Me and the Alumni Magazine: Who is smarter?
I've really enjoyed being back in Grand Rapids these past few days. It has really been great to get in touch with a lot of people. However the more people I get in touch with, the more I'm reminded of all the people I've lost touch with. I suppose that's just an inevitable part of getting older to a certain extent. But from my high school class I can count on one hand the number of people about whom I still know what they are up to.

And then it was brought to my attention that there was a website maintained by my high school where people could send in information about what they were doing, and it was printed on line. I began to think of how I could play with the system.

It's a bit like a poker game. I want to send in something totally ridiculous, like, "I'm currently serving as the Brazilian Minister of Information." But obviously no one would believe that and it would never get printed. I have to send something in that pushes the envelope just enough, but is still somewhat believable.

I bounced a few ideas off of my sister. My first thought was to say that I was in self-imposed exile in Algeria until the Federal government would drop charges against me. My sister said Algeria was too exotic, and she was probably right. We batted ideas back and forth against each other, and eventually I ended up submitting this:

A youthful indiscretion has necessitated a temporary relocation to Europe, where
I have been traveling for the past couple years. I am awaiting certain legal
complications to be resolved and optimistic that I will be granted permission to
return to the United States in the near future. In the mean time I am enjoying
European life. My French has become quite good, and I have undertaken to study
Spanish. The lack of a steady income has taught me a lot about living on a small
budget, and I have become greatly indebted to the kindness of strangers here. I
have fond memories of everyone from Grand Rapids Christian and hope they are all
doing well.

Perhaps pushing things a little too far. Perhaps not quite going far enough. Difficult to say really. Let's keep our eyes on the website, and see if it gets printed.