Bringing the Drama

a while back when my friend and i were talking about having a party for the Oscars for the 2nd straight year (NEXT year we’ll have the pick the winners contest), i said i was going to try to make a king cake. i had found a recipe on a local news station’s website, and it didn’t seem too hard. i used to like king cakes without a lot of icing, and ever since Tastee Donuts shut down as a franchise, most of the king cakes i can find have way too much icing. TD’s used to be like a big cinnamon donut, with minimal icing that would hold the sugar on there.

first of all, i got home saturday night with the supplies, and one of the containers of ‘hot roll mix’ busted. i have no idea what happened, i just walked in the kitchen to put stuff away and i found it like that. the mix talked about in the recipe ended up being two rolls of dough that you can buy that already comes in sheets. it’s brilliant really, and says right on the roll that they are used to make all kinds of different things. so the dough roll busts and i stuck the dough in a bowl and put the lid on it, hoping it would work okay. it did, but then when i went to make the king cake i had to roll it out. i don’t have a roller. so i had to figure out something to use that was flat and even…..tall glass! the glass worked out good enough, but not great. better than nothing though. next kitchen supply is going to have to be a rolling pin.

the 2nd dough roll came out in a perfect sheet, so spreading the butter/cinnamon/sugar mixture was easy and fast.

i rolled the cigar shaped rolls together on the cookie sheet, but in the essence of time didn’t really try to make them fit together perfect. i was running late for the Oscar party and had to get this done, plus i still had to make the glaze and the colored sugar.

once i took the cake out of the oven, both sides looked alright, but you could tell which side was glass rolled.

the glaze was really easy to make. the colored sugars took a little more work. when i went to walmart to get food coloring, they didn’t really have traditional food coloring like i was used to. they had ‘icing coloring’, which was like a gel. it was all they had, but then i had to call an audible because they didn’t have purple. they had 9 other colors BUT purple. i ended up calling up knowledge from kindergarten and getting the primary colors so i could make purple, green, and gold.

as you can see the sugars came out pretty well. i probably didn’t need to use a full 1/3 cup of sugar for each color. i probably could have gotten by with 1/4 cup. also, i think i could have made less of the glaze because it ended up running to the middle of the cake.

taking the cake off the cookie sheet was a challenge, but it worked. once it was off the sheet, the icing wasn’t too much, and the sugar was still on there. everything worked out really well. i brought it to the party and people were amazed i had made it. stacked up against a homemade cheesecake and these awesome pecan/chocolate clusters i think it did pretty well.

seeing as how you can buy these ingredients at any store in America, my out of town friends can make their own king cake at home, and it won’t cause you to pay $30 for getting one shipped from NOLA.

this morning i got to work and started scanning for a parking spot. by scanning i mean hoping to get lucky and score a parking spot near the gate. to go down the parking aisles, you drive along a sidewalk. so this morning i’m driving down the sidewalk and this lanky type guy is walking on it. i see he has a short sleeve shirt on, and this AM the temperature was in the 40s with some wind. the wind suddenly gusted, so the guy starts running. he ran very awkwardly down the sidewalk i’m guessing to get inside and out of the cold wind. the way he ran can best be described how Michael Bolton from Office Space (or maybe the singer too) would run. picture him running down a sidewalk. that’s what i saw this morning. arms not really moving in concert with the rest of the body, head moving wildly from side to side, it was weird. i realized i probably should not be that surprised seeing someone running like that considering i work with mostly engineers. i laughed to myself and scored a parking spot on the 2nd row of spots.

