Being an Aggie (aka The Longest Post I've Ever Made)

Last night I watched The Burning Desire, a documentary on the collapse of the Aggie Bonfire on November 18, 1999. (If you got here from somewhere other than my FB or Twitter and aren't familiar with Aggie Bonfire, you can read about it here: http://bonfire.tamu.edu/)

I was a student at A&M in 1999. I woke up that Thursday morning to 17 messages on the answering machine checking on me, my roommate and my sister. I had no idea what was going on so I turned on the TV and then I watched news footage until I had class. And when my professors cancelled class, I went home and watched more news coverage. Twelve Aggies died that day in 1999 and Aggieland became a different place. I think I became a different person after that day too.

I had just turned 21 the week before. I was technically adult but a still a kid really. I had a job and was going to college (that my parents very nicely paid for). There weren't really any responsibilities. I hadn't really dealt with loss. I didn't personally know any of the people injured or killed in the collapse but I was consumed by grief. I couldn't stop reading or watching news about it for days. When they had removed all of the bodies (I really hate typing that but there isn't a nicer way to say what transpired) from the stack of logs, I went and walked around the perimeter of the Polo Fields where the logs were still laying in a heap. The orange construction fence was full of letters, pictures and flowers. I visited the flag pole in front of the Administration Building where another memorial sprung up. An Aggie left his Aggie ring with a note saying he wanted those who had died to wear it. Most of those killed were underclassmen that hadn't earned their own Aggie ring. Other people followed and left their rings where they stayed for a month before the university sent them back to their owners.

That story is just a glimpse of what kind of place Aggieland is. Not only did a current student leave a gold ring outside where anyone could have walked away with it, but others did as well. And they sat there for a month.

When I was a senior in high school I wanted to attend SMU. I wanted to work in the news industry, in tv or newspapers and SMU had a great journalism department. I was accepted and offered scholarships but when it came time to make a choice, I choose A&M. I didn't have any prior connection to A&M. I honestly didn't know that much about it, other than it was a good school and it was close to my parents house if I ever got homesick.

I think back now and I had no idea what I was getting into but it turned out to be the best decision I ever made. I made some bad choices in college. I took the long road to my degree. But every day I'm proud to be a Texas Aggie. Aggies have a saying: "From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. And from the inside looking out, you can't explain it" and it really is true. A lot of people think Aggies are cultish (we are) and stupid (we're not) and there is a reason a million Aggie jokes exist (they are funny).

I never lived on campus. I never worked on Bonfire and I wasn't really actively involved in a lot of the traditions while I was there. I loved my time there and as a Former Student (there are no ex-Aggies) I've become immersed in all things Aggie. I have the great fortune to make trips to College Station on a pretty regular basis. Most of my people I consider good friends now I met through an A&M message board years ago. To this day they are some of the best people I have ever met.

Being an Aggie is more than having a degree from Texas A&M University. The diploma, the ring and education are just a part of it. Being an Aggie is about being a good person, coming together when adversity strikes and making the world a better place. The world is a better place because Texas A&M exists and I'm a better person because I went to Texas A&M.

Bonfire was a tangible symbol of A&M's burning desire to "beat the hell outta t.u." and after it collapsed, the university deemed it unsafe and it no longer takes place on campus. Students took the initiative and began holding Bonfire off campus.

Tomorrow's game will be the last in a 117-year rivalry between the Aggies and the Longhorns. It's likely to come back in the future, but for now A&M is moving to a new conference next year and the heated battles will no longer take place in the arenas and stadiums and on Facebook between fans. I hope in the future it returns and I'm kind of sad tomorrow's game is the last. I'm hoping the Aggies get one last win before moving to the SEC. I hope the current students keep Bonfire alive. And I hope someone reads this whole long blog.

Tomorrow I'll be thankful for many things but mostly, I'll be thankful I'm a Texas Aggie.

My Aggie Ring 

I'll just blame it on being lazy

Hi, neglected, sad blog. How are you? I'm doing well. Not much is happening in the world of lazy. I moved. Have I ever mentioned that I hate moving? Because I do. It sucks. I still feel out of sorts and it's been over a months. Work is pretty busy. I did get a fantastic performance review. I guess working late and on weekends for nine months paid off.

I'll try and come back soon with a great story to tell. for now, I just wanted you to know I didn't forget about you.

Gray hair is an asshole

I know you were all waiting on me to update you on my gray hair situation. I decided to have it colored. My hair before was pretty light on the ends but it matches the color of my roots pretty closely.

It looks redder in the sun

It didn't cover 100% of the grey because apparently my gray hairs are assholes. She used a softer color (no ammonia  so that when it grows out I won't have a big line where it's colored. Which is perfect for the kind of person that goes a year in between haircuts. She suggested maybe adding some highlights so I might do that next time. Right now I'm too cheap to pay that much for covering up asshole hairs.

I apparently can't decide if I want to say "grey" or "gray" so I apologize for saying both and being confusing and possibly British.

Edit: I originally titled this "asshole gray hair" but decided that was gross and misleading.

Lazy blogging: A random list of shit

• I have a draft in my Blogger folder from March titled "Pictures of my cat" but there is nothing in the body so I have no idea what I was planning on posting. Well, obviously it was pictures of my cat but I don't know if the cats were doing something special or I was just bored. Probably the second one.

