posted 2003/10/31 at 23:51
I think I've gone manic depressive here. One of my relationships at school just seems to have totally bottomed out here, but I swear, Spectrum's Halloween party tonight was the best party ever. I think I'm going to be riding this high all through the weekend, I swear.
I'm going to extend the deadline for the .org's q&a through tomorrow, so click the link over on the right if you want to ask me questions for the three-year abbiversary. If you don't ask the questions, who will?
posted 2003/10/29 at 18:07
Things turned around today, as they always do. I need to learn how to quit being such a worry-wart, don't I?
Things are still pretty hectic, and tomorrow should be a bear, but after that I think things are going to go pretty smoothly. I'll have a lot to do, but it'll be manageable. I need that Halloween party more than anything right now; if I can have a fun time at the party, and if we can do well with Mocktails (the non-alcoholic drink competition before Saturday's football game), I think things should be okay.
posted 2003/10/28 at 16:44
Crap, this week isn't turning out like I hoped it would. I keep trying to put a nice face on everything, especially the Spectrum stuff because I have to act all presidential and that, but keeping up the illusion of happiness is proving more and more difficult. I just dashed out of one of my classes because I just needed a break from it all, and as much as I try to keep my drama queen tendencies under check, sometimes it's just too much for me to deal with. Ugh.
posted 2003/10/26 at 22:56
Umm, notice to everyone: the Bengals are for real. Don't get me wrong, I know the Bengals won't make the playoffs this year -- I doubt they'll even finish close to .500 -- but now no one can deny that Marvin Lewis has made this team turn the corner. And not only is he doing it without Dillon, he's doing it with Kitna. Hard to believe that the Bengals are in second place in their division at this point, just one game out of first, and have a real shot of reaching .500 next week. (But only that; Houston's going to smoke Cincy alive for last year's prediction debacle.)
To be perfectly blunt, between all the schoolwork I still have to do for tomorrow, and how tired I am from everything else I've been up to, I'm just completely out of it. I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to take a week off of Backwash here, and given how much I still have to do this week, I can't guarantee many postings here.
posted 2003/10/25 at 23:09
Sad times here at the Shannon household with the Yankees coming up short another year. I've been dealing with problems of my own too; let's just say that I have been hideously unproductive these past twenty-four hours, and I'm worried about things getting even worse. Better get to work here.
posted 2003/10/24 at 23:33
Ow ... I swear, I spent most Saturday afternoons when I was growing up watching Hometime, This Old House and the like (at least until I got cable in my room), thinking how cool it would be to do construction work. So then when I'm actually doing it, my knuckles get scraped and bloody, I get sawdust shot in my face, and I get a pain in my back from hunching over so much. For Spectrum, though, it's worth it.
Fair warning to everyone: between all I have to do with Spectrum this weekend, and all the homework I've got due next week, I may not be posting here so often the next few days or so. I may not even do a Backwash column, although I've already got the links for it and about three different topics I could write on. For now, though, I've got so much in the works for the next eight days that between that and sleeping, I don't know how much time I'll have for the .org. I promise I'll make it up to everyone after that, though.
posted 2003/10/22 at 17:39
The President of Toledo City Council, Louis Escobar, is also the director of the Multicultural Centre here on campus. I was in his on-campus office earlier today to talk to him about securing funding to get Margaret Cho on campus in the spring (which may be the cornerstone of all I get done for Spectrum this year), and I couldn't help but notice that his office on campus is smaller than the Spectrum office. I guess I just found that funny. (I'm sure his city hall office is much bigger, of course.)
posted 2003/10/21 at 17:47
You have no idea how much I needed this vacation. (UT had Monday and Tuesday off to balance out losing the other days during Thanksgiving Break.) I got a good chance to relax here, and even if I didn't get to everything I wanted to get to, I still got a lot accomplished. The good news is that my classload is pretty light for the rest of the week; the bad news is that there's a lot of Spectrum stuff to be done in the meantime, including stuff that may take me out of the house for almost the entire weekend. But hey, it's Spectrum stuff, so at least I get to hang out with some really cool people.
One question so far for the anniversary ... any more? Ask away!
posted 2003/10/19 at 20:47
Okay folks, the anniversary question line is open from now until the end of the month. Here's your chance to ask all the burning questions you've had over the past year. Remember, all questions are posted anonymously, so you don't have to worry about your name being posted, and I'll make an effort to answer all reasonable questions.
So back to a week ago Saturday and my Media Play trip. I bought a couple of presents for two of my professors because, of course, I'm such a kiss-ass. Actually, one of them I'll never have class with again, so maybe it's just because I'm a nice person. Naaaaaaaah. For myself, I got The Notorious C.H.O. on DVD at long last (and was it ever worth it), the Tori Amos "A Sorta Fairytale" DVD and, most notably, a Sharkboard for my Playstation 2 because RPG Maker 2 is finally coming out later this month (although I won't be able to buy it right away since I'm sinking a lot of my pocket change into Spectrum stuff right now), and I want to be able to add text as quickly as possible. Me, put lots of words into a creative project of mine? Who knew?
