Who is this guy?

He's been tagged on a Facebook page as "Awesome Wisconsin Guy"...but I'm sure you all know better.

Tim and Sara - Engaged!

On March 23, 2007 — exactly four years from the day she first agreed to be my woman at one of the infamous BARS house parties — I asked Sara to marry me at Niagara Falls (not pictured). She said yes.

So in case you noticed any type of bling or sparkleyness emanating from Sara's ring finger in any of the New York pictures below, this post should adequately explain what that is about.

Sadly, this picture (taken at a really cool little Jewish garden in New York) barely does justice to how happy I am. If I said I was really, really, really, ridiculously happy, then I'd be getting a little closer. But there aren't pictures, words or even pop culture references to describe it, so you'll just have to believe me when I say that it feels awesome.

I really appreciate the congratulations I've already gotten from so many of you, and I look forward to the forthcoming hugs and high fives.

And I promise better engagement photos one of these days.

Derek the married man

A handful of classic Irish C folk spent the weekend of March 31 in New York City. I could tell you why, or you could just read it yourself in this announcement from the New York Times:



It is with a great warmth in my heart that I announce to everyone here that our boy done good, hitchin' his self to a bonny lass who I don't doubt could have held her own in Irish C had she come to the ASU Honors College instead of Columbia. Then again, I've never seen her play Dr. Mario ...

Anyway, here's a picture or two of what happens when you take smart kids out of a secret government experiment and turn them loose in New York:

Lewis and Garret are all smiles after the steak tartare and pinot noir at Landmarc. On a sidenote, I feel like "Lewis and Garret" used to be two names we said together all the time back in the day, but not so much in recent years. Nothing brings old friends together like raw meat and wine.


Here's me and Sara at Battery Park. The blurry, pointy thing in the background is the Statue of Liberty. I took this myself.


Garret thoroughly enjoys the poutine at Pommes Frites.


Sara, Lewis and homemade sauces.


Eric looks classic in front of this cathedral across from Pommes Frites. Anybody know which church this is?


Pommes Frites gave us this classic photo from the early 1960s of a professional wrestler sitting outside the restaurant, regaling a world-weary dockworker with his tales of the ring. Amazing how these old-timey New Yorkers look nothing like me and Lewis.


When Adam gives me a little leg, I can't help but make a really weird face.


Friday Night Mexican is back! (From left) Adam, Josh, Sara, Garret, Lewis and Eric kick it with margaritas as we wait for a table at the only Los Dos Molinos outside Arizona. It's Mexican food so damn good, New York had to have one. In spite of the fact that they had Stella Artois on tap, LDNY didn't disappoint — this joint had all the heat of its Arizona siblings. Amazingly, this was the first time Eric had ever eaten at a Los Dos.


Eric is all Risky Business at Rise Bar atop the Ritz Carlton. When you're sitting on top of the Ritz, sipping a cocktail (compliments of Papa Schaibs) and looking out at the Statue of Liberty, you know you're a baller.


Sara, Adam and I look like much less of ballers on the subway.


Out on Pier A at Battery Park, Josh takes pictures of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.


Adam stands outside St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University as we arrive at the ceremony.


It never occurred to me, Josh, Adam and Lewis that the bride may have left Derek at the alter until the priest said something to that effect. We figured she was just caught in traffic. We were right.


Here, I get a perfect picture of Josh's camera's picture of Derek and Alissa coming down the aisle as husband and wife.


On the bus ride back to the hotel, Adam and Lewis get cozy.


This one's for anyone who thinks I'm posting too many pics of unsavory dudes. While neither of them ever lived in Irish C, Sara and Danielle look so good I had to post this pic. For the fellas out there with the ladies to impress: Get your girl an apple-tini with three olives and she'll love you forever.


Being a bridegroom works up a mean appetite, so Derek tears into a lamb shank. This spectacular spread — which also included dim sum, crab cakes, a gourmet pizza bar and, of course, cocktails — is what they served us in the waiting area before dinner at the reception. Tastebuds wowed. Minds blown.


I took this picture of Derek and Alissa's first dance, and I think I may have photographed the soul of their unborn child. We'll wait and see if they have anything to announce. (I'm guessing that they'll announce that I caught a lens flare from the other photographer.)


Garret, Doug and Danielle (good friends of many old Irish C-ers, Doug even served as a ringer on our dorm's flag football team), Josh and Adam enjoy all the different kinds of booze set in front of them at the reception.


Ballers on the Rise again, Lewis and I get serious with our sweet Hendrick's martinis.

Liz goes to Uruguay

Just got this e-mail from Liz:

Hey gang,

Here is the address for my Uruguay blog: www.thumosthermos.blogspot.com. I'll try to be better about updating the blog than I usually am about replying to emails (but feel free to email!).