i had my first big test of my grad school class today. it was closed book and closed notes, but we got to bring one piece of paper with whatever we wanted on it. i filled it out with all kinds of formulas. i show up for the test and my proctor guy gives me the test and has to take my cell phone because that’s what the test says. i don’t know who i would have called or texted to get information on this test from, but apparently someone at the school thinks i could. i had to take the test without a clock because i use my phone for my clock. i was able to get two of the problems and went back to finish the third when the proctor says i have 10 minutes. great. so i didn’t finish the last problem, but it probably didn’t matter because it was something i did not really have the formulas written down to solve. i probably could have gotten it if i had more time but i had 10 minutes. also, i had to use the tables the prof gave us instead of the thermo tables i have from undergrad. i didn’t want to print the new tables out, but one of the problems on the test involved Helium, which was NOT in the thermo tables i had. good thing i brought the new tables with me on a memory stick. OF COURSE the question on the test would involve something other than what i already had, which was about 10 or 15 different elements. i finished the test and felt okay about it, at least considering, and turned it in.

now with that over, life gets easier since i don’t have the test hanging over my head anymore. of course, there’s another one later this semester, but there’s plenty of time between now and then. this past weekend was jam packed with mardi gras stuff and oscar stuff and cooking stuff, with it all being tainted by the overhanging shadow of this test. now i can enjoy my mardi gras time off in peace.

this morning i woke up on my bed cold, alone, and fully clothed, and had to take a few minutes to figure out what was going on. i went to the Hornets/Magic game last night and got home around 10:30, but don’t remember going into my room and falling on my bed. i woke up sans alarm at 6:30, so i was late getting to work today. the drive to work was uneventful, except for the person with the big fat SUV deciding to slide in just in front of me while in a pack of cars going 70. hope they enjoy the 7 mpg.

last night’s game was a lot of fun to go to. the Hornets looked like last year’s team, playing aggressive and dominating.

SIDEBAR: [speaking of being aggressive, have you seen the new Jordan commercial with CP telling his teammates to be aggressive? it's amazing. i wish i could sit that close to hear them talking and yelling to each other on the court. i can't hear it from where i sit because when the crowd's not cheering they are playing music. maybe one day.]

Chris Paul started out red hot and they jumped out to a big lead. Orlando tried but failed to get within reasonable striking distance the rest of the way. that’s how games would go last year, the Hornets would impose their will and the other team would eventually fold some time in the 3rd quarter. i was really paying attention to Dwight Howard and how he would toss aside the Hornets’ front line like rag dolls, which he did. however, the Hornets defended him very well and he did not approach the 50 points/20 rebounds i thought he was sure to get. an old college nemesis JJ Redick even got to play, and made some 3′s, and also got a ridiculous foul call after he had stuck out his arm as a defender ran past. i yelled out “this isn’t Duke!” but being in the upper deck the refs did not hear me. the lady in front of me who i’ve been seeing at every game laughed. she definitely hears me, and we almost had words when i didn’t like the way Tyson Chandler was playing.

speaking of TC, i’m disappointed the trade did not go through. i’m concerned about his failed physical. i was a little bothered that the Hornets couldn’t pry away a 1st round draft pick in the deal but by last night had warmed to the idea of having two front line players and financial flexibility later. all the talk from the national media about the deal being a salary dump were a bit ignorant. it didn’t make basketball sense to them, but i’ve been to almost every home game this year, i’ve noticed how he’s played. i’ve also noticed how he’s been injured at one time or another most of the year. his salary is about 200% of my own and he hasn’t really earned it this year i don’t think. i read a Hornets message board and the chatter from a couple of guys sounded like there was more to it than just salary relief. the failed physical was obviously the “more to it”. hopefully he can get his act together and heal up for the stretch run of the season.

one of my friends at work is leaving for a job in Florida with the same company. he’s not the first or the last, just the latest. people in the department went to lunch, and i noticed it was like the end of Roger Rabbit where all the cartoon characters come together in some kind of cartoon menagerie of everyone singing at once. we had BO guy, the lady who talks and laughs RIDICULOUSLY LOUD, and then the various people that are more normal. White Shoes even made a late appearance. the ridiculously loud lady (RLL) sits near me, but far enough away that i don’t hear her all the time. when she gets a friend on the phone though, LOOK OUT!

