Well, that was certainly fun!

I am going to try this again. Last time I tried to upload, my writings got eaten by the internet. No good at all.

Today, having the day completely free and beautifully clear to just chill, I did some porn research (seriously: I am writing a thesis on the ethics of pornography... I actually requested an interlibrary loan of a Playboy article) worked out, tanned a bit more, and did the tinkering online that I never get to do. I am kinda trying to do this new friend thing. No, it is not that I just spent 12 days with my best friends and never want to see them again, but more that since Justine and Will are both gone for a few days, I am left alone... much as I will be when we all graduate. So I am trying to do a bit more of friend outreach (something that the bar isnt too helpful for). Anyone want to be my friend this summer?

I called St. Thomas about a fellowship I am hoping to get. No word so far. Then I called two realtors. I got some writing done on my Senior Speech. Just getting some ideas down on paper at this point. Just some of the random stuff floating around my head.

Now: to Spring Break! I dont know how to write about this without going on for days. It was Will, Justine, Danielle and I and we had an absolute blast. I dont know what else to say. Had a phenominal drive down from Milwaukee to Chicago, stayed a night with D's parents and went shopping. Bought a sex book. Played a couple of horrible terrible games of pool.

The next morning we had great weather as we made our way south to Atlanta. On the way we stopped in Metropolis, Ill. to see the giant statue of Superman (bought a tshirt). Then stopped in Lynchburg Tenn. for the Jack Daniels tour (way cool). Then finally wound up north of Atlanta at a WAY ghetto Days Inn, where I tried to use Justine's credit card and the guy threatened to gall the cops, even after Justine showed up with her ID. Grrr... We then tried to find a place to drink, wound up outside a Best Western that all of us refused to go into. Then played a 12-pack's worth of Asshole in the room.

The next day we tooled around Atlanta, going on the CNN and Coca-Cola tours. Left about 5pm hoping that the drive to Miami would keep us going till about 5am... Forgot how fast we drive. Realizing how early we were going to arrive we even tried to stop and see a late night movie, but it was a no go. So we ended up on a North Miami Beach public beach at like 3am and tried to sleep in the car, with fairly comical results. I was in the driver-side with my legs wrapped around the wheel and the gear shifter (which was in a very odd place on the dashboard). Will and I went on an otherwise romantic walk on the beach. Too bad it was Will. ;-) Saw two people having sex on the sand. Ooppss. Sorry about that.

When a catering van woke us up (bitches) we moved on and drove to an IHOP, had breakfast and then found our Howard Johnson that we were booked for the next week. We camped out there with a 12-pack, then Will and I went for a run. The IHOP, beer and running did not combine well in my stomach, but I suffered as best as I could. We were glad to then move onto the Cruise with no problems. Our rooms were spacious, nice, and we settled in quickly. Will and I went to work out, and then napped before the pre-dinner show. We pre-partied a bit (a lot) ordering a whole pitcher of cranberry juice to mix with our water-bottled alcohol. The show was pretty good, and I immediatly pin-pointed the gay dancer. Really cute. Everyone was all egging me on, and I totally planned to get with him by the end of the week. Jesse was his name. Anyway, at dinner we were all at a table with this woman and her son. They were very pleasant, but we were all a bit shocked to find out that she had lost her husband, the boy's father, in the 9/11 attacks. Since then they had relocated to Florida. Good God! We all really didnt know what to say. How does one rebound a conversation from that? After dinner we drank some more and then Will and I went for a cigar/ette and planned to meet the girls up at the dance club. They ditched us when we were a bit late, and so it was just he and I. We had a good time, although I was exhausted. We met a bunch of girls from Depauw and I asked if they knew Betsy or Crystal Brick. They all knew them both. They were all friendly, and it seemed we had made some fast friends.

The next day we got up in time for lunch, went and looked around Nasau in the Bahamas, and then boarded our booze cruise. Thank God we ate before that!

Okay, I will continue this later, I just dont want to lose it all again...

Well, that was certainly fun!

We got back from Florida yesterday about 9pm. We had stopped to drop off Will in Aurora and have some of the best pizza ever. The entire trip was so phenominal and fun and a blur of just so much... I can't even begin to say just how much it rocked. It was not without its moments of drama (to be fair, I had one too), but what a kick-ass group of people to travel with. I will have to fill in the blanks later. Photos help a lot.

