YEAR 2004

DECEMBER 2004

Got the title for the car transferred over to me from my parents, so it's officially mine now.  I also got together with Andrew and Marisa, and we looked over wedding photos.  Did some Christmas shopping, got gifts for family and friends.  Wasn't good about Christmas cards this year, unfortunately.  I'll do a better job next year, I promise!  I went up to Ft Wayne to celebrate the holidays with the family, which is always cool.  I got to hear my dad play at church and at the Embassy Theatre downtown.  I wasn't feeling too great on Christmas itself, but I survived.  Before the start of the new year, I drove back down to Indy so I could finish cleaning up my apartment.  I was rearranging things, and didn't want to start 2005 by living in a pigsty!

In frustrating news, I still haven't found a job yet.  I had a very irritating time with PalmOne -- my Palm V was malfunctioning, and I couldn't get them to fix it.  I finally was able to send it in, then they sent it back the week after Christmas.  At first, they were saying they left it at the front door of my apartment building!  Later, they said it was returned to the company.  What the heck?  It's been a big old pain; I am planning to upgrade my handheld sometime this year and I can assure you I won't be doing business with them again.  I also got a flat tire on New Year's Eve, but managed to get it fixed at Firestone right away.

Among fun events, I went to a potluck dinner at Ruth's place.  Stephanie, Heidi, Daniell, Quentin, Lew, and myself all took part.  After eating dinner, we all went over to Heidi's place to watch Raising Helen.  It was nice to meet Ruth's boyfriend for the first time, and to hang out with some people I hadn't seen in a while.  I also hosted game night at my apt on Friday, 12/17.  Matt and Michaela came to visit the next day, so we went out for dinner and watched Eurotrip.  Good times!

NOVEMBER 2004

Went out to lunch with Ruth, Mandy, and Jessica M -- good times.  Hosted game night on 11/19, and celebrated my birthday a little early with friends.  Then, I went up to Ft Wayne over the weekend to spend time with the family.  I was born on Christ the King Sunday, and this was one of those rare years when the date and church holiday matched up -- very special!  My parents got a few CDs and the Spiderman DVD, and my brother got me a nail pendant from The Passion of the Christ.  Also got a nice gift from my grandmother, which was sweet of her.  Also celebrated Thanksgiving in Ft Wayne, which was great and we had the added bonus of having Pastor Fair with us (his family was out of town, but he stayed behind to preach so we invited him over).

Wrote a bunch of e-mail messages, and tried to get caught up on correspondence.  Unfortunately, I heard the very sad news of my friend Karen's husband's death.  She was only a year ahead of me in school, and she's already a widow.  Very tragic, please keep her in your prayers.  This was a very vivid reminder of how life is short, and I asked Angela (who lives in Oregon) if she wanted to meet in person.  We had flirted a little over the internet and talked about meeting "some day," but I was inspired to take things to another level.  I got my car tuned up, and then drove to Wyoming to meet her halfway!  We had a great time, and really hit it off in person.  I'd like to see something happen there, but who knows what will happen at this point?

OCTOBER 2004

Some emotional ups and downs this month.  The big news is that my best friend Andrew got married!  He and Marisa decided to have the ceremony on a Thursday evening, which was inconvenient for some, but I was there and served as Best Man.  It was great to see his family and meet some of his friends, plus my own family joined in the festivities.  Good times.

I also got together with Ruth to watch movies, and hung out with Stephanie C. one Monday evening after her class.  Went to Kmart with Jessica T to do some shopping, and went to the Brown Bag Series on campus when the topic was academic librarianship.  I went to the local coffeehouse with Andrea after not seeing her for several weeks, so it was nice to hang out with her and find out what she has been up to.  Also got together with Gillie (Eric G) again, we're trying to going to be more faithful about getting together once in a while and staying in touch.

Also went up to Ft Wayne to celebrate my father's birthday, which was fun.  I presented my brother with a belated gift, then joined in the party for Dad.  He had a nice cake and presents, and I got him a copy of Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry (which just happens to be during the American League Championship Series).  For myself, I bought a treadmill and game table at Sears to mix things up a little.  Game nights and counseling with Jason have continued, both going well.

SEPTEMBER 2004

Went up to Ft Wayne for the Labor Day weekend, saw my brother since his return from Bulgaria.  We all went out for breakfast on Sunday morning, which was cool.  Got back to Indy and had lunch with my friend Eric Gellenbeck for the first time in almost two years.  Even though we live in the same area, we just hadn't made the time to hang out.  I caught him online and found out he had a daughter now when I didn't even know his wife was pregnant, so I decided it was time to remedy that situation.  Great to see him, and reestablish that connection.  I also lost touch with Jessica T due to an argument, but we worked things out after a while.  Whew!

Started counseling with Jason at the IU-Methodist Family Practice at this time.  Since I have been diagnosed with mild depression and anxiety, it seemed wise to explore all options and see how best to deal with the situation.  It's been interesting, and I think I've learned a lot.  Combined with some low-dose medication, I feel more like "myself" than I have in quite a while.

Went mini-golfing with Ruth on 9/10, which was a fun time.  On 9/14, I got together with Daniell to play pool and hang out.  I met the G.A. who replaced me, Katie, and she seems nice.  The big trip of the month was a visit to Columbus to visit Emilie, and hang out with her and her son Johannes.  I knew her a little, but it was fun to spend the weekend with her and see a little of the city.  I also hosted a couple game nights at my apartment, so I have tried to be sociable and have some fun with friends.

AUGUST 25, 2004

Went out to Chalkies to play pool with Daniell.  She seemed kind of tired last night and wasn't playing as well as she usually does, but we still managed to have a good time.  If we keep doing this, we're going to have to buy our own pool cues!  She had a coupon for "buy one, get one free" so we had a nice meal, though the food is pretty expensive.  I also got a mug of "Old Speckled Hen" beer, which was a strong and somewhat bitter red brew.  Interesting taste.  Before we went up to Castleton, I was showing her my latest batch of pictures and describing some things.  She said she used to be really into scrapbooking, but got out of the habit so she doesn't take many pictures anymore.  Too bad!  She said one reason she got out of it was because a lot of people don't like having their picture taken, so she laughed when I told her I basically had to teach Nate how to pose pleasantly for pictures because I told him I would keep taking them until we got them right!  He finally learned the torture would end sooner if he got it right the first time.  Ha, ha, ha!  Fun hanging out with her, we might go see "Garden State" next week if she has time.

AUGUST 21-22, 2004

Kristen called me after I instant-messaged her to see if I wanted to do anything.  She's looking for a futon, so we traveled around and looked at what a few places offered.  We had dinner at O'Charley's, then rented "Eurotrip" and "28 Days Later" from Hollywood Video.  We watched the first one that night, then she came to my place the next day (8/22) to watch the second.  Both were pretty good, "Eurotrip" was actually better than I thought it would be.  Still cliché, but fun nonetheless!

AUGUST 20, 2004

Went up to Muncie to hang out with Andrew.  Always a good time!  We went to eat at the Yokohama Japanese Steakhouse, where they prepared the food right in front of us.  We got an appetizer, then I ordered the steak/shrimp combo and a Japanese beer.  Very good, I highly recommend the experience.  We then went to see Without a Paddle, the new comedy with Seth Green and Matthew Lillard.  I enjoyed it, I thought it was pretty good.  The funniest scene by far is where they're huddled together in the cave to get warm and this R&B ballad is playing over the action.  Seth Green plays kind of a dorky character, and his sporadic impressions of C-3PO are also hilarious.

AUGUST 19, 2004

Daniell called to see if I wanted to play pool.  She got off work at 5 PM, so she came by afterward and we drove around downtown.  Unfortunately, both Rock Bottom and Jillian's billiards rooms were being rented out for private parties!  We worked our way north on Penn Ave to the restaurant formerly known as The Cozy, now called The Blue Cactus.  They had four tables that we had all to ourselves, and we had a good time even though the pool cues were kind of cheap and crappy.  The food was pretty good, and they are actually having a special where all food is half off during their grand opening weekend.  So, it was cool to hang out with Daniell and get her input on some things.

After Jessica got off work at 8 PM, she came over and we made a trip to Kmart.  I wanted to drop off my film, and she suggested we get some food for the movie we were going to watch.  She also picked out a new outfit, shortly after vowing not to spend any more money.  Oh, well!  We got an angel food cake and accompanying delectibles to munch on while we watched "Return of the Jedi" (original edition).  I walked her back over to her place and we made some tentative plans to go walking again tomorrow - awesome!

AUGUST 15, 2004

Andrea and I went to the Indiana State Fair, which was a good time.  She actually lives over in that area, so I drove over to her apt and we walked on the Fall Creek Greenway over to the fairgrounds.  We made the rounds, played a few games, ate some junk food, and had a good time overall.  We forgot to put on sunscreen before we left and were worried about burning up, but Andrea thought the first aid station might have some and they did.  Even though we didn't get too toasted, it was still hot!  When we walked back to her apt via Fall Creek and got inside, we both collapsed on the chairs!  Went home and took a nap, then woke up and jumped in the shower -- waking up with sunscreen all over myself wasn't the most pleasant feeling.  I got some good pictures this weekend with both Jessica and Andrea, so I hope to get those developed and some of them posted soon.

My brother Brian was recently kicked out of Bulgaria due to new policies set in place this month.  He was there on a mission trip, speaking with gypsies and Muslims.  However, recent security concerns and the chaos surrounding the Olympics prompted the government over there to mandate that foreigners could only remain in the country for one month.  Since he's been there for almost a year, he obviously couldn't stay!  Luckily, Brian went to the office a couple days early with a friend, so at least he had forty-eight hours before his visa expired.  If he had gone on the regular day, he would have had to leave immediately or be fined $3000!  As it was, he had at least a little breathing room to get his stuff together and make alternate plans.  While he was disappointed that he had to leave, he was pragmatic enough to note that all this went into effect at the end of his stay, as opposed to the beginning.  So, he expressed gratitude for getting to know the people and the culture in the time he had.  He's working his way through Europe and will be back in the States soon.

AUGUST 14, 2004

Jessica and I spend much of this day cruising around Indy, checking out libraries and seeing the sights.  I picked her up at Lauren's place, then we went over to the Indiana Historical Society.  Despite being a history major at BSU and a SLIS student at IUPUI, I have never visited before!  I figured it was about time to rectify the situation, so I'm glad I had the chance today.  Enjoyed the visit, especially the Cole Porter Room, and we ate lunch at the Stardust Terrace Café downstairs on the Canal.  It was quite interesting examining the library and seeing their setup, especially since I've known people who have worked and/or volunteered over there.  We both agreed that it's worth making another trip and that the couple hours we devoted to wandering around simply wasn't enough.

After eating and getting our bearings, we started on our tour of the IMCPL branches.  We went to the following buildings: Flanner House (closed on weekends), Spades Park, E. Washington, Haughville, Irvington, and Shelby!  SP and EW are both Carnegie libraries, so it was nice that I knew the significance and was able to pay more attention to those details.  Haughville was especially nice; we both liked the setup and feel.  At Irvington, we stopped to play a round of "Scrabble Jr" and Jessica used the word "orgy" to keep up!  I said, "For shame!" :)  However, it was a photogenic moment, so I got out my camera and took a shot of her next to the board and pointing at the word.  Very funny!

