Shockingly, maize and blue are not the colors of evil

It's entirely possible I may lose my credentials as a Penn State fan. All it took was an innocent little trip to Ann Arbor and yes, yes, I hate to admit it, but I've fallen in love with the Univ. of Michigan.

The campus is beautiful (even in December). Lots of old buildings intermingled with the new. The downtown area is just a quick walk from campus. And, well, it just is a great place to be. Oh, and I can easily pass for a lot younger than what I am. Bonus.

Great, now I'll probably never be allowed back in Happy Valley again. My frequent drinkers card at Cafe 210, the 'Skellar and Players will be taken away. No more grilled stickies.

Eh, so sue me.

The trip was a rousing success full of class attending (definitely different when you don't have to be there), drinking at local establishments such as Oz and the Brown Jug and meeting so many new people my head is still spinning. The amount of knowledge Brent and the other Ph.D. students must retain and memorize is just astounding to me. Most days I'm lucky I can remember my own name, let alone the endless scientific names of monkey's that to me, look pretty much the same.

There's a reason I'm not working on my Ph.D.

As I was heading home on my very delayed flight Sunday afternoon I started thinking about how different this trip seemed. Not that it was a bad different, it was more of a Hey, I just spent an incredibley wonderful four days with one of my most favorite people, didn't hook up with anyone, had incredibley adult conversations and still had a good time. It was nice to talk to someone who's advice I needed to hear and who, for once, actually considered my own advice to be worth listening to as well. Startling to say the least.

This trip was much needed on many levels. Visiting friends is my favorite way to clear my head but it also lit a bit of a fire under my tushy that will finally get me moving forward again.

Thank god for old friends and cheap airfare.