Charge Me With WTUIH--Writing A Thesis Under the Influence of Hockey
I have returned. With my thesis nearly finished and part one of my theory and methods project over, I now have time to write here.
I'll miss the constant stress of my thesis, and how I always worked best on it while either watching or listening to hockey. In case you don't already know, my honors thesis is about the Metis People of Canada and their relation to the issue of Quebec separatism. And in both of its forms (the senior seminar paper last spring it evolved from, and this version), I always got the most work done on it while being under the influence of hockey. Take last night, I'm typing away, listening to game 7 between the Leafs and Senators, and I finished roughly eight pages in an hour and a half. That’s prolific if I do say so myself. I guess I need the hockey to get in the Canadian mindset.
Now, mind you, my thesis was due a while ago. And I've never ever ever turned in anything late in my life. However, seeing that I've been wicked sick this semester, it kind of got delayed. I no longer know if I will get the honors designation--but at least it's almost done. I had to finish it to make myself happy--and for the three people who have asked to read it when I’m done. It’s very weird to think that people want to read my dinky little thesis, or that if I do achieve the honors designation, it’ll be in the Bartle Library forever. It’s just a little….unnerving? I mean, there was a time in my life where I aspired to be a writer, and here I am kind of, sort of fulfilling it. But then I think, “Wait, who the heck here at Binghamton is ever going to want to read about this topic? That book is going to sit on the shelves and collect dust for 20 years until they decide to move it to remote storage.” Eh, oh well.
On that note, my quote of the week comes from that Leafs-Senators game last night. I was listening to Toronto’s coverage of the game, and the announcer yells before the start of the game, “If you have lucky underwear, put it on Toronto!”
If you have lucky underwear?
I guess they did, they put it on, and it worked--they scored 3 in the first period to go on to win 4-1. Complete blow out. “I’ve never seen worse plays by a goalie IN MY LIFE!” exclaimed underwear man about the Senators goalies at the intermission between the 1st and 2nd. He then proceeded to talk for at least 10 minutes about how the OHL (Ontario Hockey League for you non-almost-Canadians) has 8 game series instead of 7 game series (the games don’t go into overtime until game 8...I’m still a little unsure as to how this works, but the minute I can do mindless research on stuff that interests me, and not stuff Binghamton tells me interests me, I will look more into this.)
I love hockey. Luckily, I am moving to a city that holds its hockey close to its heart--even if they lost to Montreal on Monday. Montreal=where my great-grandmother was from, or so I have been told. Boston=where I am moving. Very interesting…for a few seconds.
Speaking of moving, I have reached that point where I lack any motivation to do anything for the next, oh, 25 days. You know, senioritis? The fact that nothing I am doing right now has little bearing to anything I’ll be doing starting on May 19th? Well, I mean, working in the office and store has to do with it, but that’s it. Nothing else does. It got really bad last week, when I actually had the physical Harvard rejection letter in my hands, along with 2 letters saying I lost out on roughly 7 different senior campus life awards here. I was thinking, “Well, I worked my tail off for years, and it meant absolutely nothing to anybody.” And that is definitely not true--I did get into the other 4 grad schools I applied to, and I got a lot of my grad school costs taken care of--but it all came at once and it seriously stunk. Add onto that the mess that was elections, and I was in a serious funk where I just wanted to go to bed and sleep until graduation. But it worked out. I may not have gotten into Harvard, my dream since I was 10, and I may watch every other senior student leader out there get awards except for me, but you know, it was fun while it lasted. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. It’s like that saying they tell you at every leadership conference ever, “Don’t do stuff for the recognition, do it because you like it.” Very true.
But on to less depressing things…
-No, I don’t care what they were saying on SportsCenter last night--Kurt Warner SHOULD NOT go to the Niners. That’s just wrong! Like say the Bills had had a chance in 93 or 94 to sign like Nate Newton from the Cowboys or the Niners had had a chance to get Brett Favre--heck no. That’s fraternizing with the enemy right there!!!! It’s wroooonnnnnnngggggg. I hate the Rams, except for the fact that Marc Bulger is hot. The Rams are evil. Their former coach (Vermeil) cries more than my mom does at TV shows, their current coach doesn’t know what he’s doing, and they always have to beat up on the Niners. I don’t care that Warner doesn’t like the Rams anymore--he’s still a Ram. He can’t can’t can’t can’t go to the Niners. I’m sorry, SportsCenter guys, but that would be a bad catch. Never mind that Rattay is really not all that proven and Dorsey’s even more unproven. There are principles.
And Carmen Policy should come back to the Niners, now that he’s left the Browns. While we’re at it, how about the whole 1994-95 team and office come back, in the same shape as they were then? Works for me!
-Fantasy baseball is fun. I rather enjoy it. My dad wants to kill me because I do. “Katie, you’re playing fantasy baseball? Why? I didn’t raise you to like baseball. That’s not a sport.” Sorry, Dad. I actually might be good at it--well, either that or I’m a fluke.
Oh, and on the subject of baseball, I now have a baseball player to add to the pantheon of hot athletes. However, upon telling a certain boss of mine who it was, that certain boss made fun of me. So I’m thinking I will not say who this player is, to avoid further ridicule. However, think about what kind of guys I like, and then if you also know baseball pretty well, take a wild guess. Yeah, I’m that predictable. Winner gets…to make fun of me.
-It’s dorm wars week here at good ol’ Binghamton, with Newing Navy, Hinman Hysteria, Salamander Days (Mountainview) and, the one nearest and dearest to my heart (sorry Mountainview), Mutant Mania (Dickinson) going on. And I’m judging a few Mania events, since I have no bias because my hall no longer exists. However, kudos to Whitney (sorry about that--I had it down as Champlain at first, then I remembered it was really Whitney) for mentioning Holiday in its alma mater--we may be hotel rooms now, but it’s nice to know that our spirit is not forgotten. So if you visit Binghamton this week and find random people in different colored t-shirts running around like chickens with their heads cut off, don’t worry. That’s dorm wars for you.
-I’m going home this weekend to see my sister’s lighting and tech work in SOTA’s production of Ragtime. If you’re there, go out and support the show--there are rumours going around that next year’s production season (my sister’s last) is going to be drastically cut because of lack of funding. This very well could be one of the last huge musicals (and trust me, this one is HUGE) SOTA puts on. But the other motivation to go home this weekend comes from the fact that I don’t have ESPN2 here, but I do at home, and the draft is on.
Till next week…
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Monday, April 12, 2004
Note: I wrote this on Tues. the 6th while I was home on spring break. Home=bad internet, therefore I wasn't able to post it till I got back to school today. It may be a little dated, but try to take yourself back to last Tuesday and enjoy. And to tell you all what ended up happening: I did come back to school to find a rejection letter from Harvard in my mailbox. Fortunately, also in the mailbox was my new Boston University sweatshirt.
Motown Philly, Back Again
Greetings from the futon in my house! It's Spring Break and my laptop, the TV and I are having quality time while I work on and procrastinate from my honors thesis. I returned to the "Rochester metropolitan area" (Tricia's words) late Sunday night, after attending the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Conference in Philadelphia to start off my break. My big plans for break included having sinus surgery, however not only do I need to have more tests done before they do it, I now have my third sinus infection this year and am on new antibiotics. These ones are pretty interesting--I usually don't get side effects, but I'm definitely feeling them with these. So bear with me.
This weekend was supposed to be full of career exploration, networking and fun. It was fun, but it was full of all of that fun inner turmoil that comes with being 40 days away from graduation. Saturday afternoon, I'm sitting there thinking, "Wait, I don't know if this is what I really want to do. Do I want to deal with college students my whole life?" Saturday night, I was depressed at that thought and the one that I had spent two sessions hearing that two year programs are preferable to one year programs (and Boston University is a one-year program.) BAH! What am I doing? But by the end of the day on Sunday, I had settled down a bit. I like academic advising, I like alumni affairs, and the best thing about higher education administration is that if I need to get out at anytime, I work at a college and can take classes for a reduced price towards another degree. I just don't know if student affairs (student activities and residential life) is where I want to spend the majority of my time. I can't be workaholic me forever--I need to be able to separate work from home at the end of the day, and with that you can't always do that. But I'm still young, and I'm willing to do that for a while. We'll see what happens.
But the big news is that I've pretty much decided (99.9% sure) that I will spend the next year of my life as a Terrier, trading one BU for the other. I'm mostly excited because if you read my journal from August, all I did was gush about Boston University. Still, I am a little disappointed--I still haven't received a letter from Harvard or BC, but I'm assuming they came yesterday to my school mailbox and were negative. I have to give BU an answer by Friday, and I have to assume by what I heard this weekend that I would of heard weeks ago had either one accepted me. BC I'm not sad about--sure, it would be a fun sports school, but I think a closed Catholic campus isn't quite me right now. But Harvard I'm a little in denial about. I know there are people who have more qualifications in the world--many more--but I thought I was Harvard material. Maybe I'd fill some kind of quota for them--the poor girl from Western NY who has a 3.7?--but I guess this wasn't my year. Oh well, BU wants me, likes me, and I like them. And really, my real dream was to move to a big city, get a Master's, and be in someplace that I enjoy. And that's what I will do in 40 days.
And from one big city to another, there are some peculiar things I noticed about Philly. One, it has all one way streets (not that that's really unusual to me anymore) but they all have random "NO TURN" signs at the lights. Well, in order to get into the parking lots, you have to turn at the light. Maybe it was just that you weren't supposed to turn right. But the signs gave no other directions, not even an arrow, so I assumed it applied to both. I'm glad I wasn't driving. As evidenced by my driving to my appointment Monday morning (where I got lost on Westfall Road, and nearly hit a few mailboxes in Pittsford, where you really really don't want to hit anything because the residents are SUPER rich), I should probably not drive in a major city. I probably shouldn't drive in anything bigger than Rochester. Also, in Pennsylvania, when you enter and exit the tolls, there are no lanes. It's a wild free-for-all until the lanes start up again. And there are apparently no cops in Pennsylvania, and the few that there are all hang out on the NY-PA border, catching the "crazy kids" who speed on 81. I hadn't been in Pennsylvania in four years, and that was when I flew there to connect flights. The last time I had really been in PA, I was 15 and going to Hershey Park. Erie when I was 17 doesn't count because Erie is not Pennsylvania, no matter how much you try to convince me otherwise. It's just Western New York, which in turn is just Southern Ontario, which makes Erie just a town in Southern Ontario, not Pennsylvania. But my point with that all was to say is that I don't remember all of these driving peculiarities from my previous trips because of my age and subsequent driving naiveté.
Speaking of naiveté, I am convinced that I'm really not an idiot, I'm just naive. That's going to be my excuse for everything from now on. "I'm not an idiot, I'm just naive." I think if Jessica Simpson said that, her stupidity would all make sense.
And on to more naiveté...
-This morning, I got to sit in my pajamas (not the football pants, but the "cat's pajamas" pants--get it? "The Cat's Pajamas?" I am Kat, I wear pajamas, they're the "cat's pajamas?") and read a new Bill Simmons article followed by Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback from yesterday that I hadn't gotten the chance to read yet. If I had a peanut butter cookie from the Hinman Night Owl and an Oreo cookie milkshake from the CIW Night Owl with Barenaked Ladies blaring on a stereo and a hot guy was lying next to me (Dream Job Mike?), it would of been the most perfect fifteen minutes of my life. As it was, the reality was pretty good. I feel okay about abandoning sports writing as a career three years ago as long as those two are writing.
-Mike from Dream Job is THE HOTTEST GUY EVER. HANDS DOWN. AMAZING. I only was able to see the last two episodes of Dream Job, so I know I missed out on a lot. But still, those two episodes, and his SportsCenter appearance the following night left me drooling. I don't even care that he agreed with Tony Kornheiser in saying figure skating isn't a sport, that's how good looking he is to me. Sense of humour with knowledge of sports and amazing good looks=SUPREME HOTTNESS.
-My father is in denial that I like baseball. We come home Sunday night and I hurried to turn on Sportscenter to see the score of the Red Sox-Orioles game. It flashed on the screen, Red Sox 2, Orioles 7, and I groaned (ever since the Orioles treated the Rochester Red Wings so poorly before we broke our association with them, I hate them). My father shook his head. "I thought I raised you better than to like baseball."
In other baseball news, Peter King's article in Sports Illustrated two weeks ago about what was wrong with baseball is nearly identical to the point of my Power Point presentation in Intro to Sports Management back in Fall 2000. Except of course that it's almost four years later and he's more knowledgeable on the subject than 18 year old me was. Right on.
And my fantasy team rocks, especially my pitchers.
-The Patriots play the Niners at home this upcoming season. Can the 98 Niners play the Patriots instead? Either way, I'm going. Coincidence that my favourite team is playing in my new residence the fall I get there? I think not! Okay, maybe. But it's a nice one. (But if it's Homecoming weekend, I can't go. This would be a tough decision for me if the Niners were going to be any good this year, but they aren't.)
I am off to the post office to mail forms to my new school! Till next time...
Motown Philly, Back Again
Greetings from the futon in my house! It's Spring Break and my laptop, the TV and I are having quality time while I work on and procrastinate from my honors thesis. I returned to the "Rochester metropolitan area" (Tricia's words) late Sunday night, after attending the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Conference in Philadelphia to start off my break. My big plans for break included having sinus surgery, however not only do I need to have more tests done before they do it, I now have my third sinus infection this year and am on new antibiotics. These ones are pretty interesting--I usually don't get side effects, but I'm definitely feeling them with these. So bear with me.
This weekend was supposed to be full of career exploration, networking and fun. It was fun, but it was full of all of that fun inner turmoil that comes with being 40 days away from graduation. Saturday afternoon, I'm sitting there thinking, "Wait, I don't know if this is what I really want to do. Do I want to deal with college students my whole life?" Saturday night, I was depressed at that thought and the one that I had spent two sessions hearing that two year programs are preferable to one year programs (and Boston University is a one-year program.) BAH! What am I doing? But by the end of the day on Sunday, I had settled down a bit. I like academic advising, I like alumni affairs, and the best thing about higher education administration is that if I need to get out at anytime, I work at a college and can take classes for a reduced price towards another degree. I just don't know if student affairs (student activities and residential life) is where I want to spend the majority of my time. I can't be workaholic me forever--I need to be able to separate work from home at the end of the day, and with that you can't always do that. But I'm still young, and I'm willing to do that for a while. We'll see what happens.
But the big news is that I've pretty much decided (99.9% sure) that I will spend the next year of my life as a Terrier, trading one BU for the other. I'm mostly excited because if you read my journal from August, all I did was gush about Boston University. Still, I am a little disappointed--I still haven't received a letter from Harvard or BC, but I'm assuming they came yesterday to my school mailbox and were negative. I have to give BU an answer by Friday, and I have to assume by what I heard this weekend that I would of heard weeks ago had either one accepted me. BC I'm not sad about--sure, it would be a fun sports school, but I think a closed Catholic campus isn't quite me right now. But Harvard I'm a little in denial about. I know there are people who have more qualifications in the world--many more--but I thought I was Harvard material. Maybe I'd fill some kind of quota for them--the poor girl from Western NY who has a 3.7?--but I guess this wasn't my year. Oh well, BU wants me, likes me, and I like them. And really, my real dream was to move to a big city, get a Master's, and be in someplace that I enjoy. And that's what I will do in 40 days.
And from one big city to another, there are some peculiar things I noticed about Philly. One, it has all one way streets (not that that's really unusual to me anymore) but they all have random "NO TURN" signs at the lights. Well, in order to get into the parking lots, you have to turn at the light. Maybe it was just that you weren't supposed to turn right. But the signs gave no other directions, not even an arrow, so I assumed it applied to both. I'm glad I wasn't driving. As evidenced by my driving to my appointment Monday morning (where I got lost on Westfall Road, and nearly hit a few mailboxes in Pittsford, where you really really don't want to hit anything because the residents are SUPER rich), I should probably not drive in a major city. I probably shouldn't drive in anything bigger than Rochester. Also, in Pennsylvania, when you enter and exit the tolls, there are no lanes. It's a wild free-for-all until the lanes start up again. And there are apparently no cops in Pennsylvania, and the few that there are all hang out on the NY-PA border, catching the "crazy kids" who speed on 81. I hadn't been in Pennsylvania in four years, and that was when I flew there to connect flights. The last time I had really been in PA, I was 15 and going to Hershey Park. Erie when I was 17 doesn't count because Erie is not Pennsylvania, no matter how much you try to convince me otherwise. It's just Western New York, which in turn is just Southern Ontario, which makes Erie just a town in Southern Ontario, not Pennsylvania. But my point with that all was to say is that I don't remember all of these driving peculiarities from my previous trips because of my age and subsequent driving naiveté.
Speaking of naiveté, I am convinced that I'm really not an idiot, I'm just naive. That's going to be my excuse for everything from now on. "I'm not an idiot, I'm just naive." I think if Jessica Simpson said that, her stupidity would all make sense.
And on to more naiveté...
-This morning, I got to sit in my pajamas (not the football pants, but the "cat's pajamas" pants--get it? "The Cat's Pajamas?" I am Kat, I wear pajamas, they're the "cat's pajamas?") and read a new Bill Simmons article followed by Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback from yesterday that I hadn't gotten the chance to read yet. If I had a peanut butter cookie from the Hinman Night Owl and an Oreo cookie milkshake from the CIW Night Owl with Barenaked Ladies blaring on a stereo and a hot guy was lying next to me (Dream Job Mike?), it would of been the most perfect fifteen minutes of my life. As it was, the reality was pretty good. I feel okay about abandoning sports writing as a career three years ago as long as those two are writing.
-Mike from Dream Job is THE HOTTEST GUY EVER. HANDS DOWN. AMAZING. I only was able to see the last two episodes of Dream Job, so I know I missed out on a lot. But still, those two episodes, and his SportsCenter appearance the following night left me drooling. I don't even care that he agreed with Tony Kornheiser in saying figure skating isn't a sport, that's how good looking he is to me. Sense of humour with knowledge of sports and amazing good looks=SUPREME HOTTNESS.
-My father is in denial that I like baseball. We come home Sunday night and I hurried to turn on Sportscenter to see the score of the Red Sox-Orioles game. It flashed on the screen, Red Sox 2, Orioles 7, and I groaned (ever since the Orioles treated the Rochester Red Wings so poorly before we broke our association with them, I hate them). My father shook his head. "I thought I raised you better than to like baseball."
In other baseball news, Peter King's article in Sports Illustrated two weeks ago about what was wrong with baseball is nearly identical to the point of my Power Point presentation in Intro to Sports Management back in Fall 2000. Except of course that it's almost four years later and he's more knowledgeable on the subject than 18 year old me was. Right on.
And my fantasy team rocks, especially my pitchers.
-The Patriots play the Niners at home this upcoming season. Can the 98 Niners play the Patriots instead? Either way, I'm going. Coincidence that my favourite team is playing in my new residence the fall I get there? I think not! Okay, maybe. But it's a nice one. (But if it's Homecoming weekend, I can't go. This would be a tough decision for me if the Niners were going to be any good this year, but they aren't.)
