Hey good-looking, what’s cooking?

My apologies…it’s been quite some time. In all fairness, I do have an excuse and a make-up present.  First, the present.  This article is the most humorous thing I have read all week, despite being based on rather tragic events.

Enjoy your present? A little sugar makes the medicine go down, so here’s my excuse…(No, this isn’t one of those “my dog ate my homework” stories). I wish a dog had been involved, that would have been a lot easier to deal with – I’d just rewrite my homework.  There’s no rewriting this development…my laptop currently looks like this:

Except featuring slightly less Apple-like content. I have no idea how it happened, and I am rather peeved with the whole situation, since it will cost me plenty of $$$. Money I don’t really have the luxury of spending, to be quite honest. But c’est la vie.

Otherwise, life is pretty decent. The job goes well, the Red Sox won the ALDS, I am taking care of some other stuff outside the workplace, and now it’s the weekend. More news to come soon, but first, I have to get my full attention back on Game One and the rest of my extracurricular activities. Talk to you soon, folks…

P.S. – No iTunes info tonight since that’s on the laptop. Hopefully that feature will be coming back soon…

Stuff and things

First off, some cool news. I got an email the other day from an address I didn’t recognize. Turns out that the sender works for a website that makes very Web 2.0ish travel guides for all around the world. The news wasn’t as good as it could have been (i.e. they didn’t want to hire me as a writer) but it was a nice ego stroke. Turns out that when making their guide for Oxford, England, they did a little searching for photos with a Creative Commons license. In other words, they wanted to find photos they could use for free, as long as they attributed them to the original author(s). Apparently, my photo of Trinity College was their favorite for that particular site, and so they published it in their guide. Check it out. (Hold the mouse over the words Trinity College and my picture pops up in the upper right corner). Kind of nice to see, huh?

Since they showed me some love, I will pass it on and do you all a solid. Check out this rather hilarious video – the mock ESPN music is a brilliant touch. The video tails off a bit at the end, but still, a solid all-around performance:

Not much else to report, although it was a fine weekend. On Friday I went to a friend’s coworker’s place for a dinner party that was both classy and fun. After that, we all went to a yacht rock party in Boston. Yes, it was everything you could have imagined and then some. I saw some old friends and it was great to catch up and swap stories and flirt and have fun. After that we headed to a different bar where a friend works and closed it down with him before taking him and a lady friend home. I got in around 4 and then slept until it was time to wake up for the BC game. BC won big, which put everyone in a good mood, and my happiness was multiplied when I heard that both UMass and Cal won, as well. Good day for sports.

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled blog article for this random interesting article.

I took it easy last night, and then got up bright and early to watch the pre-game shows for opening weekend of the NFL. The Patriots has a tricky opponent today in the Jets, so I wanted to get the scoop. Midway through the morning, my boy Blood called and invited me over to watch the sporting event. As he had a big-screen HDTV and I do not, I accepted the offer. We did the couch thing and watched the Patriots roll over the Jets fairly convincingly. Now it’s Sunday night and I’m contemplating what to do for my last hours of freedom before work tomorrow morning. I’m sure you’ll hear all about whatever I decide on in my next post – until then, have a good night, kids.

—————-
The Killers – Smile Like You Mean It

A picture is worth 13.5 games…

The perfect pictorical metaphor for the way the the AL East race is going:

The Red Sox running full steam ahead…

while the Yankees, including Robinson Cano, have certainly been playing like they had the breath knocked out of them for most of the season thus far. For those of you expecting a photo of Doug Mint-kay-vich lying unconscious on the Fenway infield, I expect you might be a Yankees fan? Sox fans are a little classier than that. Anyhow, solid win for the Sox (again), even if it was a bit of an unorthodox game what with the rain delay, the accident at 1st base, and all the other chaos. The latest news seems to be that Doug Mientkiewicz (sure, I could have abbreviated it “Doug M.” but then you’d probably assume I was talking about the current Sox catcher) will go on the 15-day Disabled List, but his noggin seems to be relatively fine. I certainly hope that prognosis holds up – get well soon, Doug, so you can continue to watch your old team put the screws to your current squad. Have a good, albeit rainy, Sunday afternoon, peoples.

You can exhale now…

I know what all my loyal readers want to know first. Did the mystery package from my previous post arrive? The short answer is “yes, it did.” The slightly longer answer is “yes, it did, and it was totally worth the wait.”

