Signature Wednesdays

Wednesday nights in The Chimes' office exemplify the nature of our friendship and may be proof that we were both made to be journalists.

Michelle and I have a lot in common. We both love reading news, signing off on finished Chimes pages and copy editing with red pens. After four years of journalism classes and multiple internships, we have something to prove. Every good journalist is an opportunist at heart and takes advantage of opportunities that may have slipped through the cracks otherwise. An example of this is our shared initiative in recruiting (luring) athletes into the office for a (very vague) picture for The Chimes. Yes, a picture with us. Let me assure you that it was not a coincidence that they were all the top male athletes in the school. Another quality a future editor should have is that of delegation, something we've perfected in letting the sports editor figure out how to tell the guys why they had to come into the office at 11:00 Wednesday night, why they took such cas pics with two girls and why the picture wasn't on the front page of the section.

Anything to lighten up the long Wednesday nights that quickly fade to early Thursday mornings. When I didn't have a car fall semester, Wednesday nights would end with a lazily triumphant drive back to our Decadox house. This semester, we've kept up the tradition, this time in different cars: Michelle in the maroon Taurus (soon to be Audi A6) and me in the Party Bus (woot!). Before that, however, I have been known to be intimately acquainted with The Chimes' couch while I'm waiting for the last pages of the paper to be put to bed. Pictured here is Michelle hard at work, while I snooze on the brown couch someone stole from the SUB.

As many similarities that we share, there are a few things that distinctly set us apart.

Michelle's insistence in walking out of the upper SUB door and and walking around the building in the bitter morning cold instead of going out of the lower SUB door hints at her one-of-a-kind directional helplessness.

Couches and drool-marked pillows, on the other hand, are my signature, defiant declaration that I'm cool enough to sleep anywhere.

There is no doubt that Wednesday nights are a highlight for us and will always be savored as some of the best times we've had yet.

A Night at the Ford

I'm writing this in retrospect and trying hard to remember just how weird the dance troupe at the Ford Amphitheatre actually was. Enjoying art and music is one of our favorite things to do --especially when we're joined by great friends like Christie and Amanda, pictured here.

Investing in cool experiences is always a great idea and our college-sized pocketbooks have taught us well to take advantage of our status as students.

Target graciously sponsors a dance series at the beautiful Ford Amphitheatre, built into the Hollywood hills. Perfect. Michelle did ballet for seven years (I think) and was effusively excited to see a modern interpretation of it. They did pretty well, but at times it was on the weird side. We were thankful for the program, which listed the themes they were trying to get across to the audience.



This wasn't our first time at the Ford Amphitheatre and it won't be our last. One of the nice things about the stately theatre is that it is right by Mulholland Drive, which weaves through the Hollywood hills and gives teasing glimpses of the L.A. skyline and beautiful multimillion-dollar homes. After the concert, we drove around for a bit, trespassed for kicks and tried to avoid couples making out.

This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse

Sports Illustrated had a column about ironic signs of the times. Why can't Skippy?

"President Emeritus Clyde Cook Receieves Honorary Doctorate from APU"

The Health and Fitness Column

It's been a great semester with the Chimes -- especially the chance to write my very own health and fitness column, since I'm such an expert in the field anyway.

Gail, who typically assists me in choosing a subject for health and fitness, was throwing around some ideas for my final column EVER (since I'll be going to Costa Rica next semester). Here were our top 8 ideas.

1. Ingrown toenails: how to cure the problem with just a switchblade and scalpel

2. Warts: treatments involving duct tape (Gail has firsthand experience here)

3. Halitosis: alternative breathing techniques to use after garlic fries

4. Mono: how to save your relationship when you've got the kissing disease

5. Athlete's foot: how to put the fun back in fungus

6. Psoriasis: learn to embrace your chronic skin disorder by going sleeveless

7. "Bacne" (back+acne): hints for bacne-friendly swimwear

8. Lice: advanced dorm fumigation techniques

Mr. Biola 2007

As democratic citizens, Gail and I are firm believers in the visibility of the government. That is precisely why Skippy is sponsoring the first annual Mr. Biola pageant. We encourage our readers to vote in our poll to indicate their favorite senator. If you are not acquainted with the senators, please do not hesitate to vote for superficial reasons.
The candidates, in order of appearance, are:
Senator Haws
Senator Martina
Senator Chacon
Senator Towson (on the right)
Senator Strawsburg
Senator Mitchell
Senator Salcedo

Mishaps in Room 212

Mishap #1: After Gail noticed an odiferous scent wafting from my beloved fountain, she took matters quickly into her own hands. What better way to deodorize a faux fountain than to pour in a cupful of laundry detergent?

Once the abundant foam had bubbled over its bowl and successfully damaged Gail's copy of the AP Stylebook, we realized that the idea wasn't as brilliant as we once thought.

And I quote: "Oops." -- Gail Patches.

Mishap #2: After the Horton Slip 'n' Slide (see post below), there were a few leftovers -- namely a giant case of Lay's original potato chips. Gail decided to bring it back to the room, presumably to sell it, but we were stopped by the words along the side of the packaging that read "Not for Resale." Dangit. So the chips have been guilty pleasures over the past few days as we try to cope with this week's very difficult commitment: giving up sugar for a week.

Mishap #3: We do laundry together, but it takes awhile before I actually get around to hanging up all clean clothes.

While rummaging through the laundry basket the other day, I noticed a cute pair of shorts that presumably beloned to Gail. Soon after I put them on her bed, we realized that this little cotton-spandex number was not ours, but in fact, a pair of guy's Abercrombie & Fitch boxers.

They are slightly anatomically incorrect, but nonetheless, one of us is thoroughly enjoying these as pajama shorts. To protect the innocent (or rather, guilty) party from online humiliation, we'll leave that to speculation.

NoHo: Fun in Rain or Shine (or Soap)

I thought I was content watching everyone else have fun.

However, once I realized I had the serene, laid back face of a mom watching her kids play in the pool, I knew I had to go in. I'm not grown up, yet.
Heck no.

North Horton had a slip'n slide on the front lawn that was graciously organized by Nate Mitchell, our AS senator.

It was awesome!

You can't beat music, burgers, soap, water and tarp combined. All that plus awesome Horton people? I'm there.

Michelle unfortunately had a Chimes meeting, but she showed up later for food and conversation.

This is the simple college fun people talk about.