January 2005


Review Writing and Birthday Cake

I went to work at 11:30 this morning with plenty of work to do. There was some dictation that sat over the weekend that wasn’t finished last Friday. I worked on that for a while before leaving the office at 4:30 to go to this evening’s class. Before getting to class, we picked up Andrew from school. He and Dad went to the Hornet’s game this evening. Before dropping me off, we all got something to eat from the Frostop. Dad dropped me off on campus with just enough time to get to class. During this evening’s review writing class, we went over each student’s product review, which was due today. I wrote a review on my laptop, which the professor didn’t much like due to the highly technical vocabulary it contained and it’s lack of ‘personality.’ After she went through everyone’s work, we were given some time to improve out papers based on her suggestions, class time called the ‘writing workshop.’ I think I got the techno-babble down but I doubt I added much personality to the review. Before class was dismissed, she lectured for a bit and gave us out next assignment, reviewing an internet message board. That should be an interesting undertaking. After class I saw that is was raining rather heavily. It had been raining with reasonable frequency throughout the day. I had planned to visit Melanie at her house for a little while this evening. It would figure that I left my umbrella at home this morning. Luckily, her dad was good enough to give me a lift to her house given how wet it was. Not long after I got there, they resumed Goldeneye, the movie they had been watching. Tomorrow is Melanie’s 21st birthday so we all had some cake before dad arrived to take me home. Later in the evening, I watched a bit more of Red Beard. I though I was going to finish it tonight but I only made it to the intermission before going to bed.

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uh…

Well I remember going to church today. I remember having to take a bit of a detour around a Mardi Gras parade route.

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Tulane vs. Louisville

Most of the day was devoid of circumstance. I watched some TV. A neighbor’s dog was camping out in our garage most of the day. This evening, Dad, Andrew and I went to see the Tulane’s basketball team play Louisville. The game wasn’t remarkably entertaining as Louisville dominated the entire affair; of course that wasn’t surprising since Louisville is ranked 12th in the nation. The final score was 105-69. We were in no hurry to leave after the game. Dad wanted to talk to someone in the press box and Andrew played on the court with some other kids for a little while. I had my camera with me during the game. I only took a few shots and I doubt there was a single good one of the bunch. Later in the evening I was on the computer for a while.

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Dinner, Movie, Conversation

Dad and I left the house considerably earlier than usual this morning as he had a doctor appointment this morning. We left the house just after nine to make the 9:40 appointment. He was seen on time. While I waited, I surfed the net using a WAP that was somewhere in the building. He was done about a half hour later, after which Dad took me to the mall for my noon class. I arrived at the mall around 10:30, leaving me 90 minutes to kill. I went to the lab for a little while. I called Ann and we had lunch at 11. I had some pizza and pasta from Sbarro. Ann said she intends to quit her job at the bookstore but I wouldn’t bet the farm. I went up to class after lunch. Ms. Snell covered the rest of chapter three regarding marketing ethics. Class was dismissed around 12:45. Dad picked me up afterward to take me to work. He left shortly after we arrived to go to the east office. I had enough to largely stay occupied until I left around five when dad picked me up. He dropped me off in the quarter as I had a date with Melanie this evening. The rest of my family went out to eat as well this evening as today is Andrew’s birthday. Melanie and I had dinner at the Gumbo Shop. She was just over a half hour late something to do with the cab. I had lots of time to look at the menu. I picked the jambalaya. Melanie picked the same when she arrived. Before that we both had a cup of their chicken andouille gumbo, which I understand is their most popular item. It was good, although hardly legendary. Neither of us was able to finish the jambalaya. After dinner we walked down to Canal Place. We went to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. We were a bit early so we went up to the Wyndam’s 11th floor lobby to sit for a little while and wait for seating to start. We got up a little before 7:30 and took our seats in the movie. To say the least, The Life Aquatic is unique in many respects and quite amusing. After the movie ended a little while before ten, we went back up to the lobby to sit down for a bit before going home. We ended up talking for about five hours. At quarter to two we both agreed it was time to go home. We walked down to Canal St. and got cabs home. I didn’t have any cash on me but a driver let me buy gas to pay the fare. I got home around 2:30 and went to bed shortly thereafter.

