ya know, really I'm in shock. For those not cross LJ with Skirvin, an old Allen Hall friend, Tunji Toogun died Friday. It is difficult to process.

It is less that he was a super close friend. He was not someone we saw often. But rather someone I have always wanted to get life snapshots for. At least to some degree.

He was someone I met My Sophomore or Jr Year in College (I think Sophomore cause that's when Ben was still around). He was an early starter, (16) in the land of 18-21 year olds (I was almost 20). And to be honnest, was annoying. Little brother annoying. Annoying in the sense that we mocked him, but others outside the group were not allowed to do so. Annoying in the sense of he was 2 to 5 years younger than everyone else. Lacking a maturity which only comes with age.

Time passed, and he became better friends with people, and not annoying.

In these last few years, I'd run into him on campus, we'd chat awhile, and go on. Not much of a second thought. Not close, but someone I know.

Im just not sure what to say.

For me I think that since I have know so little death, this has bothered me. At the same point, not to the same degree others have been affected.

I guess what I can do is list a few memories.

1) Souls. Tunji lost souls like most people lose socks. The story is: In the quad (Allen 19), and near by rooms of Ground South there was a rule created that if you broke, or lost part of the infinate transformers, legos, or other toys, and someone found the part, or saw it break, your soul was attached to that item. If found or repaired, the person then owned your soul (Think Horcrux wout out magic). Think the Simpsons episode where Bart writes on paper that he was giving his soul to Milhouse. It was a funny ha ha, running joke that in part was created because Tunji would handle the figures on display with less care than one often should (especially in a cramped dorm room) Something a little brother would do.

Lost of people, as a result, had a tunji soul or part of one. Mostly because Tunji argued that his religious beliefs were such that one had thousands of souls so if you lost one, no big deal...or something. (Tim has alot of them, Bill has some, possibly Erik, and Moshen. Not sure about Randy, Nick, Vlamis, etc) An act of retrubution is often possible if to get your soul back. These things are a strong association with my memory and time at Allen in Regards to Tunji.

2) StarCraft. In the Computer Lab. Bill Kicking our asses, and Randy fighting Tunji, and tunji only.

3) Like DIsco, but not really. I am not sure how many times he and i shared the stage. Not a huge number, but he was a part of the troupe for at least 2 years.

4) I said it smelled like Ground Southaz not Ground South-Ass. This happened when we were discussing the general smell of ground south, or the bathroom in particular. It is funny because, lets face it, Tunji had an Nigerian Accent (I forget the regional language), a THICK Accent. So we were talking about The smell, and he said that it smelled like ground southers, and we laughed and repeated back, Ground South Ass? and he said " No, not ground south ass, ground south ass. We could not tell the difference. Much like how Midwest says Marry, Mary, Merry. All sounds the same.

5) God Damnit---Stupid Americans: Pretty much a Tunji catch phrase back in the day. And only useful in the way Tunji could say it.

Those are my few thoughts. This feels like a joke. I just keep thinking there is another Tunji we didnt know about and this is the wrong one. But, well. I dont know what else to day. Tunji was part of my life in the Dorms. He was annoying at first, but he grew up and it was less and less of an issue. He is a good kid, and will always be that kid brother. Allen 19's kid brother.

God Damnit