So this entry is long overdue, and I apologize in advance for its length. Been pretty busy doing lots of cool stuff out here, so I figured I'd get everybody up to speed. Just to frame my list, I'm going to lift Michell's +/- thing, although most of my stuff is positive. Anyway, I've got a bunch of randomness to intersperse as well. Happy happy joy joy!

(+) Last Tuesday at the World Financial Center near the WTC site, they had a free concert with none other than one of my favorite bands, Eels. It was an amazing show and I left early enough to get in the front row(!). The weather was beautiful and the WFC has some great architecture and a great view of the Hudson River, allowing me to take some great pics before and after the show, in addition to the 30 odd shots I got of the concert. Like I said, the show was great... an all-out, rock with your cocks out show that rivaled the show I saw in Ann Arbor a couple years back with Stefanie. Equally good as the music was the showmanship... Mark Everett had this big buff, intimidating guy come out dressed as a security guard who all of a sudden started dancing around and playing with the other band members after the first song. E also talked to the crowd through this guy, whispering things to say in his ear, cracking me the hell up with quips such as "This is the triangle of hope," "I am enjoying this," and "I wrote that all by myself" all while sticking to his bad-boy persona. I'm going to try and get a video or two of him up... it's too funny for words. My only qualm of the night was that it was such a short concert; they only played for an hour, compared to the two/two and a half they played in Ann Arbor.
(+) Then, on Friday, I landed a ticket to see a taping of Sit Down Comedy w/ David Steinberg with Jon Stewart as the guest. It's an Inside the Actor's Studio type show with comedians. That, as well, was thoroughly entertaining; Stewart is just so funny and so charismatic, and he had everybody rolling even during the commercial breaks. Looking forward to seeing it air... the show's on TV Land. Didn't have as great a seat for that one (thanks "Friends and Family") so I didn't try to ask him a question, but I'm going to try and get tickets to the next taping as well.
(+) Took advantage of DDD's annual (or is it semi-annual?) sale and finally bought the special edition of Mystic River. Also bought Regina Spektor's new CD from BB to make up for never buying her last one.
(+) I'm not exactly sure why yet, but I found the trailer for Talladega Nights thoroughly entertaining. I was pretty weary as I was reading about it previously, but after seeing this, I'm totally game. Let me know what you think... "You like to put jelly on a lady?"
(+) Got invited up to my friend Rob's place with some of my QC colleagues on Saturday for beer and BBQ. He lives with his finance up in Cold Spring, NY, which is about a hour north of Manhattan. It's so beautiful and scenic and quiet up there, and it was such a nice change of pace to the nature-deprivation of the city. I actually went up earlier than everybody else and went on a short hike with Rob and his girl and got to see a lot of the town. I would absolutely love to live in a place like that... be close enough to take a trip to Manhattan when I wanted to and still be far enough away to enjoy some of the beauty of upstate NY.
(+) I played NBA Jam at the Museum of Moving Image yesterday. I forgot how entertaining that game was. I need to find a copy for my console.
(+) Finally started working out again today. It's so hard to get to campus these days when I'm only there a couple times a week and this freakin' heat is very counterproductive. Felt good though, even though it's been like 6 weeks.
(+) I'm having an amazing day catching things today. My iPod was taking a nosedive from the treadmill when I was running today and I did this spectacular two-hand grab as it was halfway to the ground. And then, in the shower, my soap went sailing in the air and I nicked it on the way down. And I didn't get raped either time! Hehe... told you I had some randomness to share. :-P
(-) I saw a bum on my way home today, looking for cans or something, and he had this cat who was on this horrible makeshift leash of frayed rope and plastic. The poor kitten was stretching this thing as far it could go, unable to explore any farther than the radius of the two shopping carts this guy was trucking around. As you probably know, I don't usually have much care or sympathy for cats, but the setup was just so blatantly sad and cruel, I just couldn't imagine putting another creature through that.
(-) Leeder has informed us that he believes he and his crew will most likely be moving out of their current apartment around the same time Michelle and I will be visiting. I'm not too worried though... we should be able to make it work and we have plently of time to set up contigency plans if we need to.
(+) My parents (Pa Rock and GA) will be out Wednesday through Sunday. Get to show them around and get a few free meals.
(+) It's only been two weeks since I've seen Michelle, and I only have to wait another two before I arrive home for the 4th and we get to have a delicious time enjoying the weather and go WHOOOOOOOSH until they kick us out of the park.
(-) All this fun and excitement has prevented me for tackling my big goal for the summer, which was to develop my research and get going on my predissertation. I have so little idea of what I want to do with my research, and it's really frustrating because I have such an interest in ABA, I just don't know what to do with it. Oh well, I'll figure it out eventually.
(?) Oh, btw, who the hell drunk dialed me over the weekend? It was a 269 area code... girls, was that you?

Pictures of aforementioned cool stuff to come...

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