Just 34 days away...

Phase one of my Halloween costume is complete. I have the main costume, and the maracas. Next comes the clothing accessories, painting the maracas the right color, sign construction, and, most likely, song acquisition. Those of you who are in the know, he he. Those of you who aren't, you will find out eventually. I may actually get around to posting THOSE photos.

Susan has borne witness to me in the costume. Heh.

I'll be seeing some of you this weekend at SkipperDee's wedding, provided I survive my seminar talk. Friday, 4 PM, 20 minutes on a Nature article on the rapid formation of a galaxy from 10 billion years ago. Afterwards, I'll drag what's left to Iowa City.

40 hours until my doom...

I can't believe this made CNN.com's front page

Gibson daughter marries Kenny Wayne Shepherd

This is ridiculous. Half the article is devoted to Mel Gibson's DUI arrest. Hell, for a second before opening the article, I thought up the Gibson daughter candidates, like 1988 World Series hero Kirk. I then realized the best possibility: Shepherd loves Gibson guitars so much that he married the daughter of Gibson, whoever he/she is/was. Now THAT'S devotion to music.

Good football weekend...

...bad baseball weekend. I'm sure the RHS and the Fisherprice Daddy don't share that sentiment. Oy. The White Sox gave up three walks (that I witnessed) in the seventh inning on Saturday, killing the game for them, and officially killing the season for me. Of course, I commemorated this by wildly losing my temper and immediately regretting it afterwards. Fun times. I'm an idiot. I need to sit down and watch my 9 DVDs.

So, in other news, the Bears were beautiful. I'm so happy that I can watch the offense and not wince. As for the Hawks, they made a fine comeback, despite the Cyclones putting up an admirable effort. I just hope McCarney can actually motivate them for the rest of the season.

The Game (not in the Bay Area)

A few of my friends have asked me who I would be rooting for this weekend, as if it were even under deliberation. My response to them was "if Iowa State was playing [insert undergraduate
alma mater here], who would you root for?"

Sadly, some of them failed to see my point because their school would never play ISU.

Just to clear things up, I rooted for Notre Dame growing up because my parents never went to a major school and I lived in the Chicago area. In high school, my allegiances shifted to Nortwestern, a memory I try to repress (although it helps me hate Southern Cal). For the last seven years, I have been a Hawkeye fan. I may not bleed black & gold, but I will share one sentiment.

BEAT STATE

Go Bears! among other things

Well, grad school has been fun, since I get to be around people my age again. However, I have a lot more work to do, and I haven't settled into a healthy routine yet. Once I do, things will improve around here.

In other news, I've bought a bike. I already love it.