  I don't feel like writing. My sister "MC" came down for the weekend and we took off to Orlando on Friday afternoon.
Because of traffic and weather issues, it took us 5 hrs to get there. We met up with her friends from college Jason and Ryan . Jason lives there, so he was the host. He had alot of things planned for us to do... including going to Walt Disney's Pleasure Island club. So, after dinner we did some shopping and exploring, and then we headed over to the club. We got our tickets w/ no problem, and then proceeded to 8Trak (80s music).
When they saw my ID, they said "this looks like a fake because there is a ripple in the hologram. " So, we batted our eyes in disbelief, and went to a number of the other clubs... and none of them blinked at the ripple that has been on my ID since it was made. After a few hours, we decided to go back to 8Trak. MC, Ryan, and Jason are all 80s fanatics, so they really wanted to dance there.
Not to mention Ryan is a VIP there and goes ALOT!. Well, being that I had bracelets on from the other clubs, the new door bouncer let us all in. About 15 minutes later, while doing the electric on the floor w/ the others, I get tapped on the shoulder. Its a Rent-a-Cop for W.D. World. He said, "I have been told to look at your ID". Shit. Here is a "screen play" of what happened. Me: Sure, here it is. WDW Cop: Okay... the manager said one of the bouncers said you tried to get in earlier and that this was a fake.
The manager has the final word, so she needs to see you. MC: Sir, I'm a police officer w/ FCPD in Rome Ga badge #[xxxxx]. Here is my ID and I verify that this is a legal state of GA ID. WDW Cop: Okay, thank you. But please come with me, the manager needs to see you. move to front door of club, met by 5 city of Orlando officers Manager (with original bouncer): There is a ripple in the hologram of your ID.
If you can show us any other form of picture ID such as military or a passport, with your age on it, then we will let you in. Me: Well, being that I'm not military and I didn’t have to cross any international borders to get here, I have neither. Manager: Do you have an ATM card? Me: I have two credit cards. What does that prove? Manager: Never mind. I'm sorry, but we cannot let you in. MC: Call it in and run a check via (insert fancy acronym here). I am a police officer (shows badge and police photo ID) and I do verify this person is my sister, she is 23, and she was born in 1981. We can wait for you to do a validity check on this ID. Orlando Cop: I'm sorry about this. Orlando Cop 2: We believe you, but it is ultimately up to the manager.
Me: Look, I'm not drinking, and I don't care about drinking. If its okay, I will be fine with just being allowed in to hang out with my friends that we traveled to visit. I know that the rule is 18 to party, 21 to drink. I'm fine with just being allowed to party. Manager: I'm sorry, but no. You can leave on your own, or you can be escorted. I will have to ask you for your club bracelets.
Me: Take me into custody and run a check on me. MC: This is unbelievable. (Rips off her bracelet) Ryan: Let's just go... we will no longer support PI. Pleasure Island Staff Sucks I had the opportunity to see four movies this week. The first one I was Man on Fire . I went to that one with Miranda. I saw were Spiderman 2 and Garfield . I enjoyed all three.
The final movie I saw was " King Arthur ". To everyone out there, you must see this movie on the big screen. It was incredible!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~ I am on an evolutionary track right now... I about to leave college. In Valdosta I was busy... but this past semester was very different... I was quite reclusive once I got home. Even though I write alot about my friends and about other people that live here and that I interact with, I know that they won't keep in touch with me - for the most part. As much as I say I want to get out of Valdosta, I know what it means..... it means what it does for every graduate, a leaving behind of a social life that can't be easily replaced.
I must add that I'm crazy insane when it comes to keeping up with poeple, however, I select who i keep in-touch with very carefully. Over the last 4 years I have come into contact with some great people in other countries and through the european council, and I have managed to keep up with a few of them... even if its only a few times a year. I have seen so many times kids with notebooks that take the names and numbers/emails of the other students in academic programs (study abroad) and when I do follow up work, I find that they have kept in touch with only one, if that.
I recognize that in the next few months I will learn who my true friends really are, and it pains me to know that my "A List" will become even shorter in the years to come. I can only hope that I have made a difference on those whose paths I have crossed and that when I do contact them, they will respond.
However, I also recognize reality . It is my hope to everyone that reads this that you realize what I am saying, for it truely applies to all of us. We will never get to live again the days of the undergraduate marching band-camp parties, nor Greek fraterhood that so many of us hold dear... the best that we can do, and we must do our best, is to work at keeping up with each other. More than a Christmas card, we must call each other up on a random evening, and say, You are my friend.
I did just this yesterday, I called up a friend that I had not talked to in a year, and I said Happy Birthday My Friend. Even though we have been separated by so much time and distance, it was so welcoming to know that we were still close. My lesson from college is this, our friends are the most dear assest we have other than our family.
One day things may get rough for us, and we may need a friend. I hope that if that person is me I can call on you, and I hope that if that person is you that you feel that you can call on me. I have been called upon at all hours of the day and night by friends in need, and I have never left them hanging. I have called people that I have thought to be my friends, to find that they are "too busy right now".
Evaluate your "A-List" now. Keeping in mind that you will find surprises around every corner, you will have to leave some friends behind. Leaving friends behind because of something that happened is so tramatic. I think that most true humans (meaning those that have lived) have experienced that pain I mention. However, I think that life has so much more to offer, and that the old cliche "When one door closes, another opens" is very true. If I have learned anything from my friends who have already left Valdosta, it is true friendship. It is knowing that there will be times when you get home from work and you will want to cry and then sleep.
You will have to call upon someone who is feeling the same way, but if you work through it together you will survive. It is that we must keep in mind. We should not be expected to make it through this life alone. However, as much as I preach about friendship, I must mention evil. I know that there are many out there who would rather see me dead. They would like to see me ousted from their social circles so that they may be leader, or that I do not infringe on their space.
To this I say "woop-de-fucking-do". Do not worry about them for they shall meet their own kind along the way. So what I want to bequeth to you is this: Do everything thing you can to keep your friends from college. You will be surprised how many you will lose immediately. True friends are far and few between - keep them when you get them. After five years of college I think I can say without a doubt, friends are what makes a person who they are. It is the fundamental building block of who we are. Go out into the world, help society, leave your mark - do whatever it is you want to do, but please, remember where you cam from.
Five years after coming to VSU as a kid saying "who am I, what am I doing here", I am a young adult. I have acquired a precious circle of friends. I am about to graduate having done things I thought I could never do. I hold positions within the university that I thought I never could. I have found the strength of my own voice and I have found a special place for Valdosta in my heart. I have learned to seize the opportunities and defeat the perils I face everyday, I must be more than an audience, more than the actor, I must be the author of my life and take control... In the fairy tale, it could end here.. In my life, it's merely the beginning of a new chapter - however, remember that in a book chapters build from the previous ones, and those characters from chapters 18 to 23 will influence every single chapter, from here to the end.
My friends, you all hold a dear place in my heart. 
