Yesterday I started studying for my microeconomics exam at 4:30 p.m. I finished studying at 11:00 p.m. Do the math. This crazy amount of time spent studying also doesn't count the two hour or so I killed on Monday night, getting ready for the test. So, my second midterm in EC 301 is today, and I feel more than prepared this time around. It's an amazing feeling, this "preparedness."

Anyway, tonight isn't going to be much better. Tomorrow is my EC 302 midterm. I think those econ profs are all in cahoots. Well, the good thing about that test is that, since it's not open note, at least I don't have to worry about transcribing all my chicken scratch for the test. Plus, since we are required to turn in homework for that class, I don't have to go back and teach my self half of the material. We'll see how it goes though. I could still end up getting hosed.

Well, the City of Lansing has a new mayor, Mr. Virg Bernero. This is welcome news. I worked on Virg's campaign for State Senate back in 2002, so it's nice to see him finally beat that bum Benavides. Maybe Lansing will actually get it's crap together, and make this city "cool" again (if it ever was). In related mayoral news, I'm a little sad to see that Kwame came back to win in Detroit, but then again, I'm not sure if God himself could make Detroit any better (or worse).

This has been the second busiest week of the semester. Aside from my two exams in EC 301 & 302, this is also the week of the Trust Fund's annual "Evening for Economic Justice," or, as I like to call it, Schmooze Fest '05. Basically, this is our big night to highlight our financial investors, and have a big par-tay, with the hopes of brining in some donations to help fund our little operation. It's actually a really nice event, in all honesty, but it's just really hectic around the office. I'm in charge of putting together the program for the show, and while it's coming along quite well, I'm still in neutral, waiting for the rest of the team to get their ducks in a row on certain details. I swear, I'm not complaining! Really, I'm sure everything will turn out wonderfully. I hope. I think. I hope. Anyway, the big gala event is in Detroit tomorrow night, and since I somehow conned Stefy into tagging along to keep me company and meet some more of the people I work with, we'll probably just end up spending the night at her house, and come back on Friday.

And, if all of that doesn't make it sound like a busy week, my mom (and probably Dan) are coming into town on Friday. As always, it'll be great to see them, and have houseguests. We'll probably go to Frankenmuth over the weekend for a nice, big Bavarian dinner or something. Mmmmm. Chicken. None of us have gove to Frankenmuth in at least a couple years, so it'll be nice to (hopefully) kickstart our old tradition of going to Bronner's/The Bavarian Inn each year.

Wow, I think this might set some kind of record for an events post. I'll cut it off here. Anyway, I hope everyone is have a great (and stress-free) week.

What a long, strange weekend it was. But fun.

Friday started off with the benefit dinner for Ele's place (I finally figured out what it was for) at the Mariott. Stef and I met up at her place for some pre-dinner photos, and then drove out to Capstone Apartments to meet up with her friends Rae and Sayee, who was planning our evening. We all made it to the Mariott shortly after seven, and spent then next hour or so milling around the ballroom, waiting for our dinner to start. The meal was actually really good, which was a pleasant surprise. We had a lot of fun with the girls though, and after finding out some more about the cause we were supporting, I felt like the night was money well-spent. Plus, it's always fun to get dressed up. Anyway, we hung around until shortly after ten, and then called it a night, and headed back to my place.

Stef and I took our time getting up and around on Saturday, and didn't hit the road for her house until well after noon. The nice treat though was getting McDonald's on the way. I finally got to try one of those new chicken sandwiches. Mmmmm. That was some quality McD's, let me tell you.

We made it to la casa de Spiro shortly after two, and then spent the next few hours just killing time around the house. We finally got it together by 5 o'clock though, so we could pile in the car with Stef's folks, and head out to Rochester Hills for dinner at this Italian place Picano's. Stef and I were sort of crashing the surprise birthday party of a friend of the family, but it turned out to be a pretty fun evening. This woman is the mother of one of Tim's top employees, and she was turning 80. Basically, she's like a raunchier version of my great-grandma "Mamoo," who just says whatever pops in her head. For instance, when she was opening her first present of the night—which turned out to be a tiara—she asked if a dildoe was going to pop out at her. So, yeah... that's Alice in a nutshell. Anyway, the party was a lot of fun, the food was great, and it was nice to sit around and shoot the shit with Stef's mom for most of the night.

Sunday got off on the right foot with another mondo-huge Teri Spiro breakfast. Sean, Marina, and Brandon (sans-Colin, who is in California with Marina's parents) came over for the big feast, so it was nice to see them for the first time in several weeks. After eating breakfast, we all gathered in the living room, and watched the Lions piss away a very winnable game. The house cleared out by mid-afternoon, so Stef and I ducked out to go see Good Night, And Good Luck at the Maple Art Theater. I must say, while it certainly isn't balls to the wall drama or anything, this is probably the most timely film made since maybe Fahrenheit 9/11 came out last year. I mean, making a movie about Edward R. Murrow during the era of info-tainment jounalism and Faux News, I think George Clooney has crafted a pretty stringent indictment of the modern mainstream media. Can you imagine if men like this existed in today's world, and commanded the audience/influence that Murrow did during the McCarthy era?

Anyway, stepping off my high horse, today was back to the same old, same old of my senior year of college. I spent the morning in my Comm. class, trying to pay attention to another semi-pointless lecture. The afternoon was spent pouring over five weeks worth of microeconomics homework questions in ec 301. Tonight will be spent re-pouring over said homework questions. As will tomorrow. The one shining spot of my day was lunch with Stef, sandwiched in-between classes this afternoon. I finally got a chance to eat at the new Noodles & Co. place on Grand River, and I must say, their Mac 'n Cheese is EXCELLENT.

Whew. Well, I'm about to blow this pop-stand, and then it's time for more studying at home. Good night, and good luck.