trip home - installment one

It's Christmas.  So I flew home for the break.

What's a flight without a good story?  Impossiable (for me at least). 

I was using my vocher to fly home, which means that I had to fly out of New Orleanssince United doesn't fly out of Baton Rouge.  My flight was at noon, but my co-worker was catching the Atlanta train at 7:30 so I offered to drop her off.

I was rather proud of myself.  The night before I packed my bags and was the most prepared for this trip then any trip I have taken this year.  I packed the night before I left for China and Europe.  This was also the case for my trip to Boston, but I had a good excuse since I was in the hospital the day prior to boarding the plane.  So the fact that I had all my bags neatly packed and laid out on my futon by 11:00pm was amazing.

I went to bed, setting my alarm for 4am.

The next morning I pressed the snooze button twice, but I still had plenty of time to gain consciousness and take a shower before Lynn arrived.  When she called, I went to my car and we headed for New Orleans.  Before hand, I had to drop my key off at one of my neighbors so my coworker could get my key from him and feed my cat.

When we left Baton Rouge the only thing that made the morning unhappy was my lack of coffee. I mean, I had that feeling that I left something behind.  But when do you NOT have that feeling? 

We drove through the Lousiana swamps at 5:00am – entering New Orleans over the lake at 6:30, and arriving at the train station.  Everything was good.  It was one of those surreal mornings.  It felt good.  We found the train station easily and I helped Lynn upload her bags.  She was a girl, so she thought it necessary to bring back LOTS of presents. After we checked her bags, I wanted coffee.  So we went to the café in the station. 

I reached for my wallet – the wallet that, not only contained all my money and credit cards, but also my only form of ID.  The ID that will allow me on the train.

My wallet wasn't there.  My mind flashed to the my wallet laying on my table at home.  My home in Baton Rouge – an hour away.  I quickly bid Lynn a farewell and began a race back home.  At this point I was OK.  It was 7am, my flight was noon, and Baton Rouge is only an hour away.  There were two glitches in the plan.  First, my car was on Empty and I had no money.  Second, my key was laying on my neighbors floor.  Hopefully he was home and awake so I could get my key, open my apartment gate, and unlock my door. 

Surprisingly, all these events took place smoothly.  I had enough gas to get back, my neighbor answered his door, and I was able to leaving Baton Rouge by 8:30.  I was a little concerned that the airport would be packed due to the holiday.  Even though, I should be OK.

I drove to my pastor-friends house, who would be taking me to the airport.  We left for the airport with an estimated arrival time of 11:00.  Flight was at 12:00.  We were good.

When we got to the airport, I realized I had left my cell phone in the car.  I debated if this was important. I couldn't decide.  But Pastor Nare was determined to retrieve the device. We flew back home and I arrived back at the airport at 11:20.  I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make the flight.  How is it possible to make a flight in 40 minutes, on the Saturday before Christmas.  There is no way.

I was at the terminal in ten minutes.  No kidding.  They weren't even boarding the plane yet.  I was relieved.  I guess the airport in now dead post-Katrina.  I'm lucky.  The flight was eventless and on-time.  I even flew through the deadly Washington-Dulles, where I received my initial voucher that was allowing me to fly home cheap.

United still sucks.  Upon boarding the plane, we were told that the seats were screwed up so we were to take any open seat available.  After deplaning my carry-on (that was checked plane-side) was ripped.  But I went to the luggage people and they said they would give me a $20 voucher.  So I actually GAINED from the flight.  Sweet.

My aunt picked me up and we went to Lafayette.  I was home.  I love this place.

stuff about the suburbs

A new version of Rockin the Suburbs... which is AWESOME (i have a blog following this about my thoughts)

Let me tell y'all what it's like 
Watching "Idol" on a friday night 
In a house built safe and sound 
On indian burial ground 
Sham On 

We drive our cars everyday 
To and from work both ways 
So we make just enough to pay 
To drive our cars to work each day 
Hey Hey 

We're rocking the suburbs 
Around the block just one more time 
We're rocking the suburbs 
Cause I can't tell which house is mine 
We're rocking the suburbs 
We part the shades and face the facts 
They got better looking Fescue 
Right across the cul de sac 

Hot real estate rising stars 
Get rich quick seminars 
Soap opera magazines 
40,000 watt nativity scenes 
Don't freak about the smoke alarm 
Mom left the TV dinner on 

We're rocking the suburbs 
From Donahues to Chevy Chase 
We're rocking the suburbs 
We numb the muscles in our face 
We're rocking the suburbs 
Feed the dog and mow the lawn 
Watching mommy balance the checks 
While daddy juggles credit cards 

(William shatner talking) 

We're rocking the suburbs 
Everything we need is here 
We're rocking the suburbs 
But it wasn't here last year 
We're rocking the suburbs 
You'll never know when we are gone 
Because the timer lights come on 
And turn the cricket noises on each night 
Yeah, yeah, we're rocking the suburbs 
Yeah, yeah, we're rocking the suburbs

followup to suburb stuff

So, Erin gave an awesome Christmas card because it included a CD of favorite tunes. Some from the past, and some I have never heard at the time.  So I put it in my car's CD player and made my venture out to the Louisiana Mall for some people watching (the best time of the year).

Before I rant, a disclaimer.  I am completely enjoying my time here in Baton Rouge.  I love it.  But these are my vents:

I HATE traveling within five miles of my apartment.  Especially after 5.  Considering the size of Baton Rouge, traffic is horriable.  Contrary to populat belief, heavey traffic is not a sign of prosperity.  It is instead a lack of urban-ness (if it occurs in a city the size ofBaton Rouge).  I mean, seriously, I commuted from Indy to Muncie, and traffic was not that bad.  Indianapolis is (technically) the 12th largest city in the USA.  Something is wrong here in Baton Rouge.

I won't even go into their driving habits.  That's another blog.

So anyway, I left at 4pm, which means I made it to the mall pretty fast because it was before people left work.  I arrived at the mall, and of course the place is packed.  The City of Baton Rouge has installed a five-lane bypass around the mall, complete with two interchanges to the interstate.  I have fought Christmas traffic before, and it was obvious (when I hadn't moved an inch on the five-lane, mall bypass) that I wasn't going to find a parking spot.  So I had to turn around.  It was this point I said to myself: this would not be a problem if this city was not completely reliant off the automobile.  Nor would it be a problem if this shopping were in an urban area where people could park on multiple streets of multiple parking lots that are dispersed throughout the area.  Seriosuly.  This seems obvious to most people – but it must not be.

So, you're saying: this is true all over the USA.  I digress.  However, its worse here. Take it from someone that has been to 48 states and most major cities.  I get irked when I am in a public meeting and I hear someone from the LSU Landscape Architecture department rant on about New Urbanism and this so-called 'new movement'.  Whenever someone says this I just want to relocate from Baton Rouge to – I dunno.  But it makes me mad.  Especially in a city like Baton Rouge.  There are all kinds of 'new urbanist' developments around Baton Rouge.  It is the thing to do.  The only place in Baton Rougewhere 'new urban' developments are not being built are  IN THE URBAN CORE!  Guess what's downtown right now?  Imagine Muncie.  That's what's there.  But don't worry.  I can drive to one of these 'new urban' developments and experience the urban environment.  Except they lack density, (real) multi-use, diversity, etc.  Oh wait: isn't that the what 'urban' means?  Huh, I guess I forgot about those qualities when I was too busy trying to keep my development homogenous in class and race.  That's weird.  I don't know how I forgot about that.  Maybe it was because I was busy sitting in my SUV, in traffic, on the interstate, flipping someone the bird because I can't drive correctly. 

