Carpaccio

This is going to be the new place of employment until I leave for law school.

Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen and Wine Bar.

We had our first meet and 'training' session yesterday with most of the staff and management in attendance. The restaurant itself is still under construction, as is the web site I linked. But once it's finished, you'll have your link ready and waiting. The meeting was designed to give us an introduction to what the place is all about, what the layout is going to be like, and what our coworkers are going to be like.

Gabby (no idea how to spell it, but he's from Beirut) will be the GM. He has a phenomenal track record for taking restaurants and turning them in to money making machines. He tripled the annual profit at Ruths Chris in Eastport over a 10 year period. I was caught a little off guard when he compared Annapolis to Pikesville as the hardest places to establish successful restaurants. His reasoning for Pikesville was because of the 'difficulty of the Jewish client, and their need to complain about everything'. But, he went on to say that he was raised with a lot of Jewish friends, so it's okay. Kind of a 'I'm not racist, I have black friends' cop out, maybe?

Rachel, with whom I interviewed initially, is going to be the face of the management team, from what I understand.

None of this is particularly important, though.

The restaurant sounds like it's going to be pretty phenomenal. It will be the first restaurant I work for that actually knows what it's doing, and has definite business plans, ideas for improvement, etc. Here is the gist of what they are all about...

We have a 2am liquor license for every night of the week, and will be open that late every night. The full menu is available until 10 on weekdays, 11 on weekends. We have a late night bar menu available until 1am every day. There is also a to go window in the back of the restaurant with a menu very similar to the bar menu. We are going to have a happy hour every day, and I believe lunch specials for all the businesspersons that work in Park Place and the surrounding area.

We are also going to give a lot of industry love. Other restaurant folk, who are generally the best clientelle to have because they have lots of easy cash and tip well, will be treated very well. Being a part of this restaurant from the beginning will be a nice change, because I will hopefully get to establish my own list of regulars who are with me from the beginning.

We are slated to open around April 12th, but will do a couple friends and family type nights before the restaurant is officially open to the public. Food will be on the house, but drinks will be full cost for those events.

All in all, I'm more excited than I ever thought I could be about another restaurant job. The way the talk is going, we are going to make more money than we know what to do with. We'll see how true that ends up. For now, the mood is very optimistic.

Lewnes' Steakhouse

De-lish-us.

I was taken there last night for the first time. I had always wanted to try it. It was absolutely worth the hype. I was forced to get the oysters on the half shell as an appetizer. Petit filet mignon with mashed potatoes (like Ruths Chris, the side dishes are all a la carte), prepared medium rare, was exquisite. The 2004 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon was also really good, though I'm hardly a wine connoisseur. The way I view wines: if I enjoy it, it's a quality wine, because I only like the smoothest of smooth wines. If I had a better taste for it, I'd tell you it had "a cedary, honeysuckle-scented mocha and smooth cherry aroma. Good structure, black raspberry, sweet berry, mocha and acidity on [the] palate." We opted against dessert, though I sort of regret not taking advantage of the opportunity.

All in all, great dinner, great times. I highly recommend it for the diner with deep pockets (which unfortunately is not me at the moment).

I can check this place off my list of places that I want to go.

Next up, O'Leary's.

VT in the NIT

We are absolutely steamrolling people on our way through the NIT. Our first round game against Morgan State was not even a game. We punished them for an 82% shooting effort in the second half. Tonight's game against the UAB Blazers was hardly more difficult. Greenberg had five freshmen on the floor for a significant portion of the first half, on our way to a 15 point half time lead.

Every game makes me more and more excited for the next couple seasons. Delaney has ice flowing through his veins. His jump shot is a little awkward in form, but it's such a pure stroke it's fun to watch. And he has been on fire lately. AD is unstoppable. He is overcoming his laziness and is really attacking the game on both sides of the ball. He will be a great leader next year as a senior. He is relaxed now and is just enjoying every aspect of the game. He smiles and jokes with refs. He grabbed a reporters note pad and wrote "AD not foul" after a questionable call against UNC, midgame.