What was in that package, you wonder? Well, like a good politician, I am full of answers. In that box, sent to me by my good friend Denis J. Murphy, was a piece of technology that allowed me to access this game:

If you don’t know what game is pictured above, then two things:

1. Click anywhere on the shiny picture for the answer via the magic of web links

2. Remove the rock from overhead and begin interacting with the rest of society so you are not years behind the times. Seriously, people are laughing at your lack of knowledge. Not me, of course, I am a nice fellow. But other people are snickering.

Anyways, enough of your temporary discomfort. Let’s move on to what else is going on. As some of you may or may not know, as of Wednesday, I officially finished with work, classes, and finals. As such, I have been in weekend mode for roughly the last 96 hours or so. As you might guess, that is awesome news. How have I been spending my time?

Well, I started by going up with a few classmates to celebrate the end of classes. Thursday came first, and it was time to do a little unpacking and cleaning. I am not much of a domestic type, but I sure can rearrange stuff from one big pile into smaller less visible piles.

Friday night was a double-dip of delectable delights. There was a bar crawl to celebrate the end of the year for myself and my co-workers, and a social gathering for my roommate who reached the big 2-5 this week. Happy Birthday, Daniel. I enjoyed the company of each group of well-wishers, and it was a very pleasant, very memorable evening.

The next morning began with a trip to the local breakfast hut, where eggs, meat, and toast were consumed in bulk in an effort to fuel up for a big day. The day continued with a trip to the mall, where my friend Christopher was in the mood to buy one of these:

He ended up merely researching, not buying, so that was a bit of a tease. The day continued with a festive session watching the NHL playoffs (yes, I am one of the 17) and Red Sox baseball. After the strenuous activities, it is hardly surprising that we decided to take it easy Saturday night – I ended up reading and relaxing.

That brings us today. More accurately, by the time I have written this, yesterday. But I am just gonna go ahead and call today Sunday, k? Today was also quite a low-key day. I ended up playing some of the aforementioned Halo 3 for a while with the aforementioned Denis J. Murphy, and also made a fun trip across the border with Katy. No, not the Mexican border, nor the Canadian border. A more localized border, and certainly, a more delicious border. Yes, that’s right, I went to:

It was utterly fantastic. For you naysayers, I have no interest in hearing what might actually be in a Taco Bell taco. I don’t analyze it, I just eat it. It was good, and dare I say it, close to great. I returned home, and watched the Red Sox game, which they won. For those of you not paying as close attention as I might be, that now makes 11 wins in their past 14 games. Quite frankly, to quote Dan Patrick, the Red Sox are “en fuego.”

Considering I am on an extended weekend, and that my favorite team is playing great baseball, it is safe to assume that my life is good. No need to assume any longer…life is quite good. I am doing quite well, and now, if I can just pray to Saint Anthony of Padua to help me find a missing item of mine, then life will be all good. In the mean time, I am going to hit the hay enjoying how good life has been as of late. I hope all of you can do the same – good night kids…

The ins and outs of a fun day…

Well, it was quite the interesting Sunday. It started out with a pilgrimage of sorts. Now, I know what you’re thinking: can the Pope of Quizno’s truly go on a pilgrimage to another restaurant? Well, yes, actually, he can, provided it is a restaurant he has heard much about, but has yet to ever visit. That restaurant, my friends, is:

For the record, from left to right, those are my colleagues in fine dining: Diane, Duncan, and Gray. We may have gotten lost a few times, but we ended up in the right place. My friends, get the Double Double with Fries – you will not regret anything about your decision – except possibly not getting two orders of fries. Ultimately, In-N-Out definitely lived up their advance billing. Ironically enough, I also learned yesterday that the restaurant is run by a group of devout Mormons – there are allusions to Biblical verses on the packaging. With that in mind, I will temporarily discontinue the running gag about my place in the church of Quiznos.

If In-N-Out were the only thing we did yesterday, it still would have been a good day. However, folks, it was only the opening act. Act Two took place at the McAfee Coliseum:

For the record, I took that photo, and yes, I am a budding Ansel Adams. We got there a bit late, but I am glad we got there; it turned out to be a doozy of a game. The Athletics, the home team, were losing the entire game. The 9th inning rolled around, and they were down 5-3. With two outs, and down to their last strike, the A’s started putting a rally together. They brought the tying run to the plate, and with two strikes, Mr. Board Games himself, Milton Bradley, hit a game-tying two-run homer. The place went bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. But the magic wasn’t done yet. The A’s strung together two more hits, and then the kid who just got called up from Triple-A, Jack Cust, strode to the plate. Well, you can probably guess what happened next. If you guessed “A walk-off three-run homer that barely cleared the center-field fence,” you’d be absolutely correct! Now try out for Who Want to be a Millionaire, you scholar! Needless to say, if the Coliseum had a roof, it would have been torn off the place. Everyone walked out happy, and it turned out to be a very pleasant evening, as well – full of boba delicacies and Thai food and the Warriors game. Anyhow, it was a fun day out west, and with tacos and Coronas on deck for this afternoon, it promises to be equally enjoyable to be me today. Hope the day is just as fun for everyone else out there…

