Just now, against my better judgment, I tried to watch an episode of Sex & The City. I was doing ok until Kim Catrall's character, Samantha, opened her mouth. I must've blacked out after that, because the next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of I-80E in naught but my shorts with my arms outstretched and looking skyward. And I remember just a faint thought of yearning to be taken away to a better place.

That might've been a step in the right direction, though. After all, I didn't even lose any blood this go-around. With a lot of meditation and electro-shock therapy, I may even get through an entire episode and finally realize what the appeal of that show is.

Wow, this new season of The Real World sucks. I usually watch it religiously, but the suckitude of this one knows no bounds. I haven't been this uninterested since the Paris season a couple years ago. That one was crap, too, except for the time C.T. punched that one guy. That was pretty sweet.

As of tomorrow, I'll have been on my Lenten alcohol fast for four full weeks. I haven't had a drink of anything that so much as sneezes in the direction of being alcoholic in nature. Some of you out there are saying "Yeah, so what. Any guy could do that. No big deal." Well, it's been tough for me, so BACK OFF!!!!

. . .

Actually, all truth be told, the only time it's difficult is on the weekends, when everyone else is having a beer. Or receiving notices from Old Chicago in the mail that a really sweet new Mini Tour is going to start on 3/29 and end on Easter. In other words, it'll end right when I could start it.

Ah well. It's far from the worst thing that has ever happened to me. The experience has aforded me many opportunites for reflection, both upon the season and upon myself in general. And physically, I feel excellent--quite possibly the healthiest I've ever been. I'm going to work hard to keep improving on that end of things.

That said, I'm still looking forward to the end of all this. :)

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but the Aerosmith concert that Angie and I were so long looking forward to on Friday got cancelled. Obviously, we were both pretty bummed out about that. Evidently, Steven Tyler has to have some kind of throat surgery. Another time, perhaps.

There have been quite a few commercials on lately for the next senatorial and gubernatorial elections. I watched one for Pete Ricketts while I was lifting tonight, in which he boasted about fighting the proposed legalized gambling amendment from the Novemeber 2004 election. He might've had my vote, if he hadn't done that. I'm well aware of the damage uncontrolled gambling can do to a person and his family, and I don't want to see slot machines in every bar across Nebraska. But lets be real about this. The Internet has made high stakes gambling available to pretty much anyone with a dial-up connection. So why is it such a big deal to have a couple boats on the Omaha side of the Missouri River? All it would mean is that revenue that had been going to Iowa (and put to good use in schools and elsewhere) would stay in Nebraska.

You can't help but think that would take a considerable burden off the taxpayers. So, no, I won't vote for Pete Ricketts. Nor will I vote for Tom Osbourne, as much as I sincerely admire the guy.

I just saw a commercial for the next episode of Will & Grace. It looks like Britney Spears will guest star. I remember predicting her inevitable self-destruction years ago. Each time I see her on television or in the news, she continues to validate what I said. What can I say? When I'm right, I'm right.

And with that, I'm going to bed. I know this was kind of a short entry. I'll try to do better next time.

Wow, I'm feeling good right now. I woke up early this morning (5:00a) and went to the gym to hit the treadmill for a solid hour. That set my energy level pretty high for the rest of the day. After supper, I lifted some weights. So, for the first time since the Thing That Should Not Have Been throat infection, I got rid of that deflated balloon feeling, if only for a little while. But I liked the feeling so much that I'm going to get up early again tomorrow morning. No need for daylight to get stuff done. After all, as Hank Dave Thoreau once said,

There is more day than to dawn,
The sun is but a morning star.

Applicable? You be the judge. But that's a quote that has stuck with me for years.

Angie and I went to a Lenten service last night. A couple from the church shared a rather horrifying story about how one of their children died in infancy. Of course they have questions as to why it had to happen, but at the same time, their faith is what has given them strength to endure. It was an incredibly touching story. I have to admit, the prospect of losing a child is one thing that absolutely terrifies me about having any of my own. But we'd all drive ourselves crazy worrying about stuff like that that we simply can't predict, and we'd miss out on a lot of the amazing things life has to offer if we did. I guess it's a good lesson to savor every moment and take nothing for granted. A much better idea than eaking out an existence that consists of naught but huddling under a table in fear.

