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to read the following posted articles in some sane chronological order,
please go to the
archives and all will
be clear. otherwise, enjoy the reverse-chronologic experience.
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Saturday, November 3, 2007 / 1:31pm
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Don't Think I Forgot
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Yes, blah, blah, life is busy. To demonstrate the busy, I didn't even get
around to writing my annual fall Daylight Saving reminder. I present to you
this year's fine addition to the collection. It follows the great line of
other hits from 2004 (Hoobastank), 2005 (Howie Day), and 2006
(The Fray) (they may be posted or emailed upon request). To be clear,
tonight is when it happens. Unlike in previous years, the change is taking
place on the first Sunday in November... so tonight is the night when two
becomes one! Here you go, based off of "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain
White T's...
Hey Miss Unrandom
What's it like in "Other City"?
I'm a something miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Bright lights don't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true
Hey Miss Unrandom
Don't you worry about us missing
We can talk at three a.m. but
Don't forget 'bout Daylight Saving
It's alright
We fall back cause summer saved us light
It ends tonight
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Change to one not three
Hey Miss Unrandom
I know we're not face-to-face
With all these changing clocks
Someday we'll be in the same place and time
We'll have it good
We'll have the life we knew we would
My watch is good
Hey Miss Unrandom
I've got so much left to say
If every sweet nothing I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I'd write it all
Even more in love with me you'd fall
At three I'll call
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
A something miles is pretty far
If there's a chance we've got no cars
I'd walk to you five hundred miles one way
Our friends would all make fun of us
Or well, just me, I'd take a bus we know
That I would surely make my way
Unrandom I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
Wait, what's your name?
Hey Miss Unrandom
You be good and sweet don't sad-feel
Two more years and you'll be I don't know
And I'm kind of a big deal like I do
You know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey Miss Unrandom here's to you
This ones for you
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Ooh, we change to one not three
Change to one not three
Oh oh...
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Friday, August 31 April 153, 2007 / 4:55pm
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I Barely Remember How To Do This
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Happy [fourth annual] Sweet Goodness Day! It's time to celebrate all that
is sweet, all that is good, and all that is sweet and good in the world
around you... and to encourage others to do the same! How is it going? How
have things been? In semi-related unrelated news, perhaps I should issue a
policy on how to acknowledge a certain other thing. (Maybe I will call it
the D. Gibson Policy.) If you have no idea what I'm taking about, maybe you
can figure it out. Anyways, I make no promises. But I suppose I've saved
up a lot of things that I haven't discussed... after all, I know what I did
last summer. In the mean time, some unfinished business:
As mandated by Heather H:
Pay It Forward: I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who
leave a comment here on my blog. I don't know what that gift will be yet,
but you will receive it within 365 days. The only thing you have to do in
return is "pay it forward" by making a similar agreement on your blog.
In the official version of news@sweetgoodness, I make no official provisions
for instant commenting. Therefore, as modified terms and conditions,
interested parties should make their request by email with relevant
information. I have tons of email addresses, so unless your email address
is weird-looking, or you talk about sending me a cashiers check for over the
amount and ask me to refund you the difference, or you have special drugs
as a focus of your email, or you choose poorly when picking an email
address for me, you win, provided supplies have not run out. I reserve the
right to increase the supply, so, well, you never know. So there.
Right, and once again, Happy Sweet Goodness Day!
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Thursday, March 15, 2007 / 5:41pm
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Travel Safe... Go!
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Road Rules. The Amazing Race. Brian's Spring Break of a Lifetime. What do
these three things have in common? People wander around not knowing where
they're going, awaiting clues... further instructions... whatever. So, some
time very soon, I'll be given my first set of instructions, and I'll be on
my way to destinations unknown... at least, unknown to me. So, I clearly
can't tell you what's going to happen until it happens. Sorry... boring
entry! Feel free to call me while I'm gone, and if I feel I can talk to you
without draining my battery before I think I'll get to recharge my phone,
well, lucky you! I'll be back, uh, sometime before I have to work on March
26.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 / 5:31pm
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"the list"
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same
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007 / 10:10am
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Holding Down Snow Forts
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I hiked my way over a parking lot of a foot of snow and arrived at work
safe and sound. And tired. So, if you were to call us up, until this
afternoon, I'll be the one that tells you, "yep, we're closed." From the
looks of things, roads here in Urbana have a layer of snow, but they're
travelable. Cars parked through the blizzard are surrounded and covered in
snow. The MTD reports that there is no
campus route service by the 21 Quad, 22 Illini, 26 Pack, and 27 Airbus today
and other areas in the community that are non-drivable will remain without
service (which includes more remote areas, North North Prospect, Parkland
College, and, UI's super parking lot E-14). And, seen around 8:45am on
Brian's alleged, wide "the street"...
