Sssseasonssssssss Greetingsssss Friendssssss!

I'm just kidding; I don’t actually talk like that. It’s just a common stereotype of snakes perpetuated by those damned kids cartoons. Snakes? Yes, that’s right, I’m a snake. A cone snake, actually. Some of you have met me—my name is Reggie, and I was adopted from Goodwill by Ty and his roommates in “The Deuce” at Davidson College. Ty, miffed by the warmth in Texas, failed to be proactive in his Christmas shopping and so has asked me to recap the year for y’all.

And what a year it’s been! I’ve got to say, if all of Ty’s years are as eventful as this one, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep up! While the year started on a somber note, with the tragic death of a dear and close friend in Jay Chitty, it picked up rapidly from there.

In early March, Ty and nearly a quarter of his Davidson schoolmates kicked off their spring break by making the trek to Charleston, SC, to watch Davidson’s men’s basketball team trounce hometown favorites College of Charleston to win the Southern Conference and get their bid to the NCAA Tournament. Immediately following the game, Ty and a few friends headed to Hilton Head Island for a very southern week that involved everything from moonshine to art store browsing in Savannah, and Ty’s friend Taylor even bought himself a house in Charlotte over the phone!

While Ty had to ditch his friends a day or two early, his departure was for greener pastures. Well, more like greener greens. Thanks to the generosity of some Davidson alums, Ty and his golf teammates got to play at the Jerusalem of American golf: Augusta National. Ty’s 81 (yes, from all the way back...give him some credit) included goosebump-inducing birdies on the par 3 12th and 16th holes, and playing famous “Amen Corner” in even par. I would have gone, too, but the club doesn’t allow snakes.

A few short months later, Ty graduated from Davidson College with an English degree (how useful!). I watched from my cone as Deuce residents’ families gathered for a graduation-eve cookout. Oh, what fun they had! The parents even got involved in a raucous series of father-son beer pong! Unfortunately, the police reclaimed my cone that evening, but at least Ty escaped with his degree.

Less than a day after moving out of Davidson, Ty locked me in the front seat of his Volvo (I didn’t mind the sweltering Carolina heat—I’m a tropical snake) and headed to Chicago to meet his parents and head to Scandinavia (I think I would’ve just sat in the sauna all day). In the O’Hare airport, eagerly awaiting his flight, Ty received a phone call and a job offer! Not too bad a day, I reckon. Though I was in North Carolina while he was freezing, he had the time of his life, and managed to write about it often.

Upon returning to the states, Ty spent a few weeks at home in Milwaukee. He caught up with a number of friends, including seeing his friends in the now-defunct band Scenes From A Movie. A day after tooting his own horn (well, playing his trumpet) at the annual 4th of July Block Party (and having a bit of fun with long-time roommate Jared and good friend John at Summerfest), Ty finally returned to me.

With the help of friends Spencer and Charlie, Ty managed to move all his worldly belongings to Dallas to begin work at Click2Remember, an internet startup enabling customizable downloads of organizations’ schedules and events to users’ Outlook calendars (or so goes the sales pitch I’ve heard a million times). We spent the first month or two with Ty’s boss, then finally found an absolutely perfect place to live.

We now reside across the freeway from Southern Methodist University. Our incredibly amazing roommate/landlord Mica is a senior there, originally hailing from Miami (which I imagine would be my paradise). Ty manages to avoid spending much time with me by playing tennis, hockey, and occasionally golf, and volunteering with The First Tee on weekends.

Shortly after moving in, Ty reunited with his old pals back at Davidson for Charlotte Oktoberfest. They seem to have had an amazing time, though they all recognized that it was too short, and that the old saying “you can never go home again” holds some weight. I was just upset he didn’t bring me back any beer.

Most recently, he organized and facilitated a forum on the future of music as it relates to internet technologies, termed TechJam, in San Francisco. He came back marveling about a city where people truly understood and embraced internet technologies, and got away with acting 8 years old. He seemed to have a productive and fun time hanging out with his cousin Colin and college friend Elizabeth, and meeting second cousin John.

Did I forget anything? I’m sure I did. But you’ll just have to talk to the man in charge about that. He asked me to send along all his warmest holiday wishes, and ask that you all kindly shoot him an e-mail or phone call in the near future—something to catch him up on your whereabouts and whatabouts. As for me, I’m going to go curl up in my corner again and take in the warmth from this glorious holiday season.

Peace, love, and everything else that makes you warm inside,

-Reggie