Lazy Sundays

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Sorry I can’t be there, but I assume you understand…Where I’ll be instead this afternoon…

Neither cheering nor jeering either the Athletics or the Indians – I am mostly indifferent towards both teams. It’ll be fun, no matter who wins. Nothing like beisbol in the afternoon. Catch y’all later…

Expand my brain, learning juice!

Now, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s a corporate shill. I understand the person wearing the sandwich board sign outside Subway or Burger King is probably just making a living, and I certainly don’t hold anything against him or her. However, the fact that Pepsi pays MGM 10 million dollars to feature Clear Pepsi and Kentucky Fried Chicken in their latest crap fest horror movie makes me all tingly inside – and not in a good way.

With that being said, this post may mark my me as an apparent hypocrite because I would like to take a minute to extol the virtues of a particular adult beverage I have been enjoying of late in moderation. (But it’s OK, because they aren’t paying me, not even in free beer – sad day). Now, as this is a family friendly site, I of course would not recommend the overconsumption of alcohol, nor would I recommend breaking any laws with regards to boozedrink. With that being said, everyone knows the fun that can be had enjoying one or two drinks with a friend or a group of friends. As you may have guessed, it is getting a bit warm around these parts after a long winter, and there is nothing better than sitting outside sipping on a drink in the company of good friends. Sometimes that drink is a lemonade, sometimes it happens to be fruit punch jungle juice, and once in a great while, that drink might be a beer. Around April and May, that beer starts to become more attractive if it is light and a little bit citrusy. As such, if it is adult bevvy time, my beer of choice lately has been this one:

I could write an epic poem about it, but that’d be slightly creepy. So, instead, I decided to take a little info from their website (linked to via the picture), and write that old standby of 4th grade English classes – an acrostic poem!

Lasts a while – savor it

Everyone will want one

Incredible with an orange

Not an enemy of your taste buds

Excitingly affordable

Not anything like Budweiser

Kangaroos might steal yours (give me a break, K is tough)

Ultimate beer for BBQ’s

Go to Spirit Haus to pick a few up

Excellent hint of coriander

Lovely color

Superb start or end to the evening

So, unfortunately, this exercise in procrastination must come to an end – I have to get back to working on my theoretical toolkit. What’s that, you ask? If I wrote it out, your eyeballs would start bleeding and you would never return to this website, I reply. For now, have a good afternoon, and welcome to the weekend!

Weekend Musings, Part 2

So it’s a lazy Saturday afternoon after a busy Friday night. It played out pretty much as I expected, except for one deviation from the plan. Upon a group vote, it was decided to call an audible and switch up the movie choice from “Beerfest” to “Swingers.” Of course, any movie that includes the line: “That was so fucking money. That was like the Jedi mind-shit.” is more than alright with me…but you already probably knew that. The cheap beer flowed like the swallows (or salmon) of Capistrano, and the Mario Kart was as competitive as the race to the racks at the annual wedding dress sale at Filene’s Basement.

But onto today. Thus far, it has consisted solely of eating breakfast, watching the Red Sox, and watching the NFL Draft. Hey, not every day can be full of ambition! The Sox are currently failing to get the ball out of the infield on a fairly consistent basis, and as such, are losing, 3-0. Once again, Tim Wakefield has gotten absolutely no support. The Sox need to take a vow to give him better run support, like the way this bathing suit supports Marissa Miller:

For the record, if that strained simile seemed to you to be a blatant, shameless attempt to give me an excuse to put in a photo of Marissa Miller, then you, sir or madame, are quite perceptive. But enough flattery! The Sox really need to score some runs, or else I will be in a less than stellar mood.