Jeff Allen is realizing he has to put in more effort as well. Deron has found his jump shot. Thorns is getting more comfortable as a distributor and a floor general, despite a horrendous shot.

If we don't bring home the banner (Basketball tournament championships mean you get to hang a banner that says "NIT Champion 2007-2008" in your arena), I'll be shocked and disappointed.

Our next game is at home Wednesday night against the winner of the Nebraska vs Ole Miss game that is currently in overtime. It's a two point game with 1:53 left as I type this, Ole Miss leads. Time is TBA.

Go Hokies!

UPDATE: Ole Miss takes it, 85-75 in OT. We'll see them in the Cassell Wednesday night.

That's What's Good in the Streets?

Unfortunately, my writer's block seems to have returned lately. I haven't been inspired to bloggerate much in the last week or two. But I'm forcing this one out with what will hopefully be as fun as it is informational. Emphasis on informational, 'cause it's tough to turn basic news in to funny anecdotes.

First things first, my unemployment is nearing its end. And it couldn't be too soon at this point. I start training at Carpaccio on Tuesday. Apparently, the staff there is an all-star team of employees put together from the other three restaurants owned by the same management group. I seem to have fallen in to a good thing almost by accident. But we'll see where it takes me. I've met lots of the staff already and enjoy their company so far.

Next...I got my first law school acceptance letter yesterday. So, no matter what, I'm going to be in law school in the fall. It's a huge weight off my shoulders to know that I got in somewhere. As of now, Villanova is officially an option. Hooray, me!

And finally, it's March Madness. My first round picks were phenomenal. I went 28/32, and two of my botches went to overtime. So I feel like they were good picks either way. Saturday, I didn't do so well. I lost a bunch of teams, but no one that was advancing much further in to the tournament, so no real damage there. Then UCLA took the court against Texas A&M and almost gave me a heart attack. It took a last second shot for my champions to reach the Sweet 16. Nooooot gooooooooood. But for the time being, I'm in 1st or close to it in all three of my pools.

Happy Easter! My family got together at my sister's house for brunch today. It was nice, food was good. My Dad brought lots of candy for everyone, which I'm currently nomming contentedly.

Looking forward to...

UAB at Virginia Tech Monday night.

Orlando/Gainesville for Ross' wedding. Flight leaves first thing Thursday morning out of Dulles.

Earning an income.

That is all.

Ketchup.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

I neglected my blog for a week, and have been nagged to bring it back by several people. It's nice to know my readers want more. And, by the way, my post title is a cleverly placed, double entendre...catch up?

The Blacksburg weekend was a blast. It was great seeing so many people. I didn't get to meet a lot of the new kids. For one, they didn't make an attempt to meet us, alumni. For another, a lot of them just didn't show up to the events where it would have been easy to meet people. I think I saw everyone I wanted to see, even if it was only briefly for some of them. Having a bed room to myself at Culhane's was a very nice bonus. His roommate/landlord is in Europe for 6 months, so the master bedroom was mine for the taking.

The VT basketball game was an absolute heartbreaker on Saturday. We fought UNC to the final 0.8 seconds before having our shot at revenge, the ACC Championship, and the NCAA tournament stripped away from us by a cornball white guy who is so fundamentally sound in basketball, but is so goofy unathletic looking on the court that he frustrates me (and most of basketball watching America) to no end. So, with the buzzer beater loss to UNC, we were relegated to the NIT, where we earned a #1 seed and face Morgan State tonight in Cassell. Deron gets to go home at least one more time before he graduates. I wish I was in Blacksburg tonight to go to the game. For now, the plan is to watch at Bailey's in Ballston while celebrating Adi's move to Miami: two birds with one stone.

The Annual Blue vs Gold Tournament was basketball this year. Alumni won the second two games in a best of three series against the Undergrad team. Good times. I still suck at basketball, but I stuffed a shot on the defensive end that led to our winning basket. Hoooo-ray.

