Currently Reading White Teeth: A Novel By Zadie Smith see related

Root, Root, Root for the _____!

My dad called Friday afternoon to find out if we wanted to go to the Cubs game on Sunday night.  My stepmom gets tickets through her company once or twice throughout the season and they asked her that day if she wanted to use them.  Even though she hates baseball, she knows that we love going to games.  So Ashley and i met my dad and his uncle Mel around 630 last night.

I know you're probably thinking, "Nick, how can you talk non-stop about the White Sox and yet want to go to a Cubs game?"  Well, it's complicated.  First, i love Wrigley Field.  and the history of the building and all of the little nuances that make it special.  So if there are free tickets to watch a game at "The Friendly Confines", I'm there.  Also, my dad's side of the family bleeds Cubbie blue so i was raised a Cubs fan and went to a ton of games when i was little.  Fortunately, i saw the light and converted to the south side about ten years ago, but the Cubs experience is still fun to be a part of.  Not the Cubs, but the experience.

Anyways, the game was a lot of fun.  It was televised nationally on ESPN and it was the first night game of the year, so the energy inside the building was crazy.  It was also really cold!  Since i refuse to wear a coat after April 1, i opted to wear 4 layers and managed to stay pretty comfortable throughout the game.  I almost wore a Sox hat, but with all of the crazy drunk fans, i like to fly under the radar.  It's not worth getting harassed.  There was somebody brave enough but he went into the bathroom and somebody yelled out, "There's a homo Sox fan in here!" and everyone turned around and started yelling.  Nice huh?

We stayed until the 8th so we could get on the train to beat the rush and still be home to watch the end.  (PS I would never leave a Sox game early)  St Louis was up 4-3 but literally 5 mins after we got on the train, the Cubs hit a grand slam.  I'm glad we didn't stick around for that because seeing all those Cubs fans celebrating would have disgusted me.  It's kind of cute the way they get so excited though!  If only the first week of the season mattered as much as the last week, when Cub games will be meaningless!

Currently Listening Achtung Baby By U2 see related

- Until The End of The World

Winter Break Part II

Although i had an awesomely good time during my week off, spring break was not quite i had anticipated.  First off, there is nothing "spring" about 30 degree temps and flurries.  Also, i did nothing productive.  I always start the week with this list of things that i SHOULD do.  Not necessarily things that will be due right when i go back to school, but things that i could do to get ahead and make the last month of school less stressful.  Didn't happen. 

But it was still a good time.  I got to hang out with some people i hadn't seen in awhile.  Liz was in town from TX for almost the entire week so we crammed in some good bonding time.  I love having her in town because she does all of the things with Ashley that i don't want to do...go to the Museum of Science and Industry, eat at the Rainforest Cafe, watch Rent, go shopping, etc.  And she's fun to hang out with!

My friend K-Lo came over to watch the opening day of the tourney also.  I wasn't technically on spring break yet, but i saved my sick days so that i could stay home that Thurs and Fri.  It was so worth it.  My youngest brother also had a "doctor's appointment" so my mom picked him up from school at 1100 so he could come hang out with us.  I think i logged about 50 hours watching basketball during my time off.  It was almost too much.  ALMOST!  After watching all day Thursday, i hit the wall around 3 PM on Friday.  But i got a second wind and managed to keep going. 

My house is equipped with the March Madness on Demand package so we could watch games online as well as our local CBS affiliate.  My brackets went straight to hell after the first two rounds so luckily the games have been close and competitive which makes it more fun to watch.  At one point, i was 20th out of about 250 people in this big pool we join every year.  But things went south as soon as the sweet 16 started.  Since my brackets are done and Illinois has been long gone, i'm on the George Mason bandwagon.  It would be very cool to see them win the whole thing.  Also, Ashley is looking primed to win $150 after this weekend's Final 4 so i still have a vested interest in the last few games...maybe she'll buy me a drink to help heal the wounds!

Currently Listening The Best of 1980-1990 By U2 see related

- New Year's Day

The New Slim Shady

I was transferring from the Blue to the Red Line yesterday when i noticed two men walking really slowly through the tunnel.  As i got closer, i could hear one of them rapping and then saw the other guy holding an old-school camcorder.  I eventually figured out they were filming a rap video and that i was walking right in their shot.  What made it even more awkward was that nobody else was within 15 feet of me.  So instead of filming a huge crowd of people walking, it was just the rapper and yours truly!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that this video won't find it's way to TRL anytime soon given the fact that A) the acoustics in an underground tunnel aren't exactly pleasing to the ears and B) there was nothing to separate this rap song from any other one.  But i could be wrong.  So if you happen to be flipping channels, come across BET, and see me featured in a rap video, let me know so that i can contact this artist and earn residuals for my cameo appearance.

Currently Listening Fairweather Johnson By Hootie & The Blowfish see related

- Be the One

Oooooh that smell!

I just got out of grammar which has possibly become my least favorite class.  And not just because the subject is so boring but because i sit next to this girl who has the worst breath EVER!  I tolerated it for awhile but it's gotten much worse over the last few weeks.  I'm trying to avoid it in every possible way but i'm running out of ideas...i've tried completely turning my back to her to face the front of the room, scooting my chair backwards, and even resting my hand on the side of my face.  But the odor still comes wafting into my personal area.  Maybe i'll just start offering everyone gum or leaving some tiny bottles of Listerine around.

In other, less disgusting news I received 2 really good pieces of mail this week:

1) a letter of acceptance from the English Ed program...apparently the muffin baskets paid off.

2) a statement from the city of Chicago saying that they have waived the ticket i was given on Dec 22 for having a broken window which signified to them that the car was abandoned.  I'm still waiting on results of the other ticket (given the same day) for parking my car in the same spot for 7+ days.  My explanation on that was a little too creative and far-fetched so i'm not getting my hopes up.

Currently Listening Live: 05-03-03 - State College, Pennsylvania By Pearl Jam see related

- Jeremy

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Every time that song gets stuck in my head, i always visualize Chris Farley stripping...how wrong is that?

Nothing big on the schedule this weekend other than tonight.  My friends from camp are coming to Ashley's apt for dinner.  I'm excited to have them over since i haven't technically hosted a group outing before.  Basically the only reason is that my mom's place is kinda small and there's really no area to completely escape my family.  I also get to show off my culinary skills.

The rest of the weekend will be geared towards reading for my short fiction class.  I was keeping pace until the last two weeks when we started "The Little Drummer Girl" which is 473 pages.  WHAT?  Since the first exam is Tues i have to average about 85 pages a day for the next 4 days.

So Ashley gets offended when i don't mention her in my updates.  Therefore here are some blurbs about her/us.  I guess it's not appropriate to just talk about myself when i'm getting my xang on.

- Her Second City show was incredibly funny when i saw it a few weeks ago.  It changed my life in ways i can't even describe...you should check it out!

- Our Memorial Day weekend trip to Cleveland is officially "on" because we invested money in Indians tickets (conveniently they play the White Sox that weekend).  We are also going to check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which i'm pumped about.  I was reading about the artifacts in the museum such as Springsteen's wardrobe from the cover of "Born in the USA" or U2's stage props from past tours.  It might not be your thing, but that will fascinate me to no end.