The word "doink" has been running through my head a lot recently. I don't know why it is or where it came from. Just one of those weird things I guess.

So looking it up at urbandictionary.com yields this definition:

This is exactly what I'm picturing in my head. Someone is saying some dumb stuff. So what do you do? DOINK!

Kind of like a plonk.

There were layoffs where I work a week and a half ago. I find, somewhat to my chagrin, that this kind of thing no longer has a real affect on me. Mostly I just feel the relief that it is not me leaving.

Since I graduated from college, I've survived 6 rounds of layoffs at my different jobs. You get used to it. And you move on.

And then you get stuck cleaning up the mess that was made by the people upstairs who don't know what is really going on. But you deal with it, and you don't say anything because you still have a job. Although it's more like two now.

"Man In Black" - Johnny Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believin' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believin' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

Goodbye Johnny.

It took Chancellor John Wiley to get involved, but "Jump Around" will be back for all Badger home games.

To celebrate, enjoy this very crappy picture of my head pasted over Everlast's.

Saturday was the home opener for the University of Wisconsin Badger football team.

And I'm a bit upset about the whole thing. Not because the defense was horrible (534 yards in offense by Akron). Not because the officials showed the same incompetence that we've all come to know and hate from NCAA officials. Not because the guy behind me sat with his leg poking me in the back for the entire first half of the game.

Nope, the reason I'm upset is that there was no "Jump Around" between the 3rd and 4th quarters. When the quarter break started, and no House of Pain, the students got upset. So did a number of people sitting around me. So did I.

For me, the games are as much about the football as what happens on the field - before, during and after the game. During the 3rd/4th quarter break, it's the Great Student Section Race and then "Jump Around". But not this time. And, according the Badger Herald, it's gone for the next two years.

Stupid athletic department.

A week and a half ago, I attended the Radiohead show at Alpine Valley. The setlist was pretty good, a nice mix of old and new.

I went with Al and Mike. Oddly enough, these were the same guys I saw Radiohead with back in 2001 at Grant Park. Now that was a show.

It was the end of a pretty good day that started out oddly. I had gone out with my cousin and her friend the previous night. Nothing too special, just showing them the Milwaukee nightlife. We got up Saturday, ready to head to the zoo. As we left my apartment, my cousin's friend handed me some carnations. They were left on my doorstep. I don't know who left them, even after questioning the most likely suspects.

It reminds me of this time in college when I got an unexpected package from UPS. It was full of Chupa Chups and an unsigned card. I never ate those suckers and I still don't know who sent me that little present.

So I put my newly found flowers into a vase and headed out to breakfast with my cousin and her friend. I had a bagel with lox, which meant that I was chewing gum for quite a bit at the zoo.

Zoos always make me a little sad. Sure, monkeys are funny and everything, but seeing the animals in their cages when you know in nature they would be able to go anywhere they want is sad. But it's still cool to see these animals that you would never get to see otherwise. Plus, there's a mold-a-rama.

I currently have the three monkeys, the gorilla, the elephant, the rhino and a lion without a face. Can't beat plastic souvenirs molded while you wait.

After the zoo, I went to East Troy for the show and my cousin and her friend headed home. I met Al and Mike at a little restaurant off the main square in town. They had Phil along with them, someone they worked with. Phil is a nice guy, but has some sort of weird bacon fixation. I found this out when we went to Subway to eat.

The restaurant had been too packed to get any service, that's how we found ourselves at the Subway. Phil ordered a six inch steak and cheese with a footlong's worth of bacon. Then while eating, he talked about how he blew the Subway worker's minds because no one had ever had bacon on one of these before. We got some beer and took off for the show.

We sat in the parking lot for a while, drinking some beers. Phil had to call of friend he was meeting, so I lent him my phone. Call made, he took off. We followed shortly after. And the show was good.

After we were done being rocked, we headed to to parking lot to wait out the rush to get out. Phil and his friend Erin showed up. She needed a ride back to Chicago, so Al and the boys let her come with us. I got dropped off in East Troy and made my way home, where I promptly went to bed.

At 4 am, I got a wrong call on my cell phone. So I turned it off and went to back to sleep.

When I got up Sunday morning, I turned on the cell phone and it told me I had some new voice mail. So I checked it. The first call was Al, and was made as I was heading to meet them. The second was from Erin; she had been calling for Phil because she hadn't met him at the show yet. I promptly deleted both, since they didn't matter.

Then I heard:
"Sunday, 5:18 a.m.
Aaron, uh, call me back. I'm at, uh, 312-555-0088 or, uh, 212-555-3754. I'm Erin's fiancé. We need to chat, bro. Later."

WTF?

I went about my business as usual for the day. I gave Al a call and put him on the case of finding out if this was true or not (As a side note, and since he wants to see this somewhere, Al beat me the last time we played frisbee golf. And, I'll admit it, I got spanked.)

I found out on Monday that the call was prompted by Nick (Erin's boyfriend, not fiancé as he claimed) mixing prescription meds, alchohol and a fight. Add to that my number in the memory of Erin's phone and we have one weird ass phone message.

The upside of all of this is that I finally learned the difference between fiancé and fiancée. God bless wacked out boyfriends!