Right now I am putzing, putting shit away and spending some slouch time in front of the internet. I know it may seem horrible, but now that Spring Break is over, I need some new friends. Let me clarify: Will and Justine are both gone for the next couple days, and campus is empty till tomorrow, so I am getting a tiny taste of what things are going to feel like in about 50 days once Graduation is over. My friends will leave. So I need to start investing in some new relationships too. Anyone want to be my friend this summer?

I am also starting to put down some ideas for the senior speech. I havent gotten the specs. yet from the committee, but I have some basic ideas I wanted to get down. Later today I am going to spend a couple hours doing research at the library. It feels cool not to have to do anything for 24 hours. Wow. Maybe I should take a cooking class this summer. Anyone want to learn to cook with me?

Okay, I have some calls to make, more later!

Free Fallin!

Tom Petty seems appropriate right about now. I've had a great last 24 hours, and the next will prove to be even better. Free fallin for sure. Such a road trip song. We are leaving on a jet plane, and just going to where it is warmer, happier. This will prove to be one of my last major Marquette memories: Senior Spring Break.

I'm packed, and we pick up the car tomorrow after I finish my Spanish test. Thank God he is letting me take it ealier. The prospect of focusing on that test at 3pm looked pretty grim.

I spent the last night on Natalie's floor, after watching a few episodes of Sex and the City. I got up about 4:45 to the din downstairs, and we had "kegs and eggs" before going over to Caffrey's at about 5:15. The wait was fun, and once we were inside Hilary (one of the bartenders) gave me a free pitcher. (she likes me cause I tip.) Anyway, I hung out there for a while before I went tanning at 7:30, then back to Caff's and then over to McCormick for a drunken breakfast with some of my old theater friends. Fun stuff. I saw Jocelyn... Hehe... I love showing that side of me every once in a while.

I ended up passing out in my 9:35 class, so then decided to skip the rest o the day. Woke up and found out that Alex and Beth had won (55%-40%) and I MADE IT TO THE TOP THREE for Senior Speaker. Me, Tom Freesmier, and some honors program kid that I have never really warmed up to. Wow... This was the first popular election I have come out on top of like ever! (granted, I havent run for anything since pretty much middle school).

Anyway, I cleaned, cooked, did laundry, watched some favorite movies, and now feel prepared for tomorrow and totally good about today. Except, of course, that T.J. still has my favorite hat, and he doesn't seem particularily inclined to give it back. I am going to call him like 50 times tomorrow... Grrr. I want my hat!

Okay, beddie-by. Happy Spring Break!

Cold Calling? What an Idiot!

Last night I was all tucked in after a successful night (we'll get to all that) and was finishing the 1st season of the OC with Will. (so sad that it's over...) Anyway, Alex Hermanny calls me and tells me that there have been reports of Brant (the other candidate) making cold calls on University phones reminding people to vote tomorrow. And Alex wasnt the first perosn to hear about this: he was told by the elections commissioner, who also had told Jon Dooley. Both are extremely pissed. This is not only a violation of election rules, but straight up University policy. Ane the best part is that our campaign has some inside emails proving that Brant knew what he was doing, knew that it was wrong and was encouraging his team to cover it up.

Right now I should be getting ready for dance class. Ehhh... Its snowing, and I dont think I want to go... Yuck. Snow. How many hours left till spring break? We had a little meeting last night to go over last minute little details. We changed one of our plans so that we would end up hanging around Atlantaand then driving through the night to Miami. Sounds good to me!

The training last night went spectacularly. I definitely proved myself, not just to them, but to me. They were very happy with my presentation. The only snag was that I had it written down for 7pm... Nope, definitely 8pm. Justine had kindly accompanied me, so we jetted over to noodles, grabbed something to eat and then went back... It was wonderful to have her there with me.

Yesterday I also made peace with Tim, our MUSG President. I had pretty much bitch-slapped him on Monday night for refusing to ask any directed questions of the candidates. When the debate was over I marched up to him and told him I thought that he was weak, and that he had stifled the one opportunity that student's had to clarify and question the candidate's positions. I really went off on him. And then yesterday he called me into his office. I was prepared for him to tell me I had been out of line or whatever, but instead he told me that he had thought about it, and that I was RIGHT! See, this is the kind of rolling over that bugs the hell out of me about Tim. Love him to death, but he is always trying to appease everyone. What kind of legacy is that going to leave? Anyway... whatever...

