New left column! Woo-ha!

02.08.02: The Fine Young Man I'm testing out a new format as you can hopefully see. I figure, if I horizontally decrease the space that I use to actually write the news posts, it will look like I wrote more. If all works as planned, then you should have had to scroll down by now. Or not. The newsposts have been less frequent as of late. It's been a rough time up here, and stress over people and classes and work have evicted sleep and exist in its stead. "Sleep's been stalking me for too long to remember" (House of Leaves). Trying to sit through my Languages of the World class yesterday for an hour and fifteen minutes was quite a task, and if I do say so myself, quite an accomplishment. Frisbee started back up, and I decided to forego it this semester. Plus, it was way cold outside yesterday, and the quad was still a gigantic puddle. Speaking of which, I did actually go and jog the other day, like I've meant to for so long. I had to go to the Ramsey Center though; it was subarctic outside. "Rraaawwwrrr! Brrr!" This has got to be what a cat looks like a split second after being punched squarely in the face. If you've never been to the Cliff Yablonski Hates You website, then I'll introduce you: this is the aptly named Uglycat. Just looking at Uglycat still makes me laugh out loud. I'd explain the site to you but I'm running on not much sleep (by the way, I haven't been sleeping much lately). Uglycat is the sidekick to the Cliff, and helps him make fun of things. I figured I might need a caustic character like that on my site, so I present to you: Persianbaby! She's not as hairy, but she's way more cute. Don't you just want to pinch her cheeks? "If you want me to roll up this Persian rug and shlap you Persian-style." So anyway, now you know why this page probably took forever to load. For those of you on dialup: 1) I'm sorry. And 2) Why on earth are you still on dialup?! I haven't been working on the novel much at all lately; there's been too much stuff going on to occupy my mind. But strangely enough, in a sleepy daze, in the middle of a discourse about Plato's Republic and the immortality of the soul discussed therein, where do I find my inspiration? That's right--my philosophy breakout session. Score. I'm going to tackle my new ideas soon, maybe tonight. Some people go out dancing on Friday nights; I rework Socratic ideals. Sigh. The WarCraft III Beta stuff is in the mail. I didn't make it. Double sigh. Someone (someone's mom? Is that a better description? Maybe, for all intents and purposes) wrote me a letter this week that took me completely by surprise. "Tommy, I have always felt and always will, that you are one of the nicest, most gentlemanly young men around." Wowza! I don't suppose that means much to the casual web-page reader...I guess it's a long story. Let's just say this was the coolest letter I've gotten in a long, long time. And if that someone('s mom) is reading this news post, the response is (almost) in the mail. Behave yourselves. -stub out-

Right column. Hoodleehoo!