last night i got home and was set to do homework for my grad school class that’s due by the end of today. i hate this class. the videos for the classes are fine, i follow along and understand what’s going on. then the homework ends up being slightly off, and it’s not easily discernible how to take what we learn in class and apply it to the hw. i get home after going to the gym, and eat dinner. i check my email and facebook (to make sure that crazy lady hasn’t sent me another FR) and one of my fellow youth counselors tells me the big summer trip this year is in trouble. so i start to listen. the trip is to a youth conference in DC, and it’s one i went on back when Geoff Moore still played with The Distance.

i had found an alternative than renting a bus to get up there, and figured when i heard the per kid price, i thought that was before all the fundraising we were going to do. i heard only 12 kids signed up, and my first thought was to present to the kids at the next meeting how awesome the trip is going to be and why they should go. if we still couldn’t get enough kids then we could just do something else. i talked to one of my youth leader friends in Nashville (who was on FB at the time) about the trips they go on during the summer, and they sounded awesome. way better and cheaper than the DC trip i thought. then i found out that the per kid price was AFTER the fundraising. then i found out that the new youth leader booked rooms in DC that are either non refundable or close to it. apparently there’s a 25% penalty for canceling. so now we have a trip that’s too expensive and we’re behind the 8 ball with the hotel rooms. i googled to find out if there was a way to get out of this problem, but i couldn’t find one.

hopefully by the end of this week there’ll be an alternative option, or at least a new option instead of what we have right now. non refundable rooms are a TERRIBLE idea for a youth trip. what if not that many kids go? what if more kids go than you planned for? what if you want to change everything and go somewhere else?

i wish i could quit my job and do youth leader stuff full time. i think it’d be way more fun than my current job. i didn’t feel bad about not doing any hw last night. hopefully we can get this summer trip stuff worked out and the kids can have an awesome trip, whether we get to go to DC or something else. i’m kind of leaning towards the something else, cause after talking with my Nashville friend, i think that trip would be better. and it’s cheaper!

i have a great story about Friday night’s adventure and concert, but i need to post this insanely bizarre story brought to you by facebook. about a month ago, i got a friend request from this woman (she’s 38) i don’t know, and we had no mutual friends. so i turned her down. today i get another FR from her, but today it showed that i had a mutual friend, my friend Chad’s wife. i sent her a FB email basically telling her i got this FR and i don’t know who this lady is. she sent me a response back which is below:

DO NOT ACCEPT. She is married, and she just cheated on her husband with some teenage dude. She has 3 kids, one in high school. She’s been finding all the guys on my friends list, as well as other teachers at my school. Run…Run AWAY!!!!

yuck.

so the other day it was revealed that Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore are engaged. i was emailed by my friend CJ on Wednesday and heard it first from her. I’m not really surprised considering they’ve dated before, and i saw her in pictures from Australia that he posted on his blog. i think it’s great. the following is a text conversation i had yesterday about it.

Jacob: “CNN.com is reporting that Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore are engaged”
Me: “Yeah, gossip places had it yesterday. CNN must read pitchfork who read gossip blogs. I am jealous of him”
Jacob: “I’m jealous of her”
Me: “I don’t think I could marry a vegetarian”
Jacob: “Oh. Yeah, that’s a dealbreaker”

