The one with the dawning of the aged rodent

It was amazing just how bad bad karaoke can be.

It was Meghan's birthday, and I guess mine too, so we went to the Chatterbox. Good times were had by most, maybe even all.

Despite the karaoke. There was a tableful of regulars who dominated the singing, and none of them were any good. And they weren't bad in a good way, they were just bland with no personality. For example, some mousy girl sang Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows, which the New York Times described as "a bleak prophecy about the end of the world as we know it" and which at the bar sounded like an instructional video for convenience store employees.

The worst performance was some death metal dude, at the end of which the karaoke guy said, and I quote, "Jesus Christ." I got some video, but with my crappy handheld point-and-shoot they're kind of dark and you can't really hear that well...I'll see if I can find a way to make them watchable.

I think the karaoke dude was really happy when John came back. He was the only member of our party to perform, and we all waited around for him to come back because he rocks. And he rocked. Yes John, we should Get It On.

Pictures are here, including some friends with different sized heads, Jillie O, some interesting random karaokeers, and pictures of me.

ta,
sg

The one where I missed my chance to defenestrate

I am less than a man. I am excessively icked out by things that are icky, and scared by those and more.

And this shouldn't have been too icky, but when a bat the size of a pterodactyl flew into my bedroom last night (from the hallway, not the window), I had both heebies and jeebies.

I ran out of the room. Tried to open a window, but I couldn't open the screen. Though I did knock a lightbulb off a shelf, so now I had a bat flying around and broken glass everywhere. With images of squirrel cop (at 19:50, and you should totally listen) in my head, I had to go back into the room to grab my phone or computer, to call for help or at least look up what I should do. The phone was more easily portable, so I grabbed it and ran. I called TY. She was dismissive of my complaints.

Went back upstairs with a broom, and...couldn't...find...Battie...anywhere.

I slept downstairs, on the sofa.

Went upstairs this morning to find...a cute furry nothing asleep on top of my door.

He looks a little bigger when his wings are spread, a lot bigger when they're fully spread, and his teeth are
ferocious.

I wrapped him in the towel and threw him outside. I thought I might have hurt him because he didn't move for a while, but I went back to check on him and he was gone.

Then, while I was making breakfast I heard a knocking--he was trying to get into the window on the basement staircase where my dryer vents. So we might see Battie again, but in the meantime, Na na na na Na na na na Na na na na Na na na na, I am Batman.

Switching to the non-mammalian, Duck lost to Rocket, 11-9. I played one and a half points, did nothing wrong and something very right, and had a +1 differential.

See you tomorrow at the Box,
sg

The one where I'm coffee shopping

But no cribbage until after I do a bunch of work on my resume draft. But later...

Snu's birthday was yesterday (Happy Birthday Snusie!), which means mine's coming up. Not quite ready to have my house party yet, and I don't usually care about it, but I'm trying to live The Opposite.

So, I might have a gathering at a bar or something. Probably last minute to make it easier for people to invent excuses not to make it (and of course harder for people who do want to come to make it...)

Or, I'm thinking about going to Vegas with some friends this weekend. I could get a ticket for under $300, or use my USAir mileage to come back Sunday evening and avoid the redeye.

Or, I'm thinking about buying me some kittens, theoretically to be named Myron and Gail, though that could change after I meet them.

Or, more than one of the above.

See, old Seth would have done none of these things, whereas new Seth is at least considering them!

Oh, and did I mention I'm a grad student now? Starting today, with just two (really 1+) classes to see if I like and want to stay in the program. It's at Colorado State, not Harvard, and I'm not moving anywhere--I can complete virtually the entire degree, I think all except my project/thesis defense, from literally anywhere. But it does mean my coffee shop time will probably not decrease for a while yet...

ta,
sg

The one where I'm FINALLY getting faster

4:30! On a Monday puzzle, but still, it's a big improvement...for me... Hey, I need to be excited about _something_ in my life.

Instead of trying to remember my best crossword times for each day from the past, I decided to set goals for each day and then start keeping track once I get them.

My initial goals:

• Monday - 5 min
• Tuesday - 6 min
• Wednesday - 10 min
• Thursday - 12 min
• Friday - 20 min
• Saturday - 30 min
• Sunday - 30 min

I got the Friday in 18:xx a couple of weeks ago (Jan 4, 2008), so now we're gonna go with 16 min. And last Sunday (Jan 13, 2008) was 29:58, so the new goal is maybe 25 min.
As for Monday, I'll catch Bannister yet!

sg

The one with hits

Welcome, tennis fans!

A year ago today I saw my first match of the 2007 Australian Open, Richard Gasquet over Gael Monfils in 4 sets. I mention it now because the 2008 Open is going on right now, and I've been getting some hits recently from tennis fans who find me on yahoo or google. Recent searches that found me include

• ashley harkleroad pics cute pretty
• Vince Spadea is a chump
• vordika
• joy of seth
• Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis seventeen times in a row

Feel free to link to this post so google likes me even more.