Otherwise, yesterday I got my haircut, went for a tan, campaigned a little. Handed in my pornography thesis, handed in my Restaurant review, which actually turned out pretty decent given my last minute writing. In class, that moron waxed on about how he is writing his own book, and I swear he went on for 20 minutes higlighting the plot and his whole process with it. Thanks buddy... Really helps my writing a lot. I still need to talk to Ken Ksobiech about that class.

Tonight I am going over to Nora and Natalie's with Christina and we are going to have a slumber party: Sex and the City gossip... fun stuff like that... Anyway, we'll get up at like 5am to go to Caff's for St. Patrick's Day. Then I think a water bottle will be prudent in class... something to keep the buzz going before I pass out after Ethics... This should be a fun end to the week! Spring Break, here we come!

105 hours till Spring Break!

This week has a lot of small, but important stuff going on. The campaign for Alew and Beth is in full tilt, but it is rather odd, because it seems like the other guy, Brant, has given up to some extent. We know he is not allowed to spend any more money on ANYTHING and that hi following is kinda lame, but it really sounds like he isnt planning to push much this week. Hmmm...

As for us, I am doing debate prep today, after I spent about half an hour coming up with the bitchiest quesitons possible for the other team. I released my inner-bitch and it really dominated. Questions like, "In your platform you complain that the Union charges too much for their services and also say that we need to bolster area businesses. Yet you also advocate taking money from the local bars by allowing alcohol in the Brooks lounge. Can you explain these inconsistencies?" I went through their resumes, their platform, their personal history. grrr... I dont normally get to be this mean.

I have to write my restaurant piece yet for tomorrow. I dont much care though anymore. I am waiting on crazy Cristen to email us the interview we made her do. If she doesnt come through I will blame it on Salsini... It was his idea anyway. Otherwise, this week will be fun, busy and by the end of it I will have some idea about the Senior Speaker thing. (Honestly though, Tom Freesmeier will be in the top three, and the administration loves him... so I really can't get my hopes up... I would be happy to see him do it anyway)

We had a staff meeting yesterday at Fluid. Dee ended up waxing on for far too long about his "vision" of what Fluid is and what it could be. Me and Damion just kept shooting looks to each other, trying not to laugh. It's a bar dude. And while it is your entire life, maybe that's not such a good thing. Anyway, everyon critisicm that was made didnt have to do with me, so I just sat there and tried to look cute. Then we did some deep cleaning, and I dusted the ceiling and all the ceiling fixtures. Fun stuff. The shift itself was decent... Nothing to write about really.

Time to start my week. Closer to 104 hours now...

write write write

I'm trying to sit down and write three pieces that are floating around in my head: the UWm LGBT seminar, a Tribune piece for Tues and a restaurant review for Critical Writing. I actually woke up really early with all these ideas shooting through my head. That and a wierd dream that some teenage girl had broken into our apartment, got on Will's computer and was broadcasting things onto my computer. So I wrestled her to the ground and pretty much had to sit on her while I called the cops, who never showed. I eventually got bored with the dream and woke up. That's wierd. I don't often remember my dreams, especially in such detail.

Talked to Mae-Mae yesterday. Turns out that Aunt Lisé is 5 months pregnant. WHAT??? How did I not know about this? I know I rarely call, but it seems like that is the sort of info that I should get from Dad. Oh well, he's earned himself some slack, because I absolutely love the little camera he bought me for graduation/birthday.

SWEAT was a blast last night. I ended up being able to help, which for me is important. I am just wierd that way: I enjoy myself more if I have something to do. It was hotter than HELL there, and packed beyond measure. Literally a line out the door. Once they reached capacity, Jon McPheters kinda started freakin out, and I just grabbed him and reminded him that this is a charity event and that this type of showing is GREAT publicity, even if people have to wait to get in. I started IDing and putting on bracelets so that the manager could serve as bouncer. I would be surprised if there weren't 400 people there and they raised a grand. Good stuff.

Work before that was fine. Same on Friday. Except I spent most of Friday night babysitting people who were WAY too drunk. It was my fault for serving them the first drink, but at least two of them were bombed when they sat down. I had to literally force one guy to come back into the bar and sit down. (2x) Fun times. I guess you have to take the good with the bad at this job. I had a nice chance to bond a little with Bill last night. I feel like he definitely feels that he can trust me now. That's good to know. We had these four guys come in last night (one was Stewey from ARCW who I adore) and Bill and I just traded flattering comments back and forth. Oh, and the guys convinced me to light my crotch on fire. Hmmm...