In other news, the new traffic lights put in for the Wal*Mart about to open by my house will be turned on Thursday. They put in two new lights, and wouldn't you know it, I've got one each to deal with on my two main paths to UT. So no matter what way I drive to campus, that Wal*Mart's going to slow me down. Even when I boycott that place, it still screws with me.
posted at 16:27
Hey, another Bengals victory. I got stuck watching the Browns again (I hate Toledo television), but I caught the GameTracker on NFL.com and, well, it's nice. I mean, I kind of like the Ravens because they took Chester Taylor (who got his first TD of the season today at least), but every victory the Bengals get, the better, right?
posted 2003/10/18 at 23:27
New on Backwash: "Teams". A quickie overview of who I've rooted for over the years, and why. (I didn't mention my love of Essendon in the VFL/AFL, but I find it hard to talk about footy with anyone but native Aussies.)
Coming over the weekend to the .org: a list of my Media Play booty from last week, as well as the opening of the floor to questions for the .org's third anniversary next month. I'm still recovering from this past week; in short, the political forum didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but spending that evening watching Game Seven with the rest of Spectrum at a local restaurant was a blast. Have I mentioned how much Spectrum rocks recently?
posted 2003/10/16 at 16:39
Pardon me, I'm just a bit depressed right now. Well, a bit more depressed than usual, you know what I mean.
Spectrum's political forum is tonight, and I'm a bit worried about it. We usually don't get that many people on the last week before fall break, plus we're going up directly against a concert and a "dating doctor", whatever that is. This event means a lot to me, so if we don't get good attendance, I'm probably going to take it personally, which I know I shouldn't, but still. We are going to be doing some exciting stuff in Spectrum these next couple of weeks, though, so I'm trying to look forward to that.
Unfortunately, there are other problems. Let's just say that my 4.0 isn't looking so secure right now, and I can't blame this on my recent lack of time because all the stuff that isn't going so well right now is stuff that I've really worked hard on. Making matters worse is that the courses I'm having trouble with are in my major, and I'm already desperate for pieces for my MFA application portfolio, so if what I'm doing right now isn't up to this level, I can't count on it doing better when I'm trying to get into grad school.
I don't know. I've just got this real mini-fit of depression going right now, but in a few hours here I'll have to act all bright and cheerful at the political forum, no matter how that turns out. As bad as I'm feeling right now, I'm even contemplating skipping my next class, and I never skip class. Maybe I need it at this point, though.
posted 2003/10/15 at 21:12
Spectrum wound up winning second prize for Best Decorated Car at Homecoming. Mind you, we were entered in the Best Float division, but still, second place is second place, right? Especially since we hadn't done anything like this before, and grossly underestimated how much time it would take.
I have a big paper due tomorrow, but somehow I have a feeling that I'm going to be watching the game tonight, hoping like hell that the Cubs pull it off. I appreciate the Marlins breaking Cleveland's collective lack of heart back in '97, but it's high time for the Cubs to get back in the World Series. Mind you, I'll still be rooting for the Yankees first and foremost, but apart from Marlins fans and Sosa nay-sayers, who wouldn't want the Cubs to win tonight?
posted 2003/10/13 at 23:56
Hoo boy, it's Monday and I'm still tired from the float building and vigil and all that. I've got a major assignment due tomorrow, and I'm still nowhere near done. So why am I writing in my blog and watching Letterman now instead of working on it? It's senioritis, I tell you.
By the way, I don't agree with a lot of what the Yankees do, but given that they're the family's team, I do root for them in the playoffs. And of course no one will ever convince me that Claude Lemieux isn't the biggest asshole in sports today. But Pedro Martinez just shot up to number two on that list with a bullet. I'm almost glad the Yankees lost tonight, so that the series will head back to Yankee Stadium so Pedro can show up to game six in his road grays and leave in a fucking bodybag.
posted 2003/10/12 at 22:29
New on Backwash: "Of Painkillers and Conservatives". One of the few times you'll see me have any compassion for Rush Limbaugh, but I do bring up some of the very serious questions that his recent admission to painkiller addicition poses about the nature of politics.
I've got to go to bed here in less than ninety minutes, this coming week is midterms week, and I have yet to do any homework this weekend because I've been so tired and/or preoccupied with other stuff like the Vigil and Homecoming. So if I go absent another few days here, now you know why.
posted at 00:12
Can I just pass out and die here now?
Crazy doesn't even begin to describe the past couple of days. The Vigil went well, save for the fact that, despite my best efforts, there was no press there -- not even the campus paper, which put last year's Vigil on the front page. I was nervous at the beginning when I gave my opening remarks, but, as always, the others in Spectrum proved themselves to be up to the task of their performances. And of course it should go without saying that Councilman Escobar and Reverend Yates were stellar to say the least.
