BrockLi Soup

Thanks to everyone who FORGOT TO REMIND ME to schedule my road test. I finally thought to put an alarm in my phone to remind me during the day, since I always thought of it late at night, or while I was at lunch, or on the crapper.

I’m more afraid of failing this test than any other test I’ve ever taken. I feel comfortable on a bike and I’m confident I can pass it, but I’m worried that I won’t because I always feel like I have far less experience than everyone else on the road. Granted, everyone I ride with has been doing it a hell of a lot longer than I have, so the concern is sort of justified.

While failing would suck for all the obvious reasons, it would be embarrassing to be the only one in my family to fail a road test, especially on a bike. My dad and brother ride, along with a few of our cousins and some of our friends. They’d all find out soon enough and give me no end of shit if I managed to screw it up.

More importantly though, I need to find someone with a bike license that can go with me at 9 on a Friday morning. I might be able to convince my brother Eric to take the morning off or something.

JymBob’s XBox is set up with some kind of media center software that can connect to SAMBA shares on our machines and play MP3’s or videos from them.

The first season of The Dukes of Hazzard came out on DVD a couple weeks ago, and a rip quickly found it’s way online.

I can sit in my living room and watch the Dukes all damn day if I want to. It’s going to be a good summer.

Jym did a pretty good job of recapping our evening up in Toronto, so I won’t bother doing it again. Long and short of it is, it was fun to take a trip with the guys, and Toronto is a great city.

The only thing I’ll add is that Fonny WAS right. We were giving him shit a month or two ago, because he was going to a show at a skate park. He tried to explain how incredible it was to be in the middle of a big group of people that were totally into the band, singing along to every verse and just being completely into it. I finally got what he was talking about last night when Against Me! was on. I enjoyed watching the crowd more than the band (at least partly because my eyes are broke, so I can’t wear contacts, and I look absurd in glasses, so I wasn’t wearing them, so I couldn’t see the band anyway). Everyone there was shouting along with the singer. It made me wish I knew the songs better, because I felt like I was just standing on the outside of something really awesome. During the last song, a dozen people hopped on stage with them and sang along (pic sucks, we were far back). Before the show, some people up front started a sing-along. On the way back to the hotel, the people behind us did the same. It felt like no one there wanted to be anywhere else (except for Jym, once he found the pizza place across the street). It was pretty incredible.

Anyway, it was a great start to what will surely be a great summer. I’m looking forward to spending a quarter with these guys.

PS - pictures here.

Jym and I have been going back and forth over who’s a bigger redneck. My argument has always been that he’s a candy ass because he drinks wine.

Well, after giving him plenty of shit, I figured I may as well try the stuff. I’ve had a few wines, but nothing I’ve ever liked. In last week’s mad shuffle, two unopened bottles of wine made their way into our liquor shelf, so I thought they’d make a decent start. One was a white zinfandel, which was OK, and the other a shiraz, which sucked.

Apparently two half-glasses of wine refutes my entire argument against Jym, despite the fact that he’s been on A GODDAMN WINE TOUR.

Candy ass.

At any rate, there’s incriminating evidence.

This mild cold I’ve been fighting for a while now hadn’t really worried me until I realized that it’s going on three weeks now.

The fact that my eye was watery and irritated some yesterday didn’t worry me, because I figured my contact was just acting up.

Neither of these would be cause for alarm, if I hadn’t heard a couple days ago that Natalie had pink eye, and read last night that Lucas has pink eye AND bronchitis.

By the time I went to bed last night, my eye just plain hurt, so I figured it was about time to go into the Student Health Center.

So, surprise surprise, I have pink eye. When I explained that the cold had made it painful to smoke and that I haven’t had a cigarette in over a week, the nurse practitioner become quite excited about the cough. Apparently, nicotine effectively neutralizes cilia in our lungs and windpipe, making a good hard cough the only defense a smoker’s lungs have. Now that I’ve stopped smoking for a while, they’re working to clear out all the shit I’ve put in them, so it’s not unusual for my lungs to feel broken. She listened to my breathing and said it seemed to be OK, unless it keeps going on for more than a week.

