22 Questions/Things You Don't Ask/Tell Me

Hello friends, followers, casual blog enthusiast etc., 

I'm not going to waste a bunch of time rambling on in an intro because I know what you all really want....ways you can piss me off by me readily providing you with this vital information. I will no doubt leave some out as well. 

Aaaand we're off!! (No particular order) 

1. Aren't you hot?? 

-No, if I was hot I wouldn't be wearing long sleeves.

2. Can I touch your hair?

-Can I tough YOUR hair? What is so mysterious about my hair?! 

3. Are you Mexican? 

-No. Next.

4. Are you hungry? 

-Translation: "I want to get some food, will you come with" Just ask people.. 

5. Do you like basketball? 

-Of course I do. But I also like hockey and you didn't ask me about that, dick. 

6. Is your mom or dad black? 

-Does is matter? 

7. Is this all on the same bill? 

-No, we're just a family having dinner with two different color parents. Of course it's on separate bills! -_-

8. You voted for Obama right?

-No, I didn't, stop asking.

9. You like country?! 

-Yes, why is that so damn shocking to everyone.

10. Do you identify more with your white or black side? 

-I identify with my human side.

11. (Insert same story I've heard a thousand times)

-If I can finish the story for you stop telling it to me. 

12. Do you like black girls? 

-I don't discriminate, and neither should you. Women of every color are beautiful! 

13. You sound so white.

-Thank you? I think the word you were looking for was educated. You'll get em' next time! 

14. Do you play bass?

-No, I'm not Token from South Park. I play the Ukulele.

15. How'd you get your internship? 

-I applied, like everyone else.

16. Why aren't you as good as your sister? (She played basketball at Notre Dame) 

-Because I'm not over 6'0" tall.

17. The book was so much better than the movie! 

-It may have been, but I watch the movie so I don't have to read the book! 

18. What's wrong? 

-Just because I'm not smiling, doesn't mean something's wrong. I'm probably just thinking. 

19. "Fuck (insert any state that person isn't from)!" 

-I don't get state rivalries, they're stupid.

20. Are you mad? 

-If you felt the need to ask, the answers probably yes. 

21. Can you spot me?

-No one ever pays me back... I'm not made of money people. 

22. "You're not like most black people"

-Well I'm not black so that would make sense, wouldn't it person 144 to tell me that. Plus, what does that even mean? Never mind, I don't want to know. It's probably super offensive and ignorant. 

So there it is. If you want to make me mad for some reason (like my "friends" used to back in the day), these are some sure fire ways to do it. 

You're welcome. I guess. 

 

I'm not dead, just busy!

Hello friends, followers, casual blog enthusiast etc.,

For those of you that were bold enough to take this journey with me so far, I'm sorry. These blogs may have been the highlights of your week, who's to say? There is one thing I know, and that's that I have been the busiest I've ever been in my life. Between having a full time job and trying to get my beach body, there hasn't been much free time. 

With almost another full summer behind me (and I wouldn't have it any other way) I'll have a little more time to bring sunshine to your day. 

So read-on readers! If you're really out there. Don't worry. I'm not dead, just busy! 

A new life

Hello friends, followers, casual blog enthusiast etc.,

I know its been a while since I've graced you all with the pleasure of my blog, but I stand by it because I have been busy and have had no time to write it. Even now, I should be studying for a Stats exam that I am sure to fail, but am currently forced to pull an all-nighter for reasons that will be disclosed at another time. I have told you guys about some things that have helped shape me over my freshman year, but have left out probably the biggest and most important to me. 

When I started thinking about college, there is one thing that I knew I wanted to do. That thing was to go greek. Now, most of you reading this (depending on the demographic I am currently making up in my head) are making an image in your head of a typical douche frat boy wearing chubbies and sperrys like they're going out of style. In some places, and some cases you may be right. However, this has not been my experience. 

This is where Dirty Dan comes into focus. This was the one other person in my early "summer camp" program who knew he was going Greek. He is the type of person that you were all probably imagining in your head.  If there was anything in the world who could convince me not to rush, it was him. Unlike a lot of people, I had a positive outlook on Greek life before i even experienced it. I have had many relatives in Greek life, and had seen how much they liked it and what it did for them. In fact, these are some of the many reasons I was so dead set on it in the first place. 

There is an app that used to be pretty popular, you all my know it. Its called Yik Yak. This was completely owned by the Greek community before it became huge on just about every college campus in this great nation. This app stood for everything I hated. The amount of negativity I saw between all of the fraternities made me cringe when I opened the app. There was no way between the things I saw on the app and Dirty Dan that I would find myself in the middle of all of it. But this was me being stupid. 

