Out of step with the King of Pop

Okay, am I the only person on the planet appalled by the sight of that little girl speaking at the Michael Jackson funeral? In my world, children do not speak at funerals. Their role is to sit quietly with a trusted adult at their side who will answer their questions, calm their fears and escort them out of the room when it all gets to be too much. My skin crawled watching the clip of that scene where the Jackson adults were playing with the girl's hair and crowding around her and coaching her on her performance (one of the women, I think it's Janet, can be heard telling the girl to talk louder). Ugh!

Vacation Rehash

Okay, I really meant to update the blog every day during our trip. However, by the time we hit the hotel, all I could do was brush my teeth and fall into bed. Besides, Brendan was hogging the laptop.

We, well, I at least, had a great time. My friends Sheryl seems like she has the life she always wanted, minus the horse riding accident. Her son Tim was friendly and put up with us for two days, taking the boys to play paintball and touring Idaho Falls without the adults. We went hiking in several parks and sightseeing all around the area.

Sheryl still has her affinity for oddballs, like me. Her dog has a severe hip problem that causes him great difficulty walking. Her horse, Lady, threw her last November and she has great affection for her. I got the feeling her affection for the horse is not shared by the rest of the family.

It was funny, though, that while we talked a lot about us, we spent most of the time discussing us and our mothers! Sheryl always knew my mother was a bit off balance, but I never realized the full extent of her issues with her mother. It was nice to find out we had more in common in that arena than I ever knew.

We spent tons of ours in the car and did not murder each other, which I think is a good result. Jeff and I enjoyed the Crazy Horse memorial more than Mt. Rushmore, but the boys seemed less than impressed by either. Devon has had enough scenery to last a lifetime of family vacations, but it was good idea that we stopped at Mall of America. It was the perfect commercial antidote to all that natural beauty.

Still, we all couldn't wait to get back home to our little old house in the 'burbs. As Sean said, it was still standing and the police had not been called in our absence. Ah, life is good.

And, if I had a hot tub in the back yard, life would be perfect.

At the Homestead

Since mom seems intent on not letting this blog thingy die, i might as well use it to let u all no that the house is still standing and the cops have yet to b called for any reason.


first things first: its freaking hot!! thanks for leaving me a house w/o ac during the first heat wave of the year. a few days ago i put my window ac (the older one) but bad news it didnt work. yesterday i put dev's in and it works like a charm so at least i can get a reprieve in my room.


i spent most of saturday through tuesday at cassies, and most of the rest of the time i've been watching tv, basically doing the same thing i do everyday (enter pinky and the brain music). dad would be pleased to hear that he picked a good week to be away from a tv, there r three straight days of NCIS marathons, about 30 episodes worth.

so everything sounds like its going great for u guys, heres to you guys making it home safe.


ps. this may be the only time in ur lives its actually ok for u to return with one less kid then when u started a family vacation

Some days are great days

Yesterday we went floating in the Great Salt Lake. You really can float standing up! We thought the water would be really icky because of the salt content, but it wasn't bad. It was warmer than Lake Erie on most days. The worst part was the drive over the causeway. The stagnant water and bird droppings make for a terrific stench as you enter the park. Both the smell improves with the view. We searched for buffalo but didn't find any. Hopefully we have better luck in Yellowstone. The mountains near Salt Lake City are fantastic. It is amazing how different the mountains are from area to area. The rocks colors vary, the texture changes, some are covered in foliage, some are just plain rock.

We made it to Sheryl's house around 10 pm and stayed up talking for quite awhile. Even though we have been out of touch for some time it seemed like we just picked up a conversation from last week.

Today we toured Idaho Falls, including the falls. It was very picturesque. I watched Sheryl school two of her younger horses. It was fun to see how the horses responded to her verbal commands and body language. She is practicing natural horsemanship, which is something along the lines of The Horse Whisperer. I could actually see how the horse would interact with her, including when they paying attention and when their minds wandered. The two she worked together are sisters, but like sisters everywhere, they were very different in personality/horsonality and respoonded in very different ways. Even Devon learned something from watching the lesson.

The boys played paintball and they just returned. They are showing off the various bruises they received. Must be a guy thing.

Tonight Jeff and I are hiking two miles up the road to go star gazing. It promises to be a cloudless evening and we have a star chart, so I hope to really see tons of stars and recognize at least a few.

CHeyenne

The deal today was that if we got up early we could drive to Cheyenne in time to get a really great fresh steak dinner. What could be better than fresh beef? So we left Davenport early and got on the road with a good foot under us, as the Irish saying goes. Okay, there were a few snippy comments between Mom and Dad regarding sunglasses and newspapers. Devon listened to us and kept repeating that he was glad we hired out the bathroom project because it is obvious we can't work together for long periods. So I went to the back of the van and went to sleep. Seinfeld comments were also frequent. It is frightening to think that a show about nothing so closely resembles our life no matter what we are doing.

We saw a lot of windmills today. Iowa is dotted with them. They look big when we were driving by them, but we couldn't get the full impact until we saw individual pieces being transported on the roads. They are huge! We even saw a train pulling dozens of windmnill arms.