AUGUST 13, 2004

I e-mailed Andrea yesterday to see if she wanted to go check out "Alien vs Predator" and maybe go get something to eat afterward.  Lucky for me, she was going to be available!  I picked her up at her apt, then we drove over to Glendale to see the 5:10 showing.  It was pretty hokey at times and had a few gaping plot points, but I enjoyed it.  The battle scenes between the two adversaries was definitely the coolest part.  We then drove over to the Broad Ripple area and ate dinner at Mezzaluna.  Andrea had seen it while she was walking around with her boyfriend a couple weeks back, and wanted to check it out.  A little expensive, but really good food.  It was pretty neat because they had an outdoor dining area covered with a canopy and hung with heat lamps.  So, we were toasty warm while we people-watched!  Afterward, we moseyed around the neighborhood and had a couple drinks at the Broad Ripple Tavern.  They had these hand-dryers there that almost blew your face off when you went to dry yourself!  I've never felt such power behind one of those things, it was pretty crazy.  Anyway, it was fun hanging out with her and finding out what she's been up to.

AUGUST 12, 2004

Daniell e-mailed me this evening to see if I wanted to play another round of pool, which was cool.  She came by my place and I offered to drive, so we took my car downtown.  We forgot where it was at first, but got to Rock Bottom eventually!  We had been thinking we might go to Chalkies up in the Castleton area, but we had both just eaten and decided it would be easier to go someplace familiar.  We still need a lot of practice, but I think we're getting better!  We talked about the upcoming semester, my future plans, her trip to England when she was in college, and other assorted topics.  It was fun hanging out, hitting the balls around and having a couple drinks.

AUGUST 11, 2004

After talking to Nate, I got together with "Onion Gal" and saw the new carpeting at her apt.  We decided to watch a movie, so we went to Kroger first to get popcorn and caramel.  We went back to my place, and watched the original version of "The Empire Strikes Back" because she had watched the original "Star Wars" at the library a couple weeks ago and wanted to see some more of the story again.  At one point, I grabbed a corner of the blanket because I was starting to get a little cold, and she said, "I'm not sure I know you well enough to share a blanket with you."  I promised to be a gentleman, held up both hands, and said, "Hand check!"  She laughed at that; we had a good time during the whole viewing.  This morning, we went walking and got all the way down to Monument Circle, and back.  Nice seeing Jessica, it was fun hearing about her weekend and telling her about mine.

AUGUST 8, 2004

I finally got going on Sunday, finally leaving Indy for Ft Wayne about 3 PM!  Better late than never, right?  I first stopped at Jeff & Tanya's house because my friend Jaison had said something on my answering machine about them moving!  Turns out Jeff got a new job up in the Chicago area, but they won't actually be moving up there until Sept or Oct.  So, I stopped by to get the story and see how they're doing.  Good to see them, I'll miss them when they actually take off for greener pastures.

I then headed for the old homestead and greeted my parents.  They had eaten earlier and were still feeling full, so they sat with me and talked while I ate.  I told them what I was up to, how the presentation went, plans for the job hunt, etc.  Needless to say, the recounting of recent events involved several mentions of Jessica!  I told them that she is in the SLIS and I happened to mention that I had checked her project for L401, which has a couple photos.  Later that evening, when I was on the computer, my dad asked me to pull up her webpage so he could take a gander at it!  It was funny, pointing to the picture of her sledding and going, "That's the girl I've been walking with!"  Ah, the power of the Internet.

I also went out walking around the neighborhood with my father, which was cool.  We discussed a lot of things, including some politics and faith issues.  Of course, we touched on the near future and what may or may not be happening.  Nice that he and Mom are so supportive, and willing to help out as needed.

AUGUST 6-7, 2004

Well, it's official -- I have bid farewell to the SLIS! It's been a great year and a half, meeting people and trying new things.  It's been a time of ups and downs, but I really enjoyed the experience overall.  Of course, it's not really over at this point.  I'm still going to be consulting with Dolores about our project on usage stats because we still want to get an official publication out of this whole ordeal.  Several friends are still around UL all the time, and I would like to get to know some of the newer people "coming up the ranks."  If nothing else, I will probably be on campus to work on my job hunt, in part of because of the highspeed connections and partly because it's easy for me to get distracted at home.  Hopefully, I'll still be around to be able to actually host the next Game Night!

Speaking of which, we managed to have a pretty good time on Friday.  It was quite unusual because we had a pretty small group, left the apartment, didn't play any games, and were done by 11 PM!  I think we were all pretty beat; it's been a stressful summer.  Jeremy, Ruth, Daniell, and Jessica M. were all in attendance, which was very cool.  We told Jessica that she picked a weird night to actually show up!  Everyone got here and we talked for a while, then decided to go walk on the Canal about 8:00 PM.  We wandered around for about an hour, looking at the possibility of getting paddle boats or tickets for a gondola ride.  We ended up saving our money, but still enjoyed just moseying along.  Got back to the neighborhood about 9:00 PM and we all stopped by Onion Gal's building to see if she was around, but had no luck.  We then went up north on Illinois to go to Baskin-Robbins, had fun sitting on the benches with our cones/bowls of ice cream.  We came back to the apt for a while, but everyone was tired from the long day and walking around, so we ended up calling it a night shortly thereafter.  I needed to get ready for my SLIS presentation anyway, so it worked out well.

On this Saturday morning, I got over to UL about 9:00 AM to craft my presentation and practice my speech.  I had a general idea of what I wanted to do, but (in typical fashion) didn't actually start putting it altogether until the day of!  Oh, well.  When I got to UL, I found one of the private study rooms with a computer on the fourth floor, and went to work!  I'm sure I was an odd sight, talking out loud to myself and typing furiously on the keyboard.  I prepared a PowerPoint presentation of about 16 slides, along with a copy of the Economics spreadsheet since I was going to show an example of what we were doing.  We were supposed to speak for 10-15 minutes and I timed myself at about 18 minutes, so I figured I could cut a little more off as I spoke.  I ran over to Subway to get some lunch and talked briefly to Sara -- we were able to congratulate each other on our last day of SLIS!  I made my way back over to the library, but was too keyed up to eat.  Dr. Callison let us into the room, and I asked if the computer had a Zip drive.  I went to go look, and he said, "Why don't you stay up there and go first?"  Works for me!  I could set the bar, and relax the rest of the time.  I think things went quite well, I ran about 17-18 minutes.  Either I was incredibly boring or very thorough because no one asked any questions.  The only response was from Dr. C himself, who asked if I might be able to present some of our project findings to the next class of "Issues in Academic Librarianship."  He's not sure how the new SLIS professor will want to do things, but suspects she might be interested in having me come in and talk.  Needless to say, I was pretty flattered!  I've always felt a little bit at odds with Dr. C, I feel like he thinks I'm a flake or incompetent.  The fact that he was suggesting I actually get up in front of a class and share my thoughts was quite gratifying!  So, that was cool.  It was pretty funny because one of the young ladies presenting, Natasha, worked in a hospital library for her internship and knew Lauren!  She was even acquainted with Jessica and asked how she was doing after her falling accident.  Yup, the library world is definitely a small one!  Anyway, everyone did a nice job and I was able to eat lunch during our break.  Excellent...

So, it's the end of an era.  Done with SLIS, looking forward to the next phase.  Don't know where I'll end up yet, but we'll see what God has in store for me.  In the meantime, I'm going to visit my parents this weekend and spend some time with them.  Take a little time to rest and rejuvenate, then come back at things with a fresh state of mind.  Hard to believe, huh?  Pretty crazy!  Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and I will do the same.

AUGUST 5, 2004

After the library closed, Daniell and I drove around and ended up hanging out at Rock Bottom for a while.  We both enjoy billiards, even if neither of us is particularly good at it!  We got a couple drinks and a basket of wings, and played three games.  It was cool because at certain points we were just standing around, leaning on our pool cues, talking about life and what's going on.  I certainly liked playing pool, but the truly fun part was hanging out with a friend and enjoying the company.  We're normally in group situations, so it was nice to be able to talk with her one-on-one and get her thoughts on some things.  Good times, no doubt.

AUGUST 4, 2004

I was thinking I might go ahead and drive to school today because I didn't want to have to worry about catching the shuttle in order to make my doctor's appointment.  I was running a little behind, but figured I could run over to Van Rooy to pay my rent and then get to campus without too much trouble.  Unfortunately, I went downstairs to find that I had a flat tire on my car!  I had seen this "bubble" in the rear left tire before and thought I should get it checked out, but kept forgetting about it.  So, I was wondering if that's what it was.  I slowly made my way to the nearby Marathon station with my hazard lights on, and tried filling it up.  As soon as I did so, I could see how the rubber had split (at the bubble) and created a crack about an inch long.  The air was whistling out, and I figured I had about 2 minutes to make it over to the local Firestone.  As I was pulling into the parking lot, I could feel myself leaning to the left!  Anyway, they promised to get a replacement on there by the time I plan to leave work at 2:00 PM.  They drove me back to my apt, I called Van Rooy maintenance about the A/C, then caught the Herron shuttle to campus.  I asked Fiona if she wouldn't mind giving me a ride to the tire place, so I was able to get over there without too much hassle and be on my way.  Paid my rent, then went over to the doctor's.  The blood tests don't show anything out of the ordinary, so I took a twenty-question depression test.  They recommended some steps and further consultation, so I'm hoping to turn things around.

Ugh, what a week.  I've felt like crud for the past four days, so I still don't have my annotations done.  I missed my appointment with Dolores yesterday because I thought it was today and was sleeping at the time.  My job hunt is still crawling at a snail's pace; I am not going to get a job for 6 months at this rate.  My air-conditioning failed, my tire deflated, and I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop because these things come "in threes."  I'm glad I'm here at UL today and getting some stuff accomplished, but it has definitely been a downer lately.  Here's hoping things pick up soon.

AUGUST 3, 2004

Jessica and I went for a walk yesterday evening, and ended up eating dinner at a local place called Aunt Dee's Restaurant.  It's a small family joint that seems to specialize in Southern soul food.  Jessica seemed to enjoy the experience and now declares it to be one of her new favorite spots.  I like it as well, but would like to provide a note of warning: they aren't kidding when they call the wings hot!  The worst part was when I wiped off my hands on a napkin, but didn't quite get it all and then scratched my eye.  Ouch!  I don't recommend doing that.

JULY 30, 2004

Kristen held a SLIS get-together at her apartment, which was a good time.  Only five guests (including me) showed up, but fun was still had.  We tramped over to Half-Price Books for a while, I got to say "Hey" to my friend Jeremy E. who works over there.

JULY 28, 2004

After Jessica got off work yesterday, she called to see if I wanted to meet at Abba Moses to get some coffee.  As you may recall, this particular coffeehouse is affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox church across the street, and several of the young ladies who were standing outside the shop were wearing head scarves.  Assuming this is their tradition, I walked into the coffeehouse itself to see Jessica sitting there with a shawl wrapped around her head!  I asked her if she was trying to fit in, she blushed and said her hair was a mess so she just put it up in the scarf.  Once again, I had to complement her on her look and how she always manages to look fashionable!  I think she always looks good, but I daresay I'm biased.

We walked over to Lauren's and the three of us took the poodles out for a walk.  "Ralph" was staying at The Abbey to get some work done, so the two of us walked back to the apt and greeted Steve.  We then walked over to CVS to get some supplies and I picked up a bottle of Men's One-a-Day vitamins.  Don't think they will be some kind of miracle cure for my energy crisis, but I figure they can't hurt!