I hope everything is great with you. Keep in touch.

-- Liz

Keep up with her blog for the latest adventures from Uruguay. I added it to the link list on the right. If anybody else has a blog or a Web site or whatever that I'm missing, post it!

Have a great trip, Liz!

The Main Event

You may remember back in the fall 2000 semester, when personality conflicts started brewing between some poorly paired roommates. One conflict involved Brian, Gavin and a Costco-sized box of cheese crackers.

I was going through some old notebooks today, and I stumbled upon this poster I drew to promote the ensuing brawl:
A year later, in Honors Psychology 101, I drew this comic:
That same day in Pshyc, on the same page no less, I drew this stunning portrait of Salty Matt. If you're reading this, Kucharski, please know that I love you like a weird, embarrassing cousin, but this is what happens when you suck in psychology class:

Upgraded!

I just upgraded us to the new Blogger. You'll need a Google account to post to the blog now, but I'm guessing most of us have one anyway.

Will this upgrade prompt anyone to start posting more?

Arizona Cardinals

Monday Night Football is a cause for warning. Don't make the same mistakes I did - there are better things to do with your time and money. Don't watch the Cardinals on TV. Don't believe they'll get better. And don't go to University of Phoenix Stadium.

Alana is a TV star!

It's amazing what you can find on YouTube. Looks like somebody posted this rare clip from an Animal Planet documentary that happens to feature me, Sara and the soon-to-be-famous Alana as swimmers who were attacked by sea lampreys during a long-distance race in Vermont.



Our scene was shot in February at Saguaro lake, and the water was freezing. Sara had received the call for extras via the Leadership Scholarship program listserv. The British production crew was very nice, but it barely made up for the fact that the water was so cold it made you gasp and then made your head sting.

So when you see me and Alana on the beach, wrapped in foil blankets, drinking hot cider and looking genuinely pained - it's not acting. I don't even think we knew we were on camera.

I'm going to try to get my hands on some of the all-time classic Irish C videos and post them here. If you have any, please share them.

Direct link on YouTube

Superman is a hero, but nothing like this guy

This is the product of a University of Phoenix education. Student was assigned to write a 1500 word essay with 5 references, and crapped out this gem. The student wondered why he got no points.

Education the future to the world, and how are we taking use of it today. Society will benefit from school by not being Challenge, better opportunities, and being a role model for the youth. Having the ability to read and write is a gift to everyone.Being challenge in this world is a major problem to people. First, you cannot obtain a job or career. Second, you will abuse drugs, alcoholic. Last, not having the basics down will keep you from understanding reading in writing. Benefit from education will take you far.Opportunities is a gift of success to the world. education brings on careers. being able to take care of yourself and family financially. having full control of your future. taking a step toward financially stability is a blessing waiting for us.Myself live in community of kids, and also having a child of myself. mastering your skills and being the best at what you do children look up to you. Brushing off positively influence the youth to look toward the future. Superman is a hero, and so are you. Planting a seed, and saying stay in school don't be a fool.

Adams Gone Wild!

A broadcasting graduate from Arizona State University, Alana Wagner went on to win the Emmy for Best Video Ever.

Ballad of the Four Leaf Clovers

Please read the following as though it were a Ken Burns documentary narrated by Sam Elliott.

Irish-inspired Johnny Cash cover band by night, upper-middle rollers by later night. Not much else is known about the Four Leaf Clovers.

These rare photos from the Cover Band Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada, show the quartet during the peak of their careers:

Now Mike Kolb, who some say is a member of various other halls of fame in Las Vegas, Nevada, says these boys was ornery as a prickly pear. And, well, guess I'll let you see for yourself:

Yes sir, college boys.

Return of the Koef (to Spectacular Peninsulas)

The great state of Michigan is best known for three things: tart cherries, the auto industry and - best of all - Jonathan Koefoed.

Couple weeks ago, Sara and I came one step closer to living the Michigan dream when Pretty Jon himself stopped by Ann Arbor. Photography ensued:

(From left) Tim, Sara, Koef, Koef's lady friend Suzanne and Irish C regular/Ann Arbor native Kat Williams pose in the Kerrytown district after an almost-Arizona good Mexican lunch at Sabor Latino.


In this photo, Koef is a little less happy after finding out that Tim lost his leg in Vietnam.

Thanks to Koef, Kat and Suzanne for the mini-reunion in Michigan. All we need now is some Ted Nugent, and our Michigan experience will be complete. And maybe some Tigers hats. But, for serious, ones that actually fit.

