Do you like apples?

Here we go again

2008-08-12T06:34:00.001-07:00

Yet another bulleted list to catch up for my severe and chronic lack of posting.

I went to Spain from June 10-25. I spent two weeks traveling around the country with 17 Catholic school girls. Yes, spending that much time with teenage girls was just as annoying as it sounds. But it was good being in Spain again.

While I was in Spain, there was apparently a little flood around here. Our house was fine, and all of our friends were unaffected as well, which makes us pretty lucky.

We spent a few days in July on vacation with Colleen's family. Her two sisters flew in and we all went to Lake Geneva, WI.

Upon return from Wisconsin, Colleen flew to Seattle for the National AP Conference. This not only gave her more time with her sister Erin, but also a surprise visit with Donor and Jenniffer!

We spent the last weekend in July not only packing for our big move, but heading to Chicago with our friend Wendy for the Neil Diamond concert. He did all the big hits, including "Sweet Caroline", which got two encores on its own right in the middle of the show. For a minute, I thought the rest of the show would just be the chorus of that song over and over again. It was a pretty great show, made even better by the middle-aged man sitting next to Wendy who spent the entire show openly weeping. I wish we would have found out what it was about Neil Diamond that reduced this man to a tearful, slobbering mess.

At the end of July, we closed on our new house and left our days of renting behind us. We are now all unpacked and looooove the new place! Ben really likes his new room and having lots of space to play in.

Ben has been having a rough week because he is getting his molars. He seems to be miserable and is having trouble sleeping, but it looks like the teeth are making progress and hopefully it won't be much longer.

Ben is also on the verge of walking. He took two steps on his own last night, but in general seems content with crawling to get where he wants to go. He does enjoy climbing up the stairs in the new house to get to his room every night at bedtime.

I have been accepted to the MBA program at the University of Iowa. I am in the Cedar Rapids program, which means I will still teach during the day and go to class two nights a week right here in the Crapids.

I can't believe school starts again for us next week. The summer has flown by!

To conclude, here is a gratuitous Ben picture:

Sweet Jesus

2008-05-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

It is easy to forget about this thing. Here comes the quick catch-up bulleted list!

went to Seattle for Spring Break. Yeah, it was great. If you want the rest of the story from below, call me already.
We spent most of April house hunting. It has been decided that in lieu of the Ph.D. that I had my heart set on, an MBA is my ticket out of teaching high school. So we are sticking around and I am applying to the MBA-PM program at the UI--they do evening classes in Cedar Rapids.
We found said house the first week of May. It is a townhouse built in 2006 in Marion. 3 bedrooms, all upstairs, 3.5 bathrooms, 2 car attahced garage and finished basement--complete with full bar. We love it and are excited to move in July!
Ben is now crawling everywhere and pulls himself up to everything. Eight teeth and all kinds of food--sweet potatoes, squash, prunes, pears, peas, peaches, apples, bananas--he looooves bananas. He is getting to be such a big boy.
I leave for Spain on June 10. My friend Jackie is taking a group from Xavier and needed another chaperone--so I am going! Yippee! I get back on June 25.
this school year is never going to end. ever. guh.

Seattle--Part Two

2008-04-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so after a short delay, here is more from Seattle:
We spent the second day at Seattle Center, up to the top of the Space Needle. The first picture is another from Pike Place Market, followed by the Space Needle one.

After the Space Needle, our handy Seattle Pass included admission to the Pacific Science Center, so we checked out the exhibits there. Ben liked the dinosaurs, especially when we put him inside the dino footprint model:
On Tuesday, we ventured out to the Zoo in the morning. It was a pretty chilly morning, and not only were we a little frostbitten, the weather apparently had its effects on the animals as well. Most were hiding somewhere in their ultra-realistic enclosures (which made it too easy for them to hide from view, in my opinion). And then we came upon the sleepy wallabys:
There were about 6 of them all in this enclosure, and I think we got a picture of the peppy one. We cut the zoo short, after dodging all kinds of unruly kids (gotta love vacation during Spring Break). On the walk back to Erin's apartment, we stopped for sandwiches at Paseo, a place so cool and local that it doesn't even have a sign outside. The sammies (as RR would say) were out of this world. Roast pork, banana peppers, spicy mayo, on a toasted roll--amazing! We kicked it at Erin's place for most of Tuesday, giving Ben (and us) a much-needed rest!

Seattle--Part One

2008-04-13T16:34:00.001-07:00

Over Spring Break, we took our first family vacation to Seattle to visit Colleen's older sister, Erin. Here are some pictures from the first couple of days of the trip.

Ben and I wait for the shuttle bus at O'Hare. We parked at the long-term parking lot, then somehow managed to get on and off the shuttle bus, onto the tram to the terminal and then through security to the gate. Colleen carried the stroller and Ben and I had all four suitcases.

Colleen's sister, Erin, and her boyfriend Dustin met us at the airport in Seattle. We were the first ones in the family to get to meet Dustin, so we took copious notes to share once we returned :)

Our first full day in Seattle was Sunday. We spent the day exploring Pike Place Market, watching the fish throwers and enjoying a cup of coffee from the very first Starbucks ever.

mmmMMMmmm...crabs.

More pictures to come later, including our adventures at the zoo and Ben's first Major League Baseball game!

Five hundred twenty-five thousand...

2008-04-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Instead of buying each other presents for our first anniversary, Colleen and I decided that we would get tickets to see Rent when it comes to Cedar Rapids on May 1. Colleen hasn't seen it in several years and I haven't seen it since I was in London in 1999. I'm pretty excited to see it on stage again, although part of me inside keeps saying "What kind of cast do they send to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a one-night only performance?"
Oh well, if it isn't good, it won't take much to convince Colleen to head to Chicago for a day this summer to see Wicked again to get my good theater fix.

6 months already?!

2008-03-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, we celebrated Ben turning 6 months old. Well, we didn't really "celebrate". But we are amazed at how fast he has grown. It is unreal how much has happened in the past 6 months.
Friday, we went to visit my parents and on Saturday morning, we went to have his picture taken. I was planning on a few pics for family and Ben's scrapbook. But we walked out of the place with a ridiculous amount of pictures. I will post some here below.
Easter Sunday was a nice, quiet day with just the three of us. We went to mass at Saint Patrick's, then came home and had a big Easter dinner. Colleen made ham with a cranberry-bourbon glaze, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and an angel food Butterfinger dessert. It was awesome.
Next week we are heading to Seattle for Spring Break to visit Colleen's sister. We plan on taking in a Mariner's game and touring the Nintendo facilities, where we are going to get a Wii. Fun, fun, fun!!
Here are the pictures. Go Hawks!

GO HAWKS!

2008-02-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day by taking Ben to his very first Hawkeye game. Unfortunately, the men's basketball team lost to Michigan. Maybe we should have taken him to a wrestling meet first.
He loved Carver. He just kept looking around and would get mad when Colleen turned him to face away from the court. He was so tired, but kept fighting sleep. Eventually, he caved in and fell asleep--much like the Hawks

I'm fucking Matt Damon

2008-02-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

No explanation needed. Just soooooo damn funny.
To Jeff, Wendy, and Jenniffer: yes, this induced the silent laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUowJzpgxs

R.I.P. Mike the Mouse

2008-01-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas, we had a furry little house guest. Word to the wise: don't use poison to kill mice. They die under couches, leaving a stank you wouldn't believe. We pulled out the couch, and there he was, in all his decomposing glory. We promptly disposed of him. He is now resting in a Target bag coffin at the Cedar Rapids landfill

Ben's First Christmas (and Colleen's big 3-0)

2008-01-03T13:00:00.001-08:00

I won't bore you with thousands of tales and pictures of the first Navidad. Suffice to say it was a nice holiday and for the most part, the families respected our reuqest to not go apeshit with presents for a baby who will not give two shits or even know what is going on.

Here is a nice picture of us before we went to Midnight Mass:

I am feeling the effects of quite a bit of wine in this picture. I was a bit drunk as we went to mass, as was Colleen's younger sister, Megan.

We really enjoyed spending time with Ben, since we really don't see him during the day while we are at work.

The whole Christmas extravaganza got off to a great start with Colleen's 30th birthday the week before. Her older sister, Erin, flew in from Seattle to surprise her. Of course, I knew about this and arranged for her to be at our house when we got home from work. Colleen was complaining about how uneventful her birthday had been up to that point and when we got to the front door she demanded that I open the door. I told her to do it, since I had my hands full of packages and things from work. As we argued over who was going to open the door, I finally had to give in and admit that I didn't have my keys. At that point, Erin heard us arguing and came to the door--and my rescue. Screaming and general giddiness ensued. We all went out for a nice dinner that night and then came home to enjoy some delicious lemon-raspberry cake from a local bakery, ice cream and champagne. Good times.

There are more posts to come, including the tale of another furry house guest, but for now, I will just post my favorite picture of Ben from over the Christmas break. Happy New Year!

Way too long

2007-12-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

Holy crap--I knew it had been a long time since my last post, but I didn't realize it had been this long.
Holidays, work, shopping, etc. It is all a blur.
Ben is doing great. This week he has dropped his 4am feeding, which means that he now is sleeping straight through from 8 or so at night until we get up at 6am. We actually have to wake him up in the morning to get him ready for day care. It is so funny to watch him stretch and rub his eyes as he wakes up. Then when he sees us standing there, he gets a big smile on his face before he realizes that he is awake and hungry, when he starts to frown and then grunt and whine a bit as we put him on the changing table to get him dressed for the day. He doesn't launch into a full-blown cry until after he is changed and we pick him up off the changing table.
We didn't make it up to Spirit Lake this year for the Kollasch family Christmas due to the crappy weather. It seems like we are getting a snow or ice storm once a week around here. So we met my parents in the Amanas last weekend for dinner to celebrate my mom's and Colleen's birthdays.
Colleen turned thirty on Monday, so there was much rejoicing :)
We went out to dinner at Atlas with friends last Saturday and then spent some time in the Atlas lounge downstairs before moving on to Mickey's for a while. It was finals week, so downtown was pretty dead. On Monday, Colleen's sister Erin surprised her by flying home early. I organized it so that when we got home from work, Erin was there waiting and Colleen freaked out. It was lots of fun. We went out for dinner with Erin and Colleen's parents and then some people came over for cake and ice cream afterwards. I got an awesome lemon-raspberry swirl cake from a local bakery that Colleen loves. Yum-o. And then we opened the little bottles of champagne that I brought back from Spain this summer. The little bottles are called "Benjamin" in Spanish, so it was fitting.
So this week, we are enjoying having Colleen's sisters spend some time at our house (Megan flew in yesterday). The sisters volunteered to hang with Ben today, so we'll see how they handle him. Now that he is sleeping at night, he is awake for most of the day.
We are heading to Clinton on Friday for Christmas, and then we'll spend next weekend inColfax with my family.
We hope everyone has a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

Random photos

2007-11-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

Ben in his Gap t-shirt and jeans. Looking pretty f***ing smooth.
Notice how we were very matchy-match that day. I love the fall long-sleeve-t-shirt-under-a-short-sleeve-t-shirt look.

He looks a little high in this one, but this was his Halloween outfit. We didn't go trick-or-treating, but we did get a nice bag of candy from day care. Score!

Rubbing elbows

2007-11-06T06:31:00.001-08:00

We spent the past weekend in Clinton. Our friends Gus and Courtney got married in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago and they had a reception in Clinton for their Iowa friends who couldn't make the trip to the tropics. It was Ben's first time spending the night away from home and he did very well. The loud music at the reception didn't bother him and he slept most of the time.

Sunday we went to a Hillary Clinton appearance in Clinton. Colleen's cousin works for her campaign and we had seats in the front right by the podium. Ben was great again, which was especially crucial since the Secret Service had blocked all of our crying baby escape routes. Luckily, there was no crying baby. After she spoke, Hillary came around shaking hands, signing autographs, etc. , and we found ourselves being "those" parents.

