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

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Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / 10:31pm

I'm not a brilliant mastermind or anything, so of course a month can't just go by perfectly. In some ways, things were getting better. And, of course, I'd have to report that other things... not so much. With my mad crazy work schedule, I've been granted a lot of "me" time. Lots of time to think. And, yeah, it's difficult to do things and get things done, and I don't necessarily have as easily of an outlet to rant and rave as before, but things are getting by. I'm not poor, yet. Life sucks, and has its moments. And, while I can overtly show bitter or sad or upset (which really does happen), it's nice to know that the overall niceness and goodness of me still makes appearances. Apparently, I'm a complicated person, and I don't make sense. Fine, that's probably true, but there's almost always a method to the madness, and deciphering that probably makes the whole Brian experience so much more rewarding. I'm rambling... clearly, I haven't said much in the last month and a half. I've been primarily upset at one thing or another, which delayed the processing of those DRs (now only one week behind... progress stalled today when I had to make more forms) which made me upset. Alas, a horrible cycle, but it's getting worked out. Everyday life will seem more everyday soon enough. I apprecaite little notes and letters I've been getting and I appreciate your caring when I almost rip your heads off for making a partial faux pas by inquiring about something I'm not prepared to respond. Try to hang on to those good people around you; if all is right in the world, they'll do the same. October's just been yet another growing experience in the life of. Come November, never forget those around you and all that happened that got you there.

My name is Brian, and I approve this message.

This message will eventually get paid for by Brian, but for now, a credit card will have to do. =P

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 / 10:51pm

"the list"

empty

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 5:34pm

The Last National League Win

I know, it's confusing when things aren't necessarily in chronological order, so forgive me for going back to the last time I said anything of historical substance and moving onward from there... which takes us to October 20th. The Cardinals were playing game 6 of the NLCS, a game they needed to win to force a 7th game to have a chance at the World Series. Obviously, as of today, we already know what happened, but back then, we didn't. I was rooting for those Cardinals that day. For, I just happen to have tickets for that Game 7, if necessary, and I wanted it to be. Of course, when I bought the tickets, I thought to myself, "well, that'll be game seven, Cubs and Cards. And someone's going to go home a loser that night. That'd be exciting!" Joke's on me, the Astros became the wild card. Anyways, what happened happened, and instantly a potential Thursday road trip became a reality. That night before, I went to Legends (two separate people randomly IMed me and said "are you going to Legends tonight? Krannert people are going to be there. You should go.") So, I did. It was weird. There were people there I really hadn't seen in a while, other than in passing while they worked at post-Brian Krannert. That was nice. In some ways, I felt like I belonged, and in other ways, I didn't. There were people that didn't know me, though I guess that's okay. And I wasn't introduced as the boss anymore, which was nice. But, all we ever really talked about was work-related things before, and, other than some of them knowing I was going to St. Louis the next day, I'd really only hear about a little bit of how work is now. The truth is, only a very small handful of people that worked for me got to know me as a person. I knew so much about everyone else... usually majors, hometowns, things they liked and disliked, songs they hate, whatever. And as much as each individually, they were a part of my life, I was a part of their work. Well, the next afternoon, the group departed for Missouri without Jenn (who would catch up with us later... silly classes) and got to the city proper and parked on the riverfront with about an hour to go. Following an exciting search for a restroom, the party parted ways as I left to stand in the Ticket Will Call line and the remainder returned to procure Heather's signage indicating Houston having a problem. With a much shorter time in line than anticipated, I made a quick trip around the park's perimeter looking for free stuff, then went North a block to a little downtown plaza-park of sorts. I was eventually located, with about 30 minutes to spare, and, after being yelled at for leaving the stadium area because we could have been inside by then, we retreated back to the ballpark. Upset, I volunteered myself to wait for Jenn to arrive, and still upset during the game, I spent a good part of the first half just hanging out with Ronald McDonald on his bench near our section. Lest something like that intefere with the enjoyment of baseball, the remainder of the game was enjoyed. It was a late night, after weaving through crazy streets full of crazy people and trying to leave the area in severe traffic (even on the Illinois side). The Urbana arrival was almost 3am, after quite a day. (And the Cardinals never won again. Poor Joe, he managed to get tickets to World Series game 5... not necessary. Doh!)

