Jeremy Birge

O' Connor Monte Cristo, Zombie Ukrainian, Todd Rundgren, Gander, Letters to be written, Rick Ocasek, Stephen Colbert, Bucket, "my brother's kids," Dave Grohl dental work. As you can see, I have a lot to get through. Settle in.

As Nat X would say,"It is now 4:49 in the AM." I woke up at 3, and then after dreaming for a while (don't eat half a Monte Cristo before bed) about DAA and a bunch of people from the class behind me like Mike Hellman, Leslie Weidell, Seth Clark, and James Schumacher (recent MySpace addition), I know where it began, which is saying a lot because much, as you can see, has followed.

After my dream, I realized how much I don't trust Leslie Weidell, diabetic PK mountain-biking hottie that he is. I don't trust him because he, and by extension the rest of those enrolled at DAA in 1998, betrayed me in that year's Student Association elections. At one point, I was the only candidate for Spiritual Vice-President. Then after the deadline for submission of petition to become a candidate, the SA officers of that year allowed Leslie Weidell to join the race. They had to do this because the previous year Jeremy Birge, Sgt. at Arms for that administration, was allowed to join the race after the deadline the previous year. That year, many agreed this was a good thing because I don't think we liked who he was running against (I think it was Dusty Kirschmann, ask Scott for clarification). In hindsight, I guess I was also loathed like Dusty. Back to the election, Scott said that it was between the guy who prayed in guy's dorm worship and the guy who exposed himself during it. So I lost the election. In the previous year's annual, Pastor Gary (Burns) wrote: Daniel, You have great potential as a spiritual leader. Leadership is not limited to an office. It's a full-time-who-you-are thing. God Bless! PG I agree with him, but mandate from the people sure does help. In the year of the election his comment included: Sometimes your agenda and God's agenda get a little confused. Allow God to give direction. Give him permission to do His work in your life, and you will be glad.

I guess this was the beginning of my disillusionment with spirituality and religion. I know I was a stupid 17 year old kid, but it happens. Part of the reason for the impact this event had on me is that I've always associated community and religion. This is the only reason I go to church now (when I actually go), for the community. So when the community rejected me as a spiritual leader, it was difficult.

So that covers the feelings I got from my dream. After I woke up, I thought about what I could do with my time, seeins as I had the whole morning ahead of me. One of my options was to write a letter. I haven't written in a while, so I thought I might open with Todd Rundgren's "Hello, it's me. I've thought about us for a long, long time." Todd has been in my mind for a while since he was put on Stephen Colbert's "On Notice" board by Rick Ocasek (Rick was on the show as a resident limnologist because in a music video he, like Jesus, walked on water. Colbert put The Journal of Paleolimnology on notice because of an article proposing that Christ walked on a chunk of ice in the Sea of Galilee, and gave Rick the option to put someone up there too.) I realize why he was Ocasek's choice. I was also wondering why two ds. This got me thinking of other Todds and Todd Flanders came to mind, from the Simpsons. "Hens love roosters. Geese love ganders. Everyone else loves Ned Flanders." This ditty was the first time I realized that a gander was not a group of geese, which I figured it was since people say "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." when they mean what is good for one is good for all.

One more ramble. This morning as I sat down to the computer, I saw the lid to my honey bear on the computer desk. As I took it back to its home, I saw my honey bear all messy on the kitchen counter. SERGEY!!! is responsible for this. He came home tired from watching the boiler. I guess he wasn't too tired to make a mess he didn't clean up. Silly zombie Ukranian. As Billy Bob Thornton said in Tombstone, "It's like playin' with my brother's kids."

PS In the Foo Fighters video "Best of You," Dave Grohl, lead singer and former drummer of Nirvana, sings into a microphone with a majority of the video a close up of this. I wonder if the premium shots of his teeth allow him to write-off for taxes his dental work.