Midnight Dreams: I was going to do a long write-up of the Midnight Dreams tournament, but I simply can’t muster the energy to do it (this seems to be a common and troubling problem as of late). Here’s the short(er) version:
On the first night we went 2-2, winning our first game fairly easily then getting handily beaten in our next two games before winning our final game of the night on universe point. Possibly the most positive note of the first night, on a personal level, was that I didn’t choke on universe point (see Meat vs. Illinois B @ Chicago Invite) and in fact skied a dude for the winning score. Also, I finally busted out the scoober to score the winning point in the first game. After the games we went back to the hotel where there were disc chugs (followed rapidly by ladies vomiting) and games of suits in abundance.
The second night saw us drop the first game to a team of douchebags, who yelled at me for swearing (because, after all, saying “fuck” is much worse than cheating at ultimate, which is what motivated my swearing in the first place. An important note is that this same team apparently assessed points earlier in the tournament, which is pretty much the most dickbag thing you can do in ultimate, especially at a non-serious mixed tournie) . Anyway, after that bit of non-fun we had a game vs. some Illinois State players that we cruised through, setting up a rematch from pool play against one of the teams that had utterly crushed us on Friday night. With the help of our Saturday arrivals, however, we were able to take them down on universe point (two universe point victories in the same tournament? sweet) moving us into the semi’s of the Chump bracket. Unfortunately, we came out extremely flat in our final game, surrendering 5 points before we could catch our breaths. After a time-out and some hat spiking, we roared back to take a 6-5 lead, before giving up half 8-6. In the second half, we hung in there but couldn’t get over the hump and finally lost in the cap at 13-9. All in all a really fun tournament, surprisingly competative and a pretty good end to my last year of collegiate ultimate.
Graduation: I completely forgot to post about my trip to Bowdoin for graduation. I have to say, it was pretty fantastic. While not as crazy as my trip up in December, it was just as enjoyable and I got to do a lot more than sit in Red Brick and play beer die. At the same time, the trip left me a bit depressed both about my current living situation, alone in the city (versus with a bunch of insane roommates in a small town) and about the fact that it’s very likely that I won’t see some of my friends again. Basically, I’m about one major academic setback from leaving it all and living in a houseboat off the coast of Maine (I’m on a real houseboat kick recently. I blame Suttree and Into the Wild). Despite my emo-ness above, it was really awesome and I look forward to being back in Maine this summer with great anticipation.
Other: As the year is winding down and I move into finals mode there’s very little else to report, maybe I’ll post again with a follow-up to my last post about what I’m researching/writing about as my papers take shape. Once the summer starts, I’ll probably post a good bit more about movies/books/whatever. Oh, I passed my French exam, which is pretty much the best thing ever. No more French for me, forever (I hope, hope, hope)!
