Friends

Well, right now it's 2:10 AM. Yeah, I'm in college. I just got back from watching "Braveheart" with my friends. It was very cool: we had my TV and iPod speakers up in the dining hall. We were the only people there, and all the lights were out except for one back row. We moved tables around and had this big clear spot. So we start this thing at like 9:30, and there's about 10 of us. Somehow, the word got out, and by the time the movie was over, there were 23 of us watching it! It was so much fun, and now I'm going to introduce you guys to my friends at Houghton. There are two different groups of people that I associate myself with, and divide my time between: Goldenberries and Algenes. The Goldenberries are my small group from Highlander. I'll talk about them when I go back to talking about the rest of Highlander, which will be this week. But tonight, I'm going to tell you about the Algenes.

The name 'Algenes' is a combination of two things. 'Nalgene' is the brand of water bottle that we all used on Highlander. It's also part of my nickname: Dan Nalgene, because Joyce and I met on Highlander during Nalgene Gold (the capture the flag game). Also, Big Al's is the restaurant in the basement of the campus center where we've hung out a lot. We also had Joyce's birthday party there. So Algene comes frome Nalgene and Al. Below is a picture of us that was Joyce's birthday present from the group:

(Left to right) 4th Row: Josh, Mark. 3rd row: Zeke, Garrett. 2nd Row: Adam, Brian, Elisa. 1st Row: Me, Kaylee, Lindsay. Not pictured: Steve, Joyce

Josh is the top-left guy who's got his arm around Mark. He's a really tech-savvy guy: he took this picture and made it look awesome. He also composes music on his computer. It's really good. He was the most recent person to join our group. Next to him is Mark. Mark has a sweet laugh and a car. The two of us went to the dollar store that day to get stuff for Joyce's party. He also wears a ring that he made of Starburst wrappers, and made one for me and one for Kaylee.

Josh is leaning on Zeke's shoulder. Zeke is a pretty nice guy. He's going to London with me, along with Adam, Lindsay, and Steve. He says some pretty awkward things, and is "that guy" a lot of the time, but hey, we're all "that guy" at one point or another. Next to him is Garrett. Garrett is nice too, except he's got bad ideas sometimes. But sometimes he's got good ideas, like last week, when we all watched "Silence of the Lambs" on Lindsay's laptop. In the middle of the soccer field. I say that Garrett was smart, because he wasn't there! It truly was terrifying, but I had fun. Garrett watched "Braveheart" with us tonight, and sat next to me, and that was very nice.

The guy sitting above me is Adam. He's my room mate. He's very nice. A little socially awkward, but he is homeschooled. (Actually, I shouldn't really go after homeschooled kids, just because there's so many of them!) But I do like Adam, and we've been getting along great. Next to Adam, smack in the middle of everyone is Brian. Brian is the one who gave me the nickname Dan Nalgene. He's a really funny guy, and he's got such a heart for the Lord, which is awesome. He's also a music major. Yeah, one of those guys. The girl with the hat is Elisa. She's Joyce's room mate, and we have two very cool things in common. First off, she loves Calvin and Hobbes. So I was sold there. Secondly, we discovered that we both play and know big band music! It was so weird to run into someone my age who wasn't in Sugar and Jazz, but knew Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, and the rest. We talked about songs and styles all the time. She is very fun and witty.

In the bottom corner is me. You know me, or at least I hope you do, because if you're reading this and you don't know me, then that's weird. Stop reading this. Next to me is Kaylee. She has a sick nasty (that means good) singing voice, and can yodel!!! She's very nice as well. Next to her is Lindsay. Her last name is Houghton, but that has nothing to do with Houghton college at all. Nevertheless, we call her Houghton Girl, or H.G. Lindsay, Adam, and Elisa are in my Advanced Composition class.

Not pictured are Joyce and Steve. Joyce isn't pictured, because this was a surprise gift for her. Steve isn't pictured because he's lame and forgot to meet us. So here they are! First is Joyce:

This is what she looked like when everyone yelled "surprise" at her surprise party. Joyce is a lot of fun. She's funny and gullible, which makes her even more funny. Like, when I brought her to her surprise party, for the split second between when she saw everyone crouching down under the table to when they all yelled "surprise", she was like, "ooh, is this like a game?" It was great. She's very friendly, and nice to talk to. And this is Steve. Since he forgot the picture, I get to post an awkward picture of him:

Yessir. There he is. This is when we were setting up Joyce's party. He's wearing a blue streamer as a necklace, and is also wearing a tiara and beads that Kaylee brought for Joyce. Steve is cool. He's going to London with me. The thing that he's known for is that his last name is Corell. It's spelled differently than the guy pictured below, but pronounced the same way. It's awesome.

"Ian, would you like to go to the party in my pants?"

And now, here are some pictures of us doing stuff, because that's what I feel like showing you, because we're intense. All of these were taken by Josh and Adam. Next post, I'll get back to Highlander, including pictures. Peace.

Me, Brian, and Garrett flipping a couch that Elisa was sitting in. We flipped it all the way back, and she fell out. Lindsay tried to save her (second pic), but failed miserably. Good times.

Kaylee wowed everybody at karaoke night. We all saw her perform before we "met" her, so she was like a mini-celebrity when she joined our merry band of outlaws.

Elisa doing homework in the campus center. Note the intense concentration.

Brian doing homework at Big Al's. Note the intense pain.


Originally, this was the photo that we were going to give to Joyce. Actually, that's not true at all. It's just Josh testing the lighting. But we look ridiculous.

Brian and Joyce laying out on the quad, and Garret, who looks way too casual as he heads right for them...


Adam: Zeke, why are you in a tree?

Zeke: I'm the ultimate defender of Houghton!

Adam: Ah.

Steve being seductive. Or something like that.


Joyce while we were singing. I can't tell if this is an "oh my god i'm so surprised" expression, or if we just sucked at singing and she was covering her ears.

Elisa, Mark, and me setting up the party.