Just Joshing

I was tired most of the day and needed to catch up on sleep. Diana woke me up for help choosing which colleges to send her ACT test results.

Once I was up, I made preparations to get some errands done. Jon had called about a dozen times about finishing Shawn's computer so I gave in and we got the project started.

Remembering that Josh was back in town, I went over to pick up David, Matt, and Metzger before heading out to Café Montmartre, however, after some driving around the capitol square we were unable to find the place and decided on the Great Dane for some beers and chicken wings. On the way home, we had a lively discussion of McDonald's McRib and its limited time availability.

The plan for tomorrow is to gather up the gang for the first real Wingsday of 2005 at the Oakcrest Tavern.

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And now, for your moment of Zen....

Weekly Horoscope: 01-31-2005

Your joint financial affairs are highlighted by the presence of Mercury, the Sun, and Neptune in Aquarius, Fei. You have a chance to uncover a sense of order and clarity, and this will help you to no end. Venus moves into Aquarius on Wednesday, bringing you the opportunity to negotiate in situations where you need to. You are also keen to look beneath the surface and see what is going on. Yet, as the Sun conjuncts Neptune, beware of what you think you see, as you could be fooling yourself. Still, if it is fantasy you are after, then this is a great aspect for conjuring up all kinds of exotic imaginings and seeing where they lead you. Mars continues to moves through Sagittarius, bringing you plenty of work and encouraging you to pay attention to your health and vitality. Make sure you are committed to a healthy regime. It may be only too easy for you to tire of this routine and decide to go back on a diet of junk food interspersed with phases of nutritious eating. Mars will then move into Capricorn on Sunday, which will stir up issues within your partnerships and relationships. It may be time to clear the air - if you haven't already done so.

The Way and Mind of a Zen Warrior

The power of the warrior mind is its ability to act from a state of No Mind, with technique arising effortlessly out of emptiness. As a mirror reflects objects without clinging to the images, the Warrior Mind is free to flow from one object to the next without impediment. From this state arises instinctive wisdom, the power that allows ordinary people to perform extraordinary feats. This Zen mind-guide to empowerment is an active meditation for those who wish to be in the world, but not of it.
-Excerpt from The Way and Mind of a Zen Warrior

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Warriors take chances. Like everyone else, they fear failing, but they refuse to let fear control them.
-Ancient Samurai saying

Delight in the Visit

by Po Chü-i

Suddenly I hear
A knocking at the door,
Together with the sounds of drunken singing.
I hardly know what I am doing.
Pushing my glass aside,
I rush to welcome my guest.
We share the relaxation
Of poetic wildness,
So that our craving for wine
Gives us special intimacy.

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In Confucian thought, filial piety Xiào (孝) is one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

Let go my Ego

After class, I rushed to work to find that Yonah had picked up a good amount of my shift. Perfect. This would give me enough time to get through most of Kendo practice and again return to work.

In practice, I was feeling a bit down after Mark's unrelenting critique of my every misstep. I know that it's because of the tournament around the corner that he'll be especially critical. Truly though before I am to progress I must put aside all ego and open the mind to improvement. I already know this and it's going to come down to the execution.

Returning to work to finish the shift, I got a call from David about doing a Wingsday at the Oakcrest Tavern. In the end, it was just me and my bro and the waitress from the night prior. Before heading home, I stopped by David's to chill awhile and hang out with James who now owns a gigantic 21" computer monitor. Yikes!

Once I got home, Diana dragged me to Blockbuster to return a movie which led to a trip to Cub Foods and then finally home where I crashed in bed early.

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Enjoy uncertainty

Returning home, I found my TiVo upgraded with the latest software to work with the TiVoToGo service. It allows me to take the shows off my DVR and download them to my computer for remote viewing.

Taking a short nap I woke up in time for Kendo practice. Mark worked with me in getting out old habits of projecting movement so that I don't give away my attack. It took getting back to the basics of foot movement, back straight, and relaxed shoulders. As tournament time approaches, applications were handed out to be turned into the Detroit Kendo Dojo, our host.

I look forward to the ikkyu test in Detroit and have hopes that I'll be ready by then. Travis taught me the first kata in Kendo, one of three I must learn for testing.

