of stuff here. Like I'll notice
multitudes of details that detract from the overall experience because I "know
too much. Anyways...) Post performance, more GRE studying was in hand before
I made my way to Kari's apartment's Halloween party! The fun continued through
almost three in the morning!
Last in a Series
Saturday yielded the last day in my Math Section tip/tutoring for Basia's GRE -
she was due to take the test on Tuesday and hopefully she did well. Lunch was
had, and more problems were done. I actually had fun doing the problems, but
then again, I guess I'm a dork like that. Who knew math would be so much fun!
=P Moving on, it was yet another performance night I didn't have to work. So,
the evening was spent at Melisa's apartment where her second potluck was had.
Delicous food was had, along with the usual good times!
Grand Summary
With the recent PC transition, there was much excitement concerning CB. Sad
to say, structures didn't match, as *CB returned a null pointer as a matter
of policy, as opposed to an array of pointers. As such, THE structure's
pointers and references were updated and such, because who wants corrupt data?
Ordinary (Sun) Day
Just a day, just an ordinary day, as I tried to move on through the day -
starting with outlasting the house managing marathon of Othello and concluding
with several hours of plain old online existence from the Union computer lab.
Yeah, big day. Good times.
Illinois Valley
Throughout the wide state of Illinois, we have that metropolitan area by the
lake, tons of cornfields and stuff, and even a foresty-hilly down South. So,
why bring that up? Monday, I work up, did the usual daily restart procedures,
and began my very long five minute four block walk to Krannert. As I crossed
Lincoln Avenue, I saw my friend Sam.
Brian says "Hey... what's up?"
Sam says "I'm going home."
Brian says (jokingly) "To Ottawa (her hometown)?"
Sam says "Yeah."
Brian says "Really?"
Sam says "I have a dentist appointment."
Brian pauses and says "Can I go?"
Sam says "Really?"
Brian checks the cell phone copy of the schedule and says "Yeah."
Sam says "Cool!"
Brian says "Cool!"
And so began my field trip to grand old Ottawa, Illinois. I've never been
to the area - maybe the occasional drive-by drive-by, but yeah. So, we drove
through Oglesby and through the Starved Rock area - which, might I add, was
very beautiful with the bright colors of Autumn everywhere in sight. Seeing,
well, water and changes in elevation was such a great experience - it'd been
a while since I'd seen those. The area's superhuge Tenderloin Sandwich was
had, provided by her mom, along with Ice Cream money, and, after her teeth
business and my weekly paperwork was done, we made our return to Champaign
County. It was one of the most cool days I've had in very recent memory.
Rules of Life
My long-term vision and project I'll never do is that legendary thing known as
PERK. It stands for "Procedural, Emergency, and Reference Keeper" and is
supposed to be the absolute authority in trying to decide what I would do in
any given circumstance. Yeah, I didn't do anything with regard to that project
this week - not that I ever do - but it was definitely interesting to see how
other people's rules of life play out into real life. There was quite the
vivid example Monday night that resulted in the postponement of evening plans
and a three hour look into those rules we each prescribe for ourselves in making
our lives the way it was. I know, it's cryptic in usual Brian style, but I
can't really explain it better than I have. Suck it up; take it for the team.
Rock the Vote
Election Day Tuesday. I voted. My personal philosophy on voting is to show
up to vote to make it known that I care about the election process and I know
that I can make a difference. However, if I know I am not making an informed
decision, I will not blindly vote for a candidate or party. Hopefully, those
of you that could make your voice or scantron form or fallen chad count did.
Schedule Uncertainty
In the fullness of the weekend, I almost didn't even notice that Illinois lost
to Penn State. What does this mean for winter break bowl plans? Well, it turns
out that the true definition of bowl eligible means more wins than losses. Now
that that debate has been settled, apparently, if a conference has not filled
its bowl spots (Big Ten has seven bowl games), then a team that's .500 can be
considered to help fill the gap. And after that, then the spots are open for
at-large randomness. All that means is that with Illinois at 3-6, they can
still go to a bowl game if they win their remaining three games at Wisconsin,
versus Ohio State, and at Northwestern. MSNBC rocks my world for finally
explaining bowl eligible to me. Now if only I could make more concrete winter
break plans.
The Trivia
The trivia went on, and still without prizes, the games continued. Melanie,
after recovering from illness, getting access to transportation, and desiring
to see that I still existed, attended the festivities with boy-Chris. The
restaurant represented, as we had another top 20 placement in the books. As
usual, we didn't quite defeat "the table" but, all in good fun, of course.
Fulfillment of Requirement
"It" was explained in its entirity, including all requisette definitions and
prior placements, as required by the (unwritten) Procedural, Emergency, and
Reference Keeper. Dating back to 2000, the rule referred to as "the May Plan"
(as this is a derivative of it), has been in full force and has been fulfilled
as required. There are currently no outstanding "May Plan" obligations.
SOM Ticketing Challenge
Week 9 is all said and done, and there are still 19 events week. Nothing
happened - with no events and all... but the madness continues in week 10
as the ineligible will fall from contention. At this point, 66 people can't
be wrong, but, of those, not all will continue with eligibility into the next
week.
More information is available at the website at
brian.sweetgoodness.org/som/.
