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Thanks to some tips, I discovered Aaron Copland‘s original 13-instrument version of Appalachian Spring. It’s a great change from the orchestral version. Find a recording and check it out.

Tonight, I saw a house-to-share that I really liked. Unfortunately I have to wait until September 5 to find out if they want me more than they want other applicants, and then I would have to wait until October 1 to move in. The roommates are nice too, and I’m not just saying that to kiss up. (They’re probably reading this. Hi, Laura.) They also had a René Magritte poster on the wall in the living room. That has to be a good sign.

Two more houses-to-share to look at tomorrow. Good prices. Friendly people. I may be making some progress…

If you didn’t notice, I saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back last weekend as a sneak preview. It was hilarious, in a crude sort of way.

Darren‘s birthday is on Saturday. His wife, Ali, and her family saw Contact today, and it seems like something I might enjoy. Anyone know about it?

I had a great weekend, but if I tell you about it, I’d have to kill you.

This is the next potential living place I will look at. It’s a little more than I wanted to spend, but something has got to give.

I’m becoming more adept at database-driven websites. Aren’t you excited for me? My latest project is [DELETED]. Not very exciting, but very useful, if you’re into that sort of thing. I also created [DELETED].

My office is in the process of upgrading the computer system. It should be nice when it’s all done, with remote access and everything.

I don’t think I am being too picky. It just seems to me that $700 is too much to spend every month on a fourteen foot by twenty-four foot by seven foot room. Is this the price I must pay if I want to live in north Jersey? What is the price I can pay if I don’t want to live in north Jersey?

I looked at another “potential place of dwelling” this afternoon. It was the basement of an older lady’s house. Although I didn’t meet the owner, I’m sure she’s very nice. I’m going to extend my search over the next few days. Of course, if I had a roommate, this process would be a bit easier. Is there anyone out there who’s looking to move to the Bergenfield area? There’s direct public transportation access to New York City, if that’s your thing.

Here’s something interesting that happened Saturday night. After Finals, all the drum corps are on the field during the awards ceremony. After the trophies are given out, over 1500 fourteen to twenty-two year-olds say goodbye to their friends that they’ve made, some to never see each other again. Suddenly, there is a lot of commotion in front of one of the corps, the Boston Crusaders, who had a good year, but not nearly as good as last year. A lot of the kids are cheering and jumping up and down for some reason.

The camera crew runs over to the scene. Some shaky pictures are flashed up on the JumboTron screen. The announcer then says over the stadium-wide speakers (with names changed here, since I don’t really remember what they were), “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an announcement. Brian, from the Crusaders, has asked Jen to marry him, and it looks like she said yes!” On the JumboTron, we could see a close-up of Jen’s new engagement ring.

The audience, well the thousands who were sticking around to see the winner’s encore performance, cheered for them. It was an amazing experience… and we can only imagine how many drum corps engagements there will be at Finals next year.

This weekend, Stacey and I traveled up to Buffalo, New York, for drum corps championships. We caught semifinals on Friday and finals on Saturday. We also took some time before the show on Saturday to go to Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist boat ride, which was nice but not nearly as wet as I hoped. The traffic on the way back to the United States almost kept us from being back to the show on time. Luckilly, customs didn’t give us much of a problem.

And here are things I learned this weekend:

• Although NY-17 is called the “Quickway” (as opposed to “Thruway” or “Expressway”) it might not really be. Especially if you need a gas station in the middle of nowhere.
• Getting an overtime penalty will make some corps angry. The Madison Scouts performed for too long in their quarterfinals appearance, and made up for it by starting their show before the announcer turned the field over to them.
• Banner plane pilots don’t always follow instructions. Parents of a Crossmen member hired a plane to fly a banner reading “BEST CROSSMEN SHOW EVER – WE LOVE YOU MELISSA” while the corps was warming up outside the stadium. Athough the instructions apparently were to fly far enough away from the stadium so the audience wasn’t distracted while watching the show, the pilot thought it was a Sunday football game. He circled the stadium for a half an hour, annoying the spectators.

Tonight Stacey treated me with good, free seats to see Anton Checkov’s The Seagull (the new version by the Eminent Tom Stoppard). The show was put on by Shakespeare in the Park in New York City. The cast was made up of mostly famous people, including Kevin Kline, John Goodman, Christopher Walken, Natalie Portman and Meryl Streep. Also, the guy who played the failing writer in State and Main played the failing writer in the play.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be on my way to Buffalo for Drum Corps International Championships. Watch for me on live TV Saturday night, on PBS at 8:00. Well I probably won’t be on TV myself, but feel free to tune in anyway. I’ll be back on Sunday…

In a little while, I’ll be taking my lunch break to check out an apartment. It’s on the third floor of an office building in a small town called Elmwood Park. The apartment was described to me as being a two-room apartment on the third floor of a building that also houses stores and a law office. Most of the heating is provided by the law offices, and there is no central air conditioning. It does have a full bath. The rent is $725 each month.

The place would be about fifteen minutes from the office where I work, I think. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just not feasible to live in south Jersey and work in Bergenfield. Unfortunately, I’m still not saving much money by moving. The current costs of transportation will be replaced by a much higher rent and higher utility costs.

Last night Becca told me about someone who had people sponsor him to ride his bike through ten states. He used the sponsorship money to go to a foreign country. At the time, it seemed kind of selfish to take other people’s money for traveling since the guy would be the only one benefiting from the money. I thought the sponsorship idea is good for a “cause,” like research for an AIDS vaccine.

I’m going to spend this weekend in Buffalo (for drum corps championships) trying to come up with creative solutions for paying off my debt. There must be some way I can figure out how reducing my debt will benefit the rest of the world in order to find sponsors.

Since Becca will be leaving this weekend for graduate school in Texas, she’s been spending some time with Darren, Ali and me. Tonight, after a pizza/sushi dinner, she and Darren attempted to go to the local 7-11 to pick up some ice cream. Darren didn’t drive because his Pimp Van of Death is now missing tires, so Becca had to drive. They got to the end of the street but no further. Darren called me from the stalled car to request that I come meet them and the car at the end of the street to help push her stationwagon back to the house. After a little bit of physical exertion, a lot of waiting, and a little bit of yelling at and kicking the car on Becca’s part, AAA (after getting lost) eventually came to tow the car back to the place that “fixed” it two days ago. This place incidentally is the same dealership where I bought my car and where I bring it when I need a tune-up…