Sunday, March 20

Okay, today was less of a sleep in day. We had to get up early because I had a big film paper to work on that’s due tomorrow, so that was no fun. Of course, we did manage to squeeze in a quick run up to the Pancake House, which is quickly becoming the new tradition for Stef and I when we’re at her house on a Sunday. That place is just the best—oh man, pancakes, OJ, and sausage like whoa! We hit the road a little after noon, and I listened to most of the MSU basketball game against Vermont on the way home. I pretty much dove right into my paper on Sergei Eisenstein for Film Theory when I got back to the pad, and that ate up a good chunk of the rest of the day. This paper was SUCH a headache, since the writings and films we had to cover were SO complex, and I just wasn’t feelin’ it. BLAH. I did manage to get through about 3 pages tonight though, so it shouldn’t be too tough to wrap up tomorrow morning. What a pain.

Saturday, March 19

A great day to sleep in. Stefy came in and woke me up shortly after 10. We went downstairs looking for some cereal, but of course there wasn’t any milk or OJ in the house, so we had to make a quick run up to the gas station to get some. Most of the morning/early afternoon was spent vegging and getting around for the day, but we were presentable by 1 or 2. Stef’s friend Adrienne is home for her spring break this week, so we met up with her for lunch at the Pita Café in Birmingham. I absolutely love that place, so it was tough not to go nuts with a big order since we already had plans for dinner in Greektown tonight. It was really nice to see Adrienne and chat for a while, and we went to Caribou Coffee afterwards so the girls could get a caffeine fix. By the time Stef and I got back to the house it was pretty much time to start getting dressed for our night out on the town, so that took a good hour or two. Stef’s grandma showed up at the house a little after four, and we all piled into Tim’s car and hit the road a little after 5. I’d never been to Greektown before, so it was quite a treat for me—especially since I was with a bunch’a Greeks. We waited in line outside for Hella’s since every other place was packed, but we actually managed to get seated pretty quickly. Dinner was fabulous, as I expected. I ordered the lamb chops with potatoes, which was definitely a smart decision. Anyway, there wasn’t much time to linger and chitchat after everyone was done eating, because we had to hurry up and get to Masonic for the Phantom. Now, I’d never seen the play or the movie before, and the Spiros are definitely big fans, so it was great to finally see the show. Our seats were really good, and we had a great view of the stage. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the production. After hearing so much nay saying from my dad, and reading so many horrible reviews for the movie, I was expecting to hate it. The show really is amazing though—just an unbelievable production with amazing music (I mean, opera isn’t really my cup of tea, but you can always appreciate talented performers). We got back to the house a little after 11, and Stef and I cozied up on the leather couch for SNL. Of course, Miss Spiro managed to pass out pretty much right away, but it was still a pretty funny episode. Anyway, that’s it for today.

Friday, March 18

I worked a full 8 hours today, and it went by REALLY fast. There was a bunch of deposits to do, and a lot of tweaking to the website was necessary as well. I got out of here at around 4 and went straight back to campus to pick Stefy up from Holmes. We doubled back downtown right away so we could make it to St. Casmir for the Fish Fry. My grandparents met up with us at around 4:30, and we spent about the next half hour waiting in line to be served. The food was, well… fishy. I mean, it was your typical Fish Fry fare. The best part though was getting to catch up with my grandparents. They seem to be doing really well, although I guess my grandma has been really sick lately. She seemed to be doing fine tonight though, and I was really glad that they could spend some time with Stefy around, since they haven’t really seen her since before my birthday last year. We kinda had to hit the road for Stef’s house after dinner though, and grandma and grandpa were anxious to get home for Jeopardy, so we didn’t mingle too long. Stef and I got to her house just after 7 tonight, and we spent the evening watching “The Incredibles” with her mom in the living room. I forgot how much I loved that movie—I think I might’ve dozed off for a bit when we first saw it in the theater. Stef’s mom went to bed after the movie was over, but we stayed comfy on the couch and watched most of “Legally Blonde” on TBS before crashing at around midnight.