Actually Watched a Movie
"Panic Room" (2002): It was unfulfilling. I mean, yeah, the house and the room
were cool, but if you're looking for a total sense of resolution, don't watch
it. Of course, it's something you _could_ see, but I'm glad I didn't actually
pay to see it. It's not bad. Definitely not like SwimFan. But seeing it did
make me understand the trailers and MTV Movie Award parody much more. I guess
that's a good thing.
"Blast from the Past" (1999): Not the kind of thing I necessarily wanted to
see at the time that I saw it, considering the next section and all, but it was
cute. Movies like this always seem to drive in the idea that, yeah, I guess
there is always hope for the hopeless romantic like me, but it's nothing one
should see if the term "hopeless" seems more pronounced. I liked it, and gladly
delayed sleep I should be getting to watch it. That, and, there was a time
when I thought Miss Alicia would be an issue if I knew her. Still cute. Still
might be.
"the list"
empty (respectfully, s'team)
mdate Scheduling
next week
A work filled week will hopefully keep me occupied, because, well, it will
make me feel better. Who doesn't work all the time?
Here's how it looks as of print-time:
- Wednesday Lunch at the Illini Union
- Wednesday, November 6: *Floor Supervisor - Ehlen (evening)
- Thursday, November 7: *Floor Supervisor - Romeo and Juliet [dress] (evening)
- Friday, November 8: *Floor Supervisor - Memory of Water (evening)
- Saturday, November 9: *Floor Supervisor - Memory of Water (evening)
- Sunday, November 10: Chicago Bears vs New England Patriots (afternoon)
- Tuesday Night Dinner and Trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings
- Wednesday Lunch at the Illini Union
- Wednesday, November 13: *Floor Supervisor - UI Chamber Orchestra (evening)
Work is indicated with a star...
The most recent weekly schedule updated can be found
here.
after that
Thanksgiving. Winter Break. Fall into the gap. Or, fill it.
BC Financial Press
Sunday, October 27, 2002 - Saturday, November 2, 2002
Brian General Indicator: +160.51
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Category Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| A FDRV 53.63- | J STDP .00- | Q CTBN .00- |
| B FDGR 12.08- | K IVST .00- | R RNDM .00- |
| C CLTH 38.66- | L COMM .00- | S INCM 533.87+ |
| D TRNS .00- | M SPLY 4.28- | T DDCT 28.35- |
| E LDGN .00- | N UTLT .00- | U EVNT .09- |
| F ACTV .00- | O EDUC 211.08- | V GRUP .00- |
| G ACTR .00- | P GRAT 3.00- | W LNFD .00- |
| H STKP 22.19- | | |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Transfer Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| X XSHR 165.00- | Y XOVR .00- | Z XTFR .00- |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|
|
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
|
The Happenings
s'team
Wednesday night brought a most exciting house managing experience. The
programs for my show were nowhere to be found. The stage manager relayed
that the performer was hesitant to open house or perform without them. So,
twas ten till the start of the show, and I wandered my way down to backstage
to see what was going on. And then, the light bulb lit up - kinda like Best
Buy thinking it's time to bring back the idea box guy or something, well, not
really. Since I'm brilliant, I realized that stage manager Darren would have
a photocopy of the inside of the program in his event folder. I borrowed it
and offered to make some programs from that. For you see, let me take you
back in the way back machine for just a bit. Back in the day, and, by that I
mean March, there was a totally different School of Music performance. And,
like most performances, there were programs for it. This program was special.
It was more than just one folded piece of paper. And, as it turned out, the
cover portion had no text printed on the inside, and the rest of it was on
other interior pieces of paper. These "blank covers", I realized could be
converted into my own little evil fake programs at a later date. And, back
to this story - that is just what I did. I photocopied the inside into the
insides of the blanks, and all was right in the world. The programs were so
well done that it let the main man of the School of Music to believe that
we found the mysterious programs, when, of course we had not. Yay.
loose end
In case it has not been deduced as of yet, the official Brian shortened
version of "Suck it up; take it for the team" is "s'team".
Ordinary (Thurs) Day
Just a day, just an ordinary day, and it began with a stroll through campus
to put up posters for the upcoming production of November Playhouse Dance,
and, after a brief interlude at Taco Bell, concluded with the house managing
of the invited dress rehearsal of the opera "Romeo and Juliet". Well, in
French. And then lanudry was done.
Feels Like Great America
Before sleeping, the load of whites made it safely through the washer. And
then it made it safely through the dryer. And while the dryer was drying, the
washer was washing. And that load, the load of colorful goodness, made it
through safely. And at the end of the night, the dryer was set with the task
of drying the colors overnight while all were tucked snugly in bed. Sad to
say, this is where the machinery as failed me. When I woke in the morning,
I realized what had happened, or had not happened, as the case was, and I had
it try three more times. And try it did, much to no avail. As such, the
start of my day was delayed three hours. At that point, I had no choice but
to s'team and wear a mildly moist pair of pants. The mildly moistness was
mildly uncomfortable, but, as the evening approached, they were dry to the
touch. I guess that's what happens when you consistantly apply 98 degrees
(F) to the clothing by wearing it. Eh.
