November 2003 Archives

Here I am, in Chicago for the holiday. It's been good to be home, better to see how effortlessly Nena integrates herself into the insanity of this house. It's all too perfect, really. I don't know if this is the last Thanksgiving for us here in Chicago, then again I've wondered that every year for the past however many. You never know how much longer things are going to be the way they are. The status quo is the hardest thing to guess the lifespan of. At any rate, this is the last Thanksgiving I'll be bringing a girl home with me for. Next time, she'll be my wife. That's going to be a welcome change.

The internet connectivity is spotty at best, so I will be updating sporatically until Monday night. Maybe there'll be a big recap then, though I doubt it.

Take care all, and enjoy your lives this weekend. Life is the ultimate thing to be thankful for.

Back in the day, I used to make dance mixes. Sometimes Fesser and I would spin them live, sometimes CK and I would pore over our CD collections for weeks and prerecord a great party.

It's been over 2 years since I've done something like this, and I'm wanting to try it out again. So. . .requests?

Yet another cryptic song lyric to title a post. Speaking of which. . .A cool prize to the person who can correctly guess either the name of the band who originally used the lyric, or the song from which the lyric comes. Extra points to those who have the song and the band. To limit the contest a bit, the following dates have the titles in question.

11.22- This entry
11.17
11.14
11.12
11.11
11.9
11.9
11.7
11.5
11.4
(I'm alluding to a song here. . .so it's kind of a stretch, but I do mention it in the comments, so it's fair enough.)

In the future, if you get the reference shout it out. . .I may tablulate from time to time and send out fun prizes. Granted, sometimes fun might be a KU basketball tshirt, when I know you prefer UNC or something.

At any rate, I'm kinda curious to find out who all's reading this space. So it's time for my first fishpond census. . .

The rules (for those of you who haven't swum in the 'pond before) are simple. Just copy the questions below, and answer them in a comment. . .OK? GO!

To make thing easier, I'll do the first one.

1) Blog Name
2) Where do I know you from?
3) Why do you read this blog?
4) Say something nice about yourself
5) Say something nice about the person who posted before you

I'm feeling a lot better, actually. I cancelled class today and slept in. Sweet, sweet, medicated sleep. It was really kinda nice. If I keep the warm fluids coming in I should be OK by Sunday. . .just have to take it slow this weekend.

I took a look at this week's Friday Five and it's hard, not the no brainer stuff I'm used to. . .so here it goes. . .cuz I could use a challenge on a day like today. And after reading about George Wallace, I need some time off before I start reading about "The Futures of American Studies" OOOOH, scary.

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.

a. Have a first draft of my PCA paper done
b. Lose 10 lbs.
c. Finish out this term as strongly as I started.
d. Revamp the ASAGS website.
e. Take Nena to one of my favorite Chicago museums.

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.

a. Lisa- the disappeared sister from back in the day.
b. Big Ed- wingman from before we knew we needed them.
c. Raulie- so we can get him drafted.
d. DJ Bucky B- how can you not love him?
e. Ally- Because what are the two above, without her?

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.

a. Play guitar
b. Fly
c. Dunk a basketball
d. Fix 'Turo myself
e. Script CSS and PHP

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).

a. Fix 'Turo up NICE, and then drive him on the weekends. Having replaced him with a Porsche Boxter. . .with a hybrid electric/biodiesel engine.
b. Two words- CD library
c. Pay off all the family's debt
d. Donate to all of Nena and my various alma maters.
e. This is the fun one. . .I'd buy roughly a block in the Logan Square neighborhood. From there I'd renovate all of the homes I'd just purchased for different uses. Some would be homes, some would be apartments with studio space, some would be for lounging. Then I'd offer the space to all of my favorite people as free living space so they can pursue the things that would truly make them happy. That'd rule.

