Steve Lesner

I think it was eighth, maybe seventh grade when I had a science class with Steve and he said something in class that made me crack up, and is still pretty funny to this day.  Our teacher in that class was talking about something science like and ended up with the phrase "And that's why science can never suck!"  Steve responded with "So it can just blow."  For some reason that quote has always stuck with me and even when I see that dude DJ'ing at Rick's in East Lansing, I can't help but think "that's the dude who told Coach L that science blows."

Cheers.

Amanda Graven

Amanda is another one of the great people that I met on my ISV trip, she is also one of the people I most wish I had gotten to know better.  Amanda's stunning.  She's the kind of girl who you see on a beach and feel like "well shit, I guess I'm going in the ocean with my t-shirt on today because I'm gonna look like Chris Farley standing next to a body like that."  Speaking of Chris Farley, Amanda also happens to be freaking hilarious.  There was this one time, I think it was when I was wandering around Sydney with a bunch of members of her group, and she did an impression from Tommy Boy that had me cracking up...she was a lot of fun to be around.

I'm quite sure what Amanda is up to these days, but I have a good feeling she's enjoying life to the best of her ability and making people laugh...oh and probably being super attractive and stuff too.

Cheers Amanda, wish I'd known you better.

-Andrew

Megan Zakar

Every time I go to my writing class I there's this girl whose smile alone is enough of a reason for me to never want to be absent.  A girl whose positivity is so exuberant that when she speaks or when she laughs, life gets a little more beautiful, a little more splendid than it already is.  I adore her, so here's to hoping there might someday be a memory with this lovely woman.

Rosie Burzynski

Right before starting this post, I read one of the most beautiful posts I've had the pleasure to read on Facebook.  The post was about Rosie's six month anniversary with her girlfriend.  It talked about how they met, how they'd been in each others lives for years but only recently found each other, it talked of risk and how well those risks can work out...it talked about real, genuine love.  It was short, sweet, personal, and I feel quite privileged to have had the chance to read it. 

I haven't seen Rosie in years, but she and I went to school together for the better part of a decade and albeit we never very close, I always thought she was one of the sweetest girls around.  My joy and support for her are miniscule in comparison to most people in her life, but I just want her to know that if she ever needs a little more, she has it. 

Cheers my dear,

Andrew

Aunt Linda Shand

My Aunt Linda is one of the strongest people that I have ever known.  She was married to my dear Uncle Bill, one of the greatest men I ever knew, so from that fact alone I could surmise that she is one hell of a lady.  Despite all of the hell that she has been through in her own life, she has never stopped a moment to sulk or feel sorry for herself when there were others who needed her to be strong.  Her selflessness is the like of which I have never seen, not even in fiction, and because of that I will always love and respect her in ways unlike anyone else.

I love Aunt Linda dearly, but there's no getting around the fact that she is a bit of an eccentric person.  The best evidence of this comes from the way that she tends to pronounce words in an accent that is completely different than the way the rest of her enormous family speaks.  I'll never forget this one night when we were having a get together at my house and Linda kept talking about how she needed to "arn" something.  Nobody knew what the hell she was talking about, but she just kept on saying "arn."  Most of the family around the table was just laughing, exclaiming "What?!" as she continued to repeat herself until my awesome and dearly missed grandpa spoke up and said "Do you mean I-RON?"  The table was silent for a moment before we all burst into laughter... Maybe it's not as funny in writing as it was in person, but who cares.  That was one of the best Thom family dinners that I can remember.

Linda still lives with her younger brother, my uncle with down syndrome, Russel, in a condo just about three miles away from my house.  Since I've moved away to college I don't see them as much as I once did, but whenever I do Aunt Linda always greets me with a warm hug, a smile, and an offer of some freshly baked sweets that she knows I can't refuse. 

Much love,
Andrew

Paula Tomkiel

Oh Paula Tomkiel...yet another one of the amazing Polish women that I have had the chance to know in my life. I got to know Paula pretty well when we were working on the drama club production of The Odd Couple and from the first time I talked to her, I knew she was a character.  She was always saying or doing something funny and she was usually more entertaining than the play itself.  There was this one time when she was telling me a story about someone I know who she was at odds with a little bit and my lord, was it a classic.  Paula would act out each of the parts of the story with over the top dramatics.  You want hand movements to go along with faces of teenage distress?  She could do them.  You want to hear a "woe is me" tone of voice that will make you feel like you were actually there?  She could make it.  I'm telling you, if you have a chance to hear Paula tell a story and you turn it down, you're an idiot because this girl is crazy good.

I haven't seen Paula since high school and that's quite a shame, because she can bring a lot of joy to one's life.  I have, however, seen her pop up on my Facebook news feed every once in a while and...wow.  Paula has always been gorgeous, but the first time I saw a recent picture of her it wasn't even fair, my jaw had no choice but to drop.  I'm not sure what she's up to, but if she's anything like the girl I knew then, there's little doubt in my mind that she's living her life to the fullest, breaking hearts, and making people laugh as hard as ever.

Na zdrowie,

Andrew

Joel Wickizer

Joel was another of the neighborhood kids that I grew up with.  Joel is an eccentric cat, to say the least.  He's also a great, naturally talented artist.  I remember when everyone was really into Dragon Ball Z he would always draw the characters from that show with such ease he may as well have been working on the show himself, and this before most of us even had pubes.  One of things that I remember most about Joel is the little phrases he would throw out like "You're such a Martin" as a go to insult or saying "Buu Saga" which I still have no idea what it meant.  My favorite quote that he did though has to be of Towelie from South Park.  This kid would do a spot on impression of that character that would have me in stitches. 

Last I heard he was out of Michigan, no idea what he's up to these days but hopefully he's putting his skills to good use and making people laugh their asses off.

Cheers,

Andrew

Bryan Lockwood

Bryan is one of the neighborhood dudes that I grew up with.  When we were younger, he, Jonathan, and I would hang out quite often, playing street hockey, be retarded grade school kids and whatnot.  One memory that I have with Bryan is when all of us were really into that Cartoon Network show Ed, Edd, N Eddy.  We would always do stupid shit where we would pretend being those characters, if I remember correctly I was usually Double D (Edd), ha.  Oh the good ol' days...

We kind of lost touch after elementary school and I haven't seen Bryan in ages, but he's a nice guy and I hope life is going well for him.

Cheers,

Andrew

Kristen Bell

In 2007, my mother and father wanted to celebrate their upcoming 20th anniversary with the whole family, and better place to plan the family trip of a lifetime than Hawaii?  That trip was incredible, and part of the reason for that being one of the most beautiful memories of my life is that hotel we stayed at was called Turtle Bay which, for those of you who enjoy comedy as much as I, is where Forgetting Sarah Marshall was filmed.  And wouldn't you know it?  The week we were there was also the week when they were prepping to start shooting.

I saw Kristen Bell while I was in the breakfast buffet line and if you think she’s gorgeous on screen, you should see her in person...breathtaking.  One moment I’m putting some crazy looking, potentially poisonous yet delicious fruit on my plate the next I look over and see freaking Veronica Mars with her long blonde hair in a gorgeous dress looking incredible without the slightest effort.  And she smiled at me.  And I melted.  After seeing her on some late night shows doing some interviews and stuff I now know that she is from Michigan (her hometown has the same name as the subdivision my parents live in, Huntington Woods) but she is also a Red Wings fan.  If only I was a funny, handsome twenty-something instead of a 17 year old, star struck goof ball, maybe I could’ve competed with Dax for a week, haha. Probably not though.  

I expected Kristen to impress me in the movie, what I didn't expect was for her to impress me in real life.  And that she did, with little more than some courteous and a smile.

Michiganian's for life,

Andrew Thom

Alyssa Pajakowski

I first got to know Alyssa when I was working on the drama club production of A Midsummer Night's Dream my junior year of high school.  I liked her from the start, she's absolutely adorable yet has a bit of fire to her as well.  She was one of those people who I remember as always being sweet but also had the ability to put someone in their place if need be, and there's something incredibly hot about that.  Thinking about Alyssa though, the one thing that immediately pops into my mind is her voice.  God, that voice...I remember the first time I saw her sing, I think it was for a choir recital.  Seeing this petite girl walk on stage I didn't know what to expect, then she opened her mouth and all my thoughts disappeared.  I got lost in the power and beauty of her voice, the charisma that she displayed standing in the spotlight...it blew me away. 

With a beautiful voice in a woman equally as beautiful, it's no surprise that I can't recall a time when Alyssa wasn't a taken woman.  And while I'm sure that's as big a bummer to me as countless other men who's ears have been graced with the sound of her voice, I have faith that Alyssa is picking only the best for herself.  I haven't seen Alyssa since high school, but I did type in her name on Youtube to see if I could find any recent videos, what I found was her performing in a vocal Broadway contest about a year ago.  Seeing her perform even in video was just as great if not better than I remember, she was radiating confidence in a way that left me with a smile of adoration on my face not only for the entire length of the 3+ minute video.  I hope with all my heart that she continues working with her passion for her entire life and that someday, perhaps when I visit New York, I will go see a Broadway musical on a whim and when I take my seat, the first thing I seen is a beautiful woman walking on stage, a spotlight on her, and it's Alyssa.  Now that, would be a dream come true.