Bang on a Hmmm
The Bang on a Can All Stars are a great group. Unfortunately, for me, I was
working a lobby's distance away at the Studio Theatre. But when I did happen
to walk by the Great Hall, I did hear some good stuff. Admittedly, I am not
a fan of "newer" music, but this stuff was allright. There was one piece
that I particularly enjoyed that sounded cool that was very easy to space out
to, and because it was so, I was inspired to buy the CD. So, now I have that
one thing in my collection that can make me go "Hmmm".
Playin' It Old School
What better way would there be to spend a Saturday evening that to hang out
with some friends! No, really! Good times were had when Alina (who recently
found her way to New York after graduating this past May) was by, as we all
hung out at Jack and Carolyn's apartment ordering pizza and playing Atari til
almost two in the morning! Bring out those tanks and flying planes! Select,
Select, Select, Select, Select, Select, Select, Reset!
Ten Grand Summary
These past few weeks, my prize radio station was qualifying people to win a
ninety-four minute $10,000 shopping spree. I didn't actually bother trying
to qualify, since it required sitting by a radio and hoping with all hope that
they call out your street name, and then that you're magically the first person
through. But, here's the deal - all these qualifyers got invited to a party
that was to take place Saturday lunchtime, and if you randomly showed up, they
would randomly pick five more people to join them to have a chance to win. So,
since I have the mad crazy luck skills, I could not deny myself the remote
possibility of qualifying to qualify for such a good prize. I didn't win.
So, I went to the mall, and went back to campus, and then went to the mall
again with Abby, and we had dinner, and then I went to work. And that's all
I have to say about that.
Ticket Will Call
I really don't like making non-concrete plans with no tickets in hand. It
just disrupts my own personal planning process. So, with two tickets in my
possession of the four in my control. So, with my sister and her friend in
tow, we hopped onto the Sunday morning "Green" bus eastward to Sunnycrest Mall,
whence we transferred onto the "Southeast Direct" before reaching our final
destination at Meadowbrook Park. We hung out at the playground, and, since I
didn't particularly feel like playing a little pre-football game football game,
we three just started walking. About an hour later, we reached downtown Urbana,
and, since we were hungry, we just had lunch at Courier Cafe and I informed
my floating will call office in the sky to meet later, within blocks of the
stadium. Well, a series of schedule fluctuations caused a late arrival to
the Bears/Patriots game. Fortunately, there is continuous late seating at
Memorial Stadium. Now, as far as the actual game is concerned, it was a great
game - up until the Bears lost. And, as far as the experience of being at the
game is concerned, it was fun... until I was plastered on the video display
as having won two tickets on ATA. But, why I was on the screen was beyond me.
All I knew was that there was a camera in my face, right in front of me, so I
was being all Bears-fanny-ish-ness. It wasn't until my sister called me on
my cell phone at the next break in the action did I find out what happened to
me. But, alas, my prize package was nowhere to be found. It turns out, the
camera man was stupid and went to the wrong section. So, no free tickets for
me. Yet another s'team-y expereince.
Must See TiVo
Sunday night, Abby and I caught up on our television programming for the
week, watching some Alias and the Thursday night lineup on NBC, complete
with supersized Friends and WIll and Grace. Oh, the excitement! Lying
down and watching TV was probably the most comfortable thing I'd done all
day.
Ordinary (Mon) Day
Just a day, just an ordinary day, and yeah, Monday was just one of them.
There's nothing like catching up on personal paperwork and web pages *news*
and analyzing college bowl game possibilities.
Schedule Uncertainty
In the fullness of the weekend, I surely did realize that Illinois defeated
Wisconsin over and away in Madison. What does this mean for winter break bowl
plans? Well, the Illini still have to win out to be eligible for a bowl
appearance this year. That only means we have to beat just Northwestern, and
just Ohio State. Oh, wait, Ohio State is currently the number two team in the
country and leads the famed mathematical BCS ranking system. How exciting is
that? Well, should Illinois go to a bowl, it will either be the Motor City
Bowl in Detroit on December 26, the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville
on December 30, or the Wells Fargo Sun Bowl in El Paso on December 31. Here's
hoping, I guess.
The Trivia
In this installment of trivia, good times were had as always, and featured
another newcomer this week, Josh's friend Julie. But, of non-trivia related
news, Chris of now Washington, DC fame was called because he became old. And,
also, the planning committee of Zach and I determined how the trivia schedule
would be affected by the Illinois Men's Basketball games. As such, the
following changes will be made:
Trivia Tuesday will be cancelled on:
- Tuesday, December 3, 2002 (North Carolina game)
- Tuesday, December 24, 2002 (Christmas Eve)
- Tuesday, December 31, 2002 (New Year's Eve)
- Tuesday, February 18, 2003 (Michigan State game)
- Tuesday, February 25, 2003 (Indiana game)
Should you be interested in going to any of these games with the group, let
me know as soon as possible... especially for the December 3 game.
All That Is Sweet and Good
Sweet Goodness Week 2003 will run from Thursday, April 31, 2003 to Thursday,
April 38, 2003.
SOM Ticketing Challenge
Week 10 is all said and done, and there are still 16 events left. Three
events went into the books, and with those events, there were some that
did not rise to the occasion by not keeping up the the event pace, and
there were those that rose to the top. There's been a shake up and people
are slowly creeping their way upward, that is, if they can still make 20
events. While 66 people can't be wrong, only 58 can still win the prize.
