If Matt-Man Can Dodge A Wrench, Matt-Man Can Dodge A Ball

Hail and well met

It has been awhile since I posted. I originally was going to apologize for this but realized that was wrong. As I sat here pondering what to post and forming a script in my head I found this line troubling

"I am sorry for not posting sooner"

Why should I apologize for being busy? Since when was it polite to take on guilt for living and being busy? As I thought about it I realized an analogy that made sense and fit the feeling I was sensing.

Such foolishness is like running a race and doing really well. Then stopping and thinking that it is too easy for you and to hard for the other racers or the audience and taking a rock and putting it into your shoe to make it seem more fair or OK. Now if anyone here has ever done any running (Hi Ace) I am sure that you know that having a rock into your shoe is not fun nor does it improve your running style. So to make our perception of how others see us feel better we lessen ourselves, how can that be better then being a leaf on the wind?

More over it seems we are trained by society and the "polite" people to apologize for all of our success and as such we are placing more rocks into our shoes. In the end all we do is find ourselves unable to wear our shoes at all and walking down the track of life going far slower then we could while others are passing us by and all we get to say is how "rude" they are.

Now to make this analogy fully understood I should explain that I went to Rich East High School (or Bitch East as I knew it) and we had a track like most schools. Our track was made of crushed lava rock. If any of you have had to walk barefoot over lava rock at all you know it is not fun (um yes there is a bit of personal experience in what I say here but lets just leave that for another time). That is what I imagine in this analogy.

Well fellow runners take up hope and follow my lead. For I am taking off my shoes and dumping all the rocks out, lacing them back up and becoming like the wind.

OK well now that is out of the way let me update everyone on what I have been up to.

The weekend of the 10Th I went up to see Terri. We went out and saw Khaos Theory, a bad that started out as a Godsmack cover band and has evolved into their own entity. It was at Penny Road Pub and was a blast. I like their music and the guys are nice and friendly. Terri has known their drummer for a long time and knows all the band members. I myself am just blown away at the acceptance I get from them for just being there. If you are interested in learning more about them (yes a shameless plug but that is what I do, creativity and all) you should check out their Myspace page.

Khaos Theroy MySpace page


Well then I stayed there until Monday when I returned so I could prepare...

For Valentines Day!!!!

Now of course the forces of the universe decided to test my resolve but I showed them. I mean I worked that morning at Matteson and then through the snow made the drive up to see my lady. Now I had to adapt and could not meet her for lunch but that did not matter. I made it up to her house and immediately started fixing dinner. Oh man I was so good. I made chicken breasts marinated in some orange juice with rosemary, ginger, basil and ...um...crap I cannot remember what the last seasoning was. Oh well it doesn't matter cause they were awesome. I then set about pan frying some vegetables. I had zucchini, protobella mushrooms and asparagus. For the last part I made, or more truthfully tried to make gnocchi. I had the recipe and followed it but they never turned out just quite as they described them in the recipe. I made it work and she seemed to like them but she is not big on dumplings. For beginners I made salad with little shrimp. Oh it was great and she loved it. It was the best Valentines day I had ever had. Of course it was truly the first one I had ever had so I have already began planning next year so I can make it bigger and better.

I stayed until Friday and when I left I headed up to Kenosha to pick up Neal. Why would I do that? Well you see we had plans to go over and visit Miles in Monmouth for the weekend and with me already at Terri's it was only a 30 minute drive to pick him up and then we both headed back down here. So his campus is small and really is right off the lake. I mean you can throw rocks at it and if you have the arm you could probably hit the beach if not the lake.

SIDE NOTE - I have to say that I really like the feel of small campuses over big ones, although I do like Carbondale. What a dichotomy.

Well finding the place was not a problem so after a slight delay cause I could not be found by Neal we packed up and left. On the way back we stopped by Chipotle for lunch were Neal got a free meal for some reason. When he went up to pay the cashier told him she was told to pay for his meal and would not say by whom or why. So I was ticked cause she had asked if we were together and if I had said yes I would have had free Chipotle as well. Oh well it was good anyway.

Then we headed out for home. But we found another delay. Game Plus. I couldn't help but tease Neal that we would be passing near it and he asked if we could stop in. I was in no hurry so we did.

I like that store cause they have a lot of everything. I mean if you cannot find it there then it probably is long gone, but they may know where to find it. It is a cornucopia of gaming stuff. I managed to refrain from spending anything (yeah what a feat of control and will power) while Neal walked away with only spending 10 dollars. Yeah for Neal!

After that it was a straight shot home. I stopped off at home and dropped off my stuff then headed out and took Neal home. From their I spoke to Todd and learned of the plan to go and see Ghost Rider with the guys from Stand Up Comics. WOOT!

Now I have to stop here and say that I was disappointed with the weekend in one way. I had hoped to pull off the trick of being able to see Nicky as well before I left. Well she didn't get in till after we were off to see the flick. I am sorry for missing you and your Wing man/copilot Ace but that is the way of things. I will see you when I am down for E-con. So Matt-Man has spoken so it shall it be done!

