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Sunday, Dec. 28, 2003 - 4:44 a.m. JOINING THE LEAGUE I have been spending the holidays with my family in New Orleans. After some difficulty contacting him, Edward and I finally met with each other. I went to his house, briefly spoke to his parents, and hopped in an old Mercedes that Edward’s grandfather was basically planning to give to him whenever he would move back to Louisiana. We then traveled to the houses of two of his old high school classmates, went to Morning Call for beignets, and returned to one of his classmates’ houses to play pool. During my time with Edward, I was able to learn a few things I did not already know. The first thing I learned was that Edward was apparently a young millionaire Wall Street- type much like Christian Bale’s character in “American Psycho,” only he does not go around killing people. His goal is to work five more years and then retire, preferably to Baton Rouge. Why Baton Rouge, I still do not understand. He claims that he likes being surrounded by the party atmosphere of LSU. The second thing I learned was that the fraternity of Edward’s younger brother, I will call him Max, was banned from LSU’s campus some while back for hazing violations. Based on what Edward described to me, it seems as though Max played a hand in it, at least to some degree, because he was some type of officer when the hazing happened and he did not act to prevent it. In any case, I get a picture of Max as a fraternity “wild man” of sorts, but at the same time, I believe he is a decent person because I have known him since his childhood. Edward went on to boast to me about how many people, and women in particular, that Max knows in Baton Rouge. This fact seems consistent with Max’s reputation of being somewhat of a major party-goer, given that his fraternity was banned for being for illegal activities under his watch. I can only imagine how big he was in the LSU Greek social scene when LSU is basically one of the biggest, if not the biggest, party-schools in the nation. If his fraternity was too wild according to LSU standards, Max must be pretty damn popular. I have written in previous entries that I wanted a contact though Edward’s younger brother Max just so that I knew someone else in Baton Rouge. However, though Max and I knew each other well when we were growing up, Max probably never viewed me as a friend like Edward views me. Rather, I am more like a very strong acquaintance to him. However, Edward exposed to me an opportunity that can help Max and I eventually bring our friendly acquaintance into an actual friendship. Apparently, Max is heavily involved in a summer baseball league. He and a lot of the people he hangs out with play on his team. My goal is to call up Max and join the baseball team. The league is for amateurs, from what I understand, and with to my Little League baseball experience and the fact that I am in pretty good shape, I should be able to hold my own. The idea is that I will then associate with some of his friends, some that are probably fairly acquainted with the Baton Rouge party scene, and gain all the social benefits that go along with knowing them. Knowing all these people well could be a major shot in the arm for my social life because I am willing to bet that wherever these guys go, the women are sure to follow. At the end of the night Edward and I parted ways and we promised to stay in touch via e-mail. Frankly, I find it quite remarkable that I am probably the only person Edward knows from grade school that he stays in contact with. Not everybody has friends they can claim from the third grade. He and I obviously forged a relationship at a young age that has withstood the test of time. I conclude from this fact that I am indeed capable of creating and sustaining powerful friendships. I also conclude that this capability is somehow a definitive aspect of my personality that has been sorely underutilized, all thanks to my wonderful disorder. Now if I could only use this aspect to my advantage when it comes to women. . . |