Thursday, March 17

St. Patrick’s Day. Of course, I was one of the few who showed up to class SOBER this morning, but you know how it goes—I guess everyone’s Irish today. Film History was pretty good today, even though all we were doing was taking notes. Prof. Fay managed to keep it interesting, without putting anyone (namely—me) to sleep. My dad picked me up at Bessy right after class, and we made a quick little jaunt over to Holmes to pick Stefy up for lunch with us. We had the brilliant idea of going up to Eastwood and trying to get into Claddah’s for lunch, but of course the place was a complete zoo. They weren’t even bothering to seat people. It was basically like, if you weren’t drunk yet, you shoved your way in, pushed some people out of the way, and started throwin’ ‘em back. So, we pretty much got the hell out of there, and went over to Max and Erma’s to eat instead. The restaurant was totally dead, but that was actually nice so we could, you know… talk during lunch. Dad took us back to my car after lunch, and that was pretty much it for the day. Like I mentioned before, Film Theory was cancelled so we could attend this Conference today, which was basically a way of offering extra credit. I had every intention of going, but when the time came, I decided to skip it. I mean I don’t really need the extra credit, so I didn’t feel like bothering. Instead I stayed in and worked on my Eisenstein paper a little bit more, but nothing too major. Hey, at least I got those crucial first three sentences down! So yeah, that was it for St. Patty’s Day.

Wednesday, March 16

Well, I managed to drag myself into Sociology at 8 this morning. I really didn’t miss much by skipping on Monday. The prof must’ve figured that no one would show. Class was pretty painless, and it was made even easier by watching a half hour PBS special, which also gave me some time to work on improving my high score in Tetris. Work was worky today… nothing major. English Lit was naught today. I spent the early evening doing some prep work for my next big Film Theory paper, which will be due on Monday, but nothing too major. Don’t want to over do it, you know. Stefy and I met up a little before 7 tonight to head over to Kellogg for an extra credit lecture for her Christianity class. The deal was that if I tagged along with her tonight, she’d go to the conference I’m supposed to attend for Film Theory tomorrow. Anyway, they had this guy basically get up and give a speech about how the early “Christians” weren’t Christians at all—just a bunch’a Jews who were nuts for Jesus. No, I kid, but it was actually really interesting. The guy is crazy smart, and managed to boil everything down so it was really easy to understand. After the lecture let out a little before 9, Stef and I came back to the pad and crashed in front of the TV for a little while. It’s so nice to stay up late on Wednesdays with a late morning class on Thursday.

Tuesday, March 15

Film History was a lot of fun today. We watched “The Battle of Algiers”, which is a lot like “Pépé le Moko”, which we saw several weeks ago. The movie was great, but I am starting to tire of all the heavy Marxism we seem to be getting in that class. Even a lefty like me can only take so much of that stuff. Work was kinda busy this afternoon since the newsletter I’ve been working on for two months now is STILL in limbo at the printer. Film Theory was kinda long and boring this afternoon, but the payoff is that class is cancelled on Thursday to encourage us to attend MSU’s Conference on Visual Culture and Globalization… or something like that. I also got some good news when Prof. Fay handed back our midterms. I was shocked—SHOCKED—when I got mine back. I thought I did so bad on that thing, and somehow managed to pull a 3.5 (just barely) out of my ass. My evening was relatively low key, and I headed over to Holmes at around 9 to catch Sex and the City with Stefy. Definitely missing Florida weather today. Blah.

Monday, March 14

Well, it’s always hard to get back into the swing of things on the first day back from a vacation… so I decided to sleep in this morning and skip Sociology. It was a smart move I think. Anyway, I eventually got up and around and made it into the office at the usual time. There was a bunch of stuff to do this week to get caught up, but I eased my way back into things, and spent some time filling Wanda and Kim in on my Florida adventures. I did manage to make it into my English Lit class this afternoon, and it wasn’t too bad. We just started this new material that’s pretty boring like usual, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to read and understand. The rest of the day was pretty low-key though. I made a quick trip to Meijer tonight and finally got re-stocked on groceries for the week. That was about it though.