Wow, I just saw a commercial for "The Godfather: The Game." It looks pretty badass. The Godfather films are among my favorite of all time. And I absolutely adore the books, too. Especially the original, by Mario Puzo, but the sequel, "The Godfather Returns" by Mark Winegardner was really good, too. It seems like at almost every family holiday, we end up watching at least one of those flicks. I fully endorse The Godfather as a wholesome, Family movie.

"Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever."

You know, I'm a pretty big fan of That 70's Show. Even so, this last season has really sucked. Foreman and Kelso aren't a part of the cast anymore, so they brought in some lame-ass, scab actor to fill their shoes. It really pisses me off when a show's writers pull that kind of stunt. Like they expect you to just all of a sudden like a character and be OK with the fact that he or she is replacing characters than were popular and much more well established. You'd think they'd learn after the whole debacle that happened with The Dukes Of Hazzard when Bo and Luke Duke left the show and they brought in Vance and Coy Duke. All it served to do was drag the show through the mud, and it wasn't even salvageable after Bo and Luke returned. I think That 70's Show should've sounded its death knell last season instead of doing the same thing.

As for Grey's Anatomy, I'm getting tired of this guy with chronic heart failure (Denny is his name, I believe) who they introduced as a love interest for Izzy. I really like that show, but the stuff with his character just bores me to tears. It's crap. He's another example of a character that is just thrown into the mix whom we're supposed to care about without any reason. And listening to his forced wit as he bravely tries to speak even though he can barely breathe on his own makes me want to saw off my own hand.

Today Mike emailed some info Jana compiled for another tubing excursion to the Niobrara this summer. It's going to be a blast! I still remember how much beer I bought the night before we left. Good times. Even better, though, this time around I won't have to be on a tube all by myself. :)

"Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured the band leader that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract. That's a true story."

Sorry, I just had to drop in another quote from The Godfather.

I caught the tail end of the newest episode of South Park tonight. It was the final episode to feature Chef, as Isaac Hayes (Chef's voice) has left the show. You see, Mr. Hayes is a Scientologist, and South Park recently had an episode that ridiculed the religion of Scientology. So Hayes left the show because it had become "intolerant."

What a crybaby hypocrite. That show has ridiculed pretty much every major religion there is, and I don't recall him saying a word in condemnation of the show's various episodes deriding Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. But say anything about Scientology and he says "Screw you guys, I'm going home."

"Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

That's wisdom straight from the mouth of Don Vito Corleone, right there.

Hmm...Family Guy is on right now. Which begs the question: Do Prada bags really cost in the neighborhood of $1,100?

I have another question for y'all: Who was it that decided that Whoopi Goldberg had talent and that we should care about her? I just can't figure it out. Unless...it's all a part of that ancient Sumerian prophecy that foretold the rise of the Hollywood Squares gameshow, and the daemon-spawn Bruce Villanche. That could be it.

I've been weighing in near 160 pounds for a few days now, with a little fluctuation. That puts my weight loss since Mike and Jana's wedding at around 70 pounds. I won't lie to you; I'm pretty stoked about that. :) I'm pretty sure the last time I weighed in this low was when I was about 14 or 15. I'm right about where I want to be, so now I just need to keep toning.

My alarm is set, so I suppose it's time to hit the sack. Because I know you're all yearning for it, though, here's another Godfather quote to put y'all to bed.

"It's a Sicilian message. It means that Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

Tonight was a special night for all of Natedom. Momentous, even. For you see, I got to watch the first two episodes of the current Doctor Who series. I recorded it this past Friday night, and it turned out to be everything I hoped for. You see, it was this very show (in a much earlier incarnation) that first piqued my interest in science-fiction so many years ago. When I was just a lad of four or so years, we lived on a farm in southeastern Nebraska. We had three, maybe four television channels, one of which was PBS. Doctor Who, which began its run on the BBC back in 1963, was one of the shows that aired in the evenings on PBS. I remember sitting with my dad after he was done with his evening chores and watching the time-travelling Doctor (specifically, the Fourth Doctor, portrayed by Tom Baker) on his various adventures.

