Hey Internet. As I mentioned in my previous post, November holds the legendary day 11/11, this year falling on 11/11/09. Well, today is that day. I know, I know, I was supposed to blog yesterday, and that was 11/10 and that's not nearly as special. I didn't blog yesterday, because I was preparing for Songfest, which you can read about over on Lindsay's blog. I was in charge of Songfest for my fraternity this year, and we did parody covers of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" and Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" that I reworded to be about Christmas and Chi Omegas. We won first place out of all the fraternities, which is really awesome. The guys sang really well, and it was a lot of fun. I also had the chance to buy 50 Santa hats at once, which was just cool to walk up to a cashier and say "yeah, that's fifty Santa hats."

Listen up, kids. I've got some great news and it's definite proof that planning ahead is beneficial to your college career. Tomorrow, I've got a big chemistry test. As in, one of the only two tests of the semester big. My fraternity has a "swap" scheduled for tonight with Delta Gamma, so I've been studying ahead so I wouldn't have much studying to do today. Hold the phone, wait a minute. Yesterday, this awesome band from Memphis, Lucero, cancelled a show in Mobile, AL, and decided to pick up another show tonight at the Thirsty Hippo in Downtown Hattiesburg. Good thing I studied beforehand. Lesson learned. When I heard about the show, I called Sam in Austin to tell him one of his favorite bands is playing at our favorite eclectic venue right here in Hattiesburg. He was really jealous. He proceeded to tell everyone he knew back here to go to the show tonight. I am very excited about it. I love it when good music comes to Hattiesburg. I am missing the swap, though. Kierstan isn't very happy about it. She said she was going to tell her whole sorority that I wasn't coming and they should all hate me. My bad.

Listen up. Real talk. Girl Talk is coming to Hattiesburg in less than two weeks. Get excited! Here's a rough cut of the mashup I made for that Friday Night at the Fountain a few weeks back. I've added a lot to it since then, but haven't had time to record it or put it through any post-production. Til next time, rock on:

Hello there, interwebs! Welcome to the month of November. A few important things happen in November: the day after Halloween, "No Shave November", Saints football, November 11th, the day before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving are just a few of the many things that happen this month.

I'll start at the top: the day after Halloween. The day after Halloween is a time to reflect on the fun times had assuming alternate identities, whether it is a zombie or a break dancer or a break dancing zombie (that's you, roomie). This year for Halloween, I had two costumes. The first was very coordinated and awesome, the second one...not so much. For my first costume on Friday, I was Paulie Bleeker from the movie Juno. I went to the Chi Omega date party with Zoe. She was Juno. The costume was her idea, and it turned out really well:

I really was happy to be there. I was just trying to get in character for the picture. Funny story: when I went to Turtle Creek Mall to stock up on those awesome athletic shorts, headband and knee-high socks, the guy at the store said someone had just come in and gotten the same combination of items for a Juno costume. The cashier said the person's wife was really pregnant though. Zoe isn't really pregnant. That's a rolled up towel. Zoe, you're awesome.

On Halloween night, my costume wasn't so well put together. I decided to go with an odd assortment of items found at my apartment: an old one-or-two-sizes-too-small wizard costume, a Wild West gun belt with cap guns, 3-D glasses, and those same knee-high socks. I got a few (a lot) of weird looks, and a few people (everyone) asked what I was. I figured out it was funny to respond each time with a different Bruce Willis role. Example: "Stuart, what's your costume, dude?" Answer: "Oh, I'm Bruce Willis from Disney's The Kid." Another Example: "Hey Stuart, you're awesome! What's your number? Also, what's your costume?" Answer: "Hey ladies, calm down. I know I'm super cool. My costume is Bruce Willis from Armageddon."

The Bruce Willis idea was a big hit. It didn't make any sense, but it made people laugh. I managed to make my way home mid-party and change into my Paulie Bleeker costume. People really liked that too. No one really liked my first costume.

Enough about Halloween, on to the next thing on the list: "No Shave November". "No Shave November" is a tradition among men in that we don't shave during the month of November. Last year, I participated in "No Shave November," and it was kind of gross. I can't really grow a moustache, so I just ended up with this slightly unattractive "chin strap" style of a beard. I decided not to participate this year.

