Hey, folks!
Yeah, it's been a minute, I know.
When I set out to do this originally, I had intended to update it at least a few times a week. And for a good long while, that was what was going on. But then, right after Thanksgiving, it became apparent that it was time for the Miller family to pull up stakes and move to greener pastures. So much of the time between then and our moving date of December 8th was spent locating, securing, and getting into our new digs. And for the most part, everything went relatively smoothly with only a few potholes.
So, after that, things needed to settle down, and then Christmas, and then sick kids, and then this, that and the other... and I just lost track of time and, subsequently, this blog. But, now it's time to rekindle the rapidly dying embers.
In fact, it's time to move forward into my first year of college circa 1992. I graduated from Paw Paw high school that previous May with a pretty decent GPA of 3.2. Nothing amazing, but I got through. I blame my slight underachievement on both Spanish class and my then-recently diagnosed ADHD. Yeah, that's right, it took all of high school before I was formally diagnosed with something that really could have helped me through a tough 4 years. Oh well... hindsight and 20/20 and all that. So it was time to head to higher education, and Northern Michigan University in Marquette MI was it. Road-frikkin-trip like you read about.
So, if I'm gonna start from the beginning I might as well do just that. I arrived after being moved in by my dad and brother. They helped me lug my meager belongings into Halverson Hall at the pretty sprawling campus of NMU. Since I chose to skip out on orientation that past summer (I forgot why we couldn't make it), I had yet to meet my roommate. This is when I was very sorry for only having heard his voice. His name was Bob something-or-other (yeah, I've forgotten his last name, but there's a good reason why coming up). This kid was a waste. Just a full-on drug whore whose first sentence after greeting me consisted of asking if I tripped and/or did blow. I'm not even kidding. Well, I knew right away this was destined for failure. And thank God I was right.
After about a week it rapidly became apparent that I could NOT live with Bob. Fortunately, through him (and really the only good thing he ever offered me) I met a really cool cat named Andrew Boldt... the dude who would, within a matter of days, become my new roommate for the remainder of the year. Andrew was simply amazing (especially compared to Bob); nice, funny, a great ass.... just kidding, but it was starting to sound like I was describing a chick. Anyway, before this gets weirder, we hit it off and, since his roomy was moving into a house, I moved in with him into Gries Hall. And all was well with the world.
Since it was our Freshman year -and as it is with most campuses- we weren't allowed to have a car. I was cool with that and decided to bike it all over the place. It was perfect, and I had a decent bike, so many of my classes that were located all the way across the grounds didn't seem so far away. I took a photography class, a model sketching class, and a painting class, as well as the far more boring History and Algebra classes. But I did alright, an having a roommate that wasn't actively shilling dope from my room made a huge difference.
Luckily, NMU isn't huge (compared to say U of M or even WMU), but it does encompass nearly half of Marquette. It sits pretty closely to the center of town and all the rest kind of wheels off the middle. Near campus was a Circle-K, a gas station, a sporting goods store (natch), and a... COMIC BOOK STORE! This was epic because, at the time, I was a huge collector and having a shop within spitting distance was ideal. So I secured a job at the College Paper writing and illustrating weekly what-not to support the cash my parents were sending me. This little income instantly became comic fodder. Well, that a and beer money.
Up next: Part II
Or: I get visitors... Often!
Yeah, it's been a minute, I know.
When I set out to do this originally, I had intended to update it at least a few times a week. And for a good long while, that was what was going on. But then, right after Thanksgiving, it became apparent that it was time for the Miller family to pull up stakes and move to greener pastures. So much of the time between then and our moving date of December 8th was spent locating, securing, and getting into our new digs. And for the most part, everything went relatively smoothly with only a few potholes.
So, after that, things needed to settle down, and then Christmas, and then sick kids, and then this, that and the other... and I just lost track of time and, subsequently, this blog. But, now it's time to rekindle the rapidly dying embers.
In fact, it's time to move forward into my first year of college circa 1992. I graduated from Paw Paw high school that previous May with a pretty decent GPA of 3.2. Nothing amazing, but I got through. I blame my slight underachievement on both Spanish class and my then-recently diagnosed ADHD. Yeah, that's right, it took all of high school before I was formally diagnosed with something that really could have helped me through a tough 4 years. Oh well... hindsight and 20/20 and all that. So it was time to head to higher education, and Northern Michigan University in Marquette MI was it. Road-frikkin-trip like you read about.
So, if I'm gonna start from the beginning I might as well do just that. I arrived after being moved in by my dad and brother. They helped me lug my meager belongings into Halverson Hall at the pretty sprawling campus of NMU. Since I chose to skip out on orientation that past summer (I forgot why we couldn't make it), I had yet to meet my roommate. This is when I was very sorry for only having heard his voice. His name was Bob something-or-other (yeah, I've forgotten his last name, but there's a good reason why coming up). This kid was a waste. Just a full-on drug whore whose first sentence after greeting me consisted of asking if I tripped and/or did blow. I'm not even kidding. Well, I knew right away this was destined for failure. And thank God I was right.
After about a week it rapidly became apparent that I could NOT live with Bob. Fortunately, through him (and really the only good thing he ever offered me) I met a really cool cat named Andrew Boldt... the dude who would, within a matter of days, become my new roommate for the remainder of the year. Andrew was simply amazing (especially compared to Bob); nice, funny, a great ass.... just kidding, but it was starting to sound like I was describing a chick. Anyway, before this gets weirder, we hit it off and, since his roomy was moving into a house, I moved in with him into Gries Hall. And all was well with the world.
Since it was our Freshman year -and as it is with most campuses- we weren't allowed to have a car. I was cool with that and decided to bike it all over the place. It was perfect, and I had a decent bike, so many of my classes that were located all the way across the grounds didn't seem so far away. I took a photography class, a model sketching class, and a painting class, as well as the far more boring History and Algebra classes. But I did alright, an having a roommate that wasn't actively shilling dope from my room made a huge difference.
Luckily, NMU isn't huge (compared to say U of M or even WMU), but it does encompass nearly half of Marquette. It sits pretty closely to the center of town and all the rest kind of wheels off the middle. Near campus was a Circle-K, a gas station, a sporting goods store (natch), and a... COMIC BOOK STORE! This was epic because, at the time, I was a huge collector and having a shop within spitting distance was ideal. So I secured a job at the College Paper writing and illustrating weekly what-not to support the cash my parents were sending me. This little income instantly became comic fodder. Well, that a and beer money.
Up next: Part II
Or: I get visitors... Often!
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