Semi-formals were fun, but kind of tame compared to years past. The alumni were a little offended at a lack of acknowledgment from the undergrads. We weren't recognized in any official way by anyone. No speeches. No 'thanks for coming'. Nothing. It was great seeing everyone there, though. My tie around the head tradition carries on strong in my absence. Lots of pictures on Facebook, for anyone who is interested.

Sunday, driving home, Joe and I stopped at Cracker Barrel, which is usually a money food spot while southern road-tripping. The food was abysmal. I could barely eat anything aside from the mac 'n' cheese. The hashbrown casserole had more dish detergent than potatoes.

That's the quick summary of the weekend. I'll try to get back on schedule with the posting now that I'm home for a bit. Next trip is to Florida for Ross' wedding. Very excited.

Also, St. Patty's Day was a lot of fun. I went up to Crofton to see Brad after my interview for Carpaccio. Initially, things weren't looking too positive. But after my interviewer showed up at the bar and celebrated the holiday with us through the night, I feel like I'm a lock. We negotiated terms and shook on it. Just have to wait for the restaurant to open now.

"My Words Need to Be Taken With 8 Grains of Salt"

I think it's time I start having a theme to my bloggerating. I've been doing this long enough--with no real focus--and I think I'm growing a little weary of searching for random fun facts to write about.

So...as per my recent entry, "I'd have a prescription for filet", I'm going to start paying closer attention to my daily conversations (of which I have so many) and stealing lines from them for use in topicafying my blogs.

This one struck a chord with me, though the person who said it may not (but likely does) know it. [Edit: As I wrote this...I discovered that she clearly does not know it]I feel like I am usually taken way too seriously. I'm aware that I have a serious, stern look for my normal expression. And I know I can be brutally blunt with people. But the majority of the things I say are not meant to be serious. I like to mix humor in to everything. The people that like me are the people that recognize and appreciate what I have to offer.

People who don't understand (I don't want to say they're dumb...just different) my sense of humor, however, not only don't appreciate it, but don't usually enjoy me.

So how does someone change that? I smile a ton, and it's a full-faced smile. Not some fake, way-to-try-to-please-me grin. I laugh at everything worth laughing at. Yet I am hardly approached by strangers to chat. I've been told that I give off a kind of angry vibe when I'm out in public.

Lately, I've been trying to focus on wearing a happier face. The grimace is never a reflection of my mood. So, anyone who thinks I'm angry looking and too serious, take my words with eight grains of salt. I'm friendly as can be, as long as you're not an idiot.

Blacksburg Festivities

Very much looking forward to this weekend. As much as I don't need a vacation, I'm looking forward to getting away. I have been bored out of my mind waiting to hear back about jobs, nervous as hell waiting to hear about law school acceptance, and too broke to go out and take my mind off of it.

So, what better way to escape than to go to the cheapest town I've ever been to and spend my woes away. Parental editing is now in effect.

The plan is to leave Thursday night with Joe around 10pm or so. It would be earlier, but he has this grand ol' important dinner with his life counselor that just can't be moved or he'll lose track of his life, his job, and his livelihood. So...late night road trip it is. We should get to the 'burg around 2am most likely. The plan is to entertain ourselves enough during the drive so that it seems like it's flying by. Plans for Thursday night probably include sleeping when we get there. I'm staying in the master bedroom of the Culhane house, thanks to his roommate being in Europe. Score one for me.

Friday during the day, Virginia Tech plays in our quarterfinal game in the ACC tournament at 2, winner of the Miami vs NCState game. We need a win Friday and probably a win Saturday to make the NCAAs. Unfortunately, that means beating either Miami or NCState one day, then going out the next day and beating UNC in Charlotte. After that, we will probably see Duke in the finals, which is another tough game, obviously.

So, chances are we are NIT bound. But I'm okay with that. Greenberg got ACC coach of the year again, we finished 4th in the ACC (instead of the preseason predicted 11th). This was an almost dream season. I remember thinking when we won our 5th ACC game that we had already seriously surpassed expectations, and that any future win would be a surprise. We won four more. Oo-rah.

