Epilogue

Just a btw, the story doesn't end right there, at that beautiful moment. We were almost home, and I couldn't stop smiling. But as we pulled into the driveway, I faltered for a second. What if I'm wrong? What if I've already pushed too many people away? That's when I heard footsteps on the street behind me, followed by a very familiar voice. "Hey Ben, up for some basketball??" Like the wimp I am, I almost burst into tears right there, but I restrained myself and called back, "Sure Brandon, be right there..." I swear. That kid is my guardian angel. X'D

Another Lesson Learned...

...From music. Yeah, I know. Guess that's just sorta typical me. But here it is anyway.

It was one of those days. One of those days where the morning, afternoon, and evening all look the same: gray. No matter how long you search the bleak sky, you can't find the sun. You can't even pick out a cloud. Its just flat. Desolate.
At least, that's how I thought about it, as I narrated my day to myself from the passenger seat. A day when you get lost in yourself. In light of recent events, that was even easier than usual.
'Recent events'- coming to grips with the fact that, for the first time in my short fourteen years, I was going to be saying goodbye to a whole lotta people, one of which I just might... love? Haha, that's a strong word... maybe we should say one of which I might love sooner or later. The sorta friend you never want to say goodbye to. Well anyway, I'd be saying goodbye to all of them in... 2 months. Wondering if all the stuff I had tried to do was just wasted time.
What scared me the most is that I couldn't even get myself to care. I just sat there, counting each breath that fogged the cool window. And quietly- so quietly- I fell farther and farther from all I knew, all I loved, all I hated. And like the sky above, all was gray, flat, quiet apathy.

But that isn't how this story ends.

A familiar beat caught my attention, flowing quietly from the radio. I blinked, and listened, trying to remember the song. I soon did. The opening lines of You Are More, by Tenth Avenue North, played, and I smiled grimly. "There's a girl in the corner, with tear stains on her eyes, from the places she's wandered, and the shame she can't hide..." I may not be a girl, but that pretty much described it. Tearstains? Check. Wandered? Mhm. Shamed? Of course. Lost? Yeah. I glanced at the bleak sky. Thanks God, for reminding me. Before I turned back to my silent self-pity, though, something caught my eye. A piece of gray that wasn't quite right... almost... golden. This time, my smile was genuine. Maybe you can find the sun. I watched as the clouds slowly parted, You Are More ringing in my ears, each chorus strengthening my tentative grin. And then, God did something amazing. The song reached a crescendo, and I listened, stunned, as the singer screamed, "This is not about what you've done, but whats been done for you... This is not about where you've been, but where your brokenness brings you to... This is not about what you feel, but what he felt to forgive you..." Then, I remembered, and, with a shaky and cracked voice, mouthed the last words. "...And what he felt to make you love."

So there, in the passenger seat, on a busy road, as the sun broke through the twilight, I finally got it. Not everything. But enough. I had wrestled with the fact that everything I had been doing since last September had been a waste. Practically falling over when I first saw her. Getting up the courage to first talk to her. Doing my best to know her, to understand her. And then... knowing I won't see her again after a few short weeks. Why... how could God put me through all that? Put her in my life, just so He could take her away? But he had a reason. It wasn't about how I felt. It had never been. It was about what God was doing, that fateful day in September. What HE felt, to make me love. And as I looked back, I saw how I had changed. How I had learned to sacrifice. To listen. To love. With all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Some skills that, apparently God thought I'd be needing, before this crazy ride is over. It wasn't pointless.
Knowing her will never be pointless. Because maybe, just maybe, she's taught me some things I will never forget.