On the upside, I’m not smoking and I’ve got antibiotic eye drops. I missed a day of work for it, but I slept almost all day and felt a lot better when I got up. I’m hoping things are going better tomorrow morning, or I may have to bail on the Toronto trip. As it is, I can’t wear contacts so I can barely see, my eyes are constantly tearing up, and I keep coughing up nastiness.

I just looked at my cell phone and thought, “May 24th. Why does that sound familiar?”

I have a bad feeling that twenty minutes from now, I’ll scream FUCK! when I realize today is a close friend’s birthday, wedding, funeral, canonization, or some other life-changing event.

If you’ve been made a saint today, I meant to be there.

For the most part, everyone is settled. Half of Jym’s stuff still litters the living room, but BP finished moving his stuff in. Aside from Jym’s crap, the place is cleaner than it’s ever been - I still can’t believe how much trash we carried out of here. Heewa is spending the night on the couch, since he has to be out of his place but didn’t finish packing in time to head back to Connecticut. BP bought a couple steaks for tomorrow evening’s dinner. Friday, we’re heading to Toronto for the Against Me/Murder by Death show and a weekend of Canadian misadventures.

I’ve had a really hard time accepting the fact that summer is here. I feel like I’m quickly running out of time with the people I’ve come to love, but this summer is off to a great start already. All I can do is enjoy it while I can.

This past Friday was the last day of finals, Convocation, and the beginning of Commencement.

Not that I had anything to do with any of that, but it’s a chronological landmark.

It’s been the busiest week I think I’ve had all quarter, with parties, moving people in and out, cleaning and rearranging the apartment, and trying to spend time with people before they take of for the summer or, in some cases, forever.

Friday night was the End Of The Year Bonanza party, which was a blast [pictures]. A lot of people showed up, we almost broke even, and we had a fair bit of leftover alcohol (and one hell of a mess) when all was said and done. Brie moved out and BP moved in Saturday. Today, Kidder moved out and we did a ton of cleaning and moving around in the apartment. We’re borrowing Sharon’s TV for the summer, so we moved the living room around to accommodate that and to open it up a bit. The audio on the coax jack is messed up, so we need to find a cheap VCR so we can plug the VCR into the wall and run RCA to the TV. We’ve also got a new DVD rack (a dumpster diving find) and Jym’s stereo system. He’ll be moving in late tonight and part of tomorrow. Today was also Gillian’s graduation BBQ, featuring the most incredible grill I’ve ever seen. It was a relaxing afternoon, and I learned how to play croquet.

I’m really hoping things will calm down by Tuesday, once everyone is moved in and settled. The apartment is still a disaster - we’ve done a lot of cleaning, including throwing out half of the shit in the fridge. We started going through all the crap in the pantry, but got as far as covering the kitchen counter with stuff before we got tired of it; another project for tomorrow. Our bathroom still needs cleaning and some more electronics need to get setup in the living room, but things are coming together. I like the idea of a fresh start for summer - it’s nice to have space in the fridge, to have a new layout in the living room, and for stuff to be clean for a little while.

Summer is going to be great, especially if I can make more time to sleep.

When Pepsi switches from an iTunes promotion to a sports gear promotion

This wouldn’t bug me if they didn’t use similar ten-character codes for both promotions. I didn’t realize the iTunes promo had ended until two of my codes were refused and I took a closer look at the bottle. Bastards.

