Obligatory "I Haven't Posted in 2 Weeks" Post

So I don't have an awful lot to say but feel an obligation to add something after two weeks of silence. Maybe the curse of writing about Paris Hilton has given me writer's block. But probably it's just that I've had my hands full with school and work and haven't had much of interest to say. I have class all day tomorrow and then one more lecture on Wednesday and then final the following Wednesday and that will do it. Can't wait to get to June 6th so I can celebrate, but there's still a fair amount of work to be done till then.

This weekend is crammed full of sibling-tastic action! My older brother Mike is in town and Christy and I will be showing him, his wife, and my four nieces and nephews around the city after class on Saturday. Then they are all crashing at our place. Yep, there will be a total of 8 people sleeping in our one bedroom apartment (cue circus clown music). Then on Sunday we are off to my Dad's for my other brother Joe's (aka Mooney) college graduation party. Having a younger sibling graduate from college really makes me feel old. At least I'm staying a degree ahead of him though. Then on Monday we are heading out to Christy's P's place for her brother Mike's birthday. Things don't slow down after the weekend, though. Tuesday night I'm going to the Cubs game and then Wednesday night I have class. Of course, right after that I will need to start studying for my final. Well, I guess the good news is that the next couple weeks should fly by. In other words, don't be surprised if there's another conspicuous absence of posts for a while.

I ran in the Chase Corporate Challenge last night. 3 and a half miles through the streets around Grant Park. In the words of my dad, "it's a crap race." It's just not very well organized and it's such a cluster, since you have serious runners, non-serious runners, and walkers all mixed in and starting at the same time. For the first 2 miles there's no sense of pacing; you alternate between running as fast as you can whenever you can and being bunched up in a huge pack of people at a walking pace. Nevertheless, I was pretty happy with my time (37:32); especially considering that it took me at least a minute and a half to cross the starting line so my real time was probably closer to 36:00. This was the first (and by far the easiest) of my 3 "warm-up" races. The next one is a 10-miler in late July; then the half-marathon in mid-August. I'll get a much better sense for how realistic running the marathon is after those.

I did have some time to finish a couple quick reads that I can heartily recommend for anyone looking for something they can get through on a plane ride or a weekend at the beach. First I read Lewis Black's book "Nothing Sacred" and it's a lot different than you'd expect (if you are familiar with his stand-up). While he certainly mixes-in some of his material it's mainly a bio and he's a lot more of a softy than you'd ever expect from listening to his rants. He's pretty much the epitomy of the "all bark with no bite" type of personality, and I don't mean that as a negative at all. Overall, there's nothing phenomenal about the book, but he's lived a pretty interesting life in a pretty interesting time and he's presented it in a very cohesive, fluid, humorouos way.

The other book I read was Bob Harris' "Prisoner of Trebekistan." It's about his experiences on Jeopardy! but is much more interesting than that probably makes it sound. There's a lot of info about the behind-the-scenes stuff (some psyching out but mainly more of a Mensa-type fraternity of really smart people) and also gives some insight into what Alex Trebek is really like (a really nice guy who is unfailingly professional). Finally, he also gives some good tips on how to memorize long lists of things in an easy way and make it stick. After reading the book I used his ideas and memorized all the U.S. Presidents in order (you can quiz me next time you see me) and it only took me about an hour. I also have learned all the South American, African, and Asian countries, though I don't know exactly where they all are on the map yet. I might tackle the Vice Presidents or all the country capitals next. Useless knowledge is fun! Anyway, pretty much the same things that applied to the Lewis Black book apply here, though I have to say that this is a better book. Though it gets a little preachy about some things at times, to me it never went over the top, and there is humor throughout. In fact, a couple of the jokes he sets up and pays off so beautifully I literally had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard. But then again, I'm a huge dork.

Have a good Memorial Day everyone!