Facebook. Guy I went to school with. Biggest nerd in our class. Recent picture of him in a museum in front of an old steam locomotive. He used to be obsessed with trains. Probably had autism. Good to see that he's still interested in trains. Or is it good? I don't know.

He's also really interested in hockey. All of his other pictures are him at hockey games. And even in this train picture, he's wearing a hockey jersey. Is hockey a popular sport in the US? No. Certainly not where we lived. So I don't know why he's interested. He also wasn't a sporty guy. Never played a sport in his life as far as I'm aware. Even I played sports.

Anyway, he's there with his homely wife. Good for him.

Here's a woman who's twin brother died ten years ago. She posted a long, heart-felt philosophical message involving time travel, introspection, whatever.

Here's a woman who moved to Ireland. Got married to an Irish guy. Hasn't posted in a couple of years. Just a cryptic "your story is not finished" picture. No mention of where she lives. No mention of a husband. How sweet would it would be if they're no longer married and she's back in the ghetto?

Even the fattest kid in our school has a girlfriend now. And she's not bad looking. She has an awful personality. Some kind of super feminist. But he's a great big fat guy to this day. She's probably a lesbian and using him as a...what do they call it? Beard? Is that for men or women? Whatever.

Here's a guy in the military. He was the biggest nerd in our high school (as opposed to that first guy who was the biggest nerd in our grade school). He's still in the military. Still posts shit about the military. Usually long shit. He has progressive views but he's self-righteous about it.

He's also a single guy. He spent his Thanksgiving volunteering at the homeless shelter. I hate these sort of people. You're lonely. Be lonely like a normal person. At home by yourself.

Here's a woman with three children (one of them in his 20s) who was one of the ugliest girls in our school. She's living in extreme poverty. Recently slipped in the shower and injured her head.

Here's a guy who I was sort of cool with in the 9th grade. I believe that he's still working in restaurants. Cleaning and maybe cooking. The slight irony is that he used to quote from Wayne's World the part about "I've had a variety of jobs and they all have nametags". Something like that. But "funny". Because Wayne's World is funny. All films based on Saturday Night Live are funny. And of course, Saturday Night Live is funny.

He also posts about 20 times a day. No exaggeration. Almost always about music. Heavy metal or grunge. He has a girlfriend, apparently. She looks alright from the one picture of them together.

Here's some sort of weird stoner girl. She's turned into a cat, apparently. Every picture is of a cat.

I don't know. I'm living it. You know? Maybe you don't. But every day, I'm taking a stand against the system. I stood up to that whole student loan scam. Every day I'm fighting that war. Every day that I don't pay is another victory.

I also have my finger in a few interesting legal pies. I've filed a complaint against a law-talking guy for some serious shit that he did and it was recently approved as valid. That doesn't mean that it's proven, there still has to be an investigation, but it passed the first hurdle. That guy's in a world of trouble. They could revoke his licence. He wanted to settle the case with me. Nothing doing. I'm not here for money. I'm here for justice.

That guy was a local councilman too. You think I'm afraid of that? He tried to intimidate me with some city workers. Sometimes you just fuck with the wrong person. Fuck with the Baron, expect an ass reaming. The Baron doesn't back down to anyone. Just ask every current and previous landlord I've ever had.

So I'm out there. I'm out there doing my part, standing up against tyrants large and small. Sticking it to the man. What are these dumbass former classmates doing to change the world?

There's a woman at work, my age. She was talking about her home town. Says that she's lived in the same house all of her life. Lives with her mother. Possibly father as well.

What a sheltered life that must be. Living with your mother all of your life. Same town. Same house. People do it. But do you think these people are standing up against the injustices in the world? Unlikely.

Some people have that yearning for freedom, others are more sheep-like in cowardice. August Spies, "Big Bill" Thompsons, Carl Sandburg, Mike Royko, John Dillinger, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, The Baron of Culture: all Midwesterners who weren't afraid to stick it to the man. All rugged individualists.