Me: "Senator Clinton, will you take a picture with our son?"

Hillary: "Sure!"

*Colleen thrusts baby at Hillary*

The doofus sticking his head in the picture in the back is Colleen's uncle. Needless to say, we're working on the photoshop version of this picture for Ben's collection.

2007-10-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Babies, bad football, and sleep deprivation

2007-10-22T09:21:00.001-07:00

That pretty much sums up the last few weeks.
Ben is now a month old and has new friends showing up left and right. Congrats Donor and Jenniffer!
The Hawks need some help. Fast. Although it was nice to be able to witness the Illinois game in person (thanks, Donor). But keep in mind, it could be worse. We could be Nebraska, Iowa State, or Notre Dame.
I am getting used to the little 2 hour naps I get through the night. Colleen and I try to take shifts, so we each have a chance at a good chunk of sleep. My students sometimes feel the brunt of my sleep issues, though. I try to stay cheerful, I really do.

Homecoming

2007-09-25T14:42:00.001-07:00

Yes, the annual "how's your liver" weekend is upon us. Although I may not get to stick around for the full beer band circuit, I am scheduled to appear in all Homecoming activities. So tell the bartender at Gabe's/The Picador/Whatever the hell it is now to get the lemon drops ready!!
And the little guy will be joining us at The Vine on Thursday and will also get to watch his first ever Homecoming Parade! Here's a pic from us watching his first Hawkeye game together:

I'm a Dad!

2007-09-16T08:45:00.001-07:00

This morning at 12:29am, the little guy finally decided to enter the world. We went ot the hospital to induce labor at 7:30am on Saturday, broke the water aroun 8:30 and sat around contracting, dilating, and shitting away another game to ISU in Lames. Finally, around 9pm the doctor announced that we were at 10 centimeters dilated and could start pushing. So we pushed. And pushed. And pushed. At 11:30, the doctor could still feel the baby's head, with little progress since the last check. So it was determined that his head just was too big to fit through the birth canal and all she was feeling was the top of his skull, which had been pushed into a little cone.
Off to the OR we went, with a quick change into scrubs and a big extra dose into the epidural. Sure enough, he had been pushed into the birth canal and was wedged right into the pelvic bone. He was literally stuck in there, and it took the doctor pulling him from the chest side and a nurse reaching in from below pushing his head to get him unstuck and out of there.
So it goes without saying that the little dude was pretty stressed out when he came out and it took a little bit to get him to come around and perk up for us (scary moments). But after a few moments, he was on his way and I got to hold him in recoevery while Colleen was being stiched up. His breathing was faster than normal, so we had to take it easy this morning, but his last few checks are starting to even out and everything looks perfect. Colleen is pretty sore and very, very exhausted. After all, she did all the work of a vaginal birth and also had to endure the C-section surgery.
All is well and we look forward to coming home in a few days with the new guy!

Baby Watch 2007

2007-09-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

So the due date has come and gone and we are still waiting. If he doesn't decide to join us today, we are heading to the hospital and they will induce labor on Saturday morning. Does anyone know if Mercy Hospital gets the Vs. channel in their cable lineup?

And btw, it's 11:11 and Iowa State STILL SUCKS!! (And apparently, this year, much more than usual)

GO HAWKS!

Another quiz

2007-09-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

Again, stolen from Wendy. I wouldn't post it, except, well, I did better than she did :)

80%

FilmCritic.com - Movie Reviews

Waiting Game

2007-09-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Still no baby yet. This kid seems to have a Spanish sense of time. Yesterday was the due date. We have another doctor's appointment this afternoon, so hopefully we will get some idea of how things are going and what the plan is for if he decides to keep hiding out for a while.

Fun Quiz

2007-09-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Blantantly stolen from Wendy. But I thought it turned out fairly accurate. Enjoy.

My personalDNA Report

Peeing my pants...

2007-08-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited for football season. Especially since I have been given permission to make the trip to Chi-town for the game on Saturday. I'll be heading out on Saturday morning, going to the game and then trekking straight back to CR. I'm doing the trip Han style--solo. Can't linger around too much in Chicago because the little guy might decide to join us any day now, and we can't have Dad in Chicago when that happens.
Although we are taking a red shirt season from this season, I do still plan on being at Homecoming and marching Alumni Band, both the parade and game. I am also hoping to get to one more game at some point this season, maybe Illinois or Minnesota, depending on how things go, ticket availability, etc.
I am so excited for college football season! My normal preseason tradition of watching Rudy has not happened yet, but hopefully I can squeeze that in tonight or tomorrow night--we'll see.
GO HAWKS!!

Back to school

2007-08-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of school. Although we started back to work last Thursday, the kiddies came back for a half day yesterday, making today the first full day of classes. So far, so good. I'm trying to maintain as positive an outlook as I can.

En casa

2007-08-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Home again. Without luggage. Thanks, US Airways. Nobody on the flight from Philly to OHare on Tuesday night received their luggage. How do you lose everybody's bags?
The first suitcase was delivered to our doorstep while we were out running errands on Wednesday afternoon. I got home to find that the back panel was completely ripped halfway down the suitcase, leaving a gaping hole. A phone call on Thursday alerted me to the fact that my other suitcase was at the Cedar Rapids airport, but it was at the United desk and they would not deliver bags from US Airways, so I would have to go out there to pick it up.
Turns out I had to go there anyway, because when I called to complain about the status of suitcase number one, they told me I had to take it to an airport to file a claim and have the damage verified. So I lugged the suitcase out to the airport and filled out the paperwork. After which, the United employee (since there is no US Air desk at the CR airport), informed me that I would have to empty the contents of the suitcase and leave the bag there. Why couldn't I be told this on the phone before I schlepped all the way out to the airport? So I threw everything in a giant plastic bag they gave me, got my second suitcase and sulked out of the airport. Damn you, US Airways!!

So back home, enjoying the unpacking, doing some chores around the house to finish getting ready for the baby and dreading going back to school in a week. Also catching up on movies--saw The Simpsons Movie today and I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud so much in the theater. Hilarious.

Vacaciones...de puta madre

2007-08-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

With a few days before I return to the US, and classes finished this week, a couple classmates and I took a short trip north to the País Vasco (Basque Country). Two days enjoying the beach and the cool weather of the northern part of Spain. I had never been to the northern coast, and I absolutely loved it. How could you not, with views like this:

The city rests around this bay--Bahía de la Concha and the beach of the same name. Concha, because the shape is just like a seashell, or concha. Our hostal was right underneath the big statue of Jesus on the mountain in the picture.

The trip was fantastic, relaxing on the beach, taking a boat ride out into the ocean and around the bay, enjoying the view from the top of the mountain, and taking in the spectacularly cool night air. The most interesting part was the signs posted around the city that read (in English):
"Welcome tourist. Remember: You are not in Spain nor France. You are in the Basque Country." Well, if that didn't put those thoughts in the back of my head about ETA to rest, I guess nothing will :)

Despite the scary separatist propaganda, it was cool to see the Basque language on all the signs and everything. We thought about counting all the appearances of the letters t, x, and k, but decided to stop after the count hit 100--on the first sign :)

Got back to Madrid around 7:30am this morning and it was pouring rain, with a little thinder and lightning. I am not sure I have ever seen a thunderstorm in Madrid. Granted, it has nothing on the storms you see in Iowa during the summer, but it is rare to even see rain during the summer here, so the thunderstorm is a bit of a conversation piece here. I took advantage of the free day at the museum on Sundays to head to the Sorolla Museum and to make a visit to the Prado. Sorolla was Spain's best impressionist painter, and the museum is in his old residence here in Madrid. Nice, but I was disappointed there was no store to buy a print or two. The Prado store also disappointed, since I really wanted a couple Goya prints for the house. I took a stroll through the Goya wing and visited my favorite Velazquez works, the got the hell out of there, because the Prado on free Sundays is a tourist haven and the crowd was driving me nuts.

Tomorrow is my last day in Spain :(

I am having lunch with MadridMan (see sidebar link), and then the traditional dinner with Marcos and Sandra on the night before I leave. We have gotten together for dinner in Madrid on my last night in Spain every summer for the past few years, and I am looking forward to doing it one last time.

Mañana

2007-07-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

As I have been procrastinating writing my final paper (I have the worst case of senioritis right now), I have been messing around with the blog. Check out the new poll feature at the very bottom.

Grrr...finals

2007-07-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Classes are almost finished...now gearing up for finals. I have two final exams and a final paper. The paper is tough, since I would much rather just show up for a test and be done with it all. Hopefully I can hammer out the paper this weekend, touch it up Monday and have it turned in on Tuesday. It's only 6-8 pages. Finals shouldn't be too bad. The dialect variation class will be fairly easy and the theater class is just a matter of reviewing and studying really well over the weekend.
I'm heading off to the mountain house for the weekend, one last hurrah by the pool with my notes and enjoying Margarita's great food. Marcos and Sandra are going too, I'm actually riding with them Friday night instead of taking the bus out on Friday morning. A little less pool time, but a much more comfortable ride (and free!).

Más fotos

2007-07-26T06:18:00.001-07:00

My awesome friend (and official personal graduation photographer) Karri sent me some of her pictures from graduation night. I probably won't get mine developed until I get home, so this is a sneak preview.

Here are all the masters graduates--all 8 of us, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

De marcha in Huertas. Me, Daniel, John and Kayce. John is the only one in this picture without a masters degree :)

The four graduates who went out after the ceremony. We were the four who weren't old women or ultra-conservative crazies, who probably stayed home praying for the souls of those of us who did go out to celebrate.

Karri and Susan. Karri was nice enough to use her feminine influence at the bar to get them to play a song by El Canto del Loco. Susan did the windshield wiper dance all night.

John and Kayce. Kayce was the only person crazy enough to choose poetry as his speciality area on the Masters exams.

Me with Kayce and Michael. Michael lives in Rome and works with the study abroad program that Duquesne University has there. Kayce is a modern day hobbitt.

Laura, Daniel and I celebrating our graduation. Perhaps a bit too much? Nah.

El niño

2007-07-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Soooo, apparently my son likes to cause trouble.
A couple weeks ago, he evidently pressed himself against Colleen's kidney area, causing a backup of fluid which led to a urinary tract infection. After about 10 antibiotic prescriptions, things seem to have cleared up. The nausea is back, painkillers are helping with the back pain, and I don't think there is room for me in the bed when I get back. It sounds like sleeping requires some complicated system of pillows and stuffed animals positioned in just the right places. Of course, this set-up has to be repeated after each of the several bathroom visits during the night. I almost forgot the heartburn that comes with eating anything, even plain toast and water has been known to cause some reflux at times.
On top of all this, his favorite position to be in is with his butt wedged as far as he can get it into Colleen's ribcage, which, I am told, is incredibly uncomfortable. But at least he takes a break from this position around 10pm every night to swim laps back and forth (and hopefully practice his fútbol moves!).
I also want to point out that any of this behavior causes him to immediately be labeled "my son", because any trait that causes his mother to be annoyed is my fault, of course.

Cojonudo

2007-07-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight about 5 of us from the masters program went downtown here in Madrid. Placido Domingo was performing at the Royal Opera Theater and they were showing the concert on a big screen outside the theater in the plaza. If you know Madrid, you know that the Royal Opera Theater is just across the street from the Royal Palace. So there we were, in the plaza with the Royal Palace behind us, watching and listening to one of the greatest voices that has ever lived on an absolutely gorgeous night in Madrid. After the concert, there were fireworks, both from the roof of the opera house and from in front of the palace. It was amazing.
After the concert, we went for some tapas around Plaza Mayor. We just hung out for awhile, went to about two or three bars for a cerveza or two, then ended up having churros and chocolate at the best place for such a snack in Madrid, the chocolatería San Gines.
Now it's about 4:30 am and I am heading to bed so I can get up and work on my romanticism paper tomorrow.

