boo!
Happy birthday, Dan!

s@r@h m@gill looks like a rockstar
Well, because she is a rockstar. S@r@h M@gill (I still can't call her S@r@h Mue||er and forget about calling her just by her first name) was in town yesterday and at the Artisan. Her new haircut caught me off guard and it took a bit before I recognized her. Who is this person thinking they are my friend and looking at me with a big, dorky smile? was the thought running through my head when she said my name....twice. In the short time I had between classes, we talked about her rockstar gig in NY with Cheating Kay, her rockstar husband and how no one recognizes her with her new rockstar haircut.

you can't call me stinky
I like it when the weather can't make up it's mind whether to be hot or cold because it means my wardrobe lasts longer and I don't have to do laundry as much.

while we are in the mood to celebrate our parents' birthdays
If you feel so inclined, you could send my dad an e-card (kbrooks@ksu.edu) wishing him a happy 52 birthday and telling him what great contribution he has made to society (namely, me, of course).

sad
The worst part about this display was that I saw that a mother had brought her four 4- to 8-year-old children to gawk at the bloody pictures. It was too much. And likening abortion to Hitler's Holocaust, now that's obscene.

a Dan-esque post
Our quality publication has decided not to send a reporter to the Sheryl Crow press conference. Apparently, there's been enough coverage already. (Check out that cover, yo.) Wah wah student journalism.

just call me a lemming
Fiscus has done it. And Maureen has done it. So I've decided, in lieu of my own wit, I'm going to follow their example and offer to you all some of the funny sentences in my inbox right now.

+ This is your fair warning...don't freak out if I randomly show up at your home or place of employment.

+ Some of you have shown concern over an email regarding risks related to use of tampax pearl tampons. I have investigated, and have found this email to be an unreliable source of information (a mass email? Unreliable? Shocking, I know) and that pearl tampons are just as safe as any other tampon.

+ Remember the forms I passed out FOREVER ago? Why have you not turned them in? Search your soul, and hand the forms in to my mailbox. I know you can find it in your hearts to do this.

+ I know, I know, death to me for asking college kids to work Saturdays.

+ Just wanted to send out a quick reminder about Vox's "What do you mean that compound modifier doesn't need a hyphen?" Stress Release Party. (Yes, we are a bunch of nerds.)

+ If I start talking about law school, please slap me.

+ The directions are below and please feel free to bring friends, special friends and very (damn) special friends. Or else we'll sit around and talk about ice cream all night.

+ That's about as funny and sarcastic as I can be at 7:26 a.m.

+ Well, i need to go to glassblowing class! I hope i dont burn any phalanges off!

+ These problems are easy to fix, sometimes all you have to do is sign your name!

+ Twits with wings. all those boys have been infested with twits with wings.

+ Anyways, so now im just sittin here drinking some soy milk, getting ready to do some ceramics homework. I need to MARRY jerome my ceramics teacher.

+ I have been so antisocial this year. Its like DO I KNOW HOW TO TALK TO PEOPLE? I totally forgot how to talk to people.

+ mostly im just takin it easy from the male species. We will see my friend. we will see. Love, Blob

+ i love my eze! everso easy! everso e!! i love you!

O.K. So the last one there was not so much funny as it was just a chance to show my lovely readers that someone loves me.

i almost bought a ticket to boston today
Seriously. I'm feeling antsy. I just want to be somewhere I've never been before. And for some reason Boston is calling my name. Maybe it's because the Red Sox had been in the news until a few days ago. Maybe it was hearing about Luke's trip there this summer. Maybe it was the jealousy of seeing Holly take a weekend trip there last weekend. Maybe I just want to get out to the East Coast in any way I can. But I restrained myself.
This time.

ho-de-hum
Holly and I have been bored tonight. Can you tell?

the sky is falling
Chicken Little was right. Or maybe that was just an acorn that landed -SMACK!- on the top of my head as I was walking by the Quad today. Ouch.

in memorium
The sign outside the Heidelberg says reconstruction will be done by Spring 2004. Just in time for graduation celebration, J-School-style.

where in the world...
We used to have an old-school computer game of "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego" when I was little. One of the notorious criminals was named Justin Tyme. ha.

bravo, UM curators

high school update
Desmet is officially on my hit list, pushing Kirkwood out of the top spot.

will you bleed for me?
The annual Homecoming Blood Drive is today and tomorrow. If you don't have alcohol still coursing through your veins after this weekend's celebration and if you don't carry the possible threat of Mad Cow disease, you should give. (I fit in the latter category. Three months+ in London and I'm ineligible the rest of my life.) The Red Cross will be at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. today and tomorrow. Go and tell them you're supporting Alpha Chi (because you know you love it).

more greek news
It happened in New York. It happened in London. It happened in Italy. And this morning it happened in Greek Town. A power-outage today meant that too many girls couldn't blow their hair dry. The out-of-commission minifridges meant this morning's beer too warm, leaving many a frat boy without breakfast. What a travesty.

maybe i was spoiled
Jamie Weaver, a senior at my high school and sister of a friend of mine, visited Mizzou last week, interested in the J-School. The wonderful ambassador the the Missouri School of Journalism that I am, I showed her around, answered her questions and introduced her to some people. Our discussion about our high school's newspaper, the Mentor, made me realize how great a background I got in journalism in high school. Especially compared to some of the high schools I'm working with for my job. I create custom, half-page ads for high school publications in the St. Louis, Chicago and Dallas areas. Some of those people -- advisors as well as students -- have no clue what they're talking about. An all-too-common response from a student: "Dimensions? You need to know exact dimensions?" My gut reaction when the adviser would give me an unclear submission date, "What do you mean you don't know your publications schedule and if you're going to have an October issue?!?!?!" The school at the top of my bad list right now is Kirkwood. THEY GAVE THREE DIFFERENT DIMENSION SPECS IN FOUR DAYS!!!! That's enough to drive a girl nuts. And communication between the adviser and the student business manager was messed up, leaving me to chase dead-end phone calls, faxes and emails for three weeks. Other schools on my hit list: Ladue Horton Watkins in St. Louis, and Chicago schools Hinsdale Central and Adali Stephenson.