5. List five things you do that help you relax.

a. Candles
b. Warm showers/ baths
c. Music, almost anything really. Even old metal helps relax me.
d. Cats. . .yes, cats. Get over it, yo.
e. Nena

Yup, I'm sicker than I was before. No fever this time, just congestion and TIRED. I took the liberty of cancelling class on Friday so I can sleep in and get myself a 3 day weekend. I moved some other stuff around so I could come home earlier today and take a nap.

That nap, a lot of OJ, water and lemon tea and I'm doing a lot better. I just need to make it through the craziness that is Thursday and I'm totally home free. That's a good thing.

In all of this being sick, I realized something. At Carleton, I always got sick 11th and 12th week. Only on the trimester, that puts you in the heart of finals. At KU, that puts you just before the shitty part of the term. So whereas before it was my body holding out until it could afford to get sick. Now it's my body breaking down when I really can't afford it. Great.

In other news, there's good news. Wrestling With the Rules: Understanding the Cosmology of the WWE accepted for the 2004 National PCA/ACA Meeting. Looks like I'll be road tripping to San Antonio in April.

I'm happy to be going, but sad as well. Going to this conference means breaking my lifetime ban on travel to or within Texas. I knew it'd have to end someday. . .but I didn't think it would occur just over 3 years after the ban went into effect. Oh well.

And now, I sleep. . .cuz it's good for me.

It's been kinda serious here on the old blog for a few days. . .so a quiz to lighten the mood, before I start the political ranting and raving. . .

This one's been ripped off from most of my favorite LJ Peeps. . .so, yknow. . .word.

"Sweet Dreams" (by Eurythmics)
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused


Which 80's Song Fits You?
brought to you by Quizilla

When I woke up this morning, I heard a disturbing sound. I said, when I woke up this morning, I heard a disturbing sound. OK, it wasn't really the jingle jangle of a million lost souls. But sometimes you just need to start off with a James Brown quote.

Seriously, though- this morning I woke up to a classic Midwestern Thunderstorm, the kind you don't normally get outside of late spring. Yet, here it was, in November. It was pretty intense, lightning so close you'd see it after you heard the thunder. I know this is scientifically impossible, but that's the way it seemed as I tried to get back to sleep. Then, it happened, the biggest one of them all hit and set off a car alarm in my parking lot. I swear, that thing had to have hit the building across the street, it was so loud.

With that, it was over. With one loud crash, the entire storm stopped dead in its tracks. The world had seemingly ended outside of my apartment. All that was left was me, and my computer. It was 4 minutes before my alarm was due to go off so I got up.

Then it dawned on me, it was raining in November. . .The entire soundtrack of my morning was November Rain. I admit it, I'm melodramatic. I'm incredibly taken by the beauty of events alining themselves to create drama, and rain on a November morning and GNR's epic about the fading of passion, change and fear just seemed like the right soundtrack, the perfect alignment of events to create drama.

11 Novembers, it's been 11 Novembers since I've looked for an excuse to have the kind of morning I've just endured. 11 Novembers hoping for rain so I could indulge in my sense of. . .whatever this sense is. As I walked to the bus stop today, and stood out in the rain waiting for the bus I started to think about all the things that've happened to me in the Novembers since Junior High, when I first thought of the poetic beauty that would be created by the juxtaposition of Axl Rose and warm front creating precipitation in November.

I'm not that kid. I know I'm not, I know I can't be. That kid isn't around anymore- it was time for him to move on. It was 11 Novembers ago, standing in the parking lot at St. Hubert, wondering what the future would hold for me. I wasn't Latino then, I wasn't an academic then, I wasn't anything more than Nenie, the smart kid. When I think of all the psychic spaces I've since inhabited, I'm left awed at the stamps in my passport. I couldn't have seen then the places I'd go. Even now, in hindsight, I can barely connect how I managed to get from space to space. It's a hard thread to follow, but aren't those the best kind?

Nothing lasts forever; Axl had a point there. GNR didn't last much past this album, and all of the Nenies I've been since then didn't last forever either. Amazing how at the time, though, everything seemed so much more important and permanent than it ultimately turned out to be.

