Zup's Quick and Dirty Guide to People

This is designed to give you, the reader, a quick summary of some of the people whose names pop up every now and again in my journal. If you happen to have an entry in here, please don't be offended if I seem to leave things out.....this isn't intended to be a bio, more like a glossary of terms. Yes, that's right, you've all been relegated to terms in a glossary......<g> Also, since this is under construction right now, I've only gotten part way through. Just be patient.

Friends from Home | Journalers | The extended THM crowd including my roommates
My Model UN Friends | The extended Tippit crowd | Other people in my life

Friends from Home

Jeff and Jamie: Jeff is one of my best friends from way back in elementary school. We played AD&D together for a long while. Jeff met Jamie a few years ago and they got married June 20, 1999.
John: He is another of my friends from way back. He lives in Seattle and works in the wonderful high tech industry there. John has introduced me to most of the things that make me cultured, from Douglas Adams to They Might Be Giants. John is engaged to Katie, a girl he met at school, with the wedding set for June 2001.
Karen: She has also known me for almost ever too! She's someone so special to us at home, that I can't even explain all the ways she's wonderful. We don't hear from each other very often these days, but when we do, we pick up right where we left off.
Paul: He is Karen's younger brother by only about a year, and integrated seamlessly in our cohort. Paul is just cool and damn smooth.... He can be a modern cultural leader like John, especially in his music choices. Paul is working in the Dayton area after graduating from Wright State University.
Chrissy: She is the final member of our "core" group, and also friends with me since forever. She's one of the nicest (and smartest) people I've had the privilege to know. She returned in July 1999 from a year teaching English in Japan. She is now going back to school at Kent State University for a Masters degree in Library Science.

The Journalers

Aaron: Aaron's was the first online journal I ever discovered. He deserves a lot of the credit for inspiring a number of people to start recording their thoughts and lives in the online world. He's a Canadian in every sense of the word, yet he remains completely and uniquely Aaron to everyone's delight...or chagrin. For the moment he's retired the journal, but tho he's out of sight, he's definitely not out of mind.

Robb the Desidonian: The second journal that I read regularly, and my essential reading to this day. Robb is the reason I started this whole online journal thing. He lives in Seattle, Washington where he works for a "Very Large Software Company". I got to meet Robb during my West Coast Trip in June 2000.
Arti: Robb's soulmate and groovy gal, Arti has her own journal where she talks about her eclectic and often crazy life. She is a goddess in every sense of the word, filled with so much joy and love for others. If we could all be a bit like Arti, the world would be a much better place.
Chad: Chad is Robb's boyfriend. He moved halfway across the country to live with Robb. Robb loves him enough to sometimes do some fairly un-Robb things, and I think Robb causes Chad to do some fairly un-Chad things too. I got to meet him during my West Coast Tour, yet in many ways he still remains an enigma to me.
Mickey: Another journaler from the West Coast, Mickey lives in Seattle. I got to spend more time with him than just about anyone during my West Coast Trip, and I think that brought us much closer as friends. He loves Disney and is just a really sweet guy.
Brian: Brian is a journaler from Washington DC. A professional WWW designer, he has a wonderful sense of layout and graphic design. He provides interesting insight to me about what it's like to live what I'd consider the fast life in the big city. He also has the distinction of being the first journaler that I met in person.
Bryan: Bryan is a neat guy who goes to school in Kansas City. He's studying English and doing lots of computer stuff as well. Bryan is a sweet guy who is a bit too stressed I think. He brings out a lot of emotions in me, both tears and laughter.
Rob: Rob is from Monterey California, where he currently is the "Alumni Relations Dude" at the Naval Postgraduate School. Rob and I got to spend two whole days together during my trip out West. He has an adventurous spirit that I find contagious.
Will: Basically he's this guy in Halifax, Nova Scotia who is very at ease with his sexuality, and who lives a life that I consider interesting and he considers "dull"....<g>
Graydon: Aaron's boyfriend, he's somewhat of a younger face in the journal realm. He's unconditionally supportive of Aaron, and I think that's something very mutual in their relationship. Graydon continues to impress me regularly with a surprising perceptiveness. Currently his journal is offline indefinitely.