also yesterday it was announced that RA would be playing an acoustic show in ATL in March. i discussed it with a friend, but ultimately decided the hassle/disappointment ratio would probably not be in our favor. what is the hassle/disappointment ratio? it was something i came up with yesterday. i go to a lot of concerts, right? i usually measure the worth of going by what day the show’s on, what time does it start, have i seen the band before, was the show any good, etc. all these factors usually are weighed against how much i like the band. yesterday though i came up with a new theory. if the amount of hassle is equal to the amount of disappointment, then the show was not worth going to see. if there’s hardly any hassle, then if the show sucks it’s no big deal. if there’s a lot of hassle but the show is legendary, then that’s okay too. the last two Nickel Creek shows in Nashville that i went to weren’t that much of a hassle, cause i love Nashville and i’ll use any excuse to go, but the shows were huge disappointments. i’m kind of glad i still went, but i don’t rank the two Nashville shows in my top 5 NC shows ever. let’s just say i’d be okay had i not been there. the weekend in Nashville was super fun though. back to the RA acoustic show…..the hassle of going would be driving to ATL from Birmingham (i’m going to be there already for the RA show on 3/6), then going to the show, leaving late going back to Birmingham, and missing a day of work (since the show is on Sunday). that’s a lot of hassle for a show that will probably be shorter than a regular RA show. the only appeal would be that it’s acoustic, and the setlist would probably be very different. it’s theoretical though, because the band hasn’t played an acoustic show in a while. however, all these factors add up to the disappointment needing to be almost zero for the hassle to cancel out. and as much as i think the disappointment would be almost zero, i can’t help but remember thinking the same thing before i flew up to Nashville in November 2007. i’m usually a person who does things for the experience than not doing them, but the past month or so i’ve been really into trying to save money and change my spending habits. 4 RA shows is going to have to be it for me.

before you think i’m crazy though, i can explain. i got free tickets to the ATL show, so i’m going to that. i got tickets for Birmingham because i wanted to go to more than one show, and go with a fellow super fan. after i already had tickets for those shows, Mobile was scheduled a week later. i bought tickets for that, then like three weeks later Baton Rouge got scheduled, so i got tickets for that. the hassle for Baton Rouge and Mobile is almost nothing, and both Birmingham and ATL are on Fridays where i don’t have work so i don’t have to take vacation days to go to any of these shows. so as much as i’d want to see the acoustic show, it just won’t work.

i’m pretty superstitious about sporting events. i never want anything i do to effect the game. not that i think i actually have anything to do with the final outcome, but it’s just for piece of mind. last year i wore the same shirt to a lot of the Hornets games and they won all of them, but then they lost game 7. i wore the shirt to one game this year and they lost, so i haven’t worn it since. i wore one of my gold shirts we got at a playoff game last year to a game where i thought they’d lose, i think it was against the Spurs. they won. then i wore it to another couple of games and they won those. i noticed when i didn’t wear the gold shirt, they’d lose. also, i didn’t wash the gold shirt during this time period, only wore it to the game and took it off when i got home. other than the shirt this year, i noticed a trend when i’d go to games with my mom. i took her to two games early in the season against teams they should beat, and they lost. so a couple of weeks ago i took her to a game i thought they’d lose and they won. the reverse luck worked.

last night i put both my shirt’s luck on the line and bringing my mom to a game. the Hornets were playing the Celtics, and with all the injuries and how they were playing they were going to need all the help they could get. we got to the game in plenty of time and had the usual turkey sandwiches (it’s the healthiest dinner item in the Arena) and made our way to the seats. i bring binoculars to most games, and scan the courtside seats for celebrities. for games against teams like the Celtics, there’s usually a big name person. last night was Dave Matthews, sitting right next to the Hornets owner. i tried taking a picture with my phone when they showed him on the jumbotron….

i have season tickets, so i sit around the same people every game. last night i had no idea that the people in front of me sold their tickets to The Most Annoying People In The World (TMAPITW). last night for some reason the Hornets passed out Thundersticks to the people in the upper deck. Thundersticks were cool when the Angels were winning the World Series, but now they are annoying, especially inside an enclosed arena. anyway, so about TMAPITW, it was a guy, a girl, their daughter (at least the guy’s), and the girl’s grandma (i guess). the grandma was sitting in the lower deck, and she came up to take her grand-daughter downstairs with her. so the guy and girl are sitting in front of me. the guy brought flags to wave around during the game. he didn’t wave them around that much, but it got annoying when he stood up at random moments to wave it around. the girl had one thunderstick. she’s waving it around randomly during the game, including behind her and at one point just about hit me in the face, so i grabbed at it. she turned around cause she knew she hit me, and i said “seriously, could you stop doing that?” i don’t mind people acting a fool, but don’t hit me with a thunderstick if i don’t know you. she put the single thunderstick down for the rest of the game. then the guy gets inspired by the kids sitting next to him to vociferously beat together some thundersticks himself. so. annoying. later in the 4th quarter, as the Hornets are falling apart, the grandma comes back upstairs with the girl, who now has a bunch of balloon animals and an inflated ballon that must have been blocking the view of people behind me. i haven’t seen TMAPITW at a game before last night, and i’m hoping i don’t see them again.