I hope I'll be able to communicate that to my own children. Nothing lasts forever, this too shall pass. You don't know who you're going to be tomorrow, so knowing yourself is harder than you'd think.

Good weekend here in L-Town. After a great dinner with Lilyblack at the Meat Market Nena finally arrived in town. It's a shame that Nena didn't get into town a bit earlier, so she could enjoy the world's "cheapest and Jayhawkiest sports bar" with us. Oh well, I really need to go back there someday to try the fried Twinkie. Maybe when the Grandmastah blows into town later this month.

Needless today it'd been a rough Friday. Tough day at work, combined with a trip to KCI to buy a plane ticket. . .I was pissed, I had 90mins to make the trip and be back for dinner with Lilyblack and I failed. The driving time was OK, it just left me 5mins to get my work done at KCI. I was in line for 30 mins, and it took 10 mins to get my business taken care of. All told, the trip took me 2hrs, which would have been enough- had I not had a rough day at the office. . .

In the end, though, I now have a round trip ticket to Albuquerque so I can be there when Nena's brother Tryst graduates from college. Really, that's all that matters. It's amazing, I grew up with my family consisting of 3 people other than me. . .and almost overnight the family has grown. The results of this growth are the truly amazing part though. I've always been very close to my family, they've always meant the world to me. As my family grows, though, I find everyone meaning even more to me. I often wonder how I managed so long without a family like the one I currently have. Then it dawns on me, I've always found a family- wherever I go. It just so happens that this one is a bit more. . .overt? than the rest of my adopted family.

Anyway, Nena was just what I needed. We didn't do much this weekend, hung out and watched TV and planned the wedding for the most part. It was good for me, though; I had a weekend off. I didn't go out this weekend and that's why my immune system needed. I chilled out and recovered from this cold that's been intermittantly kicking my ass all weekend.

Did the church thing this morning; Nena and I think we've found a parish, which is a nice thing to have finally accomplished. Nena left and I cleaned the apt, hit the gym and got ready for the Survivor Series party tonight. It was fun, an average PPV. I introduced a few folks to the world of the WWE and began to carve that part of my life out here in L-Town.

Its amazing, really- every so often I have one of those spans of time that show me how at home I really am here in L-Town. This weekend showed me how much I have to look forward to, both personally and professionally. 264 days until the wedding and 230ish until Nena moves down here. Yeah, life's pretty good these days. Save for this chest congestion, DAMN.

I've been thinking about growing up quite a bit, lately. IE- What is it? What happens? What do you need to give up?

I, for one, don't really believe in giving up anything in the process of growing up. Maybe, then "giving up" things as you grow older isn't the right term. Perhaps the better way to phrase it is: what things do we outgrow as we get older.

I know I've grown out of self pity, for the most part. The wounded, dark artist thing is really lame to me now. But I can very easily imagine a time when I thought I'd be that way forever. Hell, my recurring nightmare was of being that guy at 35. Thankfully, it's not going to go down like that.

The other day, we were all hanging out in the office, when I pulled my wallet out of my pocket for some reason or another. Corn stopped whatever we were talking about to remark as to how cool he thinks my wallet is. I smiled and told the story of where it came from and that after I get married, it's going to be retired, because I didn't think it really fit in with a married Nenie.

(The wallet is a teal, vinyl chain wallet- minus the chain. Also, it has silver glitter on it. I purchased it for $3 at the Mortar Board Garage Sale Sophomore year at Carleton.)

At any rate, Corn laughed and told me that it was stupid to retire the wallet just because I'd gotten married. I made some lame excuse about how the wallet was falling apart, finally and he said, "Next thing you know, your stereo will 'break down' and you won't be listening to Hip Hop anymore, I see how it is."

He makes a good point.

