Drivel, as promised

My mother is in charge of a literary club that meets once a month and discusses a book chosen apparently at random. This past month the selection was The Call of the Wild by Jack London. This book is short, interesting, and action packed. The ten or so kids who are in the club had a whole month to read a sixty page book. I think one of them finished the whole thing. I read it cover to cover the afternoon of the day they met. I got a little pink sitting in the sun for two straight hours, but I soldiered on. Some may take offense at the use of the word soldier in that context. Anyway, the book is pretty good. Dog fights, feats of strength, lots of snow and ice, the enticing points are practically never ending! However, there is one point made in the book that I found particularly interesting. Buck, the main character, hunts his own food and lives off the land. He is on an all meat diet and it says he is in the best shape of his life. This is basically my exact out look on eating. Lots of meat, no vegetables.

Speaking of food...

I eat all kinds of food. Generally when I am out with people and someone does not like something, I am there to pick it up. With that being said, there are three things that stand above all others. These three items go with just about anything. Sometimes they can be combined, other times they each act on their own. The one constant is that they are always delicious. They are sour cream, hot sauce, and ranch dressing. I would go into detail about what I put each on, but its getting late and this already long enough.

Cedar Point Friday and Bonfire Friday night!

Actually Shameless

Not much has transpired in the last few days that's made me think "I should blog about that." Yet, as usual, here I am blogging with little actual material. Perhaps a brief recap of the past 24-36 hours? Ok.

My sister graduated yesterday from high school. Guess she didn't have to take driving classes for school credit, since when she was backing out of her parking space afterwards, she forgot to put it in reverse and freaked out when the engine revved and nothing happened. Now the "check engine" light is on. Coincidence? I hope not, for her sake.

I saw Mike and Ben today! They're on their way back from ~2000 graduations at Cornell this past weekend. I met them at their hotel and ordered in pizza with their parents since it was a) raining outside and b) they were sick of being in the car. It was good to see them. I mean, it's only been three weeks since we graduated and left Oxford, but it seems like a lot longer. Oh well, I'll see them soon enough (as well as Matt Forrest and Eric and the gang) at my sister's grad party. Or else.

Speaking of Eric et al, I'm heading out to his house this Friday for Bonfire! I think we'll be spending much of Friday at Cedar Point (America's Roller Coast), which should be baller. I think I'll buy a season pass this year and meet Eric out there a lot. (Thoughts, Eric?) Back to Bonfire!, I'm planning on camping in Eric's yard since space inside is limited, and I've had a hankerin' for some backpacking since oh, probably early May. Stay tuned to see how that goes.

More exciting news tonight: I'm a finalist for a photograph contest held every week at msnbc.com, featuring travel photos people have taken. I submitted a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was featured in a previous blog post, and has been picked to be voted on by viewers (i.e., as many of my peers as possible). So in an act of complete shamelessness, please go here and vote! My photo is in the bottom left, and is currently ranked third! For all the times I've taken last-minute marketing surveys (you know I'm right), voted for cutest vegetarians, student body elections, arbor day campuses (Loyola I'm looking at you), and more, so please just humor me and help me legitimize my hobby! Thanks.

That's about it for now, I'll keep you posted on anything mundane or extraordinary that may pop up. And voting is until June 3rd, so tell your friend to tell a friend.

Cornell Has 2000 Graduations

Hey all,

I'm still in NY attending various graduations. Apparently getting a Ph.D is a big deal. Apparently graduating from Cornell is a big deal. Therefore, by the transitive property getting a Ph.D from Cornell must be a big deal. As a result, I don't really have time to make a major post, so I'll just give you a link to watch that takes us back a couple of years. I'm sure if Matt Smola and I had been friends with Matt Forrest, and been regularly hanging out with Eric, they would have participated too. If only we had made a 212 apartment one of these.

Enjoy.
Credits: All Camerawork and Editing done by Matt Smola
All Sex appeal handled by yours truly
Wardrobe decided by my brother Ben
Stuffed Animal and Lyrics from Scotty Lippert and his printer
All air guitar playing with real guitar courtesy Patrick Murray

Hint: Watch Matt's hands at the end.
Look for Curious George

ENJOY:

Video

I've given you a lot of links to click on!

Matt, when you start a post with the phrase "Some entertaining stuff has transpired in the past couple days" I would be led to believe that several intersting things have occured just not one story about a glovebox. Whatever, I wont give any promises for any excitement in my post, my last two days have been rather boring so I am sorry. Friday was spent once again shockingly searching for jobs and getting my life in order (yes that means cleaning out my e-mail inbox, thrilling I know. Eric will make fun of me, I don't care) I also began a quest to find some "nice" paper to print my resume on, on Friday it ended sadly without any paper. Did make some homemade pizza which brought back some good memories from last summer...see Facebook album Summer 2009: Never a Dull moment. If you are not friends with Smola than I am sorry, you will not see any pictures.
Watched some TV...went to bed, slept until noon (which is a good start to my morning).
Today was actually really productive in a very boring way. Went to the bank and continued my quest to find nice paper. Avid blog reader and frequent character in our posts, Molly Dull (if you don't know who she is by now you are way behind on the blog), suggested a place for me to go and so I walked a few blocks to Clark St in Andersonville (really cool neighborhood by the way) and walked into the Paper Trail  where I actually found some sweet stuff and most importantly nice paper to print my resume on, so now I'm set. Came back, plotted with Molly Dull for our world take over for awhile and then decided I should start running (though I'd prefer to bike...but, as Eric pointed out, having a bike would make it difficult to run). Stretched out and went for a run for about 30 minutes, I know it's not a lot but I am just starting out after being out of this for a good 2 years (as Matt and Eric will tell you as I constanly sat out on thier runs last summer). I'll keep that up as a daily thing, I think.
Did laundry, watched The Break Up (I give it bad reviews-the ending sucked), checked out the Blackhawks game, updated my Linked In Profile (trying to maybe use that as a useful tool in my job search-probably won't work) and then finally Ed came home (I've been alone all day if I didn't mention that) so went to get food because I forgot to eat and now I am debating watching John Adams which is a MUST SEE!