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 7:01pm

Kick It, Old School

Nothing says dedication like waking up about two hours after going to bed after a long night to go to work at eight in the morning. But, hey, it happens. And after a rather full work day, twists of events results in an old school KCSA reunion of sorts. Alina, Jack, Carolyn, Doug, Jay, and I had a late dinner at Steak and Shake before hiding out in Krannert until 1am playing Clue Master Detective. The next morning, some of us, with Anna Z, went to Smith to watch former ushering director Rachel's recital. And then, it was KCSA's "Taste of the Arts", so some of us visited. It was an experience that took me back. Old!

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 7:50pm

The Last Week In October Mambo

A little bit of airport security at work on Sunday. A little bit of making Foellinger November staff schedules on Monday (a lot, actually). A little bit of Tuesday chillin' with bowlers is what I need. A little bit of Wednesday sneak preview OC was what I see'd (and scored a Victoria's Secret Team Pink hat, too). Also got a Qdoba Q-card on Wednesday, and on Thursday to the mall. Oh, yes, my first Auntie Anne's pretzel consumed. With a few hours of work sprinkled here and there as well. Okay, nothing major happened, but in an almost normal Brian way, lots of little things that are interesting in their own way continue to happen.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 8:12pm

Far From Rage Infection

With Halloween falling on a Sunday, the most appropriate class day to walk around in costume was Friday. It's true, I don't go to classes... and while I debated crashing them in costume for fun, I just decided to wander instead. So, I got up early (for me) and made my way to the Union McDonald's, all decked up in costume and ready for breakfast. I began the reverse trick-or-treating and shared some candy with everyone over there before stopping by Krannert and the Visitor's Center to make some appearances. Before working an event that night (which wasn't done in costume), I stopped by the South quad to check out the Homecoming Parade floats, for it was Homecoming weekend, too! (And Daylight Saving!) At work, Daily Illini photographer Lauren (and roommate of Kran Patron Services host Jackie) invited me to stop by and partake in Halloween movie-watching glory. Well, at least I had something to do after work. So, yeah, after work, I re-donned the costume (The Cat in the Hat, complete with cat nose attached to a headband, which happened to be my first purchase ever from Claire's) and took the scenic route via Green Street to their apartment. As Halloween's apparently an excuse for some people to wear silly things, or in other cases, next to nothing, it was quite a crowd. Walking with purpose, I pass two such almost-nothing freezing girls walking in the same direction. The oncoming traffic's honking at them, at which point, I turn around to them and say, "You know, they're honking at me, right?" So, they both yell, "Yeah, that's right! Cat in the Hat! Yeah!" Awww, I know, it's a moment I'll treasure forever. Actually, then we stopped a random guy to take a picture of the three of us with our respective cameras, and I gave them some candy. Yeah, Strawberry Shortcake and her friend went on their merry way... I was told to look for them the next night. In the advent of bartering candy in exchange for a picture, I stopped some people waiting in line to get into Station to test the proposition, and it worked. Hmmm, something to work on for next year. As I approached the apartment, I was invited up to several apartments' balconies to partake in beer, just cause I'm the Cat in the Hat. And, really, now... who doesn't love the Cat in the Hat? At Jackie and Lauren's, we just chilled with some of their friends and watched "28 Days Later". Fortunately, I've seen it before, so I didn't get freaked out or anything. What sucked the most that evening was walking back to my place in the 2am downpour whilst in a sudden Severe Thunderstorm Warning. Eh, thank goodness for the Illini and appropriately timed walks to get to said bus.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 8:38pm

