That was rough

So, I got to play some golf with Glenn (and Jen putted on a few holes) yesterday at the IU course ($18 for a cart and 18 holes after 4pm--how sweet is that?), but it was my first round of the year. And you could tell. I hit my irons really well (usually a strong point), but my woods went who knows where, and my short game was generally atrocious (not uncommon, but still aggravating). I ended up with an 87 (+16), which I can't complain about too much on that course, but there's no real good reason I can't put up an 80 or something along those lines. Fortunately (or unfortunately, from my checking account's standpoint), that low price may afford me (pardon the pun) some more opportunities to improve on that Matt.

On a lighter note, the Cubs are .500!!! Will wonders never cease...of course, we're starting a 7-game road trip against the class of the NL West, so we'll see how long it lasts.

Welcoming the Hawleys

I'm excited--tonight, after the wedding of Deborah Shenk, Jen (Lewchuk) and Glenn Hawley will be stopping by for the evening and most of Sunday. Jen and I already have a swing dance or two planned, and Glenn and I may hit the links tomorrow after church. It'll really cool to see them--Jen is one of the few people who I truly consider a sister; she's part of my family. I haven't seen her since her wedding, so it'll be a lot of fun to hang out with her again.

Fountain Square last night (as warm-up for my dances with Jen) was less than ideal, as Tim Brickley was playing. His songs always go on for ten minutes, which makes them very tough to dance to. Plus, there weren't many follows there, which doesn't help. Basically, if the Thatcher twins aren't there, and Stephanie isn't there, then it's not nearly as fun--the only consolation was that Caitlin came down from Muncie--she's turned herself into a pretty good little swing dancer.

Barring something really unusual, the Cubs are going to have a chance to reach .500 tomorrow afternoon....anyone want to make a wager on that happening? I say the odds of winning tomorrow are about....3451045983 to 1 against....which coincidentally happens to be the telephone number of an Islington flat where I once nearly hit it off with a g.i.r.l named Tricia, until she left with a gate crasher...(at an improbability factor of...)

In the zone

Played my first intramural basketball game of the summer last night. We got mercy-ruled, which is always rough, but I actually didn't play that badly. The team we played is really good, had set plays, are really big and strong, and they all could shoot from three. So, when we actually got them to miss shots, they tended to get the offensive rebound and put it back. We effectively had 3 big men and no subs, and they really weren't comfortable playing that far from the hoop.
Modulo being incredibly out of shape, I played a pretty good game. My defense wasn't horrible, but my offense was pretty good. There's something sweet about being in such a groove that as you're going up for a shot, even before you release it, you know it's going in. Not just that it's a good shot, or that you are shot the ball well, but just knowing that your shot is money. There's only a few times I've felt that good about my shot, and this is the first time in an actual game setting (at our math senior seminar retreat, I was shooting around and probably made 80% of my shots during a 30+ minute span....until I got tired and starting to lose my form). It was 3's, ten-foot bank shots, free throws, anything.
Of course, any time our team plays, I need to outscore the guy I'm guarding if we want to win, and I played my guy about even (I scored 19 of our 51 points), but it was still a pretty cool feeling. Now if I can only get that feeling about algebraic geometry...

It's been awhile...

So, I don't really feel especially talkative, but it's been a week since I've posted, so I should probably put something up. I spent most of this past week at home (in Walkerton--if you can call that home--Tara would say so since that's where my family is), which is why I didn't answer many emails or write any on my blog. A good family friend was getting married on Saturday, so I took a mini-vacation to see the wedding and spend some time with the family. I started by going to one of my brother's baseball games (he's an assistant coach), and they proceeded to lose the game (to finish 14-2 in the conference...I appear to be good luck), so I didn't attend any more games after that. And what do you know? Glenn won the last two games of the week. :)
The wedding was alright--the pastor-lady talked way too much, in my opinion. Bum, always make it short and sweet. :) The reception was alright, but I went with my parents, so they were leaving right when I was starting to get into things. I've been longing some real, quality, social contact for a while, and right when I get to chat and hang out with some friends from high school, and my ride gets sleepy and wants to go home. *sigh* I've been told by many people, including an ex-girlfriend, that I am eerily like my dad, but I'm noticing more and more that as I live on my own, I seem to be becoming less and less an "Alspaugh" and more and more an "Akers." (fyi: my mom's maiden name is Akers) Now, don't get me wrong, I'm so much an Alspaugh that I'll never be an Akers, but I think it's good that I'm showing some of the traits of my mom's family. It's a better balance, I think, and it's more of who I am.
Well, I told you I had nothing to say, and now you have the proof of it. If you're still reading, I'm sorry. :)
Anyway, the one thing I needed to do while I was at home, which is math, I avoided like the plague. So this week, I seriously need to get a lot of algebraic geometry done. I seem to say this all the time, but it's getting crunch time. Someone want to call me and make sure I'm staying on task this week?

Productive night?