going into the 4th quarter, i thought all the luck previously mentioned was working. the game was tied at the beginning of the 4th quarter against the defending champions. the Hornets had not been playing very well, and in spite of all that they still were tied. in spite of the pastor praying for a victory before the game, the game was there for the taking! unfortunately the 2nd string stayed out too long to start the 4th, the defense eased up, and by the time the starters came back in the game it was too late, and the Hornets lost by 12. obviously with the result last night i’m going to have to wash the gold shirt. i guess it was time.

- at lunch during the week, i usually go through news articles and keep myself current on the world. the best thing i read yesterday, an article with the backstory on different Muppets. did you know in Puerto Rico Grover is named Archibaldo? did you know in Israel Oscar lives in an old car? i found the article fascinating because i grew up watching Sesame Street.

- i called about my speeding ticket, and was told the procedure for taking the driving class to keep it off my record, etc. the lady at the court (where i called about the ticket) also informed me my license was flagged. she couldn’t tell me why, but that i should get it taken care of. she gave me the number for the DMV. i called this number at least 10 times during the day, and only on the 10th time did not get the “due to our high call volume, please try again later”. when i finally spoke to someone at the DMV, she said my license had no flags.

- did you know Food Network has entire episodes of shows on their website? it was great to finally see the Iron Chef with Bobby Flay, Giada, Rachel Ray, and Mario Batali. i watch a lot of my favorite shows online since i often times am not home to watch stuff, so i had no problem watching on my computer.

- all of the current economy stuff and how the government is handling it reminds me of this IBM commercial.

- yes i am disappointed A-Rod took steroids, and no i don’t believe him when he said it was only for 3 years and that he doesn’t take them anymore. at least he’s admitting it though, unlike only wanting to talk about the future or just flat out denial.

- Clemson scrapped to a great road win last night at BC. i watched the game and it was great to see them claw their way back, then maintain the lead to the end. i knew they’d be better than last year, but they seem to have the makings of a really good team. i mean, i know they crushed Duke and all, but i also look at team’s ability to stay competitive even when their shots aren’t falling and they’re just kind of going through the motions. they didn’t get down on themselves, and they made the big plays when it was most important. i don’t remember Clemson really doing that the past few years, but it sure is good to see now.

before tonight the last time Clemson had beat Duke at home was my freshman year, 1997. i was still green in the experience of ACC basketball. i don’t remember having gone to a game before that Duke game. it was the first game back from Christmas break, and i remember where i sat, about half way up in the hard seats. Clemson came back from 6 down to force OT and then won in OT. it was incredible. after that though, every time Duke came to Clemson they had someone that would hit a rash of shots (McLeod, Williams, Battier, etc.) and we’d lose. then Clemson basketball sucked for a while, and we had no shot to beat Duke.

tonight’s tipoff was a 9 pm ET tip. i used to LOVE the 9 pm games. it meant the game was important. i remember having a physics exam the same night as a game against UNC. i am pretty sure i failed that test. i couldn’t concentrate, all i kept thinking about was the game. i remember finishing the test, running back to my dorm, painting my face, and making it to my seat just in time for player introductions. 9 pm games were great. the atmosphere was amazing.