The CITES Operations Center is now located in my apartment.
The staff member on duty is so totally nude.
So far, I've changed the "closed" sign on the door and fielded one
phone call about if we're open. If I ended up snowed in, I have some
DVDs and some pop tarts to keep me entertained and filled until I'm
rescued. Oh, and the Valentine's Day candy. The candy, indeed. More
reports from the field, or rather, the street, as they're available! In
other news, I returned all "pokes" sitting on my facebook main page. Every
other hour or so, my phone would ring telling me I've been poked! I feel
so loved! And finally, here's something fun for today. Big Ten Wonk gives the world a
link that shows us that every day is
Valentine's Day!
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007 / 12:00am
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"the list"
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four
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007 / 11:05pm
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32 Conversations and Then Some
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At 6:19pm, I began my second round of notifications to the world of people I
know at the UIUC campus. I'd heard it through two different sources, and
within minutes was able to confirm it by telephone: there would be no
classes again at the university on Wednesday, February 14. It was nice to
be the bearer of good news once again. Twenty-two and a half hours into the
day, I've got 32 instant messenger windows open, and my cell phone is full
of logged calls to campus information and text message weather alerts. I
opted against going to the one remaining thing I knew was going on tonight,
the tennis match so that I could relay the info and maintain operations.
(If you were wondering, they won 6-1.) I stayed in the warmth of the
residence and enjoyed a lovely night of Pop Tarts. Now, what does the
cancelling of classes mean for the non-holiday? Firstly, I volunteered to
be the "warm body" tomorrow by hanging out at work, in case anyone calls or
whatever. The Museum will remain closed. Also, the annual "Brian will not
openly shun the non-holiday by dressing in non-holiday supportive attire and
possibly hand out candy" event will not take place on Wednesday; it has been
postponed to Thursday. So, if you would like to schedule a visit or reserve
your share of free candy, let me know so I can set some aside! I'd like to
take this opportunity to thank Rachel and Kim for serving as my honorary
Valentines in 2006! Candy will be available until it's all gone or set
aside, so don't delay, act now! Supplies are running out! (Additional
note: while I will not be appropriately "red" on Wednesday, some deliveries
will continue to take place as scheduling and weather allows.) In other
news, Beauty and the Geek 3 ends Wednesday night (I hope a certain someone
doesn't win) and... there's a new
Teen Girl Squad
(#12) on the web... and it was delightful and funny. So, I hope all
y'all's fourteenth day of the second month goes well. Stay warm, stay cool,
and, you know... find me if you need me.
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007 / 5:09pm
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Not the Dairy Queen Variety
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At 8:40am, the University of Illinois cancelled all classes for the day. I
went down my buddy list and instant messaged all the UI students that were
online to spread the word, and many did not believe me. I was unable to
find confirmation on the main UI web page, but I did manage to call UI
directory assistance and they just received the official word when I called.
(I originally heard it on the radio, then received a mass email... it must
have taken a while to get to all 30,000+ email accounts- some people didn't
get the message until 20 minutes after I did.) The weather did not suspend
overall Brian operations, though...
I made it into work... the walk was
not as cold as it could have been... it was just more of a trudge-your-way
sort of thing. Side streets had one dedicated path that cars carved, so
they were essentially one-laned. Traffic was minimal and it was eeriely
quiet, save for a few students with dining hall trays in tow. Like the rest
of the University, we were closed. I had the pleasure of putting a sign up
on the door. I took a few pictures from out on the quad before heading out
to campustown for lunch.
Half of the businesses were closed; signs of life still existed. After some
soup and a burger from Legends, I hopped on some buses to tour the area.
The Market Place Mall parking lot was like a desert. Except it was snow.
