Finally, we get a great idea from our beloved government. This weekend is "back-to-school" tax break weekend. So if you go out and purchase any school related supplies or clothing, there is no tax on your purchase. How great is that? What, you aren't in school anymore? Big deal.
After considering it for a long time, I went out today and purchase some paint and canvas. Don't get me wrong here. I have absolutely no training in artwork. Never had an art class, except in middle school, and never even really done much drawing. But after some nudging from my buddy Alex, I decided to go out and buy some supplies. Now we aren't talking masterpieces here. I simply bought some very small pre-stretched canvas and two different paint colors. I figured, what the hell … I'll give it a shot.
Also picked up the Darius Rucker (front man for Hootie and the Blowfish) solo debut album today, entitled Back to Then. So far so good. The last track features Snoop Dogg, so I'm highly anticipating that. Oh yeah, no tax break on CDs.
The past week or so has been a lot of fun. Visited Michael Newport in Boone last Thursday. Spent last Saturday on Lake Norman, courtesy of the Blixt family. Erich had some seriously studying to do for his first set of finals in PA school, so Jennifer was gracious enough to let me ride with her to the lake in her Heep. Good times.
My good friend, and fraternal little brother, Jonathan Dube popped into town Monday night. He's been trying to talk me in to driving to California with him. I think he is leaving this weekend. As much as I'd love to take that trip, I feel like I should stick around here in case any job news surfaces. I'll probably be kicking myself in about a week when I could be chillin' on the Pepperdine campus in lovely Malibu, home to Jon's law school. I suppose right now, the job search is the most important thing. Am I growing up? God, I hope not.
So I applied for a job at Northern Illinois last Thursday. I think there is some promise there. The job sounds interesting, although I'll be curious to learn more about it. I already have one great friend up there, Steve "Candy Ass" Flippen. Flip's an old grad school buddy of mine, who has been braving the Illinois weather for little over a year now. During grad school, Flip and I would always talk about how great it would be to one day become athletic directors in the same conference. It would make all the sporting events that much more interesting. But I suppose starting out at the same university wouldn't be so bad either.
If the job with the NIU Huskies doesn't work out, looks like I'll be sticking around Winston for at least one more year. There is a position here with the Lawrence Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum that is a good possibility. Deep down, I'd really love to stay in college athletics, but this would give me another good year of administrative experience and would probably lead to me heading back to school to get my doctorate is sports administration. We'll see.
So go out and have a great weekend. Go purchase some art supplies … you'll help the economy and maybe even come across a talent you didn't know you had. Oh, and anyone in the Winston area this weekend should head over to Spring Street tomorrow night. Dan, our beloved landlord, is hosting a pig pickin'. So come on over around 6 and prepare to eat some fun, drink some beverages and have a great time.