We can finally see mountains off in the distance. The terrain has moved from flat corn fields to rolling hills and buttes.

We got to the hotel around 9 pm. As we neared Cheyenne, we called the hotel to find out if there was a good steak restaurant that would be open late on a Sunday. The hotel staffer, Michelle, said yeah, there was an Outback Steakhouse just across the street! We explained that we had an Outback a mile or two fromo our home in Michigan, and was there anything with local flavor. There was, she said. So we got set for a nice dinner.However, when we checked in later Michelle said that another family had just been there and the place was not open at all on SUnday. She suggested another place, The Capitol Grille. It was open and the food was great. Devon and Brendan both had buffalo and loved it.

After dinner I hit the hot tub. There was nice young man using the hot tub to take the aches and pains out of his bum knee. We got to talking and it turns out he was in Cheyenne for the week on business. Turns out he installs windmills. And they are big. Each arm is 135 ft long and each windmill takes one full day to install. He says there is no recession in his line of work; he's busy all summer.

So now we are all tucked into bed, the boys are catching up on all the news they care about on ESPN. Tomorrow it is on to Salt Lake City.

Wagons, Ho!

We are on our way on our next adventure. Jeff, Brendan, Devon and I are driving in the minivan to Idaho Falls to visit my best friend from high school, Sheryl. We only had to turn around once to get something we forgot to pack. Devon thought he had left his sunglasses in the house, but they were hidden in the car. So far the worst traffic delays were in Southfield on I696. We arrived in Davenport, IA, at 11:30 pm, 10:30 pm local time. We crossed the Mississippi at night, so the boys didn't really get to go "ooh" and "ahh" at the sight. I am sure they will do that tomorrow, though. Brendan was a little under the weather on the trip so far because he received more immunizations this week for his trip to India. He said it was the meningitis shot that did him in. A little Dayquil, though, and he perked right up. Tomorrow we plan to drive through Iowa and Nebraska and part of Wyoming. That's a lot of time quality time in the car. Good thing we have plenty of electronic gadgets to keep people occupied. I wonder how the pioneers did this without laptops, cell phones, and MP3 players.

Swine!

Okay, the president has said do not panic, but I am a Mom first, and therefore have already beaten everyone else to panic mode. Regarding the swine flu, Brendan and Sean, you are most vulnerable right now. You are in high-risk areas (college areas where people have very likely just been to Mexico). Even if your friends have not been to Mexico it is likely they could come into contact with friends who DID go to Mexico. So, I want you to start washing your hands frequently during the day, not just after using the necessary. Also, go to your local drug store and buy some hand sanitizer TODAY and use that even more frequently. Get some for your friends. Keep your hands away from your face because that is the way the virus spreads. The next seven days are critical in preventing the spread of the disease. If you feel sick at all, especially with a fever and body aches, get thee to a doctor ASAP! Medications can help reduce the complications if the illness is caught early. Why am I being like this? Because the people who died in Mexico were the young and healthy, just like you. As Benjamin Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

whew

Got some time back on my side and immediately found this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8014153.stm

Really, this is the homeland?

SMILE!

April 30. 10:30 AM. I get to join the world of retainers! Yes, folks, my braces come off in two weeks. Can you tell I am excited? So is my orthodontist. Remember when he put in that spring apparatus in my mouth about six months ago? Turns out, they never use that on adults because it was always assumed that it worked in conjunction with the growth patterns of young patients. I was experimental in that respect and he is very pleased with himself with the results. So am I. I will be smiling like a crazy woman during Brendan's graduation ceremonies. Speaking of which, have you ordered the tix yet??

Boston

As some of you may know, i'm out east right now, in the lovely city of Boston, playing some east coast lacrosse. we've been out here since friday morning and there are some things about boston i want to share with u.



first are the accents. i've heard them in movies and read about them in stephen king books but i thought they were making fun of them and going over the top. they arent. listening to boston people talk may be the funniest thing i have ever heard.


next are the roads. they have somthing similar to a michigan left only they call it a jug handle cuz thats wat it looks like. also, this may just b do to the fact we have been travelling in a bus, the lanes are really narrow.


now on to the lacrosse. friday night we were supposed to play BC at 7 but there was lightning in the area and they only had lights on the field in till 1030 so they reschedualed it for sunday morning. we played Northeastern this morning and won 10-6. we play BC at 930 sunday morning and play BU at 1. sunday afternoon.

2 games and a 15 hour bus ride await me tomorrow. yay for lacrosse road trips.



and fyi, 15 hours on a bus is not very much fun

Travel TV

I'm in Indianapolis Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. So, Wednesday night I decide to workout at the hotel. Fitness room is just a couple treadmills and a widescreen TV but no HD. The hotel has locked the settings to stretch so everything is a little distorted and fuzzy (maybe it's my eyes).

Anyway, I flip through a bunch of channels and I find college hockey. The NCAA East Regional Finals - Air Force vs Vermont. Start of the 3rd period. Cool!

