DIA del WINNING.

It's my day!

    DIA. Baylor calls a holiday and cancels class. The university pays for tug-of-wars, dog shows, free food, and Jack Ingram (the concert pick for this year). Tenth street residents pay more for inflatable slip-n-slides, bounce houses, neon paraphernalia, and kegs. For one Thursday, Baylor students get a glimpse of what life would be like at any state school. Everyone is accepted, and everyone is looking to have a great holiday.

    Last Dia, I walked up to tenth around 11 a.m. to a bonfire in someone’s front yard. After a closer look, that bonfire was actually a person (who is in good health today), and that accidental engulfment ignited a series of Dia festivities that ended with a $40 medium pizza (*with tip), losing a car, and scars that have some great stories behind them.

    What was Dia like when it started in 1931? It was organized by Baylor as a way "bring smiles to the faces of students" (according to the Baylor website), and was reorganized by the Chamber of Commerce in 1935. Dia del Oso (Day of the Bear) was not named until 1966, and before then the holiday’s official name ranged from All University Day to Physical Fitness Day to May Day.

"Witty" tanks are a Dia trademark.

    Dia del Winning (thanks, Charlie Sheen.) was the consensual slogan for 2011 Dia. Mud slides and mud wrestling. Dance parties on the roofs of houses. Spray-painted tanks. More neon-clad bodies than a techno rave. Shameless fanny packs and men wearing short shorts.

    Dia is the one day that anything goes, just remember that Friday brings class, physical ailment, and stories that may be better left in yesterday.