Why We REALLY Got The Internet

I walked into the annex today and saw my computer was on a page with a history of NBA basketball MVPS. If you were to flash back three hours earlier at The Old Angle, my brother and I got into a small argument about how many MVP awards Larry Bird won in a row. I swore he didn't win three in a row and my brother swore otherwise. He did win three in a row. This is why the page was still up for me to see as I walked in the door, and this is the real reason we got internet access at the annex. Is there anything more satisfying than settling sports debates? I think not.

Holiday Greetings From The Annex

Posted on msnbc.com this week:
“Are you really spreading holiday cheer with the annual letters?”

Then it got me thinking…

Holiday (censored) Letter From The Annex

Holiday Greetings from the Annex! It has been quite a year for us! In January we will be celebrating one year of existence, so I guess you could say it has been our best year yet.

Mark moved in at the beginning of January and things have been entertaining ever since. From xxxxxxxxxxxx to xxxxxxxxxxx, things have been a little wild at times, but we have all grown from our experiences. There were the times this year when xxxxxxxx happened, but thankfully everyone is still in one piece. It wouldn’t be a holiday letter if I didn’t mention xxxxxxxxxxx, so for those of you that remember that evening, thanks for the memories. Nonetheless, we have had a great time and we have grown a lot in the past year. We just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season.

Happy Holidays,
The Annex

Why We Call It The Annex

According to Wikipedia, Annex is defined as: a building that is in addition to another building. When I was in college, the word was also used to define the smaller fraternity house, which housed all the people who couldn’t fit into the main house. As you know, my brother, who has the other apartment in my house, and I also call our house “The Annex.” Part of this definition comes from the fact that it is a building that is in addition to another building-that’s Camp Lieberth-but part of it comes from the fact that it does indeed seem like a fraternity house at times. Take this weekend for example.

I walked (stumbled) in on Friday night/Saturday morning and called my brother’s name out when I walked into the door, as we usually do when one of us is walking in that late. He was still up, and even though he said he was getting ready for bed, I got him to go back out and get more beer. After all it was only 2 am. Soon I was making homemade beef chow mein (I like to cook late at night) and we played Monopoly until 4am as we talked about sports, work, girls and other unrecognizable conversation pieces all while making up some weird dance. Are you starting to see the frat house correlation yet? It was such a blast that we spent most of the day Sunday drinking beers, watching football and talking about many of the same topics as I made a big Italian feast. I think we should re-name our house: Kappa Lambda Alpha for Kamp Lieberth Annex.

The best part about this fraternity is that we go on field trips: free hot dogs tonight at the Old Angle for Monday Night Football. I certainly can’t cook every night, or people might start to think I am the house mom.

Growing Up Lieberth

Since I last posted to this blog, I have been enlightened in several different ways and I feel a whole lot smarter because of it. Let’s review…

Last Thursday I was part of a pilgrimage to Wayne State University to see Soul Latina. The article from the student newspaper describes it a lot better than I ever could, but I want to say it opened my eyes up to a lot of things I have never experienced. Let this also serve as a shameless plug for my girlfriend who is incredibly talented and proved it by writing one of the monologues on this national tour.

Speaking of things I have never experienced, on Friday I helped Maria take her braids out. It was enlightening to say the least. I spent most of the next evening explaining the process to my brother Mark who found it equally as amazing. There are just so many things you don’t experience growing up Lieberth*, which serves as a euphemism for white with a European heritage.

However the most important thing I learned over the past week had to be that no matter how much time you spend on your brackets, you are most likely going to lose. This is exactly what happened to me this year. Not that it would have really mattered because if you actually have all four of these teams in your Final Four, and your aren’t an alum of George Mason, than you are most likely a freak of nature and I don’t feel so bad.

I guess I just collapsed under the pressure of winning my bracket last year and trying to defend my crown. Oh well, at least I am smarter in other ways now. Life isn’t all about sports, right? I guess that would be the one thing you would experience growing up Lieberth*.

*Also used as an adjective by Mindy to describe weird and sporty behavior, such as "You are going to go to the game and act all Lieberth, aren't you?"

Dinner At The Annex

Who says the Annex can't be classy? Sure our dinner might be a box of hot dogs but at least we still have wine with dinner.

