Category: Holiday

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So Far…

Engaged!
Engaged!, originally uploaded by m!les.

Hello, all:

We have seen:

  • Minneapolis
    • Airport
  • Detroit
    • Airport ~for too many hours
  • Paris
    • Arc de Triomphe
    • Le Tour Eiffel
    • Notre Dame
    • l’Opera
    • Montmarte ~where Amelié is set
    • Musée du Louvre ~where Da Vinci Code is set
    • La Seine
    • Train station
  • Clermont-Ferrand
    • Train station
    • Notre Dame du Pont
    • Notre Dame

We will see:

  • Quiberon
    • L’océan Atlantique
  • Much much more…

I know this isn’t much of a post, but these keyboards are hard to type with. My French is getting better, and Alfred said that I’m the closest with pronunciation. However, the majority of the language is still a mystery to me. A mystery with delicious bread and cheese.

See that picture up there? Bryce and Linds got engaged! And so did Holli’s brother Adam and his fiancé Cari! Congrats all around.

Oh; and to Holli: Dad says Hi.

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My Graduation

Me, Bryce
Me, Bryce, originally uploaded by m!les.

Well, I did it. No, you’re right. We did it. It was a group effort.

Finally, after five years of collegiate effort, strain, and work (all synonyms added for breadth) I’m finally a College Graduate. I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics for Information Systems.

I took all kinds of pictures, and there is even a video.

Of note, I sang with the choir on the big day, and US Senator Tim Johnson spoke at our graduation celebration. Then, on Sunday, there was a big to-do at the house. Of note was getting to watch (and nearly memorize) Bryce’s speech. My favorite part is his wink at the camera. It was like he was speeching right to me.

The get together was nice. Family came, friends came, tables were setup, pictures were taken, and good times were had. And the best part? No More Homework!

Huzzah!

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Accidental Hijynx

Water

Water!
Water!, originally uploaded by m!les.

So, Holli came over to do a quiz for Art History, and she goes into the bathroom. I then hear, “Oh! Hunny! I don’t know what I did!” Water was gushing everywhere. Holli had gone in to wash her hands, and it just happened to be the last movement needed to break the facet from the pipe. A couple phone calls, a visit from Justin Nowick, and 4 inches of standing water later, all my towels were wet and the plumbers were scheduled to come the next morning. Of course, there are pictures.

Bytes in Brandon Valley

Let's Go!
Let’s Go!, originally uploaded by m!les.

They Bytes was asked to perform (with a message) to a college prep course. We met Mike down there, and the six of us did three games, a sketch (a skit with a large emphasis on improv and only an outline of events) about the dangers of binge drinking (plus a conversation), and some words about college life. It was toodles. I got some pictures.

Easter

Easter Dinner
Easter Dinner, originally uploaded by m!les.

I went home for Easter, and Holli went home for Easter. This year’s Easter was pretty laid back. We plaid guitar at church, and we made Ben’s spicy beans (These beans are so spicy that I cried the first time I ate them. I cried like a girl ignored at prom). We did bowling, too, which was nice. We played the crazy kind of Balderdash (David’s version). Then we had supper at Sue’s place and I brought Ben’s beans (The first time I ate these beans I cried. I cried like a Star Wars fan after Episode I). Then I went back to Madison. There are pictures.

Holli’s Birthday

Holli in her Birthday Suit
Holli in her Birthday Suit, originally uploaded by m!les.

Holli had her 20th birthday on the 15th. Unfortunately, we couldn’t celebrate until that Monday. So I gave her her presents: Adidas Moves for Women, markers, I wrote her a myth, a messenger bag (this present came days later, and I had to do a lot of sneaking to get her to go to her car for no reason and find it). You can read her post on the day. She was on duty for part of the time, but we headed down to Sioux Falls and ate at Ruby Tuesday (my first time ever – very very excellent), watched “Thank You For Smoking” (very funny and satirical), and got some Coldstone Ice Cream. I think she had a good day. Happy Birthday, Sweetie! Pictures are here.

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Hello, Trojan Times Reader

Gah...
Gah…, originally uploaded by m!les.

Q: What do gangsters love best about PowerPoint presentations? A: The bullets.

I don’t know if you read the Trojan Times. I skim through the occasional issue. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with The Trojan Times. Mostly hate. Of the three or four articles that I have submitted (including a small advert for our lol cards), only one was ever published. The others received no explanation; they simply didn’t make it into the paper. So, let’s just say my readership is glancing at best.

Last week’s paper was no different than the rest. Nestled amongst such gems as “Twenty best excuses for calling in sick” (which was taken from the internet and includes my personal favorites of I eloped, My monkey died, and I had to ship my grandmother’s bones to Indie (note: she passed away 20 years ago)) are the occasional article that catches my attention. I would to say that it’s the biting social commentary or a poignant real-life story, but it usually isn’t. In this issue, it was the word “blog”.

The article was titled “Blogging gains popularity at Dakota State”, and it was decently short, so I scanned it. By “scanned” I mean, I read the author, Matt Paulson, and then I looked at the end of the article. It was there that I saw a link to Matt’s personal site, MattPaulson.com, and I said (probably outloud), “Some people are shameless.” Then I scanned backward and came upon a surprise. I saw “www.milesrausch.com/” in the second column. Then a previous conversation came back to me where Matt said, “I mentioned your blog in an article. You don’t mind, do you?” I forgave him.

So, to that one reader that followed that link, I salute you and welcome you. I normally post more often than I have this week, but I’ve been busy, and I will thank you very much for not making a big deal of it.

Tuesday was Mardi Gras. Oh, it was also my birthday. The day went well. I got some nice presents and quite a few phone calls.

Presents (from):

Phone calls (from):

  • Mom
  • Tony
  • Bryce
  • Molly (who I mistook for Erin and then Britt)
  • Grandma and Grandpa
  • Dad
  • (Cousin) Brenna, Katie, and Greg

Then my phone died.

