Oh, Oh, It's hardly magic

I have seen some so-called magicians that have awed me, I'll admit.  Although, I also have to say I'm a total skeptic and don't by any means believe in magic or mind-reading.  Sorry, Harry Potter.  Just last night Drake's entertainment committee brought a magician in to perform at our Relay for Life event.

I wish I remembered his name just so I could tell you to NEVER go see his show. 

From the off this guy was totally bogus.  He greeted us with an over-enthusiastic "Good evening, boys and girls!" which would be excusable if he were some sort of grandpa magician of 80 or older.  But this guy was probably in his early 30s.  So everybody in the audience of mere dozens exchanged looks with raised eyebrows and Mr. Magician started his show. 

He might have performed for 40 minutes and in that time the best he could muster were some mediocre (at best) card tricks - you know, those kind that you figure out when you're 7.  What's worse is that he failed most of them.  It was hard to tell if that was part of his act since he used those SEVERAL opportunities to tell some over-rehearsed jokes that elicited a collective groan from the audience.

Then he moved on to some sort of so-called "amazing rope trick."  I've gotta be honest, I don't know if it was the angle I was watching from (kind of off to the side of the stage), but I didn't get it.  He started with one rope, and ended up with three after having some kid from the audience cut it a bunch of times or something.  I don't even know.  Needless to say, I found it less than amazing.

One trick piqued my interest since it involved a folding chair and a zip tie.  I think he messed something up because he ended up ditching the chair... and I have no idea what the heck the zip tie was for.  

He asked one guy to throw a hat a bunch of times so he could catch it on his head.  Sorry, that doesn't even PASS for magic.  I think I've seen a trained seal at Sea World do that, too - and better.  This guy caught it maybe twice; the seal went ten for ten.

His "grand finale" had him in a straight jacket - which is where this guy belongs if he continues to pursue a career in magic.  You know how straight jackets work?  There's that really awkward strap in the crotchal region.  Well, of his two gracious (and probably humiliated) volunteers, he suggested the girl buckle that one while making jokes along the lines of "Not too tight, Tiffany!" and "Tiffany!  Pick a side!"  You know it's a bad act when you can't get college kids going with sexual innuendo - just sayin'.

I saw the girl who hired him to perform sitting behind the stage with her face in her hands.  I felt sorry for her.  But as badly as I felt, I'm still expecting a letter of apology from the entertainment committee for subjecting us to that.  

Spring Break

I don't know if spring break is technically over yet or not... is it over when classes start again?  Or when the halls reopen for the residents to move back in?  Hmmm... Being an RA, I tend to consider break over when the halls are open again.  I came back to Des Moines on Friday afternoon since my dad uses frequent flyer miles for plane tickets and no free seats were available for Saturday or Sunday.  Maybe I didn't have the building to myself for a full two days or so, but I certainly had the floor to myself and, let me tell ya, that was amazing.

I got more done over the course of the last two days than in the whole semester combined... I actually hope that's an exaggeration, but I can't be sure.  Between yesterday and Friday I finished (and started, if we're being honest) an internship application, blogged twice, cleaned my room, finished my application for the Democratic National Convention thingy, unpacked, cleaned my fridge (mold... ew.  ALWAYS prop your fridge door open when you unplug it.  Especially if you're leaving for an extended period of time), made my new door decs, and got a jump on my homework for the week (my professors were kind and I didn't get any assignments over break... others weren't so lucky).  

And even as I write this I hear the jubilant shrieks of my residents as they discover that their roommates and neighbors have returned.  Yep, break is over.  It's ok, though.  It's not quite the same around here with out them.

Being home for a full week was sooooooooooooo nice.  Let's add a few more Os, shall we?  Oh my gosh did I love it.  If you read the "Spring Breakdown" blog, you'll know why.  I had also been feeling a bit homesick lately so a trip home came at the perfect time.  My brother ran off to visit relatives in Vegas, that punk, so I think I might have spent a grand total of twelve hours with him... if that.  But maybe that's a good thing because it meant the petty bickering was at a minimum.  Dad worked everyday, of course, so that left me and Mom to spend some quality time together.  And that was reallllly nice.  We went shopping and watched TV and ate lunch together and all of that.  It was fun :) 

Dad and I spent some time reviewing my erm... disastrous physical science exam just like it was high school again.  I didn't give him as much crap this time around... I don't think, anyway.  Apparently my brilliant brother, who is in AP Physics in high school, is learning pretty much the same stuff.  Maybe we should start a study group.  We also picked out classes for next semester... and it's a good thing we did because only yesterday it occurred to me to check when I actually have to register for classes... try April 2nd.  Gooooood thing I looked.  

So it was a good, relaxing break and hopefully I recharged enough to rock out the next six weeks or so.  Although, I think Relays might drain me a bit.  One day at a time, though... 

Democratic National Convention

Most of my summer is still undecided despite the fact I only have six weeks left of school.  But I know how I'll be spending the last two weeks of August.  

I'll be in Denver at the Democratic National Convention.

The Drake journalism department is taking ten students down to my Mile High City for an incredible opportunity.  We'll hopefully be blogging and reporting for the Des Moines Register.  Plus, we'll have actual field assignments.  The seminar is technically a class, so there will be assignments and instruction.

It's going to be really exciting.  Not only is it an incredible opportunity as a journalist, but also as a voting citizen.  It's bound to be a historic event because even if they know who will get the nomination by the time August rolls around, it's going to go to a black man or a woman.  It's going to amazing just to be there in the madness.  