A friend passed along her pictures from the evening, so I am attempting to put them here. This is my first time posting pictures, so be patient if things don't quite go as they should.

Top picture: Daniel, Susan, Kayce and I in the plaza before the concert.

Picture 2: The sun setting behind the Royal Palace

Picture 3: The fireworks at the end of the concert, a few feet away from where we were standing

Master of my Domain

2007-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Master being the degree and Spanish being the domain. Yep, passed the oral exam today with little problem (stupid linguistics and language acquisition theory). So all I have left is to finish my current classes. As far as that goes, two midterms down--93/100 on one and today's was suuuper easy. One more midterm on Wednesday, two presentations in class this week and then finals on the 30 and 31.
Graduation is on Thursday. Why the graduation ceremony occurs two weeks before classes are finished is a bit of a mystery. And ceremony is a bit of an overstatement. Basically, this things consists of all the masters students (about 50) and professors gathering in the patio of the classroom building here. They say who is graduating, the graduates get the chance to make a little speech if they want, and then there is food for everybody. I think there might be a small gift for the graduates, who knows. It also tends to change a bit from year to year. Hell, I just found out today that it is this Thursday. But it is a nice chance to have some free food and drinks, talk to the few other students who I can stand having a conversation with (usually complaining about the other students we can't stand), and getting to talk to some of the professors outside of class.
Updates on the homefront, baby issues and etc will be forthcoming, now that the comprehensive exams are out of the way.

Aprobado!

2007-07-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

I passed!

So now with the written tests out of the way, the only thing standing between me and my masters degree now is the oral exam. Well, I have to pass my courses this summer, too, but you get the idea.
My oral test is on Monday at 4pm. That's 9am for you central timers. The good thing about that time is that I have a class at 5pm. The professor who teaches that class is the chairman of my jury. So I am guaranteed an oral exam of no more than one hour. So I have this weekend to study and prepare. The jury of three professors can ask me anything about any class I have taken in the past 4 summers here, including the classes I am currently taking. Today, I talked to the chair of the jury about what I should focus on and if there was any advice he could give me. He more or less told me the questions he would ask me about each of the four classes I have taken with him. So that was very helpful, especially since he taught the literary theory class that was the scariest in terms of remembering all of the theories and names, etc. He narrowed that class down considerably for me, so I am feeling much better about it now. So it's a question of studying everything and then not getting so nervous that I either forget it or lose the ability to speak.
And to top it all off, it is midterm. So I have a test tomorrow in my theatre class, another Monday morning in my dialects of Spanish class, and one more next Wednesday. 4 tests in one week--woohoo!

No more writing!

2007-07-08T02:37:00.000-07:00

The wrriten Masters exams are done! Second day went about as well as the first, I rocked the first question, because I knew the book very well and also because it was the book we read and discussed last week in my Spanish Romanticism class! So after writing 3 1/2 pages on that, I moved onto the second question. Luck would have it that the second day the two latin-american lit questions were over books I had not gotten to on the list. But, knowing this the night before, I looked up some of them online and found lots of useful information. There was one author I couldn't find and one I could only find general info about, not really anything about the work of his that was on the list. Which two authors show up on the test? You guessed it. BUT--the wheel of fortune keeps spinning and one question was "Talk about the general aspects of Emilio Carballido's work and what makes it stand out". This was the author I could only find general information on, and the question was asking for general information! I threw in a couple examples from his one play on the reading list that I was able to find and wrote what I could.
So given that it is a pass/fail exam, I would say I passed. But I guess we will see when the results are posted later this week.
After the test, a bunch of us started drinking at a bar near the campus here in Madrid. It was about 11:45 when I started there, then we moved downtown around 4:30. I got home around midnight, because we called it a night early, thinking that 12 hours of straight drinking was good enough.
Today I am reading a play for class tomorrow and working on the presentation I have to give over it. I also plan on going out this afternoon somewhere to watch Rafael Nadal in the final of Wimbledon. ¡Vamos, Rafa!

One down, one (two?) to go..

2007-07-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of Masters exams is now over. Today was the written test over the general reading list. I went in thinking: 6 questions, pick any three. Since the university doesn't like to share information with us, I found out today that the test was broken into areas. So the test was: Spanish peninsular literature-two questions, pick one; Spanish American lit--two questions, pick one, and Applied Linguistics, two questions, pick one.
This was completely different from how I studied the list. I was under the impression that I was going to be able to pick any questions, the majority of which would be on Spanish peninsular lit. But, I got a little lucky (a lot lucky actually).
The peninsular lit questions was a matter of choosing which one I could answer in more detail--I knew both easily.
The Spanish American section, I was lucky enough to have had one of the books in class last summer, so I answered that question with half of what I could remember from class and half of stuff I made up.
The linguistics section was a total curve ball. One question asked to compare two specific authors and their theories of second language teaching/acquisition. Yeah, right. The other one was discuss the differences between the Spanish used in Madrid and northern Spain vs. the Spanish of Souther Spain and the Americas. Cha-ching!! This was the topic of the past three days in my "Spanish in the World" class this summer.
So, a little bit of luck.

Tomorrow is the test over my chosen area of specialization, which is theater. I am currently conducting a quick cram session on the five Spanish American works on the list--just in case.
I'll find out next week if I passed the written exams. If I pass, then I have to sit for an oral exam over my coursework the past 4 years.
Wish me luck!

The Stones, the Gays, and the Tests

2007-07-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend in Madrid was an eventful one.
1. The Rolling Stones were in concert on Thursday night at the Estadio Vicente Calderón (home to my beloved Atlético de Madrid, 7th place in this year's Liga). They didn't sell out the joint, I think only about 30,000 tickets were sold. I thought about going, but then the idea of paying 70 euro and missing a night (and part of the next day) of studying deterred me. The next day, while the crew was tearing down the stage, two guys died and two more were seriously injured.
2. The past weekend was also gay pride weekend, or "Orgullo Gay" as they say here. Not only was it the traditional celebration in Madrid's gay district, Chueca, but this year Madrid was host to EuroPride, the gay pride celebration for, you guessed it, ALL of Europe. Huge parade right down the center of the city on Saturday afternoon.
3. I did not witness any of this. Since I have my huge comprehensive masters exams on Thursday and Friday, I fled the city for the weekend. When classes were over at 12:30 on Thursday, I packed my bag and headed to the mountain home of my Spanish family. I spent all weekend there, sitting by the pool rieading and studying, having wonderful home-cooked Spanish meals prepared for me. Afternoon café con leche and a snack, and a perfectly quiet place to study.
Now back in the city, just spent the evening having coffee and reading through my notes. Now I have to read the second half of a play for my theater class tomorrow. I will be VERY glad when this week is over!

Like a machine...

2007-06-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

I am blazing through books on my Masters reading list, making up for all kinds of procrastination on my part. I have read three complete books in the six days I have been here in Madrid. In addition, I have read articles and literary analysis of 6 or 7 more and written notes on all of them for studying purposes. As a result, I am feeling a little better about the prospect of taking comps in a few weeks. And just for the record, here is a little rundown of my comps and what I can expect:
Start with the reading list of about 60 novels and plays, plus a big ass poetry list, spanning the whole of Spanish literature, from Middle Ages to the 1990's.
Three tests:
1. Three hour essay test, choosing three out of five possible questions, dealing with the entire reading list.
2. Another three hour essay test, 3 out of 5 questions, this time dealing with the area of my choosing: poetry, prose, or theater. I have chosen theater.
3. If I pass those two exams, a two hour oral exam. Picture me in a room with three professors, asking me questions dealing with all of the classes I have taken over the past 4 summers in Madrid.

So I am making some progress. I have spent some time on this prior to this week, of course. But now that I dedicate almost all day, every day to the task, it is starting to seem a bit less daunting.
Almost all day is dedicated to reading and studying, but there is always time for Matt Damon. Yesterday I went to see Ocean's 13 for the first time. I know, I am slipping, but I was out of town for a wedding on opening weekend. Loved the movie--this really is the one they should have made last time, as Soderbergh has been quoted as saying.
I also got to meet MadridMan, a dude who runs a website dedicated to Madrid and all things Spain, which I read regularly. The message board is full of dorks like me who live for anything Spanish. There's a link somewhere over there in the sidebar, if you're curious. But MadridMan used to live in Columbus and last year moved to Madrid. We had a few beers after the movie at a rooftop café and it was a great way to spend the afternoon, on a gorgeous day in Madrid. The summer heat hasn't quite started up yet, so it has been in the 70s all week--I am loving it!
OK, back to the History of Spanish Theater in the 20th Century. Woo-hoo.

Estoy en España

2007-06-14T05:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it here, despite the best efforts of a thunderstorm in Philadelphia. Close to a two hour delay, 90 minutes of which was spent sitting on the plane with a three-year-old screaming at the top of his lungs incessantly. Finally, they put a cork in the kid and we were on our way.
The apartment this summer in Madrid is ok. Not as good as last year's accomodations. Not as clean, not as quiet, and not as close to campus. But it's only 7 weeks, and I can deal with it. As long as I wash the smoke smell out of my stuff as soon as I get home. I'm also keeping my bedroom door shut as much as I can in an attempt to thwart any bad odors, since it is right off the living room.
Yesterday I took the day off of studies, to just relax from the flight and get settled. I unpacked, went shopping to get some essentials (like the electric converter I forgot at home, so I could plug my laptop in). I also bought a fan to help me sleep through the heat, but the weather now is fantastic. It's probably around 65/70 degrees and I am loving it. But I know the heat is coming...
So today, it's off to the grocery store to get some stuff for my little shelf in the fridge. And then I'll be typing notes and doing some serious reading.

One Day More

2007-06-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

One day left of school for the year!! Yippee!! I can't wait for it to be over. This has been a very challenging year for many various and differing reasons and I am very glad to see it come to an end.
Now I am preparing for my yearly trek to Madrid for grad school. I leave June 12 and will be back in August. Before that I have a social schedule that is filling up quickly with goodbye dinners and spending time with friends before I leave. We also have a trip to Door County Wisconsin for Colleen's cousin's wedding. And somewhere in there I have to spend some quality time at the library finishing my notes and study materials for the reading list so I can have a shot at passing my comps this summer.
Hopefully I'll have some time between cramming for comps, going to class, and enjoying the Spanish food and sun to keep up with some posting here. If not, shoot me an email to see what's up. Hasta luego.

It's a Boy!

2007-05-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

At our last doctor's appointment, we found out that we will be having a boy in September! We have a name all picked out and are in the process of buying a few more clothes in blue (and black and gold, of course!).
Last weekend, we went into the 'burbs with Colleen's parents to do some baby shopping. We managed to spend 4 hours in Babies R Us and ordered a crib and changing table, while registering for other stuff, and walked out of the store with a crib mattress and a changing table pad. Now we have top work on re-arranging everything at our house so we have a place to put things when they arrive. And we want to do this before June 12, when I leave for Spain to finish up my masters degree. We still have our big priorities, though--like seeing Shrek the Third and the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie!

The long wait is over

2007-04-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

I have been accepted to the Ph.D. program in Spanish at the University of Wisconsin-Madison!!

Now I have a decision to make. Part of me wanted to just say "I'm doing it" and start packing, especially given how my current job has been over the past weeks. But then I started thinking on a more practical and prudent level and have realized it may be best to ask for a deferred acceptance and see if they will let me start next fall, after my life has calmed down a bit and I am more able to move to another state.

But it's good to know I am in, after waiting for a decision from Madison since January.

