a poet's worst nightmare

it's been quite a while,
since i've updated this thing;
so here's what's been up,
(with an added touch of bling).

on the 5th of june,
i started workin' at "the 'bash";
for some, an education,
for me, some added cash.

needless to say,
i fulfilled my life wishes,
cookin' up agar,
fillin' petri dishes.

call me prof jennings,
and let's shift it into gear;
teaching's a good job,
but not quite my career.

friday nights spent at home,
sudoku with the 'rents;
i found myself bored on day 1,
and have been ever since.

lucky for me, i know,
i have connections in C-A,
so i caught a plane to cali,
for a weekend in the bay.

the trolley cars and golden gate,
the road that curves and bends,
china town and fresh sea-food,
but most of all: great friends!

i came back home to ol' MC,
without a day to rest,
and soon came knocking at my door,
2 great gals from quest.

anne and erin, what a pair;
i hope they had a blast;
wining, dining, telling jokes,
making memories to last.

tomorrow morning, the phantom calls,
from the fox in saint louie;
we'll take that call and head on over;
a nice show for the fam and me.

i'll keep you posted and up to date,
for those who have concern;
but have no fear, in a week or less,
to chambana, i will return!

through the storm...

the midwest is known for two things: corn and tornadoes. despite the somewhat uncomfortable digestive effects of the summertime favorite, i have to say that tornadoes take the cake for a fear-inducing paradigm.

last week, i decided to go measure my new apartment for future furniture, and decided to bring a couple friends along for outside opinion. as we were heading south on lincoln avenue, lauren was discussing her respirator mask experience at carle (which is quite humorous in itself). suddenly, the dreaded sirens began, causing the drop in my stomach and rise of my heart rate. about 2 minutes later, as lauren calmly continued her story, i interrupted and said, "excuse me, but you're gonna have to repeat all that.... i'm looking for the tornado". we soon heard on the radio that a tornado had been spotted in south east champaign.... oh.... right near us. for some reason, we just kept driving, continuing on with the conversation.

once we got to hessel, anne joined us for the walk to the leasing office. inside, we were greeted by panic-stricken secretaries informing us that there is a tornado warning, they are seeking shelter, and no, we cannot view the apartment right now. in response, we ask, "so, can we come back later?" at this point, the women are thinking, "are they kidding?"

we leave hessel slightly disappointed, but in no way shaken. we finally decide that we should probably get out of the car, in case the tornado does end up on kirby. anne's suggestion.... mcdonald's. so here we are, in the midst of a tornado warning, hanging out at mcdonald's, when suddenly anne says, "hey, wanna play speed scrabble?" after assessing the situation, we responded logically with, "yeah, sounds great!"

after the reported funnel cloud less than 5 miles away, several intense games of speed scrabble, a large fry and vanilla cone, we thought it was safe to venture back into the storm. we went to furniture row to look for a couch. after 10 minutes of sitting on a bright red 10' x 8' sectional, i said, "well, let's buy a couch".... and i did. although i am still unsure of how it's going to fit in my living room, i am very excited about my purchase.

the point of this story?
1) tornado sirens are over-rated
2) mcdonald's is the solution to all of anne's problems
3) i am officially old! i bought a couch..... and i'm excited about it. my youth has passed.