All Other People

Alright, guys. I guess you could say this is one of those sorta moments when you step back, take a deep breath, look around... and ask yourself: "What the HECK am I doing?"
It's also, in a way, an apology- the only way I really know how.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It all started when I came back to visit this old blog. And when I had blown off the dust, and gotten past all the "=D" emoticons, I was again hit by something I addressed long ago: nostalgia. And as I looked over all the old posts, with just a hint of a tear blurring the old beige on blue color scheme, I came to rest on the top of the page. There it was: practically the corner stone of this crazy place- You and Me, by Lifehouse. Its the song that I loved long before any girl. The song that me, PH, and RB can all actually agree on. The song that I still whisper on lonely nights. And pretty much the song that sums up the life of most poor guys that, before they even see it coming, have who they are convinced is the most beautiful person in the world thrust into their life.
Of course, I've had the song on my Ipod for quite a while now, but, there seemed to be something special about the old YouTube video. It harked back from what seems like a different era. Back before I had any Imerchandise in general. Back when I would wait for my mom to go the store, then crank up that YouTube video, and listen to it till that garage door opened again. It was always too soon. Heck, Cloudy probably has the song memorized...
Before I could reminisce anymore, I let my finger fall to the play button, and, after a few quiet strums, the beautiful lyrics were flowing into my basement once again. And, for the first time in a long time, I made myself listen to it in a new way. "Its you and me, and all other people..." All my problems and worries fought for attention in my mind, but still, I made myself listen. "Its you and me, and all other people..." Again the chorus rolled by, and I could hardly think straight. "Its you and me, and-" And in that third chorus, I got it. I suddenly got it. I sat bolt upright, and whispered along, "all other people."
All of the worries, uncertainties, and frightening possibilities that I'd struggled with for... almost 5 months suddenly fell away. And in that moment of calm, I could ask myself the question I had deserved all that time. What ever happened to 'all other people'? I'd been so caught up in this one girl, that I had let everything else slip. My homework was lagging. My friendships were faltering. Heck, even my relationship with my family seemed corroded. And all my worry had gotten me nowhere with the one person I cared about. And as the final whispers of You and Me played, I knew it was time for a change. "What day is it, and in what month- this clock never seemed so alive..." Time is short. How long can I pretend like I'm immortal? How long will I wait before I get back out there, and be the student I'm called to be, be the son I'm called to be, be the friend I'm called to be? Don't get me wrong, that girl is beautiful, on the inside even more than the out. Joy pretty much describes her. That, and maybe a little attitude thrown in. And part of the reason knowing her has been so hard is because its been all-consuming. My days hinged on every little thing she did. Now, its time to (quite literally) face the music, and live a little life, not only with her- but with all other people. Amazing people. I'm sorry guys. Sometimes I get too caught up in being "Loverboy", and, well, forget to be...
Yours truly,
ThinAir

Dejavu, Love, and Craziness

A strange mix of words to be sure. But, honestly, its recent events in a nutshell. Yep. Shall I explain?
First, dejavu- a catchall word for things, feelings, or people coming back from your past. Someone did come back: Paulamin Hein, my old CC pal. Back to Illinois to be precise, from the icy realms of the North Woods. It was like dejavu snuck up behind me and whacked me in the back of the head- in a good way. Arriving at CC, backpack slung over my shoulder, a head full of fog, and half-closed eyes, it takes a moment for me to comprehend that PH, that brown blazer-clad tactician himself, is back at CC. I tell ya, there's not much like seeing an old friend again after way to long apart.
Verdict on dejavu: Hallelujah! :D
Next, love. Do I really need to explain? I stroll around with songs like Replay, Hey Soul Sister, I'm Yours, The Way You Are, etc, etc, playing in my head. I love love! :D Sometimes it hurts though. Its the kinda helpless feeling I hate. Love doesn't always bring courage- a freaking 14 year old boy doesn't go around making deep confessions of love. Since love, I find myself looking up more- stars are beautiful.
Verdict on Love: Love it, hate it, but no time to debate it? =S (Nah, I love it too much to hate it!)
And lastly, craziness, I am writing in the aftermath of an awesome 14th birthday. Not too much to say here, other than that my friends rock. Johnny, Brandon, Andrew, Paul, RB, Water Squirter Boy, and Yugi: what better friends could you ask for? :D
Verdict on craziness: Coke + Tabasco = Epic Win! xD
And so ends my twisted version of the nine o clock news. Just had to get that off my chest- especially the love part... =S