More information is available at the website at
brian.sweetgoodness.org/som/.
Actually Watched a Movie
actually, I didn't
"the list"
empty (respectfully, s'team)
mdate Scheduling
next week
The biggest work day of the semester - even bigger than Dad's Day and
Foundation - is coming up on Saturday... it's that one day where all four
theatres will all have a performance, and all at eight o'clock! How much
more excitement can one ask for, besides Illinois playing #2 (BCS #1) Ohio
State this weekend!
Here's how it looks as of print-time:
- Wednesday Lunch at the Illini Union
- Wednesday, November 13: *Floor Supervisor - UI Chamber Orchestra (evening)
- Friday, November 15: *House Manager meeting (afternoon)
- Saturday, November 16: Illinois football vs Ohio State (afternoon)
- Saturday, November 16: *Floor Supervisor - Battle of the Bands (evening)
- Sunday, November 17: *Floor Supervisor - The Memory of Water (afternoon)
- Tuesday Night Dinner and Trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings
- Wednesday Lunch at the Illini Union
- Wednesday, November 20: *Floor Supervisor - New Music Ensemble (evening)
Work is indicated with a star...
The most recent weekly schedule updated can be found
here.
after that
It looks like another Thanksgiving at home. When will winter break be so
uncertain?
BC Financial Press
Sunday, November 3, 2002 - Saturday, November 9, 2002
Brian General Indicator: +19.88
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Category Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| A FDRV 63.05- | J STDP .00- | Q CTBN .00- |
| B FDGR .00- | K IVST .00- | R RNDM .00- |
| C CLTH .00- | L COMM .00- | S INCM .00- |
| D TRNS .00- | M SPLY .00- | T DDCT .56- |
| E LDGN .00- | N UTLT .00- | U EVNT .09- |
| F ACTV 112.00+ | O EDUC .00- | V GRUP .00- |
| G ACTR .00- | P GRAT .53- | W LNFD .00- |
| H STKP 27.89- | | |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Transfer Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| X XSHR 157.12+ | Y XOVR 277.00- | Z XTFR .00- |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|
|
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
|
The Happenings
Well, If You Want Me To Go
Well, the night before last Wednesday, like, right after trivia, I went to
Krannert to check my email. And I was listening to the radio. And I heard
the magic words - the cue to call in. And call into the radio station I did.
And got a busy signal. And got a busy signal. And got a busy signal. And
got a busy signal. And got a busy signal. And, got a few more busy signal.
And then, I got a ring. And it was answered, and, yes, apparently I was the
ninth caller through, and, so I won. And, thanks to Mix 94.5, I won a "Family
Four Pack" of tickets to a Mix private showing of "Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets" on Saturday. Who'd a thunk? I was just calling for the sport of
it - I haven't read any Harry Potter books nor did I see the first Harry Potter
movie. So, with that said, last Wednesday, I went to the radio station to
claim my prize. It was a really neat experience. The receptionist recognized
me right away - we randomly chat everytime I come in, since that is kinda often
- and she no longer asks for my name or checks my ID, and we talked about our
Thanksgiving plans. And, as I'm about to leave, I get myself some tickets to
the Women's basketball game, too! All and all good times... it's great to be
loved.
Pants!
Step 1: Conduct Pants Surveys
Step 2:
Step 3: Profit! No wait, help a friend out and give them to her for a
group class project.
Lovely and Amazing
Alas, Thursday night, Abby and I caught up on our TV backlogs and saw a
No Doubt interesting Dawson's Creek along with a very inspirational ode to
Sir Mix-a-Lot with that night's episode of Friends. But, the greatness of
the evening is the show "Amazing Race" - upon recommendation, I watched it
and was like "that's a cool show". Like, I felt inspired to watch more of
it. Just what I need - another reason to spend more time watching a screen.
Too bad it will run against Dawson's Creek next week, as apparently CBS feels
the need to show a Victoria's Secret fashion show at 8pm Wednesday.
Suck It Up
Friday morning, like, 1am-ish, Josh E B and I decided we would have breakfast
in the morning. 7:30. And, while that really isn't that bad of a time, I
tend to wake up around 10am, and I didn't actually get to sleep until 3am
(gee, thanks, Amazing Race). So, I was very sleepy that morning at Perkins.
Winter break plans were discussed, and, as 9:00am approached, Josh had to go
to his CS225 class. So, since I didn't have much to do, I went with. It'd
been quite a long while since I actually took the class, and Primm's algorithm
managed to push me to the brink of sleep once again. Eh. The long day
continued with a little bit of work before my only real obligation of the
day: a house manager meeting at 4:15pm. I'd say the neat event of the day was,
after making my way to my "office space" around noon, I saw Kelly who was about
to go home (which is about a block from my place). So, I decided to walk with
her home in the cold without my coat to wake me up, and then I'd go back to
el Kran. Well, as we got there, roommate Matt came by and said "life sucks"
or an equivalent phrase. Apparently, he just missed the bus that would get him
to another bus that would take him to his class at Parkland so he could take
an exam. Kelly, who had just crossed the street and was on her way, responded
to my yell of "Hey, Kelly!" across the street responded with a "yeah" or
equivalent phrase. I asked if she was free to go for a little drive, and she
said "sure, why not" or an equivalent phrase. And, so, such was my random
half hour detour to the other side of the twin cities... Kelly's awesome!
