Judge Judy returns

Many of you may recall the little run-in i had with public safety regarding my suite's HI-larious prank calls. I had filed the whole episode into the stories-to-tell-the-kids file when i received a lengthy email last week which began like this:

Dear Thomas:
The Dean of Student Affairs received a report with information regarding
a phone call made from your extension to a student on campus. According
to the report, you were involved in a violation of the Code of Conduct,
specifically, actions or language that constitutes disrespect.

According to the Student Handbook, "in some cases of student misconduct,
a Student Disciplinary Committee hearing may not be necessary. In this
case, we are requesting that you attend an administrative hearing with a
University staff member to discuss the incident, your involvement, and
any steps that will be taken or sanction imposed to resolve the matter."

That was interesting, but in the mail yesterday my roommate received a typed up transcript of "approximately what was said" in our prank call. This is priceless stuff folks. Realize that everything we say is really Judge Judy talking, and that this is what the girl remembered us saying. i will let you know what really went down within [].

Girl: Hello?
Judge Judy: Hello!
G: Who is this?
JJ: (indistinguishable name) [we were saying "miss malone", apparently it didn't carry very well]
G: I'm sorry?
JJ: (repeated name)
G: Who are you trying to call?
JJ: (Indistinguishable name) [we said mr. butler...that was the clearest name on the judge judy sound board]
G: I'm sorry, i think you have the wrong number.
JJ: Don't you dare hang up on me! [definitely not on the soundboard. when would judge judy ever say this?]
g: who are you looking for again?
JJ: (indistinguishable name) [looks like the whole name thing isnt workin out too well]
G: I really think you have the wrong number.
JJ: Look, first of all, I'm going to kill you; then i'm going to kill myself!

[ok, time out. we did say that, but there was definitely no "look, first of all." who introduces a death threat by calmly laying out a logical progression of their actions? And who hasnt figured out by now that this is some kind of prank call by now? Geez. All things considered, this is the only thing we said that may have crossed the line. proceed moon.]

G: Where are you?
JJ: I'm about to drive off the road right now! [what?! where did that come from? i have spent some time staring at the sound board and cant figure out which phrase sounds anything like that.]
G: Why don;t you just pull over and calm down?
JJ: Do you think i need to be on prescription medication? [we actually asked her if she was on prescription medication, which made her hesitant response just as funny.]
G: No...
JJ: Don't you dare hang up on me! [again, not on there]
G: what can i do to help you?
JJ: You know what? I think you need to jsut step outside!
(at this point i began to realize that this was some kind of a prank) [REALLY? Then why did this get reported to public safety?]
G: I'm really sorry, but i think you have the wrong number. It's late and my roommate is already asleep...
JJ: Hello!
(the intonation was identical to the first hello, i realized it was a recording and hung up immediately.)


In other news, the water down here is getting insanely cold, so the beach is getting less attractive, but being able to see it is still nice :). Last night, after my first "celebration of learning" (a.k.a. test) in psychology, i emerged from Elkins auditorium to the shrieking and frolicking of hundreds of females. What the... Had i walked onto the set of Oprah? Nope, it was bid night for the seven sororities on campus, and apparently it was exciting. I have personally decided that sororities are mostly for the girls who need to have some security net to fall into when they realize that they have no identity on campus. Fraternities on the other hand are for the guys who don;t want to have to look for the off campus parties on the weekends. No that's not totally true, well, the part about the girls is.

I overhear some great quotes in the sandbar while studying sometimes. The one taking the cake yesterday was a bona fide sorority girl watching oprah and talking to some guy.
Guy: Oprah should run for president, she would totally win. [there's one guy i know not to become friends with]
Girl: Are you kidding me? In this country you pretty much HAVE to be white and male to be president. I mean all our other presidents have been. It's so sad.

Good stuff right there. So many things to say, but i guess she's right, who wants a woman in office? Haha just messin (kind of), as long as the last name isn't Clinton. Sorry to leave on a political note, but this has been lengthy.

