My name is Wayne Ririe. As far as I know, my life is simple. I have friends, I work hard in school, I put a lot of voluntary time in my church, and I go home to a caring wife every day. Then it hit me. It was as if everything came into perfect focus with a click. I began to  see something that I never suspected. Everything made sense, and nothing made sense at all. My stomach was a sickened knot.
It all started on May 25 at 11:57 A.M. in the large glass atrium of the tanner building. The sun was shining through the clear ceiling high above my head. I was about to write my weekly blog for mcom 320 when a small number caught my eye. It could have been easily overlooked, and in fact, I almost began writing in my blog without ever noticing. The number was an eight. Eight were the number of views that my blog had received on the 22^nd of May. The funny thing–I didn’t look at my blog even once on the 22^nd of May. I was, and I am, being watched. Immediately after noticing this, a feeling of self–awareness and grave danger silently drained the color from my face. Despite the adrenaline pulsing through my head, I kept quiet and calm. Less than a moment later I began to feel the eyes. I looked up only to make uneasy eye-contact with a girl who was walking down the stairs. I didn’t know her, but she knew me. Behind me was a student working on his laptop, although, he didn’t seem so interested in his work compared to his interest for staring ominously at my back. I slowly turned back around in my seat to notice a girl who was talking on her cell phone and walking inconspicuously while periodically looking over in my direction. They blended in so well with the countless number of students and yet, they didn’t blend in at all. They weren’t there for any other reason but me. They are not students at all.

 . . . I feel it’s time for me to leave.

So I made a friend today. He’s a slippery one and our relationship is more unhealthy than it is healthy. I say that now, but I’m still glad I have the chance to get to know him. He’s always with me but I find that if I see too much of him I become somewhat lethargic, and he can even make me bored. On the flip side, if I don’t see him for even more than a day, I’m dying for him to come back into my life. It’s a funny relationship and I’m still trying to find the balance. The best times are when I use him. I do it with the best intentions. Truthfully I have no malicious feelings. In fact, People even compliment me on how I have taken advantage of him. At the same time, I have family and other close relatives that oft times tell me that I need to stop taking advantage of my new friend. They say that if I overdo it, it becomes unhealthy. I usually respond with something like, “I have to take advantage of him and manipulate him, because manipulating my new friend is in MY best interest.”
My new friend: Time

Well I don’t have much time so this will be nothing glamorous.

      My week started early–3:30 in the morning early. The jingle on my cell phone blared relentlessly and diligently like it always does. I lied in bed for another 30 minutes before fumbling my way through a sea of blankets to the edge of my bed. Tiptoeing my way across the floor I did my best to feel out for the miscellaneous objects that threatened my balance. With a flick the bathroom light was on. The electric wiring in the bathroom connects the lighting directly to our noisy ceiling fan. So not only were my eyes assaulted, but also my ears were offended by the continual drone. In the shower the water seeped into my soul for the next 20 minutes and awoke me from the numbing sleep. 

     My morning continued slowly. I wrapped myself up in a blanket as I studied; frequently I got up to find a snack or a hot beverage. It was all I could do to keep the gears in my brain turning . . . Before I knew it, the time was 9 p.m. and my long day at school was over–18 hours of work. 

     I’m now at the end of my week. I can say that all the hard work has payed off.

The life and times of Wayne continue . . .

Today has been pretty uneventful, so let’s start from yesterday. I played my first soccer game of the intramural season. The air felt nice and the sun was pleasantly streaming over the turf field. It felt good, what more can I say. Then the game started. After about two full minutes into the game I was a wheezing bag of flesh. My once graceful strides had turned into uncoordinated stomping while my legs turned into tree stumps that bent randomly at the knees. What I thought was a slim body above my waste was in reality a lifeless sack of fat with heavy appendages. Fortunately by the second half the dizzying spell had started to disperse. I felt a little more alive, but the pain was still taking it’s toll. Before I knew it, the game was over with a slightly un-climactic tie: three-three. 

Unbenounced to me, my body has been fighting allergies for the past two weeks. Destroying my body with a competitive soccer game lowered the defenses enough that I  was forced too tank up on drugs and attempt to sleep off a nose that continually flowed and eyes that cried themselves red.

Fortunately today has been plagued only by a few sniffles as well as eyes that are just a hair too large for their sockets.