Look at me! Look at me!

It was a very funny weekend. It is a well-known fact within my family that I am the attention-seeker of the offspring. In all honesty, I'm not quite sure how my brother resisted smothering me with a pillow long ago. "Ben did this!" "Ben's doing that!" "Isn't Ben special?"

Seriously...I would've had the pillow all ready to go.

But yet, in the past week, I think we all realized that maybe it's not all self-indulgence on my end. I know it's a bit ironic to say on a technological source of self-indulgence like this, but I don't think I actually like the attention as much rumours suggest.

Saturday night, I went to the Chancellor's Dinner under special request from the President's Office. Keep in mind, this is all MSVU - not USA. I would never EVER be invited to the current President's office, nor would I attend. Ahem. I brought the ever-lovely Maureen Joudrey, former roommate and current unattainable love of my life who will from now on be the date by which all others are measured.

I was unable to string coherent sentences together on the way there because I was so nervous. Even more so when we realized we were seated at a table with the univeristy's president, Kathryn Laurin, and the area's MLA Diana Whalen and her husband. This was even before they mentioned that we would be piped in as all the other guests (the Board and Senate) stood in our honour.

I must say, thanks to Maureen (to whom being on her A-game comes naturally), I managed to pull myself together for a couple hours despite being sick to my stomach about my duties the next day. The president, Mrs. Whalen and our other table companions were absolutely wonderful and interesting. Then it was off to yet another sleepless night cursing my classmate Leslie Earle (awarded highest aggregate of our program) who nominated me in the first place.

Sunday was even worse. From the rehearsal to the uncomfortable downtime before the ceremony, I was brainstorming of ways to get out of it. How injured would I have to be to get excused? What countries could I run away to? It wasn't until I was sitting in the full auditorium that the nerves went away and I think that was simpy because a certain part of my brain took over and said: Listen you, I'm not going to let you make a fool of us so you're going to drag your shakey ass up on the podium and deliver that damn speech so we can finally just relax!

And that's what I did. I remember walking down to the podium and opening my speech. Then I remember being back in my seat. Like many major presentations that I've given, I have absolutely no memory of it and have to rely on the biased reports of my family and friends.

Did I like the attention? Well, maybe afterwards...Is my brother getting tired of my keener achievements? Most likely but he's too good to me to actually show it. Besides, he got his words in. The cake that my family ate at an open house that evening said:

blah...blah...blah

yah Ben.