The O.C.

After an estimated 27 hours of driving and 1560 miles, Kia and I returned home this afternoon. We spent last night in scenic (read: not scenic) Terre Haute, IN. Its one redeeming feature is that it is home to Indiana State University, where Larry Bird played his college ball. His birthday is December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. He is from French Lick, IN.

Larry Bird aside, our travels took us to Oberlin, then to Rochester, and finally back to St. Louis, Misery. That's not a typo: it is truly miserably hot here. Yes, that being said, all was well in Oberlin for our cluster reunion. I still do a double-take everytime I see the new Science Center, because it just looks kind of out of place. It's so new, so modern, so...damn big. But it's beautiful, and it kind of makes me wish I had done a few more majors so I could still be going to school there.

Our class kind of had a weak turn-out. But it's just as well -- fewer people trying to jam themselves into the Black River Cafe, which is where the soon-to-be-famous list was born. You should go to Dave's blog for more information on said list. Needless to say, I'm winning. And Black River is still as good as ever.

....ok, I just Googled "Black River Cafe" for a potential link to the restaurant website, stumbled upon something entitled "A Rough Guide to Dining at Oberlin," and there found a link to an article entitled "Sleeping with Freshmen" by one Charles Haine, apparently published in some Oberlin publication. This I find remarkably ironic and hilarious, as much of the weekend was devoted to hearing Dave describe in vivid detail how he was going to punish Mr. C. Haine for previous wrongdoings. Mr. Haine also mentions "Kicking and Screaming" in his article, which is also hilarious on so many levels. Well, maybe 2. It's certainly worth a read.

Anyway, Oberlin was Oberlin. Apart from a few changes here and there, it was what it was. There was frisbee, there was guitar playing, there was wiffle ball (which managed to injure both ABL and Kia). We encountered some guys who were apparently alums and who were apparently both lawyers. They invited us out on North Quad for drinks. One of them was very intrigued by my haircut. When more people came along, they seemed to be bored with us.

Kia and I slept in a single bed in East. I can honestly say that's the most time I've ever spent in that building. There's something about it that makes it constantly feel deserted. But we weren't there much, so no harm, no foul.

The feeling I got from the reunion hit me yesterday on the drive home. Kia recently bought a best of the Counting Crows album, and their song "Recovering the Satellites" seemed to sum up what it is about reunions. Not the lyrics of the song necessarily, who the hell knows what Adam Duritz is saying anyway. No, just the title. After graduation, we were symbolically spread throughout the country and the world, gathering information and stories and ideas, and then reunion comes around and we all come back (or at least that's the idea). I feel like I have this network of people all over the place, people I could potentially visit or stay with or learn from about other places. It feels good to have so many of these "satellites," to stay with the metaphor. I can almost take pride when good things happen in other places because I know someone there, or I can imagine what someone I know would be feeling or saying in reaction to something happening where they are. And reunion is essentially all about that gathering of information that others may have gotten. The over-arching theme of most reunion conversations is: So what have you seen? What have you done? Where have you been? We all come back again and fill each other in on where the last 4/5/6 years have taken us.

Kia remarked that at her cluster reunion, we will have been married for two years already. [segway to wedding plans]

After Commencement, it was on to Rochester. Over the course of the week, Kia's parents took us to many potential wedding ceremony/reception sites in upstate NY, particularly the Finger Lakes region. All were nice, and we narrowed the list down to about three. My favorite so far is at a castle in Geneva, NY. I think I'd be happy with any of them though. I'm hoping we can decide soon and set a date.

With all the driving place to place in Rochester, we listened to a lot of radio. My favorite station was called FICKLE 93.3, "Random Radio". I kid you not, that's what they were called. And random they were. I wish I could remember some of the song pairings. It was literally your playlist on shuffle.

And to update: driving standard was relatively successful. I confined myself to highway driving, and handed it over to Kia at the slightest sign of traffic. But I was able to help with driving, and that was the point. Score one for me.