Journal Entry 1/24/99

(Retrospection)

Woke up and worked on this journal. Brett Nelson came in and caught me. It was the first time I admitted to another Calvin student that I was keeping this journal. (Or anyone for that matter-although my sister Kirstin did see me work on it during xmas break. And, come to think about it, I had mentioned it to Abby as well- but this is the first time another Calvin student has caught me in the act).

Brett wanted to go to Arby's and I accompanied him (I had nothing better to do). He debated this journal w/ me. I said I wanted to keep a record of College memories for when I got older. Brett said being old isn't as bad as I always make it out to be. He said I’ll be the same person only older; and his Grandpa still remembers things that happened to him when he was little, so I don't need to write everything down to remember it.

Brett bought me a Calvin special (2 Roast Beefs) at Arby's. On the way back, I told Brett about the spring break offer (I had heard about it from Margaret in the weight room Friday). He was super excited, and called Bosch when we got back. Rob was debating what to do (he wanted to go with us, but his parents were going to Hawaii).

Brian, our RA, came into our apartment to hang out with us for a while. There was a beer bottle cap right where he was sitting, and it bugged me a long time, until I went over and sat by him, then grabbed it when Brian was looking at Cecil. It wasn't the smoothest thing I've ever done in the world, and I suspect Brian might have noticed but just chose not to make an issue out of it. Also, Rob Patton and Melissa were in the next room in the same bed, which was also a violation of Calvin apartment housing. Brian and Brett were planning a football game, but I left to go tutoring.

I picked up Nhi at her house, and than we drove to Lan's house. Nhi made me some egg rolls, and I ate 3 of them plus some kind of desert thing she had made (I was getting full fast though-I had 2 Roast Beefs and a Slim Fast drink at my apartment before I left). I helped them on their homework. Lan had a lot of math that I could help her on (she was making a lot of mistakes that day, and she felt bad, but I guided her through 2 lessons). Nhi didn't have math anymore-almost all of her classes focused on learning more English. I gave her some suggestions on her paper, but she didn't want me to see what she was writing (in the revised version) so I let it be.

After the homework was done I stayed and talked with the girls for a while. Lan wanted to talk to practice her English. I was asked if I liked girls with short hair or long hair better, and when I answered both, Lan said it was a smart answer, but then they pressed me for a real answer. Finally I said I like short hair, but I like long hair too. Since Nhi had been complaining about how her father wouldn't let her cut her hair, I didn't want to say anything that would make her feel bad. Lan also gave me various pictures of Chinese celebrities, and I had to tell her who I thought was the prettiest. I used all the Chinese phrases that Jared English had taught me, and Lan recognized them all (although sometimes my pronunciation was so bad I had to say it in English also before she realized what I was talking about.)

I left around 8, and went back to my apartment. There was a message that Molly was coming over to get temporary tattoos with us as we had agreed. Rob stopped by on his break from work, and said he didn't know where we would get the Tattoos, and I didn't either, so we decided to just do something else with Molly. Brett came by, and Holly V visited him. She had just broken up with Dave Y, and they talked about that for a while. I kind of just hung the room while they were talking. I figured if they wanted privacy, they would have gone into the other room, and besides I had been there first.

Holly eventually left. Jon A stopped by and talked about all his Hollywood connections. Molly called and asked to speak to Rob. Rob made faces as Molly complained and complained about no tattoos. I talked to Molly for a while. It was somewhat awkward-- I was stretching for things to say at points but I kept talking and there were no big silences. Abby stopped by and she gave me a rough time about being on the phone so long and I took this as my escape. I offered to pick Molly up from NVW, and drove over there and got her. She brought a photo book over, which we looked at.

Rob made a comment about a compromising picture of Brett. Molly tried to grab Rob’s pictures, while Brett and Rob and I tried to hold her back. I knew the picture was in the closet, and tried to get it but Brett stopped me "Are you trying to ruin me?" he asked, and I stopped. After wrestling about the pictures for a while, Brett left to hide them elsewhere in the building, while Rob and I kept Molly in the apartment.

Molly got out after Brett had hid the pictures, and was looking all over for them. Brian (our RA) came in building, and hung out with us for a while. Finally Brett made Molly promise not to harm the pictures, and got them out, and the three of us looked at them. Brett laughed at a lot of Rob’s pictures. Molly took one of Rob's pictures of her and crinkled it up. (She thought it was an unflattering pose, because her mouth was open). We rescued it from her.

She asked to see it again, and promised she wouldn't hurt it. Then, despite this promise, when I gave it back she ripped it in two. Rob was outraged and said he was going to use the negative to make posters, T shirts, a web site about that picture, so Molly tried to crinkle up the negative but we stopped her.

Rob was eating whip cream from the can (as was his custom). Molly wanted to try the whip cream, and squirted a bunch into her mouth. But then after filling her mouth with Whip Cream, she spit it out at Brett. Brett was covered with Whip cream. "I can't believe you just did that Molly," he said. I was really laughing hard at this.