There was actually an editorial in the paper saying that downtown 'just isn't the center of town anymore'.  The editorial went on to say: 'Sure, it's the center for culture attractions, the government, and the historical (transportation) center.  But it will never be the center of town anymore.  No one will ever use transit in this day'. 

Wait?  Didn't the writer just say downtown was the center for all those things?  Yet it will never be the center of town anymore.  It totally confused me. 

Oh, and FYI, the most progressive cities in the USA are investing in public transit because they got screwed by being homogenous. 

fun

This weekend was entertaining.  Thursday night was a lengthy happy hour at the Red Star followed by a half day at work.  So I wasn't really compelled to go to bed early on Thursday night.  Friday was a half day because we had a Christmas party.  It began at noon and I wasn't able to leave until nine.  When I got home I walked over to a neighborhood party being held. 

I went to bed.

I slept LATE Saturday.  Probably the latest I have ever slept in my entire life.  (Excluding a lot of times that I have sleep later).  I wasn't in the mood to do anything.  So I finally got the motivation to put on some cloths and walk over to the grocery store for a box of cereal. On my way there I saw my neighbor, Jeff, and he took me on a tour of the state capital building.  (Please note, this is another Jeff and I am not referring to myself in third person).  It was quite an interesting tour.  But when it concluded I continued my trek to the store and got some cereal.  After eating a bowl or two (a bowl of cereal, not the actually bowl), I went shopping for essential supplies. 

The sad thing was the fact I ripped my side-view mirror off my car while backing out of my parking space.  I was – and still am- pissed.  I tried using super glue to get it back on. My dad told me to take it to the dealer.  Sucks. 

That night I went to some 80's party that a friend was holding.  It was fun.  I didn't get in until late. 

I should spend today getting things done.  So far that hasn't happened.

I did blog, though.

another day or two. maybe three

I am sitting here eating macaroni and cheese left over's. I made it last night – which basically sums up my entire weekend. My Saturday night involved me making macaroni and cheese (after driving aimlessly around looking for a place to get my hair cut) afterwards I sat down to watch American Beauty. I haven't seen this film in a while, so I thought it would be a nice reminder on why suburbia sucks. The film more or less reinforces the importance of my job. I was going to enjoy my night in – until my DVD player stopped working. I was pissed. The one thing I wanted to do tonight was watch this movie, and now my DVD player stops working. Mind you, it has a right to stop working. I purchased this thing back in my Sophomore year of High School. It has endured countless moves from Lafayette to Muncie to Baton Rouge. I guess it can retire at this point. But the fact remains that I wanted to enjoy some macaroni and cheese and a beer. (Good combination, I know).

So I turned off the dysfunctional DVD player and turned my attention to TBS. Legally Blond was on earlier – which is a phenomenal movie – but now some sitcom about yuppies living on the north side of Chicago. Honestly, it was rather stupid, but I watched it anyway because it reminded me of home. I'm guessing all my friends on the north side of Chicago act this way.

Speaking of yuppies, I joined this organization for 'young professionals wanting to influence positive development in Baton Rouge'; aka, a bunch of yuppie-tools. I've met a few people in working relations that were a part of this organization. So I joined earlier and they had their Christmas party at the Baton Rouge Art Museum on Thursday. I showed up thinking I would see someone I know. However, I also showed up wanting to eat – I had skipped dinner. So I filled a plate, and then decided to get a glass of wine. Perfect meal! Except my hand were full and I could not eat. So I (discreetly) downed my glass of wine so I could eat. This progressed to drinking to much wine for the night.

After arriving some people approached me as a new member. We talked. After a while, my friend Jordan arrived and I had a permanent friend to talk too. I think having people to talk too require you NOT to talk to other people. So I didn't meet enough people that night, but at least I'm involved now. And it was fun. I probably shouldn't meet people when drinking a lot of wine. For those of you who know me, you know that I'm weird. Wine makes me weirder

Thursday night was the third night I went out. Tuesday night I had a lengthy night meeting and then went to the LSU bastketball game.

Rockin.

Wednesday night I went to the roof-top sushi bar downtown. It was nothing to write home about – but fun nonetheless.

I am flying home in a few weeks for Christmas. That will be fun. There better be snow or I will be pissed.

I also have some tentative visitors, which makes me excited. Andrea has promised to come. Karma and Jess might come for the last week of February. And I might have some visitors for Spring Break. I'm thrilled. I'm going to take them alligator wrestling on the bayous. That's what I typically do on the weekends.

remembering school

following is an evaluation i gave to a teacher last year.  i still like to remember this evaluation.  the incrediably sad thing is: this is all true.
Plan 618:

Comment on the instructor teaching ability:
Teaching skills were lacking.  May times questions were disregarded and labeled as "stupid".  During these times, the instructor misunderstood the question.  He needs to work on better communication between the students and himself. 

What were the strengths of the course?
Instructor copied/stole most PowerPoint presentations and homework assignments off other websites.  This was very helpful because we were able to teach out selves the material.  This was necessary due to the lack of clarification in class.

Weakness of the course:
Teaching style is lacking - if not absent - from class.  The professor comes to class unprepared and often would ask us "What are we doing today?"

Past material used:
Instructor would criticize past material given to us on this subject.  I would advise that he works with Prof. Hill in order to strengthen his own material. 

Materials:
Most material presented in class was not useful.  The book did not provide much information along with his PowerPoint presentations.  Most my understanding would come from after-class Google searches in order to finish the assignments.

Audio-Visual:
PowerPoint presentations were not useful.  Much of the presentations he did not explain. He would show slides.  I would usually decipher them after class.


Plan 619:

Overall teaching:
Instructor was more prepared then 618.  However, this caused him not to explain the material even further.  He seems to believe that the material does not have to be explained in full due if he is knowledgeable of the subject.  Osmosis does not work in teaching.  

Strengths:
The material seems very interesting.  I personally can not wait to learn how to use the material that was supposed to be presented in class.

Weaknesses:
Many of the assignments were not explained in full.  He would give several equations with different variables and did not explain what they meant.  The only way we could finish our homework was to duplicate what he did on the board.  This was hard because I could rarely read his handwriting.  Furthermore, he could barley read his own handwriting.  This caused much confusion.  When he was confronted, he acted as if were dumb.

Past material:
Did not relate.  I am still not sure how to apply this knowledge.  It would have been useful if he would have given a list of equations in class, explained the variables, and then explained the function.  His organization in class was very difficult to follow.  Many different equations would be on the board.  However, we were only solving one problem at the time.  He seemed to confuse equations and lacked the understanding to apply them to the homework assignment.

Material:
One reading was given to us.  This reading, we were told, was an example of an unsuccessful model.  The instructor went on to explain he was much smarter then the author.  More reading material would be useful due to the lack of clear explanation.  My instruction would usually come from Google searches after class time.

