One more thing...

I forgot to mention that there was a Southern Comfort party at B-Dubs, and we all got beads! I could have gotten a feather mask or a jester's hat, but I would have had to buy a drink for $3, and I really don't like SoCo. So there. BEADS!

EL and Back Again

So, I was invited to East Lansing again to go to Buffalo Wild Wings (B-dubs) with Erin, Stef, and Marcie (one of their friends) this Thursday, so I got out of class early and headed up for the night. It was awesome. First off, B-dub's had about 15-20 beers on tap. Perfect for David. They had good wings, and it gets better. We got a table right next to the dance floor (they have a DJ there on Thursdays). So I sat down by Erin, and Nick, another MSU friend shows up to the bar. I buy the second round for everyone, and we are having a good time. Stef and Marcie are dancing away, while Erin and I (sometimes Nick, too) would chill at the table. Eventually, I told Erin that if she wanted to dance, then I would gladly go with her (the closest I have ever been to asking someone to dance. Was it because of Bud and his damnable DDR? Was it because I was drunk? No, I just wanted to dance with her, so there!). Let me just say I *really* enjoyed dancing with her. After dancing for a while, it gets really crowded, and we head over to Harper's, where Jerry Sprague (who used to play at Theo's) was playing. We went in to relax a bit before going home, and listened to tunes for about a half hour before heading out. Marcie dropped us off, and we watched some X-Files, ordered more Menna's and had Bud deliver it, which was cool to get to see him, even if he was at work. In the am, Erin and I moved my car to the commuter lot, which was cold, but not much of a problem. Then we came back, the ladies studied (Stef had an 8am class, ugh!), and I napped a bit. We discussed some things, and generally just chilled. I had to go to work at 5, so I left at around 1:55, which was, I thought, plenty of time. Well, it took 25 minutes for the bus to the commuter lot to show up, it took forever to get there, because a train was in the way, then I got into my car after 2:40. With the weather, snowy and slick, I got to my apartment with just enough time to shower, shave, and skedaddle. It was rough, and I got to work at 5:08, because when I went to work, there was a 3-car accident at Warren and Newburgh, and I had to go through the rubbernecker traffic, so I was late. Hey, traffic, accident, and stuff got me a no-problem tardy. Work sucked today, because every cheap idiot was out with their belligerent significant other. One, we were dead, so nobody made money. Two, the people were horrible tippers (5-10% was standard today!!!). Third, there were three arguments/fights. I took care of people who were having an argument (it was horribly tense), and didn't eat any food, just got up and left, their food untouched. Didn't pay, either. So I didn't, thankfully, since it wasn't my fault. One woman threw all the jewelery her guy bought her on the table and stormed out, while the guy paid. We have her jewelery in the office now. Two people came in and ordered a beer, and had two young teenaged kids with them. By the time the beer got to the table, the couple of adults seemed blitzed, like it all just hit them at once, and because of this, everyone double and triple checked on them, making them uncomfortable and, therefore, belligerent. They were grumpy prats who should *NOT* have driven home. That, and even though it was dead, we didn't get out of there till after 1, because of the new, stricter check-out process, making sure every little thing is perfectly clean. Not a bad idea, we were just all cranky and tired. And so am I tired, so I shall sleep now. Good night to all, and to all, well, you know the rest. And if you read this, Erin, thank you once more for inviting me up, and I'll try to come back soon, or at least to get together. Had yet another wonderful time. :)

