Category: Writings

In 1997, a man named Richard Shermin worked an interesting summer job for a friend of his. His friend, author Justin Laramy, was compiling a book of angel stories, a topic that both men had always had especial interest. Richard, for seven dollars an hour, helped his friend read through and find the most interesting angel stories sent to them.

They used Laramy’s house for this endeavor. Scattered about his living room were piles for ‘interesting’, ‘generic’, ‘boring’, and ‘made-up’. They would take turns reading aloud from the letters they received. One that Shermin picked up had no return address. It simply had the initials RS written in the upper left corner. Written in shaky penmanship, Shermin struggled to read the handwriting of the excited or upset correspondant.

“This is my angel. She is sent to me from above in the form of this statue. I recall the day it happened like yesterday. I have a route through these cities in the Birmingham Alabama area where I check on cemeteries for upkeep.
I was driving my truck past this cemetery one April evening. Well, I thought I saw something and got out to investigate. As it would happen, I saw this statue of an angel in the cemetery and nothing else. I found myself entranced with it. I couldn�t look away.

“I finally found the strength to move on. I got back in the truck and made for the next stop. When I got there the cemetery was in pieces. The town too was ripped apart as if someone had just mowed it down. I found out that a tornado had torn through there not 5 minutes previous. I would have been killed there.”

Enclosed was a picture of the cemetery and the statue. In a sort of shock, his friend noticed Richard drop the packet of both letter and photos. Laramy, concerned for his friend, asked what was wrong. Shermin could say nothing but instead showed the letter to Laramy. There at the bottom, signed in a familiar hand, was the name Richard Shermin.

It was obvious that Richard Shermin had not written this, as he had no angelic experiences, but the handwriting was indeed his. Neither of them could conceive how such a letter was possible. Deciding it was a hoax, Shermin himself disdainfully tossed the letter on top of the ‘made-up’ pile and didn’t give it another thought.

In March of 1998, Richard Shermin’s father died of cancer. Despite being well within retirement age, the old man was still responsible for the care of several cemeteries in north eastern Jefferson County, Alabama. The death, while evident before, came suddenly and Richard decided to continue his father’s work until a replacement could be found and hired. Every week he would drive from cemetery to cemetery checking the status.

On April 8th, a Wednesday, Richard was again on rounds. His mother begged him to wait until Thursday to do it, as she heard there was bad weather coming, but he disregarded her warning, wishing to spend his Thursday evening doing other things.

As his mother predicted, the weather turned stormy, but Richard continued his route. With the radio off, he was not aware that at 7:50 pm, central time, an F5 rated Tornado had crossed over into Jefferson County and was leaving little behind. While checking the water spickets in a Cemetery in Nolanville, he came upon a statue. It held his attention for the longest time. He knew it because he had seen it in that picture last summer.

Not wanting to believe the letter, but unable to look away, Richard stood there for the longest time trying to make sense of it. Finally he wrested himself from the angel’s gaze. It couldn’t be true. Still in doubt, he got into his truck and drove the path to Village Creek Junction. There he was shocked to find the town in shambles and the cemetery a mess. A category F5 tornado had just passed through the town.

Richard drove himself to a working phone, several miles away in Pratt City, and called Justin Laramy. The conversation was short. Laramy had heard of the tornadoes in the area but seemed satisfied that his friend was okay. “I didn’t really call to tell you I was okay, though,” said a slightly shaken Richard Shermin. “I think that maybe you should put that Richard Shermin letter into the interesting pile instead. Let’s just say, I finally believe the person who wrote it.”

There were three tornadoes that have been identified as being produced by one thunderstorm that moved across Central Alabama Wednesday evening. The first tornado affected Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, the second affected Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties, and the third affected St. Clair County.

That day there were three tornadoes, an F3, an F5, and an F2, that rocked the central Alabama area starting at roughly 7:00 pm and ending entirely at about 9:15 pm. More than 1 000 homes were destroyed, 250 people injured, and 32 lives lost. Thanks to an angel and a letter, one of those lives was not Richard Shermin.

Download it at deviantART.

by Ann Michelle Daniels, Extension family life, parenting, and child care specialist, Bill Epperson, Extension veterinarian

Summer is coming to an end. You want to go out and play. But you are scared. You have heard about mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. There are mosquitoes around your yard and you don�t want to get bit. End of summer or not, you decide to stay inside.

GUESS WHAT?!!! You can still go outside and play if you follow some simple rules. So go ahead!! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

By understanding the virus, we are able to protect ourselves from it. This information on the West Nile Virus will help you protect yourself.

What is West Nile Virus?
It is a virus that gets to people when they are bitten by infected mosquitoes. Not all mosquitoes are infected. In fact, only a very very small number of mosquitoes are actually infected.

