Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in lennytheduck's LiveJournal:

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Friday, November 5th, 2004
12:57 am	Just Getting Started So today was a pretty fun day. I started by skipping Genetics, and since that's my only "real" class on Thursdays I got to sleep in. Then I went to SI recitaion and got my OChem test back....ship it! I just kinda chilled the rest of the afternoon and daydreamed about my recitation TA...I mean listened to music in my room. I did run to Radio Shack to see if they had a switch for XBox Live and in fact they will be getting one in tomorrow, so I'm gonna be all set for the Halo 2 release. Gonna be hott. Tyson and I went out to dinner at Joe Mama's to celebrate his birthday. One more year to go before we can legally go to bars. Wow. Then I watched the OC and can already tell that I will now be tuning in every Thursday, not because I like the show or anything like that. Mischa Barton is on it. Cmon now. Then I had to scamper to a Lambda meeting which was cool cuz we got pizza and root beer and just chilled and bs'ed for most of it and started to watch a movie. But I left early to go see I Heart Huckabees with Barrett and his two buddies Pat and John. It was absolutely HILARIOUS. I honestly cannot remember laughing so hard as I did at the one scene. Instant DVD purchase upon release. I started reading The Once and Future King again about a week ago. Such a good book. I wish I had more time for just reading and chilling and sleeping. I'm gonna start making more I think. Such a conundrum this college thing. But if there's ever a question or a quandary to deal with, this is one you wanna have. Fare thee well, Levi Current Mood: sleepy (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 4th, 2004
2:29 am	Seemingly Monthly Update It seems like every time I update this piece that I'm apologizing to whoever happens to read it that it has been so long.  Let the trend continue! Yeah so it's November already...where did the year go?  It seems like yesterday that I was celebrating New Year's at Gieg's house and leaving for Australia and all the sudden I'm thinking about going home for Thanksgiving in a couple weeks.  This has been a weird year to say the least.  I feel like it has been like one big transition, from beginning to now, to the true responsibility of growing older.  I remember one night over the summer Barrett and I were out at Latini's and we started reminiscing about all the fun stuff we used to do on a daily basis when we were in Jr. high and the early part of high school like going tobogganing in the middle of Latini's Super Bowl parties and getting together every single night to hang out at Kailee's house.  And we were sad because we couldn't do stuff like that anymore, because there was just too many other things going on in our lives.  Too many "important" things like work and college getting in the way.  We didn't know how good we had it and I'm really pissed at myself for all the times I bitched about being bored and not having anything to during those days sitting in people's basements.  But I suppose I'm starting to realize that getting older has a lot to do with swimming through the everyday chaff to get to light at the end of the tunnel, with the light signifying.    At least that's how I feel right now.  It might sound somewhat depressing, but there are parts about the swim that don't bother me at all, that I can take some pleasure from.  It's complicated but I'd be willing to talk about it with anyone if you are so inclined. Moving on...the election is finally over.  Hark! the herald angels sing.  No more people telling me why I should vote for one of the candidates, no more people standing on street corners and screaming about stuff they don't even understand, no more P Diddy ytelling and screaming at young people to vote despite the fact that they know nothing about the candidates, just as long as they get to the polls.  I was thinking, and if during his acceptance Bush said "Ship the presidency" I think I could be happy for about a month straight.  Of course that would never happen but itd be funny shit. Of course not everyone is happy and basically everyone here at school is jacked.  Se la vie.  I must say however that it is one thing if you are disappointed that Kerry didn't win, but it is completely different if you say that your life is going to suck and things will never be good again because Bush is still in office.  This absolutely infuriates me.  You are living in the greatest country in the world and people wake up every day wishing that they were as lucky and as blessed as you are.   Your empty threats to  "pack up and move" to Europe and Canada are a shame and a joke to all those who came before you.  You bitch about the raw deal that all the service men are women are getting, but the places they are longing to get back to aren't good enough for you anymore?  When you start a conversation with a comment like this and then start to tell me why "we are so fucked" because the incumbent is about to start a second term, your arguments hold as much water with me as the measuring spoons I bake cookies with at Christmas.  Get over it and move on.  Life, liberty and happiness are what you make of them, not the man residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  I'm beat right now but I'm going to be posting on here more often just because I need to vent more often. Piece   "If I were a guy, my dreams would be to be a douchebag (for Halloween)....get a garbage bag and cover it with feminine douches and whoa! there ya go.  But that's just me." - Kristin Strannigan Current Mood: contemplative (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 31st, 2004
9:45 am	The One and Only Senor Frogs finch03AA: etras hour os sleep nany finch03AA: baby finch03AA: ERF finch03AA: YES finch03AA: !> Lennytheduck13: smity Lennytheduck13: smith Lennytheduck13: youre wasted finch03AA: no finch03AA: pwe finch03AA: nopew Lennytheduck13: yes finch03AA: noesp Lennytheduck13: haha clearly finch03AA: i #> mexican coaliptionb Lennytheduck13: hahaha TMC baby finch03AA: tmcx finch03AA: yef finch03AA: s finch03AA: babt finch03AA: akk the way Lennytheduck13: how much you have buddy? finch03AA: likttle vladies finch03AA: not muchsx finch03AA: just at lietl Lennytheduck13: attaboy finch03AA: ochems temst mondsay? finch03AA: wadewa has oens Lennytheduck13: yeah, i do too Lennytheduck13: we studied all day today finch03AA: goi get em Lennytheduck13: we will finch03AA: thats good finch03AA: im gotting the sack finch03AA: im tied finch03AA: r Lennytheduck13: aight man, night finch03AA: nighte Current Mood: frustrated Current Music: Holiday in Spain (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 14th, 2004
11:55 pm	Dare I say...en fuego    Alright so it's been a while and I am sorry for that, both for you people who somehow take sadistic pleasure in reading the drivel I manage to put on paper but also cuz I haven't been able to get the release that writing in this piece affords me.    You know I saw the preview for the next great episode of Survivor:Vanuatu (cough....HACK) today and saw that guy is still the head honcho.  I don't know his name or anything.  He's just the Survivor guy.  The SG if you will.  And then I started to think about it and realized that guy will be the SG for the rest of his life.  His life will be defined by that show, and the lives of his children too.  When SG Jr. goes to first grade and the kids go around in a circle telling what mommy and daddy do every day at work, he's gonna say "My daddy is the Survivor Guy."  I mean that poor man could cure AIDS ten years from now in between filmings and he'd still be the SG first.  That's how messed up our culture is.  If there were reality shows in the early-middle part of the 20th century and Jonas Salk created the pilot for the would be pioneer his obituary would read something like this:  Jonas Salk, age 79, died yesterday of natural causes while in the care of his wife and children.  Salk is best remembered for the creation of the spaceage television show Joe Thousandaire, which led to the boom of many other shows of the same ilk across network TV.  Ohh by the way, kids no longer have to wear leg braces because the poor son of a bitch wasted the early part of his life as a researcher and just so happened to cure polio.    I'm headed home this weekend.  That's 2 for 2 for anyone that might be counting (i'm sure you're not).  Last weekend was definitely fun as I got to see lots of people that I missed dearly.  Saw my first PSU football game and that was certainly enjoyable as well.  Such school spirit; it just doesn't exist on the same level here.  The weekend ended...interestingly.  But that's another entry and another 5000 words altogether.  Moncman is comin up so we are gonna try to play golf on Sunday.  I'd say that of all the things I miss in life golf has to be one of the top 3 for sure.  It's the reason i'm gonna go somewhere that's warm all the time for graduate school.  Then I wouldn't play poker as much and I'd get outside...it'd be awesome if I could play up here but there's just no way it could work.  It's really quite a pity because I wanna get good at it before I have double sciatica, a creaky elbow, and cataracts in my right eye.  We'll see.    As for poker, welllll...let's just say I'm gonna be taking a break.  Some absolutely UNBELIEVABLE stuff goin on.       What else, what else....ahh well Luke is a TA for Freshman Studies and he asked me to go and talk to all the ickle freshies today and I did and it was pretty fun actually.  Maybe that's just because it was the first thing I've done out of hte ordinary in forever but I think I might try to be one next fall.  You get $500 for the book store so that would prolly cover almost two semesters for me, which is always nice.     Yeah so I like OChem and all, especially lecture b/c my professor is the man.  He's real fruity and stuff and it's a toss up as to whether he's really gay or not (i'm voting yay) but it's hilarious every time he messes up in class so I don't mind going at all.  There is one thing that just irks me to the core about it though.  Her name is Nikki and he she sits in the front row and asks every question imaginable.  