31 May 2003 - 9:49 p.m.
Well. I went up to my old college to visit on graduation day, about a week ago. Those of you who have been following this journal probably remember the entry where I talked about why I don't like going to things like graduation ceremonies, and how I probably wasn't going to this one. So the morning of, that was still pretty much the case. Really, on one had even mentioned it to me except for the Queen of Torts several weeks prior, and the Ferret, who was going up herself, which was a surprise to most. But of course, I myself have been in an unmotivated rut for, honestly, years now, so I was really gonna just stay home.
So, I begin my daily routine of reading the online journals of all the people I'm not really in touch with anymore, and I make my usual stop at the journal of my friend the GM, who's walking in the aforementioned graduation. He talks about all the people who are up visiting, and how he really wishes I was one of them. We met on his first day at Bard, and he felt bad that I wasn't going to be there to close the circle. Then I realized: So did I. And for the first time in ages, I must say, I was moved. It occurred to me that, really, I was just being a big unmotivated dork, and it was really time to get over it. Special thanks to the GM for getting me out of the damn house.
So I checked in with Tech Support and got the time and location of the thing, without actually saying I was gonna show up, and I hit the road. One obligatory speeding ticket later (I knew this was coming--it's part of upstate New York) I was there, waiting for the damn ceremony to end (it ran about an hour and a half longer than Tech Support had estimated), my element of surprise intact. Then there was shouting and hugs and ice cream and details, and it was time to go.
It's rare that you live a day with a theme, but I think we were all feeling something very similar: closure. Aside from the fact that, obviously, it was a graduation, even those of us who had left long ago were closing the door on something that may have been an era. I felt more like myself than I have for a while, and for once, I'm curious to see what the future has in store. Weird.
Footnote: While the day contained a great many wonderful hugs, there are three that I feel deserve special mention. In chronological order:
A) My Sophomore year roommate, Hardcore Dan (one of those rare people with a perfect nickname). In his traditional animated style, clutching a cup of coffee, the motherfucker nearly knocked me over. Seriously. He literally leapt at me. It was great.
B) The GM, whose heartfelt words had got me there in the first place. Never a more passionate gentlemen's hug have I seen.
C) The lovely Sif, with whom I spent a lot of the day. Her tight goodbye embrace really didn't want to end. It was really nice to feel so wanted.
Jesus, this entry wasn't funny at all. I'll have to edit it later and add in some monkeys or something. (Or just fix my crappy writing. God, my grammar goes straight to hell when I'm being genuine.)
Back, to the caverns of history - Onward, to glory!
