Feeling Groovy
(27 January - 5 February 2001)
5 February 2001
-I've
often told people that John Schneider is the funniest person I know. Now
he's out to prove it himself with his
OWN WEBSITE! Go there now. I personally claim full responsibility
for exactly 6 quotes on the quote page. & Johnny got the rules of
life backwards, or at least mixed 1 & 2. But other than that, there's
some humor. Some off-color stuff too, but it IS Schneider after all. Mostly
humor.
-I'm purely exhausted. In a really pure form. & a busy day tomorrow.
But right now, as I sit here at this moment, at 3:42 in the morning looking
briefly at the Beantown skyline before returning my weary eyes to the computer,
I am incredibly happy. For so many reasons. Happy. That's
something that, despite a quote on JP's page, I haven't really been able to
say in ages. Variations or shades, & early December was amazing, &
being home is always great, but the diversity of happiness here is rare. &
I'm starting to latch on to the idea that this happiness might not always need
to be so darn fleeting. That I don't have to adopt the Russian language
view of happiness being an innately impermanent notion. That maybe, just
maybe, this life IS gonna get better. It's a concept that shakes my foundations
with a feeling I can't really express. But good God, do I feel good. &
that, as has been said, gives me a glimpse into a world better than I'm used
to associating with myself.
-&, on the heels of this success, we have also gotten recognition
from our campus's lousy attempt at a paper. Apologies to Kevin Grinberg
on that, but I still think our rag is subpar. Hopefully they'll print
a better article about NorthAms than that one about Worlds... (&,
by the way, the name of our coach & my Worlds partner is actually GREG,
not Craig, but you probably knew that already.)
-People usually take what one might call a "Mental Health Day" when
things aren't going too well. I decided to leave my classes behind today
(except attendance-based PE) because I'm in such good mental health that I really
couldn't stand to be fettered. That & I've been more exhausted today
than any day in even remotely recent memory. Nonetheless, it's dumping
snow like crazy & I think I'm just gonna watch it fall all afternoon. I
am utterly satisfied with life right now.
4 February 2001
[from
Ithaca, New York]
-So I was sitting there, the whole time, telling myself
"prepare to hear 'Yale A' so as not to be disappointed, prepare to hear
'Yale A' so as not to be disappointed..."... the second I heard "Brand--",
I went nuts. & I felt good about going nuts. We have been on
fire all weekend.
-Overwhelmed.
-North American Champions. That will take getting used to.
-I expect this to sink in by Wednesday at the earliest. The thing is,
I'm still just overwhelmed by the crowd reaction, by the fact that people cried
in our round from being moved, that the Weisenthal case exceeded expectations,
that Zirk & I got everything we could've wanted outta this tournament &
so much more, that this was utterly transcendant in every way that a debate
round can be transcendant. & Harry & Jeffie really gave the case
a just opp. & I just don't know what else to say. I am blown
away.
-4 & a half days is still plenty of time to miss someone.
-Team.
3 February 2001
[from
Ithaca, New York]
-You gotta get pumped. & worship the coffee.
& jump around. There's been no dancing at this tournament, but
there's still the pumped-ness.
-Where are all these alleged Canadians? Zirk & I were 0-for-6 on the
ol' Canada train. But still, it was some of the best debating we've done
in our careers. If only we can keep it up going into tomorrow, we might
have a shot.
-Banquets are not my scene.
2 February 2001
-Ben
Harper was solid, but in comparison to a lot of my more recent concerts, not
quite fantastic. Glad I went though. The first encore (all acoustic)
made it all worthwhile. I'll post a setlist sometime when it's not 2 &
a half hours before I have to pack & leave for Cornell for the weekend.
Woohoo NorthAms.
1 February 2001
-Welcome
to February.
-This weekend upcoming just got a lot better. I'm as excited as that phonecall
sounded.
-In 4 hours of work, I managed to knock off 125 pages of Huxley short stories,
in addition to doing all my regularly scheduled work duties. Not only
was the library slow tonight, but this may be the ticket to a reading revival.
This might put me back on a book-a-week pace we haven't seen since sometime
in high school!
-Not so long ago, I thought "well of course I should buy 2 Ben Harper tickets,
I'll find SOMEbody to go with me..." Now I'm about an hour from taking
the hit, or worse yet, trying to scalp it while alone. Fun stuff. This
is most irritating. One should be relaxed & happy going into a concert,
not worried about the status of an extra ticket. Argggggh.
31 January 2001
-Russ
& Drew have no business debating each other in practice rounds, or probably
any other time. They get so oddly angry at each other, & it's all
a conflict of style. Regardless, I still spoke like an emu last
weekend. & in the round last night, for that matter. 1 speaker
point...
-The Archive's been updated again, finally. Now
I've moved on to Simon & Garfunkel songs after not quite running outta Watership
Down titles. This should be fun.
-I must say, the Even-Number Principle seems to be holding up a little too well.
& I earnestly have no interest in it doing so. Why must extremes
be the constant burden of my existence? I think I always checked the little
box in those surveys that said I'd rather have a life with lots of good &
bad than one with constant steady mediocrity. But sometimes it's too ridiculous.
Most of the time. Then again, I really have nothing to complain
about. So I'm not.
-Gris is just hysterical. Also right, but mostly hysterical.
30 January 2001
-Fish
& I just discovered that in 8 years of knowing each other & nearly 21
years of life, this is the first time ever that both of us have had a girlfriend
at the same time. It's about time.
29 January 2001
-My
friend Fish: Uncommunicativeness in a bag, neatly wrapped.
-The way people are reacting to recent developments is tirelessly amusing. Mostly
very positive, which is to be expected & of course encouraged. But
there's a good deal of things I find just plain humorous too. What else
is new?
-As of right now, you can actually see 2 full months on this very page. Yes,
I'm painfully aware of how much archiving I need to do. Soon.
-Avi rocks. Some of his ideas for the debate board have been excellent...
if he continues at this pace, we will be insanely productive. Though I
dunno about putting Jehuda on our mailing list - that could get dangerous. Don't
let me forget that he's on there, okay?
-My extra ticket to Ben Harper on Thursday night (Orpheum) is more or less up
for grabs. Any takers?
28 January 2001
-Getting
better indeed.
-So, after my pessimism from 6 April 2000 on this very page (check the Archive
if you really want to see what I'm talking about), it turns out my estimate
was actually more than 5 months too pessimistic. Which is FINE with me.
I'm really actually happy right now, which is more than I can say for
much of the time covered between then & now. Though certainly not
all. Regardless, it's all good.
-Almost being late is a good way to forgo the difficult trainside goodbye.
-I should know better than to try to watch the Superbowl... it was supremely
dull. But I'm bitter at work because they gave me half shelving hours
which was very very different than what they initially promised me. &
I think I might be dropping a class. At least the dog/alien "wassup"
commercial was amusing.
27 January 2001
-I'm
a big idiot. Still agonizing. But getting better.
Introspection, My Worst Friend* (Current)
Ye Olde Archive (Past)
Tell me this is not the end...*
*-lyrics from an as-yet unreleased song, "The Same Old Frontiers",
by SWClayton.