There were a few cars stuck even traversing the ring around the mall. The
entire area has pretty much shut down... some areas were unreachable by bus
this morning, and at the end of daytime service, the buses will suspend
operations until tomorrow morning. The local airport was running this
morning, but closed around lunch, just like most all other businesses that
bothered opening today. Reportedly, the mail is slowly making its way to
homes, if you've cleared a path to your mailbox and they can get down your
street. All county roads in the four counties around here are officially
closed, and, my plot to sit at the Beverly Cinemas all day to watch movies
on Tuesday night 50-cent bucket night has been thwarted, as they're closed,
too. The Vince Gill concert, performances at Krannert, and almost anything
else is cancelled... except for the men's tennis match against Florida.
They made it in last night, so they're going to play. I may go, but we'll
see. Now, I await word on what it will be like tomorrow... once I get the
official word, I'll pass it along to anyone who may be interested. The
blizzard warning continues tonight, and the street says we're getting
another foot of snow. Anyways, all is well, and I'm safe and warm. In
unrelated news, yes, it's "Suckmonth". A google search showed that there
were no matching documents (other than me using it once last year), so it's
quite possible that I'm the first person to use it. You may think it may
have to do with the non-holiday. And, yes, that's just one contributing
factor. It was very disappointing to have the Chicago Bears lose in the
Super Bowl, and, as fun as a snow day is, the weather is sucky. And, our
basketball teams (both men's and women's) are alright; they just can't
finish games and win. Alas. At least I can look forward to my unannounced
field trip on the 20th and the release of a DVD on the 27th. I'll write
more as I continue to be bored. (Lucky you!)
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Sunday, February 11, 2007 / 11:53pm
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"the list"
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four
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Sunday, February 11, 2007 / 12:28pm
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the two thousand six that twas
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So, what happened this past year? It's really bizarre. Not the year, but
actually going through the process of looking at records and the like, and
reading my years in review for 2004
and for 2005.
I say bizarre because it's always interesting to look back and see where
you were and to go back and reflect on all that's happened. It started on
the side of an Indiana country road... or was it at an Illinois rest area?
Let's find out how that worked out...
I don't know exactly how you want to say I started 2006. That's because it
started twice. Fulfilling a life-long dream, and by "life-long" I mean "two
year", I celebrated the start of a year in two time zones. Work, well, was
work, but it was more exciting. After being there for a few months, I was
finally doing what my job is supposed to do: facilitate facility rental and
do what is necessary for smoothly run events. And it was good times indeed.
I went to the dentist. Used insurance. It was a good time. Then, I had my
wisdom teeth pulled. And, to the world's surprise, I recovered very quickly
and without real pain or drugs afterwards. Illinois didn't do so well in
the bracket, and, while that was going on, I trained my way to
Charlottesville for a spring break trip. A trip where I was there for about
fifteen hours before heading to Washington for a four hour visit, then
taking the train back. I attended my earliest-ever-in-a-year baseball game
while taking a random day off work. I attended a Roger Ebert's Overlooked
Film Festival for the first time, and showed a student film at the Museum.
In May, I threw out a first pitch, enjoyed more baseball, and co-organized a
group trip to see Wicked in Chicago. The organizing was in May, the
performance was in June, which was immediately followed by a trip to see
some relatives in Seattle. A milestone of feeling old happened to take
place, and, no, it wasn't a birthday... it was a high school reunion. It
was a definitely pleasure to reconnect with people from back in the day, and
by "back" I mean "way back". I made a few "one-nighters" at my interim
summer housing location in Champaign to squeeze some work in, as I was out
and about for a lot of summer. There was a wedding (and, no, not mine), a
surgical science museum, a non-Major League professional baseball game, and
a day of Jury Duty! The 3rd of July Chicago fireworks were enjoyed in
person, and a baseball filled summer (with stops in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati, and St. Louis) kept the travel train chugging along. Then, the
fall semester arrived, and I (once again) was in a new residence. I moved
from being a bus ride (or two) away from work to being a "casual six minute
stroll" away. I hired more people, bought some DVDs, and completely caught
up on all the Grey's that was available. Oh, and before being "The Ugly
One" for Halloween, I went on a CTA tour. And it was Grand! (Actually, it
is no longer "Grand", it's "Grand and State" or "Grand and Milwaukee", a
change in the CTA voice that took place when the Pink line was added...
