Rising Above Mediocrity
by Benjamin Geiger

My Powerbook has experienced another hardware failure. Unlike the previous failure, this isn’t one I can limp along with. (Ironically, it’s probably due to the prior failure.)

The hard drive is dying.

There’s more! (click here to read)

Nice guys finish last. That’s still true.

However, when we finish, we finish forever. We’re more likely to be Mr. Right instead of Mr. Right-Now. Don’t make the mistake I made of assuming women can’t see that.

I know it hurts to watch others having fun while you feel left out in the cold. But when things change—and they will—it’ll be better than the jocks can even dream of. What you’ll have is true love, not just the series of flings jocks get.

I know. I’m in the same situation. And things just changed for me. I’ve never been this happy before.

I love you, Bonnie.

There is a restroom near the classroom where I have two classes this term. The walls of the larger stall contain, in addition to the usual sexual and drug references, a great deal of Republican propaganda. (”Ted Kennedy is a COMMUNIST!”, “Stalinist Marxist Democrats: (list of names)”, et cetera.) This does not seem to be limited to this stall; other restrooms on campus have similar inscriptions.

Note that I have yet to see any Democratic latrinalia. You see, liberal ideas are actually suitable for public consumption; we don’t have to force them onto a captive audience. We can spread our ideas in the light of day.

The Republican Hate Machine had many talking points about “raising the level of discourse” during the 2000 and 2004 elections. They’ve certainly raised it… to a new low.

I did something on Monday that I haven’t done in six years: I cut class.

Now, in my defense, I did have a CMOS VLSI assignment to finish; that course is kicking my ass. Probability just wasn’t much of a priority at that point, as I’m doing fairly well and can keep up easily.

I hadn’t intentionally cut class since I left YHC. I used to cut approximately half of my classes while I was there and my grades suffered accordingly (I graduated with a 2.6). When I realized how badly I was doing, I shaped up, and for six years I didn’t cut class—though I did miss a few classes due to circumstances beyond my control. I think cutting one class in six years is acceptable though.