As I mentioned previously, I signed up for EMusic recently. In the first few days, I downloaded upwards of 1.8 GIG of music. If they are going to offer unlimited downloads, I'm going to take advantage. I've pulled down 49 albums so far. Some of the highlights:

Adult.
Apples In Stereo
Belle And Sebastian
Built To Spill
Etta James
Pavement
Sahara Hotnights
The Hives

More will be coming. Maybe I should keep a list of all my MP3s since that list is growing so incredibly fast. But anyway, for only $9.95/month (for 12 months) or $14.95/month (for 3 months), EMusic is a great deal if your tastes are broader than mainstream.

When it rains, it pours. I got an email today from a local Ann Arbor company in the medical field asking if I wanted to interview with them. The email said nothing about the position so I inquired about that. We shall see.

Speaking of money, I just got an email saying I have another fly out interview. I don't want to say who it is with, but they are a computer company in the top 100 of the Fortune 500, in the top 20 of the Best to Work For and in the top 10 of the Most Admired...

Just this morning I told myself that I would stop spending money. In the past month, I've bought a new digital camera, work out shoes, a bunch of work out clothes, some regular clothes (but no more blue shirts because Leah says I have too many. Not possible!), and a subscription to EMusic. I spent a lot of money going out, especially on food. So, I said no more. Then, I got a gift certificate in the mail for $15 at Express Men. Jamie and I went today and I said I was only going to spend enough to use up the gift cert. Not so much. I ended up spending $80 there and then $40 at Fields buying some new cologne (Pleasures for Men). I promise, no more.

Hmm, speaking of working out, I never explained how accident-prone I've been over the past few weeks. I cut myself twice, once on a bagel when I was in a hurry and once when chopping up peppers and I wasn't paying attention. The pepper cut, which is on my left thumb, was so deep that I probably needed stitches. I'm a dumb boy, so I just put a butterfly bandage on to seal it up. When working out at the beginning of spring break last week, I was walking on my hands (a relic from my pre-wrestling work outs) and stretched out my ACL in my right knee when I landed. Being a dumb boy, I played racquetball with Joe later that evening. I was attempting a spinning return when I realized there was no way I could land and put that much pressure on my right knee. I stopped midway but my racquet kept going. I smashed myself in the left eye. I should have taken pictures right when it happened, but here are a couple pictures from over a week after it happened:

Normal coloration

Photoshopped coloration to show bruise beneath the eye

My two hour American Values discussion just got cancelled, woohoo! I get to work out instead. Sitting in an overly-warm classroom discussing the people's reaction to the FDR fireside chats or lifting and getting a huge endorphin rush, you make the call.

Texas toast does not taste like ass. Here is a quick recipe for cheesy bread I just whipped up:

Cheesy Texas Bread
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:
Texas toast, sliced thick (3 slices)
Shredded mozzarella or sharp cheddar cheese (1 cup)
Grated parmesan cheese (3 tablespoons)
Butter
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Red pepper flakes

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Lightly butter the bread.
3) Sprinkle a tablespoon of parmesan onto the buttered side of each slice.
4) Season with garlic powder, italian seasoning and red pepper flakes to taste.
5) Cover each slice with 1/3rd cup of shredded cheese.
6) Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
7) Cook for 8 minutes.

Dannon Light n' Fit Creamy yogurt tastes like ass. Avoid it much like the polar bear avoids the Miami sun.

Crazy dream #2: Just a few days ago I had a dream that involved moving down to Georgia. Since I don't know anyone down there, I had to find housing by myself. All of the apartments were full or something so I ended up subletting a room in a mansion. The details of the mansion itself were fuzzy but there definitely was a pond in the back with some odd stones surrounding the perimeter. (It reminded me of a Mandelbrot set, now that I think of it. Do you dream in fractals? Thought not.) The owner of the mansion and (what could only be) his young daughter showed me to a room. They said there was only one problem, the bed had been in the pond earlier. Eh, whatever, I took the room anyway.

I fell asleep (in the dream) and woke up with two leech-like beings on my left hand. I immediately started to swat at them, trying to get them off. The owner and daughter (who must have been watching me sleep) yelled at me to stop and that these leeches would keep sucking until either they filled with blood or died. On closer inspection, the leeches had these coiled bodies that could expand and hold a LOT of blood. I had to get to the hospital, so I called Eric (who knows why he was in Georgia). He picked me up in some weird Dodge Neon-SUV hybrid (which can be explained by the fact that I fell asleep reading Motor Trend) and we tried to ask for directions to the nearest hospital. Everyone would give us directions, but different directions. Just as we got on the highway, I woke up. My entire left arm was completely asleep which explains the leech bit.

Crazy dream #1: Just after Leah and I started dating, I had a dream that I was MCing a talent show. It was held in downtown Detroit in a dingy, 70's-styled theater. I don't remember how it happened, but I ended up on stage and was told to MC the entire affair. I didn't know who was supposed to be in the show so I just talked to the crowd and made a game out of it. Rob Shereda was in the audience and I was under the impression that he was supposed to be the MC but decided to let me run it. After introducing the first act, I hopped down from the stage into the crowd. Everyone seemed to be dressed as if it was the 70's, but in that updated-yet-still-retro style. Leah was there and just as I was about to talk to her, I woke up.

I have a new digital camera. I haven't gotten many chances to use it, but it was put into full effect to capture a typical night out. Check out the rest of the galleries here. Hopefully that will quickly fill up with galleries from my tenth and final semester here. Last week was spring break and mostly it was spent at work. For those of you that haven't been dragged into the Daily by now, here is a quick run down of the important areas. The really big black server in that gallery is the old database server that I replaced last weekend. Other than work, I hung out with Leah as much as possible. We went up to State for a night and that would have been a prime candidate for picture taking, but I hadn't met 90% of those people yet. It's just better to not be "that guy that always has his camera" just yet.

Here is some background as to what has been going on in my life the past 5 months. First, I am seeing someone new. Her name is Leah and to try to explain how perfectly the relationship is developing would be to spoil it. Expect to hear more about that later. Second, and related to the first, I'm no longer with Laura. Things were a bit rough at the end of last semester and she decided to end it. No hard feelings, on my part. Third, I will be graduating come April 25th. Fourth, I have no idea where I will be after said graduation. There is a job possibility down in Alpharetta, Georgia, but I won't be saying any more about that until I know for sure.

Crazy euchre story: Leah (on the other team) was dealing and turned up a bower. I was three-suited and called it up with NO TRUMP. We won that hand and won the game 10-0. Am I lucky or what?