I put my headphones on with Cheap Trick at Budkan - TV volume off and the WSJ for reading. Perfect. After a while jogging I speed up the treadmill and stop reading and start watching the game. The print is too small to read when my head is bouncing around.

So there is like 5 minutes left in the 3rd. I look at the ESPNU score banner and I think Vermont is up 3-2. But Airforce is not playing like it's the end of the game. I can't figure why they are playing back and they don't pull the goalie. Period is over and the big score graphic comes on and it really is 2-2. They are going to overtime.

That explains why they were playing so defensively. The OT starts and I see on the small banner graphic that 3 is the seed or poll ranking or something for Vermont but it was not the score.

OK - I was confused or blind or the TV was blurry. Anyway now we are in overtime and I am at about a mile and a quarter. More jogging more music - love the album.

Then with 10 minutes to go there is video review. TV volume is still off cause I don't want to miss the last couple tracks including Surrender. ( I ripped the songs from the 1998 2 CD release).

ESPNU is showing something that is not very controversial. A save by Air Force goalie, an Air Force player in the net and then the puck is covered by an Air Force player at the edge of the crease. I'm not sure what the delay is for. Maybe covering puck with glove in crease (not the goalie). That would be a penalty shot. OK.

ESPNU has a camera behind the official scorers and we can see the NCAA replay monitor. The two refs are not watching the same play that ESPNU has been showing. They are watching something else. TV sound still off cause Surrender is just starting and no way I'm turning that song off.

So finally ESPNU gets the right replay. A shot by Vermont from the point that seemed to go wide. They they slow it down and show more angles and then frame by frame. They are taking forever. By now the last song on disc one Auf Wiedersehen is playing.

Finally they have the frame by fram overhead view zoomed in -

The puck went through the net!!!

Amazing

Disc One is over so I turn up the TV volume just as the refs signal goal for Vermont. The players go crazy. And the announcer says "good thing this is Saturday night because its pretty late.

So - I was watching a replay. I have been on the road since Thursday morning and I had missed the whole regional brackets. Out of touch with hockey - so sad.

There is a message in all this - I wish I knew what it was.

BYOC

Whoopeee!! State made it to the Final Four. Not that I really watch basketball. Let's face it, I only watched the last two minutes of today's game. But still it's fun, and I get to brag a little at work. Dad and Devon are talking about going downtown on Saturday and hang out to watch all the people and hoopla. I told Dad that it is strictly a Bring your Own Couch party.

Oops, hit the wrong button

What season is it? I overheard Sean and Devon planning what to watch on TV. Devon said that Maryland and Virginia would be playing at noon. Sean said, "Cool." So dummy me thinks they are talking basketball, right? Final Four season and all that. No. I go in the living room and they are watching college lacrosse in HD, critiquing every play, totally intent on the game.

What season is it?

Time Warp

I'm not sure if this is a trend or just Wabash, Indiana a little behind the times.

I saw two games from my childhood today within a period of about 15 minutes (yes I actually owned some toys).

First, at the Wabash Walmart, a mom was buying Operation as a present for her 6 year old. I used to love that game back in the day. Only problem was the little plastic organs always got lost.

Second, at Subway, a girl and her mom were playing Score Four. That was certainly one of my favorites. I could never convince my sisters to play because I kept beating them. Score is a 3 dimensional game and is shown above. The object is to get 4 of your color beads in a row - up, down, accross, diagonally.

So - What's up with retro toys?

Back to other music forms

I had a moment today. A good moment. It involved Devon. Let that thought linger for a while. Anyway, I was sitting on my couch, getting ready to quietly enjoy West Side Story all by my lonesome (so I could sing along and cry, and dance if I felt so moved. I always liked the America number best.) So Devon joins me. Why, we are both still not sure. But he watched the movie with me and made only a few snarky remarks. He was able to watch without making any snorting noises at the dance scenes and remained silent at the end and so did not interrupt my tearful enjoyment of the flick. He immediately turned on college lacrosse when the movie ended but I feel we made some progress in advancing his cultural appreciation of musicals.

passport

Applied for a passport today. It should be mailed to 712 in, and I'm quoting the woman at the county clerk's office, "less than a month although we've had people saying its more like two weeks." I don't believe that for a minute. The birth certificate should be mailed back to you as well, although probably at a different time.

I've heard marathon runners say that the last 6 miles feel like the first 20 so it's with no small sense of anxiety that I approach these last few weeks of school.

My and Ronen's thesis was in the online edition of the school paper: http://www.michigandaily.com/content/arts/getting-know-noise-music

There may or may not be a follow-up on Michigan Radio.



Here's two more futures I'm daydreaming about:
http://app.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html

http://gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu/object/dualdegree.html

this is an idea too

Big Ten career fair in Chicago April 3rd. The lack of demand for housing means that you can get a two bedroom apartment a few blocks from Lakeshore for $1200/ month. Which is unreal. Not as unreal (yet slightly more appealing) than this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08barlow.html?_r=2



I mean, for a city with next to nothing... that's an opportunity right?