which I rode on the first day of its service back in June.) Four months
after mysterious-skin-thing-that-went-away, I casually went to the ER for
the unrelated and magical "Atypical Chest Pain". Then, three weeks later, I
was enjoying my "Thanksgiving of a Lifetime 2006" vacation in sunny, warm
Las Vegas. I'll do the same next year, too, and you should be there. I
particularly enjoyed being at a TV show filming and answering voice mails
poolside. December meant I made my annual United Center visit for Illinois
basketball, and, for another year, I set a new record in holidaycards sent
(which all had special Brian postage). And, we end by standing in the
middle of Times Square once again, ending a year full of travel, adventure,
and fun. And, of course, I won my share of random contests, scored some
free stuff, and attended random movies, sporting events, gatherings, and
the like. It was good times... good times. Definitely, not bad, even if
there were the occasional times where it felt that way. (No year is ever
completely perfect.) I can only hope that 2007 (or anything in the future,
really) doesn't suck. Okay, 2007, bring it! Next year is this year.
Funny how these start and end uneeriely similar to that of previous years.
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Friday, February 2, 2007 / 4:39pm
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Baby's Everywhere
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I did not have a baby. Okay, here's that alleged "major" announcement. To
those of you out in the non-seeing-Brian-regularly crowd, the announcement
was, in fact, made on Tuesday. Fine, fine, enough stalling... here it is:
Primary Camera Operations shifted from Advantix film to 8.0 Mpx digital
capture effective Tuesday, January 30 at 12:50pm. The last roll of film
was due back from processing earlier that day, and, with no pictures on the
current roll of film and my almost committing to blow $200 on travel to go
to Miami for the Super Bowl anyways, I decided to go buy a digital camera.
How exciting is that? As the last one to make the transition in both the
primary family and primary friend circles, it marked the end of an era. I
bet the guys over in the Photo Department at the campus Walgreens will be
sad to see me go. They saw a lot of business over the last ten years or so.
I will miss the days where they ask if I'm getting the usual and they pull
my orders out for me without any asking. In other news, I still have not
decided where I will be when the Bears win the Super Bowl. I can say that
it's been a productive week, and, like usual, I've been kept busy. Going to
the men's basketball game against Michigan State on Tuesday was fun, too,
especially since they actually won... and the tickets I used were ones I'd
won from a radio station last Thursday. Anyways, to close, here's a little
sampling of things I'm looking forward to this month: Super Bowl XLI, more
Beauty and the Geek (even though Mario and Nadia were eliminated), my
not-so-secret vacation day on February 20, and the start of another season
of the Amazing Race. Mmm... travel. I'd like to go somewhere. (As usual
and always, I'm taking suggestions... now, especially for Spring Break.
It's awesome that I can still get a Spring Break vacation if I really wanted
to.) One place I'd like to go to, one day... is a little place in
Pennsylvania. Strike up, the music, the band has begun, because, like
always, the equinox is six weeks away. Happy SM, y'all.
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007 / 4:53pm
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"the list"
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four
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Monday, January 29, 2007 / 4:48pm
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A Different Capture
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I feel like a dork saying something like this, but I've a major announcement
to make tomorrow. Okay, seriously, it's not that major. I am not getting
married; I am not having a baby. So, no, not those things. I feel like I'm
at a radio station. "A major concert announcement will be made, and I can't
say anything about it until I'm allowed to." Something like that. Except
it's not a concert announcement. In other news, Go Bears! I've made it a
point to listen to the Super Bowl Shuffle daily since the last football game
and will continue to do so until the Super Bowl. (If anyone wants to borrow
the Super Bowl Shuffle DVD, I have that, too.) I'm taking suggestions as to
where I should be when the game's on this Sunday. After several days of
debate and a formal feasibility study, I have officially ruled out going to
Miami to hang out there for the festivities. As fun as it would be to take
two days off work and not sleep much, I decided I kinda want to be somewhere
where I can actually watch the game, considering I don't actually have any
tickets to the main event. (I did price the travel portion of the trip down
to a mere $164.80, though.) As always, I'm open to random travels, so let
me know if you want to go somewhere, and I'll see what I can do. And if I
can go with.