Spring has sprung

2007-04-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

We missed the spring "game" last weekend. In the morning on Saturday, we both supervised the ACT test at Kennedy. We got paid 95 bucks for 4 hours of work, most of the time just sitting in the room while the kids took the test. Not bad. Then we left straight from school to go to our nephew's first birthday party. 3 hours roundtrip to watch a kid try to eat some cake and open some presents. Not exactly worthwhile, but good in the eyes of the family. It's good karma for when our little one has birthdays.
I bought Volver on DVD. I saw the movie last summer in the theater in Madrid. Amazing film. Too bad I haven't been able to watch the DVD, since I have loaned it out to people. No worries, though, I 'll get to watch it eventually.
Prom is coming. I am one of the two teachers in charge of organizing and planning with the senior class officers. This currently means that I have to arrive to work early to sit in the front foyer and sell tickets. So far things are going smoothly, but there are still about two weeks to go until the big day.
I have purchased my plane ticket for this summer. I leave for Madrid on June 12 and get back on August 7, hopefully with my masters degree in hand. My wife is thrilled, as you can imagine. This also means that we are trying to rearrange the apartment and get everything ready for the little one before I leave--in less than two months.

I do...

2007-04-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

So the recent respite from blogging is due to the fact that I have been planning our wedding. I have to say that I am pretty proud of my fiancee and I for planning such a major life event in a little more than 8 weeks.
But the day could not have been better. I didn't even expect everything to go as smoothly as it did.
The day started off with major thunderstorms, which I have to admit, made me a little nervous. But about two hours before the ceremony, the skies cleared and the sun poked through the clouds, making for a gorgeous afternoon. The ceremony was at Danforth Chapel in Hubbard Park, which was a perfect size for our group of 68 guests. I always pictured myself having a larger wedding (mostly due to the size of my family), but this was just perfect. Yes, there are many people who I wish could have been there, but we will also have a wedding in the Church sometime in the future, so that will be the big guest list event.
But I digress (as usual). We had the principal harpist from the Cedar Rapids Symphony play at the ceremony, which went perfectly with the size of the chapel and the mood of the ceremony. The reception was in the IMU in the Richey Ballroom (formerly known as the Triangle Ballroom). Again, everything went very well and I think everyone had a good time.
Highlights of the whole weekend for me:
1. hanging out in the hotel before the ceremony with the groomsmen, watching the NCAA tournament. Just chillin' with Austin, Roberto, Donor and Marc was calming and it made me realize why these were the guys I chose to be closest to me during the events.
2. All the wonderful things people shared with us throughout the weekend. Donor had the amazing and surprising ability to say exactly the right thing to me all weekend long, most of which made me tear up.
3. Speaking of tearing up, my father-in-law gave the most wonderful speech at the rehearsal dinner that still gets me choked up whenever I think about it.
4. My best man, despite all of the jokes at his expense all weekend about his lack of organization or reliability, was amazingly thoughtful and dependable throughout everything. His toast was very typical of him and although a bit disjointed, I wouldn't want it any other way. He even got a canopy for the front of the chapel when it looked like the rain just wasn't going to stop.
5. And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the feeling I had when Colleen walked into the chapel. Undescribeable.

We spent a few days in Chicago after the wedding, since we were on Spring Break. It was a good time spent doing the downtown stuff. Shedd Aquarium was a madhouse because as it turned out, the Chicago schools were also on Spring Break, so it was packed with strollers and crazy kids going apeshit.
We did the Art Insitute, Second City, and Wicked. Food was outstanding--the Melting Pot (mmm...fondue), Café Ibérico (mmm...tapas) and our friends Courtney and Gus gave us a dinner at the Palm for a wedding present, so we had dinner there before going to Wicked. It was amazing: great wine, excellent lobster.

All in all, an amazing week. So now I am married.

We brought sexy back

2007-01-29T07:56:00.000-08:00

My fiancee and I traveled to St. Paul, MN on Saturday to attend the Justin Timberlake concert. In one word: awesome. Great show, and if you get the chance to see it, don't hesitate. Pink opened and she was very entertaining. Upbeat, funky, and she ended the show singing "I'm Coming Out/Get the Party Started" while hanging upside down from a big fabric/rope. It was very Cirque du Soleil-esque.
Then Justin came out. He did some tunes from his last album, Justified. Such as "Rock Your Body", "Like I Love You" and my favorite, "Señorita". And of course, the majority of the songs were from his current album. We like "What Goes Around", not one of the bigger hits, but a good tune. He surprised with his talent, playing guitar and piano during the show. In fact, there were several segments where he just sat at the piano in the middle of the stage (which rotated while he performed). There was an intermission, which featured a 25 minute performance by Timbaland. This part was the low point. It wasn't anything I couldn't have heard in any club. It was alright for a few minutes, but it started to get a little long. Thankfully, Justin returned and closed the concert with a fantastic, rocking, kick-ass version of "Sexy Back". It was sweet.
The encore was tight. JT came back out in just a t-shirt and warm-up pants, rather than the suit he had worn the rest of the show. He sat at the piano and played one of the ballads from Justified. He also was more chatty here, making the concert seem a little more intimate. He gave the usual "I appreciate my fans" speech, but he comes off as such a cool guy, I found it to be pretty believeable.
And then it happened. The girl two rows in front of us, dressed in a black button-down shirt (her cohorts were wearing the skank uniform--tigh jeans, crazy high heels and some slutty almost-shirt) made me almost go into convulsions of laughter. She stood up at the end of the ballad (nobody else in the second balcony was standing at this point), made the punk rock/devil sign with her hands and screamed at the top of her lungs. It was so out of place and random, it was hilarious. It was almost as out-of-place as the music they played to warm up the crowd between Pink and JT--"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. The same girl in the black button-down sang along to Nine Inch Nails at the top of her lungs before the concert, so come to think of it, her post-encore antics should have been somewhat expected.
Anyway, it was a kick-ass concert and even better because out hotel was connected to the arena by the Skyway system, so we didn't have to fight traffic or walk outside in the bitter cold. And the Xcel Energy Center is a great place to see a concert--much better than its cross-town counterpart, the Target Center.

Here it comes...

2007-01-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

The standard, quick blog update. The bulleted list.

I have realized that I haven't addressed my engagement on here. Part of that is just a privacy thing (mostly a work issue, but God knows who reads this), but now that word has gotten out, I think it is time to tell the cyberworld that I am engaged to be married. So there.
Christmas was great. Nice to get away form work , spend time with family, yadda yadda yadda. Next weekend I get to enjoy one of my Christmas presents--a trip to St. Paul to the Justin Timberlake concert. Oh yeah--he's bringing sexy back. I want to know where it was all this time. Maybe he'll tell us at the concert.
Work is interesting (well, at least the ancillary parts of it). Last week a bank robber came into the building to hide out and change clothes. He left without causing any harm and was quickly apprehended afterwards, but my question is, "Why don't we lock the doors during the day so that unsavory characters like this can't get in?" The administration looked at me during the meeting when I asked that, then proceeded as if they hadn't heard it. I guess ignoring the problem can make it go away.
Winter sucks. My car doors freeze, I have to shovel snow for the first time since I lived with my parents, and it is just too damn cold. There. My annual griping about winter is done and my life can continue.
Film awards season is upon us. There really isn't a movie that is contending that I am rooting for. Other than The Departed, which I thought was fantastic. But without any individual recognition for Matt, it is hard to really jump on the bandwagon :) If you get the chance to see Volver, the latest Pedro Almodovar film starring Penelope Cruz, do it. I saw it in Spain last summer and it is outstanding! Stupid Clint Eastwood making films in Japanese that will steal the Oscar.

There. I think that does it. Consider yourself updated.

A little quiz about me

2006-12-21T09:10:00.000-08:00

The Doogie Quiz

Take my quiz!

Take This Quiz See Scores Make Own Quiz

The writing on the wall

2006-11-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

It only took a sweeping mid-term defeat and an obvious public outcry at the polls, but Donald Rumsfeld has resigned as Secretary of Defense. The names have changed, but will his successor keep up with more of the same in Iraq?
Also, I think the reaction from outside the US is interesting. This being one of my reasons for wanting to get rid of Bush and his cronies, since I see the effects they have on how the US and Americans are seen abroad.
From CNN.com:
Regardless of the effect on world events, global giddiness that Bush was finally handed a political black-eye was almost palpable throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
In an extraordinary joint statement, more than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as "the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world" and gloated that they left the Bush administration "seriously weakened."
In Paris, expatriates and French citizens alike packed the city's main American haunts to watch results, with some standing to cheer or boo as vote tabulations came in.
One Frenchman, teacher Jean-Pierre Charpemtrat, 53, said it was about time U.S. voters figured out what much of the rest of the world already knew.
"Americans are realizing that you can't found the politics of a country on patriotic passion and reflexes," he said. "You can't fool everybody all the time -- and I think that's what Bush and his administration are learning today."

Post-election musings

2006-11-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

What a great night! It finally appears that people are seeing the light about the Republicans and their corruption, ill-conceived wars, and scare tactics. The party that has been so quick to judge everybody else on moral values showed that they are not quite as worthy of the moral high-ground as they thought. Hopefully we will also gain control of the Senate as well, given the current state of the vote count in Virgina and Montana. What remains to be seen is if the Democrats can use this new-found majority to really put pressure on Bush and Rumsfeld to change their failed policies, end the domestic spying programs, and find an effective way to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Although today, the Iowa Republican Chairman was quoted in teh DSM Register as saying this election was a "victory for the terrorists". Apparently, he didn't learn his lesson from last night. People are not buying the "a vote for a Democrat is a vote for terror" song-and-dance anymore. Finally. As if anyone is going to let terrorists waltz right in and attack us. The Democrats believe that we can stop terrorists without taking away all rights from citizens and giving the president total, authoritarian power to do as he pleases. Our rights as Americans do not have to be sacrificed in order to keep us safe, no matter what the Republicans say.
On the state level, we kept that crap-weasel Jim Nussle out of office and his former House seat goes to a Democrat also. Yes, despite how hard the GOP tried to paint Bruce Braley as the spawn of Satan who liked to kill puppies and eat them, the Dems won the 1st district seat as well. Another surprise was the 2nd District. I respect Jim Leach and his independence from his party. Hell, he was an anti-war Republican and in any other election, I actually might have considered voting for him. However, the fact is he is an incumbent and a Republican, which meant that voting for him was voting for more of the same, and this was an election that was clearly set on changing the course of things in Washington. His votes for leadership roles in Congress alone could be damaging (Dennis Hastert). So bye-bye Jim-bo, thanks for playing. And really, 30 years is enough in Congress.
Terrace Hill stays with the Democrats, and now the state House and Senate are in Democrat hands as well. Hopefully this will mean good things for education, alternative fuels, and health care in our state.

And in keeping with the theme of kicking sleazy, no-good, worthless people to the curb, Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline.

Where does the time go?

2006-11-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

This term, I have been the gracious host to a student teacher. She is outstanding and has done an amazing job in my classroom. This has given me much free time during the day to work on things, such as curriculum details and doing lots of work for school that I normally don't have time to do. I have been researching ideas for a new measurement tool that we are implementing at school as well as working on things for my masters degree reading list.
Surprisingly enough, I still can't find time to update this blog as much as I would like (or as much as Jenniffer would like).
Looking forward to the trip to Minneapolis in two weeks and also looking forward to the last home football game next weekend. This season seems to have gone quickly, and mercifully so. Please God, let it end without too much more misery. Here's to next year!

