news @ sweetgoodness

[ news @ sweetgoodness ] Archives - July 2004 // comments for your readability

archived content

[ news @ sg ]
currents
archives
features
versions
contributors
about [news@sg]

Thursday, July 1, 2004 / 10:48am

Marynia: Brian, are you using a new conditioner?
Brian: Nope. Kid's Pert Plus BananaBerry, just like the last two and a half months.
Diana: Oh, Brian...

Sunday, July 4, 2004 / 2:38am

The Battles Before Independence

When last I wrote, there was the looming indecision over future. Well, that hasn't changed. I say that because I did decide to apply for my job. So, if I get my job, the stay/go decision has yet to be made. And so ends that issue for now. With that out of the way, I could finally figure out what I was going to do for this holiday weekend. Apparently, everyone else wants to do things, too, and most of them not here. After adopting the July 3rd vacant usher supervisor spot, I'd pretty much killed indecision about that by locking myself into being here. I thought I might make some people happy and excuse them from work, too, since I'd be around, so Jenn and Kathryn B. were free to begin their holiday early. It left just Heather making announcements at the desk, and Emily and I were left to manage the gate and the theatre by ourselves. All was right in the world; Emily and I are quite the experienced ticket takers, though we're a little out of practice. And I'd juggled being two things at once before and was ready to fill that theatre as full as it could get. What was the craziness? Besides not one but two double seatings at the wire, the Lobby PA wasn't all there, and Heather was given the decree of calling over the radio when an announcement was to be made... then making the announcements over the intercom system to random places in the lobby. While that was going on, we were yelling announcements all over the place. It was mad crazy, and if you weren't around, you missed a pretty ridiculous night. Well, as far as the holiday is concerned, I have no plans. And if you aren't here or you left or I granted you leave of the fine Krannert, you'd better be doing something fun (or you'll make me cry on the inside). Have a wonderful holiday... now that I've just watched the E! True Hollywood Story about the Spice Girls and heard Baby Got Back on Mix 94.5, my day is complete.

Sunday, July 4, 2004 / 5:39pm

Bread For The Masses

For lack of a better thing to do, I hauled myself out of the apartment today and walked South a few blocks to watch Champaign County's parade. Interesting thing of note (if you didn't know), Champaign County actually has a website for its July 4th celebration at july4th.net (.org is Boston's party, and .com gives out flags). With a prime location on the curb outside of Jimmy Johns, which, incidentally, ran out of bread before the parade, I took in the sights of the parade. Of a decent length, it was allright with its share of emergency vehicles, high school bands, and politicians. Today's notables included two old gun carrying people on a vehicle branded that guns save lives, the Garcia brothers of pizza fame firing up that hot air balloon-less boat (and wondering if they'd torch the trees that shade Lincoln Avenue), a big truck saying that some guy's always safe for always wearing a helmet while pulling a motorcylce with a helmut-less drivers, a bunch of Cubs fans representing as a spot in the parade, and some yellow cars. And, in case you're wondering, I noted some guy bringing in a bunch of dough (presumably from another JJ) fifteen minutes into the parade, which was immediately followed by the store yelling "Jimmy Johns has bread again!" So much red, white, blue, ads, and watching a baseball highlight show pause to show Barry Bonds walk of all things (yeah, it was record breaking, so it was legit)... what a wonderful world.

Sunday, July 4, 2004 / 6:32pm

Ridiculously Long Name

"Major League Baseball All-Star Game Selection Show Presented By Pepsi Edge"; ESPN; Right Now. Some Cubs. A White Sock. Redbirds flying infield... it looks like it will be an interesting game. Did you know you could have seen the rosters online before they were completely announced on ESPN? Well, duh... but it did take about 10-15 minutes. However, if you wanted to buy an All-Star Jersey before then, they already had the roster names and numbers populated into their online store. Well, that takes the drama out of that one.

Monday, July 5, 2004 / 12:11am

You Win Some; You Miss Some

In the grand scheme of Brian life, every little day could mean something. I mean, really, now... I have well over nine thousand days of history I could go through. And, while I sat in the apartment living room, pausing the Cubs/Sox baseball game on TiVo to watch the fireworks through the balcony window, I had the opportunity to pause and reflect on things. Last July 4th, I was upset on the inside for this reflection on history despite my being with friends. This evening was no different, as it was very refreshing to see some friends I haven't seen in a while. I left the gathering to go home and start watching the game which kept me distracted the whole evening, but those fireworks... oh, tear. At least the Cubs won. Now I've got a day where I can't work, I have no idea what my plan will be... we'll see.