Can the West Nile Virus make my family or me sick?
Remember, only a very; very, small number of mosquitoes are infected with the virus. So just because a mosquito bit you does not mean you will get sick. In fact, even if an infected mosquito bit you, the chances of you getting sick are still very, very small. Healthy kids don�t get the virus very often. But if they do get sick, they don�t usually get very sick.

How will I know if I�m sick?
It would feel a lot like the flu. There would be fever, headaches, muscle aches, tiredness, and joint pain, and perhaps a rash.

Does this mean that everyone who feels bad or has the symptoms has the West Nile Virus? NO!!

Most people don�t get sick at all. Remember, the chances are very; very small. But if you are feeling bad, it is always important to tell your parents or an adult.

What is West Nile Encephalitis?
Encephalitis (it sounds like in-sef-fah-lite-us) is a big word for swelling of the brain, and the West Nile Virus can cause it. Remember, healthy kids usually don�t get very sick. Encephalitis usually affects people who are old�over 50 years old�or who have been unhealthy in the past.

Can I get West Nile Virus from animals or other people?
No. But remember, it is still important not to play with strange animals or touch dead animals.

How can I keep my family and myself safe?
Start by learning a little about mosquitoes. Did you know that mosquitoes are more active in the early morning and right before the sun goes down? They like being around water. They really like water that is not moving.

For example, if you have an old wagon outside that is full of water, a mosquito might come along and lay her eggs in it. Older mosquitoes like to live in tall grass or weeds.

Other ways to keep safe are:
� Finish playing outside before it begins to get dark. This is when most mosquitoes are out.
� Wear long sleeve shirts and pants when playing outside. (Make sure you don�t get too hot. Drink lots of water).
� Don�t play near tall grasses or standing water.
� Make sure your toys are not holding water. For Example: Dump the water out of the old wagon and make sure the plastic swimming pool is empty when nobody is using it.
� Have your parents spray your clothes with insect repellent. (Ask them to use repellent that has DEET in it.) They can contact the Extension office if they need more information.
� Don�t use too much of the insect repellent. ALWAYS follow the directions on the insect repellent.
� Tell your parents or an adult when you have a mosquito bite.

Remember, the rest of the summer can still be fun and safe. You just have to follow some simple rules to protect yourself. Always talk to an adult or your parents if you are worried about something or if you have questions about your health. The more information you have, the safer you can be.

(Parents: This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical care. Direct specific questions to your medical provider.)

Southwest Minnesota State University is a wonderful college. Thousands of people travel from all over the world to attend this university. Our college wins awards for its academics year after year thanks to wonderful facilities, resources and teachers. So why is it that at such a high class, technologically advanced, award winning college our internet access is so unreliable in the dorms? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Chatting over MSN or AIM has become as frustrating as getting stuck behind an old lady in a no passing zone doing 40 in a 65 mph zone. It just makes you punch your monitor and then continue on with what you were doing.

Well I took it a little bit further, and I stress the “Little Bit.” I went to computer services. Computer services can be a little intimidating to the common folk. This place has more computers lying around than California has governor candidates. It made me quite nervous. I spoke to Shawn Headman about the disappointing internet connection in SMSU’s residence halls. He calmed me down and explained that the resident halls are using a cable modem which is five years old. That’s right – when we got this modem Mark McGuire hit seventy home runs in one season. Now he hits seventy miles per hour on his way to bingo. McGuire is retired now, and everyone agrees it’s time this modem is sent to the bench, too.

You may be wondering, “Hey Bryce, sure it’s five years old, but it should still be capable of going a little faster, right?” Well, you are right, it should. So why the slowness? The evil blaster worm, illegal file swapping applications and the amount of computers on campus are all to blame. Back when our modem was new, Napster had not even been created yet and if you had a computer at college you were a huge nerd.

So what are the techies in charge doing about our internet problem? They are tweaking it every few weeks and praying that our new modem is coming soon. Everyone thought the modem would be here before classes started. Now it is all up to leases and lawyers. Talk about fun.

So please, do not burn down computer services and do not leave SMSU because of the slow and unreliable internet. Blame the lawyers. They’re not here to defend themselves.

I am a new student to Southwest Minnesota State University, but, being a transfer student from South Dakota State University, I am not new to cafeteria-style food.

At SDSU the cafeteria was similar to the way I am sure heaven is designed. There were six different restaurants to choose from: Chinese food, grilled food, homemade foods, Mexican food, a java city and an ice cream parlor. Needless to say, I didn’t transfer for the food. I know it doesn’t matter what college you go to, the food is going to make you think, “Is this edible?”, but it really isn’t good here at SMSU. When I transferred here, I heard repeated warnings to watch out for the food by people I knew going in. I took their warnings too lightly.

First off, the lunch room is so small that it feels like a replica. Doll houses have more room than this. Have you ever eaten around noon? It gets packed tighter than a college student’s budget. So you have to wait and wait and what is your reward for waiting? Ribs burned to a crisp, hard mayonnaise for your sandwich and wilted lettuce. Can life get better? Well, only if you go to State Street Cafe. Please take that sentence with a school lunch helping of sarcasm.