Friday night is dinner at El Rods for those of us who don't follow the religious code of Jews and go to services. That would be me. And others. I'm excited about the margaritas. Then, story time for the alumni at the AEPi house, and downtown with the kids. Saturday, we have a basketball tournament. I still suck as much as always at bball, but I'm been practicing a little and will hopefully at least be able to hold my own against the slouches on the undergrad team.

Saturday night is semi-formals. I just got set up today with a date, who is a sorority sister of Joe's date. At least if I don't like her, she will have a friend to talk to. Judging by the results of my Facebook inquiries, she knows how to have a good time. And according to Joe's research, she has had good times before.

Sunday is a fraternity brunch, then we hit the road at some point.

Leaving in T-minus 32 hours. And on that note, what is T? Anyone know where that phrase came from?

I'd Have a Prescription for Filet

Maybe it's just being a writer that makes this kind of thing jump out at me. But have you ever been in a conversation where you or your counterpart in conversing says a line that just screams "write that down for later"?

It happened to me today. Unfortunately, I can't figure out a relevant way to use it. So I just titled my blog with it.

The conversation was revolving around vegetarianism, which I don't find particularly natural for humans. I won't judge people who choose that route, but I also won't agree with them. People are designed to eat meat, and we have been eating meat since the beginning of existence. But the problem with a lot of vegetarians is that they are blissfully ignorant of what it really takes to be healthy without one of the main sources of protein in their diet.

I have a friend whose brother was malnourished pretty severely because he was a vegetarian, but knew next to nothing about supplementing his diet with the nutrients that come from meat. His doctor practically ordered him out of vegetarianism. I'm sure it was more tactful and professional than that, and since at least one of my readers knows this story better than I do, I may be corrected for misremembering.

So in the course of the conversation, I noted how nice it would be to have a doctor order you to eat steak every day. "I'd have a prescription for filet." Health insurance would pick up the tab.

10,000 B.C.

Just saw this tonight with Ryan and his new lady friend. I'm still a little undecided on how I feel. Warning: blog contains vague plot synopsis. If you want to not know what the movie's about, don't read.

The cinematography was good, the special effects were fun. They did a great job with the settings. There were no big name actors, but a couple recognizable faces. The main girl is very pretty--the bright blue eyes get me, though I think they are fake--and I recognize her face from other movies, but I struggled through the whole film trying to place her. IMDB tells me her name is Camilla Belle, and I've never seen anything she has been in except The Patriot, which came out when she was 12 years old.

The storyline was clearly far fetched, but I guess it has to be in sci-fi adventure movies. The love story mixed in was necessary to move the plot along. I was a little miffed at the domestication of the woolly mammoths for use in pyramid building. And the advanced race was a little creepy. I would have liked a little more background on them and why they were weird like they were. No one was allowed to see their 'god', and all his servants were blind. I want to know why. The basic premise - a primitive tribe is raided for slaves, three warriors follow the war path to rescue their friends, they meet all sorts of creatures and people along the way, raise an army, find the evil empire, and stir a slave uprising to save the day.

All in all, I'm glad someone bought me the ticket. It was money well spent. If you're going to see it, I'd do it in the theatres so you get the full visual effect on the big screen. It's pretty impressive.

New Chapter

It's on to a new era for me, apparently. After forcing myself to crawl back groveling with my tail between my legs to ask for a job back at the Melting Pot, I finally got a hold of the boss lady after a few unsuccessful attempts.

The conversation didn't exactly go as planned. They don't need any help right now. I could have sworn I was asking them to help me out, but apparently me saying I need work right now didn't convey that message. In a way, I'm glad they said no. Now that I've been turned down, I know now even more what I thought I knew before - I do not want to work there.