It's Raining in Malibu

Not anymore, but it was. Last night while i was peacefully perusing I Samuel for my morning Great Books class, the rhythmic sprting of the sprinklers was suddenly drowned out by an actual thudnerstorm, not a Kansas thunderstorm, but it was still legit, thunder, lightning, the works. Apparently this might be the only one i experience out here for my entire college career...craziness. I guess i fail to appreciate that aspect of godd ole Topeka.

In other news, i got into a conversation with my suite mate on Sunday who had gone home for the weekend. We got to talking about hoem and he said he was definitely ready to come back here after being home (Santa Cruz) for a couple days. I just kinda stared at him. "You can only take so much of home ya know?" I guess i don't. I proceeded to ask him about any close high school friends he had (none). I was still stunned. He said most of his good friends that would help him out if he needed it were in LA, where he had spent the lats year. No lifelong friends, no close-knit crowd that you yearn to interact with or tell stories to? How foreign. Don;t take CPLS or TBC or T-town for granted kids...it straight up rocks.

I went to Hollywood twice this past weekend. The walk of fame is pretty tight, as is Grauman's Chinese theater, the Kodak Thater (Oscars!), and all the other well-known houses of motion pictures. Crazy people everywhere. In 24 hours i encountered Willy Wonka, Waldo, Captain Jack Sparrow, Yoda (actual size...awkward), Vader, Freddy Cougar, Wonder Woman, Satan, a vampire, and many men who all claim to be the next big thing in hip-hop. I kissed a mannequin, i felt incredibly awkward inside the Beverly Hills Hotel (nothing happened, i was just there...in jeans). I found the West Coast's version of the original Arthur Bryant's (It's called Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles...i think white people are allowed in). I got rejected at a bowling alley that only allows people 21+ in after 7pm...it's a bowling alley folks. I sat by Lester Holt's son in Psychology while we both struggled on our Macs with the wireless network.

Workign at the computer store is definitely good times. I get to hear the computer techs complain about the inefficiency of the troubleshooting process, i get to listen while sorority girls try to explain what is wrong with their machine and describe solutions they have tried. I have paused in confusion while i desperately tried to come up with a nice way of telling someone that they have no idea what they are talking about. I get up way too early on a daily basis. In Great Books today the prof asked how everyone was doing. One girl complained that the class was early (10am). I remarked that it was my third class of the day. The proceeding looks of awe and wonder about knocked me out of my chair. "Is that even possible." Oh, it's possible. Oh, yes it is.

Tuesdays are turning out to be a pretty convenient day for blogging, so expect new stuff to show up on Tuesdays. More may be to come. Peace.

Oh, Inverted World

A knock on my door aroused me from my semi-conscious presleep state. Rolling over carefully in my top bunk, i heard voices inside my room.
"Where is the light switch? Is anyone in here?"
"It's right there, by the safe."
"Oh, i guess that's where it is in every single one of these rooms."
I sat up in bed, eyes adjusting to the sleep-depriving fluorescent lights. Two overweight cops of different race stood in the middle of my dorm, staring at me. I'm sure my apparent nakedness didnt help the awkwardness of the situation.
"Is this your room?"
Wow, did he really just ask me that? Maybe things are really technical for cops, but my logic assumes that a guy asleep by himself in a guys dorm on the top bunk (that is really the kicker. no one decides to fall asleep on a top bunk.) is in his room. Nevertheless, i began the charade of easy going cooperation and understanding.
"Yes sir it is."
"So this is your phone?"
"Well, it's my rommates, but it belongs to this room if thats what you mean" (it is plugged into the wall after all)
"OK, well we are with public safety, and we got a complaint about a harassing phone call coming from this number. So we checked the computer and it looked liek you guys had been placing quite a few calls. Do you know what this is all about?"
"Yes sir i do."

Let me rewind an hour or so. I am in the bathroom brushign my teeth when schoen rushes through the hall saying its time for some prank calls using the ole Judge Judy sound board on Ebaumsworld (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/judgejudy.html). You know the drill, we call a random campus extension, then use the various judge judy soundclips t ocarry on a conversation with the person via speakerphone. Quite ingenious really. We had people telling us their names ages, whether or not they were on rpescription medication. We threatened to kill ourself and had a girl ask if she could help...oh man, good times. That's it, nothing harassing or malicious. Ok, back to Tubby and Chubby talking to me in my dorm.