Actually, looking at that group of friends (all very intelligent, pretty attractive) I was kind of reminded of my lack of gay friends. I had that one summer after freshman year in TC that I was constantly with Ian and Justin, but other than that, I have NEVER hung out with gay people. None of the gay kids on campus (all 4 of them) even talk to me anymore. I am too straight for them. Anyway, it doesn't really bother me, but it does make me ocassionally jealous when I see a group like Stewey, Jon, Jerry and _________ from last night.

Okay, time to write now. Maybe shower too eventually.

How long till Spring Break?

174 hours. Exactly. Good lord, this week seemed to drag on. The debate was on Monday, and that went awesome. Then Wednesday was the election, which we still havent gotten results from due to some massive controversies. Then yesterday was dinner with Dr. Ghanem and her son at Sobelman's. Way fun, as Sobelman's always promises to be.

Last night I ended up sitting on Christina Mahady's bed dishing with the girls (Natalie and her two roommates). We had some margaritas and just chilled and talked about the next 71 days before we graduate, and what will follow. I really enjoy Christina, mainly because her sense of humor is so freeing and she is in much the same place as I am with guys right now: don't need, don't want. While I hope that T.J. gives me my hat back, I can't say that I am really that devestated that things aren't going to work out. I have kind of realized that that's the way life substantially works with relationships... most aren't going to work out, but just keep trying it and enjoy the experience while you are at it.

Anyway, I made it into the top ten for Senior Speaker. I am just kinda talking to everyone, trying to get friends to vote for me. It feels a little narcissistic to campaign for an "honor," but the popular vote isnt what decides if I am worthy; it is what decides if I am popular enough.

I work most of this weekend. Going to the SWEAT dance on Saturday (still have to get tickets) . Other than that, not too much to get into academically. I give my seminar for UWM on Wednesday, and I should prepare a bit for that I suppose (since they are paying me big bucks). Then most of next week is living through my first St. Patrick's day in the U.S. at the bars and getting ready for spring break. Good God, I am ready for that!

Senior Speaker?

Yesterday I got an email confirming that I am one of the top ten finalist for Senior Speaker. Now it goes to popular vote to round it down to three candidates. Wow. That would be cool. I need to not think about it... Went out to dinner last night with Justine. We finally could get seating at The Cheesecake Factory. Quite honestly, it was only decent food. ehh whatever.

I bought a new memory card for the camera Dad is sending me. Great price on it. Yeah!

Otherwise, I am trying to lay off my cell phone use. I spent about 100 minutes earlier this month trying to solve the Spring Break disturbances. But now I only have 150 left for the next 15 days. Hmmm...

I guess that the only other thing would be that UWM is paying me $75 to teach an LGBT acceptance unit, 45 minutes total. Geez... I would do it for free... But that's totally cool... I'll take the money any day. I just hope that I can live up to their expectations.

Nothing else much to report... Good, relaxing day yesterday. Today should be too. It is the Primary election for my candidate, so there are some last-minute efforts, but nothing I feel I really need to worry about.

Kick ass, debate style...

I really should be working on my presentation and writing assignment for tomorrow. Ahh well. It will be a shorter day since my ethics class is canceled. I'll nap then.

Tonight kicked so much ass! I had spent much of my day preparing Alex and Beth for tonight's MUSG debate for President and EVP. April had developed a list of questions and she and I grilled both of them, essentially trying to make them "quotable" and really come out strong in the minute and thirty seconds they had. And did they ever. I took charge of making sure that a bunch of our stronger questions got asked, the questions that I knew they had prepared with us for. And those two not only sounded more cohesive and intelligent, but WAY more eloquent than the other tickets. I kept finding myself correcting the grammar of some of the other candidates. Kick ass! Plus way had easily 3x the showing of any other candidate. There were NO green shirts at all, perhaps 10 pinks and maybe 20 yellows. We'll just see how that all translates into votes. Anyway, our positions were strong, we toppled some of the "insider" accusations of the other candidates, and it went so well over all that I was literally gitty when it was over. Afterward I found the Tribune reporter, gave her our speech (to make quoting easier) and schmoozed with her a little. Just made her job a little easier... She seemed receptive.

