several options here:

1) full, long-winded weekend recap.
2) "i'm tired, so i'll recap tomorrow," knowing full-well it will never happen
3) brief recap, featuring "shout-outs" to those involved, and the like
4) "best-of" post
5) ignore my personal involvement, and just write about the cats

i think i'll go with 4), which is unsatisfying. but 1) usually becomes long-winded. 2) never happens, 3) means that i'd be associated with "shout-outs" and 5) would be sad. (24 hour rule nonwithstanding.)

so, it's 4)

best-of friday:

1) "don't stop believin'," courtesy of steve perry and 1.75 million confused sox fans
2) upon arrival in the actual wicker park (the actual!), setting a koosh record of 50 back-and-forths with nemo. the pot-smoking hipsters were unimpressed, although the pigeons weren't.
3) watching the interpol guy on jeopardy with treem and eddie canto. canto, yes!
4) taco soup. mmm, taco soup.
5) the rapid-fire pumpkin-carving done by s (full name withheld), clearly a master of her craft
6) my "M Sucks" jack-o-lantern, which came out better than expected. (and, as i told everyone who would listen on saturday, better than any art project i'd ever been involved in. i also said this, to zero audible laughs, at least once on sunday.)
7) getting tabbed as a future rock star married to neko case and living in iowa with five children and driving (rather, riding) a stretch hummer in my first post-80's game of mash. gurs' "detective married to winnie cooper in new orleans" was far less impressive, although i don't recall his car or amound of children.
8) onion.

best-of saturday
1) hearing "my kind of soldier" twice, as part of the "gurs' ipod, beginning with 'my impression now'" rotation. i believe there were 31 "my" songs, including several repeats.
2) asking gurs "what's hip top?" then asking mike "what's hip top?" then opening the reader and reading, aloud: "boutique of the week: hip top." (note: i wasn't actually interested in hip top.)
3) visibly shaking. not due to nerves, but due to lots and lots of caffeine.
4) exiting the ryan field east lot to pick up nemo. checking left. seeing a university of michigan plate. turning right. hearing honk. turning left. seeing a university of michigan plate. turning back right again. hearing honk. turning left. realizing that my friend was supporting the enemy, although not by choice.
5) destroying sonny bono and his four michigan minions in flip cup. 3-0, a clean sweep. and they had no chance. i believe i had a very strong record in flip cup, winning the majority of my competitions.
6) playing leapfrog, albeit briefly.
7) celebretory "go u northwesterns" after flip cup victories.
8) accidentally calling the s-brother "cycling guy," not realizing that he had simply put on a sweatshirt.
9) shaking jitim's hand. simply saying "thank you."
10) constant self-reassurances of "sure we're down, but we're clearly the better team."
11) philmore's end-of-first-half catch.
12) turning to the guy on the upper deck with the intent to give him a cat claw. instead, giving him the double-bird salute.
13) post-game, one of four tilapia po 'boys consumed at the table. i drank several iced teas, and learned about charter schools during this time.
14) uttering "now you got me fired up" to gurs at about 2:30, followed by him sneaking out of the room and me falling asleep shortly after.

best-of sunday:
1) quality time with gurs. you don't miss it until you remember how fantastic it is.
2) charles tillman
3) brisket and mashed potatoes, courtesy of mom.

best-of monday:
1) waking up approximately on schedule, and getting out of the house approximately on schedule, and getting unpacked approximately (a freshly washed and waxed car full of meats, produce, at least seven boxes of cereal, three weeks' worth of laundry) on schedule (my parents are the best), and getting my haircut approximately on schedule.

worst-of monday:
the fact that bernstein and boers are on at 2-6, meaning that my morning drive was narrated by brian hanley, then mike murphy, then wbez, then wxrt, then kanye west, then mike murphy again, then, briefly, bernstein and boers again.

worst-of overall:
jenny time=zero. my fault. had my friday chance, but blew it. i think i offended gurs by saying that, in retrospect, i wish i had spent the final 25 percent of the night with nemo and crew. this was not meant as insult, just a regret of missing jenny.

game thoughts:

1) highly disappointing.
2) i mentioned in my purdue recap that the cats weren't focusing on the run. i tried not to sound concerned, and i wasn't really. i didn't mention it during the michigan state recap, but i noticed - again - a non-commitment to the run. i minded it less then, because the passing game was so unstoppable. but, clearly, the fact that northwestern hadn't gone run-first in three weeks hurt them against michigan. they ran the shovel-option play just once, for a four-yard herbert catch. i can't recall a single shotgun play-action, which is such a staple of the offense.
3) the corollary is that, of course, every time they ran the ball, they committed a penalty. i saw austin king greeting someone after the game, and couldn't help but saying "number 62 wouldn't have committed three holding penalties in the biggest game of the season."
4) they were scared, or at least they played like it.
5) northwestern made, i believe, five big plays on offense in the second half. three were runs called back by penalties. two were third-down passes dropped.
6) michigan's defense deserves some credit. so does the referee. so does a 2003-like performance by baz. so does the early momentum-losing fumble by sutton.
7) i didn't see many games in the stands as a student. however, i'm confident in saying that this was the best ryan field student crowd since the citrus bowl season. bravo to the students. and to the young alumni.
8) it's too bad when your defense plays its best game of the season in a loss.
9) chad henne's not that good. but he was good enough.
10) in some ways, jason avant's intense celebration (a hard thrust of the arms into the air at the kneel-down of henne) is at least a bit gratifying. they got a battle, and they won it.

i wish they had played better. i believe 2005 northwestern wins 7 out of 10 from 2005 michigan at ryan field. but northwestern players have never been in the spotlight like this.

i'm frustrated because, with three losses in the books, and probably four or five for the season, we're hoping for nashville or el paso or detroit. with three losses in the books, and probably four or five for the season [i haven't looked at the schedule, but i know they've got the buckeyes left], michigan's looking at new year's day in florida.

but, then again, a michigan fan has enjoyed exactly 24 hours of this season - the 24 hours following the henne-to-manningham game-winner against penn state. as a northwestern fan, i've enjoyed all but about 4 days of the season - and i've been downright giddy for entire weeks on end. i think it's more satisfying to be a northwestern fan; rather than relief, wins bring joy, and there's something to be said for that.

still, i wasn't joyful saturday, or for any of sunday. (until the 24-hour time-limit elapsed; beginning at 9:15 p.m., i was squarely focused on the hawkeyes. eat dirt tate.)

anyway, i'd count this past weekend (extended to four days) as the best since ... well, i don't know specifically. probably the most fun since gbv in december. just fantastic, and thanks to all involved.