We finally got tagged

So Will may have been right about the fact that even the tumbleweeds get hit by bullets in logan square. I may have seen someone get there car broken into right behind mine but somehow this seems more damaging.

I've started a little plant in lab and it finally sprouted. I started it from a piece a paper that had seeds embedded in it and potting soil I pushed into my tupperware after eating lunch on the quad.

I'm a voting member for student government and yesterday our final meeting was to decide whether or not to kick coke off campus. I voted against it with the opinion that if people wanted coke off campus they would stop buying coke. Apparantly its a pretty heated issue at other schools as well. The meeting was complete full of activists and journalists. To read more go here.

As I was driving home today I was listening to a story about carlson hospital where PTSD soldiers go after they've been shellshocked. I suggest listening to the audio bits if you have a chance. The whole idea of healing everyone who returns from Iraq has a bit of a Pat Barker's Regeneration feel to it. For example in the story it mentions, "One of the things that's extremely important in our jobs is minimizing the stigma associated with PTSD," the director of Fort Carson's medical center, Dr. John Cho, told dozens of supervisors at a recent session. And in Regeneration, "You can't talk to anybody here,' Prior said. "Everybody's either lost somebody, or knows somebody who has. They don't want the truth. It's like letters of condolence. "Dear Mrs. Bloggs, Your son has had the side of his head blown off by a shell and took five hours to die." Taking a step back I have no idea what is going on anymore in Iraq. I tend to enjoy the mad TV version of iraq But seriously is it that the republicans have all their money tied up in haliburten and service contracts that if we pulled out it would send our country into a second great depression? Is the new bill just an oh shit by democrats saying here is the new bill with no pullout plan, now you can plan one to spring on the iraqis. I can't really tell, its sofa king annoying.

ooof..and 17 dollars

So as I saw the closing seconds of game 3 where the bulls choked I thought of the conversation I had had 10 minutes before with tobi. He told me he hadn't bought animal collective tickets because of the 17 dollar surchage for: house charges, internet fee, mail charge, will call(more expensive), eticket(uber expensive), extra surchage, money for the one-legged bartender, and finally food for all the punker babies that live in the ceiling(ruvallo's army). That got me to thinking of two months ago when I paid for the tickets online, including the 17 dollar surcharge. That led to the next thread of conversation consisting of me saying my nights are worth more than 17 dollars. As soon as the words came out of my mouth I immediately thought of how I spent my Thursday, July 10th, 5pm-10:30pm. I got out of work at 5pm and then remembered that I forgot to fill up the PBS-T(stopped halfway through my 15 minute walk to my car, and then kept on walking assigning a morning job for that task). I made it to my car by 5:15 and took off down cottage grove towards 47th street. I hopped on Lakeshore and hit cubs traffic hit, which I factored in for 45 minutes. I made it to my condo by 6:05 and showed my place to a potential renter complete with mom carrying a water bottle(nossle end, not free flow) and book. I have one more showing on saturday but I should seal the deal. At 6:38 I pulled out onto Broadway and drove towards Ashland which consumed the next 23 minutes of my life as I headed to Permanent Records. I picked up the boom box which I leant for the sweet ass Zaireka party lance threw 3 weeks ago(yes lag time, how does it take 3 weeks to stop by some place less than 5 miles away, absolute will power, thats what). I chatted with liz and lance asking if the new dungen record was in with the answer being next week. That shot me into nestalgia and that awesome dungen show at the empty bottle al la donnie and kate. Then Liz said they left the day before the show in their old town. I sat there and looked down the register to the new, yet middle-aged face. I turn to lance and ask him who the new employee was and he said, "oh its my mom." I extended my hand over the counter and she tells me her name is dottie, which I accepted in stride. I see boo radley there and he is buying the new elliott smith album which I can't expect is anything less than throat slitting but I'll be damned if I'm not curious about the songs. Then we walked out and I asked him if he had a paper published yet and he said he was writing one. I told him congrats and that I hope his story gets accepted. After that I drove up chicago to Western where I picked up the cooler which Churchill had borrowed last summer. I walk upstairs and found dan's cooler freshly washed out complete with all of jason's crazy plants and Ella on the porch. Ella told me she would rent out my apartment but not for what I was asking. That shot me into thinking about baseball cards and how there was always a book for telling you how much cards are worth but it didn't mean crap until you sold your cards. I beat the system in 1992 at a Lyons Township Card Collectors Show led by a Mike Kuharic (Sr.). I sold nearly half my collection for about 300 dollars to people in highschool including cary bland who bought the cards off and then ran back to the other side of lyons township south campus cafeteria(you remember the one that overlooked the south campus football practice fields). I remember Kevin Matha sold starting lineup figures for something like 3 dollars each. After leaving Jason's I traveled up Western at approximately 7:14pm and stopped at Danny's fresh market and bought a tomato, green pepper, and a box of mushrooms. That cost 4.35 and I was on my way to Danny's liquor where I bought a 30 of highlife+8 ponies for softball and 12 sierras for the homestead. I got back on the road at 7:26 and finally arrived home at 7:38. The office would start at 7:42 and I needed to put together a pizza from the dough. I was able to get the dough rolled out, garlic and olive oil layed down followed by the pesto/maranara sauce laid down before laurel yelled that it was on. Following the second break I finished the pizza and threw it in. I ran back to catch more of the office. At the 2nd break I ran to the car, grabbed the beer and threw it in the fridge. At the 3rd commercial I took the pizza out of the oven and brought over a feast compete with nevada country. We watched the rest of office and annie drove us to the lemmings where there was a knox reunion. That was about the time I started talking to tobi and he told me that he was going to drive to the metro to pick up his tickets. Thats when I laughed, and said no way is my time after work worth less than 17 dollars, I'll pay online.