Part of this is that I am having a lot of fun with this effort. I have found that I am EXTREMELY good with taking the candidate's messages and honing them into public-ready, polished statements that are concise and attractive. I guess I kinda have the PR bug. Geez... for the amount of crap I talk about PR, I am really good at it, and I enjoy it.

Bob Brick called me back today. I'll call him tomorrow and have a conversation about buying houses. Wow. That will get the ball rolling and I'll just have to see where that goes... Fun stuff... Later!

Buy a house??!!??

thats a lame title. Oh well, that's about the only way to sum up these last few days. After (Webster) presented me with a check for his portion of the cruise (which I was planning on paying, we whopped Houston on Wednesday, went drinking with some Moms at Caffreys, then got an insurance check for my bicycle on Thursday... I was having a good week. Friday I had to wake up at 4:30 to catch my flight to Minneapolis. Everything worked out great, and I quickly became re-enchanted with the city that will become my new home. Incredible public transport: for $1.25 I got from the airport on lightrail, then transfered to a bus line to get uptown to look at an apartment.

So... apartments. I found this place on 22nd and Grand that is about 20 minutes away from the university by bus. Its a safe neighborhood, with a library across the street, and the units are awesome, as is the grandmother-type that is the administrator of the place. But here's the thing: rent is WAY higher in Minneapolis. Places closer to the University go for about $600-900 for studios, and about $1200 for two bedrooms. Wow. Even for a studio, I would be paying twice what I am here. The place on 22nd was between 900-1000 for a two bedroom, and that was about the best deal I could find.

I started to think about it... During 3 years of law school, I am going to lose between $18,000 and $25,000. Down the hole. No return. Just money lost. I started talking to some people, and ended up going out with Adam, a bartender from Milwaukee who has moved to Minneapolis and we are considering being roommates, and he introduced me to his friend Dustin. Anyway, Dustin does investment real estate, and he seemed pretty sure that he could get me something around town that would have a 25% return on it in 3 years. Now, maybe he was full of shit, but it is still something to explore. Even if I don't MAKE money on it, I would probably not LOSE the 18-25 that I would renting. I could get a house or condo and rent out the extra room(s).

This is really intimidating for me. I'm 22! I am not sure that I am ready for that kind of monetary and temporal commitment. On the other hand, it would be SUCH an adventure, and it is a good idea from an investment stand point. I take out no-interest student loans for all my college expenses and living stuff, pay off house stuff with the money I have saved and the money from renting out a room... The idea of getting a condo seems smarter too: less maintenence, but it has less improvement (and headache) potential.

So what now? I guess I have some calls to make. I want to talk to Bob Brick to see what advise e would have, and see if he has anyone he trusts in Minneapolis. I want to call this Dustin kid (who I ended up with on an air mattress on Friday night... showed him a real good time) but I am not sure that I trust him with my real estate. Is it unethical to have two realtors looking at options for you?

Anyway, the open house at St. Thomas was substantially boring, only because this was my third time there and I didnt really need the sell line. Just two things: I felt like such a baby! Almost everyone there had taken some-many years off doing real jobs before looking at law school. Wow... I'm finally gonna be the "young one." Not sure how I feel about that. Also: no one goes out! I searched for a while to find current or prospective students to go out with for a beer, and everyone was busy with school work. On a Friday! Good God, is this what my life is going to look like? Yuck... Am I ready for that?

Overall, I guess that a lot of my time there was slapping me in the face and saying, "You are going to have to grow up here pretty quick."

The cheapest hotel room I could find as $111 at the Courtyard. Grrr... But after a much needed nap, I wen out to a fantastic Thai restaurant (Sawatdee) and spent way too much on a fantastic dinner and several glasses of Gwertzameiner. Then Adam came by, and we had a pretty damn good night.

Coming home, I went straight to work, had a good shift although I had NO energy. But I made $80 on a Saturday happy hour, which is extremely rare. I resisted the temptation stay out, and went home thankfully early. In bed soon thereafter.

