it's been a busy, busy time, but i guess that's the nature of the season.

highlights [or better said, events], briefly:

christmas was fantastic. older brother and girlfriend arrived 1ish, and we basically hung out for the next 10 hours. a blast.

it's become acceptable to package booze as a gift. my sister must have smuggled 12 bottles of various sizes back from the czech republic. rubbing alcohol seasoned with lemon juice [roughly]? yes!

back to the 'port monday. a long, long day. couldn't sleep sunday night [out for the night 4ish], out of the house by 830, to the 'port by 1115, dad's car packed by 1230, mom's car packed by 145 [at which point dad departed], lunch with former coworkers until 3, cleaning until 845 [breaks for falling asleep and various stall-tactic phone conversations], out after a subway run by 915, back the burbs by 1215, car emptied by 130. wow.

highlight of cleaning: clogged tub. what do you do about a clogged tub? use the water-scooped-into-bucket-then-into-sink method. then use the same method, but with a ballpark souvenir cup. then wipe down with a towel. then hope that the apartment people don't notice when they do their walkthrough.

tuesday night, out with chuck, back from the peace corps. what was supposed to be a danny's from 930 to 1030 run became glenview house until 1, then denny's until 2, then super-burbs bar dick's until closing. boy came along at 130. awesome.

lunch with former intern today. conversation was strong. he's taking over my job.

i've spent a lot of money.

other things upcoming...
didi tonight.
harry potter with the sister, perhaps, thursday.
nothing else really planned, i don't think.

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i'm really really excited for the sun bowl on friday afternoon. i've got no read on it, although i'm hopeful. what's odd about bowls is the fact that, in general, i've basically forgotten a lot about the cats. which is the crappy center? who generally plays in the four-receiver sets? who exactly is in the defensive backfield? marquice cole isn't actually good, is he?

i'll be watching in the living room. hdtv. i think the boy will join me, and i'm not sure on my dad. i'll probably have microwave popcorn. my mom will probably set out chips and salsa.

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my sister got the fiery furnaces' rehearsing my choir record for christmas. and, let me say, it's the most fascinating piece of music put out this year? is it great? no. is it even good? maybe. but is an absolute wild listening experience? yes, yes it is.

i use phrases like "the best working songwriter" [john darnielle, or carl newman] and "the best rock band around" [the strokes, maybe, because i'm a loser] and things like that a lot, too often, in fact, but there's no doubt that they're the most interesting band around. rehearsing my choir is now on my itunes, soon to be moved to the ipod, and i'll be a day-of-release furnaces purchaser from here on out, i think.

"the wayward granddaughter," for one, is just amazing. back-and-forth lyrics between eleanor and grandma olga [who sounds like a little cartoon man, the voice that i think mr. magoo might have], talking about the granddaughter's various high school love interests [in this case, neither character is the singer...a fictionalized song]. "kevin. and kevin. one black. one white." and eleanor sings about them meeting at [former depaul coach] "joey meyer basketball camp" and going to homewood-flossmoor high school. "one the point. one at shooting guard. one the point. one at shooting guard."

can i honestly recommend that somebody purchase rehearsing? probably not. but is it thrilling? hell yes it is.