Like what if there's a lot of energy from somewhere else in some other reaction, would there be enough to break the C-F bond and make Flourine a good leaving group?  Sweet, let's ask the hardest possible questions that aren't even in the book so as to confuse every person who is on the fence to start, not to mention introduce content to the class that the professor was never gonna mention in the first place but now is fair game.  Real sweet hun.  You're such a peach.    I'm beat.  I miss Ian.  I miss Latini.  I miss Michael.  I miss Milano.  I miss Golde's British jokes.  I miss Bridge...a lot.  I really miss have something to hope for.    Dunbar loved shooting skeep because he hated every minute of it and the time passed so slowly.  He had figured out that a single hour on the skeet shooting range with people like Havermeyer and Appleby could be worth as much eleven-times-seventeen years.      "I think you're crazy," was the way Clevinger had responded to Dunbar's discovery.      "Who wants to know?" Dunbar answered.      "I mean it," Clevinger insisted.      "Who cares?" Dunbar answered.      "I really do.  I'll even go so far as to concede that life seems longer i---"      "---is longer i---"      "---is longer---Is longer? All right, is longer if it's filled with periods of boredom and discomfort b---"      "Guess how fast?" Dunbar said suddenly.      "Huh?"      "They go," Dunbar explained.      "Who?"      "Years."      "Years?"      "Years," said Dunbar.  "Years, years, years."      "Clevinger, why don't you let Dunbar alone?  Yossarian broke in.  "Don't you realize the toll this is taking?"      "It's all right," said Dunbar magnanimously.  "I have some decades to spare.  Do you know how long a year takes when it's going away?"      "And you shut up also," Yossarian told Orr, who had begun to snigger.      "I was just thinking about that girl," Orr said.  "That girl in Sicily.  That girl in Sicily with the bald head."      "You'd better shut up also," Yossarian warned him.      "It's your fault," Dunbar said to Yossarian.  "Why don't you let him snigger if he wants to? It's better than having him talking."      "All right.  Go ahead and snigger if you want to."      "Do you know how long a year takes when it's going away?" Dunbar repeated to Clevinger.  "This long,"  He snapped his fingers.  "A second ago you were stepping into college with your lungs full of fresh air.  Today you're an old man."      "Old?" asked Clevinger with surprise.  "What are you talking about?"      "Old."      "I'm not old."      "You're inches away from death every time you go on a mission.  How much older can you be at your age?  A half minute before that you were stepping into high school, and an unhooked brassiere was as close as you hoped to get to Paradise.  Only a fifth of a second before that you were a small kid with a ten-week summer vacation that lasted a hundred thousand years and still ended too soon.  Zip!  They go rocketing by so fast.  How the hell else are you ever going to slow time down?"  Dunbar was almost hungry when he finished.      "Well, maybe it is true," Clevinger conceded unwillingly in a subdued tone. "Maybe a long life does have to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long.  But in that event, who wants one?"      "I do," Dunbar told him.      "Why?" Clevinger asked.      "What else is there?"         Current Mood: disappointed Current Music: Norah Jones (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 26th, 2004
11:20 pm	This weekend was interesting.  It was interesting in a totally atypical way, but I enjoyed it simply because it was different.  I have such a hard time trying to find equilibrium between a steady routine and a healthy balance of change that sometimes something that shouldn't strike my fancy at all does so a great deal.  Anyway....    Tyson and I were out eating some Chinese buffet meal and we both came to the conclusion that we are slowly evolving into reclusive hermits.  Normally I would be depressed and befuddled about this sort of thing, but as we sat and talked about our newfound idiosyncracies, we both realized how little it bothered us that we spend so much time in our singulars.  Of course I've been through this kind of phase before, way back in high school for a fairly long stretch, but I think the somewhat lonely living is completely new to him.  I just really enjoy sitting in my room and listening to music and thinking.  Otherwise im either reading/studying, playing cards online or playing the occasional Xbox session.  And that's fine with me.   That's my routine.    We did come to the conclusion, however, that if we keep it up we are going to be thoroughly miserable when winter gets here and we can't really be social even if we want to.  So we kind of made a pact to ask each other to go along anytime one of us feels like seeing other people's faces or the light of day.  Goes along with the equilibrium thing again.  Who knew homeostasis was so hard?     Other happenings include Luke and I deciding to speak to each other in Spanish as much as possible, Nater running a PR by some sick amount of time like 43 seconds the other day (very well done sir), and me deciding to go home two weekends in a row during October.  They're gonna be sweet though.  Penn State game on the 9th w/Lins and maybe? homecoming game at old HBurg that Friday.  If not it'll just be awesome to see my family again.  I miss Grant especially.  And then the following week Moncman is coming home and we're gonna play some golf.  I really wish that I could play up here.  That's gonna be a serious requirement for grad school.    Looking to the future, it appears that I will be spending my entire week at the library.  During that period you can reach me most easily at the following mailing address: Levi DeLozier, Hillman Library, 1st Floor Right Side, 2nd Row 2nd Circular Table, 4100 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15213.  Packages and Starbucks coffee are thoroughly appreciated. Ford needs to get up here soon.  I miss that kid. Is it weird that when you see someone that you considered your good friend like 6 years ago around the 8th grade part of your life at the age of 19 that you both pretend like you didn't see the other when you walk past?  Maybe it's not so much weird as it is wrong.  Just seems stupid.  I'll have to correct that piece. I've decided that I'm going to take Intro to Piano next semester.  I really want to learn how to play Fur Elise, that's on the lifelong To Do List, so I figure I better start now while I still have full dexterity and manage to fulfill my music requirement in the process.  I'm getting to bed.  It's gonna be a hell of a week.  But then, I guess every week is.  "NO BRAKES!" - Dane and I, all summer               Current Mood: pleased Current Music: Coldplay (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 21st, 2004
2:00 am	Back to School Entry  Alright, so I moved in over three weeks ago...surely everyone can look past this shortcoming, right?    Anyway, this semester is off and running, and running fast at that.  After a week or so of syllabus days and a few more weeks of getting into the swing of things, we are now at full steam and I'm starting to feel the burn to some extent.  The first batch of midterms is starting to poke its ugly head(s) over the horizon.  As always the AEPA (Association of Evil Professors Anonymous) has managed to schedule three of my tests on the same day in a three hour period.  Sweet.  But I figure that I have plenty of cram catch up time, and cramming is what I do best.  So no real worries.  Yet.    There have been some awesome times to be had so far here at Pitt.  The most recent and most prominent was seeing Jerry Seinfeld at the Benedum Center this weekend past.  Lindsey came up (yay!) to see the show with me and it was absolutely hilarious.  The guy that opened for Jerry, Tom Pappa, was also really good.  My jaw hurt from laughing so hard by the end of the night.  The Zerbee brothers also came up this weekend so I got to see Ray that very same night.  It's always good to see old friends again.    Barrett is now at Pitt.  The fact that I get to one of my absolute best friends nearly every day instead of hardly ever at all calls for a boisterous cheer.  We have a class together and it's just nice to relive the procrastination and in-class knocking of the teacher/professor that we did all through junior high and high school.  Nater came up with Conway a couple weekends back to go to the football game and to party.  Conway managed to forget that he wasn't in Latrobe anymore and was carrying beer all over town with cops driving by.  Everyone that met them found them to be a little strange and eccentric, but of course we already knew that. Latini and Ian came and visited us, albeit unexpectedly and completely out of the blue, one weekend too.  We just went to dinner and walked around for a while, but it was awesome to see those two since I saw them so little during this calendar year.  We have yet to make the road trip that will unite the gang again in a common location, but I can only hope that said day will come in the near future.  I miss the recessive pogrom.    Seeing everyone from school that I missed all summer has been hot.  I didn't realize how much I missed the little nuances that can only come from the kind of individuals that you can never find at home but find in plenty at school.  With the notable exception of Ford's absence, everyone is back and the same as ever.  The 14th floor of Tower L is always a good time, whether I'm just hanging out in the singular, playing Wallball and Mario Kart, or having Luke pound on my door at some completely random hour for some completely random reason.  The poker crew is still goin strong; the degeneration has progressed over the summer.  Gotta love it.    Well that's a brief summation of things since I've gotten here.  Add a few good nights of partying, what has been all in all a great month weather-wise and some fine Pittsburgh dining and you have almost all of it.  I'm sure more will come up later.    Now a few things that make me laugh/piss me off/make me think: Three words that I just love to hear but hardly ever get the chance to use: akimbo, ligature, dubbed If you live on the 2nd floor of a 14 floor building, why do you have to take the damn elevator to the ground floor? You shouldn't even take it from the ground to the 2nd floor.  