Allow me to brag about the Mentor for a bit. Even though I was on the yearbook staff, I was in the journalism room enough that I felt like I was just as much a part of that publication. The Mentor is weekly. It's online. It's on real broadsheet newsprint and has real news, sports and feature coverage. Mrs. Wika may have been eccentric, but she gave us good experience.

ps
Jamie talked to Dean Brooks (no not me, silly) who told her that she'd be part of the J-Scholars program and could participate in that FIG (FIG 59, what-what!). So I showed her Mark Twain where she'd live. She thought it was the coolest dorm ever and was ready to move in immediately. I tried not to laugh too hard. Mark Twain, tut-tut. We all know the hard-core J-Scholars were when the FIG was housed in McDavid.

take THAT! huskers
Oh happy day. Last night's game was (in the voice of Tony the Tiger) "Grrrrrrrreat!" Smith and Outlaw's game of backyard catch and Sonny Riccio's field goal fake-out were like practical jokes deservedly played on Nebraska. Hi-larious. After the game, the voice-activation on my phone didn't work because I was hoarse. Not that I would have been able to get through to anyone; all of Sprint's services were jammed with the ecstatic phone calls of fellow Tiger fans calling friends/family/alums. It took me nearly 45 minutes to get in touch with Sarah to figure out where we were going to meet up and celebrate. The lucky few with whom I was able to connect and share in the game's euphoria at some time during the evening: my sister (although, her response when I asked her if she was watching the game was "Game? What game?"), Tim, Pat, J-Dub, Scott, my dad. (Many apologies to Scott for waking him up for the second night in a row. What a wacked-out work schedule, dude.)

funny moment of the night
Seeing new acquaintance Jay (Jeff? Josh? Jason?) drop Megan M.'s phone in his beer. Oops! Gives a new meaning to the term "drunk dial" as Megan will be sniffing beer for the next week every time she puts the phone to her ear.

movin' out
Despite Erin's generous offer to let me continue rooming with her when she goes to London next semester, I found a place to live so I can move out of Alpha Chi. Former flatmate Megan C. is graduating in December so I'm going to finish out her lease. It's going to be so nice to have my own space again! I went over last night to see the place (in Pear Tree), and Meg and I spent some quality time looking at pictures and wishing we were back in England. sigh...

*c*o*f*f*e*e*
I had coffee twice today. Actually, I lie. I had coffee with May-gun Crowley before classes and then decided to forgo the coffee and just have a lemon poppyseed muffin with E. Tut. between classes. (I love lemon poppyseed muffins, but I'm still digging the seeds out from between my teeth.) It was so good to catch up with each of them. I hadn't seen May-gun practically since I lived with her this summer...and she skipped out in mid-July to go to camp. We talked about the realities of being a senior; the efforts of trying to hang out with and spend quality time with the great friends we've made in the past three+ years conflicting with the pressures we feel to make new friends with incoming members of our respective "groups." Hers: Crusade. Mine: AX. As shown by challenge it's been to get together with both Erin and May-gun, the efforts to make new friends seems almost pointless. I'm going to be gone in just a few months. I want to spend my time with the people I really care about.

funny incident of the day
Seeing a bird relieve itself of Tuttle's leg. Yummy.

oh my goodness oh my goodness
Luke has posted.

query
Do self-flushing toilets freak anyone else out?

what is in a name?
I met Sarah and Ruth my freshman year. They were friends with fellow FARCer friend Will. The two were always together so they were always Sarah and Ruth. For the past two and a half years, however, I've only seen one of them. And I see her all the time. Which one is she, though? I was always really good at calling Sarah and Ruth by name, but now I can't think of her as anyone other than SarahandRuth. It's like the twins in Lord of the Flies. They become Samneric, one unified individual in two bodies. Instead, this mystery girl is one body that is two individuals. surreal, dood.

is this what they mean by letting missourians carry concealed weapons?

what makes going home good:
-Three loads of laundry -- free!
-Going outside during an ad break during the K-State-Texas game and knowing when to run inside to return to the game because I can hear the neighbor's reactions to Roberson's fumbles coming from all directions.
-Steak and fresh vegetables for dinner.
-The drive. I love the peace of driving long distance in Charlie, my trusty '88 Honda Accord.

of note
On the way home from church with the fam on Sunday, we ran over a screw and got a flat tire. Wrestling the spare into its place, we then realized that the spare was flat as well. As Dan would say, wah wah.

home sweet home
I went home for my sister's initiation into Alpha Chi at K-State this weekend. She had no idea that I was coming, so it was a fun surprise. On the way to Manhattan, I stopped in Lawrence to see Cecilia. It was a fun, albeit brief, coffee break. We rehashed some fun memories (our less-classy moments caught on video...yikes) and bemoaned the downward spiral of the quality of our high school yearbook. Cecilia: "I took one look and the first thing I saw was trapped captions. Trapped captions! I thought, there's no way in hell Erica would have let me get away with that!" Clearly they miss us at the good ol' Blue M.

score!
I talked with Tuttle tonight.

who has webbed feet?
And who is Oscar, Ian, Tim and Terry? (see: comments)