I am off to the post office to mail forms to my new school! Till next time...
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Ramblings From Work…
I know, I said I wasn’t going to be able to update this for three weeks. Well, I just happened to bring the laptop to work during my weekend rotation and was a tad on the bored side (the Texas-North Carolina game just ended and I got to the end of one of my articles for my paper), so I figured I’d take a moment and write. I don’t think I realized how many people actually read this until my friends that I don’t get the chance to talk to too often started to stop me on campus or leave me an IM and tell me that they read something in my blog. It’s cool to think that people read this--I always did want to be a journalist, but somehow I got derailed on that road. This works though. Maybe someday I’ll revisit that. So thanks for reading everyone--I’m really flattered that you do!
-My brackets, they are a mess. Thursday was a glorious day, well, until 5pm, that is, when BYU lost to Syracuse. I had been 3-0 in the early games, having picked Manhattan to upset. When I left for art history around 4:15, BYU was leading. I was stunned. I had ended up picking BYU because I couldn’t allow myself to break my streak of picking them without fail, and because I had convinced myself that Syracuse stunk. Sure, Syracuse started pulling out some wins along it’s conference season, but before that it had looked just a tad glum. Plus, by the time that game started, I was convinced I was on a total bracket roll and could afford one loss.
But no, Syracuse had to pull it out, like the defending national champions they are and beat BYU. The poor Mormons. Maybe Steve Young can stop by school and deliever a motivational speech. And while he’s at it, can he stop by my school and do the same, for my brackets are now totally in shambles and I need some motivation to keep checking my standing among the Holiday boys (again, I am the only girl in the pool). I also need some thesis motivation.
-On that note, does anyone ever think that BYU ever brags about Jim McMahon? In their football recruiting materials or any admissions materials at all, do they ever actually mention the fact that he went there? I mean, if I’m a conservative, no-alcohol, no-drugs, no pre-marital sex, Book of Mormon reading parent, and my son or daughter receives promotional material from a school naming a bad-boy where-have-you-been lately, DUI committing, ex-NFL quarterback as one of their alumni, wouldn’t you just be a little skeptical? Even the Mormons couldn’t curb that guy’s image. How the heck are they going to control your kid, who, for anyone over on this coast, is going to be thousands of miles and several hours away from Mom and Dad? I’ll have to dig out the old BYU mailing I got when I was in tenth grade, if I still have it, and see.
-Keeping on the topic of NFL quarterbacks, Alex Van Pelt was released by the Buffalo Bills this week. This is very saddening to me, seeing that I felt deeply sentimental about him. I mean, he was around the Bills for most of my football watching life. Mind you, he never really played much during my football watching life, nor did he really do anything too often to merit any starting position, but I had a soft spot for him nevertheless. I think it was because anytime he was mentioned on TV or the radio, my father would say, “Hey, Lucy Van Pelt’s brother plays for the Bills!” Lucy Van Pelt, being of course, the full name of Lucy from the Peanuts comics. Why my father knows that, I don’t know (he has a knack for random trivia, one I think I inherited), but he always says it, even last summer, when I came home from Bills training camp disappointed that it looked like Travis Brown was going to move up on the depth chart and mentioned it to him. And just as he said that, the power went out as we were hit by that major power outage.
But don’t fret--Van Pelt (Alex, not Lucy) was picked up by the Bills Radio Network to work Bills telecasts. Which, of course, I won’t be able to catch anymore seeing that I’ll be spending at least the next year in Patriots country. Hmm…I’m giving up Van Pelt calling Bills games for having Tom Brady talked about every five seconds. I think I can live.
-I am addicted to the show Cold Pizza on ESPN2. I started watching it over the January break, and watched it again last week while I was home. Why can I only watch it at home you may ask? Because Binghamton is weird, and despite all my begging during DIFR committee meetings during my term as DTC President, and all of Rob’s begging on my behalf at them this year, Binghamton Telecom STILL hasn’t added ESPN2 onto campus cable. It’s a travesty--we get the Outdoor Life Hunt-o-Rama channel, but we don’t get ESPN2. Now, last I checked, most Binghamton students have no interest in watching programming about hunting wild turkeys. I don’t know--maybe I’m completely out of touch with these kids. Anyway, I would really like to watch Cold Pizza in the mornings before I head off to work. But I can’t. I may be here for only (checks countdown) 57 more days, but I’m thinking of my younger peers. Don’t deprive them any longer, Telecom. Give them their ESPN2.
-I am in love with the song “Aluminum” by, you guessed it, Barenaked Ladies. (All those who know me well, and even those who don’t, all know that any questions about things I love or adore can be answered with one of three things: Barenaked Ladies, Steve Young, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. For example, if I were to say, “You know what I just love?” you would answer, “Barenaked Ladies? Steve Young? My Big Fat Greek Wedding?” And I would say, “Well, besides those.”)
Anyway, so I am in love with this song, and the verse that was cut from it during recording that recently resurfaced (okay, I admit it, I’m a junkie who reads the band’s blog everyday, where this verse was mentioned, then I went to Yahoo and looked up the cut verse.) The cut verse reads:
“Why should it come as a big surprise
It's just an element of disguise
Even your emotions are anodized”
Now, if a song can teach me a new word, such as this one did with the word anodize (to coat in metal), it gets my everlasting adoration. Therefore, I adore this song. Hence why I keep quoting it as my away message. So here’s my caveat emptor for the week: I may be quoting this song in my away message a lot, but it means absolutely nothing. I just like the song. I think it’s got to be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. But just because it’s so lyrically clever. I mean, the song is basically saying someone is so fake--they appear to be silver, but they are just aluminum, which is just about one of the best analogies I’ve ever heard. But I don't mean it towards anyone, so don't you all worry.
-I got into Northeastern yesterday. Unfortunately, at this point, I just can’t commit to two more years of school. I can’t do it. Maybe if I hadn’t burnt myself the past 2 ½ years, I could. But I’m exhausted from being a stressed out workaholic student since age 3, and I don’t think I’d make it another two. I mean, sure, once I’m out of school, my blood pressure will drop a good 20 points, making it even lower than it is now (which isn‘t a real good thing), but I think the bags under my eyes might disappear and I’ll stop getting gray hair. I am pretty much set to go to Boston University starting three days after graduation, and I’m happy about that. Then at this time next year, I’ll have to decide what I’m doing again. But at least I’ll be REALLY done.
Okay, at this point, I’m back in my room and I’m about to go to bed. Yep, my life is lame. I’m probably one of the most dull 22 year olds you will ever meet.
I know, I said I wasn’t going to be able to update this for three weeks. Well, I just happened to bring the laptop to work during my weekend rotation and was a tad on the bored side (the Texas-North Carolina game just ended and I got to the end of one of my articles for my paper), so I figured I’d take a moment and write. I don’t think I realized how many people actually read this until my friends that I don’t get the chance to talk to too often started to stop me on campus or leave me an IM and tell me that they read something in my blog. It’s cool to think that people read this--I always did want to be a journalist, but somehow I got derailed on that road. This works though. Maybe someday I’ll revisit that. So thanks for reading everyone--I’m really flattered that you do!
-My brackets, they are a mess. Thursday was a glorious day, well, until 5pm, that is, when BYU lost to Syracuse. I had been 3-0 in the early games, having picked Manhattan to upset. When I left for art history around 4:15, BYU was leading. I was stunned. I had ended up picking BYU because I couldn’t allow myself to break my streak of picking them without fail, and because I had convinced myself that Syracuse stunk. Sure, Syracuse started pulling out some wins along it’s conference season, but before that it had looked just a tad glum. Plus, by the time that game started, I was convinced I was on a total bracket roll and could afford one loss.
But no, Syracuse had to pull it out, like the defending national champions they are and beat BYU. The poor Mormons. Maybe Steve Young can stop by school and deliever a motivational speech. And while he’s at it, can he stop by my school and do the same, for my brackets are now totally in shambles and I need some motivation to keep checking my standing among the Holiday boys (again, I am the only girl in the pool). I also need some thesis motivation.
-On that note, does anyone ever think that BYU ever brags about Jim McMahon? In their football recruiting materials or any admissions materials at all, do they ever actually mention the fact that he went there? I mean, if I’m a conservative, no-alcohol, no-drugs, no pre-marital sex, Book of Mormon reading parent, and my son or daughter receives promotional material from a school naming a bad-boy where-have-you-been lately, DUI committing, ex-NFL quarterback as one of their alumni, wouldn’t you just be a little skeptical? Even the Mormons couldn’t curb that guy’s image. How the heck are they going to control your kid, who, for anyone over on this coast, is going to be thousands of miles and several hours away from Mom and Dad? I’ll have to dig out the old BYU mailing I got when I was in tenth grade, if I still have it, and see.
-Keeping on the topic of NFL quarterbacks, Alex Van Pelt was released by the Buffalo Bills this week. This is very saddening to me, seeing that I felt deeply sentimental about him. I mean, he was around the Bills for most of my football watching life. Mind you, he never really played much during my football watching life, nor did he really do anything too often to merit any starting position, but I had a soft spot for him nevertheless. I think it was because anytime he was mentioned on TV or the radio, my father would say, “Hey, Lucy Van Pelt’s brother plays for the Bills!” Lucy Van Pelt, being of course, the full name of Lucy from the Peanuts comics. Why my father knows that, I don’t know (he has a knack for random trivia, one I think I inherited), but he always says it, even last summer, when I came home from Bills training camp disappointed that it looked like Travis Brown was going to move up on the depth chart and mentioned it to him. And just as he said that, the power went out as we were hit by that major power outage.
But don’t fret--Van Pelt (Alex, not Lucy) was picked up by the Bills Radio Network to work Bills telecasts. Which, of course, I won’t be able to catch anymore seeing that I’ll be spending at least the next year in Patriots country. Hmm…I’m giving up Van Pelt calling Bills games for having Tom Brady talked about every five seconds. I think I can live.
-I am addicted to the show Cold Pizza on ESPN2. I started watching it over the January break, and watched it again last week while I was home. Why can I only watch it at home you may ask? Because Binghamton is weird, and despite all my begging during DIFR committee meetings during my term as DTC President, and all of Rob’s begging on my behalf at them this year, Binghamton Telecom STILL hasn’t added ESPN2 onto campus cable. It’s a travesty--we get the Outdoor Life Hunt-o-Rama channel, but we don’t get ESPN2. Now, last I checked, most Binghamton students have no interest in watching programming about hunting wild turkeys. I don’t know--maybe I’m completely out of touch with these kids. Anyway, I would really like to watch Cold Pizza in the mornings before I head off to work. But I can’t. I may be here for only (checks countdown) 57 more days, but I’m thinking of my younger peers. Don’t deprive them any longer, Telecom. Give them their ESPN2.
-I am in love with the song “Aluminum” by, you guessed it, Barenaked Ladies. (All those who know me well, and even those who don’t, all know that any questions about things I love or adore can be answered with one of three things: Barenaked Ladies, Steve Young, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. For example, if I were to say, “You know what I just love?” you would answer, “Barenaked Ladies? Steve Young? My Big Fat Greek Wedding?” And I would say, “Well, besides those.”)
Anyway, so I am in love with this song, and the verse that was cut from it during recording that recently resurfaced (okay, I admit it, I’m a junkie who reads the band’s blog everyday, where this verse was mentioned, then I went to Yahoo and looked up the cut verse.) The cut verse reads:
“Why should it come as a big surprise
It's just an element of disguise
Even your emotions are anodized”
Now, if a song can teach me a new word, such as this one did with the word anodize (to coat in metal), it gets my everlasting adoration. Therefore, I adore this song. Hence why I keep quoting it as my away message. So here’s my caveat emptor for the week: I may be quoting this song in my away message a lot, but it means absolutely nothing. I just like the song. I think it’s got to be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. But just because it’s so lyrically clever. I mean, the song is basically saying someone is so fake--they appear to be silver, but they are just aluminum, which is just about one of the best analogies I’ve ever heard. But I don't mean it towards anyone, so don't you all worry.
-I got into Northeastern yesterday. Unfortunately, at this point, I just can’t commit to two more years of school. I can’t do it. Maybe if I hadn’t burnt myself the past 2 ½ years, I could. But I’m exhausted from being a stressed out workaholic student since age 3, and I don’t think I’d make it another two. I mean, sure, once I’m out of school, my blood pressure will drop a good 20 points, making it even lower than it is now (which isn‘t a real good thing), but I think the bags under my eyes might disappear and I’ll stop getting gray hair. I am pretty much set to go to Boston University starting three days after graduation, and I’m happy about that. Then at this time next year, I’ll have to decide what I’m doing again. But at least I’ll be REALLY done.
Okay, at this point, I’m back in my room and I’m about to go to bed. Yep, my life is lame. I’m probably one of the most dull 22 year olds you will ever meet.
Monday, March 15, 2004
The Blur That Was The Last Two Weeks
I warn you all: this may be the last time I write in three weeks. In the next three weeks, I have three papers (one of them being my honors thesis), a midterm, a presentation, SA and Mountainview Elections stuff-o-rama, and CDT Sweatshirt Distribution. Oh, and my brackets. And I'm behind on everything because of my oh-so-lovely illness (which is dealable with for now). So take this abbreviated entry and make it last three weeks, unless I decide to procrastinate at any point during the next three weeks of all-nighters.
And since the past two weeks have been a completely medicated and sometimes-not-medicated enough blur, I bring you a random bunch of notes.
-I have this sneaking suspicion that the Terrell Owens trade will be rescinded. I don't think it should, but I think it will. I don't know why. I've come up with a bunch of different reasons that I could easily argue against. We'll see, I guess. I just think it will. Premonition...meaning I'm probably wrong, because I'm never right when I chalk something up to that.
-Yes, I will still watch hockey, and I will still let any future children I may have watch and play hockey, even after this Todd Bertuzzi event. I think this combined with the McSorley event of a few years ago and the upcoming labor dispute will cause a decrease in the amount of violence allowed on the ice. As violent as America is, a brutally violent foreign product isn't going to sell. The NHL will try to curb the violence as best they can, as already seen in the almost-suspension of the Rochester American's goalie on Friday night for something he didn't do, that the accusing player did to himself. Binghamton is a dirty team. I'm not saying that the Amerks are angels, but what I've seen and read about Binghamton points to a pattern of violence.
-Speaking of any future children I may have, I was thinking the other day: could my children have all the makings of comedic genius? I'm part Canadian, grew up in what is practically just "Southern Canada" as Tricia put it, and I will be spending at least the next year of my life in Boston. Seeing that the best comedians are either Canadian or from Boston, my children will be on the stand-up circuit by the age of seven--well, at least on my end. Who knows, whoever I may marry might have no comedic genes and just ruin it. Maybe I will try to avoid that by marrying someone from Toronto--they breed comedians there like it's their global export.
-Why must the NCAA basketball tournament be during the busiest three weeks of my life? And why must BYU be playing Syracuse in the first round? I never pick against BYU in football or basketball--let me remind you that for my 14th birthday, my parents gave me a BYU Cougars baseball hat. I wanted to go there, even though I am nowhere near Mormon. I feel like I have gone over this before. Well, anyway, I can't pick against Syracuse either. Us upstaters got to stick together, and as the only true Upstate NY team in this tournament, I can't pick against them. Urgh. But I want to kick the guys' butts, so I will more than likely pick Syracuse. The sad thing is, I spent 10 minutes hemming and hawing this out while I should of been studying for my silly pointless monastery art history midterm. Procrastination, whoo-hoo. (But don't worry, I put my nose to the grindstone and focused right after.)
-Several people have asked me this in the past few months, and so I will address this in a larger forum: No, I never pick in pools with money. That's gambling, and that's something I refuse to do (you're looking at the girl who refuses to play even scratch-off lotto tickets.) I pick football and basketball for the pure enjoyment of making other people squirm when they realize the peppy art history minor with the cheerleader ponytail has kicked their butts. Haha, to quote my friend Brian, I rule.
-I think one of the most entertaining parts of the break-that-wasn't (aka, the 4 day long "spring break" Binghamton gave us) was Tricia and I busting out into Jessica Simpson's "I Think I'm In Love" in the middle of a coffee shop on Saturday night. Her fiancé, Olivier, is from France and therefore had not been exposed to the fun that is Jessica Simpson. (The second most fun was the dinner they made with her mom for us--very very very very good food.)
-My sister thinks she wants to go to Ithaca. Deja vu for my parents. I'm all for it, so when she's a senior there, I can vicariously take part in Senior Week through her. Let us see how this plays out.
-If I was not convinced completely before, Barenaked Ladies sure convinced me that they are the BEST BAND EVER. Totally. Completely. I love them. It takes me seeing them live again for me to break out all their CDs and play them all completely through, and I did that again, and......I love them. You know how people quote lyrics in their away messages? I'm doing that now with Barenaked Ladies lyrics, just because they're genius.
-I tried to watch Stars On Ice on TV the other day. Vastly disappointing. I ended up turning it off. I just can't get into any figure skating this year. I feel off. I just can't get into it. I haven't watched a whole thing of figure skating all season. It's gotten that bad. Am I just growing out of it? Was this just an age 2-21 thing? I still like to skate, I just can't get into watching it. 'Tis bad news for the 65 tapes of figure skating I've taped over the years that are now collecting dust in my attic and under my bed.
-Grad schools need to step it up and let me know what they think of me, otherwise I'm going to stop being patient and just send in my confirmation to Boston University. At least they like me.
Off to bed, or reading, or more procrastination. Yee-haw.
I warn you all: this may be the last time I write in three weeks. In the next three weeks, I have three papers (one of them being my honors thesis), a midterm, a presentation, SA and Mountainview Elections stuff-o-rama, and CDT Sweatshirt Distribution. Oh, and my brackets. And I'm behind on everything because of my oh-so-lovely illness (which is dealable with for now). So take this abbreviated entry and make it last three weeks, unless I decide to procrastinate at any point during the next three weeks of all-nighters.
And since the past two weeks have been a completely medicated and sometimes-not-medicated enough blur, I bring you a random bunch of notes.
-I have this sneaking suspicion that the Terrell Owens trade will be rescinded. I don't think it should, but I think it will. I don't know why. I've come up with a bunch of different reasons that I could easily argue against. We'll see, I guess. I just think it will. Premonition...meaning I'm probably wrong, because I'm never right when I chalk something up to that.
-Yes, I will still watch hockey, and I will still let any future children I may have watch and play hockey, even after this Todd Bertuzzi event. I think this combined with the McSorley event of a few years ago and the upcoming labor dispute will cause a decrease in the amount of violence allowed on the ice. As violent as America is, a brutally violent foreign product isn't going to sell. The NHL will try to curb the violence as best they can, as already seen in the almost-suspension of the Rochester American's goalie on Friday night for something he didn't do, that the accusing player did to himself. Binghamton is a dirty team. I'm not saying that the Amerks are angels, but what I've seen and read about Binghamton points to a pattern of violence.
