2.26.2002 A friend of mine is defending her disertation soon. I like the way that sounds. She's not "presenting" her disertation or "discussing" it - but "DEFENDING"it. Defending it as if someone was raiding her village. I imagine a bunch of professors with nun-chucks and throwing stars just waiting to see who's academic Kung-Fu reigns supreme in all the academic land.

2.20.2002 I'm back from the Olympics! I had a great time...although I'm pretty sure I'm sterile from going through nearly 30 metal detectors. I had to go through metal detectors to go from the bathroom to the bedroom...and another to roll over in bed. It was a bit much. We went to the women's Super G (slalom skiing) event, went skiing one day at Alta, and had an overall great time. The commericalism was a bit overwhelming (a line of 75 people outside the Canada store waiting to get a cute, red beret like the scorned ice-skater wears) but the Olympics still rule. Yes, I did the obligatory holding-the-torch-pose.

2.14.2002 Happy Valentine's Day! -I'm off to Salt Lake City in a few minutes...unless I get pulled into women's hockey, I'll probably just be a spectator. -Grandma is going home on Monday! MUCH earlier than they thought (they gave her a 50-50 chance of surviving). =) Happy Valentine's Day Jen!

2.9.2002 Jen and I have the fever. We watched the opening ceremonies to the Olympic Games in Salt Lake. It was pretty amazing. I was particularly touched by the French athletes marching out with two-sided flags, one side with France's flag, the other with the USA flag. Impressive from a country that fines it's advertisers for using American words. The Olympics rule...it's so wonderful to see how proud the athletes are. Eleven countries were represented by one athlete. The sole competitor for Bermuda walked out in shorts representing his country of 68,000 people. That's just gotta feel good...and cold.

2.8.2002 My least favorite version of me is when I'm driving. I'm less serene and easily angered -- and it's, by far, the most dangerous thing I do all day (aside from holding my cell phone in my crotch). My good friend Brandon told me he uses a mantra to help remind him that the other drivers aren't enemies. He repeats, "We're all in this together. We're all in this together." Sounded good to me, and the next time I'm in traffic and left speechless by reckless driving I begin to say, "We're all in this together...We're all in this together..." Then I snap. "IF WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER YOU'VE GOT TO PULL YOUR FREAKIN' WEIGHT!" Needless to say, I need a new mantra. In the meantime I rely on deep calming breaths and a steady stream of valium. Also - a poll I wrote for CollegeClub (one of my jobs is writing a daily poll) was mentioned in a NY Times article!

2.7.2002 This past weekend, Jen and I had a wonderful time at our friend's (Leah & David) wedding. Nothing steers a conversation towards marriage like going to a nice wedding... ;) heigth=142>

2.4.2002 The good news is today I was quoted in USA TODAY! It was basically a piece about break-ups, Valentine's Day and how the Web plays a role in it and they mentioned a funny story of how I broke up with a girl while flying a kite. The bad news is they also credited a quote to me that was actually from my co-worker Steve. It said that I break up relationships by "dodging her phone calls. I'm not proud of that. My maturity level is not that high." Ouch. It's one thing to be misquoted...it's another to look like an A-hole in USA TODAY. Oh well, at least they mentioned CollegeClub. It's kinda cool, in the last year, my brother, my Dad and I have all been mentioned in USA TODAY.