Another Big Ten Football Weekend

2006-10-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

After the craziness that was the Ohio State game, it was time for Homecoming in Iowa City. We kicked off the festivities on Thursday night at The Vine. Wings, cheap steins and good times. It was great. Then Friday I took the day off work to hang with the kids in Iowa City. Lunch at Atlas, Java House and then the traditional pre-parade shots at the bar formerly known as Gabe's. And I still wish for bad things to happen to the person who called the Boilermaker drinks. The parade was death, as usual, but still sort of fun. Then beer band, with the obligatory lame stop at Studio 13. 5 saxes, a baritone and a clarinet do not make a good sound together, and I also think they were annoyed with us for delaying the drag show. Anyway, I called it a night because of the early wake-up call and rehearsal on Saturday.
We gathered at the practice field to catch the end of the HMB rehearsal, or as Sarah so accurately described it, "Snakes on a Field". Their lines were so crooked and scary. And the trumpet girl who was wearing the orange hoodie, jeans, and the clunky shoes needs some serious marching help stat. Zillman tailgate ensued and it was awesome, as usual. March to the stadium, pregame and a big blow out of a game followed, along with a kickline performance in front of the HMB, who are not allowed to do kickline anymore for stupid political reasons (Kastens is such a pussy).
Saturday night's party was fun, but much more subdued than past years. I think it was a combination of the strong sunshine during the game and our advancing age.
All in all, it was a great weekend with great friends and I look forward to next year's game already. But first, we have the rest of this season to enjoy. This weekend the Hawks are in Bloomington to face the Hoosiers, then it's up to the Big House with a possible Rose Bowl berth on the line. Chili and lots of snacks and beverages will be on tap at my house for the showdown with the Wolverines, so consider yourself invited. Fist! Clap clap clap clap clap clap....

Go Hawks!

2006-09-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

Football season is upon us. One blowout, one game that was a LOT closer than it should have been. But I am not complaining, because anytime you turn the ball over 4 times in a game you should lose without question. So the overtime victory with the amazing defensive stand is good enough for me. However, probably not good enough to beat Iowa State, so step it up boys.

At last...

2006-09-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hawkeye football has come around (all apologies to Etta James). First tailgate of the year with the new seat buddies. No worries, once I figure out where the old tailgate buddies are hanging on Game Day, I plan to come hang out for a bit during each game day. Meanwhile, this is the first year I have "big boy" tickets. That is to say, the first time I have sat somewhere in Kinnick Stadium that was not with the HMB or in the student section. Nice seats, 35 yard line, row 7, a little too close to the visiting fans section, but pretty good seats nonetheless.
Good game, but I had to leave in the 2nd quarter to go to the wedding of a high school friend of my girlfriend. Nice wedding, good time and I feel like I didn't miss anything too important from the game.
In conclusion, it was a good kickoff to the season, a decent tailgate that served as a practice run for the rest of the season. Looking forward to a great football season and seeing a lot fo old friends around Kinnick. GO HAWKS!

So I got mugged...

2006-08-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last night in Madrid. Go out with some friends for some tapas and a few drinks. Head home early so I can get a little sleep before going to the airport. So it's about 3:30am and my friends and I walk home, they head off to their houses and the dorm and I have about 6 blocks to walk by myself. I get about 100 meters from my house and these 3 guys come up to me, shove me against the wall and tell me to sit down. I immediately hand over all the money I had, which was about 6 euros in change. Apparently this was less than they were looking for. They start beating me and I yell for help. One of them puts a knife to my throat and tells me to stop screaming. I keep repeating that I have no money. I guess my word isn't good enough for them, as they keep beating me and then start choking me. They finally get my wallet out of my pocket and open it to find, guess what, no money. They give me my wallet back (without even taking my bank card or anything), tell me they're sorry (??), and run off. A taxi driver sees them run off (since this was a pretty busy street in a upper middle class neighborhood of Madrid) and tells me that there is a police car behind him at the intersection. I go over to the cops and tell them what happened, and they ask me if I want to get in the car with them. At this point I just want to go home, so I say no and then go home. Upon arrival at my apartment, I realize that there is no water at that time for whatever reason, so I am unable to wash the blood off my arms and head. I go to bed and get up in the morning and go to the airport.
I have to say that I am lucky. This kind of stuff happens in any big city. The people in my apartment were shocked that this happened around the corner, and didn't believe me at first when I told them. Madrid is relatively safe, and I am lucky to have gotten away with just a few scrapes, bruises and a knot on the head. Hell, I even managed to lose only a few euros because I had spent all the cash I had at the bars. If the same situation had happened to me in New York or Chicago, I doubt that I would be able to say the same thing.

Weekend in the sun

2006-07-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend at my Spanish family's summer house in the mountains outside of Madrid. I went out on the bus Thursday afternoon and came back today. Great weekend. Spent most of it reading by the pool and soaking up some rays. I skipped pool time one morning to write my final paper for my Medieval Lit class (about the role of El Cid, a famous Spanish medieval warrior, in the facist military ideology of Francisco Franco--if you're interested, I can email you a copy...hehe). Then I also worked a bit on my final project for Linguistics class, which is a bitch that I am now halfway finished with. That piece of shit gets finished tomorrow, no matter what.
But really, other than a few hours working on those projects, most of the weekend was in the pool or next to it. It was awesome and I have a nice tan to show for it :)
Coming home in Thursday. Good to be done with classes. Good to be coming home to see the girlfriend. Not good to be leaving Madrid. I always feel a little homesick when I have to leave here. Someday maybe I won't have to leave... someday...

A few more days...

2006-07-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

The great thing about my masters program is that I can take classes just during the summer and I don't have to try to balance work and school. The big drawback is that the term is only 6 weeks long and the courses still cover a semester's worth of material. That translates into me reading one novel per class, per week. Multiply by three classes and that equals: hell. I have four days of class left. Tomorrow I have a short quiz on my medieval literature class and a final exam in my one class that is only a 2 credit course, meaning that it finishes earlier than the other courses, not that there is less work, by any means (in fact, I have read more for this class than the others). Then next week, I have to turn in an 8-12 page paper in Medieval Lit, and a huge final project in my linguistics class. People who have started this project already (e.g., nerds) have said that they are about 1/2 finished and are on page 13. Shit. I should get started. This could be a long weekend...

The Spanish-American Wedding

2006-07-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Dinner/joint bachelor-bachelorette party

Wednesday night (the day before the concert) we all met up for dinner at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Yes, the home of Real Madrid, Spain's soccer "powerhouse" (although they haven't won a title in over 3 years) has its own restaurant. And it was actually pretty good food. My two favorite Spanish soccer teams happen to be the bitter rivals of Real Madrid. Atlético de Madrid, the crosstown foe, and FC Barcelona, the two-time defending Spanish Champions as well as reigning European Champions.
So I arrive on time, which in Spain means I was a good half-hour early, along with Raúl, a friend of Sergio, Roberto's brother.
Timeout: Family tree time. Roberto is my friend the groom, who lives in North Liberty, was on the diving team at Iowa and now works in CR. Sergio is his brother who I met at Roberto's graduation from Iowa and now hang out with regularly in Madrid. Jackie is the bride who I used to work with at Sports Camps at Iowa and she now teaches Spanish at a high school in CR (but not the same one as me)
OK, now that you're caught up, on with the dinner. Sergio was in charge of the event, therefore all of his friends started showing up. I knew most of them because I have gone out with them several times in the past few summers that I have spent in Madrid. So I am there catching up with the group and some of Roberto's friends start showing up. Meanwhile, the bride and groom's tardiness is approaching an hour. The Spaniards decide to go in and sit down. Shortly after, Jackie and Roberto show up with the troop of Americans who had come for the wedding. Having arrived with the Spaniards (and knowing more of them than I did of the Amercians), I sat with them. I soon saw that the room was divided in half. One table of Americans and one table of Spaniards, plus me. I was fine with that. We ordered some drinks, watched a bizarre dance/acrobatics show, then finally ate. I was starving at this point. Dinner was nice, not too expensive, then we went out for drinks.
The joint bachelor/bachelorette party was a good idea. No tacky, out of control party atmosphere like in the US, just a good group of people going out and getting shit-faced. Or at least, I think they got shit-faced. Being a Wednesday night, I had to bail early (2am-ish) because I had class the next morning.
Concert Thursday--see previous post. It was awesome.
Friday was the day of the big wedding. I, of course, was early. This time I was actually early because I didn't know how long it would take to get to the church. The church was gorgeous. 19th Century, Neoclassical architecture, decorated with paintings by Francisco Goya, one of Spain's most famous artists. This was the church where I first went to mass in Spain on my high school trip we went here for Easter. Real Basilica de San Francisco el Grande, or if your Spanish is really terrible, the Royal Basilica of Saint Francis the Great.
The wedding was beautiful, with a blend of American and Spanish traditions. For example, Jacke had her sister and one of her friends walk down the aisle (unheard of in Spain--it's just the bride and groom there). One of the readings was in English, but the rest of the mass was in Spanish. They exchanged rings and, as is Spanish custom, exchanged coins as a symbol of sharing the wealth and finances of the family.
Then we all boarded buses and went to the reception at a beautiful banquet facility on the outskirts of Madrid. There was a pond with fountains and swans as we walked into the garden area. The cocktail hour was great, with all kinds of awesome appetizers. We took our seats for dinner, and I was with Jackie's sister and aunt, along with the entire family of the girl Roberto coaches in diving. The girl is a former Kennedy student and her brother goes there now, so I knew them somewhat. At least enough to make conversation, which is better off than I would have been with any of the other Yankees. The dinner was spectacular. Roberto's dad is the owner of a winery and is a wine distributor, so the wine was some of the best Spain has to offer, needless to say it was unbelievably good. Gazpacho, salad with shrimp, crab and lobster, then steak with foie -gras (which I happily scraped to the side) and a potato cake. Not quite as good as the potato cakes at Atlas, but the steak was to die for. Dessert was chocolately and then after dinner liquers and coffee. The Americans (this time I was seated with them), apparently not used to drinking so much wine with dinner, were out of their seats before dessert was served and became a bit unruly. A traditional singing group, La Tuna, came in and went around the room during dinner singing traditional Spanish songs. When they got to the American corner of the room at the end of dinner, that side of the room became a free-for -all. Everybody was up taking pictures, dancing and singing (I have no idea what words they were making up), while the Spaniards just sat and stared, with a "what the hell is going on" look.
Everybody got a free bottle of wine to take home, with Jackie and Roberto's name on the label.
The dance was great, lots of drinking and the Spaniards showed why they were pacing themselves at dinner. Again, the mixture of traditions as Jackie and Roberto showed a video they had made of pictures of them and their friends, etc. Pretty standard at American weddings, but the Spaniards had no idea what this was all about.
The last bus back to the city was going to leave at 5am, a little earlier than expected, but there was a delay because there wasn't enough room for everybody. Somehow, people found rides in cars and those of us on the bus entertained ourselves while we waited for things to get sorted out by singing soccer chants. Anytime Spaniards are in a group with nothing to do, sooner or later, the soccer chants come out. I had a few in me, so of course I joined in. This time it was the Americans' turn to use the "what the hell is going on" look. They surprisingly were still alert, given the late hour, although there was one really trashy seventeen-year old who needed a babysitter or at least someone to keep her from removing her dress in front of everyone on the dance floor.
I declined the post reception party at the Americans' hotel (which later reports show as basically a contest to see which Spaniard could get into drunk girl's room first) and went home. I got back around 7am and crashed. I slept through the better part of Saturday and eventually got a little but of reading done for class, although not nearly what I was assigned.
All in all, it was a great time, and well worth being behind all week-long in my classes.

I told you so

2006-07-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

OK, so it wasn´t later that day, but at least I am updating this damned thing.

Classes are kicking my ass. Last week was midterm week, which in a term that is only 6 weeks long, doesn´t give you much time to process the material. Monday I had a short quiz in Medival Lit. and a presentation in Masters Readings. Tuesday I had a paper due in Medieval Lit. Wednesday I had a test in Linguistics and a dinner to go to for my friends´ wedding. Thursday I only had one class--thank God.
Today I have another test in Masters Readings and just bombed a short quiz in my Medival Lit class--in which I have another paper due on Thursday.
I think next week I actually don´t have anything due. However, the following week is finals and I will have two papers and a test to deal with. And who knows if there will be anymore impromptu presentation or short quiz assignments. Why did I sign on for this? I could do the same amount of work over the course of 12-16 weeks and be much more relaxed. Oh well, I will be done in 2.5 weeks, I just have to survive until then. I got my paper back today from Medieval Lit. 9.5 out of 10, so not too bad I guess. I thought it was total crap when I wrote it, but myabe it was less crap than what everybody else turned in.