Next up: Saints football. Saints football happens every November, but the Saints haven't had a 7-0 start since 1991, so people are pretty excited. I remember back in the day in elementary school when "Who Let the Dogs Out" was a big thing for the Saints. (I always thought that was a pretty dumb song.) Last night I went to Brad and Sam's for the big Monday night game. Even Turtle Angel was getting in on the spirit:

Also on the list is November 11th (which this year is two years before the historic 11/11/11 which hasn't happened since November 11th, 1911 [and before that, November 11th, 1811 {and even before that, November 11th, 1711}]). The other things on the list I'll talk about next week. For now, I'm heading to New Orleans for a recruitment event with Eagle Connection. Peace, everyone.

P.S. Girl Talk is coming to Eaglepalooza. Don't think I forgot. Double countdown next week. For real.

Internet family, it's that time of the semester again. It happens every fall semester. It's the week after Homecoming. All that fun and excitement is over, and one thing still remains: class. This is the time of the semester when I always remember I'm here to get my degree, and I should probably invest more time in studying. This year's week after Homecoming has hit me like a wall of bricks stuck together with the finest mortar ever made. It's been rough. This is mostly because my mind is still in Homecoming week, and my body is walking around a week later. I have lots of work to get caught up on.

Last week was a lot of fun. Quick recap: My homecoming team won. End quick recap. No, seriously, it was a lot of fun. On Saturday, I walked around and took pictures all day. The District was alive and lots of fun. The Golden Eagles smashed Tulane 43-6. One of our proud Homecoming Week traditions is float stuffing, where student organizations decorate large sheets of chicken wire with all tissue paper and Southern Miss spirit. If you've ever walked through the front of campus on the Saturday of Homecoming, you'll have seen the monstrous floats demonstrating students' love for Southern Miss. Here's a picture I took of my fraternity brother Ben "helping" our teammates Chi Omega while they decorated their float. I'm not really sure what he's holding, but this picture makes me laugh:    On Sunday, I extended my Homecoming week festivities and drove to Lafayette, LA, with Madison to see a band called the Dirty Projectors. They were absolutely amazing. So good. They have three female vocalists, and I want to marry all of them. It was a long drive (6 hours round trip) but was totally worth it.

One of my original Hattiesburg Hall crew members came in town last night. Corey lives in Oregon now but made a trip down for a week or so. Last night we had a little reunion at Brad and Sam's apartment. It was just like old times, but we didn't play night man. I'm sure this next week will be fun having Corey in town. He's giving all of us old friends an excuse to hang out again.

And last, but certainly not least, our countdown to Girl Talk. Last week at the Friday Night at the Fountain, I was given the opportunity to pretend to be Girl Talk during the Pep Rally to get everyone excited about Eaglepalooza. It was awesome. Not only did I pretend to be Girl Talk, I made a special Southern Miss-themed mashup with a little remix of the fight song and played it live on stage. We had a dance contest with a few members of the crowd for backstage passes to Eaglepalooza. It was an awesome experience and was essentially my first live show. I want to post the mix I played, but I haven't had time to record it yet. When I do, I'll put it up here, and you can jam out, Golden Eagle Mashup style. Here I am right before I started playing. (I even put plastic all over my computer like Girl Talk does. This is a serious business.)  Well that's it for this week. When I get that mashup recorded, I'll send it this way. Peace.

Hey! I am really excited about Homecoming week. Straight up, super excited. And pretty much for one reason: today was the annual Fountain Sit. If you haven't ever heard of the Fountain Sit, prepare to be enlightened.

The Fountain Sit is an annual competition held during Homecoming week. Student organizations are split up into teams for the week, and each team elects one or two representatives to sit in the fountain in Shoemaker Square. That's right. They sit there for a whole day. It starts at 10:00 AM and usually lasts until midnight. Competitors get to answer trivia questions about Southern Miss to get food breaks and be exempt from "punishments," such as sitting directly under the fountain or walking laps on all fours. I will now tell you the tale of two Fountain Sits: this year's and last's.

Last year, the Fountain Sit was record setting. It was cold. Very cold. It was my time to shine. The night before I got dressed in my fountain sitting gear (rain jacket and athletic pants) and took a motivational walk around campus. I came and sat by the fountain and thought about my life. A person has to think about their whole life before they can get in that fountain. It was below freezing at 8 AM when I walked to my Analytical Chemistry class. Brad and I ate a meal afterwards at the Fresh Food Company. I read the paper. It was like any normal day. Except my life was about to change forever.

