...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.

Weary

I had something due in every class this week, and another project due for design studio on Monday (that's tomorrow).  Fortunately I was far too busy with every other assignment this week to have time for studio.   I was also lucky enough to move on Saturday and have my anniversary of having met Tiffany then, so I get to do a week's worth of project in one day.  Its joyous.  

I'm not complaining about the move, cause it was sweet to have Josh's parents and minivan to help and move most of the stuff, and Andrea and Tiffany to help too.  And having an anniversary is nice.  But not being sure when I'll even have time to shave next, let alone unpack and really move all my stuff INTO a new apartment, is not cool.  Its gotten out of control.  Its funny how quickly things turned from enjoying and working hard at school to wanting to get it done as quickly as possible.  

I gotta turn my attitude around enough that this doesn't keep up, and so that I enjoy school like I should.  But I'm certainly not given much time to actually enjoy it.  And forget trying to do anything in life but school.  Granted I'm playing soccer on Wednesdays and decided to work on a project with a professor, and its not every day you have to move, but still.  Time and money, the two main currencies of life, are both in short supply with no means of ready replenishment. 

I'm not interested in going so far as to let it be depressing, but it certainly turns me on autopilot, and the days go by.  I mean geez, I'm starting week 6 of school.  Christmas break will be magically, but even Thanksgiving I'll probably have a bunch of work to do- while I'm traveling to and from Houston.  Awesome.  I would like to practice doing school in moderation.  Or something.

You'll hear from me again next time I'm badly in need of procrastination.

Datum? I hardly even know him.

So I kinda like data.  I like making things into something I can understand.  I like numbers and ways of making sense of numbers, with graphs or otherwise, that can reveal hidden interesting information.  For example we have four professors in our design studio.  Each professor has their own students they personally meet with, and we had group projects, four groups per professor.  We pinned them up, we all voted.  Yes, its interesting to see who got the most votes, and why.  But more interesting?  Adding up votes across all projects, and see which professors students got the most votes (or in this case, the least- by FAR).  Now THAT is interesting.  Goes beyond the projects and students to say something about the professor!  Or maybe not.  But its interesting.

Here's more data I like:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122211987961064719.html?mod=yhoofront#articleTabs_interactive-PERSONALITY08%26project%3DPERSONALITY08

Me.

My favorite website, as of late.  

This is kinda what my brain is like sometimes.

Hold your mouse over the comic for a sec when you're done reading it.

http://xkcd.com/439/

The Noise in My Head

I made the wrong decision

Apple stock tanked

I have too much to do today

I need to exercise

Moving is gonna suck

How am I supposed to get all this work done?

Dammit I hate money

Why didn't I sell at $180

I hope Chris is happy at his job

I need to sell this stuff

Am I cut out for this?

I wanna watch a movie

What would I do without music

I need some chocolate

I hope I can sell this computer

I'm an idiot

This is just a down time

It'll turn around

I hope Nathan is happy at school

I gotta call about my credit card

I hate money

Just gotta get through the semester

Dammit I want an iPhone

I hope Tiffany is happy with ME

I'm not good enough

Am I good enough?

I can do this

I can't take this

I need my iPod

I can't get all this work done

I'm tired

My head is too noisy

Not sure I can take this

Breathe...................

IRISH.

Given the heavy workload we had for this coming week, I chose to go to the Notre Dame-Michigan game.  I chose "weisly".  Highlights include:

-Not spending all weekend studying

-Seeing Josh's girlfriend Andrea's sweet new circle couch

-Going to Corby's for the first time in like a year

-parking for free at Uncle Paul's dentist's office

-Andrea's friend buying the 82cent box of snozberry PopTarts from CVS

-getting soaked walking to tailgating

-having my first veal bratwurst

-having a tasty brew of Jack and Coke

-seeing Uncle Dave, Zach, Ross tailgating

-seeing Sper-uh-BRIAN LONG, and friends (Dolan Cross Hagan)

-making it to the band show on time

-sitting with Josh  Andrea Gobel and later Tiffany for the game

-seeing two ND touchdowns in 4 minutes of football

-seeing sleventeen Michigan turnovers

-seeing Michigan fans sit down often and leave early

-getting poured on in the 4th quarter and not caring

-seeing how pumped up the Irish got AFTER it started pouring

-running through "Stonehenge" water fountain with Tiffany and Andrea after the game

-eating chili at the Fulchers with some beer and wine

-watching Clausen throw a perfect TD pass to Golden Tate on Tivo at home, over and over.

-sleeping.

-eating and drinking tasty things at my parents house: Bailey's Ice Cream, Very Vanilla Silk, Jordan Almonds (Italian Wedding Almonds), pasta, Ruby Red Squirt.

-getting new batteries for my watches, and glasses for Tiffany, and Nutty Bars, at Walmart- and getting the opportunity to mutter "Irish" to myself every time I saw Wolverines apparel

-cleaning up the floodwaters in my parents basement before we left town

Now back to the grind.  Deciding about an apartment tonight.  Moving soon hopefully.

A Brief One (Its About Underwear) (No Its Not)

Whats funny is that with everyone texting, we have conversations like "I hate when I type 'go' and it substitutes 'in' instead" and people know what you're talking about.  'Home' always ends up 'good'.  Well here's some words that get substituted when the real words aren't in the phone's dictionary cause they're swear words.  Ha.

Dual

Eval

Duck

Dial

Econ

Shiv

Coal

Remis

That's all I got.

Its now back to work for me.  Looking at apartments, packing, doing school work, going to (a) Notre Dame game, can keep you busy.  But I'm already done with three of my sixteen weeks of the semester already so there's that.  Sweet.  Gotta go.  Irish.