It was Dave's 25th birthday. We were at Susan's Apt in Ann Arbor. Dave had been drinking pretty steadily all night. Kate and I made Dave a particularly strong drink. We put every type of alcohol in the drink along with a splash of coke.



At some point we sung Happy Birtday and cut the cake. Due to crowd request, I cut loose on the second half of the song and sung "Happy Fucking Birthday Muther Fucker." It was pretty hillarious, Dave's parents were there and everything.



Later that night right before Dave puked over the balcony, I got him to sing "Zombie" by The Cranberries. I knew this was going to be pretty interesting, Dave couldn't even stand up, let alone sing. I was stone cold sober because I was driving Kate home. Both Dave and I mumbled our way through the song. I mumbled because I just mumble, Dave was mumbling because he was waisted. Dave spent most of the song laying on his back trying to sing into the microphone which was on the ground somewhere in the . . . Read More..

So I wanted to take the initiative for Susan to meet my grandma early,
because if I didnt organize some kind of meeting I was thinking that
she would never get to meet her before our wedding.



See my grandma lives all the way down in Naples Florida, and I know my
Grandma Renne cannot travel to come see our wedding this upcoming
February.



So I found some dirt cheap plane tickets and bought them.  As the trip
got closer and closer my parents had some heated discussions with me
about how I need to rent a car.  But the prices were more than my plane
ride and I refused to pay 450 dollars for a damn rental car.



So we flew out there with no rental, but I organized a nice car to pick us up.  It was 50 bucks to get to grandmas house.



I think once we got there, we immediately went to the beach and took
some of our first pictures.  I think Susan was already in love with
Florida. She had been down here in the past for spring break, but never
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I don't remember much about this day. What I do remember is that my Dad let me drive his Suburban. I drove through Chestnut Hills and on to Maybee Road headed towards Dixie Highway. I probably drove to Todd Bauer's house. I remember as I was turning onto Maybee that I just had this incredible feeling of independence. It is a feeling like nothing I have felt before or since. It was genuinely a rite of passage for me. It's funny how you just want to grow up when you are young and be independent but then as you get older you wish you had less obligations and that someone could take care of your needs. As I drove out of my subdivision I was making the transition from my youth to adulthood.

Back in the day, Garbage Pail Kids (GPKs) were the hottest thing. I remember that they were banned from school and I can't remember why. I don't know if it was because they were such a big distraction or if it was because they were so gross. Well, one day in the midst of they hype, my Dad came home with a whole box of 5th series GPKs! Kevin and I were so geeked. I think we got the whole set from that box. Sometimes Dad would come home with the coolest of surprises.

In 1985 I asked Santa for an Atari. I had played it at My uncle's house and some friend's houses. On Christmas morning, I received a Nintendo instead. I think I was initially disappointed because I had never heard of a Nintendo and I wanted an Atari. However, as soon as my dad hooked it up and started it, I was wowed. I remember playing Super Mario brothers and remembering that this was the arcade game I played last time we went to Florida. I distinctly remember dying on the first mushroom when I played for the first time.

My dad went all out, buying the deluxe package for the Nintendo. It contained R.O.B. the robot with the game "Gyromite", the gun with "Hogan's Alley" and "Duck Hunt" and two controllers and "Super Mario Brothers". You just can't buy a package that cool anymore. I was instantly hooked and I am still a gamer to this day.

I remember that we were the first people I knew to have a Nintendo and my friends wanted to come over to play it all the time. Way to go Dad!