There was also, that day, our first rehearsal for The Actor’s Nightmare. It went well. I’m a little worried about my part. When we first read it, I felt I had most of the inflections down. But that was only the first read through! I think that I’m going to try a lot of different approaches to some lines and then see what works best instead of just going with my first interpretation. But, I like the piece, and I look forward to further rehearsals. I play George Spelvin and Holli plays Meg, the stage manager.

Wednesday began Lent. I decided for lent that I would give up swearing and attend all of my classes. And this Lent is sure to kick Ash. First off, I was worried. I hadn’t ever called David and told him church times or offered to go with him. I thought of it twice that morning, but seeing as my phone was dead, I couldn’t call him. I didn’t remember again until I was sitting in church. I was in a slight panic until communion when, walking back to my pew, I spied David. Almost as a reflex, he showed me peace, and I pointed at him. All was good.

After church, Holli and I ate in the TC for my one meal. Then she had rehearsal for the other play “Who Am I This Time?” (what a busy girl!) and I went back to my apartment to do homework before bowling. Holli got done, we did homework, then we swung by and picked up David for bowling. It was decided that Cherry Lanes isn’t a very good place. They also changed their policy for Wednesday Night Bowling. It’s $6.00 in and then $.25 for each game. Apparently it’s normally $2.40 a game, but as such, we played two games, and left $.20 ripped off. Holli had to do the turkey walk once, and I almost got three strikes in the final frame of our last game. I broke the “No Swearing” rule a couple times at bowling.

Thursday was a crazy hectic day. Tuesday-Thursday is always busy for me, and I get only a couple minutes for lunch (or I have to take it in class). John Webster asked me to talk to my TAPpin’ class as a substitute teacher sort of thing. I had done this last week Thursday as well, but this time I didn’t know what I was going to say until 20 minutes before class when he called me at home. I normally like a little more time than that, but I made it work. The class went well.

The other hectic thing was regarding my WAPII class. I had an assignment due, which I had gotten done already, but I figured I could print it in the 10 minutes I had before class started (which is right after Choir gets over). I was wrong. I didn’t get done printing (because my tablet is a stupid machine) until 20 minutes into class. As I was walking over, I realized that we had a test today, and that I was 20 minutes late for it. As such, I got the assignment handed in, the test taken, and the programming part of the test all complete and (mostly) correct. I think the professor was impressed that I managed to get it all done, but I haven’t really found this stuff challenging yet.

Holli had to work, so we didn’t really hang out much. I spent that time getting really indepth into my Advanced Discrete midterm. Most of the midterm was actually fairly easy. Practical problems in math always are. It’s the proofs that cause troubles. I was very pleased with the answers I came up with for those. They made sense, seemed to answer the question, and I hope they’re right. Proof math is by far my weakest point, and I usually need a lot of help getting one figured out, either by internet or group work. So, we’ll see.

This weekend Holli and I are Huffing it to Hawarden, IA. It should be fun. I’m still nervous with her family, but if all goes well, her family will like me, her sister won’t think I’m a loser (that’s all you can hope from teenagers), no one will get hurt, and then on Sunday on our way back, we’re going to have supper with my grandparents and Aunt Karin and Erin. It should be nice. Then it’s Spring Break! Time to stock up the keggers and make alcohol bongs!

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Happy Valentine’s Day

What did you say?!
What did you say?!, originally uploaded by m!les.

So, I’ve been sick lately. Like, really sick, and I just can’t manage to shake it. Nothing I’ve tried has worked. I was so medicated all weekend that I totally missed what a rotten time Holli had, and on Monday I couldn’t feel my teeth. Well, no more. With only two pills remaining, I convinced myself that on Tuesday I would be all better so that I could have a sick-free Valentine’s Day.

I’m kind of an idiot. I don’t know why I thought that would work.

I woke earlier than my alarm, as per usual during this illness bought. I immediately got to work on two unfinished parts of Holli‘s Valentine’s Day presents: Songs to Listen to UpsideDown. It was a mix CD in two parts. It was going to be eclectic. I’ve been gradually introducing her to the various artists I favor, and this was going to be a way I could push the “weird” envelope (like I don’t already).

As such, my progress on the CDs took such time as I couldn’t make it to my first class, AJAX. As it turned out, Holli had bought for me an lol card (*awwww*), and, based on her understanding of my schedule, that was the best time to send it. Well, I missed my greeting.

I’d also written Holli a poem (which is also a wallpaper), so I planted the handwritten part of the poem and the CDs on her door and I went to class. At class I learned that I have to give a lecture on Thursday to Professor Pauli (Josh)’s, and I also learned (via email) that I had missed Holli’s lol. But, we made plans to eat lunch. With the illness, I really can’t talk that well, so singing would be a lost cause, which afforded me an open lunch hour.

At lunch I gave her her next present, some chocolates that I bought in front of her in Big Stone. Then we got some lunch. There was this African drum band playing, and they were nice, but they were kinda loud. We had to leave at around 1 so she could change into her Drama Club shirt and deliver lol cards. It was there that she discovered presents one, two, and three. Man, I’m am really damn good at this sweet boyfriend stuff. Seriously, I got the poetry thing down, and music, and I listen to girls and understand emotions. A tiny voice in the back of my head wondered how Bryce’s pink elephant gift went. Last I knew, when he gave it to her, he was going to have it say, “You’re my favorite Republican!”

From there I went to class, she delivered lols and I got my first surprise of the day when they showed up to deliver two lol cards to me in my class. The first was read by David and was written by David. The next was read by Ben Fox and was written by Holli. Holli was there, mind you, but she played guitar and winked. After hugging Ben and David, the lolers left and the class resumed working on our assignment. I ate the chocolate almost immediately.