One of the episodes tonight was particularly entertaining. The Ninth Doctor and Rose, his companion, went 5 billion years into the future, just in time to watch the sun destroy the earth as it expanded into a red giant. There wasn't anyone living on the planet anymore, as by that point humanity had spread throughout the universe and intermingled with other species. So a bunch of wealthy aliens just gathered at a space observatory to watch the planet blow up. Of course, the Doctor also had to foil a plot by the last "human" to take hostages. That was just par for the course, I guess.

Maybe, eventually, they'll tap me to play the Doctor. David Tenant is currently playing the Tenth Doctor, as I understand, but I'd make an excellent Eleventh Doctor. Even though I'm not British, I'm sure everyone would enjoy watching me travel through time in a 1950's police booth.

For the past day or so, we've been enduring a ridiculous snowfall. My car, as you might imagine, is terrible when it comes to getting around in this stuff. This afternoon, following work, I had to have Angie bring me home in her sister's Jeep. I wasn't thrilled about leaving my car at the office overnight, but better that than getting stuck or wrecking it. I'm not enthusiastic that I'll be able to get it home tomorrow night, either, but I guess we'll see. As of 9p, we've had 13 inches of snow here in Lincoln.

(OK, right now, I have to pause to say that Blogger absolutely pisses me off. I had probably 800 more words written past this point just a few moments ago, but then it froze up and I lost everything I wrote past this point. So now I'm stuck trying to recall what I wrote. But now I'm tired and want to go to bed, so I'm not even going to try to do the whole thing.)

(You know what else pisses me off? The colour khaki. Some guys pull it off just fine, but I think I look like a damn nerd when I wear it. For my money, I much prefer black.)

Anyway, Jason is suffering the most as a result of the snow. He was supposed to get back from Vegas yesterday, but ended up stranded in Denver instead. So, today he waited and waited for another flight to Lincoln. He finally got on one and was a mere 15 minutes from home when they turned the plane around and went back to Denver. Poor guy. Hopefully he'll be able to get back tomorrow, though I doubt he'll do so before evening. He's going to be one surly dude when he finally gets home.

The weekend was a good one. On Saturday I was at Angie's most of the day as we celebrated Aubrie's long-awaited first birthday party. It was fun meeting her extended family and friends, and I got to gorge myself on barbecued pork and cheese. Two of my favorite things, you know. :

Here's a good pic of Angie and I from the party...


But more importantly, here's the Little Lady of the Hour, Miss Aubrie.


Here she is observing her present from Nate. (Yep, surprise, surprise, I bought her a book.)


What a happy little girl!


Check out Angie's blog to see her entire array of pictures from the event.

Here's some music for you to check out:

"Abyss (Original Mix)" by Dave 202
"Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" by The Killers
"Come On Eileen" by Save Ferris
"Lothlorien" by The Taliesin Orchestra

German engineering in da house. Ja.

Right now on the Discovery: Health channel, they're running this show called Birthday Live. Basically, they're airing the live births of babies in Orlando, San Diego, and Silver Spring, MD. A lot of them are C-sections, but wait...one lady just gave birth just now without any drugs or anything.

. . .

Dang.

. . .

I'm glad I'm a guy.

Anyway, this whole show is bizarre. Who lets an entire TV crew come in and film the birth of their children, honestly? It's just madness. As soon as the babies are out, they have reporters shoving cameras in the faces of these parents who are just shell-shocked and overwhelmed by the moment. If it was me, I'd just punch anyone trying to interview me. One guy looked like he was ready to. Then again, it's his own damn fault for letting a crew in in the first place.

I didn't realize how blue these babies are when they first come out.

It turns out that the gal who just did the natural birth is naming her baby as part of a viewer call-in contest. In other words, the viewers are choosing her child's name. That's wack.

"Hey, guess what, sweetheart? Your pops and I enjoy publicity so much that we decided to waive our God-given right to name you and decided to let Reality TV do it instead."

