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the end is near...

4/26/2009 12:18:00 AM • • 2 comments

It is getting pretty hectic with the end of school approaching. I have a couple of projects due (convergence namely) that are giving me headaches. I am going to breath a big sigh of relief when this semester is over.

Summer can't come fast enough. I'm only taking one class I've decided. The rest of the vacation I'm just gunna work and go see friends down South. My first order of business will be to drive to Dallas the second I'm finished with my last final exam. Hopefully I can stay around a week or so.

Well, I gotta go cause my work relief just arrived.

Good luck to everybody with their end of semester studies!

Cool Stuff is Happening in the Newsroom

4/23/2009 11:01:00 PM • • 0 comments

Well its about 11:00pm and I just got back from the newsroom at AC. Tonight we got the two covers finished, quite a few stories edited and a really cool graphic made for the background  of one of the pages. I think this is going to be one of the best AC Currents ever. I'm really proud of the work that we've been seeing happening there. 

Here was my day today:
9:00am - 1:00pm : School
1:00pm - 6:00pm : Work
6:00pm - 10:30pm : Magazine and Newspaper Stuff

It has been an amazingly busy and fun day all at the same time.  But anyways this was just a quick little update for all of my friends out there in the bloggerverse.  I  gotta go study for Life Science test I can probably get in a few hours before bed time.

See you guys later!

Happy Earth Day

4/22/2009 10:22:00 AM • • 0 comments

- and Administrative Professionals Day.

I started my diet yesterday. I feel great! I have lots of energy and I am itching to go work out. Exactly the attitude that I should have.

Any Desperate Housewives fans? If you are then you are completely aware of Edie Brit’s untimely death, yet conveniently for her husband. Ahhh, Edie, so slutty yet insightful. Her character will be missed.

Tomorrow is the last day to withdraw from your classes, and the last day to apply for graduation. If you haven’t been going to your classes, and you may fail it… I suggest dropping it.

I think that’s all I have for today… oh, this weekend I’m walking in the March of Dimes walk for babies with my work. A couple ladies up here designed the cutest t-shirts for us, I’m excited. However, not looking forward to waking up at 9am. Oh well!!

Creative Minds and Random Thoughts

4/21/2009 12:10:00 AM • , , • 0 comments

Got some good news today: I'm designing the cover for the AC Current. I pitched my mockup for the cover today and I think it was a total success. I actually think I am going to involved in some other design elements for the magazine as well. I'm really excited about getting that done - I think all of you guys are gonna be really surprised by this years magazine. Its gonna be awesome.

I'm planning on applying for a position at WT Newspaper. The ideal position for me would be working on the advertising stuff, but if that doesn't work out then doing the website stuff would be fun. So I guess we'll see, that's much further on down the road.

I think I'm doing things backwards this semester - as the semester starts to come to close it seems like students start to do less and less in hopes of just getting the semester over with, but here I am taking on more and more.

Well I thinks that's all I got for now - its almost 1am time for some sleep.

The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see...

4/20/2009 03:19:00 PM • • 0 comments



So I made it back alive from my mountain adventure. It was a lot of fun but really cold. The first day was was probably the best. Although there was snow everywhere, the sun was out and the pace stayed pretty good. We set up camp, managed to make a fire, and ate. No sooner did we get in the sleeping bags did the snow decide to fall. It snowed about 2 feet that night and continued to snow all the next day. Luckily we had rented snowshoes. I don't know how we would have survived if we hadn't. It was too dangerous to hike to the lake (and too foggy for the shot anyway) so we just went somewhere else. In my opinion the shot we got is probably better than the one we went for. Anyway, we ran out of food and had to depend on jolly ranchers and snow to see us through to the end. When we got back to civilization I ate 4 enchiladas, about a gallon of sweet tea, and a couple of fried cheesecakes. Made it worth the whole trip.  The pics are from setting up camp, and what we woke up to. Well, waking up is not accurate since we didn't sleep very well on a bed of ice. I'll post my campaign when I finish it to show you what this thing was all about.

Ya'll have a good afternoon.