Lectures:
Instructor needs to review his notes before coming to class.  Usually he could not read his notes and his math was wrong.  It is difficult to understand the material when the instructor does not understand the material.

i got bored:

In the last year I have been to:

- Indianapolis, Lafayette, Muncie, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Random Region cities, Chicago,Cincinnati, Columbus, Ann Arbor

- Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Iowa

- Portland Oregon, Seattle, Vancouver

- San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Florida

- San Francisco, Palo Alto, Sacramento

- Providence, Boston, Cap Cod

- Shanghai, Beijing, Wohan, Deyang

- Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, London, Oxford

thanksgiving (number 2)

The day after Thanksgiving:

I awoke early (because it is difficult to sleep soundly when there are ten-trillion people living in your one-bedroom apartment). My sister wanted to go to some stores, including Lowe's. Lowe's had a Christmas tree on sale for twenty dollars. So I thought it was festive to get a Christmas tree. Most people I know get Christmas tree's. I see nothing wrong with having a Christmas tree. Apparently it isn't normal here 'cause I was scoffed at last night when I went drinking with some friends. Apparently having a Christmas tree here isn't cool. Whatever. These people don't know how to do Christmas anyway. They need to work on the coolness of outdoor lights as it is.

After my excursion to Lowe's, the entire family made a four hour drive to Houston to see where my brother was going to live. I have never been to Houston, so I was excited to see how this suburban mecca was going to look. (Look out LA, you have competition). The thing is, some idiot on the Indystar message board rationalized the second bypass around Indy using Houston as an example. I do agree with this guy. Houston has very impressive highways – many lanes, overpasses, underpasses, etc. They are nicely paved. It is a very car oriented city. In fact, everyone I talk to thinks the highways are really nice when they are partaking in their two hour commute. It's obvious that this city thrives off the oil companies – you can tell. There is no way so many highways can survive without a supplement income.

I can't be too critical. My brother is moving to Houston, and he moved to the cooler area. So I support his move.

After returning to Baton Rouge, my brother and I went out: downtown. I love downtown outing; and it's really the only place to bar hop in Baton Rouge. At that point I had only been out downtown once. So I REALLY wanted to go to the Rasputin bar. This seemed like an awesome idea. Bar's named after Rasputin are very similar to coffee shops named after Nero – kinda weird. So we went inside - and it was pretty much dead. The girl-doorman swore that it was going to get CRAZY in a few hours. Then she demanded $5. Needless to say, my brother and I didn't want to wait a couple of hours for the craziness to take place. So we went to the Red Star to get some drinks. They have Guinness and Stella on tap. Stella isn't all that great, but Guinness is great on tap. Although, my brother swears that it is on tap everywhere around Purdue. (BTW, no one understands 'tap' here).

We left this place shortly, and decided to head back to Rasputin to see if it was 'crazy'. That's when we ran into some people who labeled themselves as 'river-people'. They were looking for a bar, so we pointed them to a place far in the distance with a neon sign, reading 'bar'. I had never been to this place either. So we followed them, and discovered they were from Kentucky and were river merchants. This was odd, but they were cool – in an odd way. We chatted with them for a while before migrating back to Rasputin. Things weren't exactly 'crazy', but we drank up anyway.

thanksgiving (1 in 3 editions)

This has been a long week. But I'm going to first explain the reason that I freaked out oer break. My parents came down to my apartment for Thanksgiving, and with them they brought a letter from a collection agency for $1,600. This freaked me out – not about the cash owed - but the fact my credit could be damaged with this unknown bill. When something gets turned over to a collection agency, you're basically screwed, and when it comes to life, your credit score is really all that matters (especially if you want to get married anytime). The thing was, I had no idea why this amount was turned over to a collection agency. So I called the agency this morning. Apparently I had outstanding bills from my surgery, LAST WINTER. You see, in normal hospital time it takes an entire year for them to work bills through the system. After hearing what the bill was for, I could semi-remember a call from IU Med Center telling me they were going to rerun this particular $1,600 dollar bill through insurance.

The bill was for anesthesiology. It seems that a doctor can be in your network, but the anesthesiologist may or may not be in your network. Now, they don't tell you who the anesthesiologist is until you're laying in the operating room just minutes to getting cut opened. For some reason I never want to check whether or not this anesthesiologist is my network at this point. I was more concerned about him (or her) keeping me asleep for my 13 hour (what turned into an 18 hour) surgery. Usually at this point in the preparation stage we're joking around about Ball State's party habits and who won the game last night. (When the operating room is FREEZING and you have a robe on, you shiver even more when nervous).

So, now they want to charge me $1,600 for this service. Mind you, I am never changed this much when I go under. Apparently they use expensive, out-of-network, anesthesiologists when it's long. I guess this is OK to me, but they need to tell me I owe this money in order for me to pay.

So I finally knew the background on this hospital bill that may ruin my credit.

Fortunately, the collection agency assured me that it hadn't been reported to credit services yet, so I was good.

PAID.

boring update. i even fell asleep

I just bought ticket to go home for Christmas.  They were free.  And I'm flying the Saturday before Christmas and on New Year's Day.  I just gotta say, I screwed the airline on this one.  I also gotta say that I really need to take advantage of the times they ask for volunteers to be bumped.

Jen and I were bumped – sorta – when coming back from London.  When I say sorta, the plane left with our unbumped seats empty.

I just got a call from another set of friends getting engaged.  This makes for two in the last month.  This is after attending five weddings this summer.  Congrats you guys!

My aunt is in town.  And my parents are coming tomorrow night.  It's all good, I think.  I miss not having a roommate from time to time.

It's almost Thanksgiving, but the weather is not cooperating.  I guess no playing in the snow this year.

My blogs suck here of lately.

guiness on tap... this is what happens

So sometimes you get – not depressed – but bogged down with the reality that life isn't the same. For instance, it sucks not being able to come home and call up your friends to hang out. I totally miss those times, for sure. And you start to get down. But then you get brought back to reality. Music, art – anything in that realm helps me. It helps you ditch those stupid inner feelings that you feel, and realize the reality of life. Which is awesome. After a week of work you want to go out, get pissed and have fun. Or at least I do. (And sometimes I'll break into English slang). But tonight I wondered down to a bar with a band, and that helps me fade into the background and realize reality. The first thing you have to cope is being able to stand your own ground. Although, I've learned my independency time and time again, it takes a lot of motivation to wander into a bar by yourself – especially if you don't feel like talking to anybody. But once you cope with that, you are able to sink into your own world, absorb the music, and – just feel awesome.

So tonight I went to a bar I've been to before. But tonight they had a Cajun band. I have to say, seeing a bunch of young kids with their accordions, violins, drums, and bass – while singing in French – is smoothing experience. It helps me understand why I do what I do, and why I am what I am. I just sat there and let the atmosphere take me.

That's why I realized how stupid I am. Seriously, how many times have I flown across the country by myself? Or wandered around Europe by myself. These times were the most liberating times of my life. I remember the time I went to Germany. It was the first time I arrived in a foreign speaking country; and I was by myself. I stepped off the plane and instantly became a minority. It felt great. The best time was in Wittenbergwhere I met NO ONE that spoke English. I arrived in this small German town, and made a half-mile walk to the only hostel in town. I was able to check in, even though the lady knew no English. Then I made my way to the only restaurant in site. I felt totally separated. I was even feeling sick to my stomach because I was alone. I couldn't talk to anyone. Yet, the next morning was when I learned how great it was. I had to wake up at 7am to catch an 8am train. I stepped out of the hotel into 5 inches of snow. Everyone need to walk through a dark German town at 7am, on cobble streets, with a backpack, while it is snowing. Not only is it tricky. Its beautiful. The train ride was even better. I love snow, but no one likes driving in snow. So winding through snowy Germanycountry side, and not having to personally drive through the snow was amazing. It made my trip to Germany unforgettable.

