2007

Dec032007

Monday

Dad and I worked in both Mid City and Metairie as usual this afternoon. I spent my time doing general housekeeping work as is usual on Mondays. Dad drove me to campus with plenty of time to spare this evening.Tonight’s visual communications class was about nothing in particular. I help like I was wasting my time and left at the break. I caught a cab home and spend the evening watching TV and fighting unsuccessfully with my computer, which I still giving me trouble.

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Nov292007

The Last Tango

There was no particular hurry to get to the office today. Dad had time to wait around for me to get a haircut this morning. I can’t quite remember what went on at work today. It’s safe to say it was quiet around the office though. After work, I believe Dad took me to campus for this evening’s math class. There was supposed to be a test this evening, which I completely forgot about. The professor was still concerned that we weren’t grasping the material, rightfully so in my case. For the most part, we recapped some of the stuff we’ve been working on these past couple weeks. We were given a take home test at the end of class, which ended rather early at seven.After class I walked down to the LBC with a classmate whose name shamefully escapes me. With a couple hours before ballroom, I decided to get something to eat. We both walked down to the Rat but it wasn’t opened yet so we ended up with Taco Bell. [whoever] was curious about the ballroom club and knew a girl that participates so he walked with me to the Reily Center and stuck around for a few minutes to see what it was like.This evening’s lesson was the last of the semester, a recap on tango with one additional set of steps. Unlike the past couple weeks where I’ve done reasonably well, tonight wasn’t so smooth. I think the thanksgiving break may have thrown me off, and I wasn’t the only one. It was still fun of course, even though I was stumbling more than usual. Afterward, we took a group picture for the yearbook.Afterward I walked with Megan back to her dorm and caught a cab home in front of the LBC. I might have watched a movie late this evening but I can’t remember which.

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Nov282007

Gothic Art

After work this afternoon, Dad dropped me by the medical school to take the shuttle to campus this evening. Mr. Bayer started this evening’s art survey class by announcing that we would not have a cumulative final exam, which was quite a relief. The last test will be on gothic art. Tonight was the first of two lectures on the subject. For the most part, we were looking at churches.Following the lecture, there was a test on Romanesque art. I spent a lot of time studying for this test and it paid off, although there were still a number of questions I didn’t know. After class, Dad picked me up. I think he had been working late.

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Nov272007

1000th Post

Today marks the 1000th post in the “daily log.” It’s hard to call it that since it has taken nearly five years to hit this milestone but one thousand is still a big, even number worth noting. I should probably save any reflection on the longevity of this feature for the upcoming five year mark though.Dad and I got to the office today at about 11:30. I spent the afternoon working on a handful of discharge reports. For the last couple days I was all caught up on dictation but after the marathon of dictation the doctor did yesterday night, I’m swamped again. Dad had to stop by the west bank on the way home this evening so Dad dropped me on Canal Street to catch the 4:40 shuttle to campus.This evening’s Louisiana history class was about Louisiana governors between the forties and sixties. After the break, Mr. Fontenot discussed the civil rights movement, mostly within a local context. Much of this portion of the lecture centered around A. P. Tureaud and Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones.After class I caught the shuttle back downtown and Dad took me the rest of the way home. Later this evening I did a little studying for an upcoming test tomorrow.

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Nov262007

Re-run

Dad and I went to the mid city office for a while before making our way to Metairie. I intended to get some dictation done this afternoon but I only got to the weekly filing work. Dad took me to campus early this afternoon because he was going to have to take the doctor home this evening due to car trouble.I waited around and the LBC for a while before heading to Mayer for class tonight. This evening’s Visual Communications class was a complete waste of time. It was essentially a rerun of last week’s lecture on cinema, a lecture I didn’t learn anything new from the first time. Movies are an interest of mine and I actually took an art and craft of film class.Dad was working late and picked me up from campus after class. I saw Andrey briefly while I was waiting for Dad. I didn’t do much of anything this evening. I’ve been replaying Half-Life 2.

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Nov252007

Thanksgiving Break

The break this Thanksgiving was a rather quiet one. My brother Jeff was in town from Michigan but I was home just about the whole time. We had the big meal on Thursday with turkey and the usual side dishes, all of which were very good. In addition to all the food I spent a lot of time in front of the TV watching movies or football. Jeff caught a flight back to Michigan on Sunday.

