Everybody's got 'em, and they all stink

It's so strange not doing a tournament pool this year. Seattle will do that for you. Also, I have been playing catch-up when I have been tourist-ing, because I wasn't prepared to deal with all the TA responsibilities I had in the week before spring break.

I did catch the end of Belmont-Duke this evening. That was entertaining, until the inevitable, at least.

A timeline

My drop-dead date for graduation in May is March 28. I have to schedule a final oral examination by then (three weeks in advance), which I presume means I have to have a thesis draft in my committee's hands by that date as well.

Failing that, I have to have my final oral examination by May 19 (scheduled in the last week of April), lest I have to register for classes in the summer. If I have to do that, I probably won't have a teaching assistantship waiting for me, which means no in-state tuition waiver, no tuition covered by the graduate college, and no tuition covered by the department.

Is it getting warm in here?

with no sitcoms or Bears worth mentioning, I update my life

So, semester number 3 is done. Or, semester number 13, or, year number 19 1/2 is done, depending how you look at it. Do we count kindergarten and preschool in this, or am I too old to actually be concerned with this, especially since I barely remember anything before first grade?

OK, back to twenty-aught-seven, I got two more A's in my classes, and an incomplete in another class, because it isn't quite done yet. The final project's due date was pushed back to the 4th of January. I planned on this being a working holiday, but I won't get to do as much research as I would have liked.

This semester is more momentous than I am letting on. I intend for those courses to be the last I take in the department, or ever, unless I decide to get certified to teach high school classes. Anyways, next semester will be devoted to research and teaching. For those of you who are familiar (and likely, annoyed) with Hawk Harrelson, it's time for me to "cinch up and hunker down."

In other news, I will be in illin'-noise on Saturday or Sunday for a few days. I am going with my parents to see my brother in Arrr-kansas in the first days of twenty-aught-eight. That coincides with my project due date, which is hopefully good motivation for me to make progress right now.

In completely trivial news (not trivia news), I am actually completing a World Beer Tour at Old Chicago this afternoon. My prevailing feeling on this? Mildly pathetic.

Big day

The gloves have officially come off.

Also, look at this ISD article, where they "quote" Casey Luskin as saying Gonzalez has a "stellar reputation as a cosmologist and an astrologer."

Now, I certainly don't agree with ID or its proponents, but I don't think Luskin believes in astrology. I couldn't find that quoted in the DM Register, or anywhere else, and found him quoted online as saying "Astrology isn't real. ID is."

That tells me that ISD really needs a freaking copy editor. They started misspelling Gonzalez's name midway through the article. Such morons.

P.S. I'd say more about the e-mail controversy, but that would not be good for me or anybody.

This is why I'm sad.

The Cyclone Truck Stop is closing.

I will miss the chili tender, a recent discovery of mine. It is a pork tenderloin, covered in chili, on top of a hot dog bun. I never felt more American after eating that.

Where will I get my corn bread now?

Where will I go after midnight for coffee? I don't want to step up to Perkins.

I want my dive restaurant. Angie's Kitchen isn't open every day of the week.

I can barely form cogent sentences right now. Somebody help me.

So it's come to this

This weekend is Homecoming at Iowa State. Since I'm a grad student, I haven't noticed a thing, aside from newspaper articles. In the Friday editions of the Iowa State Daily, they print a supplemental sports section, which as you would expect, focuses on the football team's upcoming game.

However, this week they profile a baseball team from 50 years ago that did exceptionally well. Pardon me if I find this amusing, because the supplement is called "Gridiron," this weekend is the Homecoming game, and on the cover, I see a baseball team photo, but the program hasn't existed for six years.

This is probably what happens when the team is on the fast track to 0-8 in the Big 12, lost by 53 at home, and lost to a Division 1-AA...excuse me, Championship Subdivision (because they actually have a champion) team at home.

And yes, I'm bitter that my team is never mentally prepared for the prestigious Cy-Hawk Series.