After practice, I had no time to shower before meeting up with David and Kelly at the Oakcrest Tavern for dinner. From the looks of it, I think I've been let back into the Toy Family.

Since returning Diana's Christmas gift, I elected to put in an order for the new iPod shuffle.
Its tagline is simply:

Life is random.
Enjoy uncertainty.

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Home Today

It's about time I come home.

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Closer by DIDO

And yes I know you're nervous
Never seen you so unsure
You haven't touched your food tonight
And you're drinking more and more

And there's no need to hurry
Take your time I'll still be here
And I've been meaning to tell you

The closer you get, the better I feel
The closer you are, the more I see
Why everyone says that I look happier
When you're around, the better I feel

The closer you get, the better you see
The closer you are, the more I see
Why everyone says that I look happier
When you're around
The closer you get, the better I feel

The better I feel....



A Haiku by Masaoka Shiki

Entangled with
the scattering cherry blossoms—
the wings of birds!

Chicken Soup with Rice: January

Excerpt by: Maurice Sendak

In January it's so nice, while slipping on the sliding ice
To sip hot chicken soup with rice
Sipping once,
sipping twice,
sipping chicken soup with rice.

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A Haiku by Kobayashi Issa

Water rising--
the lobster crawls up
the willow.

Life's Long Journey

With the Spring semester, the DoIT Help Desk is once again flooded with calls for help. With a break in the action, I was sacrified from phones to run out and grab dinner for the Green Team from the Mediterranean Cafe. With a painful first step outside, I was struck by such strong winds and snow. This is Wisconsin.

With such winter conditions I gave Kelly a ride home after her shift, but by then the weather conditions had tamed.

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Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou has passed through. Forbearance is the root of quietness and assurance forever. Look upon the wrath of the enemy. If thou knowest only what it is to conquer, and knowest not what it is to be defeated, woe unto thee; it will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself rather than with others.
-Ieyasu Tokugawa



A Haiku by Matsuo Basho

No blossoms and no moon,
and he is drinking sake
all alone!

A Closet Case

I spent most of the day around the house getting things back in order. First, my dad's iRobot Roomba decided to break away from its programming and just go in endless circles before shutting itself down. Great...grr...had to spend time with tech support and then finally getting a replacement.

The next thing on my list was to clean my room. I must've spent over 2 hours cleaning out the closet alone. It was in such disarray that I had to come up with a new scheme. Instead of just randomly hanging things up in the closet, I devised a system of modular color-hanger sections.

I began with white hangers for all summer/year-round clothes, dark blue for all fall/winter clothes, light blue for jackets/coats, and lastly gray for all pants and jeans. Once the clothes were hung up in their proper modules, I began to break down the sections into shirts, pressed shirts, polos, sweat shirts, sweaters, slacks, and jeans. With this level of oraganization, I went further to organize each category of clothes into colors by solids and patterns and then from light to dark.

In this new system, I can take out whole sections of clothes by color modules for storage in hot and cold months as well as pick out what type of shirt I want by color. For me, this was quite an undertaking in closet organization and I hope to stick to the new scheme.

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Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
-Mahatma Gandhi



A Haiku by Xiao Fei

Aimlessly feeding.
Not a care in the whole world
if you are a koi.

Crazy Cardinal and FeatherWates

As exhausted as I was after my long shift, I met up with Steph, Sita, and James at the Cardinal Bar for a little wild Rockstar dancing. This late night was for celebrating Justin's birthday and from the looks of it becoming one of those crazy rockstar nights. Unfortunately for me, I had to take off to take care of personal matters.

Stumbling from my slumber, I woke up today to a messy room. In the last few weeks, I've been so busy from day to day that the neglect shows, however, I've got some errands to run before tackling such a project. Sadly, one of the things on my list includes returning a Christmas gift. My top priority for today is to get a fresh pair of glasses made since my last pair had broken at the hinges. I dropped by LensCrafters at East Town Mall where I picked out a pair of FeatherWates® PLUS lenses mounted on a set of Brooks Brothers frames.

The fine folks at LensCrafters said that my glasses would be done in an hour so I had some time to kill at the mall. I stopped by the Disney Store where a huge store clearance was taking place and I found the perfect fleece blanket for Diana that had an embroidered Grumpy (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) that said "Dean of Mean." Although Steph had called about dinner tonight, I forgot that I already had plans to eat out with mom and dad at Rocky Rococo's.