What's even better is that it's a 3-credit course, but it's over after two weeks.  So, after we get back to Drake, I'll only have to go to four classes and still pull off a 15-credit semester.  It should be a lot of fun and I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

If things go as planned, I'll be in Des Moines this summer so it's going to be cool to spend the end of it back in Denver.  :)  

GenerationIowa.com

Recently I got a job as a freelance writer for GenerationIowa.com.  It's a networking site for young professionals and pre-professionals in, well, Iowa.  Imagine that.  It has all sorts of info on the site about how to get a job, make connections, get an apartment, and what to do here ... there's more than you'd think!

There are four main sections: My Career, My Connections, My Life in Iowa (that's me!) and My Entertainment.

Here's my first article: http://www.generationiowa.com/iowalife/article_view.asp?idArticle=161

You might need to copy and pasted that into the address bar.  It's about my first trip to Iowa for a Drake campus visit.  There are a couple of typos in it, and I'm hoping to get those fixed, but you're more than welcome to check it out.

There's another Drake student writing for GenerationIowa.  Max Plenke is also a sophomore magazine major and he writes for the My Entertainment section.  You can hit up his articles here: http://www.generationiowa.com/events/index.asp

Feel free to poke around the home page at www.generationiowa.com.  You can even make yourself a profile facebook-style.  Have fun with it, check it out, and make sure to comment on anything that strikes your fancy.  

A good season for the Boys in Blue

No matter where you live in this country, I'm sure you've heard Drake mentioned a fair few times in the past month or so.  Our men's basketball team has been on fire lately...

That was, of course, until they lost against Western Kentucky.  Not only did they lose, but they lost BY TWO at the overtime buzzer.  Western Kentucky sunk a 30-foot 3-pointer to steal the win.  How much does that suck?

But, it's alright.  The Boys in Blue had a miraculous season anyway.  I'm not going to pretend like I'm a huge basketball fan since I'm nothing of the sort.  When I go to games I cheer when the kids wearing blue cheer and boo when the kids wearing blue boo.  That's not always the best method, though... I'm reminded of the Creighton game last year.

Anyway, incase you're curious, Drake won 21 consecutive games and ended the regular season with a 28-4 record.  They also won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the first time in 37 years!

The new coach, Keno Davis, was named the MVC coach of the year and Adam Emmenecker and Josh Young were named to the All-District VI team.  

So, despite the heart-wrenching loss to Western Kentucky, Drake is still mighty proud of their Boys in Blue... and their Women in Blue, who lost to Illinois state in the MVC tournament last week, but we'll root them on in the Women's National Invitational Tournament which takes place today.  

For more information about Drake sports, visit www.godrakebulldogs.com

What's up with the Easter Bunny?

Ok, this has bothered me for a while. Why an Easter BUNNY when I'm fairly sure rabbits are, in fact, mammals, and thus don't lay eggs? Seriously. How did we arrive at a bunny of all things?

I bet there's a miffed Easter Hen out there somewhere - pissed off that the Easter Bunny gets all the credit for her hard work. Helllooooo laying an egg can't be easy. The bunny just delivers them. I mean, come on. And how does this rabbit get the eggs to begin with? Does he steal them? Is he robbing the Easter Hen? I don't think a rabbit can just waltz into a hen house undetected, though. That seems just a little ridiculous.

Unless, of course, the Hen and the Bunny are in cahoots. It's probably easier for the Bunny to get around to all those houses. I mean, chickens have those little legs and wings with which they can't even fly. If it were me, and I were in charge of distributing said Easter eggs, I would probably opt for the rabbit, too. No offense to the chicken, but the hopping is a bit faster than the waddling... or whatever you would call that. If the chicken were really smart, she'd just hire Brown.

"What can Brown do for me? Well, you can start by delivering allllll these Easter eggs." Then all the children would come running downstairs on Easter morning to see if the UPS man came.

Hmm... according to Wikpedia, the combination of the ultra-active rabbit and the egg represent fertility and rebirth, and thus help us to celebrate spring. It goes on to say that the word "Easter" is devised from the name of pagan goddess of spring "Eostre" who, legend says, took a winter bird with frozen wings and turned him into a rabbit, which created a rabbit that could lay eggs.

Bet you didn't know that.  And that's from Wikipedia ... so you can take it to the bank. 

Spring Breakdown

You know what I love more than spring? Spring Break.

Seriously, the week or two before spring break there's a pretty strong smell of fried brain wafting in through the windows that have been prematurely thrown open in celebration of the 50 degree weather. It's not really a good time to feel so burned out, either. Not right before Midterms.

And then Midterm week comes and don't even think about talking to anybody about the "so close and yet so far away" spring break.

"Oh yeah!?" people will snap at you "You wanna know what I have to do before I even THINK about spring break!? Try four papers and three exams!!! Yeah! That's what I thought."

Yeah, it's fun.

Or people will be like "I'm sooo looking forward to break. You have noooo idea." Don't say that. Whatever you do, don't say that. Wanna know why? Because I PROMISE whoever you're talking to definitely has an idea.

I'm pretty sure the week before spring break is the hardest week of the year. It's probably worse than finals. Not only is there a lot to do, but the weather is getting nicer (slowly but surely... come on, spring!) so everybody starts feeling all cooped up inside and overwhelmed with stuff. Not only that, but there are only six weeks or so after break so it kind of that "almost done with the semester" mentality... eventhough I think it's technically only half over. Hey, whatever helps, right?

But, yes. Everybody goes through that phase where they just want to quit and give up on school right about now. "Ahh!! I can't make it to break!! I can't do this anymore! I need out!!!" I bet parents get a lot of phone calls this time of year. Everybody breaks down. But that's a good thing. The important thing is to know when to pull yourself back together and rock out the last week. Give yourself an hour to hate school and then get back to work because you can do it. And so can I.