"We made some prank phone calls using this judge judy soundboard."
"Like one of the ones on Ebaumsworld?" (ok, these cops have totally done this before, what punks.)
"Yeah, actually that is excactly what it was."
"Now thats pretty funny kid, but let me just give you a piece of advice, i'm not tryin to be your dad or anything, but if you really want to meet girls, just go talk to them, you don;t have to make weird phone calls buddy."

Hold up, is this guy for real? This 5' 6", 250 pound white guy who hasn't gotten a date since his football coach set him with one of the girls on the shot-put team is giving me dating advice in the middle of the night? Not only that, but he really thinks that these prank calls were our attempt to meet girls. Hello, it is hilarious buddy! I about lost it right here and told him to get out of my room and write me up for a code of conduct violation. Fortunately they just took my name (as well as the other guys involved) and other information and told me that,
"If i have to come up here again tonight, i won't be a very happy person."

The only thing that chucko wouldnt be happy about is the 3 flights of stairs leading up to our dorm. Missing his favorite late-night infomercials might also be rough. Those gusy just wasted 15 mintues of my sleep because some insecure girl got spooked by Judge Judy hurling insults at her over the phone. Welcome to my world.

Welcome to E(asy) Suite

Well kiddos, i'm sure, after these two+ weeks in the dark that yo uare all wondering, "where the heck is Thomas living these days? And i am sure some of you also wonder who i am sleeping with/in the same suite as (especially you Doug). For those reasons and many more which i am sure you can imagine, i give a pictorial review of Easy Suite located on the top floor of Banowsky dorm on a typical day.





Anson's (my roommate) giant fan is kind of blocking my desk, but eh, this is one side of our room. rthe one where i spend most of my room time when i am not sleeping. On the far right is our door. Just to the left of that is my safe (cool eh?), our micro, fridge, and freezer. We are so organized...:).







My desk more up clsoe and personal. You might notice Sufjan Stevens gracing the screen of my iBook, and if you look closely at the calendar, it looks like Julia has been causing mischief,,,crazy kid. I like my desk.







The bunks...and look. We have matching sheets...how cute.







The closets, complete with an annoying divider thing. Yay for laundry days.



Now for the members of E Suite...doing what we do best





This is Warren from San Diego. Every Suite needs a Warren. This is the kid who has his Xbox, PS2, GameCube, PSP, DS, Custom built desktop (currently being revamped), and laptop lined up in his room. He has crazy switches and who knwos what allowing him to play ungodly amounts of games all through his computer monitor. His sound system is obviously 5.1 and THX certified. We love to blast the Ewok celebration song every night at 11 (quiet hours start at 10 hehe).







This is Marcus from Texas. Marcus played for State Champion "Van Vandals" basketball team his senior year, and is very proud of that, even though he hardly played (love you marcus). Marcus and Warren have cars, so they are automatically popular among the freshmen.







This is Schoen (shane) from Santa Cruz. Schoen rooms with Warren. He is very funny. He is a good actor. He works long hours on the weekends for a high end catering company. He is Warren's rommate and he often translates for the rest of us because warren likes to mumble. Schoen is on IMDB (last name hodges)...he is just that cool.







ROOMIE! This is my roommate Anson from Colorado. He is half Vietnamese and pretty soft spoken, but when he speaks out it is usually pretty funny, He has a nicer computer than me and i am jealous of it. We get along pretty well. We don;t hang a whole lot, but most of the members of E Suite stay pretty close to home (they make me look extroverted). I'm just glad i don;t have an Abercrombie roommate...cuz seriously.







This is Kevin from Northern California (i don;t remember exactly where). He is pretty into acting and singing and Christian music and he sleeps with his clothes on...all of them. I don;t know why, and i havent even talked to him about it, but hey, he goes there.