Doesn't that seem wrong to anyone else? Still, I give her mad props for going without the drugs. Her reasoning was that a needle in her spine frightened her way more than any birthing pains.

Now they're delivering some twins by C-section. They just made the first inscision. They're really cutting away at her. Just going at it. Heh, they panned to the mom's face just now. Wow, does she look loopy. And...bang! Both babies are out. That didn't take long at all. The babies both appear very healthy, but I hope someone remembers to sow up that mom.

She looks too hopped up on the painkillers to do it herself.

I think we all learned some valuable lessons here tonight. Namely, life is a miracle, and I'd probably be a good doctor. After all, I was able to enjoy the beauty of new life and my dinner (spinach spaghetti, pepper jack, and garden primavera sauce) at the same time. That has to count for something. Not only do I have a strong stomach, but my mind can also be in two places at once. It goes without saying that my bedside manner would be second to none. Maybe it's time to start studying for the MCAT exam.

Moving along, a good many of you know that I've become quite the hummus enthusiast since this past summer. Not unexpectedly, this has earned me some jeers from the uninformed masses (friends and family, to be exact). So now it's on me to bring you the First Elegant Defense of Hummus.

So what, exactly, are we talking about here? According to the good folks of Wikipedia, hummus

"is a dip made of chickpea paste with various additions, such as olive oil, fresh garlic, lemon juice, paprika, and tahini (sesame seed paste). It is popular throughout the Middle East, including in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Turkey, and in Armenia, Cyprus and Greece, though the hummus eaten in Greece, for example, is quite different from the hummus eaten in the Arab world and in Israel.

In Arabic, "Hummus" means simply chickpea. The dish described in this article is called "Hummus wa Tahina", i.e. chickpea and sesame, or "musabbaha".

It is traditionally scooped up with flatbread (pieces of pita) to be eaten, but it is increasingly popular as a dip for tortilla chips in non-Middle Eastern countries. It is a popular breakfast food, especially when combined with another dip named ful, which is based on crushed fava beans. It is also used as an appetizer dish to accompany main courses, and as part of a mezze."

So there you go; it's like a dip. Simple enough, no? We all like dip, right? Of course, you can also use it as a spread, much as you would peanut butter. This is equally delicious. I'm quite partial to using hummus in my wraps, myself. But to each his own.

Now, some hummus FAQs:

"If I eat hummus, does that mean I'm a hippie?"
Nope. Eating hummus does not qualify you as a hippie. Though you may still be one. Do you listen to Phish a lot and think of deodorant as "optional"?

"Still, why hummus? Why not some meats?"
I like meat as much as the next person. But deli meats, which are good in wraps, tends to turn slimy in a couple days. If there is anything I hate, it's slimy turkey. Hummus, on the other hand, does not turn slimy when it is properly sealed in its container.

"I fear the unknown, especially foods that sound foreign. How can I overcome this?"
The short answer is that hummus won't kill you. One container of it is cheap enough that, if you hate it after sampling a spoonful, you can just throw it away without feeling terribly wasteful. But you won't hate it.

"What nutritional benefits are there to eating hummus?"
Again, from Wikipedia, " It is a nutritious food, containing a large amount of protein, dietary fiber, monounsaturated fat, and iron."

"Nate, you're a scholar and a gentleman. You've made a believer of me. How can I use hummus to enhance my life?"
I'm glad you asked. For starters, you can make yourself a wrap just like the ones I enjoy so much. Keep in mind that I tend not to heat up the ingredients because I'm rather impatient, but feel free to warm up some of the various components if that is your wish. My wraps include the hummus (usually the spicy three pepper kind), brocolli slaw, low sodium black beans, cheese, and medium salsa on a whole wheat, low carb tortilla. Optionally, you can swap lettuce or spinach for the brocolli slaw, as well as add some grilled chicken. Some natural, no-salt peanut butter is a good addition to the grilled chicken.

I can only take you so far, mind you. As a simple, humble messenger, I can only show you the door. You must step through it on your own, and into a realm where hummus will make your wildest dreams come true.