Farewell, Tim and Sara

I made a Peanuts cartoon as a going-away present for Tim and Sara, who as you probably know are moving to Michigan this weekend. CLICK IT. Tim and Sara are looking to make a fresh start in the great white north, and let's all wish them well. Adios muchachos!

"I wanna be an animator like Charles Schultz."
-Freddy Got Fingered

Trumpets please... Hoff-man's auspicious return to The Desert

Hep2it baybee. Our fascist, baby killing friend Karl Hoffman will go on leave from said baby killing this UPCOMING SEP-TEM-BORE, and would LUVVV <3 a place to stay! Anyone know they can accommodate heeyim at that time? Won't it just be the KEWLEST to see him again? So, scrounge up some floor space and a face for him to put his feet in, people, STAT. Email the mythman at flimflamman@gmail.com with any good news. His humblest cervantes: lubey.

U of A sucks!

Submitted for your approval: a prank I feel is worthy of Irish C and ought to make any Sun Devil proud. Or at least laugh.

As many of you know, I minored in Latin because of my fascination with etymology. One of the first things you learn is the pluralization of Latin words. For example, you have one stimulus, many stimuli. Syllabus becomes syllabi. And so on.

That's why Sara and I thought it was so damned funny when a white Mustang pulled up next to us as we were coming home from dinner. Its vanity University of Arizona license plate said: PENI.

That's it. PENI!

If you'll remember our Latin lesson, peni is the plural form of penus, which means a wang or schlong. Or maybe it was just this poor girl's name. Who cares?

The more important thing here is that it's one letter away from penis, which is English for a wang or schlong. At this point, we were one Sharpie away from hopping out of the car and writing a big S right on there.

Luckily, fate had our back. Peni pulled ahead of us, onto our street and just past our townhouse, into the Galleria Palms apartments. You know, the ones where Seizure Andy lived junior year. And we watched Peni park right in the front.

Sara and I returned home to regroup, and she realized that she had some stick-on lettering laying around. The reflective kind like you put on a mailbox. We grabbed an S and headed for the Palms.

Getting in was the easy part. We snuck in behind a car while the gate was open. We did a recon lap, and then we hung back for a while. Lotta people out and about on a Friday night. Didn't wanna have to off anybody. Keep it clean. A lap around the building, and the Penimobile was still parked.

Of course, we didn't have an exit strategy. We were surrounded by fence, a freeway wall, and a number of eight-foot stucco-on-concrete walls. The traffic had died down, and we couldn't wait around for a car to come. Too suspicious. We didn't have any cigarettes, after all.

We wound up taking the sidewalk halfway around the Galleria Palms, around the back of our smaller condo complex. I hopped the wall there, and Sara got to the top of the fence and had a hard time getting down. Luckily I'm a tall bastard, and she was able to get on my shoulders and ride to safety.

Only one pair of teenagers saw us jumping the fence, and they were probably too stoned to do anything.

But did we get it? You bet your S we did!

Gas Attack '06

Pot-smoking hippies

Irish C has its own listing in the Urban Dictionary. But it isn't entirely accurate ...

A dorm at Arizona State University where pot-smoking hippies live.

When the wind shifts, you can smell the pot smoke from over at Irish C.

This is a little offensive to those of us who were diligent, hard-working drunks. We very often made Irish C smell like a day-old can of beer.

And our pot smokers, for the most part, weren't even hippies. Give this definition a thumbs down and add one of your own. Then we can all give it a thumbs up and reclaim the Urban Dictionary.

On a positive note, Irish B doesn't even have an entry. But if it did ...

A dorm at Arizona State University where hookah-smoking douchebags get drenched by paint grenades.

Those suckers in Irish B were so busy sucking hookah that they never saw it coming.

Here's some interesting facts about Frederick M. Irish, science prof, ASU's first football coach and our old hall's namesake.

Phone card

I just finished reading Cell by Stephen King in which everyone that uses a cell phone is suddenly turned insane because of a signal transmitted through their cell phones. It wasn't all too long ago that we didn't have cell phones. In fact, that first year in Irish C we had our own handy pocket Irish C phone card with all the dorm room numbers and a cute little shamrock on the front to jazz things up. Those that did have cell phones are noted on the front in my freshman year scrawl. I am not listed on the back with Harmony as this list was printed before my November move in.

Sexy Pics

Chime in

In my professional blog, I just posted a longwinded rant about ASU, the City of Tempe and alcohol. And Animal House.

An Irish C topic if ever there was one. I'm not even sure I'm on target with all the stuff I said over there, but I feel like my heart's in the right place, at least.

If anybody still cares about Tempe as bad as I still try to, head over there and post some comments. Tell some friends. Talk it up.

Thanks,

Tim