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Thursday, January 11, 2007 / 1:48am
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It Was One Moment In Time
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I should have games where people try to find all the references I make. My
posts usually have at least one, maybe three, or upwards of zero. Or three.
But for me to keep track of all of that would mean I'd have to care. More.
No, seriously, you know that I'm a tracker of things. There was a time
when I logged my finances down to the penny, and I would spend hours a week
trying to figure out what math mistake I made in the previous week. I'm
not that crazy about finances anymore, as I actually allow myself to live
life once in a while, instead of documenting it. How do you document real
life when my real life's more like fiction each day? Right, right, while
I don't track pennies, I still like to know what's going on in my world.
Doing that, however, means combining the structured planner that I am with
the split-second problem solver and/or free spirit. And, that, my friends,
is not always easy. Right now, I'm in Hillside, awaiting a dentist
appointment in a little over eleven hours. I arrived by train, leaving
Champaign at 6:49pm. Today's Wednesday, and that means I have a weekly
lunch gathering at noon. On evening travel days, I eat more at lunch
because I know I'll get food when I arrive in the Chicago area. For the
most part, my day is quite structured, with few bits of flexibility. In
the hour-plus of time between work and travel, I'd originally planned on a
casual stroll from the Museum to the train station. As the late afternoon
progressed, I found myself squeezing in dinner plans. Hmmm, now that I
think about it, I don't think I'm explaining what I want to say as
well as I'd like. I mean, everyone does it. Schedules bits of life and
"hand waves" the gaps into place, that is. And for me, I'm very much very
minute-by-minute and I'm very "eh, whatever happens". It's maddening when
I, through circumstance, have to operate one way and have to deal with the
other. Not that it happened today in a negative way, I'm just rambling.
In other news, the Hillside house has a new cordless phone/answering machine
system in place. It was a present from the holiday season. Of course, I
was tasked with plugging whatever in and setting it up. It's no big deal,
except it meant that the other answering machine was being decommissioned.
And that, my friends, is sad news. The greeting on that digital answering
machine was actually recorded on the even older tape answering machine.
"Hello!
We can't come to the phone right now, so leave a message!" (204K wav)
exclaimed a pre-voice-changed Brian. It must've been from somewhere around
1993-1995. In case the world ends, as you see, I've now recorded it for
posterity, so you'll always be able to hear a young Brian. After the new
machine was in place, it was decided to keep the legacy greeting, so, just
several years ago (maybe five-ish?), two answering machines were laid next
to each other for a ceremonial "passing of the greeting". Oh, in other
news, earlier on Wednesday, I discovered once again that I was
unceremoniously unfriended on facebook. So, you don't want to be my friend.
That's cool, I won't be upset. Just don't be fooled into thinking I won't
notice. Because that's just what I do. I cried on the inside for about
half a second, and that was it. Also, I'm assuming that most of you out
there know about the SNL special Christmas gift in a box. At Wednesday
lunch, I found out that someone made a
special box of their own. Just thought I'd share. These are moments,
um, I mean, memories frozen in time, people!
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Wednesday, January 10, 2007 / 11:38am
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"the list"
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E4
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Monday, January 8, 2007 / 5:50pm
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Eighth Grade Review
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In case you forgot, the terms of office for the Constitutional Officers of
Illinois are four years. Earlier today, I was at the Prairie Capital
Convention Center in Springfield for the festivities.
Two days after
Christmas, tickets to the ceremony became available at in-store Ticketmaster
locations, so I took a little field trip from Hillside to downtown Chicago
to get them. The tickets were free (well, plus $1 per ticket convenience
charge), so I figured, well, why not? It was really cool to be a part of
the pageantry and tradition. For the most part, the ceremony was invitation
only, with limited general seating available to the public in the upper
balcony. Out seats were very high up, and, to my surprise, there weren't
very many "ordinary" people there. Just before the event began, an usher
invited everyone in the upper balcony to the next level down. I don't
follow politics closely (if at all), so it was somewhat interesting and a
little entertaining to hear the various addresses given by today's
inaugurated officers. You can tell when they're playing to their past
successes and offering their promises for the future. The crowd was very
receptive, though; I assume, if you weren't really interested, you probably
wouldn't have been there. I enjoyed the atmosphere, despite hearing the
same musical loop multiple times as the convention hall filled. I couldn't
help but wonder if the event was something people could've gone to before;
I knew tickets were available because I receive Governor's Office Press
Release messages by email. It makes you wonder if people were less in the
loop in the past. (I also glanced down at the media area and thought about
how differently the space would look if reporters were equipped with just
paper and pen, as opposed to laptops and cell phones.) Well, it was a good
time and was also yet another unique experience. (I also ran into a high
school classmate, or rather he ran into me at the ceremony. I didn't think
I was going to see anyone I knew. Alas...) Perhaps I'll be able to score
a closer seat, maybe down on the floor, next time.