Yet, somehow, the one time a week where I'm running slightly behind someone has to trot their lazy ass onto the elevator en el segundo piso.  This is the reason why people are fat. When it is rainy and you have an umbrella, you now take up much more space than the width of your shoulders.  You can't walk in the middle of the sidewalk without compromising the eyeballs of the person coming in the other direction.  Adjust the placement of your footsies appropriately. I got to talk to Katie Gray yesterday...she's in Italy.  I'm jealous.  I can't wait to travel again and see all the fabulous things the rest of this place has to offer, things she is seeing and doing daily and maybe even as you read this.  I'm sure shes makin the most of it though :)   Today was an awesome day.  I woke up feeling surprisingly good, with a newfound vigor for just getting out of bed.  It was a strange yet gratifying emotion.  I thank God for it because I was in need of a shove like that.  Then I got an e-mail from my Australia roommate who I hadn't heard from in ages and found him well and good.  I'm hoping Barrett wants to make his way up to Boston sometime this year so I can see old Billy again.  Me and Malone then went to play cards, some 5-5 NL.  I didn't make out all that great considering I ran cold and  was there for like 5+ hours but it was fun and I learned some things, which is always a plus.  And he made out like a bandit so it felt like a victory for me too in a way.  I kinda coined a new term too which I enjoy.  The guys there were calling me a rock over and over because I folded seemingly all night, and Malone kept chiming in with "Pretty tight" and "Only the nuts," to which I responded one time with "Hell yes.  Rock city makin' lock city." That was a good laugh.  I don't think the guys were amused that I was studying OChem while they were playing and doing ok while they pissed away hundreds of dollars.  Damn young bucks. I put up some new pictures on Webshots so check them out if you like.  There's a link in my profile. I miss my family.  I know....that probably sounds pretty nuts for those of you who know me well but it's true.  I think I'll be home in a few weeks so that should provide me a good chance to see them all again and just remind that they are there and should be a more prominent part of me and my life. That's all I got.  Goodnight.  I love you dad. " I got a shirt that has an anteater on it.  I just thought you'd like that." - Nate Sylvester, via telephone, 19 September 2004            Current Mood: energetic Current Music: Counting Crows - American Girls and Punchline - Weekends (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 25th, 2004
10:33 pm	Alright, I'm pissed. My comp just shut down as I tried to update this piece with a freakin long entry. By the way, this is the SECOND time this has happened in the past week. Greatness. I hate this computer. Get me back to school NOW. For those of you who may be wondering, my entry was primarily about the great time I had in Kentucky and on the way to and from with some fantastic people, and the rest of the closing arguments of the trial that is my summer. There is just no way in hell I'm writing a third 5 page analysis though. It's a good thing that you, reader possessing intellect, have been blessed with an imagination. Ciao. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 17th, 2004
1:38 am	I Still Recall... Every summer night Like it was yesterday The time would never end And my friends were family It hath been a good summer all in all, I think. Lots of things to remember, some to forget, and still a few days where anything can and will happen. So here is my tribute list to some of the things I shall remember best from these past 4 months: "Jeremy, just go ahead and go around this detour." - Nate Sylvester HAHA! with thumbs up in annoying tone No brakes! Let's just go crazy Story of the Year 17th Street Sheetz Runs My first casino visit, a truly watershed moment. Exhibiting greatness, in poker form and otherwise. Captain, my favorite candy. "When people ask, especially women, what I do for a living, I tell them, 'I dig ditches bitches. I'm just damn good at it.'" - Uncle Stephen Playing golf without getting angry for a change. Finding out who will always be there for me, and who will just be there. Cutting my hair Afternoon delights * * * Hey thanks Thanks for that summer It’s cold where you’re going I hope that your heart’s always warm I gave you the best I gave you the best that I had You passed on the letters and passed on the best that I had Current Mood: content Current Music: Paul Oakenfold-Tranceport (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 5th, 2004
4:19 am	Hooray for Good Days Today was a good day and here is why: - 1st of the 3 days home alone - Chicken Parm - Peach Snapple - A sizeable poker profit - Finding that quote from the Madden 2005 commercial - Potential Pittsburgh visit on Saturday Here's to good days. (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 2nd, 2004
11:00 pm	A Much Needed Returrn... Well it has been quite some time since I have posted (It's great to be back, Johnny), but alas my urge and need to vent in writing has overcome me and here we are. Or here you are, where I was at the time you see above. Anyway, regarding what just about any intellectual could venture a guess at, and I will count you toward that group, I didn't just feel like writing on here again all of the sudden. I am a man of motivation; when it is there I get things done but when it is not I go and look for it elsewhere. Events have transpired in my life this summer that I want to write about, not for anyone else but for myself because I need an outlet other than punching walls and cursing my own existence under my breath. Once again, here we are. * * * I was so happy to be back from school. There was still a week left in April and I was gonna be home for 4 whole months! Imagine the elation that comes with 17 weeks sans tests, 8 am labs, and dirty, obnoxious roommates. I was the textbook definition of pumped. But immediately it was as if something was missing. I don't know what it was exactly even now, as I have been suffering from the same malady ever since I first realized it had impressed itself upon me, but there is a huge gaping hole within me that I have the most urgent desire to fill. To be sure, I put a lot of thought into it. Was it my lack of communication with old friends? Could falling out of touch with people really have that profound of an effect on me? Was it time to *gasp* find someone to love? Were my family troubles so bad that they had slowly crept to a peak that I could no longer surmount? Was poker becoming too big a part of my life? Was God becoming too little? I asked myself all of these things, over and over again. And what I found was that the only thing that really made sense to me was the last one I mentioned. I remember during the first semester of school and into the spring after I retured from Australia there were many, many times where I would just be sitting at my desk in my room, doing homework, reading, listening to music (Fall Out Boy stands out). Something would just overcome me and I'd start laughing and sometimes even start crying because I was so happy with my life. Just look at the picture of me at the top of this post. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about how I felt. It was absolutely amazing and I'll never forget the purity of emotion that guided my steps from day to day during that period. Then, mystically and all too suddenly, one day it wasn't there anymore. I think a lot of things contributed to the change: Ben's passing, the realizations that I'd be leaving some great friends behind for the summer and that I'd be returning to people who were no longer as good a friends as before, falling away from Bridgee slowly and then completely, and just feeling like God's work was there for me to do but I couldn't get a grasp on what it really was. Since then I've tried to fix a lot of those problems, and there were many more than listed above, and I've failed in some spots where I have succeeded in others. I did decide that I was going to try to get closer to God again and I feel I have done well at that by getting away from some of the things that haunted me in the past like drinking too much and being rude to my mother and father and cruel to my siblings. My relationships at home had gotten a lot better and Marika, Isaac, Grant and we get along a whole lot better with one another than before I went away last year. Mother and I have always been close and we remain that way, with the occasional bump that can only be expected between a mother and her 19 year old son who is trying to milk the most out of life. Going back to work was a real burn this summer. I have to say that there were times, and this from the very first week, that I just resented being there and felt like it was a total waste. Dane and I got to hang out and bullshit every day which was awesome, but the fact that we were there because we had to be and not because we wanted to be was a big adjustment to make after 9 months of free reign over the city of Pittsburgh. And in between improvement at work we had some really fantastic times at the Preakness and at the beach, two occasions that I'll not soon forget and can only hope will be repeated in the future. Eventually we did get out on the job where my one hunger that festered at GLD finally began to be satiated: learning. Instead of finding out where we keep the damn tack oil and 3/4" hose clamps in the shop I was actually seeing how shit got done, which was a more than welcome change. Rather than digging ditches in relatives' gardens, I was actually doing something that I could look on with a sense of accomplishment when it was all finished. It might not sound like much, but it really meant a lot to me because it gave me a little bit of a reason to get out of bed each day which had always been such a trial before. Around the same time there was some even greater source of inspiration, but I'll get to that later. Sure I had to deal with more uncles with orders, and my father too, but Dane and I actually felt important, at least that's how I saw it, and he and I became closer this summer and a lot of that has to do