Dan Zembrosky, The MQ’s cherished font of gratuitous Transformers references, passed away in a kayaking accident this past Sunday. He was only 24 years old.

Dan joined the paper the year I was Editor in Chief, and he took the helm after Abe in 2005. His assent was as natural and inevitable as gravity. He was without a doubt the hardest working funnyman we had, generating prodigious amounts of content both written and visual. When the editorial board looked back on each issue, we’d sometimes have to laugh at the fact that fully one half of the articles were written, or edited, or edited and re-written by Dan, but the truth is we would have been fucked without him. His footprint was gargantuan.

I’m only beginning to process how unfair this is, but everyone who knew Dan knows this: the world is worse for having lost him.

Since I last posted: Battles at Beauty Bar, a long-overdue visit from Brian Lio, meat overload at our Independence Day BBQ, the Muslims and the Vultures at Casbah, a free haircut, a visit from Troy, Daft Punk and Ratatat in L.A., Tokyo Police Club at Beauty Bar, my cousin’s wedding in Pauma Valley, as well as various other house parties, bar crawls and celebrations. The days are just packed.

Banksy’s show was cool. We went to the Los Angeles MOCA afterwards. I took some photos. Sleep is more important than fluffing up this post. Ni ni!

I’ve been commuting to work by bike for more than a month now, and I’m loving it. It’s three and a half miles each way, and the ride is just as quick as driving. By and large the trip is downhill in the morning, which means I don’t get all sweaty before showing up to the office. On the way home, however, it’s all uphill. I often get home flushed and out of breath and immediately take refuge in a cold shower. The daily climb is good for me though, and my thighs have certainly gotten stronger since I began. I’ve managed to snag a partner or two for a 20 to 30 mile ride each of the past three weekends, but this weekend shall prove an exception, sadly. Today was filled with errands and tomorrow we’re driving up to LA for the Banksy exhibition, leaving no time for a healthy pedal around San Diego.

There was an earthquake this morning. The second gentle rumble in as many months. Actually, since they both occurred on the 12th, I suppose that makes them exactly two months apart. I worry that they portend a larger quake in the near future.

Barring some sort of grade disaster, I graduated on Friday. I was so busy with my ICAM senior project and my finals that I never really had time to process it, so the whole thing feels anticlimactic. My parents are throwing a little party for me in LA on Saturday, but it’ll just be Utako and I in a sea of my relatives. Rather awkward. I’m trying to decide what stories are appropriate for my aunts and uncles and which aren’t. Not many are.

I had big plans for this update, but I’m a bit hungover and have forgotten all the things I planned on retelling. More later.