college

I really dig the idea of Campus Quilt. I have probably a good two hundred t-shirts from crew and college; and growing up in Daytona was like living in a land of free t-shirts. And, hey, they say that “We completely quilt the entire quilt on a commercial quilting machine.” It’s quiltarific!

Hey, Florida Crew Alumni! One of the current rowers, Kerri Riva, is attempting to find everyone. If you used to row for UF, drop her a line and let her know how to find you. Hell, drop me a line and let me know how to find you. (I highly doubt she’s trying to get anyone back into a boat. It took me 30min to pull a pathetic 6531m tonight. Check the sidebar of this page to see how I’m doing …)

Congratulations to my little sister, Michelle! She just got accepted to Lesley University! Right in the middle of Harvard Square! How cool is that?

Chris O’Brien’s Top Ten First Year in New Zealand Facts

1. This has been the hardest and most stressful year of my life.
2. NZ teachers couldn’t teach a fish to swim.
3. It is harder than you could ever imagine to be this far from friends and family.
4. Even though everyone thinks the US is wrong all the time, everyone wants to be the US.
5. The people here are retarded and couldn’t have a conversation with anyone.
6. The landscapes here are breathtaking but it is cold all the time.
7. Home ownership is great, but alot of work.
8. We are ready to get out of here and start a new part of our lives.
9. NZ is overrated.
10. News updates on TV always have news on music b/c nothing important happens here.

If Blake was not simply stoned out of his mind, then what explanation can there be for this troubling work?

[click to continue...]

Are you looking for your favorite college fight song? Then this is the site for you. With the help of 30,000+ fightsong fans per month, this site remains the largest and most up to date fight song page on the web.

Matthew Kaminer was one week away from freshman year finals at the University of Florida when he had a few drinks, then popped an innocent-looking pill handed to him by a friend.
The next day, he was dead.

New Zealand
My good friend Chris O’Brien was tentatively accepted into the University of Otago’s Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology’s program to work on his PhD in Bio-Archaeology and Human Evolution.

So here’s an interesting idea. I used to have a pal named Mike Sapp. We rowed together for Florida Crew in ‘95 and ‘96. I can’t find him. I’ve looked. I’ve tried all his old eMail addresses. None work. I’ve tried all the internet people-finders and looker-uppers. No dice. Then I thought, “Maybe he reads this page every now and then … maybe some reader knows him …” If you do know Mike, or know how I can find him, or you are him, drop me a line. Do you know Mike?

I took a class in early 20th century American literature while I was a student at the University of Florida. Every essay, book, or article we read struck someone somehow. I got so disgusted by students saying, “What struck me about …” or, “I was struck by …” that I wrote a response paper asking the professor to imagine me striking a student on the head with my Norton Anthology the next time someone said something about being struck. I found a list of world wide web dangerous words today and it reminded me of that class.

I wrote this essay on Keats’ This Living Hand when I was in college. I wrote it longhand, with a pencil. The part that is in blue was printed in 4 pt Times New Roman in the center of the page. I tried to recreate the handwriting where I could. The entire essay fit on the front of one page. That page was covered completely with little yellow Post-It notes each with a lyric from whatever song was on the radio at the time - I think it was something by the Eagles. The back of the page was a handwritten translation of the Star-Spangled Banner in binary 1s and 0s. That piece of paper was placed between two clean white sheets of paper and I stapled all around the edges so there was no way you could get to the essay without shredding the entire margin. The margins of the essay proper were covered with the complete Pearl Jam Ten lyrics with no punctuation or spacing. My name was not anywhere on the three pieces of paper. Keats was an excellent author. Dr. Ault was (is?) an excellent professor.

Many people visit this site, I’m assuming, and never even realize that by clicking on the menu bar above they can find out even more useless information about me.

