Midnight midterm break

Good evening, Darlings...

I have been informed that if I don't catch up on my blogging, and keep people informed on my whereabouts, then some sort of trouble is headed my way. So then, here it is, the full deets. Well, the partial deets, anyway...

I've been mired in midterms for about a week and a half now, with only a few instances of coming up for air. I love it, and it's an excellent direction to be going in, but it does get jam-packed sometimes. Speaking of colleges...

Many of you know that I went to a small, private college before I went to UNO - Dana College, specifically. At the time, I wanted to be a high school drama teacher, and their program is pretty good there. When I toured Dana, it also occurred to me that I would get a lot more opportunities to do different things - like be on the radio, for instance. Here's how all this went down.

It started with Mom, believe it or not. Due to a number of circumstances, we weren't speaking very much when I graduated from high school. After the ceremony, she asked me if/where I was going to college. I had been accepted at the University of Iowa, but I wasn't absolutely sure I was going to go. I wanted to, but it was a huge school, and I was afraid I would get lost. In a number of ways... Anyway, when she heard that I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, she got this look in her eye, and she said we'd be touring a school within the week.

This was a bit weird, in itself. I went to humor her, more than anything. If you didn't know Mom, when she got that little glint in her eye, you just did what she said. It was really better that way. She took me to Dana the next week. She had actually considered Dana when my sisters and I were young (I think I was 10) but had decided against it, for financial reasons. I wasn't expecting anything out of the trip, really. I remember that they had a better deal for me than Iowa, financial aid-wise, and that I got a tour of the radio station. There was this extremely tall dude there, with 80's metal band hair. My first impression of Jon was that he seemed very nice, and he was patient with Mom as well. She was quite funny during this trip. I was doing my shy thing at the time, so as I remember it, Mom had more questions than I did. I really liked the radio station. I remember that the inside of it looked like an egg carton, because of the foam sound dampener they had stapled to the walls. Ahhh, memories...

I ended up choosing Dana, after all. Part of it was the radio station, part of it was the theatre program. I figured, and rightly so, that I might get more opportunities to do cool things like that at a smaller school. Though I ended up finishing my undergrad at UNO, my best memories were from Dana. It just seemed like we were more of a family there.

So why am I pondering all this again? This weekend, I took a (very short) break to participate in Dana's Homecoming weekend. I hear there was a football game - I'm sure it was fabulous - but I went down for the KDCV and theatre reunions. The radio station reunion was at ten in the morning. Unfortunately, I had to be at a class at eleven. I almost didn't go, because I knew I would have to leave almost right away. I also knew I would be tempted to skip class entirely, which would have been an utterly bad idea. Also, there seemed to be about a foot of snow on the ground. Snow. Another utterly awful concept. When do I get to move to Phoenix? At any rate, I set off for Dana on Saturday morning, hoping to rediscover some old friends.

I found the radio station, which was right where I had left it. Actually, it looked like the day we moved in - there were no posters on the walls. I found myself wishing we could get into the storage closet and put up a Tragically Hip poster, just for some atmosphere. When I was there, the station was plastered with just about anything we could get our hands on.

I hung out for about fifteen minutes with people I didn't know, chatting about Microsoft (those guys are going down, I'm telling you) when my friends walked through the door. I had seen Jon, Brad and Amy on the list, and I was quite glad to see them. It has been about fourteen years, I guess. A lot happens in fourteen years, especially if you hate sitting still, like I do...

So, I guess I've changed a little bit in the intervening years - my peeps didn't recognize me! Looking back, it's absolutely hilarious - I was sitting in the doorway, and they passed right by me. All sorts of things were going through my mind, including (but not limited to): When did I see these guys last? How did we leave things? Did I say something? Do I have any important clothing items that are unzipped?

None of the above, as it turns out. I'd forgotten that I used to wear glasses, and also that I used to have a ton of hair. At some point, we got up to look through the glass at the studio, and I stood next to Jon. It was at that point that he recognized me. I am here to report, hugging him is still exactly like hugging a tree. With arms. I got to hug Brad and Amy right after that - another good experience. Brad reminded me that we had met when he was the leader of my Orientation group. For Orientation that year we went camping - I'll never forget it. I hadn't been informed of the whole camping thing. Almost the moment I arrived at school, I was told to pack for a camping trip, and that we'd be leaving in an hour. That was almost the end of my college career, I'm telling you - I was intensely shy at that time, and the thought of doing trust falls out in the woods with people I didn't know was less than thrilling. If I could have found a way out of that one, I would have, but I didn't know how to drive. I was quite trapped.

I think I stuck to Brad that weekend - he seemed like a nice guy. I also learned that he worked at the radio station, and that he was friends with the tall Canadian 80's hair guy that I had met. I also received an invitation to sit at the Nerd Table for dinner when we got back - ahhh, the Nerd Table. One could always find a friend to eat with at the Nerd Table. Among my memories, there were many occasions when I would get to laughing so hard that I would turn bright red and not be able to take in oxygen - my friends would stand over me and yell "Breathe!" It only worsened the situation, of course, which made me laugh harder...

The moment I got reacquainted with my peeps, it seemed like I had to leave. I arrived a bit late to class, and as I came in, Dr. P teased me a bit (as I knew she would). I just smiled as I sat down. Even if I had explained where I was, I don't think she would have known the importance of that trip.

Later on in the evening, I returned for the theatre reunion. Again, I met up with people I haven't seen since about 1995 - this set seemed to recognize me, however. Austin and Jennifer were there, as I had hoped they would be. Way back when, we started a cult together - not too many people believe that story, but it's true. The Browns concur! They looked great, and it was cool to connect with them. We snuck into the prop room to look for a particularly realistic bomb that Austin had made once. This item was so realistic, in fact, that when the janitors discovered it on stage late one night, the entire campus was nearly evacuated. We only found part of the bomb - someone had dismantled it. Perhaps the janitors...

Another interesting find was a stack of books that I apparently donated at one time. To be truthful, perhaps it was less a donation and more a result of having no room in the moving truck. I took photos (to be posted later) but I left the books.

I reconnected with my dear friend Sue. It simply has been too long. Much of what we discussed generally does not belong in a public forum, but suffice to say I am looking forward to a more colorful life, now that she is back in it.

We saw Steel Magnolias, which is one of my favorite plays. Dana has some really talented actresses, and there certainly were some highlights throughout the evening. Not just the hair, either... Dr. Schnieder talked with Sue and I after the play, wanting to know what we had been doing. When I gave him my report, he said that he often found that most people eventually put away their theatre experience in favor of different pursuits. While that is true, I also think that my theatrical background taught me to be a much better communicator. It was a huge education in how to convey important information in small amounts of time. And who doesn't need to know how to do that?

So. Long story a tiny bit shorter, it was a trip I sorely needed to take.

Monday morning began with sadness, as I watched my left contact lens (accidentally) wash down the drain... it was my last box. I had to break the glasses out, which was just lovely. It certainly reminded me of my Dana days. I also think that they are the very same glasses, so it was obviously time for a replacement. I went in today - I should have them next week. Photos shall be posted.

Meanwhile, take care of yourselves - I'll try to update more regularly.