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Nov192007

Betty Shirley with the Kirk Branch Trio

Dad and I arrived at the Mid City office just after 11 this morning. That office is closed on Monday and we never made it out to Metairie so it was a pretty quiet workday. Dad dropped me at Tidewater to catch the shuttle to campus this evening. Tonight’s visual communication class was about movies, a subject I already have a passing familiarity with so I was able to get by paying only half attention.Class ended at 7:30 and I walked to the LBC (Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life. Previously I have referred to this building as the “student center” but from here on I will refer to it as the LBC). Eventually I met up with Andrey and his friends. In attendance to night were Anrey, Veronica, Patrick, Chrelsi and myself. We went to dinner at MIkimoto this evening and has several varieties of sushi and other raw fish for dinner. Even though I’ve been there before, I was still surprised that the food was quite tasty. After dinner we went to Snug Harbor to see Betty Shirley, a jazz vocalist. The day of the week had more to do with us going than the act though.The show was enjoyable, although I have seen better jazz vocalists having frequented Jazz Fest. We arrived a half hour in to the 10 o’clock show. There was a very sparse crown so we didn’t have any trouble getting good seats. Following the show we stood outside and talked briefly before everyone went home. I got a cab rather quickly. I can’t remember whether or not I watched a movie later this evening.

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Nov192007

Weekend

For the most part, Saturday and Sunday were reasonably quiet days at home. I can barely remember Saturday. A good portion of my time was spent watching football. Jeff arrived in New Orleans Sunday afternoon for the thanksgiving break. Dad slow cooked some ribs and baked beans for dinner which were quite good.Late on Sunday evening, I went to the Hookah Caf on Frenchman, much like last week. I met Andrey and Patrick there to see Gov’t Majik. We couldn’t get any seats near the band but it was for the best since we could carry on conversation a little easier. I think we were only there until about midnight, maybe earlier.

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Nov172007

Here and There

Dad and I arrived at the office just after 11 this morning. I continued work on the initial reports like yesterday. Dad went home at 2:30 but I stayed at the office until four because I had plans on the east bank this evening. After work, Dee was kind enough to give me a ride to Maple Street. I bought a smoothie and took a seat in a little place called YouGurt.I remained there with my laptop until about 5:30. I called Patrick and he told me dinner would be late and suggested I join him and everyone else who was at Mayer. It only took me about ten minutes to walk to campus. A bunch of people were already there when I arrived, nearly all of whom I’d met at least once. Off the top of my head I can think of Patrick, Andrey, Veronica, Shona, Ashlie, Angela, Kerry and one other person whose name escapes me. Patrick cooked a beef brisket and made some potato salad, both of which were pretty good. The lot of us just hung out there for a few hours before a good portion of the crowd went out to the Boot. Later on we walked over the the (new) Bruno’s where we remained for a few more hours. After paying a nice little tab there we walked over the (old) Bruno’s for a round of Woodchuck. We weren’t there very long and eventually drove over to The Frat House, a place we tried earlier in the week but was closed.I think we left the Frat House at around two. Andrey wasn’t quite fit to drive so we all piled in and Patrick drove back to campus. A good portion of the party retired for the evening. Andrey, Patrick, Cat and myself went to Der Rathskeller for something to eat. Andrey certainly needed some food in his stomach, although it wasn’t a bad idea for me or Patrick. I think Cat was just along for the entertainment value. She wasn’t disappointed. We all had chicken fingers, which are tasty if you’re disoriented. We were there until about 2:30. I shared a cab with Patrick who lives nearby. There was one already on McAlister so we lucked out there. I finally got home around three and went right to bed.

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Nov152007

All Quiet in Vera Cruz

With all the discharge reports out of the way, I had time to start getting caught up on all the initial evaluations that have been hanging over my head for the last couple months. After we left work for the day at five, Dad took me to campus for class this evening.This evening’s math class was a continuation of last week’s lecture on Boolean algebra. The material is still a bit over my head.After class I walked over to the computer lab on McAlister to sit and wait for ballroom this evening. There was a good turnout for the tango lessons this evening. There were a couple new steps tonight, which I naturally had trouble with. I also haven’t quite mastered the left rock turn that was introduced last week. When the lesson was over I walked with Megan to her dorm and went to the nearby PJ’s to wait again because I was accompanying Andrey and his friend’s to Vera Cruz again this evening. I was there for a while before Patrick happened to walk in, I ended up following him to Mayer where the rest of the usual suspects were. After hanging around there a while we drove out to Vera Cruz. We got something to drink but the place was pretty quiet. We eventually walked across the street to (old) Bruno’s for a drink and then drove to some new place that opened recently called “The Frat House.” It was closed. After some debate over there to go next, they just elected to go home for the evening. I caught a cab home from the student center. When I got home this evening I found the five free HD-DVDs I sent away for months ago finally arrived, all in pristine condition. Before bed I talked to Krystle on the phone for a while.

