Sunday, August 30, 1992

August 30, 1992 - Sunday - Kendra at TJ's

I woke up yesterday morning just as Ed's parent arrived for their visit. They brought up Ed's stereo system which sounds really good. They then went out to lunch and said that we would go shopping when they returned. His parents are really nice. They are pretty well off and pretty much seem to spoil Ed. I don't think they liked me that much at first until we started talking and they realized how smart I am. I then attached right on to his mom and we talked for a little while. I also talked with him and his dad for a long time. His dad is into car restoration and does a pretty good job. They told me a bunch of their little stories about the things that they do down in Sarasota. His mom told me that if I ever needed anything from Tampa to let them know and they would get it for me. I thought to myself and later told Jon that I need Kim and Busch Gardens. We also talked about building a bar table in our room with stools and then have a couch on the front side. I kept giving my input on how to do it and it was well received. It should be pretty nice once it is finished. His dad is going to have a friend of his make the table and then he'll bring it up on their next trip.

We first went to Target to pick up a few things. there were some pretty cute girls in there. I'm intrigued by the type of girl that wears a V-neck white T-shirt. I think they're pretty sexy especially when the girl is good looking in the first place. We then went over to Albertson's to buy groceries. I spent almost fifty bucks but bought enough food to last well over two weeks. There was a group of three cute girls that were walking in the opposite direction that I was so that we would pass each other down every row. One was really cute, almost tropical. She definitely had some kind of European in her. After we passed each other a couple times we would look at each other and smile or laugh when it kept happening. It was funny. One of the girls was a little more reserved but she was flirting with me by the time we were done.

After we got back to our suite I soon went to sleep. I woke up once when Ed came home and then the next person I see is Valerie. She asked me if I wanted to go see a movie and go dancing with them tonight. She smiled and nodded her head trying to encourage me to agree and I did. Then I fell back asleep. I woke up at about ten at night. Ed made her a spaghetti dinner while I sampled all of his CD's on his stereo. Valerie and I had bought a half gallon of Heavenly HAsh ice cream at Kash & Karry on Friday so she pulled it out and came in and sat on the floor in Ed's room to eat it. I went and grabbed a spoon as well and started eating out of the box with her. Jon and I were talking earlier today about how Ed isn't really mature enough for a serious relationship. Somehow his mom was with us part of that time and expressed her concerns that she doesn't think Ed is old enough for one either. We were also talking about how much I flirt with Valerie. I do it all of the time and have really gotten on her good side. After she got the ice cream I told him to watch me go eat out of the box with her and he laughed. I then invited Ed to get a spoon and join us so I didn't look like a complete asshole. She ended up leaning over to kiss him and later told me that she wanted to see if he'd spill the ice cream on his spoon. When she did, I laughed and told her that I didn't have to watch this so I picked up the ice cream and ran. of course she chased me down and made me bring it back.

Valerie then wanted to find me a date for the evening but I sort of shunned the idea of Heidi. Ed called her anyway but she already was wasted and had something else planned. Valerie then called a bunch of people she knows. She kept asking them if they wanted to go out with a really cute guy with really blue eyes. She ended up setting me up on a blind date with a girl named Kendra. She then made the comment that was something like if I lick this girl's crotch, then she'll be happy. She said that she is pretty smart and shy, but is sexually uninhibited. Valerie then went home to get changed. I got dressed up halfway decent in jeans and a nice shirt and a bit of Chaps. Ed and I left to pick up Valerie at about midnight. We then went to pick up Kendra.

She is pretty cute. She's about 5'8" and has a nice figure. She wore a powder blue sleeveless shirt that was tied over her stomach and unbuttoned a bit at the top. She is studying to be a physical therapist and saw her first cadaver today in Shands Hospital. We went to see Single White Female which didn't turn out to be that great of a movie so I blamed Valerie. Her brother Ernesto and his friend Tony met us at the movie theater. Ed actually paid Valerie's way this time and Before she could say anything, I paid Kendra's. It only cost four dollars up here to see a movie compared to $5.75 in Tampa. Valerie told her brother and Tony that they had to sit in front of us so she and Ed could make out. They wouldn't though and he actually sat right next to Ed and started talking to him. Kendra was sitting in between Valerie and I and the three of us kept bunching up and talking. I told her to watch out because at the rate things were going, Ed and Ernesto would be making out before she got the chance to. It was funny and we all laughed. They never did kiss, just held hands. I leaned over once and asked if anybody was making out yet. I knew that they weren't so I was going to turn to Kendra and ask her if she wanted to lead the way but she wasn't looking right. We could have easily gone far if I would have only taken the initiative. There's a chance that we will go out again and I always have much better second dates, take Kim for example. I also need to get her phone number because I want to call her and talk to her soon.

Afterwards we went to TJ's and Valerie had me go in right after her. I, once again, nervelessly went through the ID check which they didn't even really do and got in. I wonder how many times I'll be able to get in before getting snagged. Jon tells me it's because I don't look seventeen at all and usually a younger person will be nervous about being found out and will give some sign that they are younger. I can completely convince myself to act normal as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Besides, I see myself as being older and more mature anyway. We went in at about 2:30 this time and it was more crowded. You could fell the heat inside that place. As we were trying to make it to the dance floor Ernesto, Valerie, and KEndra got way ahead of us and we lost them. We knew from last time though that we always go to the front left corner by the open door with the fresh air and the TV screens with the videos. Ed, Tony, and I eventually made it over. On the way some girl grabbed my hand and was toying with me to come with her. I didn't really see what she looked like but maybe I should have turned and gone before our hands got pulled apart. When we finally found Valerie she didn't know where Kendra was because she got lost so she and I went and found her.

There were some really good looking girls there and maybe I was flirting too much for Kendra's tastes. We all got in a circle and danced giving ourselves some breathing room and an area to ourselves. There were these two girls and a guy doing some pretty sexy dancing. They were both blonde, with tans. One was in a black leotard that had a three inch wide strip cut out of the front all of the way down her crest, and was tied with little black strings to hold it together. It was nice. The other had a gorgeous figure and face and looked like a senior sorority girl. She had on a little halter top and short jean shorts. For a while I was dancing with my back to them so that we would conveniently be rubbing against each other. They were dancing and moving with these guys all of the way down to the floor. Valerie and I kept making fun of them and wondering how soon they would all be off in bed. We then danced like them for a second. Maybe Ed was jealous because he quickly turned and danced with Kendra for a few minutes. Some guy tried to hit on Kendra once and I laughed and she quickly shunned him away.

I kept flirting with a bunch of girls. It's really easy to do so because I am so tall and can see the ones that are quite a ways away. I saw one really sensuous younger looking girl that I would have loved to meet. I also kept flirting with these two cute girls that were right behind us and was getting some nice smiles from them. This time was much more fun than last time and now I really want to come again. They played a lot of really good music this time, too. They never played the new British dance song, Sesame Street. I',m really learning how to dance good and am having fun when I do. As we walked out, those two blondes were standing at the bar and I looked at the cuter one and she followed my gaze for a few seconds before i turned to catch up with Valerie and Kendra. Damn I'm having fun!

Afterwards we went to Skeeter's and had some milk shakes. The waitress was nice this time and said that she has figured out hoe to make really good shakes. She put lot's of syrup in them and they were pretty good. I wasn't really thinking and I drank from the bottom with my straw and got a mouthful of pure chocolate syrup. I didn't know what to do with it so I had to swallow it really slowly. It was really rich and tasted just like Hershey's. We then took Kendra home and then decided to possibly go to Cresent Beach which is an hour away to see the sunrise. We were going to go back to our dorm to get some clothes but could find no parking spaces. We ended up just going to Valerie's apartment and hanging out for a while. We got there at about six and watched cartoons while and then I zonked out on the floor for two hours. I think they made out for two hours. We also talked about Kendra some and they said that since it was our first date, and since she is shy, that it went rather well which is good. They also had one of Valerie's neighbors say that she would go out with me next Saturday and Ed made her say that he could quote her on that. Whatever.

Ed and I got back to our room at nine in the morning and then I took a shower ad went to bed.

Friday, August 28, 1992

August 28, 1992 - Friday - Melissa, late talk

I've been having a pretty awesome time with classes and all. Especially since I only have two on both Thursday and Friday. I guess I need to start doing my homework though. I suppose. The girl situation is also coming along quite nicely as well. I even saw Trisha yesterday walking to class and said hi, and I saw Minh this morning out by GPA.

My second and last class yesterday was German fourth period. I have Physics discussion third period and the asshole kept us in there so fucking long that I was close to being late. But when I walked in, there was a nice open seat right next to my friend Melissa. She told me that she saw me yesterday going through Yulee Hall and was going to yell, 'Guten Tag!' but figured I wouldn't hear her. I felt all special and of course bragged later to my roommates. Yulee is the dorm right in front of Beaty Towers and next to Broward. It's really cool that she lives so close, maybe something can work out with this. I was surprised that she was able to get a dorm because usually seniors don't get that privilege. Somehow she ended up telling me that she has a 4.0 GPA! I was impressed and somewhat shocked. She had been a little quiet but I didn't figure her to be the really studious type. I asked her how she had done in high school and she sort of laughed and said not that well. I still haven't told her how smart I am and how well I did in high school.