Things Coming Up

4/19/2009 08:23:00 PM • , , , , , , • 4 comments

I can see the light at the end of the AC tunnel. It's less than a month until graduation and then I'll be starting work on bachelors degree at WT. I'm pretty excited about graduating, its been a long time coming, but I'm also not really wanting to leave either - AC's Mass Comm department has been really great to me and I'm sure if you go talk to any other student in Mass Comm they will say the same thing. Too bad we can't get our bachelors degree from AC.

Oh Well on to WT - I got my schedule made the other day and as I looked at the classes I can take I started to realize wow I'm really taking some advance courses - I'm getting a little nervous now... oh well I'm ready, excited.

The classes I am taking at WT are:
   Public Relations and Publicity
   Advertising and PR Research
   Advertising Copy Writing
   Economics

Anyways guys I gotta go study - I think I have test tomorrow, I need to find out about that.

Become a friend that a friend would like to have

4/17/2009 10:10:00 AM • , • 0 comments


Let me complain and be a girl for a moment please…
I’m a pessimist. I try so hard not to be but it’s increasingly difficult. I have problems trusting people… I just don’t know how. This is becoming a problem in my relationship and I don’t know how to deal with it!! I’m a happy, outgoing person but this has NOTHING to do with the thoughts I have concerning confiding in people and I just can’t trust them. Maybe I could blame my mom. Since I can remember, she’s told me to watch my back, there are terrible people in the world, and you can’t trust anybody. Now that’s not fair... and I’m just starting to realize that. As young adults, we think we have it all figured out and I’m learning that nobody has it all figured out. We learn through our experiences but we will never have it all figured out. Blah. I just need to learn to trust!!

Well, on a lighter note, there are 28 days until graduation.

I have a cousin that is 16 and he will be graduating early from high school in May. Much to my surprise, his counselor hasn’t encouraged him to apply for any colleges or scholarships. He lives with my parents, and my parents haven’t encouraged him either?! Anyways, last night I did the big cousin thing and helped him apply to AC, printed off the FAFSA so he knows what to expect from that, and looked up his advisor’s name for him. It was reminiscent of when I was applying for colleges. I was telling him about Badger boot camp, and how your first semester you shouldn’t take too many hours, and no matter what to take Dr. Farmer for History. Speaking of which, I really miss his classes!! :( Well anyways, it made me remember the start of my journey at AC, and how my mindset and opinions of AC have changed so much. Hmmm.

I’m thinking of changing my major. Crazy, I know. (I've changed my major roughly 4 times since I graduated high school) It wouldn’t be a drastic change, just a small one from Advertising/Public Relations to Education Mass Comm. Apparently; WT offers Education and Mass Comm. as a combined major. I’m really excited about it. It would possibly put some of the classes I’ve already taken to be electives but that’s fine because I need 30 hours of electives to graduate. Lately, I’ve been questioning my career decisions, and I can really see the light with this major. Hopefully I'll be able to meet with my WT advisor sooooooooon!!

I’m exhausted… I hope everybody has an amazing weekend.

I cannot think of a clever title for this random post.

4/15/2009 10:42:00 AM • • 0 comments

It’s weird how school affects my mood so much. When I’m doing well in my classes and staying ahead of things I’m generally- very happy. However, when I’ve been slacking off in school, I get very discouraged about everything, not just school. This could be in relation to some mental illness that I have… I wouldn’t be too surprised. My mom always said I was crazy.

For a couple years now I’ve had cell phone service with Alltel but I’ve NEVER been able to keep one of their phones for more than 6 months without it breaking. I don’t know if it’s the cell phone manufacturer or if it’s Alltel just being cheap but it’s such a pain. I just renewed my 2-year agreement and I got the HTC Touch Pro phone… “stylin and profilin”. But now I’m seriously regretting not getting a Blackberry. Grr, I knew this would happen!!

They are playing country music at work today which absolutely makes my day!! We usually have elevator music- gag. Also something that makes my day- my boyfriend was being so sweet to me last night. I feel bad for him sometimes because I know that I’m not easy to put up with, but he does it anyway. Okay, enough hanky panky.

If you haven’t registered for classes yet, you may be S.O.L.! A lot of classes fill up early, some are only offered in the fall, etc. Because I’ll be a transfer student at WT, I have to wait TWO MORE weeks to register. We’re the last pick… I feel so special!!

Alright, it’s about time for my lunch meeting, so I’ll holla at you guys later. Have an wonderful week.

