AUTHOR: Brad DATE: 6/30/2003 11:34:00 PM ----- BODY: Rock, Baseball, and Lesbians

Matt and Colin came into town this weekend to catch a White Stripes show. I hadn't seen Colin for roughly half a year since he was gone overseas for the spring semester. Matt, too, was gone but I was fortunate enough to see him at my friend's wedding a few weeks back. We went to a bar with a couple other friends for a somewhat lowkey night. Saturday was the big show. We got to Memorial Hall just as the opening band was finishing up their act. After catching only a little bit of their performance, I believe it was a blessing that we missed the majority of their set. While the roadies were busy unloading the Whirlwind Heat's equipment to put the White Stripes things up, they played some old time cartoons. It was obvious to me what kind of mood they were trying to set. This is a band that has always tried to capture the beauty of youth and love in their words and the cartoons were, in a way, an example of such nostalgia. I couldn't help but think about how there once was a time that children and adults alike were able to enjoy such simple, pure entertainment. The show was pretty darn good. Jack White is one heck of a guitar player and frontman. He was all over the stage, sliding his feet around as he played guitar. The man would get down on his knees to play a solo one minute and then stand over by the drums to look at drummer Meg White while he sang. Although she isn't the most dynamic drummer nor all that attractive, Meg has got something about her that makes drumming actually seem cute. She would slouch in her seat a little while bobbing her head as she played. My friends agreed that it was cute, as well. All in all, it was a solid show with "Hotel Yorba", "Seven Nation Army", "Ball & Biscuit", and "Cold Cold Night", serving as the night's highlights even though the latter two are songs I had never really cared for prior to the show. The thing that amazed me was how much you could tell Jack White was a huge fan of music. It's like you could tell the man really got what music was all about and had a passion for it and its history. In the end, Jack and Meg held hands and walked together as the two-person band politely thanked the crowd and walked off. Though the night was very lackluster on crowd involvement (barely anything was said to the audience throughout the night), it was still a great rock performance. That night, we went out to a bar with some friends. Shortly after we were there we noticed two women right next to our table completely making out and touching each other. It was, quite honestly, the most blatent act of homosexuality I had ever witnessed by two women. Eventually, they ended up sitting at a table by us and I struck up a conversation with one of the ladies. She explained to me how she was married and had two kids but had a "friend" that she experimented with. She then went into semi-graphic detail about her sex life. After talking a little more, she asked where I worked and I told her. Lo and behold, she was one of the nurses that we had recently hired! Oh boy was that a fun one to share with my peers. On Sunday, we went to a Royals game and saw them get destroyed by the Cardinals. Albert Pujols hit 2 homers and basically proved to me that he is easily the best young athlete in baseball right now. I'm glad I got to see him. After the game, my buddies left and I was left alone again in my apartment after a fun weekend. -------- AUTHOR: Brad DATE: 6/24/2003 06:22:00 AM ----- BODY: Those Crazy Asians

Last weekend, a good friend introduced me to quite possibly the funniest show on television. The show is titled "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge " and it airs every week on an irregular schedule on TNN. The premise of the show revolves around painful contests performed by two teams. The events are pretty darn creative and have commentary dubbed in English to make it even more hilarious than it already is. I can't remember a time I laughed so hard so often during a regular television program. I didn't even know TNN played those kinds of shows. I encourage everyone to check it out. The schedule for it this week is as follows: Thursday, 26 10:30 PM Saturday, 28 8:00 PM Saturday, 28 8:30 PM Sunday, 29 7:30 PM Saturday, 5 8:00 PM Saturday, 5 8:30 PM Sunday, 6 7:00 PM Sunday, 6 7:30 PM -------- AUTHOR: Brad DATE: 6/23/2003 09:31:00 PM ----- BODY: The 1st Business Trip

After the wedding, I drove back on Sunday and hopped on a jet to Baltimore. The trip was for work and eleven other young adults from all over the country met up to partake in four full days of training. The days were pretty long with a lot of lecturing and team building exercises. Luckily, every single person that was there was really cool. Our ages ranged from 21-25 and we went out on the town every night. The last night was easily the most fun. We visited the Inner Harbour of Baltimore and ate at a neat little seafood resaurant to start off the night. By the end of the night, everyone was buying each other shots and dancing with each other. Overall, the trip was a blast. We left completely exhausted because we were in class for 10 hours every day, but still managed to stay up at night. It was interesting for me to witness complete strangers from every corner of the country come together and become so close. By the end of the trip, we had all created a nickname for our group as our own "secret society". We have kept up our newfound friendships so far by emailing and using each other as a support system for when things get tough at work. The past week and a half has been a very good relief for me as far as friendships are concerned. After living alone for a while, it's easy to get caught up in your own personal world. -------- AUTHOR: Brad DATE: 6/20/2003 08:21:00 PM ----- BODY: A Fantastic Weekend

