Earlier this week a couple of us did something amazing: we fixed our ping pong table.  It had been sitting upstairs, dilapidated and abandoned, for the whole semester, but we finally built up the motivation to take on the task of restoring it to an operational state.

Not only did we fix the table, but we replaced the lights in the room and made some space to play in.  Now we’ve got a pretty nice little arena up there.  I’ve played quite a few games on it so far, and I’m sure I will be playing many more in the future.  I love ping pong.  It’s a simple sport, but the entertainment value is huge.  I never grow tired of playing the game, regardless of how long I’ve been playing.

It’s a really good thing we fixed this table up.  There’s an IM table tennis tournament next week, and I really need some practice.  I’m probably not going to win, but at least my chances will be somewhat better than they would have been had I gone into the tournament without any practice at all.  It doesn’t really matter either way; I’m still going to enjoy it.  Ping pong is so much fun.  

Posted by Michael Richmond at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now I feel like talking about Thanksgiving.  It was nice. 

I was kind of sick on Friday, though, which wasn’t very nice.  I don’t much enjoy being sick; it’s not one of my favorite things.  I think I felt better later that day, though, because I somehow managed to drive to the airport to pick up one of my pledge brothers, who I then took to Crawfordsville.  Yeah, I’m a nice guy, picking people up from the airport and everything. 

I needed to go back to Wabash anyway, though, to get some stuff I needed in order to do an assignment.  That’s not to say I wouldn’t have been there for my friend had I not needed to go back, however.  I just mention it because I thought it all worked out very conveniently. 

While I was up there in Crawfordsville I suggested to a couple of my friends that we go check out the new Buffalo Wild Wings that had opened the week before.  I was really excited to go eat there for some reason, I don’t remember why.  Well, we rushed over there after we were done at the house, and we walked in, and then walked out no more than a minute later.  There was a forty-minute wait!  A forty-minute wait at a mediocre restaurant in Crawfordsville?!  The whole city must have been there. 

So we went to Steak & Shake instead.  I ordered a platter, but they forgot about my sides.  Since it was the day after Thanksgiving and all I decided to be thankful for what I got rather than mention the oversight to our waiter.  I even paid for the sides.  And we left a good tip.  That’s class. 

Our break is about over.  I head back to school tomorrow.  Three weeks left in the semester.  Time sure is flying. 

Posted by Michael Richmond at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

            Today is Thanksgiving, but I don’t feel like talking about that right now; however, I do hope you have a dandy one.  Yeah, I hope you have a good one.

            Instead of talking about Thanksgiving I’m going to talk about what I’ve done with my week so far.  There are two events in particular that stand apart from the rest: The 2007 Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship and Franklin Community’s first home high school basketball game. 

            The cross country championship was on Monday, and I was there for that.  I went with some friends and my old coach, and it was nice to see them all again.  The race was awesome, too.  The men’s race came down to an intense battle for first between University of Oregon’s Galen Rupp and Liberty University’s Josh McDougal.  McDougal pulled ahead at the end, winning by a second.  University of Oregon placed first as a team.  ‘Twas exciting.  The women’s race was cool, too, but the margin of victory between first and second was significantly greater than that of the men’s.  The winner was Sally Kipyego from Texas Tech, and she won by about seventeen seconds; that’s a big lead.

            The basketball game last night was against Center Grove.  Being the first home game at the new school it was a pretty big deal, and there were quite a few people there to see it.  We lost.  I still had fun, though.  The cross country teams were honored at half-time for their great season, which was swell.  Also, some Franklin Cross Country alums met up with our coach and had some pizza and caught up a bit before the game.  It was nice to see everyone and listen to them talk about their respective colleges, and it was nice to joke around together like we did in high school.  Being at the new school was awkward, though.  It felt nothing like the one I was used to, and I don’t think I like it.  The place lacks congeniality and warmth, two of my favorite things.  I really liked the cozy, friendly atmosphere of the old school. I guess it doesn’t matter, though.  I don’t go to high school any more.

            Happy Thanksgiving! 

Posted by Michael Richmond at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’m home. 

I can’t express with words how nice it is to finally be able to relax.  Eight: that’s the number of nights I’m going to be here in Franklin, resting my mind, getting ready for the three final weeks of the semester.  I’m sleeping a lot, eating a lot, sleeping more, doing some homework, spending time with friends and family, and sleeping some more.  Yep, it’s all puppies and rainbows here. 

Speaking of puppies, I was welcomed home by thirteen of them.  My mom had told me a few weeks ago that our dog, Isabelle, had birthed a fairly large litter, but I guess I forgot about it.  I was reminded, though, when I walked into our garage and was made the subject of their gaze, having all twenty-six of their eyes on me.  Actually, most of them were asleep, but I like to imagine it happened the other way.  