Never stop singing darlin,

-Andrew

Garett Nelson

Garett is a dude that I knew in elementary school.  I lived like fifteen minutes away from the school I was zoned in so my bus usually contained kids from all over the place, and for a few years Garett was one of those kids.  Since most memories tend to fade after a decade + passes, unfortunately I don’t have all that interesting of a story to tell you.  What I can say is this: the kid I remember was a goofy, funny, just generally nice guy who could talk to anyone and make just about anyone feel comfortable.  We were never great friends or anything, but Garett was always a cool dude and I’m glad I got to know him.

These days Garett is somewhat of a social networking legend and has over a million followers on Twitter.  Let me repeat that; a MILLION followers on Twitter.  I don’t know how the hell he managed to pull that shit off (Steve motherfucking Carell’s official account only has 750,000) but he did.  Congrats man, if you can do that before you’re 25 I’m sure you’ll be doing be things for years to come.

Cheers,

Andrew

Kermit Knuppenburg

Kermit lived about a quarter mile away from me for like half of my childhood, but we never really became good friends, which is unfortunate because he's a really cool dude.  I actual have a pretty good memory with Kermit though that took place some time during middle school I think when a group of guys went over to his house and shot each other with air soft guns on his yard, ha.  It was just a bunch of neighborhood kids doing stupid shit but hey, its memories like that that make me glad I had a cool neighborhood.  In high school I remember Kermit doing some great work on the student news.  Unfortunately his segment and mine aired on opposite weeks so we didn't get to collaborate, which is a bummer because our segments together probably would have been pretty good.  Kermit also wrote a song about Nick Emming after he moved away, Where Are You Nick Emming? I think was the name of it, which was pretty damn good.  Kermit writing a song about his friend who he missed was just proof of how good a guy Kermit was.

I'm not sure what he's up to today, but there's little doubt he's doing well. 

Cheers,

Andrew

Nick Emming

I met Nick in middle school and we were buddies for a while before he moved out of state for a few years.  I remember hanging around with him and Eric Davis from time to time and cracking up, they're both hilarious.  Nick was such a good dude, which is why looking back at middle school me and how once in a while I would gut check him, I feel like a dick nose.  I'm sorry dude, I'm gonna have to blame it on pubic testosterone overload and a sense of humor that still found things like nut shots to be hilarious.  When Nick moved away for a few years, I think I'm with most people who knew him when I say that he was missed, even if he wasn't someone you were close with.  Thus when he returned a few years later, everyone was stoked.

A memory that sticks out for me about Nick is this one time I had an extra ticket to a Taking Back Sunday concert and, at random, called him up to ask him if he wanted to go.  He'd just gotten back to Michigan not long before this, so he didn't have my number when I called him, which is probably part of the reason why I said I had an extra ticket to a show that was like a day away he responded with "fuck you" then hung up.  I laughed pretty hard for a minute, then called him again and once he realized I was serious he was totally down and all apologetic about the last call.  Nick, Dominic, Andrea, and I ended up going to show and having a great time.  But his response to me offering him a ticket on an unknown number was definitely the most memorable part.

It's been years since I've seen Nick, much to my dismay.  He's a really cool dude who is hilarious to be around, but other than hanging out occasionally, we weren't super close or anything so I guess it's not too surprising that I've lost touch with him over the years.  I hope he's doing well though, because Nick is as good a dude as any to deserve good things coming to him. If I don't see him around anytime soon maybe I'll catch him onstage for a Bunnies in Fields reunion tour, there's always hope right?

Cheers,
Andrew

Brittni Rasche

Brittni is one of the many awesome people that I met when I decided to fill up a void in my schedule with theater, a choice which was probably one of the best I made in high school.  It's probably a little shallow, but also honest when I say that the first time I met Brittni the first thing that crossed my mind was how mind blowingly hot she was.  I would not be the slightest bit surprised if "damn" was the first thing I thought when I met her.  As it turns out though, Brittni was far more than just a pretty face, she was also pretty awesome.  I never really hung out with her individually, but I remember her always being a sweetheart and making me laugh on numerous occasions, so she was always a fun person to be around.

For a little while after high school, when I came home to visit my parents and stuff we would often go out to this restaurant close by our house.  One day I went in there and Brittni was working there, which was a pleasant surprise.  It was always nice to see her; she always looked wonderfully even in a work uniform and there was never time she didn't have a smile and a kind greeting for me.  She's at GVSU now if I recall correctly, so I haven't seen her in a few years.  I'm sure she's on her way to doing good things and being her beautiful self on a daily basis.

Cheers,

Andrew

Crystal Meram

Crystal is a girl I met in middle school and from the first time I met her I thought she was just adorable.  She had welcoming smile, kind eyes, and a general sweetness whenever I spoke to her that made me like her almost immediately.  I had a class with her, I’m pretty sure it was a biology class, where I got to know her a little bit and like I said before, she was just a sweet girl.  I remember in middle school we would have these dances and at this one in particular and song that was big at the time was Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”  For some reason while I was on the dance floor I decided to make up a series of moves to go along with the chorus, and I must have looked like such a buffoon, but I think it entertained a few people.  Crystal actually left me a really sweet note in my yearbook that year, and wouldn’t you know what she chose to flatter me with?  A few words about my dance moves.  

I haven’t seen Crystal in years, but I hope her life is going wonderfully and she found someone who appreciates all the sweetness that she has to give.

Cheers,

Andrew   

Sarah Nutt

Sarah is one of the people I most regret not getting to know better, she’s amazing.  I met her through the Fasse family and when I hung out with them is pretty much the only time I got to see her, that’s my fault obviously because I should’ve taken initiative and gotten her number or tried to like walk her to her locker which was always a good move in high school, but whatever.  No need to dwell on the past I guess.  She is pretty dang awesome though.

I didn’t see Sarah enough to create some great memory with her, but there is one memory of her that I have which pretty much just reminded me why I’ve always liked her.  I was at a Fasse graduation party with my family and, since she’s good friends with Ericka, Sarah is there too.  The party was fun, a lot of party games like flip cup were played and what not, but amidst the good times being had there was this one moment which I wouldn’t be surprised she can’t remember, a moment that I won’t forget.  A small group of us were in the kitchen, chatting and what not, when Sarah walks in, her beautiful smile on her face, but underneath it she looks sad.  I asked her if everything was okay, she said it was, but I could tell she was just saying that to keep her troubles to herself.  Maybe it was the booze, maybe I just wanted to make a sad girl smile even if it was only for a moment, I don’t know but I decided that I had to do something.  I smiled at her, took in her beauty, and said “You look amazing.”  I’d been thinking it all night, it had been the first time I’d seen her in a while and she just looked stunning.  I don’t think she expected that, because the next thing I knew she was hugging me…

I probably can’t do this memory justice, it may sound lame to anyone reading this, but there are people who I have had in my life for years who I haven’t had that sincere of a moment with.  It may be one of my shortest, but my memory with Sarah is also one of my favorites.

Writing this just made me miss her, let’s be honest.  It has been too long since I’ve seen her, and I don’t really know what her life is like at all right now, but I hope she’s happy.  She’s going to do great things in her life, and whoever ends up with her is going to be amongst the luckiest of men.

Cheers,

Andrew

Lauren Kaiser

Lauren Kaiser is a beautiful woman.  She's tall, has great skin, a pretty smile...just lovely. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been envious of my MSU roommate sophomore year, Theo’s, relationship with Lauren.  Don’t tell her I told you this, but she’s actually one of the first people I remember having a dirty dream about *gasp.   Who the hell knows why it was her, perhaps it was just all that times I saw and thought she was super hot, but one night I went to sleep and amongst the hundreds of people I’ve met in my life, it was her that I saw.

Freshman year (I think) at state I took this university biology class that I was required to take, and Lauren was in it.  We had this big Indian guy who was our professor and he would always tell us wild stories like about how when he was in grad school him and his buddies would take the 200 proof liquor in their lab, put it in punch for parties, and just get hammered.  I remember talking to her about that class one time at a party at the end of the semester I think and talking about how it was quite possibly the biggest blow off of a course imaginable.  This memory is kind of lame I guess, but I remember it because when Lauren was talking about it she was just so excited, she had so much energy and that compared with her smile always leave a lasting impression.