There are bad apples in every organization, and I had just been paying attention to the ugly. Are fraternities pretty preppy? Sure, but am I going to sit here and act like I'm not. I may not deck myself out in Vineyard Vines and Brooks Brothers everyday, but I'm not slumming it in sweatpants and cargoes everyday either. If you do that, more power to you, that's just not me. As much as I tried to think of the good in fraternity brethren, it was too late by the time rush came around for fall. I was out the door getting ready to walk to the Greek village, and I was stopped by misconceptions in my head. 

So there I was. A GDI (God Damn Independent) for another semester at least. I really didn't know how to feel about this. The group of people I hung out with at the time were extremely anti-Greek, and I bought into it at time. I vowed I would stay a GDI forever. Obviously this didn't last, but it was heartfelt at the time. Eventually I realized that I wasn't doing much with my college life, and I wasn't living up to the grand vision of what I thought my college experience was going to be like. I'm going to let you guys image that for yourselves. I spent most of my early college days sitting in a chair on my phone watching people play video games. While this wasn't the worst because at least I was with people I cared about, it still wasn't what I wanted out of a college career. If I wanted to got o class, come back, and just sit and watch TV or something, I would've stayed close to home and commuted. 

This is where I was saved by PSE. I will go into PSE a little later on in this blog, but PSE stands for Pi Sigma Epsilon. It is a professional business fraternity for marketing and sales majors. My reasoning behind joining was taking baby steps towards joining a social fraternity (not proud that that's the reason when I started out, but hey, I'm honest). It was NOT like what I thought it was going to be. I absolutely fell in love with it. After about a month, I was fine with just staying in PSE and that's it. I wanted to invest in my professional life, and PSE gave me the chance to do that, and excuse me if I sound overly confident for just a minute, but I was really damn good at what I was doing. This is also where I met RJ and Blake. These were two of the coolest most upstanding gents I've ever had the pleasure to meet. When we were running for executive board positions, I noticed something. Both of them were in Pike. 

Before you read any further, SLOW DOWN. I know this all seems insanely predictable. I meet these people, they're both in Pike. He must go join Pike the next day. No, this simply made me want to look into it. Alpha Tau Omega, that's the family fraternity. Unfortunately, they did not have that on our campus. With that being said, I really didn't know anything about any of the fraternities on campus. If any of you go to a college that is fortunate enough to have fraternities and sororities on campus, you know exactly what "Greek stigmas" are. Every social Greek organization have sayings about them that are usually not to flattering. If there is one thing I've learned so far, is that you cannot buy into these. Are some of them fairly correct sometimes? With certain members in each one, sure, but its surly nothing to take to heart. 

After careful consideration, I decided that it was going to be between two fraternities for spring rush, Phi Kappa Psi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Just an FYI, this WAS before all of the things went down with SAE. Even after a lot for that stuff came out, I am not ready to condemn every SAE I see (two of them being my roommates). This is again beside the point (I tend to do that a lot). Eventually, I was walking back with Charlie and I said to him "Its been decided, I'm not rushing". I felt ok with my decision and like always, I went back to HQ (Ottawa West room 2208) and sat in my chair like I did every other day. Right as I sat down however I got a call from a kid named Sean. I had no idea who this kid was, but he asked if i wanted to come in for an interview to see my thoughts in opinions on Greek life. Being the over confident 'businessman" I was, I thought they were interviewing me on my newly elected position in PSE as a freshman. 

Then he told me to meet at the Pike house and I was very confused. I figured I'd go and see what this interview was really about and I could not have read it anymore wrong. I went in and sat on a couch with two guys who looked like they lived there and I quickly realized, this was an interview to see what I thought of them, but also what they thought of me. Again, SLOW YOUR ROLL. This is not some kind of douche bag thing where they were seeing if I was "fratty enough" or anything like that, it was simply to see if I would even be a good fit for the organization. I really don't understand why people take that as a bad thing. If you were running a business, wouldn't you want the best people? Of course you would. And I'm not saying a fraternity is a business, I'm saying that when any organization wants to be successful, you have to find people that want that same success.

But that's beside the point (It should really just be my catch phrase at this point). In the interview, I really got to see that there was nothing different about these guys. They were just a group of friends who wanted to excel in everything they did, and do it together, and I wanted to be apart of it. While I was excited about this potential opportunity, I didn't want to sound too eager. I wanted to play it cool. Yes, I just said that. I wanted to play it cool. I told them that I was interested in Phi Kappa Psi, and they said "Hey, that's totally cool were not going to try and tell you were the only ones on campus. Check everyone out and make sure you're making the right decision."

That right there proved my point. People have the wrong idea about fraternities. We know were not the only living things on this planet. We know not everyone sees it our way and were ok with that. I eventually was called for a second interview, received my bid, and signed it on the spot. I felt great about my decision to join Pi Kappa Alpha and I have never looked back. People can say what they want about what fraternities, but from my experiences in being in one, its about having a support group of brothers who refuse to see you fail, and will do anything and everything to see you succeed. Joining a fraternity was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am proud to say that it has helped shape me into the man I am today. 

