i didn't win squat. i was alone in 2nd place 3 of the 4 rounds. i was one back twice, and two back once. the time i was two back it was recognizing meteorological symbols. the punks didn't accept "sunny" for "clear" or "partly sunny" for "partly cloudy." had they done so, i would have tied. alas.

it was a tough week. i had my best overall showing. my team of one placed second overall. the winning team had 25, i had 21 (ignoring the ones for which i should have gotten credit), and the next highest was 17.

i don't intend to do well overall. i hope to win rounds. when i'm by myself i'm more apt to make stupid mistakes and miss easy questions. (author of charlotte's web, the last year the winter/summer olympics were held in the same year...)

tomorrow i may go to quiz night again. i'll be working late and have lots to do, so i'm not sure. for those who want to know about last quiz night, i'll edit what i sent to a good friend.

i actually am starting to write this at a self described local saloon. i finally found a place in wilson that has a quiz night. so yes, i brought a laptop to a bar. i'm that guy. maybe it'll be intimidating.

it's an odd mix of redneck and wannabe intelligencia. good times. there was also a large group of mostly chinese men that was here for a while. i think they may have been celebrating chinese new year. i'll look that up. [edit: apparently chinese new year is in february, despite what i thought i overheard.]

i am quite the cheapskate. i only bought one pint @ 1.50. i kept expecting to win a round or otherwise get some free food. last week i ordered food while not hungry but then won the first round and was given quite a bit of food (that i didn't eat.) this week, i tied two of the four rounds but lost one tiebreak and then won the last round (good ole lucky number 42 won it for me.) i won a card for free food (instead of food just being plopped on my table) a tshirt (from the holloween festivities), and plastic cups. [edit: i gave the tshirt to a lady at the table next to mine (who i beat overall) since i overheard her talk about how her daughter called her every week to ask her to win her something and this week she asked for a tshirt she could sleep in. twas nice to hear later on that her daughter was 24...]

so i'm sitting here actually hungry (despite having eaten beforeheand) and stll not ordering. i think the owner is thinking he should institute a one entree minimum.

when talking to the local saloon owner last sat, i found out they have a weekly trivia night on mondays. i was pleased to hear this as i'd been wondering if there was one in town. so i went yesterday. it was to start at 7 but didn't actually start until around 7:45. that was rather annoying. i found a small table in the back corner and - while not very hungry - ordered a philly. they apparently make up the questions themselves. four rounds of 10 questions each. it seems that 8 is the unofficial limit for a group.

the first round started, and i thought i was doing pretty well. the table next to me wasn't playing but would try to come up with the answers anyway. i would give them my guesses when they were done trying to figure it out. the rounded ended, and the answers. were collected. they were none too speedy. luckily i'd struck up a conversation with the next table.

eventually the server came over and said i had food coming since i'd won. i was like...what? i won? um...i'm not hungry. (i'd still not finished any of the fries and was only halfway through the philly.) they were like, we'll make it to go. i asked to get it to go...when i was leaving. apparently they couldn't do that. i got nine right (and had made a note of the right answer next to the wrong one). there were two groups with eight right.

so i'd just sat down and filled out the quiz by myself and won my first round. i should have just quit then. i did not have subsequent success. while my overall did surpass some other groups, i did rather poorly...and i had a big box of nachos. i do hope that future weeks won't have 2 rounds that deal with geography.

i didn't even know i had a tip jar, but now that i saw the comments - - booyow. i'm collecting.

i've been busy. so unless i write about work, i've had little to write about. saturday i planned on making a run up to the capital city and among other things, seeing kill bill. i found out the showtime too late to leave in time to see it with the folks i'd planned on joining. instead i just went to the local theatre. who has just one person selling tickets?! i was late as it was. it about drove me crazy. luckily, the actual start time hadn't begun yet. (advertise the real start time, punks.)

t'was quite the movie. i'd read a couple of reviews that attacked it for not enough character development and that one wouldn't care of someone died. i didn't find that to be the case. while character development is someone spotty; clearly some of that is deliberate with a slow reveal - but i think this only heightens interest in the characters.

i was bored so i went driving around. i ended up showing up at a little "saloon" it was supposed to be having a halloween party and a costume party. they tried, but they need some real work on how to set the tone of an event. the few who were dressed up felt out of place and soon left. the lights were too bright and all the tvs were showing sports. (reminds me of another event a couple of years ago.) while the tvs were cool with me since i wasn't there for a halloween thing and wanted to watch the future acc members battle, it was pretty sad. i hung out the bartenders, server, and owner. they eventually just gave cash with no fanfare to the few that were there at the end in any sort of costume.

i think i would have shown horror films on the tvs and dimmed (and colored the lights) and pumped eerie music in the background at the least. for those like me wanting to watch the game, they can watch outside in the tent. i also would have made those working wear/ keep on their costumes to make anyone who dressed up seem less out of place.