But really, though, it was a very tame day with nothing much going on - like
an ordinary day or something. Just long, that's all.
The Chamber of Lame Non-Scores
We go from a rather inactive long day to a long day that's action-packed!
Sam and I meet at 9:30am to go pick up Abby to have breakfast at Le Peep
before meeting Sam's dad to deliver some tailgate passes to him before
meeting someone at the Beverly Cinemas to watch the private showing of
Harry Potter which we learned was just a showing where the radio station
just bought out all of the seats in the theatre before going to the Ohio State
versus Illinois football game before watching us lose in overtime as I yelled
"How many times do we have to score a touchdown before it counts!" before
quickly making my way over to Krannert to house manage for a four performance
evening (and all shows started at the same time) before hanging out at the
new Bakers Square, which was at the old Denny's on North Neil Street, with
Jack and Carolyn and Josh (RB) and Joe (M) before retiring for the night!
Did you get all that?
Lady Stars
Through the magic of trading shifts, I was able to get out of working Sunday
afternoon so I could use those Women's Basketball tickets I magically obtained.
It was a very interesting experience - I mean, well, as far as being in
Assembly Hall for basketball games, I've only been there for a few men's games.
The experience is totally different. With about, I'd say 7% of the seats full
or a thousand or so, it was relatively quiet. I'm used to not really being
able to hear much because of the crowd - instead, you could pick out just about
any individual voice (from player to coach to cheerleader). It really was a
good game, as the Illini didn't finish off the Reebok Lady Stars until the end,
but the lack of peopleage was kinda sad. Still - it was a fun game and I'm
glad I went. If I'm free, maybe I'll go to more... schedule permitting, of
course.
Alias Reference
Way to not die, Vaughn. (That's not supposed to be sarcastic, by the way.)
What's your list really like?
Ordinary (Mon) Day
Just a day, just an ordinary day, and I worked somewhere, and I worked
somewhere else, and I worked somewhere else, and I had dinner and watched
some football at the siblings', and I caught up on several episodes of the
Real World, and I slept.
Math Be Hard
Ya know what sucks? When you try to balance your books and, well, they don't.
Stupid making math mistakes-ish-ness. Ah, well, I guess that's the price you
pay for ensuring that all pennies in all forms are accounted for and properly
attributed to the correct expenditure category. Sucked it up and took it for
the team I did.
Let's Go Shopping
Tuesday, the Illini Union Bookstore was having their annual "get rid of old
crap" sale, where they have some really neat and some not-so Illini goods.
It's a can't miss event for me, and this year I walked away with (actually,
paid for) an Illinois Alumni dark blue t-shirt, an orange rain-coat thingy,
a nice polo shirt, and a Krannert watercolor print or something of some
sort. Yes, yes, way to spend money, but at least I didn't give in to the
little table that was out on the quad selling the oh-so-delicious Krispy
Kreme doughnuts!
Battery Operated Feel It
After Tuesday night trivia, a quick trip to Meijer was had and my solitary
purchase was a little lollipop rotating thing that had a little plastic
figurine thing almost doing the standard issue "Feel It" hand/arm gesture.
Yet another must-have in the collection of Brian crap!
Schedule Uncertainty
In the fullness of the weekend, I surely did realize that Illinois was defeated
by Ohio State. Heck, I was there. What does this mean for winter break bowl
plans? Well, the Illini are officially not able to go to a bowl game. And,
that having been decided, random plans to go to Nashville for New Year's (and
the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl) have been reconsidered. So, someone love
me and let's do something then? Maybe? Well, since Ohio State beat us, I
want them to win out and represent for the Big 10 up in the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl "national championship" game. And, if all is well, perhaps Iowa will
still get to go to the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T anyways, despite Ohio State's
receiving the automatic Big 10 representation spot in a BCS bowl!
The Trivia
In this installment of trivia, good times were had as always, but it was a
general poor showing which equated to not-very-happiness. But, of non-trivia
related news, the Illinois/North Carolina basktball game is sold out, so,
of trivia related news, Tuesday Trivia has been reinstated for December 3,
2002. And, of other trivia related news, since Thanksgiving break is right
around the corner, there isn't that much to do, so there will be a trivia
night on Friday for five hours to experience a multitude of different games
and Monday evening to attempt to capitalize on some cheap appetizers at Damon's
if they still have that going on.
SOM Ticketing Challenge
Week 11 is all said and done, and there are only 13 events left. Yet a few
more people fell off the "I can reach the prize" pace by becoming mathematically
impossible to reach 20 events. In combination with a few not quite excellent
guesses on my part, I've fallen from 5th to 8th place overall over the course
of week 11. But, what is most interesting is the upcoming week, as it marks
the start of people's ability to drop scores if they're just that great.
Expect a shakeup in the standings - and - once someone starts dropping, since
they drop poor scores, their score can only improve with time! This means
we can figure out who can still win because now we'll have a definitive score
to beat! Oh, the complexity; Oh the fun! While 66 people can't be wrong, only
52 can still win the prize.
More information is available at the website at
brian.sweetgoodness.org/som/.