@RB: Surely you have SOMETHING to say ;)

TA T1 Tech Trees: Pros and Cons

Alright my lovely readers, I'm back from my strategy hiatus. Yeah, I'm here to talk about that most beloved and ancient game: TA. But this time, I'll bore you in a new and improved format! ;) You see, I kinda realized that my previous posts were stuffed with monumentally little information. Essentially, I wasted about a page of writing on a single unit. At that rate, I'd be dead and gone before I got to rate the Krogoth. So, I'm gonna tackle my role as a fount of sage wisdom and advice from a different angle. Just in case you don't read titles, I'll be talking about the different tech branches in TA, along with their advantages and liabilities.

I present for your consideration (or mine, at least), the K-bot Lab. For some reason, a lot of players new to online TA play tend to favor these mechs. Maybe its because they're a staple in most campaign missions. Maybe its because they look cool. I don't know. But what I do know, is that I'm gonna break a lot of hearts when I say: they're a bad choice. Well, for a first lab at least. You see, something you'll have to learn about TA, and part of what makes it such a great game, is that there's a time and place for every factory. Though each faction's offers several viable units, K-bot Labs make a poor first plant for several reasons. First, K-bots are generally rather fragile, at least for their price. So you pay precious resources for a unit that is rather easily reduced to rubble. Resources and units are not things you can afford to lose in the first tense minutes of a TA game. Second, their Cons flat out suck. Its the sad truth. Their speed is deplorable, their armor vulnerable, and their nanolathe mediocre. Vehicles cons are better in every way. Having cons that move slower and die to raiding scouts more easily puts you drastically behind in resources and expansion. And lastly, their units are specialized. This isn't bad, per say, but what most players need early on are reliable, versatile units. So, I've spent all this time ranting against K-bots, but I haven't even touched on where they excel. Well, in a usual TA game, you'll want to break out the Kbots mid to late game. As Arm, you might want to bring out some K-bot Labs, and rush a band of Rockos to punch through that MT forest. Core players might do the same with Storms, or use them to support their Slashers. Also they have the option of using Thuds on maps like Luschpuppy, John's Pass, or Great Divide 2, in order to sneak around enemy defenses, by abusing the Thuds' scaling abilities. On Gods of War, and similar maps, K-bots become valuable mid game, for Pelicans, a powerful anti-scoutboat weapon. K-bots are often game deciders, and viable during the second half of a match. There are two exceptions to this mid-game rule. For Core, on low-resource maps, K-bot farming, using their cons, works well. And for Arm, a well executed PeeWee raid can decide the game. However, these two strategies are highly situational, and really require you to know what you're doing (especially the second).