Anyway, last night I went and worked out pretty late at PLC. I noticed that around 11p, some lady was taking her kids swimming. That seemed terribly irresponsible to me. These kids were obviously school-aged and should've been home in bed. Anyway, I think I may still head out there yet tonight. I hate waiting on machines.

I finally went and picked up that phone I mentioned in a previous post. I went and got it on Friday, and man, is it badass. It has ratcheted up my cool factor way, way up to a point where no human could measure it. The phone is an ultra-thin Samsung A900 and doesn't even remotely resemble a candy bar. The audio is excellent, the camera and camcorder work well enough, and I've already downloaded some sweet ringtones and screensavers. My next project will be to try and jack some music into it.

Overall, I had a pretty good, relaxing weekend. I had the day off on Friday, so I spent a good portion of it working out and running various errands. That night Angie and I went to "Ultraviolet." The action, plot, and special effects were decent, but the dialogue and acting was something less than average.

Brad and I got together and played racquetball on Saturday morning. I hadn't played in quite a while, and it was pretty obvious that Brad had the game in hand early on. So we stopped keeping score and just hit the ball around as hard as we possibly could. Good times. Angie and I went out to eat with Amy, Joel, and Aubrie that night at Fortune Palace, and then went to Barnes & Noble. Angie was patient with me as I read comics for a while, but I opted not to make her suffer as I read through an entire book. :)

Here are some pics from the weekend:


Aubrie and myself (after she overcame her initial suspicion of me. :))


Aubrie and her Aunt GiGi.


And finally, some pics of Angie and I together. All the proof you need that I wasn't just making her up. :)

Let's see, what can I suggest for music...here are a few:

"Conga Fury" by Juno Reactor. Matrix fans will recognize this electronica track from the Animatrix: Last Flight of the Osiris
"Surrender" by Simple Plan. A good cover of a classic Cheap Trick tune
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmerelda. You'll recognize this excellent take on the old Eric Burdon song as the soundtrack for Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu's duel in Kill Bill v.1.

OK, now I'm tired. Here's a haiku to hold you over until next time:

My phone is uber cool.
You can't be cool without one.
Shed your bitter tears.

So, I just got back from my triumphant return to the gym, after over a week's hiatus. Actually, truth be told, it was something less than triumphant. I'm not lifting anywhere near the level I was before the onset of the sore throat. I still feel a bit like a deflated balloon, but I guess that's to be expected. I shed at least 5lbs. as a result of that whole ordeal, and it couldn't just have been body fat. :(

Anyway, I did have a good workout, and I felt rather famished when I got home. So I decided to have a snack. To this point, I've had a bowl of Cheerios with skim milk, two spoonfuls of natural, no-salt peanut butter, and a piece of hot pepper jack cheese. Wow, do I love pepper jack cheese. I used some of it in the wrap I had for supper. They had some new kind of spinach & herb tortilla shells specifically for wraps at the store today, so I went ahead and bought a pack. The wrap consisted of plain hummus, brocolli slaw, medium salsa, and a slice and a half of the pepper jack cheese. I bought some black beans that I had intended to drop in, but I forgot to do so.

While I'm on the topic of food, for lunch I had some killer whole-wheat, spinach spaghetti with a most excellent garden primavera sauce. Ted thinks the noodles look gross because they're green, but I think it's quite tasty.

I don't know why I'm talking about food so much right now. I'm not even hungry anymore. My bad.

I probably shouldn't have waited until so late to work out because now I'm feeling a little hyper. Hence, I'm sitting here typing away instead of trying to go to sleep. Jason just got home, and of course the dogs started barking. I really like chihuahuas, but if you're in the market for a non-jittery, sleep-through-Armageddon kind of dog, then don't get one. Trust me on that.

Tomorrow I have the day off. I don't really have a clear picture of what I'm going to do. Sure, I could make a list of things I need to do, but where would the fun in that be? The boys' state basketball tournament is in town, so I suppose I'll avoid the mall. I'm probably going to go and get a new phone. I've been eyeing the Samsung A900 for a while, and since I have some credit, I think it's time for an upgrade. So, I guess a trip to the Sprint store is in order. I really don't have anything set in stone until 5:15p, whereupon it will be time for a haircut.