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Monday, January 1, 2007 / 11:55pm
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Starting With a Blast
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Greetings, 2007! Glad you could join us!
As you've noticed, I'm playing around with adding random other little things
like the occasional picture and the like. Isn't it exciting? The 2006
quick summary will be arriving shortly, but until then, let me tell you
about the very fine, Sunday, December 31st, 2006. I was up shortly after
6:30am and, with Tim, we arrived at Midway shortly after eight. Our flight
was fairly full, taking us to Long Island MacArthur Airport. Our last meal
was lunch at the airport A&W; we then hopped aboard a shuttle taking us to
the nearby Ronkonkoma Long Island Railroad station for the hour-plus trip
to Penn Station. After a fourteen street casual stroll, we joined honey
bunches of revelers awaiting entry to the regulated pens of people in Times
Square. We arrived at our position shortly before four, which meant we
would eventually be standing (or on our feet or walking) for a period in
excess of nine consecutive hours! While waiting for the big midnight
countdown, the crowd also welcomed the start of each hour with its own
ten-to-one. All of the evening's rockin' eve performers were enjoyed twice:
we sat (okay, stood) through the rehearsal run-throughs earlier in the
evening before the world watched the "real" performance. The whole
experience was fun, and I'd do it again. I'll go if you go... just not next
year. The first meal of the year (and the first food since lunch on the
31st) was shortly after 1:00am: Nathan's Hot Dogs from Penn Station. The
rain slowly started coming in and was in medium force upon our arrival back
in Ronkonkoma at 4:20am. And, here's a nice, little twist: while waiting
for the shuttle to the airport, a limo drove by and asked if we were waiting
for the shuttle. Well, he said he'd match the $5/person shuttle price and
take us, so that's what we did. Us and three other airport-bound people at
the station. So, that's how my first car ride of the year went. In luxury.
For five dollars. We were amongst the first few people past airport
security, so it was scarily quiet... until an airport employee accidentally
set off an alarm for a secure door. Other than that, the trip was without
incident. I finally managed to get to sleep around 12:30pm; I hit my Nth
wind just as I got into bed at 9:00am. (Technically, I did have a few 45
minute naps throughout the trip, so whatever.) During the main countdown,
I called back to Champaign to say hello... and during one of the earlier
countdowns, I
actually called myself (82.0K wav) to record the experience. I'm a
dork. So, yeah. Happy New Year!
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Sunday, December 31, 2006 / 12:42am
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"the list"
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santa didn't hear me
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Sunday, December 31, 2006 / 12:36am
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The Ball's Supposed To Drop, Silly
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And so, we close the calendar year that was 2006. In the last few weeks or
so, I debated (and subsequently opted against) purchasing a webcam, digital
camera, and video camera. Imagine what that would have done to the whole
alleged web log experience. Fortunately (or unfortunately), we're just
going to stick to the sporadic postings now and again. As far as December
was concerned, I did my unfair share of traveling. It included my annual
trip to the United Center in Chicago to watch Illinois basketball, and, of
course, there's the whole "home for the holidays" thing. I managed to score
tickets to the Braggin' Rights Illinois-Missouri basketball game, too, so I
had my first non-baseball season Saint Louis experience. I would write
more... really, I would. I usually write something long around New Year's.