The most recent time that I’ve seen Lauren is actually the night that I started writing this.  She looked lovely as always, she even had a beautiful friend who I should have introduced myself to, but didn’t because I’m an occasional idiot.  Regardless; seeing her that night just reminded me that she has infinite possibilities in life, possibilities that could only come to people who demonstrate such natural charisma as a woman like Lauren.  Maybe one day I'll be reading through a Forbes magazine and she'll be in there amongst the most powerful women in the world or something and I'll get to teach her to a group of kids.  For a girl like her to do something like that, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

Cheers,

Andrew

Jenna Pearson

I met Jenna in middle school and almost immediately developed a bit of a crush on her.  That in itself isn’t much to write home about, I honestly can’t remember what the criteria was for me to swoon over a girl in my early stages of puberty, it could have simply been the existence of breasts, but Jenna stands out for a couple reasons.  The first being that she was that she was always a nice enough person to acknowledge my existence, which is a plus.  That may sound like a lame thing to say, but I think it is severely underrated how much the impact of even a fraction of the attention of the “popular group” can have on a teenager’s self-esteem.  The second is that I came up with a name for her, a name which is the basis of this memory.

A memory that always comes to my mind when I think of Jenna is a day when me, Theo, and her were at Gabrielle’s house which is like a block away from mine.  It was that day in her pool that I came up with this nickname with which I would describe Jenna with for months to come:  Delicious Abs.  It’s ridiculous, I know this, but it just felt like the perfect way to describe her that day.  I remember her being in her bikini and me just thinking, “Damn, those are some of the most delicious abs I’ve ever seen.”   Theo and I would joke about that for a while.

I actually saw Jenna the night that I’m writing this in my not quite sober state, she looked lovely.  I didn’t get to catch up with her, but she seemed happy, so I hope everything is going swell for her.

To an ab-mazing lady,

Andrew

Ellen Daniels

Ellen was my piano teacher for a semester during my junior year at MSU.  She was a California girl, and everything from her 60’s hairstyle and West Coast style of dress to the way she talked with words like “groovy” affirmed that.  She moved to Michigan that summer because she was a graduate student at MSU, going into music, obviously, and was doing piano lessons on the side for some extra cash, I found her ad on craigslist and thought it would be the perfect chance to learn how to play some music.  Ellen was an awesome teacher.  Incredibly talented, but unlike many talented people, Ellen also had the ability to actual teach people.  She was incredibly easy to work with: kind, encouraging, funny, and, wouldn’t you guess?  Beautiful.  Unfortunately for me and my adoration of women who live near the ocean, especially those who love music, she’s also married.  Drag, right?  Despite the heartbreak of her unavailability, the months that I went to her for lessons were pretty great.  I may have gone independent, but I hope she’s still playing beautifully, doing well, and living life to the fullest.

Cheers,

Andrew

Annie Melcher

Annie is this really cool girl who I met through my roommate Brett.  There are countless things which make her cool, but the thing that anyone who knows her could probably tell you is that she’s really easy to talk to.  She’s got a great sense of humor, she’s kind, likes to laugh, and all those things make you feel comfortable around her.  A good memory I have of Annie is actual the last time I saw her.  She came over our apartment and we were all just hanging out, shooting the shit, having some drinks, when somehow Parks and Recreation came up.  Parks and Rec is one of my favorite shows, and it just so happened Annie loves it too.  It may sound simple, but the memory of she and I talking about that show and how underappreciated it is was the perfect example of that girl’s coolness.  

It’s been a while since we’ve hung out, but I’d like to again soon because she always a lot of fun and I could always use some more people who appreciate some top notch comedy.

Cheers,

Andrew

Shayna Dwojakowski

I’m gonna be honest with you, it took a minute for me to warm up to Shayna, but once I did, she quickly became one of those people who I would always look forward to seeing again.  I’m sharing this because it was actually that “warming up period” on a trip we took that is my fondest memory of her.

The Fasse family and mine have been close my entire life, and for several years when I was younger our families would go on annual ski trips.  They were always a blast, and one year Ericka brought her friend Shayna with her.  It’s been so long that I can’t give exact details of the trip, but gosh do I remember having a lot of fun, with much of that fun being a product of Shayna.  The things she would say…they would crack me up!  She was just a funny, fun girl to be around.  I have a couple blurred memories of her on that trip, the main one being that I’m like 65% sure that there was a time when we were trying to fit three people on a small ski lift and she pushed me off of it.  All I remember for certain is that I got pushed off a chairlift right as it was lifting off and that there was a roar of laughter from the girl who was on the chairlift with me.  Between you and me, I think after the whole day taking in the glorious view of me on a snowboard, she was just too intimidated to share a chair lift with me.  What a great trip… 

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Shayna, but the last time we saw each other, she looked fantastic.  She was at a graduation party I was attending and I almost didn’t recognize her, I would feel bad about that if it wasn’t for the fact that my lack of recognition resulted from her becoming a freaking bombshell.  It was fun seeing her again, chatting a little bit, catching up and what not.  I haven’t seen her again since then which is a bummer because although I didn’t see her all that often before college and everything, she always seemed around enough to just be herself and bring a smile to my face…I miss that.

Cheers,

Andrew

Andrea Blohm

I met Andrea my junior year when she lived in co-op that was across the street from my apartment.  She was friends with my roommate Steve, so we would see her pretty regularly and as the year went on we started seeing her more often and even partied with her every now and then.  Andrea is quite hippie.  That year she was growing her long, blonde, dreads, she often wore the kind of longer, light dresses that one will often see girls wear at music festivals, and just the whole way she carried herself gave her a "free."  I remember one time she came over to our apartment having just gotten a tattoo of the outline of Michigan on her torso because she "loves Michigan."  You gotta love that, right?  I let her borrow the lotion I got when I got my own tattoo.

A fun memory I have with Andrea is one in which we went to see a little show together at Mac's Bar in Lansing.  I can't remember the name of the band, but it was a lot of fun.  We danced, played some pool, she ordered us a pair of Hairy Nipple shots...those were interesting, and all in all it was just a fun time.  We ended the night at Theios, which is a shitty 24/7 diner where we got some grub until one of my buddies came to pick us up and give us a ride back.  It was a good night.

Since I essentially moved to the other kind of campus last year, it has been a while since I've seen Andrea.  We've tried to meet up a few times this past year but conflicting schedules have made it a little difficult.  I hope she's doing well though, living her life like only she can.

Cheers,

Andrew

Jon Klein

Jon is a kid that I took driver's training with and because of that, I can't even tell you much class time I probably missed laughing.  Gosh, it's been probably six or seven years since I was in that class, but I still remember being at the table with him, Bryant, Ryan, and Jonathan and laughing so damn hard that a few times I was literally crying.  I couldn't tell you one conversation I remember having there, it was probably something really stupid that only a few fifteen-year-old dudes would find amusing, but just the sheer amount of laughter that took place there is enough to make me remember it even now.

I don't know what Jon is doing now, but where ever he is I wouldn't be surprised to hear people laughing with him just as I did.

Cheers,

Andrew

Tom Thornburg

Tom, another one of the TE crew that I hung out with on Thursday nights, is yet guy who was always a good time to hang out with.  A particularly great memory I have with Tom is a night when we went to the Pub and a few of his friends were there along with most of the regular crew, they were a couple who he worked with at Kroger I think.  It was the end of the year and we were all getting pretty trashed at the bar already, but when people started heading home for the night Tom, his friends, and I decided that we weren't quite ready to let this night come to a close, so they invited us over to their place which was almost right above The Riv (if you've been to East Lansing, you know it) to have a few more drinks.  We ended up going over to their place, already quite tipsy, and proceeded to drink tequila for like an hour and a half while chatting and listening to music.  It was a pretty damn good time.

Tom, like most of my teacher brethren, starts up his internship this fall so I probably won't be seeing all that much of him any more.  Hopefully we can organize a big Pub reunion with the TE crew at some point though because it's always a blast hanging out with Mr. Thornburg.  And if there's a jukebox I'll put on Rod Stewart and Primus for old time's sake.

Cheers,

Andrew

Chris Foldesi

Chris is one of the many awesome people that I met in my TE class senior year at MSU.  We became pretty good buds the second semester of that when a small group of people from the class would go out to the Roadhouse Pub just about every Thursday night for half-off drinks and some darts.  We've had a lot of good nights at the Pub, most of them admittedly a little hazy so I don't so much remember all of them minute by minute, but when I think of Chris I definitely think of the way he talks.  He's one of those people who can be really smart and philosophical about something then see a hot chick and the next sentence be like "I'd go fuckin' crazy on her, baaaaaaam!"  The whole "baaam" thing is from this show he and a few other guys from our class got really into called Trailer Park boys, and while I've seen the show a few times and know where they got it from, it's way funnier when Chris does it with a hand motion that devolved until it eventually just became him fingering the air.

Chris went out of state to work on a farm for summer for a while, so unfortunately we haven't hung out in a while.  But when he gets back to Michigan we'll have to arrange a night for a group of us to get together and have a couple beers because he's a great guy to hang out it.