THM/The Alumni Crowd:

THM stands for Taft Hall Militia, and if that doesn't scare you, I suppose nothing will. This huge amorphous group centers around a number of friends who lived, along with myself, in Taft House on campus at some point during my first three years at CWRU. Twelve of them moved to a pair of adjoining suites in Alumni House their senior year. The extended group encompasses many more people than I will mention here.

Nardo: His real name is John, but mostly he is referred to as Nardo. He and I ended up at the same place for our co-op job, so we roomed together in lovely Parma, Ohio and then in Cleveland Heights when we returned to school. He now lives and works in Mentor, Ohio.

Andrew: Andrew GMed our RPG campaign on campus for three years. He's now working on an MS in Computer Engineering and still occupying the house that we lived in during my last year of school. Andrew started me lifting weights after many years of my excuses. He also is my frequent coconspirator on adventures down to the dance clubs in the Flats.

Dan: Dan is magical roommate number-four. Like my other two roommates, he has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. Dan is a consummate student, and spends most of his time in the lab working on some robot. We suspect that his relationship with the robot is far from platonic.....<evol grin>

Rhiannon: She is almost like a member of the household. Rhiannon hangs out with us and eats over sometimes, and invites us to eat at her place sometimes. She can be particular about things, but she's just fun to hang out with.
Model UN friends:
- John: I know almost as many Johns as I do Andys. This particular one is one of my best friends here at school. We met through both the church music group and Model UN. He is my conservative influence in life. We shared all the joy and pain and struggles and triumphs of four years of building one of the best Model UN programs in the nation together. John served as president and Secretary-General for the club at various times and I consider him to be "Mr. Model UN". He's now working as an economist in DC. There are so many more things I could say, but I'll leave it at that.
- Jeneanne: I first met Jeneanne because she was dating my sophomore year roommate at the time. She was the second person that I ever came out to, and we share a deep bond of friendship and trust. When it came to Model UN she is literally a wonder, having occupied the presidency for two years following John. Jeneanne taught us how to politic for money, allowing us to do all the activities we do today.
- Johan: Johan was the president of CWRU Model UN, breaking new ground on top of what has already been built. Johan is the consummate libertarian in all that he does, and he lends a different perspective to everything. Working with him, I think we've grown to be friends, even if his way of looking at things is sometimes frustrating to me. He and Jeneanne were married in June 2000 and now live in Santa Rosa, California.
- Andrew: Here's another one of those Andys I was talking about. He has the distinction of being the first true CWRU Model UN Alumni, having stuck with it until he graduated in 1997 I think. Andrew lives a crazy life in the finance industry in Chicago. He parties hard, liking alcohol, women, and baseball, but I think he works even harder, if that's possible. Despite being sometimes immature and impulsive, Andrew has taught me a few things about living life, and his energy and enthusiasm are infectious in so many ways.
Other people in my life: these people are as important as anyone else, but don't fit into a neat category. Perhaps that makes them all the more special.
- Allen: Allen is my first and only boyfriend to date. He's also my first and only ex to date. We met at a gaming convention in Columbus in May 1999. I don't know how to describe Allen except that he's just one of the nicest most thoughtful, most special people I've had the chance to know. He is very involved in renaissance faires and as a much more committed roleplaying gamer than myself. He goes to school at Ohio State University.
- Mickey: I'd say that Mickey is my token naughty friend, except that there is nothing token about her and I have a few other naughty friends. We met during my sophomore year and she quickly became one of my early confidants during my coming out process. She has been one of the liberalizing influences in my life, and it's basically her fault that I met Allen. ;) I consider her to be one of my most intelligent friends in many ways, so it's no wonder that she's doing Chemistry grad work at U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaigne.
- Jaya: Jaya was my Chemical Engineering buddy for most of 4 years here at CWRU. We shared plenty of experiences and pains in some hellish classes. She is a wonderful friend in that she is there both to talk and to listen. Right now she's living in New York with her fiance Dan.
- Ryan: Ryan is actually a friend from home. He has been opne of my best friends since elementary school. In seventh grade he moved to Houston, Texas. We've kept in touch since that time, though more infrequently of recent. Still, when we talk, we pick up right where we left off before.
Last updated 17 September 2000.
Comments? Mail to thezup@oocities.com

Zup's Quick and Dirty Guide to People

Friends from Home

The Journalers

THM/The Alumni Crowd:

Model UN friends:

Other people in my life: these people are as important as anyone else, but don't fit into a neat category. Perhaps that makes them all the more special.