But that's the thing... I also try to come up with New Year's Eve plans as
well, and this year will not be eventless. Just like two years ago, I will
be flying over to be at the party taking place in Times Square. So, look
for me on TV, and, call me. Or, I'll call you. Or, call me to tell me to
call you. And, have fun ringing out the old and ringing in the new! Oh,
and while I have your attention, I don't think I've formally proclaimed it
here, but I've officially denounced "friendster.com" from my online social
network timewasters. Okay, "denounced" isn't the right word... it's more
"no longer supported". My online social network timewasting is now devoted
to facebook.com and myspace.com, though, the former is easily the website of
choice. And in other "choicy" news, in the last two months, my business
card was drawn, scoring me free food at two different dining establishments.
Surprise, surprise. In case you plan on pausing all Times Square footage
and examining it frame by frame to look for me... and you don't want to, um,
call me up and say, "hey, Brian, um, cough, um, what are you wearing?" I'll
help you avoid the awkward situation and tell you that I will be wearing an
orange t-shirt and khakis. At the time of this typing, headwear was not
determined. Feel free to not tell me what you're wearing... unless you
think I think it's cute/awesome/whatever. I figure most of you know what
types of things will make me cry on the inside. Or the outside. Alright,
kids... that's it for 2006. Um, Sweet Goodness. Out. (Ha.)
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Monday, November 27, 2006 / 1:18am
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"the list"
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empty
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Sunday, November 26, 2006 / 5:29pm
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Oh, I Felt It
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The number one thing I hear is "Brian, you should write more." Apparently,
I lead an interesting life... or at least one that would make great reading.
Actually, it's not true. I don't hear that remark most frequently.
Perhaps, what I hear the most is "Bye" followed by "Hello", "Hey", and "How
are you". Needless to say, as usual, I've been keeping myself busy. The
month of November was quite not-an-exception-to-the-rule. This is the part
of my entry where I tell you that if you're not immediately around me in my
life, and you're not on facebook, this is where you missed out. Due to some
circumstances beyond my control, I've been pretty stressed. Perhaps that's
due to what the medical profession likes to call "Atypical Chest Pain"... in
other words, we're not quite sure, but it surely isn't typical. That came
out of a Brian Executive Order back on November 6th to suspend normal Brian
scheduling and take a trip to the emergency room. Well, since then, nothing
much has come out of it... so, I guess, well, I'm alright right now. I also
quite recently took a very much needed vacation to Las Vegas, spending the
five nights prior to Thanksgiving dinner having a delightful ol' time. I
know not many people have seen me, so to change that, I should be in the
studio audience of tonight's "MansionPoker.net Poker Dome
Challenge"... I'll be the one toward the front in the Sweet Goodness
shirt. That was one of the fun, non-gambling things I did while sleeping in
the Pacific Time Zone. (And, yes, I did gamble, too.) I'm returning to the
land of Champaign County tomorrow and resuming my normal life... so there
should be more later... hopefully. Oh, and the reason I talked about
facebook earlier was because I actually posted a picture of me lying in an
emergency room bed. (And, if you visit the official news.sg webpage daily,
you may have noticed it appear there, too... as the main page now sports a
little Brian facebook status box. It's quite exciting.) Anyways, as usual,
I'm in a rush, so I'm out. And really... you all know that if you want to
get a hold of me, you should know how to do it... right?
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Sunday, October 29, 2006 / 11:53pm
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"the list"
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running on
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Tuesday, October 24, 2006 / 9:12pm
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"the list"
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E E E / E E E E / E 2 2 2 / 2 2 2 2 2 / 2 3 4 4 / 4 4 E
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Thursday, October 19, 2006 / 4:46pm
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I'm Bringing Tradition Back
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It's no excuse. We know I get on these slackerish fits of non-writing.
Hmmm, the last time was in May? My goodness, you've missed the Summer of a
Lifetime 2006! Or, rather, I've missed filling you in. Just remember...
I'm almost always doing something, and as such, I have not forgotten one of
my unofficial duties: the long standing tradition of rewriting songs as a
reminder for friends that Daylight Saving is ending. I present to you this
year's fine addition to the collection. It follows the great line of other
hits from 2003 (Hilary Duff), 2004 (Hoobastank), and 2005
(Howie Day) (they may be posted or emailed upon request). To be clear,
this weekend is not when it happens. As usual, it takes place on the last
Sunday in October, which will be the 29th. Here you go, based off of "How
To Save a Life" by The Fray...