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Last night he and I ate fugu; today I help carry his coffin.
-Senryu Verse



A Haiku by Yosa Buson

I cannot see her tonight.
I have to give her up
so I will eat fugu.

Weekly Horoscope: 01-16-2005

The activity in your opposite sign of Capricorn, Fei, is enabling you to break through barriers. Use these influences to speak your mind and don't worry about the impression you are making. You need to get certain things across, and mincing your words isn't going to help. On Wednesday, the Sun moves into Aquarius to light up your joint financial affairs and any issues you wish to address on this score. As Neptune has been hiding out in this section of your chart for some time, the presence of the Sun will enable you to see issues with clarity and perceive solutions that you may have missed previously. On Friday, Mars sextiles Jupiter, offering a great opportunity for business. This especially holds true if you are working from home or involved in real estate. If you have been thinking of making a bold move, this might be the moment to go ahead. Mars continues to move through Sagittarius, which indicates that you are in a competitive mood. This is helping you to focus on your work and to make an impact by being very efficient. On Saturday, Mercury squares Jupiter, so watch out for a touch of arrogance that may be exhibited in your relationships. You will need to read between the lines.

The Art of Combat

For those regarded as warriors, when engaged in combat, the vanquishing of thine enemy can be the warrior's only concern. Suppress all human emotion and compassion. Kill whoever stands in thy way, even if that be Lord God, or Buddha himself. This truth lies at the heart of the art of combat.
-Hattori Hanzo

I am working a long 12 hour shift tonight at the DoIT Help Desk. Once I'm done I plan on meeting Steph for Justin's birthday.

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Ginza of Madison

After returning from the airport and dropping Steph off, I went home but could not fall asleep. On TiVo, I watched all editions of NFL Live, NFL PrimeTime, and Sports Center...all of them speculating about the same playoff matchups. At some point in the circle of repetition, I tired and went to bed.

When I got up, it was already past noon and I rushed to Kendo practice. Only Mark and Shin-il came and the three of us worked on tweaking our own individual sword skill.

Once practice got out, I showered up and decided on dinner. Since Steph just got back, I'd thought it would be nice to take her out. I stopped by the art center and hung out in the lobby until Steph's class finished. The display shelf that Shana picked out looks good and was a great choice for showing off the students' work.

Picking up Justin we decided on Ginza of Tokyo, mostly because I wanted to convince Steph that sushi wasn't as bad as she makes it out to be.

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Tale of Ise
by Ise Monogatari

I cannot believe that you
Are far away
For I can
Never forget you
And thus your face
Is always before me.

Aloha Silly Putty

Aloha is the Hawaiian greeting for hello and goodbye.
Silly Putty is a silicone plastic clay.

After spending the very early hours of the morning working on the Nemo DVD project, I took in a few hours of sleep until being woken up first by Diana, followed by mom and dad, a call from Shana, and lastly my alarm clock. Okay, so it's time for another long drive to O'Hare International Airport on a minescule amount of sleep. The drive no longer phases me if I keep good company in the car.

I went by Shana's to pick her up and load the car with big luggage. Before leaving for the airport, we made a stop at the University Book Store where she bought me Silly Putty.
OMG, I love it!

At the Belvidere Oasis we took a short break since Shana craved for something fried...McDonald's French Fries! I decided on a smoothie called the Awberry Go Go from the Tropicana stand. Shortly thereafter, we pulled into O'Hare and Shana checked in at the International Terminal. Before entering the secured boarding area, I shared a pizza with her from Pizzeria Uno and we said our goodbyes.
Ciao Ciao 'til Spring Break!

Now the plan was for Stephanie's flight to get in a few hours following Shana's departure. The reality would be that the flight take on delays because of bad weather in Chicago. I took in a much needed nap in the downtime. When I woke from the short slumber, I strolled about the airport until reaching the Hilton Chicago O'Hare's sports bar called the Sports Edition. I enjoyed dinner there while watching the Houston Rockets play the New Jersey Nets on the big screen. It would not be until late into the night when Steph finally arrived and I got to say hello.

Aloha!