This weekend was going to be the weekend that I did some catching up on my reading for class. I had my friends´ wedding here on Friday night and then I was going to study Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. Riiiight. Here´s what really went down:
Thursday
Best. Concert. Ever.
Went to see El Canto del Loco at Las Ventas (the bullring in Madrid). The concert had been sold out since March, but a classmate of mine and I decided to check it out and see if we could score tickets. After walking around the entire ring once, we were just standing around trying to figure out what to do next and a guy came up to us and asked in a very low voice if we needed tickets. I said yes, and he offered us two for 30 Euros each--face value 25. Not a bad deal. I asked if they were real tickets and he got snippy with me. As I pulled out my money he says¨Hurry up before the police come¨ This makes me feel really good about the validity of the tickets. We pay him in a very clandestine fashion, (I felt like I was making a drug deal) and head towards the gate. The tickets seemed real, the paper was all shiny and everything, with the logo of the department store chain that sold the tickets, but the ink was smudged and was kinda coming off on my hands. I was starting to feel very doubtful about our chances of getting in. But there was absolutely no problem. We went in without a second look from the ticket-takers, bought t-shirts and found some seats. We tried the floor at first, but it had rained that day, making the yellow dirt of the bullring floor an absolute mess. So we sat up in the stands and enjoyed the concert. Two encores, both provoked by endless soccer chanting and high-pitched whistles. It was a damn good time.

OK--Since the rest of the weekend deals with wedding festivities, I will post that later. This post is already too damn long.
Hasta luego.

God, I suck at this!

2006-07-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

I realize that is has been over a month since I wrote anything here and nobody ever probably reads this anymore. But anyway, her is what I have been up to since June 2.
Moved. Found a great new apartment in Cedar Rapids. Not really where I wanted to live, but it's close to work and super crazy cheap. A week after moving in (with the girlfriend, btw), I headed to O'Hare and got on a plane to Madrid. Eventually. Apparently there was some big storm in Philadelphia, where I was going to connect to my flight to Madrid. So the flight leaving O'Hare wasn't even going to take off until 2 hours after it was scheduled to, thereby making it impossible for me to catch my connecting flight. So I head back to the ticket counter where they find me a seat on a United flight to Heathrow and then a later flight to Madrid. I was originally scheduled to arrive in Madrid at 7:30, but my new ETA was 4:00--exactly 30 minutes before I had to be at a meeting at my university. So I ask, are you sure there are no earlier flights from London to Madrid? No, sir, the noon flight that arrives at 4pm is the earliest. Ok, I guess I'll have to take it. Fast forward to me sitting in Heathrow at 6am, watching the flight screens announce flights to Madrid at 8am, 9:30am and 10:30 am. I sat waiting for my noon flight, in one of my least favorite airports in the world.
So I get to Madrid finally. I go to the ATM to get cash for the cab ride to my university, and am unable to get money. I figure it is a maching thing, since I bought breakfast in London with my card. So I take a cab that accepts cards only to find out that my card doesn't work there either. Shit. I go into the university, they pay the cab fare and I use their phone to call my bank. My financial aid money that I deposited into my account had been taken out by my bank, pending approval of the check, even though they told me they wouldn't do that when I specifically asked them a few days earlier. So I call and explain that they had left me in a foreign country with no money. They quickly fixed the problem and five minutes later I was able to withdraw the euros I needed.
Headed to my new apartment in Madrid, which is nice. It is a little dark, but it couldn't be in a better place. Walking distance to school and two metro stops close-by. Nice. I could go buy a cable to hook television up to my computer, but I decided I would try to live without TV for a few weeks. Now that the World Cup is over, it isn't so bad. Having to go to a bar or having to miss some of the games was tough, but after Spain was eliminated, I lost some interest anyway. But the good news is that I have wireless internet here and it is all included in the low low price of my rent for the 6 weeks I am here. Only 400 euros, which isn't too bad. Now if someone could only convince Spaniards that air-conditioning is a good thing...
So that is the story of my arrival. I have a few good stories from my classes and going out on the town here in Madrid-- rock concerts, weddings, 100 degree heat, and tons and tons of reading and homework. I'll post those later. Maybe even later today. No, really, I will.
But for now it's back to reading medieval Spanish literature...don't be too jealous.

Apartment hunting--ad nauseum

2006-06-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

I am currently searching for a new place to live. My girlfriend and I have decided to do the whole living together thing. After much discussion and debate, we are looking to live in Cedar Rapids. Iowa City is just too expensive, espeically with the drive back and forth to CR for work everyday. I will also be organizing prom next year at school, so it will be an advantage to live close to all of that. I will miss Iowa City, but we promise to come visit and have dinner there at least once a week--especially since there are no good restaurants in CR.
So we found the perfect place yesterday. A house split into two, two bedroom apartments. Ours would be upstairs and it is HUGE!! There is a little patio area, a washer and dryer (almost new), walk-in closets (you know how great that is for me!!), central air, and amazing woodwork. The only drawback is that there is no dishwasher. I don't do dishes. I warned the g/f of this. She still agreed to this place. We'll see what happens there. We even talked the landlord (who lives in the downstairs apartment) down from $675 a month to $600. Score!
Now I just have to get out of my current living situation in IC. The roommate who owns the house is currently studying in China. I have been sharing the house with two other guys, after thinking that there would be 5 of us splitting utilities, it got a little pricey. We are also trying to rent the place out for the summer and next school year, so I have been showing the house to all comers. It appears that half the population of Hawkeye Court is now moving in with me. I have two new roommates from China and in August the place will be totally filled with Chinese students. The guy who just moved in spent an hour yesterday at 4 AM going up and down the stairs and in and out the front door. It woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. I was not happy. I am now trying to deal and negotiate my quick exit from this place. Hopefully my role as realtor will get me a deep discount on July's rent.
And as if that wasn't enough housing issues, I am also trying to find a place to live in Madrid this summer. I have it narrowed down to two places and will probably pick one today or tomorrow. Not bad, only 450 euros a month and really close to my school. It turns out that this was probably the easiest process of them all. No endless parade of viewing apartmens all over Cedar Rapids and no crazy Chinese people to deal with. I can't wait to get to Madrid. Three weeks left!

Prom and more Prom

2006-05-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, I got to chaperone prom. At the school I work at, the seniors are the only ones who go to prom. Since I am the faculty advisor for the junior class, it was really a fact-finding mission to see how the whole thing operates for next year. Not a bad night, I went to dinner with the 4 kids who will be in charge of prom next year with me and then was up until 4am.
Last weekend, the junior class did our last big fundraiser of the year to boost the size of the prom budget. It was an outdoor games, food and music party we called "Cougapalooza". The Battle of Bands was fun and we even had a celebrity judge, Scott Schulte from Z102.9. I think we ended up making about 2000 dollars, which should help out for prom next year.
Finally, I got to spend some time with adults on Saturday. I drove in to Chicago where one of my girlfriend's friends got married on Friday night. I met all of her friends from college and then we spent Saturday afternoon/night in the city. Had tapas at Café Ibérico, which was awesome, and just strolled around downtown for awhile.
Sunday morning we met one of my friends that I worked with at my last job for breakfast. Her little one-year old boy is the cutest! The drive home was too long as usual, but we stopped in Davenport to see The DaVinci Code, which I thought was lacking in many areas. Finally got home and crashed. This week is graduation, which all faculty are required to attend in full cap and gown, and then Memorial Day weekend. I am hoping for some grilling, but we'll see what happens. I can't wait for summer to get here. I am ready to be done with these kids!!

I laughed, I cried...but mostly cried

2006-05-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

So last weekend Kennedy was the first high school in Iowa and one of the first in the whole country to stage Broadway's longest running musical, Cats. I had never seen this show before, but was familiar with some of the music and liked what I had heard. When I was in high school, I had tickets to see Cats in Des Moines but ended up not being able to go. My mom went instead and she hated it.
So I saw it for the first time on Saturday at Kennedy. The production was very well-done, the costumes and make-up were good and it was very impressive for a high school production. The kids did a great job and the performances were excellent. My problem is that I just don't like the show. There is no real story line, it's impossible to relate to any of the characters and there is no way to get emotionally invested in what was going on. There are some good songs that stay with you after the show, but no memorable characters and the ending was just ridiculous. Again, I haven't seen a professional production, but do they really suck up the cat to the "heavyside layer" in a spaceship? Are you kidding me with this?
Anyway, I laughed , I cried it, it was better than Cats, I want to see it again and again. It wouldn't take much for that to be true.

I'm an uncle! (and I still have a place to live)

2006-04-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

My little nephew was born on Wednesday, April 12. I got to see him and hold him on Saturday when I went home for Easter. Of course, as I was feeding him, he threw up on me. I hope that isn't a sign.
My home is still standing after Thursday's tornados that tore their way through Iowa City. There was a twister that took out a big chunk of the Honda dealersip down the street from me. The same tornado took the roof off of Menards and Wal-Mart near my place too. I drove downtown Friday afternoon, or as close as I could get, since most streets were closed to clean up the debris that was strewn all over the place. It took me almost 30 minutes to get from my house on Mormon Trek to my buddy's apartment on Johnson Street. Traffic was crazy and Burlington Street was closed, making it tough to get anywhere downtown. Iowa Avenue looked like a war zone. Houses were missing roofs, front porchs were caved in, it was the worst thing I have ever seen. I had planned on attending Good Friday services at Saint Patrick's in Iowa City, which was totally destroyed.
I missed out on the worst of the storm, since I had to stay at work in Cedar Rapids until 6:30 Thursday night. I had planned on going to mass that night in Iowa City at St. Mary's, but ended up going to mass in CR. I was on my way home when my girlfriend, who was driving behind me in her car, called me and told me to pull over because of the tornado warning. We ended up waiting out the storm at the rest area on I-380. As we were sitting there, four lesbians walked in, all carrying a can of beer they brought with them from their car. Then the truckers, complete with homemade tattoos, began to come in. It was turning into a bad episode of Seinfeld. Finally, the weather cleared enough for us to make it to Iowa City. As I turned toward my house, I saw traffic lights down and the roof of the Honda dealership was sitting on the cars in the lot. I was relieved to see my house all in one piece just a few blocks further down the road. The Press-Citizen website has some good pictures of the craziness that you can check out. http://www.press-citizen.com

Randoms

2006-04-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Time for another update to this--I really need to find time to do this more often!

1. Tom Brands is the new wrestling coach at Iowa. I have been waiting for Zalesky to get the boot for a couple of years now, and it has finally happened. I have met Brands on a few occasions through working at the Iowa wrestling camp. He is so intense that if you can manage to look him in the eye, you would swear that he is insane. There is something just not quite right in there. The news has been showing highlights of Gable slapping him in the face before a match--I love those highlights and I think that is the attitude and swagger that has been missing from Iowa wrestling. In short, I think a good analogy to make here is Jim Zalesky:Iowa wrestling :: Kevin Kastens:Hawkeye Marching Band.
They are still decent programs, but just not as good as they used to be and lacking the pride and attitude of the past.

2. Made a big, life-changing purchase yesterday. Can't post details now, but stay tuned.

3. I should be an uncle any day now. I'll spare you the reasons why I fear for my nephew. But suffice to say, another Nascar fan is about to enter the world. Ugh. (in other words, my sister is white trash)

4. Lots of drama at work this week. If I get time this weekend, I'll post the newest reasons why I need to find a new direction for my career.

Spontaneous Roadtrip

2006-03-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

OK, so now that Jenniffer has yelled at me, I will update this.

