Lately

There have been several complaints of late by a portion of the readership that I've been posting too much news and not enough details of my lovely personal life. Apparently they grow tired of all these meaningless posts about current events. After all, who the hell cares what I think about what's going on, right?

Well this is, after all, my blog...and I'll post what I deem necessary or relevant. So there.

However, in an effort to appease these critics, here's what's going on with me - in no particular order.

I had two broomball games this week. We won the first, on Monday, handily. We lost the second, last night, badly. We were somewhat outmuscled by a larger and more aggressive team - some of whom obviously had something resembling skill - which of course did not bode well for us. We performed reasonably well in the first half and were tied at 1, but we fell apart quickly in the second half after we gave up the go-ahead goal.

For those of you who haven't seen me recently, I've grown the beard back (as opposed to just the goatee), and I've pretty much stopped gelling the hair (opting instead to part it in the middle). I originally decided to do this because I've reached that particular point in the semester where I've realized that nothing's going to happen with any of those girls I initially viewed as 'prospects' in any of my various classes. I pretty much just decided to let myself go and not try anymore. I think I look better with just the goatee, and so do at least quite a few other people. However, the beard is just a lot less effort. I don't gel the hair, since if I do, it makes my hair look a little too dark in comparison with the beard, which I think is a bit lighter brown. There's also a little bit of red around the chin.

Much to my surprise, I've gotten a bit of positive feedback on the beard (not from any girl wild enough about it to go out with me or anything - just in general). Anyway, I don't much care anymore and I'll probably keep it through the Europe trip, if not for DC (if that indeed transpires). So that's that.

I finally canceled DSL at my apartment yesterday. I had been paying for all $40 since May, when Aaron left, without actually having a computer. I had done this because there was a fee for cancelling and then reinstallation, and I thought it was only a matter of time until I got a computer of my own. Of course, this never happened, due to the fact that I never got a roommate and continued to pay the entire $500/month during the summer for a place that I visited a few times per month, and slightly more often when Chelsea and I were together, when it was fairly convenient. I didn't take out another CitiAssist loan like I did last year, because I was getting a little money from Pell this year for the first time and thought I could make due. I wound up with much less money than I had last year - all while spending more money, since I was living alone. My grandparents gave me a lot of money to get a computer, but I ended up dipping into that for rent and concert tickets before the loans that I did eventually receive came in.

Canceling the DSL was the final admission/acknowledgment on my part that I won't be getting a computer this semester and am going to need every penny for the Prague trip and the DC internship living expenses (estimated at ~$4800 for the four months I'm down there, in addition to the ~$2800 tuition).

I had a weird dream two nights ago that I had booked the Czech trip forgetting that I already had a previous trip to Madrid with Kristen (California Kristen, not Fredonia Kristen; Fredonia Kristen has expressed her dismay that she feels second fiddle to the 'Original' Kristen. Unfortunately this cannot be helped. I will try to avoid referring to Kristen I and Kristen II. I could go with Kristen Y and Kristen O. Yeah - I think that's what I'll do...). So anyway, in the dream, I had rationalized that I would fly over to Madrid with Kristen Y and just head over to Prague to meet up with the Eurosim group in time for the conference and everything would work out. When I woke up, I started to panic, thinking that this would not really work out at all, and then I realized it was only a dream. Odd.

Yesterday, I joined Stephanie, Sam, Lydia, and Keller for a meal that Keller made for us. Balsamic chicken, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Good stuff. Steph and I went to the Dems meeting, where the local Democratic candidates showed up and gave abbreviated stump speeches to the mass audience (about 7 people) that attended.

Lori Cornell - Thom's cousin Chuck's wife - is the candidate for County Clerk. Deanna sat next to me and smacked me on the leg each time that Lori mentioned my name in her speech (I think I mentioned that Lori ran the Dem HQ in Jamestown in 2000 when Destini and I volunteered there a lot). Lori's only 29 and pretty attractive, and Deanna was making a lot of what I might call inappropriate jokes about what she imagined to be our supposed past. I told her to calm down, but Deanna's pretty high-strung.

Ken Lasker was there. He's running for Chautauqua County District Attorney. He was apparently under the impression that we had met, although I don't recall such a meeting. He was accompanied by Mr. Vincent - my onetime art teacher at Falconer High School. Mr. Vincent was very friendly, and apparently really happy to see me. He gave me his email address so that I could contact him about a friend of his that works as a lawyer in/near Washington. I'm not sure what exactly he thinks might happen from that. I think they call this kind of thing 'networking' - which is something that I'm incredibly bad at, and something that I should probably improve if I'm going to get into politics seriously.

Also in attendace was Mark Thomas, our County Executive. Thomas ran for Congress last year, for the seat that eventually went to Brian Higgins. He spoke to the Fredonia Dems last year and really impressed me with his candor, speaking ability, and confidence. I also think he looks a little bit like a red-haired Kurt Vonnegut in person, which certainly can't hurt his case with me. Anyway, he's running for re-election for the CE spot in a tough race with Edwards. Someone was saying to me that Edwards' campaign posters look like an ad for the Aryan brotherhood (they're all smiling white-blondes), and I had to laugh.

Pomfret/Fredonia Town Council candidates Sally Smith and Dave Kleparek were also there and gave short speeches. Smith is heading up the Fredonia/Pomfret Dem HQ as well, organizing the phone banking and lit drops in the area. I'm going down there tonight to volunteer for a couple hours. I may meet up with Matt D and Kristen O for a beer at the brew pub a little later on.

Apparently they have found a role for me for Eurosim in Prague, so I won't be wandering around the city alone for the four days that they're in the conference after all. I'll actually be participating, which should be a nice thing to throw on the resume if it all works out.

That's about it for now.