Well, well, well, apparently someone is reading my blog since someone requested comments... so they should work, now. Be happy.

I forgot something that was actually really cool that happened last friday. In A-S, the prof brought in a swordmaker to talk to us about swords and other weapons from the time of the anglo-saxons. He brought in a fairly wide range, from a Roman cavalry sword (replica) up to an Irish, well, it wasn't exactly a broadsword, but as I recall it was two-handed. Swordmakers used to take soft iron and carbonized iron (steel), and make parts of the blade separately. Then, they would weld them together, with the harder steel on the outside and the iron on the inside providing support. Of course, some also folded the steel into the iron to get a blend... and Damascus blades (or what were called Damascus blades in the old days) were made from taking the steel and iron, melting them together and then fashioning a sword. But that process usually left the blade very inhomogeneous. When higher temperatures were reached later, the smiths had access to a relatively cheap form of homogenized metal... and sword prices went down. Very interesting lecture, nice guy. He brought in some speartips, too, and we got to handle the weapons (heheheh). Only the guys seemed to actually pick them up though. Maybe the guys were just the pushiest? Ah well, anyway.

Friday night... I did get to go to the party, kinda. I got there a bit early, and helped set up (and injured my finger somehow... I think the couch that we had to move had splinters). And for some reason I ended up folding the host's laundry. I'm much too nice sometimes. I shouldn't be such a pushover. Anyway, the party had just barely started (and wasn't really going yet) when my parents called, saying that the parade was done. Apparently the Parade of Lights folks are very good at ending on time. So I walked over to the Civic Center and met my parents. We took the bus home, and not just any bus, the SLOW bus (which kinda annoyed me. Taking the park-n-ride I could've been to Wagon Road before the bus we were on got back. I could've stayed longer, but I would've had to not go with my parents) because it was cheaper than the park-n-ride. I understand that, but it doesn't really matter to me since my bus pass is good for the entire system. Oh well.

Mom and dad got me a present for my birthday, which did please me. It's my very own DVD copy of the Original Broadway cast recording of Into the Woods. I was very happy with it, and I'll have to bring it up here to show Jeff so that he can marvel at the beauty and talent of Bernadette Peters. We watched it Saturday evening, and I've decided I like the second act much better. It's more... allegorical, and you know how good I am with allegory, so basically it slapped me in the face with it, but I still love it. And Amy got me something, too. I'd asked for a small CD rack so I could put it on my desk and hopefully clean up some of the nightmare that it is. So, I now have a CD rack. It turns and holds 80 CDs. Thanks Amy!

That's interesting. By saying, "you know how good I am with allegory," despite my knowing perfectly well that you probably hadn't any idea how well I dealt with allegory, I was able to convey to you how good I am with allegory through the use of the formula. Neat.

Saturday morning dress rehearsal went okay. We only ran a few moments into the choir's time (about 5 minutes), and so we were done by about 10:30. Bobbette and I went to her house after calling Arte, and I played with her new recorder while she fed her animals. Then we practiced. When I got to my parents' house, my sister was watching Pirates of the Carribean, having just purchased a copy last week. So I watched it, too. Very nicely done, well-acted. The plot drew me in and kept me there, despite being just a bit far-fetched. Johnny Depp was, to say the least, fabulous. And sexy. Wanted to shag him right then and there. Well, maybe not in the living room. But yes. Then Into the Woods, and then random television for a while until Degrassi: The Next Generation came on. I like that show, even though it's for teenagers. I think it deals very well with real issues and everything else you hear said about such shows. Plus Marco's cute.

Sunday, the first concert went okay. Not great, but not poorly. The audience still enjoyed it. The second concert went better, in my opinion. The trumpets said they had a harder time in the second one, but I couldn't hear any problems. I think I'll see if I can borrow the "Olde English Aires" from BrightonMusic for the quartet to play in our upcoming gig. Yes, that's right, the quartet has a gig. A wedding, on the 27th of December, downtown. Really our first gig since summer, though we did have a small reception for a bank opening in October (I think). Anyway, Russian Christmas Music went much better the second time. I'm glad that we've the opportunity to play more difficult pieces like that, even though the group's small and not as good as some others around here. Anyway, after the concert I rushed back to Boulder for the dlp meeting, which was good. We got a group picture in, though Jessie's been on a cruise. "Paste 'im in!" they said. Oh, and they did the sweetest thing for me. Apparently someone let slip that my birthday was the fourth. So they got me a cake and sang and everything. Candles, even, though I missed blowing out one. What a neat bunch of guys!