-Speaking of any future children I may have, I was thinking the other day: could my children have all the makings of comedic genius? I'm part Canadian, grew up in what is practically just "Southern Canada" as Tricia put it, and I will be spending at least the next year of my life in Boston. Seeing that the best comedians are either Canadian or from Boston, my children will be on the stand-up circuit by the age of seven--well, at least on my end. Who knows, whoever I may marry might have no comedic genes and just ruin it. Maybe I will try to avoid that by marrying someone from Toronto--they breed comedians there like it's their global export.
-Why must the NCAA basketball tournament be during the busiest three weeks of my life? And why must BYU be playing Syracuse in the first round? I never pick against BYU in football or basketball--let me remind you that for my 14th birthday, my parents gave me a BYU Cougars baseball hat. I wanted to go there, even though I am nowhere near Mormon. I feel like I have gone over this before. Well, anyway, I can't pick against Syracuse either. Us upstaters got to stick together, and as the only true Upstate NY team in this tournament, I can't pick against them. Urgh. But I want to kick the guys' butts, so I will more than likely pick Syracuse. The sad thing is, I spent 10 minutes hemming and hawing this out while I should of been studying for my silly pointless monastery art history midterm. Procrastination, whoo-hoo. (But don't worry, I put my nose to the grindstone and focused right after.)
-Several people have asked me this in the past few months, and so I will address this in a larger forum: No, I never pick in pools with money. That's gambling, and that's something I refuse to do (you're looking at the girl who refuses to play even scratch-off lotto tickets.) I pick football and basketball for the pure enjoyment of making other people squirm when they realize the peppy art history minor with the cheerleader ponytail has kicked their butts. Haha, to quote my friend Brian, I rule.
-I think one of the most entertaining parts of the break-that-wasn't (aka, the 4 day long "spring break" Binghamton gave us) was Tricia and I busting out into Jessica Simpson's "I Think I'm In Love" in the middle of a coffee shop on Saturday night. Her fiancé, Olivier, is from France and therefore had not been exposed to the fun that is Jessica Simpson. (The second most fun was the dinner they made with her mom for us--very very very very good food.)
-My sister thinks she wants to go to Ithaca. Deja vu for my parents. I'm all for it, so when she's a senior there, I can vicariously take part in Senior Week through her. Let us see how this plays out.
-If I was not convinced completely before, Barenaked Ladies sure convinced me that they are the BEST BAND EVER. Totally. Completely. I love them. It takes me seeing them live again for me to break out all their CDs and play them all completely through, and I did that again, and......I love them. You know how people quote lyrics in their away messages? I'm doing that now with Barenaked Ladies lyrics, just because they're genius.
-I tried to watch Stars On Ice on TV the other day. Vastly disappointing. I ended up turning it off. I just can't get into any figure skating this year. I feel off. I just can't get into it. I haven't watched a whole thing of figure skating all season. It's gotten that bad. Am I just growing out of it? Was this just an age 2-21 thing? I still like to skate, I just can't get into watching it. 'Tis bad news for the 65 tapes of figure skating I've taped over the years that are now collecting dust in my attic and under my bed.
-Grad schools need to step it up and let me know what they think of me, otherwise I'm going to stop being patient and just send in my confirmation to Boston University. At least they like me.
Off to bed, or reading, or more procrastination. Yee-haw.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Health Center, Smelth Center--aka, Why I Can't Write a Full Entry This Week
So, you know that running joke (on either campus I've been on, mind you) about the Health Center thinking everything is either pregnancy or a STD and really not being able to help any non-sexual or alcohol related issue at all? I always tried to give the Health Center the benefit of the doubt--even though my confidence in them had been blown on several occasions.
Well, I've been dealing with a cold/sinus infection for a few weeks now. No biggie--I get them about as often as Jason Sehorn has had season-ending injuries. I went to the health center, they barely glance at me, then have a doctor just take my tempature, and then diagonose me with a sinus infection and hand me antibotics. No biggie, right?
Now, take into account that in November my whole left side of my face went numb and tingly--and they told me it was all stress-related and I just needed to slow down (ha!)
Well, I'm at work last Friday, a few days after my course of antibotics was done, I'm still not 100 %, and it happens again--as I'm playing Go Fish with Rob the Computer Repair Center Guy, my whole left side goes crazy numb. I crawled back to my room after work, and I couldn't move all Friday night. I realized my sinuses were swollen. By Sunday, I was a zombie, and by Tuesday, I was blacking out during the SA meeting. I realized that I needed to see someone other than the Health Center, so I had my mother make an appointment with my real doctor (who I hadn't seen in a while, seeing that I'm barely ever in Rochester anymore) for Thursday morning, since I was going to be home Wednesday night for the Barenaked Ladies concert.
Rachel and I were both on our deathbeds for the concert--but so was half the band with the stomach flu, so it worked out. They cut stuff short, we had to leave early. And Rachel and I are Barenaked Ladies junkies or groupies or really obsessed or whatever you want to call us (it's our Western New York upbringing), so if we're sick enough to leave early, not stand the whole concert, and not be able to sing along to every song, you know something's wrong.
The next morning at the doctor's, I tell him everything that's been going on. He looks me over, then gives me the oh-so-wonderful news: I've become antibotic resistant. I've been on antibotics four-five times in the last year, and always the same two kinds, so now they aren't working. Plus my sinuses are in such bad shape that they are what is causing my left side numbness. And I am now battling a severe bacterial sinus infection that will get far worse before it gets better. And--if that all wasn't enough--I am probably looking at sinus surgery sometime in April or May. "You should've been to a specialist sooner, and they should of realized what was going on back in September and November when they couldn't figure out what you had," he said.
He loaded me up with a boatload of a new antibotics (super strong and super long course) and a bunch of other things, and appointment with a specialist. I spent the rest of the day unable to move on my couch before I went back to school. He was right--I'm far worse than I was earlier in the week. I sound like a 90 year old chain smoker, and I feel like Ted Washington has plowed over me several times.
So the lesson to this story is: don't go to the health center if you're sick. Try to find a real doctor.
So before weezy me goes on another coughing spree, I will finish this up. I will write more soon, when I feel up to it.
So, you know that running joke (on either campus I've been on, mind you) about the Health Center thinking everything is either pregnancy or a STD and really not being able to help any non-sexual or alcohol related issue at all? I always tried to give the Health Center the benefit of the doubt--even though my confidence in them had been blown on several occasions.
Well, I've been dealing with a cold/sinus infection for a few weeks now. No biggie--I get them about as often as Jason Sehorn has had season-ending injuries. I went to the health center, they barely glance at me, then have a doctor just take my tempature, and then diagonose me with a sinus infection and hand me antibotics. No biggie, right?
Now, take into account that in November my whole left side of my face went numb and tingly--and they told me it was all stress-related and I just needed to slow down (ha!)
Well, I'm at work last Friday, a few days after my course of antibotics was done, I'm still not 100 %, and it happens again--as I'm playing Go Fish with Rob the Computer Repair Center Guy, my whole left side goes crazy numb. I crawled back to my room after work, and I couldn't move all Friday night. I realized my sinuses were swollen. By Sunday, I was a zombie, and by Tuesday, I was blacking out during the SA meeting. I realized that I needed to see someone other than the Health Center, so I had my mother make an appointment with my real doctor (who I hadn't seen in a while, seeing that I'm barely ever in Rochester anymore) for Thursday morning, since I was going to be home Wednesday night for the Barenaked Ladies concert.
Rachel and I were both on our deathbeds for the concert--but so was half the band with the stomach flu, so it worked out. They cut stuff short, we had to leave early. And Rachel and I are Barenaked Ladies junkies or groupies or really obsessed or whatever you want to call us (it's our Western New York upbringing), so if we're sick enough to leave early, not stand the whole concert, and not be able to sing along to every song, you know something's wrong.
The next morning at the doctor's, I tell him everything that's been going on. He looks me over, then gives me the oh-so-wonderful news: I've become antibotic resistant. I've been on antibotics four-five times in the last year, and always the same two kinds, so now they aren't working. Plus my sinuses are in such bad shape that they are what is causing my left side numbness. And I am now battling a severe bacterial sinus infection that will get far worse before it gets better. And--if that all wasn't enough--I am probably looking at sinus surgery sometime in April or May. "You should've been to a specialist sooner, and they should of realized what was going on back in September and November when they couldn't figure out what you had," he said.
He loaded me up with a boatload of a new antibotics (super strong and super long course) and a bunch of other things, and appointment with a specialist. I spent the rest of the day unable to move on my couch before I went back to school. He was right--I'm far worse than I was earlier in the week. I sound like a 90 year old chain smoker, and I feel like Ted Washington has plowed over me several times.
So the lesson to this story is: don't go to the health center if you're sick. Try to find a real doctor.
So before weezy me goes on another coughing spree, I will finish this up. I will write more soon, when I feel up to it.
Sunday, February 29, 2004
The Battle of the BUs--A Senior Day In Every Sense
Today’s men’s basketball game at the Events Center was not only the last home game of the season for the men, but also senior day. And I found it fitting that the senior day game opponent was Boston University.
For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to my away messages, profiles or who haven’t spoken with me in the past…oh, year, I am currently in love with Boston University. Sure, I applied to five graduate schools, but since I decided I was going to go to grad school, Boston University has been one of my top choices. They were the first school to accept me (the letter was waiting for me two days after my birthday in my school mailbox). They might not have the best program in Higher Education, but they have tons of opportunities for internships and assistantships (especially in new facilities management--they‘re in the process of building the “Student Village,” a huge building project for athletics, residential life and student affairs, which working with would look soooo good on a resume), and they are just such a cool school in general. I walked around there in August and just couldn’t believe how much I liked it--I didn’t want to come back to Binghamton for another year. I was tempted to finish up my credits at Binghamton in the fall and start at Boston University in January, but I was talked out of it by a lot of people, seeing that I wanted to try for Harvard and Boston College as well. But the more I think about it, the more I want to go to Boston University. But I have to wait and see what happens.
So I attended today’s game and couldn’t decide who to cheer for--my current school, who I’m becoming increasingly disenchanted with knowing that there’s so much else beyond Binghamton, or what very well may be my new school. Well, seeing that I had student tickets and didn’t feel like being beat up (which could happen, as evidenced by what occurred at last week’s Nazareth/Fisher basketball game), I put my Boston University shirt away and wore the green Binghamton hoodie and went along with the “Let‘s Go Bearcats" chants.
The Terriers (Boston University) are currently #1 in the America East conference, and this game showed why. Marsha, Jamie and I were watching the warm-ups when Marsha remarked, “They just don’t miss,“ gesturing to the Terriers' free throwing. They don’t--they only missed once that I recall during the game. While the first half was close, with Nick Billings being the whole Binghamton team as usual (it’s not that he can play, or that the others can't, it’s just that he’s seven feet tall), the Terriers dominated in the second half, working with leads between 10-20 points most of the time. The final score was 69-53, but if our two seniors hadn’t been inspired to get in there and make the best of their last minutes on the Events Center floor, it probably would have been more like 75-50. The Bearcats turned over the ball constantly, and their shooting was way off most of the game. They couldn’t make a free throws at all in the second half, and easy points weren’t made because they were over-shooting the net. They announced that the official attendance at the game today was 4,823 at the end of the game. However, the end of the game lacked so much hope that people began to leave in droves after the 8 minute mark. I turned to Marsha. “Official attendance, 4,823. Official attendance after the 5 minute mark: 1,000.”
It had been noted all week that the Bearcat men had never defeated the Terriers since joining the America East three years ago, and I think the pressure of trying to overcome that in the new building on senior day was a bit too much for them. There are so many expectations for this team to do well so early on in their Division 1 career, seeing that we just built them this new venue, and we moved into a conference that caused us to eliminate one of our traditional sports (wrestling). They’re growing well, but to expect them to have beat the number one team in the conference right now wasn’t really feasible.
On another note, the Events Center is a bit…small? I was disappointed somewhat, and I don’t know why. I imagined an arena…which to me congers up mental images of the Blue Cross Arena up in Rochester. This was on a much smaller scale--the BCA holds 12,000 for concerts and the Events Center, when completed, will seat 8,000. Right now a sell out for basketball in the Events Center is 4,823. The Center is pretty sterile right now, more than likely due to the fact that they’re not really done with it. I fear that it’ll become out of date quickly, but I could also see how it could be easily renovated if that did happen. I don’t know. Did I expect more? Yes. Do we need more as a mid-major D1 school with more student apathy than the Yankees have money? No. On a semi-side note, one of my biggest fears as I leave Binghamton is that the backlash from students and faculty about the alleged “overspending on athletics” is going to deter any more growth in that area--we need more athletic opportunities because unlike what most Binghamton students think, athletes do possess brains. Also, with the local community being as stubborn as it is, I think athletics is going to be the school’s only way to make its point that we are now the economic center of the Broome County area, and therefore, should be accommodated as such.
As the crowds left the Events Center this afternoon, I felt like this was the beginning of the end. It was Senior Day for the two graduating players, but it was Senior Day for me as well--watching my last Binghamton basketball game, having what could be my new school defeat my current school. The next time I’ll be in the Events Center will more than likely be 77 days from now for Commencement. Binghamton may have been where I spent the last two years, but I’m ready to move on.
**********
Random Notes:
--The Barenaked Ladies concert at the Broome County Arena last week was awesome. If you have never seen them live, you need to, regardless of your taste in music. You’ll understand why I have been to nine concerts and on my way to my tenth on Wednesday. They exude enjoyment--they perform because they like each other and they like to perform. You’d have a feeling they’d still do this if they made no money from it. I also realized how incredibly lucky I am to have my favourite band be as accessible as they are--many of my friends have never gotten to see their favourite bands live because they rarely tour, or play only big markets if they do. I can pretty much count on if there is a Barenaked Ladies tour, there will be at least one stop in Upstate New York, usually Rochester. Luckily for me, the band’s other most regular tour stop is Boston. They’ve played there…hmm, I think three times in the past year? Four? I love it.
--I am angry at the 49ers. They cut Garrison Hearst, the only player on the team I really liked anymore. Now, maybe I’m off, but I don’t think Eddie DeBartalo and Carmen Policy would of let him go. Maybe they would--he has suffered devastating injuries that could come back to haunt him at any time. But as a team, if you’ve stood by a guy during rehabilitation periods twice, saving him a spot on your roster because not only is that the nice thing to do, but because you know the guy will come back and be one of your best players, why do you cut him? I mean, I know, salary cap stuff, they’re trying to negotiate with Garcia, whatever, but…there’s a level of courtesy that wasn’t extended. From what end, I don’t know. I think Hearst should be willing to work with the Niners to stay, and vise versa. And I think under different management, the Niners would of found a way to keep Hearst. And Derrick Deese, for that matter. I just don’t understand what the Niners are doing anymore, and I don’t know if I care to. I think they can redeem themselves in my eyes if they waive Garcia tomorrow. The Niners have never accepted behavior such as Garcia’s recent DWI arrest, and they shouldn’t start now. Montana and Young never did such stuff, and if you’re going to hold the guy to those two’s standards on the field, you should off as well.
--Scrunchie Girl, aka Chellsie Memmel, keeps proving my gymnastic prediction skills right. In case you’ve never heard the story, my sister and I attended the 1999 U.S. Classic in Rochester, and were way impressed with this girl. She was 10 at the time, and competing child elite. Her scrunchie was as big as her head, and thus the nickname, but she was fearless and right on the whole night. I turned to Megan and said, “That girl is going to be huge someday. She’s going to be a World Champion or something.” Well, what did the girl win last fall? The World Championships. Yesterday she competed at the American Cup, which I got to watch on tv while doing work, and the girl has amazing security on the beam. Just amazing. She finished third, and she seems to be in a good position to make the Olympic Team. And I SO called it five years ago.
Quote of the Week: Mike Heimerdinger, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, on why he hasn't been a candidate for a head coaching job: "They're looking for big names, not long names." -Sports Illustrated.
That guy's last name is three letters longer than my own. I do not envy him. Not one bit.
Today’s men’s basketball game at the Events Center was not only the last home game of the season for the men, but also senior day. And I found it fitting that the senior day game opponent was Boston University.
For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to my away messages, profiles or who haven’t spoken with me in the past…oh, year, I am currently in love with Boston University. Sure, I applied to five graduate schools, but since I decided I was going to go to grad school, Boston University has been one of my top choices. They were the first school to accept me (the letter was waiting for me two days after my birthday in my school mailbox). They might not have the best program in Higher Education, but they have tons of opportunities for internships and assistantships (especially in new facilities management--they‘re in the process of building the “Student Village,” a huge building project for athletics, residential life and student affairs, which working with would look soooo good on a resume), and they are just such a cool school in general. I walked around there in August and just couldn’t believe how much I liked it--I didn’t want to come back to Binghamton for another year. I was tempted to finish up my credits at Binghamton in the fall and start at Boston University in January, but I was talked out of it by a lot of people, seeing that I wanted to try for Harvard and Boston College as well. But the more I think about it, the more I want to go to Boston University. But I have to wait and see what happens.
So I attended today’s game and couldn’t decide who to cheer for--my current school, who I’m becoming increasingly disenchanted with knowing that there’s so much else beyond Binghamton, or what very well may be my new school. Well, seeing that I had student tickets and didn’t feel like being beat up (which could happen, as evidenced by what occurred at last week’s Nazareth/Fisher basketball game), I put my Boston University shirt away and wore the green Binghamton hoodie and went along with the “Let‘s Go Bearcats" chants.
The Terriers (Boston University) are currently #1 in the America East conference, and this game showed why. Marsha, Jamie and I were watching the warm-ups when Marsha remarked, “They just don’t miss,“ gesturing to the Terriers' free throwing. They don’t--they only missed once that I recall during the game. While the first half was close, with Nick Billings being the whole Binghamton team as usual (it’s not that he can play, or that the others can't, it’s just that he’s seven feet tall), the Terriers dominated in the second half, working with leads between 10-20 points most of the time. The final score was 69-53, but if our two seniors hadn’t been inspired to get in there and make the best of their last minutes on the Events Center floor, it probably would have been more like 75-50. The Bearcats turned over the ball constantly, and their shooting was way off most of the game. They couldn’t make a free throws at all in the second half, and easy points weren’t made because they were over-shooting the net. They announced that the official attendance at the game today was 4,823 at the end of the game. However, the end of the game lacked so much hope that people began to leave in droves after the 8 minute mark. I turned to Marsha. “Official attendance, 4,823. Official attendance after the 5 minute mark: 1,000.”
It had been noted all week that the Bearcat men had never defeated the Terriers since joining the America East three years ago, and I think the pressure of trying to overcome that in the new building on senior day was a bit too much for them. There are so many expectations for this team to do well so early on in their Division 1 career, seeing that we just built them this new venue, and we moved into a conference that caused us to eliminate one of our traditional sports (wrestling). They’re growing well, but to expect them to have beat the number one team in the conference right now wasn’t really feasible.