A Wee Bit o Time Passes

So, classes start, and there's nothing exciting about them except that two of them changed rooms and didn't post notices, and that means that David was late for a couple classes. No biggie. I also went to visit Justin Mielgaard, who is the study abroad advisor at EMU who sent me to Japan the first time. It turns out that I was one of the first students he sent abroad here, and thinks I should definitely go back. Just have to get that pesky application and reccommendation letter done... In other news, I had an excellent night recently. I went up to East Lansing to visit Erin, and keep her company, and Stef came home too, so she was there. I figured, well, why not see if Jason is free? and he came up, too. We mainly hung out, playing Super Smash Bros Melee, Mario Kart, watching the Robin Williams Live on Broadway, and Raiders of the Lost Ark before crashing. We also got Dubs and CHEWY COOKIES delivered to us from Menna's Joint, which is a tasty sandwich wrap place up at State. In the AM, we woke up, slowly, and relaxed a while before deciding we had to do something to get away from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (what's with those belt buckles, anyways?), so we went to Harper's, which is a little brewpub close by. Had a pint of stout (there's a breakfast for ya!), and it had a nice, hearty roast flavor, with tones of chocolate, espresso, and toast in it, a moderate bitterness, and it retained a frothy head for about 2 minutes. Not a bad little beer! Jason tried the Raspberry Wheat, which surprised us by being pink beer. Now, we got over the shock, and it had a very strong raspberry flavor. Like a light wheat beer overpowered by the raspberries. It was still good, and Jason and I each brought home a growler of it. When food was done, I carted Erin, Stef, and Jason to Menna's to meet up with Bud, where I thought we were going to hang out a bit, but veryone had to part. Bud wanted to give me FZero to play for a while, and who am I to argue? I had to follow him home. But not before going back to Erin & Stef's to get my stuff together. Hugs all around (and let me tell you, I didn't want to let go), and we parted off to our separate ways. I followed Bud home, watched an episode of Charmed because his roommate was watching it, ate Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, then he got me up on the DDR pads. Dance Dance Revolution. Ugh, I can honestly say I do not like this. I couldn't keep my weight distributed properly, then the arrows would confuse me and I looked like I was dancing on hot coals, poorly. They kept saying, "You'll only get better," but I'm not going to have that option, will I, since I don't live there. It has been expressed to me many times that I am always welcome back up at that apartment, and I think I may have to abuse that. I mean, I want to go up there and spend time with Erin, so why not? Now I just have to figure out if I can afford to go up there tomorrow night...

Smashing!

Must..... Play.... Smash Bro.s.......... I played it all night for the past two nights. It's good to get it out of the way before I get back in classes. Yes, school started on the 5th, but I couldn't get into classes, and had to troll the registration watching people drop and add, creating spaces. Stupid new system. So, Jason and I opened up every single one of the 25 characters on SSBM. It was quite fun. When I woke up in the am, I decided to check up on the class situation. I sat for over an hour, wrestling with classes anf got it all settled. So, without further ado, here is my Winter 2004 Schedule (TM) ECON 202 - Principles of Microeconomics 200-315 Tuesday and Thursday SOCL 105 - Introduction to Sociology 700-940 Tuesday HIST 102 - Western Civilization: 1600-present 715-955 Wednesday MGMT 384 - Human Resources Management 630-910 Thursday MGMT 202 - Introduction to Management Independent Learning So I have 5 classes, 15 credit hours, plus work. That's gonna be rough. ON the plus side, Jason is going to move in. He took his application home tonight. I also pitched the idea of Japan Dave II: The Amazing Return today, and he liked the August visit to Japan idea, since his Chilean ski trip isn't working out. I have an opening! Woo! I also got to go out to dinner with Erin again yesterday. We went to Ruby Tuesday's and rented X2, which neither of us had seen. After the movie and almost all of the extras, we were both tired. She headed out, and Jason came over around 2, where we played until about 630, and he stayed up till about 10. Mind you, this should be at the top of the post, but I am too lazy/tired to move it.

