Another college flashback...

I decided that I needed to occasionally blog about my college days at BYU (before I get really old and can't remember anything from 10 years ago).

When I was a freshman, I was completely retarded and didn't apply for housing in a timely manner. Consequently, I ended up living in the commons room for four months. The commons room was a giant room that was located on every floor of the dorms at Deseret Towers. It was intended as a common room (oddly enough) for the entire floor to share for things like hanging out, watching riveting BYU Television documentaries for assorted science and history classes, etc. However, in an emergency it could be converted into sleeping quarters for 4 people, complete with chalkboard and very limited closet space. Now, it wasn't a totally horrible setup- it definitely had that slumber party, "what's-yours-is-mine" feel to it and I did end up living with 2 girls who are my lifelong friends- Amy and Jen (Jen being the Jen who encouraged me to start this blog...) but the one huge drawback of the commons room was that it had no windows. It was located smack in the middle of the building. If you turned out the lights in that place and shut the door you could have been on the moon for all you knew. It was brutal coming out of that place into any sort of light in the morning. Shield your retina, they will be fried. Good thing I never had a class before 9am...The other quirk was that it had two doors- one on each side of the room and each led out into opposite hallways of the main floor. Me and Jen and Amy got along so well and had so much fun in that room, but over time we became the joke of U Hall, 5th floor (?). Everyone kinda thought we were weirdos as they would poke their heads into our cave and ask us "How can you live in here?" So to further bond our little sisterhood of windowless souls, we got a little cocky. First we got a motto: "We don't have windows and you don't understand." Then we put a sign on each door that said, "Please use other door." Many a fellow floor-mate would read the sign on one and then walk all the way around the elevators to the complete other side, only to read the same sign. I remember the RA was not amused. But who cares? We were! And that is all that matters :) I "posted" my very first top ten lists on the outside of those doors. A very primitive old school door "blog" you might say. And in fact, I dug thru an old Tupperware bin marked "sentimental" and found a copy of one of those lists. So here it is- Jen and Amy- this one is for you :) (And let me just say also that that Tupperware bin has more blog fodder in it than I can even tell you. Good times :)

From 1997....

TOP TEN SURPRISES FOUND IN MERRIL J. BATEMAN'S NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHY
(He was the president of BYU at the time)

10. Favorite Movie: Short Circuit
9. Likes to hide in the Tree of Life sculpture, jumping out and tackling those whose shorts are too short
8. Sometimes 'sleepwalks' and mysteriously finds himself playing with the library construction crane in the wee hours of the morning
7. His mother? Half-puma.
6. Can do a mean shadow puppet of President Hinckley
5. Defending Quorum of the 70's "Slam Dunk Champion" three years running
4. Gets a kick out of spelling his last name without the 'E'
3. The J in his name? Really stands for Julio
2. Still giggles each time he passes the naked Indian statue
1. His most commonly pondered question: "Who's this Brigham Young guy, anyway?"

My 5-year-old holding the list. Crazy. She knows good humor when she reads it...

And the best part: Handwritten on the top ten list is this note: *Number 8 written by Jen Harris. Awesome.

AND, this list was typed using the word processing typewriter we all shared that semester. Double awesome.