THIS IS A TEST!

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you are doing well to have come this far...karen...for the next clue look under ours...it doesn't say welcome...but you can wipe your feet on it...

much love...keep going!

Cody

Last Tuesday Karen and I had the opportunity to visit the Upfrong and Company because the coolest band-that I only know one song by-and even then only through a friend-came to Marquette! ELECTRIC 6! It was a great time, and we had a ton of fun! We figured the bar would be almost empty since it was a Tuesday, but lo and hehold, apparently people did hear of Electric 6, cause the place was packed! I even went out on the dance floor and shook my groove thing, as did Karen. Good times, good times. A few pictures from the night.
The lead singer was very entertaining!
This place was crowded
Lars and Danielle share a moment
Karen and Me listen to the grooves

So its summer time, and that means fun! However, it seems like I never have anyone to do anything with. The friends I've made in the last year up here are usually busy, or have some other drama in their lives. I mean, I've conceded to playing basketball by myself at this point, but now I'm in the heart of Summer Movie Season. Having already see X-Men 3, and substituting The Lake House for Nacho Libre, I still have four films that I HAVE to see for the summer. I haven't gotten to Pirates of the Caribbean yet, if anyone hasn't seen it let me know. I'm going to fall behind however, as Lady in the Water opens Friday and they moved Clerks II all the way up to this Friday also. At least I'll have a little relief as they pushed Pulse, my summer scary movie pick, back to August or even September (why not just wait till Halloween).

Cory is trying to plan a trip to Noah's Ark for some serious swim action. Hopefully we can get that to happen, I still have about two and a half vacation days to use up. Would be cool to get to use them for something fun, as they HAVE to be used by about six weeks from now.

Short little diddy on here since its 4:30am already. Went to Escanaba to see Cory get married to Anya his girlfriend of many years. It was a bizarre wedding (not sure if it was the Episcopalian custom or what) and a million degrees. Monica and I thought we got lost when we went to find the reception afterwards, but it turns out the directions were just pretty crappy. GREAT FOOD at the wedding. Mon and I did two slow songs, but we did make up a fun wedding game where you get points for doing different things. Hopefully she'll post what we have so far, so we can share our ideas with everyone. After I returned, I went on a little hikey, hike with a friend of mine. But for now...goodnight all, I's tired. ;) PS-I also locked my keys in my apartment, as well as my phone. It could have been a disaster, but luckily my friend picked my lock with her credit card. I don't know whether to feel joyful or worried... ;)

Well last night was a night that will remind me for another long time why drinking is evil. I went to the Matrix for 'kiddie night' and lord did it suck. I didn't have a good time at all, made out with someone I normally wouldn't have, and was swindled out of $20 dollars on top of that. Ugh. I was so not having a good time that I left before the bar closed. I decided to go to Kelli Polkinghornes birthday party. Good lord. Glad I was sober, cause they needed someone with a clear head there. Let's see, two people got in a fight, one passed out, and the birthday girl, Miss Polkinghorne herself ended up being escorted by me and three of her friends to the Emergency Room at 4am. It was kind of funny, yet kind of scary too. I sat with her friend Kara, holding her hand until about 630 in her room. Then her other friends were gone, and Jessica Pepin and I stayed with her until she was released at 8am. I didn't really get any sleep after that either, a couple hours here and a couple hours there, and I'm cranky as fuck. Cory's wedding tomorrow...should be interesting. All for now...damn Red Sox.

I've redone my blog AGAIN, and this time, actually split it in half. This journal, the LIGHT in my EYES--codyfleming.blogspot.com will serve just as it did, updating you on what I'm up to, etc. The reflection, the DARKNESS in my HEART--flemingcody.blogspot.com will serve as more of an outlet for feelings and emotions. I hope this format will enable me to write more frequently.

All for now...Star Trek is calling my name... ;)

The Trip to Minnesota

Day One
Well, I didn't get a good nights sleep for quite a while heading into the trip. As such, I was exhausted for most of it, and drove myself mostly on excitement and joy for the week. Sarah met me here around 11 and by 1130, we had picked up Jessica and her stuff right about as scheduled. The first thing we noticed was a blood red moon met us as we drove to Escanaba. It took a long time to do the drive, and I took two bad routes, niether were really incorrect, but they weren't the fastest way I could have taken. Still, with some good tunes kicking out from the CD player, and Sarah and Jessica fading in and out of consciousness, we made it. The top songs for the trip included Blue October's "Hate Me", Buckcherry's "Crazybitch", Kanye West's "Gold Digger", and Panic! At The Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". We arrived to Katie's about 415am Eastern Time. A long ass drive. What awaited us was a nice little four hour nap.
Day Two
Ready and on the road by a little after 9 central time, we made our way across the land of dairy, and into the land of...dairy. Regardless, we got to play my trivia/name that tune game that I had created for the trip. Only problem was that it went longer than I had anticipated, and we didn't finish before we arrived. Still it seemed to be a lot of fun for the girls to play, with catagories such as Boston, Minnesota, Sex, Movies, and some Name that Tune thrown in for good measure. We were in Minnesota and soon looking for the hotel. We found it fairly quick and made a guess as to how to get to the Mall of America (which will now be referred to as MOA), turns out we were right, and we went down the street to the MOA.
Our hotel was literally like 5 minutes from the MOA, which was very handy. Sarah and Jessica hadn't been there before, and so it was a really good experience for everyone. We went in and got some lunch, hungry from our drive. It really is an awesome sight, if you've never been there. For crying out loud it has a full amusement park in the middle of the stores. We had time to spare still, so we looked through the third floor of the mall (where the food court was located) before we went to leave. We didn't really do any shopping at this point, but we did discuss which stores and sales we'd like to stop in and look at tomorrow on our main shopping day. It was a lot to take in, and a pretty damn cool place. I think Jessica in particular was excited (she's the shoppy one!).
It was now time to check into our hotel. A few problems occured at this point. Number one, we had only signed up as two people for the room, so we didn't have to pay an extra fifty bucks to stay there. Not a big deal, except this hotel somehow only has one entrance, causing us to walk in two groups of two all weekend! Lol, but besides that the bigger issue was that the guy at the desk said we'd never make it to the game that night if we tried to drive. The downtown of Minneapolis would be too busy. He recommended that we take the 'light rail', which I guess is their version of the subway. We took his advice and set off to find the terminal station. It was pretty easy to find, and soon we had tickets in our hand and were awaiting the train. I asked a guy who was standing there what the process was, and he explained it to us, pretty easy. Then came the coolest part.
There were three seats on one side of the train and one on the other, so I gave the girls the three together and saddled up next to this frail thin old guy. We rode along for a while and then he asked if I was going to the game (probably a gimme since I was decked out in a Red Sox jersey and hat). I replied that I was and he said he had been a baseball fan for 30 years. It was awesome talking to him on the train, and I officially give him the Coolest Person We Met In Minnesota Award.
We got a great view of the skyline in Minneapolis, and the sights of the city.
Anyway, after about 14 stops along the way, we finally made it to the exit for the Metrodome. We anxiously got off and it was awesome. The hustle and bustle of the city outside a baseball stadium, one of the greatest feelings...however, we had general admission tickets, and I promised them that if I got to watch batting practice Tuesday, they wouldn't have to watch it Wednesday. As such we went up and got our stuff checked over by the cops and went to the door, only to find...that we were at the wrong entrance. We walked around the stadium to the correct entrance and and went through the opening!
Let me tell you, I can only think of a few times in my entire life that was so happy. I practically wanted to cry, and if you think that's stupid, picture the one thing that makes you happy, and finally seeing it after years and years. We arrived in time for batting practice for the Tuesday game. This was to be a game to remember. It was Red Sox ace Curt Schilling, the grizzled veteran, versus the young and hotshot Johann Santana, one of the best pitchers in the league. Hopefully it would be a good game. But first, we need to set up the atmosphere. Since we had general admission tickets for this game, we got to pick where we sat. We arrived early enough that we got the front row in the upper deck! Technically there were handicap seats in front of us, but pretty awesome anyway. Now, behind us were a bunch of high school kids, no big deal, to our sides, some old people, no big deal, however to really set the stage for Tuesdays game, we need to mention two people that added to the atmosphere. The first was our usher in our section. Now, I suspect at least something was wrong with his mind, but man, this guy was almost as annoying as he was funny. He had so much energy and was spitting out random facts to the large guy in front of us. He just kept talking and talking, and blah, blah, but he was fun. He taught us how to play "Twingo", which was a combination of bingo and traditional baseball scoring. I tried to keep up, but I lost the contest. This guy would dance, clap, sing, you name it, all while spitting out random facts, not just about his team, the Minnesota Twins, but about everyone in baseball. The other guy worth mentioning is who we'll refer to as toenail guy. This guy sat in front of us also, and I doubt he was handicapped. He wore sandals, and his toenails, I kid you not, were probably about 2 inches long. It was sickening. The girls had fun with these two, eventually saying our usher was Katie's boyfriend, the toenail guy Sarah's, and an old guy opposite of us, Jessica's. Batting practice was awesome to watch, we even got to see my favorite player Manny Ramirez bat. The time came however, and the National Anthem began.
Now, what ensued afterwards could only be described as more than our money's worth. Considering we had about 12 dollar tickets for this game, we got a bargain. Schilling versus Santana, and wow, was it a classic. Santana, was on fire, striking out some 13-15 Boston hitters. It was frustrating, but amazing to see. On top of that, one of the strikeouts was his 1,000. The game stopped momentarily and the fans cheered and cheered. I was rooting against the Twins the whole game, but we all still stopped to clap at being in attendence for such a feat. I give this moment the Most Remarkable Moment Of The Trip Award. However, Schilling pitched well also. Not as well, but after 7 innings, we had a tie 1-1. Eventually, both the starters left, and the game went to the bullpens. Important to point out a few notes here, one, food at the game was very expensive, 4.50 for a big hot dog I think. I think beer was 6.00 a bottle. I did take the time to buy a program, and did keep track of all the at bats. Sarah suddenly had the same favorite player as me, Manny Ramirez, although for completely different reasons. Jessica was obsessed with Coco Crisp (yes, that's his real name).
When the dust finally settled after 9 innings, we had a tie! Ladies and gentlemen, extra innings! How exciting! This really was a great game, and one we were privilaged to see. We hadn't slept much, so the only real problem was how tired we were. Still, the 9th inning turned to the 10th, the 10th to the 11th, and the 11th to the 12th. Lemme tell ya, happiness is Boston playing small ball to get a run in the top of the 12th inning at your first game in over 10 years. 2-1 Boston! Only problem is that we had to hold them off in the bottom of the inning. Now there's a pitcher who's name is Julian Tavarez, who is a total douche. Why Boston traded to get him I'll never know. Guess who comes in for Boston in the 12th. Several walks and hits later, and we have the bases loaded for the Twins. Next I about wanted to cry, as we watched the ball sail over the fence for a grand friggin' slam. Final score Twins 5-Red Sox 2. Tragic ending, but an amazing game! The stadium was rocking! A tough loss, but it was a great experience just to be at live baseball.
Out we file and onto the subway, now pros. It was packed this time, but it was fun to hear all the people on it talking about the game we just watched. One lady, who had a few too many kept trying to blame the loss on Manny, but she was beyond talking to. Anyway, we ended up back at the hotel and crashed right away due to fatigue and the fact that we had to wake up to get to Underwater Adventures!