As a more inspiring read from my last post grad post, Adam Harris sent Molly Dull and I this commencement speech, a must read for some inspiration (Eric will think it's too long)

Currently listening to: Alejandro by Lady Gaga
Motivational song to get you pumped up to look for jobs: John Adams Opening Titles by so and so.

Peace out!

Broke the Glovebox, Sorry We're Late

I feel compelled to blog. Some entertaining stuff has transpired in the past couple days. Went on an early-morning run with my sister on Friday; that was fun and really frickin' early. Most of the day was uneventful until around 10pm or so when Mdull came to meet me and we drove into downtown Cleveland (gasp!) to satiate my desires. For pictures, duh.

I'm not usually a nervous driver. I think most of the people riding in the car coming home from SB2010 understand. Calm, cool, collected. Driving into Cleveland after my parents both warned me about goonies and weirdos and doom had a bit more paranoia than I'd planned. Thanks guys! Nevertheless, we make it to our destination. Molly debates putting her wallet in the glove box, then shoves it in and goes to shut it. Or not. Ok, jiggle the wallet around and try again. No. So I lean over and lend a hand, and the glove box falls out of the car. Great. In an epic combination of square-thinker logic and circle-thinker "whatever," we proceeded to get no where with the glove box fix. Eventually we got it straightened out.

Picture-taking proceeded well:

Today was fairly uneventful. The weekends leading up to my sister's grad party will be a little tense. There's a ton of stuff to get done and I'm not sure when I'll be needed or not, so I can't really relax until the sun is down. But today I helped get some of the trimming done around the house; I think it looks nice.

I had more things to blog about in my head today, but I can't really remember any of them. Oh, went to lunch with an old high school teacher and some friends. That was really fun. My neighbors had a bonfire today that was a little reminiscent of Mt. Vesuvius. Oh, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Eric's house later this week!

My sister graduates tomorrow, so congratulations Jenn! I hope no one passes out...

Greetings From New York! (Central NY)

Good evening everyone. I just got to my hotel in Ithaca for my brother-in-law's graduation, so obviously the first thing I had to do was get back on the blog and see what the other 3 212ers had been up to.

I've been on a two day road adventure as we're 12-13 hours from home. The first day was mostly filled with sleep because I have been running around at home and trying to find a job, so I chose to sleep when there was nothing else to do. But today was notable for many reasons. Mostly, because I found a lot of humor on the road.

As we drove through NY state I noticed a billboard trailer (yes, this was a trailer with a billboard on it) that asked "Are you on the road to God?" Now this would normally just make me laugh as most religious road signs do. However behind this trailer was a porn store. As a result those on the road to God were also on the way to find discount XXX videos. Apparently God is in Adult Dens on the side of the highway.

This was just the start of the religious humor. We noticed along the way that there was an exit for Arkport. Apparently this must be where Noah left port during the Great Flood. Later on the drive the was a marker for an Evacuation Route. I don't know what they are trying to run from in central NY, so my only guess is that the Evacuation Route was for the animals to get to Arkport to save their species. The dinosaurs apparently didn't make it. Maybe they went to the Porn Store.

We decided to detour and go to Watkins Glen. My dad has always been a big car racing fan (NOT NASCAR, "real racing" as he calls it) so we headed up that way. There was a giant billboard of a person with his hands burning in flames with a tagline that stated Repent or Perish. The joke of course is that in order to not perish they must go to a parish and repent. However, I'm Jewish so I won't be repenting in a parish which doesn't matter because those people probably assume I'll perish anyway. Still with me? Eric probably stopped reading at Arkport.

In Watkins Glen there was a truck. Most truck cabs say Werner or Roadway or Penske. This one said, "Jesus Christ is Lord, not a Swear Word. Didn't really know what to make of that one...
We got out and walked around Watkins Glen. Great area. It is on Seneca Lake, so we walked out to the pier and also ate at a restaurant on the lake. I had a NY stripsteak just so I can now say I had an NY stripsteak in NY. We also went to this racing museum for my dad. He and Eric would be friends.

This area is known for it's scenery. I didn't go chasing waterfalls unfortunately. Instead I stuck to the rivers and lakes I was used to. Got to see a lot of cool things though. Tomorrow and Sunday are full of graduation events, so this is extra long in case I don't get a chance to talk to all of you until next week, I'll probably try and sneak a quick post in there in the next couple of days.

Deepness

Well said Matt, you seem to have your blogging head in the right place. You can decide if I meant blogging as an adjective or just made up my own new favorite insult. (Hint: Its both)

Did I tell you all how I shot a skunk? That was pretty nasty. The smell is still lingering a little out in the back of our property. Hope that clears up by next Friday, lol. Literally the only reason I mentioned that is because I looked out my window and saw my backyard. If I could come up with something good to write about soybean fields and silos I would. Wait! This was a topic of conversation in my house not too long ago. We were sitting around the dinner table and milk came up. There was a carton that we were feeding to the cat cause it was not properly sealed. I said that soy milk lasts a lot longer. My sister Katelyn then proceeds to say that she does not know how anyone can have the patience to make soy milk. The udders must be tiny.

Yesterday was a mildly historic day for me. It marked the first time since the teens of December last year that I made money. I know, I can't believe I have any left either. It helps my peace of mind to know that I am looking for a job that will be paying around eleven hundred dollars a week. Anyway, I babysat for my four little cousins. They are all sisters. The three older ones were just darling. They played together, didn't argue too much, and even helped with the little one. Faith, on the other hand, spent the entire day being mad that I was not her mother. This occupation wore her out considerably. She passed out in her chair at noon, which completely threw off the schedule that clearly stated nap time as being between one and two. Oh well. We made it.

Here's hoping the Tigers don't blow another one today. They could have been leading the central right now.

Currently listening to: Speedway at Nazareth, Mark Knopfler

Back to Our Roots?