At 10:00 AM I got in the fountain. It was freezing. We got to sit in chairs for the first few hours. I had already been working in Admissions for most of the year, so I got all the trivia questions right. My teammate wasn't so informed, but I taught him as we went along. Emily brought me some hot chocolate. Tobin brought me some food at lunch. Help from friends is best. Some of the games they made us play in the fountain were ridiculous. We had to play the game "Questions," which meant that we could only talk in questions. I had one question that I kept asking was "has your mother ever been to Georgia?" I have no idea why I kept asking that question. Someone commented on it a few days later. I think the cold got to my head. It was so cold.

At about 3:00 PM we had to take off an article of clothing. I took my long pants off and had shorts on underneath. Once our chairs were gone it didn't matter how many pairs of pants you had on, because it was so cold. By 4:00 PM we were sitting on the bottom of the fountain with nothing but our heads above water. It was so cold. There were only five of us left. At 5:00 PM, one of the campus physicians came to the fountain, made a quick diagnosis, and we were forced to get out of the fountain. We were all showing serious symptoms of hypothermia. It was the first time the fountain sit was forced to an abrupt end. The historic "Fountain Five" all split the points for the sit. I was prepared to stay in the fountain indefinitely, and I was almost reluctant to get out early. It was the high point of my college career.

This year's fountain sit had fewer contestants and the air wasn't quite as cold, but the water temperature was still cold. My main man Justin represented my team this year, and I couldn't be prouder of him. I just received word that he won this year's fountain sit. Props to Justin. He is quite a comedian. He reminds me of his old dad. Er, I'm not his dad. I'm just the guy that did the Fountain Sit before him. There was a dead grasshopper floating in the fountain, and he picked it up and played with it for a while. It sounds crazy, but he was in the best mood and the cold can be blamed for any deviation from sane behavior. Here he is below waiting on a game of Duck Duck Goose. He looks miserable, but his spirits were high and he was a trooper for sure. 

  Happy sitting, everyone. I'm proud of you, Justin. Countdown to Girl Talk in 3, 2, 1:

Internet! It's that time of year again! It's time for Black and Gold Day! This Saturday! Along with Homecoming, Black and Gold Day is one of the best Saturdays of the year to be at Southern Miss. It's a chance for anyone who's interested in Southern Miss to come and see our campus at its finest on a game day. There will be informational sessions, campus tours (hosted in part by yours truly) and Golden Eagle football. I especially am looking forward to the campus tours, as I am Co-Black-and-Gold-Day chair for Eagle Connection, the student recruiting group. We've been preparing diligently for the event on Saturday, and I hope all of you can make it. If you haven't signed up yet, then you can just show up on Saturday and register as a walk-in.

I had an awesome fall break. The Give-a-Push weekend was great. Lake Thoreau is a really cool place and isn't too far from campus. Once the site is finished, it will be a great place for students to go enjoy nature and learn about it as well. My role for the weekend, along with several other fraternity members, was to help cut a path through the woods for one of the accessible trails that will circle the woods. Some other members built an accessible boardwalk over a creek. On Saturday night, we went and painted pumpkins with people with disabilities at the State School in Ellisville. It was an amazing visit and a great weekend.

This week hasn't been too busy, but it's almost like the calm before the storm. Homecoming Week is approaching. Approaching quickly. As in, next week quickly. Next week is Homecoming. I can't seem to wrap my head around it. Where has the semester gone? I feel like I stepped into a wormhole during GEWW, and now I'm just getting out of it. Fun story about wormholes: One day, I slept over at Brad's apartment off campus, and we were driving to our 8:00 AM chemistry class. On the way there, we saw one of our classmates walking with his bike in the opposite direction (away from campus) about a mile from our building and five minutes before class started. When we got to class, he was already there, sitting calmly in class. The only explanation we could think of was that he stepped into a wormhole somewhere on 4th Street, and to this day, his name has been "Wormhole guy."

That's about all for this week. Next week, I'll give you a big, big, rundown of Homecoming Week festivities. I'm talking big.

As always, we're in the countdown to Girl Talk and Eaglepalooza, so here's one of the mixes I put together over fall break: