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Wow, this week (and month) just went screaming by, didn’t it?

Last weekend was especially eventful.  Friday night we had a fire.  Kyle and Ryan showed up for a few hours and left around 11:00 which was right about when Geoff showed up.  Geoff and I held it steady until Joe got out of work around 1:00AM and dropped in.  We drank beers and came to the conclusion that we should never have phones on us after a night of drinking.

Saturday we inflated the air mattress in the middle of the living room were Geoff, Jason, Shannon and I all sat on/around all day and watched movies and ate pizza.  That night Joe had a bonfire at his place I made an appearance and visited for a while.

Sunday Geoff and I went down to Jackson with his brother and grandfather where the  Albion College football program was holding a golf outing & fund raiser.  A Lot of good golf and fun was had by all. I don’t think I’ve heard “FORE!” yelled so many times in my entire life.  I guess that’s what happens when you get 120+ people all trying to play golf at once.

Today I received my registration information for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.  I’m taking the level 3 test on December 7th at De Paul University in Chicago. For those wondering the level three test is described as:

“Test for examinees that have mastered grammar to a limited level, knows around 300 kanji and 1,500 words, and has the ability to take part in everyday conversation and read and write simple sentences. This level is normally reached after around 300 hours of study.”

I’ve ordered my study packets and I have another Japanese class this Fall so I should do pretty well on the test. And I damn well better! I’m not driving to Chicago in December and leaving empty handed!

I absolutely despise the free coffee at work but I still drink 4 to 5 cups of it a day.  I think the fact that it’s free somehow makes it worth while in my subconscious. I actually got up in the middle of writing this to get more.  I don’t know why.  Perhaps my blind addiction to caffeine overrides my taste preference.

Anyway, not a lot has happened here in the last three weeks but there are some things I think I should catch up on if not only for the fact that when I read this months or years down the road I’ll remember why I was too busy/boring to not write something for almost a whole month.

Well, I guess update on my last writings:  Summer class is going well almost over and it seems I’m getting a decent grade thus far.  I bought the new Hold Steady album and (remember I’m bias) it is wonderfully magnificent!

LATEST HAPPENINGS:
The weekdays are filled with going to work and class.  So below is the “excitement” that happened on the free days.

July 4th Weekend: Thursday night Shannon and I hosted a fire at our place.  Everyone started dispersing about 10:30, right about when Geoff showed up after being released from work.  We drank a bunch of beer and burned all the wood we could find.  The next day we recovered and watched the “To Catch a Predator” marathon and Independence Day. That night, the 4th, a bunch of people gathered at my parents house where we went swimming, grilled a bunch of food, blew up stuff and watched the city fireworks from the comfort of the deck.

July 12-13: Walter and Hanna made a trip back to Midland from their home in Detroit. Saturday night was spent drinking vodka-lemonades, rums, and beers.  No casualties to report. Sunday was spent recovering by going swimming and cooking three deliciously different selections of bratwursts.

Last Weekend:  Friday I stayed over at the McCann Bros. place where we played all night sessions of Settlers of Catan.  Very fun!  Even more fun with a pint of scotch.  Most of Saturday was spent at the Relay for Life and Zoe’s 6th birthday party.  Got home around 9PM watched movies and I got a little sloppy after getting into into the rum.  I don’t remember a lot but Geoff kept me in check and made sure I didn’t do anything (too) stupid.

And that brings us up to date for now.  Hopefully the weather will be nice Friday night and after the sun sets we will have a gathering to burn chunks of dead trees.

Happy 24th Birthday to Dano!

And a big Happy 49th to my Dad yesterday!

Finals are over. Ended up getting a A- in my Global Politics class. This helps to slowly but surely bring up my GPA. I’d like to graduate with at least a 3.5, we’ll see I’m just happy that I’m graduating soon. I’ve been tossing around the idea of graduate school but who knows. All the schools I’m looking at are out of state and Shannon and I are definitely not ready to move away quite yet. But I digress.

After finishing that spring course, I’ve now started my summer class: History of Modern India. There seems to be a lot of reading in this class but that’s never too rough. Also, this is the least amount of money I’ve ever spent at the bookstore on text needed for a class; Three books only cost me $34 and some change, so not bad at all.

Oh, let’s see what else I can blather on about…

I’m getting over yet another cold-turned-ear-infection. Shannon, being my better half, is pushing me to go see a ENT specialist. I hate going to the doctor but seeing as I get an ear infection every 7.5 months like it’s clockwork I should really go get it checked out.

The Hold Steady have a new album coming out in two weeks and after listening to the single from it, I have high hopes. I see that they are playing in Pontiac later this month. Hopefully I can find the time (and money) to go check them out. I missed them last time they came to MI.

I think that’s enough. Until next time…

Summer already.  Wow, where has the month gone? Hopefully this Summer will be as fun as the last, with its own special twists (of lemon-lime).
Dano, Geoff and I survived the cabin trip without any problems.  We went up there and did exactly what we intended to do: Drink booze, grill food, watch Friday the 13th movies, have camp fires, make more food with said camp fire and generally get away from life for awhile.

It was a good great amazing time and I took a two or three pictures of us vegging out but I need to get them off my phone.  One rule of the cabin is no dedicated cameras, we don’t want any incriminating evidence coming back to haunt us :p

I have a final in my global politics class tomorrow, shouldn’t be to hard but I plan on doing some studying tonight.

May the nose of my ‘belly-face’ rest peacefully in its saline grave.