Now onto the film. I don't feel like giving it a full review cause there are more talented people out there who get paid for this kind of thing. So in a Matt-shell here it is. I liked the film. Nothing screamed "SUCK" but at the same time nothing screamed "AWESOME" either. In many ways I think that it was a lot like Fantastic Four. A good foundation to build from and as such make better and better sequels.
Speaking of the Fantastic Four...The next movie looks AMAZING!!!!!

OK well not to lose sight of this post I will leave it at that. After the movie we left and said goodnight. I was glad cause I had to work the next day. So off to beddie bie land I went.

Now things took a turn for the annoying. I went into work and learned that they had been trying to reach me since Wednesday (Valentines day for reference). They wanted me to come in and start training on a new route and then my regular Sue needed the day off on Friday since her daughter was sick. Well I didn't get a single phone call all week. No messages nothing was on my phone. I was pissed and upset. I mean I know that it was because of my phone but I still knew that it caused problems and I hate that. I take my job seriously. I am the relief for Sue and am supposed to be available when she needs me. I don't know but in the end I spent a lot of time apologizing to everyone over the whole thing. But I didn't hold onto it and left it when I went out on the route. Which I did in good order even with the SNOW!!!!! I promise I won't go into my usual rant on snow but I don't ever think I will ever really like living with it.

Well with the route done and everything ready for Sue on Tuesday I left, only to be told that I was going to be doing a new route on Tuesday. I was not upset in the least I was already planning on being home so it was no big deal. Besides it was the Aux route (which means it is small and does not warrant a full time carrier. I was off and packing (quite literally my clothes). In the end I picked up Neal and we were on the road by 6ish. So we rolled into Monmouth around 9ish (yes I was flying). Miles met us and we parked. Then we visited Kristan and saw her realm of "Hello Kitty". We stayed for only a moment and then off to Miles room. His roommate was gone for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Sunday so we camped out in his room Saturday night . But not before playing Arkham Horror.

I LOVE THAT GAME! IT WAS AMAZING, PHENOMENAL AND AWESOME!

It is set in the Mythos of HP Lovecraft's wittings. You play an investigator trying to stop the old one from winning. Oh it was so much fun. I will own it soon and all of its expansions as well. So 37 inch games be ware!

We got to bed around 3ish, it was so much fun. Morning came at around 11:15 for me. Roused myself into his private bath...Yes you heard me right he has a private bath in a dorm. After the shower we went out to lunch at a place called The Maple City Candy Company/Coconuts. I have to say it was one of the coolest places I have been in in a long time. It feels like an old home with lots of rooms and stairs and cubbyholes packed with different themes of merchandise not all of witch is hokey. Not to mention the fact that they had wired the rooms for sound and each one had different music to got with the theme. I wondered for a long time and then I found something, they had a tigger stuffed animal wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses. Terri loves Tigger and as such I could not resist getting it for her. Lunch was good as well. Coconuts is a Mediterranean style restaurant.

Lunch finished we headed back to campus and got a full on tour of the buildings. It was cool wandering around seeing everything in the different rooms and floors. After that we headed over to Kristan's room with our stuff as we were staying there for the night. After a slight hiatus in her room we went over to the building in which the anime club meets and watched three episodes of "Fruit Basket" a story about a young girl who gets involved with a family that is cursed. Whenever they come into close contact with a member of the opposite sex they transform into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. It had a blast watching it and want to see the rest of the episodes.

We then went off to see a movie. Miles and Kristan went to see Ghost Rider while Neal and myself went and saw Bridge to Teribinthia. I liked the movie which is not what is portrayed in the trailers. I won't go into detail as this is long enough as it is but if you think it is a LOTR/Narnia kind of movie as I did, think again. A good movie and I like it alot. Good acting and a good story made for a good night.

Well then it was off to Steak and Shake for some grub and conversation with three of Miles and Kristan's friends. Good times ensued and I remembered all the times we had done the same thing in one form or another. I could wax sentimental but I will simply say I have many good memories of those times and am glad for them.

So after that we went back and sleep found us. The morning came and Neal and myself entrained ourself for a short time as Miles had class. Then lunch at Mac Donald's and the long trip back to Kenosha began. I dropped off Neal and headed back to Terri's for a few hours then home so I could sleep and go to work.

I did find out one more bit of information Tuesday that troubled me. One of the women that worked at the Crete Post Office passed away the week prior, while I was up at Terri's. Her name was Jan and she was 51. A nice lady that always had a smile and a hello for me when I came in. Now I am not depressed but it is just a little sad since she was a bright light there. May she find her place in the after and the peace that she deserves.

Well that brings everything up to speed. I don't have much more to say so I will bid all a fond farewell. Until next time...

May the Force be with you

Excelsior!!!