TIPA Dallas, Day 2 and 3 (several days ago - sorry)

4/14/2009 11:24:00 PM • , , , , • 0 comments

Hey guys I'm sorry but I just realized I suck and I forgot to post day 2&3 so here we go!

Day 2 was pretty fast paced, well the entire trip was a face paced, in the morning I went to couple of seminars.  The first one I went to was a seminar on how to write a good resume and how to get rid of unneeded information, I learned that my resume needs a complete overhaul. Up until this point I thought mine was reasonably good. The next seminar I went to was The 'Knows' of Public Relations and it was basically a telling of the PR world from a PR Professionals point of view in today's business world, very insightful.  After that I went to one seminar which was about branding yourself to match your resume - very good stuff there.  The there was luncheon, and after that it I went exploring the city and then did a little shopping with some of the others from the trip.

Day 3 was our last day and day that we came home.  It was fun trip but I was ready for some sleep in  my own bed. On day three however we go our awards - I won and award for Radio Advertising Copywriting from the competitions from day 1! I was superstoked about this because I was completing with student from 4 year universities as well as 2 year.

This whole trip has shown me a lot - it showed me that my passion definitely lies within advertising, I'm not too crazy about PR it seems a lot like cleaning up other people's messes while in advertising its a little bit more fun.

we'll see I have a feeling there are going to some blogworthy things coming up within the next few weeks.



Countdown to climb

4/14/2009 12:05:00 AM • • 0 comments


It is going to be a very busy week. Before Thursday I have to do a lot of stuff for my convergence project, write a Ranger story, take a test, and write a critique on a public speaker. But once thats all over the fun begins.

Thursday I'm going to start shooting footage and taking pictures for my ad campaign. I was originally going to do it at Palo Duro but, a friend of mine had another proposition. He lived in New Mexico for awhile and told me about this mountain in the Pecos Wilderness. Its a 6 mile climb but at the summit is a beautiful lake with forests and mountains in the background. So instead of palo duro, I'm gunna opt for that. It is snowing there right now....avalanche prone in the Spring plus, bears hang out at that range so, if you don't hear from me again....it's been fun haha. We are going to climb halfway Thursday and spend the night by this stream that runs down the mountain. When we wake up Friday we will continue to the top, take pictures and video and all that, then do some intense fishing. Best homework assignment I've ever had.

Well, its time for me to eat something and hit the sack. Here's a pic of where I'll be doin' my thang. Night ya'll.

Work, School, Work, School!!

4/13/2009 12:23:00 PM • • 0 comments

I’m at a dead end. Writer’s block if you will.

Did I mention that I can’t twitter at work anymore? Our internet blocked the twitter page… how disappointing!!

I’m incredibly jealous of the TIPA trip Zach took. I wish I could have gone with them L.

32 days until graduation, and FYI, that’s including weekends. It will be here before we know it!!!! Now to decide what I’m doing this summer?

I have nothing else for you guys today, just another boring Monday that is half-way over. Have a great week.

Coulter Landing - My Experience

4/13/2009 12:08:00 PM • , , , • 1 comments


Last month I paid my rent and accidently paid the rent out of the wrong checking account and so my check was returned - I then took money from savings and transfered it to my checking account in hopes of getting the check to go through, it did not.  That was my mistake, I'm a big enough person to admit when I screwed up. I did, I screwed up big time by writing a check from the wrong account.


When I went to the leasing office to discuss all of this I first met with the office assistant, she was really nice and really helpful - she could not help me out in this situation but directed me to whom I was supposed to speak with about this issue.  So I had to go meet with her boss, she was very short and very rude to me, her demeanor really reflects in the way the apartments are kept up. Maybe this is why she had two employees quit last week?


They were going to charge me an additional $275 on top of my $525 monthly rent!!! Again I made a mistake and I realize sometimes in the real world we have to pay for our mistakes - but hey lets not kid ourselves its not like I live in The Colonies here, not even close! This whole thing might be an entirely different story if Coulter Landing set some kind of standard for the way they wanted their apartments to look as opposed to just “getting by.”


Here are my main issues with Coulter Landing:


- Maintenance: I have a roof with cracks that looks like its on the verge of caving in, a broken dead bolt lock, and the only washer in out laundry room has been broken for the past two months.