Although I hardly intend for this blog to turn into a sports-dominated blog, it is also worth mentioning that the Patriots today have thus far drafted Brandon Meriweather, a safety from the University of Miami. Other than being involved in the infamous brawl ” heigbetween Miami and Florida International University, he is pretty well known as a solid cover safety who could fit nicely into the Patriots scheme. Let’s just hope the Madden Curse doesn’t extend to other EA Sports football games:

Well, that’s about it for now, I reckon. I have a very big afternoon ahead of me, full of relaxing, video gaming, sports-watching, and taco preparation. Have a good afternoon peoples…

Friday Night Writes

Its Friday night. I’m waiting for everyone to get back from town so that plans can take shape. In the meantime, I’m watching the Red Sox, having a high quality beverage or two, and generally, being restless and bored. Restless about life. Bored with my night. So I didn’t hear about IPO today. Apparently they are still checking references and such today. I prefer to think they are just taking their time to find the right candidate, and hopefully that candidate will be me.

Tonight needs to be a good night, as well. I am on duty tomorrow night, so there wont be much fun had except for tonight. Let us hope it lives up to expectations. I also need to write a paper this weekend for English 348. I have no idea what to write-any ideas? At least it only needs to be 5 pages.

So this run of beautiful weather seems to be ending as the rain comes down outside. According to my handy little Mozilla Forecaster Extension, its gonna be rainy all weekend. What crap. But, for the most part, I cant complain too much about the weather conditions. I just hope it gets back to good sooner rather than later.

Lots of good feedback over my latest article. Apparently, you tackle a serious issue and people actually start reading. Maybe my snide comments and witty observations should be a thing of the past. Nah…

Work on the Europe website is progressing nicely. For those of you who dont know (which is about everyone short of one or two of you) I am working on a new bloggy type site for when I go to Europe. It’ll work in addition to emails home to tell everybody whats going on. It will be much more effective for showing pictures and other things off to a wide audience. However, Im not entirely happy with the format yet, so you dont get to see it yet. When I am happy, you will know. And you will be able to see it. And you will be amazed. I hope.

Alright, thats about it for now, I do suppose. Not a whole lot else to speak of. Expect more later this weekend. Bye for now.

More Ramblings

So today is Patriot’s Day. For those of you who live outside of Massachusetts, its just a way for us to salute our rich military history. Everyone gets school off, and government offices are closed. Three day weekend? Beautiful. And it was a good weekend. The Sox are riding a 5 game winning streak. I didn’t have much work to do. The only bummer was having duty on Friday night. But the weekend got better after that. The weather was ideal all weekend, and I made the most of it.

Saturday was all about getting stuff done and playing basketball. Saturday night became a night full of drinking at a few locations, and good times were had. Sunday brought along a day in the sun. Football was played. Frisbee was played. Wiffleball was played. Burgers were cooked. Drinks were drunk. Chips were eaten. Sun was soaked up. We must have spent a good 5-6 hours out on the hill-it was quite ideal.

Today didn’t bring as much in the way of outdoorsy activities. Everybody had work to do, so it wasnt much of a day. Best Buy was a failure, but at least I have my car back now. 24 got watched tonight. This guy is coming back next week:

Without sounding overly dorky, this leaves me ecstatic. The current president is far too much of a timid pussy(cat). Palmer will bring some serious cold-bloodedness to the show. For those of you who dont care about this and question why it makes the blog…go hide yourself under a rock, because I don’t care. This is the one hour of television I watch each week, (and it is the only hour worth watching), and I will damn well talk about it if I want to.

I’m listening to the new Coldplay single right now: “Speed of Sound.” Same Coldplay, different day. The instrumentals are quite rich, and its an enjoyable song. I’m definitely counting down until the next album.

A Random List:

5 Coolest Alumni of UMass

-Jess Prince
-Matt Pelnar
-Fiona Coxe
-Korri Crowley
-Dan Saunders (when hes not whining)

Personal stuff. Hmm. Not a whole lot to report. I had an interview on Friday with the International Programs Office. This is the job I really want. Really want. I’m supposed to hear one way or the other by the end of the week. So if you see me being carted off in a straight jacket, then you know why. Likewise, if you see me buying everyone at ABC a round, you’ll know whats up. Wish me luck.

Note to frequent blog checkers: You may have noticed that Ive taken down my music video of the week feature. Despite some complaints, its going to stay down for now. It was slowing down the load speed for many readers, and I dont want to have too many extras cluttering up the interface. It will come back at some point, so never fear.

Back to my life and how its somehow relevant. I dont really know. I officially signed the lease to Aspen Ridge next year. So I am locked into UMass, for better or worse. I just hope everything works out the way I want to out here next year. For silly superstitious reasons, I wont voice those hopes just yet. Some of the people involved in them surely know their roles, but others will remain a secret for now. Thats about all for now, the week starts far too soon. Ill talk to you all soon.