Jennifer Aniston in CMU apparel!

Here, we have a photo of Jennifer Aniston starring in the upcoming film for the book “Marley & Me.”

Aniston is co-starring with Owen Wilson in the moive.

For those that don’t know, the book’s author John Grogan is a Central Michigan University grad.

As a recent CMU alum, it is awesome to see Aniston wearing some Central Michigan apparel because: 1) I went there, 2) probably not many people know about CMU and 3) she’s hot!

[Photo via Adam Graham blog]

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Weekend recap: 4/24 - 4/29 - Part II

Friday was spent recovering for the most part.

I attended the CM Life banquet with some of the people I work with at the paper.

It was a good time.

I never really partied much with them, but I had a lot of fun.

Saturday was the grand daddy of them all: Reggaefest!!!

Technically, it’s called “Rock-n-Reggae,” but no one calls it that.

It’s held on this Indian reservation about 15 minutes outside of Mount Pleasant.

You can go there and basically do whatever you want.

It’s kinda like a giant outdoor tailgate/party/Woodstock-type deal.

People bring kegs, blankets, grills, chairs, food, beer and uh, other stuff.

My buddies Paul and Robert were scheduled to make the trip.

The plan was to leave our place around 10 a.m. and get there about 11 a.m.

Since Paul and Robert were at the Tigers game the night before, we were skeptical about them making on time.

Schulte went to down to Michigan State the night before and we were worried that he was gonna miss out too.

O ye of little faith! They did make it and we were off in plenty of time. Schulte met us there.

It was an amazingly gorgeous day!

70 degrees and sunny. We really couldn’t ask  for much more than that!

It’s really a great atmosphere to be in.

Everyone is partying, everyone is having a good time.

The reggae-style music really puts everyone in a good mood too.

To reference John Lennon, it’s kinda like “instant karma.”

Reggae really is an end-of-the-year tradition for CMU students.

But the great thing about it, is that it’s not just for CMU students. Everyone can experience it.

Man. It was one of the best times I’ve ever had.

I was smiling all day.

And while I was pretty much intoxicated from the moment of arrival, I remembered to take it all in.

“This is it,” I kept telling myself.

I told my friends that I loved them and how glad I was that they were there with me.

It was a celebration.

Some people just wanted to celebrate getting all messed up.

For me, I celebrated for a lot of reasons.

My best friends.

My college career coming to an end.

But just life in general.

Celebrating being alive.

I’ll never forget these memories.

~ Mike D

What a long strange trip its been…

Well, it’s all over now.And it went by way too fast.

I’m referring to this past week.

But in reality, I’m talking about the past five years.

But this past week is what the past five years has led up to.

There was a culmination factor involved.

A certain feeling that, “This is it.”

And it was.

It was my last weekend as an undergrad student at Central Michigan.

There was so much anticipation involved.

At the same time, there was anxiety involved too.

One of those times you can’t wait to happen, but realize that after it’s gone, there is no more.

As I sit here and write this on Sunday night, I have come to the realization that it is in fact over.

I have three finals this week.

I graduate on Saturday.

It really is over, isn’t it?

I am so scared.

You have no idea.

I am deathly scared.

Not only am I scared, I’m worried.

I’m nervous too.

But, the feeling that is most overwhelming at this point is sadness.

I am so sad, I almost can’t describe it.

So sad to say that this five-year journey is just about over with.

However, none of these emotions I have described to you should EVER be confused with regret.

I do not regret one single thing in these past five years.

In the words of the late Hunter S. Thompson, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

The ride HST was referring to is called life.

The ride I am referring to is called college.

And what a long, strange trip its been…

~ Mike D

A-N-T-S-Y!!!

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

I am in a 100% party mood right now!

I just got out of class about an hour ago after I finished my presentation, which went extremely well, thank you very much.

When I walked out of the door, I was blinded by the light (kinda like that Manfred Mann song).

“What the hell?” I thought. Is that…is that the sun?!

As I began walking, I couldn’t believe how nice it was outside.

The sun was out, it wasn’t raining and I wasn’t wearing a hoodie.

62 degrees!!!!! Awesome.

I walked from Anspach to Moore, just people watching as I usually do.

I have to say, everyone was looking great.

I was wearing a t-shirt. Some girls were wearing less, which damn-near made my day.

Then I came to the realization that this was going to be one of the last times I walk around on campus.

I know, I know. It sounds corny. But I just can’t help think like that lately.

I mean, I really do love CMU.

I remember the first time I realized it.

It was a really nice spring day, similar to this one, probably about two years ago.

It was early evening, probably around 6 p.m. or so and I was walking by the library.

There weren’t many people walking around, just a few here and there.

I looked around me and the sun was starting to go down.

And I don’t know why, but I remember just smiling to myself.