We came back to my place and decided to play a round of Scrabble.  Jessica proposed that we use 14 letters (instead of the usual 7) to try to speed things up, but it really ended up taking just as long.  I managed to kick butt with "woebegone" on two double-word squares, "quid" on a double-word square, and "tempers" on a triple-word score.  I was upset that she screwed up my plans to bust out "boudoirs" on a track that would have given me another triple-word score, but what can you do?  Anyway, it was funny because both of us really started trash-talking in the midst of gameplay; we're both competitive and liked to tease the other person.  She has vowed revenge, so I'm looking forward to the next round!

JULY 24, 2004

Interesting weekend, even if I haven't done as much on my internship project as I had hoped to.  Oh, well.  On Saturday, Jessica invited me to join her, "Ralph," and Steve on a "night ride" through Indy.  That didn't actually start until 11 PM, so we did some stuff in the evening to get ready.  She came over to my place, we chatted, and ordered a pizza from Papa John's.  Then, we went up to the Meijer on 38th St to get a couple bike supplies and were disappointed by the selection.  We decided to try our luck at Target and thought we might be screwed again.  However, this time we were able to track down an employee who actually had a clue and checked in the back for us.  Bingo!  We were able to get a couple bike lights, batteries, and miscellaneous paraphenalia.  It was funny because I literally had to drag Jessica by the hand through the store - she wanted to stop and look at everything!  However, we had promised Ralph we would try to get to her place as close to 9 PM as possible.

We got back downtown and Jessica decided it would be best to loan me her spare bicycle.  As I later commented to them, you can really tell the difference in quality between an expensive steel-frame vehicle and the cheap piece of junk I got at Target.  Normally, I just need it to get from Point A to Point B, usually to campus and back.  However, we ended up going about 20 miles during the course of the evening and there was no way I could have kept up on my normal bike.  As it was, I still ended up pretty tired and sore!  Not only did I borrow her bike, but I had to get a helmet from Steve and give my keys to Ralph to carry in her back pocket for me.  They were cool about it all, though.  They said they were sure they wouldn't be at all prepared if they showed up randomly for fencing sometime!

We headed through the streets and I learned some the lingo, like what to say when cars are coming and if you try to pass someone.  We went all the way up to the velodrome, which can be seen from I-65, and back downtown.  The scariest part (and biggest rush) was on our way back, when my light was starting to get kind of dim and we were going down this hill with no streetlights in the area.  I was flying down this long stretch of road, trying to follow Ralph and praying I wouldn't snag a pothole or something!  When I came out into the open and went under a light, I was thinking, "Holy cow!  Thank God!"  We passed by IUPUI and went through Monument Circle during the course of the event.  It was kind of funny because police had blocked off the route, so even though it was about midnight, there was still plenty of traffic and people yelling at the riders.  Some were cheering, others who were yelling stuff at the bicyclists were... not. (Let's just put it that way!)  Anyway, I made it home in one piece, though my legs were sore and my crotch was not feeling too fabulous from being hunched over a strange seat for a couple hours.  Still, I was very pleased that I had been able to keep up and make the entire journey without stopping.  Huzzah!

This morning, I went to church at St John Lutheran Church again.  This time, I went to the contemporary worship service.  It went well, though it makes me appreciate the job my dad does at Holy Cross even more.  He is both an amazing pianist and preacher, so you really get the full effect.  The pastor today did well enough, but he's just not as engaging as my father.  Of course, I could be biased!  Anyway, I was still glad I got up and made an effort to take part.  "Good fella," as Jessica M. would say!

This evening, Jessica stopped by after work to see if I still had any pizza left.  Alas, I had consumed the remainder!  However, I offered to heat up one of my grocery store pizzas and she accepted my offer.  So, we munched on that and decided to go for a walk.  We went over to Ralph's place because Jessica had some stuff to return, but I didn't go in at first because they're doing some work on their house and I didn't want to get in their way.  Ralph asked Jessica if she wouldn't mind walking the poodles, so we took them around the neighborhood and through the Northside soccer fields.  It's been an interesting side benefit to walking with Jessica, seeing more of the area and learning about some things I hadn't realized before.  Anyway, we ran around with them and then went back to her sister's place for a few minutes to chat.  We discussed our experiences in L401 and encouraged Jessica to try a few things in her project.  We then decided to hoof it over to the coffehouse Abba Moses in our neighborhood to get a drink before they closed for the night.  I had a mocha, and we sat down to engage in a fierce round of checkers.  We finally called it a draw, though I think she could have had me within a dozen moves.  Oh, well.  It was already 9:30 PM and they closed at 9:00, so we didn't want to take advantage of their generosity more than we already had!  We decided to part ways at this point, but have made tentative plans to go walking again on Tues.  Good times!

JULY 21, 2004

Jessica has just a studio apartment, so she was interested in creating some room by putting together a loft.  She asked if I would be willing to help, and I enlisted the aid of Jeremy because I know he has some carpentry experience.  He has also designed whole buildings, so I figured he could put together a bed with oversized legs!  We went over to her place about 6:30 PM, but then made a tactical error by going over to the Hong Kong China Buffet for dinner.  It was a good meal and we had a nice chat, but it took a while to get our food and then we decided to eat there because Jessica doesn't have any air-conditioning.  This meant we didn't even get started until 8:00 PM!  Jeremy was hoping to start home about 9:30, but that was about the time we were driving to Ralph's house in the pouring rain to pick up extra wood.  One reason it all took so long is that he had ideas for making it a more solid structure, which is great for safety and durability, but adds quite a bit of extra time for completing the task.  As it was, we finally finished about 11:00 PM!  Even then, it wasn't quite done but was close enough that it was usable.  We were all beat by the end, but Jessica seemed genuinely pleased and thanked us profusely.  I'll give credit where it's due, we wouldn't have done nearly as well without Jeremy leading the way.  He did most of the work and we helped out as much as we could.  He's a talented fellow!  Anyway, I was glad we could help Jessica out, even if it took far longer than we originally anticipated and we were all exhausted by the end.  Better for me to get out and get some exercise then sit idly at home, plus I now have a sense of accomplishment for a job well done.  Huzzah!

JULY 20, 2004

At one point today, Jessica said, "We seem to be spending almost every day together!"  This morning, we went for a walk on the Canal and splashed in a fountain.  We then returned to the neighborhood and I invited her up to my place for something to drink.  While we were hanging out, she asked me to check her website.  I made note of the fact that she has labeled a praying mantis as a "grasshopper" and she later said at least three people have written via e-mail to tease her about that!  Oops.  She went home to take a shower and get dressed, then I took her over to work at E38.  It was nice getting to see where she works, and check out another branch of IMCPL.  This evening, she called and asked if I wanted to check out a local coffee place called Abba Moses.  We went over there and I got a cup of Turkish coffee, which was interesting and pretty good.  I've never been much of a coffee drinker, but she's getting me in the habit!  We played a game of checkers (in which she humiliatingly slaughtered me) and a round of chess (in which I demolished her, so we're even).  It's a nice little place, and it's actually affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox church (Joy of All Who Sorrow) across the street.  So, there were different icons and candles scattered around the place.  Pretty interesting, actually.  We then walked back over to her place and she asked if I wanted to say "Hi" to Griselda, so I played with the kitty and we chatted.  It does seem like we've been spending a lot of time together, but that's OK with me.  As I said when I replied to her statement, "When you're with good company, that's alright!"

JULY 19, 2004

This morning, I walked over to the doctor's office and got a check-up.  The stupid thing was that I went a block north to National City beforehand to stop at the ATM, then stayed north when I should have been moving south!  I've passed this family practice probably a dozen times on my bike, but I never really took note of it.  I was supposed to be there at 9:30 AM, but didn't actually sign in until 9:32.  Even worse, my plan was to get there a little early and get any paperwork done in a relaxing manner.  Instead, I was running late and feeling all anxious and sweaty when I got there.  As it was, I didn't end up leaving until 11:50 AM - over two hours!  God bless him for coming over here to realize his dream, but Dr. Song is a young Asian gentleman with a thick accent (though he speaks English quite well) who was literally just starting his residency.  In other words, this was his first day!  Suffice to say I was a bit relieved when he said Dr. Graham (the attending doctor) would also check on me and corroborate any findings.  Dr. G was actually pretty cool, though it was a little odd because it's a teaching facility so he was talking to Dr. S and another student in the room, pointing things out and telling both of them to check my heart.  Anyway, I told them about my fatigue and other suspicions, so they recommended some blood tests and have me scheduled to return on August 4.  Ironically, I got home and started to get really tired again - I ended up taking a two-hour nap and will need to continue doing work for my internship at home tonight.  Blah!  At least it's good to have the process started and know that I'm taking positive steps to feel better.

JULY 17, 2004

Jessica and I went to see The Passion of Spain at Conner Prairie this evening, which was a concert put on by the Indianapolis Symphony.  It was a good show, especially the guest appearance by violinist Philippe Quint.  He's actually a defector from the Soviet Union (am assuming he altered his name once he got here in 1991) and is quite talented.  He did a solo encore just before the intermission that brought everyone to their feet.  It was nice to get out and get some culture, do something a little different.  "Jessica" and I both played instruments in high school, so we had a good time trading band stories during intermission and while we were waiting for people to leave.

One memorable moment was when the people sitting in front of us asked us to take a picture, then I asked if they wouldn't mind returning the favor.  As the lady brought the camera to her eye, she asked "Is this your first date?"  We both kind of chuckled and I said, "That's a whole other issue!"  I enjoy Jessica's company and would be lying if I said I wasn't interested, but we're not actually going out.  I just think it's amusing that she thought we were "together."  Anyway, it was a fun evening and I am glad we got a chance to hang out.

JULY 16, 2004

I hosted another game night at my place last night, always fun.  I am used to somebody showing up by 6:30 PM and nobody came until about 7:00, so I was wondering if anybody was still planning on coming!  However, as the expression goes, "When it rains, it pours."  Jessica was the first in the door, but Jeremy was literally right behind her.  A few minutes after that, in an admirable attempt to make it to Indy in a timely fashion, Andrew arrived.  In one of the more amusing moments of the evening, Ruth's friends Heidi and Christy then showed up before our common associate did!  Ruth was spending some time with her family and "taking possession" of her brother Luke  for the weekend.  Luckily, I had met those two lovely ladies before so it wasn't awkward.  It just would have been funny if they had showed up and none of us knew who they were!  Eventually, Ruth and Luke did join the fun.  Another regular, Daniell, called to see what we were doing and let us know she was kind of tired.  However, I give her mad props for actually coming over for a while and putting in an appearance!  We had a good time during the course of the evening, we played a couple games and I threw different appetizers in the oven so we could munch throughout.  Ruth's parents stopped by to say farewell to their progeny, so it was nice to meet them and see just who is responsible for unleashing her on the world.  We all talked for a while, then played a game called "Bethump'd" that involves moving around a board to pick up letters for a certain pre-defined word by answering questions on language.  We also played a couple rounds of Spoons and decided that the last round is boring so we would have co-champions.  Guess who was the only co-winner in both rounds?  That's right, I'm going to toot my own horn! I only do it because I managed to snag spoons out from Andrew twice, so it was hilarious.  In both rounds, I ended up sharing the crown with a member of the brother-sister combo.  Awesome.  As the evening went on, Andrew and I learned that Luke is a video game junkie like ourselves.  Since Andrew was going to stay anyway and we were going to play far into the night, we extended an invitation to him to join us!  It seemed like everybody had a good time and it was nice to spend time with some new folks.  Hopefully, more of the old and new will be able to mix at the next event!

Before game night started, Jessica and I ran some errands. We went by the post office and the grocery store, but the most unusual stop was the Indy Symphony box office to get tickets the tonight's concert.  Don't know how many people are aware of this, but "Onion Gal" was a Spanish major and is actually interviewing for a language-based job!  Anyway, the funny thing was that I went online to see what shows were playing and this weekend is The Passion of Spain!  How appropriate is that?