Right now she's only going on the premises of my really good looks. I think she was a bit conscientious about how I would react to her telling me how well she has done because she sort of said it quietly with a questioning look like she was embarrassed by such a horrendous thing like a 4.0 GPA. Maybe she didn't want me to think she is a 'nerd.' Smirk. We took a quiz toward the end of the period. Afterwards I waited for her to finish and then we walked out together. Chris and I have decided that we want to play tennis and he was going to call this girl that he used to know in the ninth grade and try to get her and her roommate to come play with us. Anyway, I asked Melissa if she plays tennis. She said no. So I told her that we don't either, but were trying to get a few people together to start playing. It I'll be really good since she lives right next to the courts so I told her that maybe we can get together soon if we can scrounge up some rackets. When we got to the bicycles she told me to have a good weekend and I told her the same. I was happy.

At 7:30 I had just waken up from a six and a half hour nap, when Mia knocks on the door and reminds us about the ice cream social in the Commons. Ed and I went down and I ended up having two huge servings. It's really good because the leaders of the Tower Area Government all know me so I get somewhat special treatment. I had a huge sundae. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream with tons of chocolate syrup, whipped cream, caramel, Reeses Pieces, chocolate chips, sprinkles, and tons of M&Ms. It was the first real candy that I've had since I've been up here so I pigged out. Afterwards Ed and I played pool and I'm actually starting to get halfway decent and can make some pretty good shots. Later on after it was dark, Ed and I went out to the big field behind the tennis and basketball courts and played frisbee. We were doing really good. Whenever a girl would walk past the other person, we would purposely throw it past him so he could get a closer look. At one point this really cute girl in short jean shorts and a white sport bra was at the drinking fountain. I threw the frisbee and curved it perfectly so that it landed about eight feet behind her. Ed was glad that I made such a perfect shot. Seeing her getting a drink made me thirsty so I had to walk over, too. Afterwards at about ten, Ed planned on going out with Valerie again. Everybody was back from wherever when she showed up. I had pulled out the Risk game and Jon and I were going to teach Chris how to play. When she saw that, Valerie asked if she could play so I quickly let her into the game. Ed joined in as well and I effectively prevented them from going out.

It was fun because she sat over next to me and also didn't' know how to play so I got to be tutor. Chris was the first to lose and really wasn't happy about it. Then Valerie and I became allies so that we could try and stomp Ed's and Jon's asses. She would lean on my leg with her elbow when she would be thinking about her next move. MAybe she likes me! Just kidding. Jon and I were making fun of Ed as the kind of person who might fall in love with any girl just because she grabs on to his arm or lets him comb her hair. Actually I am the one who is that way. Valerie and I were doing rather well for a while but then fell into a slump. We all started having a really interesting conversation about the difference between having sex and making love. We decided to call off the game as not to interrupt such an interesting conversation. Chris joined the conversation and we had a really emotional and serious talk about a lot of things. So serious that we didn't finish to well after 3:30 in the morning when we finally remembered that we had classes this morning in second period to go to and needed some kind of sleep.

We were talking about everybody's best experiences in love, and they didn't have to be sex. Ed's was when he was on a snowskiing trip and he got snowed into a cabin with this girl that he messed around with. Ed's still a virgin and I believe that Valerie is, too. Jon has only had sex once. Of course there's nothing wrong with any of that because I am, too. I think that my best time was when I was on Clearwater beach that night with Nicole, kissing and when I swept her off her feet to carry her over the water. We also talked about our worst experiences. Chris' was when he was going down on a girl, of course Valerie whinced at that part, and she was acting more hyper than usual. Thus he was even more excited until she all of the sudden pisses in his face. We cracked up but he swore us to secrecy. Oh well.

I sat next to and talked to Valerie the entire time with Ed over by the stove. We had our bare feet up on the table and were pretty comfortable. I did my best to aggravate Ed in little ways and he would sit just quite for long periods of time. He always tries to agree with everything Valerie would say so that she will think he completely shares her interests. Every once in a while it would get rowdy when she wanted to say something so I would always turn just to her and let her tell me. We kept getting off on these little side conversations. She really has a complex about not wanting to be Ed's second choice because he used to like a girl named Allison so much and she thinks that he sort of wanders because he keeps calling all these girls such as Heidi and she doesn't really like it. She pulled me to the side and was telling me this once. It was great. We also talked about world traveling and religion. I not too much of a religion fan. I think that religion was created by man because of man's ignorance of things he could not or did not want to understand. I believe completely in spontaneity where I believe that everything happened because things were in the right place at the right time for them to. I really find it mentally stimulating to imagine the infinity of the universe. It amazes me. I believe that everything happens by chance, by itself.

Anyway I went to Physics this morning which was a fucking bore. When class was let out, it was pouring and I was wearing my good leather hiking boots. I ran over to the bookstore and asked for a bag and then went barefoot all of the way back. Tonight, Ed is supposed to set me up with Heidi and we are planning on going to see the new Twin Peaks movie and then heading over to some party. Valerie and Ed are going, too, and Jon might come along to the movie. This little date could prove a lot of things. Valerie wants Heidi to see that Ed is 'hers,' because Heidi just broke up with her boyfriend recently and was looking for comfort. And I want to give her that comfort. She's pretty cute. She has really nice hair and really nice tits for all I saw when she would lean over while playing pool. It could turn out to be rather interesting. Allison just called a little while ago and she asked me to tell Ed that she did. I think I'll wait until Valerie's here to hear so she will be jealous.

We planned on the four of us going to the movies in Ed's car, and then coming back so that I could drive Heidi and myself to the party. We went and saw the movie and it only cost four bucks. You could tell that it was early because of all the little high school teenagers there. There were some really cute older girls though and I flirted. I sat in between Jon and Valerie. Valerie knows a lot about the movie series of Twin Peaks and was helpful while watching the movie. She and I would talk about things in the movie and about the people around us. We then decided just to ditch Heidi because I really disdn't want to drive or put gas in my car. I sort of wish we had picked her up, or taken her to the movies. I could have gone for some making out. We went to the party over in Oxford Manor which usually has plenty of parties and had a line of cars waiting to get in. It was a pretty dead party with only a couple of cuter girls. If we would have wanted to stay, I would have started talking to them. A girl poured Ed and I some beers out of the keg. I had about two swallows. I didn't really care for it, like a lot of people say, it tastes like shit. We then took off and bought some groceries at Kash and Karry and then came back to our dorm. We had Bagel Bite pizzas and french fries. Valerie and I each paid part of a half gallon of heavenly hash ice cream. It was really good. Ed took her home at about one. She is sick and didn't wan't to stay any longer.

Wednesday, August 26, 1992

August 26, 1992 - Wednesday - Jana, Shannon, Melissa

Everything in the world that could possibly happen this week has happened, except for one thing, of course. I'm having an unbelievably awesome time. I don't know where to start. How about the beginning. That'll work.

My roommate, Chris, or Kostas, or Konstantin, turns out to be a really cool guy. Were getting along very well and talk all of the time. He showed up Saturday night with his girlfriend, Desiree from Jacksonville. I'm sorry, I meant to say from Jacks. That seems to be what everybody calls it now. Anyway, he also brought over a bunch of friends who were all going out partying after they carried all of his stuff up. I showed off the awesome graphics on my computer and they loved it. One of the guys knew a lot about them and said he has $3500 invested in his, and would be glad to trade some stuff with me. He has some pretty expensive programs that he can get me in exchange for some my pictures and movies, especially the pornos. Chris asked me if I wanted to come along but I declined, telling him maybe next time. He planned on having Desiree spend the night and getting screwed. Jon and I told him that we'd get the mattress ready for him out in the living room, and we did. Actually it turned out pretty good because we set up the black light and the two of them loved it.

Meanwhile, Valerie's been over a lot and she and Ed keep running of together and were out that night. Chris called and asked if we'd be in bed by one, because Desiree is shy and didn't want to do it with me in the room, so we said we would. We found a new Blockbuster video located right on our floor in Beaty! These guys around the corner copy every video that comes out and said that we were welcome to watch them whenever we like. Jon and I watched White Men Can't Jump and Wayne's World. These guys also have Super Nintendo, a stereo system, and a computer. I am hoping to trade shit with him, too.Anyway, we were asleep by 12:30 and at 1:15, Ed and Valerie walk in so we got back up and all talked. Chris and Des showed up at about 1:30 and were surprised to see us all up and awake.