Day Three
Nice and early we got up and had some free breakfast. Back to the mall, for our really big day of the trip. It was to be an exhausting one, but an amazing one nevertheless. Underwater Adventure is located at the East Entrance, and you have to actually walk below the mall to get there. Their claim to fame is that they have the largest shark exhibit I think it said in the world. All I know is that it was a favorite to everyone on the trip. You walk into the first "zone" and its like walking through a forest, not uncommon to this region. There we saw tanks with Koi, Turtles, Trout, a giant Alligator Snapping Turtle (who was shy) and a billion other fist and creatures. They also had several beaver exhibits, which Jess and I had a bit too much fun at. She decided to pose and the damn thing ran up and bit her finger. I on the other hand just chose to pose with the big beaver. I nominate this moment as the Wasn't Really Dirty At All, But Come On, Cody With A Three Foot Beaver of the trip. There was also something I happen to notice. Call it my keen or whatnot, but there were two turtles going at it. They also had a really bizarre display featuring live turtles inside a little fake barn or something close to that. I wasn't sure how the two were connected, but its cool I guess. Of course you couldn't tell, cause we all know how fast turtles are, but its almost as if you can hear the female turtle growing tired of the male, and saying "perhaps we should just watch TV instead Herb..." Regardless, I got a sweet picture of them doing whatever they were doing. All in all, it was a decent starting "zone" as had gotten to climb up and down walkways and see the different creatures that live near us. The trout looked like they could jump up and on to your plate at any moment. Up ahead was a tunnel. We could see it coming--sharks.

But no...we were in Mississippi. This was still an AWESOME exhibit. From this point on, most of the Underwater Adventure tanks were full tunnels, meaning that not only were the fist on both sides of you, they could swim over your head also. Pretty fun stuff, and we had a fun time looking at all of the unusual fish that lived in the Mississippi (River) Region. This section was also fun because we had a moving floor, that eventually was stopped. :( Regardless, this section was maybe...100 feet long or so, and then it was time for...Sharks! I also had the girls pose next to the American Alligator tank. While most of the Mississippi "zone" wasn't as cool as what was coming next, I still would like to point out that I enjoy seeing what is going on in just a normal lake by me. I remember going to an outdoor world with an exgirlfriend of mine, and it was really interesting just to see them feed and interact.

Finally we stepped through the Mississippi and into the Shark "zone". Two words, FUCKING AWESOME. This was amazing, they had sharks and large sea turtles, other random fish, etc, but to my surprise it was another fish that got all my attention. They had at least ten different kinds of stingrays, and they were awesome. They moved so gracefully, it was soothing to watch them. It was awesome to see them go up and over the top of the aquarium, watching their gills flutter fromt he bottom. So cool. I want one. I name the stingrays the Most Peaceful Thing To Look At. Oddly I can't find any photos of the Stingrays. I think I was more concerned with getting a video of them swimming. I'll see if I can get them posted on my Myspace account, since it lets you post videos there. Anyway, back to the sharks, they had a lot of them, in all shapes and sizes. They didn't have a lot of big ones, but they did have a few big fatties. The largest one had scars all over it. Also funny in this section was a sea turtle, trying to swim to another talk through the glass! He was so determined, but just wasn't strong enough to break the glass. I also took the time to pose in front of the teeth of the Megaladon, who in case you didn't know was the largest shark ever in the seas of earth. Yumm. "hmm...a seal..." Yumm. "hmm...a whale..." Yumm. "hmm...a buick." Just a fun pose I thought of. They actually had a few reporters from someplace interviewing the keepers of the tanks. We had to stop and let them film what they were talking about. I got a few more videos of the Stingrays, including one fun one with Sarah unaware that she's being stalked! Again, I'll see if I can get them posted.

