I'm not going to say this again: that post was about the door-to-door homework. Come on people, try and keep up.

Yesterday, two Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by the house to invite us to a special service and offered to come back (after the service) to talk about what we'd heard (and, by the way, this was the second set of JWs who'd come by in the last few weeks). About two hours later, two Mormon's stopped by, gave me a pamphlet and a copy of the Book of Mormon, and offered to come back for discussion after I'd read them.

That no Christians came by is could probably be interpreted as a sad commentary about 'Evangelical' Christianity, but I don't want to talk about that right now. Instead, I want to relay Sarah's thought on that matter: since when did people start going door-to-door handing out homework assignments!?!? This is a high-school student's worst nightmare!!

The internet has been persnickety as of late. I've been trying to post things, but have been thoroughly unsuccessful. Too bad.

In other news, I played basketball yesterday for the first time in about 8 months. I'm pretty sure that I'm in the worst shape of my life (I can tell because it now hurts to walk). I'm not really sure how that happened, but I'm quite sure that I don't like it.

It snowed today.
A lot.
Spring is a farce.
I'll sue.
Who is Sue?

If I were to pick one word that describes my week thus far, I would pick tedium. And probably boring. Oh, and penguin. And you'll note that I'm not complaining, just describing.

Yesterday, I was talking with one of my professors about some research we are doing on indirect aggression (e.g., when you're mad at someone, you talk about him/her when s/he isn't there--as opposed to punching him/her in the face). He told me a story about how a former colleague spread a rumor that a current colleague was raised in the circus. Hilarious.

Today, this blog saw its 10,000th visit. It would be a little more impressive if 9,800 of those visits hadn't been me checking to see if anyone commented.

Went to a place.
Tested some intelligence.
Ate some ham.
Came back home.
In that order.
No complaints.

Tomorrow, we dance.

And by tomorrow, I mean today (see, I'm writing this yesterday--hello from the past). And by we, I mean a bunch of groups of people that neither you nor I actually know. And by dance, I mean play basketball.

What the heck is he talking about?

The collegiate basketball tournament that is often referred to as The Big Dance (or March Madness, if you prefer) kicks off tomorrow/today/Thursday. Me like.

Who is he kidding? That was a ridiculous excuse for a post.

Ricin is an extremely deadly poison derived from the Castor bean. It's so potent that a grain-of-salt-sized particle is lethal to humans if it is ingested, injected, or inhaled. You may have heard about a recent incident in which a vial of the stuff was found in a Las Vegas motel. The man who allegedly produced the poison had been lying comatose in a San Diego hospital for about a month (from, get this, ricin exposure--who saw that coming!?!?!?) . When the man awoke yesterday, he reportedly told authorities that the ricin was for "personal use."

Personal use? What kind of personal use is there for deadly poison? Killing persons that you personally dislike? According to the man's brother, he was going to use it for self defense. Oh, I see. That makes sense, you're getting mugged, and while giving the assailant your wallet, you strike up a conversation and casually offer him a poison apple. Two weeks later, when he's overcome by multisystem organ failure, you go to the hospital, pretend to be his next-of-kin, and, assuming he had it with him when he checked in, you recover your stuff. Or maybe you're about to get carjacked, and, while giving up your car, you discretely connect the thief with the ricin-laced intravenous saline bag that you keep under your seat. When he parks at the local rest stop because of the inevitable diarrhea attack, you steal back your car and leave him to die a tortuous death on the public can. It's frickin brilliant!

I can see the headline now: "Real-life Batman Fights Crime with Baked Goods and a Pinch of Unbelievable Stupidity."

The blog is closed today.

Yesterday I went to a "practicum fair", which didn't turn out to be much of a fair (I didn't see cotton candy ANYWHERE--all those children must have been sorely disappointed). It was really more a series of presentations given by mental health service providers in the area. Next year, as part of my master's program, I'll have to work about 20 hours per week (for the whole year) at one of those agencies (for no pay). I'm not yet sure where I'll end up, but yesterday hammered home the point that, next year, I'll be working 20 hours per week, and I'll still be teaching 20 hours a week (for those of you keeping track at home, that's 40 hours per week). Oh, and then there's the pesky full-time student thing. Someone didn't think this through.

It's 10 in the morning, 40 degrees and sunny outside, and we've got the windows open because it feels so warm out. Winter is stupid.

Unfortunately, Sarah fell ill (as the kids say) today. Actually, I think it has been more like sliding down a muddy hill on a garbage bag toward ill, but who's keeping track? Turns out, I'm keeping track. Because, turns out, I'm not very good at empathizing. And Sarah's not very good at holding in her complaints/feelings about being ill.

"Yes, your glands do feel a little swollen, but you're probably not going to die. No, you don't feel a little warm; now go take out the trash. Chop chop." I really don't see why she had to yell.

I was reading the news today, and I saw the headline, "Obama Would Like to Win Mississippi". Oh really? You mean he doesn't want to lose delegates? You mean he's not on some sort of campaign to lose the nomination for president? Did I fall into Bizarro World? What's going on? Who am I? Why is everyone saying stupid things?

Things are still in somewhat of a lull. Not that it's a problem. You just end up with nothing to read about except the day-t0-day activities of a student: Saturday, I studied most of the day and watched TV in the evening; Sunday, I went to church, studied, and then watched TV in the evening. Today, I'll study, go to class, study, and then watch TV in the evening. Not that I'm complaining: at least I get to watch TV in the evening.

Sorry, nothing today--unless you want to hear about my all-day headache (literal and figurative). I don't.

Sarah had all of the excitement for today. And not in a good way. In other news, I start pretending to be a therapist tomorrow. That should be interesting. I probably won't make any comments about it here, because I have to have actual confidentiality for my pretend client. Just pretend that you know what I'm pretending to talk about.

Also, Sarah and I have been thinking for a while about buying real estate (somewhere between her job and my school), but we've started thinking more about buying a condo and being yuppies for a little while. Here's the thing: we can afford about a $125,000 mortgage. With this, we could buy (a) a smallish, older house with some upkeep and minor repairs needed or (b) a new condo with all appliances included, some nice amenities (vaulted ceilings, fireplace, etc.) and someone to shovel the snow and mow the lawn. I honestly think there are benefits and drawbacks to each. Or, we might just stay here. Thoughts?

I read an article today about how a woman stole someone's identity, earned a GED, took the SAT, was accepted to Columbia University (an Ivy League school), and studied there for two years. At some point during this time, stole another identity and got into Harvard. Right now, she's being prosecuted and faces jail time because she amassed over $100,000 in student loans with someone else's name.

Here's the thing: if you're smart enough to do all that, why not just do it with your OWN identity?!?!?! Other than the loans, I can't really think of many drawbacks.

In other news, the U.S. government just announced that it has developed a ray gun. Looks like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, and Hugo Chavez don't have as much to worry about as they might have thought: our next target appears to be Bill Shatner.

Winter break officially ends tonight, and I'm not really looking forward to the fact that I'm going to be busy from the moment I wake up until some time shortly after my retirement (or death, whichever comes first). I'm certainly not saying that I'm the only one: I recognize that you're probably quite busy yourself. What's the deal with that? Is it getting us anywhere? Does it help us enjoy life? Does it help us better serve a purpose? Let's just all take a minute to relax.

Okay, back to work.