So I compare my times right now to these many experiences I already had. It's just hard too because it completely different.

I guess I'm going to an LSU game tomorrow. I dunno why. I can't afford the ticket. Nor do I like football. I will probably leave early. We'll have to see.

feelings

I was cursed earlier this week for not having my cell phone. However, for those of you keeping track, my phone has been laying here for 12 hours and not one phone call OR text message has been processed. Thank you.

I just broke the cork off my wine bottle. I've had this bottle of wine since I moved out ofMuncie, so it makes sense the cork was getting weak. (In fact, I have a lot of hard alcohol that was imported from Muncie). I really haven't been into drinking wine lately – until peer pressure consumed me. Thanks.

I initiated my weekly work-out. By 'work-out' I mean a nice steady jog. Until now, my routine push-ups and sit-up, combined with climbing the stairs whenever possible had been my daily workout. But once you get a job your motivation level falls dramatically. Thanks.

(This is for my friend Candace, even though she will never read this). I'm glad you got engaged. That's awesome. I'm also glad I called and made sure I was invited to the wedding. I assumed this wouldn't be true because you don't like red states. Oh yeah! I also met a newspaper writer today. He stopped me while jogging. I should get you a job.

I'm totally wasting my night. I REALLY felt like drinking tonight. I need to find people who will drink with me whenever I decide my job sucks.

I need to go to the store. I need a light-bulb and – most importantly – coffee filters. (I think there is a direct relation between the amount of coffee one drinks and their happy level).

a day in the life of frogs

It's interesting when you move 1,000 miles from your friends and family and find it easy to stay in touch with people, yet feel like you're living an entirely different life.  In a new place: a place that is completely different then where you lived for twenty-four years.  I mean: I've been to 48 states; I've taken countless, bi-coastal field studies and personal trips; I've studied in London and China; I've backpacked through a lot of European countries.  Yet moving somewhere and becoming a real-life citizen is completely different. 

With that said, I never in my life thought I would move south.  But after this weekend, I'm beginning to discover Louisiana was an awesome choice.

So on with my weekend.  It started out early, because the city got Veteran's Day off. This means I spent Thursday night out at a place called Pluckers (sounds completely different when you've been drinking) with my newly made intern friends. (I like to lower myself to the lowly interns, you know?)  It was kind of nice to sit, drink, and not have to worry about getting up the next morning.  It sorta reminded me of college (…not that I didn't have to get up early in college.  But I was never forced to think eight hours straight – you don't know how much thinking sucks).  I ended up just sleeping at my friends that night because I have to drive a lot now.  I just want to take the time to point out the effects of alcohol when you don't drink much anymore.  It's kind of ridiculous – and you discover that you are getting really old.

So the next morning I woke up and had the day off.  This was pretty awesome.  I basically did nothing, but my boss had a pig roast that afternoon so I attended.  It was fun – basically because there was free food and drink.  But I also got to hang out with co-workers informally, which is very difficult to accomplish at work.  Afterwards, we went to a few bars before I headed home.  I wasn't feeling good at all.  Have you ever felt death?  Well, I was feeling near this level.  I am not real sure why.  It probably has something to do with Louisiana.  But I'll try not to blame the entire state.  Instead I just took a tiny nap.  That's when Mel called and said she was going to the Better then Ezra concert being held that night.  I honestly was planning on sleeping – but I haven't been to a concert since probably the Eels (not including local).  So I rapidly got ready and made my way to this shin-dig taking place in a tent outside a bar. 

I paid my fee, and entered the tent.  They had already started playing so I made my way to the front of the stage.  I couldn't find my friend, but I was in a good mood - just loosing myself amongst the crowd and mellowing out.  It felt good.  Eventually I found Mel and her friends on the opposite side of the stage, so I went over.

The concert was awesome, except for a few aspects.  One of which was the encore.  I mean, the entire crowd started doing an "LSU Tigers" chant.  I don't know – maybe this is the Muncianan in me, but I would have been offended.  Seriously, people seemed more excited about next day's game then the concert.  This is just weird – and a little disrespectful to the current players.  I wouldn't have come back.  Fortunately, Better then Ezra are cool people, so they came back. 

Although, I remember that one time Guster told us to be quiet, and as soon as the entire place was quiet they would come back out and begin playing in silence.  It sorta worked. It would have worked if people didn't come to Guster concerts trashed.  But we won't go there.

I do miss Muncie concerts – local concerts.  Obviously, people in Muncie can't handle Ben Folds (I agree with you Erin). 

So anyway, I went home that night and slept long and hard. 

The next day I bought lots of cool stuff for my apartment – cool stuff like a picture frame, computer speakers, a mirror, etc.  Then I ordered pizza for myself.  That's when I sat and talked to Andrea for a long time on IM.  She encouraged me to get a bottle of wine. So I did.  And we had a wine party over IM.

But we decided it wasn't that much fun, so I wandered downtown to see what was going on. 

I went to bed

another cool update

Election Day. I didn't even vote. I had three choices: vote in Muncie, vote in Lafayette, or vote in Baton Rouge. I really don't care much about Muncie; I considered switching my vote to Lafayette then voting absentee, but I thought that looked fishy; and I couldn't switch my vote in time to vote in Louisiana. So I didn't vote.

One thing is for sure, CNN really makes the election time exciting. Seriously, elections are more exciting than any sporting event. Elections are the real thing. (I'm confident the democrats will pull out this one). Erin agrees with me. That's why I like her. She's also a planner. That makes her cool too.

I should have worn my Bush shirt today. I wasn't thinking.

My cat likes to dart out the door when I open the door. But then she doesn't know what to do when she gets outside. So she just stands there. I guess she feel like she accomplished something, so its cool with her.

She also likes to look out the window, which overlooks downtown Baton Rouge. She sits on some boxes because my apartment is still a mess and isn't really livable.

Speaking of which, this weekend will be the weekend for getting my apartment together. I need to get stuff on the walls and some plants.

I hate it when I get half way down the stairs and I remember I forgot something. Like just now I went to take the trash out. At floor 3 I remembered I didn't have the trash. Therefore, I climbed back up 3 flights of stairs to retrieve the bag.

I take the stairs 'cause I'm lazy. I don't like waiting for the elevator. I'm lazy – er, impatient like that. That's usually why I opted to walk then use the bus/train when I travel. For example, that one time in Prague (comments please).

Umm, nothing much else to report.

It's starting to get chilly here in the morning. I wear a jacket just 'cause I have one and its November, so I should be wearing a jacket/coat.

I forgot to post my blog about this weekend. I'm guessing there are a lot of disappointed people out there.

I'll do that now.

the weekend: a blog about florida

This weekend I took a (mini) road trip to the panhandle of Florida. My good friend Andrea was vacationing for the weekend, and I joined since I was only 5 hours away. After work I put my apartment in the best order possible, and then left (after retrieving food at the local McDonalds).

What I didn't realize was how bad traffic would be in Baton Rouge. I never have to commute out (fortunately), so I haven't noticed the many people that do commute. The amazing thing is that the traffic was a lot worse then I experienced on my commute from downtown Indianapolis to Muncie. This made me think – how is there so few people and so more traffic? The easy answer is that people work FAR away from their homes. Baton Rouge also lacks a central commercial district. Therefore, people are driving millions of directions to reach their homes. (Baton Rouge need a better public transit system. This would be easier given a central business district).

