I just now realized after reading Frenchy’s plugging the Lesser Weevils on his blog again, that indeed it has been 10 years that we’ve been friends.

We met in Writing 101 class for international students. I don’t remember the exact title. I was taking Mr. Cunningham’s College Commandment to heart–I don’t remember them all–and was going to introduce myself to my professor at the end of class. Before me was Chris, telling the teacher about using IRC to chat with people in class outside of class. She gave him a look like, “Get the hell away from me, French boy. Your idea sucks.” I didn’t get to introduce myself to her after all as I turned to Frenchy and asked him about IRC.

So, he introduced me to the world of geek from that moment on. He was in a different dorm on the opposite end of campus, so we’d be chatting through IRC most of the time, and once in a while he’d show up at my lab to show me how to do other things. Like coding in HTML.

Sophomore year, after we did our usual chat we found out that we both lived in the same USC-owned apartment complex, a few buildings from each other! That was when we hung out a lot. That following summer, he and my then boyfriend Kit–whom he introduced me to–housesit/subleased my new apartment while I was in Thailand. When I got back, they moved 2 blocks down the street. 2 years later, I moved into their building, 2 floors up. More adventures ensued.

Of course, we eventually parted ways, but still we still keep in touch the best way we could.

It was with Chris that I made my first web page, started his blog that inspired me to start my own, recorded my first “demo” (Oh, god, please don’t start singing…), slept next to on the sidewalk outside of Mann’s Chinese for Episode I, saw my first galactic lightshow that was the meteor shower up in Antelope Valley somewhere, went to a strip joint for the first time (with me in drag as a boy…yeah, it was such a hoot!), and went to the Derby for the first time.

Oh yes. We were dancing fools that evening at the Derby. Chris and me goofing off. Then after that, he practically lived at the Derby, and became the swing dancing god he is today.

Ahhhh…the memories!

Christopher Holland. I do so treasure our friendship.