with all the stuff we did together at work in my opinion. But of course Robert Frost and Murphy got together and decided to wreak havoc on my little jaunt back to satisfaction, and the gold I was earning was no longer worth it because what could go wrong finally did. I am not going to say that my relationship with my dad has ever been remotely close to perfection. He and I have had some verbal battles that would impress the lesser of the Titans, battles that sometimes went beyond words. But in recent years it's just gotten worse. I just don't know how anyone can get by from day to day on what seems like such a joyless life. The freakin man is never happy for more than a 10 minute stint. And I'm not the only one to notice these things as there have been others whose observations are in accordance with my own. I want so bad for him to be happy and to treat my mother like the quality of women she is, tier 1, but there has to be something missing in his life that is a canyon compared to my miniature breach. I just don't know how to approach him to find out what it is, and apparently no one else does either. It's a quandary and no mistake. He's too defensive to admit that there is something is wrong and even if one is astute enough to point out a glaring fault then it will only get turned right back on his head as all his own inadequacies will be brought to light. Either that or Mark D. will mumble under his breath and walk briskly and loudly through the front door. It's brutal to watch and so is he, and thus one of the biggest problems remains unsolved. And so at the same time when work was just starting to grind me down, something else came along and made all my worries drift away. Until next time... Current Mood: frustrated Current Music: Oakenfold, FOB, (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 7th, 2004
12:48 am	Spring Break Has Finally Arrived   So I'm home for break now and I'm already wanting to go back to school.  I know that probably seems horrible, and it is definitely awesome to see peopl;e that I've missed (although not so awesome to see some people that I haven't missed at all), but I just like being at Pitt so much more than here in Hollidaysburg.  The only real quality thing so far that I've done here that I couldn't do there (besides being with a few select friends whose company is always appreciated) is spend time with my brothers and talk with my mom.  It's just the whole grandeur of being free and having no one to answer to that I love and have come to depend on.  This summer could be rough by the end of the four months in that regard.      But it is break, which means I really have no legitimate cause for complaint.  I had a pretty lousy time during the week prior and am just glad to be feeling a little better and not having to suffer through class wondering if I'm going to have to dash out in order to project my vomit at something other than the unlucky chum sitting next to me.  While I did discover what could possibly develop into my new favorite sandwich for all times (The Pronto Buffalo Chicken Sub, replacing Joe Mama's Chicken Breast Tomato Pesto) it was just a drab, down kinda week.     Last night Dane, Gore, Kailee, Ali and I went up to Saint Francis College to watch the Altoona girls play for some reason that still has not been made known to me.  Drop me a memo if you can solve this perplexing query for me.  After watching Kristi Little absolutely dominate, we came back to the 'Burg and met up with Barrett and Maria at Friday's which was a fine treat.  It's also good to see Brer and this time was no exception.  He's looking good with his hair buzzed and I think I am going to follow suit with the way my hair has been annoying the living hell out of me lately.  He's headed back to Boston which sucks, but we have a summer filled with unfathomable amounts of lunicism ahead so I'm still a happy camper.  We had some fine dessert there then went to Chamberlain's where they were having a party.  Got to see some friendly faces that I have missed there as well and after a while we were off to Dawson's to see even more fine people.  It's so nice that people decide to gather in groups to perform activities and share entertainment.  Makes catching up with all your buddies exponentially more easy.    Today was another good day as I woke up to give blood at BG, only to find that you needed an ID, which I had conveniently forgotten, so I slept in Bridget's car for two hours instead and read Josh Beckel's Genetics Project for Stevens, which was in her back seat, probably by some odd twist of circumstance.  Stevens is retiring after this year and I must say that I will be sorry to see the guy go.  He was without doubt one of the finer educators I have ever encountered and I would have liked for Isaac to share that same experience, but even good things must pass in time and his tenure certainly falls under that category.     Anyway, after listenng to some classic rock in Bridget's car and seeing the wonderful Stacey K, Aunt Denise awoke me with a gentle tapping just above the Alero door and I went and hung out with Dane and then we went to the mall where I did some good spending.  A few hats, a book, and some clothing later, and my money was all but gone from my once deep pockets.  Then I saw these awesome shirts in AO and was so tempted to buy one or even two but they were like 80 bucks each.  Maybe I will give into temptation next time I'm there.    After shopping we got a food buff then went to see Passion of the Christ with Bridget and Nick.  See it if you haven't been able to make it yet.  It is an experience.    We got pizza afterwards, hung out and talked, and then I came home to watch Duke beat North Carolina.  They did of course, but I'm still not feeling real confident about a deep run into the tourney for them.  They are just too shaky sometimes, and if they come up against a team equipped with more than one quality big guy (i.e Pitt, Cincy, Gonzaga) and a defender that can shut down Redick,  I just don't see them getting the job done.    So I'm headed to Myrtle on Wednesday to see my boys Griep and Genter.  Me, Diddy, Falce, Jen, Hersh, and Elise will be making the trek.  Should be a crazy good time.  I'm just excited to chill in the backseat of a car and walk around the beach free of care and worry for a couple a days, a la Sr. Week.  That week was seriously one of the better feeling I've had over a period of days because we just worried about nothing at all and did whatever came to our minds.  It'd be nice to do it over again this week, and if it doesn't happen we can always try again this summer.    Work is going to suck this summer.  I really think it is going to be incredibly difficult for me to adjust to people bossing me around after doing my own thing when and where I have wanted to for so long.  The money will be nice of course, and I will find good uses to put it to of course (though I can't think of anything at the moment, drop me another memo if you can think of something useful I should buy this summer, books and clothes maybe), but like I said it's gonna do some seriously grinding on my nerves for a while.  On the bright side, Dane will be getting his apartment in Pittsburgh, so we will make a few trips up there and maybe I'll make a trip or two to see some friends from school.  So there are things to look forward, beyond not having to trudge up the hill to Chevron for 8 AM Chem lab.     Anyway, I'm beat so it is bed time.  I promise to post some deeper thoughts here next time and actually ponder a few things worth reading about.  Piece Levi "Los estudents say Cecilia es bitchy.  Cecilia is not bitchy." - Cecilia Carrizo, 25 February 2004 Current Mood: sleepy Current Music: LotR Soundtrack (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 29th, 2004
11:20 pm	A Much Needed Update Hey folks, I know it has been a while since I've written here but things have been busy. The past few days:    Late Thursday night I made my way down to the lobby to get some tea to keep me awake while I was studying.  I see this girl I know named Ali and start talking to her and she says that she's meeting up with Luke to go out for the night.  I call Luke and find out that Imler and their buddy Tre is going too, so I decide to change my plans and go out with them.  The party we went to was OK, nothing extraordinary whatsoever.  There was this really drunk kid there stumbling around and yelling "I'm Rick James!" which was hilarious.  People kept handing him drinks and he just kept chugging them and consquently falling harder and harder onto couches and the ground.  They did have this contest where people could earn "dollars" by doing various embarrassing and over-the-top activities in order to win a big bottle of Asti champagne.  At the end of the night, these two girls had the same amount of pseudo-dollars and got in a big catfight about who was going to get the bubbly.  The one ended up flying up the stairs and out the door with the bottle with the other girl and her friends hot on her heels.  High comedy at the Pitt party scene.    Friday I had class and then played poker for most of the afternoon followed by, thats right, more poker that night.  Myself and three guys I play with fairly regularly here made a trip to United to play in this tournament and side games that were going on there.  It's a weekly thing that goes on all over the Western side of the state in and around Pittsburgh.  It was a good experience, probably not worth the amount of money that I lost, but I definitely learned a few valuable things that will serve me well later on should I continue to attend.  We didn't leave until 630 am and it took an hour to get back so I didnt get to sleep until going on 8.     I woke up around 1 and realized that it was Punchline day!  Nick called me a little while later and informed me that he and Jeffrey had secured tickets and were making their way up that afternoon.  Dane came over and chilled out beforehand and we watched the new DVD and listened to the CD a few times through.  Then he had a MickeyD's craving so we made our way over there with Becky, Erica, and Colls.  Nick was getting into town around that time so I went to meet him and his bro.  We met up at Primanti's and I had some Ragin Cajun goodness full with plenty of hot sauce.  I'm still feeling it today but it's always worth it.  