After a little thinking and such, I thought it might be time to remind everyone about why this whole thing started up. We were alone in our apartment (212, duh) last summer, without air conditioning, television, internet, etc., whilst many of our friends were off and about to places like London, Italy, China, Chile, etc. Many of them were blogging about their travels and dammit, we weren't going to be left out.

It was simply a way to entertain ourselves and hopefully bring our far-away friends some laughs. It worked for me, and I think for them as well (no? whatever).

As the summer drew to a close, we decided to keep up blogging throughout the year, since it would give us a way to see what we would all end up doing, since we would all be living in different places with different people. Of course, pretty much most of us except Eric dropped the ball.

Fast-forward to a week ago. Having been home for about a week and a half, I was pretty bored. The blog was picking up, and so was readership. I figured, why not another readership drive? Sure, our Google Ads had long disappeared, which was, as Eric pointed out, our reason for hosting the first "Read Our Blog" campaign, but hell, why not?

So here we are. Yesterday, a record 131 people visited our blog. Do I really care? Not really (although it does look neat on the graph). What I enjoy about this blog is that it lets me stay in touch with a group of people that I love. I don't write in order to entertain the masses, I just try to give my friends something to smile about, laugh about (usually at), or to read so they can take their mind off of things they should be doing, even if it's only for two and a half minutes (or less).

And that's what I'll keep on doing until we all stop. Eventually, we'll all be employed or back to school, and our time will be limited again. For now, please don't tell me how unqualified I am for a job (I'm not a moron), how I should spend my time (I have plans, thank you), what to blog about (especially if you don't giggle when you use "blog" as a verb, because it's a silly word), or how to improve our blog (tee-hee-hee).

Glad we got that cleared up.

This is likely the only well-thought-out post you'll see from me (and the degree to which it was thought out is certainly debatable). Sorry if you didn't laugh at this one, it's ok--Eric stopped reading it a long time ago; I'll be back in normal form probably tomorrow.

Retrospective

I am having mixed feelings about this readership drive. Sure its nice that we can all rally 'round and get more words up for the public to peruse, but what is the benefit of that? The point of the original readership drive was to increase hits and up revenue. That means that this drive is just allowing Google to screw us harder. I reckon they have caused us to miss out on over $100 each by now.

On top of the finances being moot, knowing that we have more readers puts pressure on me (clearly not the other three of you, and I could be joking) to write more interesting blogs. I don't feel like its enough to just type whatever comes into my head as I sit in front of my computer, banana.

My last observation regarding the drive is this: Making events and talking up our blog makes our readers think we actually care enough about the blog to care what they think about it. This could not be more erroneous. Just look at Matt's posts. I don't care which one, that's the beauty of having two of them. He writes unapologetically.

The thing I prolly care most about people reading this blog is that they notice my impressive vocabulary. Seriously, I don't type words like erroneous for my betterment. If I had to imagine what this blog meant to the world, it would look something like this.

We are the stone man attempting to better the masses. Sorry its so big. My imagination has a very large scope.

Must stay motivated...

Title is self-explanitory, I hope. So, I've been doing the job search thing all morning and am taking a short break to blog and then maybe I'll go back to it (maybe not we'll see). Though I did find some really interesting, exciting and cool oppurtunities that are keeping me motivated. Then, I found this article, A Lament for the Class of 2010, which while funny is sad in its likely reality and mildly depressing as I move on with the job search (to the unemployed, beware of possible negative and depressing effects before reading the article).

Thus my life has been regulated to placing myself in front of the computer screen for hours on end hoping beyond hope that my resume and cover letters and e-mails and phone calls pay off one day. I take the occasional break to pick up a book or go outside or Facebook and I think I might start running later on this evening, will give me something else to occupy my time with everyday. Also thinking of taking the LEED Certification test based on information passed to me by my formed roommate Adam, still looking into that. Hopefully I get some sort of job soon so my posts becoming more interesting (you my readers are of course my first priority in life). Audree suggested that when I get to 100 applications I celebrate Oxford style, I estimated that I am around 85 (of course these include my applications to places such as Borders and Starbucks as well). So if I get 15 done in the next few days I may have an interesting post to pass on to all of you.

To add to the playlists of songs to help one through the job search, I'd like to contribute the following:
Your love is my drug - Ke$ha (It got me through the one all nighter I pulled during finals week last semester and thus holds a special place in my heart. Judge away)
I'll Make a Man Out of You - Donny Osmond (Mulan Soundtrack) - (The end of Mike's post got this stuck in my head)
Dancing through Life - Wicked Soundtrack
Maybe - Ingrid Michealson (kinda on the slower side but it works for me)
Halo/Walking on Sunshine - Glee Soundtrack (again whatever, judge away)
Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Fascination - Alphabeat (Eat your heart out Molly Dull)

That's all I have for now, Mike sadly and surprisingly took all the good ones so my list remained a little empty. Sorry if this content does not appeal to all readers and if you are just catching up with our blog now, check out THIS POST for a must read comment stream.

Keep reading and commenting!
Peace out!

My Blogosphere is Growing

While most of us rejoiced at Mike's multiple blog posts within one week, I was astonished when I found that he had also contributed to the up-and-coming sports blog "Duncan Keith's Dentist," co-written by Matt Rust (holy cow, another one!) and Patrick Murray. I'm not a huge sports fanatic, but I can see myself following along with these WMSR grads, so check them out.

As far as more masculine songs go, I'd add:

Only Fooling Myself--Kate Voegele (Miami's Own)

White Houses--Vanessa Carlton

Love Song--Sara Bareilles (The handicap organ song)

Defying Gravity--Idina Menzel & Kristen Chenoweth (from Wicked)

So that's that. Meeting up with Molly and Sarah yesterday was great. Here's why: Molly picked me up, and we drove out in her LeBaron convertible (named Lenny, I think) to meet Sarah. Ate a pizza place called Samosky's. I had a philly cheesesteak pizza, it was phenomenal. Took half of it home and just had it for lunch. After that, we had some ice cream and walked around the little town of Valley City. As per usual, Molly garbage-picked.