Six Degrees of Halloween

So I slept in on Halloween Saturday. I did get up early enough to run over to Dairy Queen before heading over to Jack and Carolyn's before going to work half an hour later. Once again, in full costume, although without the orange shirt (worn the day before to celebrate Homecoming, and not that day because the football team lost again), I walked around. At Dairy Queen, a kid said, "It's the Cat in the Hat!" So, I offered him some candy to which he accepted and exclaimed, "Thanks, Cat in the Hat!" Awww, it surely was precious indeed. And the parents were happy. And so were the DQ peeps, as I left them all with some candy as well. On my Westward hike down University Avenue, I consistantly had to wave to the traffic as they honked and waved... they referring to kids, parents, townies, Illini fans, and Iowa Hawkeye fans. It's like I was uniting the world. Okay, not really. After work, I was reunited with Jack and Carolyn and went to a party of one of their friends (connection explained in a bit). And, while there, I randomly ran into recently graduated former ticket office Molly! We were both kinda shocked and pleasantly surprised to see each other, especially since she's left town and all. Well, she's dating a guy who is in Iraq who is friends with another guy in Iraq who is married to a girl (party host) who is friends of a girl who was a roommate of Carolyn once. See, it really works! Woo-hah! And, they had a fishtank. With a Nemo fish.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 9:01pm

It's the Longest Day Ever

As far as this year is concerned, theoretically, this was my longest day of the year, lasting a whole 25 hours. Actually, just this second, I realized that, while I claimed it was my longest day of the year, it wasn't! I just remembered that during Brian's Spring Break of a Lifetime 2004, I actually had a 27 hour day on Tuesday, March 23rd. That was the day that started somewhere on a train in Rhode Island or Connecticut, and, following a morning in Baltimore and a dinner in Las Vegas, I ended in Seattle. Oh, time zones. Anyways, official Halloween had me all over, as I visited the mall, and Melanie's. And, at the end of the night, Adam's. And, in between, I visited Krannert and randomly decided to Usher Supervise for Misato, freeing her to have dinner with some friends. But, with all the wandering around, it sure did seem like a long day. Especially after the random late night walkings rounds from the night before. Some guys wanted some candy, so as I walked past them, I threw some up in the air and it landed on the ground. Much like a pinata's scattered guts, they scurried to the sweets they could find. I also had my picture taken with 3 of the 5 Spice Girls. Oh, Halloween.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 9:16pm

A Vote For McDonald's Is A Vote For Democracy

I started my Election Day by voting. At 12:30pm. As I was entering the polling station, there were people exclaiming their cause right up to the "No Electioneering Beyond This Point" sign. One was offering cheeseburgers. I had none of that, but as I walked past them, I said, "Happy Election Day, guys!" So, yeah, I voted. And I stuck my "I Voted" sticker onto my forehead. Then I walked to the Union to have lunch. On the way there, I walked by a guy on a bike waiting to cross a street. He, too, had an "I Voted" sticker on his forehead. We both did the "I recognize" head motion and said, "That's right." Anyways, randomly ran into Doug. We had lunch. I stuck the McDonald's "Hot. Fresh. Just For You." sticker on my forehead, too. Why not. All night long, I was camped out in front of my computer listening to Election Night coverage of CNN from the TV. It reminded me of four years ago when I was camped out in front of the TV with roommates alongside my dry erase Electoral Vote scoreboard. This time, it was my away message that relayed the results. I was up til 4:30am, just as CNN called Wisconsin. I did make it to Wednesday lunch, though a little late, but I got there with enough time to finish before sitting in the quite posh Union Rec Room (bowling alley/billiards) to hear Kerry's Concession and Bush's Victory addresses. Another presidential election in the books. Maybe next time I'll have an auto-refreshing pop-up window and preemptively calling states with no basis for my decision. Maybe I'll call a friend in each state or something. Won't that be fun! And, as a side note... as of right now, I've won 18 30-day passes for Club Pogo, the "we pay to see no ads as we play online" subscription for pogo.com game players. Thanks to all those Monopoly pieces and McDonald's. The fun, the enjoyment. Another way to waste my time. Geez.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 / 11:19pm