The doors to the show didn't open for a while so we walked around and then finally made our way to Laga for the big event.  We were all pretty pumped and excited because we knew we were all gonna go nuts before the night was over.  Turns out that 'nuts' doesn't really sum it up.    We saw O'Connor there and said hey to a couple of the guys in the band as the night progressed.  There were four bands playing before Punchline, the first two of which weren't really entertaining at all but Don't Look Down and A Week in July were pretty good.  I thought so anyway.  Rendell's son plays bass for DLD and was hilarious, cracking jokes all the time between songs.  Punchline finally made their way out around 10 and the place just went crazy.  All night there were 100 people or so actually dancing around and moshing in the front but as soon as the main attraction came out the entire floor became a giant beating pulse equivalent to a hyperventilating mouse's aortic contractions.  We had managed to make our way up front and immediately became much closer with one another and the other people around us in a physical sort of way when the entire crowd made a huge push towards the front.  The inability to control your own motion for an extended period of time makes for discomfort.  But that's really what it's all about at a show like that.  They ended up playing a bunch of songs from the new album and some classic older songs like Stop, Play, and I Don't Know.  They also played three final songs, saying they were done once, deciding to play another one, leaving and then coming back to play another.  My favorite part of the night was when they busted out into Bohemian Rhapsody at the end of one of the songs.  It made my night.   We all took stock of our condition after the show and found that all wear (outer, inner, and under) was soaked through with sweat.  I guess it was a good feeling, knowing that we had sacrificed full breaths of air and enough water that our hair may hurt the following morning just to see our favorite band rock out at a great place.  I'd do it again tomorrow.    Today I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by something much bigger than my Primanti's sandwich and struggled out of bed around 2.  I messed around, being unproductive, and made it to mass at 6 with Luke, Becky, and Erica and the new vicar at the Cathedral proved to be a very likeable fellow.  Then I had some dinner and watched Duke, ESPN Dream Job and did a bunch of nothing.  Such an exciting day.    Spring Break is less than a week away so  I'll accept a lack of excitement right now because its about to get rowdy. Real Rowdy. Why?    I'm Rick James.  Biatch. Krystie (first time drinking): "Guys, how do you know when you're drunk?"  Everyone: "Uhh you just kinda start doing things you wouldn't do normally." Krystie: "Well, I just want to let you all know that I love you."  Me: "Yeah, that's one of the things." - Sydney Harbor, Opera Bar, 8 January 2004     Current Mood: sore Current Music: Silvio Rodriguez-Ojala (Comment on this)
Monday, February 23rd, 2004
11:16 pm	My Last First Monday in an Age Ending in 'Teen The highlight of my day today was An Evening with Dan Patrick presented by the Pitt Program Council.    For those of you that are unaware Dan Patrick is one of the regular anchors on Sportscenter and has been on ESPN since about the time I was born. I used to wake up to this guy talking about baseball in like 3rd grade. So it was definitely an exciting thing for me to go to. Turns out that the guy is just hilarious. He spoke about his opinions regarding sports personalities, teams, organizations, and policies with reckless abandon. Here are a few highlighted quotes from the evening:    "When Olbermann went to FOX he said that they were going after us (as the top network for sports) and I told him 'You better pack an f'n lunch brother.'"    "I didn't want to meet them (my sports heroes). I mean you grow up idolizing these people and then you expect them to be superhuman in person like they have been in your dreams. I remember meeting Larry Bird and then later on I'm having a beer with him and he's calling me an asshole, and you sort of like those things to happen. It's just weird."    This next one comes from an anecdote from an interview with O.J. Simpson:    OJ: One time a guy offered me 4 million dollars to make a porno in Vegas. Real money, right there. Said the two girls were waiting in the hotel room next door. That's how messed up my life is.    Dan: No, you murdered your wife. That's how messed up your life is.    Haha. Yeah, so it was definitely an entertaining hour and a half. I knew I was in for a good time when he walks in wearing a suit and tie, then takes those and his shirt off to reveal an Oakaland Zoo T-shirt. Swell guy.    School was normal today as was everything else. Spring Break is now only 11 days away. 11 freakin days til pure and utter bliss.    I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of people during that time. And I think that thought is a good way to end this post.    Levi    "Everyone has to believe in something...I believe I'll have another drink." - W.C. Fields, courtesy of Backo Current Mood: mellow Current Music: Police-Roxanne (Comment on this)
12:20 am	A Much Needed Update Hi folks. I know it has been a while since I have written here and I am sorry for that. I have been a busy as a bee. A proverbial beaver. I'm going to talk about this weekend because it was one to remember. I hitched a ride home with Dane and Denise on Friday and ended up sleeping for 6 hours when I got home. I felt so bad! My mom made dinner for me and I missed it. It seems like this always happens and I really need to put an end to it. I love my mom so much but at times I feel like she doesn't realize it because myself and the rest of my family doesn't express it to her enough and I think she really needs to hear it and feel it more than she lets on. Something to keep in mind over spring break. So after my long nap I sat up listening to Five Iron Frenzy twice through and just thinking until I could pass out again. There isn't enough time to do that here at school. Sit and think, ponder all the things that have been going on in life and realize how much you have been messing up, how much farther you need to go in order to be a truly good person. I slept in late on Saturday and eventually Dane and I made our way down to Juniata College. TSiss had a basketball game so we went down in the mid-afternoon to see that. His parents and sisters were there and we conversed with them and saw a bunch of other people we knew including Emma, Lauren, the wonderful Liz G, Amie Park, Janelle, the McConnell Family and some others. They won the game which was cool; we figured it would lead to a good night of festivities and we would later be proven to right in our assumptions. After that we went to pick up Nater at Water Street and made our way to the Main Street Cafe for some fine cuisine. The crew was Me, Dane, Nater, Liz Ward, Trav, Dawson and their buddy Davis who turned out to be a fine fellow. After a fine meal of wings but some surprisingly disappointing Chicken Parmesan sandwich style, we made our way back to campus with a grocery store stop on the way. We pre-gamed in Nick's room. Gotta love Nick. He's the man and I can't say enough about him being a good guy to me over the years. Kissell was there as well and Nick's cousin Justin. That made for high comedy I assure you. All that I am going to say is that it was a crazy night that I will not soon forget. Nater and I felt so priveleged to be there and be a part of it because there were certainly some watershed moments that will never be duplicated. Wow. We met up with some really cool people like the T Lee, Liz G's roommate and buddy, and the majority of the bball team. Everyone was quite friendly. I like the Juniata environment. At least on weekends. If you want some more detail you can ask me or check you could also check out some pictures at my webshots page. Theaddress is as follows: http://community.webshots.com/user/lennytheduck Now I'm back at school and ready for another week of semi-interesting learning activities and really only looking forward to 12 days from now when break begins and I can just forget everything for a full week instead of a just short weekend. Myrtle Beach. Oh yes. Thank you to everyone who remembered my birthday! It's nice to hear from friends and family alike :) I think I will be liking my final year as a teengager. Yeah...i think so. Pleasant everything. Levi "The rent is up because we own this motherfucker!" - Brad Kissell Current Mood: happy Current Music: Dashboard (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 17th, 2004
4:17 am	Righhht OK, just one thing I want to say about today, other than the fact that i got a 96 on my Calc test -BOOM- This is an actual quote from an actual person. These words were really and truly uttered. "If someone beats up your mom, you have the right to beat up their mom back." "Nah man, you don't do that. You kick their dog." Have a great week. Juniata on Friday!! Levi Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: silence (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 15th, 2004
