3/27/2005 08:51:00 PM|||Jonthon|||

I came home with my friend Leslie on Saturday, and made it home in time to watch some NCAA basketball, which would come to dominate my week. I got a lot accomplished on Sunday, and headed back to Columbia that night to sign my lease. I will be living in the J-slums next year, with two great chicas. =)
I drove back home on Monday night, and participated in a life coaching session with a teacher I had for a one-hour class. She was getting certified, and asked if I would call. I find it incredibly helpful, and plan to continue with these little "life lessons". Later that night, my dad and I watched a movie on our 6 by 4 foot video screen with gel projector(sweeeet...). I also played with my cat Ozzie and the new kitten, Witty.
On Tuesday, I worked on school stuff for most of the day, and also did laundry. That night, I rented Prince of Persia, borrowed my friend's PS2, and commenced to finishing 100% of the game in only 7 total hours of gameplay. I was up until about 5:30am...ahh, the good old days!
I awoke at 2pm on Wednesday and responded to some emails, facebooked, and shot some hoops (I'm terrible, but watching basketball always makes me want to shoot). That night, I went to Zia's on the Hill in St. Louis with my brother, his girlfriend Erin, and his friend Rishi (sp?). He was pretty cool, and the food was delicious. I went over to my mom's house afterwards, and put my keepsakes into the box in my mom's basement (a place I keep all the mementos from my life). I ended up reading a little, then going to sleep rather early.
On Thursday, I woke up at 7:00am and went with my brother to radiation. He lays on a formed piece of matting while they shoot ions at his back. He has a big scar, little blue lines that they repaint on every day and use to guide the lasers, and a BAD sunburn, which has crept into his armpit. All his armpit hair fell out, too, which makes it really tender. But radiation only took like 10 minutes, and then we were on our way to Tucker and Washington to take a tour of CORE agency. The agency itself was really cool, and their work is even better. (NEW: CORE made it onto Apple's website for their use of technology. Check it - Apple-Pro/Design-CORE Advertising)My brother enjoyed it as well, especially the free t-shirts we got at the end (R2D2 thrashing a guitar). Anyway, it was good entertainment for him before he needed to take a break. When I got home, I catalogued my dad's and my entire CD collections, and loaded them into the 200 disc changer. I listened to Air America Radio as I did this (I was listening to it while I played video games too, actually). That night, my friend Cory, whose PS2 I had borrowed, came over, and we drank Budweiser select and played Tribes: Aerial Assault on the big screen, then watched some Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Then he passed out, and I went upstairs and went to sleep.
I woke up the next morning, and by the time I got out of the shower Cory had gotten up and left. I spent most of the morning and afternoon rewiring components in my dad's stereo surround sound system. A new receiver, a new subwoofer, new cabling to the 200 disc changer because it wasn't playing loudly enough, and wiring in two rear speakers. Through all of this, I also helped my brother build a birdhouse. He bought some cedar, and then spent about 2 hours building it with no instructions - just from intuition. It was kind of cool to watch him work, and it turned out really well. Now it sits on the tree in front of the window at my mom's house, and there are birds EVERYWHERE. But Oliver sits at home bored a lot, and he says he will watch the birds, so my mom doesn't mind. Anyway, when Oliver and I both finished, we watched Tender Mercies with my dad. The new speakers came in handy, because Robert Duvall does some good singing and strumming in that movie. That night, I watched basketball with my dad at his friend's house. It was a great night of basketball, and all his friends new me from when I was little, so it was kind of fun. Free beer, anyway.
On Saturday, I got up and went to Soulard market with my dad. We bought scores of fruits and veggies, along with some cheese and spices. When we got home, we unpacked and ate some really good smoked salmon he made. Then we watched the first game of the night in our basement. As it headed into overtime, we headed out the door to get to another of my dad's friend's houses. John Bitzer, a former Chief Illiniwek, had a sweet basement and a good basketball atmosphere. The Illini pulled out a 15 point deficit with 5 minutes left to get into overtime, and then won by 1 point. Seeing Chief Illiniwek go crazy in overtime made this a very, very memorable overtime - one for the ages. My dad says it was the best game they've played since he's been watching, and that makes it since before I was born. My dad stayed around to celebrate with his friends, but I had my friend Cory pick my up and we headed first to my mom's, then to my dad's to listen to a song he wrote on his computer, then watch a movie and celebrate a bit ourselves. Then we headed back to my mom's, watched some more ATHF, and passed out.
Sunday morning, we got up a little late. Cory headed out, I got a shower, ate some cookie crisp and banana bread, packed my stuff, and we were off to Mattoon. We had a good Easter lunch with my family, and talked about my graduation. My grandpa had installed a toilet paper dispenser that activated when rolled, playing a recording of him saying "You can't leave until you get the paperwork done. Would you like a receipt with that?" It was pretty damn funny. My cousin also drove me around Mattoon, out to a big Lake, and we talked about his truck and other stuff. Later in the day, my mom and I headed out, and met up with my friends Tyler and Sean in U Loop. They drove me the rest of the way to Columbia. At our one stop, I bought a sandwich and a drink, and talked to some random stranger wearing an Illini shirt for about 10 minutes about this year's amazing tourney, because I'm cool like that.
Now I'm home, unpacked (kind of), showered, relaxed, have consumed wine, and will probably head in for the night. Bright and early at 6am, I hope to feel what my friend Mollie calls a "Monday High," and power through a lot of things I have to do. Wish me luck - I have a lot to do before I leave for San Fran on Wednesday!

|||111198083433776310|||Spring Break - a short story