On another note, the Events Center is a bit…small? I was disappointed somewhat, and I don’t know why. I imagined an arena…which to me congers up mental images of the Blue Cross Arena up in Rochester. This was on a much smaller scale--the BCA holds 12,000 for concerts and the Events Center, when completed, will seat 8,000. Right now a sell out for basketball in the Events Center is 4,823. The Center is pretty sterile right now, more than likely due to the fact that they’re not really done with it. I fear that it’ll become out of date quickly, but I could also see how it could be easily renovated if that did happen. I don’t know. Did I expect more? Yes. Do we need more as a mid-major D1 school with more student apathy than the Yankees have money? No. On a semi-side note, one of my biggest fears as I leave Binghamton is that the backlash from students and faculty about the alleged “overspending on athletics” is going to deter any more growth in that area--we need more athletic opportunities because unlike what most Binghamton students think, athletes do possess brains. Also, with the local community being as stubborn as it is, I think athletics is going to be the school’s only way to make its point that we are now the economic center of the Broome County area, and therefore, should be accommodated as such.
As the crowds left the Events Center this afternoon, I felt like this was the beginning of the end. It was Senior Day for the two graduating players, but it was Senior Day for me as well--watching my last Binghamton basketball game, having what could be my new school defeat my current school. The next time I’ll be in the Events Center will more than likely be 77 days from now for Commencement. Binghamton may have been where I spent the last two years, but I’m ready to move on.
**********
Random Notes:
--The Barenaked Ladies concert at the Broome County Arena last week was awesome. If you have never seen them live, you need to, regardless of your taste in music. You’ll understand why I have been to nine concerts and on my way to my tenth on Wednesday. They exude enjoyment--they perform because they like each other and they like to perform. You’d have a feeling they’d still do this if they made no money from it. I also realized how incredibly lucky I am to have my favourite band be as accessible as they are--many of my friends have never gotten to see their favourite bands live because they rarely tour, or play only big markets if they do. I can pretty much count on if there is a Barenaked Ladies tour, there will be at least one stop in Upstate New York, usually Rochester. Luckily for me, the band’s other most regular tour stop is Boston. They’ve played there…hmm, I think three times in the past year? Four? I love it.
--I am angry at the 49ers. They cut Garrison Hearst, the only player on the team I really liked anymore. Now, maybe I’m off, but I don’t think Eddie DeBartalo and Carmen Policy would of let him go. Maybe they would--he has suffered devastating injuries that could come back to haunt him at any time. But as a team, if you’ve stood by a guy during rehabilitation periods twice, saving him a spot on your roster because not only is that the nice thing to do, but because you know the guy will come back and be one of your best players, why do you cut him? I mean, I know, salary cap stuff, they’re trying to negotiate with Garcia, whatever, but…there’s a level of courtesy that wasn’t extended. From what end, I don’t know. I think Hearst should be willing to work with the Niners to stay, and vise versa. And I think under different management, the Niners would of found a way to keep Hearst. And Derrick Deese, for that matter. I just don’t understand what the Niners are doing anymore, and I don’t know if I care to. I think they can redeem themselves in my eyes if they waive Garcia tomorrow. The Niners have never accepted behavior such as Garcia’s recent DWI arrest, and they shouldn’t start now. Montana and Young never did such stuff, and if you’re going to hold the guy to those two’s standards on the field, you should off as well.
--Scrunchie Girl, aka Chellsie Memmel, keeps proving my gymnastic prediction skills right. In case you’ve never heard the story, my sister and I attended the 1999 U.S. Classic in Rochester, and were way impressed with this girl. She was 10 at the time, and competing child elite. Her scrunchie was as big as her head, and thus the nickname, but she was fearless and right on the whole night. I turned to Megan and said, “That girl is going to be huge someday. She’s going to be a World Champion or something.” Well, what did the girl win last fall? The World Championships. Yesterday she competed at the American Cup, which I got to watch on tv while doing work, and the girl has amazing security on the beam. Just amazing. She finished third, and she seems to be in a good position to make the Olympic Team. And I SO called it five years ago.
Quote of the Week: Mike Heimerdinger, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, on why he hasn't been a candidate for a head coaching job: "They're looking for big names, not long names." -Sports Illustrated.
That guy's last name is three letters longer than my own. I do not envy him. Not one bit.
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Dance Land, Anglo-SEXons, and the "A-Rod to the Bills" Trade
I just spent the last week held hostage by the Anderson Center Concert Theatre and Children’s Dance Theatre. Aka, I spent the week in the middle of a glitter explosion in the freezing cold wings of the Concert Theatre. I missed one class, skipped a lot of reading, missed two meetings, and had my mini-stapler attached to my hand. CDT’s own Miss Publicity 2004 is in a zombie like state.
Therefore, my entry this week will be another smorgasbord of random thoughts, seeing that I did nothing that merits a whole entry. I’ve spent the past half hour trying to find one unifying aspect to all of these things, and I can’t. Hence, I’m Peter King-ing it again. (Which is okay, because the man is a genius--why didn’t I start reading him earlier in my life? Although he has gotten a bit carried away with the “Mock Trial Notes.” Maybe that’s because I’m jealous--my parents never bragged about my Model UN-ness and Debate Team-ness like that. This is the closest my parents came to bragging: My mom: “Uh, yeah, Katie’s away this weekend. She’s at that Model UN thing…no, it’s not modeling. It’s countries, they pretend they’re countries, she wears a skirt…and she argues with people.” My dad would then break in, “She LIKES to argue. She should be a lawyer. She loves to argue with me.” I love my parents. Ask them what my major is, I dare you. Mom: “Uh…there was the sports thing….but she doesn’t do that anymore…even though I think she should…” Dad: “She should be a LAWYER! She’s gonna be a lawyer, she’s just arguing with me again. She’s just rebelling. She’ll turn around when she realizes I’m right.”)
Where was I? Oh yeah, saying I’m going to Peter-King this. Okay.
--There’s an epidemic going around Take One Video/Bokays (aka, “the store,” the store I co-manage in the New Union). Two of my co-workers ended relationships in the past week. This now means, as far as I know, that the entire staff of the store is single. Guys of Binghamton University: along with renting movies, you can now pick up a girl at Take One Video. While supplies last, restrictions apply.
This also led to my boss telling me all the girls should be more like me because “I don’t need men because I’m too busy.” Yee-haw, yet another outside confirmation of my workaholicism. Who wants to be my sponsor in WA?
--Running joke of the week: “This dance is about the battle between good and evil…this dance is about the battle of good and evil….this dance is about the newspaper boys fighting evil…the dance is about good people fighting evil demons…this dance is about the Anglo-Saxons fighting the Vikings, but the Irish are strong and survive and learn to live together with everyone in harmony.”
Ciarra: “I don’t know where the heck she gets this. You know those kids don’t know what the heck she’s saying about the dance. They heard Anglo-Saxons and they’re like, ‘Ooh, Anglo-SEX!”
--For a girl who didn’t stay around long enough to make it to the Parkie courses in my Sports Info and Com major, I felt a tad like a Parkie this week. (I just realized that the use of the word “Parkie” is alienating my whole Binghamton audience. I’ll explain: Students in the communications school at Ithaca are nicknamed “Parkies.” Many of my friends were “Parkies.” I didn’t use it until I started hanging out with Sara, who uses it all the time--she’s an ex-Parkie who then went to H&S. I still go back and forth between IC lingo and BU lingo two years later. The worst is when I call the SA office the SAC, because the two are completely different, but somehow I slip and get the two confused…I don’t think transferring was good for my poor brain.)
But anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning, I was Miss Publicity for CDT. Thanks to my Homecoming connections, I was able to get Gail from University Publications and Marketing to help me with publicizing our Saturday performance. I wrote press releases, called and e-mailed people, designed advertising, and, the crème-de-la-crème, got interviewed in the studio by our CBS affiliate here. Yep, that was me on Thursday afternoon, chatting it up with Francesca whats-her-face. I realized after that I needed more make-up--I looked like I belonged as an extra in The Hours.
But it all worked--if you live in the Binghamton area (outside of the university, that is) and didn’t at least glance over something about CDT, then you obviously shun all forms of media. We had the biggest Saturday performance, profit-wise, ever. Initial numbers indicate that we brought in almost $900 more than last year’s dismal showing! Attendance wise, we doubled from last year. (I raised ticket prices when I took over as Financial Manager--it was sorely needed budget wise.) Although, there can always be more: when I presented our faculty advisor with my initial numbers, she looked sad. “I was hoping for $2,000 in profit.”
Bah, humbug. Given what other forms of entertainment we were up against, I’m rather proud of our showing. To quote Brian, “I rule.”
--This “Mark Brunell going to the Redskins” thing led me to throw my throw pillow at Sportscenter Thursday night when it scrolled on the ticker. For one, the Redskins were set at quarterback--not only did they have Ramsey, they had one of the Hasselbecks, the one who is married to the new girl on The View, making them the heirs to the famous mediocre QB-actress throne currently held by Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete. They don’t need a QB who has had some pretty bad injuries--and they had to be bad, because any QB with a style like Steve Young and with time served under Brett Favre is going to sit with anything less than decapitatzation--who may be at the end of his career (and that stinks, cause Brunell is what, 33?). The only thing I can think of, and this came to me tonight after I finally got around to thinking about sports again after the week-o-dance, is that the Redskins want to set up a St. Louis situation--if one falters, you have a backup who should be a starter to fill in. But why would you do that when your existing backup (the Hasselbeck) just needs more time (at least I think), and your starter is promising and finally healthy? That’s bad front office stuff. I feel as if I’m missing something here, and I very well might be, because I was in artsy-land all week. If I am missing something, please let me know.
And of course, this leads to what I wanted to happen to Brunell, which was my patented “Kat’s Well-Intentioned-But-In-Reality-Really-Bad Joke of the Week.” I thought I had read something on “The Daily Quickie” on ESPN.com saying that rumour had it that the Niners might waive Garcia. Now, news like that was enough for me to allow myself to eat mozzarella sticks (at over 1000 calories, I only allow myself to eat them on VERY special occasions). Well, I had this crazy idea for the Niners, and if you aren’t the most knowledgeable about your mid-90s football, it can be explained by my Top 5 Hottest QBs list I had a few weeks ago (it’s still up--just go to the 1/24/04 entry): The Niners could get rid of Garcia, sign Brunell, and let him keep his number 8. Don’t sign Owens (not like they’re going to anyway) and somehow get back Rice. Volia! I get to sit back and pretend that I’m 13 again.
My poor mom, I told her this over the phone, and she was quiet. “Uh-huh, honey…now would Dad get that? I don’t get it. Who is he again? And by the way, who is this A-Rod fellow?”
“Wrong sport Mom.”
“Oh, I was hoping the Bills could get him. Are people angry about this?”
“Yeah, Mom.”
“Ahh…do you like him?”
“A-Rod? Mom, I don’t like anything having to do with the Yankees.”
“I know honey. The Yankees stink.”
“Mom, you’re only saying that because Uncle Sean likes them.”
“They stink.”
Thank you, Verizon, for letting me have these conversations more often. Unlimited nights and weekends=the best invention since the internet.
--Sara took great offense to me saying last week that my children will not play basketball. I give you this in response: I’m 5 foot 1. The tallest person in my family (both sides, mind you) is my Uncle Sean, my mom’s brother, who is close to 6 foot. How the heck that happened, I don’t know. (Well, my grandmother is pretty tall, so I guess that’s how. And when I say tall, I mean average.) My immediate family lines up like this:
Dad = 5’6
Megan = 5’2 ½
Mom = 5’1 ½
Me = 5’1
Sam = shortest boy in the 3rd grade
I have this inkling that unless I marry Shaq (ewww), or unless my genes completely get crushed by my future husband’s, my children will be of the running back, not the point guard, variety.
--I have grand aspirations now that Children’s Dance Theatre is for the most part done. I join the SA on Tuesday night as the new Mountainview Rep at Large. I also plan on sleeping, eating full meals, and maybe actually doing work for my classes. I also have decided that there are three more things I want to do in the 80-something days before I leave college:
1) Dance one more time somewhere.
2) Write a guest column in the Pipe Dream (school newspaper).
3) Be on the sports show on BTV (aka, avenge the BTV dating show disaster I participated in last year. Blech. I can’t believe I did that.)
We will see if I get those done. I may not, seeing that I have that little thing called a thesis to write.
--Next week: The BU vs. BU basketball game! The Bear-Kats (hahahahaha, I’ll be here all week) versus the Terriers. The cats versus the dogs. Wow, I’m just trading wimpy mascots.
And I leave you with my quote of the week: "I can not have sex with a Harvard acceptance letter!" (not that I've gotten one yet or that I will).
Where's the sign up for Workaholics Anonoymous again?
I just spent the last week held hostage by the Anderson Center Concert Theatre and Children’s Dance Theatre. Aka, I spent the week in the middle of a glitter explosion in the freezing cold wings of the Concert Theatre. I missed one class, skipped a lot of reading, missed two meetings, and had my mini-stapler attached to my hand. CDT’s own Miss Publicity 2004 is in a zombie like state.
Therefore, my entry this week will be another smorgasbord of random thoughts, seeing that I did nothing that merits a whole entry. I’ve spent the past half hour trying to find one unifying aspect to all of these things, and I can’t. Hence, I’m Peter King-ing it again. (Which is okay, because the man is a genius--why didn’t I start reading him earlier in my life? Although he has gotten a bit carried away with the “Mock Trial Notes.” Maybe that’s because I’m jealous--my parents never bragged about my Model UN-ness and Debate Team-ness like that. This is the closest my parents came to bragging: My mom: “Uh, yeah, Katie’s away this weekend. She’s at that Model UN thing…no, it’s not modeling. It’s countries, they pretend they’re countries, she wears a skirt…and she argues with people.” My dad would then break in, “She LIKES to argue. She should be a lawyer. She loves to argue with me.” I love my parents. Ask them what my major is, I dare you. Mom: “Uh…there was the sports thing….but she doesn’t do that anymore…even though I think she should…” Dad: “She should be a LAWYER! She’s gonna be a lawyer, she’s just arguing with me again. She’s just rebelling. She’ll turn around when she realizes I’m right.”)
Where was I? Oh yeah, saying I’m going to Peter-King this. Okay.
--There’s an epidemic going around Take One Video/Bokays (aka, “the store,” the store I co-manage in the New Union). Two of my co-workers ended relationships in the past week. This now means, as far as I know, that the entire staff of the store is single. Guys of Binghamton University: along with renting movies, you can now pick up a girl at Take One Video. While supplies last, restrictions apply.
This also led to my boss telling me all the girls should be more like me because “I don’t need men because I’m too busy.” Yee-haw, yet another outside confirmation of my workaholicism. Who wants to be my sponsor in WA?
--Running joke of the week: “This dance is about the battle between good and evil…this dance is about the battle of good and evil….this dance is about the newspaper boys fighting evil…the dance is about good people fighting evil demons…this dance is about the Anglo-Saxons fighting the Vikings, but the Irish are strong and survive and learn to live together with everyone in harmony.”
Ciarra: “I don’t know where the heck she gets this. You know those kids don’t know what the heck she’s saying about the dance. They heard Anglo-Saxons and they’re like, ‘Ooh, Anglo-SEX!”
--For a girl who didn’t stay around long enough to make it to the Parkie courses in my Sports Info and Com major, I felt a tad like a Parkie this week. (I just realized that the use of the word “Parkie” is alienating my whole Binghamton audience. I’ll explain: Students in the communications school at Ithaca are nicknamed “Parkies.” Many of my friends were “Parkies.” I didn’t use it until I started hanging out with Sara, who uses it all the time--she’s an ex-Parkie who then went to H&S. I still go back and forth between IC lingo and BU lingo two years later. The worst is when I call the SA office the SAC, because the two are completely different, but somehow I slip and get the two confused…I don’t think transferring was good for my poor brain.)
But anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning, I was Miss Publicity for CDT. Thanks to my Homecoming connections, I was able to get Gail from University Publications and Marketing to help me with publicizing our Saturday performance. I wrote press releases, called and e-mailed people, designed advertising, and, the crème-de-la-crème, got interviewed in the studio by our CBS affiliate here. Yep, that was me on Thursday afternoon, chatting it up with Francesca whats-her-face. I realized after that I needed more make-up--I looked like I belonged as an extra in The Hours.
But it all worked--if you live in the Binghamton area (outside of the university, that is) and didn’t at least glance over something about CDT, then you obviously shun all forms of media. We had the biggest Saturday performance, profit-wise, ever. Initial numbers indicate that we brought in almost $900 more than last year’s dismal showing! Attendance wise, we doubled from last year. (I raised ticket prices when I took over as Financial Manager--it was sorely needed budget wise.) Although, there can always be more: when I presented our faculty advisor with my initial numbers, she looked sad. “I was hoping for $2,000 in profit.”
Bah, humbug. Given what other forms of entertainment we were up against, I’m rather proud of our showing. To quote Brian, “I rule.”
--This “Mark Brunell going to the Redskins” thing led me to throw my throw pillow at Sportscenter Thursday night when it scrolled on the ticker. For one, the Redskins were set at quarterback--not only did they have Ramsey, they had one of the Hasselbecks, the one who is married to the new girl on The View, making them the heirs to the famous mediocre QB-actress throne currently held by Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete. They don’t need a QB who has had some pretty bad injuries--and they had to be bad, because any QB with a style like Steve Young and with time served under Brett Favre is going to sit with anything less than decapitatzation--who may be at the end of his career (and that stinks, cause Brunell is what, 33?). The only thing I can think of, and this came to me tonight after I finally got around to thinking about sports again after the week-o-dance, is that the Redskins want to set up a St. Louis situation--if one falters, you have a backup who should be a starter to fill in. But why would you do that when your existing backup (the Hasselbeck) just needs more time (at least I think), and your starter is promising and finally healthy? That’s bad front office stuff. I feel as if I’m missing something here, and I very well might be, because I was in artsy-land all week. If I am missing something, please let me know.
And of course, this leads to what I wanted to happen to Brunell, which was my patented “Kat’s Well-Intentioned-But-In-Reality-Really-Bad Joke of the Week.” I thought I had read something on “The Daily Quickie” on ESPN.com saying that rumour had it that the Niners might waive Garcia. Now, news like that was enough for me to allow myself to eat mozzarella sticks (at over 1000 calories, I only allow myself to eat them on VERY special occasions). Well, I had this crazy idea for the Niners, and if you aren’t the most knowledgeable about your mid-90s football, it can be explained by my Top 5 Hottest QBs list I had a few weeks ago (it’s still up--just go to the 1/24/04 entry): The Niners could get rid of Garcia, sign Brunell, and let him keep his number 8. Don’t sign Owens (not like they’re going to anyway) and somehow get back Rice. Volia! I get to sit back and pretend that I’m 13 again.
