This is the last one. I realize every year some senior decides that his (or her) last words have to make some indelible mark on the undergraduate student body . to leave them with a sense of wonder and heed the wisdom collected over four years of Brandeis living. I won't bother to do that here. Every other week I've racked my brain (Read: Drank beer and watched the Simpsons) over how to make this column interesting and insightful - something that you would want to read and that I would want to write. But, due to lack of motivation and my busy schedule of playing NHL2K in my underwear, I have found it difficult to provide quality week in and week out. The best I can hope for is that some of you have found these a tad bit entertaining. If I could only have one legacy at this school, it would be that my column was more popular than the police log.

It was my mentor, Matt Ashare, who, when confronted with the pressures and deadlines of being a rock writer said, "It's only rock 'n' roll." That advice could be applied to anything. That's not to say if you become a surgeon and leave a scalpel in your patient you shrug and say, "it's only rock 'n' roll." That would be ridiculous and frightening. But, he's just saying that title doesn't dictate behavior. It's a call to the graduating class to relax, because you can't control everything.
I've interviewed movie stars, rock stars, porn stars . and when they graduated (from high school, college, or with the latter, the Kitty Kat Klub) they really didn't have any idea where their life would take them. Maybe they were destined to be what they would become, but from the age of 22 looking up into the big blank world, it's hard to make out your life in the distance.

Celebrities teach me so much. They teach me that being obscenely wealthy isn't the measure of talent (i.e., Arnold Schwartzeneger, Sylvester Stallone, et al.). They teach me that being humble is more attractive than being arrogant (i.e., Howard Stern). And they teach me that, despite legions of fans and paparazzi surrounding them, at one point in their lives they didn't have a clue (i.e., Pauly Shore, yesterday and today).

But, this isn't some idolatry of a bunch of Hollywood phonies. Our country is big on hero worshipping - taking actors down from the silver screen and putting them up on pedestals. I guess seeing somebody so famous, up close and fallible, doesn't make them so untouchable.

During an interview with Jason Alexander (note: this won't be just a bunch of name dropping, a point will come soon) his young son called in the middle of a question. He took the call and, like you do with little children, put on his cute voice and told him he'd be home soon. The guy that everyone knows as that putz, George Costanza on Seinfield is, in reality, not George. He is a father and a husband who just happens to be famous. And, you'd expect him to walk around with a pomposity equal to his prestige, but no, he's "down to earth." There I was, on one of my first major interviews, and I found that I could actually approach a television star without bursting into flames, or gaze upon him without turning to stone.

Being a writer really means being a good observer. It's being the passive listener and the guy in the corner of the club with a pen and pad. Sometimes this sucks. Who wants to be the one who listens to how great someone else's life is . to have them drone on and on about their "project" or the wonderful people they worked with? But, sometimes you come away with a great conversation.

Sometimes you come away wondering why you got into this soulless, mindless industry . where you are nothing more than a PR whore for some corporate movie studio. Those are the times when you go out for an interview and come back with pat answers. They're the times when media curiosity becomes media hype. The worst part of being a writer is when you feel obligated to give the reader what they want. In most cases what they want to hear is that "Star Wars: Episode II" was the most amazing movie ever and that little French flick isn't worth your money. Of course you have to be fair, and fairness means being honest with your audience.

In this little column I've tried to be honest about my experiences, and tried to do as little pandering as possible. It was a nice little run, of course next time I'd like to get paid. So, for what it's worth, I hope you enjoyed . and if not that, I hope you didn't think I was a mockery of the journalism profession. Rock 'n' roll!