When we left off last time, Get Carded, the organ donor awareness group of which I am a part, was getting ready to hold their second annual Lifeapalooza concert for organ donor awareness. Last year, it seems, the first annual Lifeapalooza -- held in a ballroom in the student union -- received virtually no promotion, and as a result, the attendance was "like, 10 people." This year, we handed out lots of flyers around campus and advertised on banners.

This year's Lifeapalooza was last night at the Orange and Brew, a cafe on campus. Of the three musical acts (and several organ recipients as guest speakers), we expected a lot of people would come to hear the main act, which was a pretty popular group. We Get Carded volunteers had to get there about an hour early to help set up, but there wasn't too much to do. We just set up our tent and tables in front of the entrance so we could tell everyone coming in about the benefits of organ donation. I was given the task of counting people who came in: my job was to make a mark on their hand (so they wouldn't be counted twice if they left and came back) and click the counter thingy so its count would increment by one. Not a bad job.

Most people didn't mind having their hand marked. Some of them were confused because that's the kind of thing that's done at a bar or other drinking-type establishment. I had to explain to people that no, we're just counting people, so if you leave and come back, we won't count you twice. A few still wouldn't have it, though. Come on, guys. I'm making a little line on your arm with a marker. Oh yeah, that too. I started by writing an X, but it took too long, so I reduced it to a single line. Then, when I would explain that we were counting people, they'd look at the line on their hand and say -- dead serious -- "Oh, am I number 1?"

So that's how we spent a lot of the time. Eventually, the opening acts were done, so it was time for us to take everyone out of the Orange and Brew, give them a T-shirt and a glow stick, and have them form a human ribbon for our camera. We managed to get a lot of them out, although a lot of them stayed inside. (When I saw how many people remained inside, I realized how many people you could pack into the place.) After posing for the picture, they went back in to hear Umoja Orchestra, the main act. They're this big Latin ensemble. Not cogito ergo sum Latin, but Hispanic. I was told that they were like Santana, but they sounded like a more typical Spanish group, like music you'd put on if you were having tacos for dinner. (My family does this, okay?)

I didn't actually get to stay in the cafe for more than a few minutes because I had to man the tables outside with everyone else. But I could hear the music from within, and I could see people dancing. A lot of people were dancing to Umoja. It looked like they were having a good time. And I do think everyone had fun. I was glad to see that a lot of people came out, including some of my friends. Before the T-shirt thing, we counted 348 people. After that, we stopped counting; I don't think anyone came after that. (Later, somebody played with the counter and messed up the count; Mike, one of the co-presidents, would later claim that the attendance was "close to 500." He could be right for all anyone knows.)

After Umoja Orchestra finished, the show was over, and people left. We thanked them for making our year-end event a huge success. Of course, the real measure of success was the number of people who signed organ donor cards. Our tally at the end was 38 or 39, and we probably gave out even more cards than that.

It was 12:30 A.M., and I had class in 8 hours. After cleaning up, So, we took some pictures, and just before adjourning, Mike said that we'd probably go out to dinner in a few weeks to end the year. I'm looking forward to it. It's been really rewarding being a part of this group, and I'm looking forward to helping out again next year.

Okay, guys and girls, let's have a little discussion here. I want your input.

There's this girl who I have three classes with. In differential equations, we sit near each other. Lately, in physics (a large lecture class), we've been sitting next to each other. I want to ask her out on a date. Sound simple enough?

Problem: My previous four attempts at asking girls out have all ended in abject failure: either the girl either doesn't realize my intentions, or she just ignores me. (It's not my imagination; both of those scenarios have happened twice.) This time, I want to make absolutely sure that she knows what she's getting into: that is, that I would like to go on a date with her, not just a friendly thing. (I don't want to ease into it. I don't want to spend four hundred afternoons just "hanging out" with someone only to ask them out on a date and get rejected.)

I don't want to mess up this time. So I thought I might try to think of what I would instinctively do and then do the opposite. But then I thought I'd just ask the readers. Of course! Why didn't I think of it before? So, tell me, readers, how can I make it crystal clear to this girl that when I ask to go to dinner with her, I want to do so in a romantic sort of way?

Oh, life. It's a palooza. And now, the links.

Lots of things are transported by truck. Sometimes, trucks crash. Then: Truck Spills.

Here are some fun presidential facts. Some of them probably aren't true.

When you save all your gas receipts for years, you can make graphs. Some guy did just that. Here are his gas price graphs from 1979 to the present.