The ballad of Chewie C.

The Claire thing blew over. Eric liked my letter and accepted my apology. That was nice. I'm glad. So in the wake of that fiasco, things have returned to a level of normalcy I suppose among the guys. And Chewie is back. Chewie is a great guy and our fourth man--if that makes sense. Chewie's real name is Matt, but growing up in a house with seven older siblings is bound to give anyone a nickname.

I like Chewie a lot. He's an athletic, earnest, smart and cheerful guy. Like I said he grew up in a house with eight older siblings, so sevral of life's mysteries have been uncovered for him many times over. He's from the great City of Omaha in the great state of Nebraska and does bear some of that"aw shucks" mystique you'd associate with the heartland, but that quickly dissapates when you talk to him and find out that he's a sharp wit and not at all averse to voicing opinions. He's not one to put a lot of stock in tangeble things. His existence is a simple one consisting of reading (for school and pleasure) drinking, excercising, chasing girls and engaging Eric (whom he lives with) in discussion (a symptom of their apartment not having a working TV).

Chewy was away for the past summer. Working in New Mexico for a doctor in a small town out there, driving the poor to the clinic and hospital for their appointments. He also spent a lot of time "just cleaning the swimming pool," which is exactly what it sounds like. But he also managed to find a girl out there as well and spent some time screwing her. Around the middle of August he left NM and went out to Denver for the DNC. Now, a lot families have fundemental and specific ties to institutions: a legacy at a university, the military, a business, music, art etc. Chewie's family is one of polotics. Specifically Democratic polotics. His father was a State senator in the late 80's and is good friends with former Kennedy speech writer Ted Sorenson. Chewie made the trip out to the convention and was in his element for a while with free booze and celebrity sightings and the oppurtunity to see Barack's acceptence speech firsthand. I think he also got laid out there too.

Migrating further from Denver, Chewy rolled through Omaha briefly before heading out to Lake Geneva Wisconsin, where his aunt has a lakehouse. He had been there for a couple of weeks when Eric and I went up from the city to visit him three weeks ago. We had a grand, drunken time that night, and swam and played for the greater part of the next day. Chewy also let us know of how he got to have sex with a girl in a nearby lakefront house...a lot.

Three days later he'd make the trip back down into the loving bosom of Chicago and begin his senior year with Eric and Jon.

I've hung out with him a couple of times and its good to have him back. We all compliment eachother.