Category: News

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Fondue for You, Too?

Supper: 08 Jan 2006
Supper: 08 Jan 2006, originally uploaded by m!les.

It’s been very quiet in Madison. It’s been work and editing, pretty much everyday. Well, this all changed yesterday.

The first excitement came at work. The good news is, I finally had something to do that wasn’t Hyperion (which is getting old). The bad news is, it was PeopleSoft. Oh, well. It was a nice 20 minute change of pace. Then it was back to Hyperion.

The second excitement came at lunch. My kitchen light bulb had burned out the previous day, but I didn’t want to try to replace it at night, so I left it. The problem is, I am not a tall person. I attempted to use my black stool, but it isn’t a very sturdy design. So, I decided to use my kitchen table instead. Well, the kitchen table is also not very stable. I managed to stand on it, but then it started to seperate. So, the final solution was to stand on the counters.

I got up on the counter, but soon realized that if I wanted to unscrew the dome, I would need both hands, and I couldn’t possibly reach out that far with both arms free from support. What was I to do? Roll in the kitchen table, and laden it with pillows in case I lose my hold on that thing. Luckily, it worked out that I didn’t drop it, but the replacement bulb is about as strong as a keychain flashlight, so I’ll have to do the whole thing over again tonight.

The other excitement was that Holli came up to visit. She has an interview at Daktronics today, so she asked if she could spend the night on my new air mattress. I said, “Heck, yes”. So we made supper. Or, rather, she brough supper, and we reheated it, which didn’t quite go as planned, but still turned out really well. A requisite picture was taken for my Meals set.

Then we exchanged presents. I lucked out when I bought my new cologne in that they gave me a flippin’ nice free gift which she seemed to really like. Then I got a mug, some bowls, and a new shirt from her Florida trip. Then she showed me her and Heather’s pictures from the trip, of which there are about 270+. Then I set to trying to render the whole interview, which was then too big for one DVD, so I called Bob, and tried another rendering method while we watched a couple Seinfeld episodes.

Well, my computer does this thing where, if it has been in screensaver or power-save mode, and I move the mouse to bring it back, it thinks I hit Alt+F4, and closes whatever is open. This will sometimes even result in a Windows Shutdown dialog box. Well, this case it resulted in a “stop rendering and close the program altogether”. So, frustrated, and finding it difficult to burn that file in the first place, I instead just burned the original 9 minutes that I rendered for my own viewing purposes. This didn’t have the goodies of my bleeping, but that’s what made it a teaser.

We went over to Holly and Bob’s for more fondue with Matt Walker (who I’ve worked with before) and Chris Deaver (who’s work I’ve seen, but who I had never met until that moment). We stood around and talked for a while, then we watched the CANNED teaser, then we did photos. Matt was coming out with a compilation DVD similar to The Works, and he wanted some photos for the DVD cover. Because the title of the DVD has the word “Christmas” in it, there was a distinct and disturbing Christmas theme to the pictures, too. At first, when Matt said, “I’m going to take some pictures of you in costume later,” I immediately said, “Sure. Sounds good.” because I’ve learned that caving to peer pressure makes you cooler, but I was unsure what the results would be. It turns out I liked my costume: a smoking jacket, santa hat, knife, and glass of chocolate milk. The chocolate milk was my addition, because I was drinking chocolate milk, and I wasn’t finished. How did the pictures go? Don’t Ask.

Don't Ask
Don’t Ask, originally uploaded by m!les.

After pictures it was fondue time. It went pretty well. You can’t really taste burned carmel like you can burned chocolate, so I didn’t even notice that it had burned. It did take a very long time to get it lit, again, but that’s all in a day’s work of fondue. Fondue is a confusing word because it really refers to the process or behavior, not a type of food. The problem comes in how close “fondue” is to “tofu”, which IS a food (sorta). It turns out, for those who are confused, that “fondue” means heat up some chocolate or carmel or something and dip fruit or whatever into it. And that is from the Wikipedia article.

I just now noticed that I have never spelled “fondue” correctly, so I edited both posts and all my Flickr pictures in Fondue, the First and Fondue, the Second.

At about midnight, we decided that we’d had enough fun. They decided to play Cranium, and I decided that I needed sleep. As it was, it was about 1:00 before I got to sleep, and I think that’s partly why my head hurts so bloody much today. Seriously, this headache could kill a small child. And I am very mad (!) at Premiere, After Effects, Nero, and my screensaver, but I can’t complain too much today. I had a great night.

And Holly Smith and Bob Davidson better keep that $5.00 or I will sink our friendships.

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I Seem To Love Bowling

Aaron
Aaron, originally uploaded by m!les.

Well, it’s been quite some weather lately. We had fog upon fog starting Christmas Day. I thought it was bad that night, but when Bryce, Britt, Lindsey, and I travelled home the next day (after some shopping) it was even worse. And now it’s blizzarding out. Snow as high as two midgets stacked on top of each other.

By the way, if you want good funny rapping, check out The Lonely Island. They even mention Larry David in their song The Heist. They have great videos.

Well, we met Trevor, after waiting and waiting and waiting. I would say, “Where’s Trevor, Britt?” And she would say, “He’ll be here any minute.” Then I’d says, “Where’s Trevor, Britt?” And she would say, “He’ll be here soon.” And I would say, “Where’s Trevor, Britt?” And she’d say, “Ok, he’s not coming. Let’s go sledding.” But he did show up, and we had some good times. Actually, that night Tony and I dropped Britt off at the Holiday gas station and let them have their fun and food. Holli called me, but I was a little out of it. Why?

I’m sick. It started on the day after Christmas. I had a sore throat, and sniffles, then sneezing and runny nose and coughing. So, it’s been a hard time, because I don’t get sick often, and when I do it’s usually cancer. CANCER. I’m still trying to kick it, and I always seem to be doped up on NyQuil when Holli calls, which makes me really confused about her Florida trip. I’m not even sure where Florida is anymore. You’d have to ask her.