In other news, there are only 2 space shuttle launches left. This makes me sad. I almost saw one launch when I was 5 years old, but they scrubbed it at the last second (literally). Anyone want to try to go see one with me? They're scheduled for September 16, and sometime in October/November.

Quiz: Which of the following is not sitting on my desk at this moment?

a) An aloe plant

b) Mario Tennis for N64

c) An Erlenmeyer flask

Masculinity be Damned

I had a job interview with a school in New Hampshire today. I hope it well. I think it did. I'm applying for more jobs in the mean time because if you are in 212, unless your name is Matt Smola, you have no idea what you are doing next year because you didn't take the easy road and go for a Ph.D.

Pandora radio has helped to de-stress my search as I have listened to a constant stream of fantastic music. While the normal man may not appreciate such classics, new age males, such as Matt Smola and Matt Forrest? must appreciate the songs that are girly but so amazing at the same time the induce a sing along. Smola and I constructed a list sophomore year, and I will attempt to do this again to help you with your searches as well. Nothing like a little Michelle Branch to make you realize that summer is a time for relaxing...even if you are search for a job.

The List:

Breathe--Michelle Branch

Everywhere--Michelle Branch

1000 Miles--Vannessa Carlton

Hold on--Wilson Phillips

I Love You Always Forever--Donna Lewis

Where have all the Cowboys Gone--Paula Cole

I Don't Wanna Wait--Paula Cole

Torn--Natalie Imbruglia

Like a Prayer--Madonna

Walking on Broken Glass--Annie Lennox

Ironic--Alanis Morissette

Anything by Kelly Clarkson that someone wrote for her (That last album was not very good)

That's a start. Feel free to add to this list. I'm sure I won't be the only one that enjoys it.

Now I could go "Be a Man" and lift weights and eat nachos and watch a game, but I already worked out, I'm lactose intolerant and do you really think I'd be posting if the way a game on?Instead I'll be and man and listen to this fantastic compilation.

Reminders of (last) Summer

I'm sorry I wasn't there to help Matt with his toe injury. I remember when he split his toe open on the corner last summer, the blood stain was there for a month or two. Keep any eye out for blood stains on the CTA?

Went to margarita night at a local bar (it's not even that local for me, relatively speaking) last night. Discovered margarita nights there last Tuesday, and while I was driving out there last night, I remembered the times we went to Burrito Loco for margaritas during the summer of apt212. Here are a few things I thought of:

-My (our?) first time there, the kid that was like 10 or 12 years old (definitely not 11) getting margaritas at the bar with his dad.

-Going there with the summer guides (lol, ok) and being obnoxiously loud more so because of our tour guide mentalities than the amount of tequila in the margaritas.

Also played a board game last night called "quelf." Seriously. Made me think of Courtney's sister, but the game was really great. Gave me good ideas for things to do during future games of Kings. I'll have to get it and take it to grad school with me--a great way to get used to new people.

On the summer job front, I've still got nothing. Turning in an application for a photography job today, and waiting on a call from a local restaurant. I swore I'd never do food service, but now I think that it might not be bad for a summer--make me well-rounded and such.

I'm meeting Mdull and Sarah O (of the spring break crew) for [food] at [establishment] in Valley City today! Should be fun. Also trying to think of things to photograph. Ideas welcome.

Fun Fact: The country that has spent the longest average time reading our blog is Poland.

Some things never change...

Last summer I had two toe incidents during which I tripped walking around in my flip-flops and cut my big toe open...Smola came to the rescue and ran across the street to CVS and got me bandages...while suffering through conversations of women talking about their time of month or something like that which made him squirm...thankfully we found some ridiculous 99% proof vodka at Red Porch District which Kristel let me pour on my toe and prevent all likely infections.

Fast Forward almost one year later: Sitting on the CTA bus with Ed absentmidly playiny with my flip-flop my foot slips I gash it against the panel infront of us...sharp pain and then I feel my big toe getting wet...I look down and surprise surprise, there's blood everywhere (slight exaguration). It did hurt a lot through. So I put my toe up for the rest of the bus ride to keep blood from flowing to it (the plan worked and the blood/cut dried up by the time we got to the stop). I will however probably not learn my lesson and continue to wear flip-flops at all times acceptable or not.

Other than that I just continued to apply for jobs...found a few really cool ones...realized the posting was outdated and the deadline has passed and was sad. I however opt to be more optimistic than Eric and will apply for a job even if it asks for 5 years of expereince because I have high faith in my abilites...maybe too much (oh well can't hurt to try) Found a few jobs whose cover letters I am going to finish up tomorrow and then cross my fingers and press send.

That's all I got for now. You all will get updates if I actually get a job (Not going to tell if I get an interview though I think that's jinxing it)

Peace Out!

In honor of Eric on May 25 1085 Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors.

Today was a bust

I got up today, but after what the day has held, I'm not sure why.

-Lunch was peanut butter and jelly. Okay I guess, but somehow lacking.

-I spent my entire afternoon looking for jobs to apply to. Not applying, looking. And found nothing. Every website I went to had job listings, but every single job was for someone with at least 5 to 10 years experience. There were not even any that required like 1 or 2 years that I could just apply to and cross my fingers for. It was pretty depressing.

After like five hours of this I decided to get some exercise. I ran a few miles, played some basketball, lifted some weights, did some push-ups, even jumped rope for a few minutes. If I ever have kids I am going to strongly encourage them to jump rope. It is killer exercise. They will be lean and fit. Then again, they will be my kids, so they may not have a choice in the lean department.

I am going to keep on trying with the searching. It has only been 2 weeks, way too early to get discouraged. Boeing did send me an email alerting me to new job openings. Guess that is a bright spot.

Shifting gears:

Mike, I am marginally tan already and have not tried. Sorry.

