I found out who was typing my email address in at CrushLink. She emailed me and said she was curious what was going on with the thing, so she was typing in the email addresses of everyone she knew, trying to figure out who had typed hers in in the first place. Atleast that whole ordeal is cleared up.

It's so nice outside and April is almost over. The leaves have sprouted on the trees outside my window. You can wake up to the chirping of birds. Beautiful. Being the end of April, it's also the end of the semester. Today begins the last week of classes. Papers are due. Tests to write. Have to finish things up. We kicked off the week by going to the Twins game yesterday, which they won 4-0. I suppose now is a good time to get to work.

Something else I forgot to mention is that I've been getting all kinds of emails from this CrushLink place. Not only have they been sending me a lot of emails, but they've been sending them to multiple different addresses of mine. What's the deal with that?! Go away!

The paper got finished and turned in. Sure, I finished it 30 minutes before class began, but it was finished, and that's all that matters. Since then, I have been in little mood to do much else. Yesterday in class we watched Jules and Jim and last night, to start off my last weekend ever associated with Bijou, we watched Bullitt. Yes, you read that correctly, my association with Bijou ends after tonight. I've been volunteering there every weekend since I began here at the U. This year, I took over duties as co-coordinator of Bijou also. Even so, somehow, they determined that a certain someone is more qualified to do my job than I am. Here's the email I received today:

Dear Krist:

Thank you for applying for a position with the 2001-2002 Student Unions Programs and Activities Board. We received many outstanding applicants and while you were not selected for a SUPA Chair position, we were impressed with your application and interview and would like to keep you on file should anything become available this fall. We would encourage you to become involved as a volunteer in one of the many SUPA committees next year. Look for our table at the Activities Fairs in September and sign up to help us plan and present the many programs we will be offering University of Minnesota students next year. Thanks again for your interest and support of SUPA.

What actually happened involves a whitewashing of the SUPA committee. Volunteer with those bastards my ass. This is where guerilla warfare begins. Fuck 'em. Just knowing I didn't get hired doesn't tell you whole story about the bullshit involved in the hiring process. That's why the guerilla warfare begins.

The paper is... uh... going swell. Yeah, swell. So, we're now down to 6.5 hours until it is due. I am yet to actually begin writing, but I have outlines and extensive notes prepared and ready to fill up my several pages. I'm going to skip my early class and work also. I'm currently procrastinating (just a little), but I'll get to it in a few minutes. I was so desperate for a way to procrastinate, I even did the dishes!!! As suggested earlier, I did stay up all night (except for the hour or so I passed out earlier) and I guess it's maybe time to go at it. After class tonight, I go for a beer!

We're now getting down to crunch time here as the deadline for my Chekhov paper actually approaches. It is due tomorrow evening and I have about 27 hours. I skipped class today and I'm not going to Bijou so I can work on it. I do have to leave for a little bit later to go to the Bell, but hopefully I can return back here as soon as possible to get back to work. All-nighter? We'll see what happens.

I know I haven't updated much lately, but frankly, there hasn't been a whole lot of reason to. The film fest is "officially" over, but it won't really be over for atleast a few more days minimum. The majorly hectic period of it is over though. For now, it's time for life to begin returning to normal for a little while. Papers and tests and rapidly approaching and I have lots of work coming up. I won't be updating much more than I have lately unless something really important happens (but I doubt that). I guess it's all the same, because who really wants to read about the boring and mundane details of my life. In fact, I've gotten to the point where I'm seriously trying to decide who is my favorite local television commercial salesman - Fancy Ray or George Corporaal. Any preference Twin Citizens? Email me with your personal favorite.

It's a glorious afternoon weather-wise here in Minneapolis. It's 69 out right now, but the forecast calls for thunderstorms this evening. I also have received some wonderful news in the form of some soccer results. Bayern knocked off ManU on Wednesday 2-1 (3-1 aggregate) to advance to the Champion's League semifinals against Real Madrid. Liverpool, on the other hand, beat Barcelona on Thursday 1-0 (1-0 aggregate) to advance to the UEFA Cup final. They now play Arsenal on May 12 in Cardiff for the FA Cup, followed by Alaves 4 days later in Dortmund for the UEFA Cup. What a season! It's too bad they've been such underachievers in the league this year. If they win out the final 6 games, they could still have a chance at making next season's Champion's League. We'll just have to see what happens. Anyway, enough about that, it's time to go enjoy the wonderful weather outside.