Today, work, school. Almost done. GSA ally training was cancelled for tonight, which makes me wonder if we'll ever have another GSA meeting. I hope Arte got my message.

Also, apparently Jason's founding the "Bois of Boulder" group, which he wants to be a social coalition of queer groups in the area. I know that we do have a coalition of sorts, Queer Town Hall, but I don't know that it's so social. I think it's a good idea, since I know almost no one outside dlp. If it weren't for dlp, I would know... Jess. And I wouldn't be on speaking terms with Craig. And that would really suck. I just hope Jason does a good job with it, because we definitely need coordination in the community here.

Well on my way to having my poetic license revoked:

As snow piles up on the ground,
And on the internet I dick around,
Time keeps on passing
And instead of you sassing
I should into my head some facts pound.

Well, I'm in a good mood due to the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling. For those of you who won't take the time to click on the link, the ruling was a 4-3 decision overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage, saying that it was unconstitutional. The court turned to the legislature to correct the laws "to the benefit of gay couples." Of course, there are many things left to do, and, as the article states, the state isn't handing out marriage licenses yet. If marriage in Massachusetts is legal, however, there will be precedent, and couples married in Massachusetts may be able to challenge the DOMA laws in effect throughout the rest of the nation, which refuse to acknowledge same-sex couples from other states, due to the Full Faith and Credit Clause in the United States Constitution. On the other hand, Hawaii and Alaska have had similar rulings, which merely resulted in the passage of DOMA laws and the amendment of the states' constitutions. It is, however, a step forward.

In more personal news, I found out that the GSA meeting was cancelled because the president, Kimberley, was in the hospital. So, I hope I'm on the mailing list now, and we'll see whether communication can be improved. Also today, had a 5-minute meeting with my linguistics advisor, basically touching base. Unfortunately, I walked out early from my physics class to do so. Oh well. No Craig today, either. I'm starting to wonder what's up. I have a suspicion he's just not coming to class, which is something that definitely appeals to me. Anyway. Got a parking permit so that my parents can give me the car when they go out of town this weekend so I can feed the pets. Fun. I hope the timing will manage to work out. I'm looking forward very much to Thanksgiving this year, mostly because I'm tired of school and I'm hungry. So I think I'll go fix myself something to eat.

A bad limerick:

A toasted cheese sandwich is nice
If you've got no sugar or spice.
But for a well-balanced meal
You'll need a good feel
For freshly-picked onions and rice.

Well, GSA either didn't happen or I was too stupid to find it. So I spent about 40 minutes waiting in the UMC for SOMEONE to show up, but no one did. And then I went to the library, typed minutes, and went to PSP meeting, which was okay but not terribly exciting either. And now I'm back. Whee! It's time for grilled cheese sandwiches!

I've changed my mind. Jessie and Jeff are too cute a couple to break up. Sigh, oh well. :-p

Anyway, today's been pretty normal. Got up, went to work, sliced turkey and ham and cheese and bread. Yay. Then class. French was pretty boring, we just worked on corrections of a composition that he handed out to us. Anglo-Saxon was kinda fun, we were working on translating some modern computer terminology into A-S, and he also handed out some middle english for us to look at, and middle english seems pretty simple compared to A-S. Linguistics wasn't anything special, and neither was lunch. And now, I'm here. Maybe something interesting will happen later today. I've got a GSA meeting at 6, which is supposed to be a special presentation on "How to be a Good Ally," which is always informative, and then at 8 there's a Phi Sigma Pi meeting, which could be good or could be boring, we'll see. Afterwards, I've got nought but my physics homework to work on.

I haven't seen Craig for about a week now. I hope he's alright, probably the lazy bum's been sleeping through Physics. If he misses many more without a good excuse he'll have to be on his own; I'm not lending my notes to someone who doesn't bother to come to class.

Well, I'm about to start my office hours. Hopefully we'll get a computer in the office soon and I'll be able to do some work in there. Oh well. Later.