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The List

Kendo practice went well today. I feel that we're all getting back into the swing of things and the Detroit tournament is only a month away. It's important to get back to basics.

After practice, I went home to finish "the list" that Shana had given me to do before she leaves.

The List:
1. Vonage (scheduled for Friday)
2. The Camera cord....or other device (memory card reader)
3. AutoCAD 2005
4. Finding Nemo DVD
5. Pilates DVD

The Finding Nemo DVD was the hardest task on the list. There was a sophisticated level of encryption on the DVD along with Macrovision. I first had to use DVD Decrypter to strip the encryption and build an ISO image of the movie. Next, I used DVD Shrink to rip the main video track and then used Nero to burn it onto a DVD+R. The last step involved dubbing the DVD onto a video cassette so that she can take it back with her to Italy.

Once the list was completed, I called around to gather the troops for karaoke at the Oakcrest Tavern at the Stadium bar. Once the plans cemented, I picked up Shana and met up with Max and Mollie at the bar. Later, Sita met up with us and then Nicole, Crystal, and Cory came by. David, Jenica, and Matt also stopped over followed by James after getting off work. It's been a while since we've all got together for karaoke and I had the best of times.

Although it was fun times, it was also a time for goodbyes.
Shana, have a good flight and we'll visit you in March.

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What's in a name?
by Elizabeth Bishop

Oh must we dream our dreams
and have them, too?
And have we room
for one more folded sunset, still quite warm?

Mac Mini

The fallen snow has turned into slush and in the night turns into a thin slick layer of ice.

At Macworld in San Francisco, Steve Jobs announced several new products including my favorite, the Mac mini. It's a new low cost Macintosh in a 6.5" by 2" mini aluminum box.

It's simple.
It's beautiful.
I so want one.

The other headline was the announcement of the iPod Shuffle, a flash memory iPod that's the size of a pack of gum.

Tonight, I went out to dinner with the LaFore's at the Taj Indian Restaurant. I had never been there before but I like it. After dinner, I stopped by work to split up the 100 pack of DVD+RW spindle that I had purchased a week before.



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Work Day Haiku

working for the man
half day of isolation
a humbling ethic



If you understand, things are just as they are;
If you do not understand, things are just as they are.
-Zen Proverb

All I did today was get up, shower, and go to work for my 12 hour Help Desk shift. Not very interesting. My next long shift is not until Saturday. The advantage to working long shifts is that I work only 3 days this week. Woohoo!

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Fei-O-Meter

Low <--1--2--3--> High

Activity: An assessment of physical activity.
Energy: A valuation of body energies.
Friends: Amount of friendly contact.

Nix the Sledding

It's raining slush out there and the icy roads are nasty. Plus, eveyone is dropping out for sledding so we're no longer going. The Green Bay Packers just lost to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field in the first round of the playoffs. Blah. If not for the ice cream at the mall today, I'd say it was just a downright crappy day.

On a different note, we tried the Edo Japanese Restaurant at work tonight. We all shared in on a few shushi pieces of the salmon and white tuna rolls. Feeling kinda weird right now....

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Shopping for Sledding

Last night after work, I met up with Shana and Nicole at Brocach Irish Pub. After finishing Shana's Guinness Draught, we all decided to head over to the Echo Tap where I ran into Uncle Jimbo and Une. There and then we all decided to do late night sledding for Sunday.

Before heading into work today, I stopped by West Towne Mall where I met up with Sita to shop for sleds. The plan is to go sledding tonight at Elver Park when I get off work. I needed to shop for a couple of sleds, however, shopping with Sita led to detours to the Banana Republic and Limited Too and capping it off with ice cream at the Chocolate Shoppe. Sita got the Espresso Oreo and I got the Blue Moon. Speaking of blue, it was that from which Shana came out of and surprised us at the mall. Must be a rockstar locator.