The last section of the aquarium was fun also. They had odd little exhibits, including Starfish, Piranha, and this little guy, the Octopus. They actually had a whole section with movies playing that featured aquatic creatures. In front of James Bond's Octopus was this little guy. He didn't move much, but he was still a favorite for everyone. Look at all the little suction cups. At the end of the displays, they had a Blue Lobster, which apparently are only born 1 in every 5-10 million. He was shy and didn't really come out, but I used a flash to get a photo anyway. They also had a huge tank with the bright tropical fish such as Yellow Tangs, Clown Fish, and Puffer Fish. On the last wall, there was a set up from Finding Nemo, featured all of the fish from the movie in a little diorama. They were cool, and I got another movie of that, but the really cool thing was right next to them. Moon Jellyfish were illuminated with a blacklight, but they were sooooooooooo cool! I tried to get a video of them also, but had a hard time getting a good one cause it was so dark. Still, so graceful, so creepy. Easily the Thing That Looked Most From Another World on our trip.
And so that brought our trip to Under--wait a second! The best two parts are still to come. One was watching Jessica and Sarah knock over a rather large fake tree and then watching them try to say it wasn't them. The other was the Circle of Life-Petting Pool. So cool. It was a large circle, you just stood around the outside of, and inside they had 3 types of creatures. A horseshoe crab, three types of fish (sharks maybe?), and STINGRAYS! We got to pet the stingrays, they were so friendly, they would pop their heads out and look at us. One of them, who we nicknamed Nippy kept getting higher and higher out of the water. They didn't have teeth, but they did have a big mouth. Kinda scary. This photo is of Sarah petting of the stingrays. We spent about 15 minutes just petting the little guys.

After we left Underwater Adventures, we voyaged around the mall for the rest of the day. We went in many stores, but didn't buy all that much. I purchased a salt and pepper shaker for my mothers birthday in July, and for myself I bought a Boston Red Sox keychain, Boston batting practice shirt, Boston 3/4 length T-Shirt that is way too long on me, but would be a great nightie for some cute girl, and a Boston Nike sweatshirt. I ended up paying some 80-90 dollars for my stuff. Two things I did look for were a polo that a friend wanted me to buy her (never did find one...) and a new necklace for me, which I also didn't find a good one. Katie and I went in a book store, but it wasn't as fun as the Barnes and Noble in Appleton. Jess and Sarah had a fun time going into the big department stores, but didn't buy anything in those either. There was a really cool puzzle/game shop we went into though. Jess also was impressed with the virtual NASCAR place in the mall. I didn't actually go into this store, but had to get my picture taken outside of it, since it was a nickname I gave myself on myspace. Pretty odd, since we went to Minnesota to see the Red Sox play that we should stumble across a store named this.

There were many cool things to see in my mall also. We did walk all through the mall, including the rather disappointing 4th floor, which really only contained Hooters and a huge movie theater. Sometimes it was hard to navigate with all the escalators here and there, and figuring out which way to go. We actually got seperated for lunch, but managed to find each other. Say what I do about cell phones, they can come in handy in a place like MOA. I was able to get my favorite Sbarros pizza, which was a delight since I only get it about three times a year or so. I liked stopping at some of the intersections and taking picturs such as this. It was an amazing structure to see, and there really were a about a million things to do. Still, we moved through at a fairly fast rate, and easily completed the mall by about 4pm on the second day. Still, there were a few things that were pretty cool to mention. First of which was Legoland. A small center area in the mall, where they had containers of Lego's that could be used to make anything. The cool things were the giant structures that were here. The coolest were a giant clocktower, a lifesize Harry Potter, a replica of the world, and some giant rhinos. We didn't really build anything, but did look at some sweet models they had of several Star Wars ships and other things. We did take the time while we were there to also cram ourselves into a booth and have a picture taken of us, that picture was then made into a drawing by a computer. It was probably a good sight to see us sticking out on both sides of the door. I also found a bathroom that had a fun vending machine in it. I paid 75 cents for a tiny vial of sour apple liquid. The idea was that you did hits on the sour part of your tongue, and it was really strong. It wasn't that strong, but it was fun and we all did a few hits of it. I accidently got some on Jess's new white shirt! I felt pretty bad, but she forgave me. One place I did love was the toy store simply called "Toys". I didn't buy anything, but it was a pretty cool place. One last place worth mentioning was the middle of the Mall, which is now simply called The Park. We didn't do anything there besides walk around, but it was still pretty cool to look at. There was a ride that was probably stupid, but looked cool. It put you on a moving track inside a little car a la a haunted house, but you had a laser gun and the objective was to see how many ghosts you could shoot as the ride went along. At this point in our day though, we were pretty shopped out, and we were, to varying degrees, hungry. The biggest thing we had been discussing was where we were going to eat and when we wanted to get to the game. I told them I only wanted to see batting practice one night, but they said it would be fine to eat and go there early again. That being said, our runner up was a tiki-cabana looking place whose name I can't remember.
However, our winner was...The Rainforest Cafe! I'll go through this quick, since I'm approaching a month behind in my entries. If you've never been to a Rainforest Cafe, the idea is pretty simple--you're eating in the Rainforest. They have animals all over the place, and every once in a while, a thunderstorm goes through, causing some rain to fall, and the animals to go ape, no pun intended. The lights dim and flicker, and they even have one room that is set up with a fake sky above you. All in all a highly enjoyable experience. It was a nice stop to end our mall-ings. The food is a bit pricey, but manageable. After we were done, we went to the stadium, exhausted and ready for our second game.
As you can tell from the photos, our second game was much, much closer to the field Worth noting that in Minnesota they don't have real bullpens for the pitchers to warm up in. As such, they practice like ten feet in front of the railing. The starter for the second game was Matt Clement, who I got up close and personal with. I was like a little boy, running down to the railing and standing behind the dugout. But the players were so close, it was crazy! Many of my favorite players made a cameo too, Jason Varitek warming up, Curt Schilling dropping his glove, Tim Wakefield passing by, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz having a footrace backwards and forwards across the field. The game itself was another story though, the Red Sox lost, and badly. I think the final was like 8-2 or something close to that. Still, we got to see a few homeruns and it was enjoyable, if for no other reason than we were so close to the field. One highlight, which we should have gotten a picture of was late in the game when two fan jumped on the field, ala Fever Pitch and ran around avoiding security. One was caught, but the other did the ever classic stop for security and then bolt away as they dove for them. This guy high fived a player and then somehow made it all the way to third base. The fans were going ballistic as they all shouted "steal, steal" in reference to home base. He runs the last stretch, slides into home, and gets up. In doing so there was a security guard who was hidden behind a player and darted out and speared the guy literally in half. It was one of the hardest hits I've seen! It was nuts! About it from the second game and home we went.

The last night there was memorable if only for the reason that Sarah foolishly accepted a challenge she thought she could win. You know those nasty wax bottle candies you get with the little bit of juice in them, well I bought a big package of them, and challenged Sarah to see who could drink more of them and then shove the wax in our mouths. I don't remember how high we got, but Sarah easily wussed out, while I shoved another five or six in just to prove a point. Afterwards, we pulled them out, I had a huge chunk of nasty wax! Sleepy time after that, followed by our big ride home. We finished our trivia game, and Jessica won, with Katie in a close second.

All in all an awesome trip with some awesome friends! I hope to get the Chicago story up soon, as well as what else I've been up to!

bliss.

:)

see you all in four!

Cody

Red Sox 33-21
Four for Four
Well I'm four days in a row on my exercise...my legs in particular are burning! Still, I'm going to keep it up as long as I can.

In other greats news(!) we found a 4th to go with us to Minnesota. Jessica Squires, or Jessi Squ (rhymes with screw) will be joining Sarah, Katie and myself for three fun filled days! Yay! Hip Hip Hooray!

All for now...too late...need sleep! ;)

Boston Red Sox 31-20 tied for first with the fookin Yankees
Expect a big update tomorrow sometime...but in the meantime...so it's posted and all of you can help push me...here will be my weekly scheudule for exercise, which I will stick to at all costs!