10:04 am	Welcome to the post to end all posts.  I'm just going to warn you right now that if you don't have at least 10 minutes to spare then you may as well hit the little 'back' button on your computer (or on your mouse if you're all fancy shmancy like me) because you are in for a bit of reading covering all aspects of this forlorn yet lovable universe.  You've been forewarned.    Let's start with the most recent events in my life and that means Friday and Saturday.  Well we can start with class for that day.  First was Chem where we got our tests back from Wednesday.  98% baby.  I'm rich biatch!  Then Calc where Angela didn't have our tests yet but that was cool cuz she had a bunch of Calc 2 exams to grade also.  We started vectors and I'm such a huge Physics fan that I just can't wait until we cover all aspects of this topic (smug and sarcastic expression now on Levi's face).  Spanish was fairly normal, but Cecilia whipped out some crazy good quotes.  Here's one:  "The verb is the king of the sentence.  What can we do with this king?"  Yes, she actually said that.  Now you can see why I don't mind going to class.  Of course she always stares me down when I bust out lauhging in the middle of her discertations but it's a price I'm willing to pay for the entertainment value.   So I go back to my room and try to get some sleep but the kid next door was blasting who knows what on his mammoth stereo so it took me forever to reach divine slumbervention so eventually I just say screw it and decide it is time to go get my hair cut.  I go and wait like half an hour and then get my usual 'inch and a half off" and walk out satisfied with my refreshed follicular look.     Then it was off to Pizza Milano for dinner.  Este lugar es un institucion de comida para mi.  I absolutely love it there.  They have this amazing chicken parmigiana sub and of course chicken parm is my favorite meal of food so I can never pass up a chance to go over there.  Dane got his usual College Special, which is comprised of a large pizza and a large drink.  They also have a ton of amazing beer signs in that place.  Owning even one would be an accomplishment.  Afterwards we went and chilled in his room for a while and watched some of the All-Star weekend festivities then made our way back to Pitt for the truly festive events.     Backo got some champagne and me, him, and Matt enjoyed that in his room before making our way up to Pika with Smeagol.  It was certainly a disappointment when we walked in and saw not one female body in the whole place.  Eventually things shaped up though and it turned out to be an ok time.  Saw some people we knew and just hung out and bs'ed the whole time.  Around 1230 or so we took off, Dane headed back to DU and I crashed for the night.    Then the next day came, Saturday.  You know, the day after Friday.  I slept in quite late for once and then we played cards in the afternoon.  We got some dinner at Quizno's; the subs there are fabulous.  Oven-toasted, wow.  Then we played some limit poker in the lounge as we were getting ready to go out for the night.  Dane came over again and eventually we made our way out around 10:30.  The rugby house was our destination A ton of people ended up being there, a lot of them that we knew which made it a real good time.  The place was incredibly packed in though and you had to bob and weave to make any headway in getting from room to room.  We ended up chilling for a long time just socializing like people at parties do.  Me, Dane, Backo, John, Vinny, Russell and Paul went to Primanti's afterwards for our usual late night sandwich.  Vinny decided that he was going to go look for his secret admirer on the 14th floor after we got back to the Tower so we went around knocking on everyone's door asking if they knew him.  Funny stuff.  We started to watch Donnie Darko in the lounge but none of us made it through it.  We went to sleep around 4.     And now it's Sunday.  I am liking Sundays a little bit more now that my academic load has been lessened for the next month or so.  Normally they are the worst days of the week simply because something is always hanging over your head that you know you should be working on but that you never really get around to doing because you too deeply entrenched in lackadaisical groove that the weekends bring.  I woke up early because Dane wanted to be back and then messed around until church at noon.  I went to St. Paul this time around and it was cool because the choir sings at that time and they are incredible.  I walked back home and by that time the Pitt-UConn game was starting up.  This one was going to be monumental and I was really excited to see it.  A bunch of my friends were there at the game too so I was hoping to see them get a little air time on ABC.  Pitt definitely dominated UConn from the opening, which was very surprising, and put the hurt on the Huskies to avenge a loss earlier in the season.     Pitt is a strange team that I can't really figure out; I really don't think anyone can.  Everyone agrees that they are a very tough team and that is certainly true.  But there's just something about them and how they get the job done all the time.  They have a lot of guys that are good but not great; I'd say that Krauser is the only one you could really make a case for being really good because he's the only one who performs well every night.  It just seems like they have 5 or 6 guys who can have a strong night, and at least 2 or 3 of them do each time they go out there.  Except for their terrible team effort against Seton Hall where they had like 25 turnovers and that loss to UConn (who I really feel is the best team in the country by a long shot if they can get their shit together), they've brought their game every night using this tactic.  Whether its Jaron, Page, Chevy, Taft, or McCarroll, they just find a way.  It's really been that way for them the past couple years.  I mean I suppose you could make a case that Brandin Knight was a star, but I really don't feel that he was.  He was a great leader and exactly what their team needed but he had his shortcomings.  They are going to be a really tough out come tourney time.  The only way I really see them losing is if they play a bad game as a unit.    After the game Backo and I went to Lulu's for some Chinese after we found that Thai Place was closed on Sundays.  Lulu's didn't disappoint though and I have to say that it is now a toss up as to whose grub is better.  I came back and watched Maryland lose to NC because of a bs three by McCants. Maahhh!  Then Duke lost to NC State tonight.  Double Mahhhh!  I cannot wait until the tournament starts up.  It is so very unfortunate that will be during my second batch of midterms.  I'm going to have a huge dilemma on my hands.  I'm looking forward to dealing with it hahaha.    And that pretty much ends my weekend.  Pretty exciting, ay?  Now for some other things.  Or stuff.  What would you do in life without stuff?  Well for one you'd be stuffless, I know that much.  Some people would go nuts without their stuff.  Me? I'd just go and try to get some more stuff.  Like I said, here's some stuff I've got already.  Some of it's good and some of  it's bad, but about all of it you can be sure of one thing: it's stuff.    I started reading Slaughterhouse Five this weekend.  Its's a Vonnegut book and I'm really excited about it.  I've read two of his in the past, Galapagos in AP Lit and Breakfast of Champions on my own.  He's hilarious and gives excellent messages and intricately written plots at the same time.  I doubt you realize how rare that is in good literature. So pick something of his up if you're looking for a good read.     The other day I was thinking about how much I miss some things from my past.  I mentioned this in an earlier post and have continued to think about it since then.  The first and foremost thing is playing basketball.  Basketball, well sports in general, used to be my life.  We used to play like 4 or 5 games every week during Junior High in some league or another and then go play in tournaments for a couple weeks after the season was over.  Even elementary school was great, playing in at 5th Ward in Altoona when i was in 5th grade and playing for LVC with Freddy Piper coaching.  I mean I'll never forget that stuff.  That was back when we were damn good and the game was all about fun.  I miss just doing stuff for fun like that.  I mean it was competitive to be sure but everything is so serious when you get older.  I think part of that has to do with the way I have changed as a person since then but also because that's just how things are when you get into underwear sizes above children's medium.  I mean there are just so many things that I miss about basketball the whole way up:  Winning 55 games and only losing 3 in all of 8th grade, talking with Danny D about Playstation games and running crazy amounts of sprints, playing pickup at the Y every Friday night because that is just what you were supposed to do if you played bball, Nut League, Summer League at the Summitt, camp at Slippery Rock and especially Saint Francis with Tom McConnell.     So many good memories have come from all of that.  I think out of all of it though, tenth grade year would have to be the most vivid and lucid in my mind.  I've never had so much fun over such a long period of time with a group of people as I did then and, at times, I don't think I've ever really hurt as much either.  That year was the first with Coach Pentoney after Hetz left and I had just been tearing stuff up at the Summitt over the summer with Harris coaching.  I don't even know what came over me then but in that one league I averaged like 20 a game playing with the other JV boys.  I remember playing against Claysburg the one game and something just started clicking.  If you play sports or have in the past you know that Im talking about the zone.  For some reason everything just aligns and you're on fire.  Well this continued for a bunch of games.  I remember walking into the little kids camp at the Junior High the day after a game and Hetz coming up to me and saying he heard I pumped in like 25 and he was proud.  Two hours later he told us he was leaving for Altoona.  From there on basketball got real weird and since it was such a huge part of me at the time, my life did too.  Pentoney came and told us everything was going to change and it really did.  We all felt really good about the season, the two new players we had coming in, the new weight program, and just how we were going to stick it to that asshole that left us for our archrival.  Practices were tough but we were OK with doing them because we got so much cool shit and good treatment for how hard we worked.  We had good times, riding home on the buses after wins was always awesome and so were all the pregame and postgame meals we had.  And then we played Penns Valley. We lost to them and something in Mick just blew.  At the time I was having some trouble with school and things at home weren't really that great either and I recall that some of my friends and I weren't really as close because I'd been hanging out with some of the older guys on the team more and not really hanging out with them as much.  So it was an awkward time already.  We worked hard that year, every day in practice.  I still remember sitting in my locker after the varsity lost that game at home against PV.  He came in and just started screaming.  