I felt that these guys deserved a special note. A bunch of us were helping Ryan and Cheston move into the new apartment this morning, and then we all went to Mark’s for lunch. On the way there, I was sitting in the front seat of Ryan’s car when we came up behind these guys on 15. Apparently these two don’t know anyone with a truck (or rope, for that matter) and were driving along hanging onto the mattress on the roof. The guy driving had one hand on the mattress, one hand on the wheel, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The girl was sitting sideways so she could hang on with both hands. We pulled up alongside them and they seemed to be having a good time so I wished them good luck. I thought it would be rude to pull up next to someone and take their picture quick, but they seemed like the type that would find the humor in the situation so I wish I did. You can get a better look in the next two shots.

Today was an important day in the wide world of sports, with the continued development of a game I invented yesterday in a fit of laziness after helping Fonny hang his dart board. Couch Darts is exactly what it sounds like - sit on the couch and throw darts. Bonus points are awarded for each beer consumed before the game and double bonus points for those consumed during the game. All darts must be thrown from one of the two couches in the living room, and normal scoring is applied. Style points may be awarded for stray darts that stick in particularly interesting places, like the fridge or neighbors’ front door. Injuries are not only a possibility - they should be anticipated and accepted as a risk of the game. Playing through a dart wound is worth 50 style points. Spackle or toothpaste should be readily available for minor repairs to the wall behind the dart board.

Christ, I’m going to miss college.

Friday was the last day of class this year. Being on co-op, I haven’t been paying much attention to the progression of the quarter, so the end of it snuck up on me. Without finals and project due dates looming, I didn’t realize how close to done we were, especially since I know I won’t be leaving or changing my routine for the summer. I saw a few people moving out of the dorms earlier today. That’s always depressing, even when it’s people I don’t know, because that means the people I DO know will be leaving soon too.

We were just talking about Welcome Back, and it seems like it was just last month. I can’t believe how quick this year went, but I guess we say that every year. I’ve been living in the apartment just shy of a year now, making Brie the longest-running roommate I’ve ever had (excluding my younger brother, of course).

The end of the year is always tough. Saying goodbye is always tough. It’s especially hard for me this quarter because I know this may well be my last spring at RIT. It’s starting to sink in that I’ve only got another six months till I’m done. I may stay in the area once I finish, but I’m trying to make the most of the time I’ve got now just in case.

It’s going to be a great summer, and a lot of cool people will be here, but it’s still hard to send friends off for a three month break.

Since Wendy is moving back to California soon, she wanted to throw one last bash before taking off. So last night was the Disco party, and it was totally awesome. It wasn’t too big, which worked out perfectly - in a bigger party, you’re going to have small groups of people that are just kind of hanging out or don’t stay long. Everyone there was having a blast, dancing and singing and just unwinding from quarter-end stress. We played beer pong, I sat by the pond and had good conversations with good people, took lots of pictures, and we all got drunk and ended the evening in the traditional manner - shouting along to Cake and Ace of Base.

Around 4:30, the seven or eight of us that were still around were in no shape to drive, so we crashed around the house. Half an hour later, I was laying on the carpet in my boxers, using my jeans as a pillow (this is unbelievably uncomfortable), watching the end of Toy Story 2, when I got up to get a drink and noticed that it was getting bright outside. I stole BP’s last cigarette (sorry buddy), pulled on my jeans, and went outside to enjoy the birds singing. It was absolutely beautiful out and I wasn’t really tired, so I decided I should walk back to campus. At the time, I thought it was 3 or 4 miles - I found out this afternoon that it’s closer to 6.5.

I left the house at about 5:30. When I got to the gas station at East River and Erie Station - which is RIGHT by their house - half an hour later, I started to wonder if this was going to be a bigger endeavor than expected. I’ve always been riding in someone else’s car when I go to their place, so I didn’t have a very good sense of how far away it was. Nonetheless, I grabbed some water and Power Bars for the walk, and kept going.

