Sorry about the lack of posting these last few days, but it’s been Alumni Week here in Poultney-town, and we’ve had house-guests and old-friends-visiting galore.

The “weekend” started on Wednesday, when our friends Alex and Tempest arrived from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

We hadn’t seen Alex since graduation, and hadn’t ever met Tempest in person, but since those two folks have lively Internet personalities, it’s almost as if we hang out with them everyday (this is doubly-true for Alex, who works in a job that gives him plenty of time for iChatting).

They didn’t get into town until late Wednesday night, so we didn’t do much but eat homemade pizza, drink some beers, and just generally hang out.

Jamie rolled into town on Thursday afternoon.

Jamie’s been out in Crested Butte, Colorado, doing the ski bum thing, but now he’s heading down to Austin, Texas to do the living in a city with a girlfriend thing. He doesn’t have a job yet, so maybe, just maybe, there’ll be some new installments for “It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career.“

On Thursday night, Dawn, Alex, and I had to do our first official Alumni Weekend event (Tempest tagged along too). As graduates from Green Mountain College’s Progressive Program, we were invited to talk to the program’s current students about what we’ve been up to since graduation and how progressive education has a played a role in our lives.

The event took place at the home of two of our former professors, so after the students left, the six of us sat out in the Vermont night and drank wine beneath a beautifully bright full moon.

Friday afternoon was the second Alumni event, a Student/Alumni Networking Panel, and again, Dawn, Alex, and I had to participate. This one was for Philosophy, Writing, and English majors. We weren’t the only alumni there. Our friends Tatiana and Ray showed up, as did one woman whose name completely escapes me. Another dude was there too, Ryan Davidson, who graduated a year ahead of us. He had been a writing major at GMC and now he’s pursuing his M.F.A. in Poetry at City College in New York. It was a lot of fun seeing him, especially since we’re both in M.F.A. programs and we have divergent views of good writing, which always makes for good arguing. And you know I love good arguing.

After the networking panel (only two students showed up, by the way) came the Staff & Faculty Mixer, which is the real reason alumni come back for the weekend: the free beer. Last year, the college served up some of the best martinis I’d ever had…and they served up a lot of them. Apparently, after the mixer last year, drunken alumni stormed through the campus, fucking up the dorms and just participating in overall drunken shenanigans, which screwed it for the rest of us, because this year, they only served beer and wine.

Once that was done, Dawn, Alex, Tempest, and I headed over to Angie’s house for a little post-Mixer mixing. That’s when we ran into cute-as-a-button Margo.

Margo lived with all of us on the Creative Arts Living Floor, a theme floor that a group of us started during our first semester at GMC (and which still exists, two years beyond us). I don’t think I’ve seen her more than once since graduation, and since she’s one of the coolest people, it was awesome to be able to hang out with her again.

Of course, it helps that she brought the Wii.

But the Wii would have to wait. Because Chris and Danielle were coming to town, and we had to be at the pub.

Saturday was just a perfect day.

Dawn and Danielle had to head over to our friend Christina’s house to give a baby shower for our friend Maureen, who is super pregnant at this point.

I wasn’t there, so I won’t speak for it, but from the pics, it looks like the girls had a damn fun time.

Meanwhile, Alex, Chris, Tempest, and I spent a solid chunk of hours sitting in the backyard doing absolutely nothing. And I mean, nothing. It took us two hours just to work up the energy to go buy beer. And once we did, we just continued to do nothing…but now with beer.

And when the girls got back from the shower, and Angie and Margo came over, and and I wrangled a semi-drunken Hope who’d peddling around Poultney, we continued to sit in the backyard and do nothing.

Saturday night was the big concert down at GMC. Toots and the Maytals. After so many days of hanging and chatting though, not all of us were up for being in a crowd, so instead of heading down to campus, we went to Angie’s house and chilled out in her back yard.

But only until one of us mentioned in the Wii. Then we all went inside.

I have just one thing to say about that. American Idol for the Wii. It’s like Karaoke meets Guitar Hero, and it’ll make a bunch of drunk people lose their voice.

Sunday was Dawn’s and mine’s first wedding anniversary. We spent most of the day with Alex and Tempest, sitting on the side porch, reading books and drinking coffee. That night, eight of us went to Three Tomatoes in Rutland (the sight of our first official date). There was Alex and Tempest, Laird and Christina, Matty O and Jamie, and Dawn and I. After dinner, we came back to our place for a raucous evening of Apples to Apples.

Yesterday was a semi-normal day for me, working and all, but Dawn took the day off, so she and Jamie headed over to the slaughterhouse in Benson, where Jamie’s former employers gave him a box full of free meat. Alex and Tempest headed into West Rutland to take pictures of sketchy neighborhoods (don’t ask). Once I was done working and Angie came over, we started up the badminton rotation and fired up the grill. Alex and I kicked ass, of course.

Once the night kicked in, we picnicked on some grilled pork tenderloins (rubbed with the spice rub that Adam gave me at his wedding; very good, by the way), some Andoullie sausage, and some fantastic balsamic-glazed roasted potatoes. Dinner was followed by a couple of rounds of The New Yorker Game.

Then, finally, last night, came the event we’d all been waiting for: the Ninety-Nine Stock of Super Smash Bros. Melee.

There were only three contenders: Dawn (Sheik), Alex (Pikachu), and I (Peach). Tempest and Jamie both PIMA’d out, as did Ms. PIMA herself. The battle was surprisingly contested. Pikachu and Peach traded off the lead for most of the ninety-four minutes of gameplay, with Sheik staying right in the mix. I think the biggest spread between first and third never exceeded eight lives.

Then it got down to all of us having less than five lives left. Sheik was on her last two. Pickachu and Peach were on our last four. We’re kicking. We’re punching. We’re smashing. Peach has three lives. Poke-ball! Pikachu has three lives. Lightning bolt! Peach has two lives. B-bomb! Pikachu has two lives. Sheik’s spinning and kicking and flying. Peach and Pikachu on their last life! Woo-paa! Sheik is on her last life! Ohh…ohhh…Sheik spins and kicks and…falls off the edge! Suicide! She’s out! Peach and Pikachu now. Pikachu rolls and Peach flies off, but it’s not enough. She billows her skirt and returns to the fight again. Lightning-bolt! He missed. Peach throws a “woo-paa” and bam, it’s over! It’s over! Peach is the Champion! Peach is the Champion!

Then, with our eyes dried out, we went to bed.

Alex and Tempest rolled out of here this morning, heading back to Anne Arbor to save up some money for their move to Portland, OR. Jamie’s still couch-surfing with us for another day or so, but as for me, I gotta get back to my normal life. My packet’s due next week and we’re heading to Boston this weekend. Gotta get my writing back on.

Jess, Will, Eliot: we missed you. You should have been here.