After class I went to the library to tutor with Tom. I recounted for Tom the story of the lols, and then Holli showed up. She had a present for me. I unwrapped it and discovered Arrested Development Season 2! I have wanted this for weeks. After I bought Season 1, I was just going to copy Season 2 from John Larson. Then I thought, why do that? I love this show. I’ll just buy it. So, I announced my plans to purchase Season 2, but Holli would say, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” At first I would misunderstand this, thinking that she was lecturing me on the value of money. Then I would come to understand that she really meant that I shouldn’t buy it because she had plans to buy it for me. Unfortunately, I kept forgetting that she had plans to buy it for me, so this situation repeated itself three or four times until it stuck, and I quit making resolves to buy Season 2.

Feeling no better time, I read aloud (and loudly) my lol card to Holli in the library. It inspired Tom to pen a Valentine’s Day poem for Kristen Grimm, full of inside jokes and crude references to grisly murders. No, I made that last part up.

From there I hit up Lewis quick to buy more medicine. It had become apparent in the hours since I was last under the umbrella of medication that I wasn’t going to out will this illness. At work I discovered a message from Morgan on my board, started to prepare my lecture, and left a message for both Morgan and John.

I stopped by Holli’s to pick her up for supper. We decided on Common Grounds, but it was less than stellar. I think, in switching locations, they lost a lot of the coffee house charm that they had. They seem more “Midwest” instead of “artsy”. They used to have art-for-sale on the walls, but no more. And the food is expensive. I was disappointed. I think the next time I go there, it’ll just be for the Jet Tea Smoothies.

From here Holli went to work, I worked on some stuff at home, and when she came over later, we hit the store, she bought us ice cream at DQ, and we watched Arrested Development Season 2. All-in-all, it was a pretty good Valentine’s Day. Apparently, part of my V-Day present is still coming, so this might be an extended holiday for me. How did you guys do? Oh, yeah. I had to beat Holli senseless at DQ.

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Fondue is Fun, Dude

Do It!
Do It!, originally uploaded by m!les.

Okay. A little recap is in order.

New Year’s Eve

The first part of the night was spent with the parents, Brenna and Sue. I begged Sue to come over and to bring Star Wars IV: A New Hope. This movie is trey old, and I found some of the effects / props laughable, but I didn’t laugh out of endearment for the original Star Wars and the generation they spawned. With the movie over, Sue and I jetted to David’s house where he was having a party. He put us on the cool list. We played Beyond Balderdash, which no one has been spelling correctly online, and that was fun. I talked to Holli at midnight, and she I, but midnight never feels very spectacular. Maybe it’s the knowledge of the relativity of time that does it.

Back Home

I’m back in Madison. The drive was terrible, but I made it. It took a while to get things unpacked and put away. Then I started on the editing. A couple years ago, Bob wrote a movie called “El Camino Del Librarian” and asked me to act in it. I did. It was a fun time, and I learned a lot about amateur film making from Bob. He’s been doing this stuff for years. Well, recently, we finally got around to recording commentary for it, but the movie still hasn’t been released, because I wanted to try my hand at amateur film making. I figure that, rather than trying to make a movie and learn editing that way, why not try something easy, like an interview. So, this summer Bob and I sat down and interviewed each other about El Camino. That’s what I’ve been editing since I got home. I called the show CANNED, and I describe it as “The show that interviews cast and crew of recently finished films in Madison, South Dakota.” And I’m freakin’ lovin’ it. Bob and Holly released a DVD before Christmas called “The Works”, but CANNED will be on the El Camino DVD. That’s also why I haven’t been posting. I spend all my time editing. Just ask Holli, Bob, and Holly.

Work

I’m working mucho this week because I needs to get paid, and I’ll be gone for two weeks hanging out in Pierre. Today Morgan, the accounting person, really begins working for CRESH. She has an office (how did she get an office??) in the same part of the building that John and I work in. She’s from Kentucky, and has the accent to prove it, and I think she’ll be handling the finances for CRESH. I don’t know what those business types do. I do know that it’s kinda exciting to see CRESH slowly starting to grow from four main guys and Webster. Of course, now it’s four main guys, Morgan, and Webster, but it’s a start.

Fondue

The other night, Holly and Bob invited me over for fondue and for me to get my own copy of Comedy Bytes: Improvised Comedy Gold and The Works by Bob + Holly. We had fondue, which accidentally burned, but was good, and we watched The Incredibles and some Bobshows. We’re all set to do it again, but with carmel, when Holli visits tomorrow. It should be fun.

Is That It?

It must be. I gots supper to make and more editing to do. Plus, I want to clean the apartment before tomorrow before Holli gets here: vacuuming, laundry, dishes, supper, editing, Scrubs downloading, picture uploading, and there’s even been an update to Awayken.com.

I didn’t mention this before, but I gave my sister, Molly Rausch, a blog. Check it out. She sucks at Roman Numerals!

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Welcome, 2006

Cheers
Cheers, originally uploaded by m!les.

so this is the new year / and I don’t feel any different

I won’t recap New Year’s Eve just yet. I will say that it’s a new year with new possibilities. If I were one to have New Year’s Resolutions, I would have to make 2006 my year to add to the art scene growing around Madison and online. I won’t make a promise, but I’ll resolve to put my 2 cents in.

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I Seem To Love Bowling

Aaron
Aaron, originally uploaded by m!les.

Well, it’s been quite some weather lately. We had fog upon fog starting Christmas Day. I thought it was bad that night, but when Bryce, Britt, Lindsey, and I travelled home the next day (after some shopping) it was even worse. And now it’s blizzarding out. Snow as high as two midgets stacked on top of each other.

By the way, if you want good funny rapping, check out The Lonely Island. They even mention Larry David in their song The Heist. They have great videos.

