Wildcard Wednesday
Blog Buddies -- First Impressions

I thought it might be fun to call out the people I know read my blog at least from time to time. But if I don't mention you and you'd like me to, leave a comment. Anyway, the following are the all who I know have read because they've commented enough times for me to remember or you have told me you read my blog. Your names (in alphabetical order) are followed by either how I first met you or my first memory/story of you. But if you have a different one, I'd be fascinated to hear it!

Amber: I met Amber on a student bus at the University of Michigan since we both lived in the Northwoods. I think I may have been reading something with Neil Gaiman's name on it and she recognized the author. And talking about books is probably the quickest way to become my friend. I happened to see her a lot since we seemed to have similar schedules so after a while we just decided to hang out somewhere other the bus.

Brian: I was visiting Gilpatrick house for reasons I can't recall but may have had to do with my then fencing buddy (I think her name was Erin?). Brian was living there at the time. He had a beard. I have found over the years that the beard comes and goes but I believe it is always there--lurking below the surface. I remember he also had a dragon puppet. I tried to abscond with said dragon puppet. I was foiled. But somehow he still thought it wise to invite me to live in Gilpatrick House a year or two later. Perhaps he'd forgotten I was an inveterate dragon abductor?

Becky: Saw her many times while I was living in Gilpatrick. Often reading in the lounge. Took me several weeks if not months to realize she and Brian were siblings. I remember it clicked when I realized they both had the same last name on their doors. Becky enjoys 3D puzzles and a sort of indirect but very good first memory of her is when I first stepped into Gilpatrick after just coming back from France. I was still readjusting and feeling a bit of reverse culture shock, so I felt I was in just the right place when, on entering the lounge, a 3D puzzle of the Eiffel Tower and of Notre Dame (with a Quasimodo on top) were present.

Dejah: We met in a class in grad school but for the life of me I cannot recall which one. Clearly she was more memorable than the class. I remember we had stats together, which I dropped. Still sorry for leaving our stats group, but I don't regret dropping. Should have done it sooner.

My sister: I am told that, upon first seeing me, my sister slapped me and screamed "Take her back!" But we get on much better now, I assure you. I tried to think back if I had an oldest memory of her but there wasn't anything I could pinpoint. Far too many. She's just always been there. And I can appreciate that far more now than I could when we were screaming and pulling each other's hair as children.

Sarah: I'm fond of this story and probably told it to her too many times, but I was having a bit of a bad day and was all alone in my room in Gilpatrick when Sarah knocked on my door and asked if I was interested in scones and board games. Who wouldn't be? Sarah's one of the primary reasons I came to love Gilpatrick.

Stephen: Hmm...I honestly cannot remember. We were in middle school together but I don't think we started hanging out much until High School since I was friends with Joni and Kelly and he would eat lunch with us sometimes. Then I'd invite him to my birthday parties. Everyone remembers the pinatas! Don't know why I ever bothered to do anything else.

Thomas: I decided to join a meet-up group to make some local friends. The first meet-up I attended was at a sushi restaurant. My sister and I arrived early but ended up sitting different places at the table. I was more toward the center whereas she was at the end. He arrived late and sat at the end of the table by my sister and I noticed they talked a lot about computers. I don't think I said more than a few words to him that night, if any.

Tim: At lunch with my middle school writing team, two people entered the room at the same time. A dark-haired girl and a painfully blond haired boy--like eye-wateringly bright blond hair. One of them was introduced as Zelish. I thought it was the boy and assumed he was foreign. He sat next to me and said "Hey, wanna see something cool?" Then he partially blew up his plastic Ziploc bag, put a raisin on it, and slammed down his hand and the raisin went flying. He laughed hysterically, clearly pleased. I wondered if maybe he was a bit "special." I also actually wondered if he was hitting on me which was rare for my middle school self because I had extremely low self-esteem. I decided if he was hitting on me, I wanted him to stop. He insists he doesn't remember any of this. Three years later, we were dating.