The Thrice-Filled Mug

It's late, he thought to himself. Really late. Getting up for work in the morning is going to be miserable. He did a quick self-inventory: his body was weary, his back was sore, and he had to use the bathroom. He turned his attention back to the person sitting in front of him. The conversation carried on, and he forgot his aches, pains, and discomfort. By the time he left, the movie had been over for hours. Where had all that time gone? It had simply vanished like the water in her thrice-filled mug.

Have you ever become lost in your memories? It can happen when you try to walk through one particular moment in the past. As your mind chews over the memory, it starts to spew out tons of other related memories. Soon, you lose yourself in the ebb and flow of past happenings. Maybe it's just me. As I delved deeper into the recesses of my mind, I realized that the above memory is not wholly intact. My mind pieced several different memories together and it took some serious dredging on my part to put all the pieces together the right way. It is like a Sudoku board. You can have one section in order only to move to the next one and discover that a number that fit in the first section belongs in another part of the board entirely. The conversation that I had in mind came after placing an ice cream cake in the freezer. The conversation linked to the movie happened on the porch. Regardless, while moments like are few, they are greatly cherished. One of my favorite pastimes is having late-night conversations with pretty girls...who are also good friends. :)

~The Piebald Penguin

Get a Room!

So, apparently making out is one word now? (I checked dictionary.com and it is definitely two words...)

This sign was posted in the library that I work at. I think someone must have gotten a little jealous...

~Piebald

A History of The Piebald Penguin's School Formals

The high school that I attended held three dances each year. There was the homecoming banquet and dance in the fall, the Sadie Hawkins (girls ask the guys) dance in the late winter, and the much-anticipated prom near the end of the year. Once I got into college, there were two events that were held by the institution: one in the fall and one in the spring. The one in the fall had a different theme every year that the attendees were expected to dress in accordance to, also it was a Sadie Hawkins thing. The event in the spring, on the other hand, was simply a semi-formal thing. I say thing because the college events were, ironically, a downgrade of what I experienced in high school. There was no dancing, and practically no food (other than appetizers). So, what follows below is a description of my memories of these events with a few accompanying pictures.

Freshman-Junior year of high school:
The Piebald Penguin was lame and did not attend any of the events during these years. 9 chances to dance with a girl were thrown out the window...what was I thinking??!?!

: (

Senior year of high school:
This would be the first year that I would attend my school's dances. Homecoming was first. I went with a couple of my buddies because, while I was ambitious and actually asked a girl, she rejected me outright to go with one of her female friends. Which was dumb.

These are the guys, although this was a couple months before homecoming...I think

I also went to the Sadie Hawkins dance in winter. While the girls are supposed to ask the guys, I pretty much told the girl that she should go with me...and it worked! I can't find any pictures although I know there were some floating around somewhere...

Senior year I was on a roll. After the first two dances, I decided that I would continue my new-found boldness and go to prom too. I asked the girl I liked, at the time. She said yes and we had a blast. And went to the after party...and then stayed up until 4 talking in her driveway...ah, good memories.

We didn't win prom king and queen...but who cares? We looked fabulous.

Freshman year of college:
Guess what? I was lame again this year. Back in the shell I went. There was to be no event-going for The Piebald Penguin this year...

Sophomore year of college:
The first half of the semester was much like the previous year. I didn't attend the fall event. For the spring event though, there was quite a bit of drama involved (on my part) that eventually landed me a date. I haz no pikturez.

Junior year of college:
Ok, so in my defense the fall event at my college is REALLY lame. Think of a really boring thing, then add lots of awkward people...and no food or dancing. That's what the fall event is like....yeah... But wait! I did go to the spring event again that year. I went with my girlfriend, at the time. It was at an old hotel or something. Pretty fun. Outside was the place to be though because inside was hot and cramped.

See? See?!? We had TONS of fun. haha

She dumped me over summer. And hopefully doesn't read my blog so I can say all kinds of mean things about her...maybe later...

Senior year of college:
This year I really did branch out, I went to both the fall event and the spring semi-formal. Also, it was the first year that I was asked to a school event by a girl. If you're keeping count, it's the 8th year that I have been at a school that has had a Sadie Hawkins event. In academics, 1/8 means you've failed. But anyways...the fall event was fun. No pictures of that. The spring event (the thing I've been talking about for the last couple of days) was last night. I'm still digesting all that took place. But I do have pictures...hopefully it's ok to post them on my blog.

yeah, it's a green dress...but she is beautiful

And that wraps everything up. I'm done with school parties/banquets/dances/events. When all was said and done, I can say that it was definitely better to go to the events than to miss out. Oh, and it was a lot better to go with a girl than a group of guys...even if they are your oldest friends. For those of you who will still be around school events, I encourage you to brave the melodrama and the awkwardness and go with a person of the opposite gender. There's a lot of potential for good memories. : )

~The Piebald Penguin