so, today i gathered courage and shot off an email to a professor from uva who i want to write me a recommendation for grad school. i had to gather courage because i hadn't taken a class from him since spring 2001, and i was sure he didn't remember rinky dink old me. but he was a journalism professor, and since uva has, oh, two journalism professors, one of whom i hadn't talked to since my first year, i figured he was my best shot. so i sent an email, complete with transcript and resume and other information to try to jog his memory even a little bit as to who i was.

anyway, upshot of the story: he'll write a recommendation for me! EVEN BETTER: he ADORES the shitty magazine i work on! this crap magazine, with its tiny circulation, has apparently played a vital role in his life, and he seemed impressed that i was associated with it.

so i just wanted to thank the gods of fate. this job kind of sucks, but it might have just landed me a better-than-subpar grad school recommendation.

naomi let me know the other day that our race pictures from the half marathon were online. you see, during the race, at strategic points, they have cameramen up on ladders, perches, etc, taking photographs of absolutely everybody, and later on you can search by your bib number and order any prints you like.

i'm not going to order these shots, but i just think the succession of them is funny:

1. woo! i'm running and all energized and nothing can stop me!

2. between that photo and the finish line (which is like 50 feet later) something apparently goes terribly wrong; i am so busted that i cannot even be bothered torun across the finish line.

3. cameraman captures me immediately before i list confusedly off to the side and pass out. at least i beat the fat dude behind me.

i am SO AHEAD of the curve. yes, indeedy. if you'll remember, several months ago i alerted you, dear readers, to the awesomeness of a band called the arcade fire.

today, pitchfork gives their new cd, funeral, a 9.7:

Earlier this year, Montreal-based The Arcade Fire's ferocious live show secretly incited a bidding war that saw the band bouncing between three of North America's most respected indie labels before finally landing with Merge. While their demos offered virtually no indication of potential to outsiders, those who witnessed the group in concert would vouch that the band would soon prove to be of an exceptional caliber. Funeral is that proof-- a profoundly catharic, sophisticated, and melodic debut that finally restores "emotional" as a positive descriptor.

go buy!

buongiorno, tutti. did everyone have good weekends? i sure did! joe gibbs and his magical fantasy football team plus everything else made for a fun two days. especially when i made a conscious decision to ignore typegate 2004, the terrible situation and dozens of civilian deaths in fallujah, and, basically, reality.

friday night i went out with college buddy naz, who, turns out, lives like 3 blocks from me in a new condo building on N and 13th that's just gone up. we went out to trio's on 17th street, and enjoyed boy watching, fried calamari and kalamata olives. i went home fairly early, because i have a nagging cold. in response to this nagging cold, i've made a kind of big decision - well, not really, considering decisions that are actually important - but i've decided to stop social smoking. at least until the marathon is over. charles used to liken my smoking and marathon training to someone wearing rocks while training for a swimming event - once i cast off the cigarettes, my lungs would rejoice in clean air freedom and perform at 10x their capacity! i'm not sure that will happen, but with my being sick and the marathon about six weeks away, i think it's the right thing to do. so if i beg to bum a cigarette off you, do not relent! you're helping out the children. or something.

saturday morning was supposed to be a 20 mile training run, but, eh. sick. so i slept late - well, as late as i could with our gay neighbors deciding to hold a rowdy yard sale at 7:30 in the morning. the rest of the day was spent doing not all that much - tommy and i went to his dad's house to pick up some household items, and eat our crisp n juicy sandwiches. mmm. i have to find something in d.c. that can hold up to crisp n juicy. later that evening, we went over to kriston's and matt's to watch the UT-arkansas with them and susan, jeremy and non-blog matt. with their help and several bottles of beer, i somehow became a raging longhorns fan by the end of the night. eat shit and die! fight! whatever it is they say. tommy, charles, scott, aaron and i went to the red room post-game, but it was late, so we headed home not too long afterwards.

the next day was fight on, fight on, sons of washington, etc. let me just say - one of my earlier memories is when i was 7, living at 1417 44th street nw (where i spent the first 10 years of life) and being extraordinarily happy that the redskins had won the superbowl. we all know how things went after that (excluding 1991). i'm normally not a big football fan, but joe gibbs hold one of those special places in my heart that is normally reserved for chocolate, puppies and thom yorke.

anyway, kriston and matt came over (because kriston had promised to prepare us totally delicious breakfast tacos, which he did, and they were pure awesomeness) and we all saw how the redskins totally dominated. hurrah! i would absolutely love to go see a redskins game at some point, so if you want to gift me any tickets to any game this seasons, i will be your eternal slave.

i spent the rest of the day sketching out personal statements for grad school. which are hard, man. i much prefer college application essays. i can't even remember what i wrote for my uva college application, but it was like, on how awesome radiohead is, or something. or my favorite word. what the hell were the essays our year? anyway. this week's goal: finish university of maryland application, and ask people if they're willing to write recommendations for me.

tonight i think we're trying to make a not-so-triumphant return to trivia night (we haven't been in several weeks), so if you want to go, let me know! it'll be fun, because i'll likely be high on sudafed!