Modulo mathematics and church, last night was pretty productive for me. It started with a swing dance competition at the Stardusters' USO Dance. I showed up late, so the competition was the first two dances I danced on the night (I normally prefer a song or two to get my feet wet, a feel for the floor, a feel for the band/music, etc. before really dancing). Well, there were six couples, but my partner and I ended up taking home the trophy for first place. So, I am no longer an amateur dancer--I won a free CD and half a trophy. Not exactly sure why you have one trophy for the winning couple, but whatever works, I guess.

So, after the dance and a Steak 'n Shake run (nothing like dinner at 11:30 p.m.), I went to play some poker. Questionable decision to start a poker game at 1:00 a.m., but I hadn't really played all week, and I wanted to. Anyway, it becomes a lot more questionable when I have success, and so keep playing for a long time. I didn't get many cards throughout the night, but I played aggressively and smart and did fairly well. Eventually made an all-in call with a king and the board showing A-K-Q-10-9 to grab the chip lead, and eventually the tournament, netting me $20. Well played by Shawn indeed. Of course, the tournament didn't end until 3:30 a.m...

So, getting up at noon today, I have a day full of math ahead of me, since I'm meeting with Larsen tomorrow and am not really ready. Plus, I'm looking forward to some time with God. Besides that, maybe I can fit in some more poker... :)

On a more somber note, Sharon Fahler is a former swing club member (well, still kind of a member, in abstentia) whose two-week leave ended today as she heads back to Afghanistan. I thought about joining a group to surprise her at the airport and see her off this morning (she was unable to stop by club while she was home), but that involved getting up at 6:00 a.m. (or slightly earlier)--I probably still should have, even with the lack of sleep I would have been working on. It always strikes a little closer to home when someone you know (and have even danced with) heads back to possibly die. Here's sending you prayers and well-wishes, Sharon!

S.e.x isn't all that

So, I was at swing club on Monday night and we were joking a little about my birthday, and same way or another (I don't remember the details) we (by "we" I mean "the other people there") got to the point where someone said something to the effect of "so you didn't do it." I responded by saying since I've never done "it" before, in particular I didn't have s.e.x on my birthday. One g.i.r.l immediately said "I'm sorry" and another guy started consoling me, explaining that he hadn't lost his virginity until he was 28. I couldn't believe it (and found it really sad); I was being consoled for this dastardly mark on my character of being a virgin. It was kind of cool to be able to say, "Well, I have no intentions of having s.e.x before I'm married, I'm fine with being a virgin. It's not like I haven't been a position where I could have had s.e.x (at least, potentially so--does that grammatically make sense, through all my negatives and prepositions?), but as much as I think I would enjoy s.e.x (duh), I'm not going to do it before I'm married." Of course, the obligatory response I got was, "Well, then get married already," but I found it a little depressing that I was viewed almost not complete because I was a virgin. Part of me wants everyone to see me and say "wow, he's confident and in control in who he is without s.e.x (or some other way I can boost my ego), maybe he's onto something, but that's probably unrealistic. And I've known this viewpoint is common (spend a day in my office; heck, spend an hour in my office--that'll be enough), especially in a city like Bloomington, but it's still sad to come face to face with it.

Ok, I've kind of run out of steam, and I don't really know where I'm going with this, or if there's a conclusion, or how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood (or even what a woodchuck is, for that matter), so I'll probably stop soon.

In fact, I'll conclude with the quote of the night: "Umm, I bid one dollar, Bob."

Note: I apologize for the use of periods. Apparently, Cybersitter doesn't like the words s.e.x or g.i.r.l, and so deletes them during the submission process. I haven't figured out a way to fix that yet, seeing as I don't have the password to look at the settings...

Why I don't write

Apparently I don't know the english language. I was revising my TeX version of Farmer Ted Goes 3D so it is more or less final, and used the hard copy the editors gave me as the standard. So, when I started comparing their words with the ones I wrote, lots of times they weren't even close. They reworded a lot, and even at one point added the phrase "a simply Lagrange multiplier argument," which it was, but I didn't use those words. So, apparently, I don't do writing. Maybe I am in the right major... :)

On a completely unrelated note, I now can get people a .pdf copy of the paper, in case you don't want to buy the June addition of Mathematics Magazine.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, Shawn has a birthday coming up. So, what to do on my birthday? Any ideas? I mean, it should be a pretty great activity to be worthy of my birthday. Hmm....oh wait, here's an idea. I know this really cute female who's got an afternoon free. What better way to spend an afternoon than spending money on a lady? Happy birthday to me, indeed.

Ok, so I'm playing it up a little bit, but I do have a lunch date on Saturday, which I'm excited about. Plus, it gives Liz that much more ammunition to harass me about, which is always a good thing, I think. At least, that what she keeps telling me...

Besides that, the week is shaping up to be somewhat low-key, with lots of math. I have to renew my driver's license, I have a track meet to start, and Saturday to wait for. Maybe I can fit in some poker...that sounds like a good idea. Or some double-deck, super-cribbage (with jokers, of course).