I'll knock you off your broom...

Hee! Colleges have started their own Quidditch teams!

There was even an element of surprise: Streakers with nothing but broomsticks scampered out of a dorm, around the field and back to the dorm, sending the crowd wild. Who could ask for anything more on a crisp autumn afternoon?

And as the sun set and the temperature plummeted, Middlebury's Mollywobbles defeated Vassar for the championship. A bit of a rout, really. Vassar never scored.

The Mollywobbles! I love it.

Also, if this kid was a dude, I would totally marry him:

"Of all the things I've done in my four years at Middlebury, this is by far the best," says Ellie Molyneux, 21, a psychology major from Worthington, Mass., who played for the Bad Ass Muggle Flyers. "I won a Jell-O wrestling contest one year, but this is far better."

There are just some movies that I have seen a thousand times. And yet, whenever they are on television, I have to watch them again. And some of them are not very good. Some of them are, in fact, very very bad. Here is a sampling:

Bring It On: Look, I saw it in the theatre, I own the DVD, and yet whenever it's on I HAVE to watch. And I don't even like Kirsten Dunst. But something about this movie....the montages! The dance routines! The slang! Must watch. No choice.

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman: I know this is a bad movie. It's actually painful at times. And Stuart Townsend has got to be the gayest straight man I have ever seen. But come on, it's Sean Connery! And Captain Nemo is kinda badass. Yeah, I have no justification for this one.

50 First Dates: You know, I think I also have the DVD of this one, but for some reason Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler just make me so happy. I guess the Wedding Singer is another one that I can't turn off. They are just so precious together! And I think that she makes him act, you know, like an actual normal person instead of someone who is missing a brain.

Lord of the Rings: There was a period when TNT was running these over and over. And I always had to watch. And with commercials, each movie is like 5 hours long. I think eventually one time I realized how dumb it was to be watching it on television, so I just popped in the DVD and finished it out without commercials. I do like things to be efficient.

ETA: How could I forget about The American President??? Aaron Sorkin is a genius. A cokehead to be sure, but a genius. Love this movie!

Hodge Podge

The good news is that I am back from Texas. The bad news is that it is 40 degrees colder here. Which isn't really that bad, since I would actually rather have it be 45 degrees than 85 degrees. I mean, Thanksgiving was in 10 days while I was in Texas, and it was summer weather. Weird and unnatural, says I.

In my post, I mentioned a bar called Howl At The Moon. If you're ever in San Antonio, I highly recommend it. It has a stage in the middle with two pianos shoved together. A full band and several pianists entertain the crowd the entire night, playing songs by request and performing little musical bits with the audience. Singing rude songs to bachlorette parties seems to be the norm. The crowd was also really well-behaved. The bar did great crowd control, so we weren't all shoved together and there were a ton of tables and chairs. But we had a great time, the drinks were cheap, and I got to hang out with Cheryl and two of her friends, Janie and Chris, who were awesome.

Now that I am back, I have been playing catch-up at work. These trips require a ton of paperwork, including the writing of a travel memo which I still haven't done (oops?), and the filing of numerous documents like my expense report. Which just got approved! *happy dance* So now I can pay off the $1400 I put on my government card to pay for my trip. Don't worry, that includes the airfare and hotel and stuff. I'm not THAT bad a person that I would rip off the VA, and by proxy, veterans. Or am I?? *shifty eyes*

Thanksgiving is now only a week away, and I fell way unprepared for the holidays. Even though I began my holiday shopping in August. But there is always so much to get done, and I just heard that my Grandmother is feeling poorly again, so now there is that to worry about. But I am going to try to not let it get me down, and to just enjoy what remains of the fall. I'm seeing Grandma on Saturday, and I'll get the whole scoop from her then. Keep your fingers crossed!

Shut it, Texas, I am totally going to mess with you.

So here I am, in San Antonio, Texas. I've been here since Sunday for work, sent here to help a judge conduct hearings for veterans who live in the area. So far, Texas seems a lot like the western towns of Northern Virginia (Manassas, Herndon, etc.), just a lot browner and a lot scrubbier. Basically, there is a small downtown area surrounded by miles and miles and miles of urban sprawl. And scrubby trees. And dirt.

While I was sent here presumably to work, since more than half of our veterans either cancelled or just failed to appear for their hearings, we basically got done around 1:00 every afternoon. Which means I got to nap, watch movies on my portable DVD player, walk around downtown, and do nothing all week. Every evening I would meet my judge for dinner and we would walk down to the Riverwalk and eat at the really nice restaurants there. Because, hello, per diem. So, thanks for the paid vacation, federal goverment! Although now when I go back to work and I have to write up my travel memo (basically describing what we did and how many hearings were held), it's not going to look very good.

But the best thing about Travelboard trips is that I can request to go places near people I know. Like in May, when I went to Seattle and got to see Jennifer, I asked to come to San Antonio because Cheryl has moved to Texas and we are hanging out this weekend together! Which is awesome since I haven't seen her in like 3 months. I'm not sure what we'll do, since there isn't a heck of a lot around here, but we will definitely have to take one of those boat tours of the Riverwalk and maybe walk around the Alamo. Which is plop in the middle of the city surrounded by hotels. It's kind of depressing actually. I've also heard tell of a club called Polysters (isn't there one of those in DC?), and and some place called Howl at the Moon.

Did I mention my hotel is next to a gay club? Ru Paul is going to be there this weekend! I guess red states aren't all bad...