Anyway, I'm sure you're really all here to find out about week three. Duck took on Lady Zerks last night. At 11pm--I took a nap first. And _really_ thought about not going...did I mention it's a bit nippy out right now?

The team won, I dunno, 13-6 or so. No big runs, we just kept scoring about twice for every one they got. We had 6 guys, 3 or 4 women.

My game....was a very mixed bag.

For example, I skied a 6'6" guy (I cut deep just as TO got the disc, had a 5- or 6-step lead, the throw floated, I slowed, he caught up but let me keep my position, I let it come directly over my head and went up at the right place to catch it near my peak, which is probably right about level with his chin...). Landed about 5 yards out and threw an easy score to Jill when she and Cristy split him.

Then, the very next point, we forced backhand and I had no idea. Isn't it always force wall in indoor? They scored very easily.

Overally, I played 9 points with a +3 differential. Did have my first turnover of the year, a backhand to Charlie that was a bit behind him. Okay, he was 10 feet from me, and it was 8 feet behind him. Caught a goal, threw a goal.

Went to the bar afterwards, got home about 2:20. It was -15, and windy.

Today I wanna head over to Lake Nokomis, where the US Pond Hockey Championships are going on. Less than a mile from my house is a hockey tournament that ESPN called one of the "101 Things All Sports Fans Should Experience Before They Die". There are 225 teams on 26 outdoor rinks. Which would be awesome if it only felt sixty degrees warmer out, (which would still put us just below freezing), but it is what it is.

And what it was, and what it shall be,
sg

The one with invested powers

No job yet, but I did land a consulting gig. Of sorts--on May 18th, I'll officiate at my 3rd wedding. If you or someone you love wants to get hitched in Minnesota, check with me to confirm scheduling--I have very reasonable rates, must less than the other guy charges!

I should have a tag line, but "Reverend Doctor Seth, for all your nuptial needs" is lame, inaccurate, and the only thing I can think of right now. You work on that, I'll get started on my logo and look into ad space.

In other news, we're 2-0 in the big winter league season. The schedule toughened up a bit as we played the "Alumni from the other school in Northfield that plays ultimate, but never had any success". Kind of a weird team name. They had Trueslut, Schmelzle, BK, Solarz, some others. We had I think 8 boys and 9 girls, perfect numbers for playing 3/2 on a Friday night.

The game was close for a while, I think they were up 3-2 at one point. Then I had a monster (er, I mean phantom) d that sparked a decisive 9 point run to let us put the game away. This was kinda an ideal winter league game--we started at a perfectly reasonable 8pm, and with our numbers I didn't really need to pay that close attention...I guess we were up 11-3 at one point, a point at which I don't think I could have told you whether we were winning or not. I think it was 13-6 at the end, good enough to vault us in to 2nd place in the league standings for now.

My stats, again, were very unimpressive. 6 points played, +2, 1 goal, one lucky assist. I had a bad position at one point to let my defender get an easy poach.

Now I'm supposed to discuss best/worst vs worst/best, but I won't do that for fear of finding out where I stand. Though I assume in my case it's more middling/average vs average/middling.

chao,
sg

The one where I'm a driver, I'm a winner

Hey, I've missed you guys. Happy new year!

Sorry about my absence. I was planning to write up the trial for which I actually served on the jury, but never did. I will now, if you're interested, though I assume no one reads this anymore so I won't unless you ask for it. But I don't mind, and I've got notes, so feel free to ask away.

Then I was gonna post a note about the Irony Of The Year, an actual irony and not just an Alanis thing that sucked, when I saw this lede: "BELOIT, WIS. (AP) -- Ken Hendricks, a roofing company billionaire, has died after falling through his roof."

Then I think I was gonna post something else, or maybe it was some other thing, but I didn't. So now we're here.

The end of last year was...inauspicious. But, like Beck says, things are gonna change, I can feel it. This'll be a busy month, with lots planned. Accomplishments so far include

• broke the 20-minute barrier for a NY Times Friday puzzle (by a bunch, and I should have broken 15)
• called a girl
• installed my cd/dvd player
• bought dining room chairs

Stay tuned for an end-of-month fiesta to rock G's house.

In ultimate news, Wanna Buy a Duck is off to a strong start in Friday night winter indoor. Now 1-0 on the year. We beat Christian Science Reading Room, 21-0. (In 50 minutes, and goals count 1 pt each.) Thanks to the vagaries of our system, we're currently ranked in 4th place in the league.

Anyway, to the game. I played awesome. I was just so stoked to be playing ultimate frisbee again. I was +5 (only played 5 points). I had 1 goal, 2 assists. No turns, as Dave caught the one shitty pass I threw. For some reason we used a Wham-O, which my experienced hands sensed immediately.

K, I'm audi. Betcha I know what responses will focus on! And I of course mean the Steelers game.
Here we go, Steelers, Here we go! (4X),
sg