My poor mom, I told her this over the phone, and she was quiet. “Uh-huh, honey…now would Dad get that? I don’t get it. Who is he again? And by the way, who is this A-Rod fellow?”
“Wrong sport Mom.”
“Oh, I was hoping the Bills could get him. Are people angry about this?”
“Yeah, Mom.”
“Ahh…do you like him?”
“A-Rod? Mom, I don’t like anything having to do with the Yankees.”
“I know honey. The Yankees stink.”
“Mom, you’re only saying that because Uncle Sean likes them.”
“They stink.”
Thank you, Verizon, for letting me have these conversations more often. Unlimited nights and weekends=the best invention since the internet.
--Sara took great offense to me saying last week that my children will not play basketball. I give you this in response: I’m 5 foot 1. The tallest person in my family (both sides, mind you) is my Uncle Sean, my mom’s brother, who is close to 6 foot. How the heck that happened, I don’t know. (Well, my grandmother is pretty tall, so I guess that’s how. And when I say tall, I mean average.) My immediate family lines up like this:
Dad = 5’6
Megan = 5’2 ½
Mom = 5’1 ½
Me = 5’1
Sam = shortest boy in the 3rd grade
I have this inkling that unless I marry Shaq (ewww), or unless my genes completely get crushed by my future husband’s, my children will be of the running back, not the point guard, variety.
--I have grand aspirations now that Children’s Dance Theatre is for the most part done. I join the SA on Tuesday night as the new Mountainview Rep at Large. I also plan on sleeping, eating full meals, and maybe actually doing work for my classes. I also have decided that there are three more things I want to do in the 80-something days before I leave college:
1) Dance one more time somewhere.
2) Write a guest column in the Pipe Dream (school newspaper).
3) Be on the sports show on BTV (aka, avenge the BTV dating show disaster I participated in last year. Blech. I can’t believe I did that.)
We will see if I get those done. I may not, seeing that I have that little thing called a thesis to write.
--Next week: The BU vs. BU basketball game! The Bear-Kats (hahahahaha, I’ll be here all week) versus the Terriers. The cats versus the dogs. Wow, I’m just trading wimpy mascots.
And I leave you with my quote of the week: "I can not have sex with a Harvard acceptance letter!" (not that I've gotten one yet or that I will).
Where's the sign up for Workaholics Anonoymous again?
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Note 2/18/04: Okay, I realize that my rant here is so completely wrong. It works on the assumption that I am better and more deserving than everyone else of having a boyfriend, and just better in general, and that's not right. So disregard the whole theory, or read it and laugh at it because the metaphor is hystarically funny.
All this was was me being bitter and jealous after sitting at CDT all night and hearing all the other girls talk about their boyfriends and hook-ups. Add that to being terribly tired and volia, this rant. Bleh. I apologize.
The only reasons why I'm keeping this up are:
1) I want everyone to know about my pajama pants. They are the most exciting thing to happen to me since my first two grad school acceptance letters.
2) There are parts of this that are amazingly funny. I mean, come on, read it and try not to laugh.
3) Everyone else who writes writes something about being relationship-less at some point in time. So here is my one. I promise that I'll never do it again.
So you have been warned. Read this, or wait until this weekend when I find something less voyeuristic and annoying to talk about.
The Icing on the Cake…aka, Katherine’s One Time Only Mid-Week Rant That Shows That She Might Actually Have Feelings
I bring you this special mid-week rant because I feel like it.
I bought new pajama pants today. I was buying some odds and ends for Children’s Dance Theatre at Dick’s Sporting Goods, and I happened upon these cute pink and dark gray football pajama pants. They are amazingly cute, and they were on clearance. Double score. As my little brother said when he saw them, “If they had been purple instead of pink, that would have been scary because then they would have been (made for) you!”
Now, I come back from Children’s Dance Theatre tonight and want to change into comfortable clothes, so I change into the pants and my Red Sox t-shirt. I sit down at my desk, read ESPN.com quickly and play with my 49ers Koosh ball before finishing my reading for class. Then it hit me.
Look at me. Why am I single?
By no reason should a guy want to date me solely because I like sports. No. I am not interested in sports because it is a way to get guys. People tend to make that assumption, and it’s wrong. It is true that I first got into football because I had a mega-crush on Steve Young, but let me remind you that when I was six, I was begging my mother to stay up late to watch the 1988 Winter Olympics. I was the girl who made podiums out of boxes, took her reading contest medals, and made my parents stage medal ceremonies for me after I skid around our tiled kitchen with footie pajamas on or jumped off the end of the couch. I’m the girl who in fourth grade wrote fake news articles about Kristi Yamaguchi and playing kickball on the School #52 playground. I was the girl, who when my dance teacher let us do our own choreography, would jump around double-axel style and do cartwheels, trying to make my dance a sport. I got into hockey because it was the only sport (except for figure skating) I saw live on a regular basis. I never got into this because of guys. I got into it because I liked it, and continued it because in my childhood and adolescent quest to be the complete opposite of everyone else, it set me apart.
No, no guy should like me just because I’m going to sit down and watch Sportscenter with them or because I won’t bug them to pay more attention to me and not “the game.” I want a guy to like me because I’m cute, nice, successful, hysterical and a just-tolerable amount of perky. The sports stuff is just the icing on the cake.
With that out of the way, I would think that the fact that I’m sitting here in this outfit would say something. I’m not wearing some lacy camisole top with a fake tan talking on my cell phone. I’m not consulting SparkNotes. I’m completely down to earth. I’m wearing this cute little outfit, my hair in a cheerleader-type ponytail, and I don’t care that I look 16 and not 22 at this moment. And I can make a very convincing argument right now about why the Bills should draft a QB and not trade for Drew Henson and make a completely unconvincing, but completely hysterical argument about why Steve Young is better than Joe Montana.
You care about the type of cake, about if the consistency of the cake is moist or dry, sure. But don’t we look for the icing? As children, didn’t we always want the piece with the flowers because it had that extra icing?
So I guess what I’m saying is this: Sure, there are thousands of sweet, nice, funny, down-to-earth twenty-something girls out there for guys to pick from. But don’t I have that little something extra that makes me just that more interesting, appealing, tolerable? I’m not better than other girls, because they all have their own “icing,” but wouldn’t my interests point to something else, like a tolerance, laid-back-ness, a easy-going-ness that comes with it? Isn’t my “icing” appealing to anyone? It obviously isn’t, for I’ve been single since late 2002. It is now the middle of February 2004. Sure, I've had more at bats in the past year than I ever did before, but I've struck out on all of them.
Man, this article so sounds like it’s from Sex and the City. I apologize.
I’m not one to rant like this. I mean, I rant, but not about the stuff I’m feeling. I’m not sensitive like that. But I had to get it off my chest. Everyone wishes they had someone, even workaholic driven 22 year old seniors in college who don’t have the time for a boyfriend. And I’m wishing I had someone.
But give me my thesis, my jobs, my reading and my Sportscenter, and I’ll get over it tomorrow.
All this was was me being bitter and jealous after sitting at CDT all night and hearing all the other girls talk about their boyfriends and hook-ups. Add that to being terribly tired and volia, this rant. Bleh. I apologize.
The only reasons why I'm keeping this up are:
1) I want everyone to know about my pajama pants. They are the most exciting thing to happen to me since my first two grad school acceptance letters.
2) There are parts of this that are amazingly funny. I mean, come on, read it and try not to laugh.
3) Everyone else who writes writes something about being relationship-less at some point in time. So here is my one. I promise that I'll never do it again.
So you have been warned. Read this, or wait until this weekend when I find something less voyeuristic and annoying to talk about.
The Icing on the Cake…aka, Katherine’s One Time Only Mid-Week Rant That Shows That She Might Actually Have Feelings
I bring you this special mid-week rant because I feel like it.
I bought new pajama pants today. I was buying some odds and ends for Children’s Dance Theatre at Dick’s Sporting Goods, and I happened upon these cute pink and dark gray football pajama pants. They are amazingly cute, and they were on clearance. Double score. As my little brother said when he saw them, “If they had been purple instead of pink, that would have been scary because then they would have been (made for) you!”
Now, I come back from Children’s Dance Theatre tonight and want to change into comfortable clothes, so I change into the pants and my Red Sox t-shirt. I sit down at my desk, read ESPN.com quickly and play with my 49ers Koosh ball before finishing my reading for class. Then it hit me.
Look at me. Why am I single?
By no reason should a guy want to date me solely because I like sports. No. I am not interested in sports because it is a way to get guys. People tend to make that assumption, and it’s wrong. It is true that I first got into football because I had a mega-crush on Steve Young, but let me remind you that when I was six, I was begging my mother to stay up late to watch the 1988 Winter Olympics. I was the girl who made podiums out of boxes, took her reading contest medals, and made my parents stage medal ceremonies for me after I skid around our tiled kitchen with footie pajamas on or jumped off the end of the couch. I’m the girl who in fourth grade wrote fake news articles about Kristi Yamaguchi and playing kickball on the School #52 playground. I was the girl, who when my dance teacher let us do our own choreography, would jump around double-axel style and do cartwheels, trying to make my dance a sport. I got into hockey because it was the only sport (except for figure skating) I saw live on a regular basis. I never got into this because of guys. I got into it because I liked it, and continued it because in my childhood and adolescent quest to be the complete opposite of everyone else, it set me apart.
No, no guy should like me just because I’m going to sit down and watch Sportscenter with them or because I won’t bug them to pay more attention to me and not “the game.” I want a guy to like me because I’m cute, nice, successful, hysterical and a just-tolerable amount of perky. The sports stuff is just the icing on the cake.
With that out of the way, I would think that the fact that I’m sitting here in this outfit would say something. I’m not wearing some lacy camisole top with a fake tan talking on my cell phone. I’m not consulting SparkNotes. I’m completely down to earth. I’m wearing this cute little outfit, my hair in a cheerleader-type ponytail, and I don’t care that I look 16 and not 22 at this moment. And I can make a very convincing argument right now about why the Bills should draft a QB and not trade for Drew Henson and make a completely unconvincing, but completely hysterical argument about why Steve Young is better than Joe Montana.
You care about the type of cake, about if the consistency of the cake is moist or dry, sure. But don’t we look for the icing? As children, didn’t we always want the piece with the flowers because it had that extra icing?
So I guess what I’m saying is this: Sure, there are thousands of sweet, nice, funny, down-to-earth twenty-something girls out there for guys to pick from. But don’t I have that little something extra that makes me just that more interesting, appealing, tolerable? I’m not better than other girls, because they all have their own “icing,” but wouldn’t my interests point to something else, like a tolerance, laid-back-ness, a easy-going-ness that comes with it? Isn’t my “icing” appealing to anyone? It obviously isn’t, for I’ve been single since late 2002. It is now the middle of February 2004. Sure, I've had more at bats in the past year than I ever did before, but I've struck out on all of them.
Man, this article so sounds like it’s from Sex and the City. I apologize.
I’m not one to rant like this. I mean, I rant, but not about the stuff I’m feeling. I’m not sensitive like that. But I had to get it off my chest. Everyone wishes they had someone, even workaholic driven 22 year old seniors in college who don’t have the time for a boyfriend. And I’m wishing I had someone.
But give me my thesis, my jobs, my reading and my Sportscenter, and I’ll get over it tomorrow.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Rochestarians Are So Obviously Not Americans...and Other Thoughts
So I was planning to write this post on the I Love NY Gymnastics Cup, which was held at the good ol' 70s style Broome County Veteran's Memorial Arena tonight. I've been meaning to go to this for the last three years, and I figured this year, being my last here, would be as good of a time as ever. However, I kind of forgot that I work for a gift and video store, and that there is no way you can't be chained to such a place on Valentine's Day. So I didn't get to go. It's okay, because the store had a VERY successful day, and I made a lot of money. Yes, I'm greedy. Live with it.
However, seeing that I didn't get to go cheer on Penev's (formerly Eastside) Gymnastics, my old gym, I feel like I have nothing to write about. I planned all week to go to this and then write about it on my blog. Call it my good ol' sports journalistic aspirations. I was looking forward to that just for the fact that I could write it up on the blog. But, I'm going to have to Peter King this entry (no one is going to get that reference at all, I'm sorry) and do a random "Things I Think I Think," because people actually read this, and I imagine people would like to read a new entry.
So here are my random, somewhat sports related thoughts of the week:
-Mike Malarkey looks like Kevin Costner. I discovered this while watching Sportscenter on Thursday night. I pointed this out to my mother. "Oh my gosh!!! I never thought of it that way! I think I like him now." I, for one, did not know my mother enjoyed Kevin Costner, but I guess she does. Well, at least Malarkey now has one supporter in Western New York. The rest of us are still weary, including my father, who hates anything having to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The guy HATES them. His hatred is much like the one Red Sox fans hold for Yankees fans. An entertaining thing to do during my adolescence was to watch my father go off on seeing Terry Bradshaw on Fox NFL Sunday. Absolutely hysterical.
-I was at work in the office on Friday afternoon, and somehow I made the following statement to Sean (I forgot how we got to this point): "When I was a young teenager, my dream was to go to Brigham Young University, study journalism, get to cover the 2002 Winter Olympics, and become Student Body President my senior year there. And as Student Body President, I would get to introduce the commencement speaker, who would be Steve Young. Then he'd hire me to help him write his autobiography."
Wow, 14 year old me would be REALLY disappointed at my life now.
However, I give you this web site. Members of the Binghamton University community, I'd like at least one of my dreams to come true. Please take this into consideration. (I never ever went searching for this information--I was searching the web for some other government stuff and happened upon it. I think that's a sign.) All I've got to say is that if Ithaca College gets Scott Hamilton for what would of been my commencement if I had stayed, I WANT SOMEONE MEGA COOL.
-Rochester, NY is getting to be a horrible place to live. Example #456 would be the murder in front of my father's machine shop on Friday morning. Uh...Dad, I love you, and I know this is a great job and all, but...I'm not picking you up from work ever. (Why would I have to pick him up from work, you ask? Four drivers, one car. Do the math. If you want the car in the Hasenauer family, you gotta be willing to pick other people up.)
-Yes, I watched Thursday Night Hockey in the Great Room on the Mega-TV Thursday night. And yes, I was rudely tossed out by people who DID NOT BELIEVE I was watching hockey. This is 2004. Girls watch hockey. Last time I checked, my Room fee covered that TV as much as everybody else's. And I work for Residential Life. So really now people.
But that's not the point. The point is that I saw Jeremy Roenick shatter his jaw. That was scary. That was "Steve Young being leveled by Aeneas Williams" scary. The puck went flying from the face off, ricocheted off his cheek, and he just dropped to the ice and didn't move. Yuck. Yet, I still would allow any future children I may have to play hockey.
Marsha thinks I'm nuts. "I can't believe you'd let your kids play something that violent," Marsha told me after I was telling her about the injury.
"Why not? If I ever have a son, he's playing football in the fall, hockey in the winter, and Little League baseball in the spring." I answered.
"That's 'cause your American." she responded.
"No," I quipped back. "If I were American, it would be football, basketball and baseball. But because I'm from Rochester, NY, the basketball is replaced by hockey."
-On that tangent, I'm letting you all know now: Sam Hasenauer (my little brother) will be a starter on a Slamball team in 14 years. He likes to play basketball and he likes to jump on the bed.
-And on other Hasenauer family basketball related news, I made a shot from six feet into the wastepaper basket at work today with a flower stem. Uh-huh, I rock. That's my prime example of senioritis: wastepaper basketball at the store.
-Happy Valentine's Day. It's nights like this I wish I had a boyfriend. Or the NFL Network, which one of my friends keeps singing the praises of. Or all my tapes of the Olympics. (They're in the attic at home.) But really, I made a lot of people happy at work today, and because of that, I'm not at all bitter. People were happy, they had the cutest plans and the cutest stories and the best smiles. I love it.
And I've also found that when I'm feeling the need for a boyfriend, the best remedy is to look at my resume. Conceited? Just a little. But heck, I've worked my butt off for years. I deserve to feel a little egotistical at times.
I've got to get going. Marsha is begging us all to take pictures of her clubbing outfit. I'd join her out, but I'm so tired, one drop of alcohol would put me to sleep. That's what I get for running around doing deliveries all day. To bed and reading I go!
*****************************
Later: I just had to add this, because I thought it was pretty funny. I wanted to go to bed, but decided that it's a Saturday night, and I'm 22 years old, so I shouldn't go to bed before 1am. So I decide to keep myself up, instead of doing schoolwork (which might put me to sleep, and therefore, defeat my goal), I decide to play Madden. So I'm playing Madden (2002 Niners vs. 1994 Niners--because I wasn't feeling very creative tonight), and I miss a field goal. That's my favourite mini-camp drill to play, so that I missed it is disapointing. And so I say, "I'm pouting!" After I realize how I'm brooding, I turn to Regina and say, "I'm such a girlie girl when I play Madden."
And then I thought about what I had just said. I don't think the creators ever expected that sentance to come out of anyone's mouth while playing Madden.
(By the way, to further support this theory of my girlie girlness, I went back and did a field goal mini-camp drill and totally screwed up. It's just not my night with field goals. While I kept missing, I said, "Gosh, I'm going to throw a hissy fit." I'm so Legally Blonde at times that it's just not right.)
So I was planning to write this post on the I Love NY Gymnastics Cup, which was held at the good ol' 70s style Broome County Veteran's Memorial Arena tonight. I've been meaning to go to this for the last three years, and I figured this year, being my last here, would be as good of a time as ever. However, I kind of forgot that I work for a gift and video store, and that there is no way you can't be chained to such a place on Valentine's Day. So I didn't get to go. It's okay, because the store had a VERY successful day, and I made a lot of money. Yes, I'm greedy. Live with it.
However, seeing that I didn't get to go cheer on Penev's (formerly Eastside) Gymnastics, my old gym, I feel like I have nothing to write about. I planned all week to go to this and then write about it on my blog. Call it my good ol' sports journalistic aspirations. I was looking forward to that just for the fact that I could write it up on the blog. But, I'm going to have to Peter King this entry (no one is going to get that reference at all, I'm sorry) and do a random "Things I Think I Think," because people actually read this, and I imagine people would like to read a new entry.
So here are my random, somewhat sports related thoughts of the week:
-Mike Malarkey looks like Kevin Costner. I discovered this while watching Sportscenter on Thursday night. I pointed this out to my mother. "Oh my gosh!!! I never thought of it that way! I think I like him now." I, for one, did not know my mother enjoyed Kevin Costner, but I guess she does. Well, at least Malarkey now has one supporter in Western New York. The rest of us are still weary, including my father, who hates anything having to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The guy HATES them. His hatred is much like the one Red Sox fans hold for Yankees fans. An entertaining thing to do during my adolescence was to watch my father go off on seeing Terry Bradshaw on Fox NFL Sunday. Absolutely hysterical.