Cheers,

Andrew

Tyler Bisel

In sixth grade, Tyler was listening to his CD player at the end of the day, which our teacher was not having.  So our teacher, Mr. M., came over and took away the CD player but made the mistake of leaving the headphones with Tyler.  Instead of putting the headphones away, Tyler proceeded to keep them on and bump his head.  He said he was listening to "The Bustin' Mimes."  It was freakin' hilarious, and pretty damn clever for a sixth grader I'd say.

The last time I saw Tyler was a couple years ago when I was at a gas station in Shelby Twp. and he came over to say hello, I barely recognized him and I don't know how he recognized me because it'd been so long since the last time I had seen him and we were never really all that great of friends or anything, but that was pretty cool of him.  I don't really know, but judging on that alone, I'd say Tyler is a pretty good guy.

-Andrew

Alissa DiMichelle

I first met Alissa and almost immediately developed a crush on her.  She had long, dark wavy hair that went perfectly with her tan olive skin. She also had fun personality which matched up with her great laugh and smile, there wasn't much not to like about Alissa. 

My memory of Alissa is one of the more embarrassing stories I'm going to share on here because it's one of those moments where I look back and thing, "Andrew...you IDIOT."  I think it was in like eighth or ninth grade and I was at my buddy Nick's house with a group of kids after football practice or something.  I'm not exactly sure if it was after a game or a summer practice, that's irrelevant, all I remember is that I was talking to Alissa and somehow brought up how sore I was from practice.  She offered to give me a massage, and I said "Thanks, but you don't have to do that, I'll live."  I remember nothing else from that night other than me turning down a massage from a girl who I had a massive crush on...except that I'M AN IDIOT.

The most recent time I saw Alissa was when I was at an MSU football game sitting with some of my buddies in the non-student section and Alissa was walking up the stairs to her seat with her friend Allesandra.  I saw her walking up, gave her a big hug, and said a quick hello but unfortunately didn't have to chance to catch up about anything.  So honestly I have no idea what Alissa is up to these days, but she looked as good as ever so I hope the rest of her life is doing as lovely as her looks are.  I hope to see her again because it would be great to catch up and get to know the woman she has become in the last four plus years because I'm sure she's a great one to know.

Cheers,

Andrew

Ana Garcia

Ana is one of the more interesting friendships that I've had.  Ana is a member of the MSU marching band in which she plays the...soprano sax, if I remember correctly.  She's a year older than me and she is a Latina, although if it weren't for her name and hearing about her family I would never have guessed that because she's even less tan than I am.  Anywho, it all started my sophomore year of college when I was on this site called AllMSU which is like social networking/craigslist/professor ratings all in one and I saw she had a profile up, so I responded to it and within a few weeks we started hanging out.  The whole online dating thing is, after some experience, for the most part a complete waste of time, but some how Ana and I just kinda clicked and became pretty good friends.  We bonded over several different things including our shared love of going out and buying a CD rather than always downloading music online, but we also were both pretty big fans of Harry Potter, and it is within our common fandom where I had one of my favorite memories with her.

In November of 2010, the first half of the final installment of the Harry Potter film adaptation was about to premiere.  Ana, being the darling that she is, invited me to attend the midnight show with her and some of her friends at a movie theater in Lansing.  I'd never been the kind of person to wait in line for hours just to see and/or get something that will be the same if I get it a little later for a fraction of the hassle, but this was Harry Potter after all, so I said yes and wouldn't you know it?  It ended up being a pretty damn good time.  We saw all of these super fans dressed as their favorite characters; my personal favorite was this girl dressed as Luna Lovegood.  She looked so good that I actually walked down like 20 rows from where we were sitting to go say hey and tell her how awesome she looked...Ana got a kick out of that.  With the waiting in line, it was probably like a four or five hour ordeal before I got home, but just about every minute of it was a good time.

I haven't talked to Ana in quite a while, in fact, it's been over half a year since the last time I've seen her.  She's done with school now so I don't know when the next time I see her will be, but I hope it's soon because I miss her and all her "nom nom" eccentricities in my life.  

Cheers to hoggy hoggy Hogwarts,

Andrew

Kellie Roussos

Kellie is yet another one of the seemingly countless incredible people I met during my trip to Australia with International Student Volunteers.  Having spent essentially everyday with Kellie for about a month, I got to know the rock necklace making, Humboldt University attending, hippie California girl pretty well.  When I look back on my time with Kellie, I always picture two things.  The first is her doing her trademark dance move, one which consisted of her taking both hands, fingers spread, and having them back in forth parallel to each side of her head...I think everyone in the group ended up doing it at one point or another, it was that freakin' awesome.  And the second would be her introducing the word "hella" to my vocabulary.  It didn't matter how cool you thought something was, it wasn't validated as truly awesome until Kellie used the "hella" to describe it.  Ex. "That burger was hella good!"

My favorite memory of Kellie is actually one of the few times when she wasn't being her normal self, it was one of those rare moments when you get to see a person evolve, reach potential's they may not have even know they had, right before your eyes.  Kellie is the kind of girl who could roll with virtually anything in any situation, except when it came to heights.  On one of the stops in the middle of our travels up the Australian coast, the activity that ISV had planned for us was to rappel across a series of different cliffs ranging from a few feet to a few hundred feet.  I remember seeing Kellie at the top of one of the ledges looking so terrified that she had tears in her eyes...it broke my heart.  Nobody expected her to go down the side of that cliff, so when she decided that she wanted to push herself and go for it, despite how much her mind was telling her not to, we all felt a sense of pride.  That day I watched that girl overcome her fear of heights as she worked up the courage to rappel down a 200ft + cliff, and if I remember correctly, walk back up to the top and go down again.  It really was a beautiful sight to see.

Aside from the rare Facebook wall post, I haven't really talked to Kellie since we returned from our trip, and that's kind of sad, because I miss her.  I hope she's doing well and that she's continuing to push herself because after what I witnessed in the short time I knew her, there are infinite places where she could go in life. 

To a hella cool lady,

Andrew

Amanda Miller

I first met Amanda when she moved to Michigan in what I believe was the fourth grade and I've counted her amongst my friends ever since.  In seventh grade Amanda was the first person I ever asked "will you go out with me?"  To which she replied, to my surprise, with an emphatic "Yes!"  I'd always had a thing for her, so even though I was like 12 at the time I was pretty stoked to call her my girl for the couple months or whatever we were "going steady."  Unfortunately it didn't last (shocker, I know) but we would remain friends for a long time, even when she moved to Arizona just a few years later.  The memory I'm going to use for Amanda actually takes place in AZ, the last I saw her when we were both graduating high school and our lives were about to go in drastically different directions.

The last time I saw Amanda was when I met up with her while paying a visit to some family who live near Phoenix.  It was the first time I'd seen her in a few years and I have to say, she looked stunning.  Better than ever.  We didn't do anything particularly different or over the top, we just hung out and chatted about life, or mostly about how different they were becoming.  I was moving to East Lansing in the fall; Amanda was moving across the Atlantic to Germany.  I was as single as one could possibly be; Amanda was just weeks away from marriage.  I was picking out dorm posters while she was picking out a house.  It was crazy, even crazier to think she's but a few days older than I am.  That last day I saw her was the day when one of the more incredible women I've known was about to be taken officially taken off the market, and regardless of how happy I was for her, it still kind of sucked knowing she was going to be married to a German dude living in a village thousands of miles away before I was could even decide which band I was going to commit a year of dorm living to. 

For the first few years following that visit, Amanda and I still talked occasionally often through email around our birthdays where we would catch up with everything in each others lives.  As I'm writing this though, it has been about two years, but I'm sure it's a little tough to keep a Michigan pen pal when you're raising two young children, something I can't even fathom doing at the age of 22.  I'd be lying if I didn't say it's kind of a bummer that we've lost touch, she was always a great friend to me and I miss her, but that's life.  People grow up, some faster than others, and it becomes more difficult to make time for people from your past.  Especially people who live a world away.  I'm sure I'll talk to her again and when I do, I can't wait to hear about all the wonderful things that have happened in her life.

Auf wiedersehen,
Andrew

Dave Allen

Dave Allen is one of the manliest men I've ever known, and because of that he quickly became one of my favorite people ever.  I met Dave when me and too buddies of mine, Dan and Brett, were looking for our third roommate for our apartment that upcoming year and he came across an ad we posted online.  We liked him right away but it wasn't until that fall when he moved in with us that we, especially me, realized that this was one of the coolest guys I'd ever met.  There are a lot of memories I have with Dave, some of them being quite hilarious and probably inappropriate to post on the interweb, so I'm going to go with one that I think best defines the kind of friend this man's man is.