Anyway, I continued on through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. By the time I got to Alabama I was reaching fatigue. So I stopped by Dairy Queen to get a Moolate. Those are really good, and help you stay awake. So I stood at the counter for ten minutes waiting to be served. At which point I witnessed one of the workers dumb an entire bag of liquid ice cream all over the floor. The really funny part was how all the employees decided this functioned as a good ice skating rink. This just increased the mess. In fact, the worker (who finally took my order) said I could get my ice cream for free if I cleaned up the mess (she clarified that she was just joking). It didn't matter anyhow because their Moolate machine was broken. I was pissed, but moved on and got a peanut butter shake. It was good. 

I continued into Florida and reached the given exit I was instructed to take. I assumed I was close to my destination at this point. I was wrong. I entered a deserted two-lane road and discovered the road was a toll-way. Interesting. I paid my three dollars and began a six mile drive across a two-lane causeway. I couldn't see a thing since it was dark. I just knew I was over water. I finally descended the causeway and found myself in a suburban area. I then began a thirty minute drive to Andrea's mom's condo. I didn't arrive until 10:30. We had some drinks and went to bed. 

The next morning I discovered why Andrea liked to come here so often. It was pretty nice – the ocean, that is - except it was cold. So we went and ate at a restaurant where Andrea embarrassed us all by forcing her ID to the waiter like some nearly-turned 21 year old. The food was good; the view was great; and it was good. So we went back to the condo and later went out that night to another place. This was also fun. I found the perfect seating location that enabled us to be out of the wind and under the heaters. I drank a lot. But I think the appearance of me drinking a lot has to do with the fact I haven't drank much in the last month. My tolerance seems to lacking. Plus, I was having a good time this increase my drunkenness. 

So then comes Sunday. This is what usually happens in the progression of days.

I woke up. That's always a good thing – first accomplishment of the day. I was planning on leaving soon, but then I looked out the window and it was an awesome day. So we decided to go to the beach. Well, one thing lead to another and I wanted to go swimming. It was fun. Actually it was the first time I had been in the ocean since – probably – 2000. I've wadded twice this last summer. Once in San Francisco and once on Cape Cod. But this was a full-blown out swim. Seriously. 

After the swim I began my drive back home.

I had to stop ASAP to get a shake. Somehow I was tired. Shakes make me happier. Then I continued across I-10 to Baton Rouge – until I decided to take a detour through Biloxi to see the city. I visited Waveland last weekend. We did a project with the city of Waveland and Bay of Saint Louise. So it was interesting to see the cities. Now I wanted to see Biloxi because it was apparently becoming a big casino nucleus. I drove along the coast before getting on the interstate and going back to Baton Rouge.

another blog about my life

For the first time being in the south, I was called a Yankee.  The people in personnel did this.  I enjoyed it.  They got a good laugh.  They also said I sounded a little British.  Now, I know for a fact that I sound nothing like a Britain.  Thats preposterous, but I couldn't disagree with them so I said, "Yeah, you might be right".  I guess the second best thing to living in England, is having people think you're British.

I'm fitting into this southern thing right now.  You have to get use to some things.  For example, it was 80 degrees today – November 1st.  This is throwing my biological clock off.  I'm supposed to be preparing for Thanksgiving right now, but it's difficult given the fact I can walk around in shorts, and possibly take a swim.

I'm going to Florida next weekend.  I guess it's nice to be able to swing over to Florida to visit your friends vacationing.  That's awesome.

Oh yeah, I came home today and discovered the apartment a mess.  You may ask, "did you leave the apartment a mess?"  No, I didn't.  My apartment people decided I needed a new door in my bedroom.  I'm not sure why this decision came a week after I moved in, but they thought it was more efficient to install the door AFTER there is a resident.  The thing is, they aren't even done installing the door.  So there is saw dust ALL over the place, and crap laying all around my apartment.  This was an inconvenience in two ways: first, I had to go buy a vacuum so I could clean this mess.  I guess I had to buy the vacuum sooner or later, but it was still a hassle.  Then I had to clean up the mess.  They were kind enough to knick my table and tear things off the wall.  Fortunately they are coming back tomorrow to paint the door.  This terrifies me.  PAINT?  These people are going to be trusted with paint?  They couldn't even install a door without disrupting the entire room.  Not they are using paint brushes.  Amazing.

Don't worry, I wrote the apartment people already.  I took care of these things last year, and I'll do it again this year.

i'm told i sound british

45 of the most random things you probably never needed to know about someone

whats your name spelt backwards?: ffej

What did you do last night?: Um, nothing. That's basically what I do.

The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?: I'm streaming audio right now. So that counts.

Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?: I've pretty much made out with one once.

Last time you swam in a pool?: this summer, at craig's and natalie's wedding. Well, not at the wedding specifically.

What are you wearing?: jeans and shirt

How many cars have you owned?: 30 maybe 31

Type of music you dislike most?: when you sing.

Are you registered to vote?: yes, but in Muncie. Im going back on election day. they have to let me out of work, I think it's a law

Do you have cable?: sorta. I don't pay for it. Its just gets here somehow.

What kind of computer do you use?: functional

Ever made a prank phone call?: yes.

You like anyone right now?: I like everyone

Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?: no, ive had enough surgeries

Furthest place you ever traveled?: china. Its halfway around, so that's the furthest you can get

What's your favorite comic strip?: I don't like strips

Do u know all the words to the national anthem?: yes, and im not even republican

Shower, morning or night?: shower?

Best movie you've seen in the past month?: my life

Favorite pizza toppings?: bbq chicken

Chips or popcorn?: chips. I disagree with sarah, strongly

What cell phone provider do you have?: cingluar. My calls are fricken never dropped. I just can't make them.

Have you ever smoked peanut shells?: that's not good enough for me

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?: been? Ive won several

Orange Juice or apple?: orange

Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?: probably mom and dad, and my niece and nephew
favorite chocolate bar?: reeces. I even went on a reeces factory tour, once. But I don't know how to spell it

Who is your longest friend and how long?: I don't keep a friend log… at least not until facebook.

Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?: NEVER

Have you ever won a trophy?: if I have, it was probably for effort.

Favorite arcade game?: pac man

Ever ordered from an infomercial?: no

Sprite or 7-UP?: sprite

Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?: I have to wear a tie now, which is weird.

Last thing you bought at Walgreens?: drugs

Ever thrown up in public?: I dunno. Maybe when I was little.

Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?: I do love money… that's why I have my job now

Do you believe in love at first sight?: no, except when I see ice cream

SPONGEBOB OR JIMMY NEUTRON?: ive never watched either.

Did you have long hair as a young kid?: no

What message is on your voicemail machine?: hi, this is jeff

Where would you like to go right now?: London. I was told that I sound british today.

Whats the name of your pet?: jazz

What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it?: kelty. I used it to backpackEurope, now it holds my 

laptop
What do you think about most?: thinking

The South

My update on the south is lacking… I failed.

My parents visited this weekend with all my stuff. So basically I have some place to sit and sleep now. So that's awesome.

My apartment is on the near-north side of downtown Baton Rouge. This basically means there is nothing close to me. I occasionally wonder into the downtown at night. It's cool because no one else is there and I feel safe. There are a few bars that seem to be open. No coffee shops are open past 7:00. In fact, there is a lot downtown. But nothing is open after 7:00. This amazes me. TONS of people work downtown. The entire state government is employed downtown; along with city/parish, bankers, etc. But everyone leaves at night. Thus, I am by myself when I walk around. There's a nice fountain that is always flowing. But I'm scared to sit by it because there is always a cop near by. Apparently this cop feels the need to watch no-one in downtown.