So, the next day that Trevor showed up, we hit the bowling hard. You can see some pictures in the Christmas 2005 set on my Flickr account. I didn’t bowl because I was having a hard enough time walking around, but the others sure bowled their balls off. Bowling balls. You know. Trevor did really well, I think. Then the two league ladies that were bowling (and drinking) next to us asked us to bowl with them, but they were creepy, so we used my illness as an excuse to leave after two games. I think Trevor won both. Bryce’s goal was simply to beat Lindsey, and Britt’s goal was just to have fun. My goal was to not get left.

Back at home, they played games and I slept for hours and hours. The next day Bryce chopped down a tree and hacked it up. And then he demanded I take pictures of it. Why not? I now have a Flickr pro account, so I get all kinds of perks, and unlimited storage. I also spent a good deal of time moving all my albums over from the Zen Photo gallery to the Flickr gallery. That is why, if you check my Flickr account, there are a ton new photos and sets, and my Zen Photo gallery is nearly empty. I think I’m going to make Zen Photo gallery as a gallery for graphics (wallpapers, etc.) and use Flickr for pictures and snapshots.

Anyway, then we went to Grandma’s to see Andy and Tracy with their children Nathan, Aaron, and the brand new Charlie. Charlie is a little cutie, and there are a couple pictures of him in here. We had a good dinner then we played Apples To Apples. This game was fun, and it gave me a whole new arena of comedy. Maybe when I’m feeling more verbose, I’ll write about how the game actually works. Andy won first, then Molly won. Then we went home and we had fun with the new PUPPY.

That’s right. If you know my Mom, then you know she’s a big dog lover. I think dogs are okay, but I like cats better, and I like turtles best. This is a little Irish Setter, his name is Hogan, and man does he have energy. He’s just as adorable and retarded as a puppy can be. I got some pictures, but I will probably not make a set of his pictures. I did tag him, though.

Ok. This isn’t the best post. I just feel like I need to write one post per 100 pictures uploaded. Or I could just calm down my picture taking. I need to clip my nails. Tonight is my parent’s New Year’s Eve Eve party. You have the party the night before New Year’s Eve and avoid all the other parties and avoid the cops. Plus, it’s just as fun.

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Merry Bloody Christmas

Family Photo
Family Photo, originally uploaded by m!les.

I apologize sincerely. I have no pictures from Christmas Day in Sioux Falls. I guess I’m just a dummy loser! I had forgotten it on the counter-top before we left, and that really sucks because it was a good time, with a good meal, and Holli even made it up for a little bit. I will hopefully get pictures up from Britt or someone else’s camera. With all those cameras there were a lot of bloody pictures taken.

Merry Christmas everyone! It was a good Christmas, I think. I normally don’t care much for this holiday. I think it’s that everyone makes such a huge deal ab0ut it, and it’s become such a commercial (.com) holiday, that I just get sick of it. I do, however, enjoy the family time and getting to see everyone and not having to do homework parts of it. It’s always the same crappy music and the same crappy commercials. But, enough about that.

There was Christmas Eve mass first. It was nice. There is always a nice assortment of musicians set to perform beforehand. This year Brenna and Sue did a duet, and Micaela and Lonie did also. Don’t worry, I have pictures. The before mass music is always a treat.

From there we went home quick. Then it was off to Grandma’s. Here is where the Rausch family gathers to eat, and talk, and open presents. Right before we got to Grandma’s, we went to Sue’s to get Grandma’s present. Then Bryce and Dan moved it into Grandma’s house. We got there, and just as soon as my shoes were off, I was told that I had to help Dad with his grilling. This was told to me in a sort of code phrase, which left me very confused. I thought it was code for something else, then we get there and he WAS grilling. What? But, then Bryce and Dan moved out Sue’s dishwasher. Ok. That’s cool. But I took pictures of it, obviously. Then Sue asked me to look at her pictures. She gets to the pictures of the dishwasher, shows it to me, and says, “Is that what your mom is getting for Christmas?” Oh no! Thinking fast, I say, “Yeah.” Then Sue says, “Does she know she’s getting that?” I say, “She’ll know soon enough.” and then I quickly change the subject. I grabbed Bryce and Dan, told them what’s what, and Bryce accused me of having no Christmas spirit. Truth be told, I was trey close to ruining Christmas.

We ate, and enjoyed it. We talked, then we discovered David in the living room, and took some funny pictures. He looked like he was dead, so we added some flowers and held a vigil for him. The best part was when he woke up. He slowly comes around, having no idea what was going on, rubs his eyes, sits up, and says, “Hey.” Then the presents.

I got some nice things from Sue and Karen. Sue got me the Chronic-what-cles of Narnia box set, and Karen got me socks and an ornament. We brought Grandma’s present up, assembled it, and moved stuff around. Then we took about 30 family photos, both for the Val Rausch group and the whole dang family. That was complicated. I think that next year, if we do that, we should get someone from Paul and Leanne’s place to take it. Then we listened to an interview with Santa, and then we headed home.

At home I witnessed the greatest double-cross ever. My mom convinced my sister Brenna that Molly was getting a camera. She then had Brenna “let slip” to Molly that she was getting a guitar. So, Molly thought she already knew what she was getting, and wouldn’t be looking anymore. Then comes Christmas, and Molly goes and gets her present which is a trumpet, and Brenna got the camera. Neither of the girls had any idea even though both of them thought they knew what they were getting. It was a stroke of genius that made me proud of my mother. I snapped a picture of the girls to commemorate.

The next day we headed to Sioux Falls for the Miles Family gathering. Bryce came seperate, with Lindsey, a bit later, so it was me and the Wiese girls, hanging out. There were a lot of questions about Holli, and then there were questions about Trevor, Britt’s (boy)friend, and then there were questions about Heather, Dirk’s girlfriend, and a couple questions about Jesse, Molly’s boyfriend. As luck would have it, the family would meet both Holli and Heather in no time.