Their Response: Well you never put that in writing.

My Thoughts: No, its hard to a phone call in writing.


- Grounds Up Keep: Beer bottles and trash litter the parking lot.

Their Response: I’ve been doing this for 25 years and there has been a trash problem at every place I have worked.

My Thoughts: What is the common factor in this equation?


- Other Issues: Noisy Neighbors and people smoking in the Halls

Their Response: You have not complained to us about any noise issues lately.

My Thoughts: Well when I did before you basically said call the cops it isn’t our problem.


One Other Issue: I had a member of their Maintenance Staff come barging through my patio door one day about 9 months ago to fix my broken lock - I live on the second floor.  The guy didn’t even bother to check the number, he supposed to be on the third floor.


After going over all of my issues with them the best they could do is reduce the amount I owe by $125.00. Gee thanks.


I have been in these apartments for close to two years now and haven’t really had any problems until the new management took over. It seems like they might have taken over about a year ago - that’s when the problems really got bad.


Three days prior to all of this, April 10, I got a letter addressing the issue of them knowing that cars are being broken into and general security issues. Their letter wasn’t to say we are installing security cameras or hiring some for of security, which they could afford since they have two salaries they don’t have to worry about paying anymore.  The letter said to be sure when you are going to or coming from your car be sure you have a group of people with you. Yeah that works out well when you live by yourself, are you kidding me?! these apartments are so bad you need to travel in groups to keep from getting mugged, robbed, or whatnot? 


In my opinion: If you need a place to live immediately and these are the only apartments available in 100 mile radius I would suggest you go sleep downtown on the sidewalk - its pretty close to the same experience and it’ll save you a couple hundred dollars.

TIPA Dallas, Day 1 (yesterday, FYI)

4/10/2009 04:08:00 PM • , , , , • 0 comments

Hey everyone I finally found a place where I can get on the internet having to pay for it. YAY!!

Day 1 - I had to get up at 3:00am! yes that's right 3 o'clock in the morning! did you know that 3:00 comes in an a.m. version because I didn't I could have gone my entire life without finding that out.
 
Anywho - one incredibly long, cramped drive later we arrive in Dallas!

After being on the road for the last 7 hours we have to get out of the van and run to our designated competitions for the TIPA Convention.  I had the worst migraine headache, due to little sleep, little food, and too much driving. By the time I got to my PR crisis management competition my head was pounding, I was proud of the work I did - but I feel I could have done better.  Afterwards I ran to the gift shop and got some migraine medicine, a coke, and chips for the low low price of $12. oh yeah I paid $12 3 things that should have cost about $6 total.

I took my medicine and was feeling pretty good before I went to my Radio Copywriting competition and I'm not sure if the judges thought I did good, but man! I am so proud of the work I did in that competition. I worked really hard so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.. regardless though I am getting into advertising not win awards, but to make money (of course I'm not gonna try to pretend that I'm not) and to create effective ads. That one would have moved some units though!

After that I went wondering around Downtown Dallas for a few minutes, but I it was really windy so I didn't get to see nearly as much as I wanted.  I then went back to hotel room (@ the Dallas Sheraton) and relaxed for and hour so. 

We ate dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse in the West End.  Then we all went back to rooms and crashed, hardcore. Everyone was worn out!  

That was Day 1 - if your think Day 1 was long blog post, you should have lived it! ha ha but it was fun too!

Day 2 is coming soon, I hope before the end of the night.

"Better out than in, I always say!" -Shrek

4/09/2009 11:07:00 AM • • 0 comments

It’s already Thursday! What’s been new lately?? Um… I had a huge test yesterday (that I likely didn’t do well on), work is crazy/hectic, my apartment is dirty, but other than that—things are great!

A few students from the Convergence class at AC chose to do a student profile on me, and they’re interviewing me on Friday at my work. I’m nervous!! I feel honored that they would choose me and I hope I can do their project justice. I think they’re bringing video cameras… eek!

Anybody watch House on Monday? If you didn’t, then don’t read this, Kutner is gone!! Kal Penn who plays Kutner on the show is taking a job with Obama as some kind of publicist… L However, I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I would be…

This weekend is Easter? That’s really weird. Time has flown by, it seem like a couple weekends ago was New Years… and here we are almost halfway through April. Good news…. 36 days until graduation!!