Well, we met Trevor, after waiting and waiting and waiting. I would say, “Where’s Trevor, Britt?” And she would say, “He’ll be here any minute.” Then I’d says, “Where’s Trevor, Britt?” And she would say, “He’ll be here soon.” And I would say, “Where’s Trevor, Britt?” And she’d say, “Ok, he’s not coming. Let’s go sledding.” But he did show up, and we had some good times. Actually, that night Tony and I dropped Britt off at the Holiday gas station and let them have their fun and food. Holli called me, but I was a little out of it. Why?

I’m sick. It started on the day after Christmas. I had a sore throat, and sniffles, then sneezing and runny nose and coughing. So, it’s been a hard time, because I don’t get sick often, and when I do it’s usually cancer. CANCER. I’m still trying to kick it, and I always seem to be doped up on NyQuil when Holli calls, which makes me really confused about her Florida trip. I’m not even sure where Florida is anymore. You’d have to ask her.

So, the next day that Trevor showed up, we hit the bowling hard. You can see some pictures in the Christmas 2005 set on my Flickr account. I didn’t bowl because I was having a hard enough time walking around, but the others sure bowled their balls off. Bowling balls. You know. Trevor did really well, I think. Then the two league ladies that were bowling (and drinking) next to us asked us to bowl with them, but they were creepy, so we used my illness as an excuse to leave after two games. I think Trevor won both. Bryce’s goal was simply to beat Lindsey, and Britt’s goal was just to have fun. My goal was to not get left.

Back at home, they played games and I slept for hours and hours. The next day Bryce chopped down a tree and hacked it up. And then he demanded I take pictures of it. Why not? I now have a Flickr pro account, so I get all kinds of perks, and unlimited storage. I also spent a good deal of time moving all my albums over from the Zen Photo gallery to the Flickr gallery. That is why, if you check my Flickr account, there are a ton new photos and sets, and my Zen Photo gallery is nearly empty. I think I’m going to make Zen Photo gallery as a gallery for graphics (wallpapers, etc.) and use Flickr for pictures and snapshots.

Anyway, then we went to Grandma’s to see Andy and Tracy with their children Nathan, Aaron, and the brand new Charlie. Charlie is a little cutie, and there are a couple pictures of him in here. We had a good dinner then we played Apples To Apples. This game was fun, and it gave me a whole new arena of comedy. Maybe when I’m feeling more verbose, I’ll write about how the game actually works. Andy won first, then Molly won. Then we went home and we had fun with the new PUPPY.

That’s right. If you know my Mom, then you know she’s a big dog lover. I think dogs are okay, but I like cats better, and I like turtles best. This is a little Irish Setter, his name is Hogan, and man does he have energy. He’s just as adorable and retarded as a puppy can be. I got some pictures, but I will probably not make a set of his pictures. I did tag him, though.

Ok. This isn’t the best post. I just feel like I need to write one post per 100 pictures uploaded. Or I could just calm down my picture taking. I need to clip my nails. Tonight is my parent’s New Year’s Eve Eve party. You have the party the night before New Year’s Eve and avoid all the other parties and avoid the cops. Plus, it’s just as fun.

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Merry Bloody Christmas

Family Photo
Family Photo, originally uploaded by m!les.

I apologize sincerely. I have no pictures from Christmas Day in Sioux Falls. I guess I’m just a dummy loser! I had forgotten it on the counter-top before we left, and that really sucks because it was a good time, with a good meal, and Holli even made it up for a little bit. I will hopefully get pictures up from Britt or someone else’s camera. With all those cameras there were a lot of bloody pictures taken.

Merry Christmas everyone! It was a good Christmas, I think. I normally don’t care much for this holiday. I think it’s that everyone makes such a huge deal ab0ut it, and it’s become such a commercial (.com) holiday, that I just get sick of it. I do, however, enjoy the family time and getting to see everyone and not having to do homework parts of it. It’s always the same crappy music and the same crappy commercials. But, enough about that.

There was Christmas Eve mass first. It was nice. There is always a nice assortment of musicians set to perform beforehand. This year Brenna and Sue did a duet, and Micaela and Lonie did also. Don’t worry, I have pictures. The before mass music is always a treat.

From there we went home quick. Then it was off to Grandma’s. Here is where the Rausch family gathers to eat, and talk, and open presents. Right before we got to Grandma’s, we went to Sue’s to get Grandma’s present. Then Bryce and Dan moved it into Grandma’s house. We got there, and just as soon as my shoes were off, I was told that I had to help Dad with his grilling. This was told to me in a sort of code phrase, which left me very confused. I thought it was code for something else, then we get there and he WAS grilling. What? But, then Bryce and Dan moved out Sue’s dishwasher. Ok. That’s cool. But I took pictures of it, obviously. Then Sue asked me to look at her pictures. She gets to the pictures of the dishwasher, shows it to me, and says, “Is that what your mom is getting for Christmas?” Oh no! Thinking fast, I say, “Yeah.” Then Sue says, “Does she know she’s getting that?” I say, “She’ll know soon enough.” and then I quickly change the subject. I grabbed Bryce and Dan, told them what’s what, and Bryce accused me of having no Christmas spirit. Truth be told, I was trey close to ruining Christmas.

We ate, and enjoyed it. We talked, then we discovered David in the living room, and took some funny pictures. He looked like he was dead, so we added some flowers and held a vigil for him. The best part was when he woke up. He slowly comes around, having no idea what was going on, rubs his eyes, sits up, and says, “Hey.” Then the presents.

I got some nice things from Sue and Karen. Sue got me the Chronic-what-cles of Narnia box set, and Karen got me socks and an ornament. We brought Grandma’s present up, assembled it, and moved stuff around. Then we took about 30 family photos, both for the Val Rausch group and the whole dang family. That was complicated. I think that next year, if we do that, we should get someone from Paul and Leanne’s place to take it. Then we listened to an interview with Santa, and then we headed home.