I do so look forward to basking in the glory of my short, efficient, German, non-hippie hair.

I'll also probably stop by the fake-bakery, better known as Tanning Zone. I'm tired of looking pasty, and I enjoyed going through last summer without burning so much that I think I'll do so again. We really need to start planning another tubing excursion.

Speaking of hippies, today I was taking my groceries out to my car after work when I saw a car covered with bumper stickers parked next to me. They contained all the usual "Republicans=evil, Capitalists=Conformists, etc. etc." rhetoric. For all their talk of being the party of so-called open-mindedness, tolerance, ideas, and whatnot, the other side of the fence is every bit as adept as the GOP at falling into lock step when it comes to regurgitating their talking points.

Sorry, I almost started a rant there.

You know, I kind of want another tattoo. I'm supposed to give blood in May, though, so I'll have to wait until after that to even think about it.

Speaking of donating, I don't think that I've mentioned how I used to donate plasma all the time back when I was a junior at UNL. Ted, Mike, and I would go all the time. It was a blast. We'd go in, watch a free movie, squeeze out a pint of plasma, and walk out with $15-$35. We'd invariably spend said cash on beer. Almost immediately, in many cases. That couldn't have been healthy. I think I packed on a solid 20lbs. that semester. I didn't really work out at all that first semester because I felt drained as a result of donating plasma all the time.

The funniest part was always during the pre-donation screening. An employee would take you to a booth, where they'd draw some blood to test for disease, drugs, etc. Then they'd ask you a list of questions, complete with illustrations, to make sure that you hadn't received any piercings or tattoos, contracted HIV, done any drugs, or been to Africa in the previous year or so. They'd always ask the guys if they'd had same-sex sex in the previous year, too. We'd always laugh at this part because the illustration included a picture of two guys with beards groping each other.

If that isn't comedy, I don't know what is.

Tomorrow night (well, technically tonight, as it's after midnight now) I think Angie and I are going to see "Ultraviolet." It features swords, Milla Jovovich, and a futuristic dystopia; in general, the kind of stuff I endorse in a movie. I also kind of want to see that movie "Failure To Launch," which features Sarah Jessica Parker and Terry Bradshaw.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating:



Women love the Bradshaw.

I'll leave you now so that you might properly meditate upon this.

Ha! I bet you didn't think I'd be back so soon. It has only been a week since my last post, but here I am.

I finally managed to kick the case of the Lovecraftian-Mutant-Thousand-Year-Hell-Tall-Drink-Of-Broken-Glass throat virus that was slowly driving me insane last week. The sickness's fell stranglehold began to loosen up on Wednesday, and I felt markedly better each day after that. Today, I feel as though I'm back to normal, or at least will be once I've had a few days at the gym under my belt.

On Sunday, I was explaining the illness to my family. Kirsten couldn't believe that I actually visited the doctor over "just a sore throat." Some people just don't understand the nature of the Alien-Beelzebub-Spanish-Inquisition-Slayer-Of-The-Firstborn throat virus. It's not like your garden variety scratchy, nasal-drainage-induced sore throat. No, this is something far more insidious.

You see, it starts with just a faint, dull pain in the back of your throat. At the time, you'll think it a little annoying, but quickly remedied with some ibuprofen. Heck, even some strenuous exercise can make it difficult to notice. But then, as another day goes by, the pain refuses to be ignored or deadened. You can still go about your business as you normally would, clinging to the hope that the worst has passed.

Oh, but how wrong you are. So very wrong. This is where the suffering truly begins. It feels as though Surtr (the fire demon who destroys, uh, everything at the end of the world, according to Norse tradition) has set up shop in your uvula. Everything you swallow is a new adventure in pain, and only cold beverages provide any sort of relief. You can eat, too, but unless you like the feeling of swallowing huge chunks of gravel, you won't enjoy the experience. You'll lay down that night, yearning for the sweet release of sleep. But most likely, this is when it will begin to elude you.