We had a great meal: steak and lobster and potato. Then a dog showed up, and everyone went nuts. Karin was trying very hard to get everyone to keep it outside, but everyone was trying very hard to get it into the house. This dog was small, but solid (fat), and we eventually pitched it back into the snow. Then we began opening presents, and then I hear, “Are you going to say ‘Hi’ to her?” Holli was there. So I rushed to her side to help taper the flow of relatives. There were a ton of pictures taken, presents opened, and then homemade ice cream.

Then at 9:30, Bryce, Lindsey, Dirk, Heather, Me, and Holli traveled to Century Theatres to watch The Producers. Apparently there was some confusion about the movie. Bryce and Lindsey thought that Dirk had reserved tickets for them to see The Producers, otherwise they would have wanted to go to King Kong, but their ticket’s said “Dirk” on them, which was coincidentally the cashier’s name also. As it was, I got to meet the Gregg family. I won’t lie; I was very nervous. There was Larry, Carol, Aunt Gayle, Adam, Cari, Marissa, and Jared. Thanks to the internet, I had a pretty good idea of what they people looked like before I met them.

I enjoyed the movie, and I think that Holli did, too. Britty was excited to see it, but she missed most of it because she fell asleep. I think Dirk and Heather enjoyed it, but I don’t think the movie was really Bryce and Lindsey’s style. It’s alright. It was foggy out, so the travel back to the house was slow. I said goodbye to Holli, and I told her to call me or Bryce when she got back. So, I stayed up, talking with Dirk about movies, until he went to bed. She called, all was good, went to bed, and then woke back up.

The day after Christmas is THE DAY that people go to the stores to return presents or spend more money. I set out with exactly that intent. We hit up the mall hardcore, playing the name game. I didn’t do so well this time, but it’s always nice to introduce more people to the game. I didn’t buy much at the mall. I did get a new cologne, though, with Britty’s help. From there we ate at HuHot. It was good. I like HuHot. Apparently you’re not supposed to get more than one bowl at a time, so I did that my second time up. From there we went to Scheel’s, where Britt got snowpants. From there it was to Best Buy. At Best Buy I got rechargeable batteries for my digital camera, finally, so I think my digital camera upgrades and accessories are probably done. From there we went to Petco, where we got to watch some fantastic ferret fighting. I hate the smell of dog, so I spent my time in the bird cage pretending that I knew everyone’s name. “Skittles, don’t bite that. Leave it alone, Skittles.”

Then we drove home, very slowly, in the fog. Mom kept calling, so the last time that she did, all we did was scream into the phone. Finally home, we unpacked and just hung out until eventually everyone left or went to sleep. All in all, it was a good Christmas.

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I Seem To Love Basketball

The Rhino!
The Rhino!, originally uploaded by m!les.

If you take a look at my Flickr, you might think that I bloody love basketball. Go ahead, take a look. I have two galleries devoted to big basketball games. The truth is, I don’t really care about basketball. I mean, it’s entertaining, but I’m not a fan per se. I mean, I will probably play AoM on a laptop, on a losing team, on Jutenheim before I’d willing go to a basketball game instead.

This vacation, though, has been all about basketball. We saw Brenna’s game first on Monday. It was a seventh grade game, as you can imagine. My aunt Sue was a ref. Brenna did a good job, but the game wasn’t very spectacular. Bryce and I vowed to drill Brenna on dribbling for the rest of vacation, but that won’t happen.

From there we went to Molly’s game, which was JV. We heard all kinds of stories about an Amber Wollschlager, a 7’0″ tall high school varsity player who trains dolphins and can fly, from mom and dad. Apparently she transferred to Milbank after selling her soul for basketball abilities. Then she round-house kicked the devil in the face and took her soul back, or so I heard.

Molly’s game was nice. The big thing I took away from the game was Molly’s new nickname. Here was the situation. The other team was bringing up the ball, near the out-of-bounds closest to us. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Molly comes flying at her from her left. Molly nails the girl, the ball goes flying, and both of them end up out-of-bounds. Molly gets injured, the girl gets confused, and Molly gets a new nickname: The Rhino. We would cheer on “The Rhino”, and we even came up with a hand guesture. I don’t remember if they won or lost.

Then we saw the varsity game. *holy crap* I thought that I’d be impressed with Amber, but I think the true star was 5′?” Catlyn Wojahn. This girl was unstoppable. She was like a hummingbird crossed with a viper. She got rebounds, scored points, stole the ball, and even more (more? yes, more!). We only stayed for the first quarter, though, then went home.

The next big game was Milbank vs. Ortonville. I got a bunch of pictures of that. We got there, and took our seat behind the Ortonville kids. I tell ya, high school girls seemed a lot older when I was in high school. I don’t think I knew more than 3 people from Milbank, and I knew about twice that from Ortonville. It was good, though. Milbank was the favorite, apparently. Not much exciting happened the first half.

Then, at halftime, there was “A Buck A Ball”, and I gave Bryce a dollar to do it. He went out there, found a friend, and missed. Nice job. Then he went to the concessions, and after a little bit, I went, too. I got there, got Tony a soda (which was apparently the wrong kind), got myself a soda, and then I stood in line for the soft pretzels. After much waiting, I got one. I’m about to go back into the auditorium, when I see that they don’t allow food inside. So, I give Bryce the sodas, and I sit in the lobby, eating a pretzel, alone. I thought, “Hey, I can call Holli”, so then I wouldn’t look so lonely and pathetic, but my phone was dead. The only other interesting thing was the two technical fouls heaped on top of a normal foul, which lead to three guys shooting six free throws in a row. We have our theories as to what happened.