They messed up my order. Last week I thought I ordered a pizza – but I must have said “pie crust soaked with grease” instead. I did not even see that on the menu; I must have been the lucky customer. I am not saying it’s the cook’s fault, I just get the feeling that all the students here are the proverbial red-headed stepchildren and SMSU is our parent. We don’t get all the care and love we deserve.

There is hope for the younger students here at SMSU – the new Student Center. After the old one was burned down they quit letting people go there and eat, who knows why? But rumor has it that the next Student Center will have two stories of Student Center goodness and almost one entire floor is to be dedicated to food. Things are looking up, but dinner isn’t going to taste any better thinking about the future. If it weren’t for the smiles and ice cream bars, great pizza and cereal I’d eat there less than everyday.

I’m a sucker for a pretty smile.

Hitchcock was a genius. To really understand this, though, you have to put him in context. Like anything, put into context, it makes more sense. Al was, among other things, a brilliant cinematic innovator. He was always testing his audience.

One of his best works was a movie called “Psycho.” Everyone knows this film. It has bound itself in pop culture for decades. I once saw a screening of “Psycho” where they talked to other prominent directors and writers and actors about their experiences with “Psycho.”

What I learned is that Vera Miles, who played Lila Crane, was a small actress. Janet Leigh, who played Marion Crane, was a big star. She was a name to be sure. The film, in fact, opens with her. We follow her as she steals money from her boss and drives off. We feel the panick as she narrowly escapes a couple police offices on her way.

Finally she stops at the Bates Motel run by a very well acted Norman Bates, Anthony Perkins. After getting her room and setting up her stuff, she decides to take a shower and wash away her inequity. Big mistake! Norman Bates slashes her in the shower. BAM. The biggest name in the picture is done. She’s out. No more Janet Leigh – she’s dead and not even flashbacks can bring her off screen.

One man said that, after seeing this movie, he felt raped. This blatant disregard for audience expectations had left a lot of people angry and hurt and confused. I never really had a movie that did that me. I’ve never felt raped, until now.

Math Modeling is a nice class. So far there is no homework, no book, and so far very little life-jarring new ideas. That is until yesterday. I was sitting in class, on time for once, thinking about how cool Fibonacci Numbers are. Dr Palmer came in, solemn faced and quiet.

“Remember last week that we were talking about Imaginary Numbers. You remember these from High School. They were written in the form (3 + 4i). i = square root of one, remember?”

We nodded in blind, innocent agreement.

“Remember when you had trigonometry. We had these things like cosine and sine and tangent. You punch a magical number on your calculator and got an answer?”

We nodded, less sure of the innocence of what we knew.

“Well, it’s all a lie. Trigonometry IS the Imaginary Numbers. Trigonometry was just a pretty face used to teach Imaginary Numbers to High School kids.”

What? Murmurs over took the class. We turned, furrowed brow, to our neighbor and discussed this. No trigonometry? There is no trig?

“But that’s not all. There are no Imaginary Numbers. That one should have been easy. How can a number be imaginary? It’s a number or it isn’t. Imaginary Numbers are just a pretty face put on Complex Numbers.”

What?? Not only is there no Trig, but there are no Imaginary Numbers! We’ve been lied to TWICE by the math community. Everyone who teaches this stuff must know this, right? There isn’t a chance that they save it for professors, is there?

How often did your math teacher have to keep a straight face when saying “cosine”? How often did your math teacher have to stifle giggles at the thought of teaching “trig”? Get paid to teach nothing. Sounds like a deal to me.

“There’s one more thing. Complex Numbers are made up. They are actually a pretty face put on points on a complex plain. They are just coordinates, dressed up in formals, to dance in front of you and mock you. Forever.”

Things are looking glum. There is outrage in the class. Justin Luitjens walked out in tears, screaming curses through his clenched jaw. Two or three students had to be revived for class to continue on. Dr Palmer, himself, looked a bit upset. It might be that his conscience was getting to him after all these years.

Just like the moment when a mother tells her son that he is adopted (and I can’t wait for that day), so was this moment. The sweet and sour truth was out there, on the board. There were feelings of betrayal and angst. No one looked Dr Palmer in the eye when we left.

Learning is a dangerous thing. It stung that guy at the beginning of this post, it stung the adopted son, and it stung me. They say, “The truth will set you free.” It’s hard to believe in that statement anymore. This all proves that there is never a good time for news like this.

Especially not junior year in college.

We’ve all done things that we are ashamed of. Most of these things happened in our past (I will let you think about that one). There are some things, though, that no matter how young you are, they are simply not acceptable.

Since I dont know all that much about a majority of peoples childhoods, I will have to do my own. This may be a long post, since I have done a lot of dumb things, ESPECIALLY as a kid.

