I'm a graduate of The Ohio State University (along with 8,000+ others who graduated on June 13th). Me. I did it. This chapter is over. It feels like it just began. After 17 years, I am no longer a student (for now. Recent developments have me interested in grad school. Stay tuned to see how that turns out.) Commencement day was actually a bit of a whirlwind. Even with a 3 hour ceremony. We had a great speaker in David Gergen, former advisor to Presidents Ford, Reagan, Bush and Clinton . And an amazing one in university president E. Gordon Gee, whom I love very much. He was enough of a speaker for me. (Although, last month at the Conan show, he said since it was in an auditorium, it counted as commencement. I would go with that too.) Much like my high school graduation, too much was going on for me to get emotional. Except for a little bit during "Carmen Ohio". That was a given though. I cried during "Carmen" at the last football game...

The night before commencement, there was a candlelight ceremony including a student speaker, who was hilarious comparing graduation to retirement. That WAS were I got emotional. "Carmen" AND candles? I'm done. Plus before hand, my former roommate and I got a picture with President Gee, and I got a hug, which was pretty much a highlight of my weekend.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend. A week later, I still can't believe it happened. I can say that I am an alumna of The Ohio State University.

 Now I'm reading all about the Cooper Stadium racetrack proposal and think that it could be a great thing, especially with the attachment of Jeff. Look at Iowa Speedway and their involvement with Rusty Wallace. That is the reason they have races out there now. If Jeff is attached to it and Columbus is the freaking home of Nationwide I wonder what would happen...a Nationwide race = visitors in the area = $$$. And they would actually spend money in the city, unlike the Casino. Also, I think the most unintelligent people comment on stories. Take this for example: "I would much rather have a sports stadium there for a professional basketball or football team than a race track. Race tracks are extremely loud and in general dirty. People need to keep in mind they are not bringing nascar in, but stock cars which will draw a much smaller crowd. Give me a sports team any day of the week over that after all Columbus is the capital of Ohio, but we don't have professional basketball, football, or baseball. How has this happened?"

-Racetracks are only loud when there is a race. They don't race every day, all night long. A couple days out of the month. And most areas like Darlington, where the track is in town have noise curfews, where they can't race after a certain time. I'm sure it would be the same with this.
-Dirty? Explain how it would be more dirty than Ohio Stadium/tailgating? Not talking about a dirt track. This would be paved.
-NASCAR=National Association of STOCK CAR Auto Racing. So all NASCAR is stock cars but not all stock cars are NASCAR. Just felt like this needed to be stated. And see my above point about Nationwide
-Columbus has 2 professional teams. The reason we don't have baseball/football is because the state can not support another team. Also, the only difference between OSU football and pro football is...that OSU is college. Brings in the same or MORE people than Pro football, and honestly I don't think that Columbus could support having football on Saturday and Sunday. And just because Columbus is the capital of Ohio doesn't mean we get sports teams. Detroit isn't the capital of Michigan, Chicago isn't the capital of Illinois, etc.

Anyways the moral of the story is that this is how I can work in autoracing and live in Columbus. They are always talking about the brain drain and how do we keep students in Ohio...well, this is how they would keep me!

( Tale of Two Cities ) 

( The Glass Ballerina )

( Further Instructions )
( Every Man for Himself )

( The Cost of Living ) 

( I Do )
( Not in Portland )

( Flashes Before Your Eyes )
( Stranger in a Strange Lan )
( Tricia Tanaka is Dead )

( Enter 77 )
( Par Avion )
( The Man from Tallahassee ) 

( Expose )

( Left Behind )
( One of Us )
( Catch-22 )

( D.O.C )
( The Brig )
( The Man Behind the Curtain )

( Greatest Hits )

( Through the Looking Glass )

In 2004, NBC announced that Jay Leno would be stepping down from the legendary Tonight Show and Conan O'Brian would move up to the 11:35 slot in the schedule....in 2009. It turns out Jay wasn't quite ready to retire, as in December 2008, NBC announced a new show to air at 10pm, 5 nights a week- The Jay Leno Show. NBC eliminated 5 hours of scripted television from it's primetime schedule. This didn't just eliminate shows, it eliminated jobs from the entertainment industry. From actors, writers, producers down to those that work in craft services. Shows like Southland (thankfully resercuted on TNT), possibly Life, and who knows what great shows were developed during pilot season that we will never get to know weren't given a chance to air because Leno wasn't ready to walk away. For NBC, five nights of Leno was the cheapest show they had.

Conan took over the Tonight Show in 2009 as planned. he moved his family and staff across the country, from New York to L.A. Ratings weren't as high as Leno's. And Leno at 10PM failed. (I never watched it once. Not even when there was nothing else on...I just turned the TV off). And instead of cancelling Jay, like NBC has done to EVERY other show that in their eyes has not lived up to expectations, they are giving him a "second chance"...by giving him back the 11:35 spot and moving the "Tonight" Show to 12:05.