This was a new life. A Greek life. I'm a Pike until the day I die and until then, I'll be saying the same thing to young men interested in the wonderful world of Greek life. #RushPike. 

The Move-in Process

I
Hello friends, followers, casual blog enthusiast etc.,

My name is Daniel and I am a first year student at the University of Toledo. I have been inspired by events, as well as people to write this blog you are reading today. This is a blog site, so if grammar errors offend you, this may not be the place for you. This is not my professional writing class, and I will not treat it like it is because this is the place I am going to tell my story, and like any other great story teller, I am going to do it my own way. First of all, you may not agree with everything said in this blog, and that's ok. This is a blog written in the perspective of a 19 year old, upper middle class, biracial college freshman. We're not always going to see eye to eye, but that's the beauty of writing, you don't have to.

Let's start with the title of this bad boy, "The move-in process". No, this is not going to be a detailed story of the day I moved into college. This title more refers to the fact that this blog is going to be a long bumpy ride, and you better be prepared to move-in to my mind and get comfortable. I realize that that last statement was pretty corny, and I am going to continue to stand by it. Get used to it people, you are choosing to be here.

When I was going through my college selection process, many things ran through my mind. How close do I want to be to home? How many people from my high school am I going to have to see on a regular basis? Whats the weather like? (Like I really gave two craps about weather) Can I see myself excelling here? All that nonsense you tell yourself when you really think its your decision. If I had it my way, I would probably be at the University of Cincinnati sitting in my dorm room preparing for finals. But I'm not, and while that fact may haunt me of what could have been, I am ever grateful that I "chose" UT.

I did not have the greatest relationship with my friends back home after my last summer as a high school student, and wanted nothing to do with them after I left for college. Some of you may just pin this to teenage angst, and might be a little right, but that is a story for another day. With that being said, I was very open to the possibility of new friends. This proved to be very confusing.

I was apart of a...assimilation...type program for incoming business students. I can call it that because when I first signed up, I thought it was going to be a program for advanced students, getting ahead in the college of business world by meeting professors, going to local businesses, and basically seeing what the college was like before we got in. I'm not a nerd I swear! This proved however to be very wrong. The process of meeting people in this interesting program was that of a Lion chasing down zebras in the Serengeti. When I say that, the picture in most of your heads was probably a bunch of the really cool kids, clinging to anything and anyone to reassure them of their high school glory days. No? That's only me... well fine, I guess. In actuality, it was more of the few normal people enrolled in the program, desperately seeking out anyone who could carry on a conversation more than just about "that time I went to the auto show"...cool story bro. Not to say cars aren't cool, I just don't want to be shown a picture of one for an hour straight.

Eventually I made it through the dust cloud. I had found four people who I thought my crazy messed up background fit in with. I will not disclose their names because I decided to make this blog on the fly and really don't know if they'd be super ok with me talking about them, but I digress. The first one was an old high school "friend". By "friend", I mean she just cheated off of me in every class together and I happened to get pretty good grades in both. Go figure. The second was a girl she had met before I got there from Cincy, she will come up later on. The third, a guy from west Cleveland, who I thought was going to be my best friend for four years, at the time. The last, a kid from the burbs of Chicago, a city not very different from my own. This was a good and bad thing. Eventually he told us he was going to be too cool to hang out with us once classes started up and he rushed his fraternity. Pi Kapp. Booo. Never the less, these were the people I was going to be spending my next week and a half of "pre-college" with. They weren't the best, but they were loyal.

Confused yet? Good, you shouldn't be, this is where it gets interesting. On the last day of this bitter-sweet program, I happened to stumble upon another camper at subway. I really couldn't tell you why I was in the student union because I really don't know. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't have my money with me to get anything even if I wanted it. The kid I saw, I had literally never spoken a word to during the entire program. I wasn't even going to say a word to him, but he recognized me and the nice person that I am said hi and we ate dinner together. This sparked my newest friendship that would lead to me meeting my best friend and long lost brother. No, he is not my actual brother.

We were bored and most of the other students were starting to move into the dorms, which meant open parties. I was not always this wild party animal that many know me as today. I really didn't like big groups of people of whom I didn't know or have a ton in common with, but I chose to go out for the sake of my new group of friends. This is where I met my best friend Chalrie. The kid I had been eating dinner with that night lived on the second floor of my dorm hall, which meant all of his roommates moved in days before mine (5th floor). His roommate was Charlie, his childhood friend who also chose to go to UT and being childhood friends with Brandon, chose to room with him. The funny thing is, when I was looking for roommates through the online service, I had requested to room with them because they were my top matches. The system asks you a series of questions and matches you up with people most like you. It gives you a percentage and me and Chalrie got a 95% match, and me and Brandon 86%. I would later learn that they didn't want to accept any request and I would later get paired with the worst roommates in all of recorded history. 

On the way to this open party, I was thrown into being introduced to this random person (Charlie) and neither of us wanted to go to this party. We started to walk a little slower and let the rest of them go to the party. We eventually met back up with Brandon and went back to their room. This was welcome weekend and little did I know, the semester to follow would be a very interesting one. 

This was "The move-in Process". 

Cleveland: The Final Frontier

Hello again friends, followers, casual blog enthusiast, etc.,

Even though I am currently being berated about my decision to write a blog in the first place (they're jealous I have a ton of time on my hands while they work towards getting into medical fields), I have decided to brighten all of your days by writing an extra post for the day. You can thank me later. I realize this is only my second post, but if you made it this far, I commend you. Studies show 80% of blogs fail after the first post. In addition, 100% of statistics I will use in the blog are completely made up on the spot. I sincerely hope that most of you who have read the first post "The move-in process", I thoroughly hope you enjoyed it and found something that you could related to.

I'd like to start out this second post by reminding you all that I have had some rough friendships in the past. While I still talk to my friends back home, and wouldn't want to lose them no matter how much they may piss me off, they weren't the best. Whether I contributed to that fact or not remains to be seen, but bottom line, my summer of senior year was rough. It consisted of long work days at the park, and many confusing nights playing Xbox in my basement by myself. Looking back on it, I wouldn't change how it went because it got me that much more excited to go to college. So while everyone was going through the graduation circuit, crying like they'll never see the people again, I was counting down the days.

Something funny happens when you hang out with the same people every day for nine years and your friend group rapidly expands. Sometimes, you get left in the dust, having to fend for yourself in the world of takeout Coney. For those of you reading this and know what that is, you probably feel for me right now. As you should. It's terrible. Sometimes unintentionally, your friends leave you out of things because they assume that you would not want to go. Other times, they will ask you to go so you can be the DD. Either way, being left out isn't fun, and it's a feeling I had become accustomed to.

Now that I'm off my soapbox, I can move on.

One day after getting in a fight on the phone with my mom, I decided I did not want to go home for Thanksgiving. Brandon, thinking I was being serious, told his mom and my invitation to celebrate Thanksgiving at their house came in the form of a hand written later a few days later. At this point, I felt like I couldn't say no. A couple weeks before going there for Thanksgiving we decided to go so I could meet his family and figure out what I wanted to see on the table during dinner. I am really not picky, so I just said a couple common things I knew they'd have and went on with the mini trip anyways. This is when I met some of the greatest group of new friends I could have.

I had never been to Cleveland before, but from what I heard, it wasn't great. Although, what else was I going to hear form a big group of people who had literally never lived anywhere else other than the little bubble that is the Metro Detroit area. Knowing this, I came in with an open mind. What I found out, was that I may have belonged in Cleveland the whole time. Everything about the city (or the parts I have seen up to this day) I love. The area is so much more diverse, certain things carry much more weight than they did at home. Also Sheetz, can't forget about Sheetz. If you don't know what it is, look it up and again, thank me later.

Even little things like the interest in basketball at all levels appealed to me. It felt like this was the place I was meant to grow up in. It was very interesting to see just how some people were much nicer. I told me new friends about some of the things that had gone on in my hometown over the previous year, not only with myself, but as the city as a whole. They stood and listened with amazement as I told tales of ex girlfriends and friends alike. I felt like an old man rambling on about my past to my ever interested grandchildren. The genuine interest they took in my life after knowing me all of a day was comforting. I thought back to what would've happened if I did the same thing back home. I can tell you one thing, it wouldn't have been the same thing.

Through a complete mistake of showing up at subway and forgetting my money and why I even went there in the first place, I had met my best friend, and their group of friends. Those friends I also have the pleasure of calling my friends as well. I have gone to Cleveland many more times since that first time. I go out with just people I met not more than a few months ago. For some reason to me that is still incredibly shocking. Thinking back that at that time, four months ago, I didn't even know these people existed, and now they're people I couldn't live without.

There is one person I have yet to meet in person. Doodle. No, that is not his real name. His real name is Michael, but even I don't ever call him that. Doodle is an interesting fellow. The only reason we met is because I heard someone talking about cartoons to Charlie over PS4. Anyone who knows me well enough, knows I still watch cartoons avidly. This is not the most common thing to do among 19 year old college students, but regardless of your opinions on it, its what I do. With this being the case, I was surprised that someone else actually made a reference to one of my favorite cartoons, Clarence. You know what they say (they meaning pretty much me and Doodle), they best friendships are the ones that start over cartoons. I will surly actually meet him the next time I go down to Cleveland.

For now, I am going to grind out the rest of this school year and start my internship for the summer, waiting for my next opportunity to visit "Cleveland: The Final Frontier."