-I was at work in the office on Friday afternoon, and somehow I made the following statement to Sean (I forgot how we got to this point): "When I was a young teenager, my dream was to go to Brigham Young University, study journalism, get to cover the 2002 Winter Olympics, and become Student Body President my senior year there. And as Student Body President, I would get to introduce the commencement speaker, who would be Steve Young. Then he'd hire me to help him write his autobiography."
Wow, 14 year old me would be REALLY disappointed at my life now.
However, I give you this web site. Members of the Binghamton University community, I'd like at least one of my dreams to come true. Please take this into consideration. (I never ever went searching for this information--I was searching the web for some other government stuff and happened upon it. I think that's a sign.) All I've got to say is that if Ithaca College gets Scott Hamilton for what would of been my commencement if I had stayed, I WANT SOMEONE MEGA COOL.
-Rochester, NY is getting to be a horrible place to live. Example #456 would be the murder in front of my father's machine shop on Friday morning. Uh...Dad, I love you, and I know this is a great job and all, but...I'm not picking you up from work ever. (Why would I have to pick him up from work, you ask? Four drivers, one car. Do the math. If you want the car in the Hasenauer family, you gotta be willing to pick other people up.)
-Yes, I watched Thursday Night Hockey in the Great Room on the Mega-TV Thursday night. And yes, I was rudely tossed out by people who DID NOT BELIEVE I was watching hockey. This is 2004. Girls watch hockey. Last time I checked, my Room fee covered that TV as much as everybody else's. And I work for Residential Life. So really now people.
But that's not the point. The point is that I saw Jeremy Roenick shatter his jaw. That was scary. That was "Steve Young being leveled by Aeneas Williams" scary. The puck went flying from the face off, ricocheted off his cheek, and he just dropped to the ice and didn't move. Yuck. Yet, I still would allow any future children I may have to play hockey.
Marsha thinks I'm nuts. "I can't believe you'd let your kids play something that violent," Marsha told me after I was telling her about the injury.
"Why not? If I ever have a son, he's playing football in the fall, hockey in the winter, and Little League baseball in the spring." I answered.
"That's 'cause your American." she responded.
"No," I quipped back. "If I were American, it would be football, basketball and baseball. But because I'm from Rochester, NY, the basketball is replaced by hockey."
-On that tangent, I'm letting you all know now: Sam Hasenauer (my little brother) will be a starter on a Slamball team in 14 years. He likes to play basketball and he likes to jump on the bed.
-And on other Hasenauer family basketball related news, I made a shot from six feet into the wastepaper basket at work today with a flower stem. Uh-huh, I rock. That's my prime example of senioritis: wastepaper basketball at the store.
-Happy Valentine's Day. It's nights like this I wish I had a boyfriend. Or the NFL Network, which one of my friends keeps singing the praises of. Or all my tapes of the Olympics. (They're in the attic at home.) But really, I made a lot of people happy at work today, and because of that, I'm not at all bitter. People were happy, they had the cutest plans and the cutest stories and the best smiles. I love it.
And I've also found that when I'm feeling the need for a boyfriend, the best remedy is to look at my resume. Conceited? Just a little. But heck, I've worked my butt off for years. I deserve to feel a little egotistical at times.
I've got to get going. Marsha is begging us all to take pictures of her clubbing outfit. I'd join her out, but I'm so tired, one drop of alcohol would put me to sleep. That's what I get for running around doing deliveries all day. To bed and reading I go!
*****************************
Later: I just had to add this, because I thought it was pretty funny. I wanted to go to bed, but decided that it's a Saturday night, and I'm 22 years old, so I shouldn't go to bed before 1am. So I decide to keep myself up, instead of doing schoolwork (which might put me to sleep, and therefore, defeat my goal), I decide to play Madden. So I'm playing Madden (2002 Niners vs. 1994 Niners--because I wasn't feeling very creative tonight), and I miss a field goal. That's my favourite mini-camp drill to play, so that I missed it is disapointing. And so I say, "I'm pouting!" After I realize how I'm brooding, I turn to Regina and say, "I'm such a girlie girl when I play Madden."
And then I thought about what I had just said. I don't think the creators ever expected that sentance to come out of anyone's mouth while playing Madden.
(By the way, to further support this theory of my girlie girlness, I went back and did a field goal mini-camp drill and totally screwed up. It's just not my night with field goals. While I kept missing, I said, "Gosh, I'm going to throw a hissy fit." I'm so Legally Blonde at times that it's just not right.)
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Kat Goes to a BU Hockey Game...Alone
There is one thing about Rochester that I've always loved and that I always miss, and that's the sheer number of ice rinks, hockey teams, skating clubs, and the like--if it has to do with ice, we have it. I mean, we have at least 10-12 ice rinks in the area, and every one is always booked. There's always all this worry when new rinks open up, that older ones are going to feel it, but they never do. Everyone knows someone who plays hockey or figure skates or even curls (as in curling). My cousins play hockey, I've figure skated recreationally since I was young, and my father's tool shop has fourth row off center season tickets to the Amerks game that they divy up among the workers. This is a town where everyone my mom knows rushed to get digital cable after the Empire Network was moved from basic cable to the digital sports package, because you can't see Sabres and Amerks games anywhere else.
I hadn't seen a hockey game since last May, and while I was home, I didn't get to go because my father had to work late. I would of gone alone, but if he was working late, that means the car was called. (It stinks to have 1 car for 4 drivers. Really kinda does.) So, when someone illegally posted a flyer about a Binghamton University club hockey game on one of my bullitian boards, I was interested. It would cost less than a B Sens game, and direct transportation was available--the team was renting a bus to take fans to the rink. (Let me take an aside here and say that there are 3, count them, 3 indoor rinks in the Binghamton area: the Arena--which is just for concerts and the B Sens, the new BCC rink, and the Polar Cap in Chenango Bridge, 15-20 minutes outside of Binghamton, where the game was. There is one seasonal rink, but I don't have a clue where exactly it is. Now, compare this to Ithaca, where there were two indoor and one seasonal--which means, proportionally, I think Binghamton is out of wack.) So I decided this was how I was going to spend my Friday night.
Now, I tried to recruit people to come with me, but hockey isn't really a downstater thing. Actually, it's not really a "anyone not from Western NY, Minniesota, Michigan, and Canada" thing. So I went alone. I felt a bit odd--but then again, I've attended several sporting events alone, especially since moving to Binghamton (Binghamton is not the biggest sports campus in the world, unfortunately for me, apparently fortunately to everyone else on campus.)
Here are my most pressing observations about the game:
-The bus driver was late, old, a townie, and disgusting. He also charged us more than had been advertised.
-In talking with a girl who was also alone, but was going because her boyfriend was on the team, these games are popular among freshmen and sophmores under the age of 21 because the Polar Cap has a bar and their bartender must be especially bad at being able to pick out fakes. Hooray. My little orientees running around with NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOCKEY WHATSOEVER getting wasted on bad beer. It was true--most of the people there stayed in the bar area and drank the whole time with their backs turned away from the game. The bar area, however, was nicely heated...
-...but the arena was colder than outside. My aunt had warned me about this. Her sons (my cousins) play travel hockey, and have played in tournaments at the Polar Cap several times. "That is the coldest arena I have ever sat in--it's at least ten degrees colder than outside," she always says. It is--I was shivering and was forced in the bar area at times because I was chattering so much that I wasn't able to focus on the game.
-Note to all: PLEASE DO NOT MAKE OUT AT A HOCKEY GAME. I know that you need to keep warm, but please, don't do it that way. I am sitting in the stands, watching the third period, and this couple in front of me starts necking. Now, don't get me wrong, dinner, a hockey game and an evening of making out sounds pretty darn good to me. But don't mix the making out with the hockey game. I beg you. It's awkward.
-Funniest comment of the night: "I don't know about hockey. I do think we should win because we have prettier uniforms." -one of the many drunk freshmen. (And you thought I was shallow with my "5 Hottest QBs" List, but I have been beaten.)
-Second best: BU fans were seriously jeering the Syracuse goalie. A few rows up sat two girls cheering for Syracuse, and I think they had to be girlfriends of players. One girl yells down at the jeering fans at one point, "Can't you guys say anything NICE?!"
-Oh, the game. Okay, for one, this is seriously club hockey. These guys are...okay. I'm being nice. They are...obviously not ready for non-club hockey. But the game wasn't bad. Binghamton was on a nice scoring streak for a while in the second, and then the rhythm was broken by a BU guy crossing the crease and just completely leveling the Syracuse goalie. However, Syracuse is a pretty dirty team themselves, and those officials aren't exactly ready for prime-time work either. I haven't seen more blantant offenses not being called since the Cowboys used to beat up on the Niners in the 92 and 93 seasons. We won, 3-2. Binghamton totally mailed in the last period and was lucky to pull it out, because Syracuse came dangerously close with 30 seconds to go.
-On the way back, the bus stopped at the clubs downtown and house parties. Gotta love the drinking culture of this campus. Remember when I used to worry that Ithaca was becoming a party school? Well, gosh darn it, Binghamton has them beat by a ton. It's sad. Glad I only have 100 days left here.
All in all, it was enjoyable. I got my hockey fix, which was important. Next time, however, I'm wearing four layers instead of three, and I'm dragging someone--ANYONE! I don't like having to face my little drunken orientees by myself.
And next year, me and the Beanpot tournament have a date. GO TERRIERS...or wherever I end up going.
****
On this tangent, I must bring up a point. I was seriously checked out tonight by two Syracuse guys. Very flattering, because they were both pretty nice themselves. But it reaffirms my new theory. See, I go home to Rochester, and I get checked out. Guys seriously hit on me. New Year's was a prime example. So is going to Wegmans (Wegmans is a prime pick-up location in the Rochester area, in particular the one on East Ave.) At Ithaca, I had several interested guys. Whenever I'm up in Boston, I seriously get hit on and checked out.
And then I come here, and nothing. I couldn't get a Binghamton guy to look at me if I walked by offering free beer. And my theory is this: Bing guys just don't like me. I'm definitely a Western New Yorker--from what I wear and my lack of serious blonde highlights up to the minute I open my mouth. Unless I want to walk around doing my Allie Hilfiger impression (which, I must say, is quite good--for those of you not aware, there was a show on MTV called "Rich Girls," and it followed the daughter of Tommy Hilfiger and her best friend around for a summer. It was the best show MTV has ever made. My family had "Rich Girls" nights over break. My father loves the show because he thinks I look like Allie Hilfiger. I really don't, but I'll take what I can get.) and get blonde highlights and not snarl anytime someone mentions how absolutely wonderful Manhattan is, I don't think I will ever appeal to these Binghamton guys. They want downstaters. Even the upstaters want downstaters. And they have downstater radar or something. I'm obviously attractive to guys in a number of other geographic areas, just not here.
Something to think about...
There is one thing about Rochester that I've always loved and that I always miss, and that's the sheer number of ice rinks, hockey teams, skating clubs, and the like--if it has to do with ice, we have it. I mean, we have at least 10-12 ice rinks in the area, and every one is always booked. There's always all this worry when new rinks open up, that older ones are going to feel it, but they never do. Everyone knows someone who plays hockey or figure skates or even curls (as in curling). My cousins play hockey, I've figure skated recreationally since I was young, and my father's tool shop has fourth row off center season tickets to the Amerks game that they divy up among the workers. This is a town where everyone my mom knows rushed to get digital cable after the Empire Network was moved from basic cable to the digital sports package, because you can't see Sabres and Amerks games anywhere else.
I hadn't seen a hockey game since last May, and while I was home, I didn't get to go because my father had to work late. I would of gone alone, but if he was working late, that means the car was called. (It stinks to have 1 car for 4 drivers. Really kinda does.) So, when someone illegally posted a flyer about a Binghamton University club hockey game on one of my bullitian boards, I was interested. It would cost less than a B Sens game, and direct transportation was available--the team was renting a bus to take fans to the rink. (Let me take an aside here and say that there are 3, count them, 3 indoor rinks in the Binghamton area: the Arena--which is just for concerts and the B Sens, the new BCC rink, and the Polar Cap in Chenango Bridge, 15-20 minutes outside of Binghamton, where the game was. There is one seasonal rink, but I don't have a clue where exactly it is. Now, compare this to Ithaca, where there were two indoor and one seasonal--which means, proportionally, I think Binghamton is out of wack.) So I decided this was how I was going to spend my Friday night.
Now, I tried to recruit people to come with me, but hockey isn't really a downstater thing. Actually, it's not really a "anyone not from Western NY, Minniesota, Michigan, and Canada" thing. So I went alone. I felt a bit odd--but then again, I've attended several sporting events alone, especially since moving to Binghamton (Binghamton is not the biggest sports campus in the world, unfortunately for me, apparently fortunately to everyone else on campus.)
Here are my most pressing observations about the game:
-The bus driver was late, old, a townie, and disgusting. He also charged us more than had been advertised.
-In talking with a girl who was also alone, but was going because her boyfriend was on the team, these games are popular among freshmen and sophmores under the age of 21 because the Polar Cap has a bar and their bartender must be especially bad at being able to pick out fakes. Hooray. My little orientees running around with NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOCKEY WHATSOEVER getting wasted on bad beer. It was true--most of the people there stayed in the bar area and drank the whole time with their backs turned away from the game. The bar area, however, was nicely heated...
-...but the arena was colder than outside. My aunt had warned me about this. Her sons (my cousins) play travel hockey, and have played in tournaments at the Polar Cap several times. "That is the coldest arena I have ever sat in--it's at least ten degrees colder than outside," she always says. It is--I was shivering and was forced in the bar area at times because I was chattering so much that I wasn't able to focus on the game.
-Note to all: PLEASE DO NOT MAKE OUT AT A HOCKEY GAME. I know that you need to keep warm, but please, don't do it that way. I am sitting in the stands, watching the third period, and this couple in front of me starts necking. Now, don't get me wrong, dinner, a hockey game and an evening of making out sounds pretty darn good to me. But don't mix the making out with the hockey game. I beg you. It's awkward.
-Funniest comment of the night: "I don't know about hockey. I do think we should win because we have prettier uniforms." -one of the many drunk freshmen. (And you thought I was shallow with my "5 Hottest QBs" List, but I have been beaten.)
-Second best: BU fans were seriously jeering the Syracuse goalie. A few rows up sat two girls cheering for Syracuse, and I think they had to be girlfriends of players. One girl yells down at the jeering fans at one point, "Can't you guys say anything NICE?!"
-Oh, the game. Okay, for one, this is seriously club hockey. These guys are...okay. I'm being nice. They are...obviously not ready for non-club hockey. But the game wasn't bad. Binghamton was on a nice scoring streak for a while in the second, and then the rhythm was broken by a BU guy crossing the crease and just completely leveling the Syracuse goalie. However, Syracuse is a pretty dirty team themselves, and those officials aren't exactly ready for prime-time work either. I haven't seen more blantant offenses not being called since the Cowboys used to beat up on the Niners in the 92 and 93 seasons. We won, 3-2. Binghamton totally mailed in the last period and was lucky to pull it out, because Syracuse came dangerously close with 30 seconds to go.
-On the way back, the bus stopped at the clubs downtown and house parties. Gotta love the drinking culture of this campus. Remember when I used to worry that Ithaca was becoming a party school? Well, gosh darn it, Binghamton has them beat by a ton. It's sad. Glad I only have 100 days left here.
All in all, it was enjoyable. I got my hockey fix, which was important. Next time, however, I'm wearing four layers instead of three, and I'm dragging someone--ANYONE! I don't like having to face my little drunken orientees by myself.
And next year, me and the Beanpot tournament have a date. GO TERRIERS...or wherever I end up going.
****
On this tangent, I must bring up a point. I was seriously checked out tonight by two Syracuse guys. Very flattering, because they were both pretty nice themselves. But it reaffirms my new theory. See, I go home to Rochester, and I get checked out. Guys seriously hit on me. New Year's was a prime example. So is going to Wegmans (Wegmans is a prime pick-up location in the Rochester area, in particular the one on East Ave.) At Ithaca, I had several interested guys. Whenever I'm up in Boston, I seriously get hit on and checked out.
And then I come here, and nothing. I couldn't get a Binghamton guy to look at me if I walked by offering free beer. And my theory is this: Bing guys just don't like me. I'm definitely a Western New Yorker--from what I wear and my lack of serious blonde highlights up to the minute I open my mouth. Unless I want to walk around doing my Allie Hilfiger impression (which, I must say, is quite good--for those of you not aware, there was a show on MTV called "Rich Girls," and it followed the daughter of Tommy Hilfiger and her best friend around for a summer. It was the best show MTV has ever made. My family had "Rich Girls" nights over break. My father loves the show because he thinks I look like Allie Hilfiger. I really don't, but I'll take what I can get.) and get blonde highlights and not snarl anytime someone mentions how absolutely wonderful Manhattan is, I don't think I will ever appeal to these Binghamton guys. They want downstaters. Even the upstaters want downstaters. And they have downstater radar or something. I'm obviously attractive to guys in a number of other geographic areas, just not here.
Something to think about...
Monday, February 02, 2004
Okay, screw it, I forgive the blond highlights. The guy has now won more Super Bowl MVP awards than Steve Young. Therefore, I officially give Tom Brady spot #2 on my list of Hot QBs. Sorry, Mark Brunell.
Give me a few days, and I will tell you about what watching the Super Bowl in somewhat football naive suite 115 was like.
Give me a few days, and I will tell you about what watching the Super Bowl in somewhat football naive suite 115 was like.
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Okay, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and I'm taking a break from becoming a permanent fixture in the common room love seat and having my hand stuck to the remote to amend my "Kat's 5 Hottest QBs of All Time" List.
One, I realised that Tom Brady highlights his hair. Uhhh...he's staying in #3, maybe going back a spot just for that. A NFL Quarterback is not allowed to be a metrosexual. I'm sorry. I've highlighted my hair myself once. I've never gotten it done professionally (or even by my mom, who I would consider semi-pro because she did go to cosmatology school for a bit back in the mid-70s). I don't have the time or paitence or desire required to get it done. And I'm a pretty girly girl when it comes to appearance. So...yeah. Minus points for that one.
Two, I feel like I should differenciate between "hot" and "sexy." Steve Young is "hot." He is not, however, "sexy." In Katherine World, "hot" equals handsome (it's just shorter to type) and "sexy" means "I wouldn't mind having sex with him." For many reasons that you can figure out, Steve Young is not "sexy." And no, I am not going to tell you who I think is sexy, because that is a topic for another day...or not. Maybe.
Three, (and this is a big one), I need to add someone onto my list. Marsha and I discovered him during CBS's HORRENDOUS (I mean, it's really really really bad) pre-game show earlier this afternoon. Kyle Boller of the Ravens. He has to be the cutest thing ever. So adorable. Oh my gosh. I hate the Ravens, because I hate Ray Lewis (I am so my dad's daughter), but man, I may have to watch them in secret if Boller comes back to start. I don't know exactly where he fits on this list, because, well, he's an unproven QB, and I feel that you have to be at least mildly successful to be placed on the list (I know what you're going to say, and here's my response: Steve Walsh was successful for a year.) But if he does start and do well at some point, Boller's getting added. Maybe above Brunell. Yeah, he'd be #2. He's better than Brunell. Yeah, wow, he is. Wooooowwwww. Told Sara to keep an eye out, since she is my favourite Maryland-ite, and I think she would enjoy him very much.
