put this hotdog train in gear

It's probably never a good idea to post while you have a migraine, but I'm going to. Because I'm just that (insert adjective here, because I can't think of one).

See? This is going well already!

No really, I want to post today because it's been an eventful week and next week is going to be a homework death trap.

Last week was fall break and after Tim and I went a-camping, I took my first-ever trip to Michigan to attend an "information festival" (read: conference) at the Thomson-Shore book factory. I'm sure "book factory" isn't the technical term, but their not publishers... they build books. It was nerd paradise.

I'm really not sure if I learned anything I was supposed to learn, that is, anything that will help me layout and create books for the Tintamarre, but I did learn about some of the finer points of desktop publishing AND... AND...

I got to see how books are made! We actually walked through the whole process from beginning to end, from .pdf file to actaully, honest-to-god, hold-it-in-your-hand, finished book. And oh, that glue smells funky.

These are three of the books I actually got to watch them create. The Mexico Reader is what they call "perfect bound" which really just means it's a paperback. The other two are "case bound" which means that they're hard cover. We got to see the covers printed; the binding covered and stamped with foil; the pages printed, cut, folded, sorted, sewn, glued, notched, bound, dried, pressed, nipped, sealed, boxed and on their way. It. was. so. cool.

I completely understand why books are so expensive. Every little decision they make, from the weight of the cardboard in the cover, to the specific way the pages are stuck together... each one of those decisions has to fit together and they all cost money and take time. Even if the machines that they use to make books are a mile long, there's still that one step that someone has to do by hand. Their foil stamper was a 75 years-old lady, for god's sake. It was crazy and awesome.

And it was nice to see fall, even if it was just for 2 days.

I got back and I had tests to take, which would have been a problem if I wasn't taking, um, two 101 classes. These tests are little like being tested on, say, different flavors of ice cream, or state capitals. If you don't slip into a coma, the test's not that hard. (That's not to imply in any way that I'm some sort of genius and I know everything: I still have to study, it's just that the information is not analytical ANY way. It's fact regurgitation, which is good preparation for "Jeopardy.") Ahab was married to Jezabel, Gregor Mendel studied peas, etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum.

The comes Graveyard. I'll post photos if I get to a point where I can walk up the stairs without feeling like death and pain and death. As usual, Graveyard was AWESOME. Who doesn't appreciate a good costume party? It's more than that though, it's so awesome to have everyone you really like in one place, at the same time, all happy and crazy and dressed as inexplicable bizarre things you'll never forget (even if you can't really define them)?

Amy made Cider and a bunch of (old) people came over to pre-party at our house. David and Nate were old men. Mikey and Jason were Jay and Silent Bob. Kacie was a cat burglar. Amy was the Loveshack (a little old place where we can get together), plus tin roof hat. Kristin was a 70's pornstar. I have no idea what Parham and Evan were, but it was disturbing. Blake was a bad doctor. Steph was a devil. Seth was "the Dude" from The Big Lebowski, complete with rug and White Russian. Tim was Iraq and it was hilarious.

I was a skeleton and my right shoe hurt my foot. The shoe hurting wasn't part of the costume, it's just a fact of the matter.

It was a really great night. It seemed short (perhaps because the party got shut down), but it was still great. I think about the fact that I should have graduated last year, and therefore would have missed it, a lot. I'm fairly sure I'll be more-than-satisfied with just five Graveyards in my life, but I'm still glad I got just one more.

This brings us to yesterday, when I made pancakes for a bunch of boys and couldn't cure my headache as hard as I tried. Kristin and I played in a Scrabble tournament (OH MY GOD!), and didn't win any money, but we did get 53 points for playing "SHITTY" on a triple-word-score. Needless to say, our 12 year-old opponants didn't stand a chance. Then Tim and I went on a date to the arcade on the boardwalk, and won enough tickets at skiball (and other sillynesses) to get a ring, a sticker, and two suckers.

We talked about religion and the quest for knowledge and human nature. And then we went to Li'l Joe's and talked about it some more. I really love him. He's a cheap date and I think that talking to him makes me a better person. It's a good balance between taking care of my material need to not spend any money and my spiritual need to be alive and engaged with changing perceptions of reality.

I'm 97% happy. I just wish this migraine would go away.