I walk back to my apartment and travel ten miles to Target (still refuse to go to Wal-Mart). I am slowly gaining knowledge of local places to shop. In fact, there is an (awesome) local grocery/convenience store/restaurant, a few blocks from my apartment. So I go there sometimes. But really, it's the only thing near me that is convenient.

I actually like my apartment. It kind of feels like the projects, due to the construction. But there are a lot of young people who live here, and a lot of different varieties of people. So it's cool. I've talked to a few people. My neighbor was kind enough to awake me at 3:00am the second night I was here. He let me know my keys were in the door. I don't quite remember what he looks like because I didn't have my glasses, and the conversation was scarce. "Hey, whats up?", "You're keys?", "Oh shit! Thanks!", "Night." I went and thanked him the next morning. But he was at work and his friend was there. I said thanks.

I also have talked to another guy. He was struggling with trash on the elevator. I saw him lug two garbage bags out of the elevator, and he dropped two boxes. I thought I would help out, so I went over and got the boxes – two 24 packs of BudLight reeking of beer. I walked over to the dumpster as he was dumping his two bags of beer bottles in the dumpster. He told me he loved beer. His diet consist of beer, he explained.

Actually, these people are very normal – either college kids or young professionals. So it's cool.

Tomorrow is Halloween in the office. I guess we carve pumpkins in the morning, then we have a carry in that afternoon. I guess that will be fun. The advance planners were having a secret meeting today figuring out a design for the pumpkins. It's a contest. So we had to close the door. I bet we win. Cause we're basically the coolest people.

Speaking of my job: it's cool. I have worked for three government entities. All three lacked in lots of work. I am actually busy ALL day in Baton Rouge.

Remember MCCOG? That was a sweet internship. I miss it – and the five interns. Baton Rouge isn't like this internship.

Anyway, Mel is coming here for Madi Gras. So you probably should come with her.

That "Woo-Hoo" song by Blur has come on twice tonight (aka Song 2, because it's the second track?). Which is weird, because its kinda annoying. Blur's cool – well, interesting. Speaking of British people, I'm moving to England soon. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I am.

Another song that brought back memories (not like Blue did), but Danco Jones came on. Remember good 'ol Danco? I do.

I should go to bed. Lemme finish my beer….

Last Correspondence as a Hoosier?

I'm sitting here at the Blue Bottle. I enjoy the Blue Bottle. Always have. I have visited this place ever since it opened in the Village.

It makes me sad, actually. Leaving Muncie, that is. That sounds insane. It kind of is insane. Last night was fun because it involved a drink at the Fickle Peach with Jess and then a night at Motinis with – well, everyone. This ended with a migration to the Chug.

This gave me a chance to contemplate. I actually contemplate a lot when I am drinking. Interesting, eh? Well, this time I thought about moving to Louisiana. I have never wanted to live anywhere remotely south. But, I am now going south. Deep south. Well, not exactly deep south – Cajun south. That's kind of awesome.

But I began to look at the map. Baton Rouge is not near anything ('cept New Orleans). I think this is the only place in the country I do no know anyone within a five hour radius. This can suck. I mean, I'm all about meeting new people. And I will meet new people.

But look at my last two weeks: I went to Indianapolis for a weekend. I had a doctors appointment, so I threw some cloths in the car and made some phone calls on the way down. Before I knew it, I had people to go out and somewhere to crash. The same happened last weekend that I went to Chicago. I just kind of went. My friend fromEngland was there in town. My urban planning friends were doing a field study. Why not go to Chicago. So last night I rounded up some people for Motinis, then towards the end of the night there were plenty of people to let me crash there.

This is how awesome my friends are. And people shouldn't expect less when they come to Baton Rouge (or New Orleans). So come to visit. I'm sure I already asked you too. But I'm basically begging.

In other news: my cat says hi.

oooooh! went to chicago again. crash.burn

My blogging has lacked. I feel like my life isn't reading worthy. I am making an attempt today.

I took another random trip… well, random in nature. I had several friends in Chicago – my urban planning grad friends, a friend from London, and my usually Chicagians. So what better time to go up for the night?

I got in my car and began the commute up north.

My first stop was the hair place in the Purdue Village. I needed a hair cut. Although this isn't the most exciting thing to mention in a blog, it was definitely something that needed to be done. Oh yeah, I got coffee too. I might of even changed my oil, but that could have been the day before hand. I forget.

Anyway, I left for Chicago.

Traffic was easy going. I decided to take the Skyway because I hadn't driven on it before. I also enjoy utilizing freeways that have ripped apart neighborhoods and cities so commuters can get to Chicago twenty minutes earlier.

After emerging into downtown Chicago I got onto Lake Shore Drive because I didn't really have any destination in mind at this point. My initial plan was to hang out with Ruki, but I was two hours early. So I careened the city streets of Chicago until I decided to go to the west side and find a place to park.

Once I did this, I decided to call Ruki.

We met on the sidewalk. Then went to his cousins apartment to prepare to go downtown. We went downtown and walked around Millennium Park. Then we rode the El. Then we went back to his cousins apartment and his parents made some dinner for us. It was awesome. Their Sri Lankan. So the food was awesome. AND his cousin is applying for urban planning grad school. That makes her really cool.

After dinner Ruki and I went back into town and wandered the streets of Chicago looking for my urban planning friends. We finally found them at Howl and the Moon. Ruki had never been to a piano bar, so I thin it was a shocking experience for him. Even more shocking was the checking of ID's. I totally forgot to tell him to bring an ID. When I go out with British people they don't consider bringing ID's. So Ruki had an international student ID. Somehow we got the guy to let us in on that one.

Scott – my prof – was there. So was Brad – my employer. Carmen, Erin, and Molly were there. Plus everyone else. It was fun, 'cept it was load. So we found a small bar where we all sat and chilled.

The next day I ate breakfast with Ruki's parents and cousin and then left to go eat lunch with Andrea – in her suburban job…. But it's really not that bad.

another survey! if you read the entire thing, ill give you a dollar

200 QUESTIONS can you do it???

200: My name is: i prefer jeff

199: I was born on: a notre dame/purdue football game day. my dad was pissed

198. I am a: yankee

197. My eye color is: greenish

195. My shoe size is: US 12, UK 10.5, Japan 17, Europe 28.5

194. My ring size is: i dunno.

193. My favorite color is: green.

192. My height is: i grew a half an inch after they fused my neck

191. I'm allergic to: republicans

190. I live in: the south – hahaha, that sounds funny

189. The last book I read: was in europe

188. My bed time is: on the hour

187. First Screen name?: jleuenbe

186. Current Screen name?: jleuenbe/jleuenbe926

179. My favorite Holiday is: a drinking day

178. The perfect kiss is: fun

177. The last three cd's I have listened to: arctic monkeys, rhcp, guster

176. Last song that made me cry was?: that London bridge song

172. My most treasured possession(s) is: you

170. What did you do last night: came back from Chicago.

167. My skin's reaction to the sun is (tan/burn): happy

:::Which is Better?:::::
====================

129. Hugs or Kisses: this is a dumb question

128. Drunk or High: high… on life

127. Phone or online: my online is through the phone right now. ironic

126. Red heads or Brown hair: blond

125. Blondes or Brunette: brown

124. Lamb and tuna or peanut butter and jelly? Lamb. But I hate tuna good question

123. Pool or darts: swimming

122: Sci-fi or horror: sci non-fi

121: Boys or girls: neither. Women. Are they trying to weed out pedophiles on this one?