Okay, really, I should do work before the Super Bowl starts. Darn ESPN, why can't they have a seven hour long pregame. I hate CBS's. I don't care about freaken Crank Yankers and "the Frankinstein of NFL Players." No. I want football. And please go easy on the sad features--I wept my eyes out at the Trent Dilfer piece on ESPN earlier. I can't handle stories like that at all.
Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
One, I realised that Tom Brady highlights his hair. Uhhh...he's staying in #3, maybe going back a spot just for that. A NFL Quarterback is not allowed to be a metrosexual. I'm sorry. I've highlighted my hair myself once. I've never gotten it done professionally (or even by my mom, who I would consider semi-pro because she did go to cosmatology school for a bit back in the mid-70s). I don't have the time or paitence or desire required to get it done. And I'm a pretty girly girl when it comes to appearance. So...yeah. Minus points for that one.
Two, I feel like I should differenciate between "hot" and "sexy." Steve Young is "hot." He is not, however, "sexy." In Katherine World, "hot" equals handsome (it's just shorter to type) and "sexy" means "I wouldn't mind having sex with him." For many reasons that you can figure out, Steve Young is not "sexy." And no, I am not going to tell you who I think is sexy, because that is a topic for another day...or not. Maybe.
Three, (and this is a big one), I need to add someone onto my list. Marsha and I discovered him during CBS's HORRENDOUS (I mean, it's really really really bad) pre-game show earlier this afternoon. Kyle Boller of the Ravens. He has to be the cutest thing ever. So adorable. Oh my gosh. I hate the Ravens, because I hate Ray Lewis (I am so my dad's daughter), but man, I may have to watch them in secret if Boller comes back to start. I don't know exactly where he fits on this list, because, well, he's an unproven QB, and I feel that you have to be at least mildly successful to be placed on the list (I know what you're going to say, and here's my response: Steve Walsh was successful for a year.) But if he does start and do well at some point, Boller's getting added. Maybe above Brunell. Yeah, he'd be #2. He's better than Brunell. Yeah, wow, he is. Wooooowwwww. Told Sara to keep an eye out, since she is my favourite Maryland-ite, and I think she would enjoy him very much.
Okay, really, I should do work before the Super Bowl starts. Darn ESPN, why can't they have a seven hour long pregame. I hate CBS's. I don't care about freaken Crank Yankers and "the Frankinstein of NFL Players." No. I want football. And please go easy on the sad features--I wept my eyes out at the Trent Dilfer piece on ESPN earlier. I can't handle stories like that at all.
Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Okay, so I went to brush my teeth and get ready to bed on Friday night. And for some reason I started thinking about eighth grade. (I know, pretty darn random.) Specifically, I remember my homeroom/math teacher asking me what other quarterbacks I liked other than Steve Young. And I remember having two QBs to answer him with, one of whom was Mark Brunell, who was in his first year with the Jaguars. But I was completely blanking on who the other was I mentioned. I knew he played with the Bears…but not for too long…
So this was super bugging me, so I went back to my room, opened up the laptop, and looked up Bears quarterbacks, and I found him: Steve Walsh. Anyway, I crawled into my bed and started making a list of all the quarterbacks I’ve ever liked--I mean, well, okay thought was hot--over the years. And while number one is such a given that I shouldn’t even mention it, the others might surprise you.
And I’ll say it to start off: I know this is petty. I know I sound like a drooling girl. However, you have to understand why I got into football in the first place: when the other girls were watching Home Improvement to gaggle over JTT and drooling over Zach Morris on Saved by the Bell, I was watching Fox NFL Sunday. These are who I had my little girl celebrity crushes on. This is why I got into football in the first place.
So without further adu…
KAT’S TOP 5 HOTTEST NFL QUARTERBACKS OF ALL TIME
(well, from 1992-today)
5) Tie:
Steve Walsh
Okay, he wasn’t the most memorable quarterback ever. He started for the Bears in 1994 and played in the divisional playoff game against the 49ers where the Niners just ripped them to shreds and where Steve Young ran in for a touchdown in the second quarter and spiked the ball (the only time Steve Young taunted that I remember). And then he was replaced the next year with Erik Kramer, who I thought was so not hot. (Remember that the year was 1994. I make no apologies for my reasoning at the time.) Before that he played with the Saints. He never really did anything memorable, except that if you think about it, taking the Bears to the playoffs is a pretty darn big deal considering that they’ve stunk more times lately than they’ve done well.
I would tell you more about him, except I went to go find my football card of his I could of sworn I had this morning and I couldn’t find it. So Dad, if you’re reading this, can you look through the cards I left with you at home and see if you can find it? Thanks.
Older Brett Favre
Yes, I’m coming out and saying it: I now think Brett Favre is good looking. Now, mind you, I’ve spent the last ten years hating him. And then over break, I’m watching TV with my Mom, and the MasterCard “Monday Morning Quarter-backs” commercial comes on, and we both look at each other. “Wow, he’s gotten better looking as he’s gotten older.” she said. I just stared at the tv. He’s not bad. Not at all. And he’s not a bad QB. I mean, he has set millions of records, and he does seem to always get the job done…well, except in the divisional playoffs two weeks ago, but that was a rare occurrence. I mean, if he didn’t always beat the Niners, maybe I would have been able to overcome my disgust a while ago, but no, he always wins. And that’s annoying. But he’s hot. But I’m not putting any pictures up or anything. It doesn’t run that deep. Maybe if he lost to the Niners a few times, I could move him up a few spaces…but nah.
Hey, I just realized something. Both of my number 5s wore/wear number 4. So maybe they should be number 4, and then number one on this list could be number 0...but nah.
4) Marc Bulger
The 2003 Quarterback Challenge. Watch it. Find pictures from it. Drool with me.
The Quarterback Challenge, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is broadcast around the end of July every year (usually on the weekend of my Dad’s birthday). It’s the stupidest event ever, I think just a chance to hype up the preseason. They get some of the most popular quarterbacks of the last few years and they compete against each other in events such as “Throw the Ball at the Golf Cart--I mean, Moving Target!” But the good thing is that they are all looking extra good. Maybe it’s the summer tan. Maybe it’s the fact that they don’t have helmet hair. Well, anyway, I watched it for the first time in two years this summer, and while I had found Bulger attractive before, this really did me in. Great stuff. Oh, and he didn’t do too bad either.
3)Tom Brady
He’s a new addition, thanks to my friend Caitlin and our discussion while waiting for the commuter rail to her house a few weeks back. I knew he was good looking, (Caitlin e-mailed me several times after the Patriots won the Super Bowl back in 2002 and talked about how incredibly hot he was. I’m a Bills fan, so I didn’t really care at the time.) However, once I paid a little more attention to him, the more I realized he may be hot. He’s also a very consistent quarterback. And even if the offense isn’t as flashy as I’d like, he does pass the ball (and unlike the Bills, people CATCH it. I mean, what a concept, throwing when you have receivers. The opposite would also work, you know, Mr. Gilbride. Like if you don’t have healthy receivers, don’t pass. Maybe run the ball. Maybe think once and a while. Sorry, that was a random Bills rant.) Not as much running it in for the touchdown. Short passes for big gains and touchdowns. Nice stuff, I enjoy it.
Brady now adorns my desktop wallpaper. When my suitemates decided that plastering the common room with Orlando Bloom might be an acceptable idea for this semester (they haven’t done it yet), I asked if we could make a little space for Tom. Seeing that I’m moving to Boston in T minus four months, he may make it further on this list soon. I don’t know though.
2) Mark Brunell
Okay, so I have a thing for guys who are left handed. Maybe it’s that I hold my utensils like a lefty? I don’t know. Well, anyway, I’ve thought he was hot since eighth grade. I heard all of these comparisons saying that Brunell was the next Young, that they both could be running backs, that they were both leftys, and so I decided to check it out. Mark Brunell has continuously been good, but it always feels like he’s forgotten. Like you had Young, Favre, Elway, Bledsoe, Aikman…and then Brunell just kind of did just as well, but never really could get fully recognized. I hope he finds a good home somewhere (man, I sound like I’m talking about a dog up for adoption or something.) Plus, he did a football card once with Steve Young. I don’t have it, but I remember seeing a feature on it on that kids NFL show that used to be on. I wanted that card blown up poster size and placed next to my bed, or better yet, on my ceiling. Ahh, to be fourteen again…or not.
1) Steve Young
Okay, I won’t ramble. We all know my feelings on him. Super good player, super good analyst, super hot guy. But, although he’s number one, he does have his downsides, the biggest one being that he’s Republican. Boo. Besides that, though, he is wicked hot. And he was the best quarterback ever, and not just because he was hot. He was way too much fun to watch. I mean, sure, he backed off running as he got concussion ridden, but back in 1994, he was so much fun. He could throw to Rice, hand it off to Watters, or just run it himself. And they would score no matter what. True, his supporting cast had a lot to do with it, but I think his team leadership did more for that team than sometimes his performance. Remember when the Niners lost to the Eagles in 94, and Young was wicked angry and just went off on Seifert? And from that game on, the tone on that team changed.
So maybe Favre, Montana, McNabb, whoever can set more records, call more audibles, win more Super Bowls, rush for more yards in the postseason, all of that. Maybe Young wouldn’t of done all of this without people like Rice, Hearst, Stokes, Owens (blech), and his line. But you know what? I think he would of. He did go without Rice for a season. And I think those players came there and wanted to stay there because of Young. They knew that in scrunch time, he could put it together.
I rest my case. You will never convince me differently. (Well…I do no longer think he’s the sexiest man alive. I thought I’d think that forever. So…nah. That’s my only concession. He’ll always be up there in everything else.)
So there you are, my top five hottest quarterbacks of all time. I’m sorry Kit, that I mentioned the Brett man. I had to get it off my chest. If you have any additions, feel more than free to give them to me.
BONUS: Oh, and for the over-40 set out there, I present my Mom’s Hottest Three NFL Quarterbacks of all time (complied from years of my mom walking into the living room while my Dad and I watched football).
In no particular order (yet--I’ll ask her): Jeff Hostetler (Raiders), Brett Favre, and Flannel-Shirt-Wearing-With-Sixteen-Kids-Buffalo-Era Drew Bledsoe.
So this was super bugging me, so I went back to my room, opened up the laptop, and looked up Bears quarterbacks, and I found him: Steve Walsh. Anyway, I crawled into my bed and started making a list of all the quarterbacks I’ve ever liked--I mean, well, okay thought was hot--over the years. And while number one is such a given that I shouldn’t even mention it, the others might surprise you.
And I’ll say it to start off: I know this is petty. I know I sound like a drooling girl. However, you have to understand why I got into football in the first place: when the other girls were watching Home Improvement to gaggle over JTT and drooling over Zach Morris on Saved by the Bell, I was watching Fox NFL Sunday. These are who I had my little girl celebrity crushes on. This is why I got into football in the first place.
So without further adu…
KAT’S TOP 5 HOTTEST NFL QUARTERBACKS OF ALL TIME
(well, from 1992-today)
5) Tie:
Steve Walsh
Okay, he wasn’t the most memorable quarterback ever. He started for the Bears in 1994 and played in the divisional playoff game against the 49ers where the Niners just ripped them to shreds and where Steve Young ran in for a touchdown in the second quarter and spiked the ball (the only time Steve Young taunted that I remember). And then he was replaced the next year with Erik Kramer, who I thought was so not hot. (Remember that the year was 1994. I make no apologies for my reasoning at the time.) Before that he played with the Saints. He never really did anything memorable, except that if you think about it, taking the Bears to the playoffs is a pretty darn big deal considering that they’ve stunk more times lately than they’ve done well.
I would tell you more about him, except I went to go find my football card of his I could of sworn I had this morning and I couldn’t find it. So Dad, if you’re reading this, can you look through the cards I left with you at home and see if you can find it? Thanks.
Older Brett Favre
Yes, I’m coming out and saying it: I now think Brett Favre is good looking. Now, mind you, I’ve spent the last ten years hating him. And then over break, I’m watching TV with my Mom, and the MasterCard “Monday Morning Quarter-backs” commercial comes on, and we both look at each other. “Wow, he’s gotten better looking as he’s gotten older.” she said. I just stared at the tv. He’s not bad. Not at all. And he’s not a bad QB. I mean, he has set millions of records, and he does seem to always get the job done…well, except in the divisional playoffs two weeks ago, but that was a rare occurrence. I mean, if he didn’t always beat the Niners, maybe I would have been able to overcome my disgust a while ago, but no, he always wins. And that’s annoying. But he’s hot. But I’m not putting any pictures up or anything. It doesn’t run that deep. Maybe if he lost to the Niners a few times, I could move him up a few spaces…but nah.
Hey, I just realized something. Both of my number 5s wore/wear number 4. So maybe they should be number 4, and then number one on this list could be number 0...but nah.
4) Marc Bulger
The 2003 Quarterback Challenge. Watch it. Find pictures from it. Drool with me.
The Quarterback Challenge, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is broadcast around the end of July every year (usually on the weekend of my Dad’s birthday). It’s the stupidest event ever, I think just a chance to hype up the preseason. They get some of the most popular quarterbacks of the last few years and they compete against each other in events such as “Throw the Ball at the Golf Cart--I mean, Moving Target!” But the good thing is that they are all looking extra good. Maybe it’s the summer tan. Maybe it’s the fact that they don’t have helmet hair. Well, anyway, I watched it for the first time in two years this summer, and while I had found Bulger attractive before, this really did me in. Great stuff. Oh, and he didn’t do too bad either.
3)Tom Brady
He’s a new addition, thanks to my friend Caitlin and our discussion while waiting for the commuter rail to her house a few weeks back. I knew he was good looking, (Caitlin e-mailed me several times after the Patriots won the Super Bowl back in 2002 and talked about how incredibly hot he was. I’m a Bills fan, so I didn’t really care at the time.) However, once I paid a little more attention to him, the more I realized he may be hot. He’s also a very consistent quarterback. And even if the offense isn’t as flashy as I’d like, he does pass the ball (and unlike the Bills, people CATCH it. I mean, what a concept, throwing when you have receivers. The opposite would also work, you know, Mr. Gilbride. Like if you don’t have healthy receivers, don’t pass. Maybe run the ball. Maybe think once and a while. Sorry, that was a random Bills rant.) Not as much running it in for the touchdown. Short passes for big gains and touchdowns. Nice stuff, I enjoy it.
Brady now adorns my desktop wallpaper. When my suitemates decided that plastering the common room with Orlando Bloom might be an acceptable idea for this semester (they haven’t done it yet), I asked if we could make a little space for Tom. Seeing that I’m moving to Boston in T minus four months, he may make it further on this list soon. I don’t know though.
2) Mark Brunell
Okay, so I have a thing for guys who are left handed. Maybe it’s that I hold my utensils like a lefty? I don’t know. Well, anyway, I’ve thought he was hot since eighth grade. I heard all of these comparisons saying that Brunell was the next Young, that they both could be running backs, that they were both leftys, and so I decided to check it out. Mark Brunell has continuously been good, but it always feels like he’s forgotten. Like you had Young, Favre, Elway, Bledsoe, Aikman…and then Brunell just kind of did just as well, but never really could get fully recognized. I hope he finds a good home somewhere (man, I sound like I’m talking about a dog up for adoption or something.) Plus, he did a football card once with Steve Young. I don’t have it, but I remember seeing a feature on it on that kids NFL show that used to be on. I wanted that card blown up poster size and placed next to my bed, or better yet, on my ceiling. Ahh, to be fourteen again…or not.
1) Steve Young
Okay, I won’t ramble. We all know my feelings on him. Super good player, super good analyst, super hot guy. But, although he’s number one, he does have his downsides, the biggest one being that he’s Republican. Boo. Besides that, though, he is wicked hot. And he was the best quarterback ever, and not just because he was hot. He was way too much fun to watch. I mean, sure, he backed off running as he got concussion ridden, but back in 1994, he was so much fun. He could throw to Rice, hand it off to Watters, or just run it himself. And they would score no matter what. True, his supporting cast had a lot to do with it, but I think his team leadership did more for that team than sometimes his performance. Remember when the Niners lost to the Eagles in 94, and Young was wicked angry and just went off on Seifert? And from that game on, the tone on that team changed.
So maybe Favre, Montana, McNabb, whoever can set more records, call more audibles, win more Super Bowls, rush for more yards in the postseason, all of that. Maybe Young wouldn’t of done all of this without people like Rice, Hearst, Stokes, Owens (blech), and his line. But you know what? I think he would of. He did go without Rice for a season. And I think those players came there and wanted to stay there because of Young. They knew that in scrunch time, he could put it together.
I rest my case. You will never convince me differently. (Well…I do no longer think he’s the sexiest man alive. I thought I’d think that forever. So…nah. That’s my only concession. He’ll always be up there in everything else.)
So there you are, my top five hottest quarterbacks of all time. I’m sorry Kit, that I mentioned the Brett man. I had to get it off my chest. If you have any additions, feel more than free to give them to me.
BONUS: Oh, and for the over-40 set out there, I present my Mom’s Hottest Three NFL Quarterbacks of all time (complied from years of my mom walking into the living room while my Dad and I watched football).
In no particular order (yet--I’ll ask her): Jeff Hostetler (Raiders), Brett Favre, and Flannel-Shirt-Wearing-With-Sixteen-Kids-Buffalo-Era Drew Bledsoe.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Ah-ha, I'm back. If this entry had to have a title, it would be, "Kat's First Ever Vacation."
Yes, last Thursday and Friday I traveled to Boston all by myself, to look at grad schools and to get away. I mean, this was a chance for me to run far away from all the work I've done and still have to do for a 48 hour span. I had no computer access, and I couldn't bring my work with me due to limited luggage space. So the trip served that duel function. I was wicked nervous before I left--yes, I've been to Boston before, and largely did that trip by myself (due to my falling out with the IC Model United Nations team), but still--could I get through this major city all by myself? And I was frightened that my inital love of it back in 2001 was a fluke and that I'd get there and absolutely hate it and have to start all over again in my search for graduate programs.
How was it?
It was only the best time I've ever had.
If this city is this much fun alone, then I can't even imagine what it must be like with a group of people.
I fell in love with Boston University. I love that school. Words can not express how much I am in love with that school. The admissions department in the School of Education are some of the nicest and welcoming people I have ever met during the whole college search process (and I'm on the third college search process of my life). I would be honoured to attend that program. For you Binghamtonites out there, there is a bubble tea place right across the street from the College of Arts and Sciences building. The bookstore, like Binghamton's, is a Barnes and Noble, but it's a real Barnes and Noble. We're talking with the cafe and interior and everything. The residence halls are absolutely amazing--all quaint and historic and an art history minor's dream. I hope they are reading this. PLEASE ACCEPT ME TO YOUR SCHOOL!
