w w ... 12B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend Maazine --Thursday, October 16, 2003 The Michigan Daily - Weekend Malta y sNEAL PAIS - ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE ROOMMATES Continued from Page 7B may not be a desirable roommate, and you should not feel obligated to accept them into your future home simply because your friend insists on it. Take caution when someone is described as being "just like you." While similar interests and living styles can provide for an enjoyable liv- ing experience, it can also backfire. Do you really want someone "just like you" to always be around and make you constantly analyze your habits and mannerisms? Think "Single White Female" - it makes individuality worthy of patenting. IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO UVE WITH MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX? This is can be a win-win situation. In many cases, men and women who live together often teach each other about the lifestyles of the other sex. Jamie Binder, an LSA junior, lives with two of her female friends and four men she did not know coming into the school year. So far, she says there have been no problems and she has made plans to live with another guy in an apartment for next year. "Girls can be catty, guys are not into that," she said. "They are more relaxed, but also cleaner than the girls ... It's a good diversity. They answer our questions about guys, and we help each other. Before we go out, we always ask: 'Do I look okay?' It's the best of both worlds." In addition to learning about the opposite sex, sexual tension can peak in this situation, especially if the other roommates are attractive. While it doesn't hurt to have eye-candy walking around the house in a towel, hooking up with a roommate can bedangerous. If you submit to your hedonistic desires, you risk a looming awkward- ness that could hang around for the remainder of the school year. Jealousy could also ensue if the hot roommate has an annoying significant other that sleeps over all the time. That said, stick to the roommate's hot friends. THE HOUSE OF FUNKY CHIC I CHARLES PARADIS/Daily When it comes to finding housing in Ann Arbor, many students feel like they have more questions than answers. 2 housing roller coaster ride live in a rather unique and wonderful setting this semester, and I've been positively dying to write about it since the realization first hit me. My home lies nestled in Kerrytown, on the fantastically mellow north side of the city. Following the trend of Ann Arbor's lovable slumlords, my leasing company is shamelessly esurient and delinquent with its responsibilities. Somehow, it feels it appropriate to compete with Manhattan's property costs since the building I live in is a "historic home." (With its glamorously boarded-up win- dows and poor lighting schemes, yes, it might have indeed been a booming crack den in its heyday.) But I digress; one needs to rage against the real estate machine when the opportunity arises. Through some cosmic stroke of prov- idence, 418 E. Kingsley St. has become my sanctuary, due to the fine gentlemen who share this residence with me. So, without further ado, allow me to intro- duce my exceptionally fascinating housemates. Roast Beef, a.k.a. London Broil: As the latter moniker suggests, he comes to Ace Deuce from across the pond. His cultural identity, however, is not so clear. Roast Beef is an Anglo-Franco- American, complete with three different accents, and three sets of personas: Limey (at the pub), Frog (with the ladies) and crazy Yank (watching Michigan football). Ethnically, he is a whore, and by far, the most eccentric personality in the house. R.B. is 418's social organizer, preparer of haute cuisine and entertain- ment after numerous shots of vodka. Raspberry Danish: Hailing from Copenhagen, he can drink more than any human I know. He's exceptionally fond of Danish drinking songs, cold Carlsbergs and romantic walks along the beaches of the North Sea. Raspberry is in his element when reciting cheap "erot- ica" from pornographic magazines (it's a Scandinavian thing). This Great Dane epitomizes the expression "chill." He can definitely kick your ass, but probably won't unless your bash his homeland's soccer team. LiP Pooper: While I only just recent- ly became acquainted with Roast Beef and Raspberry Danish, domestically bred Pooper and I go way back to our merry old underclassmen days of deviant mischief fueled by binge drinking. Our scatological hijinx are well documented in several circles, as is our ability to adopt the maturity levels of toddlers when we are in the same room. Lil' Pooper is great because he has this tattoo on his chest that he has absolutely no memory of getting (Tijuana ... classic). Someday, this Southern gentleman will be a part of this nation's Special Forces, but he'll still giggle uncontrollably if you casually mention the word "poo." That's the lineup: Three white engi- neers (the dirty Europeans are working on their doctorates) and one lowly liber- al arts student. When they begin to work on applied physics, I pull out my Rizlas and lazily ponder metaphysics. But the arrangement works remarkably well. So, now let me explain why my house rules and yours does not: Hedonism is King on Kingsley Street. There is absolutely no drama between us, just plain fun - and a very marked absence of political correctness. Consider our typical Saturday morning