TODAY I HAVE NO VOICE.
Or I have a sorta-voice if I try really hard to make sound. It’s horrible and scary, so I’m attempting to be quiet. This is a huge, annoying challenge. Friday night, I went with my dad and sister to see the first game of the regular Gophers hockey season. I was so excited to be back in Mariucci arena, with the over-the-top fans and goofy announcer-man, and my dad, who shouts at the players and always makes hockey-friends with one of the guys standing around him. The game was really fast-paced and nervewracking, so I yelled a lot. I think that’s where the voice thing started. That and the bird flu, I mean. Towards the very end of the game, Lou txted me with ‘TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE! THIS IS THE BEST GAME EVER!’ I thought, Dude! We just lost! It wasn’t til later that they explained to me that too many men on the ice is actually a really rare penalty. I talked to a few people who have been to many hockey games, and they never see it. I swear to god, there have been too many men on the ice at EVERY game I’ve been to. They’re doing it special for me. I know it! Roughing the goaltender is still hot, too, although I’m starting to dig ‘slashing’ as well. I have most of the technicalities down by this point; when I said ‘crease’ to Stephanie, she almost fell over. Ha. I wanted to go to the first night of partying for Jed after the game, but I think I made the right choice in going home and going to bed. I was, at that point, a mouthbreather, and I barely slept for drowning in snot and the drunk-dialing from the NASCAR bar to tell me Journey was on the jukebox. OK, that part was actually really funny. Saturday morning, I got up bright and painfully early to run errands and then go to Kaye’s for breakfast. She made us breakfast burritos and tried unsuccessfully to get us to watch a show about mansions. Then we hopped in Chico and she drove us (I could barely walk in a straight line, with the cold medicine and congestion) to WISCONSIN. Now, I drive through Wisconsin a lot. That doesn’t mean it’s not always a novelty. I bought postcards and giggled at the stuff at the truck stop. They have a tradition involving cheese curds and the world’s largest drink cup (52 oz?). Three people have never used Wisconsin restrooms as often as we did over the next few hours. I got to see the town Kaye grew up in (so small they have no cell service), and the nearby fabled UFO landing site. Later in the evening, I went to Luce and Gameworks with a bunch of people whose names I will attempt to remember: Kaye, Jed, Mollie, Dave, Lucy, and Donovan. See, my memory isn’t as bad as I say it is. Downtown was overrun with Badgers fans, so they were right at home, having all originated in Wisconsin. Donovan ruled because we kept challenging him to eat things, and he’d do it. Jed kicked my ass at arm-wrestling, as expected. Kaye and I screamed at the Jurassic Park game, which is scarily realistic. Everybody played DDR, a lot. Towards the end of the evening, there was a special appearance by the mute guy named Levi, who did a lot of not-talking and then disappeared. We went back to Kaye’s afterwards to go to the NASCAR bar, but it was closed. On a Saturday night? Huh. So we hung out, I made weird croaking noises, and then Kaye put on Fear and Loathing so we could sleep. Except I can’t really sleep. I keep choking on my voicelessness or something. I can’t cough. I can’t breathe. I managed a couple hours last night, but it sucked. Lily woke us by climbing on us this morning, and we went to brunchfast at French Meadow. We then went to see the Spoon Bridge (this is the second weekend in a row I’ve been to the Spoon Bridge), which was overrun by pooping geese that we chased into the pond. I wanted to go to the Mall with them, but I’m exhausted. I decided I needed to get cough drops for my throat, and also sun seemed like a really good idea, since I haven’t been outside exercising since I’ve been down with the sickness. So I started off on foot towards Lunds’. I got five blocks and turned around and came home. I’m so not ready for exercise yet. HATE. Tonight, Chele took me to a Wild game. OH MY GOD. It was so great. As promised in the NHL guidelines, I got to see two fights. The Wild kicked ass. It was almost a shutout until the last 16 seconds of the game. It was a lot faster-paced than college hockey. We sat five rows up behind the goal. I could actually see the players’ faces while they were being all intense and competitive and angry. Man, that’s hot. Chele calls dibs on Manny Fernandez, by the way. I think she intends to rough the goaltender. This hockey thing could be addicting. In other news, I saw that the book I was interviewed for a while back was available for pre-order on Amazon, but I wasn’t sure if my chapter made the cut or not. The author, Ian, called me this afternoon to tell me that I’m in there, to thank me for my help, and ask me to read it and tell him whether I hate it or not. Hahaha. MY NAME IS IN A BOOK! How can I hate that? It comes out the first week in November. My mom is already raring to buy copies and send them to the relatives. Have I mentioned how much I love my camera??? Some photos: hibiscus (Minneapolis sculpture garden)lily (mi casa)
currently my desktop (Summit Ave, St Paul)
my apartment building
the Uptown Theatre sign
the old guys who hang out at Lake Harriet
does anyone know what kind of ducks these are?
(Please email me if you do. I thought they were wood ducks, but they’re not. I LOVE THEM. They’re very shy and make a peeping noise.) So now that have my 1gb card, which holds 700 photos, a spare battery and carrying case for my camera, expect at least a thousand photos daily. OK, I’m going to take a scalding-hot bath and hope that helps bring back my voice. I’m just not the same without it. Night!
Jenni