What do we give up as we get older, what do we feel we need to give up to perform "adulthood?" Is there music we listen to now, as young and mostly childless individuals that we cannot imagine listening to when our children are our age? Are there other things like that?

I dunno, why don't y'all tell me.

Yeah, I'm getting sick. This really, really blows. I've had head congestion for a few days, and I think I've managed to medicate it away.

Now my throat is raw and scratchy and I have the congestion of the GODS. Not fun, especially since the OJ I drank tonight gave me heartburn. My eye want to burn, as well. But they just can't quite get over the hump to burning all the way. . .Freakin' sucks, I tell you.

It's one of those non-descript colds that suck so much. And since it can't decide what season it is out here, my body can't decide if I have a winter cold or a summer cold. This weather is killing me, litterally- one day it's early fall, the next it's early spring. This cold/wet, cool/damp, warm/damp, warm/wet, cold/damp cycle is driving me crazy.

If only I had time to be sick. Too much stuff to do, and Nena's coming on Friday. I. . .Can't. . .Get. . . Sick.

I tried to take drugs and go to bed early tonight. But Drieg called me with computer questions. Looks like I'll be going to bed at my normal time tonight. Yknow, Grad School would be easy if it weren't for having to accomodate anyone's schedule other than my own.

YAWP!

Strange day today. When I got up this morning, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish. As of 11p, I've done next to none of them. But I have done a lot of other things I didn't know when I'd get done. So it's a total trade off.

The real big deal today is MUSIC!!!

Courtesy of Jen, I have now discovered the brilliance of Richard Cheese. Long story short, this guy does lounge covers of pop music. So freaking brilliant. I can't begin to describe it.

Courtesy of Bobo, two things. The first is Busdriver. Just great Hip Hop, period. Might want to check him out, yo. The other is Seˆíor Coconut. You just have to check that shit out. Freakin' crazy.

OK, enough of that. Back to writing abstracts.

After I stop getting excited for the impending Nena visit this weekend. WHOO! Nena in L-Town. If the L-Town Krew are interested in throwing down with the Nena, email me- yo.

Time is a strange thing; we measure it, hoard it, pay to have its effects removed from our bodies. . .In the end however, it keeps moving ever onward. All we are left to do is try and remember what things were like before this.

You know you're at a good show when the bar turns on the house lights while the band is still playing.

Seriously, who? Not KU, that's for sure. I went to the KU/Nebraska football game today; if I learned anything while freezing at Memorial Stadium, it was that.

OK, so I didn't freeze that badly. I layered like I was playing broomball up in The Minny. Long sleeved tee, 3/4 sleeve tee, 2 short sleeved tees, two sweatshirts and my big black coat. Yeah, I was pretty toasty for the entirety of the game, save for my toes. Those suckers got cold at some point in the third quarter.

The game was pretty incredible, though. It looked like South Lincoln all over town. Everywhere you looked, there was someone in 'Husker red. Even The Crossing had been taken over by invading red horde. After about 30mins of this, I started to feel for Atlanta Braves fans. . .OK, not really.

The Jayhawks were pretty taken aback by the whole scene as well. This was not the same team I'd seen beat down Mizzou. They were almost afraid of the 'Huskers. Sure, I've heard about winning on mystique, but this was ridiculous. The Jayhawks managed to give away 3 TDs, throw an INT and fumble on the 1 yd line. . .as I said in the opening, why bother having another team come down? When you're pretty good at beating yourself.

After the game, I checked in with the Carleton crew and heard the best football-related news I'd heard all day. Carleton had beaten Macalester. The Knights are now on a 2 game win streak for the first time in something like 6 years. Almejor thinks that the streak dies here, since next week the boys are up in Colorado. "They'll be puking in their helmets by halftime" is the quote I think. Oh well, one of these Saturdays both of my colleges will win a football game. I may lose my shit on that day, but it'll be pretty cool. Who knows, I may be so overwhelmed that I sing Hail to Old KU to the tune of the Officer of the Day.