Now, the Vehicle Plant is everything the K-bot lab isn't. It's cheap. It's reliable. It's versatile. And it's cons are beasts. ;) All these attributes combine to make it the best starting lab. One glaring fact is that the Vehicle Plant is cheaper than the K-bot Lab. Also, its units have a cheaper metal to armor ratio. Both factions have a great raiding unit (Flashes for Arm, Weasels for Core), and an amazing missile unit (Samsons and Slashers) that can be produced from this one plant. Along with the sturdy cons, these are exactly the types of units needed early game. In ground battles, many players opt to make two, three, four... even five of these labs before switching tech trees. This is mainly because, while raiding units lose usefulness as the game progresses, missile units like Sams and Slashkers are viable at any point in the game. Even on maps centered around air and sea battles, like Gods of War, players may opt to build a Vehicle Plant first, in order to get its superior cons, and increase their build power for the whole game. Learning to use vehicles is key to success in 90% of TA games. There are more specific requirements for each faction though. As an Arm player, you have to know how to handle Flashes. They are great units, but they wont do all the work. Learn to read your opponent, use terrain to shield you from missile units, and always drive a dying Flash into the front of an enemy Vehicle Plant, as it cant be D-gunned without taking down the plant, and if it dies from regular fire, its wreckage will temporarily throw off enemy production, giving you the chance to get a jump on expansion, or pump out even more raiders. For Core, YOU WILL LOSE every single Arm v. Core game you play unless you know how to use your Slash(k)ers. Slashers love radar. Give it to them. It helps you in two ways. One, it lets you keep an eye out for raiding enemy units. What this does is allow you to keep your Slashers up front, aggressively, instead of gaurding our resources at the back of your base, as you will pick up incoming enemies on radar, giving you time to get your Slashs back there, if necessary. The second, and greatest, way Slashers use radar is to radar target. This is important for Arm players, but its a Core commander's lifeline. Move up that radar line until you see enemy dots. Group your Slashers, and order them to fire on those dots. This way, you get off the first volley, only trigger the return fire of the one unit you are attacking, and your opponent won't know the scope of your Slashker mob. And if you see those dots start moving toward you, I have one thing to tell you: "Run, Forest, run!!" =) Really. Always run, if they're willing to chase. This way, you get off even more volleys, before they even have los. Also, against Flashes, this is VITAL. Those Arm vermin will chew your poor 'kers up like nobody's business if they get in close. After a while, your wimpy tactics will wear down their force, and they'll either die off, or retreat. Either way, you can regroup your (hopefully) unscratched Slashers and press the radar targeting attack once more. The importance of the Flash, Slash, and their respective Vehicle Plants cannot be stressed enough.

And now, the Aircraft Plant. This, here, is the hardest tech branch to pin down, one way or another. And that's probably because, more than any other lab, the skill of the player makes it or breaks it. You see, aircraft are risky. For one- they're expensive. Also, they really set you back in resources, because their cons, though handy, have very poor nanolathe. You see, aircraft don't have health, defensive presence, or anything like that- so going aircraft first cripples your economy. All these things are very true. But I have one word for the scoffers: linebombing. Yep, that most sacred of bugs. It makes quick air viable. You see, in the hands of a noob, aircraft are a disaster. But under the control of a veteran, they're jaw-dropping. If you go air first, rush out a bomber, and proceed to pound enemy resources and cons into the ground with it, you can reclaim your plant, go vehicle, and be ahead of your opponent. Early game aircraft are all about disruption. Sure, it sets you back to choose them, but if you play your bombers right, they'll still be scraping rocks together when you're starting your first fusion. =) But you HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO MICRO YOUR BOMBERS. You've gotta know how to linebomb, and linebomb wisely. You gotta know how to dodge missiles, and when to retreat for repairs. And you gotta know how to pick your targets wisely. So if it turns out they have two MTs in there base when you do your first pass, you've gotta high-tail outta there, making liberal use of offscreen, without getting vaporized, remember where the MTs were, take the right angle to hit them both on your next pass, and then successfully carry out the linebomb. So early air is about skill and micro and disruption. But air has another role in TA, and its more about economy, lategame, and mass-production. =) These usually take on the form of Hawk swarms and/or bomber stacks. We're talking half a dozen air plants, guarded by FARKS if you're Arm, or Adv. Vehicle Cons if you're Core. If there was ever a game ender in TA, masses air is it. Not too much to say here, other than you need massive resource income, and no qualms about pressuring your unit limit. Basically, the one time air is not used much is mid-game. Its too late for raid-bombing to be very effective, and too early for the resources needed to mass air. Generally, air first is a risky option, that can pay off very well, or become a disaster. If you want to go fast air, you better know what you're doing... ;)