Clemson beat down Duke tonight. i have never seen them play that well for an entire game before. they had their immature moments like Oglesby’s dunk attempt, but i can accept that from a young team, and when we’re up by almost 30. since i’ve been a student or alum, i have NEVER seen something so awesome as Booker’s dunk over Zoubek and Singler (shown above). i had lost my voice by halftime, and i was watching the game on television. the game kept going in the 2nd half. it was a thing of beauty to watch. i got a couple of texts but didn’t return them until the result was firmly in hand. i was hoping to win by 30 but 27 will have to do. i shared a couple of phone calls post game sharing my excitement. simply stunning.

i went to see Chris Thile’s new band Punch Brothers last night in Baton Rouge from the front row. it was amazing. who cares about Nickel Creek anymore? Punch Brothers were everything i liked about Nickel Creek with nothing i didn’t. i LOVE the instrumental stuff, and i didn’t even think they played enough of it. i thought the show was fantastic. we stayed back while the place emptied out (it was so small) and leaned up against the stage watching people leave. then we’re walking out the door where the merch table is, and the sound guy comes out to tear some stuff down. i got a setlist and got all the members to sign it after, since after the show they all go out and sign autographs and take pictures.

so we went out to the lobby and waited a couple of minutes, then all of the band came out. i got my picture with Chris Thile, but there were tons of people wanting to talk to him so i didn’t really want to take up too much of his time.

i did talk to Chris E (guitar) and Noam (banjo) and Gabe (violin) for a while. i talked to Chris E about the Bingo night stuff. talked to Gabe about what would be the best way to learn to play the violin (buy a cheap one and find a good teacher). talking to Paul (bass) though was weird. he had been talking to this couple for a while, and it was 10 pm, and we wanted to go. so i walked up at a break in their conversation to get him to sign the setlist (he was the last one!) and he looks at it and goes “oh, you got the clean version. usually the titles aren’t what they’re actually called”. it was kind of awkward, cause i was like “really?” anyway, i told him how i got stuck watching his fingers on the bass on a few songs but i think he’s heard that a lot before.

i had borrowed a camera to take pictures, but i ended up not taking any when they were playing. they were so close, and making eye contact, so i didn’t want to be taking a picture. i’m weird about being up close at a show. i like it, but i also feel weird about making eye contact because i don’t want to throw someone off by staring, and i didn’t want to take a picture and have someone miss a note because the camera was RIGHT THERE!

the people towards the middle of the front row were all older. this one lady started talking to me about Chris Thile and about his hair used to be all crazy. she missed it when i said “i’ve seen NC 9 times”. also, i tried taking a picture with my phone of the stage before the show and sending it to a couple of friends, but it wouldn’t send. the guy next to me saw i had a phone and tells me if it went off during the show they were going to kick me out and beat me or something. i was like “what?” then his wife started describing the beating. awkward. they also thought driving 80 miles to see a show was very impressive. it’s not like i had a closer show to hit up, and i do what i can for my favorites. when the theatre guy was introducing them, he said no flash photography. the guy next to me looked over at me like i was a terrible person cause i said i had a camera. awkward again. then they came out and started playing and everything was okay.

oh, and i got a speeding ticket on I-12. it was a 60 mph area where it’s 3 lanes, and i was trying to make it for 7:30 and it was 7. i had no idea where exactly i was going other than looking on google maps, so i wanted to make sure we had enough time to park the car and find the theatre. i was in the left lane and this truck was up ahead of me. he was pretty far ahead of me and then he started slowing down. then i saw the cop on the left side and he hit his brakes like he was going to pull out and get someone, so i slowed down so he could get ahead of me, then he didn’t go. so then i passed him and he turned on his lights. had to have been the shortest he’s had to drive to pull someone over. he comes up to the window and tells me i was speeding and i was coming up too fast on the truck. he said i was going 76 in a 60, which i guess i was, i wasn’t paying attention. i was talking to my friend Whitney and keeping track of what time it was so we could make the show. he gets my license and runs it, but he was really nice, so i didn’t think he was going to give me a ticket. then he comes back and has me sign this little computer scanner thing. yeah, ticket. but then he says i can call this number on the back since it’s my first offense and take a driving class to keep it off my record. so i’ll call tomorrow. first speeding ticket EVER.