JULY 10, 2004

I got together with Jeremy for a while, which is always a good time.  That was nice because we hadn't hung out in a while and were able to catch up.  I need to get back into it now that my evening class is done, but both of us had dropped fencing for the summer so we weren't meeting regularly like we normally would.  We checked out "Spiderman 2", which was very good.  I can see why people have been saying nice things about it!

JULY 10, 2004

Jessica and I went over to UL together for her first class, and I worked in the reference area while she did her thing.  We went to lunch together, then saw "Harry Potter" in the evening, which was fun.  I'd already seen it once, but it was nice to check it out again.  She actually didn't think it was as good as the other two, which is funny because most of the reviews I have heard have hailed it as a marked improvement.  To each his/her own, I guess.  Before the movie, we went to Corner Coffee on 11th and Alabama, which I have passed many times but never gone into.  We met her sister Lauren (who had her two poodles with her) and we all sat down together with a frappe apiece, had a nice conversation.  Also briefly met Lauren's husband Steve when he came by on his bike, from which I would assume he is serious about riding because he had the whole get-up (helmet, skintight suit, really nice bicycle, etc.).  It was nice to see "Ralph" again and meet her husband.  I was glad Jessica had a nice first session of L401 to start her SLIS career, and that we could have a good time with coffee and a movie afterward.

JULY 9, 2004

Kristen had a nice little housewarming party at her place this evening.  She didn't get her invitation out too early, so it was only her, me, Ruth, and Fiona.  I ran into Ruth at the ref desk (ouch!) before the library closed and asked if she would be going.  She said yes, asked if I was, then wondered if I was going to ride my bike home in the rain.  I told her I had taken the shuttle from Herron, so I didn't have to worry about my transportation and proposed that maybe we could go get dinner together.  She agreed to drive and we ended up going to Ponderosa, which was fun.  The only negative part was that I had talked to Kristen the night before and we had mentioned ordering a pizza, so I should have called and let her know that I was doing something else.  I asked Ruth if she thought I should bother, and we both figured some other people would show up before we did and they would go ahead and order.  Unfortunately, Fiona arrived after we did!  So, Kristen was kind enough not to say "Screw 'em, I'm eating" and was pretty hungry by the time we arrived.  Needless to say, I felt pretty bad about that.  To add to the comedic timing, Fiona got there just as Kristen was sitting down to eat her dinner.  Of course, Fiona observes the pasta and says, "Mmm, that looks good!"  Kristen got right back up and fixed her a plate over her protests that she could just make a sandwich or something!  What a gracious hostess, huh?  We played a fun game called "Rapid Recall", which I told her to bring to the next get-together at my place.  We also talked about movies and other junk, and Kristen lent me a couple flicks on DVD (which was very kind of her).

JULY 1-5, 2004

Went up to Ft Wayne to meet my parents, then we went up to Appleton to visit my grandmother and aunt.  We went out to eat a few times, including a fish-fry place on Friday afternoon (at which I got a "Brat-Burger Combo" and not fish).  We then headed over to the local arboretum, which has a fragrance garden dedicated to the memory of my grandfather.  There is also a brick in honor of my grandmother, so we went and checked that out.  Afterward, my cousin Chris had to head out of town and we parted ways in the arboretum parking lot.  Had a nice spaghetti dinner in the evening, then talked with Mom and Grandma about faith and the state of the church, as well as how to speak to others about Christ.  Very interesting talk, glad we were able to share some thoughts.

We all went to contemporary worship at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church on Saturday evening.  Grandma has trouble seeing the screen, but she seemed to handle things alright from what I could tell.  Afterward, we all went to a Korean restaurant and enjoyed a somewhat unusual meal.  I had the jumbo "Spider" sushi roll, which was crab.  Needless to say, I again did not partake of the fish that was on the plate!

On Sunday, we watched tennis and took it easy.  I had a coupon for 10% off all purchases at Target, so I went over there with my dad and we got some stuff.  I had been meaning to pick up miscellaneous junk, so I got that up there and hauled it all the way back to Indiana!  Among other things, I had seen "Braveheart" on the USA channel earlier on Friday evening and was thinking I really wanted to pick up a copy on DVD.  Lo and behold, they had it on sale for $10!  Excellent...  That evening, we went over to my Aunt Jan's new place to check it out and have a little BBQ.  She ended up cooking inside, but the weather had cleared up enough that we were able to eat outside once we got there.  Performed a couple odds and ends around the condo, then was able to check my e-mail at her computer.  My aunt and grandmother also enjoyed my website, so I was glad I could show that to them.  We didn't stop anywhere to watch fireworks, but we did see some while we were driving.

On Monday, Dad drove again and I curled up in the passenger's seat.  Read some of my What If? book and slept, enjoyed my salad at McDonald's.  We made good time through Chicago and got back to FW about 5:30 PM.  I did a couple oddjobs for my parents, mostly computer/technical stuff, and had dinner with them.  Then, I was on my way back to Indy!  Good times, it was great to see everybody.

JUNE 23, 2004

I guess falling off the bike took more out of me than I realized.  When I got into bed last night, I could feel a weird twinge in my shoulder.  This morning, I got up and started to get ready for work, and realized how out of it I felt.  I should have called in to UL, but I honestly thought I would rest for a few minutes and then be on my way.  I ended up sleeping until 7:00 PM, waking up intermittently to go to the bathroom or nibble on something before passing out again.  Guess my body needed time to rest and rejuvenate after taking a flying leap off a moving vehicle.  Ugh.  Missed fencing practice tonight, but am looking forward to getting back to it next week.  Hopefully, I'll be in better shape tomorrow and will be able to get some things accomplished.

Been adding more and more people to the Friends List on my live journal account.  Nice to be able to keep in touch with people that way and widen the circle of acquaintances.  I just wish people wouldn't keep posting quizzes and other stupid junk like that.  I got hooked into it because I wanted to communicate with people, not see what kind of "color" or "Shakespeare character" they supposedly are.  Oh, well.  If you don't know about this, go to www.livejournal.com and get signed up for a free account.  It's a fun way to keep in touch and see what people are up to.

JUNE 22, 2004

This evening was our last class of L625 and a lot of people were not happy.  We got our papers back in the end and there was quite a bit of consternation.  One classmate literally ran out in tears because she did so poorly on the last assignment and thinks she may have failed the class.  Another friend and I calculated what we thought her cumulative score is and we think she got a low grade instead of failing, so I suppose that's good but still very disappointing.  As for myself, I also did poorly on the last assignment and would have been one point away from an A- for the course!  I talked to the prof after class and showed him a couple things that I thought he may have missed, so he ended up giving me two points.  Not much, but enough to push me into the A- range.  Glad he was reasonable about it, I hope my other classmate talks to him and works something out.  Heck, it might be better for her to scrap it and start over.  However many points he takes off for being late, it will still probably work out better in the long run.

After class, some of us were really in need of a drink.  I went to the Claddagh with Stephanie and Dawn, which thankfully turned out to be a fun time.  We split appetizers (chicken tenders, potato skins) and had a couple drinks.  We started talking about movies and geeky stuff, like dressing up as book characters (which I have never done, except maybe on Halloween).  At some point in the evening, we somehow switched to religion.  Stephanie and I are both Christian, so we were going back and forth while Dawn listened with amusement.  We talked about denominations and how people perceive Christians.  I shared the perspective that Jesus and Paul chose their terms very carefully when they referred to Christians as witnesses.  We aren't the judge or jury; we tell our story and present the facts as we know them, then let the person take the matter between them and God.  I also told them about what I posted earlier about Muhammad, how he may have been exposed to the teachings of heretical Christians and the Gnostic Gospels.  It was an interesting discussion.

Dawn had offered to drive, so she dropped us off at campus and I retrieved my bike.  I then walked with Stephanie over to her car and we chatted about a few more things, including the state of the SLIS program in Indy.  We promised to keep in touch and headed our separate ways.  As I was nearing the intersection of West and NY, Stephanie passed me on the street and honked her horn.  As I let go with my right hand to wave good-bye, I don't know if I hit a rock, stumbled into a crack, or simply instinctively clutched the left brake for some reason.  Whatever happened, I went flying.  I was diving over the handlebars with my hands stretched out, but my legs still managed to get tangled in the bike.  Suffice to say it was not pretty when I landed.  I skinned my right hand, snapped my jaw shut, banged my left knee, and knocked the wind out of me.  I groaned and slowly made my way to my feet, working my jaw and hoping I hadn't broken any teeth.  That was when my neck started to hurt and I began to worry.  I moved my head around a few times and tried to stretch it out a little, that seemed to help.  As I started on my way, the pain gradually lessened to just a slight soreness.  For better or for worse, I had gone sprawling in a dark patch between streetlamps at 11 PM.  The good news is that I don't think anyone saw me, not even Stephanie.  The bad news would have been if I would have been seriously hurt, I don't know how long it would have been before I got someone's attention.  Anyway, it was a bit of an adventure and reminds me once more to be careful when I'm riding that two-wheeled piece of &$*#. *sigh*

JUNE 21, 2004

Jessica T. wrote and asked if I wanted to go see movie or something, so I replied and said that sounded like fun.  She wanted to go check out the latest "Harry Potter" movie, but the timing didn't work out and we ended up going to see "Around the World in 80 Days" instead.  It was an OK flick, not one of my favorites of Jackie Chan's, probably a good rental.  Still, we managed to have a good time. The funniest scene was when Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared as a Turkish prince.  It actually wasn't that hilarious in and of itself, but we both cracked up when I leaned over and said, "The state of California must be so proud."  Ha, ha, ha!

We were at the Circle Center mall for the show, so we walked over to Steak 'N Shake afterward to get some food and chat.  We had a nice time sitting by the window, looking out on the city and talking about different things.  I then drove us back to our neighborhood and walked her over to her building, and she asked if I wanted to see her place.  We went up and I got to see where she's at now, still a bit messy but it looks like it will suit her well.  Her little kitten was a bundle of energy, running all over the place and constantly attacking her.  I wish I had a tithe of that kind of energy!  Ended up leaving her place pretty late, we lost track of time while we were talking.  I'm glad I had the chance to get to know Jessica a little better, it was a good time.  It was nice to spend a Monday evening in such fun way.

JUNE 19, 2004

Sarah, Ruth, Jeremy, Andrew, and myself all helped Kristen move to her new apartment today.  Her father and sister were also present and assisting in the transition, so it was nice to meet them.  Got there about 9:15 AM, and the truck already had quite a few items in it.  Helped get everything out, then Andrew pulled into the parking lot just as were were finishing up.  Of course, we had to give him a hard time about that!  We then formed a caravan and made our way, slowly but surely, across town to Kristen's new complex.

When we got there, I made the mistake of bumping up against the lift mechanism and got grease on my shorts.  I went into the bathroom and tried to get it out as best I could, but all I really did was make sure I would be wet for the rest of the morning.  Blah!  We got everything transferred in good time; Kristen was having some initial trouble figuring out where she wanted things to go, but it all turned out quite nicely.  Andrew made amends for his tardiness at that point and put the stereo together, as well as wiring the playback devices to the TV.  Her dad ran out to the grocery store while we were finishing up, and came back with food and drinks.  We were able to make some nice, healthy sandwiches after a long morning of work! Amazingly, we were pretty much done by 12:15 PM.