And lastly, the classy, old shipyards, of course, only usable on water maps. Naval units are an interesting bunch. Con. ships have decent nanolathe, and, most importantly, can mass produce tidal generators, arguably the most effecient T1 energy generator. Its cost is somewhere between that of a solar and wind, while its energy production is consistently high, usually ranging from +20 to even +25. On the flat expanses of ocean, its easy to cue up long lines of tidals, on several cons. A third con ship can be set to producing floating metal makers. This is a consistent and powerful resource engine, which can fuel a sea based war. Also, the T1 Shipyard is by far the cheapest plant, yet the majority of ships are extremely pricey. The main, and very important, exception to this rule is the scoutboat. It carries two weapons, an extremely light laser, and a missile, is rather cheap, and has very acceptable speed and agility. Though this is balanced by rather light armor, it is still an exceptional unit. On maps like GOW, going sea first means a huge advantage against raid bombers, as these little boats make for effecient scramble AA. In team games, one player will often go sea first, simply to be able to share a handful of scoutboats with his allies, in order to warn off the dreaded line bombers. Because of their AA, they're also useful for securing islands on GOW and other island hopping maps. Con A's and Atlases will be cut off from the precious metal deposits and rocks located there, and the only immediate option would be to walk their Commander over there- by that point, it wouldnt be worth it. Scoutboats make a handy default for early game sea production, being similar to Slashers and Samsons in the fact that they are almost always useful, until Pelicans hit the water. Because of a certain glitch, the Skeeters' missiles are unable to hit Pels, rendering them almost useless. Even then, however, they can be used as meatsheilds, to slow down the Pels while your destroyers work from afar. Destroyers, Crusaders, Enforcers, commonly known as collectively as Crussies are formidable weapon. Its range, power, and ability to fend off subs or underwater commanders make it likely the best sea unit, in terms of combat. Often, when two players hit the waves and a Skeet battle developes, a player must decide whether to rush out a Crussie or a sub. Because of their range and firepower, Crussies are overall the better choice, but if your opponent has the clear lead in Skeeter production, a sub can catch him off guard, and even the Skeet count before they can manage to make a Crussie or sub of their own. Advanced Shipyards are almost always built for economical purposes. Carriers, the Arm Colossus and the Core Hive, produce more energy than a Geothermal plant, with their radar turned off. However, if you need a bit of an extra punch in your naval forces, you have a different option, depending on which faction you play. For Arm, there is the Conqueror, which is essentially like a bigger, badder Crusie. However, its greatest advantage is its large range- the longest of any naval unit. If you block well enough with your Skeets, these can sit back and pound your opponent's force into Serpent fodder while taking minimal damage themselves. On the other hand, Core players might want to make the investment in Warlords. Warlords are made effective by their extremely accurate green laser, which also has fair range and great damage. If well micro'd and sheilded, a Warlord can take down indefinite numbers of Skeets, while also picking off enemy crussies and conq's. The key here is to have plenty of scout boats to cushion your 'Lord, find targets, and provide targets themselves, and, should it come under any counterfire, to repair it, with 2, 3, even four con ships in the thick of combat. Your own scoutboats should generally keep out enemy skeets, and your opponent will have to make a hard decision between focusing fire on the Warlord, or the cons. That moment of indecision is sometimes all you need to turn the tide (pun, heck yah ;P) of an intense sea-to-sea war. So in summary, on almost any map with water, going sea is wise. THe AA provided by skeets, along with the powerful resource engine of tidals makes it a must almost anywhere it is available. Even on maps such as Luschpuppy, where there is no sea route to your enemy, players will always go sea sooner or later in order to claim those precious energy-making carriers. However, I think that its also important to note that, for all f its benefits, sea first is usually a poor decision, with the obvious exceptions of mainly/all water maps such as Hundred Isles or Brain Coral. It can be helpful in team games, but otherwise, in most island hopping maps you'd be better off going straight air for disruption, or vehicle, reclaim the plant, then air, for the sake of those ever productive con vehicles, which can then be atlased to other isles as needed.