At home I witnessed the greatest double-cross ever. My mom convinced my sister Brenna that Molly was getting a camera. She then had Brenna “let slip” to Molly that she was getting a guitar. So, Molly thought she already knew what she was getting, and wouldn’t be looking anymore. Then comes Christmas, and Molly goes and gets her present which is a trumpet, and Brenna got the camera. Neither of the girls had any idea even though both of them thought they knew what they were getting. It was a stroke of genius that made me proud of my mother. I snapped a picture of the girls to commemorate.

The next day we headed to Sioux Falls for the Miles Family gathering. Bryce came seperate, with Lindsey, a bit later, so it was me and the Wiese girls, hanging out. There were a lot of questions about Holli, and then there were questions about Trevor, Britt’s (boy)friend, and then there were questions about Heather, Dirk’s girlfriend, and a couple questions about Jesse, Molly’s boyfriend. As luck would have it, the family would meet both Holli and Heather in no time.

We had a great meal: steak and lobster and potato. Then a dog showed up, and everyone went nuts. Karin was trying very hard to get everyone to keep it outside, but everyone was trying very hard to get it into the house. This dog was small, but solid (fat), and we eventually pitched it back into the snow. Then we began opening presents, and then I hear, “Are you going to say ‘Hi’ to her?” Holli was there. So I rushed to her side to help taper the flow of relatives. There were a ton of pictures taken, presents opened, and then homemade ice cream.

Then at 9:30, Bryce, Lindsey, Dirk, Heather, Me, and Holli traveled to Century Theatres to watch The Producers. Apparently there was some confusion about the movie. Bryce and Lindsey thought that Dirk had reserved tickets for them to see The Producers, otherwise they would have wanted to go to King Kong, but their ticket’s said “Dirk” on them, which was coincidentally the cashier’s name also. As it was, I got to meet the Gregg family. I won’t lie; I was very nervous. There was Larry, Carol, Aunt Gayle, Adam, Cari, Marissa, and Jared. Thanks to the internet, I had a pretty good idea of what they people looked like before I met them.

I enjoyed the movie, and I think that Holli did, too. Britty was excited to see it, but she missed most of it because she fell asleep. I think Dirk and Heather enjoyed it, but I don’t think the movie was really Bryce and Lindsey’s style. It’s alright. It was foggy out, so the travel back to the house was slow. I said goodbye to Holli, and I told her to call me or Bryce when she got back. So, I stayed up, talking with Dirk about movies, until he went to bed. She called, all was good, went to bed, and then woke back up.

The day after Christmas is THE DAY that people go to the stores to return presents or spend more money. I set out with exactly that intent. We hit up the mall hardcore, playing the name game. I didn’t do so well this time, but it’s always nice to introduce more people to the game. I didn’t buy much at the mall. I did get a new cologne, though, with Britty’s help. From there we ate at HuHot. It was good. I like HuHot. Apparently you’re not supposed to get more than one bowl at a time, so I did that my second time up. From there we went to Scheel’s, where Britt got snowpants. From there it was to Best Buy. At Best Buy I got rechargeable batteries for my digital camera, finally, so I think my digital camera upgrades and accessories are probably done. From there we went to Petco, where we got to watch some fantastic ferret fighting. I hate the smell of dog, so I spent my time in the bird cage pretending that I knew everyone’s name. “Skittles, don’t bite that. Leave it alone, Skittles.”

Then we drove home, very slowly, in the fog. Mom kept calling, so the last time that she did, all we did was scream into the phone. Finally home, we unpacked and just hung out until eventually everyone left or went to sleep. All in all, it was a good Christmas.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Well, another day gone by. I would like to apologize for the lack of posting. It’s not that I, in the words of one ungrateful reader, “don’t care anymore”; it’s mostly that the play is now in full gear, and I’m lucky if I get to eat supper before 1100 at night (when most food places are closed). I get so tired that the last thing on my mind is posting, especially since homework is greatly escalating.

I do, however, happen to enjoy my wallpapers, and that’s why I post them. If you don’t like them, then I’ll quit putting them up. I guess I wore out my welcome, as people haven’t said anything nice about them (except for Megan) for months.

I did however put together this new stylesheet, one of 6 or so that I have going at the moment. Soon to appear will be a Sepia version of the site, along with versions for holidays (which I will unveil as fit) and other special occasions.

I am currently working on something like nine posts. 4 funny, 3 prose, and two wallpapers. And, on Friday, you will get a wallpaper again unless someone wants to post a guest post. So, Tony, if you hate my wallpapers so much, why don’t you write something funny, eh?

Anyway, I wish you all a good St. Patrick’s. Wear green or my mom will pinch you so hard they have to reinflate you, and I’ll get something up as soon as I can.

Love and kisses,

Miles

[ settle down tony ]
Posted on

Hell If I Knew Also

I’m the reason Christ is dead. I don’t mean that the way you think I do. You should be angry. Some of you are thinking, “We are all the reason why Christ is dead. He died for our sins.”

That’s so not what I mean.

It started off having nothing to do with Jesus. I was at home being a good Jewish boy. I’m about 15. 15 3/4 if you’re a good looking Jewish babe reading this. I can quote the bible front and back and at my Bar Mitzvah I was the only one still standing (just in case there IS a good looking Jewish babe reading.) Anyway, as a good 15 year old, I was sitting around NOT throwing rocks at the Wailing Wall bidding God to smite me.

As it happened, an old begger happened to be walking by. He screamed at me. “Don’t you know what comes of little boys tossing rocks at the Wailing Wall bidding God to smote them?”

“They get smote?”, I answered smartly. I mean, the answer wasn’t smart, but the way I said it – that was smart. I had 10,000 ounces of attitude behind that line.

