It’s 12:40am November 27th as I begin to type this so I wish everyone a happy turkey day and to my Uncle Chris I wish a happy birthday.

I had sort of a weird flashback today that may or may not have ever happened:

The day was April 20th(Jesse’s b’day coincidentally) 2001 and I was at Cal Poly visiting for the admitted students/alumni day. The whole time during this visit I’m just trying to imagine what college will be like and I’m thinking about what’s going to happen between Lauren and I. At that time, Lauren and I had been dating only 5 months, so who knew where we would be another 5 months later when it actually came time to move out and there was no talk between us of “making it work” or any other such craziness at that point. But still it was in the back of my mind as I really got into Cal Poly and saw it fully alive with all its students for the first time.

Everything up to this point DEFINITELY happened. The next part however, could just be some dream I’m remembering.

At the time I was working in the library, so I was interested in checking out the Cal Poly library and seeing what it was like. I walked up all the steps and around each floor, not really looking around so much as thinking about Lauren and I. Then, on the top floor, was the only person in the building studying, a blonde girl sitting at a desk next to a window. The weird part is, I really wanted to talk to her. Every other professor or student I’d seen that day had their game face on, ready to sell me on what a great decision it would be to come to Cal Poly, how it really was the best, how you’d make millions of friends here, meet your mate, and live happily ever after with two kids, a convertible, and a house on the beach. But this girl was perhaps the only person I would see all weekend who really had no interest in whether or not I attended that school. I needed that unbiased opinion. So I walked up to her table and sat down in the chair opposite her. I said hi and explained who I was and why I was here for the weekend and asked her what she thought of the school. And we talked for a good 10-15 minutes. Complete no-foreplay conversation. I only remember bits and pieces of the conversation. I remember she was a history major but she had no reason or urge to be one, I remember she had a boyfriend that went to another school that she missed, but didn’t want to transfer schools for. I remember her name started with a “T.” And that’s it. Didn’t exchange contact info or anything, just walked out of the library to meet back up with my family to continue touring the campus. Never saw her again, never really thought about it again till right now.

I don’t know. Even as I re-read that I think it sounds like a dream, but I can’t shake the feeling that it really happened.

Dad: When do you think you’re planning on leaving?
Me: Eaaaaarrrrlllyyy Sunday.
Dad: Do you think you’ll be able to get Lauren up in time to get going?
Me: Sure, she’ll probably sleep most of the way though.
Grandpa: She’ll get up in time, or she’ll be walking.

So my new shoes haven’t gotten here yet, according to FedEx tracking, they were last spotted in North Carolina. In the meantime I’ve gotten really annoyed with the crack on the bottom of my shoe, so much so that I’ve decided not to wear it anymore. For my other foot I am now wearing the one good shoe remaining from my previous pair of shoes, which is conveniently the same as my current pair, except blue and yellow instead of grey and black. Also it has an almost identical crack on the bottom of the shoe, but fortunately it’s on the other foot. Check em out:

You gotta give me props for takin the picture while wearin the shoes.

I ROBBED Jesse’s profile to get this.

i got three hundred sixty five fake id’s
i get a free meal at denny’s any night that i please
the waitress says “hey weren’t you hear last night?”
yeah i got a lot of birthdays, BLANK, alright?
So bring me my grand slam and moons over my hammy
so i can go home and put on my star wars pajamies.
–Sanchez Brothers click here to download this song.

If you like Primus you should know it’s Bob C. BLANK spinnin the crazy beats.

BLANK means “explitive deleted”

When did it become acceptable to answer your cell phone in a library? Back in my day you weren’t even supposed to talk at above a whisper in a library and people would be HUMILIATED when a cell phone went off in public. Now it’s ok to have your cell phone blarin the latest 50 Cent tune and to answer it with a sorority worthy “HHeeeeeyyyy!!!! I haven’t heard from you in SOOOOO long!” The next person who answers their phone in here gets a firm open palm smack in the face. Then, when they’re distracted, I’m gonna knock their cell phone out of their hand and step on it.

