This weekend starts the two weeks of basketball you play all season for. Well, except for tournaments that start immediately afterwards.

Saturday, 11am, we go to Michigan and fight for second place in the BigTen. Michigan has been top of the conference up until just recently, and has a really impressive team. However, self-imposed sanctions against post-season play for some naughty coaching a few years ago will stop them at the conference level. It’s too bad, too. They’d be a good NCAA tourney team. But that leaves more bid room for us.

On Sunday, Wisconsin (who would win the conference if it all ended today,) goes to Minnesota. Winning on the road is very difficult in the BigTen this year, and hopefully the Gophers will be able to steal one from the Badgers. That would put Wisconsin at 10-5, and if we us at 10-4.

On the 5th, Wednesday, we go to Wisconsin. That means by this time next week, Wisconsin could have two more losses…. or two more wins.

By then, we will have played Michigan and Wisconsin, and could pretty much cinch the title. Or be behind enough that we don’t stand a chance of even being tied.

We finish the season playing Minnesota at home next weekend. Michigan goes to Penn State, and then plays Purdue at home. Minnesota is placed similar to us, in that if they win the rest of the their season, they could get damn close to taking or tieing the tourney.

Lots of things can happen in the next week. Cross your fingers, Illini fans. At this point, we make our fate playing both teams that could dominate the league.

I love this time of year.

Fred Rogers, known to the world as that sweater-toting, shoe-changing, song-singing good natured neighbor died this morning.

Although I haven’t watched his show in years, it’s amazing to consider the lives he’s touched in his long career.

I don’t know whether I’m tired or just worn down, but this week seems to crawl and it’s only Tuesday morning. I need a nice-weather day to lift my spirits.

I fixed the history views so it doesn’t blindly assume the next numerical blog entry ID is the next one you can read. It also looks a little more like CK’s, only I wrote this code from scratch.

Eric was playing with cookies for rightquick.org and I realized how easy it would be to add cookie support in PHP. I changed a few of the admin pages to issue cookies, and a few of the normal views to respond differently if I have the admin cookie. Interesting stuff.

For like the 12th time this winter, our furnace went out. This is different than the previous problems, though — probably an ignitor problem. They’re going to be out in an hour or so to fix it, but right now it’s 57 degrees in here and has been since last night.

Brrrrrrr…..

From my joke list:

Sexy Kim asked me if I’d heard Lorena Bobbitt’s sister, Luella, had been arrested. You remember Lorena Bobbitt, don’ t you? She’s the one who hacked off her husband John’s dick while he slept. Then she took the pecker, put it in her purse, got into her car, and hit the highway. She then withdrew the member and tossed it at out the window.

Ouch.

Anyway, her sister’s been arrested for the EXACT same thing! Well, not the exact thing. More like attempted. She missed “the target,” so to speak, and stabbed her hubby in the upper thigh causing severe muscle and tendon damage. Hubby’s recovering in stable condition.

The police came, took all the statements and, well, they’ve charged Luella with a “mis de weiner.”

Sorry about the lack of recent updates. I’ve been very busy, and have things to share - I just need to get around to writing them up.

A while ago I posted an open question/rant to my website asking the purpose of a personal website? Here it is:

Question to ponder: What is the purpose of a personal website? Is it an advertisement for myself? Or perhaps a placecard in the chaotic www? A window to some of my thoughts and feelings, opinions, likes and dislikes? Something for the outside world to view as a digital representation of myself?

Or is it an outlet for me? Is it my comfortable doormat as I trudge the web? I know for a fact I visit my page way more than anyone else. But that’s how I’ve decided to use it. If I never want to visit my website, how can I convince others to do the same? My site contains links and tools I use on a daily basis. Don’t the websites I visit and the things that interest me help describe who I am?

In case you didn’t smell it coming, it’s time for a website redesign. I want something more professional looking, more functional… retaining its usefulness to outside visitors and to myself. I do not want to sacrifice anything to obtain those goals.

So, today’s big question (besides the ones listed above): How do I combine the static, ‘resume-like’ information about me with the dynamic things-I’m-looking-for-in-a-portal-site web springboard?

You got insights? Email me.

Now I think I have more answers to those questions. I’ve finally settled into a look and theme for this site, and it’s made it easier to add content. The blog is no longer the entire site, but a big piece of it. Everything else that I would want in my site — reference links for me, and also big areas/parts of my life to document to the world — is coming together. I took out the About page, because it’s semi-redundant. As you read more about my work, my school, my interests and technologies it becomes more apparent who I am. My old site had a link matrix in the top and different reference links scattered within, which in some respects tells more than a page full of prose. (I’m working on integrating all of those old links into new areas of the new site.)

I’ve been adding new features to the admin site of my site. Now, I can edit blog entries without having to go through phpmyadmin. I also added a preview function so I can review new adds/edits before they actually get committed to the database.

I also added new info under the Work and School links. Slowly, the site is developing. (Soon, I hope to improve on the links section and take the old site offline.)

Snow ‘rollers’ seen in Indiana, Illinois

I’m living the rest of winter under protest. I’m ready for warmer weather and no more snow.

Answering Andrew’s question about my HRD seminar this week on Project Management, I said, “It blew. Donkey.” And then I started thinking… Blew Donkey… Blue Donkey… bluedonkey.com? What a neat vanity domain name! It’s not even perverted, but it could be read at such.

Unfortunately, all the main bluedonkey.___ domains are taken. *sigh* Oh well. I wouldn’t have a place to park it anyway.