my moral standing is lying down

So went with coworker Danielle and her roommate Kate, who got tickets through her organization to their Skybox SUITE for last night's Rangers vs. Panthers game. They lost 1-2. They were winning 1-0 until the end of the third. Yeah; typical.

But enough about the game, let's talk about the experience -- these are suites above the 400 level seating, with AMAZING views of the ice. We got free t-shirts and then later a free bag of loot which included a soft/drawstring backpack, a baseball cap, a different t-shirt, a mini-pennant, stickers, schedule magnet (which I'm bringing into work to put on my cubicle cabinet)... I also got a Rangers player from the 70s to sign my Leetch jersey. Hopefully I will have other "AUTOGRAPH MY CHEST, PLEASE!" opportunities in the future. And maybe from players I've actually seen play.

Kate's bosses were AWESOME. They were really adorable, teasing her the whole time, and obviously tickled that another young girl was a huge fan of the Rangers/hockey in general? One of her bosses, George, is a Devil's fan... and Kate likes Gomez, so there was a lot of banter going back and forth on that topic.

Also, did I mention? OPEN BAR AND FREE FOOD?! Alcoholic, non-alcoholic, hot dogs, chicken fingers, chips & dip, salad, candy & cupcakes from Crumb!

WHEN I SAID I'M GOING TO BE SPOILED FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, I wasn't kidding! I NEED to do that again! AND ONE DAY I will get rinkside seats! SRSLY!

I've got some pretty good photos. Unfortunately, I left the memory card at home, so won't be able to upload them til tonight/weekend.

I feel INCREDIBLY LUCKY to have been given the opportunity to experience that. Never will I be able to afford that on my own. Thank you, people and friendship and serendipity! <3




On a related note... Devils vs. Blackhawks on St. Patty's Day?

Nice promo from ticketmaster.com: http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/t2p4rs/?dma_id=345

Get a discounted game ticket along with a voucher for a hot dog and beverage (soda or beer)!

Regularly priced $95 tickets are $65.
Regularly priced $70 tickets are $40.

You can add round trip NJT ticket and pay $75 (regular price $95) or $50 (regular price $70).

$50/ticket for all that is a pretty SWEET price. But I haven't followed the Devils like I used to, and chances are I'll be going out for drinks with coworkers.

Have not been reading a whole lot lately as I've been in a mood to watch things instead. I re-read the first 6 books of the Sword of Truth series which is better read when I'm able to skim the parts that irritated me the first time around (see my previous rants).

I also read Martine Leavitt's Keturah and Lord Death, which I received from koyappi for last year's Atheist's Day. ^_~ It was a young adult novel and as such, I was able to read it over the commute to and from work, plus my lunch hour. For some reason, I thought this one was going to be different than other romantic tales of Death, but it wasn't. The story itself was simple in the way a myth is simple; there are rarely reasons for why people feel the way they feel; they just exist. In any case, I still enjoyed it very much, as romantic/angsty/cool personifications of Death are definitely My Thing.

And it was the perfect time to read it; after watching 5 very good episodes of Supernatural (with yummy yummy angst) and then the deliciously sexually deviant and romantic movie Secretary, it was a good chaser.

...and I definitely need to go find some good fic now.

I do so love Secretary. I can't help but love James Spader. I have a warm spot in my heart for the deviants he played in the late 80s, like Sex, Lies & Videotape, and Less Than Zero.

I am patiently awaiting copies of Jim Butcher and LKH's latest installments to become available at the library. It'll probably be another month or two, but I'm trying to avoid spending money unnecessarily. Speaking of which, 2.5 gifts down, 3.5 to go.

In other news, hockey is still taking up most of my attention. MATS SUNDIN? REALLY?!

HOCKEY WEEK AT MODELL'S

Modell's Sporting Goods has your gift waiting during "Devils Hockey Week" at Modell's. Now through December 14, purchase $50 or more in hockey apparel or equipment at a participating Modell's Sporting Good Store and receive a pair of Devils tickets! Offer ends Sunday, December 14, or while supplies last. See store for promotional details.

Is this only at NJ Modell's?! I should go buy some hockey apparel. $50 for a pair of Devils tickets would be pretty cool.