So yeah, lots of puppies.  Pretty cool.  And you know what else is cool?  This chair I’m sitting in.  It’s really comfortable.  Really.  I’ve been sitting here most of the night, reading and listening to music, but mostly reading.  I have a lot of reading to do this week—ten or so novels by Vonnegut—but it’s going to be fine because I get to do it all in this amazing chair.  It’s funny; I never really appreciated this chair until I left it behind while I went to school.  This is a really nice chair, though. 

Posted by Michael Richmond at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

            Earlier this week, maybe Tuesday, a friend of mine bought a computer game called Crysis.  Now, I’m not much of a video game fan—I don’t play them at all, actually—but for some reason this one had me enthralled.  Maybe it was all the hype, maybe I just didn’t have anything better to do, I don’t know.  I do know, however, that I spent the better part of my nights watching this friend of mine play this silly game—yeah, Aaron, I said it was silly. 

            Now, there really wouldn’t have been much of a problem with this had I not had a huge Biology exam on Friday, or an important paper due the same day, or a lot of reading to catch up on.  For some reason, though, every time the game was being played, people dropped whatever it was they were doing and came flocking to our room to see how much progress had been made in combating the alien race that had invaded Earth.  Sure, the graphics were better than anything we’d ever seen, and there was more action than could be found in anything else out on the market, but so what?  It’s a damn game.  That damn game had us all bewitched, though.     

            I grew tired of the game eventually, so I was able to get my stuff done.  I don’t really know what happened, but I walked into the room one day, saw him playing, and I just wasn’t interested anymore.  I left the room.  It felt really good to do so.  I’m really sick of videogames now.  I mean, I didn’t really like them before, but now I hate them.  I guess it’s because I’ve seen what they can do to people.  Bad things.    

Posted by Michael Richmond at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

            It was Thanksgiving at the Kappa Sigma house last night.  Our wonderful cook, Laura, prepared a prodigious meal for the brothers, one that left just about everyone groaning with satiety.

            It really was a big dinner.  We had at our disposal four turkeys, mashed potatoes, stuffing, candied yams, pasta of some sort, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, and a stack of pumpkin pies.  The lot of us crammed together at two tables and had as many helpings as our stomachs could manage, and then we had some more.  Gluttony ran rampant.  That’s okay, though, for one day of the year, just as long as we’re thankful for all of the things we have to be thankful for.  

            And now that I’ve had my warm-up feast I’m ready for the real thing.  I think my family will be celebrating Thanksgiving at home this year.  At least, I hope that’s what we’re doing.  I’d much rather stay home than have to travel somewhere to have a meal—I like to be able to take a nap right after I eat mass quantities of food.  Mom, I hope you’re reading this.

            Yep, Thanksgiving Break is coming up pretty soon.  Oh! But Thanksgiving Break, why can’t you come any sooner?!  I know you’re only two days away, but those two days will be long and arduous, and I’m not really in the mood to put up with any lengthy arduousness.  Woe is me!

Ehh…I’ll survive.

Posted by Michael Richmond at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

    So I was just sitting here thinking about things, and I decided now would probably be a pretty good time to write a little something.  If no one’s told you yet, we lost the game.  Sad, isn’t it?  It was a pretty good game, though.  Wabash led most of it, which helped to keep our spirits up throughout.  When DePauw came back and did something to win, though—some guy kicked some kind of miracle field goal—everyone got kind of weepy over here.  I was a bit upset as well, but I figure why not let them have this one, and we can take the next five or so.  This also gives us a chance to consider stealing it; however, I’ve heard there could be some nasty repercussions should we actually do so.  It's probably not a good idea.  What a shame. 

            When we got back to Wabash things basically went back to normal.  A bunch of us went out to eat, and everyone pretty much did the routine weekend thing, whatever that may be.  I usually just sit in my room and talk with a few people, or watch a movie, or sleep.  I didn’t do that Saturday night, though.  I actually drove down to DePauw to see how they were reacting to their win.  They took it pretty well, I think.  People were all over campus yelling and cheering and using Wabash’s name in vain.  I was scared.  Don’t worry, though, I didn’t join in.  It looked like a lot of fun, though.  I really wish Wabash would have won. 

            We did win the Monon Keg game on Friday, however, and that was exciting.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the event, it’s a rugby match between Wabash and DePauw.  I drove down there for that, too, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, even though I don’t know the first thing about rugby.  I just clapped and cheered when everyone else did, pretending I knew what was going on.  I don’t think anyone noticed. 

            Yeah, that was my weekend.  Not much happened Sunday.  Actually, I did watch Forrest Gump Sunday afternoon, and I enjoyed that very much, and I also went out for ice cream at Dairy Queen, which was nice.  I hadn’t been to Dairy Queen in a while before then.  I had a large, vanilla ice cream cone dipped in butterscotch.  It was delightful.

Posted by Michael Richmond at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)