So, now I have to explore the limited possibilities of someone who only has about 4 months to play with. I'm applying to substitute teach in the Anne Arundel County Public School system. We all know how great substitute teachers are. The pay isn't great, but it's pay. I just, as I was typing, got off the phone with a friend who is going to try to get me a job at Carpaccios when it opens in Park Place (a few blocks from my house). It's a restaurant job, but at this point I'll take whatever is available.

Who knew law school would be so frustratingly restrictive.

I'm still keeping myself honest with volunteering at the court house in the State's Attorney's office. A big case just came up that starts hearing on Tuesday. I've been told the prosecutor is one of the best to watch in the county, so I am going to take a gander in there next week and see what a real trial is like.

But, for the time being, it looks like I have to tap in to my financial reserves for the Blacksburg trip this weekend and the Florida wedding trip at the end of the month. Here's to a new, more economical me.

One prospective job caught my eye. I have already faxed my resume in. I hope I'm experienced enough.

"SPECIMEN COLLECTOR for administrator of workplace drug free programs. P/T and as needed hours w/min. guarantee. Some medical exper. pref'd. but not necessary."

Mmm.

Here They Coooooome...

Under Armour has finally done it. They are releasing their first string of sneakers. Still no comfort wear sneakers (may never happen) or just plain old, wear around on the average day kicks.

The power trainers in the black and metallic silver are where it's at. If I only had a stable income and $100 to blow, the preorder digs (definition #7) would be mine.

Sorry for the bloggeration binge. This should be it for the evening.

Today, in My Own Entertainment

This is not national news.

Some of you may know I've been on the hunt for a Big Black tee-shirt. Thanks again to the internet research prowess Craig continues to show, I have found the holy grail of Big Black merchandise. If I don't win this contest, I know where to turn. Big Black Security has a home. I have my eye on a couple products. Don't judge me.

The Special Ops NE hat in white is the hotness. I'm not sure what the fashion rules on mixing and matching are, but I'm also peeping the Foiled Tee, black with with silver lettering. Can those two go together? Do I have to wear DC shoes when I don the ensemble? Or are the all white Jordans copacetic?

Part two of today's entertainment extravaganza is a music observation. A friend of mine turned me on to a DJ, goes by DJ Rectangle, who puts out some pretty good mixtapes. He gave me a CD with a bunch of his mixes, ranging from about 20 minutes to about an hour. His best one is Kill Steelz (Vol. 2 can be heard on his My Space). Check it out if you have a chance. I have the mp3 (as a backup to a CD I legally purchased, of course).

Thursday's Happs

Had a relatively productive day today. Relatively is the key word. The life of the pseudo-unemployed lacks eventfulness more often than not.

My day started at 7:45am, at least that's when I woke up. I had a follow up appointment with my ENT at 8:30. I was out of it last night when I set my alarm for 8:30 to make the appointment. Fortunately, thanks to it coming up in conversation, I realized all of a sudden my folly and reset the alarm for a more appropriate time. Rambling... So I get there and it turns out my guy is out for the week and I see an assistant. She talks to me like she's been the one working on me all along. "This looks much better than before, you're making lots of improvement." I had never met her, though she swore we had met previously. Long story short, my prognosis is improving. I got a saline nasal gel to keep my nasals moisturized. Set an appointment to get my ears checked. Got some tipso...proxy...gram..athing...that measured fluid level in my ears. I was within the norm (it printed out a neat little graph that looked like it could have been part of a game on our old Commodore). Nothing to do but sit, do my sinus rinses, apply saline nasal gel, and wait for improvement.

After the doctor, I went to Safeway to grab organic peanut butter and some orange strawberry banana juice for my gym smoothies. I managed to rassle Ryan from bed via text messages at a reasonable time (9:45) to come over and have our ritualistic pre-gym smoothie, then hit the weight room. Cardio was a little basketball shootaround. Gotta do J-work in preparation for the AEPi undergrad-alumni basketball tournament next weekend. Today was shoulders and legs, capped with some abs. Decent work out.

Lunch at Chipotle negated the entire workout, but it was delicious. That is the hot spot.

