25 years ago, two amazing events occurred / Happenings In The Outhouse 29-Nov-2019

Twenty-five years ago, the movie Interview With The Vampire came out in the theaters.  It is the only--and I mean ONLY--movie I have ever seen more than once in the theater.  Not including the re-releases of any Star Wars movie, of course.  But even those, I have only seen once in the theater.  At home, I have watched them a lot more.

There are a few Netflix series/movies I have watched more than once, however, but that doesn't count either.

The release of Interview With The Vampire isn't what came to mind with the two events--oh, by the way, I watched the movie four times in the theater!  Yes, four!  It was released on November 11, 1994.  The only reason this date comes to mind is because I went to this movie to celebrate the completion of my first novel.  It was a 1,000-page behemoth of horror fiction.  I have met so many people in my life who have wanted to write a novel and never do it.  Well, at that point, I did it.

The second (and better!) amazing event occurred just after Thanksgiving at Bemidji State University.

There was this cute brunette I had noticed for quite some time and she worked as a dispatcher for the campus security.  Campus security was also housed right across from the stairs leading up to the cafeteria.  On the day in question, Mike, a friend of mine, said he was going to ask her out.  Feeling defeated, I made my way into the cafeteria.  Minutes later, he sat down.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"She shot me down."

Okay.  Maybe she had a boyfriend.  Maybe . . . well, I thought of a million reasons why I shouldn't ask her out--the number one reason was that I was a first-rate chicken shit (sorry for the profanity, but I was deathly scared to talk to women, even though I had friends who were girls; I know, go figure, right?)

After eating, I made my way down and saw a guy I knew from Tae Kwon Do who happened to be working at the security office along with the cute brunette.  So, taking a deep breath, I walked in and talked with him.

Then, I said hello to the brunette.  I must've stood there and talked with her for over an hour.  Her name was Melissa, although most called her Missi.  We gradually became friends over the course of the next few months.  By August 1995, we decided to take it to the next level and start dating.  Almost two years after that . . . we were married.

And have been happily married for over 22 years since then.