Operation-Get in Shape Fatass! STARTS JUNE 1st
Saturday Rest Day
Sunday Running, Minimum of 30 minutes, 100 Push Ups
Monday Basketball Minimum of 45 minutes, 100 Sit Ups
Tuesday Running Minimum of 30 minutes, Weight Lifting
Wednesday Basketball Minimum of 45 minutes, 100 Push Ups
Thursday Running Minimum of 30 minutes, 100 Sit Ups
Friday Basketball Minimum of 45 minutes, Weight Lifting

*Extra activities such as Ultimate Frisbee, Hiking, Swimming, etc. do NOT count as substitutes, I will do them seperately. In addition, I will complete the exercise no matter where I am, and try to do them when I wake up in the morning.

HOLD ME TO THIS!!!! More stuff to come about other shit on my mind.

Cody

ps-feels damn good to not be teaching anymore...was pretty hard to say goodbye today though.
pps-in less than two weeks i'll be sitting 50 feet away from my favorite people in the world--the BOSTON RED SOX! :0 :)

Update...update!
Red Sox 19-12

Well, I guess its time for a bit of a real update. Graduation has come and gone and for most people, summer has begun. I still have about a month of teaching left before I'm off the hook, but I only have one more day scheduled at this point. I was able to hang out with Nate, Karen, Katie, Matt, and Monica a lot before having to work my million hours on the weekend. Good times, and life as I have known it in Marquette has come to an end. "Everything will be different..."

My great grandma passed away on Thursday. She was 98 years old. I don't feel as sad as I should (I did grow up with her my whole life), but I think that's only because she had become a burden on my family, who is already stressed out taking care of my uncle and grandpa. One less thing for them to worry about. She was creamated (sp?) and all gatherings, church, cemetary, family will be this weekend. She knew more people than I may ever know, but I guess when you live 98 years you accumulate a lot of friends. I don't know how many will come to Rogers City for the funeral, but I'm sure I won't know many of them. Walmart was nice enough to let me have bereavement pay for Saturday and Sunday, so I won't go belly up with money either. So that's this weekend coming up.

The weekend after that will bring Karen and Nate's wedding. I still have many questions about that adventure, will I get lost? can I find a last minute date? how will it go? Still should be a good time, and maybe a final send off for all of the people that I have known.

Quick note to plug lost. Wow. This show is amazing. I couldn't believe the last episode. I will have to download the remainders now that Karen is gone, and since I'll be out of town so much, hard telling when I'll get to watch them. Sarah and I caught up last night, so that's nice, as least having one person up to date with me in Marquette.

And on to today's big news...I spent 200 dollars on TICKETS! The three day Minnesota trip is almost ready. Katie and Sarah will be joining me, and I STILL HAVE ONE MORE SPOT OPEN. I ORDERED 4 TICKETS, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED LET ME KNOW...maybe I'll hold a little raffle or something. Haha! Here's the highlight...At Wednesday's game we will be sitting right here...

The dates for the trip are Monday 12th of June leaving at 11pm, Tuesday 13th arrive in Wisconsin, pick up Katie, drive to Minnesota, get hotel, arrive early for batting practice at stadium, watch game 800p, Wednesday 14th Mall of America, followed by 800p baseball game, Thursday 15th, leave for Wisconsin, head to Marquette! I should note that as we leave the state of Wisconsin, I should stop orgasming from seeing the Red Sox play.

All for now! See ya!

Cody

Its a funny thing,
To think that this Spring,
Has turned into my Fall,
And in thus killing Summer,
Has brought upon Winter.

Boston Red Sox 13-10

Well, not sure where this update is going or how long it will be, but since people have rightfully accused me of slacking on here, I guess I could throw some kind of update up. Let's see here...big stuff that's happened...hmm...well just your average two weeks I guess...

I swallowed some fertilizer dust, missed a day of work, coughed nonstop, spent a very meaningful night with a certain someone, went to the bar, had a psycho come in the store and tell people he was going to kill them, played some basketball, spent another special night with someone, watched a TON of Lost with Sarah, played some more basketball, shattered a glass drinking glass on my hand, went to the bar again, shattered another glass on my hand, got my haircut, finally after seven years found a pair of sunglasses that looks decent on me, went to see Silent Hill, furthered my plans of going to Minnesota (anyone wanna join?) and Chicago (anyone wanna join?), still haven't found a date for the wedding in May, watched Boston lose, watched Boston win, read Teacher Man, ate out a ton, dropped 11 pounds, gained 8 of them back, shattered another glass on my hand, gave four students detention, set up a basketball pool for the playoffs, played some frisbee, finished a game with Nate, and...and...and...that's all I got for now.

I dunno...just having a hard time updating at this moment. Getting ready to go to Josh's house for video game night, which should kick ass, except we're not starting till after 11 and I got that damn 12 hour shift tomorrow. At least I'm only scheduled for two more days of teaching. I'm sure I'll get more than that, but heres to summer finally being around the corner!

Yeppers,

Cody

Red Sox Game 9
Loss 6-8 to Toronto Blue Jays
Red Sox Game 10
Victory 2-1 over Seattle Mariners
Red Sox Game 11
Loss 3-0 over Seattle Mariners
Song of the Day(I've Had) The Time of My Life (Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes-Theme from Dirty Dancing) and What a Feeling (Irene Cara-Theme from Flashdance)

Well a much needed post, as my head feels like it's going to explode. I can feel that this will be a rare entry from Cody as I speak from the heart. First some basic stuff, really trying to lose about 20 pounds. Been eating much better, and actually threw out some of my candy at home. Trying to get healthy snacks now also. In addition to eating better, I played basketball Thursday, and really played hard on Friday. I also hiked Hogsback on Friday. I did 100 sit-ups on Thursday, and ran home from Nate's tonight instead of driving.

But, on to other news. Where to begin...I guess its not secret to anyone that reads this or that knows me that I keep an eye on the ladies. I spend more time than anyone should spend looking at them. I usually have a few 'crushes' of the week as my friend Jessica Peppin would say. However...I have encountered something new. I don't really believe in love at first sight, and I don't know if I FULLY believe in destiny...but man, I need to get this off my chest.

I met a girl recently, and to tell you the truth, I could instantly see the rest of my life. Dating, marriage, children, living together, you name it...I can picture it and how its supposed to work. It all works out beautifully. So is that what they mean by love at first sight? If it is, then yeah, I now believe in it also. This girl is very sweet, very caring, very genuine, very all around awesome. She's more beautiful than I'm sure she has ever heard, and in no way would I tire of saying that to her.

We had chatted a few times on here before today, but today she finally broke the idea that there is someone else she is kinda interested in. While that doesn't surprise me (see the aforementioned beautifulness), what does surprise me is that I can't help but maintain my feelings for her. Our discussion tonight focused on destiny. She said she was a big believer in everyone happening for a reason. I told her I wasn't sure if I believed in destiny, but that the moment I talked to her, I knew I had met her for a purpose. What that purpose is remains to be seen, but I know God has placed us near each other for a reason. If you do know me, and I mean really know me, then you know I don't smile all that often unless something really funny has been said. Well, this girl makes me smile so easily, that I can't help but think "who wouldn't want to smile like this all the time...first thing in the morning, coming home from work, on vacation, and before I go to bed?" We have a ton in common, including religion, animals, education, age, activities, and to top it all off, she's not really a partier, which anyone that knows me knows is a huge thing with me. She just sounds so sweet when we chat.

I invited her to join me to go hiking up Sugarloaf at 500am or so on Easter. My idea was to look at her and then the sunrise and realize that God had a sense of humor. While the whole world would see the sunrise and how pretty it is in its own way, only I would be able to see what real beauty looked like. She politely declined when she was bringing up her conflicted emotions.

