I was sitting on a worn and torn bus seat outside of my school waiting (and not so eagerly, either) to take off toward southern Oklahoma. Incoming sixth graders at my middle school were strongly encouraged to forego classes for about a week and attend "outdoor school," which was supposed to be both a unique educational opportunity and a way to for first-year students to build friendships.
It was going to be a long drive, so I was equipped with a plain bologna sandwich, potato chips, and Swiss cake rolls all packed in a clear plastic newspaper bag which sat neatly in my lap as the bus began to fill. I was waiting to see who would sit next to me. Sure, I'd met plenty of people by then, but finding someone on a bus to sit next to is a great way of saying, "Hey, I can tolerate your presence for a couple of hours without strangling you. We should be friends!"
And then enters the man (well, preteen) who would one day be known as Zorgon.
I knew who he was. We had mutual friends. I did not, however, know his name... and I don't think we had ever had any noteworthy conversation.
Zorgon had brought along some lunch for the trip as well. Unfortunately for me, it just so happened to be THE STINKIEST gas station chili dog in history. This is no disrespect to the chili dog, either. We've had a long, intimate relationship. This is a disrespect to all the gas stations out there that cover their coneys in a crude mix of tomatoey meat paste, sulfur, and essence of pachyderm.
Zorgon and I talked on the way there, but I was literally trying my hardest to breathe only through the mouth. I watched every bite, frantically counting down the chomps until it was gone.
And naturally, we've been friends ever since.
Almost 8 years later, here I am, writing my introduction post for Welcome To Loud City as requested by my aforementioned chum. It seems strange to say I'm the new guy on the block, as I registered as a writer for the site not long after Zorgon was invited to join SB Nation. Sadly, I have not been able to contribute to this blog as much as I would like (or at all). Being a college student with a 20 minute drive to and from campus along with having two jobs in different parts of the city will do that to you.
But hey, you didn't come to this site to hear me mope about how tough times are for me. You came for some hard-hitting, in-depth Thunder coverage! Unfortunately... I'm not offering any of that either. I can, however, tell you a little about myself and what you can expect in the future.
I'm currently a Journalism major at UCO, though I do intend on transferring someday in the future. I was also on staff for each of Zorgon's earlier blogs. I've dabbled in free-lance writing, working for Vype (previously known as High School Sports the Magazine) and Wimgo. I was part of a high school journalism program at The Oklahoman, of which I was editor of the program's publication in my final year and interviewed Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett, which I arranged on my own (shameless, needless, braggadocios name-dropping).
I can't say that you should expect me to start posting every day or week or even every month. As I said before, I don't have the time. What you can expect from me is an occasional project or feature every once in awhile that will (hopefully) spark your interest. I'm that guy who thinks outside of the box and will actually go out of his way to do original work to resolve my unanswered questions. I mean, the only reason I didn't make straight As in math is because they didn't ask questions about the BCS, pitching ERAs, or Ben Wallace's percentage of body fat (>3%).
As I conclude, I'm excited to announce that I won't be disappearing into the sunset just yet. In the coming days I will be launching the first of these projects, a series that I'm personally very excited about. Right now its still top secret, but I will say that it involves your participation, so be sure to keep watch. So until then, have a most excellent day, keep cool, and stay away from those God-awful chili dogs.
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