What a fun, beautiful and horrible weekend. There was a party at somebody's grandparents' house in Severna Park. It's by Chesapeake Bay and it couldn't be a better place for some Memorial Weekend fun.

I tried to find pictures off the internet that could do the place justice but the best I could find:






Basically it has hilly, jagged harbors. You'll get a better idea by looking at this map. The backyard itself is that peninsula jutting out from the end of the street.

The sun, good people, games, water, boats, inflatable jumping devices, you name it. I had a fantastic time. During the night, I tripped or something while talking to somebody and took a bad tumble head-first down a sharp slope. My friend said once I landed on my face, my back jackknifed—my legs almost touched the back of my head.

The next day, I had scrapes on my face and my forearms and bruises all over, but otherwise I felt fine. I could toss a football back and forth.

But after taking a nap, my back was killing me. I finally could move around a bit only after poppin' in a coupla Advils. Since my friend thought for a second I might become quadriplegic from the look of my fall, I gotta count my blessings. The whole half-full glass shizz, yeahh.

Oh yeah, I "graduated". The funniest memory of the ceremonies is watching a drunk Joe V. wandering around on the stage before Mr. Pramuk gave him a good nudge to get him off the platform—I was disappointed that it happened outside the video clip's frame. I still gotta finish a coupla courses this June before I get my degree.

Is Nov. 14 the most common birthday?

If you're wondering why I'm wondering about that, subtract 9 months from the date.

How's your NYE? I feel like crap right now. Recently went out to dinner with my parents to celebrate my Mom's birthday (belated) trying not to make it obvious. Partied so hard I was still buzzed when I drove home at 11 am. I read my IMs from last night and had only one thought. Wouldn't it be lovely if our sidekicks just shut down when our BAC reached a certain level? OK bye.

So begins my last winter break (ever?).

I love this idea. People need to find more creative ways to punish tyrants than the tired old death penalty. If it was tried here in USA, it'd be considered a "cruel and unusual punishment"- while no one blinks an eye at the idea of executing criminals. I found this @ espn.com (yes, espn.com):

Q: My buddies and I were talking about appropriate punishments for dictators like Saddam Hussein, and we came up with an idea that works for everyone and could raise money for the International Criminal Court without using tax dollars. Why not charge admission for people to look at convicted dictators in their jail cells, kind of like a zoo for genocidal megalomaniacs? Think about it: you put them in small, basic cells behind plexiglass and charge 25 euros to watch them go about their day. Tourists could get baked at a local coffee shop and head over to the jail to gawk at Slobodan Milosevic sitting on a cot watching "90210" reruns. You could even charge extra to feed them falafel pellets and shawarma biscuits. This would be a far worse fate for a once-proud dictator then being executed. Who wouldn't pay 25 euros to watch Saddam Hussein in his underwear eating Cheetos?
--Kris, Washington

I'm doing OK in classes except for Human Sexuality. It's a pretty interesting class but I've been having a hard time doing the assignments. I guess I'm used to talking about sex in a spontaneous, informal manner. What I'm supposed to do now is to write a diary for a week recording my thoughts about sex for the day. Not too bad, but at the end of the day, I couldn't possibly remember my thoughts. So I think I'll just write about my interactions with the opposite sex and what was on my mind- easier that way. It's gonna feel weird to hand it in to the teacher who happens to be the hottest I've ever had at Gallaudet. It sounds so stereotypical- the hot sex ed. teacher. It isn't a sex ed. class obviously- it covers a wide range of aspects of sexuality...biological, anthropological, sociological, psychological, etc. Learned some interesting stuff. The weirdest part had to be infant sexuality. Oh yeah, I'm the only straight guy in the class. Any question or comment about heterosexual males, all heads turn my way. I suppose more women take the course because they're more comfortable talking about personal lives to semi-strangers? All I know, I feel weird as hell turning in assignments about my sex life to that sultry imparter of knowledge.