St. Paddy's Day

So yesterday was st. patricks day as i'm sure all of you knew. and up here at cmu, it is tradition for the cafeterias to serve special food on special occasions. for example they had a thanksgiving dinner, christmas dinner and even a valentines day dinner. i have learned to be skeptical of these days as the food is tends to be disapointing. so when i heard that they were having a st patrick's day dinner, i did not enter the cafeteria feeling confident i would get a very filling meal.

boy was i wrong

they had everything Irish you could think of. being the good Irish boy i am, i headed straight for the corned beef and cabbage. it was not as good as mom's but it was tasty enough for me to have 2 helpings of. they also had 3 or 4 different kinds of potatoes, all of which were very good considering it is college dorm food.

overall, i was very impressed with the dinner and hope its just as good next year

Music education

I have had a few days to ruminate on the performance of Airport last Friday. I enjoyed the performance, but I am not sure why exactly. I don't mean that as harshly as it looks in print. It simply wasn't music as I know it. It was certainly art and expressionistic, but my conformity-minded brain wanted more structure. I was taking pictures that night and I think that got in the way of my understanding of what was happening on stage. I was distracted by the crowd's reaction. The sitting down part caught me off guard and fascinated me. Next time I will focus solely on the noise and see where it takes me.

What we have here, is a filure, to commuunicate!

I love the fine coaching staff of ROLAX. Today before practice, Ryan,t he real goalie made a joke about how i have to play goalie tomorrow. However, thats a large problems eeing as i play attack. I had nor eason to believe him, but regardless i asked miz about it. He replied, well yeah itll just be a quarter or something but yes. needless to say i was stunned, i was totally un aware of these happenings. When i asked him when he was going to tell me, he said, tomorrow at the scrimmage.

Yay for les communicatos. woot.

Vacation

Nothing like a few warm days in the spring to make me start thinking of family vacations. I would like to actually go somewhere this summer, economy permitting. I am opening the arena up to suggestions. Mine was a tour of Stephen King's Maine. Sort of a "Go In Search of a Nightmare" theme. Chicago is always an option. Brendan's participation is an optional thing as well. We know you are busy setting up a life...somewhere. Dad said he has never been out West; Fargo doesn't count.

Predictions Coming True

Made it to the end of a tube of chap-stick this morning. There's an odd satisfaction to this event, a very livable addiction. Also, my feet have to sweat a little more than is comfortable and while I'm not to the point where I'm changing my socks to drive the tunnel to Canada, it's causing me a little concern. Still, I think I have a solid decade before I'm falling asleep in front of the NASA channel.

Free senior...ish pics.

Prestige is offering free senior pics for one junior guy. They take my senior pics early, but i get them for free. They then put up pics of me in their lobby. I also spread the word about how fabulous a job they did for me. but obviously, theyd kinda be junior pics. I am quite willing to do this, because they are free. Since you rarely look at them anyway, i figured why not. i still have time to decide, but if its approved, by the old geezer rents, the opportunity is mine. If you want true senior pics you can still make me get them at the end of the summer or whatever, but i figured saving 400$ is always good. get back to me.

show

The School of Art and Design needs to get on it's horse because there's an exhibition that I'M A PART OF that's not being advertised on any university website. Anyway, I'm playing a show at the video studio on Friday March 13th. I don't know what time exactly but I think 8pm is a safe bet. I have a hard time describing the music I make and why I'm passionate about it but I think if you see/ hear it you'll kind of get it. I also have a movie I made last semester on display at the Duderstadt Gallery until March 14th. On a related note I'm in the video studio again Friday March 20th as model in my friend Stewie's thesis/ fashion show.

Busy month out here but April is looking a bit more chill so hopefully I can make it home for a day then.

Hockey Season ends

Tonight the Royal Oak Ravens played the Brother Rice Warriors in a preregional game. I was very proud of our boys. Brother Rice is probably the best team in the state right now, but our guys showed they can play with the best. The Ravens ran out of gas in the third period, but up until them, we were in the fight. We lost 4-0, but it was a very close game until the middle of the third period. Great season, boys!

continental air transit blues

I now know why it's called the "red-eye." The issue isn't that it's 11am in California, lord knows I should be awake by then. It's that I've been up since 3:30amPT and it's now 2pmET. I've effectively been awake for nearly 11hrs by now. And I couldn't recline my seat due to a combination of crowded airplane + tray table + fat person sleeping behind me. And we sat on the tarmac at SFO during which time they did some maintenance on the brakes and unloaded 21 passengers because the plane was 3 tons overweight.

I gather this sort of thing is a regular occurrence.

I'm also upset that it's a full 40 degrees colder here.

Graduation

The big day for Brendan is fast approaching - only 9 weeks to go.

Who is going to attend the ceremony at Michigan Stadium? I have invited Grammy and Papa and I think they will be there. Mom and I will certainly be at the event.

Brendan - Do you want your brothers to be there? Any other guests that are important to you?

Brendan needs to pickup tickets the week before. The tickets dates are here:

http://www.commencement.umich.edu/other/tickets.html

The big day is May 2, 2009 and gates open at 8:00am.

There also is an event for the School of Music at Power Center on Friday, May 1. Brendan should get an invitation for this event and Mom and I would like to attend.