Andrew and I then returned to my apartment downtown for a little relaxation and fun time.  Jessica didn't call, so I assumed she and her sister were able to handle things in her move without problems.  That meant the two of us (Andrew and SPK) were able to pull out the old N64 for some gaming enjoyment.  We played "Goldeneye" for a while and went back and forth in victories, then partially completed a round of "Mario Party 3."  Yoshi had been a mortal enemy, but a recent Chance moment has now transferred the momentum to the computerized Daisy.  She must be stopped!  It's funny because we get really into that game and don't know anyone else who loves it half as much as we do.  Anyway, it was a fun day hanging out with friends and getting to help someone out.  Hopefully, I'll get that much assistance when I move out myself!

JUNE 18, 2004

Had people over for game night, which is always a good time.  Jeremy, Brittany, Daniell, Quentin, Sarah, Ruth, Kristen, Andrew, his friend Brian, and myself all took part.  I decided I didn't want to wait around on people to figure out what we wanted to do for dinner, so I put out some frozen grapes and put some pizza rolls in the oven.  After a little while, I threw some spaghetti in a pot and fed several folks, including myself.  Ruth was saying she was found it coincidental that she would eat beforehand for the first time because she didn't want to go hungry, and that's when I would have a bunch of food!  Sarah brought oatmeal creme pies and Daniell shared some cookies she had made.  We also pulled out a bunch of drinks, opened a bottle of white zinfandel, had some tortilla chips and cheese, and other good stuff.  We played Cranium, Taboo, Spoons, and Euchre - always fun!  Nice to see everybody and start off the weekend with a bang.

JUNE 17, 2004

Actually got some stuff accomplished today, which is always nice.  Went through a bunch of mail I had thrown in a pile, did the dishes, organized some files - awesome!  I also wrote a paper for L625 ("Info in the Social Sciences"), in which we were supposed to reflect on our project and on the semester in general.  Took longer than I thought it would, I had to book to campus on my bike and was all red-faced when I walked into UL!  Class went OK, but we were talking about "reflections" for almost an hour, so Lucinda and I were getting tired and just wanted to go home.  Still, I've really enjoyed the class overall.  Hard to believe Tuesday will be our last meeting!

Since we got out of class early, I decided to go upstairs to the ref desk and chat with Daniell for a while.  We had a really nice conversation, it was relatively quiet and we had a chance to chat without too many distractions.  She was doing some work on her collection development project, so I started telling her about mine last summer.  In my scenario, I was operating as a librarian for a seminary that was getting materials related to Islam, in the wake of 9/11.  I was telling her about how Muhammad may have had contact with heretical Christians and with the gnostic Gospels, so there has been some speculation that these things may have influenced his thinking when he was reciting the Quran.  We also talked a little bit about politics, and how people aren't so enthusiastic about voting for Kerry as much as they are voting against Bush.  Anyway, it was fun to have an interesting discussion with her and hear about what she's up to.

JUNE 13, 2004

Since I literally live diagonally in relation to Talbott Street, I definitely wanted to take part in the art fair that happens there every year.  This year, I sent out a mass message to see if anyone would care to join me.  Jessica, whom I met once at a game night after hearing from her online, wrote back to say she would be interested in going.  I was doing some work at the library first thing in the afternoon, so I got an e-mail from her saying she was going to hang out with her sister at yard sales and then meet me at 2:00 PM in front of my building.  She had picked up a cat carrier for her new kitty and didn't want to carry it around all day, so we went upstairs to the apartment and talked for a good hour.  We ended up hitting the street about 3 PM and had fun wandering around.  I bought her a lemonade and we saw what was available, then the rain snuck up on us!  We hightailed it back to the apartment, and decided to dry off a little before we went out to dinner.  We played "Sorry" and "Connect Four" while we were waiting - she won the former, and I was victorious in the latter.  We then headed down to the Elbow Room on Penn St, split an order of mushrooms, and talked over a pretty good dinner.

Although her bike was still downtown, she decided to leave it and wondered if I could give her a ride up north to her place.  I offered to throw the bike in the back, but she said she'd worry about it later.  She asked if I wanted to meet her cat, so I gave her pet a little rub behind the ears.  I then promptly asked if I could wash my hands so I wouldn't scratch my eyes and go nuts with allergies!  I told her I'd help her move to her new place if she needed assistance and then said farewell, whistling and thinking it had been a good day.

JUNE 12, 2004

The music festival was happening a couple blocks over, so I went to check that out.  I picked up a CD sampler of all the artists, so I may play that at the next game night and see what people think.  I then went over to Kristen's place to watch the sole season of "Firefly" on DVD.  I had heard rumors about them making a movie based on the show, but only confirmed it when I returned home that night and got online.  That's awesome, it was such a good show and should have stayed on when there is so much crap on TV.  Good to know the fan base has made a difference and that they're going to be reincarnating it on the big screen.

JUNE 9, 2004

I've been meaning to get an exercise regimen going and did a little jogging this evening.  Suffice to say I was huffing and puffing by the end!  To read a funny account of what happened, click here.  Once this summer session ends and she moves into her new place, Kristen and I are supposed to get together to work out regularly.  That will be nice, hopefully I can lose some weight and get more energized in future weeks.

JUNE 5, 2004

Got together with Mandy for lunch around noon, though I got there a little late and she had actually finished eating lunch before I arrived.  We did get to walk around and chat, which was fun. I also saw Sara and Jeremy at University Place, whom I hadn't seen in a while.  After Mandy had to get back to class, I went up to the reference area to hang out with Fiona and Daniell.  Didn't get much work done, but had fun seeing people and chatting.

Later that evening, Kristen got ahold of me on AOL Instant Messenger and we made plans to get together.  I drove over to her place, then we went up to the UA 16 theatre off I-69 at 96th St. to see the latest "Harry Potter" movie ("The Prisoner of Azkaban").  She had already seen it once, but wanted to check it out again.  We wandered over to Kohl's beforehand since we got tickets early, came back to see the show, then went over to Steak 'N Shake to hang out and chat.  It was nice because it's been a while since it was just me and Kristen hanging out; we're usually in some kind of group setting and don't get much of a chance to talk one-on-one.  Now we can finally say we've seen a movie together!

My friend Jeremy gave me the name of his family doctor and I think I might call him on Monday.  I'm literally sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  Kristen and I are supposed to start an exercise regimen this week, which should be good.  I also recently bought a lot of fruits and vegetable at the grocery store, as opposed to chips and other snacks.  I'm hoping all these steps will lead to a better sense of health and well-being.  I've been under the weather a lot lately and seem to have no energy.  No fun, let me tell you!

JUNE 1, 2004

I was working the reference desk today with Terri, Ann, and Mindy, as part of my internship.  While there, I was kicking butt on a couple reference questions!  The first question was when a guy came up needing "a trade journal related to sports stuff."  Since I know many of the databases from my statistics work with Dolores, I knew that IUPUI offers Proquest Trade & Industry.  I found articles for Sports Goods Business through that while Mindy and the others were still fiddling with IUCAT.  Later, Ann's son e-mailed her and asked her to look for an article from the Wall Street Journal that he had seen earlier in the day.  I heard her tell Terri about it and we both went immediately to Factiva.  However, I immediately went to the correct way to search while she wasn't quite sure where to go, so I pulled it up within a few seconds.  Ann chuckled and said I was pretty lucky today, and that I was going to start going to get a big head if I wasn't careful.  I laughed and said something like, "Yeah, it almost seems like I know what I'm doing!"  It's good to see that my reference time is proving to be a positive experience and that my time downstairs slaving away at the Liberal Arts database can actually be put to good use later.

MAY 29, 2004

Andrew and I got up a little late, so we ran next door to IHOP and got a good breakfast in us before starting the day.  He was actually going to a sales presentation up north because he was in the running for a free gift, but we were laughing because Nate and I had gone to the exact same pitch a few months before he left for California.  Nonetheless, Andrew was curious and wanted to get his free item.  He ended up not qualifying for the grand prize, but left early with a consolation item.  Thinking I would be at the library for much of the afternoon, he picked up a hitchhiker and drove him to Terre Haute!  When he walked into the apartment late in the afternoon, I was thinking he had been at the sales presentation all that time and he was actually taxiing a bum around the state!  During the course of the previous game night, all of us had been talking about how we wrote entries on Live Journal, so Andrew decided he wanted an account of his own with the username squealnakedcatj!  If you want to know the background behind that rather unusual moniker, check out his first LJ entry.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep the night before and ended up crashing on the couch later that morning.  This is one-two punch because I was supposed to meet Mandy for lunch, plus I was going to get some schoolwork done because the library will be closed for the rest of the holiday weekend.  Even if I hadn't fallen asleep, parade traffic would have made it difficult to get to campus on time.  She ended up having a shorter break than usual, so she really couldn't afford to wait for me anyway.  It just stinks because I keep making plans to meet up with her, then failing to follow through.  I feel like a terrible friend, but she wrote and said everything is fine.  It's nice to have someone forgive you this many times when you act like such a moron!  Hopefully, I'll won't have too many problems getting stuff done for next week.

MAY 28, 2004

All things must come to an end, and this day marked the end of my status as a SLIS graduate assistant.  While I will be continuing work for the Liberal Arts department as an intern, I had to say good-bye to my co-workers at the Herron Art Library.  Kari, Joshua, Sonja, Deedee, Rachel, David, and I all took part in a little pizza party to mark the occasion.  I took pictures of Josh and Deedee at a recent art show and was hoping to share those with them, but they were not developed in time.  Oh, well.  The GA-ship was a good experience and I really enjoyed getting to know everyone.  On the plus side, I literally live right across the street so it's not like I won't ever see them again!

Also hosted Game Night at my apartment, had a decent turn-out even on the holiday weekend.  Andrew, Jenny, Kristen, Sarah, and Daniell all came over for some food and fun.  Jenny brought some cooking gear and ingredients so she could whip up some customized omelets for us.  Yummy!  We ended up playing only two games -- "Society Commentary" and "Hand & Foot" -- because each one took a long time.  Guess that's good because it means we were into them!  Poor Kristen's back was killing her the entire time, but she was a trooper and stuck around for the entire evening.  Andrew crashed on the couch for the night, so it was fun to have him stick around and talk a little while longer.  Good times, it's tough because Jenny is no longer working in Indy and Sarah will be moving back to her parents' place in Ohio, so "the old gang" is starting to go their separate ways.  :_(

MAY 26, 2004

Took Ruth to the airport after working at Herron until 10:00 AM.  I set my watch to remind me to leave at the right time, then suddenly noticed it was 10:05!  It wasn't a big deal because she had been sitting on her front steps for only a couple minutes before I drove up.  We drove down I-465, got there, then I decided to park and come in with her.  We got her luggage checked in and I asked if she wanted to have lunch.  There was a T.G.I. Friday's a short distance from the check-in counters, so we walked over there.  She said she didn't want to pay for a more expensive meal and suggested we go find a McDonald's, but I was in the mood for something more substantial and less hectic, so I said it was on me.  I ordered the Cajun Blackened Chicken Sandwich (which wasn't all that blackened, but still pretty good) and Ruth got chicken strips.  Had a nice conversation, it's rare that the two of us just get to hang out without library patrons coming up to ask questions.  Started walking with her towards the concourse after we ate, then said good-bye and gave her a hug when we were passing the point where we had come in.  Hopefully, she'll have a safe trip and a good time overseas.  The reference desk staff was hosting a party for the graduate assistants during the lunch hour this day, but I wasn't able to make it after spending extra time at the airport.  Oh, well!  Hopefully, everyone had a good time.
 