• Did you know that I used to run Track for a bit in high school?
• That I used to row Crew for the University of Florida?
• That I actually really enjoy 19th century literature?
• That I run a mailing list dedicated to news about Gator football?
• That I used to write essays on strange topics?
• That I have been whitewater rafting in Maine?
• That I always chew two sticks of gum at once?
• That I often eat an entire box of Pasta-Roni Lemon Butter Angel Hair Pasta for breakfast?
• That I went snowboarding with my wife and her family in Vail?
• That I have been to the Hard Rock Cafes in London, Miami, Boston, Hollywood, New Orleans, and Orlando? (Okay, granted you couldn’t find that out by reading my old web pages, but I think it’s nifty.)
• That one time I severely burned my arm in a vat of 425 degree peanut oil? (Okay, you couldn’t find that one either.)
• That I spent what seemed like the whole long years of high school madly in love with a girl named Michelle? (Okay, now I’m just listing silly facts.)
• That I used to work on a loading dock hauling freight for 10 hours/day?
• That I once worked in a sports bar as a prep cook?
• That I spent a spring break selling Hawaiian Tropic on the beach?
• That I grew up in Daytona Beach?
• That Jorge used to own a bright shiny blue car that we drove through many lawns?
• That I smoked from the age of 15 until I was 22?
• That my grandfather fought with Merrill’s Marauders in China, Burma, and India?
• That I can positively wail on a harmonica?
• That I once caught 14 mackeral deep-sea fishing off the coast of New England?
• That I once had sex under the bleachers in the gym during a high school basketball game?
• That I have never had acne?
• That I am a huge Boston Red Sox fan?
• That I got drunk the night before my SAT because I honestly didn’t know how important it was?
• That I once dated a lifegaurd named Hope who broke up with me after one week because I was afraid to kiss her?
• That I often shave my head for no reason whatsoever?
• That I once passed out on a pool table at the Purple Porpoise?
• That I once took a leak standing in the middle of Bourbon Street?
• That my uncle was the cop with no speaking lines who accompanied the female cop who pretended to arrest Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder?
• That I can barbeque anything?
• That I hate black beans and rice?
• That I like to eat beef jerky?
• That I used to consider myself an actor?
• That I used to consider myself a writer?
• That I was once paralyzed (literally) by a rare African virus for two days?
• That I eat the popcorn kernels even though I know I shouldn’t?
• That I was a National Merit Scholar?
• That I maniacally collect really good pens?
• That I am fanatical about organizing my t-shirts?

I thought you didn’t.

So yesterday, while I was reading this, I ate an entire bag of microwave popcorn. No, I’m not a slow reader, you dork. I am an extremely fast popcorn-eater. I in-freakin’-hale the stuff. I love popcorn. Then when we went to see X-Men I consumed a Large bag during the previews. So by like nine o’clock I had, literally, two farging pounds of popcorn in my intestines. That cannot possibly be good for a person. Once in college Dr. Twitchell - A genius. Go buy his books at Amazon.Com. - had us write a paper on vampires in late 19th century literature (or something like that) and I handed in a three-page essay on the history of popcorn. If I remember correctly, he called me an asshole - I think he actually wrote that on my essay - but still gave me an A.

I can’t believe I read the whole thing. Well … the whole first page at least. So I’m sitting here at 3 am (and for some reason I don’t even acknowledge anymore that this is not normal) and I get an eMail from someone that wants to be added to the MetaCamPage. Of course this always amazes me because Dan’s blogView is so much better that I can’t even imagine why anyone would want to be on my campage (it’s like, so April). I’m doing all kinds of funky shtuff with my CD-R and I’m kinda nervous about doing anything else while trying to record in the background, but I figure, what the hell? It’s already 3 am so if the CD-R crashes (it already has like 6 times) I’ll just start over. And I go to read 2210 greenwood road / welcome home and it strikes me that this page is wonderful. She is writing, blogging, whatever - straight from the heart. I read everything that was on her main page and I was enthralled. Call me voyeur. The site has no graphics, nothing fancy at all. It’s just her and her life. Very nice. It reminded me of why I started blogging in the first place. Nyah. I just wanted to give her a plug. I hope that things go well with Jeff. <grin>

And on a side note: I was an English major. Hard to imagine, I know. I guess I still am an English major. (Does one eventually stop being their major?) During the 6,000-some-odd English courses I took at the University of Florida I must have heard the phrase, “I was struck by,” at least, oh, 38 ka-billion times. I had one professor - can’t remember his name but he was a card - who instinctively would recoil when a student said he was struck by something because he (the teacher) knew I would make a rude, loud, aggravating comment about “striking”. Sometimes I miss college. When I’m at work now people get all huffy when I say things like, “What the hell are you talking about?!” or “Well that just doesn’t make any sense at all.” Oh well. Maybe someday I’ll just shut up and get off my high horse (yes, I have a stoned clydesdale - shut up) and leave everyone alone. Not today though. And not tomorrow. Actually it doesn’t look likely at any point in the near future. They don’t even care at all …