One night during the school year, Dan and Brett were out of the apartment probably studying engineering or something, while Dave and I were just chilling in the apartment and outside it was essentially raining slush on the Earth when all of the sudden BAM!  "What the fuck was that?" I say as the electricity goes out in the apartment and we look outside to see that the damn transformer exploded and our entire apartment complex lost power.  After realizing that the power probably wasn't going to come back on anytime soon, we end up grabbing some random candles lying around the apartment (don't know how the hell we had as many candles as we did, we can thank Dan for that one) and since we couldn't use our computers or watch TV, we ended up just chilling in the living room.  After a while of doing nothing I thought, you know what, I'm gonna have a drink.  So I went into my room, grabbed a bottle of Bullit bourbon, two glasses, and came back into the living room where I poured us both a decent amount of whiskey then proceeded to share stories about stupid shit we did when we were younger.  Hearing about how he and his buddies would have firework fights on his property and how one of his buddies broke a then left a few bucks on the ground for repairs had me in stitches.  All we were doing was drinking whiskey with no electricity and chatting, but it was about as good a time as you could have with another man.

Dave is a hell of a guy, and expect to be friends with him for a long time, even if we just end up meeting up every once in a while to have some good whiskey and reminisce about some of the shit we did that year we lived to together.

Cheers,

Andrew

Lauren Rossi

Lauren is one of those people who I really should have gotten to know better than I did.  I met her while a part of a play, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, during my junior year of high school when she played my onstage lover.  Let's just get this out of the way early...Lauren is way hotter than me, even in high school when I had my athlete's physique.  She's tall, has beautiful bronze Italian skin, curly dark hair, and an amazing body to go along with everything else that made her physically attractive.  I have to say, I was a bit intimidated by her, which is a bummer because she's a sweet girl.  When comes to an actual memory with Lauren though, I can't really put my finger on one specific thing.  I remember rehearsals, the performance, and of course the after parties which opened my eyes to a whole new part of high school that I'd been sheltered from, but when it comes to Lauren, I really remember just...liking her.  She was nice to be around, she had some really funny things to say, and I don't remember any time when she wasn't a kind a person to me or anyone else we worked with on that set.  I wish I had a little more guts back then than I did, that I at least put myself out there and became better friends with her because she really seems like a great person to have around, but it is what it is.  I saw her about a year ago when I visited a couple of my friends at Central Michigan University, and while I don't remember much of that night to do remember her greeting me with a smile and looking better than ever, and it feels good to see that she seems to still be loving life.

Cheers my fair Hippolyta,

Andrew Thom (Theseus)

Note:  What the hell was I thinking not trying to kiss her onstage?  It was pretty much in the character description to be a horn dog...SHIT! 

Julie Adamo

I love hanging out with Julie.  I met her when she and my good friend Greg started dating sophomore year of at MSU and I can honestly say that I can't remember a single time where I was with Greg and though, "Aw man, you're girlfriend is coming out with us?"  She's that freaking cool.  Julie is a sorority girl, but she's not uptight and bitchy.  She's beautiful, but she doesn't shove it in your face.  Julie is the kind of girl that you want your friend to date, and lucky for me, one of my friends did.

A great memory I have with Julie is a pretty recent one when she, Greg (post-dating), and I were all hanging out at MSU just a few weeks before I'm writing this.  That was the first time I saw Julie in quite awhile, so I was pretty excited for us all to hang out.  Before we went to the bar we hung out at Greg's place where we played some music (Julie has a pretty great taste in music, which was a pleasant surprise), and drank some booze before going out to Rick's.  We played some nude photo hunt, which Julie was into (another surprise), then played some quarters as well which, as anyone who has played quarters knows, is always a good way to have some fun.  We probably drank a little too much that night, as I'm sure Julie will attest to, but while we were in a bit of a drunken haze, I did have a moment with Julie which showed me that my opinion of her is exactly where it should be and also reaffirmed my belief that this is the exact kind of girl I want Greg to be with when we're old enough to start having dinner parties. 

Despite thinking that she's a pretty awesome lady, I don't really know Julie that well at all, but that night I think I learned more about her than any time before and it made me think something that I've only really thought about a select few other friends' girlfriends: "I really hope they get married."  There are some people who come into a friend's life, barge in almost uninvited and start a relationship with no willingness to honor the past, and make you feel isolated and don't hide they think you're the one intruding. Then there are people who walk in with a smile, get to know the friend as well as the friend's life before them, and in a matter of time it's as if that person has always been there.  Julie is the latter.

Cheers to Julie, a great lady who I hope will be sticking around for a long time.

-Andrew

Brittany Antosiek

 A memory that sticks out to me about Brittany is one where she exhibited the mixture of ditzyness and comedy that only she can create.  I think it was the summer of 2011 when she, John Diedrich, and I had gotten into the habit of going to Lifetime Fitness together to work out/hang out around work out equipment.  One night though John couldn't make it, but Brittany and I still felt like getting our swell on do we decided to go ourselves.  The workout itself wasn't particular memorable because, well, it was a workout, (although we did go in the hot tub and it is never a sore sight when you get to see a woman like Brittany in a bikini) but the ride home something happened that had me laughing for about the next five miles. 

On the drive back from the gym, Brittany was driving and we came up to this traffic light which has always been there and which I'm sure she was very familiar with.  So while we're stopped at the red light chatting about whatever, the green arrow to turn right comes on.  Not paying attention, Brittany just starts to drive straight through as I'm looking at the still red light until she gets through and I say "Uh, you realize that light was red, right?"  Obviously, she didn't, and while that would have been funny by itself, it didn't stop there.  A few seconds later after the light turns green, some guy comes cruising up behind us and is riding up her ass.  He keeps doing it for about a mile and a half until he comes up to an intersection where there is a left turn lane which he pulls into and starts yelling at Brittany to roll her window down.  Mind you, it's like 1:00 AM at this point, so naturally Brittany is like "Fuck no, I'm not rolling my window down."  Eventually the dude drove away, but it was just so surreal, and the rest of the ride home we speculated about what the guy was going to do when he got home...I had a lot of fun.

I still get to see Brittany every now and again and it is almost always a fun time when I do.  Some people consider Brittany to be a little bit of a polarizing figure, but I never really have.  She's always been sweet to me and while she can be a little bit of an eye roller at times, I've always felt like her heart is in the right place.  Oh and she's like, super hot.

Cheers.

-Andrew

Margaret Ventimiglia

I met Margaret when I was a sophomore in high school and we had a two hour chemistry class together.  I liked Margaret from the first time I met her because she wasn't really like anyone I'd ever met before.  She was a red haired Italian, which was a first, but also despite being a little bit older than I was (she was a junior to my sophomore) she always acted the same with everyone and her crazy sense of humor made anyone feel like they belonged in her company.

One of the best memories I have of Margaret was during one day in class when she came over to my table which consisted of me and the Diedrich brothers and proceeded to tell us what kind of strippers she thought we would look best as.  I don't remember exactly how the conversation went down, but I do remember me laughing the entire time and that she decided to don me with the role of the sexy lumberjack...such a character.  When it comes to my memories of Margaret, most of the great ones come from the numerous hours I spent with her in that classroom, which might seem kind of a boring basis for memories to the outsider, but I guess you just had to be there.

Margaret is married now, and I'm in line with a lot of men who have known her when I say that her husband is a lucky man.  Regardless of her current taken status though, I don't have a problem saying that she is one of the most lovely people I've had the pleasure to come across in my life.  I wish her nothing but the best and I hope that she and her husband have the best life they could possibly have.  Maybe someday we'll meet again and reminisce over a nice bottle of fine, but until then, stay lovely darling.

-Andrew

Extra note: When we met, The 40-Year-Old Virgin was pretty big, and I once half-jokingly propositioned Margaret by reenacting the "fuck buddy" scene.  It was hilarious and became a running joke with us for a while...dunno how I almost forgot about that!

Joe Messenger

I've known Joe for years and as long as I've known him, he's always been around to provide some great memories.  During lunch in high school I remember eating with him, John, and a bunch of other kids and Joe would always tell us this story about this porn he watched where a lady was riding a bicycle and ever time she pedaled she would be penetrated with a dildo...yes, it was just as absurdly hilarious as it sounds.

My favorite memory of Joe has to come from the trip to Cancun a big group of us went on for Spring Break our senior year of high school.  Since we were a bunch of 18-year-old's from Michigan who could legally drink for the first time in our lives in a beautiful place on the ocean with people who didn't speak English, it suffices to say that most of the time we weren't sober; but there was one night in particular when Joe was a little bit more drunk than everyone else a little bit earlier than everyone else.  I was in the hotel room with John and Greg when Joe knocked on our door and came in, hammered from drinking with his older brother Jeff for a while.  When he walked in he proceeded to put on what I can only describe as a beautifully orchestrated, booze fueled dance fest, and it was there that he gave the world a dance move that just keeps on giving: The Beached Whale.  It was one of those freak things that happened and will never be repeated with the same hilarity as it was that night, but to get an idea of what I'm talking about, here's a chubby dude doing a much poorer version of it Beached Whale (Poser Edition).  I don't know why, maybe it was becayse I was dehydrated from being around undrinkable water and was a dumbass teenager, but that was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and only Joe, the giant goof ball of a man he is, could have pulled it off.