And then, it gets even worse. For now, your tonsils decide to join in the hilarity by expanding to a few times their normal size. Even swallowing your own saliva is something to be dreaded, so eating is out of the question. Drinking? Fahgeddaboudit. The hours creep by at this point, providing you with ample time to contemplate your misery. You can't talk about it, because you start to choke every time you try to speak. When you finally do get some words out, you won't recognize the thick, guttaral croak that has become your new voice.

Night time comes again, and boy, you're in for a real treat. You're most likely running a fever by now, and combined with the throat agony, you won't completely fall asleep. Instead, you'll float in delirium without any concept of reality. Personally, I endured falling rocks, pyramid schemes, and a bedside interview with Bill O'Reilly of "The O'Reilly Factor." And that's only what I remember. Occasionally, you'll wake up completely, sweaty and exhausted, trying desperately to remember what it felt like to be healthy and happy. These memories, too, will elude you.

So, there you have it. Just a glimpse of what it's like to have the Doom-That-Came-To-Sarnath-And-In-The-Darkness-Bind-Them-Hanoi-Jane throat virus. If you or someone you know has recently overcome this horrendous malady, cut them some slack when can't stop revelling in their regained ability to speak and eat solid food.

Here ends the reading about my sore throat.

After I started feeling better, I found a busy stretch of days. Last Wednesday, we celebrated Brad's 26th birthday. It was also Ash Wednesday, which officially began my abstainment from alcohol. (I did force down a beer the night before, btw.) So I just drank soda. On Thursday, Angie came over and we watched Pirates of the Carribean. Not a bad flick, that one. Johnny Depp may be the best actor of the current age.

Friday turned out to be the Friday That Time Forgot. The day just kept on going and going. When I finally got home, I decided to lay down and take a bit of a snooze. I ended up being about 30-45 minutes late getting to Angie's place that night. Big oops on that one. But the rest did some good, as I was able to bring my mad Pictionary skills to the table as Angie and I defeated Amy and Joel in one of the greatest comebacks in history. Even though Angie drew Madrid as a bean floating somewhere in the southern hemisphere.

Saturday was a pretty full day. Over lunch, Angie, Amy, Joel, and myself had lunch with Angie's folks. I really enjoyed meeting them; they were both so sweet and kind. I think somewhere down the line we're going to dinner with them in a town called Bee. I'd go just because of the town's name, but evidently it has a killer good bar & grill, too. That evening we met up with Brad, Beth, Ted, Kelly, Mike, Jana, and Jason for dinner at Grisantti's. I overloaded on bread, as I do, and couldn't finish my dinner by the time it was ready. Good thing canneloni tastes just as good a few days later. After that we all went to Sun Valley Lanes for some moonlight bowling. It was a good time, although I did worse and worse the longer we rolled. I should probably practice some more, as I've joined a league with Mike.

On Sunday, we celebrated my aunts' birthdays in F-town. It was Angie's first exposure to my extended family. Everyone really liked her, as I knew they would, and she enjoyed her afternoon with us, too. I was glad for that. By the end of the day, I was glad to get home and crash. I was pretty tired.

Now that I'm recovered, it's time to get back in the saddle and exercise. I have to work 8 hours on the tech support desk today starting at noon. So, weights now, and I'll go to the gym this evening.

I don't have much for music suggestions today, but here are a few:

"I'll Melt With You" by Nouvelle Vague. Kind of a cool take on that old Modern English song.
"Summer Song" by Joe Satriani. This one makes me want to go on a Great American Road Trip. Just gas up the car, throw some clothes in a backpack, and drive. *sigh* This is something you shouldn't put off while you're still in college. Or high school, for that matter.
"The Fear" by Pulp. A good, melancholic type of song.
"Epoca" by Gotan Project. Madness and tango. I love it.
"Big Chevy" by Timo Maas. A solid trance track.

Before I forget, check out Angie's blog. She's new to the blogging game, so stop by and leave her some encouragement. :) I've also set up a permanant link in my Links section, so check it out often.