Lets make sure we are ready for this big day.

whirlwind

I worked so hard for the first 6 weeks of school that I feel like I actually deserve this break. We havn't planned a single thing. At all. Leave tomorrow at noon and I don't even know where we go after we get our bags. I was told a yacht was involved.

I don't even know what to pack. Weather.com has been switching back between multiple days of rain and multiple days of sunshine.

By the end of this semester I'll have a 35 minute hd documentary, a self-designed interactive website archiving/ showing off my artistic endeavors (complete with general resume), and a degree. Not bad for 12 credits.

Keep March 13-14 open because I'm pretty sure Airport will be playing in a space that's not a filthy smoke filled basement and thus, more conducive to parents enjoyment.

Sports Illustrated

Apparently my subscription to SI is now sending billing info to me. i dont have the money to pay for this nor do i remember saying to SI send billing stuff to me. and no i am over due 1 installment. i can still pay for the first and now the second i just dont know how im going to. i am more then willing to cancel the subscription if mom and dad are tired of paying for it.

Girls next door move out ahh!

Apparently, i am the last person to know of this, however, Bridget and Kendra are breaking up with hef. Kendra and Bridget both have expanding careers and are moving out of the mansion. Bridget is invovled with director Nicholas Carpenter and plans on having an actual career. Holly, learned that hef...isnt all hes cracked up to be in his old age. He doesnt have enough lil hefs to have a baby with Holly, and that sent the relationship into a downward spiral!! There are rumors she left hef for Criss angel the midfreak guy, but hef and holly deny those are true...thank god. Shes the best lookin of the three. Now hes back in his ways with two 19 year old twins. I cant say i object to these girls, but...i like these three he had. I'm pretty broken up about it. I dont keep up on celeb gossip or wouldve known this since Bridget left in the fall, and Kendra is working on moving out asap. These two new girls better be kool.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b33112_hugh_hefner_on_holly_its_over.html

If you care, he talks a little about it. :( bummer

Mom Wants an Update

Mom wants an update and what the mama wants, the mama gets. in direct response to mom's post my next concert is on the 26th at 8pm. in other news i had my first lacrosse game on thursday, we beat western 8-7. from an academic standpoint classes are going ok. im getting the hang of doing homework around my sleeping and lacrosse scheduals. and thats the way the cookie crumbes here in mount pleasant.

Updates, please

Brendan, did you get interviewed by the Michigan Daily? If so, when do you think it will be published?
Sean, when exactly is your concert? No promises, but I would like to attend, if at all possible.

Tonight is such a special Valentine's for us old folks. It is 8:30 p.m. We just watched Top Gun. We had pizza for dinner and now we are ready for bed. But don't go "Ugh." We will watch a DVR of Antiques Roadshow and Dad will fall asleep. And the weird part is we are both happy with how the day went.

bad joke

somebody called and asked if the store carried light bulbs. i told them that "yes, sometimes. i'll go check." they then asked, "low wattage, if you have them." and without really even realizing it i said, "there's nothing but low watt bulbs in this joint, let me tell you."




and there was this pause




and finally i said, "sorry, that was a terrible joke. we're out of lightbulbs too, um-" and they said, "um, what? that's fine, thanks."

not sure this brand of customer service would fly in corporate america.

sean, devon, please tell me you're still fighting the good fight because with jokes like that i'm on the fast track to turning into dad.

5 Addresses

i need 5 addresses for a lacrosse fundraiser. its a mailer thats gonna ask for some donations. i was thinking grammy and papa, aunt kim, aunt lori, brendan, and maybe nancy. i need the addresses asap. thanks

Passport Urban Legend

I had lunch with Nancy today at Olive Garden. It is now naptime but before I forget I wanted to pass on this idea. It may only be an urban legend or it may be true. Nancy says she knows somebody who heard that a friend went to Chicago and got their passport in an hour by going directly to the passport office downtown. Of course I don't have all the details (what office exactly? where?) But Brendan may want to track that down and try that route to speed things up.

life is skittles

and life is beer.

srsly, its so nice out that i could see the line for zingermans from my front door. as a cashier you learn to love the weather because it affects everybody, and thus, everybody can talk about it. so, when it hits that magical time of customer interaction when the credit card machine is FOREVER to print a receipt and things are getting awkward as we wait, it's helpful to have something so proletariat/ working class/ everyman as the weather to talk about.

i'm apparently not the only customer service representative who feels this way; the girl behind the bread counter at zmans remarked that she was "totally over winter. been putting up with it for too long now, and i'm glad it's out of my life, even briefly." and i had to run with it, "you know, i actually miss winter. i know its only been gone 9hrs but really, is winter actually that bad?"

yes, yes it is. it gets really cold. it gets cold enough to persuade me not to do things/ go places. it gets so cold that i wear 4 gloves, which is twice as many gloves as i have hands. it gets so cold that the first room i visit in any building is the bathroom so i can blow my nose and not pester an unwitting public with sniffling.

i'm going to miss zingerman's a lot when i move. excluding the catholic church across the street, it's the closest business to my apartment.