“No! They get cursed!” Old men are funny the way foreigners are funny. You think they’re hilarious for a while, but then not being able to understand them gets to you and you end up either pushing them into traffic or selling them bad ecstasy. So, I gave the old man my last tainted ‘e’ and hit the road.

“Wait!” he shouted at me. He had already taken the hit. “Um… wow, this is good. Uh, whenever you say a word beginning with ‘H’, someone will die. And I… wow, this really IS good stuff.” He fell over and tried to lick his ears.

I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the old man’s message of warning. I decided to go visit my friend Lazarus. He seemed perfect since he had just been dead and then raised up again. He was an older gent in the city, but we both ran ecstasy routes through Jerusalem. We were business partners, you could say.

“Lazz, buddy.” His ‘e’ pills featured an ‘L’ with an empty tomb behind them. It was a new design he had made up given his recent celebrity. Jesus had no idea what he was helping proliferate.

“Hey, Tee. Can I help you?”

“If you … mysteriously died suddenly, would Jesus bring you back?”

“Oh, no. He left these paddles. He said, ‘I’m not always going to be around, you lazyass.’ You just hit this button and press them to my chest. Then you yell ‘Clear!’ and push these little buttons on top. Pretty handy thing. This damn heart of mine keeps going out.”

“Mind if I kill you for an experiment?”

“Go right ahead.”

“Hebrew.” I waited. That was a pretty good ‘H’ word, if I say so myself. Suddenly Lazz’s eyes started twitching and he fell over. I ran to the paddles, pressed them to his chest, and screamed clear. Nothing happened. I hit the bottons on top and his body jolted up from the ground. He started coughing and turned over.

“Did it work?”

“Better than you could imagine.”

I knew it worked. Now I just needed to use it. I had no victims in mind. No one owed me an abnormal amount of money. There were no rival drug dealers who I had quarrels with. I had this immense power, and I had no beneficial way to use it.

“Hey, Tom. Wanna go up to the mount? They’re doing some crossing.”

“Sure. Why not? Maybe I can help them along.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” I smirk to my friend. He already thinks I’m wierd, but I think pretty soon he is going to quit hanging out with me. Oh, well. His loss, right?

We make it up to the mount but the crossings have already begun. “Go Jesus!” I yell. See, the crossings don’t always end up with someone dead. It’s a lot like a sporting event (of which I am always king – for those good looking Jewish girls who are still reading).

They were having trouble with Jesus. They taunted him, they starved him. They even stabbed him, and nothing was going. Jesus is a helluva fighter.

Two men, from the bottom of the mount, approached us. They called themselves Jude and Bil. “Hello boys. Is one of you Doubting Thomas?” I sheepishly acknowledged this. “I heard that you were throwing some rocks at the Wailing Wall today.”

“Maybe I was.”

“Son, you see Jesus down there? He’s in pain, son. He wants release. You can give it to him.”

“No. I will NOT kill Jesus. I believe him.”

“You’re a good Jewish boy, aren’t you?”

“Of course!”

“What did God give the Israelites in the desert?” Manna. “What is the square root of 144?” 12. “Do we serve Caeser?” No. It’s a ploy for us to save up money until we can move out, get our own place, and party all the time instead of study like we said we would. “What is Jesus middle name?” H.

“No!” It was done. The sky became abruptly overcast and the ground quaked. The Son of God died before my eyes.

“Way to go, Tom. You’re going to hell.”

| Little boy you’re going to hell |
Posted on

And Thanks for the Punch

It’s quiet like a coffin in here. Nancy’s gone today, and I am hard-pressed with the duty of staying in the office. Otherwise I’d be doing inventory or greenhouse. As it is, I am to remain at this desk until my lunch hour. Then, during HER lunch hour, I think I AM going to go to the greenhouse. Who’s going to know?

Well, besides all of you, that is.

This weekend was nice. It started on Friday at around 4:00. Jeff and I entered his vehilcle and drove to Sioux Falls. Jeff had to meet his dad to exchange the van he had for the car he wants. He told his father that we would meet him at around 4:30 (so we were going to be a little late getting there). He calls him mom.

“Hey, mom. It’s your son.”
“…”
“…Jeff.”
“Oh, hi Brett. How are you?”
“*sigh* Hey, when did Dad leave for Sioux Falls?”
“Around 2:30.”
It is pertinent to know that Sioux Center, IA, is about an hour from Sioux Falls.

When we got to iHop, the drop point, there sat his father reading the paper and waiting patiently for us but hopefully not an hour’s worth of waiting patiently. We made the exchange, I almost forgot my phone, and we took off for Big Stone City.

Two hours, 100 songs, and 10 pages later, we pulled into the Watertown Mall Parkinglot. You may say, why did you do that?, and I may say, because what I didn’t tell you was that we were going to see “The Matrix: Reloaded” in Watertown first, and it would be true.

We saw the movie and I loved it. You can discuss it with other members of the lazydesert community right here. If you aren’t already of a member, be sure to register. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do… forum-wise.

The next day, after lounging around for most of it, I managed to catch Megan Johanson online. Turns out that her graduation party was on Saturday and not Sunday, and I would have missed it completely because I’m not good at reading. So, luckily, she reminded me.

When we got to the fire hall in Milbank, we were bombarded with an overly large number of tables. As it turned out, Megan’s graduation party was a quad, and, as it turns out, her table was way in the corner. I think that Jeff and I hung out with Megan, Amy, Zack Larson, Seth Larson, and eventually Derek from 6 until 10:30. We mostly complimented cars driving by and threw Jelly Bellies at them. There was a time that Sarah was there. Sarah, one of my closest friends in the world (I hope she’s reading this) ever, hadn’t invited me. She claimed that she “thought she had” and then reinvited me. How sweet. She eventually left and the group of us were left to our own devices again. I hadn’t hung out with Megan in a long time. It was very nice to see her again.