Weekly Horoscope: 01-09-2005

The New Moon in Capricorn on Monday will stir up your ideas about relationships and hopes for the future, Fei. You have an opportunity to create new beginnings and to move to a new level of commitment if this is what you really want. Mercury and Venus have also moved into Capricorn, encouraging you to talk about issues or arrangements that are of importance. So go for a romantic dinner and become best friends again. You may be offered a chance to travel with your sweetheart or even a business partner on Thursday, quite out of the blue. At the same time the Sun opposes Saturn in your sign, so you may have reservations about taking off and doing something exciting. Yet this pause in the proceedings may actually bring you some insight. You may see how you have been holding yourself back and putting up barriers to success and happiness, when you really want to be melting them. Get into conversations concerning the very issue that is causing you a problem, as you might find there is a solution after all. Mars sextiles Neptune on Saturday, so don't rush into action, but be content to see how things shape up. However it goes will be great!

Through The Looking Glass

Epilogue
by Lewis Carroll

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July --

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear
Pleased a simple tale to hear --

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream --
Lingering in the golden gleam --
Life what is it but a dream?

Uno after Dinner

Leaving work last night, I decided to go out but was not able to get ahold of Sita and I did not know what bar they decided on. I remember Shana saying something about a Cafe (_)...but I didn't recall exactly what she said. So instead, Kelly had called about going out somewhere with Alice and I eventually met up with them at the Angelic Brewing Company. I stayed for only a drink before taking Alice back to Kelly's as it appeared that she had one too many and had traversed the line between being awake and asleep.

With a goodnight's sleep, I got up fairly early to organize things around the house. I had to get to work at some point and had to get dressed for dinner at Laura and Trevor's house per invitation. Dress casual I thought to myself or otherwise you'll feel awkward and casually dressed I did. Brent had come in to fill in for my shift and I owe him big...like Jade Garden dinner-on-me big.

Funny story. On the way there, I was talking to Shana and as we approached the house, she mentioned something about coming around left and I recklessly plunged into the snow in their front yard, thinking it was the way up the driveway. In my defense, it was dark. So here we were only a few yards away from the driveway and I had to back my way out of the snow ditch and finally with success.

At dinner, Laura had made us a nice salad spred followed by a course of pasta and chicken fingers baked with corn flakes. The dinner was superb and we downed it with the organic wine that I had received as a gift the day before. Shana made tiramisu with a pineapple flavor top that was all so excellent. We finished the dinner with a friendly card game of Uno and I returned to work shortly thereafter.

A Goodnight's Sleep

After a long day yesterday, I got in a very deep and rested, goodnight's sleep. I woke up early to get ready for my computer consulting session for the morning. The lady I work for was very nice to give me a New Year's gift of organic wine and a large piece of cheese cake from her birthday.

Immediately after the consulting appointment, I dashed off to get Shana to pick up the shelves we bought from SWAP the day before. I had to swing by my Uncle Peter's to pick up the truck he uses for his Pepperidge Farms bread vendoring business. We needed a truck with a fairly large trailer and this came through perfectly.

At SWAP, the nice guys in the back helped us load the shelves into the truck but it was just Shana and I unloading them into the art center. Once we got done with that, I had to run again to return the truck and get back downtown in time for work at DoIT. It's been a long day and I have just a short shift at the Help Desk. I heard Sita and Shana are going to some bar near the capitol to listen to a band or Kelly is going out somewhere like Brother's or the Angelic but otherwise I'm heading home for another goodnight's sleep.

Early Moring SWAP Shop

Shana and I went to SWAP this morning to pay for a few wood and metal shelves for the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center. We plan on picking them up tomorrow once I'm able to procure a truck to transport them downtown. Because I had torn my last pair of contact lenses this morning, I had to re-arrange my entire schedule around to fit a last minute eye appointment in before work. The operator at Dean Care was very nice to find a time slot to get me in to see Dr. Bardenwerper. Before I had left for my appointment, I had parked my car in the underground parking lot at Shana's and the snow had made the ramp a nearly impossible climb. After several tries, I salted the ground enough to get traction to get up the ramp.

Whole Body Feeling Stiff

Last night, the drive to O'Hare Airport was just ghastly. The snow storm was terrible throughout all of Wisconsin and I could barely see the road. Once we got into Illinois, the weather let off a bit and it seems like Steph might actually get to fly out on her scheduled flight. After a long night of driving and singing 80's tunes, I made it home to get some sleep.

When I woke up in the afternoon, my whole body felt stiff from all the falling while snowboarding yesterday. I got dressed and took David to dinner at Nam's Noodle and then met up with Kelly and Jenny for a few drinks at Brother's. I left early and went to bed so that I can get up for the SWAP shop in the morning.

