I simply love journalism sometimes.

"The adage 'If your mother says she loves you, check it out' is true. All information garnered through research must be verified. Go to primary sources and evaluate what you've found."

-- News in a New Century (1999)

* My note: More like News in Last Century. It decided that it was important for me to know that "Telnet and CompuServe (a comercial online service provider) is a great place to look for online databases."

So I'm hanging out with Tyler, Marie, and two girls I hadn't met (Charlie and I forget the other name, was it Ashley?). Anyway, two random guys came into my room, whom I thought they knew but apparently they had just met. They were here a few minutes and then left. Ok, no biggie. Well someone calls one of the girls, and she pretends to be a guy on the phone talking to him.

A few minutes passes and this guy comes back and he's standing in my door way, obviously pissed over something. So Tyler asks what's up. He guy starts being belligerent and saying "which one of you said that?" and we were obviously confused because we had no clue what he was talking about. Apparently the girl had been messing with him, when she was pretending to be a guy, and said something like "ya, I'll kick your ass." So the guy came up to start trouble. He apparently thought it was me that said it. Tyler had stood up and started talking to him, trying to get him to calm down and leave. The guy just got more belligerent and in Tylers face. Then he said "I don't think it was you, but I think it was him" and pointed at me. Then he said "But he's a little faggoty queer and I'll squash him like nothing." Of course I told him to leave, he didn't. He just kept on being aggressive toward Tyler (since he was standing) and called me names a few more times. It escalated at one point to him flashing a knife.

So ya, that was fun. Somehow Tyler managed to get him to leave the building and then came back up here and we just locked the door and hung out more. But ya, the general consensus is that he was on something, other than alcohol. Tyler thinks it was LSD. After a few minutes, his friend (who by the way had left like 5 min prior to all this) called and apologized because "obviously something dramatic happened."

Well the first day is over with already. I felt like it smashed me into the ground. The O'Colly from today (Tuesday) was the first paper I designed for the fall semester. It took longer than i'd like, but it was a large paper.

That is all for now.

Ok, watch this video.

CAUTION. IF YOU CURRENTLY HAVE STITCHES, PLEASE DO NOT VIEW THIS FILE, YOU ARE SURE TO POP THEM (THE STITCHES THAT IS, NO PUN INTENDED)

WATCH ME!

Well the O'Colly's Trends and Traditions issue is finished. Wasn't difficult, just took a few hours really.

We start back to classes on Monday, blah, the semeseter should be super busy again. I get to start working at the O'Colly more then (three nights per week) and my title was changed to Design Editor from Asst. Design Editor. We decided to just do a co-position (well it was Alli's idea). Not much of a change really, other than it will look better on my resume.

I have tomorrow off so I'm going to work on making my Italian faux-meatball soup. I miss cooking, I just wish I has easy access to a kitchen.

Nikki's birthday is Thursday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKKI! She's off the weekend of my birthday (the 28th) so we need to do something together. Any suggestions anyone? I haven't had much time to think about it. Probley just end up going to Tulsa and going out to dinner and bar etc or something. That should be fun.

Showtimes Queer as Folk has always been an inspiration and influence on my life. I have just finished watching the series finale and found myself sobbing toward the end of the episode. Not from the imagery of the episode, but from the life experiences the show reminds me of.

The show has served as a marker to my own life; my life as a gay man. I had always known, but I had not always been out. I came out shortly after the U.S. series premiered. I adopted some aspects of the characters of the show into my own life, characteristics that helped shape the man I am today. Brian Kinney's "no regrets" philosophy; Debbie's in-your face attitude and pride for individuality and true self; Justin's innocence and determination; Emmet's flare and flamboyance; and even Ted's self-esteem issues. All of these characteristics have found a role in my life.

This show is a marker of my life. I began my journey as a closeted boy, with a fear of being out and a determination that I never needed a boyfriend or love in my life. I had positive gay-male influences early in my journey (thanks bkw) that helped to shape my direction. Things spiraled upward from that. To my first relationship with Ryan Stallard and learning from the mistakes made in that relationship (mainly from my lack of communication) and struggle to find my own self. To determine my own role within my new found gay family. Now I have arrived to a point in my life where I am in a stable relationship with a person, whom I can't describe with words. I am looking toward my future with hope and aspirations of grandeur. I am nearing a turning point in my life in a few months. I graduate from university and start my life in a different state, and perhaps even a different country, with the man I love. If I somehow had the ability to tell my past self, my 19-year-old self, how far we had come in such a short period of time, I'm sure I wouldn't believe it.

I just want to say thank you to all those that have influenced me over the past few years. We may not have always had the best times or conversations, but I have no regrets. I love who I am, and hope you all love who you are.

I just got of the phone with my brother. He found out last night that my new niece/nephew may have Downs Syndrome. The doctors have concerns and have scheduled exams in Tulsa on the 25th. This isn't exactly what I had ever expected to hear. I'm still in shock over it I think. I'm not sure what all to feel. All I can do for now is to read as much as possible about it.