How is this fair? I realize life isnt' fair. I'm an adult. I get that. But why does Jay get a second chance? And I realize that Conan isn't beating Dave Letterman like Leno was but....Leno was hurting NBC's ratings at 10, therefore bringing down the ratings for the 11 'oclock news. Guess what that did for Conan? (And yeah, Jay was beating Letterman and Conan wasn't. Jay had 2 years to accomplish that. Plus had strong lead-ins)

I have never willingly watched Jay Leno, whether it be his 10PM show or when he had the Tonight Show. And this will continue. I've been comparing this situation to Mark Martin. Mark Martin retired from NASCAR in 2005. He then decided to go "part-time" (we'll compare this to the 10PM show) He and another driver shared a ride for the season. Turns out...Mark still had it. And he got a full time ride again. And yeah, he stole that from the young talent (Conan). And he's won races and made the Chase (the "playoff" of NASCAR) I guarantee you though, if Mark doesn't perform anymore, he'll be done, he won't go to Jack Roush and ask for his old ride back.

I don't care if this is NBC's fault and Conan is a whiny baby and the Jay was "forced" out because NBC didn't want to lose Conan. He shouldn't have agreeed to the deal in the first place and made a scene about it then. And now, he should bow out gracefully.

( Man of Science, Man of Faith )

( Adrift )

( Orientation )

( Everybody Hates Hugo )

( ...And Found )
( Abandoned )
( The Other 48 Days )
( Collision )

( What Kate Did )

( The 23rd Psalm )
( The Hunting Party )
( Fire + Water )

( The Long Con )
( One of Them  )

( Maternity Leave )

( The Whole Truth )

( Lockdown )
( Dave )

( S.O.S.  )
( Two for the Road )

( ? )

( Three Minutes )

( Live Together, Die Alone )

Okay, so I've decided to do a full rewatch of LOST before s.6 starts on Feb 2. And I don't want to annoy people on twitter by posting my random ass thoughts while watching the show. So...yea for LJ! Okay here we go!
( Pilot pts 1 and 2  )( Tabula Rasa )
( White Rabbit ) ( House of the Rising Sun )

( The Moth )

( Confidence Man )

( Solitary  )( Raised By Another )
( All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues )

( Whatever the Case May Be )
( Hearts and Minds )

( Special )

( Homecoming )

( Outlaws )

( ...In Translation )( Numbers )

( Dues Ex Machina )
( Do No Harm )( The Greater Good )

( Born to Run )
( Exodus Pts 1-3 )

Puck from Glee. He would sing Sweet Caroline the entire time.
Ted from How I Met Your Mother. We would both say I love you on the first date.
Chase from One Tree Hill. He's more charming than Steveeeeen. But not really. They're pretty much the same person.
Logan from Gilmore Girls. If Rory doesn't want him, I'll take him.
Logan from Veronica Mars. He's an asshole. But he'd be my asshole.
Mal from Firefly. Three words: Captain Tight Pants.

Dick Winters from Band of Brothers. Just because.
Teddy/Laurie from Little Women. Because he looks like Christan Bale and is a delightful person.
Gerry from P.S. I Love You. Only he's not terminal.
Jim Kirk from Star Trek. Two words: Captain Fine.

I don't even have words for how much of an inspiration Elliot Mealer, a member of Michigan's offensive line is to me. I don't know him. We grew up in the same town, I knew of him, had seen him and Hollis around. But I didn't KNOW them. But that doesn't change a thing. The Mealer/Richer families are inspirational.
I may be a Buckeye through and through, but this a Wolverine that I will always cheer for.

ESPN video/text of Elliot's story.

1. Michael Phelp's body. Not the face...Just from the neck down.
2. Nick Jonas. He's 16. Look at what he's done. And don't joke...he's GOING to be the motherfuckin' president.
3. Daytona International Speedway. You don't understand it's epicness until you see it in person.
4. Ohio Stadium. Because I'm biased. AND I GET TO BE THERE ON SATURDAY! GUYS IT'S ALMOST FOOTBALL SEASON!
5. Millennium Force at Cedar Point. It's been around for 10 years and I still haven't gotten the guts to ride it. I may never do it. I pretend everytime we go though...
6. The Internet/Google. I try to remember/imagine what life was like without it. And I can't.
7. Niagara Falls.

ETA: Guys. I'm GIDDY tonight. Like my drunk giddyness. And I'm sober. Stone cold.
I'm confused. And now singing "What is this feeling, sudden and new..." over and over again.

This has been well established. Twitter makes it all worse. Like that one day Rich Sommer from Mad Men tweeted me randomly (he found my tweet! I wasn't following him, it wasn't an @ reply...it was just a comment on how the class I was in was totally what Harry does on Mad Men).
And then the day that Carson Daly tweeted me. This has already been discussed.
And now, Marty Smith from ESPN. Like seriously...highlight of my day.

Now the day that either @JonasBrothers or @MikeDavis88 tweets me...I will die.