Hallelujah and amen- my work here is done ;)

An Important Note on Music in My Life

Before you can fully understand my life, we have to get something straight. I live my life to music. Its always there, in the back of my mind. No spontaneous choreographed dancing or anything. But when I wake up in the morning, a mousy-looking teen with hair that looks more becoming of a scimitar than scissors, I wake up with "Hey Soul Sister" in my ears. "How to Save a Life" plays in my head as I do home work, sprawled on the floor. Taking a walk, marveling even at the pitiful amount of greenery in our neighborhood, "Your Love is a Song" is in the back of my mind. "I'm Going Home" is all I hear as I wrench open a screen door that's far from melodious. I'm sitting on my wasp-ridden back porch, thinking about a girl way over my head, listening to "You and Me" over and over again. And I climb back into my unmade and thoroughly disheveled bed with "Starry Night" ringing in my ears. And that's how it is, every day. Not that I dislike it, though it kinda feels like I'm going insane. That's alright though, I put it down to hormones. All I can say is that music, along with God above and the people around me, makes up a lot of who I am. And I love all three of them.

Inside The Awesome Yet Insane Life of an 8th Grader: Profiling, Part 2

So, where was I?

Believe it or not, there're MANY more characters you need to know about here- I'm not even halfway done. And while these characters aren't exactly Jacobs (he's really the one and only), I still wouldn't dream of leaving them out.

Oh, and by the way, Ryan's gonna do some profiling to. So, whatever he says about me, don't believe it! ;) But no, however much I'd like to be the author who gets to sit back with my bag of popcorn and see how ridiculous, insane, and amazing everything, and everyone else is, we've gotta be fair here. As my readers, you deserve to know just what kind of maniac is telling you this stuff. Also, if RB tries to make me out as some witty, charismatic, outgoing guy- I'm not that great. (So don't try it RB!) In fact, I'm lucky to have friends like him.

Okay, so you caught me. I'm rambling again. But you've come to expect it by now, right? Eh, guess that's no excuse. Well, better late than never, here's Role Call, part 2.

Critical Thinking- where we think about our thinking, while we're thinking, in order to make our thinking better. That's a lot of thinking. And that's also very early in the morning. At this time, good old, store-brand, regular thinking is difficult for me. So you can probably imagine why critical thinking would be a bit of a struggle. However, I do my best.

Collapsing at the nearest table, I look around and get my bearings. Next to me is Jacob- looking wild as usual- yes, even shortly after dawn. Beside him, is Ryan, bright-eyed and and bushy-headed. I don't know whats in those vitamins he takes each morning, but I still don't know how he does it. (Yeah, this kid sends me emails at 6 something in the morning. Crazy stuff.) At the other end of the table, I finally find a kindrid spirit- Mike looks pretty dead too.

Back to the profiling. Michael Jones, alias Pope. Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that one out too... Anyway, he's got pale skin, glasses, and dark curly hair, and bears a passing resemblance to a monk. At first glance, he pretty much seems like a stoic. On second, you realize you're wrong. His sense of humor is essentially the polar opposite of Jacob's: quiet. But that doesn't make it any less funny. To appreciate it, you would need some examples- and though I would so love to give them right now- I'm here for profiling. (Stay focused here, Ben) Anyway, Mike's the kinda friend you get to appreciate more and more the longer you know him. Plus, he owns on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. ;)

The remainder of Critical Thinking passes rather uneventfully, at least in light of profiling. So its not until I'm leaving class that I rub shoulders with our next character.

Yeah, I got to the point this time. This boy is Kyle Trojan. Kyle's a pretty straight forward guy. He's honest, care-free, and basically loves to laugh. Oh, and when Kyle laughs, his face turns some rather shocking colors- and since he's usually laughing, and he tends to be kind of red in the face. He's yet another chap with blond hair and blue eyes, but his huge smile sets him apart. Also, anyone who's at least vaguely aware of his existence knows (Knows!) that Kyle is a lizard lover and a manic Tennessee Titans fan. Trust me, he makes it known! ;) Oh, and he has an age-old Super Smash rivalry with Mike...