Actually Watched a Movie
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002): While it might displease
some, I was quite happy that I was able to enjoy this movie without my actually
knowing absolutely nothing about Harry Potter. Sure, Sam had to give me a
crash course on random Harry Potter facts and stories, and Abby had to explain
a few random details over the course of the movie, but, it was quite enjoyable.
It, however, was quite long. It held my interest, though, as I didn't notice
the 160 minute experience - even knowing I was going to be late to the football
game. Of course, it was geared for the kids, but, good times. I wouldn't
normally give in to the hype of most things, but, since I won these tickets,
it was allright. Heck, I just might see the next one on its opening weekend
next time. Still not that inspired to run and go do some reading, but, we'll
see, I guess.
"Drive Me Crazy" (1999): My random movie watching led me to see this movie
because I hadn't seen it, but, as it turns out, I actually randomly caught it
once before, missing the first few minutes and never finding out what movie it
was that I saw. Yes, crazy and far-fetched, but whatever. High school blah
blah, and, as I look back now, I'm glad I wasn't inspired to go actively seek
this one out in the movie theatre. It's one of those I had to see just once,
and that was that. Only part way into it, I wasn't sure if I could make it
all the way through for what I realized would be a second time. It's not bad,
I just couldn't find myself caring for the characters (this time). Maybe it's
because I'm older or maybe it's because I'm currently partly semi-bitter about
the love thing. Regardless, the once Nickelodeon cutie Clarissa could not save
the film's experience this time.
"the list"
empty (not even a remote chance of change reared its head this week)
mdate Scheduling
next week
Chillin' out back, relaxing, all cool, and playing some trivia out - oh
after school. Then a couple of guys said it's Thanksgiving. So I'm going
home.
Here's how it looks as of print-time:
- Wednesday Lunch at the Illini Union
- Wednesday, November 20: *Floor Supervisor - New Music Ensemble (evening)
- Thursday, November 21: *Patron Services Host (afternoon)
- Thursday, November 21: *Floor Supervisor - Wind Symphony/Symphonic Band I (evening)
- Friday, November 22: Krannert Staff Thanksgiving Lunch
- Friday, November 22: "Tuesday Night" Dinner and Trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings
- Saturday, November 23: *Floor Supervisor - Ward/Weglarz Wedding/Reception (afternoon/night)
- Monday, November 25: "Tuesday Night" Dinner and Trivia at Damon's
- Tuesday Night Dinner and Trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings
- Wednesday, November 27: *Director's Office (morning/afternoon)
- Wednesday, November 27: train back to Chicago area (evening)
Work is indicated with a star...
The most recent weekly schedule updated can be found
here.
after that
Must plan winter break. Really must plan reading day.
BC Financial Press
Sunday, November 10, 2002 - Saturday, November 16, 2002
Brian General Indicator: -4.98
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Category Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| A FDRV 79.48- | J STDP .00- | Q CTBN .00- |
| B FDGR 1.82- | K IVST .00- | R RNDM .00- |
| C CLTH .00- | L COMM 12.93- | S INCM 511.24+ |
| D TRNS 16.00- | M SPLY .00- | T DDCT 12.63- |
| E LDGN 385.00- | N UTLT .00- | U EVNT .09- |
| F ACTV 7.00+ | O EDUC .00- | V GRUP .00- |
| G ACTR .00- | P GRAT 10.27- | W LNFD .00- |
| H STKP 5.00- | | |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Transfer Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| X XSHR 20.91- | Y XOVR 10.00+ | Z XTFR .00- |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|
|
Wednesday, November 27, 2002
|
The Happenings
Well, If You Want Me To Go
Well, it was Wednesday, and it was lunch time, so it was time for Wednesday
lunch. Kari was around, and, since she was available for lunchage, she joined
me in our adventure to the Illini Union. We had lunch. With the Wednesday
lunch group. And all was right in the world. At least in my stomach.
Educational Expereince
In preparation for the 26th event of the ticketing challenge, I decided to
create yet another worksheet in the super-huge workbook Excel document I had.
All was right in the world... I did work and saved often, and everything was
just fan-freakin brilliant. I mean tastic. Whatever. So, Wednesday afternoon,
I come along to print out my preliminary guess sheet for the evening's event,
and, lo and behold, the document opened... 99% of the way. Then the computer
froze. I had no choice but to make the computer s'team, so I rebooted it and
life went on. And, then, Wednesday afternoon, I come along to print out my
preliminary guess sheet for the evening's event, and, lo and behold, the
document opened... 99% of the way. And then Excel unexpectedly quit, suggessing
I save all work and restart the computer. So, after a series of reboots and
attempting to open the document in many ways, I continually got the "application
unexpectedly quit" message. Alas, life would suck if the SOMTC workbook was
lost forever - the last copy of the file was back when it was week 3! All was
not lost, for I did have hard copy printouts of all the reports generated after
each event - to restore all of that would just be a painful task. Fortunately
for me, Kran backs up most all of their computers nightly, so Ray was able to
save the day and restore the backup copy from the night before! And all was
right in the world... I did work and saved often, and everything was just
fan-freakin brilliant. I mean tastic. Whatever. So, Wednesday evening, I come
along to print out my final guess results sheet for the evening's event, and, lo
and behold, the document opened... 99% of the way. And then Excell unexpectedly
quitm suggesting I save all work and restart the computer. And, with Vince
around, I realized what I did each time to cause the madness. It was the
creation of another worksheet! Perhaps I reached the maximum number of
worksheets allowed! I had conculded that making the 101st worksheet had done
the job (although, since I was thinking of the state of Florida a few hours ago,
I realized I had miscounted, so I recounted and it was actually the 97th
worksheet). Quick work was done to split the data into two sensible and logical
documents, and the ticketing challenge continued without incident. And then I
made a backup. I did work and saved often, and everything was just fan-freakin
brilliant. I mean tastic. Whatever.