Picture it--Perkins in Coralville on Wednesday March 8. I'm meeting a couple of my friends for dinner. They had run into another friend from Sports Camps and she came along. Turns out this friend had won free tickets to the entire Big Ten Tournament, a hotel room in downtown Indy for the weekend and other prizes in a big package from the Hawks Nest (other prizes which included free season tickets for next year and a 100 dollar Hawk Shop gift certificate...lucky bitch)
Anyway, my friend Jackie, whom I was meeting originally did not have to work on Friday, so she convinced me to come down with a terrible flu and drive with her to Indy for the quarterfinal game against Minnesooota, since we could stay with our friend in her free hotel room.
Friday comes and we head out for Indy. We arrive downtown, have no problems parking right next to the hotel and start walking to Conseco Fieldhouse. Our plans included buying tickets on the street (scalping is legal in Indiana) and look for cheap tickets from teams who had already been eliminated. Our back-up plan was to just buy tickets from the box office for $45 each. Our thinking in this is that on a Friday night game with a 5:30 tipoff there would be few fans from either Iowa or Minnesota and tickets would be cheap.
So we see an old guy with a big white beard selling tickets on a corner and decide to ask him how much he was selling tickets for. Santa replied, "$150--it's a hot ticket". We think, "crazy old Santa-looking homeless man", and move on. As we walk, Jackie observes that there are a helluva lot of Illinois fans wandering about and we see a crowd of them around another guy selling tickets. This guy wants 130 bucks each. We finally figure out (we're geniuses, I know) that Illinois is playing the game after us, against Michigan St, and it's the same ticket as our game. We freak out and decide to get to the Fieldhouse and buy from the box office before we are stuck with either paying an insane amount or not going to the game after driving all the way there. As we get to the Fieldhouse, I ask a guy in an Iowa shirt what he is selling tix for. He says $65 and I think "Plan B". Box office=sold out and we are freaking. We decide to go for the $65 tickets (in section two-hundred-something in the upper balcony), talk the guy down to 60 bucks and meet up with the lucky ass friend and head into the game.
Lucky ass goes into the game with her free tickets in section one-hundred-something and we are rigth behind her when the scanner makes a funny noise when the dude scans our tickets. Funny noises are not good when you just bought your ticket from a guy on the street. The usher informs us that our tickets are for TOMORROW night's game. The only way you could describe the look on our faces was "sheer terror". We just got jobbed out of $65 a piece. We look at our friend who has already gone into the gate and she looks back, says "Sorry, call me" and walks into the arena. Bitch--if only we didn't have to rely on her for a place to crash.
We immediately start planning on how to find the guy, involve the police if we need to, etc, etc. Luckily, our dude is right where we left him, still whelling and dealing tickets. I approach him very calmly and say "Hey bud--I think you gave us the wrong tickets, we need tickets for tonight, not tomorrow night." He was very cool about it, apologized profusely and said he would give us tickets for tonight.
So he digs through his stack of tix and can't find anything (I am trying not to panic too much at this time), then turns to his co-scalper who gives him two tickets and says "That's all I got". Our dude hands us the tix and says "Sorry about that, have these for the same price, even though they are much better tickets. " We look at the date (something I will always do when buying tickets for the rest of my life now) and after ensuring that they were for the correct day, went back to Conseco Fieldhouse. As we go in the doors, Jackie sees someone she knows and stops to talk, while I take a closer look at the tickets. It was then that I realize our seats are in the lower section in row 16. Holy shit! Talk about a bargain (screw you and your $150 tickets, Santa!). So we enter the gates with no funny noises this time and find our seats. It was fairly early and the arena wasn't very full, so we decide to find our friend who had abandoned us earlier. We saw her--across the court and an entire section above us! We immediately did just as she told us when ditching us with our bogus tickets--we called her ass. We waved like idiots across the arena at her and the it dawned on her-- "You have better seats than I do".
The game was good--except for the random Ohio State fan who kept telling us to sit down. Excuse me--your team isn't even playing so shut the hell up. The next day we could find ourselves on TV easily in the highlights because we were standing up, wearing yellow and everybody around us was wearing orange. Which reminds me--it was really fun cheering for Michigan State in the second game as they upset the Illini. Serves the bastards right for driving up ticket prices and screwing up our plans. Lucky friend said it was funny to watch us stand up and do the Vader arm motions, since we were the only ones on that entire side of Conseco Fieldhouse cheering for the Hawks!
We crashed at the free hotel (on the floor, of course) then the next day drove to Chicago. Jackie had to catch her flight to Madrid, since she was going there for a few days to finalize her wedding plans for this summer. We checked her in at O'Hare, then went to a sports bar near the airport to watch the semifinal against MSU. We were pretty loud in our cheering and I am sure the other 10 people in the bar thought we were crazy. After the game, we got Jackie on her flight safe and sound and I drove back to Iowa and watched us take care of the Buckeyes the next day.
So the Big Ten Tournament was interesting this year. 3 games in 3 different states in 3 days. GO HAWKS!

are you happy now Jenniffer?

The Big Ten Tournament

2006-03-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

This should be one of the most interesting editions of the conference tournament yet. Michigan State is playing on Thursday for the first time ever, The top five teams finished so close to each other in the regular season and there were few sweeps of opposing teams during the season. Ohio State looks to top off its outright championship with a tournament victory too, which would duplicate their women's team's tourney crown from Monday night. That would make the Buckeyes only the second school to sweep both basketball tournaments in the same year, with Iowa pulling it off in 2001.
Jeff( http://jeffrey.theutechs.com/blog) posted some of his counterpoints to my earlier post about Alford and this year's team. I used to think that Alford would improve and be a very good coach someday, and maybe I do still believe that to some degree. My point is that in games like this year's loss in Evanston, he still gets outcoached on a fairly consisitent basis. There is some improvement there, and Jeff is very right about that. However, the fact remains that he has yet to really develop a player to his fullest potential and his teams suffer from a lack of motivation at times. If the improvement of Alford's coaching is on the way, next year would be a good time to show it. With a very young team that will lack the leadership and intensity of Horner and Brunner and the inside defensive presence of Hansen, Alford will need to do his best coaching job yet in order to avoid yet another sub .500 season in Big Ten play.

As if I needed another reason

2006-03-02T06:35:00.000-08:00

So, I hate Northwestern. See earlier post about the Hawks' debacle in Evanston earlier this year. But after last night, when they had a chance at redemption, a chance to knock-off Big Ten leaders Ohio State, they blew it. With just seconds left to go, they had the game in their hands and screwed us over. If they were playing us in that game, there's no way they screw it up. But no, they had one more chance to kick us while we're down and they took it by lousing up the last possessions of the game.
It is easy to blame the 'Cats for their evil ways toward the Hawks. However, the fact remains that if we pull out the game in Evanston, which was easily within our grasp, we would be still be sitting in first place. We had another chance in Minneapolis to keep our grips on the top spot, but in that game, Alford gets outcoached and the Hawks get out-hustled and out-rebounded in a loss that sent us to Champaign needing a win in probably the second-toughest arena in the conference (Breslin Center). So, when it comes down to it, although there is still a theoretical shot at claiming a share of the title, I am not putting any hopes in the Purdue upset of OSU.Not on senior day in Columbus and not with this pansy version of the Boilermakers. Although, the scene is set for a poetic justice-type of ending. Remember last year when league leading #1 Illinois went into Columbus for the season finale? A bottom-feeding Buckeye team with a first-year coach upset the Illini on a last second three-pointer. How sweet would it be for first-year head coach Matt Painter to take Purdue into Columbus and upset the Buckeyes' chances of an outright conference championship? Keep dreamin' Hawk fans (and Illini fans).
Can Alford coach a favorite in the Big Ten Tournament, or does he save the real stuff for the underdog teams that have to play in Thursday's first round? A tournament title could give us as high as a 3 seed in the NCAA's (which is where ESPN had predicted us before the two game losing streak on the road).
Which brings me to the final thought on the Big Ten season this year. Alford has enjoyed his best year as head coach due to the effort of Horner, Brunner, Haluska, and a much improved Hansen. Their gutsy play has lifted the team to a level that Alford has never seen as Iowa's coach. Many may be tempted to say, "Let's see if Alford can keep up the improvement", but without the leadership of this year, I only see a return to the typical Alford underachievers. Here's to you, Indiana--please take our coach. We need a fresh start

Here it is...

2006-03-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

as promised, my look at this year's Oscar race.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Will win: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Should win: Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Will win: George Clooney (Syriana)
Should win: George Clooney (Syriana)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Will win: Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)
Should win: Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Will win: Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
Should win: Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain)

DIRECTOR
Will win: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
Should win: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)

MUSICAL SCORE
Will win: John Williams (Munich--also nominated for Memoirs of a Geisha)
Should win: John Williams (Munich)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Will win: Brokeback Mountain
Should win: Brokeback Mountain

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will win: Crash
Should win: Good Night and Good Luck

PICTURE
Will win: Brokeback Mountain
Should win: Brokeback Mountain

I'm predicting a big night for the gay cowboys. Although I am warming up to Munich, after reading some different perspectives on it and seeing it from a different angle. I think it is Spielberg's best effort since Schindler's List. The final image and the thematic parallels to today's world situation are just haunting. I just think the movie was misunderstood by many (myself included) and the reaction to it has been polarized.
I also have cooled down on my feelings toward Crash. It is just too obvious and preachy, although it would not be surprising to see Oscar lean that way, especially if the Academy wants to support a social issue film without touching off a potential controversy by picking Brokeback Mountain.
I loved Good Night and Good Luck, but I just can't see it winning much, and in almost every category there is another nominee that I think was just a little better. George gets his catch-all reward with the supporting actor nod.
I'm looking forward to the show on Sunday, especially with Jon Stewart. Keep a notepad handy to tally all the Dick Cheney jokes.
But for now, it's a nice fish dinner (yeah, Ash Wednesday) and then off to Carver for the Iowa vs. Penn State basketball game. Penn State, you're really mean, nobody likes you, you suck.
GO HAWKS!!

Olympic observations

2006-02-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

First of all, the American snowboarding chick is a dumbass. As if we aren't seen as showboating, arrogant assholes by the rest of the world already. Nice job....JACKASS!!

Second. I'm watching the men's speed skating (not the short track with the cheating Koreans, just the normal, Dan Jansen stuff). Did anyone else notice that it looked like a bunch of those guys had camel toe? What is up with that?
Also, the black dude who won the 1000M (Shani Davis) was a total dick in the interview on NBC after he won. There are all kinds of accusations about how he is not a team player, hates the other guys, dropped out of the team event to pursue his individual events, etc., and then he goes and grunts his way through the interview right after he won the gold medal, ignoring the poor woman who was trying to get more than one word answers out of him. Nice way to improve your PR. Jackass.
They did a human interest story on him before the event saying how he grew up in the rough, gang-infested streets of Chicago and how his life has been so hard and so on. This sob story goes on for another few minutes, then they say that he lives and trains in...Evanston. Now, I think Evanston is a hellhole and should be burned to the ground for many reasons. But rough and gang-fested it is not. Not by a long shot.
To the credit of NBC and to keep me from being blasted by comments correcting me, I do realize that later in the story, NBC said how he had moved to Evanston from the south side of Chicago. But that was tacked on much later in the story, after I spent 5 minutes in the living room laughing about Evanston's gang problems and its rough and tumble streets.
"Yeah, last time I was in Evanston I was eating lunch at this nice little corner café when some private college bastards flashing purple gang colors came up and cut me, then took off in their daddy's Jag and did a drive-by at the 3 story mansion down the street."

Last one--Ice Dancing. It's like someone looked at the sport of figure skating and decided that it wasn't gay enough, so they came up with this crap.

