I'll admit it again: I stayed up late last night playing franchise mode in Madden '06, guiding the Chargers to a 7-0 record, including close wins at New England and at Philadelphia. I didn't manage to get to bed until 4am, and I woke up at 8:30am to my biological alarm clock. Oh, it also helps that I have an east facing window in my bedroom, and so the sunlight helps me shake off the sleep.

The night before, I woke up to the alarm clock known as "a shuttle re-entering the atmosphere". I swear to God I thought my house had been broken into by armed robbers. As I lay in my bed, very comfortable and very tired, I decided to let myself get shot and to allow my fate to culminate in a pool of blood staining my down comforter. "Meh, I had a good run. Zzzzz..."

This time, I had a very clear dream in which Tech alumni Barry and Luis came and visited, but didn't know my name and called me "Big Andy". Really strange. After I corrected them, I think they felt a little bad and offered to help by naming the house. I felt foolish telling the subconscious Barry and Luis that I named Casa de los Arboles. Yeah, it sucks, but it stuck, primarily out of inertia. What was interesting is that they decided to make a play on the name of the town, having thought the name was One Thousand Oaks.

Barry: How about "Fun Thousand Oaks?"
Luis: How about "One Thousand Licks?"

I had to begrudingly admit that those names were fairly clever, and that I was saved from further ignominy in front of alumni who don't quite remember me by waking up and shaking the sleep out of my eyes.