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Nov142007

Romanesque Art

I can’t quite remember how much work I got done today. I caught a late 4:40 shuttle to campus this afternoon. On the way to campus, I finished up an extra credit assignment on my laptop. Ultimately I don’t think it did me any good. Had I finished the work last night I would have spent the time on the bus studying for the test this evening. I didn’t study and there was no break for last minute cramming so I did poorly again. The extra credit will balance that out though just a lot more work. This evening’s lecture was about Romanesque art. For the most part we were looking at 11th and 12th century churches. They are grand structures but not overwhelming when you’re looking at slides in a dark room in art class.I caught a cab home later this evening. I spent a good part of the evening fooling with my Zune and its software. With the release of revision two, owners of the old Zune were recently afforded the opportunity to upgrade to new firmware and software. While the new firmware is a nice refresh, the new Zune software is still a pain in the ass. I had to spend a lot of time adding tags to my MP3 collection because the software is incapable of recognizing that any one album may have multiple artists. I also had to rename all my picture files to get album art to work. As I write this, however, someone seems to have successfully patched that problem. When I finally did get everything working it was pleasant to use. Just like when I first got the player, however, I had to get through a lot of crap first.

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Nov142007

Huey Long

I got a few things done at work today, although it can always be better. Not long after I got to work around noon, Bianca and I went to pick up lunch at the Parkway Bakery & Tavern. Apparently the place is good and it’s been around a while so I was surprised I’d never heard of it. I ordered a shrimp po-boy, which was quite good. I couldn’t say if it’s better than Mandina’s.This evening’s Louisiana History class was about Huey Long and politic following his assassination. Mr. Fontenot didn’t really lecture about Huey Long since we saw a film about him last week and read a biography on him, which we were quizzed on at the beginning of class. I did fine on the quiz even though I’d only read half the book. Most of the lecture was about the twenty or so names he wrote on the board, people who ran Louisiana politics well into the sixties. Some of the names I’d heard before, others I hadn’t. Overall, this evening class was very informative and entertaining, just as Louisiana politics often is.After class I called Dad. He was out with Mom buying furniture. He offered a ride home earlier this evening but they weren’t done yet and I didn’t want to wait around. I was going to call a cab home but the women’s basketball team was playing and I decided to hang around for the rest of it. The second half had just started when I walked in. I ran into Dad’s friend Dennis as I was finding a seat. The game versus Georgia Tech was a good one but they ultimately lost 66-61. Mom and Dad finally arrived not long after the game ended. Later that evening I watched tonight’s episode of Boston Legal.

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Nov122007

Pop Test

There was no particular hurry to get to work this morning so I had time to watch the last Top Gear episode and an old Frontline show on the history of credit cards. I worked at the Metairie office this afternoon. I had a lot of filing work to get caught up and I did finish.I skipped last week’s visual communications class so I wasn’t aware that there was a test today. Apparently last week was just a review because there was no foreign material on the test and I did just fine. I think I finished first.I just barely missed the 6:20 shuttle downtown. Dad was willing to come pick me up though. We had white beans for dinner which were pretty good. That evening I just watched TV before bed.

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Nov112007

Weekend

Friday wasn’t especially eventful. I did get a lot done at work though. Dad grilled some steaks for dinner. I might have watched a movie that evening.I got up at a decent hour on Saturday because I had somewhere to be in the afternoon and I wanted to clean out the inside of my computer this morning. After the ordeal with all the upgrading it was still sitting out of place and open. I took the opportunity to take it to the back yard and clean it out with the aid of the air compressor. Since my computer case has filters on the fan intakes, the dust isn’t that much of a problem.On Friday night, Andrey invited me to a small gathering at his house, sort of a belated housewarming party. There were about eight guests including some of his friends, some I hadn’t met as well as some of his family. There was food and drink and conversation. Andrey had to work this afternoon so it came to an end at about 3:30. I walked down to Maple Street and called a cab home.Later that evening I watched Papillon and talked to Krystle before bed.Most of Sunday was pretty quiet. After church I watched the Saints lose to the 0-8 St. Louis Rams pretty depressing. Later this evening, I went to the Hookah Caf on Frenchman to meet Andrey and Patrick to see Gov’t Majik, an “afro-beat arkestra.” It’s sort of a jazz band but not really. Whatever their music is called, they were quite good. I called for a cab at nine and barely got there on time at 10. The other two didn’t show up until about half past though. We were there until about midnight. The band wasn’t done but they did have places to be in the morning. It took me a little while to get a cab but I finally made it home at about 12:30. Thanks to the liquid refreshment consumed earlier in the evening, I didn’t have any trouble getting to sleep this evening.

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2007

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