After lunch, I got dropped off at home, finished up some laundry, took a shower, and resigned myself to the computer for a bit to do some online dealings, a little conversing with friends, you know, the usual.

I finally made myself call Julie about working at the Melting Pot again. I can justify my regression with volunteering at the State's Attorney's office (starts tomorrow morning) and with the prospect of being in law school in six months. Gotta pay the bills, right? Of course, I mustered up all that courage and she didn't answer, nor has she returned my call. I'll try again tomorrow.

Then I went to see Vantage Point. It has been compared to "24" in movie form. A pretty accurate comparison. In what was supposed to be an action packed thriller, I couldn't stop myself from nodding off towards the end. The idea and the premise were good, but the execution left me wanting more. The decent cast wasn't enough to save it.

Things to look forward to this weekend: Matt's birthday outing Friday night (after a possible happy hour outing with Kate and anyone else interested in coming). Flag Monkeys season opener Saturday. Starting quarterback is this guy right here. I'm pointing two thumbs in my own direction.

I'll have game synopses as they come. You can follow our season right here. We are contenders for the title this year, despite losing our top recruit to a preseason ACL injury.

One last thing, vote for me (10s please) in the Rob & Big Best Roommates Contest! I want to win, 'cause I'm a huge dork. The link is up and to the right. Tell your friends.

Strange Comedy, Part II

For those of you who enjoyed "Strange Comedy", I have good news. Through various research media, I (read: Craig) have delved deeper in to the world of Improv Everywhere, the organization that...well...organized the Frozen Grand Central event. They have done tons of videos in the New York metropolitan area.

Their site, http://improveverywhere.com, has links to all of their videos. I haven't sat down and watched all of them. I'm sure not all of them are as funny and impressive as Grand Central, but I bet there are some that are even better.

And, in regards to the Flash Mob Banana Chase at Virginia Tech, this video combines the freezing with the Virginia Tech aspect. It's not as good as the Grand Central or the Banana Chase, but if you imagine you were actually there, it's kinda cool.

Deron and the Hokies

First off, all I have to say is..."Wow." That game last night was unreal. We have never played such good basketball as we did in the first half against Wake. We had 47 legitimate points in the first half. It's not because we kept getting fouled and took 30 free throws, as has been the case in the past. We scored almost all of those points (44) from the floor.

To add to the magic of the evening, it was senior night, and Deron Washington had a career game. He added at least three more highlites to his astounding resume. He has been tabbed "the most well-known dunker in college basketball". He earned his worth one last time in what might be (barring an NIT home game) his last game defending the Cassell. Whether it was the dunk in traffic where he floated an extra 5 feet to pipe the ball, his wide open alley oop, or that crazy drive to the lane that resulted in a layup, he made it a show en route to a 22-point, 13-rebound performance, shooting 8-13 from the floor.

The rest of the Hokies didn't disappoint either. Jeff Allen, Dorenzo Hudson, Hank Thorns, and Deron all hit uncharacteristic three-balls. Vassallo was a scoring machine. It was definitely a huge statement win on the way to earning our berth in the Big Dance (March Madness, for those who don't know the lingo, is the top-tier NCAA postseason basketball tournament).

In other basketball news, Deron has been announced as a competitor in the 2008 college dunk competition during Final Four weekend in San Antonio.

This dunk is a secret preview of what we might see from him in the competition. If you read the article I linked above, you will see that Deron is looking for ideas for dunks. He's tinkering with a few good ones, but needs some help from fans to win this one.



Send along your ideas if you have any. At least to me, and if they are good, I'll relay them. Or go straight to the DC Sports Bog. Whatever you want.

Uncle Sam

I'm going to be an uncle! My brother just announced that his wife is pregnant. Baby is due September 7th. Obviously, the prediction has some wiggle room. We don't know if it's going to be a boy or girl.

I'm pulling for a little nephew. I don't want to have to beat up any punk kids if he has a daughter.

I guess we all have to start learning how to raise a baby. Unfortunately, unless I don't get in to any of my top choice schools, I won't be anywhere nearby when the baby is born. Too far ahead to know for sure.

