HEY, SNOW! Except I think it all melted already. Lame.
I really am excited for snow, being that it’s already December and we’ve got the cold to go along with it, but I also have the feeling that right now I could be all HEY, THE SUN HASN’T BEEN OUT FOR SIX DAYS! or HEY, I JUST LOST A TOE TO FROSTBITE! and I’d still be happy about it. Things be very good, dudes. So! This weekend. Friday, Wendy and I went to Grumpy’s for the usual pregame event, and found it TOTALLY PACKED FULL, HOLY CRAP. We tried to no avail to hack the bartop video game thing, so we gave up and headed to Mariucci instead, for the most upsetting hockey game this season, against Minnesota State. Midway through the first period, I decided that they had replaced our players with random drunk people off the street. It was the only explanation. Ryan Stoa spent more time laying on the ice than he did upright. They were passing to bad guys, refs, and imaginary players; anyone but our own team. My stomach hurt, a lot. We started to come back during the second period, scoring a couple goals and the biggest fight I’d ever seen at college hockey (complete with severed tendon!). They stopped the game for 15 minutes, handed out a bunch of penalties, and things were looking up. Until the last period, when the refs finally succumbed to massive brain trauma, called some ridiculous penalties that resulted in us being shorthanded for the last two minutes of the game, and they tied it up. Then nothing in overtime, except a pretty spectacular move made by Kyle Okposo, when he lost his stick and dove headfirst for the puck, slapping it away from the net with his hand. Awesome. Well, anyway. They’re still unbeaten! And we beat MSU at home on Saturday. Jerks. After the game, we were supposed to go to a party, but realized we’d probably only be there for half an hour before having to head to a show, and also the party was in the middle of migrating to another location when I called. A gametime decision was made to head over not exactly to the Nomad, but near enough to it to be able to stagger across the street once bad decisions were made. Well, in retrospect, that appeared to be the plan. It just kind of happened that way. We walked into Palmers, and found it TOTALLY PACKED FULL, HOLY CRAP. We finally found us a spot along the wall, where we could smell the pot smoke wafting in from the patio every time the door opened. Matt joined us, and we watched the replay of the hockey fight on TV before heading over to the Nomad to see the Jack Brass Band. I didn’t really know much about them beforehand; I’d heard the name, but was going because Wendy’s friend was in the band. Oh man, they were great. There was dancing, although my main focus at that point was not falling down every time I was spun around. I also spent a lot of time on the phone on the patio next to the firepit, and therefore woke up the next morning wondering why I smelled like campfire. I ran several Christmas-related errands Saturday morning, to the point where I’m pretty sure I’m nearly done shopping. I managed to see some of the Deuce Seven show at SooVac, and the robot store introduced me to the brand new mini-Knockmen. Ohhhhh yes. Jumi and Cindi and I went to the No-Coast Craft Fair at the Midtown Exchange, and found it TOTALLY PACKED FULL, HOLY CRAP. I encountered an artist who was selling prints of several Minneapolis mills, and nearly died over the Gold Medal Flour building (I’m very attached; I see it every day). I got that as well as a rad poster for Lauren, and then we had an excited discussion surrounding the immense awesomeness of Jon Sweet. I spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping presents, which seriously took me three hours. I headed downtown with Cin to meet las chicas for dinner at 7:30, which turned into 8pm due to the stupid Guns n’ Roses show at Target Center. We couldn’t even pool $9 cash between the two of us, and had to go find an ATM. We met Jumi and Wendy at Luce, had the Awesome Pizza, then froze large portions of our anatomies on the walk down to O’Donovan’s. Which we entered, and found TOTALLY PACKED FULL, HOLY CRAP. Matt arrived just in time for whiskey, and we crossed the street to wait in line in the cold in front of First Ave, because the Doomtree Blowout was sold out and the place was TOTALLY PACKED FULL, HOLY CRAP. I can’t get over that, since last time I saw them, it was in the mainroom with, like, 15 other people. It was so great to see that kind of turnout. The show was fantastic, and I think I succeeded in getting everyone to love Sims, because how could you not? Sunday was my day of rest, sort of; I baked things to distribute all over the land, I visited the parents (to discover that their cross-the-street neighbors had PATRIOTIC christmas lights), and I started a massive photo project on Flickr, which I’d been debating for some time. As you know, I have mad love for Flickr, but I only started uploading all my photos to it this summer. I have several prior vacations’-worth I’d like to add as well, but I decided to start with a large batch of photos I’m constantly referencing and having to hunt down all over the internet. It’s stuff I’ve posted on this site, on creamedpeas, and in other random places. So I did that, and what I ended up with is a set called archive, and the task of labeling, tagging, and date-adjusting. Oh my god, was that a lot of work, though I suspect the vacation photos will be easier. Also, my favorite set from the archive batch? The old family photos. And now, please try to contain your excitement while you ponder what I’m doing next: I’m going home to feed my cats. If you don’t hear from me again, it’s because they’ve mauled me for upending their routine. Um, sorry for all the caps. It happens sometimes!Jenni