Last weekend, I was a groomsman for one of my best friends in Ottumwa, Iowa. The entire event proved to be one of the best in recent memory. I took Friday off of work to drive up so I could get settled that night. A bunch of people from the fraternity got together with a crew of Kappas (the house which the bride belonged) and headed off to a local bar. This bar was just as I like them...nice and trashy. There was a dog that wandered around the place, and the overweight, middle-aged lady bartender tried to rally us together to go streaking in the streets of Ottumwa at the conclusion of the night. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't much of a salesperson. The next day was the big wedding. All of the people in the wedding party had to force themselves out of bed so they could get to church. We spent a good portion of the afternoon sitting around and taking pictures. During the ceremony, it really hit me how much I have entered this new phase of my life. Six weeks prior to the event, I was a fun-loving college student. Six weeks later, I was sitting there as a groomsman for a wedding of one of my old roomates in college. Time is just traveling way too fast. Watching them get married put things in perspective for me. I remember always seeing old wedding photos of my friend's parents displayed in their house. The pictures always seemed so old and faded. They looked so young and happy which was weird, in a way, because I couldn't envision them out of their parental roles. That afternoon, we both witnessed and were a part of those pictures that would be a staple in their living room. Someday, their kid's friends will come over and think the same thing about them. It's sad for me, in a way, to know that the circle of life is continuing and there is nothing that I can do to halt its momentum. The reception was great. So many old friends were present so it was almost a last hurrah for all of us which, looking back, was very bittersweet. At the time, however, everyone was about celebrating and having fun. Everyone drank and danced at the country club and then headed over to conquer a dance club. The owners even had to warn us to tone it down because we were at risk of collapsing the floor with all the jumping/dancing we were doing. The night wasn't just about a marriage of two individuals, it was about embracing the phenominal friendships we had developed in just four short years of our lives. Looking back, it was a night I will never forget. -------- AUTHOR: Brad DATE: 6/08/2003 10:45:00 PM ----- BODY: The First On-Call Weekend

This weekend was my first being on-call for work. Basically, hospitals and home health patients are able to get ahold of me at any hour of the day. I think it is safe to say they surely took advantage of it. I am sleep deprived due to people calling at all hours of the night. Some of these nurses are really polite and friendly. They understand that my job is to find them work so they are happy to find ways to make money and are understanding if they get cancelled by a hospital that is already overstaffed for a particular shift. Some, however, are flat out rude pieces of white trash. I know it sounds rude to say something like that, but they really are pieces of white trash. On Friday, I had to console a nurse who was crying over the phone to me that she was going to be evicted from her home and that she didn't even have money to fill up her gas tank to make it to work. She was actually polite and kind, though. There is one nurse who refused to work more hours this weekend because then she would be ineligible for welfare. Are you kidding me? I'm getting money taken away for every hour I work so some apathetic lowlife can take it for not working? The irony is just way too thick there. Then, of course, there are the homecare patients. Some of these kids were born with disabilities due to their parents not giving up hard drugs during their pregnancy. These poor kids have little to no hope for a promising future all because they were cursed with having to be created in the womb of an irresponsible crackhead. The worst part of it all is that the parents get free nursing through Medicaid which is paid by the state. This program does a very good deed for most people who are unable to afford proper care. However, there are some cases that the deadbeat parents use this service to serve as a babysitter for their kids. It's sad, but I guess that's why I can see myself liking my job because I consider it providing help for those that are unfortunate, not for the parents. Heck, it isn't the kid's fault they were handed difficult circumstances. I promise I won't always write about work as much as I have lately. I don't like to talk about work away from work because I don't want to feel like that is the extent of my life. I just want to capture my thoughts at this early stage of working where I am. I do find it interesting how your mentality is trained to shift towards being more like that of a business person. It's almost like you're forced to put on an act of being confident and knowledgeable so that others view you with more respect. Just being yourself really isn't tolerated in the workplace which is really funny to me. I need to remember who I really am so I don't let myself get caught up in the whole workplace atmosphere. I've seen way too many people lose themselves in the corporate machine because they can't distinguish their work personality from who they really are. -------- AUTHOR: Brad DATE: 6/01/2003 03:40:00 AM ----- BODY: The Stomach Mystery Continues

The reason I am up so late isn't because I went out and had a wild and crazy night. In fact, I had a very tame, boring night by myself in my apartment watching episodes of Mr. Show on DVD. The reason I am up is because those darned stomach pains returned tonight. Mild pains first appeared around 11 and it got progressively worse as the night wore on. I finally took some Asprin around 2 and layed in bed for about an hour twisting and stretching my body in every way imaginable in an attempt to relieve the pain. I tried taking some antacid tablets and now everything is fine. Everytime this happens I seriously worry that it's "the big one" and I'll have to go to the emergency room to get my appendix out. I even pulled up directions how to get to the hospital on my computer before I went to bed just in case. I started worrying about how I would be able to take time off of work and what I would do for medical insurance since I haven't received my new insurance card in the mail yet. My frantic mind then had me thinking about calling the on-call phone from work to get ahold of one of my fellow co-workers to ask how I'd get the insurance number and to inquire as to what nurses were being staffed that night so I could request them or not. I don't understand what the problem with me is. The pain usually comes from the lower right side of my stomach which is what always leads me to believe it could be a problem with my appendix. Maybe they are just warnings. Sometimes I wonder if it could be an ulcer of somesort that is developing. I did have a frozen pizza tonight for dinner and it could have just been too acidic. Actually, the whole pizza thing is quite humorous in itself. I had gone to the store feeling slightly confident in my developed cooking abilities since I've lived on my own. Afterall, it was only a year ago that I had to ask my roomates what the word "simmer" meant while cooking Tuna Helper. I got some cake mix and some frosting and proudly added it to my basket of groceries. Granted, it isn't the most complicated thing to make, but it's a big step in the right direction for me. Well, just as I was feeling good about myself, I got home to put in my frozen pizza. I had to consult my friend, Rommi, to see if I was supposed to include the cardboard underneath the pizza in the oven or if I should just put the thing in all by itself. Instead of receiving helpful insight from her, I ended up just being the recipient of a good deal of laughter and mockery. So much for feeling confident in my cooking abilities. I just stuck the pizza in the oven without anything accompanying it and it turned out just fine...well, as fine as a cheap frozen pizza can end up. --------