The Beach

The great thing about living in Chicago is the great access to the beach of a lake which neither it or its tributaries have ever caught fire. I spent about 4 hours working on my tan today and all I got was a sunburn. There is no justice in this world. Unfortunately I do not have the talent for tanning of Eric. However during my time in the inviting sands of the Gilson Beach in Wilmette, Illinois, I noticed that the latest trend for guys has to be random tattoos that seem to have no meaning. One guy had a swirl on his arm (Seriously, I can think of much cooler optical illusions to put on your body), another guy had a giant crown across his chest (There is only one king and his name is LeBron James, who interesting enough does not have a giant crown across his chest), another guy had a tattoo of an Asian character on his back (And seriously, it could mean anything. If I was a tattoo artist I would just give someone characters and be like, Dude I swear it means this), and finally there was a person who my friend defined as a mural (I was actually part of a mural painting project in middle school, I wonder if my painted tiles are still there). The other problem with the beach this time of year was the unfortunate proportion of guys to girls on the beach. 50:50 is always fine, but when I go to the beach I can't help but hope for at 30 guy to 70 girl ratio. Today was about a 70:30. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Ways to start your summer off right...

So summer is moving on in full swing (duh) and that means that you should be happy, right? Correct (otherwise I wouldn't of asked the question). However, a bigger problem arises...how do you stay continuously happy? And then I bet you're thinking, wow those guys over in Apt 212 are sure happy all the time. Well I'll let you in on a little secret. Besides copious amounts of alcohol and My Sister's Keeper this got us through last summer (especially Mike when he was dying for two months)
(emphasis on Rule #8 which Courtney thought we came up with on our own...I'll still take the credit from MSN)

Well keep fakin' it until you feel it...

Remember When We Almost Made It Rain?

...ok so maybe not entirely, but I just looked back for kicks and giggles to see how much money we generated back when our blog had ads. $61.56 in less than a month would've been a baller end-of-summer party. Instead we had exploding fuse boxes, potato smiles, and disposal buddies. Worthwhile for sure, but screw off anyway, Google!

I agree with the titles of 2 out of the 3 posts below this.

So Mike took up most of what I was going to write...oh well I guess I won't chastise him for actually blogging.
In summary though (this will be the real short version if you want to read it Eric)
Hoffman arrived on Friday...we went downtown and played at the Apple Store...then we went to an all you can eat sushi place..Hoffman almost died...Ed ate about 30 pounds of food in 10 minutes...we bought movies...we watched two of them...one was I Love You Man (good pick)...one featured Zac Efron (I'm not ashamed none of us could turn away it was a train wreck waiting to happen. We got up in the morning and walked and rode the El literally all over Chicago (at one point we walked from Millennium Park to DePaul University - it was worth it). The food was great and practiacally free...Mike does not do the little machine at Chili's justice and other than that if you would like to read about the full of my Saturday check it out here.

Hoffman left on Sunday...it was sad...especailly because he is vanishing forever into the depths of Mississippi and Lousiana and we will probably never hear from his again...hmmmm oh well. Afterwards I did some more job application/search stuff (HOORAY!) - hopefully they do not start reading this blog cause then I might have to actually start proofreading. Cooked dinner...stuggled with a charcoal grill (I learned my lesson in the end and played some Wii - dominated in Mario Kart naturally! And now I am here taking a quick break from applying to jobs to update you on my life - thrilling right?

A quick point of clarification on Smola's post below: Hoffman and Mike both agree fully (and I'm sure the rest of you will too) that going to Ohio U wearing a bunch of Miami stuff is asking for trouble...you did that to yourself Matt Smola and I thus feel no pity (and niether should the rest of you). You know how OU students are...as a Miami Grad you should have known much better sir.

Keep reading everyone!
Peace out!

MU > OU

A few notes before I get rolling:

-Thanks to Mike for the single biggest contribution of text in probably a year ever.

-$10 says Eric never read to the end of it.

-Mike should keep posting nevertheless.

Ok cool. I was gone for a day or so to visit a couple high school friends at OU, and let me tell you--Miami really kicks its butt. I of course went to Athens sporting as much Miami gear as possible (a hat and shirt), which may not have been the best idea but I don't care. I'll explain later.

We arrive and decide to go to the liquor store. On our way there, we end up behind a pickup truck full of bros on their way to 7-Fest (I think it was that one, there are a ton each year). We're laughing at their silly behavior when they start to realize that they've left one of their large trash cans full of beer and ice at the apartment parking lot they just pulled out of. So the bros start pointing fingers and eventually two of them jump out, run across traffice (nearly getting hit), and grab the trash can. It has wheels, so they're half rolling, half carrying this thing when they go over the curb and BAM! It falls into the street, spilling about two cases of Natty in the road, right in front of an oncoming bus. At this point, the light turns green. They scramble to pick it up and get it back in the truck. Lost in the hilarity, the guy driving our car follows them through the intersection, missing the turn for the liquor store.

Later that night, we went uptown (they call it that too, apparently) to a couple bars. Remembering stories of falling beer bottles, I keep my eyes out for balcony drinking. Seeing someone leaning over the railing with a can of beer, I keep my head up watching. They yell something inaudible, and I'm not sure if I said anything back (I'm told I didn't, surprisingly), but then a second later I'm wet with beer, and the guy next to me is actually soaked. A text to Matt Forrest received no mercy in reply. Thanks.

A Chicago trip is in the works. I GET TO SEE MIKE SOON! and Ben too!

I am the life of the party

I got home from a wonderful weekend in Cinci this afternoon and things seemed a little drab. No one seemed to be too excited about life, so I decided to launch my recently completed new rocket. It was perfectly calm until the second it lifted off, at which time the wind started gusting. I was less than pleased, but the thing did not end up in any trees so its all good. The recovery system on this one is a single ribbon streamer. I find this system to be a little more rudimentary than the parachute on my other rocket. The thing came crashing down, and I was a little surprised it was unharmed in the landing. There was no damage from the landing, but the top of the rocket (where the nose cone attaches to the body) was apparently slightly melted by the explosive charge that deploys the recovery system. I blame the fact that you are supposed to use three sheets of flame resistant recovery wadding and I only used one. Sue me, I only had two left and like to be frugal. Maybe they should make those things out of something more resilient than a paper towel tube. Or pass on the coating of incendiary liquid. Its like they want fireballs to rain from the skies. I wonder if we could set one on fire and launch it...