Yesterday, I went to brunch with (Julie) at Louise's which was splendid. It was about 55 degrees, and sitting in the sun eating salmon benedict and drinking bellinis with my best friend... That was something. Then checked out an art show at UWM for my critical writing class. (Oh... I told that teacher that I thought his class was worthless... but that's for another time) Then home, cleaned like a mad-man. The apartment is SO much more comfortable now. Went shopping with Will, so now I have some meals, which is very nice. Then meetings until 10:45pm when I went out with T.J. to Three. It was fun enough... I got out of there for $20. T.J. and I dont really have that much to talk about, but he is fun to make out with. I was hopeful about him for a little while, but as happens with many boys, it just wasnt working out. I'll just play this one by ear.

OH, one last thing... I am kinda coordinating campaign messages for Alex Hermanny's campaign with April Kusper. April and I are honing their message and making sure that Alex and Beth sound like the absolute best candidates in the field. And ya know what? I am REALLY good at this. Partially because of my multiple personalities, I am able to think about what is being said from about 6 different angles, detach and engage each of them, and react with what is going to work best as a PR message. I am scary good at that. I would love to be "Toby" or "C.J." from the West Wing. Give me a law degree and we'll see where I go from there. Anyway, this is fun. Debate tonight, and I am onthe prep team... I really enjoy this stuff.

Alright, thats enough for now... hasta luego aligator

And the drama continues...

SOOOoooo... Yesterday, I had it worked out that I would pay for (Webster's) cruise, we would drive his car down, and all would be good. My biggest concern at that point was that the girls were going to be a bit hostile towards (Webster). It was going to be $425 out of my pocket, but to a certain extent, we need the ride, and I want my best friend there with me. God damn it, we ARE going on this trip.

Well, then (Webster) talked to his parents and they forbid him from taking his own car down. Huh, what? Now it ust seems like they are trying to keep him going without being honest about it. They had no objection to the car thing two weeks ago. Now all of a sudden its a problem? This put us in a whole new situation. I took my offer off of the table with (Webster) and we now had to find transportation AND a third person to fill the spot.

I found out we could rent a car for about $350. It hurts, it's gonna sting to pay about $125 more each, but thats kinda the only option we have left. I called (Julie) and let her know. She seemed to think that was a decent option. Then, when I was in the shower, I had a revelation: If I am willing to pay $425 to have my BF come with me, even though it served a certain utility before, why am I not willing to pay $525 for him now? He made the comment that someday, perhaps my third-year of law school, he will call me up and take me to Vegas or something. I consider this an investment in my friendship and an investment in a future vacation sometime. Honestly, I have the money, I might as well make something of it.

After having that revelation, I said pretty straight up to (Webster): "You are coming. I am paying for your cruise and the car. But God damnit, you are coming with us!" He didnt seem to be able to argue with that. So now we have a solution!

I told the girls in a rather roundabout way that (Webster) would now be coming with us. I went around in a circle, starting with (Julie) then (Dierdre) then (Webster) saying how much I loved them and how much I am glad they are coming with me. When I said it about (Webster) they totally did a double take and it took about 5 seconds for them to take it in. I then explained that we were still going to need to rent a car, at which point (Julie) jumped in and said that her father is going to pay the extra $200 for an upgrade to an SUV or MiniVan. Kick ASS! But wait, we're not done with this drama yet:

At this point (Dierdre) breaks down and says that she has been so upset for the last 24 hours about this whole thing, and she thought that we were al planning to cancel the vacation, and she has already thought about other plans, and now this is even going to cost more... Etc etc etc... We get her to calm down a little, but she is still really mad (mostly at Webster for his last minute waffling). To be far, she was right. Right to be pissed at him, right to think we had given up. (Julie) and I had been working for solutions for the past 72 hours, and I hadnt once called to update (Dierdre). So as far as she knew, it was hopeless. After talking to her at great length, I suggested we take twenty minutes to seperate, think and pray, knowing that once she calmed down, (Dierdre) would realize how cool it is that we have made this work again.

Well, I was right (mostly). She came back almost 35 minutes later after (Julie) went and talked to her, and said that she DOES want to do this, and that the money is NOT that big a deal. She still has to talk to her parents about it again though. Fair enough. So, now I need to change some rental car arrangements and wait her out. (I know she will say yes though)

On a seperate note, what is with all my friends' parents having such an ubsurd amount of control over their existence. I call my father often for council, but I can't tell you the last time he told me I could or couldn't do something... Perhaps that's because all my money is earned, I don't have a car that belongs to him and he doesn't pay for my education. Am I the exception to the rule? It just seems like if there has been one MAJOR barricade in all of this, it has been my friends parents "laying down the law" on how (Webster) should spend his money (or lack thereof) or where he can drive the car they let him have, or where (Julie) can take the car she was given, and finally what (Dierdre) can decide about these last minute changes. I am, without a doubt, dropping more cash on this vacation than any of these people, and while I consulted my Dad, his advice is no longer applicable to the situation (although I think he would discourage the route that I have chosen to take, which is why I am not asking him).