Snowboarding at Cascade Mountain

Gray skies and early this morning, I packed up my stuff and left to pick up Shana for snowboarding. We swang by David's to find that Matt is really sick and is dropping out for the trip. Instead, John is going to join us for a day of snowboarding at Cascade Mountain. It was my first time snowboarding and Shana was quite helpful in teaching me the ropes. After a few runs (and stumbles) down the bunny hill, I kinda got a feel for it and went down the other runs with David and Shana. Although I have so much more work to do on the fundamentals of snowboarding, I got a good feel for turning, slowing, and stopping. It was an incredibly fun day.

Once we got back into Madison, I stopped at Shana's for a cup of tea before heading home. Later, I called Stephanie to check the status of the weather as is expected a big winter snowstorm is running a rampage throughout the midwest. She's going to Honduras to visit Zack and I'm driving her to O'Hare International Airport. I must get a nap in before the long and possibly dangerous drive through the storm.

Janesville with Dad

This morning, my dad and I drove to Janesville to grab lunch with our insurance agent and family friend, Phay Shuy. He runs his own own branch of Erie Insurance called TLLA Insurance based in Janesville. During the ride up, an ice storm passed by and I-90 was a terrible mess of sliding cars.

Once we returned home, I quickly grabbed my stuff to get to Kendo for our first meeting back after the break. Many members showed up and we all had a great practice although it seems as if everyone is slowly getting back up to speed. After practice, David called about going snowboarding on Tuesday so I went over to Jon's to see what gear I might be able to borrow from him for tomorrow. Later, I went with Diana to Cubs to get orange juice as well as fruit and power drinks. All set for snowboarding.

Dinner at Outback Steakhouse

After leaving Country Kitchen yesterday I was able to get a short nap in before heading into work on New Year's night. Road conditions were terrible. There was freezing rain and that developed into a thin layer of slick ice all over the road. Cars could not stop for lights and I did an ice doughnut while pulling into the parking lot at work. Restaurants closed early because of the weather and Brent and I had to look for a place still open to order our dinner for the night. After some calling around, the Vientiane Palace was closing when I spoke to Crystal about getting in one last order. Since it was a fairly slow work night, I began planning ahead for the year using iCal, a Macintosh calendar program, on the FeiBook.

Tonight, I got a SMS Text from Sita and Steph about going to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Since I was thoroughly hungary after a workout, I accepted and was going to pick up Shana on the way, however, due to emergency circumstances she was not able to go. I'd imagined that the Badgers playing in the Outback Bowl on New Year's day was the propellant to eat there and it was definitely a satisfying meal. We met Max and Mollie there and it was good to see them again. After dinner, I stopped by to visit David to find out that he's got a cold and didn't seem all too interested in going out. Besides, he had to move to his new room upstairs. On another note, it doesn't appear that James is back yet so we can assume he's still having a good time in NYC.

In the Year Two Thousand and Fei

200F

New Year's Eve went off with a blast. All you can eat and drink at the Come Back In. At some point during the night, a drunk tried to pick a fight with me over his girlfriend. The thought of fighting went through my head of course but this would be a bad way to start the New Year. When he started to step it up, he indirectly hit Steph in the wrist and I wanted to pound him against my better judgement, however, Sita's friend Kelly stepped in and punched that guy to a stun. He was then kicked out of the bar.

The night was fun but I had not eaten before going out and it didn't take many drinks to get me feeling it. I had fun nevertheless and the next morning we all went to Country Kitchen for breakfast.

I hope everyone had a fun New Year's Eve celebration.
With a disastrous tsunami in the news and reports of war fatalalities in the weening moments of 2004, let us all wish for better things in 2005.

Happy New Year!

Gallery: New Year's Eve '04



New Years
by Unknown Author

To leave the old with a burst of song;
To recall the right and forgive the wrong;
To forget the things that bind you fast
To the vain regrets of the year that's past;
To have the strength to let go your hold
Of the not worth while of the days grown old;
To dare go forth with a purpose true,
To the unknown task of the year that's new;
To help your brother along the road,
To do his work and lift his load;
To add your gift to the world's good cheer,
Is to have and to give a Happy New Year.