It was kinda surreal. You don’t really know why those moments happen, but they just do.

That’s when I knew. I realized that this is where I belonged, right then, right there at that very moment.
 
And I stopped. I stopped and I stood there and I took it in. There was no question in my mind.

And there isn’t any doubt in my mind right now as I sit here any type this.

This place has been such a big part of my life, I think it’s only natural.

But as I think these things, I just remind myself to enjoy it.

Not only enjoy it, but take it all in and absorb it.

I want to remember every single little detail possible. I want to hold these memories forever.

I want to remember things like walking to class. I want to remember the people I’ve met.

I want to remember going to the bar and parties. I want to remember hanging out in my apartment.

And yeah, I even want to remember my classes, no matter how hard they were.

I do not want to take ANYTHING for granted.

To me, times like these are going to define who I am as a person and a man.

No, I’m not talking about the whole walking on campus thing. But it all ties in to my point in a way, I suppose.

About a month ago, I told my roommate Jeff, ”These next few weeks are going to determine the rest of our lives and who we are.”

I’m not sure if he agrees with me completely, but he did agree to the importance of what is happening to us.

Graduating college, getting our degrees, moving on to the next chapter of our lives.

I think I talk about it so much because I know it’s inevitable.

Another weekend is here. Another week has gone by.

Dates fly off the calendar before you can even realize it.

Two weeks left and this chapter will be closed.

I want it to be the best two weeks of my life.

I want to remember everything…every single little detail, not matter how small.

It’s been one hell of a ride already…

~ Mike D

Do I Have to Graduate?

Tests. Classes. Teachers. Grades. Homework. GPA. Diplomas. Degrees.

Eighteen years.

Nine years of grade school, four years of high school and soon-to-be five years of college. Eighteen damn years I’ve been dealing with this school non-sense. But, I’m almost done.

To be completely honest about it, I can’t believe I made it this far. I’m one of the worst students I know. Some of it’s my fault, I know, but I can’t help but think that some of it isn’t. I promise you that I’m the worst test-taker in the history, no matter how much I study. But, I made it this far.

And in four short weeks, it will all be over. Scary. I can’t help but sit here and *shake my head.* Where did the time go? It’s kind of hard for me to deal with sometimes.

I remember feeling like this when I graduated from high school. You don’t really want to leave, but you know that your time has come. When I graduated from high school, I knew I would be going to college. When I graduate from college I know…..I’ll be…..moving home? That’s about my only certainty right now.

It’s a strange feeling not knowing what comes next. Really scary. I mean, what can you do? Sure, I’m doin the whole applying for jobs thing. But, there’s a part of me that’s thinking, “Do I have to graduate? Can’t I stay? No! Don’t make leeeeeaaaave!”

I know every college graduate goes through it. Some of my friends can’t wait to graduate. I feel like that on occasion. The whole thing is very bitter-sweet.

I never thought I would say this, but damn it, this place is a part of me. Mount Pleasant…well, not so much Mount Pleasant…but CMU. (Seriously, I hate this shit-ass hick town.) But, Central has a piece of my heart forever. Going to college here has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me.    

Not only did I get the opportunity to go to college, I found something that I believe is my calling in life: writing.

It’s really crazy how I came to be a journalism major. I never, ever thought about writing seriously before college. When I got here, I thought I was going to be a computer science major. Stop laughing! 

Sounds cheesy to say, but I truly believe that fate had something to do with it. But I am so very glad it did happen, because damn! I really do love it when it works. Writing, that is. When it works, it’s the best feeling in the world. You just want to go, “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeoooohh!” Yeah, I like it.
   
Man…I made a lot friends here. More than I ever imagined. Some were pretty cool, some were full of shit. It’s easy to tell the difference for me. But I know who is true and who isn’t. Fortunately for me, I did make some true friends.

Friends. That’s what I’ll miss the most. For me, that’s what school is and was all about. School may be for 18 years, but true friends will be for a lifetime.

And the females! Ahhhhhhhhh! Don’t get me started. Geeeeez. Quite possibly my favorite thing about college, to be straight up with you. Do you blame me? You better not…hater.

I don’t know. Maybe this whole schooling thing actually does work.  I always had so many doubts. I always talked shit about school. It’s just such a long, on-going process that lasts almost your entire life. My view was that school is just a means to an end. Get your degree, get a job. Work the rest of your life. I always preferred the idea of street smarts over book smarts.

But there’s so much more…so much more to college than classes and tests. I finally learned that. College doesn’t just teach you about B.S. that you learn in your classes. College can teach you about life if you let it.

Maybe you just have to realize that school isn’t the most important thing in life.

I remind myself to take a step back once in a while. Put things in perspective.

The best thing in life, is life.

~ Mike D