Also had a meeting today with Dolores Hoyt down at Liberal Arts about our project, got some things clarified.  I will be relieved to be done with the GA-ship, though it was been a great experience overall and I have enjoyed getting a paycheck.  I think the way we are interpreting the data for the internship project will be interesting, and I will get practical experience doing a literature search and things like that.  I've done that kind of thing for class before, but doing it for a project that you might actually present or publish gives it both an urgency and sense of excitement that is lacking in class, no matter how interested you are in the subject.  So, things are going well overall and I'm also enjoying L625, even if it is a lot of work.  Trying to end the SLIS program on a high note, so we'll see how it goes.

MAY 24, 2004

I walked out of the University Library this evening about 8:45 PM and heard a whirring noise coming out of nowhere, so I look up and see this blimp!  It was just slowing flying around with an American flag in lights "waving" along the side.  I have one picture left on my camera so I've been carrying it around to use it up and thought I might take a photo since it was all so out of the ordinary, but of course right then it changed course and presented its "backside" to me.  I was riding my bike and followed it for a while, but gave up after a couple minutes.  Never saw any writing or logos, so I don't know who had it up there or why.  Weird, but cool!

MAY 22, 2004

Ruth had me and some other folks over to her place for some food and fun.  I actually got there late and didn't realize they were all waiting for me, so I felt kind of bad about that.  They didn't give me too hard a time about it, though!  Kristen and Sarah were there, as were Ruth's church friends Heidi and Christy.  We ended up going to play Putt-Putt golf on 34th St, which was very fun.  I'm quite competitive, so I was getting really irked when I was several strokes behind at the start of the back nine.  Luckily for me, the others hit a string of bad luck and Sarah had enough trouble on the last hole to allow me to tie her for first place.  I honestly would have been happy with second place because I felt like I made a pretty good comeback and that Sarah actually deserved the title.  Oh, well.  I ended up buying a three-game ticket because it was on special, so I hope to be able to use it sometime in the near future.

When I was riding back in Kristen's car, we took a side trip to see her new apartment complex.  Hard to tell what the story was in the dark, but it looked pretty nice from what we could see.  Hopefully, she'll enjoy being over there.  Went back to Ruth's place and talked for a while, everybody else left and we were chatting about her previous trip to Europe.  Now that she's off to another exotic location, her passport will be really impressive!  Hopefully, she'll have a good time while she's away.

MAY 21, 2004

When I got off work at 5:00 PM, I ran into Sarah outside the library and she was talking to Kristen on her cell phone.  We decided to go to Qdoba together and have something to eat before going to the art show.  As we walked in, a cute little boy was running through the restuarant and his mother was chasing after him.  I looked up to see that the mother was none other than  my old classmate from L524, Monica!  The three of us (Sarah, Monica, myself) all took L524 in Spring 2003, but she was pregnant at the time and ended up dropping out of the program at the end of the semester to have her daughter and spend time at home with her little boy.  Imagine our surprise!  We had a nice chat sitting with her, her husband, and two little kids.  Small world, huh?

We then drove back to my place to drop off my bike and take one car to the show.  Kristen drove and we found the place without too much trouble, though it threw us a bit because they're using space in an old manufacturing plant to show their stuff.  Starving artists have to take what they can get, I guess!  Ran into Josh and Rachel (co-workers from the Herron Art Library) in the parking lot, so we knew we were in the right place.  I got pictures of Deedee (another co-worker) and Josh with their works, and looked around at the pieces. Some good stuff, though pretty much all of it was way out of the price range of us poor full-time students.

We decided to come back to my apartment and the ladies taught me how to play a card game called "Hand & Foot."  Did pretty well for my first time, ended up coming in second after Kristen.  Too bad, Sarah!  Ha, ha, ha!  Ah, the trash talking - gotta love it!  Kristen browsed my CD collection while we were playing and ended up borrowing about a dozen CDs.  I said I felt like the I was opening up a library, which made her blush a little.  She is big into putting digitized songs on her I-Pod, so I was happy I could help her out.  One of these days, I'm going to ask to borrow the TV show "Angel" on DVD from her so I figure she can return the favor then.  Good times, glad the gals could hang out and go to the show with me.

MAY 14, 2004

Really tired today for some reason.  I got in my four hours at Herron this morning, but I was totally distracted and took a short nap for a break in the middle of my shift.  I got home and set my alarm, then  slapped it for "five more minutes" and ended up not getting up until 4:30 PM.  I was literally running into the library at 4:55 PM (since it's summer, things close up at 5:00 PM) to pick up files and the zip disk so I could do some work over the weekend.  Ugh!  Hopefully, I'll be able to get some stuff accomplished this weekend, including job hunting.  Wish me luck!

MAY 13, 2004

First day of class for L625 - Information in the Social Sciences.  Nice to see Lucinda again, as well as April and a couple others.  There are a couple cuties in there and they're in the dual program, so I am even more impressed to know they've got brains.  Excellent...  Tony S. is the professor and is a pretty cool guy, we got together a few weeks back so we could talk about careers and such.  It'll be extra work, but I'm looking forward to it and hope to end my academic classes on a high note.  That class will end in June, then it will just be the internship and job hunting!

MAY 12, 2004

Hadn't seen Jeremy in a while, so I called him up and we made plans to meet at La Bamba's up north on Michigan Rd.  We had a really good discussion about what's going on in our lives and what the future might hold for each of us.  We then went to fencing practice, which was pretty fun.  There were quite a few people fencing sabre and we were crowded to one side, doing foil.  I got kind of overheated towards the end and decided to leave a little early.  I stopped by Kroger on my way home to get some items, but I was so out of it and glad to be in my air-conditioned apartment that I forgot to put the frozen stuff away!  I remembered a few minutes later, so I hope stuff didn't have too much time to defrost.  Oh, well!

MAY 11, 2004

My friend Michaela wrote an e-mail saying her husband Matt was in the hospital, so I would ask everybody to keep him in their prayers.  She wrote, "He had a mass and part of his colon removed on Saturday night, and will be in the hospital for 4-7 days. They are not sure what the mass is yet and they are supposed to do tests on Monday. It was very sudden -- Matt had a stomach ache for a few days and then it started hurting worse in his appendix area on Saturday so we thought it might be his appendix. They weren't sure and had to do exploratory surgery to figure out what it was and it ended up being his colon."  Having surgery and being stuck in the hospital stinks - believe me, I know!  Here's hoping he feels better soon.

Also went to the IUPUI website today and checked out my grades on Insite.  Here's how I ended up doing:

Issues in Academic Librarianship -- A

Online Information Retrieval -- A

Business Information Sources -- B+

Boy, I am glad to be done with the Spring semester!  All three of my professors were very nice, but "Online Info" and "Business" were exceptionally difficult classes for me.  I think I only got an A in "Online Info" because I met the professor outside of class to try to get things figured out.  I'm thrilled I got a B+ in "Business" because I had no idea what I was doing for the first month or so, until she finally dumbed it down enough for us to grasp and we were moved to a room with computers.  Just one more class and an internship to go!

MAY 10, 2004

I had not heard from my former classmate Lucinda in quite a while, then I suddenly got an e-mail message from her asking what was going on!  This actually took place last week, but we finally were able to talk to each other on the phone this day.  She said she had been having problems with her e-mail account, so she didn't receive most of the messages I sent out about game nights.  It was cool to be able to talk and catch up, and it turns out we will be taking the same class on Tues/Thurs nights during the Summer I session!  She also sent me some job links she had found since I will be contacting people in the next few weeks, so that was nice of her to help me out.

Ruth called this evening and wanted to see if I wanted to hang out, so I went over to her place for a while and played cards.  She's got a nice little place, it was nice to see her in the context of her own living space.  We also went to the Kroger on 38th Street at 11:30 PM, which reminded me a little of my days as a third-shift cashier at Scott's back in the day.

MAY 9, 2004

Andrew and Marisa came down to Indy this morning so we could all go to the 10:30 AM service at Our Shepherd Lutheran Church.  Afterwards, we went to lunch at Hard Times Cafe downtown, near the RCA Dome.  We were in a bit of a hurry and it took a while to get our food, but we still enjoyed the experience.  The chili is very good and very filling, so we'd like to go back when we have a little more time to enjoy ourselves.

Since I had messed up on picking up my academic apparel, Andrew was kind enough to bring down his graduation gown in case I needed it. We retrieved it from his car and walked over to the RCA Dome, which is where Commencement would take place.  After wandering around for a while, we located an information booth and got directions to where I could pick up my gear and meet other participating students.  Andrew and Marisa went to find seats while I walked with fellow graduate Denisa (whom we met by the info booth) to where we needed to be.  A nice gal was handing out the caps and gowns, and helped me figure out how to put the outfit together.  I ran into Andrea, Lisa, Sara, and Brooke in the hall, and we proceeded to the main staging area.  We listened to speeches and I had a good time making stupid comments with Sara when we got a little bored.  I let out a whoop when they called the SLIS and was very proud to be part of this fine group of people.

We then had a separate celebration for the SLIS students in a room at the convention center.  I walked in to see Mom and Dad, sitting at a table with Andrew and Marisa!  It was so nice to see them all there and be able to introduce them to my fellow students.  Each of the students was allowed to give a short speech and I made a comment about getting my "lemon yellow, lemony fresh MLS" that I'm sure had Dr. Callison rolling his eyes.

After the SLIS celebration, the five of us went to dinner at the St. Elmo Steakhouse in downtown Indy.  My parents were kind enough to make the meal their treat, so we sampled the "famous" shrimp cocktail and I ordered the Surf & Turf.  Delicious!  Dad and Andrew shared a humungous NY Strip while Mom worked on the walleye and Marisa tried to down a full plate of marinated chicken.  Pretty expensive, but you got your money's worth!  Since the restaurant was near to where Andrew and I had parked, we drove my parents over to their car.

During dinner, I gave Mom a book called From a Mighty Fortress: Prints, Drawings and Books in the Age of Luther, 1483-1546 for Mother's Day because it reminded me of her artwork, our Lutheran heritage, and her visit to the Herron Art Library.  When we dropped my parents off, they gave me a very sweet card and a generous gift.  Talk about a fantastic day!  Church, lunch, graduation, SLIS celebration, dinner, and presents with family and friends.  Doesn't get any better than that!

MAY 8, 2004

Although Andrew's birthday is in April, we simply did not have a chance to celebrate it together before this day.  I got up before him and got stuff ready, then woke him up with a bag full of goodies in hand!  It had a picture of him on the side of the bag that was pretty funny and had "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" written underneath.  I gave Mr. McDonald a "weasel ball" that looks like a furry animal scrambling after a toy ball, as well as copies of Stargate, Back to the Future, and Goldeneye.  I had gotten those movies on DVD and figured somebody should be able to enjoy them!  It was great being able to wish him well and make his day a little more special, even if it was almost a month late.

In the afternoon, Jenny had a bunch of the GA's over for the day at her place in Greencastle (about an hour drive from Indy).  Kristen and I drove together, with her at the wheel.  Ruth, Kathleen, Sarah, and Fiona also showed up and took part.  Didn't get a chance to meet Jenny's husband Nathaniel, but I enjoyed hanging out with the gals and enjoying a Mexican food spread.  Ended up coming back a little early with Ruth (who had walked the mini-marathon earlier in the day) to rest and get ready for Commencement the next day.

MAY 7, 2004

After putting off my Business Info Sources project as long as possible, I finally got it done and turned in.  Yippee!  I went home and called Andrew, then checked on when I could pick up my cap and gown for Commencement.  I managed to almost screw things up pretty royally because we were supposed to pick up our academic apparel before 7:00 PM on Thursday, and here it was Friday evening.  I called University College and they said people could still get the gear at the RCA Dome the day of the ceremony.