The four of us decided to go out and were gone by two. Before we left we turned on Jon's tape recorder to catch Chris and Des in action. We took Ed's car and went to a decent country food place called Skeeter's that has a pretty long waiting line. We got in pretty quick because we only had four people, though. I asked for a strawberry biscuit which is a giant homemade biscuit with tons of strawberries, ice cream, and whipped cream. It didn't taste that great though because they used frozen strawberries. Valerie helped me eat some of the ice cream at the beginning and I helped her eat some of the hash browns that she ordered. It was pretty fun. There were some cute girls there and I flirted with them of course. It's amazing some of the looks you get back. I'm starting to enjoy talking to them now in addition to just flirting with them. It's so ironic when I find myself turning and talking to a girl after I used to be such a fucking introvert.

Damn, I'm stressed! I finally get a chance to write in my journal for more than five minutes. I really haven't told anybody about it yet and don't really want anybody watching over my shoulder. Everybody else took off to the library to study. I stopped by to say hi after my last class but didn't have anything that I needed to do so I came back.

I've been thinking an awful lot about Kimmeth the past two days. I've seen a couple girls that look almost like her from behind and it's really brought back a flood of memories, mostly good ones though! I didn't realize how much I missed her, because I really do. I think I loved her, she was so beautiful, both physically and mentally. What a heartache! I'm planning on writing a letter to her tomorrow as well as one to Tracy. I'm also going to write Uncle Rick a thank you note on a post card that I bought in the campus bookstore thanking him for the money he sent me for graduation.

Well, Ed just walked in but he left for the gym to work out. I'm waiting for Chris to come back before I go. There's this really cute girl who lives in the room down at the end of our hallway. She has really long light brown hair and freckles. Ed and I saw her over in Mia's room the day she made us all brownies. Ed told me that she was down in the laundry room washing clothes so I went downstairs with him so that I could try to meet her. He told me that when I was finished with her, then he'd take her. Ha, ha. The reason he mentioned it in the first place is because I met a girl when I was washing clothes on Monday night. It was the first load of clothes that I have ever washed and they turned out fine except for my new '92 Olympics shirt from Busch Gardens which faded a little on the front.

Anyway, it was a little after twelve when my clothes would be finished drying so I went to the elevator. We had seen each other when we were first putting the clothes in but it was crowded and we didn't say anything. She was in the elevator and she smiles and goes, 'Laundry, right?' and I said yes. We then started talking about our classes and how our day went and everything. She's a sophomore and has just pledged and has been accepted into a sorority that I think is called Phi Kappa Theta. She said that it's different, though, because they aren't all snotty and they don't really ignore other people just because they're of a 'lower class' or something. She's pretty cute and nice and lives on the eighth floor up above us. As I was leaving I asked her what her name was at the exact same time she was telling me. It's Shannon. And then I introduced myself.

Just now, as Ed and I were waiting to get on the elevator, one opened. It was full and they were going up. It was pretty full of cute girls. Then I noticed Shannon standing in the back. She saw me, too so we waved and said hi over top of everybodys' heads as the door closed. As I did I heard a couple of them giggle. That raised my spirits and I got to show off to Ed. It's funny, because I keep telling the guys about all of my flirtations, and then I keep getting all of these chances to prove myself to them which is cool. Then Mia walks out and we all talked for a minute. When we were finally on the elevator Ed realized that he forgot his towel so we'd have to go back up. That was good because the cute girl got on with her friend. Ed and I sort of talked extra loud so we all could hear our conversation. It was funny but we still haven't met her formally. But we will.

Anyway, back to Saturday night. After we left Skeeter's we decided to head over to T. J. Morrissey's which is a dance club that lets in 18 and older after 10 P.M. They told me to try and get in first since I was the only one who's not 18 yet. The guy who checked my I.D. looked at me for a second and then glanced at my driver's license and waved me through. Jon who looks younger had the guy check his license twice for a long time. It was funny. I paid my three dollars and went in. After everyone caught up, we squirmed our way through the crowd back into the dance room. On the way past the bar, a girl grabs my arm and says hi. It was Meg and her friend who I met in Beaty Commons at their little social get togethers. I said hi back and then we were split by the crowd. Valerie then turns and while laughing goes, 'I saw that!' We have been talking a lot lately about everything from movies to sex.

When we got to the dance floor we made our way over to a wall of TV screens that were showing the videos to the songs that were playing. I actually danced and had a pretty good time. There were some really good looking chicks there and I flirted with a good number of them. This one girl and I kept slowly moving until we were back to back and kept brushing into each other. We kept making eye contact every few seconds for a while. It was great. What's really fun is following a girl's glance for a long time and smiling the whole way. I did that to this one girl who kept smiling each time we made eye contact afterwards. I love it! Valerie didn't really like the music because she said that she didn't know how to dance to it. She pretty much stood there watching the videos. Every once in a while a song she likes would come on and she'd dance like crazy. It was great. I guess it could be partly because I was somewhere that I really wasn't supposed to be, but oh well!

We ended up leaving TJ's at about 4:30 in the morning and got back to Beaty at about five. I looked in the radio and the cassette was gone. Chris later told us that they heard the click when the recorder shut off and found the tape. He says it was really good and you could hear everything, but Desiree took it with her back to Jacks. Damn! She promised Chris a copy after she gets over the shock. Valerie keeps joking about Desiree saying that she is 'shy.' She really doesn't like her because she thinks that she is a ditzy bimbo. I've noticed that Valerie doesn't really care for Chris either because she pretty much shuts up when he is around. It's funny. I ended up sleeping in Jon and Ed's room because they were already asleep in mine. It was twenty before six before we went to sleep. She was back over Sunday night and we all sat around and played a couple of games of Scruples.

I started off Monday morning by taking my car all of the way over to the freshman parking lot over by Hume Hall. I couldn't find my decal for a long time and had to search everywhere. It was in the bottom of a bookstore bag and I had seen Chris moving them all around. I finally found it, I really couldn't use another ticket. My first class was at 8:30 and was English. I walked in and headed straight for the nearest girl. We didn't talk though but I kept looking her way. Our professor decided to never show up so finally another lady came in and told us to sign the role and we could go ahead and leave. My next class was German and is taught by a graduate student who is half way attractive. She went around introducing herself to all of us and later had us singing the German alphabet. It was fun. She told us that she likes to teach by both mental and physical contact. OK. There are plenty of cute girls in that class. I sat next to an older girl named Nicole who looks part French or something. We made a few jokes but nothing serious. I then went to Honors Calculus 2. It was a bunch of nerdy guys crammed into a tiny room. The stereotypes on Revenge of the Nerds were perfect! There were only two girls in there. The professor seems really cool though. He's a younger British guy. The way he talks alone lightens up the atmosphere and makes it a better class. On the way out I went up to the cuter of the two girls and started talking to her. We kept walking together for quite some time until I had to go get my bike which was back at Matherly Hall where the class was. It was awful though because she said that she was going to be switched into regular Calculus. I pleaded with her not to leave but she wasn't there on Tuesday so I was pissed.

Later on I called Jana and Cindy's dorm. Cindy answered and told me that Jana wasn't there. I asked her why not so she started laughing and told me that it was because Jana didn't want to get a call from me. Smartass. She then put Jana on the phone and we talked for a little while until her sister came to pick her up. It was a cute little conversation and I'm glad that I finally got to talk with her again. I forgot to ask her about her trip to England though. I then had to go to Williamson Hall at five for my Physics placement exam. I took it and it was seemingly easy. I had read over the first six chapters in Jon's Physics book like the secretary had told me to do over the phone. There were sixteen questions and you had to score at least ten to get into Physics 3040 and skip the lower courses. I was finished pretty early and took it up to the front of the auditorium. The guy was grading them there so I asked if I could wait and see my grade. He said yes and after he checked it he said it was the best score so far. I scored a fourteen. Once again I kicked ass on the placement exam. I was really happy and my roommates are proud. Chris keeps bragging to the others about all of my accomplishments. It's cool. There is no Honors Physics course though, it's all mixed together.

A while after I got back, Chris and I went to work out in the Gym. They have the whole place set up with Nautilus equipment and it's free to UF students with their ID card. I was wearing jean shorts and when I got there one of the guys told me that I couldn't work out on the machines with denim shorts. It has something to due with the rivets hurting their sensitive equipment or some bullshit like that. I just hung around with Chris for a little while. There were some really hot girls in there. Enough to make me want to go back regularly. There was this one in a heather gray spandex top with a gorgeous body and really big tits. She was beautiful, and Chris and I were lusting. And of course I flirted with her and the other girls using the step machines. There was another girl there with her friend. She was wearing a tight little orange bra that you could see straight through. She looked like a freshman. When she got on the weight machines I went over and started talking to her. I saw her friend look over from one of the other machines and smile at her because I was talking to her. I want to go back just to see her again. Chris later was telling Jon and Ed that I was over talking to a really hot babe and he was proud of me. That was cool.

What's really funny is the fact that I can be in lust with so many girls even though I still really miss Kim. It's because all of my trains of thought are completely independent of each other which is really cool and the reason why I am so smart in so many areas. Everything doesn't just blend together and fade away. My thoughts and feelings remain distinct.

