Mean Girls, the drinking game:
Drink when:

• The plastics wear pink or talk on a cell phone
  
• Someone says "fetch"
  
• Africa is mentioned
  
• Cady is pronounced incorrectly
  
• A minority is shown
  
• Lindsay Lohan jiggles
  
• Tina Fey mentions her divorce
  

This game yielded 4 very drunk girls last Saturday night, but luckily our male hero was sober enough to call around and find us a ride to the ski club party. Things get fuzzy from there. I remember we continued drinking, the later ones drunk straight from a blender that L, S, and I were passing amongst ourselves. I think I spilled about as much alcohol as I consumed, and at some point became rather abusive toward Drew- He said something that I took personally, but I can't remember what it was. At around 3:30 or 4 some guy I don't know drove us home. He claimed he was sober enough to drive (I was sober enough to remember to ask), but whether he was telling the truth is questionable.

Came home and had a long AIM conversation with Andy M from SpaceX about my career plans and how drunk I was. Many misspellings and curse words were typed. How's that for professional integrity?

The summer will be spent building rockets and tanning on beaches. I feel good about this decision. Even if the company goes under in a couple of years, the work experience I'll get makes it worth it. Who needs job security when you're in your early 20's? I don't have loans to pay off or dependents to support. If there ever was a time to take a chance with my career, now is the time.

Nothing has made me felt more like a fish out of water than this whole Steelers thing. Yes, I understand it's exciting that they're going to the superbowl, but I don't feel the need to be reminded of that fact or to participate in dj-led cheers every 10 minutes on a Friday night in (what is supposed to be) an upscale club. The whole hysteria surrounding football over here is completely foreign to me. Too bad there isn't good snow, or else we'd go snowboarding on Sunday- the one day out of the year the slopes will be guaranteed to be empty.

In other news, while out clubbing we ran into my cute professor. L had all the tact in the world and asked how old he was. I had even more tact by asking if he would give me an A if I bought him a drink. I followed that comment with many exclamations of "I'm just kidding!!!!"

THE PLAN

This semester: 5 classes, research, lacrosse, and ASME
Spring Break: Puerto Rico!
Carnival: New York City!

Summer: Right now, it's still a 3 way fight: Spacex vs. Boeing vs. Google.

Fall semester: 3 or 4 classes, research (no lacrosse, no ASME)

Christmas: Bay Area, possibly a week or two in Europe

Jan 06: The Great Adventure: Australia, New Zeland, and anywhere else that suits my fancy

Feb/March 06: Start new job? Bum around more?

May 06: CMU graduation ceremony (yes, I will be back)

I've had a lot of time to think over the past month, and I've come to some conclusions:

• Being too busy makes me stressed out and grumpy
  
• Drinking too much is not good or fun (well, maybe it's fun in the moment, but definitely not the day after or when the pictures make it to facebook)
  
• I've become a lazy lump of inactivity
  

Since it's not good to complain without proposing a solution, here's what I'm going to do:

• Cut back on activities (goodbye, buggy!)
  
• No more drinking on weeknights. No more sugary mixed drinks that are easy to consume. No so much drinking less, but drinking better
  
• Re-join lacrosse, which entails an ambitious workout plan to get back into shape (the beach spring break trip is another motivating factor)
  

Since I last updated I've returned to Pittsburgh and started classes. I'd comment on courses and such, but I doubt anyone cares all that much about the specifics.

The biggest and most exciting news is the plan for spring break: 5 nights in Cabo San Lucas. Three girls, two guys, the beach and more bars and clubs than you can shake a stick at. What more could one ask for?

Tonight we (Kate, Ken K, and I) wandered around downtown PA before settling down at The Rose & Crown for some drinks. Free champagne at midnight, and the drunk guys attempting to shoot the streamers from party-poppers onto the statue of a woman's chest were amusing. It was great to catch up with Ken K and Kate, and the bar was a good atmosphere for ringing in the new year with old friends.

2005: A Recap

The Good:

• School
  
• The Bloodshaw crew
  
• Moving in with Mo
  
• Moving off campus
  
• SpaceX
  
• California summer
  
• Not looking the same at 23 as you did at 15
  
• "Uno tinto, por favor"

The Bad:

• Deaths
  
• Cross-country drive
  
• LA rent rates
  
• Lack of drunk-lock on my cell

The Ugly:

• Alcohol-induced hookups
  
• Hangovers at work

I think I came out ahead this year.

Back in CA. The semester ended alright- grades not quite what I had hoped, but stayed on the list so it's all good.

Last night was surreal. I went out drinking in downtown PA with Rod, Matt S, Max R, Ryan J, and KEN KRIEGER. We were out for Matt's birthday, and on the drive over we decided it'd be a good idea to call Ken even though we hadn't seen or talked to him in over 2 or 3 years. We're lucky he still has the same cell phone number.

We spent all night drinking and recounting old GRT stories and talking about what everyone is up to now. We started at Nola, where there were wayyy too many Gunn kids I haven't seen since graduation or earlier. After that, we headed over to the Irish Pub behind Pizza My Heart. All in all the night was very enjoyable.