Love You To

I'm still coming to terms with Rory Zuba's death; it's been hard. There was so much love and hope that everything now feels like a failure. I know it has been a very positive thing, uniting people around the world and making many people reevaluate their own lives, but it seems so pointless now that Rory is gone. I've been going to the Caring Bridge website almost every day since his death, and I enjoy reading both his dad's journal entries and postings in the guest book. It was also very sad, though, to read the entries from before he died, which are all very hopeful and say things like "Keep hoping!" and "Get well!" a lot. I read an article from the Chicago Tribune, which was referred to with a link on the site, that talked about Tom and Sean Zuba's reactions to Rory's death. It quoted Sean asking about what Christmas would be like, things like that, and I cried. Sean's such a sweet kid; Connor, too. I hope I get to see them at the memorial service on Sunday, although I'm sure they'll have a lot of demands on their time.

On a lighter note, I watched the Oscars (taped) last night, although I didn't finish it because my mom came home and made me go to bed. I didn't see Josh Groban, but based on what I know of him, as well as the song that was up for an award, I think it should have won over "Al Otro Lado del Rio," the song from "Motorcycle Diaries" that won. I guess I'm not a big fan of Santana and Antonio Banderas. Otherwise, I didn't really have any issues with who won awards, although maybe Don Cheadle should have won for "Hotel Rwanda." I didn't see either that or "Ray." I always like watching things where they talk about the history of the movies and show clips from a bunch of great films. It usually gives me chills.

The newspaper came out yesterday, causing quite a stir. Apparently a bunch of people got mad that we printed the word "cock" (as part of a quote) and there was also some kind of issue with an abortion editorial. Plus, Sergeant Mindach, this really uptight ROTC guy, got mad because apparently there was supposed to be an ad for the Military Ball (which is this Saturday) in the paper, but it didn't appear. Hayley must have taken it out; she is in charge of ads, as well as the layout. I guess I shouldn't pass the buck, though. It was pretty annoying to have to deal with the Rotsee guy; he came down during sixth hour and yelled at Mr. Fischer for half an hour, threatening to "file a grievance" and all kinds of stuff.

Mr. Fischer has assured me for the past two days that I'm in no way responsible for any of this, but I feel like I'll be seen as responsible. And it is partly up to me to make sure that what goes in the paper is fit to print. Fischer says Hayley is fired now, which I don't think is a good idea. She's really good at layout, at least as far as I can tell, and she knows how to work with the program more than anyone else does. Plus, she's good friends with other people on the staff, and I don't want to cause problems among members. I'm not discouraged about the paper, though; if anything, I've redoubled efforts to make the next issue especially good.

This Friday, we (the QB team) will be spending the night in a hotel for our tournament (Masonic State) on Saturday. I'm looking forward to spending more time with the team, but everyone's going to be obsessing about their word papers, which might get old fast.