I don't see Joe all that often these days, although he was part of the group of us that went down to Miami for Spring Break our junior year of college, which was also a great time, but I think I'll save that memory for another one of the dudes that went down there.  Whenever I do see Joe though, he's still the same good guy he's always been, and anybody who gets the chance to talk to him seriously for a few minutes will know that he really is just a genuinely good guy.  Even though like the rest of us he acts a little more "adult" now, there's always that feeling that at any moment, maybe after one more shot, the beached whale will flop out of the ocean and make the world laugh once again.

-Andrew

Dominic Czarnota

I met Dominic at some random get together at the Diedrich's house back in middle school and I don't remember exactly how it happened, but he and I just clicked and before I knew it he became one of my closest friends.  We both dig movies, we're both Polish (and have the wild families that come with that), we're into the same kind of music, we both like photography...we had a lot of things in common that most of the rest of our crew of guys didn't, which is what I think allowed us to build a friendship outside of just having proximity from the people we hung out with when we first me.  One of the things that Dominic and I connected most with was music, and in the decade or so that we have known each other we have been able to see multiple shows, just about all of them being memorable.  The most recent one actually happened but a few hours before I started writing this when we went to see The Hives at Clutch Cargos in Pontiac.  Not only did those crazy Swedish bastards put on one hell of a show, on our way out as we were walking to the parking lot we just so happened to run into the band and shake their hands complimenting them on a great performance.  We didn't plan for something great, it just happened naturally, and in a nutshell that's how I would describe mine and Dom's friendship: natural, unforced coolness.

During the second semester of my junior year at college, Dominic and his girlfriend Melissa were visiting MSU so I invited them over to hang out and have some drinks with my roommates and a couple other people.  What I expected to be just a nice little get together with one of my good buds ended up being one of the most fun nights I've had in college and quite possibly the best night of party photographs that I have ever had.  Looking back through the photos from that night I laugh both at the things I remember vividly and the things that apparently happened which I have no recollection of whatsoever.  That night had pretty much everything: drinks were flowing, laughs were had, good music was played, funny pictures were taken, new friends were made, and old friendships were bound even tighter.  Dominic and I have done plenty of things which could probably be described as "cooler" than that one night we all hung out at my apartment, but to me it's a night like that that defines a good friendship because that was just us being ourselves with ourselves without the help of some famous band or thousands of screaming people.

Dominic and I have been going to different colleges for the last four years and despite us not seeing each other all that often, whenever we do hang out it never feels forced and I always feel like I'm still hanging out with one of my oldest friends.  Because of that I feel confident when I say that I can see me and him being good friends for many years to come.

Cheers my Polish brotha,

Andrew

Kimber Kondrat

The first night I met Kim, I was walking out of the Roadhouse Pub and recognized two of her roommates that I'd met before, so I went over to say hello before I left.  Sitting with them was this absolutely stunning woman who turned out to be their other roommate, the one who I'd heard all about but had yet to meet, and I must say...she lived up to the expectations.  Every once in a while you meet someone who you just click with right from the get go, and with Kimber I felt that right away, hell I even messaged her roommate Lizzie about how awesome she was while walking home that night.  While I knew that I was into Kim from the beginning, I sadly only have a couple memories with her, which is mostly my fault because I can be a little bit of a dumbass tool bag from time to time, but regardless, here is the story of one of my favorite nights at the Pub.

It was a Sunday night and the plan was to watch Mad Men with my roommates when I suddenly get a text from Lizzie to come over to the Pub and hang out.  I thought what the hell, I'll go grab a drink then I can just catch the replay at 11:00, no biggie.  Little did I know that I would be closing down the bar that night.  When I arrived Lizzie was there with her roommates and a group of guys who they knew and they were all hanging around, playing some pool.  They just happened to be finishing up a game when I grabbed my drink and Kim needed a partner, so going along with my motto of the night I said "what the hell" and grabbed a pool cue.  I'm not that great at pool and neither was she, but sometimes the universe just wants two people to hang out together, and that night the universe made sure that we went on a win streak that lasted pretty much all night.

During the games we got to know each other quite well, especially when it came to our crazy Polish families.  I honestly had no idea anyone else on the planet would have the same traditions that my family does, but hers did, and there was something incredibly sexy about that.  My Dzia Dzia always told me about finding a "good Polish girl" and while I know some girls with Polish backgrounds, it wasn't until I met Kim that I knew what he meant, and I have to say...the old man knew what he was talking about.  This girl was incredible.  After a while her roommates and the guys were all leaving, but that night was the release party for Bell's summer beer called Oberon and they were tapping the keg at midnight, so we decided to stay.  I had to be at middle school at 8AM the next morning but I didn't even care, it never crossed my mind to leave this girl, especially when we were going to share a keg of some fantastic beer.

The night wound down and we had to head home, luckily home was a block away from the bar and our apartments were two doors down from each other.  When we got back to the apartments, we lingered in the stairwell, me knowing full well that there was no way I was letting this night end without my lips upon hers.  We chatted about Polish words that we knew and I intentionally left the last phrase, the phrase I'd been wanting to use all night, until the last moment before we parted ways.  "Daj mi buzi" or in English, kiss me.  And we kissed.

I wish there was more to that story...but that's life, and this memory, for me at least, will be a lasting one.

-Andrew

Scott McCormick

Scott is one of the first people that I met when I moved into my family's new house in second grade, and he and I have been buds ever since.  He was a neighborhood kid so we had the same bus, we had several classes together in elementary school, middle school, high school, and even college, so it suffices to say that I've known this kid for a while and there are plenty of memories for me to choose from.  Luckily, there was one day that I still remember vividly for how hilarious it was, so that's the one I'll go with.

During our junior year of high school, I was in the same English class as Scott with a teacher named Mr. Pajak.  Mr. Pajak was this big guy with a low voice who loved U2, played the drums in a band with some other teachers, and was in the end, kind of a dorky dude.  All good teachers tend to be a little bit on the nerdy side, so I'm not knocking him for it, but this fact made his actions all the more amusing in this story.  We're in class and there's a fundraiser going on in the cafeteria, so Mr. Pajak comes over to give us a $20 to take down and buy whatever they were selling. As he's walking over he takes the bill out of his wallet, is about to hand it to us with two hands for some reason, then all of the sudden rips it in half.  He didn't just tear it a little, he ripped the $20 bill completely in half without any intention to do so, and Scott and I burst out laughing.  I can't remember any other time where I was nearly crying from laughter at the expense of a teacher...it was just one of the greatest things I'd witnessed.  Scott and I would often joke about Pajak's mannerisms and what not, but that one moment will always define that class for me.

I've always liked Scott, and there really are too many things I could say about the years I've known him, so I'll make it simple.  He's a cool dude who has eccentricities that always made him a fun guy to be around, and I'm sure that if I don't see him again now that college has come to a close, that he'll meet more people who think he's awesome and have decade-plus friendships for the rest of his life.

-Andrew

Storm the Mormon Hippie

Storm is a random kid that I met in Miami during Spring Break of 2010.  We were taking the bus to downtown Miami when at the back of the bus we saw this kid sitting like he ran the place, and since there was no where else to fit all of us, we decided to sit by him.  While down there we heard the story of how this kid was raised a Mormon but doesn't follow the lifestyle at all and chose to live as a free spirit of sorts.  In fact, he was such a free spirit that he was even involved in the recreational sales business, which is not something you run across everyday.  Storm was taking a year off of school when I met him, but his plan was to eventually make his way to Bringham Young University where he would continue his studies.  Something tells me that he's not quite the candidate that BYU is looking for, but if there's any hippie Mormon who can make it into that school without practicing the religion in any sense whatsoever, I'd put my money on this guy.

Cheers to being one of the most awesomely random people I've ever met on a bus.

-Andrew

Jonathan Wickersham

Jonathan has been my next door neighbor since second grade as was also the first kid I met when my family moved into our new house way back then and from that point on we pretty much grew up together. When we were in grade school the neighborhood kids would play street hockey almost on the daily, and if it was too cold or snowing or raining, we would set up a rink next door in his basement.  When we went through our extreme sports phase, that same basement became a mini skate park, which was always fun to fall in.  We both have a love of hockey having been to a few Red Wings games together over the years as well as playing a season of hockey together on a team called the Heat back when his dad was coaching.  Back when his Nana and Papa had their old house we used to ride dune buggies, go carts and what not around the land (one time I even managed to drive through a wire fence.)  Then when our families have gone up north to his families cottage, we've had some good times riding around on boats and doing stupid shit like tubing with six people and switching places while we're being towed...I'd say we've had a pretty good time as neighbors over the years.