TSA Screening at Indianapolis Airport

I had an interesting experience on my way home from Indianapolis on Thursday evening.

I am pretty good at getting through the security screening without excessive trouble. I removed my belt and shoes. Placed the laptop and portable projector in separate bins. Took the foil covered Lactaid and wallet with the metal clip out of my pockets.

I passed through the metal detector with no problem. However, I did not pass the Full Body Scan. Details of this process are at http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/fullbodyscan.htm

The problem turned out to be the Chapstick in my pocket! Hard to imagine that is a threat to anyone.

The funny thing I realized later on was that I had forgot to remove the clear plastic bag with my shaving kit liquids from my suitcase. That went through the X-Ray scanner without an issue.

Speaker music

hey all, my speakers for my computer have been softly playing music lately. i dont have itunes up or any other programs that would play music. the music isnt noticable with other music goin, but i still dont know where this stuff is comin from. any idears?

Its an RO Weekend

This is a heads up to those that still live at home, in the RO. i will shall be returning home this friday because i know how much u all must miss me, mom's blogging about me she must miss me. idk when i will actually be back in the RO, i'll prolly spend most of the night with cassie somewhere but i will text u to let u no i made it home safely. see u friday and/or saturday

Skin

Hey, does anybody remember the name of the dermatologist? Dr. Sharf was the one who retired, but who did we start going to after that??

Bad Mom

Well, Sean, you have complained that I did not attend many of your hockey games the last year you played. You probably blamed it on middle-child syndrome. If it is any comfort now, I do not attend many of Devon's games either. Tonight, for instance, he had a game at Lindell, Dad is in Indianapolis on business, I was too comfy at home to get dressed, I didn't feel like sitting by myself in the stands because I am too antisocial to mingle with the other parents, so I stayed home.

Sock Theif

someone, io cant name names, but someone has stolen three pairs of my socks. why who knows, but three pairs of all white socks that are cut above the heel with and FJ on them are no longer in my possesion. Whoever has them in thier closet, it would be greatly appreciated if you could call me up and tell me so they can be returned to their rightful owner. I know they are super comfy and you wont wanna give them up, but thats why they are mine. gahh

finally

So, my numbers for the office's super bowl squares were 0 (Pitt) and 7 (Ariz). Great numbers, couldn't have rigged 'em better myself. At the end of the half I was in great shape...

and then THE LONGEST PLAY IN SUPER BOWL HISTORY happened. you know, this one:




and I yelled a few things that maybe some customers didn't want to hear and didn't win the $100 I so rightfully deserved. I guess that's why it's called gambling.

As the clock wound down on the third quarter and the cardinals peacefully let it expire, I had the last laugh: Pittsburgh 20 Arizona 7. $125 that will all be spent on materials for my thesis.

Geezer Rock

Mom and I stayed up way past our bedtime last night to enjoy some good Rock-n-Roll music. We were at the luna bar in RO. The band was Fifty Amp Fuse. The photo is the band with Chris Chelios.







http://www.fiftyampfuse.com/



It was a blast. The place was filled with people in our age group and we danced to many of the songs. I managed to lip sync to most of them and only sang out loud a couple of times.



We ended the night dancing to Stairway to Heaven. It is probably the most overplayed rock song ever, but it was still a thrill to dance to it with my sweetie.



My ears were ringing after we left and Mom had to push the Honda out of the snow while I rocked the car using the clutch.



I'm sure this will be a night to remember. The only thing missing was the opportunity to embarass my boys by having you there to see us dance. We will invite you next time.

No Job For Sean

Remember how i mentioned my wanting to be an academic orientation mentor this spring? well it turns out that i wont be able to do that because they do not want me to come back and interview which was the second step of the process. nor will i be working Safari in the fall. im not rly mad about it, both things mean i will have a longer a summer which is fine by me. it also means i need to find a new way of making at least some money this summer. any ideas??

thesis

I told you guys about this on MLK day, right after House, and you seemed vaguely interested. You can keep track of the project here:

mine
http://noisyeducation.blogspot.com/

ronen's
http://ronenspeak.blogspot.com/

Mom, have you had a chance to look for those materials about music education in your Catholic school?

New Router for Home Network

I went out and bought a new router today and spent most of the afternoon playing with the setup.

This was fun for me. I learned stuff and now I have a faster Internet connection. When Brendan or Sean visit the settings should be the same but the connection will be faster.

The new technology was pretty easy to get up and running. However, I still needed to get into the detailed configuration to configure it exactly the way I wanted.

The new router is a D-Link Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router - purchased at Circuit City for 10% off since they are going out of business.

Previous NetGear router was from a Staples contest that Brendan won several years ago.

The pricture on the left shows the speed of the old NetGear router.

This photo is the new D-Link router

This is over 5 times faster (your mileage may vary).

Both speeds are now the maximum for the connection from WOW.

Hot Tub

Jeff and I went to Splash Universe in Dundee for the day. I think we were the only adults there without children in tow. Jeff played Dad, sitting on the bench reading his Discover magazine while I played in the water. Mostly I sat in the hot tub. What a great afternoon! This is the first time I have felt warm since October. When I win the lottery a hot tub is the second thing I am going to buy (after the Mustang).