On Tuesday morning I left at about 6:30 after Chris and Ed to go play drop/add. I went over to the Physics line and had sixth place. If you go much later the lines will stretch all through the halls and even out of the buildings. They didn't start until close to eight. I signed up for my class, lab, and discussion period. Not until afterwards did I realize that they accidentally scheduled my lab and discussion at the same fucking time so I had to go back later. When I did there were two lines. One went on forever but mine only had five people so it didn't take long.

I then started riding my bike over to the English drop/add line until I suddenly hear someone go, 'Dan!' and I turn around and it's Jana! I went over and started talking to her. We ended up walking all of the way back to her dorm in Graham Hall. She then invited me up to her room. She wasn't sure if Cindy was decent or not and had to check before she'd let me in. She wasn't even there. Her dorm room is pretty small and it's not nearly as comfortable as ours. It almost has the atmosphere of a classroom. I guess it's the cinderblock walls. Our's are flat. Knowing Jana, being rich and upper-middle class, I asked her how she liked and was handling the community bathroom thing. She detests it and was telling me all these gross things that happen and how it's always crowded. When I commented on her little room she kept telling me it's all right. I told her that I guess I'm just use to Beaty which is almost like a house. She later admitted that her dorm is a real shithole and she was just trying to talk herself into believing it was better. I knew it.

Jana was then bitching about Cindy using and touching the stuff in her closet. I asked her what she would do if she had to live with someone who wasn't her best friend. She'd probably freak out. I then sat down on a little cushion chair and she sprawled out on the lower bunk. She said she was hungry and I asked her if she wanted to walk over to the Reitz Union but she didn't want to get sweaty yet again. We started watching Maury Povich. He had these people who have some disease which gives them uncontrollable twitches, such as making funny noises and body movements. It wasn't really morally funny, but we couldn't help but laughing. I told her all about my summer at Busch Gardens, about Kim and all, and about some of my successes since I've been up here. She was then talking about how nobody on her floor really knows each other. She thinks they're just a bunch of bitches. I went to the door and told her to come on, I'd introduce her to some of her neighbors. I said that it's better and more fun to know them just like we do up in Beaty. She got up and chased me to the door and while laughing told me that she would lock me out if I did. It was then about time for us to head out to fourth period. I told her to call me and I wrote my number down really big on her noteboard. She didn't get a chance to write it on her list and erase it before we left so Cindy will know I was there. I walked with her practically all the way to her class before I said goodbye.

It was then time for German so I headed over to Little hall. This cute blonde named Heidi sat next to me and we talked. After class I ended up running in to her over by GPA (Turlington Hall) and we talked for a few minutes. I found out from Jon that only freshmen call Turlington by its real name, most people call it GPA because the classes in it lower everyone's GPA so much. I also found out that you have to wear your backpack over only one shoulder or else your a nerd. I bought an Eastpak leather backpack at the bookstore. It's really cool and is better than everyone elses. I also have met a bunch of girls named Heidi. There's this one girl that lives over in Beaty West that I watched playing a game of pool with Ed. Then there's the girl in German. We then find out that the girl Ed and I were chasing into the laundromat earlier that lives on our floor is named Heidi, too. I didn't think it was that common of a name.

After German I went to the English drop/add line to get rid of that English class because it conflicts with Physics. I figured I'd just skip Calculus because that was something I needed to hurry and get done. I ended up getting out of there though with enough time to make it to class. The time seemed to pass by quickly because I started talking to this girl who was in line behind me. She had blonde curly hair and was pretty cute. It turns out that she went to King High School in Tampa and graduated ranked fifth with a GPA over five. Of course when I found that out I had to outdo her in everything but I kept reassuring her how good she had done as well. She also worked at Adventure Island so we talked about that and Busch Gardens for a while. I ended up adding a computer programming class in its place. I couldn't believe the girls that were signing up for computer classes. They were gorgeous!

We all ended up going over to the library at about five to study. I forgot my list of problems for Calculus so I did all fifty of them! It's been the first time that I've actually done homework in completion, early, in a hell of a long time. I then played with the library's computer databases for a while and was reading the entries about sex before Jon and I went back to our dorm.

This morning I went to Physics lecture during second period. The auditorium was packed with people. Ivan and Eric, from Beaty Towers were there and we said hi. It really sucked. We have some Indian teacher that I could barely understand. I'm going to have to go earlier and get a seat up front on Friday. Before German there are usually a ton of good looking girls hanging out on the patio in front of Little Hall so I went over early and grabbed an Alligator newspaper and sat down on a bench to read. Across the walkway there were two girls that I kept flirting with. I would keep looking up from my paper and meet there eyes with an interested expression on my face. It's so fun! Then a friend of one of the girls started doing the same thing back to me. A few minutes later a really good looking blonde comes over and sits next to me. She looks like sorority and she was probably a junior. She started reading a book on statistics. I wait a few minutes and then started talking to her about what classes she was taking and what her major is. I kept glancing at the girls across the walkway. We talked about a few other things and then said some really pleasant farewells. It was really interesting and of course I bragged to the guys.

In class we're learning personal questions and answers and she kept having us pair up and ask the other person questions. There was this cute girl who started Tuesday sitting right behind me so I turned around and asked her if she'd be my partner. Then we started talking. We're both a little quiet and since I screwed up a couple times in the beginning, Elaine came over and said she wanted to hear us do it. We asked and answered our questions flawlessly. It was funny. I'm starting to do really well in there. I'm going to love that class. Anyway, the girl's name is Melissa and she's a senior. She's really good looking. We went through our little questions and I had a fun little time.

College is so fucking awesome. I love all of the girls. I'd really like to get into a relationship right now. I miss Kim. Oh well.

This past weekend Hurricane Andrew passed right over Miami and across the state before heading up and hitting Louisiana. It was the worst hurricane ever recorded in the United States and it killed fourteen people in Southern Florida. The pictures in the paper show huge areas completely shattered by the winds and flooding. Metropolitan Miami made it without much damage. Homestead is where the eye hit. One TV station showed an airport where the airplanes look like they had been smashed with giant fly swatters. The hurricane didn't really affect Tampa at all. I've heard distress from a lot of people up here who are from or have family in Southern Florida. It is especially bad because the telephone service could not be reopened for at least three days after the storm. Nice.

Friday, August 21, 1992

August 21, 1992 - Thursday - Brandy, Catherine

Well, Jon and Ed are moved in for good now. They showed up while I was off at the new student orientation. I had some really bad luck with my car today. I drove down to the Reitz Union to get my Gator One card this morning. When I got back to my car I got a fucking ticket for parking in an orange decal area. It's fifteen dollars but I'm going to try and protest it since it's my first one. Afterwards I drove back to my dorm and get a phone call. Some guy over at the engineering building had found my driver's license in the parking lot. I went over and picked it up later and told him how much I appreciated it. I offered him money for his time but never really intended on giving him anything, and luckily he persistently declined. I'm such a cheapskate. So.

I left around eight this morning and figured I'd run by the traffic office and buy my decal this morning. Every other time I had gone by, the line was really long, so I figured if I got there early I could go through quickly. I was wrong. The line was even longer than usual so I left to the Union. In line there were some really cute girls behind me. One is a freshman from Texas and was gorgeous. She had on tight little black shorts and a white T-shirt with a really deep neckline. If she was wearing a bra, it was a really flimsy one, because I could see every perfect little detail. Yum. I also saw numerous girls riding bicycles today that were in really short shorts and that only reminded me more why I like it here so much. I was being really flirtatious today no matter where I was and kept getting some really interesting looks and smiles. A memorable one was over by Broward Beach by a girl on a bikini. It was fabulous. But the ones I talk to are the really important ones. It's fun starting a conversation with any girl you're near. I realize that almost every girl you see is probably very interesting and could make a wonderful friend. That's the basis for my new found energy.

I found out in the mathematics office in Walker Hall that I had to take the Calculus placement exam about five minutes before it began. While I was waiting, a mother and her son came in asking about the placement exam. The secretary confused her so I quickly explained to her what to do. She bent over and whispered that sometimes the students are more helpful than the faculty. That made me feel good. I guess my human relations training from Busch Gardens can really pay off. I ran over to Tulington Hall and luckily found it in time. I ended up scoring a perfect twenty-five so Dr. Nelson specially requested that I be placed in Honors Calculus 2. That was good. Everything else I need too take is still up in the air even though registration is tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to add my Physics course after I take the placement exam on Monday.

