I TALK TO MYSELF - IT'S NOT ALL THAT WEIRD!

Examining the details of my too often monotonous day to day life takes some rational thinking - often resulting in me defending myself because - well, I'm always right.

I find this sentiment to be especially true when John and I are debating. I think one of my strong talents is spinning something I do that could be considered weird or abnormal into a total normal behavior - let me explain through a recent story.

THE STORY
John and I stopped at a BBQ restaurant to get a quick bite to eat before we headed to the movies. We were the only customers in the restaurant and were patiently waiting for our food to come out.

I'm very comfortable with John. We have lived together in our "partnered" relationship for three years on Thanksgiving. We don't have "uncomfortable silence" and there are few people other than him that I'm one hundred percent comfortable being around.

We were sitting in silence and I was looking out the window thinking about how I might need to do some spin control for my behavior on Halloween.

I was internally debating on whether or not I should apologize to the host of the party for my possibly bad drunken behavior or ignoring it all together and hope nothing bad happened - because I'm not sure what exactly happened...once the evening reached a certain point...it all is a bit blurry due to the heavy pour on the vodka drinks my brother made us.

I was looking out the window AND apparently mouthing the words of the potential conversation I would have with the host of the party - who we are having over for dinner soon. Thus, looking like a "special needs" child to any outside observer.

John said, "Kevin, what are you doing?" He then looked over both shoulders to see if anyone was watching me - to make sure no one knew he was eating lunch with a loony Mc-loon.

Incidentally, this was the second time in recent weeks he caught me doing this, thus establishing a repetitive behavior. Yikes, maybe I'm turning into a whack-job weirdo!

RELATED BACKGROUND INFO
One of the more memorable columns I wrote for my college newspaper detailed "things I just don't understand" about my college classmates. It spotlighted some truly weird behavior I saw around campus. Two that come to mind: sorority girls wore tight black pants to the bar like it was their "slutty" uniform & people used glow sticks at the club like they were their magic hypnotizing sticks.

Throughout that semester my friend and roommate Ryan, repeated: "Things I don't understand by Kevin Slatz" followed by his trademark giggle, whenever he spotted an example of something "I didn't understand."

The column took on a life of its own because other friends and total strangers would tell me about the odd behaviors they found weird - thus making this article a defining college moment.

Which brings me to this related question: Is my "talking to myself" behavior something I would have written about in college? Have I turned into the person I made fun of in the "things I just don't understand" column?

SPIN CONTROL
OK, maybe I talk to myself and this is a odd/strange behavior. But it's not all that weird! I chalk it up to being a sign of a creative story teller who is practicing his shtick - after all - only a creative-artsy person would think it's totally fine to be caught in an empty restaurant mumbling words out the window!

When you're hanging out with me and I'm mouthing words into outer space, please don't be alarmed - let me be! It's definitely a sign of a creative genius at work and hopefully you'll find it to be an endearing quality in a friend.

KEG STAND CONGRATS TO BROTHER SCOTT!

SCOTT'S KEG STAND STORY

I shared a great moment in my brother's life on July 4th while attending our friend's party - he did his first ever keg stand!

I was talking to this straight guy who was a friend of my friend's roommate at a party in Lincoln Park. The conversation went round and round and I'm not sure what we were exactly talking about but I know were were agreeing on all points of the subject matter when he awkwardly walked away. I clearly remember him saying he needed to go to the bathroom while I was in mid-sentence and watched him quickly walk over and hug his girlfriend.

I was either too drunk to deal with or he thought I was hitting on him - either way - before I could process what happened my brother Scott yelled to me, "Watch, I'm doing my first keg stand!"

We were pretty hammered at this point as he was rapidly drinking vodka and sodas (a.k.a. "skinny bitches") and I downed a bottle of pinot noir in a little over an hour.

Scott sucked the keg like a champ - going for a good amount of time! Parts of the party were amused and clapped loudly, others looked like they had time warped back to college and weren't too excited about the adventure.

Like a proud parent watching his child do something spectacular - mastering the first cartwheel or bowling a first strike - I took out my iPhone and captured his triumphant feat!

This was one of Scott's 30 things he wants to accomplish before he turns 30 in January. I'm glad I was there to memorialize it - way to go Scott - I look forward to experiencing more "firsts" throughout the year!

KEG STAND MEMORIES

We both went to college in the Midwest as Scott attended University of Illinois and I went to Northern Illinois University. We both partied hard and did well in school. The big question is, how did he graduate college without doing a keg stand? I accomplished this "beer drinking right of passage" before I went to college at a kegger in high school - which might have been in my parents house while they were on vacation, but I'm not quite sure.

I do clearly remember doing a keg stand in my first college apartment, downing so much cheap beer I couldn't handle it all and ran to the bathroom to puke my brains out. Of course it was occupied by some slow girl and I ended up puking through my nose on the carpet outside my bathroom door.

The girl left the bathroom moments later and she wasn't shocked at the outcome - me covered in vomit. She said, "I tried to pee fast because I knew someone was about to commit alcohol abuse."

Those were the good ole' days!

PROTESTING DRUG LAWS ON APRIL 20, 2000

In college I met so many great people through my college's weekly newspaper the Northern Star. I had the privilege of working with and interviewing the best and brightest on NIU's campus. 

I started out as a reporter and convinced my editor to allow me to take photos for my stories since I had a photo background. Eventually I became a double threat with my pen and camera. I worked on the weekender section with my good friend Barb, was the photo editor for one semester and I had the honor of being a weekly columnist for three semesters at the end of my stay in college. 

In early April 2000 I was working with Barb and our Weekender section - basically this was the weekly entertainment guide for the paper. We decided to have a 420 issue since April 20 was a Thursday. 

I wrote a persuasive article that cited medical professionals, college professors and an editor at High Times magazine as sources who believed marijuana isn't as bad for you as alcohol and might even be a healthier drug than alcohol. (My sources included my pharmacist boyfriend I was dating at the time, a friend from high school who was working at high times and a college professor at NIU who taught a class on the effects of drug use) 

Barb and a former editor in chief of the paper named Joe decided to organize a march on campus, protesting state marijuana laws. We had about 15 people join us for the march. I basically chanted along with the group and took photos - the photo above is of Barb and her "Just Say No To The War On Drugs" sign at the protest. 

Looking back on it all, it was very unorganized. If we really wanted to make a big splash we should have had more people, more signs, called the major media outlets, etc. 

Barb and I also talked about this when I was in Chicago for the holiday and we both believe our Weekender issue should have shown both sides as we only wrote about the anti-pot side (we did remember assigning the pro-pot side to someone - but he didn't write the story - dumb stoner!) 

Good times being dazed and confused in corn country Illinois!