|
I started UT in the fall of 2001, and I almost immediately got involved with the student-run radio station, KVRX. I attended the biweekly meetings, which was how I met the Programmer. The Programmer was one of the programming directors at the station, and he was shy and insecure next to the louder mouthed DJs around the station. I took an instant liking to him, which no doubt was helped along by his passing resemblance to HSP, on whom I was crushing at the time. Too shy to say anything, most of the fall semester passed without me uttering a word to the Programmer even though we eyed each other at every meeting. I forgot about him when I met the Republican, but the latter and I broke up almost immediately. We got back together again, and broke up again, several more times. In the meantime, though, I had the Programmer to keep my eye on. Around Thanksgiving, the KVRX staff assembled for its annual pot luck, held for students who would not be going home for the Thanksgiving holiday. As I lived at home, I was technically not among that number, but I couldn't resist showing off my culinary skills, especially since I suspected that the Programmer would be in attendance. I made a glorious lasagna, complete with red wine in the sauce, and took it down to campus via the bus. I had not yet figured out the tricks of the campus parking garages and permits, and I decided to play it safe rather than sorry. I placed my beautiful lasagna in a crappy foil pan with an even crappier snap-on lid. I placed it on the floor in front of the passenger seat of my car and drove to the park and ride. True to form, the lid slipped off, slopping tomato sauce onto my floor mat. Years later, the stains remain. Nevertheless, I took the two buses to campus without further incident (apart from a lot of comments and stupid jokes from strangers on the bus) and began wandering around one of the College of Communication buildings, attempting to locate the room where our dinner was to be held. As I walked down the hall, I spied the Programmer. 'Aha!' I thought. 'Now's my chance!' "Hello," we each said at the same time, smiling a little as we realized it. Goofy and cute. "Do you know where the pot luck is?" he asked. "No, actually, I was going to ask you—Oh." It was right in front of us. He followed me just slightly past the door as I threw the ruined lid of my lasagna away in a nearby trash can. I wondered if he were following me because he liked me or just didn't see the room in front of us. I shrugged and entered the room. My lasagna was a roaring success, but my further courtship with the Programmer was not. Absolutely nothing happened. We never even spoke again. I did, however, locate the Programmer's blog. I don't remember how I found it, but he maintained a small, anonymous blog on GeoCities. I searched for veiled references to myself but found none. Instead, to my horror, I found overt references to another girl. Luckily, he also wrote about how he'd tried talking to her about it, but she'd turned him down. Ah. Good. Less good were his frequent mentions of his obsessive following of basketball (which I despise), his excessive drinking, and his general depression and lack of direction. He changed his major several times while at UT; I have no idea what he eventually settled on. I lost interest rapidly after that. Besides, my relationship with the Republican, sporadic though it was, was occupying me by that time. He is currently engaged to a woman who is, for lack of a better term, godawfully revolting. I know that description is mean, but for God's sake, this entire section of the site revolves around poking mean-spirited fun at others for tenuous reasons. Besides, it's true. She is no doubt a sweet girl who loves the Programmer and is perfect for him, but the fact of the matter is, she looks hideous. As per human nature, I don't care at all about the Programmer any more, but I am nevertheless pleased than I am better looking than his current girl. |