At any rate, it's time to shower and change for the Blue October show. Word.

BEST
DAY
EVER

OK, not quite. The day Nena said she'd marry me was better than today. The day I got into KU/Carleton/IMSA was better than today, all of my birthdays have been better than this.

BEST
DAY
IN
A
LONG
TIME

There we go, much more accurate. And you know we here at nenie.net are consumed with accuracy.

Today started out pretty normally. Woke up before my alarm, rolled out of bed, woke Han up. . .checked to see that I'd actually been paid overnight, saw that I had been, paid the bills and ran out to catch the bus.

I taught my Friday discussion sections and had a really productive meeting with a student. Unfortunately, this meeting made me late for my bus. I walked out of The Vern to see my bus stopped across the street. I ran, but the bus started to pull off. . .

Now, imagine this for a second. This is me, in my winter regalia, running after a bus.

OK, let's flesh this out a bit more. This is overweight me, in my long, black wool coat, with my red and blue scarf artfully wrapped around my neck, running down the street after a bus. Add my black briefcase slung across my body and flapping away behind me and you're starting to get the image. It was pretty freaking cool looking, I'd imagine.

At any rate, as soon as I hit full speed the bus stops. The driver had seen me in his rearview mirror and stopped the bus. Yup, my bus driver rules. He's stopped asking to see my bus pass, he just knows it's me. We nod every morning when I get on the bus, we nod every afternoon when I get off. He knows who I am- it's one of those little things that makes life that much better.

A while after I finally get home, I pick Ulli up so we can go to the gym. In an effort to get across town as quickly as possible on a Friday afternoon, I decided to cut down on New Hampshire. That was a mistake, but it turns out to to be the best mistake I've made in a long time. For this route takes me past The Bottleneck. I look up at the marquee on said establishment, to see "Sat- Blue Oct. . ." up there.

"WHAT?" I say out loud. "Did I just read Blue October is playing The Bottleneck tomorrow?"

I was totally stunned, and I couldn't go back to see what I'd actually read. It could have been Blue Octagons From Mars for all I know. My mind started churning, I had to know if I'd read it correctly. I start fumbling through my mental rolodex of people that I have on my speed dial, that are near an internet connection right now, that won't think twice when I ask them to see if this band is playing in L-Town tomorrow. Yet another reason why I love Almejor.

I call Al up and she confirms for me, without asking or laughing that yes, in fact Blue October is playing in L-Town tomorrow night. HOT FUCKING DAMN!

You have no idea how much I like this band. They're angry, they're tender, they have an electric violin. So freakin' great, one of the best things to come out of the insanity that was my senior year at Carleton- aside from Nena. I'm now realizing that, at the moment, I don't have the words to articulately explain how much fun seeing this band is. They're incredibly cathartic to me, and to everyone else I've shared the experience of their live show with. Yeah, I'm really excited about this. . .more about that on Sunday.

I picked Ulli up after ascertaining that I'd read what I'd hoped I'd read and we went over to the Rec Center. There was a quick stopover at Watkins where I charmed my way into what I needed from them. Gotta love the midwest, a smile and some courtesy will get you really, really far in this world. After that fun, my workout went really well. I think I'm gonna have to turn it up a notch on Sunday when I resume the regiment. This peer pressure thing with Ulli is working out really, really well.

After working out, we were starved and after disucssing our options we decided to try out La Parrilla. I hadn't known I was homesick before I saw their menu, but one look made me realize how bad things had gotten. They had Platano Frito. Fried Plantains, yo. Holy mother of CRAP, they were the best thing I've eaten in forever. I haven't eaten that well in forever. I have a new favorite restaurant. Forget Free State people, La Parrilla is where it's AT.

Then I came home and registered for next semester. Theorizing America and Jazz and American Culture. Yup, next term is gonna rock. No class before 11a, class only on Tu, We, Th. Nothing after noon on Th, which will be nice since I have to teach all day on Friday, probably starting at 8:30a. . .yeah.