Wow--cynical comments for the Olympics on a Monday morning. Maybe I need some coffee--or a four-day weekend. Stupid public school that has classes on a federal holiday. But all kidding aside, I am watching a ton of Olympics and enjoying most of it. Hockey is getting interesting, the Michelle Kwan saga will rear its ugly head again this week, bobsled is getting started and speed skating is always fun to watch.
And if all that fails--there's always curling, right?

Two weeks to go...

2006-02-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

And I have seen all the Best Picture nominees! I rounded out the group by seeing Capote on Friday night. I enjoyed the movie, although I thought the narrative didn't have much of an arc to it. It seemed to sit in the same place for awhile. Philipp Seymour Hoffman was outstanding as expected. His characterization of the author was excellent, but I just thought that, like the story, once he had established that great character he didn't change it. I didn't see much range within the character and he didn't seem to evolve or change through the course of the film.
My full Oscar picks will be fodder for a later post as the big night gets closer, but for now, if I had a vote for Best Picture, I would rank them like this:

5: Capote

4: Munich

3: Good Night and Good Luck

2: Crash

Winner: Brokeback Mountain

It is really close for me between the top two, I love Crash, but also think it gets a little obvious and preachy (same racist cop who humiliates upper-class black woman is the one who pulls her from burning car? please). I love the message, but just feel it needs to leave a little more for us to think about, instead of beating us over the head with it. Brokeback Mountain has those moments where you just don't know what exactly happened to Jack, or why the characters do what they do. Those moments that make the audience think and wonder and discuss--that's great filmmaking. (It's also why the Spanish movie Abre los ojos is a million times better than the Cameron Crowe English re-make Vanilla Sky) But I disgress.
I also want to put a big shout out to Good Night and Good Luck. No movie has more relevance to today's society than this one set in the 1950's. The words of Edward R. Murrow from the opening and closing scenes are downright haunting. They could easily be spoken by anyone today. The prevalence of the media and their role in culture and politics is frightening. The ease with which politicians can manipulate the public through the media was foreseen by broadcasting legend Murrow and the film shows his beliefs and how he fought against those politicians and that trend in our culture. Too bad we don't have any Edward R. Murrow's today. The power of television has been usurped and programming has been transformed into a voyeuristic, narcissistic wasteland instead of the great tool with the power to inform, educate and strengthen a democracy--as Murrow saw it. Anyway, the film lacks the scope, cinematography, supporting cast and emotional pull to bring home the statue for Best Picture, but if it doesn't win a screenplay award it would be a major injustice.

Happy Oscar Season!

The day after my birthday

2006-02-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

Also known as Valentine's Day. First off, Happy Anniversary to my parents, who today celebrate 30 years of being married. I was glad to find out at their 25th that they did not get married because it was Valentine's Day. They actually wanted to get married on February 11th, which was my grandparents' anniversary, but since the closest Saturday happened to be the 14th, it just worked out that way. Then on the day before their 2nd anniversary, I came along.

I am taking my girlfriend out to dinner tonight, but rest assured that I have no intentions of buying any chocolates or flowers until after the price-gouging extravaganza that this holiday was meant to create has ended. This way the holiday is not ignored (keeping her happy), but yet is not the shallow, consumerist oriented crap that everyone sees it as. She does agree with me in that Valentine's Day is a load of commercialist crap, but I was also warned to not overlook it completely :)

Finally, tonight I enjoy the last of my birthday presents. My g/f bought us tickets to the Iowa basketball game tonight and after dinner, we'll head off to Carver to see what happens against the Spartans. GO HAWKS!!

¡Feliz cumpleaños a mí!

2006-02-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey...it's my birthday!! I'm off to Atlas for dinner.

Got to talk on Messenger today with my buddy Sergio in Madrid. Today is his birthday too. ¡Feliz cumpleaños, chaval!

Doogiepalooza 2006

2006-02-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

Holy crap! Two days in a row with new posts!!

This weekend marks the kick-off to Doogiepalooza (or what I like to call Doogie Gras) 2006, otherwise known as my birthday celebrations. Things roll out tomorrow night with pizza at Pagliai's and then a trek through the finer drinking establishments of downtown Iowa City. Mickey's, Dublin, pretty much the same itinerary as beer band without the free drinks and the obnoxious jackasses yelling at you to play them a song.

My actual birthday is Monday the 13th, which includes a dinner with friends at Atlas in Iowa City.

The festivities come to a close on Tuesday night after Valentine's Day dinner with my girlfriend at Iowa River Power Co. as we enjoy her birthday present to me, tickets to the Iowa vs. Michigan State basketball game at CHA. Go Hawks! (or at least don't get blowout at home)

If you were left off the guest list (inadvertantly, i assure you), shoot me an email and I'll fill you in on details.

Along with the excitement of turning 28 (yippee), the Winter Olympics start tonight. So my life will be officially sucked away by the television coverage of the games.

What was that sound?

2006-02-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

I think it was the other shoe dropping.
I was resisting writing anything about the Iowa men's basketball team because I didn't want to jump the gun or jinx them, since this is the first time since 1982 that they are in first place in the Big Ten in February. And then what happens? Of course, we go to Northwestern.
I HATE EVANSTON!! Nothing good ever comes from Hawkeye trips to that shithole. And now, as if the football team's collapse there in November wasn't enough, the basketball team has lost there for 3 consecutive times and, I think, 4 of the last 5 (or is it 5 of the last 6?--it doesn't matter, it's Northwestern and that's too many losses).
So now we no longer are in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. The good news is that we are still in a tie for first. The bad news is we go to Assembly Hall in Bloomington on Saturday. If they can't handle the crappy high school gym that is Welsh-Ryan Arena, how the hell do they expect to compete in Assembly Hall? And it only gets worse from there, with the Spartans coming to Carver on Valentine's Day. I am going to that game (as a birthday present from my girlfriend!) and I hope it isn't a 30 point blowout like the debacle in the Breslin Center. We'll be lucky to still have a shot at first place when next weekend rolls around.

On a side note, I am planning on updating this on a much more regular basis. I noticed that it's been awhile since I've written anything. I'll increase the blog fiber intake, maybe give it some bran or something, to make things more regular.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2006-01-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

It's OSCAR TIME!!

Nominations came out today. I am in the process of making plans to see the three films nominated for Best Picture that I have yet to see (Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich). I am pleased to see Crash get the nod for Best Picture. It's a great film that boasts an original storyline that interweaves many themes and characters, portrayed by an outstanding ensemble cast featuring nominated Matt Dillon and Terence Howard (for Hustle and Flow, but he was great in this role as well). Brokeback Mountain led the nominations with eight, including the nod for Best Picture. I loved this film, because it transcends stereotypes and really is a moving love story, not just a "gay cowboy" movie as it was first described by many. However, I think its buzz is peaking too early and it may not have the legs to carry it through this month-long campaign until the votes are finished.
I'm reserving my picks for another post, but to me the race for Best Actor boils down to Heath Ledger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. I thought Ledger took Brokeback Mountain to another level, really taking over the scenes and creating a character with more layers than an onion. I need to see Capote, but I just don't like PSH. He just annoys me.
OK, it's off to read more buzz and see more movies. Woo-Hoo!!

p.s If you haven't seen it, go rent Crash--NOW! It's spectacular.

So it begins...

2006-01-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

I am in the planning stages of my next summer in Spain. I have spent the past 3 summers in Spain, the first just on vacation. I spent time with friends and my host family as well as touring some old favorite places and showing a couple friends around who had made the trip with me. The past two summers I have been enrolled in grad school at the Madrid campus of St. Louis University. This will be my third of 4 summers in the MA program, at the end of which I will have to take comprehensive exams. Two tests, a 3-4 hour written portion dealing with the 4 page reading list (more on that later), and a 2 hour oral test over the coursework I have completed during my summers in Madrid. This week I have started tackling research for the reading list. I spent 3 hours at the UI Library last night taking notes and reading literary history and criticism books. My plan is to compile a notebook with pertinent information on each of the works from the reading list, then to read as many of the works possible. Sort of my own "Cliff's Notes" for the MA Reading List. Since I have a year and a half until the exams, I am hoping that I can actually read most, if not all, of the titles as well. The note book would then serve as my study guide for comps.
I am excited for this summer not only because I am returning to Madrid and taking some interesting classes (including one on Spanish film director, Luis Buñuel) but also for two other reasons. First, my girlfriend is coming to visit for 10-14 days in July. She is currently taking a Spanish class at Kirkwood to help refresh what she has lost from high school Spanish class. How sweet is that?
Also my friends Jackie and Roberto are getting married this summer in Madrid. Their wedding is going to be awesome. It is in the Basilica de San Francisco el Grande, an enormous Neo-classical style church in the center of Madrid, down the street from the Royal Palace. Among the interior decorations it boasts several paintings by Spanish master Francisco de Goya. Roberto's dad is one of the most well-connected people in Madrid and Jackie estimates that of the 300+ people at their wedding, she and Roberto might actually know 50 of them. I stayed at Roberto's family's flat in Madrid for 2 weeks last summer and they are the nicest people imaginable. The wedding should be great! Spanish wedding are notorious for their crazy all-night celebrations--even the grandparents normally stay at the reception until the wee hours of the morning. I can't wait.
But until then, it's back to the library...

Catching up

2006-01-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I had the opportunity to hang out with some folks I hadn't seen in awhile. It was a great time, just catching up with old friends and having some good food and drink, served up by the best hosts ever, The Utechs http://www.theutechs.com. Although I did realize that Frosty and I were the only single guys there, my mind was eased by the fact that I was the youngest of the group, not counting the children of the guests :)
I know I have previously made the promise to hang out more with my old friends from HMB, but lately I find myself struggling to keep in touch with people. I got an email from Bobo last week and ended up having dinner with him on Friday, which was great. It was good to see him again and hopefully we can manage to stay in touch. He is in the process of planning his wedding (actually Kim is in the process of planning it) that will take place this summer in St. Louis. The timing is perfect, since their wedding is June 24th and my classes in Madrid start on the 27th, so I should be able to attend the wedding before I head off to Spain.
I think my stuggle to keep up with people is partly due to the fact that my group of friends from work also includes my girlfriend. Since they are our only mutual friends that we both knew before we were dating, it is comfortable for both of us to stay with that group. I also find them planning my free time for me many times. And although they are mostly a good group and fun to hang out with, I would like to use some of my free time to hang out with my other friends, too. So hopefully I can manage to strike a balance between the old and new friends and get to see more of the HMBers in the future.
Speaking of the future, plans for my 28th birthday celebration are in the works. If you are interested in being on the email invite list, send me an email. Most of you who might be reading this probably will already be getting the invite, but just in case, whatever, yadda yadda. I am looking at an Iowa City based fiesta on my actual b-day, Jan 13th, as well as some late night festivities on Saturday the 11th. More details to follow.
And as a last thought, if you are one of the aforementioned friends who I haven't seen in a while, drop me an email or a call and we'll hang out. I miss you guys and sometimes just need a kick in the ass to get things rolling.

Second verse, same as the first

2006-01-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

Trying the new URL...hopefully it will deter the unwanted lurkers. Same title though, and now there is a nice parallel between the two, as they are both allusions to my favorite film.
Speaking of great film, I saw Brokeback Mountain last night with Wendy.http://www.wendydecora.com. Fantastic movie. Ang Lee brings a great view to what is really a great love story. I went in thinking it would be about two cowboys who just got bored in the mountains and started doin' it. But I was so wrong. The story is expertly crafted and beautifully filmed. But the best part of the film is the incredible performance of Heath Ledger. He acts circles around everyone he appears on screen with, including the over-matched Jake Gyllenhaal. Michelle Williams holds her own in scenes with him, but I suspect it is due to her experience with playing another angst-ridden character in Dawson's Creek! Overall, a very gutsy performance in a heart-wrenching, emotional picture. Definitely worth the Oscar buzz it has been getting, and at this point in the game, I say that Ledger runs away with the Best Actor statue--hands down.