Spring Jam is one of the times as an upperclassman college student when you can do some SERIOUS harm to your system but realize that it's one of those bender weekends that you will be celebrating in some sort of fuzzed-out, hazy memory with friends for years to come. Upperclassmen know the drill: wake up early and drink as long as you can. Remember: its a marathon, not a race (but technically, a marathon IS a type of race...hmm)
Putting the pieces together
As with other blog posts, this is generally intended to serve as a point of reference for later when people mention the events of the day. The day (Saturday) itself is rather hazy. It started with a liquor store purchase around 8:30 am, which is the earliest I have purchased beer to date. Settling on Busch Lite, a room session occurred, followed by a toilet paper war on row, followed trip to get some coffee at the Dinkytowner. This was only out of necessity, though-college campuses don't really do the early-morning coffee shop thing (as they cater to the late-night study crowd). Espresso Royale was closed, Al's Breakfast was cash-only, so I was out of luck. With former frat prez @DustinLives alongside our conversation over coffee ranged from imaginative storytelling to developing plans for improving the layout of the café. The servers, or so it seemed, disapproved of our scheme to sit and enjoy coffee refills without food.
Keg Race
After multiple, drunken calls from a younger member (timeline: 10:30 am) encouraging me to come to a keg race in Dinkytown I found myself strolling up to those parts and hastily being handed a Solo and put to work on a keg with a team. I believe there were eight kegs total? By the time I was there I think one of them had already been cashed. Plenty of beer left for me, though. Watching the antics of these multiple keg parties make them what they are: there are people you've never met who become fast friends, people who are too drunk to stand, and people there who don't pay for cups and try, as slyly as they can, to drink free beer. How many other people besides myself were receptive to that at that point is unknown. Soon I became oblivious to this as well. I lost track of beer but I think it was less than 10 and greater than 5.
Timelines become hazier
Sometime soon after our keg was gone we walked back home with some of the girls in our pairing and those who needed assistance. I do not remember this walk? My SMS inbox reads something like:
Franc: Where are we drinking (12:21)
Me: I am at Pike now. The day is young (12:26)
Dustin: Where are you? (1:32)
Me: ATO. (1:37)
Dustin: What up where are you? (4:33 pm)
Me: Marathon session. What is up (8:53 pm)
Bars?
Time for the bars. Rioting had begun in Dinkytown at this point. I was still on Row, mostly talking to Zach Eling. Textual evidence shows I was at Burrito Loco around 10:45, meaning I spent about an hour on row saying non-sense and talking to everyone. I then spent approximately an hour at The Library talking to an old friend from Middlebrook and hanging out with Lauren, Zach and Courtney. Good times. Sorry I spilled beer on your head, Lauren.
ATO Porch
Spring Jam '09 ended on our porch. We found a few people and decided that we needed to clear our heads and sit on the porch for social commentary. The things you see sitting on that porch. It will be part of my novel experience if I ever write one. So many different people, cars, sounds, and everything. We met some randoms and laughed as the police drove by. Nothing that they could do, except drive to Dinkytown to pelt kids with beanbags and cause chemical irritation.
Reflections
Spring Jam was a time I experienced a euphoria unlike any other I have known. I was UP. I was "everywhere and anywhere." My goal was to meet people, inspire people, and watch people. I was not bound to one place for any length of time; there were so many options it didn't make any sense to be bound to any particular one. The next morning, reality set in, to some extent. I felt dumb. My brain was not making connections. My balance was off. I felt like I was below my normal baseline of emotional well-being. Odd. And deciding to save my paper for Sunday night was a poor decision. I could not write in any function and my procrastination will probably catch up with me gradewise.
Overall...Spring Jam=A-
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