quick facts for "manic" monday, november 17th

if this week doesn't kill me, it will make me very tired. i've got a crazy week ahead of me, and things always look the bleakest on monday. without boring everyone to death, i'll just say that i've got a lot of work to complete this week. if you're a friend of mine in the starkville area, you might not see me very often this week, unless you are also confined to the library. (3rd floor is the quietest place i've found...).

with that in mind, let's quickly hit the quick facts ::

current time :: 10:34pm

current location :: the mitchell memorial library computer lab (desk #68, to be exact).

currently listening too :: okkervil river's album black sheep boy. (the song no key, no plan, again, for exactness sake)

the current price of a gallon of gas in starkville, ms :: $1.86

fact :: my mississippi state bulldogs basketball team defeated the university of louisiana - monroe warhawks by the final score of 78-49. the bulldogs are now 2-0 on the season.

today in history ::

• queen mary i of england dies and is succeeded by her half sister, cate blanchett, in 1558.
• the united states congress holds it first session in washington, d.c, in 1800. now, congress mostly takes vacations in aspen.
• the delta phi fraternity is founded at union college in schenectady, new york in 1827. essentially, they just decided since they all got drunk and ended up passing out at the same place, they'd make it a club.
• the national rifle association is granted a charter by the state of new york in 1871. this was primarily to combat the public drunkenness perpetrated by the delta phi fraternity.
• the omega psi ohi fraternity is founded in 1911 at howard university in washington, d.c. apparently, these guys liked what the delta phi guys were cooking and wanted to get in on the action.
• the united state recognizes the soviet union in 1933. this replaced the practice of covering that portion of the globe with the right hand and pretending that it didn't exist.
• president lyndon b. jonson states that the united states armed forces were "inflicting greater losses than [they were] taking" and that they were "making progress" in the vietnam war in 1967 (8 years after the war had begun). the war ended on april 30th, 1975. at least he didn't have a huge "mission accomplished" banner behind him...
• douglas engelbart recieves the patent for the first computer mouse in 1970. elderly people everywhere have trouble understanding how mice could possibly control the arrow on that electronic window.
• president richard nixon tells 400 ap editors that he is "not a crook" in 1973. he was probably lying, making him both a crook and a liar, or a good politician...

born this day in history ::

• rock hudson (actor)
• gordon lightfoot (musician)
• martin scorsese (director)
• danny devito (actor)
• lorne michaels (producer)
• butch davis (football coach)
• jeff buckley (musician)
• kimya dawson (musician)
• reggie wayne (football player)
• rachel mcadams (actress)
• brad bradley (wrestler, guy with the same first and last name)

video of the day ::

more to come...