Since the goal here is to come up with one memory, I think I'll go with the night of his 21st birthday.  The night started at his house where Justin, Matt, and I all had a few beers and drinks of Red Stag before we went off to the bar.  Jonathan's girlfriend, the lovely Stefanie Zerafa, was our designated driver for most of the night which meant that we could go as wild as is possible in the suburbs of Detroit, and I must say...we had a pretty amazing time.  Stef gave us a ride to a bar called Boston's which was around ten minutes away to grab some drinks and have a little bit of food too absorb some of the toxins which would undoubtedly be filling our bodies in the coming hours.  We ended up stay here for several hours and by the end of the night became close enough with the waitresses that not only were they giving use some free shots (I believe nerd bombs were their drink of choice), they were even taking shots with us.  After having a great time there, Stef dropped us off back at his house where we thanked her for taking us out, but the night didn't end there. 

Following our return home we went to the local bar about a half mile walk away called the Kit Kat Klub.  It's a great little dive bar that we frequent when I am home and it is the perfect place to end a good night.  The whole birthday thing even got the bartenders to give Jonathan a Kit Kat Klub beanie as a birthday gift, which was pretty great.   This bar was also where Jonathan and I managed to drink our good friend Matthew under the table.  If I recall correctly there was even one point where Matt was lying on the floor in the bar, something the rest of us found quite amusing.  All in all, I would say it was a pretty great night and I'm glad that I was around to help give my neighbor a memorable 21st birthday.

While we don't see each other as much as we used to since I've moved away, I still have a good time with him whenever I'm back in town and we go out, and I think that's going to last for a long time. 

Cheers mate, don't think I could have asked for a much better next door neighbor.

-Andrew

Matt Kendziuk

I've known Matt for years, but we really didn't become friends until we started hanging out through my next door neighbor Jonathan.  Matt's a cool kid, he comes from a Polish family like me and whenever we get together we have a good time.  One year when my parents and sister were out of town for her senior spring break I actually went over his house for Easter and while we were there him, his dad, and his granddad did shots of Crown Royal after dinner...and that right there is just a good group of Polish people. We have plenty of good memories from going out to the Kit Kat Klub and what not as well, but some of my favorite memories have to be from when we did a segment called School Soaps for the student news our senior year of high school.

For the most part School Soaps was just us doing random shit with little preparation with the hopes of getting a laugh or two out of some of our peers, and we did that pretty well I must say.  Every once in a while through, we would put out a pretty damn good segment.  The one that sticks out most is when we did a promotion for foreign language week.  We did this whole skit where I was dressed up in a cop costume and Matt and I would have different conversations in the various languages offered at our school with subtitles underneath.  It was pretty damn dumb, but it was one of the biggest hits of the year and even a lot of the teachers loved it.  We even had Jonathan in the last part of the video as Godzilla when we were speaking Japanese...it was an Eisenhower classic.

It's always good to see Matt when I come home from school because when the group of us go out and have some drinks, it's almost always a good time.  Look forward to doing that for many years to come sir.

-Andrew

Shelby King

I don't have any real personal memories with Shelby King, but I very much remember her as I'm sure any guy who went to Eisenhower or Malow does.  She's breathtakingly gorgeous, but she also has an edge to her.  I haven't seen her in years, but I did come across her facebook some time ago and I was incredibly impressed by her creativity and the way that she speaks her mind...not to mention she has a freaking sick tattoo and I've always been a sucker for body art.  Seeing that pretty much just made me wish I knew her better, but unfortunately some paths just aren't meant to cross.

Regardless, I wish you luck dear.  I'm sure you'll live a very fulfilling life no matter what it is you do.

-Andrew

Zack Lennon

Zack is an awesome dude.  I can't really pinpoint when exactly I met him, but he's been one of my neighbor Jonathan's best friends for years so it feels like ages.  A great example of how good of a guy Zack is when he called me up one night and asked me to come out with him and a few of his buddies from high school.  I met them up and he included me like we were all a bunch of friends from back in the day drinking beer and shooting pool.  I can honestly say that I have never had a bad time with Zack and that's one of the best things you can ask for in a friend, but sometimes a night out with Zack can get pretty wild.

The night in particular that I'm speaking of is when I was at UofM for my 21st birthday and I randomly happened to run into Zack.  The moment that I told him it was my birthday he pretty dropped everything he was doing and made it his personal goal to take me out and have a good time.  And have a good time we did.  He took me out to the bar and bought me this drink called Black Death which was pretty much poison, but it did lead to me having a hell of a night.  Along with Zack there were also the lovely Basel sisters and Dominic, and while it was just a small portion of people I hold dear, I don't think I could have asked for a more memorable night.  Although the next day was a bit rough, ha.

Cheers to being a good man, mate.

-Andrew

Ashley Billings

Ashley Billings is the second awesome girl named Ashley that I met in 2010, but in very different ways.  I first met her when we had a Greek history class and one day we were sitting next to each other when all of the sudden she dropped her pencil and it rolled by my feet.  I picked it up and handed it to her like a gentlemen and then over the course of the semester we became pretty good buddies.  Billings is a pretty wild, strong willed woman, and the first time that I hung out with her I was actually kind of curious whether I could keep up with her...and I think that's why I was drawn to her.  There's something a little dangerous about her that really intrigued me and I can say with certainty that she was worth getting to know.

A fun memory I have of Ashley Billings is when I saw her at PT O'Malley's one night when I was out with my roommate at the time Steve.  When we got there I saw these two cute girls in a booth with these two old guys, one of which had a creepy blonde mustache.  As I get closer to the booth I see that it's none other than Ashley and one of her friends.  One we took a seat I found out these two guys were in town for some kind of conference and had been supplying the girls with free drinks the whole night...it was pretty great.  And definitely something that I could see her doing.  That was a good night, then the next day we drank all day at her house so all in all, I'd say it was a good weekend.

Ashley is graduated and off in New York now on her way to becoming a bad ass business woman, and there's no doubt in my mind she's going to be one.  I do miss her though, her crazy ass was never a disappointment.

Cheers to Ad girl, Don Draper better watch out.

-Andrew

Faz Moghul

I met Faz during my freshman year at MSU when we were suite mates in the dorms and I can honestly say I liked him from the beginning.  He stands for a lot of different things and he is able to defend them, which is something that I appreciate in a person regardless of whether or not I agree with them.

A great memory that I have of Faz is during Freshman year when somehow us and a few other guys on the floor got in the middle of a political talk with the election coming up.  I usually hate talking about politics because there is always a divide and most people who want to talk about politics are shortsighted assholes who have no ability to look at a situation from the opposite viewpoint, but this conversation was one that I actually enjoyed.  Faz and I both had the same opinion on a situation and we had a great debate over a bunch of nonsense things which we'll never have any real influence on.  There have been numerous times where I've had more fun with Faz, but I think this is one of those times when I really got to know who the kid really was.  I liked that.

I've had some good times with Faz.  Hell, we even caught a shark together, so I think even if we lose touch in the future, Faz will be always be one of those guys who I have a great time with whenever I see him.

Cheers.

-Andrew

Jenny Klick

Back in the day Jenny and I used to share family birthday parties together because our birthday's are only two days apart, and that's part of the reason why I think I became so close with her and her brother Joey when we were growing up.  Jenny has always been an interesting girl and has brought her fair share of eccentricities to family gatherings over the years.  There was one Thanksgiving where she decided to go vegan and brought all of her own food to dinner, and while there's nothing wrong with being vegan, it was just funny because it was out of nowhere.  That's Jenny though, she's a funny girl who knows who she is and knows what she wants to do, fuck what people say or think. And that's what we love about her.

One of my favorite memories with Jenny has to be a few years ago when I was over her parents house for New Years Eve.  It was a rather relaxing night in general with just a group of ten people or so drinking and having a good time, but at one point during the night she and I had a conversation for like an hour and it was probably one of the funnest talks I've ever had with her.  I don't really remember the details, but we talked about random things in life, memories from childhood, stupid shit we both remembered doing...it was just a good cousin to cousin conversation.  She's in Arizona now so I don't see her as often as I used to, but one of these days I hope to talk with her like that again because it truly was awesome.

Sto lat!

-Andrew

Evan Cloyd

I got to know Evan because he was one of the neighborhood kids that I used to hang out with a lot in elementary school.  For a few years, just about every guy I was friends with was into wrestling and we were so into it that we made our own little wrestling federation, EKW (Extreme Kid Wrestling).  Our ring was a couple of futon mattresses with chairs in the corners, we had a belt, and we pretty much just beat each other up after school for fun.  The funny thing is, I don't remember us ever planning out matches, I think we just went along with it until someone actually tapped out or a finishing move was landed and was deemed worthy of a victory.  I think it suffices to say that we got a hurt a few times, but it was a blast.  Wrestling in the basement of the Cloyd house are some of my favorite memories from elementary school, and it just wouldn't have been the same without the passion that Evan brought with it, a passion for wrestling that's still with him today.