So as you can see, basketball isn’t my top sport. I think that’s why I take pictures of the scores at the end, because I have no idea. I learn just enough to make up my own jargon, and heckling (“Your girlfriend doesn’t find you nearly as attractive as you think she does!”), and cheering terms. If you go to a game, and you hear a guy yelling, “That was unsatisfactory!”, it just might be me.

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Let Me Tell Ya…

Miles and Holli
Miles and Holli, originally uploaded by m!les.

So, when I left Big Stone this morning, I had every intention of asking Holli Gregg to be my girlfriend. I did not, however, have any sort of agenda to that effect. This made for an interesting day. We met up at Kinko’s where she was printing a present for her brother’s girlfriend. We got into her parent’s car (a PT Cruiser!) and headed to a religious gifts store for Dad. He needed his Fontanini nativity sets for the God children, and there was a lot to buy. It was some $350+. We even got to pick out miscellaneous figures, so Holli picked Esther, because it’s her favorite Bible story, and I picked Samuel and Judith because I like the nicknames Sammy and Judy. Dad informed me that there are more than 2,000 figurines in the Fontanini set, and Holli joked that she would like to see a pope figurine. I think if they can put Indian War Elephants near the Baby Jesus, then JPII should be near there somewhere.

They boxed it up, rang it up, and we drove to the mall. We walked around because she needed to find a present for her sister, Marissa, and we started the name game. The name game goes like this. You get points for seeing people you know or recognize. You get one point if you know that person’s name, or if you can express “carnal” (Bryce’s word for it) knowledge of the person. The second part is up to the opponent’s discretion. You get two points if you actually strike up a conversation with that person. In this game, the difference in scores is all that really matters, so if you see someone that you both know, it effectively cancels out. When Bryce and I played this yesterday, we ended the day with me ahead by 8 points thanks largely to the 2 point rule.

The game started off with Holli running into her brother’s girlfriend’s grandmother, and it didn’t get any better from there. She found something for Marissa, and I (in turn) found something for my aunt Karin with aid from Holli on the idea and Britty on the verification (by phone). By the way, parentheses are the new commas (boyee).

My first opportunity to ask her was lunch in the mall. But, I couldn’t get the courage. That and I kept looking around for more people I knew. When we play the name game in the mall, I look a lot like I have no idea where anything is. Finished lunch, back in the car, and off to Best Buy. She was looking for a camera memory card for her Florida trip, but she felt we could do better at Wal-mart.

She remembered that she had a whole list of things to get at Wal-mart, which made this my second opportunity. We were pushing a cart around, looking couply, but how do you just launch into that? We ended up in a clock aisle, when she saw that she had a voicemail. I took the opportunity to call Holly Smith, who was expecting
me to “come back with a girlfriend or else”. Long story short, I wasn’t very smooth, and Holly informed me that asking her out in Wal-mart was a bad idea. It was decided to head to Falls Park.

A couple things helped me out here. One, it was cold, and she didn’t wear her coat. Two, there was a family taking pictures (and they looked really cold, too), so we had something to laugh at. And three, there was actually water moving, so it gave us a nice ambience. We sat on a bench, and I put my arm around her, and I think I asked her how she was, like, three times. Then I just went for it. I told her I liked her a lot, and she said that she liked me, too. I said that that was good because that leads into my next question. Then I asked her if she, maybe, wanted to be my girlfriend.

And there was a pause.

I swear there was. I turned and looked at her, because up until that point I had been avoiding eye contact like Ray Charles (that was a Bryce simile, there). Then she smiled and said, “Yes”. Then I said, “That’s great. Good news.” She asked me what I would have done if she would have said, “No”, and I said, “It would have been a really awkward drive back to my car.”

From there we drove to aunt Karin’s place. I figure, I’ll get brownie points for showing up unannounced to visit the day after Bryce and I “snubbed” them. We didn’t really snub them, we just took too much time shopping for gifts and had to get going. I also figure that I’ll get brownie points for showing off the new girlfriend, and you know how Grandpa is with girls new to the family. Imagine my disappointment when I got there and no one was home! I called Karin, she gave me the keycode, and we let ourselves in. Eventually Grandma and Grandpa returned, stories in tow.

There was a reasonable amount of chit-chatting, then a couple stories, then some more chit-chat, then some more stories. G’ma and G’pa were in prime form. At one point, they were telling different (but related) stories at the same time. That took talent to listen to. There was one story that ha-ha-Holli (with an ‘h’ and a PT cruiser) and I walked away with. I have tried to tell it in as try to Alyce Miles style as possible.

There was a family that lived next to the Miles family in Doland (that’s D-O-L-A-N-D) that was poor. I mean, they were poor poor. They didn’t even have a car, they would have to borrow ours all the time, you know. Bright kids, too, all of them. There was one named Mary (Patty?) that went to USD, and she was just named Honorable Alumnus a couple years back. She married a doctor from USD, and they moved, you know, and had kids. Well, one night she wakes up, and here her husband had had a brain aneurysm and was having a seisure. He never did wake up, and he died a week later. Well, she was very upset. She never quite got over it. So she moves to Sioux Falls, and she was just devastated, you know. Well, and one time, she was going to take Kevin and some of his boys somewhere across town, and he offered to drive. She goes, “No, Kevin, I need to drive”, because she was a smoker and kept her window down the whole time, you see. And Kevin said she was a horrible driver. Well, one winter she was driving on the Interstate, and she turned onto the exit, and she was smoking, of course, with her arm out the window. And she lost control of the car, and it rolled in the ditch, and cut her arm off. They had to amputate it.

(I pause here to let that sink in. A depressed woman has her arm severed in a freak automobile accident. It gets worse.)