I don't know why I'm sitting around watching MTV2, but they just showed Björk's "I Miss You", Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Love Rollercoaster" consecutively... woohoo!!!

Much too much has happened since my last post for me to be able to update you on it all. To summarize: I turned 21, I did a little drinking (all in moderation, nothing in excess), I went to the Whole show, I worked, I went to class. Everything was one of those or a combination of those. Oh yeah, I washed my laundry and started washing my dishes also. Most importantly, I have to mention my birthday present from Molly: an 8-pack of Little Kings. Of course, I required her to drink atleast one with me. Okay, that's pretty much everything from the last few days.

Anthony Michael Hall. Sarah Michelle Gellar. Pete Rose. Julie Christie. Rod Steiger. John Gielgud. Robert Carlyle. Ritchie Blackmore. Loretta Lynn. Brad Garrett. Amy Dumas. Me. What do these 12 people have in common? They all celebrate their birthday today. Yes, I am now legal. For anyone who may care, my first legal drink was a Grain Belt. It was at a party, so no, I am yet to be carded. It was an interesting night though. After finishing film fest stuff tonight, I caught a ride with Kyle over to Josh's (yesterday was his birthday). I left my stuff in his car so I wouldn't have to worry about it there. I had a pair of Grain Belt's and a PBR before the beer ran out (it was a BYOB party). I also talked to plenty of people. I was quite surprised by the number of people I knew, but I met some new people also. Anyway, come time to leave, and Kyle is nowhere around. Apparently, he had left a half hour earlier. I would have just gone home, but my keys were in my backpack, and, as mentioned earlier, my backpack was in Kyle's car. I tried calling, but he was online. I finally decided to just walk back and buzz him, when I noticed his car still parked outside Josh's. I walked back and buzzed Kyle. He gave me extra keys to his car and I walked back to his car outside Josh's. After retrieving my backpack, I walked back home again and here I am. Happy birthday to me. It's not so bad, and the day just started, so there's plenty left where that cane from. Doesn't really matter because I can now do it anytime I want because... I AM LEGAL!!! Nighty night everyone.

Grrr... I wish I had more time to update you all lately, but I just don't. Busy busy is the way life is during the festival and it's not showing any signs of slowing down. I registered for classes yesterday and I'm going to add one more (atleast temporarily) today. Best of all, we're now less than 24 hours until I officially am legal. Damn fucking straight.

Hello, hello. Yes, I've been away from my computer for a few days here. There is not much I can do with the film festival now in full-swing. The festival kicked into high gear on Friday night and has been barreling along like a superpower dynamo ever since. Up through last night (day 4), I have worked 26.5 hours already! We're also now down to 4 days until my birthday. Time is rolling along. Now, let's see if we can recount what the last few days have brought us.

On Thursday, I showed up for my CSCL class. We got our papers back, and I was given a B-. I can't complain, because I thought that grade was actually quite generous. I worked at the film society in the afternoon and then rode along with Ira to some cocktail party. We got lost, but eventually found where we were going. We showed up and could only stay 20 minutes before having to rush back to campus. Kyle was giving Katie and I a ride, but we got back late because traffic was really backed up for some women's hockey tournament. I sat in class, was rather tired, and eventually fell asleep for a bit. After class, I was going to meet Molly @ the Dinkytowner, but they wanted to charge us a cover price to get in, so we went to the Purple Onion instead. I had to leave about 10:20 to head over to the fieldhouse for an intramural soccer game. Only 6 people showed up, but we still managed to only lose 4-2 (after being down 4-0 early). After the game, I went to the Dinkytowner and they were going to charge me a cover still, but then the lady asked if I was a friend of Maria's and she let me in. Tony and Molly were there, and we stuck around until I don't remember how late. Tony and I headed back to my place and got to bed quite late.

Friday Tony went to his convention and I went to class. I fell asleep again and left early. I went to the study abroad office and set up and appointment for Wednesday about studying abroad next year. I also signed up for an appointment I have to leave for shortly with the new GSD DUS. I walked down to the film society office and caught a ride home with Josh. I walked over to the State a little later for the opening night film, after which we went to the opening night party at thr Harmony Box. It was very crowded, very uncomfortable, I had noone to talk to, and they wouldn't serve me alcohol, so I decided to walk home. In the pouring rain. And the wind. And the lightning. After about a mile, I came to the Hennepin Avenue bridge, where I waited in a bus shelter until the 18 came and took me home. I sat up until Tony got home at 2 and fell asleep immediately.

