Yeah, Yeah, I Know.
It's been a while, I know. And I've been (sort of ) busy. So there. Here's what's been up, in a rambling way:
The first weekend in August, Jamie and I went up to North Conway, NH again to enjoy a weekend to ourselves, and it was a very nice time. We played some minigolf (as I prepare for the tour, just 10 days away), drove up Mt. Washington (I felt like a lame-o for driving up when there were people there who had hiked, but then again, I'm fat), and nearly went kayaking, but didn't get there in time. We also drove through Maine on the way back, just for fun. That was a good trip. Other than that, I've been working a lot, which is good- I need the money. I got information regarding my financial aid for Cortland, and I'm being offered some loans which I think I will take - hopefully I'll also get an assistantship at Cortland, and be able to use these for things like getting an apartment and whatnot. Speaking of which, looking at apartments, I found a 2 bedroom one in Marathon on Craigslist for $435/month + utilities - anyone interested?
This weekend Jamie came to visit, and she leaves on a train tomorrow morning. We had a great time at the Renaissance Festival Saturday with Marie, Zac, and Heather, and also saw the movie Stardust (which Jamie absolutely loves, and I agree is an excellent film), and she finally saw Return of the Jedi last night. I know it's been hard for her with me going farther away, but things have been very good between us, so I'm expecting that to continue.
Future plans are work until 5 today, work 9:30-5 tomorrow, work 9:30-6 Thursday, and then book it to Trivia @ the Dugout with my car that I've hopefully packed tomorrow night, winning at the dugout, going home and unloading the car, going to Cortland for orientation on Friday, the 24th. Then, I'll be back up here either Friday night or Saturday morning, cramming crap into my car (my desk's going to be the hardest part by far), and leaving for good on Sunday. I can't say I'll be sad to be leaving Raleigh Street. Though the house was incredibly convenient as far as location, between the museum and MCC and UR, and the price is good, but there have been too many little things that have pissed me off - the horrible parking, my bathroom door breaking, the dryer in the basement not working, the electricity bill not being paid by other tenants, a guy showing up in my apartment at 2:30 AM (it wasn't a big deal, he just thought it was the attic for the guy who lives below me, but it still scared the living shit out of me), a cat taking a dump on the landing... I just don't need that sort of thing. So I'm glad that that's done. As I've said to Jamie, Rochester's getting old to me- I need a change of scenery, even if it's going back home. But I'll be back - FDIC, and also Yellowjacket weekend.
I was looking at various online posts on quizbowl message boards about the ideal Trash distribution for a packet, and I think that for a packet of 24/24, ideal would be this:
Sports: 4/4 (3/3 baseball, football, basketball, 1/1 other, 3 from 2000-now, 2 1985-2000, 1 pre-1985, 1 any)
Movies: 4/4 (At least 2 questions each on Comedy/Drama, at least 3 on any combination of animated, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, children's, documentary, etc., 2 from the last year, 2 from 1995-a year ago, 2 1980-1995, 1 pre-1980, 1 any)
TV: 4/4 (Again, at least 2 comedy/drama, at least 3 on other, and timewise 2 from the last year, 2 from 2000-a year ago, 2 from 1990-2000, 1 pre-1990, 1 any)
Music: 4/4 (at least 1 question each on rock, country, r&b/hip-hop/rap, indie, other 4 from those categories or other- no more than 2 country or indie. Timewise, same as TV)
Video Games: 2/2 (increasingly a set part of a trash distribution, at least 1 question on a game, 1 on a character, and no more than 1 non-console, no more than 1 pre-1995. I think this one is okay to be a little looser)
Additional Sports/Movies/TV/Music: 2/2 - for extras, including cross-genre questions
Consumer products: 1/1 - Things that are (or were) widely available and known, have some sort of trashy importance, and aren't crazy obscure.
1/1 Trash Lit - Comics, comic strips, bad books, etc. etc.
1 question on something internet-related - it's too big of a trash entity to be ignored
1 question on some sort of bizarre event - weird news, strange facts, crazy places in America (occasionally known as road trip effluvium)
2 questions on anything, especially cross-genre questions
Those last 3 categories I didn't split them up into TU/Boni, because it's not that big of a deal, I don't think. Also, I like to keep the possibilities for cross-genre questions and a little bit less strict on specific qualifications. For example, I would write a question with at least 1 extra "other" sports question, and Jon would write one with at least one extra pre-1980 movie, if not more. And that's okay. Most important is that nothing is too obscure. Also, I feel that most trash packets tend to lean toward the too-old side.
TRASH Regionals is November 10, site as of yet undetermined - I'd like to bring a kickass team, and I'm always interested in a team of Candor alumni. Who's in?
Coming soon: A World Cup 2010 preview, starting with the confederation whose qualifying kicks off absurdly early (Saturday!), Oceania!