It was like he was having a breakdown.  He was talking about how we were terrible and how we had just wasted the whole season and now it was worth nothing.  Instead of something clicking, something snapped this time and I just started bawling.  I just sat there and cried.  I've never felt so bad at any time in my life.  Every last cord snapped and I had nothing left to hang onto.  Having bball every day was my rock, something I could hold onto even though my Chem project was destined for failure and my buddies from the year before no longer said hello to me in the halls when I walked past.  Now it was gone, I was caught in a wave and I have never been a strong swimmer.  I remember everyone pretty much packing up in silence and leaving one by one and I just continued to sit there.  Travis ended up talking to me and taking me home with his dad and Mr. Sefchok.  TSiss is a good kid, no matter what anyone says, and he and I have been through a whole lot together.  I can't wait until we both have kids someday and coach their teams in some biddy league.  I was still crying when I got home and got some more support from my parents.  Sometimes you just need to be loved and I'm so glad that when I really needed it that someone was there for me because if I had found myself alone at that point in my life I don't know where I would be now.  All that may not sound like much; I've certainly had it better than most and don't want to make it sound like I'm crying the blues or anything like that.  I love my life.  That just really changed me and sometimes I wonder whether the results and consequences of that experience were for better or for worse.  I ended up retiring after that season (that's right, RETIRED) and I can tell you right now there is nothing I regret in my life more than not playing bball for those last two years.  There were some great upsides to Soph year too, like playing for Coach Harris who is the absolute man in my book and beating Altoona by one when we shut them out in the 4th quarter and won on Brer's turnaround with liek 10 seconds left.  I'm glad I got through it.     The point of that whole story? I really don't know to be honest.  It's just something that I have wanted to say for a long time I suppose.  I guess sometimes you just play the what if game with yourself, wondering what things would be like if you had gone about making different decisions and taking different actions.  It's not a good game to get caught up in or dwell on but you just cant help but do it here and there.  Would I be a much more disciplined person if I had kept playing? Maybe.  It just seems that so much of who I am has been formed and sculpted from the last two years of my life that I can't really remember who I was before that.  I mean I had short hair.  That just says it all.    Alright well my random thought generator has been recharged and now I'm just going to blurt out some things that come to me or have come to me recently:   So i was walking home from church today, and these girls in front of me are walking slower than me, but not slow enough that I can make the pass around them.  Like I would have had to half jog to get around them so I was stuck behind them, at which time I was presented with a perplexing problem.  What is the correct walking spacing?  I mean is it like when you are in a car and you have that lame 4 second rule where you are supposed to spot a landmark, watch and see when the car in front of you passes it and see if it takes you 4 seconds to get to the same spot, otherwise you're tailing too close?  Is there like a two stride rule? Can anyone help me on this? These are the things that keep me up at night.   "Sometimes you just have to stick your fingers down your throat and do it for the cause" - Zach Griep Me: You really like to argue just for the sake of it dont you?  Backo:  What's the problem with that? Check out the AIM profiles for topspin103 and neomatt182 for some Tower A Superlatives If you're having troubles with the opposite sex, download Road to Recovery by Rufio (don't take this song literally, it'll get better) If you're having trouble with a long distance relationship, download Weekends by Punchline If youre having trouble with controlling your gas, you should probably stop eating bran I really need to make it to Joe Mama's sometime soon Thanks to Bridget Collins for the awesome package.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is nothing like getting stuff in the mail from friends while you are in school.  Nothing.  Except a purple nerple. That's also a very unique sensation. Had a good talk with Moncman tonight, recalling some of our high school shenanigans.  I was laughing so hard I started to cry.  Some of the stuff we did just boggles my mind now, even though it was only about a year ago. J Ford: Cmon Levi, you can wake up at 7 for breakfast then go back to sleep before your class.  It'll be better that way.  I've done it  Me: John, you skipped out the last time we were going to go to breakfast.   John: Aight so I made that up. So the other day I was eating dinner with my wife.  I meant to ask her to pass the butter but what i really said was, You bitch! You've ruined my life! My name is Yon Yonson.  I come from Wisconsin. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear I learn by going where I have to go.  - Roethke My generator has suffered a power shortage.  Apparenly it needs neuronal activity to function and my brain is just shot right now, so there ya go. Remember to love your Mondays like they're Fridays.  And to brush your teeth.  At least twice daily. Levi "You're killing your father Larry." - Walter Sopchak      Current Mood: hopeful Current Music: Rufio (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 13th, 2004
3:09 am	Listen.  Here's the thing: If you can't spot the sucker, in your first half hour at the table....then you are the sucker.    Wow what a crazy stretch of days this has been.  I thought Wednesday was going to be the worst day of my semester and it turned out to be one of the best.  I had 3 tests, and I managed to get an A on all of them.  Chem, Calc, Spanish...you got nothing on me.  Then, as if that wasn't enough, I took a nice 2 hour nap and then went to play poker on the Hill and won 100 bucks.  School is going to be so fabulous now for the next month or so.  I really don't any genuine academic committment to make until after Spring Break when my second round of midterms comes around.  So it looks like class every day and then leisure every night.  I love college.    The bad side to being out until 3:30 on Wednesday was that I had lab this morning at eight o'clock.  Mmm.  I was actually half delirious though and was talking really loud the whole time and enjoying myself fully.  I think the other people in lab might think I'm a little out there now but no biggie.  If you can enjoy yourself while you have goggles on and are huffing ammonia fumes at 9 o'clock in the morning you can enjoy anything.  Except living with a roommate who steals from 7-11.  After four hours of chromatograms and other time-consuming and utterly pointless mularkey, i returned to my room, where I decided that going to the rest of my classes would be equally fruitless.  So I borrowed Poolhall Junkies from Backo and watched it.  It was fantastic.   Definitely gonna buy it next time I'm in the DVD section.  Plus Christopher Walken is in it. He's Bruce Dickinson!  Then I slept for 4 hours to ease my depravation and went up the Hill again with Backo.  We both won again, with me taking about 50 this time around.  It was probably the craziest night of cards I've ever seen.  Half the people were drinking and just fighting back and forth the entire time and threatening to kick each others ass.  It was great and I just kept laughing and taking their money off them.  Had I actually seen some cards I know I could have made some real money but I'm still satisfied.  How could I not be after two days like that?    Another thing I did on Wednesday that i just now recalled was to go with Jen to check out this apartment her, Strann, and Tahlia were gonna get.  The place was awesome and is in North Oakland, which is definitely the nice part of town.  And its only a few blocks down from this nice little row of shops and the place with the best General Tso's chicken I have ever had.  And it turns out that Tahlia can't live there now, so Jen and Strann need a new roommate.  I am so torn whether to live with them or not; it is absolutely killing me.  I mean living in an apartment would be amazing and it only costs a little bit more than 2 semesters and we get it for the whole year.  I mean just think.  Summer parties, a fully stocked fridge all the time, a real kitchen, privacy, my own bedroom, no having to sign people in, living with two awesome friends.  That's be incredible.  I just don't want to leave the guys I planned on living with out to dry, but who knows if that will ever work out.  Ahhh, such a dilemma.  Final decision is pending.    Hmm what else.  Ohh I got a few wonderful messages today from people.  Bridgee IMed from Italy.  I miss that girl.  She's a dear and I'm excited to see her upon her return and just sit and listen to all the wonderful things she experienced.  Lana also said hello.  I miss Lana a lot too.  She's probably the most cheerful person I know and the quickest to laugh as well.  I wish I were as cheery and giddy as she is.  Also had a good conversation with Tahlia.  We're starting our own chain of Sheetz-like stores on the West Coast.  LevTah will be the new convenience store of choice.  Tomorrow should be an excellent day.  A couple classes, haircut, then Friday night activities.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Could be big, huge even.  I'm so pumped about my life being so fulfilling right now.  Men at Work only had it half right; Pittsburgh is also the land of plenty.    Other things:    The Darkness - March 31st - Club Laga - Nater and Pajak coming up, my buddies from school and I dressing up in suits and going nuts. This will be a weekend to remember for sure.    Matt Wells is the man.  Check out the DeadJournal link in his profile.  Here's a kid who I have always respected and whose company I've enjoyed but this appreciation has been redoubled with the reading of what he has to say.  George OrWells, great kid.    