robglazebrook.com

Only three days left until the Super Bowl! And you know what that means: it’s time to pull out the Super Bowl, fill it with some Super Nachos or perhaps Super Chili (as long as it’s Super Fattening, it works), and gorge on calorie-rich munchies and beer until our stomachs are all Super Distended. Man. What we wouldn’t do to our arteries for our athletes, no?

Amanda and I will be watching the big game at Sarah’s place this year. At first, I was a little uncomfortable with that arrangement. Sure, we got to host the playoff games a couple of weeks ago, so it was technically someone else’s turn. But I’m the only one in the group with an HDTV and surround sound, and some things (i.e., football) are more important than fairness.

At least, that was until a couple of days ago, when Sarah announced that her new roommate (a med student at Des Moines University) just bought a brand-new, great-big HDTV and a surround sound system, and it was going to be delivered and installed in time for the game. I don’t know if the guy is going to tackle the intricacies of home theater installation himself or let professionals like the people at Fast-teks handle it, but I do know this: all of a sudden, this weekend just got a whole lot cooler. I get all the benefits of high definition and surround sound, without having to deep-clean the house before and after guests arrive.

Score.

Amanda and I went to see A Fine Frenzy perform live at People’s Court downtown last night. It was a invite-only concert, which just goes to show you what a celebrity I am around these parts.*

It was a cold, cold night, and People’s was even colder. The building’s HVAC system was on the fritz, meaning there was no heat whatsoever on the 3rd floor (where People’s is located). However, I heard that the dressing rooms on the ground floor were a right toasty 100 degrees or so. Some people get all the luck.

So how was the show? Despite the chilly beginnings, it was really awesome. Little Mojo opened, and while they had a bit of trouble getting the crowd going at first (I blame the temperature), they had won the mob over by the end of their set.

And Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy… well, I probably shouldn’t go into too much detail, since Amanda reads my blog. ;) But suffice it to say she’s a great songwriter, a fantastic singer, and comes off as a truly wonderful person in real life. She’s the sort of personality that I like to surround myself with – an unabashed dork. :) She played eight or ten songs, and the crowd loved her. She even stuck around afterwards to take photos with people and sign autographs. Sadly, our poor pooch had been kenneled for around nine hours by that point, so we decided to head home instead of sticking around for an up-close photo op. Being a grown-up is hard sometimes.

But anyway. A Fine Frenzy rocks, particularly in person. If they ever decide to grace Des Moines with their presence again (it was their first time in Iowa), I will be one of the first to buy a ticket.

* Or, that I am a member of their music advisory panel, and everyone who took a survey got an invite. Either way.

You will never hear me say that I’m sorry I received my education.

Admittedly, there are some days I wish I were using my degree in a more direct manner. I spent seven years obtaining first a Bachelor’s in English, then a Master’s in Rhetoric. And now I’m a web developer, using skills which were almost exclusively self-taught.

But my degree still helps out. My training in English and rhetoric has taught me how to express myself clearly, which is a valuable skill in any company. And my time in the Master’s program taught me how to teach, which is a skill I use indirectly every day, and will start using more directly again this March. And of course, it’s always fun to see people’s reactions when they discover my degree is in Rhetoric. In all, my degrees really come in handy.

But what I ~do~ openly regret is the amount of debt I managed to accrue during my seven years at Iowa State. See, I paid my way entirely with student loans and part-time jobs. And during the time I was in school, tuition rates doubled. The result being that by the time I graduated, I’d managed to rack up over $60,000 in student loans.

Had I been smarter about these sorts of things all those years ago, I would have logged on to a website like Scholarships.com, filled out a scholarship application or two, and saved myself a whole lot of money, heartache, and years of debt. The website is free, secure, private, and has a database of over $19 billion in scholarships and grants. Some of that could have gone towards my education, my future. I just wish someone had been around to tell me about such a valuable resource when I was going to college. Instead, I have a M.A. degree, a job I could do with a B.A., and the debt load of a Ph.D. You do the math.

Over the weekend, I got a chance to watch A Christmas Story with my family. Yes, I know that the holiday season has already come and gone, but I didn’t get a chance to watch it last year, and it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, so I was willing to ignore the calendar on this one. Plus, in my defense, Lilly picked the movie. I just didn’t disagree. :) It was actually one of the cuter things I’ve ever seen… she kept insisting that she wanted to watch “the bunny movie,” (Raphie in his bunny suit) and every time she said “bunny,” she tugged down on her earlobes to emphasize the leporine nature (look it up) of her request.

That movie always makes me think back to how excited I was when I got my first bb gun, which was a Daisy of some model. I also have very fond memories of shooting targets in the yard with my dad and his pellet gun, and taking my own pellet gun camping with Eric in later years and taking out pop cans at upwards of 15 yards(!). My mom would tell you less rose-colored memories of the havoc I wreaked with that gun, I’m sure, but I think we can safely ignore her. :)

So imagine how excited I was to discover that you can still buy a Red Ryder BB gun from Airgun Depot, just like the one in the movie! Well, except this version comes with plastic shooting glasses so you don’t shoot your eye out.

Now all I need is for someone to start producing me nephews, so I can start buying airguns again. Or, I suppose I can just totally trash all those predefined gender roles and buy my nieces pieces (hehehe). If all else fails, I’ll try and produce a son of my own someday, but I’ve got a couple years to go yet before I’m ready to tackle that particular challenge.

(Disclosure: Airgun Depot has kindly sponsored this article)