Imagine my suprise this morning when I read that forte, meaning “something in which one excels,” is properly pronounced with a single syllable, as ‘fort.’ As you know, I am irked when double-syllabled words are pronounced with a single syllable; in this case, it appears that the opposite is true. I had always assumed that the musical forte, meaning ‘loud,’ was pronounced the same as the ‘has great talent’ forte. I was mistaken: the adjective/adverb (musical) form hails from Italian, whereas the noun form emigrated from French. Fear not: according to Dictionary.com, the two-syllabled elocution is fast becoming the norm. The editors go so far as to warn that the speaker risks listener confusion if the single-syllable rendering is used. Ah, progress.

Thursday night, Minnesota played Michigan in the 2002 Men’s Frozen Four semifinals. I got together with some of my Brothers from Michigan, and we watched the game. The evening ended in Minnesota’s favor, much to my delight. Thanks to an upset earlier in the day over New Hampshire, Maine was set to play Minnesota in the Championship game. I really wanted to go to the Championship game, as I would be home in time for the start and it was being played at the Xcel Center. Unfortunately, the scalpers’ prices were too high for my taste, so I find myself “watching” the game via the internet – watching the score ticker, that is. The game just went into the overtime period (score: 3-3). Depending on how fast I type, I might append the result to the bottom of this entry.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my need for speed was revived by the ride in the Firehawk. Naturally unsatisfied with the status quo, I went looking for something that could outdo the beautiful red Trans Am. I found my answer in the Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa, one of the world’s most powerful production motorcycles.

The Hayabusa is propelled by an inline-four pushing 160 h.p. to the wheel! This immense power (more than my first car) lets the Hayabusa run to 60 in about 2.2s, blast through the quarter in under 10s, and reach a 200 mph terminal velocity. In other words: wow. Any car, save for the 833 h.p. Hennessey Viper, would be demolished by the Hayabusa.

I mentioned my newfound affection for the Hayabusa to my friend Eric. In response, Eric mentioned that a Maple Grove Senior High student had been killed the week prior on a motorcycle, though he did not know the victim’s name. Immediately, I worried that my friend Kyle (a.k.a. Jake) had been involved, as he was the only person I knew at MGSH that rode a bike. I went over to the Star Tribune, did a search, and… well… found that my suspision wasn’t entirely true: Richard Des Marais passed away as a result of a motorcycle accident near the intersection of Bass Lake Road and Interstate 494 (it involved the guard rail, and yes, he was wearing a helmet). Richard was Kyle’s brother, and as such, I had a casual acquaintance with him. If you look close enough at the photos on JakeandtheFatMan.com, you can find a photo from a LAN party that has him and me in frame. Life is short, enjoy every second of it.

Well, the post is done, but the Gophers game is still going. According to my score ticker, the Gophers just got a Power Play goal, giving them a 4-3 advantage. The Gophers won! Duffman says, “Oh yeah!”

Tonight I made a mistake: I rode in a car with considerably more power than my beloved Bonneville. Which automobile was guilty of subverting my vehicular morals? None other than a bright red 2000 Trans Am Firehawk. When the 5.7L v-8 comes to life, you know you’re dealing with something special. The motor purrs like a kitten at idle, gradually growing to a fortissimo cougar scream at redline. And the acceleration? Kevin, my Brother who bought the car, was kind enough to take me for a ride which included several spirited runs to the happy side of 80 mph. The feeling was incredible. Downshift. Gas. Backside glued solidly to seat. Lurch forward slightly as we approach redline and shift. More gas. Repeat as necessary for an on-demand endorphin rush.

Why was it a mistake? It was a mistake because everything else feels woefully underpowered now. As a result, I find myself lusting after fast cars (more than usual, that is). I feel that I must have a fast sports car. I’m sure the urge will subside in a few days. Until then, I’ll hear that engine in my dreams.

I awoke this morning to find the world glistening in white. For the second time this season, we got a significant amount of snow – well, significant for Terre Haute. All told, we got about four inches of heavy snow and ice. The snow wasn’t bad, but scraping the layer of ice from my windshield took a quarter-hour. I predict that by tomorrow evening, all trace of the snow will be gone. Cold is fleeting in central Indiana.

Last week I experienced the legendary inefficiency of the Postal Service: I bought an economics book on eBay at the end of February. On February 25, the seller shipped the book via media mail. I received the book on March 18. Yes, it took three weeks to get here from Louisiana. Worse, the book spent over two weeks at a processing center in Tennessee. Utterly remarkable.

Last weekend was International Workday 2002 for Pi Kappa Alpha. As such, we (about 118 Brothers, girlfriends, parents, and alumni) worked on a dozen projects around the House. Various groups did everything from cleaning abandoned buildings to raising a pole barn. (No, not razing, though we’ll get to do some of that to the old garage once the barn is complete.) It was a perfect Saturday for outdoor projects: mid-forties and sunny. Such weather was in stark contrast to the previous night, when a bunch of Brothers (including myself) were setting the pole barn posts in the midst of a raging thunderstorm. Needless to say, it was a welcome change.

I spent the first part of the day priming the inside of our gym, in preparation for eventual repainting. After a brief lunch break, I switched to driving a scissors lift and putting up the roof trusses on the barn. It was great fun; I can’t wait to see it complete! Alex Lo took quite a few photos of the event; look closely and you might catch a glimpse of me.

Today I woke up early and planted trees around Terre Haute, in the annual Trees Inc. Adopt-a-Street Tree Canopy program. Our chapter has a tradition of participating in the program that goes back many years. I helped plant five hardwood tress with two Tri-Delt members and a husband and wife team. It was a much better use of a Saturday than sleeping till noon.