I also love Harvard, although I didn't get to meet with anyone there. The Graduate School of Education is on one little side street across from...where is that, perpendicular to where HMV used to be in Cambridge. Oh, that street where Fire and Ice is. (Okay, like no one knows what I'm talking about. Fire and Ice is this wayyyy overpriced but way cool restaurant that I went to with the Model UN team back in 2001, and in order to make my way around Cambridge the day after we ate there, I had to relate everything to that restaurant and the bead store across the street.) So that's where Harvard GSE is. And it looks very nice, and the students around the buildings looked and seemed very nice and dedicated. While I love BU, my dream since I knew what college was and knew that I wanted to go to college has been to be accepted to Harvard. So I'm going to try. And the area is fantastic (even though I still don't understand why there are like three Au Bon Pains in the immediate Harvard Square area. I think that one big one is enough...but I like that place, so I won't complain.)
Northeastern was the site of my favourite food expierence of my trip. Nice school, great buildings, mad busy for the beginning of August (but they are on quarters not semesters, so I think that's why--but they're going to semesters soon)...and then I went to lunch at Gregory's, which is this little deli across the street and down some. The guys that run the place were entirely way too nice for their own good. I was overly tired right then, and hadn't eaten in hours (I had been up since 9am Wed, and this was at 12:30 on Thursday...I had caught about 3 hours of sleep on the red eye bus I had taken, but they weren't the best hours of sleep), but they had me laughing, and by the end of lunch, I knew I'd be able to make it till I got back to my hotel that evening. I intend on trying to go back there everytime I go to Boston, and eventually when I live there, I will try to get there as much as I can. They had loyal customers stopping in who seemed to absolutely love them, and I know why.
Suffolk Universtiy was cool in that it is right near the State House, meaning that it is amazingly political around there. I had this feeling I was passing important people as I made my way up the hill to find graduate admissions. There are a lot of cute eateries around there (what can I say, I enjoy restaurants too much), and Filenes' Basement is within walking distance. I didn't get there this time (that's the one place I'm dying to get to and haven't yet), but that it is within walking distance (along with H&M) of Suffolk earns the university bonus points. It also seems like they are completely redoing some of the residential areas around there in an a revitalization effort, which can be good. And Boston Common is right there.
I also got to see Fenway Park (I didn't get to go to a game, but I got to walk by it after Friday's first game, and got to get hit on by a drunken Red Sox fan). I also got to go to FAO Schwartz, the store I want my children to be exposed to early and often, and the rest of Bolyston and Newbury Street (the coolest place to shop ever created--well, if you have money. If you don't, it's fun to walk around and gawk-without-gawking.) I also went to the Prudential Center (a nice mall), and walked past the Park Plaza (the way expensive and fancy hotel I stayed in my first time in Boston). I also found places I need to visit the next time I'm there (MIT--I had to switch trains once and found myself there with no time to walk around and look--but the area looked great). And then, of course, no trip is complete without...finding a supermarket and seeing if it lives up to Wegmans. I did find one, Shaw's, that did live up to Wegmans. I was impressed--the one I went to had its own wine section, something I don't even think the Pittsford Wegmans has. It was very nice.
So, all in all, I fell more in love with Boston that I thought I ever could. I hate to admit this, but I teared up when I got to South Station to leave on Friday night. I want to live in Boston. When I was 10, my aunt (who was from the Cape) told me, "Katie, I want to take you up to Boston because you'd love it. You're a Boston girl, I just know it." And she was right. That's where I want to be, and the possibility of moving there in a year is an amazing feeling. A lot of my friends have fallen in love with New York City, and can't picture not living there, and I could never understand their feelings until last week. I now have those same feelings about Boston.
So if anyone ever wants to take a jaunt up to Boston, you have a travel partner. (Oh, and if anyone is thinking of going to grad school up there in Fall 2004, let me know.)
Yes, last Thursday and Friday I traveled to Boston all by myself, to look at grad schools and to get away. I mean, this was a chance for me to run far away from all the work I've done and still have to do for a 48 hour span. I had no computer access, and I couldn't bring my work with me due to limited luggage space. So the trip served that duel function. I was wicked nervous before I left--yes, I've been to Boston before, and largely did that trip by myself (due to my falling out with the IC Model United Nations team), but still--could I get through this major city all by myself? And I was frightened that my inital love of it back in 2001 was a fluke and that I'd get there and absolutely hate it and have to start all over again in my search for graduate programs.
How was it?
It was only the best time I've ever had.
If this city is this much fun alone, then I can't even imagine what it must be like with a group of people.
I fell in love with Boston University. I love that school. Words can not express how much I am in love with that school. The admissions department in the School of Education are some of the nicest and welcoming people I have ever met during the whole college search process (and I'm on the third college search process of my life). I would be honoured to attend that program. For you Binghamtonites out there, there is a bubble tea place right across the street from the College of Arts and Sciences building. The bookstore, like Binghamton's, is a Barnes and Noble, but it's a real Barnes and Noble. We're talking with the cafe and interior and everything. The residence halls are absolutely amazing--all quaint and historic and an art history minor's dream. I hope they are reading this. PLEASE ACCEPT ME TO YOUR SCHOOL!
I also love Harvard, although I didn't get to meet with anyone there. The Graduate School of Education is on one little side street across from...where is that, perpendicular to where HMV used to be in Cambridge. Oh, that street where Fire and Ice is. (Okay, like no one knows what I'm talking about. Fire and Ice is this wayyyy overpriced but way cool restaurant that I went to with the Model UN team back in 2001, and in order to make my way around Cambridge the day after we ate there, I had to relate everything to that restaurant and the bead store across the street.) So that's where Harvard GSE is. And it looks very nice, and the students around the buildings looked and seemed very nice and dedicated. While I love BU, my dream since I knew what college was and knew that I wanted to go to college has been to be accepted to Harvard. So I'm going to try. And the area is fantastic (even though I still don't understand why there are like three Au Bon Pains in the immediate Harvard Square area. I think that one big one is enough...but I like that place, so I won't complain.)
Northeastern was the site of my favourite food expierence of my trip. Nice school, great buildings, mad busy for the beginning of August (but they are on quarters not semesters, so I think that's why--but they're going to semesters soon)...and then I went to lunch at Gregory's, which is this little deli across the street and down some. The guys that run the place were entirely way too nice for their own good. I was overly tired right then, and hadn't eaten in hours (I had been up since 9am Wed, and this was at 12:30 on Thursday...I had caught about 3 hours of sleep on the red eye bus I had taken, but they weren't the best hours of sleep), but they had me laughing, and by the end of lunch, I knew I'd be able to make it till I got back to my hotel that evening. I intend on trying to go back there everytime I go to Boston, and eventually when I live there, I will try to get there as much as I can. They had loyal customers stopping in who seemed to absolutely love them, and I know why.
Suffolk Universtiy was cool in that it is right near the State House, meaning that it is amazingly political around there. I had this feeling I was passing important people as I made my way up the hill to find graduate admissions. There are a lot of cute eateries around there (what can I say, I enjoy restaurants too much), and Filenes' Basement is within walking distance. I didn't get there this time (that's the one place I'm dying to get to and haven't yet), but that it is within walking distance (along with H&M) of Suffolk earns the university bonus points. It also seems like they are completely redoing some of the residential areas around there in an a revitalization effort, which can be good. And Boston Common is right there.
I also got to see Fenway Park (I didn't get to go to a game, but I got to walk by it after Friday's first game, and got to get hit on by a drunken Red Sox fan). I also got to go to FAO Schwartz, the store I want my children to be exposed to early and often, and the rest of Bolyston and Newbury Street (the coolest place to shop ever created--well, if you have money. If you don't, it's fun to walk around and gawk-without-gawking.) I also went to the Prudential Center (a nice mall), and walked past the Park Plaza (the way expensive and fancy hotel I stayed in my first time in Boston). I also found places I need to visit the next time I'm there (MIT--I had to switch trains once and found myself there with no time to walk around and look--but the area looked great). And then, of course, no trip is complete without...finding a supermarket and seeing if it lives up to Wegmans. I did find one, Shaw's, that did live up to Wegmans. I was impressed--the one I went to had its own wine section, something I don't even think the Pittsford Wegmans has. It was very nice.
So, all in all, I fell more in love with Boston that I thought I ever could. I hate to admit this, but I teared up when I got to South Station to leave on Friday night. I want to live in Boston. When I was 10, my aunt (who was from the Cape) told me, "Katie, I want to take you up to Boston because you'd love it. You're a Boston girl, I just know it." And she was right. That's where I want to be, and the possibility of moving there in a year is an amazing feeling. A lot of my friends have fallen in love with New York City, and can't picture not living there, and I could never understand their feelings until last week. I now have those same feelings about Boston.
So if anyone ever wants to take a jaunt up to Boston, you have a travel partner. (Oh, and if anyone is thinking of going to grad school up there in Fall 2004, let me know.)
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Yes, it's been a bit since I last updated this on the joys of being an orientation advisor.
My last group of freshmen flew by. I don't even remember them...they were a nice group of 20, a few being very excited about being here (including my history major and my volleyball player--they were great!) and the rest of them just seeming completely disgusted and not even caring about anything. Many of all my orientees have been pre-med--easy for scheduling purposes, but do we really need that many doctors? I guess we do. The majority will change their minds soon enough though, so we'll see where these students stand come end of their sophmore years.
Then I had crew/set up. I got to park cars and hold signs. Then I got to drag tables and watch funny movies in Lecture Hall 1 when we had free time. It was that session where I met Alda, who is best friends with a family I used to work for in high school. She's from another high school in the City School District, bringing the City of Rochester total here to...three (Brian Jones, me, and now Alda). She rocks! It was so exciting to talk to someone who came from the same school district!
Tomorrow begins the last session, Session I. Well, it's not really the last session, but it's the last two day full session with the 25 OAs. I'm working with the families (hooray--I love interacting with families, see my previous entries as to why). I just have a better time interacting with them. And after Tuesday night, we finish cleaning and then it's vacation! Then I come back here sometime around the 14th, pack up my apartment here in Susquehanna, and move over to Mountainview. On August 20th, we start preparations for the last session (the "oops, you forgot to come to orientation and you kind of really need classes" session), do the last session, staff Welcome Back Weekend, and then we're done. Then classes begin, and so do the 10 or so extracurriculars I have agreed on doing this year. Sigh...we will see, we will see.
This weekend I got to have dessert with the Vice President of Student Affairs and have dinner at my bosses' house. Add to that the dinner I had with President DeFleur at the beginning of the summer, and I'd like to say I have seriously networked my way around this campus. This job has been awesome for that respect. And if any of them can get me jobs, I'd love them for it.
Well, I might as well get to the work I have to do and to get to sleep, since I do have to wake up early tomorrow. I'll update this tomorrow or Tuesday and let you all know how the last session went.
Oh, yeah, out of state totals for the all sessions thus far: @11 MA (4 in one session alone, including one from Beverly, where one of my favourite ex-Ithacans, Caitlin, is from!), a lot of Jerseys (I think they came in a group the last two sessions), a lot of Penn. (maybe 10 a session the last few it seems), a Florida, two CAs, 2-3 IL, 3-4 Marylands.
Music: I've had "A Thousand Miles" stuck in my head all day. There is a reason for that...
My last group of freshmen flew by. I don't even remember them...they were a nice group of 20, a few being very excited about being here (including my history major and my volleyball player--they were great!) and the rest of them just seeming completely disgusted and not even caring about anything. Many of all my orientees have been pre-med--easy for scheduling purposes, but do we really need that many doctors? I guess we do. The majority will change their minds soon enough though, so we'll see where these students stand come end of their sophmore years.
Then I had crew/set up. I got to park cars and hold signs. Then I got to drag tables and watch funny movies in Lecture Hall 1 when we had free time. It was that session where I met Alda, who is best friends with a family I used to work for in high school. She's from another high school in the City School District, bringing the City of Rochester total here to...three (Brian Jones, me, and now Alda). She rocks! It was so exciting to talk to someone who came from the same school district!
Tomorrow begins the last session, Session I. Well, it's not really the last session, but it's the last two day full session with the 25 OAs. I'm working with the families (hooray--I love interacting with families, see my previous entries as to why). I just have a better time interacting with them. And after Tuesday night, we finish cleaning and then it's vacation! Then I come back here sometime around the 14th, pack up my apartment here in Susquehanna, and move over to Mountainview. On August 20th, we start preparations for the last session (the "oops, you forgot to come to orientation and you kind of really need classes" session), do the last session, staff Welcome Back Weekend, and then we're done. Then classes begin, and so do the 10 or so extracurriculars I have agreed on doing this year. Sigh...we will see, we will see.
This weekend I got to have dessert with the Vice President of Student Affairs and have dinner at my bosses' house. Add to that the dinner I had with President DeFleur at the beginning of the summer, and I'd like to say I have seriously networked my way around this campus. This job has been awesome for that respect. And if any of them can get me jobs, I'd love them for it.
Well, I might as well get to the work I have to do and to get to sleep, since I do have to wake up early tomorrow. I'll update this tomorrow or Tuesday and let you all know how the last session went.
Oh, yeah, out of state totals for the all sessions thus far: @11 MA (4 in one session alone, including one from Beverly, where one of my favourite ex-Ithacans, Caitlin, is from!), a lot of Jerseys (I think they came in a group the last two sessions), a lot of Penn. (maybe 10 a session the last few it seems), a Florida, two CAs, 2-3 IL, 3-4 Marylands.
Music: I've had "A Thousand Miles" stuck in my head all day. There is a reason for that...
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Quick post, because I need to rest for tomorrow's session (actually, by the time I finish typing, it will be today's session).
This transfer session had it's ups and downs--although I must say, out of the 16 I was assigned, the 6 that actually showed up for things and particpated were fun to hang out with. The highlights were my Latin major and her cool mom (the very first Classics major we've had all year); my two Engineering guys, who were great to eat dinner and do schedules with; the mother from Rochester who also went to School #52 (although, as she assured me, many years before I did); and the History major transfer from IC, bringing the whole summer IC to Binghamton transfer total to roughly five, which brings the total number of IC to Binghamton transfers that I know of on campus to nine (that includes myself). I think IC may want to look into that...(What's even more scary is the number of those of us who lived in Terrace 5 in 2000-2001 who ended up transfering...I forget the last count, but it's many more than it should.)
The out of state count: 1.5 (long story) Colorados, 3 (?) Jerseys, .5 Mass. (another long story), and 3 or 4 Penn.
And that was my one and only transfer session. Yes, I still want to work in and research transfer advising. If anything, the expierence makes me want to research it more.
I'm heading to bed so I can rest up for my last group of freshmen (the two sessions after this one I work set-up and families). I'll be back on Wednesday...
This transfer session had it's ups and downs--although I must say, out of the 16 I was assigned, the 6 that actually showed up for things and particpated were fun to hang out with. The highlights were my Latin major and her cool mom (the very first Classics major we've had all year); my two Engineering guys, who were great to eat dinner and do schedules with; the mother from Rochester who also went to School #52 (although, as she assured me, many years before I did); and the History major transfer from IC, bringing the whole summer IC to Binghamton transfer total to roughly five, which brings the total number of IC to Binghamton transfers that I know of on campus to nine (that includes myself). I think IC may want to look into that...(What's even more scary is the number of those of us who lived in Terrace 5 in 2000-2001 who ended up transfering...I forget the last count, but it's many more than it should.)
The out of state count: 1.5 (long story) Colorados, 3 (?) Jerseys, .5 Mass. (another long story), and 3 or 4 Penn.
And that was my one and only transfer session. Yes, I still want to work in and research transfer advising. If anything, the expierence makes me want to research it more.
I'm heading to bed so I can rest up for my last group of freshmen (the two sessions after this one I work set-up and families). I'll be back on Wednesday...
Saturday, July 19, 2003
What do OAs do on their day off?
•Watch the Quarterback Challenge and conclude that Marc Bulger is the hottest active quarterback in the NFL, with Mark Burnell a very close second.
•Attempt to shrink my still way too big OA polo shirts (I was mildly successful.)
•Watch Mr. Deeds, which has to have one of the best soundtracks of the past few years.
•Door tags for the floor I will stay on tomorrow night.
•Pack for tomorrow.
•Make sure I know what I'm talking about tomorrow.
•Dream about scheduling classes for something like the fifth night in a row.
•Try to plan my grad school visit/vacation, which is mighty hard to do when BC, BU and Harvard's admissions offices are closed on Saturday afternoons and you don't have time during the time they are open to call them.
•Realise that I've overbooked myself for my senior year and unless I like having no life and bouts of laryngitis, something should really change. But will it? I guess that's up to me. Three people today alone told me that something has to change. Three. Add to that my therapist last fall, my father, my mother, my sister, most of Holiday last year, all the guys who have turned me down when I've asked them out in the past seven months...is this a consensus? I think this pretty much is. Okay, I guess now I have to learn tactful, nice ways to say no that will not make me feel guilty. Or just how to say the word "no" in general. I may need help with this.
All in all, a nice day off. On to my transfers...
Music: The person above me playing music, along with the occasional blasting car stereo. But I did catch the last fifteen minutes of Selena, which means I have that soundtrack stuck in my head. I think that was the last good movie J.Lo ever made. Oh wait, The Wedding Planner is pretty good. But yeah, I think that was it for her.
•Watch the Quarterback Challenge and conclude that Marc Bulger is the hottest active quarterback in the NFL, with Mark Burnell a very close second.
•Attempt to shrink my still way too big OA polo shirts (I was mildly successful.)
•Watch Mr. Deeds, which has to have one of the best soundtracks of the past few years.
•Door tags for the floor I will stay on tomorrow night.
•Pack for tomorrow.
•Make sure I know what I'm talking about tomorrow.
•Dream about scheduling classes for something like the fifth night in a row.
•Try to plan my grad school visit/vacation, which is mighty hard to do when BC, BU and Harvard's admissions offices are closed on Saturday afternoons and you don't have time during the time they are open to call them.
•Realise that I've overbooked myself for my senior year and unless I like having no life and bouts of laryngitis, something should really change. But will it? I guess that's up to me. Three people today alone told me that something has to change. Three. Add to that my therapist last fall, my father, my mother, my sister, most of Holiday last year, all the guys who have turned me down when I've asked them out in the past seven months...is this a consensus? I think this pretty much is. Okay, I guess now I have to learn tactful, nice ways to say no that will not make me feel guilty. Or just how to say the word "no" in general. I may need help with this.
All in all, a nice day off. On to my transfers...
Music: The person above me playing music, along with the occasional blasting car stereo. But I did catch the last fifteen minutes of Selena, which means I have that soundtrack stuck in my head. I think that was the last good movie J.Lo ever made. Oh wait, The Wedding Planner is pretty good. But yeah, I think that was it for her.