Monday, July 5, 2004 / 7:37pm

Tale of Two Away Messages

Here we are, sitting around at our respective apartments on this University Holiday, watching some baseball. I love great baseball, and I love both Chicago teams (really!, though I love the Cubs just a little bit more). Of course, divisional competition is who you don't like, even if you respect them for being a good team. Enter our away messages this afternoon:

Brian	Heather
watching the cubs win on channel 18 and the cards lose on channel 12	watching the cards win on channel 12 and the cubs lose on channel 18

I take no credit; Heather's message came first... but this little intrastaff rivalry will keep summer interesting. Sadly, though, I report a Cubs loss to Milwaukee paired with a Cards victory over the Reds, bring the Cubs to 4 games behind. But, hey, the Cubs will win the division, so whatever.

Monday, July 5, 2004 / 8:29pm

Roses Smell Like Math

Very early on June 25th, like, just after midnight, Christopher IMed me a little link to a game that challenged me. I got it, did my part, and passed it on Engy and Heather, and now I bring it to you. Good luck; I got it in well under a minute, on the second try. I must be stupid or something... Petals Around The Rose as presented by Dr. Chris Davis

Wednesday, July 7, 2004 / 12:13pm

From Zero to Monsoon in Ten Seconds

Yesterday, I went to Trivia Tuesday and sat there by my lonesome for a little over an hour before I decided to leave. So, out to the bus stop I went on a plesant, sunny Tuesday evening. A minute later, the sun was eclipsed by massive clouds, bright flashes of lightning, and it's-so-close thunder. It was ridiculous; I was totally soaked. The bus arrived a few minutes later, creating continual sidewalk splashes of about four or five feet throughout the journey. As it circled the mall, it wasn't sure where to go as the roads and parking lot created huge lakes. By the time got to downtown Champaign, the rain had let up, so I felt that I could take care of some errands, like walking to Walgreens to drop off film. All was right in the world until my approach home, just by the Illini Union. It was almost the same thing over again, and the next safe haven was Krannert, where I waited out the rest of the storm. Totally soaked... created a few pools of water throughout the building just by being. Jenn criticed me for my lack of umbrella, to which I responded that I didn't believe in them, as they are yet another thing for me to carry around. Honestly, it wouldn't have helped yesterday. I was at that bus stop with a woman with an umbrella, and she tried to stay dry to no avail. Anyways, 90 minutes later, I continued on my journey home (running into Angie D. and Ofelia and saying "hi").

Wednesday, July 7, 2004 / 12:24pm

"the list"

empty (extremely close; I crashed and fell asleep before midnight)

Thursday, July 8, 2004 / 4:12pm

I Heart Math

Go.com (the place where most of my spam gets sent to) had a lovely message when I signed on last night:

You are using 102% of your available storage space! E-mail sent to you will be rejected until you delete old messages or empty the trash folder. If you need assistance deleting older messages click here.

Thursday, July 8, 2004 / 4:47pm

Bottle In My Pocket

No, it's not a wine bottle... just happy to see you. I wanted to express my great satisfaction of Krannert's Dock Party. It's nice to know I'd have one good non-paid-for meal once in a while. I consumed quite a bit, which includes over 2L of liquid product, two cookies, potato salad, a double cheeseburger, and three jumbo hot dogs. Anyways, onward to today... when I woke up today, I had already conceded that it wouldn't be a work day. It would be a non-work day with me showing up for meetings. Which is fine; I get more non-work done when I'm not at home, and I work nights and weekends a plenty. The plan for tonight is a movie on the quad; I have no baseball to get me all flustered this evening. In other news, I'm trying to get more people signed up for Orkut, so if you want an invite, let me know.

Friday, July 9, 2004 / 4:11am

No Breakfast For You

I had every intention of actually going to breakfast... now, it looks like that won't be today. I'm so tired. Earlier, Carolyn made some of us a lovely chicken meal before we went out to watch Catch Me If You Can out on the quad... I'd seen it before, and it was a great experience. And being sprayed with Off beforehand really helped. There's a second story of the evening, but I'm too tired to get it done by 7. You'll see it soon enough.

Friday, July 9, 2004 / 1:38pm

Absolutely (Story of a Girl)

Last Night Quote (was put on Heather's profile for public consumption):

Jenn: "What kind of wine is it?"
Brian: "I don't know. French?"

