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Aloe Vera stood terrified outside the Detroit, Michigan courtroom at 9:30 a.m. on a spring morning in 2008, waiting to be called in as chief witness in the preliminary hearing of a man she knew was a pedophile.

Aloe Vera stood terrified outside the Detroit, Michigan courtroom at 9:30 a.m. on a spring morning in 2008, waiting to be called in as chief witness in the preliminary hearing of a man she knew was a pedophile.

Members of the UCI Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists group demonstrate on Ring Road.

Daniel Joseph Riley and his maroon Volvo waited for me every morning at 6:30 a.m. Although I would always ask for five more minutes when he'd call, twenty-five minutes later we'd be on our way to Eastlake High School. He never once complained. Opening his car door, music would hit me – Elliott Smith, Damien Rice, or, if I was lucky, KC and Jojo. "Allllll myyy liiiiiiife," Daniel would wail, "I prayed for someone liiiiike youuuuu," his thumbs drumming on the plastic steering wheel, his brown curly hair bobbing to keep time with the music.

Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know: I was at a party in Los Angeles the other weekend and I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation that some former contestants of Project Runway were having with each other. Speaking of "Revolutionary Road" this and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" that, they predicted which movie was going to win the phallic "this little man means I'm better than you" statue and which actress was going to cry or not cry when she accepted her award.

David Sedaris' "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" is largely a collection of short stories based on Sedaris' real life and family. His humor is mostly self-deprecating and pokes fun at his middle class, dysfunctional family.

Hosted by Irvine Queers on Thursday, Feb. 12, the UC Irvine Kiss-In featured a photo booth for boyfriends, girlfriends or best friends to get their polaroids taken just in time for Valentine's Day.

How appropriate, in current economic conditions, that an action film is released that demonizes bankers. More specifically, the antagonist of "The International" is a bank that exists above the law – stationed in neutral borders and holding a big enough profit to bribe God – whose illegal business practices are safeguarded through the routine "accidents" that happen to anyone and everyone able to fight it.

Dr. Robert F. Sawyer, Class of 1935 Professor of Energy Emeritus presents a lecture entitled "The Science and Politics of Air Pollution", part of UCI's Chancellor's Distinguished Fellows Series.

He saw his father murdered by the machete of a Mau Mau rebel when he was 13 and he forgave the killer. A genetic ailment lay dormant for much of his life, then sprung itself upon him, impairing his motor functions, but he kept teaching. One of the few professors brave enough to dole out a deserved D+, he was unfairly called a fascist, and he still gave students the chance to rewrite. Richard Kroll was tough and fair.

THE SOCIAList: Before high definition television, there was a television craze over a genre that most people even myself began to criticize. That was reality TV. Reality TV seemed to be the new cop-out for networks that were suffering in the sitcom or drama series department. "COPS" aired in 1989 as one of the first reality TV shows due to a Writers Guild of America strike. Many people denigrated reality TV as "stupid" because producers were just putting crazy people in insane situations and letting the world feast off of it. You know what? Those cast members signed up for it, and I am along for the ride.

I have 561 Facebook friends. I might only talk to about 65 of them on a regular basis, maybe as many as 200 if you include miscellaneous birthday wishes. My roommate has 707. In a conversation with one of my guy friends the other day, he lamented having 40 less friends then me, and has since acquired an average of 7 a day. (He feels much better about himself now.) Sadly, I accepted a friend request from my best friend's little sister's babysitter's aunt the other day. Houston, we have a problem. Luckily, Burger King has the answer. It's called the Whopper Sacrifice. Trade 10 of your friends in exchange for a free whopper!