"the list"

empty

Thursday, November 11, 2004 / 2:09am

Goodbye Office Supplies

I made quite a few purchases under the H catagory recently. Two are things I won't quite talk about until they're in my possession, but everything else is fine... Well, almost a month ago, I was watching TV when my cell phone rang in the other room. In the rush to get it, I slipped and fell, yanking some telecommunications wiring around. After a series of tests, I determined that my DSL filter thing had ceased to operate; fortunately, everything else was alright. The only problem with this is the static when using the voice line, which doesn't do the TiVo any good when it does its daily call. So, in the interim, I made the TiVo make a call whenever I randomally had to disconnect from the DSL line. Whatever. So, after I saw "Surviving Christmas" on Tuesday, I decided to walk over to Radio Shack to pick a new one up (Best Buy nor Meijer had one!). And, while there, I finally got a replacement antenna for my cell phone! Yeah, the one that fell out following a Cubs game early this summer... the antenna that was replaced with a very special paper clip taped into place and somehow still allowing my phone to work, and with a digital signal. Crazy times! Hooray! Since I'd already walked that distance, I decided to just walk back to campus, after walking over to the mall for a pretzel. After getting back to campus, I found out some friends were going to see "The Incredibles" later that night, so I ended up returning to the Beverly. That first movie was "eh", but I liked "The Incredibles". Wednesday, after Wednesday Lunch, I made another purchase... "Oh The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. It was discussed at school around high school graduation time about the hopes and dreams and the future of each of us, and in this transition time, I thought it would be great to have. After buying it, I kinda wish I had it earlier. I would have made it some sort of tradition to read to my graduating seniors and other friends and staff leaving me. That would have been nice. I'm sure I'll find a way of working it into Brian's traditions.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 / 4:57pm

Let Me See That Thong

Yeah, I don't ever plan on ever being in a circumstance where I will see a thong, but... I've finally taken the initiative to set up that online store for Sweet Goodness. It's not officially public, but if you ask nicely, I will tell you where it is. I'm still debating on final prices and if I want to "upgrade" my store and pay a monthly fee so I'll have more control over it. That, and I kinda want to buy each thing once so I can personally testify as to the sweet goodness of each product. So, one day, some day, you can own your very own SG Thong 2K5! (Or, a T-Shirt or Tile Coaster if you are so inclined.)

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 / 5:06pm

An Appealing Peeling Party

Saturday, Dyanna called and told me that our package containing our eBay purchase arrived. We bought 150 McDonald's Monopoly pieces so we could have more codes to enter into their online game, and possibly have some food prizes as well. In the end, we just about broke even (maybe a few cents short) by getting just enough food prizes to cover what we spent. Perhaps the real reward will be possibly winning more 30-day memberships in Club Pogo, which has the great potential of being a large force in unproductivity with its allowing us to play games without interruptions for ads. And, you can earn little icons to show off the fact that you've played games for too long. Oh, joys! I'm sure one day, some day, I'll win one of their little jackpots. That'll be the day.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004 / 6:15pm

"the list"

empty

Thursday, November 18, 2004 / 7:33pm

Well, It's Not Bad

To date this year, I have not received any rejection letters by email or real mail (no, not even from Krannert for the Patron Services Director job, but I digress), but I did receive my first form of postal correspondence about any job today. I received a letter from UIC saying "Hey, thanks for wanting to be an Admission Counselor... we'll let you know something by November 29. Thanks!" So, not bad. In the world of Unemploment, I bet I'm screwed and they're confused. In my call-in, they asked "is the place you're working for the same as the place you were at back in August?" I'm working in a totally different part of campus, but I answered yes, because, technically, they are the same employer. Way to live a complicated situation. Sigh.

Friday, November 19, 2004 / 12:51pm

Too Early!

I need to stop having to be productive in the mornings immediately after being up and out all night. Oh, KCSA Bar Crawl, how your late night has drained my energy.