I was born in the 80s. This isnt something to be overly proud of (case in point : Flock of Seagulls haircut) but it is something that we need to deal with. Starting now.

… you know what? I don’t know where I’m going with this. I apologize to those who read for my lack of content. This was due largely to not having anything funny to say and being to busy to pretend that I do. This was actually a post I started a long long time ago, but never finished.

Now that I look at it, I had no idea where I was going with this. I think I was going to highlight dumb things I’ve done. Perhaps it was a thinly veiled insult in search of sympathy, but if it was, I’ve given up on that sort of cheap self-esteem tetanus shot. Instead I will post my schedule. Because it’s different.

In the code this table looks double spaced. Why? Because I love whitespace. Did you ever wonder what the “B” in Susan B. Anthony stood for? It stands for Bitchin’. Thank you Brendon Small. Thank you.

drawn tight she lifted her bag and slung it over her shoulder. she looked around the terminal. this was hot it was every business trip every day. there seemed to be an answer. it was a nice bag. she loved it. he had given it to her, but she didn’t love it for that reason. it was the colors. they didn’t scream at her.

too many people too many places and all nonsense. walk with attitude and you will not get in any trouble ? the terminal was crowded with everything. bright as it was, sometimes her love wasn’t enough. it wasn’t anything. it was crazy, stupid, and gone in this terrible rush of things – with book, cd player, and other stuff.

she summed everything up in sighs now. like it was too much effort to talk out loud, she guessed. in her bag was her poem. in her poem was her love. it was too bad that he would never read it. it was, her life, bittersweet. if not exactly, then at least a suggestion to hold onto.

wasn’t this where they met ?

Download it at deviantART.

Well, college has begun again. With the onslaught of books and knowledge comes the onslaught of vomit and alcohol. It’s monsoon season. You can pick out what houses have parties going and which houses are actual people (not college students).

What if you don’t drink? A party is little fun if you are the only one sober and standing upright. What hope is there for people in AA? The drunks have their hand stands, their beer bongs, their lemon slices, their kegs, their tubes, their funnels, and their games.

Drinking games are a mystery among partygoers. Who came up with the first drinking game? Was it a person who was, indeed, drinking? Or did his sober friend, who wanted to mess him up quicker, come up with the idea, rules, and penalties? It is hard to believe the complexity of some of these games. Sober people couldn’t get this stuff right.

I have decided to cater to the minority. Are you a non-drinker but find yourself at parties anyway? Are you constantly pressured into playing their evil Satanic games? Then suggest your own drinking game.

How about a TV Show game? Try out “Gilligan’s Island.”

• Get your friends
• Get some alcohol (like beer or hooch)
• Turn the TV to ‘Gilligan’s Island’ (usually on Nick At Night)
• Drink whenever they get off the island!

Holy crap! I’m drunk just thinking about that game!

How about a musical version? Try the “Good Music, Bad Liver” game.

• Get your friends
• Get some alcohol (like whisky or vodka)
• Turn on the radio to the hottest pop station you can handle
• Drink whenever they play a good song!

That game was music to my ears!

Do you like to spell? Try “Alpha-better-get-out-of-the-way-I’m-gonna-hurl”.

• Get your friends (why haven’t you done this yet?)
• Get some alcohol (like brandy or gin)
• Get out a listing of the Alphabet

Um… that game needs work, yet.

Are you afraid about what your stuffy, old Roman-born religion has to say about what you do in your own home? Try “Massed Up” next Sunday.

• Get your friends and their parents
• You don’t even need your own alcohol
• Get up to the front of church
• Drink whenever the priest or Eucharistic minister says ‘Blood of Christ’!

Mmmm. Our Savior never tasted so refreshing. Get back in line for more!

There is even a drinking game for specific people!

• Get your rowdy friends on a Thursday night
• Get your alcohol (anything you care to swallow)
• Sit around Zimmermann hall
• Drink whenever you are Brian Rand!
• Optional: Destroy property!

Oh, boy. What fun! Now you can enjoy those parties just like a real lush. And if these don’t work, just leave. Then come back with the cops. You’ll never have to worry about those friends again.

Word of the Day for Monday September 8, 2003

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb:

Highlight for the answer –> To throw out of a window.

There is an angry lady who lives on the way back from China Moon. She seems to have the quintessential “attitude problem”, if you can’t my meaning. She seems to automatically hate people who walk on her sidewalk, with little reason.

My first run in with this wonderful harbinger of ill will was on the way to China Moon. I was with my brother, Bryce, Tony Rolfes, Heather, Chris, and the three girls. The old lady’s house is next to a crick of the saddest execution. Lining her side of the guard rail is a rock bed and a few flowers. Bryce, Brigid, and I had stopped to watch the sad little stream. The lady thought that Brigid was standing on one of her flowers and began to yell at the three year old child. So, I pulled Brigid up onto the sidewalk and apologized.