Ordinary (Thurs) Day
Just a day, just an ordinary day, tring to get by; just a boy, just an ordinary
boy, and he was looking into the sky - of his computer background. And I asked
if I would do some work, and I realized, I did work and I house managed more,
and that was all to be described.
Wedding Plates
Alas, Thursday night, Abby and I caught up on our TV backlogs as saw an
"occupied" Joey as she made her way through finals week Dawson's Creek
(actually, that part happened Wednesday) along with a very inspirational
breakage of flatware on Friends and a wedding for Grace. As far as random
television programming is concerned, they so did not just do that thing on
South Park... oh, Mr. Garrison. The MTV Europe Awards were kinda interesting,
but kinda long, and if you missed it the first week you could see it, MTV did
air the Christina A's making of the video "Dirty" once again. Oh, the joy of
watching TV according to your schedule. Oh, and the Victoria's Secret fashion
show? Not interesting at all - I could only sit through one minute until
realizing I didn't care.
Suck It Up
Friday morning, like, 1am-ish, Abby and I were still watching TV, and, that
lasted maybe half an hour more before she had to go home to pack and maybe
sleep before catching the 6am train. Following her departure, I was catching
up with Jess and Tim - and, once again I realized how difficult it is to retell
stories that are but fading memories! It surely did not help the flow of the
story if I had to think about what was and wasn't covered - but, of course, a
good time was had by all. And I didn't get to sleep until maybe 3:30am. Now,
that having been said, my alarm is set to go off every morning at 5am, even
though all I will do is turn it off, like I do every morning, and then let
myself wake myself up around 10am. That is, of course, unless my cell phone's
schedule doesn't wake me up earlier because of previously scheduled stuffs.
What is the point of this? Well, part one is that I was supposed to call Abby
to make sure she was awake at 5am - well, I didn't even hear the alarm. Since
I was not harassed later in the day, I assume all was right in the world. But,
more importantly, the only official thing I had to do all day was attend a
one hour meeting at 4:15pm. When my cell phone's calendar went off at 11:30, I
was confused - because I knew I didn't have anything to do, and because I knew
I should have been awake, if but for a minute earlier in the day.. and then it
dawned on me. At noon, there was a staff Thanksgiving dinner lunch! And who am
I to turn down yummy free food! It was the best, and I made it in time to
enjoy quite delicious ham and honey bunches of mashed potatoes! Oh so good; it
was SO worth the last-minute rush of morning preparatory activities!
Take It For The Team
Now that Thanksgiving break was in full swing, there really wasn't much going
on in the land of Champaign County. Therefore, the Tuesday Trivia scheduling
committee decided that Friday would present an excellent opportunity to go
to yet another night of trivia! Five hours of fun were had that evening -
and over the course of the event, not one game was repeated! It was a fun
experience, and it rendered us confused on occasion, but it was all-round
delightful. The only thing that I missed was the true sense of competition -
of us against them (being the other table). But, eh, what can you do?
Schedule Uncertainty
In the fullness of the weekend, I surely did realize that Illinois defeated
Northwestern, which was great. Even more exciting was Ohio State's beating
of Michigan, which means that the Big 10 will surely represent in the BCS
madness of the Tostitos Fiesta. All was right in the world, as these games
started at 11am, so they'd finish just in time for me to get some food before
working that evening and night. Still, with the future of the football teams
pretty much set, I still have yet to plan a single day of my winter "break" -
well, except for Theatrefest.
Stairway to Heaven
Baby you're all that I want; finding it hard to believe we're in heaven.
Saturday was quite the beautiful day as Theatrefest David got married down
the main steps of the Foellinger Great Hall. I thought, gee, I'd like to
get married some day. Well, yeah, that's not happenening anytime in the
near future. Good times were had by all. Except for me - for the one hour
where I was hungry. Before coming to work, as I house managed the fine evening,
I went to McDonald's in the Union to get some food, as I hadn't done anything
until the Ohio State game was over. Since it was break, they were closed. So
I went to the Subway by Kams, and it too was closed. And so I was hungry. And
I had to work. So I went to work. And I was hungry. So hungry, that I ordered
some pepperoni rolls delivered. The horrible thing is that the wedding
reception was in the lobby, and the pizza guy would have to cut across the lobby
to get to me! It was a very stressful 5 minutes. Fortunately, the food arrived
but a mere ninety seconds before the wedding ended, and by that time, the food
was safely tucked away in the office and the delivery guy wa nowhere to be
found. And I was satisfied.