Back to above mentioned trip, I have driven 412 miles since the last time I filled up my car's fuel tank. It says it is almost empty, but I bet I could get to 450. Considering I was driving to make good time on the way down, I am impressed with the performance. Read "make good time" as "go faster than law enforcement would have been pleased with, but not overly reckless".

After a three hour trip, I now have a trucker tan. My left arm is significantly more tan than the rest of my body. Its super attractive. I think so anyway. Right...

I watched Atlantis: The Lost Empire over the weekend. It was trippy.

I declare May 22 the official APT 212 Tour of Chicago Day

Hello readers. I'm back. I love the new banner, but I'm sad that my friend Matt decided I had no qualities to offer potential employers.

As to the title of this post, Yesterday, May 22, was an epic day in the Windy City. At approximately 12PM I met up with Matt Forrest and friend of 212 Matt Hoffman, who was visiting Chicago before heading off to Louisiana to take part in Teach for America. We met at Wrigley Field and decided we would grab some lunch in Wrigleyville. We walked by place after place but indecisiveness seemed to be the theme of the beginning of the afternoon. Hoffman wanted to eat at this place seen on the food network, but it was packed, so instead we went next door to this place that we could not remember the name of after we left.

We took our seats at the table and our waitress (we'll call her Svetlana) gave us menus. As I knew I would order a flatbread, I figured 8.50 for a pizza in Chicago isn't TOO bad. The others were looking at the menu when Svetlana came up to us and told us the specials. 1 dollar appetizers, 2 dollar flatbreads, and 3 dollar ribs! Together, our meal consisted of a flatbread, ribs, four cheeseburger sliders, curly fries, cheese sticks, AND drinks, for UNDER $20. IN CHICAGO! We ate cheaper than in Oxford! It was unbelievable.

After our delightful meal an obnoxious group of Ohio University Bobkittens invaded the bar on the pub crawl, so we immediately got up and left. But not before Matt Hoffman clogged the toilet in the restaurant for those who went to that school in southeast Ohio.

From there we hopped back on the 'L' and went to Wicker Park. We entered a used bookstore which had everything we could imagine. The store was amazing. My brother Ben would have never left--that's probably why we didn't have him come with us. We noticed, as we were looking at books, that there were signs on the bookshelves stating that if the books were removed from the shelves or shelved improperly the price would go up by $1. We debated the ability for them to actually carry this out. In theory, you could screw someone over by constantly leaving a book unshelved and make it more expensive than at Borders. Also, does somebody actually go through at the end of the day and make sure every single book is in order? Job for Matt Forrest?

From there Matt Hoffman wanted to go into a bachelorette party store, but could not bring himself to go in there, so we decided to hop on the 'L' and head over to Molly's cupcakes. This placed had been featured on the food network and Matt Hoffman was determined to go. So off we went to try the best cupcakes in the city. And they were amazing. At first, it was hard to comprehend why they would be more expensive than our lunch. Then we ate them and realized we should have had them for lunch. Best desert ever. We sat there in a food coma for awhile, until Matt Hoffman got reenergized realizing that proceeds from the cupcakes went to local schools. With the renewed energy we decided to walk to Lincoln Park and go to the zoo.

By the time we got to the zoo it was closed. But that did not stop us from going in. We walked around, but the only animals that were out were the sleeping lions and some kangaroos that looked really bored. As we walked further, we noticed the flamingo habitat. We were excited to see some pink birds, but we were then horrified. There were seemingly dozens of flamingos that were huddled into a small indoor habitat. It looked like people in a crosswalk in Tokyo or New York. It was awful. It's not as if they needed to huddle for warmth.

After our zoo trip we walked looking for a park with characters from the Wizard of Oz but we couldn't find it. We ended up walking over a mile searching and then decided we would just go to Millennium Park. But instead of just continuing our walk, we went all the way up to North and Clybourn to catch the 'L' to Lake and then walked up Randolph. Matt Hoffman could not hide his excitement as we were finally going to get to the Barack Obama museum and gift shop he had been talking about all day. But much to his disappointment, it was not there. In fact, there was no evidence of anything Obama related. Matt Forrest and I are still wondering if this in fact was a true building or if he just had a fantasy about this place.

But eventually we reached Millennium Park where Matt Hoffman found his real fantasy. While Matt Forrest and I napped in the park, Hoffman spent an hour staring at his perfect girl. She was attractive, athletic, etc, etc, etc. And she was making out with some guy in the park. Poor Hoffman. He was upset about it the entire way to dinner...and after dinner...and probably still today. We decided to leave the park because their were these creepy orange lights in one of the buildings that kept getting brighter. We couldn't figure them out. So we headed down Michigan Avenue and eventually ended up at Chili's for dinner because it was the easiest place to get in.

The food was fine, but the real winner was the little computer gadget on the table. This thing had trivia, other games, news, sports scores, and you could pay your check on it and receive an email receipt. The only problem we had with this thing was that apparently, according to the box at Chili's there are eight continents. Today, we're still trying to figure out what the 8th one is. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica...?

After this we walked from the restaurant to the Lion's Den and Apartment Bar and Pub where we met up with some of my high school friends and hung out until we had to leave so we could catch the last 'L' back north. At the bar Matt Forrest ran into someone he knew. Surprise. We can't go anywhere without him running into anyone. It was his older neighbor or something...so he says.

When we got to the Fullerton station some guy dropped his phone on the track and then jumped on to them to get his phone. We were all caught a little off guard by that one. He was okay. Got back on the platform and didn't touch the third rail. There was also a poor, hungry guy who started screaming on the train, but people around us thought he might have a gun or something. He didn't. Thank God.

Then Matt Forrest and Matt Hoffman got off the train at Berwyn and Ben, who had met us at the bar, and I went back to the quiet north suburbs of Chicago, arriving home at 2 AM.

Recap:

Total Time Spent together: 13 hours

Total Miles Walked: At LEAST 8-10

Total Miles Covered: More than At LEAST 8-10

Total Money spent: MUCH less than we thought (with the exception of Hoffman but that's his fault)

Total Amount of Fun: Amazing

I vote it becomes a yearly event and the rest of 212 joins us.

