Friday, October 23, 2009

Eight Things From the Last Month

s I’ve been told and you may have noticed, I have not posted a blog entry in quite some time. I have been pretty busy (more on that to come), but I will not let this blog go the way of so many of my others so I will fight through and make sure I post periodically. Look for a NBA preview and a music related post in the semi-near future. In the meantime, here are 8 things you may have missed in my life, TV, sports, and the world in general, in no particular.

1. The Browns are terrible. – I know, shocking, right? They are really bad, and I am unsure if they are even heading in the right direction. They have no quarterback, very few playmakers, and the few exciting players (i.e. D’qwell Jackson, James Davis) are already out for the season. To make matters worse, they won’t pay Josh Cribbs, the only guy on the whole roster with explosiveness and the ability to make plays happen. On the bright side, at least they squeezed an ugly win out of Buffalo so we can’t match the Lions ineptitude from last year.

2. Real World/Road Rules Challenge is back. – I have previously extolled the virtues of RR/RW Challenge in this space. This season is even better, starting off with the love pentagon: Wes’s ex-fiancé, Johanna, got with Kenny on the last challenge, while Wes is now with Kelly-Anne, who briefly dated Cohutta, who is also on the current challenge as well. Meanwhile, Tonya is her usual train wreck self, to the point that I think MTV is morally irresponsible for putting on these shows, basically encouraging her to drink and spiral out of control. Of course, it brings in the viewers, including myself, so I guess decency be damned.

3. A Totally Awesome Birthday Party – Had a bunch of friends come out for my 28th birthday celebration to one of my favorite bars, O’Brien’s. I think in all, about 35+ people came and went, to the point that the bartenders asked who we were and why everyone seemed to know each other. Some laughed, some cried, some hurled…everything I would expect from my friends to make it a fantastic night. I can’t think of a better way to spend what is likely my last Tampa b-day, and thanks to everyone who made me feel so loved that day.

4. Job Search – Speaking of leaving Tampa, the job search is in full swing. I have about 15 applications out, and I will probably send out 10-15 more next month. There have been more ads to come out then I expected, so that is a good thing. This is one of activities that is keeping me busy, but it’s obviously worth it. No real news on getting any interviews or callbacks, but that should be coming soon. I will keep everyone posted.

5. Funny TV Shows – Finally caught up to current episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory is better than ever, and 30 Rock just started back up. I’ve come to realize there are very few good comedy shows on TV right now, but the ones that are good, are really, really good.

6. Cavs’ Season Starts in 4 Days – With Browns sucking and the Indians’ season basically ending in June, I am excited to watch a good (possibly great) Cleveland team play for a change. Not sure how long it will take me to get used to Shaq in wine and gold, but hopefully it won’t be long. More on this in my soon-to-come NBA preview.

7. Teaching Research Methods – Another responsibility that has kept me quite busy. As previously mentioned, this class has been more work than I anticipated. Looking back with the class over half over, I feel like I did a surprisingly good job for my first time teaching the class (we will see if the evaluations bear this out, or if they are full of inappropriate advances). Nonetheless, I also see a lot places I can improve it next time, and I look forward to getting that chance next semester or in my future job.

8. fun. – I haven’t been able to acquire a lot of music lately, and I will have some fuller music posts soon, but if you are a fan of music, you should really check out the band “fun.”. The lead singer is the former singer of The Format, one my favorite underappreciated bands. They have a very unique and fun sound that, despite being somewhat indie/emo, has mass appeal.

That’s it for now, y’all. Hope to start posting more often soon, but time will tell as I still have teaching, job apps, dissertation, and a conference to prepare for. Have a great weekend, and go Cavs!