( 100 VERY RANDOM things you've done... or not )

I have wanted to post A LOT in the last two weeks, but I've been SO busy at work and outside of it that I have had no time to sit down and compose. Of course, this means that quite a few of the things I wanted to say have slipped my mind. So just a few things for now...

NEIL GAIMAN WAS AT A JONATHAN COULTON SHOW IN THE UK! How great is that? You should watch this video in which JoCo invites someone from the audience to come up on stage...

I've been watching Gurren Lagann recently. I've watched up to episode 9 and will likely see at least a few more episodes some time this weekend while doing laundry. It's pretty amusing/entertaining; I'm enjoying it, though not obsessively into it. Which is a little disappointing; I'd like to get obsessively into an anime again. I've heard it gets better at some point, and I guess I have my own thoughts and theories as to what will happen further into the series.

Remember those Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind I read and rant about every so often? I mentioned almost a year ago that the first book was being turned into a TV mini series. Well, it has been. Though it's not a mini-series. It's actually a full-length series. Which is disappointing. This means, of course, that they aren't sticking to the events in the book; instead, they'll have random episodes where our protagonists do some good deed for some people you really couldn't care less about while on their journey to fight the big boss. SUCKS! I'd really rather have seen a 3 to 6-part series where they just follow the story. It really loses its sense of urgency when you have 15 random filler episodes. I set the DVR to record the series and I'll watch it for as long as I can stand it. But I can't promise I will. Same thing happened with The Dresden Files series. Though for Legend of the Seeker, if I hadn't thought it was going to be a mini-series, I might have set my expectations a little lower...

I continue to be obsessed with Mock the Week. I've watched a few episodes now with a couple of different people and it pleases me immensely that they enjoy it as well. It's quite upsetting that I will likely have to wait until July 2009 for a new episode (if it follows the schedule of the last two seasons), though I haven't watched every single episode yet. I think I still have around 5 or so that I haven't seen fully, and this gives me something to look forward to. I looked to see if season DVD sets were available on eBay, but the only one that's available is the Too Hot for TV DVD of bloopers and stuff they couldn't air.

I've also continued to watch almost every Rangers game this season. (I should take a moment here to say that DVR is a beautiful thing.) I'm really enjoying following everything closely. I've even been listening to this podcast from two guys at Syracuse University -- nyrangerscast.com. They're informative and interesting to listen to... and quite amusing. Especially when they do things like GET ARRESTED IN CANADA. Listen to episode 70 for the full story. ^^

Halloween Friday. MangaNEXT Saturday/Sunday. Drinking with coworkers Monday. Elelction Day Tuesday. More drinking with coworkers Wednesday. This week has been pretty non-stop. More later.

DAMMIT. I forgot to set the DVR to record tonight's game. Which really absolutely sucks, because not only will I not be able to catch the first period because my class runs til 8pm, but I also will not be able to catch the rest because of NA. ;_;

I want to watch tonight's game in full! I don't want to watch the abbreviated replay. *pouts*

Tonight they have a chance of setting a new record -- if they win, it'll be the first time that they've ever opened a season 6-0-0!

Watched the Rangers vs. Chicago game. ! Even better because Cube and I chatted throughout! Entertaining. They won 4-2, and are now at 3-0 in the regular season. They haven't gone 3-0 since the 1989-90 season. SWEET CAROLINE! BAH BAH BAHHHH! =D Need to do that more!

Went dancing in Astoria industrial club. Music was pretty good early on, some parts were boring (as expected), but overall better music than Contempt. Fewer people, which was not so good and slightly lame/boring. =( But, SO CLOSE! Freaking 15-minute train ride from my house, which is OMG awesome!

Link joined me at around 1:30am, which made it not boring anymore. =D

I'd bought a bottle of water while waiting at a 24hr Dunkin' Donuts at the corner near the N train. Only drank half of it and on the way back to the club I put it down on a stack of construction materials.

Got some shots of tequila. Nice bartender. After dancing for an hour or so and then coming back toward the bar, the bartender lifted the tequila. When I said I didn't have enough to buy another shot, he poured one for me -- on him. <3 I found out his name is Percy. ^^;

Walked Link to the N train and we talked for like 45 minutes before finally saying goodnight. On my walk back over to the R train I passed by that stack of construction materials and picked up my water bottle. Hahahaha. Finished it up on my way home.

All in all, an UNwasted night. I always feel so accomplished when I get home at 5am. =D