Well, that made things worse, you know. And we, of course, brought flowers and cards to the house, but she wouldn’t answer the door. It was a beautiful house, just huge, and I don’t know why she bought a house that big, she would say, “Alyce, this house feels too big for me.” So, her siblings would come and stay with her for weeks at a time, and try everything to cheer her up. And I would think, you know, she had everything going for her. Her poor daughter had grandchildren this high, and how can you be depressed around that? But, I guess. Well, she would never smoke in the house, so she went outside. And she had wrapped up in a blanket. And they think that she must have slipped and fallen into one of the window wells, you know, and FROZE TO DEATH.

(I’ll pause again as the horror sinks in.)

To add emphasis, Grandma leaned over to Holli when she pronounced the words “froze to death”, as if to say, never smoke around window wells. “And of course, you shouldn’t dwell on the horror of it, but I pray, I pray, that she was unconscious when she froze to death in the window well.” I tried to point out to her that by repeating the words “froze to death” and recounting the death in greater and greater details each time, she was in fact making it more and more horrific, but she couldn’t help herself. This goes to show that, while always entertaining, not all of Grandma and Grandpa’s stories are meant to be funny. Some are meant to give you nightmares. Forever.

We talked with the G-rents for nearly two hours, which was much longer than anticipated, but it was nice. I took the lead-in of “I could tell you some stories about Miles as a little boy…” as a good enough reason to leave. I actually started to say, “Well, I’d better be hitting the old dusty trail,” but shortened it to “Well, time to go.” In the car ride to Burger King (yes!), we recounted the details of the horrifying window well incident, how Grandma had begun calling her Polly and so my correction gave way to calling her “ha-ha-Holli with an h and an i”, how the fact that Holli was driving a PT Cruiser reminded Grandma of just how much she wanted one just like it, how both made sure to recount how many Iowa people, or license plates, they had seen recently, and how since Grandma didn’t put her hearing aid in, we had to spell a strange number of places, people, occupations, and other things. We said goodbye, packed it up, and I headed home. to play Trivial Pursuit and to save the world (with Lindsey and Chris) from David (with Bryce, Peter, and Tyler).

All-in-all, a pretty good day. :)

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My Future Plans

Dog Pile!
Dog Pile!, originally uploaded by m!les.

It has come to my attention, both by my Aunt Lonie and Megan Flynn, that there might be some confusion as to my future plans. This post is devoted to dispelling those myths.

I plan, when I graduate, to continue with my job at CRESH. What is CRESH? Well, CRESH stands for Computer Resource Enterprise Systems Hosting. We host a piece of software called PeopleSoft. It’s basically only useful for business-types as it helps them manage Human Resources (HR), Financials / Supply Chain (FIN/SC), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). None of these mean much to me except in that they are my job.

My plan then, during that year, is to stay involved in the DSU Theatre as much as I can. I know what I would love to happen, but I don’t want to jinx anything. So, instead, I’ll just say that I want to help out. Also during this time, I will probably, maybe, apply to some graduate schools.

To tell you the truth, what I want to really do with my life is write. Really. I really liked writing King Tut, and I think I would really like to write for television. I’ve been inspired by the host of intelligent, offbeat comedies out there recently. I don’t like to speak this dream outloud because I worry what people will say (and I tend to be sensitive about things I really care about), and I worry that what people say will be right, and I should just quit dreaming.

I think this next year will be a turning point for me and this dream. If I have favorable results to what I want to happen, and things go well, and I feel a tiny tad bit more secure about things, I may just try it. I mean, it’s not like Computer Science and Mathematics double degrees are necessarily Business degrees. (BURN) I have quite the education to fall back on. The thing is, I wouldn’t know where to go from here. Hollywood? New York? Chicago Improv? Or could I accomplish anything online?

These are questions. For now, I’m writing. You can’t convince someone to hire you without anything for them to read. And, somehow, this website seems ill-suited as a “portfolio”. I’ve written a lot, though. Though though. Now let’s start writing stuff that’s worth reading. What I really need is conflict and pain to write. How about this: Holli is going to Florida for Christmas. Here’s hoping she doesn’t come back with the 90% fatal Avian Flu. That’s too much pain and conflict.

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Hi Ate Us

Spidey (and scarf) 2
Spidey (and scarf) 2, originally uploaded by m!les.

As the title phoenetically suggests, I’m going to lay off posting during this next week. That means that the next time you see me post a picture (because who reads the words, anyway?), it’ll most likely be almost a week from now.

What you should consider:

I normally don’t quote scripture or talk about church that much, unless I’m making an ill-taken point, but I liked today’s Gospel. It had it’s share of slapstick and omninous. First off, I was confused because it’s the gospel of John and he’s talking about John (the Baptist). So, for a couple paragraphs, I was thinking, “Man, John sure has an ego, doesn’t he.” Then the Jews send priests and Fair-I-Sees to check him out.

FIS: Who are you?
John: I am not the Christ.
FIS: What?
John: I just… I want to make it perfectly clear that I am NOT the Christ. John – write that down a couple times.
FIS: What, then? Are you Elijah?
John: No, I’m not.
FIS: Are you the Prophet?
John: No, I’m not.
FIS: Why don’t you just tell us who you are.
John: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.
FIS: AHAH! So, you’re Isaiah.
John: No. I am NOT Isaiah.
FIS: What, are you bugged?
John: No, I got a guy taking notes. Don’t put that part in, John.
FIS: Then you didn’t really answer my question, did you. You just gave us a quote.
John: Okay, you want some real info? There is one among you whom you do not recognize. He is the Christ. You must kill him.
FIS: Seriously? We should kill him?
John: No, I’m just kidding. John, don’t put that part in. We done here?
FIS: Yeah. We’ll just mark “Isaiah” in our book. No charges will be filed. Kill him… Not a bad idea.
John: Oh, no. I’ve made a huge mistake.

And that, friends, is verbatim.

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Boys Toys

Outside, looking Down
Outside, looking Down, originally uploaded by m!les.

I’m really eager for WordPress 2.0. I have a blog that uses it, on the WordPress site, but I want it here! Where I have control of it!

This weekend was nice. As you read, David came over on Friday night. On Saturday Collin and Emily came up. Apparently the Zimmer family goes Christmas shopping in Madison every year. Why Madison, you ask? Emily and Collin didn’t know either. I figure, if you’re doing shopping, you go to Sioux Falls, right? But, no. I guess Madison’s Books And More is a much better place to shop.

They stopped by later, too. We hit the China Moon, and boy was it good. We hit at just the right time. It wasn’t very crowded, yet the food was fresh. Strange incident. We get there, and there are two or three take-out bags on the chairs. The cashier lady, looks around, and then grabs them and puts them in the back room. Unrelated, seemingly, is that the bathroom door appears locked. We grab some food, chow down, and I go back to (hopefully) use the bathroom. I go back, chow down some more, and suddenly a guy is walking out with those 2 or 3 bags of take-out. A guy who did not enter but is now leaving. I think he was in that bathroom for nearly 20 minutes. Also, this little Chinese boy would turn up the volume on the music at random. It was like the composer went crazy with unnecessary crescendos.

Then I watched Alegria (not as good as La Nouba) by Cirque Du Soleil. Then I tried going to bed. I’ve never been so hot. It got so that, at 1:44am, I had to do something. I tried to open my windows, but the storm windows are all frozen. So, what to do? Get out a hammer and pound the frames. Nothing (and no glass shattered, either). Then I tried the hot water in a spray bottle. This helped, but it also made everything slick (and ripe for a hell of a refreezing once the window is open). The trick was using a screwdriver AND a hammer to pry the window up. Then it took a while to cool down the room to sleeping temperature. It was 2:50 before I got to sleep. I tell you what – I did NOT want to get up for mass on Sunday.

There are two more additions to MilesRausch.com: Holli’s blog and Tyler’s blog. It’s a blog orgy! If anyone else wants blogs, just let me know. I’m giving them out like XMas presents.

I keep getting distracted before I can write anything. I’m tired. Math… language processing… tired… Screw it. I’m going to bed. I’m sure I had more the say. Ask me about my bag of ice incident sometime. It’s hilarious. In a way that makes fun of me.

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New Additions

Supper: 02 Dec 2005
Supper: 02 Dec 2005, originally uploaded by m!les.

Well, the school year is winding to an end, and boy is my plate full. I have a large project due in Language Processing, and endless number of worksheets for Math Modeling, extra credit and solo project and group project for Art History, and that’s just classes.

Personally, I’m working on two plays right now. One is just getting going, and the other has grown to quite some depth. I’ve also been doing the web thing. Awayken has seen a bit of an improvement. I’m working on making that more of a portal. I’ll keep you posted.

In other news, I’m very excited to announce a new blogger: David. He came over last night and, while preparing the meal, I asked him if he wanted a blog. He said yes. So, I made David for him. He’s still developing it, but he’s got a start on it.

If anyone else wants a WordPress blog, courtesy of MilesRausch.com, let me know. I’d be more than happy to set one up.

In any case, I should make me some lunch.

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The Long Overdue Thanksgiving Post

The Family
The Family, originally uploaded by m!les.

I suppose that is the best picture to start this off with. By the by, there are more pictures on my Flickr account, but there are many many more pictures in my photo gallery. So, check them out. I was going to do a picto-story like the Bison game, but then it takes so long to load the page. So, I’ll keep it down. Plus, I wrote most of this once before, then my browser crashed, so I’m going to shorten things up a bit.

The nearly first thing I did when I got home on Wednesday was to wake every relative I had looking for the Narnia books. Finally, after some phone tag, I got ahold of Sue, who used to own them but then donated (donated!) them to the Big Stone library. As luck would have it, being a teacher there, she had a key. We went in and stole/checked out the book I wanted, “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”. Note on that: I loved the book, but the ending battle was really anti-climatic. The narration follows Aslan to the battle who shows up when it’s nearly over. Right. Sure, the powerful, mysterious, talking lion is going to miss the biggest battle of his world’s history. Come on!

With that done, I had every intention of doing a ton of homework that week(end), but it never happened. In fact, that night was spent reading and probably doing other things, but I can’t remember because that was more than a week ago. In any case, bring on the food, right? We hosted Thanksgiving for a bunch of relatives this year. It was a good time. I got to play tech guy again. Five years learning everything from basic programming to web development to even developing my own computer language and when I come home I become Nick Burns, but without the attitude. This time was easy. I just reinstalled windows for my cousin.

Sue, Molly (drunk), Brenna
Sue, Molly (drunk), Brenna, originally uploaded by m!les.

I like that picture. Candid. Molly just grabbed the beer, and I snapped the picture anyway. And Sue? Well, she couldn’t really say anything, could she. That’s right. That night, when most everyone was gone the revelry became a quiet din elsewhere in the world, we … uh, this is rusty, too. Somewhere in there we made of list. And we wanted to play basketball, but the other Rausch’s tricked us, and we couldn’t play basketball after all. Anyway, we made of list of what we could do. If your name is on the list, we’re sorry. We had had a lot to drink, and we were feeling bitter.

In any case, we ended up driving around Ortonville looking for deer. We found a bunch, but we only got a picture of one. And it was fake. Headed home, did some boozing.

Victory
Victory, originally uploaded by m!les.

Did some deer victorying. Did some more drinking. Cut some people up.

The next day, Bryce and I drove to Aberdeen with Dan and David. Bryce and Dan started a political debate, which I become moderator / antagonizer for. I was looking for some dialogue ideas, so I wrote down everything that they said, but I don’t know where I can use it. Hopefully soon. We got there, did our quick business. We ate in the mall. We saw Nick Kreasol (sp?) in the mall. Boy was THAT awkward. Nice one, Bryce.

Drove home. Played basketball. Left 30 messages on Tony’s cellphone. All four of us did. It rocked. Basketball was killer. I got some pics. I brought my book, of course. It was a good time. Narnia is fascinating. Went back home. Did something there. Everything’s just kinda foggy. I’m also distracted on account of math. My dad has been brewing his own beer, and that was the beverage (unmarked) of choice for the week(end).

Saturday. I tried even harder to get homework and some writing done, but it was not so. Ended up watching National Treasure, which wasn’t terrible. And, Diane Kruger is cute, even if I had issue with the slapdash form of “historical” reference and legend. I will say, Riley got to me. I think it was how he’s pasted all over the DVD’s special features. And I didn’t find him particularly funny.

That night we played us some games and watched The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And, I must say, I loved it. I had put off seeing it because I knew that every geek would be running to see it. I was also worried that it would let me down. Cool thing: the lead actor in Guide plays Tim in the British version of The Office. Small world.

Lindsey didn’t like it.

We played games after that. Again, the games went until forever. It was awful. The next morning, got up, did the church thing, played guitar, I had a killer solo during City of God where I played the guitar with my teeth, then I make the sign of the cross, light it on fire, and I toss it off the balcony into the aisle while saying the “Hail Mary” in latin. If done right, the whole crowd should be clapping in rhythm to the prayer.

Afterwards we did brunch. Then we hit up grandma’s and Karen endowed us with enough sugar to power China(‘s sugar cane crop), most of which I probably won’t get eaten before Christmas. I have been trying, though, to consume a cookie or muffin whenever I can. I think that’s it.

I don’t remember. I have no idea what was going on most of the weekend. I just know that most of us had a good time.

Bryce, Andy
Bryce, Andy, originally uploaded by m!les.
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Gophers, Bison, and Wizards

David
David, originally uploaded by m!les.

Our journey began Friday at noon. I pulled into Richardson’s parking lot and David hopped in. Me with my iPod and him with his tablet, the topic was music. We discussed David’s favorite bands and his theme song, Ben Folds Five – Whatever and Ever Amen – Fair. That’s right. David has a theme song. I’m so bloody jealous.

Soon we came to Marshall. My memory faltered a little bit upon entering Marshall. It turns out that I took a slightly different path then I did last time, so I called Bryce and got things taken care of. Soon we were driving up to Bryce’s apartment, and so was Bryce, and so was Tony. It worked out perfectly.

The way up was mostly just talking, joking, or listening to music. It turns out that Smith is a victim of the Sony Rootkit. Poor fella. I listened to the smattering of tunes on my iPod, which I should have loaded up with 5 and 4 star music instead of the random stuff I had. I felt cheated. By myself. I mean, I cheated myself, not that I was alone. There was like 5 other people in the van.

We hit Minneapolis as it darkened. That’s winter for you. The trick now was finding our way to the arena. It proved a little trickier then we thought, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’m glad I wasn’t driving. Bryce did a good job. We finally got to the arena, with calls from Tyler, Corey, and Britty. We got there and managed to find all three of them immediately.

It turns out that our tickets were student passes bought by Tyler. So, we sat in the student section. Unfortunately, Britty and the rest of the family had Tim tickets, which put them a level up and a little over. From our point of view, we were on the outskirts of a whole mass of UofM students. But, lo and behold, a smattering of NDSU students were in the section with us. One guy even had a hat with bison horns on it.

Bryce and Lindsey hit the concession stand, seeing as we hadn’t had supper yet. When they got back, Chris and I took off. He knew what he wanted: a Famous Dave’s BBQ Sandwhich. I wasn’t quite as sure. I ended up getting a pretzel + chesse with a large soda (for the M cup). When Chris went to buy a sandwhich, they said they were sold out. So, he got ice cream instead. Poor guy.

We watched as the lead UofM had got larger and larger. NDSU did well, I thought. But then again, I’m not a basketball journalist. I’m not even a fan. I just am.

The game ended disappointingly for us. But the good thing about the end of the game is that it allowed us to say “Hi” to family, take some more pictures, and to get to our food and movie.

Bryce and I took pictures like this at KState, though that arena was almost completely clear at the time. In Minneapolis, we had to make do with what we had. This was probably the best of the lot. Then the police and stadium officials asked us to leave the arena.

Outside the arena, we stood near the concessions waiting. The family, of course, wanted to see Tim, as did we, and we all socialized. Grandma asked us what our plan was for tonight. Tony gave her an answer that I don’t think she was looking for. I like this picture in particular because it catches Grandma’s reaction to Tony saying, “We’re getting drunk, Nana.” It was so spur of the moment, that I had to snap it quick, and so they are out of focus.

In any case, Tim eventually came out, we greeted him, said goodbye to each other, and then we headed to the movie. First we had to stop at Tyler’s so he could get his student ID, then we picked up Amanda to add yet one more to our list of people.

We got to the mall, and as we were walking to the ticket counter, I heard a voice say my name. It was Brenna with her friend, Paul. I tried to catch the attention of the other guys, and there were hugs all around. So we got our tickets for the 10:45pm show, then we sought out food. Applebee’s was right there, so we at there. The disappointing thing was that they forgot my sandwhich or something because it took forever, and I had to wolf that thing down in 2 minutes. Thankfully, Brenna ate most of my fries, so I was ready in record time. booya!

The theatre we were in was packed. At 10:45pm?? Yes, at 10:45pm. We ended up sitting in the way front. It was a little uncomfortable, but I was willing to look past that. A dragon never looked so big. I won’t post any spoilers. I think I’ll save that for my new wordpress blog, but I was a little disappointed. Though, seeing it from a filmmaker’s perspective, I can see why they did what they did. A good movie. A better book.

We bid Brenna and Paul adieu, and then we piled back into our vehicle. Our final number of persons was: Corey, Lindsey, Tyler, Amanda, Tony, Chris, Me, David, and Bryce. So that’s, what, 20? It was terrible. We caused the backend of the van’s mudflaps to hit the ground. Often.

