What's going on?

Rather than making up for lost time by trying to write about everything that's been going on, I'm just going to ignore most things and hit on the important ones.

Thanksgiving was fun. It was really good to be home and see family that I haven't seen in what feels like a long, long time. Wednesday night I went out in Joliet with my brother for the first time in years. The two of us met up with K. O., Tia, and Al, among others at a classy joint called Senor Tequila's. I had a margarita the size of my head, and had some laughs with my brother. We decided it would have been a $40 drink in Chicago.

Afterward, we went to a huge overly-lit bar where they have drink specials for a buck and serve things in plastic. Not my choice, and I'd like to clarify that, technically, this place was not in Joliet. Here, I ran into a few people from high school, and it got bizarre. That awkwardness of both parties realizing that you used to be friends, and you used to have things in common, but now the only thing you share is the location you chose to drink that night.

The rest of Thanksgiving went well. Half of my cousins are Italian, so in addition to the traditional turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, etc., my uncle cooked Italian sausages, meatballs, marinara, mosteccioli, and antipasto. Everyone ate, and talked, and laughed, and ate some more. Then we loosened our belts and sleepily watched football.

The Palmer Hall potluck was great. Everyone contributed food and expertise, drinks and stories. Hopefully it will be a yearly event.

Orange-cranberry muffins.

Simone working her magic on the pumpkin pie.

Sweet-potato home fries, and Kate making some amazing gravy.

Ladies, try to contain your excitement.

The buffet really makes the place shine. It even has sconces.

I don't remember what was being said here, but it seems like the perfect opportunity for people to invent their own captions.

After everyone was full of food and alcohol, we decided to cut Nate's hair. This should also become part of an annual tradition.

Whats

slices.

Simone's car, the Dodge Colt Vista, lovingly referred to as the DCV, has two glove compartments. I found this fascinating. And I think there are gloves in there.

Fall and the el.

Marty stayed with us for a couple days. We fell back into the hangout routine almost without skipping a beat.


I like to make breakfast. Broiled tomatoes, cottage cheese, toast and coffee.


Last Saturday, I went on a date to Cafe Iberico. It was pretty cool. What?
Oh, thanks. The blazer is pretty sweet.


Here at Casa del Awesome, when we're bored we tend to bake things late at night. And drink cheap wine. Usually something good happens.


Sometimes, something great happens. Superbad roomies.


Colin, manning his usual evening post.


Me, fulfilling my roommate duties as well.


An obviously very serious conversation between Colin and Colyn, which Cassie finds amusing.


Caleb, after shouting "You want a piece of me?" and just before smashing a folding chair across someone's forehead.

All in all, the past few weeks have been going pretty well. I let Colin keep me updated on all the current events, i.e. politics and celebrity gossip, and we go back and forth about how our programs are going. We've been throwing around the old pigskin in preparation for Ice Bowl 2007, and our slant routes and option plays are looking pretty wicked. Peyton Manning, eat your heart out.

And my latest Netflix dvd, which I've yet to watch, is entitled, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension." Here's the synopsis:

Peter Weller stars as the titular hero, who makes his living as a physicist, neurosurgeon, secret agent and rock star traveling through a comic-book universe with his band of assistants and background musicians. Buckaroo's interdimensional experiments with his new invention, the Operation Overthruster, throw Earth into an alien war, and he finds himself with scant hours to save the world in director W.D. Richter's offbeat film.

It also stars Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, and Christopher Lloyd. I'm speechless.

Dopplegänger.

When I was in Australia I met a guy named Jonathan, from Canada. We worked together on one of the strawberry farms, joking back and forth, trudging through the mud, trying to get the others to sing ridiculous songs.

Whenever we all went out, people thought Jon and I were brothers. I didn't think we really looked all that similar, but I guess I was wrong. Course, I think he's got a few pounds on me here, but still.

Halloween was fun.

Instead of our normal program of nature, debates, and science, our Earth Team helped run the show at Norwood Park for all the neighborhood little kids. We did a haunted maze, set up from gym mats, props, and a smoke machine. The students did a good job of being surprising but not too scary. At first the little kids started crying, so we had to tone it down a notch.

There were all kinds of bean bag games, ring toss, and Bozo buckets that the kids were in charge of, plus face painting, activity tables, and we even had full-on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger costumes. I'll get those pictures up soon. Cuz they're that good, but Jeannette has them.

That night Colin, Susan, Colyn, Steph, me, and Jeanette all went to the Burlington for fun. My brother also came, and we met up with Alison and Eric too.

Apparently Colin just put some of these up too. Deal with it.

I have three favorites. This is one of them.

two.

Colin being all, "Oh snap."

My broham and Jeannette singing Fugazi.

Lots of people named Colin.

Three.