I spent Christmas 1998 with a huge welt on my forehead. One of my roommates that year got mad at me and threw a Nintendo game — Ikari Warriors to be exact — at me. Scary Gary was pretty well known on campus. He was easily recognizable, wearing a black hunting vest (the kind with all the pockets for ammo and knives and whatnot) over his worn out leather coat, he would run everywhere he went. One time I saw him trip, fall and roll all the way down a hill. It was horrifying, sad and hilarious. Kind of like watching a clown car lose control after slipping on a banana peel and crash into a pie stand. Gary was a year older than me and the year I lived with him was his second year in that room. He was very attached to that room, so much so that he lived there for at least three more years afterward. It didn't take long for us to realize that Gary was, well, unique. Of course, there was move-in day, when he screamed at me for stealing his bed. You see, I moved in first and took the bed furthest away from the door and bathroom. ...

Something to think about: "Do I listen to pop music because I'm miserable, or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?" -John Cusack, High Fidelity We had a going away party for Gail last night. Finally, like the rest of us, she is escaping the bonds of Echo hell. She will be a librarian in the Defiance (Ohio) Public Library system. Hooray! The night started at the Sidetrack, for old time's sake. VP JV joined the group (me, Gail, the Witt, Porter, James Van Der Beek and Bronson) for a drink and ended up picking up the tab. He must not have had his reading glasses though (or the liquid refreshment affected his vision), because he kept asking me to read the total on the receipt. If you go to EMU now, I'd like to extend a warm thanks for the drinks last night. You've got to love VP JV and the EMU credit card. A friend of his also bought the table a round, so essentially we drank for free at the Track. We decided we couldn't escape Ypsilanti without spending some of our own money on booze too, so we went across the street to Sticks and had a few there. ...

I just got back from the alma mater and am about to crash out for the afternoon. It's been a very busy week and I have to work all weekend, so I'm going to take advantage of the quiet afternoon. Before I nap, however, I wanted to put some thoughts down. First, let me just say that I'm glad I'm not still a student working at that paper. Today was a nice break from the my typical routine. Going down and talking with students is always fun. It was especially nice to get the opportunity to catch up with my favorite professor. She made the common faux pas of asking how EB is, so I had to politely tell her that we broke up. She asked what happened, and I gave her the one-minute version. You know: we talked about getting engaged, I bought a ring, I planned the proposal, EB confessed that she had feelings for Rene, Now she's moving in with him. Poor professor, she felt really bad for asking. I had to reassure her that it happens all the time and isn't that big of a deal. After smoothing that over, I sat down with a handful of students ...

What a good weekend! After the drama of Friday afternoon subsided, I hung out with an old friend. Incidentally, I ran into the high school girlfriend on the way into the bar. She was with some chach-looking guy and completely ignored me. I was so heartbroken. Anyway, it was a fun night. Bourbon flowed and, well, things got a tad out of hand afterward. We're getting together again Friday. Saturday was the best day I've had in a while now. It was well-deserved after the events of the last couple weeks. Homecoming was great, we drank some beers and met up with old friends. Drew's faux pas was actually kind of funny, but he was sympathetic once I corrected him that "No, actually, EB won't be moving home in December." We got a chance to go to the Sidetrack too, where we met up with Blondie and Porter. As always, it was fun times. Moreso for Josh, I'm sure, but I had fun as well. The show that night at Alvin's was the best. My voice is still hoarse from screaming PT's Revenge songs. We had a huge turnout and made a lot of money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I took some ...