Anyway, I have a Spanish test today that I havent even cracked the book yet for.

P.S.: Dad Rocks

Oh. And I can't forget this:

Dad and Carey are fighting, just random teenage freedom issues. But Dad was amazingly supportive last night. He listened to me rant about Spring Break for a good half hour. (As did Sam Wills, my ethics friend... but anyway) And it turns out Dad told me not to buy anything major within the next week... Hmmm... I mentioned that I was planning on getting a digital camera as soon as my voucher shows up... He told me that he had already bought me a Cannon SD200 Elph! He had been planning on getting me something like that for graduation, but after our conversation a few weeks ago (see blog: me being a spoiled brat) he decided to move up his purchase date. SWEAT!!

I like when Dad and Carey are fighting. He buys me things! (just kidding, he said that himself...)

Spring Break???

Oh, Dear GOD!! Along with the mid-terms and projects that I have to be working on this week, the campaign I am helping with to elect Alex Hermanny for MUSG President and trying to get some publicity done for SWEAT 2005 (the benefit dance), the last two days I have been dealing with all kinds of Spring Break stress.

Sunday, (Webster) came home and told me that he had made his final decision: he can't afford to come with us. Now, we booked the cruise about 5 months ago. We booked the hotel about a month ago. I understand completely, and for me the worse part is that my best friend can't come with us on my senior Spring Break bonanza.

At that point I tried to explain that we were now going to have to give away his cruise ticket to someone else who could share the other expenses (essentially meaning Webster has to cough up $425 while someone would get a free cruise). Webster went ballistic. Started accusing me of having coerced him into agreeding to the trip in the first place, that I was now trying to make money off of his misfortune... etc. I tried to talk him down, and essentially reminded him that if he thought I was being hostile, he had no idea what was ahead of him with (Julie) and (Dierdre) the two other girls that were being inconveninced. I talked to both of them, and they were already coming up with a list of demands, some of which I found slightly vindictive.

Well, so yesterday I spent a good portion of my day asking random friends if they wanted to go on the cheapest cruise ever. No bites. Then I took my Theo mid-term, and totally kicked its ass. Yeah! Then, during our work-out, (Webster) actually apologized for going after me. Wow! Amazing. I was totally impressed. We had a good workout.

But then last night, as I am still stressing about the whole thing, and after having cooked an amazing couscous curry with tons of veggies and chicken and sausage, (Julie) called. She had some bad news: her car had been our backup if (Webster) backed out. But yesterday, her parents absolutely forbid her to take it down to Florida. So now we are one person down, without a car, stuck in Milwaukee, having already paid for the cruise. ARRGGHHH!!!!

(Julie) had come up with an alternative trip to Arizona that would simplify things a bit, but we would all lose $200 a piece on the cruise and pay an extra $400 for a plane ticket. This sucks. A lot. While I appreciate that she came up with an alternate plan, I want my cruise. So I thought about the whole thing... A lot... And decided to pay for (Webster's) cruise. It is an extra $425 out of my pocket... But at this point it seems like I would have to pay that to change the trip anyway. This way, we get our cruise, I get to be with ALL my friends, and I get to see my family towards the end of the trip...

I talked to Dad, and he seems to think this would be okay IF I got the other two to put in like $100 as some sort of car-rental fee. I agree with his logic, but here is my problem: I think that they would resent it. There is little I could do about that, and I want to balance my desire for everyone to get along with the money thing. If I pay for (Webster's) ticket, I would never mention it again. Ever. It is an anonymous gift to ALL of us. I would tell the girls that he changed his mind... But if the girls paid in, I feel like I can't trust them not to bring it up on the trip somewhere, and I know Webster's ego enough to know that this would spoil a lot of fun.

So... Am I being an idiot in playing into the hand of a friend who is horrible at managing his money, incentivising so to speak, his mis-spendings? Am I grasping at straws trying to keep this Spring Break together? Or am I trying to be a good friend who sees the utility behind keeping things together and getting a car out of the deal? I'll just have to find out.