When I had called Andrew, I found out that he hadn't read his e-mail and didn't know we were meeting at Quentin's place for game night this time around.  So, I waited around and we tried to find Quentin's place together.  Unfortunately, Daniell did not give us stellar directions and we got turned around several times.  Even after we called Quentin on the cell phone and had him walk us through it, we ended up parking on the next street over due to a similar name!  So, that was very frustrating and I later found out that at least two people had given up and gone home because they couldn't locate the place.  D'oh!  Anyway, we managed to have a nice enough time when we got there.  Sarah was kind enough to get me a little present for hosting events in the past, which was very sweet of her.  Andrew then stayed at the apartment and we talked about the future, careers, and his upcoming wedding before calling it a night.

MAY 1, 2004

After a stressful semester, I crashed and didn't get up in time to make it up to Ft Wayne for a foil tournament hosted by the Summit City Fencing Club.  I had told Jaison I was going to try to come up and help, if not actually fence, but I just wasn't up to it.  I was disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing everyone at the tourney, as well as my parents.  Oh, well.  Maybe next time!

A bunch of people I know here in Indy keep live journals and I decided to join in, mainly so I could post comments to theirs.  One of the things I posted on mine was a friendship survey, so anyone should be able to go on there and post a response to it.  In case you're wondering, I'm still going to keep putting news on here and am not planning on switching.

APRIL 30, 2004

Went to the last class of "Issues in Academic Librarianship" (L550) and took part in the presentation by the Five Wandering Library Warriors - myself, Ruth, Mandy, Jessica, and Leonard.  We had to come up with a group name and I melded all the suggestions together, so that's where our unusual group name came from.  Anyway, did our thing and wrapped things up on a good note.  Mandy and I then walked over to Hardee's and had lunch, which was fun.  I'm glad she's in the SLIS program and hope she continues to do well.

We also held a student forum in the library basement after lunch to go over our impressions of the SLIS and talk about both strengths and weaknesses.  The biggest problem seems to be a sense of lack of community and/or collaboration.  There seems to be the feeling that people are just showing up to get a piece of paper, and a lot of folks want there to be more to the experience than that.  Certain professors also need to address their teaching style and how they relate to students.

I ran into Ruth as I was heading to work and she asked if I wanted to hang out.  Since Dolores is pretty flexible about scheduling, I figured I could make up my three hours next week.  We went to see "Godsend" at Showplace 16 and then ate dinner at Wendy's.  At one point during the movie, she got so scared she grabbed my arm and squealed.  I was patting her hand and telling her it would be OK, while telling myself to suck it up and not let the fact that my shirt was cutting into my arm bother me!  She dropped me off (since I normally ride my bike to campus and she had her car) and I called Jeremy to see what he was doing.  He came over and we watched "The Goonies", which I had never seen and borrowed from the library.  So, it was a fun day finishing up classes and hanging out with friends.

APRIL 29, 2004

Had our last class for "Online Information Retrieval" (L570), which went pretty well.  We all did short presentations about a search engine we had researched, and I talked about AllTheWeb.com.  The funniest part of the presentation was when I looked up pictures for "Koehneke" and the one of me at a fencing tournament changed position depending on whether the filter was on or off.  I said I didn't know if this means fencing is more or less offensive when the filter isn't engaged!  It was a tough class, but the teacher was cool and I enjoyed hanging out with my classmates.

APRIL 24, 2004

This morning, I watched "Kill Bill Volume 1" on DVD and was planning to see the second part in the movie theater this afternoon.  Unfortunately, no one else was interested in going this day and I was feeling tired, so I ended up skipping the second part.  Hopefully, nobody actually showed up!

In the evening, I attended the University Library Birthday Gala.  The IUPUI library has been in its current building for 10 years, so there was a celebration of that fact with some keynote speakers.  I spoke with Andrea and we weren't sure how the parking would be, so we decided to go together.  We mingled, enjoyed music, free food, and tours of the building.  Most of the graduate assistants decided to skip out before the speeches, so I figured I should try to hitch a ride before everybody I knew left!  Andrea needed to get going, but Jenny, Kristen, Sarah, Ruth, and myself all went for ice cream.  It was nice to spend the evening with friends and end it by getting a peanut-butter "Glacier" while in a suit and tie.

APRIL 23, 2004

Ruth and Kristen came over to my apartment to hang out and we ended up going over to IHOP for dinner.  Since this was one of nights I was having people over for "Game Night," I left a sign on the front door that said we were over there.  While we were eating, David and his friend Emily joined us.  I had the Southwest Chicken Fajita salad, but we had a good mix of breakfast and dinner.  David got a huge ice cream sundae and ended up leaving about half of it!  Once we got back to my place, Sarah, Andrea, Andrew, and Marisa all showed up during the course of the evening.  Some of the "regulars" weren't able to make it due to travel or other circumstances, but it was nice to have a different mix.  Hopefully, Emily had a nice time in the middle of a group of strangers!  Good times, as always.

APRIL 20, 2004

After missing a couple weeks, I was able to go to fencing practice at the JCC.  Susan had borrowed my epee at the Purdue Open, so finally got that back from her.  I also fenced her and gave a nice bruise on the leg!  I also fenced Chris and Dan, plus directed various bouts.  It's good to go out and get some exercise while hanging out with fun people.

APRIL 19, 2004

Hadn't seen my friend Medina in a while, so I called her up and asked if she wanted to go get dinner.  We met at the Spaghetti Factory and had a nice time.  She had been having kind of a cruddy day, so I tried to cheer her up a little.  After we left, I was attempting to be a gentleman and walked her to her car.  Little did I know she parked about six blocks away!  I just left my car in the parking garage across the street, but I guess she knows exactly where the post office and decided to park next to a familiar landmark.  She'll be transferring to the Bloomington campus next semester, so it will be sad to see her go.

APRIL 18, 2004

Went to church at Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, which is west beyond I-465.  In a crazy example of coincidence, the pastor there is a former classmate of mine from Ball State, Aaron Rosneau.  I didn't know him real well while we were there, but he recognized me and asked me how I was doing.  He preached a sermon on Revelation, which was pretty interesting.  One of the funniest things about getting older is that I'm used to ministers being older and wiser men, like my father.  To see a guy my age or younger up there in the pulpit seems kind of nutty!  It is so funny to me that I ran into Kevin Shoop when I visited Trinity and listened to Aaron preach at Our Shepherd.  Small world.

APRIL 16, 2004

Went over to Kristen's apartment to watch the movie "Timeline" with her and Sarah.  They've both been to my place multiple times, but this was the first time I had visited Kristen at her home.  Ironically enough, she was going apartment hunting the next day with her folks!  Anyway, we ordered pizza and helped her put together her new dining set from Meijer.  Actually, I didn't do much because I got there late and just as the pizza arrived.  I was pretty starved, so I was busy eating while they were finishing up.  Oh, well.  The movie was OK, I recommend the book for good reading - Timeline by Michael Crichton.

APRIL 10-11, 2004

Traveled up to Ft Wayne to celebrate Easter with my family.  Went to the 9:00 AM service with Mom and heard Dad preach - he was carrying the cross during the processional and couldn't help smiling at my stupid happy grin at seeing him.  After service, I saw some friends and acquaintances of my parents, then came home and looked for my Easter basket.  We had a great meal - ham, potatoes, green beans, rolls, etc.  Before I had to leave, we had a miniature Easter egg hunt and had a good time "egging" each other on.  Ha, ha, ha!

APRIL 4, 2004

Went to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul with my friend Jeremy for Vespers, which is basically an evening prayer service.  It was nice to be able to sit next to a friend and sing out.  I had a very odd sensation after the priest's message when we were all praying, like God touching the top of my head.  Nice to know He's out there and watching over me!

APRIL 2, 2004

One of the more interesting Game Nights I've hosted at my place.  For one thing, we had a larger crowd than usual despite the absence of Quentin and Ruth - 10 people total!  Next time, I might suggest we split into two groups so things don't get so raucous.  Still, it was nice that we could all be together.  It was the first time that Kathleen joined us, plus a gal named Jessica that I met online came along with her sister Lauren.  To add to the craziness, Andrew came down from Muncie and brought a silly game called "Gender Bender" that pitted the men against the women.  Suffice to say the guys lost!  Andrew, Jeremy, Daniell, Kristen, Jenny, Sarah, Kathleen, Jessica, "Ralph" Lauren, and I all had a nice time hanging out and getting to know one another.

It was nice to meet Jessica and her sister.  It's a funny situation because I was reading The Onion online and saw a section for personals a couple weeks ago.  Wondering exactly who would post a profile on there, I read some of the Indianapolis area descriptions and became intrigued.  I was deciding if I wanted to spend money on "credits" to contact people when one of them got ahold of me!  Turns out Jessica works at the IMCPL and will be starting classes at the SLIS in the fall.  We're both 27 years old, don't smoke, and I thought she had a funny sense of humor on her profile (i.e. "you're not going to burglarize me are you??" in response to "In my bedroom you'll find...").  Sounded like we would get along splendidly, so I invited her over and she brought along Lauren.  Since I can be bad with names sometimes, I asked Lauren to remind me at one point and she said, "Lauren, like as in Ralph Lauren."  For the rest of the night, I called her "Ralph" and even got her sister Jessica doing it!  As it just so happened, Lauren's husband is named Steve and to avoid confusion, we dubbed him "Mr. Ralph."  Ha, ha, ha!  I said at one point that Jessica and Lauren were probably wondering what just what they were doing voluntarily sitting in the middle of this crowd of lunatics!  Anyway, I just thought it's interested how God works and how you can find fascinating and friendly people in the least expected places.  Hopefully, I'll get a chance to know both of them more in the weeks to come.

MARCH 27, 2004

Fenced both sabre and foil at the Purdue Open.  Saw people I knew from Indy, Ft Wayne, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Dayton, and elsewhere, so it was cool having the chance to catch up with everybody.  I was a bit disappointed with how sabre went.  I was seeded sixth after the pools, but lost my first Direct Elimination bout by one point!  The director had a very odd way of calling things, so I didn't figure out how to do better until the end.  To pour salt in the wound, I was actually leading by 14-11 and then choked or something, to allow this high school kid to beat me 15-14.  I then looked around when the bout was over to see Tim Mills, another Indy fencer who was seeded fifth, taking off his lamé.  We both had lost and I remember thinking, "What just happened here?"

Thankfully, things went better during the foil competition.  I was seeded fourth out of 29 fencers and ended up in third, tied (ironically enough) with my former SCFC student and teammate Raffi Nersessian.  For DE's, I first fenced the last place fencer, so I met as well have gotten a bye since I wasn't even trying.  The hard part then came when I had to beat a left-hander - they are relatively rare and require a much different style to fence, so even inexperienced southpaws can be tough sometimes.  Managed to take him out, then moved on to beat the next guy in the round of eight.  After fencing sabre and foil in an extremely hot gymnasium, I was pleased that I could still make Ted Kelleher (Dayton fencer whom I met at a Ft Wayne event) work hard and fenced him to 15-10 in the semi-finals (round of four), losing by only five points.  In fact, he even ran onto my blade and broke it in half!  Usually, USFA events rank the two fencers who lose the semi-final bouts as tied for third without making them fence off, so I was glad I didn't have to try to take on Raffi.  The best part of this was the fact that it was a "C" tournament, which means I was able to renew my "D" ranking for coming in third.  Hooray!  It has to be renewed every three years and was getting pretty close to being downgraded, so I was pleased about that.  To celebrate, Jaison took Raffi and I to dinner at a local Greek family restaurant, so we had a nice time.  It was great to see everybody and to feel pleased with my performance.  Now I just need to get in shape and go to practice more often, then I'll really be a force to be reckoned with!