So where does it go from here? Well, my friend Karen maybe put it best tonight when she said, "if you feel that way, keep after it, if everything came easy it wouldn't feel as good when you finally got it." There is some truth to that statement. I don't want to just become friends with this girl, cause I know that's not why we met. There is a master plan and I've been dropped a big hint as to what that plan consists of...

As I let her go tonight, I left her with this thought. And maybe it was just the romantic in me finally coming alive...but as we finished chatting tonight she said good night, and I said her name back to her. When she asked "Yes?" I didn't even have to think when I said I think of you when I smile, and I smile when I think of you...

Is this all part of the master plan? As Irene Cara said..."WHAT A FEELING!"

Red Sox Game 7
Victory over Toronto Blue Jays 5-3
Red Sox Game 8
Loss to Toronto Blue Jays 8-4

Well, a TON has been going on with me. And I've been hanging out with a ton of people also, spring break has been really good. Last night I hung out with Sarah, and we watched the god-awful back to back goodness of "Cheerleader Massacre" and "Dark Asylum". They were piles. Yesterday I also hung out with FDM for about 5 hours. We hit up the border grill, and then went to his place and geeked out. It was a good time.

Tuesday, I had lunch with Sarah and her friend Marlea at Border Grill, which was a VERY fun time. After work Sarah came back over and we watched Shaun of the Dead, one of my favorites. She left at about 130am, and I foolishly decided to see the girl from my date again. She had called during Shaun of the Dead. I walked over to her place and got her. We then came back here. She had been drinking all night and that just continued when she got here. She drank the last of my alcohol and we watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. When it was over, after numerous stops for smoking and bathroom breaks, she went home and I realized that I don't need this crap in my life. She could maybe work as a friend, but I don't even need a friend like that. Soooooooooo, hopefully, that will be over and done with.

In other news...I don't know if I believe in love at first sight, but I have met someone that has made me stop thinking about other women for a while. She's sweet, beautiful, and isn't a big partier...

Today I'm going to play some basketball, and hopefully watch Lost and maybe play some Starcraft.

More to come!

Red Sox Game 5
Victory 2-1 over the Baltimore Orioles

Red Sox Game 6
Victory 4-1 over the Baltimore Orioles

Yankees still in last!

Well the Tigers and Brewers finally lost...but it was fun while it lasted hey? Now they can return to the bottom where they belong.

Let's see...what's new...I guess I can start by saying that I'm shocked how many people actually read this blog. I never have any comments, so I assume no one reads it, but I guess no comments doesn't equal no readers. More than a few people actually brought stuff up to me this week that I didn't know they had read about. So I guess that's cool. If you're reading this and are wanting to be known, feel free to leave me a fresh one.

What else, hmm...I bought a basketball and pump today in hopes that I can have one more fun activity to do this summer and maybe continue to lose weight. Actually I have to check...I might have gained it back...who knows. I do know that I'm on spring break FINALLY! I get to sleep in lots and am having a chance to hang out with more people. Speaking of more people, I've had a chance to hang out with a lot of people lately, Karen, Nate, my date, Sarah, Matt, Hans, Bill, Nikita, and I have a few more 'reunions' coming up this week. Good stuff. The grass is out, the sun is shining and everyone wants to do things again. The one thing I have to be careful of is to forget to look for a job this summer. I need to get a job somewhere this year. I can't keep working two jobs...it sucks...bad.

I was passed along the great game 'Sprung' by Michael Larson from work yesterday. What a fun time that has been. This game is so good, that after you get sick of it, you actually just give it to the next person in hopes they never return it. I played a bit of it, and while an interesting concept, is very repetitive and not that good. At least the 50-cent stylized 8-bit tune in the background is catchy.

Still readin the book "Have a Nice Day!", the autobiography by Mankind, aka Mick Foley. It has been a wonderful read, going into both the behind the scenes of wrestling, the in-ring stuff, and how the relationships with wrestlers, families, and promoters come about and are strained.

Worked with my buddy Matt Heinzel to help get the ICON tourny up and going...its getting close. If you don't know or are interested...ask me.

Can you smell that? Frisbee season is close. Very close...

Red Sox Game 4
Victory 14-8 over the Baltimore Orioles

What a great day today was, all things considered!

Went to school to sub this morning, and much to my dismay found out they didn't need me due to a mix up. But, I got to work with the Young 5's through 5th grade all day in the elementary carnival in the gym. Pretty fun stuff, despite it being...you know...like a elementary carnival. A scary moment occurred when one of the special education students who rides in a wheelchair threw a dart (yes, they put me in charge of the dart game--with real metal tips) and it ended up hitting him between the eyes. Don't ask. I also got to teach the kindergarten kids for about a half hour and made candy cheeseburgers with them.

Took a nap and finished cleaning, in preparation for my 'blind' date. This is the only down side of the day. She calls me at 5:00 and says that she has a paper that must be finished by tomorrow, so she was wondering if we could cancel. I told her it was really the only night I could hang out due to a work switch (another girl and I traded shifts). Eventually she said she'd try to finish by 7:00, which I said was fine. She called again at 6:50 and said she would need till 7:45 to finish up. Then, she called again at 7:30 and said that she was leaving her mom's house and to pick her up at 8:00. So I was thinking that great...perhaps I'll get stood up again. So I go there at 8:00 with my orange rose in tow, and eventually she comes out. We head back to my place and make small talk. Amazingly, our personalities match up great, even if all our interests don't. I felt like I knew her, and could easily talk to her, so that was a huge plus. She also saw the other 11 roses (4 pink, 4 yellow, and 4 orange). We got down to making dinner, and it was a highly enjoyable experience with her telling me some of her wild stories and me telling her some about me. She seems like a pretty cool person. When we clean up the dishes, I was going to walk to the video store with her, but she is worried about her paper, so she says she'd rather go home. I understood fine, but to my delight, she said that we should get together next Friday and meet again. Who knows...maybe it wasn't so bad after all. I couldn't really tell how she felt about me...but that's fair, as I'm not sure how I feel about her. I must say though, that she was very pretty in person, and I wasn't disappointed in that regard.

A few notes about her...
-Born and raised in Marquette
-Lived in Seattle for sometime...not sure when
-Likes her alcohol...which has caused her to get in more than a few serious situations. Enough about that one on here...
-She and her family are 'wine connoisseurs'
-She is moving down by the beach
-She likes Mario Kart!
-She loves scary movies!
-She is 19 years old until July. I did figure her to be 20 already.

*Side note...didn't really realize this until after the fact, but in addition to purchasing my first alcohol from a store, and consuming my first alcohol at home, I also have now provided alcohol to a minor for the first time. Oh well, there goes that.

After that ordeal, I went to Nate's and met him and Karen. We finally decided on the casino, and I brought my friend Sarah along. It was a fun time, and I was sucking it up. I was trying to only spend 10 dollars, but who knew what was about to happen. I had spent the 10 dollar bills, and had but 3 dollar coins left. I put one into a 25 cent video poker and won a little, then a little more. Then I hit four of a kind, and made a cool 13 dollars. Karen physically pulled me away from the machine (everyone else was done at that point) but I fought her off and kept playing, eventually deciding I would put all the coins in until I had 10 dollars left in my pocket, to break even. Well, I won several more small pots, then hit that damn four of a kind again. So I ended up with 28 dollars--18 of it to the good! Now there's a first!

Combine all that with a Boston victory and sole possession of first place and it was a pretty damn good day. :0 :)

PS, WTF...the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers are the last two undefeated teams. How the hell does something like that happen? Oh yeah, its the first week of the season. Get ready for the choke.

Night all!

Red Sox Game 3
Victory 2-1 over the Texas Rangers

A short sweet game today for Boston. Only hit they needed was Trot's home run. Manny even had a nice defensive play I read. My new boy and fantasy baseball team member Josh Beckett got the win, and another of my pitchers, Jon Papelbon got the save! Yay for my FB team. I'm up 6-2 for week one as of now.