If there is anything I left out, I'm sure Matt Forrest can fill in details later.

Who Rates Titles to Make Them Over- or Under-Rated? (See Below Below)

Since prospective employers may be perusing this page as we type (ok probably not because it's midnight), I thought it might be helpful to point out some quality traits that you'll find in the former yet forever residents of apt212.

Eric N. Michalak

-Easy to maintain

+ Satisfied by simple, cost-effective meals (EasyMac, Spaghetti-O's, etc.)

+ Entertained by impressive feats of engineering, and super balls.

+ No oil changes required

-Dedicated

+ Desktop background always features something mechanical, usually automobiles

+ Went through the trouble of getting a degree

+ Owns tools

-Team Player

+ Captained a playoff-quality collegiate volleyball team

+ Drove me places a couple times when I asked nicely

+ Contributes to this fine publication

Matthew J. Forrest

-Easy to Maintain

+ Only requires stainless steel water bottle and messenger bag

+ Small carbon footprint (despite larger-than-average feet)

+ Conditioned to exist on little-to-no food (the TKD treatment, inquire within)

-Dedicated

+ Played sand and indoor volleyball despite nature

+ Joined and/or led more organizations that rhyme with "pucker" than you even knew existed, and then some.

+ Owns a globe and knows how to use it

-Team Player

+ Led Ravenclaw, enough said.

+ Oh, and he blogs here too.

I agree with Eric (see post below)

I'm loving the new pictures in the banner at the top - primarily the one of Eric.

Hmmmm my sister graduated from high school today - the ceremony was not too bad except that the gym was packed to capacity and as a result was blazing hot (I guess that's better than the bitter cold that was Miami's graduation) The bleachers in the gym as thus are not built for someone of my size so I had to sit sideways the whole time and the mom in front of me kept shooting me dirty looks - as if it was my fault I'm so tall and that she kept trying to leen back where my legs were (I may have nuged her a few times on purpose near the end of the ceremony - she deserved it - she was bitter.) Ran into some old teachers and like half the people I graduated. Some people I wanted to talk to, a lot I didn't (sadly these were the ones who wanted to know everything about my life woomp woomp). It rained a lot - we went for icecream after my sister's graduation - it was worth it. Thus due to all these activities I took a break from the job searching today - it resumes tomorrow. HOORAY!

In other news, I'm reading a book that's turning out to be really interesting and I can barely put it down. I think Eric should maybe invest in it. It's called "Traffic: Why we drive the way we do (and what it says about us)" by Tom Vanderbuilt. Check it up - maybe I'llupdate you all when I finish it maybe not. We'll see.

Something that hasn't changed this summer from the last - Apt 212 apperantly has a lot of free time once again (well maybe minus Mike, who I might see Saturday! - I'll confront him about his lack of blogging in person then) as our blog posts have increased and Matt and Eric are all over my facebook newsfeed. I like it a lot.

Someone just said "shut the front door" in reaction to what someone said. Do people really say that in real life? Does it have any significant meaning? Does it have a background in a literal expereince? Just some things to think about I guess.

Peace out!

Titles are overrated

Today I signed up for Career Builder.com and they suggest adding a personal website to show yourself off. I put this blog. We'll see if it helps or hurts. To any prospective employers, I'm the attractive capable looking one in the pictures above.

I put the finishing coat on my rocket today. Finishing because I don't feel like putting any more on and it looks decent. Just needs some high flyin' decals and it will be ready to shoot for the clouds. It supposedly goes over 1600' up so I will most likely lose it on the first shot. Its happened before. Plus I painted it black so if it hits the ground without me seeing it, its gone. The only saving grace is the blaze orange streamer that facilitates a soft landing. Fingers crossed.

Going to Batavia tomorrow with a stop in Mason on the way. If anyone in Cinci wants to see me, start making a fuss soon. That's what I thought. Should be a good time, I guess.

Oh, I just got a whiff of something and it reminded me of another activity of the day. I shot a skunk. It was exactly as pleasant as it sounds...only worse. I couldn't get close to it since it would spray me, so I didn't get a clean shot and it proceeded to spray in our barn during its final throes. The smell was like a combination of burning tires, onions, and coffee. All wrapped in poo and shoved up your nose. I bet the potential employers are loving this.

I'm done, hope I painted a lovely picture for all y'all.

Everybody's Doing It

Since recent posts have been about job applications, I will expound for a few moments on my efforts.

I have not come anywhere close to 60 applications. I am closer to 6. So close, in fact, that that is precisely the number of companies that I have applied to. People keep giving me ideas of places to apply to though, so I am not about to stop. But that is the beauty of my major. I can apply anywhere.

This week has been primarily aerospace companies with a smattering of defense contractors. Some were both. Lockheed and Boeing are the big names. I would really like to work for Lockheed, just so I can tell people I work for Lockheed. They make the coolest things. Boeing is okay too, just not quite as glamorous.

I think I am going to start applying to automotive companies later this week. Most of the big names have plants in the U.S. If I get a job at one of those places I could get a good deal on a new car too. Very appealing.

In other news, I have a shot at a million dollars in twelve days. Keep your fingers crossed. I also ordered two suits today. They should be here by week out and then I will be looking mighty fine. Now all I need is shirts and ties.

Send me ideas of places to apply!

