Well, the weekend, for all practical purposes, is over. Nothing to write home about all in all. The highlight would definitely have to be having a lovely dinner with my big brother, Mr. Edward Tulin. Ed picked me to be his little brother during my brief stint with Delta Upsilon in Fall 2002, back when I was much more accepting of fraternities in general (since then I have become not only non-fraternity, but anti-fraternity-there is a difference in the two). *Point of Information: I was the only little brother Ed ever took, which is due mostly to our instantaneous connection stemming from the fact that we are both from the midwest. He's from St. Louis. Yeah!*
In fact some of the fondest memories that I have from my tenure at the University of Houston involve Ed in some way, shape or form. Words alone don't really stand a chance of encapsulating the kind of guy Ed is, but as someone once quipped, "Ed is the gold standard, and we are just nickel plating." Indeed, Ed is the gold standard. Ed is an amazing guy to say the least, and his accomplishments include but are certainly not limited to the following:
1) National champion of debate his senior year in high school. Yes, I said NATIONAL!
2) President and Vice President of Delta Upsilon (the aforementioned fraternity)
3) Valedvictorian of his graduating class at University of Houston (BS in molecular biology)
4) Homecoming King 2002 at University of Houston
5) He is completing law school at UT, and is being recruited already by the nations top law firm in New York
But accomplishments aside, the most important thing to know about Ed is that if you met him, you would never suspect he has done any of those five things. He is the most friendly, affable, humble, and gregarious guy anyone could ever hope for. Yes, he is indeed the gold standard. Ed is also my one and only homosexual friend. If you wonder why I mention his sexual orientation, because it truly does not matter, it is because he is really the only gay person I've ever gotten to know. So ultimately, he has done wonders in helping me not only to accept but also respect lifestyles that are different than my own. I imagine this rubs many of you the wrong way, but it is my particular experience and it is all that I have. My point is that our judgements and views on other people are only a direct reflection of a particular set of circumstances and experiences. If you agree with this, which no one has to, then it can become quiet hard to condemn anything--I realize the extent of the danger involved with a statement like this. This is something we consider in Anthropology called cultural relativity, which is considering something in and only in its cultural context.
Of course, critics will say an extreme example, like "Does that excuse the followers of Nazi Germany for their atrocities?" Of course not, but you simply have to realize and recognize the experiences that have shaped your views, especially the negative ones (things like racism, homophobia, etc). But I digress... Ed is a great guy, and it is always great to see him. I look up to him in many ways.
Well, that took a lot out of me so I'll step down from my soap box for the night and call it a night. I did promise a special girl I'd be sure to call her tonight and I imagine her to be sitting in a quite room, hand on the phone, a little short of breath, heart rate just above 160 beats a minute, in an extreme state of anticipation. The operative word of that former sentence is of course "imagine". But she knows who she is and I will call. I've already talked to my mom tonight, and the only three women in my life are my mom, grandma, and one who I won't name. But we all know grandma goes to bed around 4:00 in the afternoon, so that leaves the one nameless gal. Ah, the safety of anonymity.
Lyric for the day (very applicable to the point I probably failed to articulate earlier):
"For we are only what our situations hand us." (the proud husband of a girl my age, Mr. Billy Joel)
And our random quote:
"Given everything we know now, I see no reason why we will ever be able to harness the power of nuclear energy at any point in the future."
-Albert Einstien, 1931 (Unbelievable, huh?)
Until next time, I will remain, with no other options,
M.W. Rice
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