Saturday, November 20, 2004 / 11:53pm

Bar Crawl Shirt Madness

I began my bar crawl evening late, as I wouldn't allow myself to leave Krannert that Thursday night until I'd applied for a job that I was interested in that I could do. So, I didn't actually get to the crawl until 10:40pm. It was actually kinda perfect, since I didn't want to be out for too long of a period of time, and, really, now... I don't drink, so whatever. The timing was also perfect in that a second bar crawl I wanted to make an appearance at was in the same place at the same time! That second crawl was in celebration new friend Laura's 21st birthday. I met her just as recently as Wednesday through Benjam, and they met because of me... well, because of Sweet Goodness. Awww, how precious! Her crawl, complete with T-shirts was surely larger than that belonging to KCSA. Anyways, I spent the remainder of the night with the crew as we left Brother's and continued onwards to Legends and Murphy's in the wet, drizzily weather. I kept myself occupied as I embarked on a mission to take my picture with as many different bar crawl shirts as I could. If only I had started earlier in the night. I think I got up to four... two sets of engineers, the 21st birthday, and a November birthday group. I'll have to check those pictures out when they come back from Walgreens. And, after a long night, I had to be productive so early in the morning. At least waking up early allowed me to use my last remaining Monopoly piece good for a breakfast sandwich.

Sunday, November 21, 2004 / 12:34am

"Bring It" said The Sponge

On the night when campus was quickly becoming a ghost town, a very fine film came out in theatres, and I don't mean the one with the Declaration of Independence. Yes, that's right, the SpongeBob movie came out. As most of us know, I dressed as SpongeBob last year for Halloween, and it was quite a lovely homemade costume as well. To date, I haven't seen a whole episode of the originating cartoon for the film, but that didn't stop me from going when asked if I'd go see it. Anyways, I brought a big SpongeBob with me (you know, that sort of thing you could easily blow $20 on trying to win from Six Flags... last summer, I didn't waste that much money, but I didn't win it either. But some friends at the Kran Ticket Office had a friend who was going to throw one out and they felt like salvaging it and giving it to me!) to the theatre. When I went up to the ticket counter, I didn't have to say which movie I was seeing, and we took a picture of Sponge in the seats with us in the theatre. We were going to take a few fun shots of Sponge in the lobby with us and the movie posters, but we arrived with just a minute or two to spare, so that was tabled for post-performance. So, following the movie, we were in the lobby and saw a display where you could stick your head through and take a picture. It was for a Chucky movie. So, Joe was given the job of holding SpongeBob behind the picture hole, and I snapped a photo. I can't wait to see that one. Then, we were about to exit as we passed a SpongeBob movie poster, so I asked him to take a picture of the Sponge and I in front of it. Then, we began our exit when a guy comes buy and asks where we got the SpongeBob. He says he's security, and I say, "Uh, it's mine. I brought it to the theatre." He is in disbelief and continues to question, and threatens to call the police, saying something about how he saw us messing with a display ("you mean, the one about Chucky?"). We were all in a state of wonder as he said that lots of things are taken all the time so we asked "like what?" He pointed to all the mega-huge poster displays that litter the lobby. We all semi-laughed, and I reaffirm that it really was mine and I did bring it into the theatre. There really wasn't anything else he could say, so he walked away and watched us leave the building like we were a bunch of crazy kids stealing candy from a convenience store. Except, in this case, the candy's freakin' huge, and it wasn't stealing, it was helping a friend that can't walk out of an establishment. I know, it's not too terribly exciting, but a fun thing to note. I kinda wish the police were called, just to see what would have happened and how far it would have gone, since I knew I'd done nothing wrong, and any random parking lot security camera would have sided with me (just like everyone that visited my office at Kran over the summer would, too). Well, that's my second semi-police-like encounter of my life involving random objects, following the Pink Flamingo handcuffing of Miami Beach New Year's 1999-2000.

