Long entry this time around. Grab some popcorn, you mayn need it (BBQ sauce not included).

During the previous couple o' weeks I have set personal records for number of times I went to the movie theater in two weeks (~5) and number of visits to Taco Bell in two weeks (~5). And thanks to Chase's expertise, I now have the knowledge of the secret menu at Taco Bell! Bwahaha! Wallow in the despair of knowing that I, the most great and awesome (grawsome?) Devin, can order SECRET menu items that are most delicious THAT NOBODY ELSE KNOWS ABOUT, AND MIGHT OTHERWISE BE CALLED A SECRET! BWAHAHA!!!

Now, back to the near-present.

On Monday I went down to Richmond with my dad and Austin to visit family and friends (while conveniently enjoying 75 degree weather. BWAHAHA!). Our first stop was the quaint town of Crockett, an Italian-dominated town that Grandpa Mariana lived in. Next up was Contra Costa community college in Richmond, where my dad worked and attended during his younger years; my uncle Marc, my dad's older brother, happens to be an M&O worker there, and we visited him and Jim, Perry, and other Jim (Dad and Marc's friends) while we were there. Next up was the cemetary (we visited Grandpa Mariana and my uncle Paul while we were there).

Now for the good part: when we stopped by Marc's place later, I got to visit my grandma. She's cool. Even cooler: I got to behold the other side of my uncle Marc: he is THE GUITAR GURU. Not only did he show us his DVDs of ACDC and the '04 Guitar Fest, but he showed us a small sampling of his guitars:

http://www.valley-and-blues.com/images/site/minisites/gretsch/white_falcon.jpg
http://www.gakkiya.jp/Resources/gretsch/g/g6134.jpg
http://www.sweetwater.com/images/items/DuoJetCG-large.jpg

Pretty frickin' sweet, eh? And not only does he collect guitars and jam on them, but he also knows how to mod and repair them, too. Perhaps if I'm lucky he can help me with my senior project...BWAHAHAHAA!!!

So, today was our Link Crew freshman orientation, which went alright. My group was cool, but I wasn't doing as well. I kept messing up the activities, making some run too long, while others I had to omit entirely. It didn't help that there was a lack of enthusiasm and unity among everyone, but my rushed performance attributed to it more than anything else. I just hope I can help these guys out during the year; last year the most I did was chat with my freshmen in the lunch line, and that's nothing at all. Perhaps I was doing so poorly that they had no desire to keep in touch...that may be why there wasn't any real desire to wear my TOTALLY GRIFF/AWESOME DARTH VADER COSTUMES!1 (at least the other Link Leaders liked it...)

Chris' Eagle Project: I tried kicking a nailed 2x4 out of its slot. Instead of getting the nice breaking-of-wood-under-my-maxxord-kicking-powers reaction though, I got a smashed toe. Why must ingrown toenails hurt me so!? WHY!?

And senior pictures sucked today. Let me put it this way: I was too big for the archway prop, they scheduled the darn appointment for me without any advance warning, and in half my photos I looked like I was trying to keep a straight face while someone was about to hit me in the head with a dodgeball. Thankfully, once I started thinking of random slapstick humor, my expression looked a lot more natural (Jim falling off his 2-story latter into his neighbor's backyard = FUNNAY1!).

Now school is starting back up, and once more I am thrust into the unknown. I cannot say that I am fully prepared, but I'd like to say that I'm ready for whatever comes. I can't say for sure that I've undergone any "radical changes" or that I'm "more outgoing" and have "a newfound sense of self," but who knows, I just may surprise some people.

Thus I pledge to those who've know me, and have familiar faces,
And to those who've already forgotten me, and reside in other places:
Bust out the bass, set up the drums, and on the guitar case undo the lock,
'Cuz we only got one last year of school, and man, it's gonna rock!