More deconstruction of social gatherings and customs later...Gotta go celebrate the Bicent...

Went to a wedding this past weekend in Cincinnati (Queen City on The Ohio River -- nice little segue, no?) and I noticed a phenomenon I had never really thought about before -- what's the deal with the Electric Slide? Where do (or did) people learn that little rump-shaker? I never learned it. Best friend Nick (with whom I mocked all participants) doesn't know it. His girlfriend didn't even know it, and girls know every dance (of course, she IS a foreigner). But hella people did know it, and participated eagerly. Old folks, young folks, and so forth. There's no age gap there. It's not like just the old people knew it...many folks around my age did as well, and even some younger than me. So I must've missed that day in gym. Too bad I couldn't have missed the square-dancin' days too.
I mean, I get the Chicken Dance -- as Pheobe once said on Friends, "People acting like animals! I love it!" But the Electric Slide...
Even if it was once a popular song (which I'll admit it was -- I mean, "It's Electric! Woogie woogie woogie!" That's just priceless.), is the human need for a mass dance so powerful that we need to hold onto this crusty, played-out piece? I guess it is. Other cultures seem to have their traditional groups dances -- ever been to a Greek, Russian, Polish, or otherwise wedding? They're nuts for the gathering, the throwing up of hands, the cheering, and that sort of thing. It seems a shame that the American equivalent is the damned Electric Slide.
PS: I know I questioned where people learned it, but also linked to an intructional site. Maybe I should print it out, laminate it, and take it with me to my next wedding. But I won't.

Celebrate good times, ya-hoo!
We here in the "Heart of It All" are filled with pride, as the great state of Ohio celebrated its bicentennial this past Saturday. 1803 to 2003 -- it's been a wild ride. Well, I can't speak for the whole 200 years, but the past 26 have sure been wicked.
I'll be getting a little closer to the historicity of the whole occassion today as I cover historic Waterville's little celebration. Not sure what it will entail, but I DO know there's some sort of bell involved. Can't go wrong having a party that features a bell.
I want to take this time to enumerate some of Ohio's contributions to the world at large:
1) Flight. Duh. From the Wright Brothers to Neil Armstrong, we've got the market cornered.
2) Hella presidents. I've heard eight.
3) The first university west of the Appalachians.
4) Bicentennial barns. Is there anything that says "Ohio! Way to go!" better than a barn?
5) Birthplace of Thomas Edison. We'd be living in the dark and unable to enjoy movies if not for this guy.
6) How about the Battle of Fallen Timbers? I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. In Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage (story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition), he credits said battle as opening up the west to settlement. We know a lot about it up here int his particular corner of Ohio, since it occured not more than five miles from where I now sit. In fact, your humble narrator went to Fallen Timbers Middle School AND Anthony Wayne High School. By the way, "Mad" Anthony Wayne was the General who defeated Chief Little Turtle at said battle.
7) Jonah Goldberg digs Ohio. Said so today. I've been to the Toledo Lounge in Washington DC. Surprisingly little reaction when I mentioned I was from Toledo.
8) Who can forget the Toledo Mud Hens, arguably the most famous AAA baseball team in existence? Made famous by Jamie Farr (Klinger the cross dresser) on M*A*S*H (who, by the way, is a real goober). Ah, Muddy the Mud Hen -- how many times have you beaten me with your giant plastic bat? Also made famous by Jamie Farr is Tony Packo's, the best Hungarian restaurant in the world (outside of Hungary, that is).
9) The Ohio River. Enough said about that. Anyone who doesn't know the importance of the Ohio River in the settlement of this country should write me. I'll come over and dunk your head repeatedly into the toilet.
10) And finally, me. While I wouldn't always rank myself in the top ten things Ohio has given the world, I did make this list.

I said I'd come back around and I meant it...
A not-so boring day today, as I slog through a mound of things-yet-to-cover. The mound seems "insur-mound-able," even though I know it's not. What gives? Normally a busy day wouldn't bother (or even stir) me, but there's a difference -- I feel this frantic tapping on my shoulder, saying "How are you going to pay for school? How will you live? Shouldn't you do laundry?" Oh...hi, Mom.
School. Just thinking about it sends me into little spells. I love school -- I love the academy, I love sitting in class, taking notes, asking questions, cutting down other students -- in short, I love the whole package. And it's been a long four years since I've been there.
And I'm good at school. Oh, maybe not in the traditional "grades" sense of the word, but I get a lot out of it and I know my stuff. Problem is, if something eludes my mental grasp (see: math, all types except geometry), I simultaneously lose interest and get frustrated, and then...poof! A C- or D+ appears on my transcripts. Hell, even the dreaded...well, you know what the worst grade is. Let's just say I've received one or two in my otherwise august academic career.
Not worried about the aforementioned "losing interest" bit in grad school, however; I love history and won't have to take anything but. But something else is weighing on me here -- the logisitics of graduate school.
Undergrad? Meh. Mom and Dad took care of that -- not too say they paid for all of it (they did foot a majority-sized chunk of the bill, though), but Mom is great with details and set it all up. All I had to do was go to class, work my ten hours a week at the Student Union (until I was let go junior year -- seems they were downsizing the number of thieves they kept on their payroll) or the school paper, and that was that. Rest of time devoted solely to self-centered pursuits. I worry about those loans now, but not at the time.
But this time, M and D, God love 'em, aren't helping (not that I would dream of asking), and so it's all on my shoulders. And I'm nervous. Got some financial help from the ol' history department (TA Blue! Whoo!), but living and the rest of tuition is up to me.
Basically, here's my plea: if anyone in the LA area knows of media jobs or the like, let me know. If anyone knows how to find out the addresses, names, and numbers of any newspaper's LA bureau, let me know. Ditto TV news channels, magazines, anything.
I'd sure appreciate any help that comes this way.

So it's been some days since my last post: some might say it's been too many days. I think, though, that when you hear my series of...well, excuses, you'll totally forgive me.
First of all, been super-busy of late.The Division One softball team I cover (The Anthony Wayne Generals) has marched through the Sectional, District, and Regional playoffs to reach the state semifinals (you can read my friend Steve Junga's article here -- my articles aren't on the Web) and I've been there each step of the way. It's kind of exciting, since no sports team from AW (my alma mater, by the way) has ever won a state championship.
Secondly (and this is the big news), I recently learned that I've been accepted into Pepeprdine University's MA program in history. So I've trying to work all that stuff out.
So as you might be able to see, I've got a few things on my plate right now, hence the drop-off in posting. But I'll come back around.