I then headed back to the Reitz union for the rest of orientation and this time I walked! While I was waiting in the lobby I started talking to this nerdy guy named Jeremy. I have also found out that being nice to goofy people can sometimes reap you big rewards such as in this case. He is a Junior transferring from Santa Fe Community College. After we picked up our materials we went into the ballroom. All of the little people in there were sitting all spaced out because they were all a bunch of anti-social little nerds. I had two options. There was a cute younger girl in a nice white tank top that I was going to sit by. I kept flirting with her the whole time and she moved over right in front of me in a later session. Instead I decided to sit next to Jeremy. He sat right next to a really good looking girl in short white shorts with a really awesome tan. There was nobody sitting anywhere on either side of them, but I took the impulse and sat right between them. I first asked her if the seat was taken because I am such a gentleman. I then started the magic and we began talking. I asked all about her while at the same time not ignoring Jeremy since he is the reason I was next to her. We talked quite a bit. She also os transferring from Santa Fe but also went to Troy State on Alabama. She had a really deep South accent and I complimented her on it at he start. I started getting worried towards the end that I wouldn't get a chance to ask her name because they were going to split the under and upper classmen soon. All of the sudden the speaker told everyone to turn to his side and introduce yourself to the person next to you. We were laughing as we introduced ourselves. Her name is Brandy. She took off before I could find out her phone number. Damn it.

When I got back, Ed and Jon had all of their shit thrown all over the place. While Jon kept working, Ed and I took our bikes and rode down to the Union for a bit to eat. He stopped to talk to a couple of girls he knows from last year. Speaking of girls, I need to call Jana and Cindy and I need to write TRACY!!! SHIT!!! I bought a brand new Murray mountain bike at Target on Wednesday for about $150. I also took Maria's advice and bought a U-lock.

When Ed and I got back, Jon was talking to a girl named Catherine who had stopped by to visit. She's pretty cute, and short, but I wouldn't have noticed until Ed kept making jokes about it. She's somewhat self-conscience about it. Mia was serving brownies to all of the residents on her two floors so I ran over. It was really good. When I started to leave she told me to stop being an anti-social nd come back but I told her that we had a woman in the room and were busy. She was over there in a flash telling us all to come over. Ed and I went this time and we hung around for a little bit. I went into Maria's bedroom and started talking to her. Yesterday I walked over to the Rec Center with Mia and a doofy guy named Harry. We were supposed to be on a tour but Mia was late and we never found them. We ended up sitting in the restaurant and talked. I found out that Mia was the valedictorian of her high school so of course I had to brag, too. When we finally walked back over to the Commens, the three of us played a really bad game of pool for a while.

After we walked back to our room, the four of us decided to go to Blockbusters to rent a movie and then go watch it in her dorm over at Graham. I asked her if she knew Jana or Cindy but she didn't. I had started talking to her while we were sitting around in our room and we chatted on the walk over. We ended up watching Bladerunner with Harrison Ford. I had seen it before but had forgotten. It's a really bad movie to watch when hanging out with girls. I think it's fun to get as close as possible to every girl that Ed and Jon and maybe even Kris bring into the dorm. I ended up sitting on the floor right next to her in a chair the entire time. Since I am so good at adjusting to any kind of person and talking to them at their level, this is easy. Mother told me that this is bad because I'll have no real loyalties. I told her that wasn't true, I have loyalties, but I also have a hell of a lot of friends that very greatly. I took her side while we were watching the movie. After a while when nobody said anything, and the movie was being all emotional and violent, I bust out with, 'We really should have gotten a funny movie.' She started laughing and agreed completely, and so did Jon. I later told her that we would pick out the next movie.

At about ten thirty, her roommate, Jen, came back. She's blond but a little overweight, but she's cute and nice. She hopped up on the bed with Jon and we finished watching the movie. Afterwards we talked a little longer mainly about sex, and which condoms work best. Jon was reading all of this stuff out of the latest Cosmopolitan. We didn't end up getting home until well after midnight.

Monday, August 17, 1992

August 17, 1992 - Monday - Maria, Meg

Today worked out pretty smoothly, although it never got as extreme as I wanted it to get. Maybe tomorrow. OK, I'll quit the bullshit: I want sex!!! Well now that you know my mentality right now, I can continue.

I made a to-do list this morning and got about half of the stuff done. I used my little spiral notepad and wrote down my dorm address and phone number in the back for when I need it. I finished getting ready by about 10:30. I ran around the corner to visit Mia in her room. She always leaves the door open which is cool. She's the Resident Advisor for the sixth and seventh floors so she sort of has to. Right now under the current visitation plan, there can't be a member of the opposite sex in your room before eleven, but we used the excuse that she was advising me. We sat at the table and talked for a long time. We also read through the Gator newspaper. Her roommate showed up with her parents at about a quarter after eleven. Her name is Maria and she is from Miami. They had stayed at a hotel last night here in Gainesville. She has a year and a half left before she graduates and is pretty cute. Her father seemed a little bit agitated to find a guy already in his daughter's dorm. Oh well. Mia was giving a campus tour at five so at eleven thirty we both decided that I had better get started on my list so I would get back in time.

I drove to First Union to set up an Organized Banking account with the seventeen hundred dollar check that mother wrote for me on Saturday. A thousand went into a savings account to collect interest and the rest went into checking which has no charges for the checks when set up in this fashion. I was done and out of there by twelve which surprised me. I went to KFC and had popcorn chicken for lunch. I then went went into Eckerd's to buy some necessities, mainly thumbtacks and condoms, but I chickened out. I then ran into Wal-mart where I did buy them along with a case of Pepsis and a dish drainer. I also checked out the bikes because I'm really going to need one, even just to get to my car! My first condoms are Trojen-enz lubricated. Aren't I special.

When I got back, two of my roommates had arrived and filled the room with stuff. They're from Sarasota and are named Ed and Jon. They both are hippy people who would have been in our Ecology club at Leto and they're really cool. Jon is black. They know the fourth guy, Konstantine, who is my roommate. Ed wanted to switch and stay in my room, which I would have let him do gladly but Mia advised him not to because he would be fined when housing found out. They brought a TV and VCR and microwave and an Apple computer. They then took off for lunch and I stayed since I had just eaten.

When they came back about three hours later they brought this hippy girl with them. She was pretty cute and older and lives in an apartment. I was joking around and then was talking with her and Jon around the table. I tried to talk her into cooking for us and she said she would. Then they got ready to go. After they dropped her back off at her apartment, they were leaving back to Sarasota until Thursday. Ed left me the swimsuit issue of Inside Sports. She notice that I had a computer and they asked what kind it was. I showed them a couple of the VGA pictures of the tree frog and space shuttle. she thought that was really cool and then Ed asked what about the pornographic ones. She walked out and I put on the best one I have, two naked girls on the beach together. It was funny watching the reaction as each of them saw it. She turned around and pulled the bottom of her shirt up over her face, a little too far though because she pulled it up over her tits. It was funny. As they were walking out I sort of hit on her. She was looking at our names on the door and said how much she likes the name Konstantine. I asked her if Dan wasn't good enough for her. She told me that she didn't know, maybe she could get to like it. Because of the way she said it, Ed sort of laughed. That was good.

As they got on the elevator I ran over to visit Mia and Maria. Mia was asleep so I got to talk to Maria for a few minutes. I asked her if she had an eyedropper so I could drip water on Mia, but she didn't so I had to settle for an ice cube. She woke up before I could use it though. It was all funny. She then asked me if I was going on the tour at five and I said yes. It was raining though, and i knew that they were going to postpone it. At 5:15 I went over to Mia's room and Maria was there. She opened some OREOs and let me have some and we sat there and talked until Mia came back upstairs from telling everyone that it was canceled. Her mom was here at campus with her brother who got put in a temporary double room that was built for one person. The other person had already taken up all of the space and he was really upset. Maria and I then helped Mia carry some stuff up out her mom's car and then we watched TV and talked while she went and visited her brother. Maria is a really interesting person and I want to ge to know her better. They ended up kicking me out when her Mia's mom was on the way up so she wouldn't find me there.

I went back to my room and watched MTV until nine when I went to another little TAG event. This time we were going to watch the preseason football game between Detroit and Buffalo. We ate hotdogs and chips and drink. I sat with Mia and talked to a couple of others to begin with. I got tired of following her around though so I went and sat near Ivan. This girl named Meg was there who I had seen at the ice cream thing last night with her friend from Ohio. We all went over to play ping pong and I talked to Meg. She is from Clearwater and went to Countryside High. We volleyed the ball for a little while and talked quite a bit. She said that we can play tennis one of these days. Mia told me earlier today that I can borrow her racket. When the last few of us were about ready to go, almost everyone else had already left long ago, including Mia. We listened to Ronald Reagan's speech at the Republican Convention and he kicked ass!!! It was one awesome speech! I didn't get back to my dorm until eleven thirty. I then cooked me a dinner of canned macaroni and cheese and a grilled cheese sandwich.

So today turned out rather well. I made friend with that one girl in my dorm, with Maria, and with Meg. It was a rather productive if not reproductive day. Can't wait until tomorrow.