Its A Small World

Its a small world up here at CMU. After lacrosse practice last night, I now know 2 former Troy Sting players who are friends with Jake Harlick. One is my roommate and the other is on the lacrosse team. I know more people up here who played for the Sting then I did when I lived in Royal Oak! In a similar vain, I also ran into a former teammate of mine and I think Brendan's as well. His last name is Shepard and I can't remember his first name but I played with him my first year of midget with coach Bisoni. It really is a small world

funniest man ever

Watched the BEST episode of You Bet Your Life last night. A comedian and longtime friend of Groucho was on and his partner was a 19 year-old blonde dancer. What's amazing about Groucho is his economy. He doesn't have to say anything, he doesn't really have to do anything except look at the camera/ audience, and somehow it's still riotously funny. Here's a pretty tame exchange from the interview section:
"How exactly does one obtain a figure like this, Chelsie?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess, sports and good eating habits."
"And what constitutes good eating habits these days?"
"Oh, well, for breakfast I have liver and yogurt-"
"Liver and yogurt? It's hard enough to get out of bed and look at the morning paper but liver and yogurt?"

Later, another friend was invited on stage and as he lit his cigar he said something curtly to Groucho before motioning to the blonde, "So, liver and yogurt, eh?" Throughout the question portion of the show he would routinely distract himself from the questions by ogling that girl.

When was the last time such shameless misogyny and cigar consumption on prime time network television was so funny?

Inauguration Hoopla

We rarely have times when we know history is going to happen. Usually, we don't find out something is historic or important until after the event. Tomorrow is different. History will be made tomorrow and we all can watch. After tomorrow, people will be asking each other "What was it like for you when you heard Barack Obama take the oath of office?" It's definitely on the order of "Where were you when you heard Kennedy was killed?" or "Where were you when the shuttle exploded?" I get to say I was at work, trying to schedule my break for noon so I could watch it live, instead of tape delayed. Not very dramatic, I admit. Somehow it seems important to see this at the moment it happens, to be part of the event in some small way, to feel the connection between all the millions of people worldwide sharing in this event. This moment will be an paradigm shift; there was a time before the first African-American president and the time after. There are no more what-ifs in this matter. It has happened. But, of course, that begs the question, "Where do we go from here?"

First blogging, now MP3ing

I finally have an MP3 player. I have one song on it so far. The Beatles: "A Hard Day's Night". Maybe today I will put another song on it. I don't want to overdue it, though.

Nosecream

Nosecream.Nosecream.Nosecream. Grows on you.
I once saw a parody trailer for this movie but it was done as if it were a horror film (maybe too true for some people). The best line was: What's WRONG with the children?

Great Film

I'm upset that Negativland got to this before I could. Ronen showed it to a few friends and me last night and after a few viewings we were saying "nosecream" to each other the way one might say "rosebud."



peri and her family are going to dc for the inauguration and it took most of my willpower to not join them.

Yippee!

Okay, I am still not able to post comments, so I have to my Yippees!! on the blog site. I am thrilled with the news about graduating. One down, two to go.

this just in

I'm totally graduating.

TV on the Road

I am so spoiled by my home entertainment system.

The Holiday Inn Express in Wabash, IN is nice enough but ...

I was watching the Red Wings on Tuesday night on Versus. Instead of being happy I could see my team while I was out of town, I was mad a the poor camera work and production quality from the network. I want FSN-Detroit.

No DVR in the hotel so I can't rewind or pause ...

Turner Classic Movies is commercial free so I pick that channel expecting some old Bogart movie in B&W. Imagine my chagrin when I find the beginning of The Big Chill. I enjoyed the movie as always but, what does that say about me? One of my favorite movies now qualifies as a golden oldie on TCM.

And now for the rest of the family

I talked to both of my sisters this weekend. Brother-in-law Joe didn't quite recognize me when I called Aunt Mary Kay. Guess it has been a while. The Veselkas are fine. Mary Kay and Joe are retired and are leaving for Florida on the 20th for 2 months. Apparently they took their money out of the stock market well before it started to tank, so they are doing all right. Michael is giving flying lessns in Carbondale, Joey will finish nursing schoool this spring, Danny is still in the basement, and Jeffrey is working in Mountain Home Arkansas. Mary Kay did not give more details than that. Mary Kay has discovered daytime TV. They had to buy a 47-inch HD TV to feed her new addiction to the Financial News Network. Ann is also doing well. No shortage of work at the welfare department, it seems. Vanessa loves working at the library. She is in charge of the teen room, and has a blast, even with the seventh adn eighth graders, who we all know are barely human.

Who's in the driver's seat?

Well, since you don't tell me what is going on in any relationship until it is after the fact, I tend to make up my own theories. I was just wondering who is in the driver's seat when you are not in the car. Just a fair musing.

