Every time I drive by Kum & Go these days, I get a little nauseated. Nope, it’s not because of the 15 times I stopped there two weeks ago to get some Red Bull to finish my senior paper, or because public restrooms freak me out. I don’t even have to go in to feel like I’m going to puke. What would cause such a severe reaction, you may ask?

So here I am at the end of a long journey. Four years after starting college, I’m wiser, more cultured and a little taller. I have been getting a barrage of questions like: “What are you doing after graduation?”, “Where will you be?” and “When can I get that money you owe me?” I don’t really have an answer to any of these questions.

Once again, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, were the issue at the forefront of campaign news this week after Wright gave a controversial speech at the National Press Club in Washington. The resulting public reaction has proven to be negative, linking the views of the pastor with those of Obama himself.

Admit it, some of you are relieved that in a matter of days you’ll be back to the dog or cat house: that’s to say, your home, where your dog or cat has been going about his or her dog or cat life while you’ve been away at school.

How long can a dead or dying tree prove valuable? In the case of Sherwood Forest: hundreds of years. That’s a thought I keep in mind as I watch the cottonwood outside Main enter into its maturity.

Me: “Hi, my name is Christin, and I am an obsessive e-mail checker.”

The majority of the Luther community, who seem to feel that SquirrelMail is their only access to the outside world: “Hi, Christin. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.”

As the Democrats continue to figure out their candidate, John McCain, R-Ariz., is in the driver’s seat for the Republican nomination. McCain has already started giving speeches about what he would change as president and has been getting positive marks for differentiating himself from the current administration.

I know some of you are waiting for my conclusion on “House” and “Rambo.” Believe me, I have a lot to say about them, and you will hear about them soon. However, I have something else more relevant to discuss today: two events that went on without much attention.

Here at Luther we have a lot of things that divide us. We can’t decide who is better (Iowa vs. Minnesota), whose major is better (Music or Biology) or which baseball team is better (the Twins or anybody else). I think I’ve found the key to keeping this campus from experiencing a complete social breakdown, and that’s every student’s love of doodling.

Ahhh, Spring. The weather is (finally) getting warmer. The grass is actually green, and it’s finally still light out at 6 p.m. I love spring. It always feels like a new start, a new beginning, a chance to start fresh after a snowy, grey and seemingly everlasting winter. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing … la dee da dee da …

There is urgency in the air. Its symptoms are color and song.

Angels, terror, thunder, drums. A kingdom come and a will finally done. The heavenly dictatorship will reign triumphantly “when the man comes around,” the Man in Black sang. Pascal’s wager was already seducing, and then Johnny Cash sang about it and set my credulous mind reeling. The house has the odds on you in this wager, though.

The word most often heard among the Luther student body these days, contrary to popular belief, is not your favorite explicative, but rather simply and plainly “overwhelmed.” In fact, it’s the one word that seems to encompass the whirlwind of the next 35 days, regardless of whether you’re graduating like yours truly or moving from Brandt to Dieseth (my sympathies, by the way).

A month ago, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., won three out of four primaries on “Super Tuesday II” to avoid a knockout punch by Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and continues to fight for her party’s nomination. Not long after this triumphant event, Clinton and her husband began to float around the possibility of a Clinton/Obama presidential ticket.

What is black and white and contains satirical commentary, world information and your local weather? Nope, not your awesome text-messaging Blackberry. Not your daily e-mail update. I’m talking about your average newspaper.