So to recap my brilliant day:
1) Bus stopped for me when I ran for it
2) Best workout in a long time
3) Blue October tomorrow
4) Best dinner in a long, long time
5) New favorite restaurant
6) Registered for awesome classes
7) KU/Nebraska football tix for tomorrow

Yeah, life rules right now.

Every once in a while I get an email forward that resonates. Not in the way that yesterday's resonated, but strikes a chord that makes me jump up and say, "DAMN STRAIGHT!"

Such is the case of Army Spec. Shoshana Johnson. Spec. Johnson became an Iraqi POW in the same raid that brought Jessica Lynch such fame and fortune. Why then, even with all of the information that proves how much of a PR stunt Ms. Lynch's rescue was, has Ms. Johnson been forgotten?

You know what I think and I challenege anyone to prove me wrong. America just doesn't want to embrace an African American woman as a hero.

After the cut, is the email I received with the latest details of how the government is playing unfairly with Spec. Johnson when compared to the way they treat Ms. Lynch. Do something, people. Email your Congressional representation. Don't know how? Here you go. Look up your Senator Here and your House Rep Here. Speak your mind, sound off. Fight the Power, yo.

Angie sent me one of those questionairre emails today. I don't ever send them along; I'll fill them out and send them back to the person who asked. I thought this one was kinda in depth, though- as a result I've decided to post it up here. Cuz, yknow, it's interesting. . .

Take a look at my answers and answer them for yourself in the comments section. Yknow, if you're into that sorta thing.

As I said earlier, Nena is on her way to Fargo for business. She left around 12:30p this afternoon from NFLD. The college didn't have any cars to give her for the week, so they rented a car from Enterprise (we pick you up). The Enterprise d00d showed up at 12:30p with a Jeep Grand Cherokee- Laredo. Not the compact Nena had ordered. They were out of that car, so they upgraded for free. WHEE! 4WD in SNOW! And thankfully, the college is paying for the gas.

I turned my cell off and went to class around 2p. I went to dinner with some friends from class afterwards and turned my phone on at 6:30p to hear four messages left by Nena as she drove to Fargo. The calls document her trip pretty well. And since this blog isn't just about me, I now present you Nena's Fargo Travelogue.

VOICEMAIL: Message from, Nena. Received today at 3:04pm

NENA: (in a sing-song voice)
Hey baby. St. Cloud is a BIG CITTTTY! Oh my GOD, they have a Starbucks and they have a Cold-Stone CREAMery and they have a Borders and a golf course that's public in-viiited. They have all kinds of stuff here. I don't know why DakotaReese wants to mooove. This is like. . .Northfield but BETTER! Doesn't he live here? I should call him so we can do lunch on my way home.

And I was thinking while I was driving up, that I love you. AAAAnd the second thing is that. . .I love you. And the third one is that I love you some more. Mmmm, I love you, mmm, bye.

VOICEMAIL: Message from, Nena. Received today at 3:46pm

NENA: (less sing-song)
OK, I'm calling you again, cuz I miss you a LOOOOT. That was it, I was going to say "Do you like Broccoli?" But I ruined it by saying that "I miss you a LOOOOOT." This is a BOOORING drive, OHMYGOOOOSH. This is worse than Iowa, cuz at least Iowa has hills. Minnesota is just FLAT. OK, I LOOOOVE YOUUU. Call me when you're done, so I can be rescued from bordom with your wonderful personality. . . I LOOOVE YOUUU.

VOICEMAIL: Message from, Nena. Received today at 4:22pm

NENA:(in a Minnesota accent)
Hello Fmergen Shmergen Bergen from Fargo, ND. I'm calling for some advice on where I should eat toniiiiight. Please give me a call back. Thank you.

I'd called her earlier today and left a message as "Fmergen Shmergen Bergen" from the Fargo Chamber of Commerce thanking her for coming to Fargo and not only spending money, but recruiting our fine youth for as fine an institution as Carleton.