I'm pumped to chill with Dane this weekend and shoot the breeze.  Haven't been around that man in a while and we're usually doing everything together.  He's starting to become a freakin specimen too so I don't really worry at all when we're doing shit in the city.  Plus, Pizza Milano is money and we get it every time I go over there.    Many thanks to everyone who reads and comments on my journal entries.  Good stuff.  I'll start responding more and commenting on your own entries.  That'd only be fair to all of us.  I'm a team player.    My next post will involve something I've been thinking about a little bit lately and that is how much I miss and cherish some of the memories from before and during high school.  I'm sure I'll become so tangential and long-winded on this topic, and maybe even emotional, that I don't want to start on it here because I'd be typing til 6 am. But next time I'll go get em for the gipper.  Get the memories that is. Right.    I'm heading home in two weekends.  That's one week from tomorrow.  Dane is coming.  We're going to Juniata.  Huntingdon be warned.  But yeah I will be in town and I'd like to see anyone and everyone so give me a ring.   Valentine's Day:  You crazy kids who are together enjoy yourselves to the max.  I'm alright with not having a Valentine I think.  I mean it'd be cool to have a dinner date or something like that with someone I really like spending time with, but I'm not gonna worry that I have no such luxury on Saturday.  My current love is the poker table.  She is a conniving seductress, a succubus who haunts my dreams with stories of bad beats and ice-cold cards.  I doubt any woman would be cool with being second in importance to such an insidious devil.  Maybe that lady will come along who makes me rearrange everything though. Damn that would be swell.  Night. Sweet dreams and melodies - Adam Day "It's not so much me as it is Roenick. He's good." - Swingers Current Mood: calm Current Music: Toby Keith-I Love This Bar (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 10th, 2004
2:07 am	Beautiful Day, Wonderful Feeling Aight, gonna squeeze this one in despite the oversized workload that I am currently buried under. This is more important anyway. THIS WEEKEND (PAST):    Well I already talked about Friday and Saturday so that leaves Sunday. I woke up and made it to Heinz Chapel with Luke. It was my first time there. It's a beautiful church and they do a lot of the mass in Latin. Very cool; I think I might be going there more often. Plus it's a lot shorter walk than St. Paul's. I'm still a lethargian at heart ;-)    That afternoon I did some work with my boy Imler for our Chem test coming up and then it was time for poker preparation. Backo, John, Zach and I started with a pre-game meal at Primanti's. I had my usual, Ragin Cajun with plenty of hot sauce. 2 hours later I had my other usual, heartburn and flatulence galore. Then we walked up to the house and found that we were really early so we messed around and played some pool before it was time to get started.    40 dollay buy-in, 38 players. The split ended up being like 565 to the winner and 355 to second. Pretty good for a night's work.  Unfortunately I happen to be unemployed.  But I was excited just to be playing in such an event as I'm not really used to it yet but hope to be much more comfortable by the end of this semester. I saw some good hands early: JJ twice, 10s, QQ, AK, AQ twice. I bet them hard and most of the time no one would play with me. So I made some money but then blew some on some so-so plays by me that turned out bad. I ended up hanging around and finishing like 14th but just couldn't get anything else going. I did triple up once with AQ against KJ and AK which was quite a feat considering how badly I was dominated and that I was the 2nd caller. Ohh well, it was time I hit a lucky flop. Backo finished 6th, right on the bubble. Top 5 got money. We walked back less happy than we were on the walk up even though we were now treading downhill. MONDAY:    Me, John, and Paul woke up early and got a nice hot breakfast in the Marketplace. It was a nice change of pace. I still had some cereal though haha.  Waffles are so good.  I think I would walk over a field of broken glass and smoldering embers just for a nice plate of Belgian Waffle goodness.  Waffles and french toast, smothered in fluidy pools of maple syrup and fluffy mounds of butter.  Gracious.    The rest of the day consisted of class and studying.  I also squeezed a nice nap in there because I was still beat from not sleeping enough on the weekend.  Did some chem review with Golde.  I hope I'm as cool as him when I'm like 55.  Also watched the UConn and Pitt games.  UConn lost first and I was pumped because now Pitt could move into the driver's seat in the Big East.  And then we lost to Seton Hall in double OT.  Opportunity.....blown. THIS WEEKEND (UPCOMING):    Slumber is needed    More now than at any time    I can remember Have a great week. Levi "Ugly day, sun is shining.  Every cloud's got a silver lining.  Ugly day, skies are blue.  Now every day is ugly without you" - Five Iron Frenzy Current Mood: pensive Current Music: Simon and Garfunkel (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 7th, 2004
11:51 pm	Your Daily Dose    Ahh yes, Kw = 1 x 10 to the -14.  pH = 14 - (-log OH-) concentration.  Mmm yes, when Q > Kc the reaction goes from right to left.  Goodness, polyprotic acids have multiple equivalence points when titrated.  Gracious, I just love Chemistry.    After sleeping in fairly late for the first time this semester I spent almost the entire remainder of my day brushing up on acid-base equilibrium and its friendly fellows in the library.  I actually kind of like it though, and if this year's test is like last year's then I'm going to be golden come Wednesday.   Once the two o'clock hour comes around on hump day I am pretty much free of academic worry until after Spring Break.  Having three classes in a semester is so choice, if you have the means I highly recommend you pick one up.     Tomorrow is the big day of poker.  I'll let ya know how that goes.    Pitt beat Notre Dame tonight.  22 wins now, most in Division 1.     I had some awesome phone conversations today with my boy Ian and with Bridget.  I'd just like to comment on the quality of those two people and how much I enjoy the fact that I am close with them and can have intellectual and interesting discussions about almost anything.    Sometime today while I was spacing out in between pH calculations and conjugate acids and bases I had a couple good thoughts.  I was thinking about how much it sucks not having a daily or even weekly thing that I take part in.  In high school there was always YL twice a week and open gym at the Y on Friday and Nut League and football games in the fall and that stuff.  Now I'm definitely a spontaneous person who believes that the best things in life are the ones that come unlooked for, but by the same token it is cool to have something to look forward to here and there, some stabilizing pillar to keep life from becoming too much of a undirected blur.  I'm going to try to start playing basketball here and there or at least start working out on a much more routine basis.  It'll be good for me.    Another thing I was thinking about is how much I eat cereal.  Aight maybe that's not a great thought but seriously it's all I eat.  At least twice a day I'll have a bowl of Apple Cinnamon Cheeries, Smacks or Trix, and it's usually more like 3 and sometimes 4.   I wonder how healthy that can really be.  Add one more thing to the list of research studies I wanna do someday.  I won't even have to find a guinea pig.   G'naight all. "Dear Slim, my name is Marty.  I wrote you this letter cuz I don't like to party.  If you take drugs, I think you're a weiner." - Best of Will Farrell Current Mood: tired Current Music: Something Corporate (4 Comments |Comment on this)
3:39 am	The Weekend is Here    Ahh yes, gotta love Friday.  Solace and freedom finally come for the college student.  I really hope that I don't look forward to weekends as much as I do now for the rest of my life.  I mean its like you blow 71.4% of your life if you're just trying to get through the business week.  But since that's the bulk of the week that's where the majority of your business, whatever it may be, ought to be done.  So here's to cherishing or at least enjoying monday-friday and not just those days where we don't have to wake up and be somewhere before noon.   That said, it was a very good Friday and you should all certainly have a great time on the weekends if possible.  I took a nice nap after class, did some laundry and some work on my lab with Shannon.  Then I played around for a while with TW 2004 and other things before me and a bunch of friends went out for the night.  The party was half-decent I suppose.  Lousy suds but Backo and I won three in a row in pong, with me making 13 of the 18 cups in those games.  I was on my game to be sure.  I saw my Chem TA there and told her she should try to show up on time to recitation next week haha.  She said fuck you.  Never got around to tell her i was kidding.  Whoops.  We saw some other people that we knew there too and eventually took off when it died down and made it back to Towers.  We played a little poker and chilled for a while and now I'm back here.   So it was a good day and now I gotta get my work groove on come tomorrow and Sunday.  I may even have to skip poker on Sunday night.  We'll see.    Tonight's quote needs a little anecdotal information in order to understood and laughed at fully.  Today in Chem class Golde was using one of those little boxes with metal balls inside that has a bar that shakes the whole box and causes the balls to move around randomly.  The balls represent molecules and/or atoms.  The speed at which the box shakes represents the temperature; the higher the temp the harder it shakes.  So Golde cranks it up and asks if the motion of the "molecules" reminds them of anything:   "Does this remind anyone of anything?" - Golde    "Bingo." - some clearly mentally incapacitated girl up front   "Bingo?  Haha.  Well I'm afraid I haven't had that experience.  Obviously I was thinking of a gas." - Dr. Michael Golde, 6 Feb 2003 Current Mood: sleepy Current Music: Brand New (Comment on this)