This is Allan from Washington. Allan played football in high school and enjoys ultimate frisbee. Lately he has been looking to get his haircut...for some reason he didnt want it done like mine. I guess he'll have to resort to the 20 dollar malibu barber (thats with student discount). Allan rooms with Kevin







Last but not least, this is Nick from Texas. Nick sleeps a lot and loves watching the West Wing on DVD. Nick rooms with Marcus and is a big fan of hugs. He also seems to carry around his debate files a lot. They are big and brown and quite intimidating.



Well thats all of us (plus me of course). Hope that gives you a bit of an idea of where i live and who i live with. As you can tell we are all pretty laid back, and, well, we love our copmputers. Until i post again.

A Taste

That's Courtney from Texas on the left, Zach from Washington and Amanda from Washington. This and the next three are all from movie night in Elkins Auditorium...we watched the enthralling Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Sorry you couldnt be there Ben :).






It's Ashley from Idaho all wrapped in caution tape...scary stuff happens when we get bored hehe.






Thats Brie on the left, or as i will call her from now on, Cadet Carroll, the only other freshman in AFROTC at pepperdine. Her dad works for Nike in Indonesia and gets her free running stuff. Then that's ashley from Idaho again, and John, i don;t knwo where he is from...sorry...if i had to guess i would say California :).






Julia from Iowa beign a little crazy with Zach before the movie. Julia is hyper...nuf said.






Here are some of the guys in my dorm (BANOWSKY!!!!) doing the Gallon Challenge...needless to say, they all threw up multipel times...yum






Before






After...sad i know, but its not as weird as i expected...just think how much less shampoo i have to use now! :)


Hopefully i can blog some pictures of my dorm and various other places sometime soon...maybe a few ocean shtos too ;-).

so many people

Lately i have found myself in a little predicament. there are too many people that i want to write extensive personal emails to. i would liek to jsut post here and say everything i want to say to everyone, but it just doesnt have the same emotio nand personalization of the emails i want to write, so i dont know what to do. Doug and Ben (and everyone else. i only mention them because they broguht it up first), you really should trek it out here. We can go to Coogie's and Zuma beach, and Malibu Yo(gurt), and chill in the HAWC, drink bad coffee, listen to people try to play a bad piano, some sand volleyball, tennis, awesomeness in general...you know the drill. What up Akers? Holla back!

On a more interesting note, all the cingular phones here decided to stop working. It was like a university crisis. So funny when you think about it. None of us know each others room numbers. I had to resort to running around to the different dorms just to communicate with people...oh what would we do w/o cell phones?? Other funny story: zach, ashley, tyler, john, and i went down to play tennis at eleven last night, but we couldnt turn o nthe lights, so we hit balls in the dark and tyler ran around blindly with the picker-upper hoping to find them...good stuff...unfortunately, no one got hit in the head or anything.

Crows here are massive...i bet a few students get picked off each year, and i'm ok with that i guess.

Its a weird feeling to show a new friend all of your pictures. Around school, you just feel like pepperdien is everyone's life. Its all you know fo eachother, but then the pictures come, revealing the person's entire past in a few brief snapshots. So much to be asked, so muc hto be discovered. With some of my friends, i neevr even went through that process. Our pictures have always been together, developed side by side, never hidden for more than a couple weeks, and even then they were gobbled up as soon as possible. Its what we do when we get back from vacation or missions trip, we look at pictures. Really we are learnign abotu eachother. We want to now what new experiences have changed this person since we last saw them. Soem of those changes may have not been the best to observe. If i had seen all my friends at their worst, i probably would have prejudged them and missed out on a vital companion in life. I have probably done that with people i don;t even know about anymore. This fresh start is a blessing for some, but it is also a chance to point your skis straight down the slope of destruction. No oen knew that you used to be a good kid, so what reputation is there to uphold? No one knows what school or church (if any) you attended. they don't know who you dated or slept with. they don;t know that you never partied back home. here is your chance to be a chameleon like you never could before. but here is also your chance to bury for nine months those thigns that you never coudl bury at home. Choice, me.