• Speaking of animals, I love dogs but they are a lot of work. I don't think I'll ever be a dog owner. I'm dog/cat/house sitting right now for a friend. 

• That friend has cable. I'm loving HBO and Showtime on Demand right now. Dexter is an awesome show. I'm almost caught up. I love likable bad guys.
  
• Turns out people who get migraine with aura are more likely to have a stroke. So, no birth control pills for me ... not that I need them right now but whatever.

• Earl grey tea is delicious. 

• I really want an iPad. Maybe I can start a fund and a website: www.buykarenanipad.com. Hmm, maybe I need to find a URL that doesn't have "nip" in it.

• My fortune cookie last week said I should write a book. I'm thinking about it; I just need a good idea. If I decide to do it, then I'll probably finish it in 2018. Check back then to read it.

It's not nice to ask for my ID and then call me ma'am!

(Hmm, look at that. I started this entry on June 21 and never finished. It's only been two months since I updated. Oops. I spent the morning reading a couple of new blogs and decided I should come update my own. Apparently reading blogs is the key to writing them, for me at least. Now let's go on with the chlorophyll.)
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I seemed to be trapped in some weird age where my skin thinks I'm 15 and my hair thinks I'm 60. There is something unfair about having gray hair and acne at the same time. They shouldn't even be allowed to exist on the same head.

I found my first gray hair when I was 20, so the gray hair doesn't really bother me. I think women who find them early just shrug it off. And apparently women who find their first gray at 30 do not. At least based on my Facebook friends list of people complaining about their first gray hair.

Not the best pic but you get the point.

Sometimes I think about coloring my hair to cover the gray. But then I remember that I go months between haircuts and decide I should just leave it alone. I don't really enjoy getting my haircut. I have to sit still and make small talk for 30 minutes or longer. I did like the guy that cut it last time, which was back in April. Maybe I should make an appointment and have it cut again. It's getting so long that I'm pulling it when I sit down. (Not because it's Crystal Gayle length or anything but because it's behind my back and when I move, it gets stuck between me and the chair.) --Let's see. I got mauled by a cougar, my Crystal Gayle shirt is ruined, and I didn't learn dick about driving. Other than that, it was great. -- What was I talking about?Oh, I have decided that if I start coloring it then I'll have to keep doing it and then I'll be poor and annoyed. So gray hair isn't so bad.


And seriously, what's with the acne? My skin wasn't this bad when I went through puberty or when I was in high school. I don't get it. Maybe it's pollution. Or just a mean trick my body is playing on me.


For some reason people have started calling me ma'am. Which is kind of funny to me and I'm not used to hearing it. I am 32 so I guess I am a ma'am but it's still weird. A couple of weeks ago we went to a bar in The Woodlands and the cop at the door asked for my ID. And then said "thank you, ma'am!"  after he checked my birth date. Ouch! 

Wait? You're supposed to use a cell phone to talk to people?

Oops, I kind of got lazy about blogging again. Sorry about that!  I'm sure all 13 of you are very sad. Here's a pretty boring blog to bring you out of your lack-of-updating depression.
                                                                                     
I am not a big fan of talking on the phone. I prefer texting and email to communicate with people. I have an iPhone so it's easy to keep in touch with everyone. I knew I didn't use a lot of minutes because I have a huge amount of rollover minutes and I pay for the smallest amount of minutes that AT&T offers.

I was looking at my bill for last night and I noticed I used only one minute that wasn't mobile-to-mobile (I only used 12 of those probably talking to my mom or sister).

Pictures make the blog look cool, right?

I used quite a bit of data of course. It takes a lot of data to play Words with Friends all day and to stalk, I mean keep up with, people on Facebook.

My first cell phone plan back in 1998 only had 200 minutes. I guess most people go way over that now but I could easily go back to 200, or even 100. I have a home phone that I never use either. It rings every couple of days but it's never anyone I want to talk to. I only have it because when I set up my DSL, it was required. It'll come in handy if we have another hurricane and the cell towers are jammed for days like after Ike.

I apparently don't talk to that many people anyway. I have had this phone since the end of February and I still haven't put everyone's numbers in it. I added all of my family and maybe 15 other people. I should probably get around to that. I've gotten a couple of texts in the last week where I had to ask the person who they were. Maybe I'll get unlazy enough to do that this week.

Or not.

I doubt anyone missed me but I'm checking in just in case

My younger sister (who isn't that much younger than me so I try to never say little sister) had a baby last week. He's so precocious I want to kiss him to death. But I've been away from home since last Tuesday and I haven't even done laundry yet so I have clothes to wear to work tomorrow. I also haven't eaten dinner or unpacked my suitcase. I'm contemplating opening a bottle of wine. That would give me a reason to get off the couch. I've been sitting here without moving for at least three hours. If I get up, I suppose I could put some clothes in the washing machine since the Laundry Fairy is apparently just a figment of my imagination. Also, it's hot in here and I'm not sure the air conditioning is working.

I did however get my hair cut for the first time since like July of 2010 last week so I accomplished something in my absence. I'll leave you a picture of me pre-haircut but with a tiny baby. And I'll be back tomorrow to say something funny or witty or just plain stupid.