I just got a few new games for my Wii, and I must say—I am amazing at Mario Kart. No matter what ANYBODY says, I am amazing. I also got “Family Game Night”, which is fun. It has Sorry, Boggle, Connect 4, Yahtzee, etc. on it.

It’s wing night at B dubs… I may go. I haven’t gone out at all lately and I must say—it’s nice. Cheaper for sure and I feel more productive if I’m not hungover every weekend.

Isn’t there a concert tonight? With Buckcherry? If you’re going… you’re very lucky!! Let me know how it was.

Okay friends, time to get back to work, I’ll chat at y’all later!!

Twitter & Blog Coverage

4/08/2009 09:03:00 PM • , , , , • 0 comments

Hey guys - 

For the next three days we going to try a little experiment in some live blogging.  You may or may not know, but I am going to Dallas (we leave at 4am tomorrow morning - yikes!) for the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association or TIPA.  There will be a lot going on for the next few days and I am going to do my best to bring it all to you in three blog entries covering each day of the convention. 

If you want to know what we are doing as it happens check this twitter page for immediate updates

Not a bad day

4/08/2009 08:32:00 PM • • 1 comments

So I went to see this guy named Jack Westerholt speak today. He is with an advertising agency called The Richard Group. He did a commercial for the Super Bowl and came to Amarillo to give a presentation to students and give them advice on their books. I felt kinda stupid because I didn't even think to take anything but, I shot him a couple of ideas anyway and he said he liked them so i guess it could have been worse. Thanks for the opportunity Lana.

I've begun my countdown to summer. I'm ready to be able to play golf, or at least go to the putting green, once a week. 

I'm gunna go cook supper. Ya'll have a good evening.

Before I go....here are some funny thing to do on an elevator courtesy of the world wide web.

1. Offer name tags to everyone getting on the elevator. Wear yours upside-down.

2. On the highest floor, hold the door open and demand that it stay open until you hear the penny you dropped down the shaft go "plink" at the bottom.

3. Stare, grinning, at another passenger for awhile, and then announce: "I've got new underwear on!"

4.  Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the others that it is your "personal space".

5. If anyone brushes against you, recoil and holler "Bad touch!"

I expect to see some originality in the elevator next week....

The Toadies are pretty cool...

4/07/2009 12:00:00 AM • • 0 comments

So this past weekend i went to see the Toadies in Lubbock which was a lot of fun. My friend had gone the night before in Amarillo and got on the guest list for the next night. This translates to free entry and we got to chill with them after the show. I've never hung out with rock stars before so it was a pretty exciting experience!

I've started working on my ad campaign that's due at the end of the semester and i'm pretty excited about it. I won't give anything away but it has a survivor man theme. I think i'm about to spend a lot of time in palo duro. haha.

I want to congratulate Mike Haynes for getting inducted to the PPA Hall of Fame...not bad not bad.

Well, I just wanted to check in. I'm at work and have to get back to it but i'll catch you guys later on in the week.

Local Talent: Jernakin

4/06/2009 12:12:00 AM • , , , • 0 comments

It’s the middle of the afternoon and I’m in line at Starbucks about to order my drink as I wait for my “interviewee” to show up. 

If you’re a regular to this blog then I’m sure you’ve seen some of my previous entries where I go out and meet young people in Amarillo who are doing really cool and amazing things. Jonathan Hart is no exception.

Music has been part of Hart’s since he was in preschool. Not just listening, but actively participating, creating, and experimenting with music. Now it consumes him completely. Back in high school he won a battle of the bands competition one year.

Jernakin is a nickname of Hart’s from way back when. “I have 50 million nicknames”

“I just like to make music, I’m no different than the next guy” says Hart “I’m not trying to be the next big thing, I just want people to hear my music.”

Sax, guitar, vocals, dabbling in drums and producing music are the tools in Hart’s toolbox. His apartment looks more like a recording studio than a home.

“Everything you hear is pretty much done by me.”

Hart’s hopes to release a 6 song EP in about 6 months to a year - his musical style is indie and electronica tastefully blended together. If his cover of Damien Rice’s “9 Crimes,” a collaboration he did with Jen Williams, is any indication of future songs to come his EP will be one you can just put on and let play without skipping any songs. 