120. Night or Day: morning

119. Oranges or Apples: their the same

118. Curly or Straight hair: straight. This is a loaded question

==========================
:::::What comes to your head ?:::::
==========================

117. Scary: pumpkins

115. Backstabber: murderers

116: Parents: nice

110. School: fun
=================
:::::Last time?::::::::
=================

103. Missed someone: all the time

102. Hugged someone: dunno

101. Seen someone you haven't seen in awhile: saw ruki this yesterday. And my urban planning grad friends. And andrea.


==========
::::MISC.::::
==========

90. Who's the ditziest person you know? karma

89. Who makes you laugh the most: president bush

83. The last movie I saw in the theater was? Dang, I forget.

82. Ever ate sushi: forget

WHAT HAPPENED TO 81 & 80??!????

79a. The one thing I love about the opposite sex: their hot

79b. The one thing you love about the same sex: talk about the opposite sex

78. This summer: I went to china, California, Louisiana, boston,Amsterdam, germany, Poland, budepest, Prague, London. I also finished school, had a full time internship, and had brain surgery


77. Next year will be: weird. Ill be southern

76. Something I will really miss when I leave home: family, friends, lafayette

75. The thing that I'm looking forward to the most is: music, food, uniqueness


= =======================
::::::what are you doing?:::::::
========================

71. Tomorrow: preparing for my cousins wedding

72. Today: driving to the north

71. Next Summer: sweltering in the heat

70. Next month: moving to lousinana

====================
:::MISC:::::(CONTINUED)
====================

64. The person I have been good friends with the longest: I don't keep track

62. The person who knows the most about me is: no one

61. The person that can read me the best is: everyone

60. The most difficult thing to do is: not do difficult things

59. I have gotten a speeding ticket: never

58. I have the following siblings: three

56. My zodiac sign is: who cares? Not me

55. The first person I was in love with: no one

54. Who do you feel most comfortable with? Friends and family

53.The person who cant hide anything from you?: no one

48. I have a job: just got one

47. I have a pet(s): I got a cat

46. I hope: im being smart about going to lousiana

45. The worst sound in the world: your voice

44. The person that made me cry the most is: no one

43. Do you do drugs?: no

33. My favorite piece of clothing is?: hats

32. My favorite sport is: traveling

31. Last time I cried: when I walked out the door this morning. It was cold

28. The church I attend?: we'll see in two weeks…

27. Last person I got mad at: you

26. My worst experience: first day of kindergarten

22. The all-time best movie is: best in show

21. The all-time best person in the world is: president bush

20. So, about them Canadians? They're awesome. And are planning to take over the world

19. The most annoying thing ever is: you

18. The most annoying person you know is: well, obviously.

17. I lose all respect for people who: like you

16. I hate: you

15. I Like or love: people who hate you

14. My Favorite Day is: yesterdays tomorrow. That's deep

13. My Favorite Month is: fall.

12. My Favorite band is: I don't have one

11. The worst pain I ever felt: waking up from neck fushion

10. My favorite Quote: "three blocks on the left"

9. My room: don't really have one right now

8. My favorite actress/actor is: mute ones

7. Your weakness: ummm, ummm

6. Who do you like: traveling people

5. Cats?: my cat says hi

4. What turns me on: I answer this better when drinking. That's good, right?

3. Who broke your heart: I hope no one. That would suck, given it keeps me alive.

2. I filled out 200 questions because: im unemployed and live with my parents

1. What do you dislike about yourself?: you tell me….

first survey i ever took...

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be. Change the subject to the year you graduated.

1. Who were your best friends?
umm, i don't really have friends. esp in high school.

2.What sports did u play?
none.

3. What type of car did you drive?
1989 corolla. just got rid of it last year.

4. It's Friday night, where were you at?:
pilliging and looting. or at friends. (or pilliging and looting with friends) and hanging out at random places in lafayette. a lot of times i worked fridays

5. Were you a party animal?
nope.

6. Were you considered a flirt?
nope.

7. Ever skip school?
nope.

8. Were you a nerd?
obviously.

9. Were you in any clubs?
umm, i was in whatever the student government was. didn't so anything though. i worked with the student plays a lot. either acting or other stuff. that's where the fun people hung out...

10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
i had an after-school detention once. those were stupid. you just sat there.

11. Can you sing the fight song?
no. i hope it involved bison (our mascot). maybe bison fighting llamas. but it probably didn't because the bison would lose, and thats not the point of a school song.

12. Who was your favorite teacher?
good question. i forget his name at the moment. but he taught history and government. its probably because they were my favorite classes. (i had summer government, so i didn't have the other guy. he was bad)

13. Favorite class?:
history and government. i already said this. maybe i wasn't suppose to. i hope i didn't ruin the quitz

14. What was your school's full name?
Benton Central Junion/Senior High School. it was in Oxford, IN even though Oxford was five miles south of the school. the corn elevator across the street was called atkinson. all the elevators have names, but they aren't incorporated towns because only one person lives there, i think. that must be an exciting life.

15. School mascot?:
Bison. there use to be lots of bison before the white men shot them all. now there is a stuffed animal on display in our gym because they couldn't find a real one.

16. Did you go to dances?
yeah. it was the only thing to do on friday nights. i forgot to mention that on the above "friday" question. but i didn't like going to the football games that preceeded the dances. so i only went to football games when there was a dance afterwards.

17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
probably not, because life was boring back then. it was probably boring because the school was 10 miles from the nearest town and surrounded by corn fields. this explains how boring life probably was.

18. What do you remember most about graduation?
i had to give a speach at graduation. i also remember hitting a dear on the way to one of the parties. i kept driving because i thought i just injured it. but i learned hitting a dear while going 60mph doesn't just injure a deer. it huts it bad, and other cars have to call the cops and have them kill the deer... at least this is what my friend told me when i was at a graduation party the next day. she obviously lived near the site of the incident. (don't tell anyone, no one knows... but the statue of limitations is expired, so they cant do anything).

19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year?
dang... um...

20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall?
what the hell is a senior wall?

21. Did you have a job your senior year?
yeah. in lafayette. because lafayette is the nearest city. even though i don't live in the same county of lafayette... and i dont live in the same county as my school either. (please note the distances of driving that i had to do)

22. Where did you go most often for lunch?
the cafateria.

23. Have you gained/lost weight since then?
hmm, let me check my log that i keep, because i log my weight every year... i actually think im about the same. im in better shape, though.

24. What did you do after graduation?
my friends graduation party's. it was pretty fun.

25. When did you graduate?
2000. it was a saturday. thats all i know. and all you need to know

26. Where are most of your classmates?
probably in lafayette. i only talk to a handfull, but i'll run into a lot of people in lafayette. its pretty much the big city to migrate too.

27. Are you going to your ten year reunion?
already had my five year last year. i enjoyed it. ill go to my ten year if im not in another country (that would be nice)

28. Who was your worst teacher?
what if they read this. it will be around the entire county by tomorrow.

29. Who will repost this after you?
your mom - OH YEAH

Life in a nutshell... of pineapple

I haven't blogged in a while. Several people have pointed this out. I don't have a good reason to explain this lack of blogging. I have actually attempted to post something several times, but then I discovered that I cannot make my life remotely interesting right now.