The lady kept yelling. She started to say, “If her parents had taught her any manners…” Then Heather starts yelling, and Chris starts yelling. Brigid gets upset and asks me to hold her. The lady, faced with a sudden onslaught of parental instinct, retracted her statement. She now claimed that she had been yelling at Bryce.

Heather yelled something at the lady. The lady yelled back, “Why don’t you come here and say that?” My heart dropped. That’s the last thing you say to Heather. Luckily no blood was shed and no further angry words were spilt. We walked to Chinese and walked back another route.

Well, you might think what I did. I thought, “Maybe she was having a bad day and maybe the flowers are all she has because she’s barren and angry at God.” I had no way to validate this belief, though, until Brenna, my cousin, came to Madison.

We had gone to China Moon sans accident. As we were leaving, Brenna grabbed me a cookie. It had coconut in it. Thanks, but no thanks, I don’t like coconut. So, when we reached aforementioned crick, I tossed the cookie. The antagonizing old lady happened to be sitting watch for said aquatic mediocrity.

She began to yell at me for tossing trash into it. It was just a cookie. Cookies dissolve, if correctly baked. Brenna came to my rescue and began to verbally spar with her. The best about this was that we just kept walking the whole time. We didn’t stop and confront her. She was just an obstacle on the way. I didn’t say a word to her, being confused by her constant hateful behavior and her apparent inability to be amiable.

It was from that day on that I’ve walked by that house every chance I get. Why, you ask? I want to confront this lady. I want to shatter her and see her core. I want to know why she’s always player hating. I have long had time to fantasize about such a meeting of minds. I would imagine it to go something like this.

I (AN) would be walking back from China Moon, probably alone, and said Mistress of Miff (MM) would be out of doors.

MM: You college students. Drunks and amorals! All of you!

AN: (just stares at her through sunglasses)

MM: Get away from my house! I don’t want to have to call the cops.

AN: (removes sunglasses) Your flowers are all dying, Madam, for flowers require love which you seem to have not.

MM: What?

AN: Need I repeat my biddings?

MM: (taken aback) You are drunk, aren’t you?

AN: Nay, Madam. Presently neither drink nor smoke am I affected by.

MM: Well… only a drunk would say that. Get off my sidewalk.

AN: Thou has words red in anger. Pray tell, why for such a predisposition?

MM: That is none of your business. And quit talking like that!

AN: Speaking such belies a mistrust of such babble. Or is it an unfamiliarity of language?

MM: Are you calling me stupid?

AN: Nay! Said I the words ‘stupid’ or ‘idiot’ or ‘imbecile’? Thou must be an author to put such words in myne mouth.

MM: Look, I’m barren and that’s why I’m bitter because I’m angry at God.

AN: That’s what I thought. Good day and get happy or get lost.

And it would be that easy! Maybe her dialogue was a little contrived at times. And maybe I wouldn’t exactly talk like that, but it remains the same that I would rule her.

It appears, however, I won’t be able to walk that way with lucid dreams of such confrontation. Jeff said that it appears that she’s leaving. Indeed, on my way back from China Moon today, alone, I saw a large assortment of trash bags and boxes on the curb. Could this be the end of her reign of terror? One can hope. I hope she leaves her flowers.

I’m not afraid to say that I’m a Potter Fan. I’m a Bolt Head. I’m a muggle, but my loves goes to Harry. I remember my first Harry experience. My cousin, Molly, was head over heels for the little magic maker, and she insisted that I read his books.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to be seen reading a Harry Potter book around High School, so I compromised. I bought the audio tape and listened to it in my Walkman (yes, I do own one of those) and pretended to be rocking out to Billy Joel instead.

“Some lovers just a hide up their hearts…”

I, too, fell head over heels. Since then I’ve read every book instead of listen to. I feel a bit sheepish at the compromise I’d made now. That is why my latest news is so exciting.

I happen to have an advance copy of Chapter One of the newest Harry Potter book. This is hot and new. Still in development, even this chapter is more of an idea of what the final is going to be. It’s terribly small and there is, as yet, no title for the book decided on.

I feel it is my duty to share this manuscript with my loyal readers. I hope you enjoy this somewhat edited version that I have typed out here for your perusal. Enjoy.

…

By J.K. Rowling

It was dark. It’s always dark. There was Mr. Dursely, Harry’s uncle, prattling on and on downstairs. Harry didn’t care anymore. Harry wasn’t there for anyone. Harry existed on the brink of everything these f@#$ing people understood. Bloody squatters.

“Harry. Come down here please,” croaked Mr. Dursely.

“I think I’ll stay where I am, thank you.” Harry was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had placed there a poster of the latest pop star in the Magic realm. Her name was Britney Spells. The Dursleys had not much liked the poster, for how racy an image it was, but they didn’t protest much when Harry pulled a knife on them.