Either way, it's very exciting.

Best College (or Post High School) Memories

For some reason, I've been trying to relive my college days in my head recently. Trying to think of some of my greatest memories, individual and shared. These aren't in any particular order, but these are the ones that come to mind. And by reading this, you are obligated to share your best college memories via comment. If you didn't attend college, leave your favorite post-high school memory.

- AEPi on "I Bet You Will..." - My stint on national television. We got to participate in an MTV show created by Morgan Spurlock. We had to empty out our entire fraternity house in under 30 minutes. We did it in 27, and won a big screen TV with a DVD player and surround sound. Sounds cheesy, but this was before the days where everyone had these things. Yep, I feel old.




- Halloween Weekend 2003 - I went to ECU for their (in)famous Halloween celebration and to visit Kim. That was a great time and I threw together a pretty good last minute costume (Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Then I hustled back to make the Miami at VT football game that ended up being one of the greatest games in the history of VT football. We thoroughly thrashed Miami when they were ranked #2 or #3 in the nation. Liz was in town and it was her first ever college football game (besides Navy games growing up).





- Miami Weekend with Jay and Ross - Jay and I flew out to Miami for the VT at Miami game the following year, our first in the ACC. The ACC Championship was riding on the outcome of the game. We became famous with the win. On a side note, it was probably the best road trip of our college experience, and we took quite a few.




- Just about every Semi-Formals we had was a weekend worth remembering. I won't post pictures from all of them. Good excuse for everyone to put on their best dress, blow lots of money on a decent dinner, and then enjoy an open bar for the rest of the night. I made sure the music playlist was to my liking by volunteering to coordinate it each semester.

- Duke at VT Basketball - When we upset Duke the first time in Cassell, they were ranked #7 in the nation. It was the greatest basketball game I've ever attended. We fought the whole way through. I can still see clearly the trey Zabian hit in Dockery's face to go ahead for good. We stormed the court. Chaos ensued.

- Homecoming 2004 - The first year AEPi participated in the Greek Homecoming shenanigans. We were paired with Delta Sig and KKG for the week's festivities. It was a blast. Themed parties every night. It was the first time I felt like we were a real part of the Greek community in Blacksburg. We haven't looked back since.




There are tons more, but this will do for now. I need to get to bed.

Please comment with your own memories. At the very least, this will give you your own little trip down memory lane (sorry for the cliche).

Strange Comedy

I have a quasi-friend who basically only exists online but talks to me all the time. She sent these along. I thought they were worth sharing.



This second one is pretty good, but the music is really what makes the video. Those of you, poor souls, who didn't go to Virginia Tech won't recognize the Drill Field as the setting. But us Hokies know that locale like the back of our hands.

Funeral Service

We had a relatively informal funeral service today for Kirby. Zach, the handy man that he is, built a pretty nice little wooden coffin for the pup and he and Liz threw in some of Kirby's favorite toys and bedding. My brother drove in from DC, and all of the Renauts met at Zach's Mom's house on the Severn River to have the ceremony. Zach's whole family showed up, as well as Liz's friend, Emily, and her dog Tucker, who was Kirby's best friend.

Kirby and Kaili actually had the exact same favorite toy (they each had their own). Since I never got to bury her (she was cremated), I threw her favorite toy in to the grave with Kirby. I have mixed feelings about the afterlife, but I am hoping Kirby can get it to her somehow.

It was a strangely powerful ceremony. I guess people who have never owned a dog wouldn't understand. Of the 13 people there, Zach was the only one with dry eyes, somehow. I got a little closure with Kaili, using this as an almost symbolic funeral ceremony for her, which I never really had the presence of mind to do before.

Definitely not a fun day, but it was nice. We all sat around chatting afterwards. The Stauffers are very welcoming and were happy to host us. The conversations floated around to all sorts of topics, occasionally going back to fun memories of Kirby. Only thing left to do now is to move on, but always remember him.