We dropped off Amanda. Then we dropped off Tony and Corey at Corey’s place. Then the rest of us crashed at Tyler’s dorm room with his roommate Craig (who had joined us at the game). It was a little interesting fitting everyone in there. When I crawled into one of Tyler’s roommate’s beds, I felt something under one of the pillows. It felt and looked a bit like a gun. Trying not to panic, I asked David to turn on the light, since he was on the floor, and I was 10 feet up. It turns out it was a nerf dart gun, but I was still freaked.

By the way, Tyler’s nickname in college is “Reefer”.

The next morning we picked up Tony, and we headed for someplace to eat. We chose Peking Garden Chinese restaurant nearby. It worked out because Chris, who hates Chinese food even though he’s never tried it, could go to the Arby’s across the street. Our food took forever. There was some confusion amongst the servers. Instead of saying, “We need some menus”, we said, “We’re waiting for menus”, which made all the servers think that someone else was getting our menus.

We finally did get some, we ordered, and Bryce ordered a Chinese beer. The lady asked for his ID, and she would not believe that he was old enough. She held it for a while. She disappeared (poof) and another waiter came by with the beer. He started to hand it towards me, when Bryce said, “That’s mine.” The waiter stopped. “Really? Can I see your ID?” So, he, too, checked Bryce’s ID, commented that he didn’t look that old, laughed, and left. It was great. I kept waiting for the manager to come out, too.

I ordered the sesame chicken which, besides being a little spicy, is bright freakin’ red. Like Rudolf red, I swear to God. It was really good, too. After the food, we dropped off Tyler, then we headed home. Some of the trip was spent by me reading my issue of The Onion that I picked up in the mall. The funniest article was one entitled Life In The Navy Rocks Even Harder Than The Commercial Implied. I loved it. The horoscopes were pretty good, too. After that we played “Would you rather…” and then it was several rounds of “If you could…”. By the way, I made up the names for all those games.

Then we all went home. All-in-all, I had a good weekend. When I got home, I made up a Christmas Wishlist on Amazon. Speaking of which, be very wary of certain emails. I got one that said it was from Amazon.com, but the graphic looked a little wonky. The site asked me to update my Amazon profile information. I clicked the link and noticed that it didn’t send me to Amazon.com, it sent me to an IP address. This site going to log my username and password when I attempted to login, but I didn’t. I just closed it, happy in my shrewdness, and I closed it.

Anyway, that was my weekend, and I have more pictures. How was your weekend? What did you do?

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Sad New 2

MilesRausch.com tearfully brings you this news.

Fr. Wilfrid has died of a massive heart attack this past Thursday night.

I feel fortunate that I was able to converse with Fr. Wilfrid when he showed up at the Freshmen Showcase for the Wednesday performance, even if I wasn’t able to make it to the retreat.

Fr. Wilfrid was the priest at St. Charles Parish in Big Stone City, SD, taking over for the late Fr. Ray Otto. He was a familiar face around the Big Stone, Milbank, and Blue Cloud areas. He was also a great guy and friend. We will miss him.

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I’ll Be Right Beside You Dear

Posing for Pictures
Posing for Pictures, originally uploaded by m!les.

Well, the play is over. Actually, the play is 2 weeks cold. I think it went well. I got some nice feedback from people who watched it, so it would appear that all the stress I put myself through was worth it. Plus, I got to keep my vase.

I gave my camera to Tony Rolfes, and I trusted him with the documentation of my play. The results are documented in this wonderful album. I think that the last pictures, taken after the play, were actually Bryce’s work. Oh, well. No one has pictures of Jesus, and people still talk about him.

This past week was all about (unsuccessfully) getting my life put back together. My disheth over-floweth and still do. And my fridge is quite a bit empty. My mom always asks what she can bring me up, but I never know what I want for food until I start thinking about supper. And, by then, it’s too, too late. Speaking of which, I should put chicken out for supper tonight.

Tarradiddle Tales did their major run this weekend, as well. I saw the show three times. First alone, taking pictures, second with Bob, making fun, and third with Holli and David, just riding the ride. I have some problems with the script. It was written in the 70’s as a rehashing of folk tales from different countries (“maintaining the language where possible”) and then over-acted to make it entertaining. Yes, I have no life, but I did get entertained.

I’ve been watching The Office (British version) and while I don’t like it as much as The Office (US), it has given me a certain respect for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. So, I checked out their new show, Extras, that was on BBC-2 and HBO in July and August. I like it better than The Office (British), I think.

If you haven’t, check out Snow Patrol – Final Straw. It’s a really good album, and I’ve had it on my computer for ages, but I’ve never listened to it. Until now. And I’ve fallen in love with it. West Wing did their “Live Debate” episode on Sunday. I appreciate what they tried to do, but I was about as bored as I am when I watch a real debate. I’ve only just seen the West Coast version, and we’ll see how much different the East Coast version is.

Drama Club meeting tonight. w00t.

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The End

So, some news. The wake was Friday. I booked it from my Math Modeling test to Gregory. I missed an Irish tenor doing “Danny Boy”, but I made it for a story about bean dip being penance. It was a funny story, but I can’t remember enough of it to post it.

Everyone came by the Red House to eat and socialize. They stayed until about 11pm or something. Then Saturday was the funeral. That was tough. I didn’t cry at the wake, but I did cry at the funeral. I think the entire town turned out for the event. At the very end, they played “Into the West” from the Return of the King soundtrack. Travelled to the cemetery. It was all quite emotional.

Then back to Madison. Rented Harvey and To Kill A Mockingbird, but I haven’t watched them yet. I was feeling drained from all the driving and emotions and stress of the week, so I crashed at 9:30pm and I slept until 9:45am. And, wow, did I feel better.

This whole weekend got me thinking about my own grandparents. And mortality. And death. And the complexities and confusions of inter-personal connections between people, and the effects that societal constraints have on them. I did a lot of thinking.