financial accounting 321. this class required buying a book as large as a buick, and almost as heavy. you know those classes where you could always leave the text at home? yeah. this wasn't one of those. the prof made a point of saying we needed it, every class, no matter what. and we did. and it sucked. especially since those were my nonstop 8:00-2:15 tuesdays and thursdays. many books. back pain. gah.

dr. chandra was a tiny man with large glasses and the cutest indian accent you ever did hear. you could tell he enjoyed teaching almost as much as he enjoyed sharing his various jokes. which were terrible, for the most part. but it was impossible to see the gleam in his eye and expectant smile on his face without laughing right along with him.

he is the only professor i can recall that used an overhead in conjunction with a reusable rolling transparency sheet attached to the projector. i mean, who does that, really? many class hours were spent scribbling down entries and notes, hurrying to get them down before they rolled away forever.

one semester, in either 1999 or 2000, during a chapter on investments, he brought in a copy of some stocks he had purchased. the amounts were fairly large, and dated back to the early '80s. "as you can see, this is some stock i bought from microsoft," he began. as if on cue, the entire room gasped in one collective breath. he marched on: "and you can only imagine how much this would be worth... had i not sold it years ago for an unimpressive amount of money." and the entire class deflated with a rush of air. we laughed with him at his unfortunate decision, and moved on to more exciting things like amortization tables.

my favorite quirk about dr. chandra was a slight translation issue. as in classes of most any discipline, hypothetical problems and case studies abound. and gyan, well... he liked to use them a lot. i cannot tell you how many times i heard a financial accounting problem start with the phrase, "now, if suppose...", in his very cute and earnest, albeit redundant, way. "if suppose we take these assets...", "if suppose we have this expense...", "if suppose" this, that, and almost any and every thing. i don't think he really had any idea that his most often used english phrase was grammatically weird, and i'm willing to bet that no one ever mentioned it because, well, it was just so dang cute. and it never got old. i am not ashamed to admit that to this day, i often find myself internally asking, "now, if suppose..."

i just learned that dr. gyan chandra passed away in early may. miami university and its accounting department have lost a sweet and memorable professor. and if suppose my hunch is correct, he will certainly be missed.

thing one: i was asked today, after a particularly demonstrative retelling of my weekend, if i had ever been in drama. ha! the way i see it, either 1) i was in rare form, 2) my view of self is completely inaccurate, or 3) the two people asking this question are just easily amused. i think i'm going with the latter.

thing two: blabbing over beverages was good. [in that clearing-the-air-
with-subsequently-far-less-awkwardness sort of way.] you know who you are. and please, don't throw up.

i hope to be installing my cd burner in a few moments.

if you don't hear from me in awhile, it may be that i, nor all the king's horses and all the king's men, could get my old desktop together again.

we shall see.

highly, immensely frustrated and this is all that i can say. mostly this is just an entry for my own chronology, so don't mind me.

- does anyone actually EAT cream of mushroom/chicken/celery soups? you know, not as cooking additives, but as actual SOUPS? i don't see much point in creating a label showing the stuff in a bowl with a little sprig of parsley and a spoon, when most of the free world is clearly using cream of mushroom soup as a means of concocting more green bean casseroles.

i'm just saying.

- when you drive around a blind corner, please do not position yourself in THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, ignoring the nation's general rule of You Stay On Your Side And I'll Stay On Mine, forcing me to come to a COMPLETE stop, pretending that I'M the moron, giving ME the dirty look. hey, SCREW YOU TOO, LADY.

- i'm slowly beginning to wonder if i actually called anyone at ALL on sunday. i left voicemails with several people that evening, and not a one has returned my call. just another reason to doubt my sanity.

morning came far too soon today. i fully blame paul and crew for my current state of exhaustion. stupid ice cream and a movie and going to bed at midnight.

confidential to the olive garden crew: if i fall asleep tonight in the middle of dinner, you'll know why.

in case i never updated ye olde blog readers: my bass-loving neighbor moved out about a month ago. imagine my surprise at seeing him again... this time in a local paper [the free one, for those in the know].

there was an article extolling [for the most part] the general loveliness of living in a particular nearby town. among many other people, bass boy's girlfriend was quoted as saying she liked living there, moreso than other towns in the county she has lived in. i was SO waiting to read a quote about me. i'd love to have a transcript of the interview.

"so, dude, the last place i lived? there was this uptight chick next door. kept complaining about noise or something. man, she was a #$%^&. i showed her, though. after she complained to the landlord, i just kept stomping around for the rest of the time i lived there! yeah, it was pretty awesome."

ah, justin. i hope you're living in a place where the steady rumble of subwoofers is enjoyed by all. i wish you well; i really do.

but damn, am i glad you don't live next to me anymore.