After the Vigil was over, though, it was right back to work on the Homecoming float, where most of us stayed until midnight, and people started going back at 0700 this morning to finish up. I got there a bit before 1100, with Red Bulls (and the people working on the float fucking deserved it), we got the float finished up in the nick of time, drove it over to campus -- only to have part of it break off. (The float was based on the work of Keith Haring -- google him if you don't know who he is, but I'm sure you'll all recognize his work.) We got it rebuilt just before judging, though, and then we got to walk in a parade. In near-eighty degree heat. For over ninety minutes. Suffice it to say I'm not on my diet tonight.
After the parade we got the float dismantled and the car cleaned (both were loaned and both will be returned in tip-top form), then some of the gang went on to the Homecoming game (which UT won handily, but we were facing a pretty easy opponent) while I had other things to do, including a Media Play trip for Replay weekend. More details on that to come.
I'll tell it to them on Monday in our big weekly e-mail (we've got another Issues Night Thursday so I won't have time to address them then), but I'll just say it right here and right now: the current membership of Spectrum is totally fucking amazing. The extent to which everyone is helping out and getting involved just blows me away. Honestly. Everything that seemed to go wrong last semester with Spectrum has done a total 180 and is so good right now, I can't even begin to describe it. If we can survive the end-of-Coming-Out-Month craziness (more construction for Live Homosexual Acts and the CHIC Halloween Party, getting people to come to the GLBT Political Forum, staffing the Questions for Queers hotline, trying to find a time and place for our Soap marathon), we will be so fucking solid.
Yeah, that thing with my best friend is still weighing me down. But Spectrum's sure as hell making each day a whole lot easier to get through at this point.
posted 2003/10/10 at 18:12
Just making a quick eat-and-shower stop here at home before the Matthew Shepard Vigil tonight. Last night and through today Spectrum members have been busy building our Homecoming float for Saturday, and I quite honestly have to say that in all my years with Spectrum, I have never seen the kind of chipping-in, teamwork and camaraderie that I'm seeing from this new group of people. If I can just get them to keep that going through to the end of Spring semester, I'll be more than confident that I'm leaving Spectrum in good hands.
Whew ... now to go greet the President of Toledo City Council, the Reverend from the local MCC, and give a couple of speeches. There are times when I amaze myself, but quite honestly everyone else in Spectrum is amazing me even more at this point.
posted 2003/10/08 at 22:03
Well, my voter information card came in the mail today. So next month I get to go out and vote! Are you excited? Me neither.
I'm putting the final preparations on the flyer for the Matthew Shepard Vigil flyer tonight, and then I get to go prepare my speeches. This is the first time I've ever spoken at something like this, and of course I have to put all my usual political ramblings aside here. This Vigil isn't about Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, it's about the forces of hate and those who oppose hate. That's a real fine line I have to walk, and I am hoping I can figure out how to strike the right tone.
posted 2003/10/07 at 23:16
Ariel and Bonnie, on behalf of the residents of the forty-nine other states, I wish you good luck. You're gonna need it.
As for me, I don't know. Just when things really start getting good with Spectrum (I swear, we've got such a great group of newcomers this year it astounds me), I start having trouble with my most favourite professors. I don't know what that's about, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about how this semester will turn out.
And yes, I'll start updating here more often, I swear. I've just been so frazzled lately I don't know what to do with myself. Hopefully I can just get past this week (Matthew Shepard Vigil on Friday, don't forget) and figure out what happens next.
posted 2003/10/05 at 00:46
New at Backwash: "The Next Step". It's a look at where I currently stand with my post-UT plans, first with my fears surrounding getting into a good MFA programme, and then my fears that I may soon, at long last, be leaving home. So if you want to know what's been on my mind about this whole process -- as if I don't have enough other stuff to worry about right now -- go take a look at this article.
By the way, be thinking about any questions you might have for me; in a short while here I'll be reopening the Q&A line for next month's three-year anniversary of the .org.
posted 2003/10/04 at 18:31
I just went out shopping, and the weather's a little better now. Mid-50s, a cold wind blowing but not so bad that I couldn't get away with just my lightweight coat over a t-shirt. I guess it's what I'd call "touch football" weather; perfect for a nice fall game. Thinking about that while I was out, though, I guess I was kind of disappointed, since I haven't really had a chance to play touch football for a long, long time. Maybe I should talk to Spectrum about that.
Actually, this past summer I got kind of a strange urge to try out tennis and golf. I played a bit of tennis in high school phys ed, but I've never played golf. Going bowling with Spectrum last week was kind of fun, too, even if there weren't many people that showed up. Maybe I'm getting the sports bug again, who knows.
posted 2003/10/03 at 22:59
We actually had two straight nights where the low temperature got down to 32. Freeze in early October in Toledo. On the plus side, hay fever season ended early, but then again hay fever hasn't been too big a problem for me in recent years. (It was a real pain when I was an adolescent, though.) On the minus side, I don't want to think about how this is going to affect the foliage this month; it could very well ruin the last autumn I spend here in Toledo. (Having said that, I've probably just jinxed myself into not getting accepted into any MFA programmes and winding up staying here working for my folks next fall and still living with them.)
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