I was having a grand old time enjoying the beautiful morning and snapping a few pictures, when I started coming up on Racquet Club (RIT’s off-campus apartment complex). I really had to pee, so I was keeping an eye out for a decent place to go into the woods. Off to the right was a clearing in the brush with a bunch of tire ruts in it - I assume the trucks from the gas company park in there when they’re working nearby or something. There was plenty of brush around it, so I went about 20 yards back in there, made sure I couldn’t be seen from either direction on the road, and took care of business. As I was coming back out, I saw a Sheriff car pulling a U-turn maybe 10 yards away.

I stopped walking and kind of stuck my hand in my back pocket like I do when I’m just standing around. They stopped the car and both got out, and told me to show my hands. When they asked what I had been doing back there, I’m like “I’ll be honest with you - I really needed a piss.” They asked where I was coming from, why I was walking, if I had any weapons on me. After frisking me, they had me sit in the car (which, by the way, was tiny as hell - I hope they don’t have to arrest many fat guys). As I’m sitting there waiting for them to call in my license, two more Sheriff cars pull up and two more guys get out of each. I was starting to worry that I’d picked the wrong place to piss, but the first two guys there were really cool and didn’t make it sound like a big deal, so I didn’t worry too much about it - if anything, I found the whole thing pretty amusing. They wandered into the clearing and looked around, presumably to see if I’d dumped a stolen purse or sack of heroin or something. I was toying with the idea of text messaging people to tell them I was in a cop car (for the sake of recording the incident) but decided I shouldn’t push my luck.

I was only in there for maybe five minutes when they came back and said they were going to give me a ride home. They wanted to talk to one of my roommate’s to make sure someone would be here and I’d be OK - they’re like “We know you’ve been drinking and you seem to be fine, but we’d like to make sure.” I was so nervous and trying to act normal that I probably came off as pretty cracked-out. So they gave me a lift home (which was nice because those shoes are terrible for walking) and we had a nice chat. I felt terrible because I had to wake Fonny up at 7 in the morning - “I need you to come talk to the police real quick.” That’ll throw him off first thing in the morning.

I got about three hours of sleep before Lucas called to tell me he was on his way here because wxs was in town and it was lunchtime. There were probably fifteen of us at Pellegrino’s, which was awesome because I hadn’t been there in months. It was good to see my Wesley again, even though I was exhausted. After a half-hour nap, I went shopping with Fonny, JymBob and Rich, then a few of us spent the evening hanging out here watching man shows on Spike TV.

So I’ve been running on precious little sleep all day, but it’s been a great weekend so far. Tomorrow I’ll be helping friends move in the morning. I don’t have anything else planned for the day, so I think I’ll pencil in a couple naps.

I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend to finish the quarter.

Also, that bump in my mouth WAS in fact a wisdom tooth coming in, and it seems to be coming in straight (but it hurts like a bitch). Because I know you were worried.

The front page article on CNN caught my eye this morning: The Pentagon recommended closing some 30 military bases and a number of smaller facilities. According to Rumsfield, this will save us $50 billion over two decades for the low price of 29,000 jobs.

Does anyone else see the fallacy in this? Certainly, I’d love to see our military scale it back a bit. But we’re spending over $400 billion a year on defense, and that’s not even counting the separate budget for Iraq. I have to imagine we can cut $2.5 billion a year without having to send 29,000 people looking for new jobs.

Since I know you’re all concerned, I’m happy to announce that my iBook is OK after our little spill. I turned it on after leaving it open to dry out all day, and it got as far as the boot screen before an unpleasant clicking sound starting coming from it. For you non-techies, unpleasant clicking sounds are almost never good. I shut it off and gave it another day, and it was fine when I got home from work the next evening. Good thing, too - a dead hard drive is about the last thing I want to deal with right now.

Also, the first season of Scrubs will be out on DVD next week. I really hope that’s not the final design for the cover; it reminds me of those crappy doctor game sets they sold when we were kids. Monster Doctor comes to mind, but I can’t find anything about it online so I’m not even sure that’s what it was called. I’ll just assume you know what I’m talking about.