I’ve been (un)suspiciously absent from the blog scene for most of the quarter, I know. There’s been a lot happening on this end of things, but one piece in particular has really consumed my life. Finally, it’s in print!

For the fall 2010 issue of North by Northwestern (the nation’s number one student magazine), I wrote two stories. The first, “School of Phish,” is a profile of one of Northwestern University’s oldest students, a 37-year-old undergraduate who followed jam band Phish on the road for nearly ten of the last 15 years. The second, “Missing Syghe,” is the cover story and is a piece nine months in the making. Since March, I’ve tracked a host of very real characters to find out the truth about a Northwestern undergraduate who allegedly took his own life. The student, a Medill freshman named Syghe L’Oveture, was completely made up. The people he left in his wake were not. Altogether, The Syghe Story amounted to more strange tidbits of information, lies and betrayal than I could have ever imagined.

Please read these!, and please take any comments (particularly on the second article) with a grain of salt. I worked really really hard on both pieces and chronicled the stories with the utmost integrity and conviction. I am more than happy to answer any and all questions. In all, the magazine – fantastically edited by Gus Wezerek – is really quite incredible. Read the whole thing on the website.

Also! The Dunce Cap should be back with regular programming next week (perhaps with a new schedule for mixes, etc.), and I’ll also be slightly fictionalizing the insanity which is my life on a newly reinvigorated endeavor, Adventures in Place. On Adventures in Place, I’ll be working on a series of weekly tales about my friends, family and the people I encounter.

Happy reading, and happy Thanksgiving!