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Work and Film Noir

I went to work this morning and arrived around 11. I did some work involving filing, but that was about it. Dad took me uptown a short while later for this evening’s class. I got there around three. I sat in the library for a little while and later went to the Boot and got something to eat. I sat around there for a while and then walked to the quad near the Norman Mayer building and took a seat nearby for another short while. While there I briefly spoke with someone who was interested in my laptop. She happened to know a student I knew from working at the book store. This evening’s film class pertained to film noir. After a short discussion, we watched The Maltese Falcon. Dad picked me up in front of the library a short while after class. On the way home we listened to the end of a Tulane basketball game versus Houston. The had held a lead through most of the game but Houston shortened the lead and managed to tie the game with less than a minute remaining. Freshman Taylor Rochestie scored in the final seconds of the game, sealing the win. Rochestie is the same player who won Tulane the game at the buzzer last week versus UAB. This win broke a nine game winning streak for Houston at home. I was in front of the computer later in the evening and talked to Melanie and Ami online for a while before going to bed.

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More Walking Than Usual

Dad dropped me off at the mall this morning without any remarkable amount of time to spare this morning. Ms. Snell discussed chapter three this morning, which related to marketing ethics. She will finish that chapter on Thursday. After class I walked down to Poydras and Magazine to take a bus uptown. I met Melanie for lunch around 1:30. We walked down to a burger joint whose name escapes me. I do remember the sarcastic item descriptions on the menu though. After lunch I walked with Melanie back to the school and then took a bus back downtown. I got off on Canal St. in front of the Sheraton hotel and went in. I found a comfortable seat in The Pelican Bar and remained there until about 5:00. The hotel has wireless net access so I was able to poke around on the net for a while. I walked back to the mall around five, which took about 20 minutes. We finally made our way to the 1950’s in my history class this evening. After lecturing for a while, the professor showed some short video clips from the 40’s to the 50’s. I took the bus home after class. Later in the evening I started watching Red Beard but I got tired and went to bed long before finishing it.

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First Review Feedback

I woke up with an unusual pain in my left stomach this morning but it passed before long. Before leaving for work this morning I watched the episode of Enterprise that I missed from Friday. On the way to the office, Dad and I stopped at Dillards in the mall as he was looking for a particular pair of pants, which he was unable to find in his size. When I got to work, I had a little filing related work to do. Dad left the office around one for an appointment. I remained at the office until around five, when dad took me to school for tonight’s class. Most of this evening’s review writing class dealt with the book reviews we did last week. She went over a number of ours and pointed out numerous flaws in each, including mine. After that, we got some time to revise our work based on the suggestions we received. She also lectured a short while after that. We were dismissed about ten minutes late. Dad was waiting for me and took me home. He went back to the office earlier after he dropped me off this evening. I got something to eat after getting home. Later in the evening I watched the Carnivale episode I recorded on Sunday before going to bed.

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Johnny Carson Dies at 79

We stopped at Office Depot after church to pick up a display board for a project for Andrew. That was largely the extent of my activity for the day. The death of Johnny Carson was the extent of the circumstance for the day. I never got to see too much of him on TV, although I do recall his last show. It was a shame hearing of his death although it was a bit of a feat living as long as he did considering his smoking habit. It’s also kind of a shame that no other late night personality even approaches his gift for comedy. I spent the better part of the afternoon watching football, laptop in hand. It was no great shock seeing that the Patriots will be going to the Super Bowl again. Later in the evening I finished a book review for class on Monday.

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LPO Goes to the Movies

I wasn’t in any hurry to get up this morning. I didn’t have much to do when I did. I cleaned my room a bit during the afternoon. This evening, Melanie and I went to see the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra perform. Dad dropped me off downtown a little after seven. My family went out to eat after dropping me off. I went to an ATM before waiting outside the Orpheum, but I never did need the cash. Tonight’s concert, “LPO Goes to the Movies,” featured the music of several films over the years. There were selections from Silverado, Star Wars, Chicago and Indiana Jones among others. Melanie arrived around 7:30 and we took our seats in the second row of the first balcony. The performance was most entertaining. It was pretty cool hearing a live performance of the Imperial March by a full orchestra. There was a quiz included in the program. Carl Topilow, the guest conductor, asked questions throughout the concert concerning the movies whose music was being performed. Melanie did remarkably well, although not perfect as a couple people among the audience. The show ended with the Cantina Band music from Star Wars. That was pretty fun to see and listen to a reasonably serious organization playing such a fun song. It was bitter cold outside as we left the theater around 10:30. We had decided to get something to eat after the show and McDonalds was very close by so we went there. I had my usual and Melanie got some chicken strips. After we were there for about a half hour, dad called and offered us a ride home. We stayed at McDonalds a little while longer until he arrived to take us both home. After we took Melanie home we went home ourselves, I went to bed not long after.