Speaking of baseball...while we are only 2-4 games into the season. I was surprised to see that already there are only four undefeated teams. Who are they you may ask? Well, St. Louis, which should surprise no one, since they were the best team in baseball for the last two years. But then we have Baltimore...who apparently didn't change their baseball team into a professional croquet team, Milwaukee...who would have thunk...and Detroit. Holy hell...a good time to be a local baseball fan in the UP as the two closest teams are 5-0 together.

A little nervous about Friday. Hope I can think of the best things to do.

All for now...night everyone!

Red Sox Game 2
Loss 10-4 to Texas Rangers
(1-1)
Well surprising to see two comments on my journal in only my first night back. Today's update is a mixed bag. I absolutely frickin' hate my job. No, not teaching, as at least I have a little autonomy there, and can make some decisions and use my own ideas. Walmart. Ugh. How I hate thee. What's the point of being a boss, when you don't have enough peopl under you to get anything done? On top of that, some of my coworkers are lazy shits/have shitty attitude. On top of all of that, they keep giving us more and more tasks to complete, without any recognition or compensation to account for it. Now i'm a team player, but maybe the high stress nature of my job is finally getting to me. Perhaps I'm just too much of a free thinker to be a cog in the Walmart machine. Either way, I'm only there for three reasons, all of which combined keep me there, unfortunately. One, I get paid well, not super, but I make damn near 9 dollars an hour during the week and 10 dollars an hour on Sundays, when I work 12 hours. Two, they do actually let me get 36 hours in AND keep ALL of my teaching availability open...that's pretty sweet as another job would for sure cramp some of that time out of the schedule. Three, the medical benefits...I haven't really used them, but what if something does happen to me? Together...they keep me sniveling...and dying daily. I work about 60 hours everyweek...and let me tell you, my body feels it. I might be getting my fifth cold in only 65 days...that's run down. At least Spring Break is finally on the horizon...starting this friday at 3!

Now the good. Don't look now...but Cody might have a little 'date' this Friday with a certain someone he met online. I don't wanna jump to conclusions, but it should be a good time if her personality is as good as it sounds. We don't have much in common, but learning each others interests can be a pretty big connection in itself. More on that later.

There is a job fair at Northern tomorrow (I will be sleeping in FINALLY), but no jobs at any of the schools that interest me. If I feel bored...I might go anyway.

Damn Rangers.

Night all!

Ladies and Gentlemen...OPENING DAY 2006!
Red Sox Game 1
Victory 7-3 Over Texas Rangers
Season is off to a great start! Curt Schilling pitched a beautiful game, and this season is underway.

In other news, I was invited to an old high school friend's wedding. I was honored, as we don't really speak anymore. Unfortunately, its the same weekend that I will be going down to Nate and Karen's little party...so I'll have to miss it. Still no update on finding someone to take with me on that little trip.

I also am thinking about going to Minnesota and maybe Chicago, just to watch the Red Sox play. Maybe the second year I could go to Detroit and Texas. I could visit Monica, Katie, and Dave this year, and maybe Puffy, Nate, Karen, Marco and Kristy the year after that...pretty sweet two birds with one stone approach!

Night all...I's tired...and I need to get to subbing again tomorrow..thus my bed is calling me!

Well, here I go...trying to do a quick update for everyone a little more often than usual. First off, I am not depressed or anything down...in case you read the new name of the journal. It is after my new favorite song..."Lonely Day" by System of a Down. What a great song...great lyrics...as I think we can all attach an emotion to it...be it pain, sorrow, or even yes, depression or loneliness.

Work was pretty good tonight, as I got to work with Stacey Way-Cool, my bestest buddy. Good to see her after over a week. Decent help tonight too. As you can tell, I did return to work today finally after two days off dying sick. I also taught today. Which brings us to...

TEACHING MOMENT OF THE DAY!!!
I went out to my car on my 6th hour prep today to just shut my eyes. Next thing I know I wake up and see that I have slept 15 minutes into 7th hour. Luckily, I had two student helpers that hour and no one really seemed to notice I was gone! Still highly embarrasing!

Tomorrow I get to teach at Westwood High School and move classrooms all day covering for a bunch of teachers...then a fun time! Kelli is coming over to help me start dinner, and then going to pick up Jessica from apparel. I am making them a big taco dinner! After that Kelli and I are going to start watching Lost finally, all the way from episode one!

Should be good! Also, met a few people on myspace...more on that later!

Night!

Long Overdue...

No I'm not dead, but here's a quick update...since I was tagged by Monica!

I am looking into jobs at colleges, just so damn sick of working for the Evil Empire. So much politics play out everyday, I feel like I'm in jail--having to suck up to this person, talk down to this person, act interested in this person, get yelled at by this person. I swear its impossible to make everyone happy there.

Okay, here goes Mon...

Four Jobs I've Had:
- pizza cook extrordinaire at the Lighthouse in Rogers City...what a fun job!

- Academic Programmer in Spalding Hall-a great job, with a TON of freedom. This position doesn't even exist any more. :(

- Resident Advisor for Breakfast Club, Spalding Hall--I will always love these two jobs, if for no other reason than they allowed me to meet Monica, Karen, Cory, Dave, Michelle, Lindsay, and many other friends I've had over the years

- Substitute Teacher. Well in about a month in half I will have I officially subbed for two years. While I get a lot of respect from the teachers for this, I wish I could answer the students when they ask me "Mr. Fleming, you're such a good teacher...why can't you replace one of the bad ones we have here?"

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:

- Fever Pitch for when I'm feeling like the lost teaching, red sox fan, hopeless romantic that I am...which sadly is a lot.

- High Fidelity for when I'm feeling very sarcastic towards women, even though in the end it all works out for Mr. Cusack...we might all be so lucky

- The Devil's Rejects for when I'm feeling witty and gruesome. I always admire Rob Zombie's classic. If you don't mind a little coarse language, this dialogue is so funny and so well thought out, that I find myself quoting it for days afterwards.

- Any comedy, classic war movie, or scary movie

Four TV shows I Love to Watch:

- Lost
- South Park
- Saturday Night Live
- Any of the VH-1 "I Love..." shows...I Love Toys was Great!

Four Favorite Places I've Been on Vacation:

- South Dakota (TONS to see, you should visit, if only to see Deadwood, America's only fully restored working classic Wild West town)
- Wisconsin Dells (Waterpark A-go-go!)
- Washington D.C. (Probably the most interesting week of my life)
- Cedar Point/Sea World...haha, but that was ages ago!

Four Favorite Dishes:

- My famous Tacos
- Pizza from anywhere
- Chicken Quesadilla/Chicken Caesar Wrap from Border Grill in MQT
- Lasagna from The Casa in Marquette

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

- My multitude of e-mail accounts
- Yahoo for news and sports updates
- Facebook/Myspace
- Teaching job listings

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

- Working full time at a school as a teacher
- Someplace in the 70's instead of the 20's
- In the arms of someone who loves me
- Playing Frisbee

Four Others I Tag:
- Anyone from Walmart, should they actually happen to read this...
- Uh....Lars?
- Uh...Uh...Uh...anyone who happens to read my buddy info and sees this link...
- Jesus. Ha. Eat it. ;)

32 Days Later...

No, its not some shitty sequel to 28 Days Later, although that would be awesome. Actually its been just over a month since I made my resolutions for the new year. Let's revist and see how we're doing shall we?