MARCH 26, 2004

Since I planned to fence in the Purdue Open, I contacted Matt and Michaela to see if I could crash at their place on Friday night.  I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was nice to catch up and view all their wedding paraphernalia.  They were married last June, and I had seen them only once since then at Jared's graduation party.  We all went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and I didn't tell them it was on me as a thank-you for letting me sleep over, so I was glad I could surprise them.  The only negative part of the visit is that they are now taking care of a cat for a friend, so my allergies were a bit of a problem.  Still, I had a very nice time and was able to wake up rested and ready for the Purdue Open. 

MARCH 21, 2004

Traveled to Terre Haute for the "Tournament of Thorns" hosted by the Rose-Hulman Fencing Club.  I hung out with the group, including Adam Steele, one of my students from my days with the SCFC in Ft Wayne.  Jaison, Raffi, and Ryan (along with Ryan's mom) all came down from Ft Wayne to fence, so it was nice to see them as well.  I fenced both sabre and foil, coming in first place for sabre and finally earning my "E" ranking.  Unfortunately, Derek beat me 15-13 in our foil Direct Elimination bout together, so I had to settle with tied for third.  We all went out to Steak 'N Shake afterwards, so it was fun chatting with everybody and having a good meal after a long day of fencing.

MARCH 13-20, 2004

Traveled up to Ft Wayne to spend time with family and friends during Spring Break.  Many of the graduate assistants were not able to get time off, but my bosses were both cool about it and wished me well during my time off.  I led practices with the Summit City Fencing Club on Monday and Wednesday nights, focusing on sabre and some foil.  Dad was at a retreat for much of the week in Texas, but we still had some time to hang out.  I ended up spending quite a bit of time with Mom, which was very cool.  She's good people, you know!  Nothing too exciting, just a pleasant visit and a chance to unwind.

MARCH 12, 2004

My dad wrote to me early this day and asked me to find an article for him that he had read about.  He asked me to fax it to him or bring it up with me when I visited, but I just found it online and e-mailed it to him at work.  Suffice to say he was surprised to walk into the office and have his secretary hand it to him!  It felt good to be able to act like a "real librarian" and help out a patron, especially since it was my beloved father!

One of the people who came to the previous game night, Jenny, suggested that we all get together again this evening.  Since I'm the one that lives closest to campus, I invited everyone over to my place.  Ruth, Daniell, Quentin, Jenny, and I all went over to the IHOP for dinner to find out that it was closed, so we hopped in the car and went a few blocks down to the Elbow Room.  The funniest part of the evening was when we all started walking in and I looked around, asking "Where's Jenny?"  She couldn't figure out how to get the door unlocked, so she was still sitting in the car, waving and trying desperately to get our attention!  Oops!  Despite the restaurant's name, it was pretty crowded and we think our server was new, so it wasn't the greatest eating experience, but the food was pretty good and we still had a good time.  Quentin actually ended up getting his hamburger for free because they messed up his order twice, so that was nice for him even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted.  We came back to my place for a while and had some fun after stopping by Kroger to pick up some ice cream sundae necessities.  Yummy!

MARCH 5, 2004

I've gotten in the habit of having people over once a month or so to have some fun.  This week's "Game Night" included appearances by Jeremy, Daniell, Quentin, Jenny, Sarah, Kristen, Andrea, and Andrea's former roommate Mary.  I had met Mary once up in Ft Wayne, so it was a surprise to see her here in Indy.  It was fun to see everybody, and I had been looking forward to this evening as I had been out of sorts earlier in the week with stress and fatigue.  Good times were had by all, I believe.

FEBRUARY 16, 2004

Finally resolved some tension at work that had been dragging on me.  Theresa acts as the main administrative assistant in the Dean's office, which is where I work in the library.  When I was first hired as a graduate assistant, she told me that she often stayed after 5:00 PM when the office closed, and I was under the impression that I was also welcome to remain as long as a full-time person was around.  Anyway, I noticed she was getting quite cool towards me the past couple weeks, then she became quite hostile on Wednesday afternoon (2/11) and actually snapped at me.  I was literally speechless and didn't know what to do, but I realized that I couldn't live with being tense every time I saw her.  I finally sat down with her on this Monday afternoon and asked what the story was.  It took a while to get it all untangled, but it basically comes down to the fact that she asked Dolores (my boss) to tell me that I wasn't supposed to stay after 5 PM and then was getting pissed when I was doing just that.  I think Dolores is a wonderful person, but she can be a little scatterbrained sometimes.  So, here I am wondering what's going on and she thinks I'm being a defiant jerk who's trying to make her do what I want.  Can you believe it?  I wish we would have figured it out sooner and avoided much unpleasantness, but at least I am clear on the rules now and she knows I'm not being a butthole just for the heck of it.

Luckily, I was able to have an enjoyable evening when I ran into my friend Andrea upstairs in the reference area.  I asked if she wanted to get dinner after we both finished some schoolwork, so we decided to drive around and see what struck our fancy.  We ended up going to Buca di Beppo, an Italian place downtown that I had visited once with my parents.  It took forever for the food to get to us, but we shared a dish of Quattro al Forno (four different pasta dishes in a sampler), chocolate cannoli, and a bottle of burgundy wine.  It's funny because somehow we always seem to get into heated discussion regarding religion and/or politics when we hang out.  She doesn't particularly care for confrontation, but I enjoy it to an extent.  Obviously, I don't want to argue, but I think it's fine to disagree on something and have the chance to present your point of view.  Whatever works, right?  So, I had two quite interesting conversations this day!

FEBRUARY 13, 2004

Jeremy called and wanted to see if I wanted to hang out, so we decided to go walking around downtown and ended up having dinner at Houlihan's, which I enjoyed.  We then went to "Miracle" (with Kurt Russell, based on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team) at the Circle Center.  The story was pretty good, but I have to admit that I've gotten spoiled by going to newer and bigger theaters.  I really think they forgot to turn on the surround sound, because it was just like watching TV at home with the noise all at the front.  It made it kind of hard to understand what they were saying at times, but we still both enjoyed it.  Afterwards, we hung out at my apartment and talked about different things, including the fact that we'd both be single on Valentine's Day.  Oh, well!  It was a fun time, so it's all good.

FEBRUARY 12, 2004

Went to an optional session of "Online Information Retrieval" to get a better grasp of the class material.  It kind of stunk because the first half was dedicated to review for people who missed the previous week, but we finally talked about Dialog after the break.  Dialog is a search engine that is about 30 years old, and while it is still useful, it is a command-based system and takes quite a while to get the hang of.  I was glad I was able to go through it with the professor and just a few others.  Not only am I glad I went for that, but I also got back the Zip disk I had thought was lost or stolen!  I thought I had left it in the library on Friday morning and the security people told me that few owners get them back because they're so expensive.  After a week, I was sure all my school files reaching back to Ball State were gone.  However, I saw the lab tech that had been on duty the week before, and he had stuck it in a box of miscellaneous junk!  I could not believe my luck - the Lord was looking out for me!  The funny thing is that I went to the tech support area earlier that week to ask them about it, but I guess it's an entirely separate area from the labs and they were clueless about it.  So, it turned out to be a pretty good Thursday night after all!

FEBRUARY 8, 2004

Went to church at Trinity Lutheran for a change of pace.  Although it's on 16th St like myself, it's way out there beyond I-465, while I am right downtown.  Even so, it only takes me 15-20 minutes to get there.  This particular Sunday, the craziest thing happened.  I was sitting in my seat on the side aisle, singing along during communion, when all of a sudden someone taps me on the shoulder and calls me by name.  Suffice to say I was surprised when I looked up and saw my old roommate Kevin Shoop!  After service, we talked and I was re-introduced to his new wife Mandy, who is taking classes at IUPUI.  Turns out she grew up in the church years ago and now they are thinking about becoming full members.  Man, running into Shoop was definitely unexpected!

FEBRUARY 5, 2004

Had dinner with Cindy, Roberta, and Medina at University Place before class.  It's nice hanging out with people and getting to commiserate over the program.  Ha, ha, ha!  I think we might try to make that a regular thing, at least on the evenings when class is scheduled.

JANUARY 30, 2004

In order to get to know people in the neighborhood a little better, I invited some friends from school and elsewhere to take part in a fun little game night.  Andrew, Kristen, Sarah, Daniell, Quentin, and Jeremy all took part and we had a lot of fun.  Quentin became the "gamemaster" because he was teaching us to play Evo and a board game based on the Lord of the Rings.  Andrew and I taught the group Mao, so it was a good time.  I'm going to try to make it a regular thing so people can get to know one another.

JANUARY 16, 2004

First day of class!  I actually have "Online Information Retrieval" (L570)  on Thursday nights, but it wasn't meeting this week.  I did go to "Issues in Academic Librarianship" (L550) and "Business Information Sources" (L629) on Friday, which went well.  It's nice because I know the majority of people in my classes, and it's especially hilarious because most of the library graduate assistants are in L550.  Hopefully, the semester will go well and that I will continue to learn both in class and at work.

JANUARY 10, 2004

I hadn't seen my friend Andrea since before Christmas, so we had a good time when we finally got together.  We saw the movie "Paycheck", which was actually better than expected.  Ben Affleck and action movies seem to be a contradiction, but it was good popcorn fun.  We were interested in eating some Mediterranean food at Khoury's, but found out there was a wait.  We decided to leave and as I was pulling out of the lot, I accidentally smacked Andrea in the eye when I went to put my hand on the back of the passenger seat!  I felt terrible, but she insisted she was OK (after a minute of rubbing her face).  We ended up going to the Glendale mall to check out the public library branch, and picked up Andrea a library card and a couple books.  We went back to Khoury's and ate a good meal, plus Andrea was pleased by the fact that we had a hunky waiter.  She cracked up when the belly dancer came over and pulled me up to join her.  Suffice to say I looked like a complete dork, but it was fun.  We went back to her apartment to hang out and we decided to watch "Panic Room" with Jodie Foster.  There were plot holes big enough to  drive a truck through, but Foster is a good actress and did a nice job.  Overall, a very fun evening.

JANUARY 9, 2004

Kristen gave me a call and we were looking for something to do, so we went online to look at restaurants and decided to check out the Cozy Restaurant & Lounge, which was pretty nice.  A little expensive, but it was a good time.  We came back to my apartment and watched "Friends", then chatted for a while.

JANUARY 3, 2004

Saw "The Last Samurai" with the fencing club, then we went to Red Star Tavern afterward to hang out and talk.  I got to the theater a little late and would have had to sit in the row in front of the group by myself, but Tim was nice enough to abandon his seat and keep me company.  I had actually had already seen the show with Jeremy, so I knew it would be good.  Tim's wife Lita joined us at the restaurant, so it was nice catching up with everybody and making plans for the new year.

JANUARY 1, 2004

Saw "Cold Mountain" with Mom and Dad at Holiday 6, which was pretty good.  It follows the "Titanic" formula - giant explosions and special effects for the guys, romance and empowerment issues for the ladies.  Interested to see that the Coldwater theater will look like when it opens up with stadium seating and the whole shin-bang.  We also ate at the Casa Grille, and I think the waitress was flirting with me.  I'm not going to complain about that!

UPDATES

RETURN TO SPK CENTRAL