The 4th

So, who asked for the snow? I mean, the day I am getting ready to have my pile of people over, it gets nasty out! I went to go get Super Smash Bros Melee (nobody rents it anymore, so I just bought it at Gamespot), and by the time I got the game and got back to my car, a half inch had fallen. Of course, by the time people showed up (even though one person wussed out, Danny Bumford), the snow had stopped. It was still nerve racking, thinking that nobody was going to come. Jason, Justin, Joe, Rob, LaGory, Stef, and Erin all showed up. We played bunches of SSBM, then busted out Euchre. I was pretty much starting to teach Erin and Stef was getting a refresher, when we ran out of Irish Cream. I had had one drink by this time, so I invited Erin to join me on a trip to Meijer's to acquire said Cream of the Emerald Isle, plus other snax such as potato skins as per Stef's request. That taken care of, I was back to the little gathering. LaGory put in Fight Club in the background, played bunches of Euchre, and I got a video of LaGory and Grabowski rocking out to Iron Man (sung themselves). Eventually, Grabowski got tired, and took LaGory and Stef with him, since he drove them in the first place. Jason and Justin left because they had to work in the am. That left Joe, Erin, and myself. We watched the rest of Fight Club, watched tv, then played Melee until the wee hours of the morn, around 430am.Joe was asleep on the floor, and Erin stretched out on the couch, her legs over my lap. I kept dozing, almost falling asleep on her. Personally, I wouldn't have minded, but I decided to do the better thing, and give her the couch and move to the floor just there. I offered to open the couch, but she said no. I woke up at 7, 8, 930, 1030, and 1130. 1130, I stayed up. Erin soon woke up, followed by Joe. We talked, played more SSBM, then people went their separate ways. It was a good night.

Nihon ni kaeritai yo...

Three years ago today, I was on my way to JCMU in Hikone, Shiga, Japan. I am jealous of those headed there today. Perhaps I will get to go this summer/fall. But who knows?

2004 and Beyond!

So I had some people over on New Year's Eve, and it was pretty cool. Before everyone came over, lil Rach stopped by and confused us. Erin, Stef, Rita, Joe, Aaron Engi, and Jason were all over. Engi brought a pile of liquor, most of which wasn't touched, because it was really only Jason, Engi and myself drinking. Joe had a drink and Erin had a Killian's, but that's about it. Rita doesn't drink (from what I gathered), and Stef didn't because she was driving Rita home. Erin only had one, and early on, so she was fine. We decided to watch Pirates of the Carabiner (Yarr... Click), uh, I mean Caribbean. More than halfway through it, it was New Years, so we stopped the movie for a bit, and watched the ball drop. At this time, however, Jason was out on the stairs, all the tequila and beers having hit him by then. He had had around 5 shots and 4 beers by then. And they all decided to punch him in the face at once. (for the record: Jason had also had quite a bit by the time he fell in the sink, not just the one that I had) We heard disjointed counting from the apartment of "10...9...8..... ..... 10...9...8....4....3.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" So, though they were sober, they still couldn't count. Within the half hour, Rita and Stef took off, to beat the bar rush traffic, and Erin, Aaron, Joe, Jason and I finished Pirates, and then, sadly, Erin left. Jason fell asleep on the couch, snoring, and the remaining conscious people played Mario Kart until about 430am. I woke up around 7 to feed cats, and Jason was kinda awake. So we all got up at 930 and played, what else? Mario Kart! until about 130, when we went to get food at a nearby Coney Island. Shortly thereafter, after more games, of course, they all left me to my silent apartment. That was my amazing New Year's Eve. It was great to get to see Rita after 3 years of not seeing her, and being able to find out that she was okay, and safe, doing more with her life than I am now. It made my night. On the 2nd, I went to lunch with Jeanette, and saw her for the first time in years. We went to Olga's, then walked around the mall. It was also really good to get to see her again, and find out first hand what's going on in her life. Despite all her own percieved shortcomings, he is lucky to have her, she really does miss him, and wants to be there to take care of him right now. And, damn it, she's doing more with her life than me, too! I feel so slow. But, hey, tomorrow, I will have a pile of people over. It's going to be 7-12 people if I counted correctly. That's going to be fun, where am I going to put all those people? I have my queen bed and a pull out bed, and pillows and blankets galore, so that *should* work. Let's hope it does as well in practice as in theory.