1. Try to eat an average of at least one fruit or veggie a day.

I have increased the amount, mainly by eating a lot of carrots, and adding lettuce to my daily wraps.
GRADE C

2. Everyday that I don't teach I will workout...a little. Even if it means that I have to get up a bit earlier to do it.

Well, I did start Dance Dancing again, but have only done it four times...maybe five. I did manage to lose 712 calories one day, and 560some today. This is a great way, as it exercises more than just my body.
GRADE C

3. Lose three pounds a month until I hit 205.

Uh-oh. Someone started out at 217...and is at...210 now! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Seven pounds? Is this a fluke? I'll have to keep an eye on this.
GRADE A

4. My list of eating out...will go down...a lot. Until further notice...the following restaurants are banned by me, for me-McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell. I don't eat at them very often with the exception of the Walmart McDonalds, I have to stop eating crap.

The only thing I have had in the last 32 days was McDonald's Double Cheeseburger. Two of them one day. Pretty damn good.
GRADE A

5. Stop spending so much on crap I don't really need.

Umm...bought...my tax software and and ECW DVD. One of them was of necessity. Other than that, I've treated quite a few people to dinner.
GRADE A-

6. Triple my effort to find a teaching job.

Some time has been spent almost everyday, but probably still not enough.
GRADE C

7. Get better at communication with old friends...and family.

Well, I did have a few chatting sessions, and Monica was in town...plus I have a few surprises coming up to end the month.
GRADE C-

8. Stop hoping for love.

Been much better at this, not to mention a book I read today was quite interesting as well.
GRADE B

9. Go back to school...this summer.

Will have to look intot his next month.
Incomplete

10. Read at least one novel/book a month.

Well, I finished "Faithful", moved on to "Night Stalks the Mansion", read part of "The Holocaust Chronicle" (A huge, huge book), and am finishing up "Marriable". Its quite the little book, on the subject of dating. Seems a lot like something I would have written, but great viewpoints on men and women and dating.
GRADE A

MOVIES REVIEWED, GRADED...

Well being as I was home for a few days here, I finally got the chance to watch a few movies that I've wanted to for some time now. The first was one I had seen before, Casino, but hadn't seen in a long time. What a great movie. The time period and history that serve as a backdrop to this movie are wonderful. The characters acted out by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci were great, although I didn't relate as much to Sharon Stone's character (for which she won a few awards). Oveall, a great movie, and currently ranks third on the list for '06. The second movie was another one I had wanted to see for a while, and was finally able to track down at Blockbuster. The film is called Feux Rouges, or translated "Red Lights". This is the second French film I've gotten to watch in the past few months. While it won several awards and was billed as a thriller, I didn't find anything thrilling about it. What it did pull off very nicely was the fact that we never stop to realize what we have until life gets all fucked up. This film points out beautifully how fast life can get all turned around from one simple arguement. It was a little slow moving, but nevertheless, pretty good. My movie list for '06 thus far from best to worst...
Donnie Darko
Oldboy (Korea)
Casino
Exercism of Emily Rose
Wedding Crashers
The Island
Freaks
Red Lights (France)
Rear Window
Big Trouble in Little China
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalo
House of Wax
Deep Shock

I CAN SEE INSIDE YOU THE SICKNESS IS RISING!

So this might not come as a big shock, but surprise...I'm sick. I had been coughing up phlegm for about two weeks, but was happy for I thought it meant I wasn't going to get sick. WRONG! I tried taking some Airborn to ward off the sickness, but that didn't work either. I left work early on Wednesday and luckily had yesterday and today off of work. I did however, have to pass on teaching both days, as there's no way I could function that well that early in the day. So since then it's been sit and wait till I get better. Slowly eating my food I bought, and just trying to stay awake ripping more music to my computer. Gotta beat Katie. Tomorrow I'm supposed to return to Wal-mart, but if I feel like this again, guess who's not going.

POTPOURRI

-The snow can leave anytime now.
-I'm not doing so well on some of my resolutions.
-I wonder how many songs I really do have?
-I want a teaching job, and not just in Michigan!
-I have a new website! I have a secret crew that has been working at making ideas for some short movies... See the ideas at http://thebraintrust.7.forumer.com

if you wanna sign up and blab with us, feel free.

laters,

Cody

CHILDHOOD DREAMS REKINDLED, A-ROD STILL AN ASS...

Okay, so for the first time in years, I am completely consumed by a book. Faithful by Stephen King (yes, that Stephen King) and Stewart O'Nan is great. However, most people know the story of the Red Sox from the 2004 championship. Unless you like the team however, you probably wouldn't like the book. Since they are my favs, I've been laughing, crying, yelling, and screaming right along with them. What a fantastic book. I had to stop myself a bit ago, because I wanted to be selfish and read the entire playoffs in one sitting. Such a good book. The authors are probably the luckiest people on earth for going to so many games, getting so many free balls, and even having the chance to throw out the first pitch (Stephen King). I also love the way they handle the media, as well as the cities the teams are from. They think like I think, only much wittier than I could ever put it. All in all a great book...kinda odd that I know the ending already. It will always make me think..."where was I when the greatest sports comeback not just in past history...but ever...went down?"

I remember working at Walmart, in the middle of a power outage. I was facing groceries in one of the aisles and I actually stopped and prayed to God. What a selfish thing to do, even though I'm sure it has been done a million times by sports fans for their team. I prayed that the Red Sox would come back...come back and win it all. To my amazement and humility, they went on to win the last four against the Yankees and then swept the Cardinals for the first title in 86 years. What a great story. Now that's drama, that's excitement, that's what life is all about. :)

ps...my weight is offically starting much to my delight at 217...and I think that might have been with clothes on also! :)

pps-tonight i'm hopefully going with my pal Brooke to see "Hostel". I've heard some fantastic things about this movie, most of them bad, but we've been planning since November...so here goes!

RESOLUTIONS...BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

Okay, so after doing some thinking, I decided to make some resolution anyway, even though they are pretty stupid, I guess the end-all to them is that you try to improve something about yourself, which is never stupid. So here we go, and to try to make things even tougher on myself, I'm going to try and keep not one or two but 10 of them! Holy wowsa! I might leave a few blank today, but will fill them in when I think of more appropriate ones. Here we go...
1. Try to eat an average of at least one fruit or veggie a day. I know you're supposed to eat like four of these daily, but truth is, I usually don't ever do this. Thus far I'm two days in a row! Whoo hooo, go me!
2. Everyday that I don't teach I will workout...a little. Even if it means that I have to get up a bit earlier to do it. I know this one sounds weak to most people, but try working 16 hour days most of the time. You don't have a lot of time left...period. Furthermore, I will rotate a cycle of Pushups, Jogging, Situps, and Dancing, so that I don't get sick of doing the same thing everyday. I don't wanna be super huge buff man (that would be nice), but I wouldn't mind losing a bit either. Which brings us to...
3. Lose three pounds a month until I hit 205. This will probably be the toughest one for me to achieve, as I'm notorious for attempting exercise, but am horrible with diet, so not much weight is lost. I will weight myself when I wake up in the morning, first thing, so that I can have consistant time frame.
4. My list of eating out...will go down...a lot. Until further notice...the following restaurants are banned by me, for me-McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell. I don't eat at them very often with the exception of the Walmart McDonalds, I have to stop eating crap. Noticeably still allowed, Culvers, Border Grill, Red Lobster, Casa et.al.
5. Stop spending so much on crap I don't really need. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge collector of crap. In addition, I've made many big purchases over the last six months (e.g. new car, MP3 player, Nintendo DS, wall decorations, bathroom improvements) and I need to stop these and the numberous little purchases that I want. I will try to keep track on here of my wills and how good I do knocking them out.
6. Triple my effort to find a teaching job. Sadly, no I don't spend nearly as much effort as I should in finding a job. I will try harder, especialy now that I have the internet. I'm even almost motivated enough to leave Michigan. There's a shocker.
7. Get better at communication with old friends...and family. I suck as a long distance friend/relative, and I will do what I can to get better at this. Letters, e-mails or visits, I'll see what I can do.
8. Stop hoping for love. Well, not entirely, but I hope everyday that I will find the perfect person. I know I'm a great person for someone to be with, I just need to find who. This isn't to say I won't still be interested in girls, just not as much.
9. Go back to school...this summer. I have to anyway, I'll start saving up now...maybe take two classes this summer....or something like that. I'm excited at this one!
10. Read at least one novel/book a month. I used to read all the time...what happened. Where once I was light years ahead of other people in intelligence, mainly from reading, I now am just about average with my knowledge...time to get back in the habit. All starting with "Faithful"!