Then Jeff and I drove on back to the Sioux Historic to hang out with Bryce, Lindsey, Chris, Alexis, Kirstin, Dan, Carlson, Ryan, Alicia, and Todd (who never had less than two beers in his hands at all times). I spent most of my time buying $.75 drinks of water and sitting with Carlson, Dan and Jeff talking about how utterly alone we were while simultaneously lip-syncing the words to “Jesse’s Girl.” Then Alicia pulled Dan and I (and we tried to pull Jeff) out onto the dance floor. We did three rap songs, then Dan and Jeff and I went home.

The next day, Bryce and Jeff and I go to graduation ceremony. Like most graduation ceremonies, it was hot, long and boring. Unlike most graduating ceremonies, Bryce, Jeff and I were far enough away from other people that we could make sarcastic comments the whole time. We had some good ones, and some crude ones, and some that I cannot post here. Suffice to say, they were good seats.

After the ceremony was over, we hung out at the high school waiting for people to say, “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot your invitation! You have to come!” but it only happend once. Thanks, Julanne. Thanks a bunch. She seems to think that a crappy dual hug would fix his blunder. She got no pen, thank you very much.

My graduation presents included second-hand pens that I found around the house and a card in which I wrote a message (usually sweet and endearing) with said pen. I gave presents to Megan, Sarah, ALi, Shellia, Missa, and Tony. Julanne’s graduation consisted of Bryce, Jeff and I being the first people there and being scared to eat any of the food. We did however see a lot of pictures. Sarah’s graduation party consisted of awesome lefsa rolls and my signing her guestbook three times.

ALi’s graduation frightened me at first. I had seen her whole family around the school and I’m not sure that I’ve really talked to them since ALi and I broke up. So, of course, I was scared. I got to her party and the first thing I hear is “You made it!” When did I say I wasn’t going to show up?? Her whole family said it. Oh, you came! How wonderful! Did I seem like the kind of guy to NOT show up? Is that what they thought?

I had some food, and sat with Jeff. Then Ange, ALi’s eldest sister, hit me with some food on the back of the head. That was all the excuse I needed to chit chat. I think I had a very nice conversation with Ange, Jenny (also ALi’s older sister), Jeff, and a lady who works with Jan (ALi’s mom). Turns out that no one hates me in their family, and I think that’s great. Then my mom shows up, and now they all love HER. EVERYONE loves my mother. Ange especially took to her. Maybe I’ll get Ange her email address. They can be pen pals.

Shellia’s was a little weird. I think I’ve talked to her in person 2 or 3 times. She’s a friend of ALi’s who became an internet friend of mine. She also used to date this guy who scares the hell out of me. Missa’s went well, too. Hers was mostly over, but her mother insisted we drink a gallon of punch each. She also seemed a little less than coherent at times. I think she was really really tired. We stood around, shot the breeze, drank punch. Opsahl and a friend of his who I know but cannot recall the name of came in. He actually did really well with comebacks. It was a little disarming.

Tony’s graduation party was the final one. I chit-chatted with Corey for a while, I was asked to retrieve Tyler from upstairs, and I made Jeff say, “I love South Dakota.” All-in-all, it was a good day. Jeff and I packed our stuff up, grabbed some Mountain Dew, and took off. The ride home consisted of sorting through Jeff’s unmarked CDs. Everytime I took a sip of that Mountain Dew, though, I wished it was graduation punch.

I can’t wait until I graduate… again.

| There’s no reason, reason, there’s no reason, reason |
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A Sophomoric Attitude on Blasphemy

Valentine’s Day. It’s coming up and I figured that I’d kick the holiday in the nuts with a preemptive strike.

There’s not much I can say positive about this day except that it’s a halfway for me. I do not like Valentine’s Day. I really don’t. I’m gonna give you reasons, but in a humourous form so that the utter depression that sinks over this post doesn’t permeate into your life as it has mine.

Uh, that was supposed to be funny, too. Here goes!

  1. You can’t even see your heart. Why would I want your heart. It doesn’t even look like that. Give me a tasteful primary organ in a vacuum sealed plastic sack – now THAT’S love.
  2. Boys are dumb. (that line especially for Missa). But, really, they are. And to try to explain it to them is like teaching algebra to golden labs. Or like teaching univeristy physics to chickens. Or any of my other classes to livestock.
  3. Girls are evil. (that line especially for Me). But, really, they are. And to explain it to them is like teaching hardware to an education major. Or like teaching Photoshop to a music major. Or any of my other classes to dorks (ooo, controversy – comment about it!).
  4. Love is a lost cause. There is a phrase, “It is better to have lost and loved than to never have loved at all.” How many flavors of Peyote do you have to smoke to come up with that? Look at all the pop culture devoted to lost love. And how much it bloody sucks. Look at it – all the music, movies, books, and so on devoted to the pains and labours of lovin’ and losin’.
  5. Jones Cream Soda. (consider this filler)
  6. Valentines suck. You can never find a good valentine. They are all the same tiny cards of thin, government grade cardboard with the same tired, lame sayings that some creepy old guy who has a penchant for watching the boys swim at the ‘Y’ made up sometime after the Big Bang but before our years hit Zero.
  7. Because Valentine’s Day makes you do things like massacre people.
  8. Because love makes you do things like be creative.
  9. Because Hitler loved people, too. You don’t want to be like Hitler, do you?
    and
  10. In 1958, a man was born with the power to move things with his mind. He sought guidance with his unusual gift, but he found nothing but pain and hardship. Soon he met a special Ninja frog who could help the boy harness his power. This frog, Dais, had devoted his life to the abomination of nonAmphibian persons, however, and used the boy in his quest.
    The boy’s mind grew sharper and stronger. He was soon convincing waterfalls to return to their roots and animals to march to their death. Then he turned this to humans. Thousands upon Thousands of Men and Women were marched into the streets, stripped naked, and then tossed into the air. Many were hurt a little bit, but the rest were stone dead.
    Then the boy flew to the moon on the back of the Frog. They stood on the highest Moon Peak overlooking the earth and in a fell swoop of his mind, the boy had completely erased the world from existance. Nevermind those who he had already killed. Add to that (large) number a number equal to all who lived on earth in 1958 and who no longer live. This is the total number of those whom he killed.
    As they stood cackling at their evil, the moon stood in it’s fourteenth house of Jupiter. The boy turned to the sun and screamed his name to the darkness of space. His name was Sir Valentine. Sir Valentine of Dais on the fourteenth house of the February planet, Jupiter.
    This is the history of Valentine’s Day as it was passed from generation to generation by the family decendants of Dais (who was both female and pregnant pre-1958 Erase). It was discovered by accident and translated from it’s ancient Moon-Toad writing into common day English.
    Then I found the story in the library in a notebook where I had written it. And so it is.