These days, Evan is one of the most intriguing people to follow.  I last saw him at MSU on St. Patrick's Day when he was on the street doing some magic for people.  He was always entertaining in high school but damn, he was doing things that were more impressive than stuff I've seen people who claimed to be professional magicians do.  When I saw him we chatted for 10-15 minutes about life, I found out he was moving to California soon and that he was gonna be wrestling for a company out there, which is pretty dope.  He's also been doing motivational speeches, helping kids realize their potential and whatnot, which is something that I, as a future educator, find to be incredibly admirable.  Evan is a guy who figured out exactly what he wants in life, exactly who he is, and exactly how he plans to reach his goals, and for those reasons alone he is an inspiring person.  I would wish him luck in the future, but honestly, he has the kind of work ethic that makes luck curl up into a ball and weep in inadequacy.  I look forward to hearing about the big things he's doing for years to come.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Becki Farquhar

If I could define Becki in one way, it would be "Awwww (:""  She is one of the biggest sweethearts you'll ever meet and for such a small girl, she has one of the biggest personalities you'll come across.  And the things she says are so jovial that when you're around her, you can't help but smile...or laugh at the some of the hilarious things that come out of her mouth.  I met Becki in my senior year teaching class and I'll admit, my first impression of her was quite a bit different than the girl she ended up being.  I only knew her in class as the sweetheart who never had a bad thing to say about anyone, and that was great, but something told me that she was more than "that girl in my class who is super nice."  It was the second semester of the year when the class started putting on "professional development days" that I finally learned just how awesome this girl really is...and it was worth the wait. 

When I saw her at the bar laughing and holding a giant glass of Blue Moon in her hand, a huge smile came across my face because for the first time, I felt like I saw the real Becki.  I always thought that she was gorgeous with her blonde hair and brilliant smile, but this night was the first time that I looked into her eyes and God are they beautiful.  I've seen pretty eyes before, but never in my life with all the faces I've looked at, have I seen eyes quite like Becki's...the kind of eyes you could just gaze into for hours.  She already had me hooked at this point, but then she did something which took me over the top...she cheered when the Red Wings scored a goal.  She didn't just go "Oh the Red Wings scored? Cool!" she actually cheered like a real fan, and there are few ways quicker to my heart than expressing love for my team.  Becki didn't even have to say a word to me for me to know this was one hell of a woman, so when we finally did talk, all she did was reinforce my opinion.

Ever since that night, I've held Becki in the highest esteem.  There are some people who you come across in life that are super nice, but you get the feeling that it's a facade, that they're just being nice because it's expected of them.  I never once felt that way about Becki.  She is one of the the most sincerely kindhearted people that I have ever met, and because of that, life is just better when she's around.

Cheers Madamoiselle Farquhar.

-Andrew

Mike Pendy

I've known Mike since I started playing football at Malow, and it's from those middle school football days that I'm gonna take a memory.  One day before practice, Mike was tapping up his ankles and made a comment about how he shaved his ankles so he could tape them up right and how now that he was thinking about it, shaving his ankles felt pretty fucking lame.  I was cracking up.  This has to be one of the most random memories I have, and I honestly have no idea why I remember at all, but that's what's weird about life sometimes.  We remember worthless stuff just because when it happened, we thought it was a classic moment. 

I actually have a way better memory with Pendy than this.  In ninth grade, he and I were in the same English class with Ms. N.  There's plenty about that teacher we could comment on from the way all 6"2 of her would sit behind her desk with her legs spread, saying "You know?" upwards of thirty times a class period, but the funniest day I remember from that class was when we had a substitute.  This particular substitute was named Mr. Male Bodily Fluid (Work it yourselves, ya perves).  So one day we come into class and this older gentlemen is sitting at the teacher's desk.  All is normal until he opens his mouth and happens to have the heaviest lisp that I may have ever heard on a person.  I don't care how nice of a person you person you are, there's no chance in hell that if you're a couple of 14 year old guys that you're not finding a lisping teacher hilarious.  We were courteous enough not to lose our composure in the classroom, but somehow we both got a pass to leave the class and the minute that door closed we burst out in laughter. I had that guy as my sub a few more times in my high school career, and he's a pretty good substitute actually, but that day at that age in that class with this kid, his whimsical sayings just didn't catch on.

I still see Pendy around MSU sometimes and we always say hey to each other.  He's a cool guy and I'm sure he's gonna do some good things with his life.

Cheers LBC, make sure you try to prank call me next time I'm in Hawaii for my parents anniversary, ha.

-Andrew

Mark Abdo

The memory that I think defines Mark as the great person I know him as was during a ninth grade football when he and I were playing full back and tail back respectively.  It was a drive at the end of the game and I got the ball down most of the field through some good runs then when we got down to near the goal line Mark was given the touch and punched it in for the TD.  I didn't anything of it because we're a team and any touchdown is cool with me, but after the run he came up to me as we were running back to the sidelines and said "You deserved to get that touchdown, Thom."  That really stuck with me because I don't know many people who would do that, hell I'm not even really sure I would have thought to do that, but that's just Mark.

I haven't seen Mark in a few years but I hear he's doing some good things in the body building world and I wish him the best.

Cheers to you mate.

-Andrew

Andrea Czarnota

Andrea Czarnota is one of those people who you absolutely adore but almost never get to see.  The first time I met her was when I went to a concert with her and her brother Dominic and it was after the show when we were at my house and started chatting about the series finale of The O.C. that I realized this isn't just Dominic's sister, this is a genuinely awesome girl who I'd like to get to know better.

My favorite memory of Andrea is from when she went to a Brand New concert with me during their Daisy tour.  I called her up, offered her a ticket, and she came with me, which I loved because it's always fun when people take you up on spontaneous offers, especially when the person you offer is a gorgeous Polish woman.  We went to the concert and the show was amazing as Brand New always is, but the real reason that this particular concert sticks with me above the others we've been to together is the little things that still remind me of that night.  I doubt she remembers, but that was actually the night when she named my car Sasha, a name that has stuck ever since.

When I think of Andrea I think of her as an independent, artist, as a beauty, and as a music lover, but I also think of another thing: missed opportunity.  I had a huge crush on Andrea and my senior year of high school I asked her to go to homecoming with me, to which she accepted after I showed up to her house with a dumb ass "Homecoming?" sign I made.  I think I wrote too big so I had to separate the words so Home and Coming were on two different lines....such a dork.  But I had big plans: we were going to go out to dinner at this great Japanese place with another couple and have a fun conversation, then we would go to the school and have some good time dancing as I showed off my lame moves, we'd bring the night to a close by going to an after party of one of my friends then at the end of the night I would walk her up her walkway then right before she went to grab the door I would take her hand and say "Wait..." as I pulled her in and kissed her.

It didn't go that way.

Her friend's date cancelled, so now it was the three of us which meant Andrea's sad friend had become the focus of the night...something I wasn't pleased about and due to immaturity, handled more poorly than I care to admit.  We had a decent time and still danced and whatnot, but the night was essentially ruined and while I like to say I was robbed of my opportunity, my handling of the situation is just as much to blame as the unfortunate circumstances.  But that's life, and at least I'll always have the memory of tie shopping with her and seeing her walk down the stairs looking absolutely stunning in her brown dress.

If there's one thing that has been unfortunate to observe from time to time about Andrea, it's when I see apathetic or angry posts of hers online, and can't help but feel a little sad and a little angry.  On the one hand I'd love to just give her a tight hug and tell her how amazing she is, then on the other hand I find whoever made her feel that way and beat the shit out him.  But honestly I just want to make her smile, tell her how great she is, and how rare it is to be such a unique person because she deserves to be happy.  And because imagining a face as beautiful as hers damp from tears breaks my heart.

Cheers to Andrea, the lovely hipster.

-Andrew

Kristen Fleming

"Thom, that girls a bombshell!"  These are the words used by my good friend Cody on New Years Eve to describe Kristen and he's right, she is a gorgeous woman; but that's just one of many reasons why she is amazing.  Kristen is an incredible artist, and without a doubt one of the most talented people I have ever met.  She has a strong personality and while I may not always be on the same page as her, I always listen to what she has to say.  Her feminist ideas are a huge part of her, and it really shows in the work she does which exudes a lot of power even when it's something as simple as a pair of lips. The way that she incorporates her beliefs into her art is one of the things that impresses me most about her work and I can't wait to see how her skills develop in the coming years.

Kristen and I met when she was paying a visit to a couple of my roommates in the fall of my junior year at MSU.  When she first arrived I was kind of flabbergasted because in walks this girl tall enough to be a runway model dressed in all these colors and eccentric styles,she even had a earring that looked like a screw in her ear, yet she rocked it like only a real artist could.  That night we had a duel of shitty movies with hers being the God awful Fear of Clowns and mine being the so bad it's amazing The Room, and from her enjoyment of such terrible entertainment, I could tell that I was going to like this girl.  Other than the movie fest, that night we pretty much just hung out and played some tipsy Twister, but despite the simplicity of the night, it was still a good time and since then Kristen and I have been close.  The closeness we have now is enough of a reason for me to find that night so memorable.

Kristen: the most beautiful of artists.  Cheers to you darlin'.

-Andrew