...almost forgot

...and one of the highlights of my birthday was omitted because it happened 9 days later...but that didn't keep it from being awesome.  By now I know Tiffany noticed I didn't mention her fantastic gift...she took me out to a Brazilian Steakhouse.  For anyone unfamiliar, its all you can eat 16 kinds of meat in giant hunks being walked around the restaurant on swords by men wearing pantaloons and tiny vests, with a waiter who continuously replenishes your supply of mashed potatoes and fried bananas and small rolls, with the world's best salad bar in the center of the place.  Oh yeah, its expensive, and oh yeah, its magnificent.  We stayed for two hours and tried maybe 10 kinds of meat and most everything at the salad bar- they had mushroom risotto, cheese tortellini, ceviche, oysters, spicy shrimp salad, fresh mozarella, four kinds of cheese with prosciutto and salamis, and then the other half of the salad bar.  Wow.  We were disgustingly full.

I wish I could take people there.  There's now four of em I think in downtown Chicago- so they must be doing something right.  It was my second time!  Uncle Tony happens to be a fan as well ;)

Oops.

Well I guess since I haven't posted since apparently October 3rd, I guess I should do that.  Geez I didn't even write about my birthday.  Less is more so I guess nothing is a LOT, right?

Here's an update on me.  I bought a book awhile ago called One Thing At A Time.  100 simple ways to live a clutter free life.  That lines up with the list I saw a while ago called 100 things, where you try and pare your life down to 100 possessions that you need (not counting things like toothpaste or something, but counting pairs of shoes and such) and see what you can get rid of.  Geez, ending sentences with prepositions is apparently bad.  So anyway that combined with moving got me to start getting rid of things.  Not stuff I need, just stuff I don't.  Toiletries, clothes, shoes, random things, you name it, trying to get rid of it.  Clothes in particular I will add up and post a list of what I got rid of.  There's that preposition again.  Anyway, its fun.

Also keeping in mind that being in grad school makes clear what I need and don't, what I use and don't.  Of course I'm not getting rid of my guitars just because I don't play them now.  I will use this newfound skill though in finishing what Jenny started, or at least continuing it, and helping my family get rid of/clean up/organize things at home as well, over Christmas break.  I've got a fair share of my own stuff there as well that needs to be addressed. 

I'm writing, by the way, because I have nothing else to do.  Which is to say (a phrase used in heavy rotation by the chair of my department at school) that I have a ridiculous amount of things to do, the least of which is trying to clean and organize my apartment.  My number 1 and 2 priorities are making sure I pass the semester, which at times I worry I may not.  Seriously or not, I dunno, but I do worry about it.  Priority number 3 is making sure I still have a girlfriend at the end of the semester.  Grad school, I shake my fist at you- if you were a person, I would punch you in the face.  

I've been working my uh, face of for like three weeks now.  The week before midterms was bad, midterms was bad, and it got zero better after midterms, and this week at least until Tuesday is bad, except then I have a Structures exam on Thursday.  Which used to be physics but now is more just glorified algebra.   But lots of formulas charts and numbers.

I'm hoping for 2 As and 2 Bs, expecting at least 1 A, considering the possibility of 1 A 2 Bs and a C, and dreading 1 A 1 B and 2 Cs.  I don't think it'll happen but with big final projects it really can come down to the wire.  And with the amount of work thats asked of us, the gap in performance between grades is chasmic.  Wow, thats a real word, spell check didn't even underline it!  Sweet.  I thought I kinda made it up on the fly.

Well anyway, I'm basically trying to hunker down and not hate life until Christmas break, and take small victories in not working for half the weekend if I can get away with it- but these days I have so much that I'm always thinking I *should* be working.  And I'm doing more work with worse results than last semester.  

Currently as usually in the past few weeks, I have multiple things due in the next couple days and constantly trying to assess which of them I should be giving my time to.  As I am completely hopelessly and constantly tethered to computer also, its of no small importance that half the stuff I need to use for school right now is currently not working right.  I have plenty of time to spend the afternoon error checking and defragging Tiffany's computer so it runs enough so I can use IT instead.  Sad times, resorting to a Windows machine to get by.

My birthday was a gleaming diamond of fun and relaxation in an arid desert of stress schoolwork and the occasional frappucino-  I got some Notre Dame green suede shoes from Tiffany, we got Qdoba burritos for dinner, went to South Bend, got pumpkin pie blizzards, and watched Iron Man on 60" almost HD with almost surround sound.  Spent Saturday looking at the new garage's progress, eating lasagna and DQ ice cream cake, opening presents, playing cards, watching another movie, and I think drinking multiple tasty liquids- ah yes Ruby Red Squirt, Mudslide, Very Vanilla Soymilk (The Taste Kids Love) and some other stuff.  I got a couple cool things from my parents, oh yeah and found out Chris and Tiffany had been not exactly lying to me, but certainly manipulating and deceiving me, for around three months-

CHRIS BOUGHT ME AN iPHONE.  

So he's crazy, its awesome, and when the going gets tough, the tough pull out their iPhone, look at their sweet suede shoes, and remember that their cool birthday presents and the people they care about will help em get through it.  My phone hasn't quite transformed my life, but thats because I received it before mid-terms and haven't exactly had the time to give it the attention it deserves.

I really must do work now.  I'm hoping everything I've been doing on here will finally make the computer work now.  I'm getting desperate here.  Times are getting rough.  I've spent more of the weekend being I.T. guy fixing this computer than I have actually doing school work.  Its awesome lemme tell you.

I also know I'll be home with Tiffany for at least five days during Christmas and afterwards, and maybe myself longer, dunno yet.   Also hoping to take a trip to Indy to visit some newly moved friends of mine as well as some of my favorite little cousins.

Gotta go.  

Suh-weet.

Carl's personal favorite architecture firm these days.  The principal architect, Bjarke Ingels (firm is called Bjarke Ingels Group, "BIG"), gave a rockin lecture last year on their work.  The lecture alone, work aside, was just really cool and well done.  He's Dutch.

www.big.dk/

Live and Learn.

New apartment.  Third night in the place.

dripping toilet

broken doorknobs

windows painted shut

smells like gas

no battery in smoke alarm

no carbon monoxide detector

windows painted shut.

called the gas company

they'll be right out

(within the hour)

make sure i'm by the front door

(three floors down)

its okay, i've got sleep to burn

only one assignment to finish in the morning

but i'm nearing the edge here

no more clean underwear

and my windows are painted shut.