Harry rolled to his side. There didn’t seem to be much point in staying here or in going back to Hogwarts. There didn’t seem much point in anything anymore. The Dursleys let him get his regular owl mail, but he didn’t bother responding to most of the mail he got. It seemed that everyone else was getting on rather fine. Why did they need him?

All he seemed to do was bring darkness. Lord Voldermort had simply followed him step by step. All his time and energy was put into stopping Voldermort one more time. Just one more time, Harry, they said. Just one more time.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t. This was too much f@#$ing pressure. They didn’t understand the s#$% he saw in his dreams. They didn’t understand that he had nightmares so terrible that he woke up sweating blood. He couldn’t tell them, either, because they would only feel sorry for him.

He didn’t want that. God, he didn’t want that.

Harry got up soundlessly and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door as quietly as he could and stared at himself in the mirror. This was it, he thought. This was an end to a horrible thing, he told himself.

He ran the faucet and let the cold water wash over his wrists. God. He hadn’t seen his eyes for a long long time. They looked worn and old. He looked dead, for Ch#$%’s sake. It was fitting enough, to look dead.

“This will be the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” was the last thing he said.

…

Boy was that funny or what?! That J.K. Rowling gets me every time! I can’t wait until the book is completed. That having been said, I can’t hold onto this forever. It’ll be a short time and I’ll be selling this on eBay so I can buy crack. But remember, I gave it to you guys for free.

Baby, I’m sorry. You know I love you. Remember how I, uh, said I would write to you… and I didn’t? And remember how I – er – kinda gave you the cold shoulder… for a week and a half? I’m really sorry about that. To show you how much I love you, I wrote you a poem:

You are the best ever
I will love you forever
I need you like air
If you get hurt, I care
I didn’t ignore you on purpose
But a giant monster was going to slurp us
So I punched him in the face
And then we had to race
And I ran back to you
Because, Baby, I love you

The remedial english teacher says that’s the best poem I could have possibly written “whilst intoxicated.” Whatever that means. I totally wrote this poem drunk! What an idiot!

Ok, folks. Seriously, though. This is my schedule this year.

Times are given in Military Time because that’s the way I like it “sometimes”. I’m not for sure on the club meeting times. Senate got changed from last year, Band got mixed up, Drama club… well – Quinn is the president. We shall see how things all end up. I am still working out Tutoring scheduling. I have to meet with Terry Ryan about it yet. That will happen today sometime, I imagine.

Ok. Now, I’m going to go to class and when I come back I will dazzle you with the hilarity once can have one’s first day of classes for a new year.

This, ladies and germs, was a blast from the past. I took two years of Spanish in High School, so this may mostly be a refresher. The decorations, the language, brought back memories of Spanish in Mrs. Strege’s class.

Then I looked around the class. Sitting in my class was Kelly Torchia (tore-sha) and Amanda Sweeney, n�e Nowick. Both of these girls were in my high school at the same time I was and both of them were in classes with me. In fact, I think Kelly was even IN my Spanish class.

Too, weird. To add to the nostalgia, the grading scale that Lynn uses is identical to the one that Milbank High School used. It’s the one where you need a 93 to get an ‘A’. The first day was easy enough. Homework is going to kill me, though. For tomorrow I have to learn how to trill my ‘r’. How the hell am I going to do that?? Maybe if I can trill a ‘q’ instead, she’ll let me off.

Same room as last year and largely the same people. A new addition to the class was a guy we call Mel. Mel was in one of my classes before and is a part of the larger cliche that I semi-belong to. So, I know Mel. I know that he was in my Calc II class for about a month before he dropped out of it. So, I thought, this should be interesting.

Indra passes out some literature. The class was fairly boring except for the things that Indra says. From time to time, he’s hilarious without knowing why. Some of the things he said today were definately gems. Last year we had a box that we put money into. I’m not actually sure where the money went to at all. This year, however, there is no money box. There is a “suggestion box.” If you want to gripe about Physics or Indra or DSU or America or God or anything, you can put it in the box and don’t sign your name. If you want to tell Indra what a good teacher he is, sign your name.

His joke for the day was, “NASA. You know what those letters stand for?” One student answers with “National Aeronautic Space Adminitration” but is told this is wrong. The answer is, “Needs Another Seven Astronauts”. There were only groans and murmurrs.

He said that we will have a pizza party at the end of the year. We had one last year (that is also when we got awards) but I think we had to pay for it. This year it will be all on him, but we will have to help him out. It will be at a different “venue” than the Physics room. It looks as though it might not pan out as well we would like. It turns out it’s BYOB. Which means “Bring Your Own Pi-zza…”

Math Modeling is a scary class because there is no assigned reading. The reason for this is because it’s an expensive book, his notes are really what the evalutations are over, and the book is out of print. Oh God. This is also with a professor who is notorious for being difficult.