I was out the door, heading out of Krannert, just as Jenn arrived. "You're leaving?" she inquires? Yeah, I was going to go hang out with some friends and get dinner... "but you can find me at quad cinema tonight." A little over two hours later, and about 40-45 minutes into "Catch Me If You Can", I glance down at my silenced phone flashing red and green... incoming call: Heather. "Brian, where are you at?" asks Heather. I reply, "I'm at the Southernmost X on the quad." Jenn and Heather, not wanting to walk in front of almost the entirity of the viewing public stood lost in front of Davenport. So, I get up and leave my stuff, and run off to the side (by Lincoln Hall, the building I'm closest to), then behind the movie screen in front of Foellinger Auditorium, and over to Davenport where I meet the duo. We decide to camp ourselves off to the sides, by Lincoln Hall. Them having missed half the movie, weren't necessarily in to it, and since I'd already seen it, too, we occasionally talked about stuff. For example, they discovered that I had a bottle of wine. And, they'd made it a mission to take it, especially since Jenn was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. The only information they had was that one of the keys Heather has access to at Krannert would lead the way to where said wine was. So, as soon as the quad cinema ended, I parted ways with the Thomas party, telling them I had to relocate a bottle of wine. Heather caught up to me as I made my way to Kran, when I exclaimed, "Oh, crap, there's only one set of keys!" So, we both bolted, me lagging behind hindered by the backpack. She ran up the stairs toward the lobby; I ran North on Goodwin to enter via the Loading Dock. I'd assumed the Lobby doors were locked, and they were; by the time Heather realized this and was back at street level, I was rounding the Goodwin/Illinois corner. I ducked into the Loading Dock stage door and up the stairs to the Orange Parking elevator lobby, exhausted with my backpack. As the elevator doors closed, I saw both Jenn and Heather running through the parking lot towards a different set of stairs. As I strolled through the lobby passing the Playhouse, I see them and they see me. I drop my backpack, and we all bolt toward the office. Heather fumbles for her office key; my key is ready in hand... they're at the office door; I jump the ticket office counter and enter through the other door scoring the keys! "Looking for these?" I ask. Sneakily, Heather grabs a hold of the keys and takes control of them. I, reluctantly, let go and say, "Fine; good luck. You have until midnight; don't do anything stupid." They make their way into the office and claim the listing of where keys go, and they disappear into the darkness of the Lobby. Just after they depart, I took the not-so-very-well concealed bottle of wine and made my way out of the building. I thought I would be nice and give the bottle to Jenn anyways, so I went over to her apartment to leave it in front of her door. As I make my way there, I call Heather to see how their failed mission went. While on the phone with her, Jenn arrives, she's surprised to see me, and then talks to Heather on my phone. They both are now saddened to have been so close to getting the wine, as it was right in the office when they were there initially. (You see, one of the keys she needed was the office key, and she didn't think that was it until later.) Well, the night ends, and we go our separate ways, and Jenn finds the wine and yells down, thanking me for it. Well, I try to make dreams come true... at least, well, make people happy.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 / 12:46pm

"the list"

one at two (new entry)

Thursday, July 16, 2004 / 4:28am

Avril in July

At four in the morning, I looked East and saw a lightening sky. Then I looked West and concluded that the sky in general wasn't as dark as other places because of the lights in this town. But it really is quite serene outside. Aside from the dump truck I came across, birds were chirping at such an early hour. It would really have been nice if the fountain by the gateway was switched on. You can't have everything, I guess... except for a mosquito bite on my foot. Stupid sandals. No, no, I didn't get up early... I'm still up. From yesterday. I had to go walk around and think. I can't really explain how I feel or why, but I'll try... how about this: "It's like that scene in Love Actually where the bride just finds out what's up after seeing the best man's tape. Like, I feel like that guy... kinda." A lot on my mind, and even more to worry about. Sigh. (I know... not a particularly good or interesting entry, but I just hit "ridiculously tired" a few minutes ago.)

Friday, July 23, 2004 / 12:14pm

"the list"

one at two (effective July 21, 2004)

Saturday, July 24, 2004 / 6:58pm

Shampoo Errata

My apologies to Kathryn B., who is the true speaker of the words attributed to Marynia back on July 1.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004 / 2:19am

Literally the Polaroid of Perfection

Monday night, I had this craving for mashed potatoes. So, as my mashed potatoes away message dictated, I walked over to KFC over on University. Walking back, for some bizarre reason, I thought of the movie "Clueless". Later that evening, Mark came by Jimmy John's to say hi and so I could see the new car, then Doug and I went grocery shopping, where I gave in and bought the DVD. And, just now, I found a website that has a bunch of memorable movie monologues... here's one of them:

What does she want with Josh anyway? He dresses funny, he listens to complaint rock, he's not even cute in a conventional way... I mean, he's just like this slug that hangs around the house all the time! Ugh! And he's a hideous dancer, couldn't take him anywhere. Wait a second, what am I stressing about, this is like, Josh. Okay, okay... ...so he's kind of a Baldwin. What would he want with Ty, she couldn't make him happy, Josh needs someone with imagination, someone to take care of him, someone to laugh at his jokes in case he ever makes any... the suddenly... Oh my god! I love Josh! I'm majorly, totally, butt crazy in love with Josh! But now I don't know how to act around him. I mean normally I'd strut around in my cutest little outfits, and send myself flowers and candy but I couldn't do that stuff with Josh.

Eh, just thought I'd share. It'd be cool to walk around and have some sort of musical score playing at the same time (though I'm sure that'd get old sometime.)

Wednesday, July 28, 2004 / 6:47am

"the list"

two at three