Once again, I’m avoiding studying for a test (it ended up working out ok last time, I ended up with a B on that exam), so why not try again.

1. Lost was amazing. Anyone who wants to talk about it can interrupt my finals studying through phone, IM, e-mail, signal flares or any other means of communication.

2. We’re having our first big thunderstorm of the year right now, and it’s reminding me why I love thunderstorms so much (though I did worry it would knock the power out, which would have been totally unacceptable during the Lost finale).

3. I had a glorious run-in with a homeless man today. I was studying at the Cardinal offices when I ducked out for a quick bathroom break. When I’ve studied at the Cardinal the last few days, the only person I ran into in the deserted halls of Vilas was a janitor, who was very courteous and went on his way after a quick hello. Today, on the other hand, was a different story.

As I let myself out of the office, a man rounded the corner with a Cardinal and a large plastic bag containing treasures unknown in his hands. He caught me and began to quiz me on why the Cardinal had chosen to end their year on a Thursday instead of a Friday, repetitively  mentioning how we had left him hanging out to dry, and he didn’t like cliffhangers.

HG: I mean really, I check the newsstand, and it’s still this issue! Where’s the Friday?

K: Well, it’s not up to me sir, it was a decision that our Business Staff made-

HG: No! They don’t get to say when the news happens! That’s the Editor-In-Chief’s call!

K: Right, well the Editor-In-Chief signed off on it as well.

HG: …

K: …

HG: …

K: I’m gonna go to the bathroom now.

I probably could have explained to him that unlike soap operas, the Cardinal does not typically follow long, arching story lines that resolve themselves each friday. I probably could have told him that Thursday is our largest-read issue each week, and allows for us to finish the semester with a grander gesture than a Friday issue. Instead, I simply said it wasn’t my decision, and quickly moved into the bathroom, offering numerous apologies and claims that if it had been up to me, we “totally would have had another issue”.

A bit of an aside: Although I did not realize it initially, this was the same homeless man who came into our office one day holding an old press clip and demanding to get in contact with one of our writers who had apparently at one point “made a committment to civil justice.” He claimed there was inherent racism and scandal occurring at the Door County Church, and that we needed to take action. Our Managing Editor Gabe eventually pointed him towards the Herald office (HA!), but in his honor, we wrote “DOOR COUNTY CHURCH” in huge, scrawling handwriting across the top of the whiteboard we use to keep track of what news we’re covering each day, and it remained there for the rest of the semester.

Anyways, I thought I had seen the last of him, but as my luck would have it, I heard my fellow editor Crystal on the phone in the hall. I stopped to chat with her in the hall for a few minutes, and wouldn’t you know it, from the other direction this time the vilified vagrant descended upon us.

HG: “You know another thing that’s wrong with this? You see this picture here with all the editors who are leaving? You couldn’t even make a couple lines here so you can put everyone’s names? How are we supposed to know who all these people are? It’s like some inside joke and I’m not a part of it.”

Me: Very true sir, but with so many editors it probably would have taken a lot of space and—

HG (increasingly irritated): No it wouldn’t have! It’s just a few lines! The Herald had their names, they had little arrows and I could see everyone’s names and faces! Like here (points at our photo editor Lorenzo) who is that guy? How am I supposed to know who that guy is?

K: Well that’s Lorenzo, he takes photos.

HG: Lorenzo who?

K: Lorenzo Ze- (purposely make my voice unintelligble at this point)

HG (rounds on Crystal): Seriously, why no paper on Friday? I’m waiting for another paper, and it never comes!

C: Oh yeah, no, you’re right, uh-huh.. (At a loss for words, possibly stunned by the overwhelming body odor choking us all)

Needless to say, I made sure the office door was locked securely when I went back, and immediately began working on an issue for this Friday.