Step one you say we must wake up
He lies there still and says we must wake up
He smiles politely back at you
Sun shines politely right on through
Some sort of window to your east
As he goes west and you think east
The early morning pantomime
And you begin to wonder what's the time
Where did I go wrong, my clock's messed up
Somewhere sprung forward and not fell back
And I would have known it if I were bright
Had I known how to save some light
Let him know it's just a guess
Cause after all it's just a guess
Try to glance the calendar
What was that old reminder
You stop and think is my brain wrong
That thing you've known, well, all along
It's Spring Forward then Fall Back and
It's Spring Forward then Fall Back and
Where did I go wrong, my clock's messed up
Somewhere sprung forward and not fell back
And I would have known it if I were bright
Had I known how to save some light
As he begins to make some noise
You remind him that 'twas Ben Franklin's choice
Kite-flyin' mister four eyes
Ben thought change time instead of skies
He states an Act of Congress
He will then say but I digress
Oh why can't it just be a rhyme
And you begin to wonder what's the time
Where did I go wrong, my clock's messed up
Somewhere sprung forward and not fell back
And I would have known it if I were bright
Had I known how to save some light
Where did I go wrong, my clock's messed up
Somewhere sprung forward and not fell back
And I would have known it if I were bright
Had I known how to save some light
How to save some light
How to save some light
Where did I go wrong, my clock's messed up
Somewhere sprung forward and not fell back
And I would have known it if I were bright
Had I known how to save some light
Where did I go wrong, my clock's messed up
Somewhere sprung forward and not fell back
And I would have known it if I were bright
Had I known how to save some light
How to save some light
How to save some light
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Friday, May 12, 2006 / 11:06pm
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Facing Nitorgen, Hydrogen, Oxygen...
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My goodness, it was a pretty crappy day in Chicago. I was up and about
a little earlier than normal, as I had to stop by downtown to pay for the
Wicked Wicked tickets before going to the Cubs game. (You know, I just
might start saying Wicked Wicked all the time.) I eventually arrived at the
place of business around 8:40, before business was having business. I
decided to walk around for a little bit before coming back just after nine.
Whilst walking about, I saw the Chicago Theatre in front of me and
remembered that Conan O'Brien was filming his show in Chicago this week!
I'd tried to get tickets last month when it was announced, but, alas, no
such luck. I stopped by there to find out what the standby ticket policy
was, if any. A standby line had, in fact, formed... but what did it matter?
I had tickets to the Cubs game at 1:20, and it wouldn't be over until after
the 4:00 "Late Night" show started... or would it. The elements were not
too kind to the city last night. Last night's White Sox game was cancelled
and the Cubs game was questionable. By then, it was almost nine, so I
returned to place of business and paid for the Wicked Wicked tickets. Now
it's 9:30, and I don't have to be at Wrigley until 11:20 so I can get into
the bleachers if a game were to take place. In the off chance that the
game gets cancelled, I decide to grab a quick breakfast and stand in the
standby line. The line stretched around the corner of a block and I ended
up being somewhere around 230 or 240 in line. (Clearly, it's natural for
me to either count and/or estimate sizes of lines and crowds. Ha!)
Randomly, starting at 10, the line would move up as standby tickets were
being released. I hadn't gotten a ticket by the time 11:00 came around, and
after calling the Cubs every fifteen minutes, the game had not been
cancelled, so I sadly left my place in line to, yes, stay outside in the
mist/wind/rain/frozen water for even more hours. The Cubs game went on as
scheduled without any delays. Halfway through the game, my scorecard was
so wet I couldn't write on it anymore, so I gave up... which I guess could
not have happened at a better time, because the Cubs pretty much lost it
around then, too. After hanging out in Wrigleyville for a few hours, I
made my way home. For the day, aside from all the time outside, I took
six different buses/trains in my travels. And, wow, I'm tired. And I made
some friends in the standby line. And, no, we're not facebook or friendster
or myspace friends now. Yeah, that's pretty random. Here's another random
thing: yesterday, I renewed my rights to one of my domain names...
specifically the one about random info. If you don't know what it is, ask
me for it. Also, today, I just discovered that the Metra UP-West line now goes past
Geneva, through La Fox, and ends in Elburn. I knew it was planned, but
when did that happen? I just might have to take a random trip to out there
and back during one of my many expected visits to Chicagoland this summer.
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Today / Right Now
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