Sitting in the same row as Jeff and I is Mel. Mel may well become a character on Awayken if he keeps his behavior up. Turns out that Math Modeling encompasses everything in the bloody world. So he was giving us examples of systems modeling problems. One of them is Old Faithful. He alluded to that commercial where they put that stuff in Old Faithful to keep it regular.

“What’s that stuff?” He said. There was silence. Then, a voice from my right says, “Metamucil.” Apparently Mel has some reason to remember that. I think everyone in the room turned and looked at him. Class ended (a bit past the amount of time) and we all left. Mel followed Jeff and I right into the next class.

Final class for the day. This one is by Dr Avery. He doesn’t wait for the second day before he lectures. He waits for everyone to walk in, then he launches. He spent a great deal of time telling us that this isn’t an Analysis course. See, it says “analysis” but it means “methods”. Then he showed us what we should already know if this was an analysis class. None of us knew that. So, it’s a methods class. Then he started lecturing, telling us the things that he would show us if this was an analysis course (which it wasn’t) and then showing us anyway.

In this class, Mel made a large racket when he put his shoes up on a chair and they slid off and hit the ground instead. Is this kid a dork or just a bit clumsy? We shall see.

It’s hoping that tomorrow will be a good day, too. So far this one is rounding out. I have some homework to do (*sigh*) but I shant let it damper my mood. Listen to Jezza, if you know him, and now I have to go watch Carl win pizza for a year.

I shouldn’t be angry, but I am, in a way. This weekend I attended the annual DSU Student Senate retreat. Besides a lot of drinking, there was a lot of decision making going on. Some of that came into my camp.

I was asked if I would write up a “jazzy” version of the minutes for the paper. Sure, I said, no problem. The deadline is Monday the 25th. That gave me a short amount of time to write something up, but I did it.

I was proud of what I had. I don’t know if it was terribly funny, but it gave people a realistic look at the Student Senate, with some humour thrown in, and it also gave people a chance to see that we do something.

As far as the retreat went, we didn’t do much. So, I wrote that. I was honest in my writing and kept my hyperboles to a safe distance from the truth. I sent it off to Eric (the president) and Sarah (the vice president) right away. Sarah replied back to me with suggestions for making it better.

I have come to realize that I am not a politician. I should have, if I was a freedom fighter, sent off the original to the paper. But I folded and made her exact changes. I shouldn’t be angry, but I am, in a way. Below is what I wrote. In bold is the text she asked me to delete and in italics is the text she asked me to add.

Hi. My name is Miles Rausch. I am a member of the Student Senate here at DSU. The Student Senate is a collection of students charged with being the voice of the populace. This means more than just being loud and hard to understand. This means having meetings. We have one meeting a week, usually on Wednesday, almost every week a month for every month of the school year. That’s like twelve meetings a year!

Having so many meetings during the year gives the populace (for which we are speaking) a chance to see us in hot legislative action. Rarr. The turnout for meetings is relatively poor (given how many of you there are). My duty with the senate is as the Administrative Assistant. This means I am the secretary, but I get paid for it. So, in an effort to give the senate more visibility, I am also charged with the duty of sending a “jazzed up” version of the minutes to the paper. This is my first attempt so bear with me.

On August 22, 2003, most of the members of the Student Senate gathered at Terry Ryan’s house on Lake Madison to discuss ideas for the new year. We do this because we usually get so behind on our ideas that at least we can say we had good intentions and an early start. I bet SAB doesn’t have an End Of The Summer Super Fun Pre-Planning Retreat like we do. I’m not drawing any conclusions, I’m just saying.

Our first item of business was eating. Terry had two charcoal grills flaming hot for us when we got there. I missed out on a lot of this since I hadn’t realized that my steak should have probably been defrosted BEFORE it was time to cook it. I spent a lot of time in front of the microwave. We ate, we drank, and we finally sat down to start the meeting. The meeting usually starts with me marking down those people who were too lazy to show up. If this was a sport, they’d be running laps during the first meeting. If I had my way…

The first interesting topic we discussed was managing traffic for Dorm Bloat 2003. Eric Saugstad, the president, said, “Okay, we need teams of two people to watch the different major areas. One group will watch the Emry/Richardson Parking Lot and the other will watch the Higbie/Zimmermann Parking Lot. It’s only about two hours a day for Sunday and Monday. Who wants to do it?”

Silence. The meetings never get quieter than after Eric asks who wants to volunteer. We sat there for several minutes listening to the crickets. Then even the crickets got uncomfortable, and all we heard was the lake. After some time we tricked people into raising their hands, myself included, by using something called a ‘guilt trip’. The conscience is a wonderful tool in the hand of those who wish to misuse it.

Next, Kayla Ratcliffe was asked to talk about the Homecoming Bonfire. Last year Kayla had organized a bonfire for Homecoming week. She had a location, wood, and even fire. The only thing Kayla hadn’t gotten was permission. Oops. This year is a different story. This year it’s going to happen. If it doesn’t, I would suggest that everyone avoid Kayla for the first month of school while she her rage ebbs away. She’s not one to reckon with.