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Sci-Fi Friday

I didn’t go to work today as dad was ill. Today was pretty devoid of activity, although it did mark the return of Enterprise, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis to TV after a winter hiatus. I watched the Stargate episodes and recorded the rest for later. I think I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner this evening.

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Short Class

Before leaving the house this morning I watched the important parts of the presidential inauguration. Dad dropped me at the mall at 11:30. I bought a couple books for my history of rock and roll class before today’s started. Ms. Snell just finished up chapter 2 during this afternoon’s session. Class was dismissed at 12:30. I called Melanie after class as she said she might meet me for lunch today, but I think I woke her up when I called. I had lunch at McDonalds and then took a bus to work. I didn’t have the same lunch with the wait as I did on Tuesday. When I arrived at 1:30 I had a couple reports to do. After I finished those I continued working on the patient database project I had been working at over the last week or so. I finally finished it today. Not too long after doing so, mom picked me up to go home. On the way, we stopped my some lady’s house whose name escapes me. Anyway, she’s the lady my mom buys her glasses from. She stopped by to get new frames and have a lens replaces on Andrew’s pair. We were there for a half hour, after which we made it home. I cooked some soft tacos for dinner. I typed up a short essay for Ms. Snell’s class this evening.

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The Hero's Journey

I went to work with dad for a little while this afternoon before class this evening, but I really didn’t do too much in the line of work. I cleaned up a bit and did two reports though. Dr. Stevenson bought us lunch before we left the mid-city office for the day. Dad dropped me off uptown around three. Before class started I was in the Richardson lab for a while. I stopped by the laptop station to speak with someone about a problem with mine, I didn’t learn much. It did lead me to fixing it myself later. I was in the drawing board caf for a little while as well. I went to the classroom for tonight’s class about a half hour early. It was as good a place as any to surf the net, and it was quiet. Tonight’s class was ok. We discussed some basic elements of a movie and “the hero’s journey.” The professor showed a few minutes of Excalibur before the end of class at 7:50. I went to the Hebert building to meet Melanie after her class but it wasn’t even in that building anymore. Dad picked me up at 8:20. Before heading home, dad stopped by the office to pick up pay checks and a package. We also stopped at the bank so I could deposit my check at the ATM, as I was slightly overdrawn. On the way home we listened to the ongoing Tulane basketball game versus UAB. Tulane held a lead through most of the game but the score was tied by the end of regulation. We continued to listen to overtime after we got home. Tulane won with a three pointer at the buzzer by freshman Taylor Rochestie, putting Tulane on top 76-73. Later in the evening after I got home I read a little of the book for my review writing assignment before bed.

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Pizza For Lunch, Pizza For Dinner

Dad dropped me off at the mall without too much time to spare this morning. This was the first day I was able to try using wireless internet access on campus with my laptop. It worked fine, for a while anyway. Marketing class went alright. Ms. Snell discussed competitive advantage among other things. After class I met Melanie uptown for lunch. I took the Magazine St. bus down to Napoleon to meet her at a school she’s doing some kind of work at. She picked out a pizza place for us to have lunch at but they were filming there so we walked further down Magazine to Reginelli's, another pizza place. We split a large pizza and some breadsticks. There were plenty of leftovers after we finished, which was fine since that would do fine for dinner. After we finished I walked her back to the school and took the same bus back downtown. I took a seat in the Hyatt for a short while and typed up some back entries for the log and then walked to the mall and eventually got back to the school for my evening class, the history of rock and roll. I was told I really missed nothing during the first week of class. During this session, the professor discussed the earliest roots of rock and roll, discussing events as far back as 1718. Dad picked me up after class. It took a short while for him to get there as he was coming from uptown. I didn’t really do much after I got home.

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Day Off at Home

The office was closed today with the holiday so I was at home with the family. I did practically nothing today. Mom and Dad went shopping this afternoon so Andrew and I were home most of the afternoon. I watched the Carnivale episode I missed while I was out last night. Later in the evening I watched Being John Malcovich.

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