Lion Roar
I was extended an invitation to attend the Bears game just as the game was to
start. I was sleeping. Had I been awake and properly located, I may have done
it. Alas, it was not meant to be. Scheduling doesn't quite work that way.
Land Down Under
Ninety minutes after a (Chicago) Bears game, in a week that is a UIUC break,
there was no wait for Josh, Zach, and I to gather for a fine meal at Outback
Steakhouse. Mmmm, more mashed potatoes and mashed potatoes! Post-food, Josh
opted out of the grand opportunity to watch the Illinois Men's Basketball
season opener (as in not counting those two exhibitions). We played the Lehigh
somethings, pronounced "Lee High" as opposed to "Lay He" and beat them... they
did not meet my expectations - they did not double their score. Doh! A win
is a win, I guess.
Trivial Madness
Yes, even more trivia than normal was had. Monday evening, trivia was moved
an hour earlier and relocated to Damons so we could capitalize on the free
refills, and, more importantly, half priced appetizers! Oh, it was the bestest.
And trivia was fine, too. It was very wierd to see my name on the board as
being the number three point-earner at Damon's, even though I'm never there.
It's hillarious!
The Trivia
In this installment of Tuesday trivia, good times were had as always, but it
wasn't quite the same without the other table giving us a run for our money...
except playing trivia's free, so whatever, but still. So, we won, but it wasn't
as charged as the many previous Tuesday evenings where the competing was truly
more a part of the overall evening experience. Cornie and Grace did wave "hi"
from outside, but didn't join the festivities. Jack and Carolyn made an
appearance, so all was exciting and fun!
Oh, Emma
After a not quite long night, and, actually, the last of a series that wasn't
necessarily all in a row, I finally caught up with all those episodes of Friends
from last spring and the beginning of the semester. Oh, Emma! The primere was
kind of a let-down, especially after how last season's finale ended.
Ross: It's just, Rachel and I, we're doing... we're doing really well right
now.
Phoebe: I know, I know. I know. And, if you try and make it more you
might wreck it.
Ross: Yeah, exactly.
Phoebe: Or you might get everything you've wanted since you were fifteen.
SOM Ticketing Challenge
Week 12 is all said and done, and there are only 10 events left. As expected,
the scores at the top got ridiculously better as they reflected mega-point
drops out of their average. Things look to be particulatly tight at the top,
and no one, well, except for me, knows how many tickets off will not be
reflected in each person's final scores. But, for right now, I'm content with
my boost to 3rd place overall. Dawson vaults up to number one as he no longer
has his Dad's Day performance of 400 tickets off keeping his score off-pace.
While 66 people can't be wrong, only 48 can finish ranked, and only 15 can be
number one at the end!
More information is available at the website at
brian.sweetgoodness.org/som/.
Actually Watched a Movie
"Die Another Day" (2002): I think this just might be my first in-theatre James
Bond experience. I'm not a fan or anything - the film was allright. Of course,
I've seen the occasional Bond film, so I know who he is and all - it's not like
each character was an enlightening experience like Harry Potter was for me, but
yeah, it was good. I would say that the biggest disappointment for me was when
I saw the credits and I saw that Miss Frost was played by some random actress,
when, all throughout the movie, I thought it would have been cool if she was
played by Kat from Real World 4 - London. Eh, what can you do?
"the list"
empty (tough call)
mdate Scheduling
next week
Oh, oh oh oh, for the longest time, I will be home with my family... and I
just get a haircut, too. It's not necessarily a vacation, as I guess, with
the way I run my life, it's never really that way, but it will surely be a
nice change of scenery.
Here's how it looks as of print-time:
- Wednesday, November 27: *Director's Office (morning/afternoon)
- Wednesday, November 27: train back to Chicago area (evening)
- Thursday, November 28: Thanksgiving with some of the family in Addison
- Friday, November 29: Day after Thanksgiving overcrowded funness
- Saturday, November 30: Thanksgiving with some of the family in Oak Park
- Tuesday, December 3: *Patron Services Host (lunchtime)
- Tuesday Night Dinner and Trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings
- Wednesday Lunch at the Illini Union
- Wednesday, December 4: *Floor Supervisor - Kathleen Battle (evening)
Work is indicated with a star...
The most recent weekly schedule updated can be found
here.
after that
The "Travel Hold" in the master calendar for the days immdiately surrounding
January 1st has been removed. Oh, what to do, what to do.
BC Financial Press
Sunday, November 17, 2002 - Saturday, November 23, 2002
Brian General Indicator: -183.54
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Category Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| A FDRV 68.34- | J STDP .00- | Q CTBN .00- |
| B FDGR .00- | K IVST .00- | R RNDM .00- |
| C CLTH 32.68- | L COMM 66.42- | S INCM .13+ |
| D TRNS .00- | M SPLY .00- | T DDCT 29.22- |
| E LDGN .00- | N UTLT .00- | U EVNT 1.91+ |
| F ACTV 30.00+ | O EDUC .00- | V GRUP .00- |
| G ACTR .00- | P GRAT 1.00- | W LNFD .00- |
| H STKP 17.92- | | |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Transfer Summary |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes | Symbol Change notes |
| ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== | ====== ========= ===== |
| X XSHR 51.61- | Y XOVR 32.68- | Z XTFR .00- |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+-------------------------+
|
|
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