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ETCETERA u Love often comes when least expected I’m the walking definition of a nerd Yep, that’s me. I wa: the last one picked foi touch football game: at recess. My glasses art made out of recyclet soda bottles from tht ‘60s. I’m more or les: on a first-name basi: with every teacher' had in high school I can ride a unicy cle. Need I say more' __:_ To make a long story short, I’ll start with the beginning of my senior year of high school. By then, I’d become fed up with how my peers perceived me, so I came up with my own philosophy: “If you can’t join ‘em, beat ’em.” After all, it wouldn’t be long before I left my home to come to Columbia and start a new life with new faces. I figured the true friends I had were worth keeping, and that I was destined to meet the girl of my dreams at Thomas Cooper Library. So, I planned to coast through my senior year not con centrating on chasing after girls that would nev er give me a second look, and I planned for the future. But, as Bums said, “The best laid plans That year, I was somehow talked into play ing the part of Sitting Bull in the drama club’s production of Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun.” After the first meeting for read-throughs and cast introductions, I heard a toilet flush as my plans to avoid a relationship swirled down to niy brain’s sewer of stupid and misguided thoughts. I heard a sweet voice ask my friend for a ride home. He politely declined because he had to work. And I, like a sailor drawn to the sound of sirens’ voices, offered her a ride. My eyes weren’t prepared for what they saw. The most beautiful girl I’d ever seen smiled and simply said, “Thanks.” “There’s no harm in giving her a ride home,” I rationalized to myself. “I mean, it is on the way The ride wasn’t the uncomfortable silence I expected — we talked about interests, books, and even made plans for future rides home. Every day, I looked forward to drama prac tice, simply for the 15-minute drive afterward. Eventually, she invited me into her house to look at her father’s record collection, which I fondly remember as a time of complete ner vousness and blank stares at various classic rock albums. I was too busy hanging on every word ut tered from her mouth to pay much attention to the records. After weeks of rides home and careful schem ing of ways to get her to kiss me (I was afraid that if I tried such a bold move, I’d trip over my shoelaces or something, which, in typical nerd fashion, were inevitably untied), I finally de cided how to escalate our friendship. It was during an evening rehearsal when I made my plaSi. When the opportunity arose, I would invite her to go to a quiet spot in my neighborhood to look at the stars with me. I guess it pleased Fate, because the night of my decision, we were let out early from re hearsal. She mentioned on the way home that she wasn’t ready to go home yet, so, in a rare instance of social bravery, I acted upon my plan. So, on a cold night in mid-November, this most gorgeous girl and I were huddled in a dark cul-de-sac, shivering. We made small talk, but there was that in evitable lull in the conversation. And that’s when she kissed me. I was so astonished that my scheme worked that I laughed out loud. She mistook the gesture, thinking I was laughing at her. After stuttering through what I wanted to say, I somehow convinced her I wasn’t laugh ing at her (I later explained the real meaning of the laugh, which she said made a hell of a lot more sense than the explanation I stammered out that night). Over time, the kisses multiplied and our blos soming romance was the chief topic of back stage (and teacher) gossip. We’ve been dating ever since, save for a short break this summer for soul-searching. Want to know the moral of this column? There are two. Take one, take both, I don’t care. One: one never finds love when one is looking for it. And two: Even the nerd can “get the girl.” -1 A piUlV/JOlUllUl life is tough on a nerd. Not only do we get os tracized for — gasp — doing well in school, but we never “get the girl” (to use the parlance of our times). CtaytonKate is a sophomore journalism major and news editor. He can be reached by e-mail at cekale® hotmail.com. Time's running out to buy Valentine's Day gifts Flowers and chocolate are always appreciated, but it’s not too late for a little creativity BY TERRIE MORRAY Staff Writer It’s the time of year again when love is in the air. You can see it all around you. You can see it in Wal Mart, Kmart and even Bi-Lo, when you walk in and see nothing but cards, flowers and other little gifts. You can even see it on television, with all the lovey dovey movies that are starting to come on. Yes, you’ve guessed it - it’s Valentine’s Day again. It’s the time of year when you get to buy special gifts for the special people in your life and show them just how much they mean to you. The best part is that Valentine’s Day lets you know ex actly how special you are to other people. Unfortunately, it can cost a significant amount, of money to buy Valentine’s gifts, and money’s something col lege students don’t have a lot of. But with no money, " how can you get a great gift for all your loved ones or that really spe cial gift for your “sig nificant other”? Don’t worry. I’ve got all the an swers for you. All you need to do is put your creative, crafty thinking caps on. Along with being creative, though, these ideas are also £ inexpensive. First, you can go get a clear picture frame, from Wal Mart or even the Dollar Tree, and some paint markers. i Then, you get a great picture of you and your boyfriend, c girlfriend or friend and decorate the outside of the frame any way you want to. 1 Freshman Latoria Brown said, “One year, my boyfriend was so sweet. He gave me a picture of my-, self and him in a picture frame that he had deco rated just for me.” Another great gift idea is to take all the pic tures you have of the i«o of you and put them into photo album or make a collage out ot them. Freshman Sara Lynn Norwood agrees with that idea. “Last year, the boy I was dating made a collage out of 11 the pictures that he had of us together and gave it to me n Valentine’s,” Norwood said. The most popular gifts for Valentine’s Day would be lowers, candy and balloons, of course. That’s not an original idea, but you can never go wrong with it. Freshman Heather Widcker told of one of her past Valen tine’s gifts. “My boyfriend and I just started dating,” she said, “so I wasn’t really expecting anything. But it turns out he had flowers and a card delivered to me.” Ursula Brown got another special gift. “I was sick on Valentine’s,” she said, “so my boyfriend came all the way to my house and brought me this big teddy bear and flow ers.” It shouldn’t matter how much the gift cost or how big it is. And whether the gift was an original idea or has been around for ages, all that really matters is that someone cared enough to go out and buy a gift or took the time to make one. It’s the thought that counts. ‘One year, my boyfriend was so sweet. He gave me a picture of myself and him in a picture frame that he had decorated just for me.' Latoria Brown USC freshman rrl^e^J,GreAf 1-f" otv-Cjne^ ✓ orrU^ _ «r I fof c^ncf/cfzrfe ^l^rf^rKn /n^rvn^rfion, «"“ yt^rf" -(lie 3^c(erT|" (^'oyernl'nerYf' : _ OOtOCO.^»2) 3C.ec(oi/Zi2)Z\I£& h-pn_ -r—i—i i r i i i Connections Connections pairs undergraduate women students with professional women who serve as mentors. You will be matched based on similar interests, and have structured events planned for you to form grounds for communication. . Connections’ goal is to provide women students a mentor to help them face the new challenges that they will experience as college students. February 17, 2000 Connections Meet Ft Greet , Russell House, Golden Spur 4 p.m. February 24, 2000 Hands on Workshop A Lesson in Clay: Spirit Bowl Russell House, Room 305 4 p.m. March 2, 2000 A Healthy Woman is a Strong Woman Russell House, Room 322/326 4 p.m. March 16, 2000 Living in the 21st Century: The Future Women Face in the New Millennium Russell House, Room 322/326 4 p.m. March 23, 2000 The Outstanding Woman of the YearatUSC Celebration and Salute to Connections Participants Harper College, Gressette Room 4 p.m. Building links between professional women fr undergraduate X / women students Applications deadline extended to: February 16, 2000 Pick up a Connections application in Student Government, Russell House Information Desk, or the Campus Activities Center. Call 777-6688 for more information.