Sunday, August 16, 1992

August 16, 1992 - Sunday - First day at UF, Mia

Well, I've made it through my first day in Gainesville and have loved every minute of it. Everything has turned out perfect. The rest or the family followed me up this morning. It didn't take too long to unload all of my stuff because I had all of them helping me. I already have everything in it's place and am all set for one hell of a year. When I first saw my room this morning I was greatly impressed. It was much bigger than I had expected and was in pretty good condition. I was the first person here and still am the only person. It's great because I got to pick which bed I wanted, which closet, and I got to steal the desk for my computer. The air conditioning keeps it a perfect 70 in here all of the time, it's wonderful. The bathroom is also really nice and really big.It's much better than I had expected. I love it! Then came the good part. I had at first thought that the two towers were separated by sex, but then later came to believe that guys and girls were separated by floor levels. All of the sudden father calls me out and tells me to look at the four names on the suite next to mine. They were girls!!! It was awesome. We then went walking around to the other six suites on our floor looking at the names. We looked into the rooms where the girls kept the door open and made some kind of joke about how long it would be before I was in there or something. It was funny.

After we had unloaded my car, and since they were here, I made them take me to buy me groceries and the other things I needed. This town is wonderful, too. There's a great big Target, a Wal-mart; all of the places you need to get anything you need. And they are all brand new. The girls are unbelievable. They're everywhere! Tampa is infested with roaches, Gainesville is infested with gorgeous women! Pity. Ha ha! Anyway, we bought paper towels and some other stuff at Target, and then forty dollars worth of groceries at Albertson's. We also bought deli turkey and had lunch in my dorm when we got back. Afterwards we went driving around campus and it's really cool. They then dropped me off out in front of Beaty Towers and left me. I went back to my room and finished putting everything away.

One thing that is really cool is the dorm security. I got two keys when I checked in. One opens the main doors to the towers, the stairs, the elevators, and Beaty Commons. The second opens the door to our suite and then our individual bedroom. There is no way anyone without a key can even enter the building unassisted. I thought that the elevators would be in bad condition after hearing all of the things Cindy and Jana had to say, but they were emaculate. It's all perfect.

This morning I bought an Beaty area government card for ten bucks. It's called a TAG card. It gets us into a bunch of little social events this week that would normally cost one or two dollars each. We even get food at them, too. You can also use it to rent appliances and sport equipment and cash checks. It's a cool little card. Tonight's social event was a an ice cream party at nine. I put on my new boots from bass with my jean shorts and black tank top. I went down to Beaty Commons. I met this guy from Vermont named Ivan. He's a floor leader and we were talking until the ice cream was served. He then introduced me to Mia, who is my floor leader. She said she was sorry for not visiting me sooner today. She's pretty cute. Ivan told me that I'll learn to love the Common because if anything happens, it's usually in there.

They then pulled out a game and the thirty of us in there split into two teams. We then went around the room an introduced ourselves. We would get a category and have to sing at least eight words from a song about it. It was pretty fun. Mia rolled the die for our group and I sat down on the floor next to her. We joked and the whole group were all pretty fun people. It was cool. Afterwards, Mia and I went back up to our floor. She came over to see which room I am in, 608A. We then walked over to hers because she needed me to sign a survey for her. I sort of talked my way over. I had heard that she was watching cartoons earlier today with some other people, and that she usually leaves her door open. I joked about wanting to come over to watch TV and we walked over. She told me that I can tomorrow and to please drop by any time I like. There was this cute blonde out in hall and Mia introduced us. She asked if I was Mia's boyfriend since I was going into her dorm with her. I told her that it was nice and looked around a few minutes before coming back over. It was already eleven. This is going to be one damn good year.

Last night I called Kim back at about 8:20 and we talked for thirty-five minutes. This was the first time we have ever talked about sex. She asked me if she ever told me about her ex-boyfriend, Dan, down in Ft. Lauderdale. She used to chase him around when she used to live there. He asked her out when she visited last week but she told him that she didn't know. I told her that either he has had bad luck with all of the girls and thought that she was so desperate that he could always fall back on her, or that he was just doing it for sex. She thanked me and told me that every time she thinks something might be going good in her life, she's going to talk to me so I can bring her back down to reality. I told her that it was because I am a realist and I was just telling her the truth because I'm a guy and I know how we think. It was funny. She was also reading the personals in the newspaper to me and we were making fun of them and having a good time. She told me that Dan probably wasn't doing it for sex so I made fun of him saying surprisedly that he must be a fag. She old me a story how he once got arrested one night for wreckless driving and she saw him at a bar the next night. He told her that even though he doesn't normally drink, he could really use one, and then could really go for eight hours or straight sex with a woman. She said OK. When she did he sort of freaked out and started looking all around away from her until she told him that it was just a joke. I would have liked having those eight hours.

She had to go for a few minutes but said she'd call me back in a few minutes and she did! I was so happy! She didn't ditch me again. We ended up talking a little while longer and ended up on a very good note. She wants me to drop her a note as soon as I get settled in. I'm so glad she called me yesterday. Her doing so was one of the most important things to me in a long time. Thank you, Kim.

Saturday, August 15, 1992

August 15, 1992 - Saturday - Kim's phone call

I received a phonecall today that I didn't expect in a million trillion years. Chrissy told me that was the reason I got it. I was standing by the phone at about noon when the phone rang. I picked it up during the first ring. It was Kim!!! She was on break at Busch Gardens and said that she called because she never got the chance to really say goodbye. I said OK and then we both said goodbye at the exact same time. It was funny. We talked for ten minutes before she had to go. I noticed how both our voices sounded a little choked up at some point during our conversation. She wanted to know how my packing was coming along. I told her how I was rooting through everything, finding all of the good stuff to take, and how everything was a mess. Before she had to go she wished me good luck on my first year at college. I wished her good luck at..., and after a pause I said, 'your life.' I asked her how long she was scheduled for today, and she said from ten to 6:30. She told me that maybe she would call me tonight, or I could call her if I wanted to. I'll definitely call. She sounded so nice; I just wonder what ever gave her the notion to get up and call me. I'm really glad she did call because now I'll leave with a much better image of her than would be otherwise. I had still planned on writing her before but not until her birthday in January, but now it will be sooner.

Uncle Jon called too to see how I was getting along and to make sure that the Levi jeans he gave me fit. They did and I told him that I really appreciated them. It makes it so I can go a good ten days without having to do laundry, I wish. He said not to worry about laundry though, because that is what you get a girlfriend for and we laughed. It's funny because that's what I have been saying all along.

Friday, August 14, 1992

August 14, 1992 - Friday - Last day at Busch

It has been one pretty strange week. Everything I had hoped for never came to be, while things that I never even dreamed of came true. It all was rather interesting, and at the same time disappointing. Of course Kimmeth is who made it bad. She is all of the sudden very anti-me. I hardly even got a goodbye out of her, and today all she could do was give me a nice little punch in the arm. I asked her if that was supposed to be some kind of hint but she didn't get it. I called her house on Tuesday night after I got home. Her brother, Dan, answered. When he said that she wasn't there I asked if she had made it back from Ft. Lauderdale yet. He said that was the funny part, because she was supposed to be at the train station at 1:30 but she never showed up nor bothered to call. The next day I spread the word that maybe she's dead.

I came in early Thursday morning to see for myself. She was alive and well of course, so I talked with her for about forty minutes while she worked the unloading brake. She told me about meeting her ex-boyfriend's fiance. She's been so solemn lately. I would seem like she got fucked for the first time in a long time while on her little trip and it didn't do her much good. That's something I have thought about, how often does she have sex. I don't think she has too many real friends here in Tampa. She sort of admitted that to me once when she wasn't in too exciting of a mood. Anyway, I was talking to her later and our conversation wasn't going too well, and I ended up hanging up first. I called her back a while later and we seemed to have stuff to talk about that time. Sharlene took my place at Spillway at the same time I was on the phone with both Kim and Agnes. It took me a few minutes to get out of there. I guess I just don't understand the mind of a twenty-four year old as much as I would like to think I do.

Agnes has been a real good friend lately. Actually she's been nice all along. It seemed like she was always there when I needed to talk to someone. She always could read my thoughts and could tell how I felt about things. She asked me today when I was about ready to leave if I was really going to miss working there. I am, but I think that I'm going to have a pretty good time up at UF, so it's not all bad. It was raining the other day, and she and Myriam were out talking by the control panel. I had just come down from a lift and she tells Myriam that I am her new husband and we hugged. It was funny but I think it freaked Myriam out a little. I talked to her later and found out that she is 21 years old, I would have guessed 18 at the most. Anyway, Agnes is a friend that I will always greatly appreciate.