Brett threw some of the whip cream back at Molly. Some of it got in her hair, so she wiped it out. Then Molly got a hold of the whip cream again and put it in her mouth. Brett threatened her with the sprayer on the sink, so she spit the whip cream out on Rob instead. Then she squirted Whip Cream over Brett and got it down his shirt, until Rob and Brett held her down and extended the sink sprayer out enough to douse her with water.

Molly whined a lot about being wet, but then when we turned our back she grabbed the butter container. Brett ran after her yelling "Molly No! That’s not our butter!" Indeed we had borrowed the butter from the girls in the apartment upstairs. Heedless of Brett's concerns, Molly grabbed out a handful of butter and smeared it all over Rob and he smeared some of it back. Then Molly complained that her clothes were soaked and smelled like Butter.

We started cleaning up all the mess we had made. Since Rob's shirt was dirty anyway, I used it to clean the kitchen floor. (He had taken it off after getting butter all over it) . Rob really over-reacted when he found out I was using his shirt to clean the floor, and I laughed a lot. Rob tried to leave the apartment and go to the laundry room to wash his shirt, but he was so upset he forgot to unlock the door. He pulled the door, realized it was locked, unlocked the first latch, pulled again, and then unlocked the second lock, pulled one more time, and finally got the last lock. Brett and I were rolling on the floor laughing.

Molly wanted to borrow some of our clothing, since all of her stuff was covered with whip cream and butter. She wanted Rob’s Hawaiian shirt, but he didn't want to give it to her. There followed an epic wrestling match with Molly trying to grab the shirt and Rob trying to guard it. Finally Rob got so frustrated he rubbed the shirt all over the less clean areas of his body so that Molly wouldn't want to wear it anymore. At one point he stuck it down his pants and said "It’s surpassed the underwear Molly." At that point Brett and Cecil started saying, in mock official sounding voices ,"Surpassion, the new fragrance by Rob Patton".

{Thereafter the shirt became known as "The shirt of Surpassion" and no one wanted to touch Rob when he wore that shirt}.

Finally, Molly agreed to take Rob’s Budweiser shirt, with the frogs on it. We went to the laundry room and I helped Molly wash her shirt and socks. I tried to keep her entertained with a series of jokes, but I was somewhat struggling for material. "This washer eats clothes-are you sure you don’t want hot water?" At one point Rob creeped in from behind and startled Molly, and she screamed loudly.

Molly's socks weren't dry, so Molly and I went back into the apartment to get her a pair she could borrow-after making her promise not to wake the rest of the boys up (they were all in bed by now). She was very picky but we finally found a pair she would tolerate.

I volunteered to take Molly back to her dorm. Cat Calls from boys were directed towards me as we left the room, but I ignored them and quietly hoped Molly hadn't heard it.

Brett had brought sheets out for Molly, and I offered to let her sleep in apartment, but I said it very casually and didn't press it when she said she didn't dare. Molly wouldn't even come back in room when I was getting my shoes on (I don’t know if she was just being silly again, or if she thought I was trying to pull something on her). I made a snowball, but Molly asked me not to throw it and I threw it away. "Despite the fact, Molly, that if our situations were reversed and you had the snowball, I have no doubt in my mind it would end up in the back of my head," I said.
I cleaned the snow off the car, and gave Molly the keys to start it up. Then she tried to drive off with out me. I got in front of the car, but when I tried to stop it I just was pushed along the ice when I put my hands in front of the car. I tried to push against the car but I was just pushed backwards. Then Molly got the car stuck in the snow, and I agreed to push her out if she promised not to lock the door and try and drive off again. After we got unstuck, she did lock the door, and I was pushed backwards by the car for quite some time, until Campus Safety drove by. Campus Safety didn't do anything, but neither of us were looking to get in trouble for dangerous horseplay, so Molly relented and let me in the car at that point. It was really snowing hard now, so we went to do donuts in the offices across Calvin College. The snow was really slick, even though there wasn't too much built up on the ground. The car didn't spin that well and Molly (who was still in the driver's seat) didn't push it. Went by NVW. I agreed to walk in with her and make sure her card still worked. She said she would stop by tomorrow at 11 to drop off clothes and pick up clothes, and I said I would be up. I went home, set alarm for 10, and went to bed.

Useless Wikipedia Fact
In the episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" of the TV series The Simpsons, the following exchange takes place:
Marge: Come on, Homer. Japan will be fun! You liked Rashomon.
Homer: That's not how I remember it

Link of the Day
(Via Bierma's Blog)
Colin Powell, in a 1992 press briefing as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush:
Saddam Hussein is a terrible person, he is a threat to his own people. I think his people would be better off with a different leader, but there is this sort of romantic notion that if Saddam Hussein got hit by a bus tomorrow, some Jeffersonian democrat is waiting in the wings to hold popular elections. (Laughter.) You're going to get -- guess what -- probably another Saddam Hussein. It will take a little while for them to paint the pictures all over the walls again -- (laughter) -- but there should be no illusions about the nature of that country or its society. And the American people and all of the people who second-guess us now would have been outraged if we had gone on to Baghdad and we found ourselves in Baghdad with American soldiers patrolling the streets two years later still looking for Jefferson.

(Also don't forget these quotes).