A Magnificent, Most Glorious Return to Blogging

After a much-needed hiatus of soul-searching, I have returned to the triumphant and deceptive world of blogging. The drama of blogging has settled , and the irresistible urge to entertain and touch the hearts of the masses (okay fine, the five regular readers excluding Farrah and me)* supersedes any desire to stand on principle.

There is a writer's strike going on, people! What does that mean for you, dear blog reader? That means no new programming on TV on any major network! No new episodes of that caveman show you've grown to love, no more The Office, just shitty reality shows about skating with C-list celebrities (at least there is college basketball to keep us entertained as we pray that UCLA drops even further in the power rankings)**. In dire times like these, bloggers should rise to the occasion and fill the hole in people's hearts left by their empty TV screens.

And so, today's blog topic: a brief memoir of my time at UNC. After coming to Toledo, I realized how truly magnificent UNC really was. There was something for everyone! Let's say you are a card-carrying member of the Republican party, your daddy was CEO of one of the textile companies, and you loved pearls, Lacoste shirts with popped collars, Rainbows, designer jeans, and sororities. Well, you could join the Tri-Delts (with the right connections to Southern aristocracy, of course) and go tailgating on the weekends.

Are you a beefy guy who loves sports? Well, UNC has one of the best basketball programs in NCAA history. You could follow the travails of Matt Doherty as he struggled as head coach in the early 00s. You could take a near-psychotic interest in men's basketball, as you camped out for Duke-UNC tickets or stormed Franklin Street in a testosterone frenzy when we beat the team eight miles down on Tobacco Road.

Or let's say you were way indie and liked the French New Wave, thought that the Bush administration was the epitome of the "banality of evil" to quote Hannah Arendt, and loved obscure, indie music. You could head on over to Cat's Cradle to listen to cool, new bands and even mainstream ones (i.e. Rooney). Liked world-class writers? Wait! There's Joan Didion as the annual Thomas Wolfe speaker! Liked Southern history? Head on over the scary hallways of Wilson Library to check out their huge collection of archival material of the Civil War.

And so, in short, this is my swan song to UNC. I love you, miss you, and we will find each other again very soon.

* = Jack, Emily, Abby, Sarah, Anna-Liisa!
** = Trash talking for edification of Roman

--By Mariam, who wonders why Farrah likes the White Stripes and is also really upset that the stupid meth-head Amy Winehouse won multiple Grammy nominations.