Jan. 13

I last left with a camera and a mission to photograph downtown Fairbanks. It was a snow night, which threw off my camera's focus, so I did what I could. It was -20 out and I managed to stay outside in it for about 40 minutes. I could have filled a pint

Speaking of pints, I went down to The Pub to read the Sun Star, UAF's student newspaper, over a Guinness and the bar's typical quirky music selection. It was hair band night -- quite a find.

A little past midnight, I met the night crew at The Big I for cards. We played Euchre, a game I had no experience with and my companions -- Adam, Rich and another sportswriter, Matias -- knew quite well. Still, I managed to pull a few good hands, catch some lucky breaks and the guys forgave many gaffes in etiquette. I never realized how rarely kids in Florida play card games because we're never stuck inside. And here I was with three people from Ohio, Minnesota and Michigan, way out of my league.

To make my ignorance of the game more bearable, I had a few too many black and ambers --Guinness and Alaskan Ambers, a combination I highly recommend. I stumbled to Bob's and passed out on the same couch I stayed on when I arrived in town.

I woke just in time to see Antonio Cromarte's interception touchdown get called back against the Colts. Another football day, except we were out of pizza, beer and chips. Since it was -18 degrees, I wasn't up to running errands, so Rich and I spent both football games with grumbling stomachs.

I went home and engorged myself with Potato soup, microwave lasagna and Goldfish crackers (I have one of those mondo-sized cartons that could feed a malnourished pack mule.) Thus stuffed, bounded off to work.

The length of our Saturday night became apparent as Rich and I put together a tiny edition and still managed to barely beat deadline.