So, here's my life in a nutshell:

Two weekends ago I went to St. Louis. I like St. Louis a lot. It had a lot of character and life. No one knows this, which is probably why it is fairly cheap to live there. It's pretty amazing. I'll write more about it later.

This last weekend was a bust – or a success. It's a half full/half empty type of situation. Beginning Saturday morning I began to get the phone calls saying people were not coming to Lafayette. My party of 10+ soon shrunk to 2. But you never look at these negatives…

The night before Kim was in town. Her brother was playing at this new punk rock place in Lafayette. (Ironically owned by some kid I went to school with). Anyway, we were there and it was kinda fun. Although, we did escape to the Knickerbocker for a drink, before returning to see her brother's show. Afterwards we attended my brother's party. We decided to walk. It was a good idea, I think. We were at Six and Main and walked across the pedestrian bridge, through the levee, up the hill to my brothers at North and Salisbury. It was great, 'cept we had to walk back. Which wasn't all that bad.

Anyway, the night was awesome.

Then the next day people were coming to Lafayette to hang out. Except they weren't. Sarah and her friend Annie were the only two that came to the brewery to eat. Then afterwards, we had to go pick up Molly in the village and take her home. Sarah stayed with her, and Annie and I went back to town. But I though I needed to stop by the Knickerboker because I told my (former) boss(es) that we were going there after the brewery. Sure enough she was there, so I sat and discussed planner stuff with her. Then I went to the Cactus with Annie. My guidance counselor from high school was there. Her son was 21, I guess. Some of my high school friends were there too. I then left and went to my brothers, where we went to Where Else? That's where.

This brings me to Sunday.

Then Monday when I had another phone interview. After that was complete, I discovered that I had lost my diploma and didn't have updated to transcripts. So, it was off to MUNCIE. I arrived, and I guess there is only one lady who makes diploma and she was gone for the day. So I mailed and faxed my transcripts, and waited for the next day to commence so I could complete my tasks. Karma was nice to accommodate me for the night, and Frankie enjoyed the company also. The next day came and I went to the diploma lady. For fifteen dollars I got a diploma. That easy. I went back to Lafayette, via downtown Indianapolis to eat lunch with Carmen and Erin. I hadn't seen them in forever, and it was fricken awesome. That night we ate at the Turkish restaurant for my birthday.

While on campus, I managed to see most the people I knew that are left at Ball State. Within my twelve hours on campus I saw Toni, Sarah, Kim, Karma, Abbie, and Jordan. It was fun. But not that interesting to you.

Oh yeah, I found another llama farm near my house.

If I haven't heard from you in a long time, please leave a note on this blog. Thank you.

Some commentaries:

Some commentaries:

I have compiled a bunch of articles that provoked thoughtful insight by me.  These few Letters to the Editor state opinions widely viewed throughout the country.

Letter 1:

Time to stop aid to Venezuela

In light of the recent comments by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, is the U.S. currently sending any aid dollars to that country? 

If so, perhaps it is time to re-evaluate our policy regarding aid to foreign countries that openly criticize our government and elected officials, regardless of political party. 

Also, since the government of Venezuela is the sole owner of Citgo, shouldn't we also make an effort not to do business with or support a company whose profits may be used against us?

Maybe it is time to set an economic trap for this "little mouse who roared."

Dennis Martin

Lafayette

Dennis isn't the first person to show his disgust for the Venezuela president.  This was basically the talk of the nation for about 2.5 minutes.  I for one was pissed when this guy made his comments.  How dare he talk about our national leader like this?  Is he insane?

I totally support a trading stop with this country.  It is warranted after such a comment.  I mean, look how successful we were in Cuba.  We hate the leader – and too this day our government pretends this country is non-existent.  Now look at those sorry bastards! They are poor, starving, in need living essentials, and living within floating distance of the worlds richest country!  Ha, we showed them!  We punish this country so bad, that we don't want to return their children back to their parents when they float across the ocean to the USA.  All these tactics have seemed to work so well.  I say we do it for Venezuelatoo.  Except, their dictator didn't do anything inhumane or evil; he just said a mean word about our country's leader.

People are so stupid.  They just want revenge against people that do things that piss them off.  That's what our country is all about: revenge.  Fortunately, we can pretty much beat anyone up, so these self-minded individuals get their way. 

Letter 2:

Writer doesn't speak for all liberals

A recent letter castigated liberals for what "we" believe about our Middle Eastern enemies (Journal & Courier, Sept. 22).

Sorry, the writer doesn't speak for me. I believe, simply, that they, terrorists, want us out of the Middle East. If one has read any history of the West's long involvement there, it's easier to understand their demand.

The United States, remember, formulated the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 in which we warned Europe that any interference in the Americas -- meaning the U.S., Mexico andSouth America -- would be considered an act against us. Thus we declared a specific region of the world to be off limits to European powers and so, apparently, are we now being told the same thing about the Middle East.

About our goodness versus their evil: Isn't it too bad that we now use interrogation methods (think waterboarding) that we could once criticize in other countries like Soviet Russia. The only way in which we can now justify such criticism is to say, "Well, our methods are not as evil as yours." Small comfort ...

Last, it takes so little for governments to formulate propaganda, doesn't it?

President Bush's speech writers had only to coin the word "Islamofacist" and it's become the new buzzword.

Words can be used to communicate and they can be used as weapons. Each new war coins its own verbal weaponry -- words used to incite hatred for entire peoples.

This doesn't happen by chance, you know. It's how governments make killing -- which only governments can legalize -- a little easier.

Elizabeth Pippitt

Lafayette

I just like this letter.  It states some obvious facts.  It also brings up another topic about theMiddle East.  There has been turmoil in this entire region for hundreds/thousands of years.  The Bible itself says that this will always be true.  Yet Bush is always telling us how this Iraqi war will bring peace and democracy to the Middle East.  I for one find this amazing.  Bush - a God fearing man – wants to change the ways of the Bible.  He is quite an amazing man, I would say.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am greatly troubled about the violence and credulity happening in this area and I think we should assist in anyway we can.  But PLEASE don't tell me that YOU have now fixed this problem.  I know this will get you votes in the middle of the country because people just don't know better.  But seriously, you are not/can't be that amazing. 

On that note. I find it ironic that supposedly the "world's best capitalist country" is quite the opposite.  We have a "republican" president in office who still believes that our international society is based off who has the most bombs.  The USA considers themselves the world's superpower.  Why?  Good question.  We are doing nothing to elevate ourselves inside the international economy.  The European Union is emerging as one of the largest economies; China is running the entire world; yet the USA has a bunch of lazy workers.  Republican's think long term?  Whatever.  They think, who can be the richest and most powerful by the next quarter.  Beyond that, its everyone's game.  I can't wait for China to realize the economic power they have and begin to threaten people with THEIR economic sanctions.  Think if China decided to cut trading?  We would get pissed at them for their lack of human rights (even though they are trying to raise their standards) and then attack them because they didn't comply with "western style" human rights. However, since China gives us stuff, we look the other way.  Now when the Middle East regulates OUR oil... THAT'S a problem we need to fix.  WHERE ARE YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS NOW? 

What kind of economic sanctions can we really give to people for the long term?  We aren't the world's richest country; we don't have the strongest currency; we import more then we export.  Please tell me what people should be scared of if we "close" economic sanctions with them.  Sure, it will hurt them.  But they will get by.  Believe me. 

I take that back.  Citgo will go under, because I am sure we fund them more then any other country.