This Valentine’s Day, when you think of all the reasons to be sad that you don’t have a date (and don’t worry – you won’t) just remember these 10 reasons why you should be glad you don’t participate in this holiday.

And also remember that the ACM chapter at DSU is holding a LAN party on the 15th, so you can drown your love-lusting lorn in litres of blood. It’s not like you’ll be making out with anyone…

| There’s someone listening in… |
Posted on

Communist Poker

There comes a time in a young mans life when he tries to reconnect with his roots. He finds the urge to reevaluate himself through his friends and his acquaintances. It is at this time that this young man will have a mega movie night and invite every body in both address books (Yahoo and Hotmail, excluding Carl)…

… and then no one comes.

Ok, not true. Carl, Seth, Jeff, Bryce, Lindsey, Kirstin, Ryan, Tyler, David, Erica, Andy, Dan, and Carlson showed up.

Thanks guys. :)

To the rest of you, this is what you missed. First off, Tyler and David show up around 430 (a good 4 hours early) which is fine. Tyler sits down and starts (immediately) to download things onto Bryces computer. David looks lost for a while then sits down somewhere.

Then Ryan and Kirstin show up (great, Ryans here…). Then Jeff, Carl, and Seth come strolling in. I was taken quite by surprise since I was playing Battlefield 1942 (but getting very frustrated). So, I tried to be a host. I ended up getting (semi)taught Cribbage. All I really learned is that it is the game of the devil (all those numbers that you can divide by 6) and that playing it only helps him to increase his cold, icy grip on your soul. Icy fingers, kids. Watch out.

Then Erica and Andy showed up (without the movie, I might add) and we improvised by shoving The Quick and the Dead in. There was more computer gaming. There were my hot weenies (little smokies you sickos), and eventually we had slush which tasted a little too close to alcoholic.

Bryce and Lindsey showed up. Woopity doo, Basil. Bryce and Ryan and Kirstin and Dan all played cribbage upstairs as my mom was preparing slush for everyone. She got some good ones in on Ryan (I missed it though) and then she got some really good ones in on Bryce. It was great. Everyone was laughing at him and he tried to put it on someone else, but it was a feeble attempt on his part.

Little joys. Not that I wish my brother ill will or harm, but it is funny seeing him get throttled by my mother in a battle of wits. Poor little fella.

While Jeff and Carl and Seth and I were upstairs, we decided to play cards. Now, instead of playing the tried and true (but boring and old) card games, we decided to play poker the way they would do it in Communist Russia.

There is a pot and the government has control over it. Everyone puts all their money in the pot. The cards are dealt, and everyone gets the same number of cards, but you can share cards and swap them to make the best hands out of the cards dealt. Then you each given back a fraction of a percent back of what you put in and one of you is shot.

The game continues until there is one person left. Then that person is in control of the pot and the person who was controlling it gets 35% of what is left and retires in Siberia. At times one can declare Democratic Revolt, but it will be quickly and brutally put down, they will be shot, their families will be shot, and rest of the players will pretend nothing happened.

We had a lot of fun.

Then Erica and Andy had to leave. The party kinda died down. Other people left. My dad popped in LOTR while others played Battlefield 1942. Jeff took pictures of Carl sitting with my cat. Carl really enjoyed my cat for some weird reason. O_o

Eventually everyone left and then the slumber party began. Left there were Carl, Jeff, Seth (even though he lives 20 miles away), Bryce and I. We had us some fun. Carl and Seth put themselves out on the couch while Bryce and Jeff and I chatting. Have you ever heard of http://vampirefreaks.com? That is some good chatting. By the end of the night, all three of us managed to get kicked and banned from the chat room for making fun of the admins. Jeff said something about some questionable behavior with Puppies and got the boot. That was when we decided to go to bed – at around 730am. O, thats okay. Church is only at NINE!

It was okay, though. Bryce and I went to Milbank (and saw Sue and Lonie there) at 1045. Ive been up ever since. To be technical, I didnt go to bed until 800. I only did that so I wouldnt get yelled at for staying up all night again. And look what happened. I got crabby all day. Oh, man.

Now I am chatting with Alicia and putting too much emotional baggage on her than I should and I am a little happier to see that Dans MSN name still reads “There’s a nasty rumor going around that I’m depressed, don’t believe it.” Why does his name say that? Because I added the words “I am really depressed. Ask me whats wrong” after his previous MSN name when he was gone. So, everyone would get online and ask him what was wrong and he had no idea. And they would say, “Come on, Dan. Im your bud.” This sort of thing would go on for as long as the victim is clueless.

Dan figured it out pretty quickly. :( But his name reflects my favorite MSN prank. :)

¿@Good Weekend or Bad Weekend@?