So I head to Latin with Kyle. And thankfully, I'm truly starting to wake up- which is good, since there are all of 5 people in our Latin class. It would be hard to bear a fifth of the class discussion with my eyes crossing. Again, Latin doesn't provide too many profiling opportunities, so I'm gonna gloss over this a bit.

As I'm exiting Latin with Kyle and Jacob (I told you I was gonna gloss...), Ryan falls in beside us (he's in a higher level). We're headed for the gym, to grab stuff for Physical Science. In the gym (you know what the hallway experience is like by now, right?) I grab my safety goggles (much to Jacob's joy, we were working with fire that day...), change out my binders, and sling my backpack back over my shoulder- which is thoroughly dislocated at this point, by the way- before I realize that Ryan never made it to the gym. Now, for a split second, I fear the worst. Could it be possible that, while turning into the gym from the hall, Ryan got caught in the undertow, and was swept away? I'm about to grab my oxygen tank again when, who should stroll into the gym but Root Beer himself, side by side with Spencer.

Yep, after that irrelevant story snippet, I'm back to profiling. Spencer Kolssak is his name. And describing this kid might be tough. Looks first, I guess. He has light brown hair, blue eyes (come to think of it, there are a lot of blue-eyed people at CC...), and a casual stance. Anyway, he tends to get in extremely confusing arguments with Christopher (is Christopher's refutation of logic illogical?), always carries bottled water around, and likes pawning Mentos. Yep, its true. Also, he might be a young political activist, or something along those lines- he always seems to be handing out Constituting America wear (P.S. Cheers on the winning essay, Spencer!). He's in Christopher's grade (R1- AKA Freshmen), and I'm assuming most of their bizarre arguments start in class. Other than that, I'll have to show you Spencer play by play- kinda like Mike- there are some things you have to learn via example! ;)

So, we eventually get over to Physical Science. I'm gonna gloss here too, however, I do have to mention this. This day, Physical Science involves an experiment, which involves fire. Jacob is in this class. Mrs. Ludwig was wise- she gave Ryan a fire blanket, just in case. That's all I'm going to say about that class. =)

Okay, so I think I've made my feelings concerning the hall very clear. But after Physical Science, things are even worse. Because, you see, by this period, there are several classes full of very hungry, very sweaty children just waiting to get outside and eat. Jacob can intuitively sense when lunch is near, so he's tense as a mousetrap and ready to spring when Physical Science lets out. Apparently, quite a few others in CC possess this not-so-unique ability, because the hall is swamped by the time I stagger out of class. Even worse than usual. Yeah.

So, surrounded by the masses of half-starved CCers, I notice one kid who doesn't seem affected by the insanity brought on by hours without food, in a building without air condition, wearing suit coats and ties. Now that's inner strength. Rick Doherty is his name. Oh, and if someone tries to tell you his name is Nick- don't believe it! This is a running controversy, but us guys know the truth... ;) Nick, er Rick, also has blue eyes (You know, I never noticed this trend before), and jet-black hair. He's an avid cat lover, an unofficial drummer (most of what I've seen has been on tables), and one of the few sane people in R1 (;]).

I don't go crazy like some, but I have to admit, I'm pretty glad to be outside eating. I must say though, going from the rather stale, electrically-lit classes of CC to the bright, golden, and breezy outdoors is culture shock to the first degree- not to mention blinding. But hey mates, lunchtime is a perfect stopping place! =) Now, I know, I know. This has gotta look like an excuse to weasel my way out of more writing, but really- I'm done! Now you can kick back, relax, and let Ryan profile! :D ;] Oh, any thoughts on these people? Suggestions, revisions, or questions? Lay em on me. =) And now I conclude my rather anticlimatic ending.

Adios mates. =)

(I love CC...)