A big topic of the night was “tradition”. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the student population is a big fan of apathy. Hopefully the apathy bug waits until after registration to strike, but one can never tell. In an effort to curb the epidemic, the Student Senate has decided to try a campaign for instilling traditions. Don’t laugh. You’ll thank us when your kids start staying at college instead of wasting your money, food, and shelter.

It’s hard to create traditions, though. It is thought that a tradition that people get into will bring them all closer together, but, what that tradition is, we don’t know. Chances are it won’t involve illegal activity, though. I know I heard groans, but there is really no way around it.

One idea that has been put into effect is “Freshmen Adoption”. Various organizations around campus are being given lists of freshman. For the senate, every person gets 5 freshmen. The idea is that, within the first couple weeks of school, we meet with these students. We talk to them, welcome them, and tell them why we’re involved in things around campus. The real benefit of this is we now have five freshmen indentured servants. We were all very excited about this prospect, and we recessed the meeting (it being very dark and me being very unable to see what I was writing anymore) with plans of just what we were going to do with our freshmen.

After a long night, most of which no one remembers, we reconvened about twelve hours later. The group was considerably less excited and talkative than it had been the night before. Go figure.

Exciting topic number one was the Certificate of Merit. This is an institutional pat on the head for clubs around campus. You do nice things for the community and students, and you get a plaque. It’s a quasi-Pavlovian way of getting people to help out the community “just cuz”. I’m not sure it works that way, most of the time, but it does get us involved. Who cares that greed and esteem are our motivators and not good will? There were eventually a lot of ideas, but I can’t tell you what they were until they are declassified. Sorry, my hands are tied.

Exciting topic number two was WebCT. Have you heard of this? It is responsible for quite the uproar around DSU recently. It’s an all-in-one package for grade books, online quizzes, and general mayhem. Despite an outcry from faculty, the Board of Regents has gone ahead and mandated a change over to WebCT. One professor told me that, thanks to his four classes, he has four web pages to make, four email addresses to check, four grade books to update, and sixteen message boards to moderate. Some teachers have flat out refused to use it. We’ll see how the change over goes.

The final topic, the big ‘un, was our goals for the year. If you thought last night was quiet, you should have heard the reaction when Eric suggested we each come up with something. Everyone was antsy to leave. We had just eaten pizza, and now everyone wanted to sleep. We did manage to squeeze out a nice list of ideas (and a larger list of “I don’t know”) before Eric gave up. We did come up with quite a few good ideas, like more student involvement with campus activities, and plans are forming about the possibility of a radio station on campus. Anyone want to be involved? Become a DJ? We�ll see if this idea flies.

When everyone began getting up off the grass in front of Lake Madison and collecting their bags, Eric decided the retreat was over. With a formal motion to adjournment at 1:18 pm, we helped Terry put things back the way they were before we started relaxing all over his property.

As we drove away from the Ryan residence (skillfully hid in a location no human could ever find), I paused to reflect. They wanted a write up of the minutes for the first edition. Then I realized that the first edition deadline was Monday. Well, I guess that doesn’t leave me enough time to write a conclusion, does it? Maybe next time, folks. Keep your eyes peeled for more from “The Minute Waltz.”

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is Back and Ready to Annoy
Master Shake, Frylock, Meatwad and Carl Return Sunday, August 31, at 11:45 p.m. (ET, PT)

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the animated comedy about three human-sized food products that live together in a rental house in New Jersey, returns to Adult Swim on Sunday, August 31, with a new season of peculiar adventures. New episodes will air every Sunday night in September at 11:45 p.m. (ET, PT). Sometimes the members of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force solve crimes. More often, they bicker and hang out in their neighbor Carl�s above-ground swimming pool.

Master Shake, the self-appointed team leader, has a big mouth, a short attention span and no work ethic. Frylock, the only reasonable member of the group, is a box of french-fried potatoes with mystical powers. Meatwad, a round mound of meat, completes the squad. He is talented, too: at any given moment, Meatwad can take the shape of a hot dog or an igloo.

Sunday, August 31: �Super Sirloin�- At the request of a rapper named Sir Loin, Meatwad collects food and garbage for a very dubious hunger drive.

Sunday, September 7: �Super Squatter�- Frylock tries to teach Shake a lesson about responsibility by making him pay the bills. Shake decides he’d rather move in with Carl.

Sunday, September 14: �The Meat Zone�- Meatwad acquires an amazing ability to see the future. Shake immediately tries to cash in on it.

Sunday, September 21: �Super Trivia�- Frylock drags Meat, Shake and Carl into his insane quest to defeat his arch-nemesis at team trivia, Wayne the Brain.

Sunday, September 28: “Universal Re-Monster”