Saturday, Tony left early in the morning and I got up and got moving. I got a phone call from Josh asking me to take over for Liza at the bell from 1:30-4:30, so I arrived there about 1. After she returned, I moved to the Oak Street, where we encountered our first (and hopefully only) problems with crowd control. The problems stemmed more from Bob and Al freaking out than from anything else. I finally got out of there about 11:30 that night and Josh gave me a ride home.

Sunday I set my alarm for 8 so I could get moving and be to campus by 10. I picked up the money from the Bell and got over to Oak Street. I was there until almost 11 that night. We had crowd control much better taken care of on Sunday. I had a near crisis when going to drop off the money that night because Liza had locked up the Bell not knowing that I didn't have a key to the outside doors. Luckily, some lady happened to be in the lobby and let me in.

I was extremely tired come Monday morning and had a hard time getting moving. I had to watch Seven Samurai (or atleast the beginning) for the sake of our presentation in class. After prepping for that, I went to class, but showed up 15 minutes late and my group was nearly done already. I shot through my part of the presentation and we kicked ass I guess. I went to the Bijou office for the remainder of the afternoon, but lacked the willpower to do my homework or go to class, so I just went to Oak Street at 6:30 and helped out Adam until 9:30, at which time I sat in on 101 Reykjavik (which packed the house and was a near sell-out). After the film, I caught the bus home, watched a little tv, and hit the sack.

I got up this morning early because I need to go to campus. Shit, I'm going to be late. Later.

Hey everyone - the idiot here. I know I've done some very stupid things in my life, but I almost did one of the stupidest things ever. You see, it's 9:15 and I still hadn't started my Chekhov paper. Since time is starting to get tight, I was putting together the last minute notes to begin writing, when I decided to consult the syllabus to make sure there were no special instructions there. Well, what should I find, but that the paper is not due until APRIL 26!!! I almost wrote and turned in a paper 3 weeks early! The most embarrassing thing is that I have thought for weeks that the paper was due today. I don't know where I got that silly idea, but atleast I found out before I rushed through writing the paper and tried to turn it in. And you know what? I was sort of surprised when the prof did not ask me about my paper on Monday night or even when I ran into him last night. Man, I'm an idiot.

Okay, well on a lighter note, apparently I am graduating this semester. I know I mentioned something similar on Tuesday, but I received this email today, and, well, I thought it rather humorous. The fact that they sent this to me is too funny, so I have to post it here:

Congratulations new graduate! Our graduation gift to you is a one-year membership in the University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA). This $30 value is packed with savings, opportunities, and fun!

Stop by our booth at Grad Fest in the Field House on Wednesday, April 4 and Thursday, April 5 to learn more about your gift membership. Win t-shirts, can coolers, travel mugs, and sign the "Class of 2001" banner!

Grad Fest
Wednesday, April 4, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 5, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
U of M Field House

What do you get with your UMAA membership? Your membership connects you to the U and it offers great benefits and opportunities to network, find a job, save money, and more. You'll receive a subscription to Minnesota magazine and can save on hotels, car rentals, insurance, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT test preparation classes, football tickets, and more. Another popular benefit is the Internet/e-mail access available through membership. It includes access for one year at the annual fee of $130--that's only about $11 per month--plus a $45 set up and software charge when you sign up.

Learn all about your membership at the UMAA booth at Grad Fest!
Congratulations graduate!

P.S. Join your 2001 classmates for one last celebration! Watch the mail for your invitation to attend Senior Send-off on Wednesday, May 2 from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the McNamara Alumni Center. There will be FREE food, games, prizes, music and more!

Make sure to pre-register at www.umaa.umn.edu/sendoff and bring your invitation and U Card for admittance. If you have questions call 612-624-2323.

Yeah, I'm graduating... yeah, I kick ass. See, I'm not the only idiot. Now that I know that that paper isn't due today, I should get cleaning. Tony is coming tonight.