Facebook is being dumb

So I am trying to upload the last of my pictures from senior year and graduation...Facebook thinks that is a waste of my time so half-way through it keeps deciding to tell me no...none the less I am not happy.
So yes it is summer and yes I can return to blogging - I mean it this time, unlike the constant frivolous and failed attempts I had during the semester.
I'm back in Chicago, sadly (I would have preferred a repeat of last summer in Oxford, but we can't all get what we want)
I too am searching for a job, but unlike Matt, some of us don't get a cushy grad school deal at the end of this season (full of spite). If I am counting right I have applied at over 60 places in the last 3 weeks (and I'm planning on doing more today! - HOORAY!). Hopefully I'll hear from something soon I'll take anything from non-profits I actually want to work for to Starbucks at this point. Apparently, despite what the nice counselor at Miami Career services told me, everyone is not falling head over heals in love with me resume...ugh.
In other news, I moved out of my house until at least August 1st to sublet for avid blog reader and Apt 212 sweetheart Molly Dull on the northside of Chicago. My hope is that it puts me closer to more job opportunities than the Southside could provide - when I move back home in August because I was wrong you will all know what happened, but in the mean time come visit while it lasts.
Such is life for now that I am graduated...hopefully life will get interesting so I can blog everyday again. Do I see another "Read our Blog" facebook event in the near future? I'm bored enough to do it, give me a break in between applying for jobs- just saying.
My sister graduates from HighSchool tomorrow. Hopefully that will give me something interesting or what not to blog about...fingers crossed.
(I am also still not grammar or spellchecking my posts again...ENJOY!)

One Week

It's been a little over a week since apt212 graduated and I arrived back home. Interesting note: the only time it wasn't overcast and/or raining was over the weekend. That's all fine and dandy except that it wasn't very warm yet I still ended up doing the weeding for my dad.

On the job front, well, there really isn't much to talk about. My "dream job" of working at the Great Lakes Science Center aren't really coming to fruition, but never fear! I've applied to a couple run-of-the-mill portrait studios (i.e. Target and JCPenney), and am planning on turning in a couple applications tomorrow for a couple restaurants in town. I swore I'd never do food service but I think it'd be really fun to be a bartender. Steep learning curve? Probably, but I figure when else will I have this opportunity?

Congrats to Eric on his recent sub-orbital launch. Maybe I'll dig out a few of my old rockets and bring them over when he has his bonfire in a few weeks...?

Went to my sister's senior awards night tonight. Aside from her cleaning up the place, I saw an old teacher who owes me and some friends a day on the water in his boat. I think that should include beer as well. I'll keep you updated.

I Promised

Since I am pretty sure my(our) readers are as bored as I am this summer, I have returned to post what I promised. I have a few things to talk about.

First, everyone knows how big going green is and saving the world from pollution and all that crap. Well I would like to point out one company that clearly has the entirely wrong perspective on this issue. Sherwin-Williams. Their slogan is "cover the earth" and their logo is a paint can dumping out on the globe. I am personally surprised no one has chastised them for this blatant disrespect for the only planet we have.

In lighter news, I launched a rocket today. The launch itself was a little hairy, it has been literally years since I have launched one so the launch key was corroded. This resulted in the rocket going off unexpectedly as I was turning the key to work through the crud. After this though, the flight was perfect. I used the biggest engine this rocket was designed for (surprise), which propelled it to around 1000 feet. The parachute opened without a hitch and the thing fell softly to the ground. It even landed on our property! I will be launching again soon I think. I did not realize I still had 4 engines left from when my rocket program was suddenly shut down many years after the tragic loss of the Firefly. But since I do have all these and bought more, I need to use them. I also feel I need to reward the batteries in the launch controller that were still good.

I think its about lunch time. Peace.

P.S. If anyone wants to hire an engineer, drop me a line.

Home

Well things are boring here. School is over, no job, weather is lame. So I guess its time to blog.

It is almost dinner time at my house, it smells good. Spaghetti is one of my favorites. Whelp, its time to eat, sorry this one is so short, maybe I'll write another one later.

Oh, watching thunder storms always sounds like a good time.

A Little Recap

Just wanted to review a few things from the past week or so.

1. apt212 successfully graduated from Miami University, majoring in Biochemistry, Engineering, Environmental Science, Geography, International Studies, and Zoology. Congrats.

2. We are nearing our 1-year blogging anniversary. I think we should plan some sort of commemorative event.

3. I pledge to blog more now that I'm home and (for now) without a job. Things I'm up to:

-Finding a job

-Trying to make money with my photography

-Avoiding unpacking

-Sorting through old notebooks to compile the "best of" doodles from 4 years of school

-Planning ways to get together with apt212 and crew

4. Things that are different this summer: I'm not in Oxford, Matt is neither employed or in Oxford, Eric isn't practicing pong in his free time (or so I assume), and Mike is no longer dying. That being said, I hope for a rousing return to blogging. In an effort to ensure my concluding words are actually read (ERIC), I'll hold off any more writing until next time.

Things That Always Sound Good

Pretty self explanatory. This will be a commentated list.

Roller Coasters. I don't care what time of year it is, what the weather is or anything else. That ride up the hill, the screaming until you can't anymore, the seeing just how far you can go before they will not show the picture of you on the screen. Those things always sound good.

Shrimp topped steak. Is your mouth watering? Juicy steak is delicious, but add on to that some pan fried sea creatures and it becomes astronomical. Plus just the right cheese melted over everything and some garlic mashed potatoes on the side, sooooo good!

Sunsets on beaches. You know you like them, don't even give me that.

Driving a Ferrari. I've never done it. Neither have you. But it sounds like a good time right? If the horse from Maranello doesn't suit your fancy...you have problems, but I suppose you may insert whatever fantastic car manufacturer you please.

No more finals.

Losing Myself

For the first time in nearly four years, I lost my student ID last night. Searched the apartment, searched several pairs of pants....nothing. Called Wild Bistro this morning--they have it. Good. I would have been pissed to go this far and lose it a week before g********n.

In other news, I have way to much to do this week: take 1 final, go to You're Fired, Biochemistry pub crawl, one last dinner, beer tower at Skipper's, pack, g******e, etc.

On the bright side, my sister has to come back for orientation in June, and I don't see any reason why I can't come back then too. Maybe I'll make Eric Matt and Mike come too and we can have an apt212 reunion in at the Fox and Hounds pool?

Speaking of pools, Brad Matt and I went to the Hawk's Landing pool last night. It was really warm, although it would've been great if the hot tub was filled and working. Oh well, it was the thought that counted...?

I'm gonna go pick up my ID before it rains to beat the band (a phrase with which some are unfamiliar).

Currently Listening to: the hum of the refrigerator.