I accidentally noticed that Myriam doesn't shave her legs when she was taking her Flume test. It looks like she bleached them because her hair is a very fine blond, and very sparse. I told Paul and we got in trouble when we said something about it around Agnes. I told her that I accept the cultural difference and it doesn't really bother me, which is true. So she bitched at Paul. Amanda was up on the stairs so I look at her legs and made the comment that she must not shave either. She bopped me on the head and then kept throwing wet paper towels at me. It was funny. We then somehow started talking about Sharlene and who she likes. April had just come out and said that she knew because Sharlene told her. Agnes was going through names and I was telling why each one wasn't the one. My guess was between Mark and me, with the emphasis on Mark. April then said that it definitely wasn't Mark. Right then I was pretty sure it was me and knew how I was going to get it out of her. Sharlene had told me earlier that she had started a rumor about liking someone but I wasn't really paying attention because I thought she meant Mark. I had heard Andy trying to guess before. Anyway, Agnes, Amanda and I started surrounding her begging her to tell us. She wouldn't say anything while I was there so I backed off and a few seconds later she told them. I was close enough to hear most of what she said and then they all started giggling like girls do when they fight out something juicy. April then said that Sharlene said that she sort of likes this person, and sort of doesn't, which makes sense. When I asked Agnes and Amanda what she said they said, 'Oh, nothing!' This from the two girls who would normally tell me anything. I was almost assured that she said me.

With that in hand, I was very nice to Sharlene for the rest of the week. When she came in Wednesday night in street clothes with her roommate, I talked with her. She had just gotten her hair done and I complimented her almost immediately after she sneaked up on me. I think she was expecting me to say something bad about it and seemed glad when I was so nice. We were going to go look at cars for her tonight but her mom decided that she wanted to go with her, but not until next week. When I thought she liked Mark, I used to be very open with her about liking Kim. She kept making sarcastic remarks like maybe I can call Kim tonight or why aren't you talking to Kim. I made it as clear as possible that Kim and I weren't really talking much anymore. If she really did like me then it proves that the girls that like me are always right there under my nose, and that I always try to look too hard for something which is so often so close. If she didn't really like me, then oh well, I had fun talking with her. Oh yeah, she gave me her phone number : 931-0971.

I went in today to turn in all of my uniforms, and my ID and parking sticker. I also filled out a form that will let me get my job back this winter. I wore my Gator tank top and jean shorts. I went to the Flume to say goodbye to everyone. I stood around with Sharlene and with Rebecca for a few minutes. I also ran over to the little shop and bought a nice preservation T-shirt with my discount and script money while I still could. Frank then said he had to run over and get a new employee. I asked if she is cute and Sharlene hit me. But, by the way Frank was talking it sounded like it was a he. When Frank came back, he brought two pretty damn good looking blondes. I begged the supervisors for my job back. Mark and I drooled. I went back and talked to them both for a few minutes. I asked a couple of bullshit questions like if they both were going to work on the Flume, and if they were still in school. They were really nice though. I was pissed that the ride finally got some cute girls after I was leaving. Mark was bragging that since he is the only area instructor, he'll get to spend eight hours with each of them up in the lifts. Funny. Sharlene seemed a little touchy after that. Oh well.

I went to Bass this morning and bought me a pair of $69 leather walking boots. I also bought a hundred dollar Texas Instrument's graphing calculator for college. It's got some really neat stuff and I played with it for over two hours after I got home. I stopped by the emissions inspection station on the way home. I wanted to pass my car now so my mom can get my tag for me when the time comes. It passes with flying colors. One of the readings was 21 out of 220, and the other was 0.00 out of 1.2. And to think that it once failed. Those were better readings than my dad's 1984 Oldsmobile. Cool. I was happy. After I had been home for a little while, a white Camero pulls up into our driveway. It's Jennifer. She had once said that once she got a car that she was coming to get me. She drove me around the block once. She then gave me her address and we hugged and she told me that I had better write and send her a birthday card. I think it's in the beginning of March.

Jennifer Adams
8240 Ravencroft
Tampa, FL 33615

Well, Busch Gardens is over for now, and all of my strong emotional ties have been severed. Now I must jump into this giant pool of life that awaits me ahead.


Love, unconquerable,
Waster of rich men, keeper
Of warm lights and all-night vigil
In the soft face of a girl:
Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor!
Even the pure immortals cannot escape you,
And mortal man, in his one day's dusk,
Trembles before your glory.
- Sophocles

Tuesday, August 11, 1992

August 11, 1992 - Tuesday - Sharlene, Myriam

Today will be my seventh day straight working at Busch Gardens. When I first put Thursday, August 13th as my last day, I was under the assumption that I would have a couple of days off in between. But instead Alan scheduled me to work the entire last nine days. I'm seiously considering calling in tomorrow. Kim had five days off starting last Saturday and she told me that she was going to Ft. Lauderdale by train. She also said that if she's back by Wednesday maybe we could go hang at the beach or something. I was really being an asshole to her though. I guess I am tired of being hurt when a girl and I part and I was subconsciously trying to emotionally part from her. I'm really sorry that I did though and will apologize if she's home when I call her tonight. I later found out that she also asked Sharlene if she wanted to go to the beach on Wednesday. That winch.

At work on Friday I was talking to Brad and he told me that we have a new girl working for us who is visiting from France. When I heard that my eyes lit up because every French girl I've known has been extremely good looking. I asked him what she looked like. He said that she is kind of homely and hardly speaks much English. I went to replace her and Andy on the unloading brakes and he introduced us. Her name is Myriam and she's decent. If I wouldn't be leaving on Thursday, I would definitely be talking to her much more that I have been. Mark made the mistake of asking her a few questions when it was raining on Sunday and now she follows him around like a puppy. It was hilarious. Every time he would go into the back, or come out front, she would follow. And when he was talking to Andy she had her eyes on him the entire time. I was teasing Sharlene because I think she likes him. Later, Mark had to train her on the control panel and they were both scrunched up in the tiny booth. Frank and I were joking about it all and he grabbed Mark by the shoulder and told him to go get her. We were cracking up. When he sent them on unch, we watched to see what they would do. Mark started heading towards Vivi's and she up the stairs towards Das Festhaus. When she saw him go the other way she followed him over to the chain and said something, and they both went up the stairs. Frank, Andre, and I cracked up and I said that she really has him wrapped around her little finger.

I talked to her for a minute later on, asking her how long she was staying, and how long she had been here. She'd been here for about three weeks and leaves around September 18th. Andy joked that they only needed a new person for that long and it worked out perfectly. Frank came up and goes, 'I hate to interupt your conversation, Daniel.' and steals her. I go, 'Frank, get the hell out of my face!' although I couldn't say it with a straight face and we both laughed.

On Sunday I worked over on the Phoenix for about five hours starting at 9:15 in the morning. This guy named Charles was working and he told me to get ready because I'm going to see more cute girls here than on any other ride. The shoulder bars are designed perfectly for a girl with big tits and it makes for some pretty interesting situations since we have to check each one to make sure it's secure. He told me to make sure that I let the bar down easily on the girls because it will bruise them. I flirted a hell of a lot that day and had a great time doing so. When there were cute girls in a row I would go stand there and talk with them (or stare at them) until the ride started. Once ther was this gorgeous girl from Brazil and I was just sitting there. Charles got on the mike and goes, 'Wake up, Dan!' I laughed but kept making eye contact with her and laughing. It was fun. Every once in a while there would be a girl with huge tits in a really small bikini that would almost burst out between the bars. Time just flew by over there and I wouldn't mind working there again. Teri worked Charles' lunch and we talked some. When money fell, he told me to be non-chalant about picking it up but definitely to get it. Quarters kept falling on me everywhere and I collected $2.30. He was really pissed off because it all kept falling on my side which was unusual. One hit me right on the shoulder, it was like raining money.

When I got off, I walked over to the Flume, and Sharlene and Brad were in the lounge. She made me buy her a bag of Cheetos since I found so much money. She shared with me though. It had just started to pour and they shut down the Flume when we walked over. Alan made her sit in the control panel to listen for the phone so I stayed and talked until almost four. When I would get ready to leave she would tell me to stay some more so I did and had fun.

Saturday, August 1, 1992

August 1, 1992 - Saturday - Kim, Sharlene

Oh, where to begin, I haven't a clue. So much has happened in the past few days. I went to the beach and got a really good burn on Tuesday. I then was scheduled to work for the following three days before getting a four day weekend, which starts this morning.

Kim closed on Wednesday, and I was cutback, so I planned on trading with somebody so that I could stay and take Kim home. I asked Rebecca when she came in and she said sure, but didn't know if the supervisors would let us. I told her that they would let me, because I always get what I want. I did, too. I asked Frank later on and he said that we could but then he asked why? I told him that I only have two more weeks to save up for college and wanted to make as much money as possible. He laughed and said that was a good reason. I'm pretty sure that he wasn't expecting me to come up with that good of an excuse as fast as I did. I love how a guy who never could talk in front of people before is learning to manipulate things so well verbally. It's funny.