Monday, November 22, 2004 / 12:19am

Service Oriented, Punks

I guess I'm making it easier for you folks to stalk me, er, I mean stay updated with my life. I've decided to join both livejournal and xanga. The purpose behind this is two-fold: 1- to make it easier to find out when I post new things, and 2- to make it easier for me to read anything that any of you posts on there in one place. I suppose that makes me more efficient as well. Now, you know how I post things at random hours, but they don't officially get sent to the web page until the respective morning and evening editions? I've decided that anything I post on lj or x will be a quick preview with a link to the future full-length story on news, when it appears. Does that sound a bit confusing? I suppose it kinda is, but for those of you in the world that don't want the random Brian ramblings intertwined and want a quick update, I guess that works, too. Fine, fine. I didn't get more efficient. I just made a bigger list of things for you all to check if you were very interested. Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Have fun with that.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / 2:13am

"the list"

empty

Wednesday, November 24, 2004 / 2:52am

Personal Treasure

We all have our friends and family. And our things, too. And, should we lose those things, it's great to know you still have your friends and family. And, hopefully, your health, too. I know, it sounds weird, and no, nothing has happened with that regard. But, losing things sucks. It makes me sad. And that definitely showed earlier this week when some things of mine disappeared from my possession. You have to understand, I haven't really lived at home since 1993 and didn't really have a designated space to keep my accumulating stuff. My space was shared space, and I was okay with that (and still am). Except for my file cabinet. This sounds absolutely ridiculous, but my two-drawer file cabinet was one space that was definitely mine. I even think I paid for it. I don't remember. Well, in the recent cleanings, liberties were taken and the file cabinet and its belongings were compromised. Some journal things from 1995 seemed there, but I didn't want to look through there to see what I ended up losing. My report cards were still there, too. Along with stuff that wasn't mine. Some of those legendary AOL floppy discs from 1996 were there (new version 3.0!) and still sealed (and with the "unique" registration and passwords that a few of us memorized), too. But of the things I know are gone are the last known remaining check sheets from 1502 from 1995-1996, multiple copies of programs from some plays I worked (One Acts, Less Than Human Club). Not one copy was saved. Some financial records were lost, and, while it wasn't in my file cabinet (but near it), I letter of acceptance to the University of Illinois. I can't get back those things. And, we all know I'm up on sentimental value. I'm about the memories. It's true; I will still always have those memories of all those things I've done, I definitely would have loved to have some artifacts to go along with my stories. Oh, crap. I just realized I probably lost a bunch of Christmas cards from my friends from my freshman year in high school, too. Aside from the yearbook, those were the last remaining artifacts from that era. Oh, and all the empty jewel cases from all the CDs I own are gone, too. Well, there goes the eBay resale value. Alright, enough babbling. I was terribly upset following my discovery. So much so that I know 99% of you haven't seen me that upset. I'm not talking about "I am disappointed in what has happened so I'm not going to say anything right now", it was well beyond that. Like, curled up in tears-upset. I guess you could describe it like when characters on TV go away to college, only to return home for something and their room's been turned into storage or rented out to the plumber. For a good moment, there, it felt like I'd been shunned. Home wasn't home anymore. I was merely a visitor. I wasn't upset at anyone, just at the situation. Eventually, maybe an hour later, I felt a little better. (Maybe watching three movies that made me cry just before didn't help, either.) And I remembered that home isn't about the crap you accumulate and where it's located. It's where you're comfortable. It's where you're rich because of your surroundings, specifically family and/or friends. I have two homes. Yes, I am terribly upset that I don't have some things anymore... that some things are lost forever and I can't cleverly recreate them with effort, but I have a place I can still come to at any hour. And there are people there for me, whereever I go. Now that's something to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'm thankful for things sweet and good, too.

Oh, and hear me now. That file cabinet shant be messed with. I'm adding that the list of things that will never be done. It's like touching the Declaration of Independence. There will be consequences. There's thousands of years of history in there. Okay, a little more than 25. It should be shared with the world, but not by way of dumpster diving.

But, yeah, have a wonderful holiday, stay safe, and don't freeze out there (if applicable)!