the paradigms shift

I've got a few minutes between classes. The 9:40 got out a bit early. I've missed Hodges Library all summer long. It's always a fun place to chill. So starting sometime last weekend (I can't remember when) I began packing up all my stuff. A lot of it was still packed which was nice. Since then I've made about half a dozen trips from OR to Knoxville and back. And there was that one to Clinton. Granted it might not have taken so many except that for two or three of them Matt and I were riding together so the moving would be more fun and less boring.

Now, I'm more or less settled into my new house on Highland. Well, I'm not really unpacked at all. But we've got a clean kitchen with a really nice cabinet full of glassware and cups. The biggest slow down now is that the semester snuck up on me and began yesterday morning. I didn't even have a full schedule until Teusday. The days themselves have been full of activity and individually felt quite long and exhausting, but now I feel like the week has flown by. It's almost another weekend!

Yesterday I got a cell phone. I know. I know. Ever since the first one all those years ago (has it really been 3 years!!!) I've been clamoring abut how much I don't really want one. But now I don't have a landline. And I do like having a phone of some sort. A cell phone was the easiest, cheapest option. I also made sure it was an older model. That way, I'm not giving in completely. I wouldn't mind one with a nice 'wow' value but it would be too much that I don't need. It's a bit of an inner conflict really. I'll work my way through it somehow.

# // posted by Michael : 09:41 //

I totally forgot about Wednesday being Burger Night. Anna called (though she tricked me because she was using Cara's phone) and invited me to join her and a lot of my Elliot Circle friends at the good old Cumberland Grill. I was all stuffy and my head hurt so I feel like I didn't talk to her and Randy at all about their past 6 months in Argentina. I'll just have to talk to them more later.

I had much more Yerba Matte(sp?) as a very nice digestif. Ben had made some before, and that's when I first tried it. It's a great drink. I'd call it tea but it comes from another plant. While at Rannady's I did look through this book full of wonderful arial photos of Argentina, and Anna told me a lot about each place. Maybe I did get a better feel for there trip than I thought I did. Hmmmm... still I'll have to talk to them more later.

Oh, and while at Burger Night I learned about a Civilization board game going down at Jarad's to celebrate Chris Work's return. I dragged Matt along. The game was fun for a while. Alas, it was short-lived for a game of Civ.

So I stayed chez Scott longer than anticipated. I'm definitely sick. I had a lot of tea and a lot of beer. That's kept me functioning well thus far. I got my CivIII kicks. I must've played for 8 or 9 hours. Awesome.

I also explored Knoxville for a good bit of yesterday evening. It was especially fun because I've been driving my mom's PT Cruiser around, and just driving that is a lot more fun than I previously imagined. It wasn't exploring so much as it was going with Scott to feed some animals and we walked/drove all around 4th and Gill. Found: one neat quasi-roundabout no bigger than the intersection it was placed in, one post-apocalyptic church spire, and one small ancient (not really) rose garden. They were all quite neat.

The 'rents skipped town last friday so I've been taking advantage of my very own furnished house. Parties: huzzah! I tried out some new scotch. I was on the winning Cranium team (yay!) I do wish Cara had been there to prove that we do have what it takes. I watched Love Actually for the umpteenth time. It was all so very productive. I worked a lot too, but I tend to forget those times pretty quickly.

Sunday I didn't have much on the agenda. Scott stayed over at my place the night before, so the afternoon was quite Melrose-ish. We woke up, started snacking on tortilla chips, and played some Bond--wearing nothing but boxers all the while! It was a great lazy afternoon. Then Matt came over. I felt underdressed (he was already fully clothed) so I put on some pants and then we ate more chips and played more Bond. I'm pretty sure that all in all we did that until almost 7.

And now Monday's passed me by while I worked. I'm feeling a cold coming on. To Scott's place! Rest and recuperation here I come! Plus, he still has my CivIII; I've been wanting to play that game all summer.

Thus was the beginning of the end for team Cachael. Our triumphant and totally boggling victory! Sadly it was but an insignificant battle. Bigger battles were yet to be lost. By the end our asses were served to us on a bronze platter. There's always a first time to lose Cranium by a two brain margin. Alas, it was never supposed to happen to me.

I can hardly blame Cara. I don't think it was my fault. So, I'm led to believe that the cards were stacked against us. Alcohol is never to blame. In fact it helps! Case in point: my impression of a bridge. Though confused with such things as "mutha fucka", my span was correctly named within the same breath!

I've had just over 24 hours to reflect upon the sad turn of events leading to my defeat. I won't make the same mistakes again. And I hope that, by now, I've run out of new ones to make.

Just watched: Collateral, i.e. a badass yet lovable Tom Cruise.

Why is it that I can never sleep til the clock chimes 3 or later?!?

Humans should have never created the lamp or the clock.

It was weird. Which I guess is pretty normal. So all is well. Except my head. Through some not-very-interesting work-related events, I rode last thursday in a really stretched limo over to west Knoxville, which was fun for the conversation alone but was fairly hot. The food at Carraba's is still as good as ever. I love that place; they even have pretty good happy hour deals... I'd describe it in more detail but for some reason I'm kind of secretive in writing about what I eat. However, I will mention that I had an olive course between my salad and entree. It was pretty awesome. I need to do that more often. After that magnificent feast I had the pleasure of driving a go-cart for the first time EVER. I don't know how I went my whole life thus far without having done that hundreds of times. I have no way of describing just how much fun I had on a crappy course for only a handful of laps. It was awesome extreme to the max!!! The limo back to OR really sucked after the whole driving-a-go-cart experience.

And then I did what I normally do. I watched a movie. The Village. I've already said how much I liked it, and I'm still not going to accidentally give anything away. So much happened last thursday night. I can't believe that I couldn't stop thinking about how I woke up all weird-like and little else. I don't know what was wrong with me.

Over the course of the weekend I did what I do best and watched more movies. Mystic River was interesting. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is easily the silliest, most hilarious 'stupid movie' I've seen in a long time. It inspired me to go to Krystal but I thought better of it on the way there. After that it was Big Fish again. Come sunday I watched the new Manchurian Candidate. It updated really well. In fact, I think it was my favorite new movie of the weekend. Liev Schreiber was awesome. Last but not least I saw a film concerning two warring ballet-gangs in the mean streets of New York. Though there was no breakdance fighting, there were plenty of other types of dance fighting styles I never imagined possible. West Side Story has pirouetted it's way into my heart.

Oh, and somewhere between Big Fish and Manchurian Candidate I went to Kentucky on a whim with Andy. Danny and Micaela were there too. I'm not sure what we were thinking. In fact I'm pretty sure I wasn't. I blame Andy for the whole ordeal. We bought lottery tickets while we were there. Ya know, for old times sake. Coincidentally enough, I just read in today's paper how lottery sales are way down in Kentucky's counties that border Tennessee. I'm not the one to blame. I spent two bucks that night on Kentucky's lottery. Sadly, we never found White Castle. The guy in Wal-Mart gave bad directions. Plenty of Knight's Inns though. The signs look too much alike from a distance.