VOICEMAIL: Message from, Nena. Received today at 5:50pm

NENA:(matter of fact)
Hi, it's me I'm here. Call me, I love you. Bye.

Is it me, or are some roadtrips soul-crushing? Not your regular roadtrips, mind you; only the ones where at the end of the drive, there is no great reward awaiting you. When I drove up to Minnesota to see Nena a few weeks ago, there is no doubt in my mind that the trip was that much more exciting because I hadn't seen Nena in 5 weeks. This trip is cancelling Nena's trip to L-Town this weekend, which is one strike against it. And it's colder in Fargo than it is in NFLD, which is another strike. Poor Fargo, yo. It's only got one strike left to give. Although as soon as Nena got to Fargo, she realized she hadn't packed warmly enough. So she hit the mall. I guess the count is 1-2 on Fargo, now.

I realize that I have a few new favorite-er things in the realm of popular culture/books/etc. As a result, I'm gonna take a few minutes and send some shout outs.

The first is to Lee Maracle. I've been reading her book "I Am Woman" for the class I'm TA'ing. Damn, what a devastating read. Liking this book makes me feel sick to my stomach; you shouldn't like something as painful and brutal as this book is. That said, it's thought provoking and beautiful and needs to be read by more people.

The next is Adam Rome's "The Bulldozer in the Countryside." It's pretty much the opposite of Maracle's meditations of feminism and femininity. This book is a history of the American Suburb and its ties to Environmentalism. An interesting and well read book, that was written by a KU grad. Word.

OK, now the comics. Here's a great Norm strip. Yeah, The Norm is streaky, but when it hits, it hits.

And then there's Get Fuzzy. This strip is one of most consistently "on" strips out there today. If you don't read this one, you might want to give it a shot. The last two days have been one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. So here's the windup and the pitch. The "pitch" strip was laugh out loud funny to me. And the windup totally set me up for it. Yeah- brilliant, really.

Music- Kev talked about this band so damn much I had to go and check them out. Yeah, he's right. The Decemberists are hott. Mellow stuff that rocks just right.

Also, Los Lonely Boys are kicking my ass. It's Mexican pop mixed with country with all this Carlos Santana and Los Super Seven stuff going on. So freaking brilliant, I had to TELL somebody. So I'm telling y'all.

Thus ends the shoutouts.

In other news, much love to La Nena who is heading to Fargo on business today. Man, three weeks in the Southwest followed up by a week in Fargo. How's that for balance? Thankfully, she's part Northern Minnesotan, so she'll be fine, I hope. I'm kinda worried that she'll turn into a Nenacicle up there. Yes, this is her 6th Minnesota winter, yes her grandfather's from Duluth. . .but still. She's a desert flower, orsomething.

OK, I really need to shower and hit the office, I'm out.

I have no idea what that means, but it's all Nena can say right now. I think it has to do with the geekiness of one of the guys on Average Joe. I'm not entirely sure, but that's part of the Nena mystique. You never know what's going on in that crazy mind of hers.

This week is kinda nice, I don't have anything due. That means I get to read a ton in an effort to get ahead for the craziness that lies before me. Combine that with the fact that I'm working out again and this week could be interesting.

The workout thing is interesting, Ulli and I are using peer pressure to motivate one another into going to the gym. The thinking is if we go together, and guilt the other one for ditching us we'll actually go. So far, it's working. . .after one day.

Not much else going on in L-Town. The KU/Huskers game is this weekend I think I'm going to that, but the details still need to be worked out. If there are L-Town Peeps who want to go with me, catch me in my office or give me a call.

OH, and I gave in to pressure and got myself hooked up with a LJ account. I'm not going to post anything there that doesn't go here. More than likely, I'm just going to put links to this blog on that site, so my LJ Peeps can keep track of me that way. It's all about adding functionality.

OK, shower and bed. I'm totally beat.