banter: Pooper: Hey, you guys should check out the little goody I left in the bathroom! Me: Hehe, it's a good one. Raspberry: Oh, man! You Americans are crazy! Beef: Alright, boys, we're throwing an impromptu party tonight. Start calling people, Pig Vomit (that's me). Me: Ugh, I'm still drunk. Whoa, our house is trashed ... Beef: I only want cool girls at this thing. Why are American girls so diffi- cult and conservative? Raspberry: Yeah, they're lame. Dudes, we have to make a porno. Pooper: Holy shit, can you smell that? Our house is just a lot of fun, and free from the criticisms of squares - the kind of people we despise and actively exclude from our social functions. I'll admit it - we are elitist; but our only screening criterion is a genuine willing- ness to enjoy life. I love my housema because they fully espouse the sai mentality that I do. The sad part is t we've all concluded that not many pe ple on campus do. Our gatherings a smallish, but far more decadent than 1 average Ann Arbor party; accompan by sublime trance anthems, women ro tinely make out in our living room. Ev our Thursday night dinners are bacc] nalian affairs. I suppose this column is simply salute to the lads I live with.sThey're ones who make our parties great,o meals memorable and studying tolerat I would have never thought I would lea anything from three guys who can't wi a full sentence, but these gentlemen ha offered many valuable insights. O many an Ashley's pint, we've trac advice on women, enjoyed magnific political conversations and just be happy to temporarily escape the inh ently puritanical trappings of Amerit culture. I entered my present living situati blind and lucked out in a very big w< Now, I just can't wait to have more gr times in the rickety house that I initia thought I would hate. My house is b liant, and if you're chic enough to be part of the zeitgeist, perhaps yoi receive an e-mail invitation to our n debauched event. - Neal can be reached npais@umich.e By Ellen McGarity Daily Arts Writer OcrOBER 2002 A year ago, I made what I thought would be one of the best decisions of my college career: I renewed the lease on my house. If you knew my house, I bet you would have wanted to live in it for a sec- ond year too. It's nearly at the corner of East Madi- son and South Fifth - five minutes from the Michigan Union, five minutes from the Student Publications Building (where I spend many evenings), five minutes from the stadium and about a five-minute drive for the delivery peo- ple at Pizza House. It's gray with white trim and has a nice roomy porch which we furnished with a comfy couch (only $35 at a recycled stuff store in Ann Arbor!). My best friend and I decorated the inside a la Target's Todd Oldham college collection. And my room - did I mention all seven of us have our own room? -has eight windows. All this made it easier to lend an ear and a shoulder to my less fortu- nate friends as they cried to me about their sad housing dilemmas. I listened when they complained about uncoop- erative landlords who charged high rents. And I listened when they mourned the house that some other group of girls had signed for first. But I always inwardly smiled to myself because I didn't have to deal with any of it. DEcEMBR 2002 When I went home for Christmas break, my mother asked, "Are you sure you want to stay in that old house again?" (My mom has hardly ever set foot inside my house because she is con- vinced that rats and other such rodents must be hiding in the kitchen cupboards and in the basement). And the more I explained it to her, the more I really did want to stay in my house. I would not have to move all my stuff out for two weeks in the summer, then move it all into a new house. I would not have to deal with subletters or conflicting leases. I would get to keep my wonderful landlord who always drops what he's doing to come fix the faulty washer in the basement. I would- n't even have to adjust the time it takes for me to walk to East Hall, where most of my classes are. I was most excited about my room- mates. Returning were my best friend Jia-En (Ern), who is from Singapore, Kate, a friend from the dorms freshman year, Kate's sister Elly and Sarah, my friend who graciously agreed to live in the basement room for the second year in a row. The two new roommates were to be Paul and Te Chung (or TC, he's from Taiwan), friends of Ern's. APRIL 2003 As the second semester came to a close, Ern and I talked about how we would all hang out together the next year: Paul would cook us yummy dishes on the grill (which he promised to buy), we would fix up the basement, we would all go to Kate and Elly's farm in Chelsea and we would have more par- ties than the year before (note, that the first year in my house we only had one party at which our keg was stolen by our neighbors). When I said good bye to Ern in April, she said, "Don't be sad. I'll be back in four months." OcTOER 2003 Now it's been nearly six months, and I still have not seen Ern. I have not heard from Paul. Sarah is moving out after Christmas. Karen and Begum now reside in place of my "missing" room- mates. What happened? Yeah, what hap- pened! Let me backtrack ... See SEARCHING, Page 15B ome take a iood look E SCHOOL FOR DESIGN & NEW MEDIA, WRITING RT DIRECTION, PHOTOGRAPHY AND ILLUSTRATION ORTFO LIO ENTER 125 Bennett Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. 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