John 9:6

I can see. I don't recall spit or mud. It was more of a trippy combination of bright zaps and the fuzzy background lights induced by applying a slight pressure to the eyes. And I'm sure that the local anesthetic helped, too. The whole experience was sort of cool in a Space Mountain sort of way. And the end result is 20/15. And x-ray vision.

The week in Boston (okay, Worcester) was pretty interesting. One thing that I noticed is how malleable language is. If I got into a conversation with a local, after a few moments, I'd let it slip that I was just b-ah-rrowing my bro's c-ah. Or that I was headed up to the b-ah to get some d-ahk beer. And as amusing as that was, I don't really feel the need to keep it. Basically, I got some good seafood, watched some football, and had a vision defect cured after 18 years.

One very amusing night was last Saturday. We were off at a sports b-ah watching the Pats-Broncos. And of course, my brother hates the Pats. I'm largely indifferent to the outcome of the game. I've always liked the Broncos, since the old John Elway days (particularly since they punked the Browns twice!), though I haven't really been forced to my usual routine of rooting for the Bengals until they fall out of contention, and then switching over to the Broncos. On the other hand, I also root for the dynasty to continue, but I also enjoy seeing people going home unhappy. So, I was more or less on the fence. But not my brother. He was actively rooting for the Broncos and against the Pats.

So, as the Patriots fumbled away their chance at another Super Bowl, my brother gets creative. After the 2nd fumble, he stands up, with a fork in his hand, and just drops it on the ground, and says (loudly), "oops, I fumbled." The glares that we got were pretty much priceless. Later on, after Adam Vinatieri hits the second kick, which got all of the Pats fans riled up, my brother declares, "This is football. And you guys are getting excited about a soccer player." It got to the point where after every Pats first down, we'd have this dude, wearing this huge foam mask/head that was professionally airbrushed (and darned cool looking), screaming, "Fi-rr-st Down!" at us while doing the ref's motion at us. Good times.

Anyway, we've been back to school for a week now. Classes will go smoothly this spring. One required course that I am pretty much already mailing in. One psych course that looks to be cake. And one independent study that is for research that I probably would've done anyway. I do have a bunch of other research that needs to be done quickly, but over the course of the semester, this will be a very manageable semester. The trick? Getting a jump on my summer paper during the semester so that I don't kill myself this summer. I think that it can get done, as soon as I get an idea for a topic in my head.

Let's see... later, we'll have more on the Illini and why that loss against Indiana was actually more interesting to me than the win against Michigan St. And we'll also have some thoughts about why we play the games that we do.

-Chairman