The Censored Nutshell

This is the fourth time I have tried to start a blog entry this week. The past ten days have been a whirlwind with so many interesting anecdotes to share. However I have been incredibly busy at work and sitting down to take the time and reflect has been almost impossible. I have to censor some of what has been going on the past ten days or so as to not offend anyone such as parents, close friends, acquaintances or anybody else who reads this blog on a regular basis.

Two weekends ago was Mark’s first official weekend in the big city. We made the most of it on Saturday night by sitting behind the Milwaukee Bucks bench with our upgraded seats at the CAVS game. After the game we xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and the next thing I know we are walking home across the Detroit/Superior bridge Sunday morning.

That weekend served as a springboard into a fun week of unplanned festivities, which included my brother and I bonding at Target and fun late-night phone calls from Meg in Chicago with CAVS updates, whether I wanted them or not. On Wednesday my water went out at my apartment (thankfully it wasn’t my fault) and a friend let me stay at her apartment while she was out of town. Unfortunately she doesn’t have a television because xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx so I had to find something to do to keep myself entertained. I realized that evening it is no small coincidence Richard Dean Anderson who played TV’s MacGyver and I went to the same college (for those of you at home who don’t know: we both went to Ohio University). I now consider myself the MacGyver of the kitchen as I made a fun chicken dish with what was available to me. It’s amazing what you can do with a little curry paste and a spice rack.

Friday I thought I was going to stay in and just relax but I ended up meeting Mindy at Ohio City’s best Happy Hour. Once home I was feeling restless, so I xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and now there is this crazy hole in my ceiling which is going to be impossible to explain. The weekend was filled with a lot of poker, an incredibly fun wedding shower (how often do you hear that?), football with my brother, a fun party in Lakewood followed by an intriguing after hours and chocolate mint martinis. Monday I celebrated the holiday in style by xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I am still shaking my head at that one.

I don’t know if it is just coincidental or not but ever since Mark has moved in downstairs things have been pretty constant. It has been so much fun though having my best friend right down stairs to drink beers with and watch sports with anytime. Not only do I have cable on-demand it is like I also have drinking buddy and sports fan on-demand as well. Life is good and not just because of the funny pact I made with Mindy Friday night which entailed me xxxxxxxxxxxxx for a couple weeks. I will keep you updated.

Just Your Typical Night Of River Raid Until Three In The Morning

Last night I might have seen the most incredible national championship game of my lifetime. Normally this would be the best part of my evening. However the game was overshadowed by my new Christmas present from one of my best friends. Last night Liz came over and brought me the new Atari game system. The game system is almost half the size of the original and has 40 games (with all the original graphics) in the memory. After the game we debated about setting it up, but couldn’t help ourselves. This morning I am feeling the effects of staying up that late with my new toy, but it was worth it to get to play River Raid and Pitfall. I had no idea how much I missed those crazy sound effects from 1982.

The Investment

I mentioned yesterday my brother moved in downstairs to create the Camp Lieberth Annex (both the Annex and Camp Lieberth are terms coined by M. Childress) and now we have a whole house to ourselves, except, and this is the best part, we don’t share anything. He has his place and I have mine. I shouldn’t say we don’t share anything. Last night we shared the following conversation:
“If this game goes into a fourth overtime, I am going to bed.”

“Are you nuts man? You just invested five hours into this game and you are going to go to bed if it goes into another overtime. I am staying up if I have to put toothpicks in my eyes. There is no way I can go to bed now.”

What was supposed to be a buffer game between the Fiesta Bowl and the Rose Bowl turned out to be an incredible game when Penn State beat Florida State in the third overtime of the Orange Bowl last night/this morning. I must admit I am extremely excited for the Rose Bowl tonight. I am going with Texas in the upset. I think they are getting six points. Now that my brother is living below me and watching games with me, I have become very fixated on the point spreads. He has taught me a lot about how you don’t have to cheer for a team to win but to just not lose by more than nine points in the case of Florida State last night. Yes, the Annex is an intellectual hotbed.

In A Nutshell

The past three days have been a whirlwind which can only be described as:
Going out way too late Friday night, The CAVS winning a big one, my brother moving below me to create the Camp Lieberth Annex in Ohio City, the quintessential New Year’s celebration with all the fixings, a Browns win to finish the season, a New Year’s meal fit for royalty, a late night drive for Christmas Ale, the purchase of my dress for the big wedding, seeing Brokeback Mountain which is oscar-worthy on so many levels, more fantasy football winnings and a big Fiesta win for the Buckeyes. It was such a fabulous weekend. I didn’t want to see it end. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!