I just finished a paper, so I'm currently in that state of euphoria which always accompanies the completion of a paper. Unfortunately, I can't take too much time to enjoy it because I have to go to class and work in a little bit, and when I finally return home tonight, I have to get to work on yet another paper. The paper due tomorrow is not so easily written as the one due today. In fact, it's my paper for my Chekhov class, and even though I have a topic and a good idea of what I will write, but I still have not found that last cornerstone which will truly define the paper. We'll have to see how that goes.

I finally heard from Tony, and apparently he will be arriving on Thursday night now. The only problem with that is that I have a soccer game that night at 11. I'm sure we'll work something out, but what exactly that may be remains to be seen. Okay, back to work... maybe.

Once again, I forgot something while writing my previous post. So here goes....

If the University of Minnesota really wants to save some money, they should update their computer systems a little bit. I find it quite amusing that I keep getting information about graduating this spring from the U. One would think that the computers would know better than to tell the U to send information to a guy who is obviously not graduating this spring. The less money they spend on sending letters to myself and others like me, the more money they'd have at their disposal. Oh, I can see where they might make assumptions about me graduating - I mean, starting this semester, I needed 27 credits yet (yeah, everyone fulfills that in one semester...) and I am yet to write my major project. Of course, that is not even taking into account the 8 or so classes I needed to take yet as requirements for my dual majors as of the end of last semester. Yes, I can see where the computer might make that mistake and assume I am graduating in May. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get out of here, but, to use a nice line of improper grammar - it ain't happenin' people. Okay, just thought I'd rant on that quickly. Back to work.

Good morning everyone - or atleast, I hope you're having a good morning. I am just finally starting to realize how close we truly are to the end of another semester. These things really seem to sneak up upon you, you know? As a result, I, just like everyone of you I'm sure, have lots of work to attend to. I'm actually taking a break at the moment from further preparing for my Chekhov paper. I'm almost disappointed that it's due already on Thursday, because I'm finally starting to gain an interest in it. I only hope that I have enough time to write a good paper. I also have to write a paper for Silberman class which is due tomorrow, but that's not quite a problem. I'd call it more a bump in the road. It's just a short paper on love and sexuality, and I've written more than my share of those in the past 3 years. The really big event coming up - as many of you know - is the 19th Annual Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. Since I'm working, you know I'll be there, so I hope to see many of you there also. You know time is getting down on that, because even last night, Al Milgrom was running around to night classes dropping off flyers for films in various languages and from various countries. Working this afternoon, I wouldn't doubt that Al will have me doing similar work. Hey - have to get word out, you know? With all of that in mind, I should check my email quickly to see if the Grinder has written (Tony is coming here this weekend for a convention) and then I should get my nose back to the Chekhovian grindstone. Lata' kiddo's!

Oh, I almost forgot - I got an email from my mom this morning. I guess she and my dad had a problem on the way home last night. The problem? A deer. They're both okay and the damage to the car was little enough that it was still drivable, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened. Good to know nothing happened to them though.

I got a response to my email to Stockholm University and its not good. He didn't say anything about it being too late to apply or anything, but he did tell me that it wouldn't do me any good because the classes in German and Film Studies are all taught in Swedish and there is are no classes for Swedish as a foreign language. I am sort of curious though now why their German courses are not conducted in German. Well, anyway, there went that idea. Man, I just want to get the hell out of here!!!!!

Sure, it's April 1, but I'm terrible at jokes, so you'll be getting no April Fools pranks from me - only the solid truth. Yeah.

So, my parents came and visited me this weekend. They arrived about 4pm on Saturday and left about 4pm today. We went out to eat a few times, watched a few movies, and talked a lot. I hadn't seen them since January, so it was definitely nice to have them around. I need to get around to that darn homework now. I want to get this semester over more than most anything. The monotony of it all is getting really boring. Combining that with the fact the U is offering almost no classes that I want to take fall semester, I'm currently weighing my options. After having seen Stockholm University while in Sweden, and doing a little research on the school in the past two days, I just sent an email to their international student office to find out if it is too late to apply for admission for this fall. I would love to study there and it sounds like their film studies program is pretty decent. I guess maybe we'll find out tomorrow if it is worth me getting my hopes up of breaking out of here or not. At any rate, I should go. For anyone who is curious, I'm still working on getting a travel diary of my trip typed up and I'll put it online as soon as I'm done. For now, I need to study for tomorrow's Russian quiz.