“One time the subway broke down on the day of a test and the professor locked two thirds of the students out of the class because they were late. (pause) His body was found in an alleyway later that week.”
-Professor Bresloff

“A question would be asked and she’d give the answer, behaving as though this were a game show and, if quick enough, she might go home with a tropical vacation or a side-by-side refrigerator-freezer. By the end of her first day, she’d raised her hand so many times, her shoulder had given out. Now she just leaned back in her seat and shouted the answers, her bronzed arms folded across her chest like some great grammar genie.”
-David Sedaris. Original Article here. Definitely recommended reading.

I love that commercial where the guy is hiding behind a bush with a water balloon and four guys drive up behind him in a Nissan Sentra and absolutely obliterate him. The best part though is when he’s falling in slow motion and his water balloon is deforming in slo-mo and just looking rad in general.

“How do I find everything the Prosimian Times wrote about Gentle Lemurs in the last month?”
-From google news FAQ

(22:32:58) Eugene: what did you get for 16b?
(22:33:05) Eugene: i got -26.3
(22:33:20) me: lemme check
(22:33:53) me: I got a little question mark next to the number
(22:33:57) me: and a blank page next to it
(22:35:08) Eugene: hmm, i never thought of that method
(22:35:12) Eugene: interesting

USC was so far ahead of UCLA at one point that Greg Guenther took the time to pass gas on an opponent before continuing down the field.

No it’s not mature, but if you can’t laugh at a good fart joke once in a while, I feel sorry for you.

I just talked to my parents on the phone, and my mom bought me underwear! Without me even asking for it. How cool is that.

For something that’s supposed to wake you up and has a reputation for making you jittery and strung out, there’s something soothing about coffee. Whenever I’m stressed and am called upon to do something outside of my comfort zone, I have this craving for coffee.

I think it has to do with my childhood; My Dad drank coffee every day, but for most of my earlier years he was gone way before we woke up, but on holidays and camping trips, every morning would start with that great smell of humid bitterness that meant family was near and good times were being had.

So when I went to wait outside for the tow truck to come and pick up my poor clutchless honda, I first made myself a cup of coffee. I sat outside on a rock in front of the apartment building, early enough on a Sunday that it was still rather peaceful, and looked around at the dying palm trees, the once great mansions turned into sub par student housing, and just appreciated the fading rock star that is South Central Los Angeles.

After my amazing deals of Thursday and my laid back Friday, karma came around to smack me on the back of the head this weekend.

I woke up Saturday feeling like I got hit by a truck and realized I’m coming down with a cold. Oh well, it happens. I called footaction and they told me the order hadn’t been processed yet, so I don’t even know if the shoes I’ve promised the world I’d be wearing are even going to come. Dissapointing, but they’re just shoes. Setbacks occur(I just realized this is a nice way of saying “#*it happens”), but I’m still ok with the world.

Then I got ready for work. I went out to my car put my foot on the clutch, and immediately found my foot on the floor. No resistance whatsoever. Couldn’t even get the car in gear once it was running. Great. So I called into work and told Jose my car is broken. His response? “Stop watching the football game and get down here.” I think he was only kidding but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way cause I wasn’t too happy right then. I haven’t called in sick once in 8 months of dedicated Pizza delivery, so I’m not too worried about it.

Fortunately, after this point, my weekend turned around. Because I didn’t go to work I was able to go to a DELICIOUS Italian restaurant with Lauren and her mom, who was in town. Then Carolyn let me borrow her car this morning to find a mechanic that was open on a Sunday, for which I can’t thank her enough.

In fact, I’ve already told her personally, but I’d like publicly say THANK YOU!!! to Carolyn because it was kind of a pain getting her car and she really didn’t have to do it and it made my life 800 times easier. It was kind of a trip because it was exactly like my Dad’s old thunderbird, except for the digital dash and the color. So Thank You Carolyn, I owe you big time.

So now my car’s at the mechanic, I had a good dinner last night, footaction emailed me and informed me my shoes HAD shipped Friday and gave me tracking numbers, and because I’m not going to work, I have more time to work out my physics hw, which I was worried about. I’m still sick, but I don’t seem to be getting any worse, so there’s hope that I don’t have ebola.

I can’t think of a good way to end this post.

for reference: Trojans are a football team, song girls are cheerleaders, and Carroll (Pete Carroll) is the coach.