I talked my way around one of the toughest restrictions at Busch Gardens on Thursday. When I came in that morning Andy told me that I had to go to Wardrobe because somebody complained that my hair was too long. I knew that it was probably the top hanging over my eyes that they were talking about so I planned my defense right down to showing them the pictures of me from Leto. I was going to ask them how they let me work an entire month after those pictures were taken if my hair was so long then. Now it is much shorter but I didn't have to resort to that. Alan let me go on work time instead of during one of my breaks or lunch, for which I was grateful. He told me that it was probably my wave and just to comb it to the side. I went to the bathroom and did. When I got to Wardrobe the cute girl was there and I told her that I needed my hair checked. She went and got her supervisor who came out and looked at my hair and then says, 'I don't see anything wrong with it.' She even looked at my nametag and then at the paper, and asked me if I was Daniel Skinner. I said yes. We were talking the whole time and I said that it could have been a day that it was raining since my raincoat never had a hood. I was worried that they might think I had lost it and make me pay for it when I leave on August 13th. She smiled and told me that I should have come in sooner and she went and got me one. She then took me upstairs into the warehouse to see the other supervisor, Melissa, just to make sure. She asked if there was any reason why I couldn't get the one side cut like the other. I said no, but I was leaving in two weeks up to Gainesville, and would make an extra effort to keep it combed to the side. She agreed that they would let it slide and said that maybe the girl saw my long eyelashes, and not my hair. I sarcastically said, 'You mean that I have to get my eyelashes cut, too!' She quickly said no and we laughed. She then told me that I had to keep my hair out of my eyes so that I could keep eye contact with the guests. I told her that I do keep eye contact, since I just received a Service Olympic card, for which she congratulated me for. It all worked out exquisitely and then I got to rub it in to Andy and the couple of others who hoped I had to cut my hair. Ha ha. I have found that when you are in trouble, to always interject personal talk into the conversation, and to brag about yourself alot. I did and it worked. Yesterday in the lounge I saw the first supervisor and was telling her how I was valedictorian at Leto and had a 5.3 GPA. She thought that was wonderful and loves me now. It's good to have the people that can hurt you the most as your allies.

On Wednesday, I was relieving Agnes at Spillway. We were talking and as she was climbing down the stairs, she fell. She had a cup of water that it looked like she was going to pour on me so I grabbed it from her hand. As she was trying to get it back she slipped. I called platform so they could get her a nurse and she walked over. After she left I was really mad at myself for not thinking quicker and going with her. I was pretty upset but Kim talked me out of it, and later Agnes called me. She told me that she didn't tell them that we were horseplaying, and if I had to fill out an accident report, not to say anything either. She didn't want us to get in trouble. I asked her how she was and she said fine. I saw her Thursday morning and she was much better and I jokingly promised her that she could push me down the stairs later. We ended up working together on the unloading brakes later and talked the whole time. She said that when she came down, two black girls helped her and were telling her all kinds of stuff like she shouldn't be standing and all. She said that they scared her more than the fall. She said that later that night when she felt her baby kick again, that she felt much better. I never did have to fill out an accident report, and the whole thing was overshadowed by all of the other mishaps that went on that day.

One was the fact that a ten year old boy drowned over at Adventure Island in the Wave Pool. It was supposedly really crowded and the boy couldn't swim. There are four lifeguards at the pool and they said that one from the other side had to whistle to alert the one where the boy was. We heard that he is going through hell about that. What I don't understand is why none of the other people in the pool tried to the help the boy when he was screaming that he couldn't swim. Andy also fucked up really big. One of the jobs of the person at the panel is to make sure the boats don't get stuck at the bottom of Lift 1. He didn't notice until a woman was screaming and twelve boats were stuck! I was like how the hell could you let twelve boats back up and not notice it. He really got yelled at for that and kept having to answer questions about it to the other supervisors and to Shirley for a while. It was funny. The waster in the trough had nowhere to go so it was pouring over the edge out into the grass. It was like a flood. I haven't seen that much clean water flowing like that since our neighbors' above-ground pool broke and gushed into our backyard. This happened right before Agnes fell.

Anyway, Kim went up to Lift 2 son after I went to Spillway and called me. We talked for a while before she wanted to hang up for a bit but I was telling her she couldn't. I called her later and asked her what I did and she said that I was annoying her. I told her fine and hung up. I called again later and asked if I was allowed to talk to her yet, and she said sure. I asked her why I had annoyed her and she was teasing me asking why I wanted to know. I told her that really bothers me and I want to make sure that I don't do whatever I did to annoy her again. She told me not to worry about it, she was only talking about when I wouldn't let her hang up. We then talked and had fun until closing. Neither one of us had a watch and it would have been hell sitting by myself doing nothing. We were being really funny. She complained about someone splashing, so I tell her that I think that the way people act on the ride tells alot about their personality. Actually I was coming up with most of the diagnoses. The people that splash until they see us up in the box are cheaters who pretend they are wonderful but do bad things when you're not looking. I said that they are likely to have affairs on their husbands or wives. One group of people were either responsible or illiterate. She really liked my explanation and we laughed about that one for a long time. She asked about those guys that grab their girls on the boobs (her word). I told her that they are either aggressive or possessive, wanting all of the other guys to know that she is his and not to flirt with her. He could also be insecure thinking that if he doesn't put her in an awkward situation, she might flirt with the other guys. That was funny, too. She then tells me once how she saw a guy holding the girl right by the nipples the entire way up Lift 2. She then says, 'Ouch!' I though that was funny.

We talked until the last boat passed me by and we said bye. I went down to the screen and found, along with all of the hats, a dollar bill. I waited for Kim and we walked to the back. Alan told us all goodbye and then Kim sticks up her thumb asking me for a ride. I knew she would which is why I hadn't asked earlier. I told her that since I had a dollar now, we could stop somewhere for fries. She laughed and we left. We walked out and sat with Paul to wait for the tram to take us to Treetops. The guy driving the tram was the one that had told me jokes before, and he was trying to get a sing along going. We ended up singing Old MacDonald. Kim and I went to Wendy's. I guess some other people from Busch Gardens had already been in because they asked us why we were so late. We ordered fries, a Frosty, and a Coke for her. We went and sat down front by the window and talked. I reminded her that she had promised me and address over fries where I could write her and bitch at her from college. She pulled out a little paper tablet and wrote:

Kimmeth S. Powell
3420 E. Powhattan Ave.
Tampa, FL 33610-1615

We actually talked the entire way back to her house this time.

We were on the phone again on Thursday for a while. I was there until closing, and when we went down to one channel, Kim and Rebecca changed and rode the ride. Bryan called me up and told me that they were coming so I opened my ice chest. They both ducked down all of the way in their seats and I didn't see them until they were going by. I was pissed and yelled out, 'Shit, dammit!' really loud. I hurried up and called Paul and after a little coaxing, convinced him to dump his cooler on them. Usually the newer people won't do it but he did. It was beautiful. Before they went up the hill I was just leaning against the railing looking at them and Rebecca laughed at me while Kim blew me two kisses. I later told Kim that I was surprised that the two of them thought up a way to trick me all by themselves. Actually I was impressed but won't ever fall for it again.

I turned my Service olympic card in on Wednesday to the Human Resources Office. The girl that works there is really cute with long black hair. I have seen her in the lounge before but have never talked to her. I was trying to be cute and talk to her, and she has a really awesome country accent. Now when we see each other in the hallway we both say hi. Terri from Timbuktu and I still say hi every time we see each other now. It's funny, I hope I get a chance to really talk to either one of them again soon.

I then went to the Service Olympics breakfast in the Festhaus on yesterday morning at 7:30. I went in jean shorts and my dolphin T-shirt from Sea World. There were a lot of people there from the offices. It was OK but the food really sucked. I went and sat near this really cute girl who was sitting with this nerdy guy. We talked a little bit. She works in food service. I was going to try to talk her into running around with me for a little while before I had to go to work but I didn't get the chance. Three ladies from the offices sat on the other side of me. Two of them were really good looking. I talked with them for a little while and found out that Busch Gardens is planning on completely redoing the Festhaus into a non German theme. That sucks, I really liked it the way it was. Oh well. I didn't win any of the door prizes either. Afterwards I went over to the lounge by the Flume and read the newspaper. Paul came in at 9:15 and didn't have to be in until ten. We talked for a while. We've been talking about all of the girls and about college and all lately. Yesterday he saw Alan's wife for the first time and was thoroughly disgusted. He just couldn't get over how gross she is. It's funny. After he left I went and called Kim from the payphone. It was her day off and we talked for a little while before I had to go change into my work clothes. She had said about calling me at lunch but I never got to tell her what time it was.

I've been having a lot of fun with Sharlene lately. I really don't tease her at all. I did however put eleven cents down her shirt when she replaced me on the unloading brakes yesterday. Later on I asked for it back but she said that she spent it. She then asked me if I wanted the penny and I held out my hand. She gave it to me and we laughed. She called in on Tuesday and Wednesday again. A couple of people, mainly Rebecca and Mark, were complaining that she calls in or comes in late all of the time but since she and Frank are friends, nothing happens. We have been talking about that lately and how she hates it when people talk behind someone's back. She said that's one thing she likes about me, if I have something to say, I come right out and say it. I told her how it really doesn't bother me if she calls in or not. Later on we were saying something when the ride was shut down and she goes 'That's because your my friend.' Awww, how sweet! I told her that she's right, if I weren't here friend I wouldn't let her hit on me all the time like she does and we laughed.