“I just want to make music people like and respect,” says Hart. “I’m trying to do something unique to what is out there already,”

Aside from being an extremely driven artist, Hart is an active member of Trinity Fellowship Church as well as manager at The Buckle.

Hart’s sound would a combination of Temposhark, Muse, and Radiohead and the production style of Imogen Heap.

Seeing Hart’s dedication to his craft has been a very inspirational experience, it makes me want as hard on my writing and graphic design skills as he does with his music. Hart has a passion for music that burns brighter than sun – I am supremely confident that we will see great things from Jernakin in the future.

So what’s next for Jernakin?

“Possibly working a track for a local fashion show here in Amarillo.”

Keep checking his MySpace page for new music!

Advertising vs. Journalism

4/01/2009 11:52:00 PM • , , , , , , , • 0 comments

Hello hello hello

How is everyone out there?  This has been a day! And not a good one either.

Let's start off by talking about The Ranger - I wrote a really good story (at least I thought it was good) about a student here at Amarillo College who is living out of his car until the day he graduates.  I was really proud of it and as I adding all of the stories to The Ranger website this moring I realized, "hey my story got cut, man that's awesome...(not really)" I think it may have gotten cut because we didn't have any photos and I am under the impression I was expected to provide photos too? hmm....

There is more drama on The Ranger front - I really feel like no matter how hard I work on that website there is always someone comes along and says "hey good try, but you screwed this up!" maybe not exactly like that, but you get the idea. I just get the feeling I'm not doing a good enough job.

The more news stories I write the more I realize that news reporting/journalism is not for me - I'll stick to advertising & PR thank you very much - I want a job where I can make REAL money!

So now that all of this is over where do I go from here? I can't dwell on a bad day any longer - so I'm gonna make some changes! The Ranger didn't like my story - oh well - its their loss I'll be posting up here very soon, but in a new format. I what bore you with typical journalism/newspaper style writing. oh no this will be all me I'm gonna rewrite it.  Be looking out for a new blog entry entitled "Drew Griffin's Guide to Living Off the Grid" 

I talked with this real cool guy a couple of days ago, a musician, Jernakin. I'll have more info on that up here very soon too.

Well that's all for now.

good night!

oh by the way I am starting a "company" designing promotional materials, logo, flyers, business cards, etc I don't have much up on my site yet but please check it out!

Don’t eat the ‘stacios!

4/01/2009 10:42:00 AM • • 1 comments


I am in SUCH a better mood compared to Monday! Especially since I just sent my dad an e-mail saying “You’re going to be a grandpa!!”… ahhaha, I love April Fools Day.

Did ANYBODY watch House on Monday? Such a good episode. Mos Def was on the show, and I heard that he was a good actor, and he DEF proved to be.

What about the Biggest Loser? Last night’s episode was really good. They brought back Nicole, who was sent home in one of the very first episodes, and she lost 33% of her body weight on her own!! The other contestants had been at the ranch for weeks and weeks, but when Nicole came back, she was in 2nd place. Wow! Well, when it came down to it, it was obvious that Nicole was under a lot of stress that first week because she gained 5 pounds, and since the other players didn’t have as strong relations with her as they did Ron, they sent Nicole packing again!!

I’m such a tv buff, and I watch all kinds of shows, including: A.I. Who doesn’t watch it? (American Idol that is). I only saw the first couple of songs from last night (no bueno) but it’s recorded so I’ll try to watch the rest of it before the results come on tonight. I CANNOT believe that Matt Giraud was in the bottom two last week?!!! That deserves an: OMG. I’d like to see Kris or Megan go home. I’ve been a Megan fan for a while but she’s just not getting it. And Kris just isn’t doing it for me. Of course, we all love Danny Gokey, and I THOUGHT we all loved Matt Giraud? Above is a nice pic of Mr. Giraud doing what he does best. :)

Well, 44 days until graduation!! You have no idea how happy that makes me. That’s about a month and a half! Don’t forget, if you plan to graduate this semester, you need to apply by April 23.

It doesn’t seem like there’s much going on at AC this week. The LITE Scholarship Luncheon is in 2 weeks and you can buy tickets for it now. The money benefits students with disabilities at AC.

Well, that’s it for today. Have an amazing Wednesday.