“So dominant were the Trojans that Carroll considered playing the USC song girls during the final five minutes.”
-Gene Wojciechowski (ESPN magazine)

after seeing the picture of my shoes on this page…

“Wow, Lauren got shoes for $12. You can’t go wrong with that. Even if the other sides are hot pink.”
-Eugene

I finally managed to get to the server and get pictures of the shoes I bought. The best part about the deal is that the “Original Price” is what it is still going for at every other store. They aren’t closeouts by any means, they’re just amazing deals.

So first up, my pride and joy the Steve Madden “Rascal Mesh”

I really like these shoes. Original price: $74.99, I got em for 37.99
Savings: $37

The second pair that was too good to pass up, the adidas “Superstar FTR”

This pair is interesting, not just cause I like the style, but cause they’re advertised as old school basketball shoes. From the description:
“First low-top basketball shoe to feature an all-leather upper and rubber shell toe. Introduced in 1969, approximately five years later, 75% of NBA players were wearing the new shell toe.”
Original Price: $79.99, Brian’s price: $24.99
Savings: $55

Also, Lauren got two pairs of shoes which I’m posting here, she can add commentary if she wants. They are both originally $39.99, selling for $11.99. Savings: $56 for both. They’re both Saucony brand.

Just for fun:
Total savings = 37 + 55 + 56 = $148.

Wednesday night, 11pm. I get the im:

(22:57:50) Eugene: http://www.footaction.com/tentsale.html
(22:58:11) Eugene: 70% off sale
(23:02:33) Eugene: this is craziness
(23:04:21) me: damn
(23:04:25) me: when/where is this sale?
(23:04:30) Eugene: right now online
(23:04:37) Eugene: better get your stuff before its gone
(23:09:02) me: jesus

After taking a quick look at my shoe…

…I knew this sale was what I had been waiting for.

I hurried to the website as fast as my mouse could click, but all I encountered was:
Thank you for choosing our site! We apologize for the delay.
Demand on the site is at an all time high and we are currently at the maximum number of users. Please try back later!

But I presevered. After a couple of page reloads, I was on the site and in the hunt for new footwear. I quickly found two pairs of shoes that I wanted to buy. Some green Steve Madden shoes that normally sold for $70 that were on sale for $37.99 and a pair of snappy adidas, normally $49.99 on sale for $24.99.

I sprang into action, entering my information as fast as the ever-slowing server would let me. Finally, after clicking “same address as billing address I was ready to place my order.” I sat back, relieved that I would finally have some new stylin digs at an affordable price, and clicked “Place Order.” And then…

Disaster.

The page never reloaded. No confirmation number. Nothing could convince the web page to tell me that my order had been placed and shoes were on their way. The server was slammed, just too many connections, there was nothing I could do. My heart was pounding, blood pressure rising.

My life was over.

Then, like a voice from the sky:

(23:57:16) Eugene:
the sale is not pulled it is still on.
Call 1-800 8255565 and give them the SKU #

However they are running low on stock.

(23:57:18) Eugene: call that in the morning

Was it possible that there was still hope? Going against every bit of common sense in my possession, I set my alarm for 4am, the time the phone lines opened at footaction.

4am the next morning
The alarm went off and I got up. I tried the website one more time to see if the order would go through.

It didn’t.

I looked warily at the phone number on my desk. Was it worth it? Should I really bother some guy at the beginning of his shift at 6am central time? Surely they had run out of stock by now. I decided to try anyway.

The phone rang. A voice spoke!

I was informed that to improve customer service my call would be monitored. I waited some more. And then…

Jeff answered. I was probably the first call of his day, but Jeff was polite and courteous. He checked the shoes I wanted and informed me that they WERE in stock and I could still get the sale price. Victory was mine. I should have 2 new pairs of good looking shoes within a week or two. I’ll post picks when their server comes back from the dead.

(note – some im’s are abridged for clarity.)

“Fox is considering a plan to resume production of Family Guy… …As many as 35 new episodes could return in January 2005, marking the first time that a canceled series has been revived based on strong DVD demand and ratings in syndication.”

later in the article:

“DVD and cable viewers have “created kind of a groundswell that could lead to better ratings” on Fox, Grushow says, although new episodes could end up going directly to Cartoon Network.”

Full article here.

“Don’t let Me Down” by the beatles

“downtown looks like don’t own if you look at it right.”
-Piebald, from the song “Just a Simple Plan”