Okay, I was living life elsewhere this weekend, and haven't been able to watch the World Series as usual. I made it through 3 innings on Saturday before falling asleep, and only managed to watch 2 ups in the 7th by Anaheim before crashing last night. But this stupid taco story reminds me of why I often almost hate sports. Does everything have to have a freaking corporate sponsor? And god, if I have to watch one more Fox commercial, I will die. I only watched 3 innings, and already I'm ready to slit my throat to avoid all the commercialism, corporatism, and whatever-else-ism that gets on my nerves. If it's a trade off, if I have to put up with all the commercial crap to watch the game on TV, I'd just as soon it not be televised. We'd probably be a better nation if we still listened to sports on the radio. I have no evidence to support that position, just a strong feeling of revulsion every time I turn on the television, and that's got to mean something.
8:19 PM


Oh, yeah. I'm doing another measured drawings job for BRI. But I'm not sure if I'm doing it for money or as a volunteer. I should really ask.

And actually, although the timing would have been really bad, it's too bad I couldn't see Debbie this weekend. She couldn't find her keys, so she missed the game. But hopefully she'll be at the January one, provided I haven't quit the team. I can't believe we live so close to each other yet have not seen each other even once in the last five years. That is so sad.
7:58 PM


Well, Truly has me figured out. We were chatting about why we live in Bloomington (as opposed to Indy or some other city), and eventually she said that could understand how some people feel safer living in the city. "You know, people who are....different." And I said something about how my partner and I feel safe enough in Bloomington, and she agreed that Bloomington was pretty good on the diversity score, and that was that, a sort of silent acknowledgement. I *almost* offered to give her a ride to work in the mornings, but decided I wasn't that nice of a person. But now that it's getting colder, maybe I should.
7:03 PM


There were some really nice things about the weekend, I just need to dig through my anger and my headache to find them.

I (We) love visiting Columbus. We have a little routine that we enjoy, and although we varied it a little bit this weekend, the basic elements stayed intact. We started w/breakfast at Tim's, which is only appropriate since we were there to play hockey. I totally sugar-loaded, but it was good. The cashier offered Catherine a senior discount, much to her dismay.

We had quite a bit of time to kill, so we went to the Columbus Museum of Art. There are some really good collections in the Midwest, I don't think we've been to an art museum we haven't liked since moving to Indiana. There was an excellent photography exhibit (A Thousand Hounds), and an even more excellent architecture exhibit (Museums for the Millennium). I wish I could get my students to make the trip over there, but I guess a ten-hour roundtrip drive is asking a bit much. But the exhibit was definitely worth it, if only for Gehry's Bilbao plans. Absolutely stunning roof plan. Plus, the exhibit included the Tate Modern, which made me want to flee to England instantly. Oh, to be an expat. Totally cool, but no exhibition catalog.

We walked around campus, OSU is really pretty this time of year. Stopped in at the Wexner Center, but it's closed for an entire year for renovations. It's only 10 years old, so that makes me think Peter Eisenman made some fundamental mistakes when he originally designed the building. If it doesn't work after only ten years, it's a lemon. I say that, but I love the space, I hope they don't ruin it with renovations.

Oh, yesterday was the Columbus marathon, and we managed to come across the course around the 23 mile mark. The course had been open for five hours at that point, so you know the people running by were just hurting. I was watching them struggle and kept getting all choked up. I could see Catherine looking at me, then looking at me again, and I finally said, "Quit looking at me! I'm having a sports moment!" and she laughed.

We usually eat at the Cooker after we play at OSU, but I was not going to spend one moment longer with the team than I had to, so I beat it out of the locker room and out of Columbus. We ended up eating at a place called Salvi's Bistro. The subtitle on the restaurant sign said "casual eating," but as it turns out, we were the only casually dressed people there. It was good, but way too heavy. They had these little "pasta Salvi" things that were square egg noodle casseroles rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried. Tasty, but they feel a lot like lead in your stomach.

I pretty much shared every bit of blue language I could come up with w/Catherine on the way home. Poor her, she had to listen to me fume all the way across Ohio. Well, I calmed down some after I ate, but it was a good thing Debbie didn't show up at the game, I couldn't have talked to her afterward w/out looking like a total shrew.

And thanks, dear, for saving my sweatshirt. I really, really, really appreciate it.
4:32 PM


I must be absolutely incoherent at 8 a.m. One of my students brought a cup of coffee to class for me today. When I said thank you, she replied, "You're welcome, dear. You looked like you could use it." I love Hoosiers.