All for now, I hope I can keep almost all of these up.

Laters,

Cody

OFFICIALS OFFICIALLY OFFICIATE JANUARY 15TH "NOT A GREAT DAY"

In what was a surprise to me...January 15th...fully sucked. I mean hardcore. I'm struggling to come up with a happy thought from today. If anything its a message I got from a certain someone...more on that later. It all started innocently enough, I woke up an hour and a half early for work, which is really early for me. So I decided to play on my computer for a while. Well I spilled my milk on my leg, the chair, the floor, etc. This sucked. But alone enough to ruin a day? No. No, the real fun began as I left my apartment. I backed out of the driveway, and much to my dismay, heard a slight grinding sound coming from the front passenger wheel. I drove to work and pretty much assumed I had a flat tire. I've never had one before, but since the car kept trying to buckle hard to the right, I knew. Upon getting to the store, and looking at my tire, I was amazing to see smoke billowing off of the tire, which had already lost most of its shape. A nice guy in the truck next to me, tried to use some fix-a-flat to help, but apparently the can was out. So I'm in a lovely mood already, and guess what...its going to get even better!

I head back and talk to the boys in automotive, only to find out that they probably don't carry my tire (a wider tread, narrow-sided racing street style tire), but I move the car back there anyway. Amazingly they find one for me up near the rafters in the back room in automotive. A sweet price of 102 dollars coupled with an oil change and slight winterization of my car and i'm 130 dollars more broke. Yay. But on no, that wasn't enough. I can't get anyone to actually comprehend how short handed I was at work today, but lets just say that everyone was pissy, cause we all carried damn near twice our weight. Fucking management...schedule more people. At one point I had 11 registers open with huge lines in them...of the 11, 4 were cashiers, 5 were floor associates that I dragged up and the last 2 were CSM Shane and myself. Ridiculous. I also slight popped my shoulder or some shit...cause it hurts to move it. What a shitty day.

HEART GROWS, MAN SWOONS, CONFUSION REIGNS

In other news...the refreshing part of my life goes to a girl I've been talking online with named Leah. I know, I know...why try to meet a girl online? Well, the fact of the matter is that I can talk to girls online, and would never be able to just go up and talk to someone in real life. She found me on myspace.com and we sent messages back and forth starting around early to mid december i'm guessing. She says the sweetest stuff to me, but I know that I'm not going to fall completely due to a few things...she leaves messages for several boys, not just myself, as of yet, we have never met in person, and she seems to be a bit hesitant with me. I am still giving her the benefit of the doubt as I have to believe there is a great match out there for me somewhere...and maybe, just maybe she's it. She's beautiful, sassy, smart, and above all has a great personality. We'll see if anything happens with her. We are hopefully planning a movie night soon... ;)

BAR, SOCIAL GATHERING FOR INTELLECTUALS...

So I went to visit Katie this past weekend, and we went shopping for damn near 12 hours. To my surprise...the coolest store wasn't Toys'R'Us, or a predominantly electronics store...it was a huge place called "Barnes and Noble". I'm sure you've never heard of it before, but apparently its this huge store with books, you know, those things with pages in them? They also have a small section of music and movies. Well I started off by just checking for bargain books, but eventually had to go the bathroom, which was located towards the back of the store, and decided to meander through the other sections of the store. Wow. This place is frickin' amazing. There are like little culture clubs all over the store, meeting, discussing, and sharing info and insight on whatever section they were in. Some talked fantasy, others history. I got caught up in a section on baseball books, and eventually Katie found me. The best title I saw for a book was "Reasons Why the Yankees Suck", or something like that. I decided upon the book "Faithful", which is the chronicling (sp?) of the year my beloved Red Sox won the world series. The season is told from Stephen King (yes, that one) and Steward O'Nan's little diddy's they wrote the whole season. Should be a good read. More impressive to me though was the music/movie section. While MUCH smaller than other places we had visited that day (i.e. FYE, Circuit City, Best Buy, Media Play et. al.), they had a great selection there, probably the best of the day. I picked up a CD by Muse called "Absolution", it is awesome! The movies section was unbelievable, with "Metropolis" seasons of the X-Files and a HUGE collectors edition set of Alfred Hitchcock's movies (of which Katie and I are on a huge kick of currently). But the most impressive thing I saw in the entire store (besides the million intellectually and physically attractive women) was a DVD of "Un Chien Andalou" or translated as "The Andalusian Dog". It was 20 dollars for a 17 minute film, but amazing that they had it. I watched it in a film class one time. It has one of the most amazing scenes ever put on video. Read up on it if you are curious. Also of excitement was a Italian movie called "The Bicycle Thief" which I also watched in my class.

Final goods for the shopping trip--
CDS
Kasabian-Kasabian (this rocks...get it)
Muse-Absolution (very haunting...very rocking...very fucking intense)
Natalie Imbruglia-Left of the Middle (this was on sale for 1.50!)
Movies
Freaks (very excited to finally see this...it was banned for a long time, now considered a classic)
Book
Faithful (description above)

NUPTIAL HAPPENINGS...

Well, in what has become the month that was cliche to announce your engagements, I have heard of about five or so, a few really big ones to mention. First off, Lindsay, who was my ex-girlfriend has accepted engagement from her new fiance, Andrew. Since I am forbidden to talk with her, as per his orders, I was unable to congratulate her on her facebook account. Hence, I will do it on here, and hope that in some way she sees it. Lindsay, I know we had some great times, and some rough times, I wouldn't take my time with you away for anything. I hope you can believe me when I say that I am very happy for you! If Andrew is what you are looking for, and it seems that he is, may you go as far as your imagination can guide you. I wish you both the best of luck in your marriage endeavor.

The other big announcement close to home was Nate and Karen's engagement and subsequent wedding plans. This one is going to be a short engagement, so that they can live together...I believe. Either way, I cannot say how happy I am for both of them. They helped me so much this past year, just by being there and helping me get through several rough times. Congratulations to both of you. I hope this is a special moment in both of your lives. And to top it all off, I got a phone call from Nate last night asking if I would be the best man at his wedding. An honor. I havnen't talked to him yet, hoping to do that in person soon, but of course I will say yes. Two of my best friends...how could I pass that up? I better start thinking of speeches, hey? Nah, actually I have it half done already, thought about it on my drive home, lol.

HOLIDAYS CELEBRATED, PRESENTS RECEIVED, FRIENDS MADE...

In summary of my weeks without an update, let me just say Christmas rocked! I got all kinda of sweet movies and gifts. Time with my family was awesome. New Years was fun, even if I did only go down to the ball drop with Matt. I have made a ton of new friends this holiday season, mostly I'm sure cause Dave and Katie are gone for good, and Nate and Karen were gone for the holidays. And sure some of it has to do with me trying to find a nice girl for myself. I figure I have hung out with more people in the last month, than I ever have in my life. So that's cool. I even got to go to Flint and see Marco and Kristy for a few days over break. Thanks so much for everyone who is in my life in any way shape or form. I love you guys to death, and may 2006 be even better than 2005 was. Keep rocking, YOOOOOOOO JOE!