Crazy Traffic

It's a good thing we have this otherwise i would have to wait a couple weeks to share with u the rather interesting drive cassie and i had on the way to school. it started when we got to 696 and where the Star Southfield is. i think its like northwestern highway or something like that. anyway, we hit stop and go traffic. the odd thing was that ppl were going the wrong way on an entrance ramp to try and get off the highway. apparently at Orchard Lake road there was an accident or something that caused 696 to b shut down in both directions. cassie and i start to freak out a little and be like "what the hell is going on?" we turn on 950 am just in time to catch the weather and traffic on the 8's. at that exact moment the lady goes 696 has just been re-opened and he we start cruising again. she continues to warn drivers going east bound that some ppl have turned around and are heading the wrong direction to try and get off the highway. she warns the drivers to be careful and watch out for these idiots and no sooner had the words left her mouth then she goes "and there it is, we have an accident on east bound 696". oh, and when we were in the little pocket of stop and go we had to use the shoulder to go around a car that was stalled in the middle of the lane. all of which begs the question, How stupid are Michigan drivers???

Sean

Sean tells me he will blog more when he is at school as a way to keep in touch. He didn't feel the need to blog while home because any nuggets of information he wanted to impart to us he could do right away. So goes his thinking, anyway. Devon is still resisting, but that is his nature. He has to find a reason of his own to blog; we can't make him do it (or anything else for that matter).
Sean left for Central today. His girlfriend (I get to call her that now) is doing the driving. How symbolic that is, I don't know. The house is already quieter, and neater. Today, Devon and a buddy from school are cooking a French dinner for us as part of French class. I told him no snails. We do have Tums on hand.
I liked your pix from your room.

Remember Watching this a Lot?

Barbie now has a collector's edition doll from Hitchcock's The Birds. From the website: From the doll’s classic ensemble to the perfectly painted expression to the accompanying black birds, every aspect captures the film’s infamous appeal.

More here:
http://www.barbiecollector.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=L9633



I'm encouraged that Sean is now listed as an author, we need to start posting a bit more, I think. I'm trying to make this a habit.

Off Campus Decorative Norms

After living a room painted "asparagus green" for two years its hard to let that color out of my life. As an accent I think it works pretty well: as you enter from the outside you immediately notice my green screen (very artfully stored, imho) and your eye is drawn across my pillow and over to my window sill.

Guiding people through my room with color, everything is an art project.

























The next challenge becomes how to photograph this space. It's too big and too cluttered for a single shot. Maybe a short film, panning from one green to the next is the way to go.

Still need to work on getting images organized up here. I had some basic html skillz when I still had a myspace, but no more.

Priority or are they phasing you out now that graduation is in sight?

Back to School Blues

For years now I've been getting the worst nights of sleep ever the night before school starts and this year was no exception. Historically bad, couldn't fall asleep until 5am. Luckily my first class isn't until 11 these days, it's good to be a senior.

Monday:
-PAT 422, Timbral Ear Training. 11-12.30
-PAT 462, Digital Sound Synthesis. 3.30-5
Tuesday:
-PAT 442, Music and Media. 3.30-5
Wednesday:
-PAT 422, Timbral Ear Training. 11-12.30
-PAT 462, Digital Sound Synthesis. 3.30-5
Thursday:
-PAT 442, Music and Media. 3.30-5

no class Friday because, again, it's good to be a senior.

I also have meetings with my faculty advisor every week or so to make sure I'm on my game with my thesis. More on that later.

The best part is that this is my work schedule:
Monday: 5-close
Tuesday: 10-3
Thursday: 10-3
Saturday: 5-close

24hrs, only two night shifts. It took a few years but I finally got some kind of priority.

Experimental Music in the News (well NPR anyway)

OMG -
There are actually other people out there that make music with the same instruments and tools that Brendan uses.

Who knew???

There was a story about this group just now on NPR - All Things Considered. - The radio story focused on Bonnie Jones and the festival in D.C.

http://www.dc-soniccircuits.org/news/
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=184464489

One musician mentioned that this was his passion but his day job was at the Pentagon. LOL

Secret to Life

I made brownies yesterday. Yes, the good brownies. The caramel chocolate chip brownies. I have decided that these brownies are the answer to life's questions.
What should I do with my life? Make brownies.
Want to make people happy? Bake brownies.
How do you mend a broken heart? With brownies.
I think I should have the brownie recipe etched on my tombstone, because that is probably the one question people will have after I'm gone: How did she make those brownies?

Done told 'em

Okay, I tried to post a comment on the previous blog I made, but it told me to please choose a profile, but I couldn't find a profile to choose.??
Anyway, I told Sean and Devon to get going with this, but they are dragging their feet. I think they think I want to use this blog as a meanas to spy on them. The opposite is true. I could spy on them with their Facebook/Myspace pages. What I am looking for is a way to keep in touch with what everyone is thinking in a positive way.

Visit

I am off work on Sunday. I work Monday and Tuesday 8-4.
I'll go you one better than "Bridge on the River Kwai". There is a doumentary on the REAL bridge which has very little in common with the movie version (big surprise).
What is the protocol on comments? Is it best to comment on a comment or do a new blog like I did?