Kelly tall, preparing for Ireland

Monday was Guys Night Out on the trail.

The two female running mates who normally join the… Monday was Guys Night Out on the trail.

The two female running mates who normally join the crew had other obligations to tend to, so it ended up being just the four guys — Student Government Board candidates Jarrod Baker, Joe Pasqualichio, Zachary Ransom and presidential candidate and incumbent Brian Kelly.

And no one seemed to mind. They were on time and more laid back, the four commented.

During the evening, the four talked to members of two student organizations. And while the first group in Sennott Square welcomed them, the crew had a lot to live up to at their second venue. Before heading to the second venue, Kelly and Baker rummaged through Kelly’s Honda to find small campaign T-shirts to take to the speaking engagement.

Baker made sure to tell Kelly not to give away all the smalls, because he had to save some for his family members, including his mom.

After arriving at Amos Hall to meet with the sisters of Delta Zeta, the four had to wait for a group of fraternity pledges to finish their performances of ‘NSync’s “Tearin’ Up my Heart” and The Temptations’ “My Girl.”

It was, no doubt, a hard act to follow, but the guys went in and did their thing, giving the normal stump speeches and adding a few words about how they will help the Greek community as elected officials.

After the meetings, the guys headed up to the SGB office. From there, the group, minus Baker, decided to go to one of Kelly’s favorite South Side hangouts — a place Kelly later likened to an Irish take on TGI Friday’s.

Lauren Harris, who helps manage Kelly’s campaign, joined the crew. As everyone stood outside Kelly’s office, waiting to head out for the evening, Harris became annoyed.

“I love you, Brian, but…”

As her voice trailed off, Pasqualichio quickly chimed in, “I don’t.”

After Kelly reemerged from his office into the main SGB area, they were off, with Harris driving one car and Kelly driving the other.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Kelly’s height was apparent; even with his seat reclined back so he could fit in comfortably, his legs encroached upon the steering wheel.

His height always seems to work its way into conversations. While he and the others had been waiting to speak to their first group of the night, the guys talked about their heights.

Baker, who stands at about six feet, said he used to want to be 6 feet 2 inches tall

“So did I,” Kelly quipped. “Then I turned 11.”

Driving on Carson Street with the radio station 96.1 playing low, Kelly pointed out his apartment. He moved to the South Side this year after looking at a few places in Shadyside with his roommate. Every place they saw had one large room and one small room, and neither was willing to take the small one. So they expanded their search and found an area in the South Side that is still being built up.

When the group arrived, Ransom was told that he could not stay because of his underage status. Kelly gave him the keys to his car, and Ransom and another guy they had picked up at the office left.

The three left, and Harris, Kelly and Pasqualichio sat back to enjoy drinks and appetizers. Kelly took Harris’ advice to get a Guinness-and-Blue Moon combination. Kelly explained that he is practicing drinking Guinness so he’ll be prepared for his trip to Ireland during this year’s spring break.

As the group ate the food — much of which was covered in cheese or sour cream — Kelly said he doesn’t mind eating fatty foods during the campaign because he rarely gets to sit down to eat.

At one point, they discussed how difficult it must be to be a vegan, since someone with such dietary restrictions would not be able to eat anything on the table.

Kelly looked up from his food and asked if a vegan could eat potatoes.

His tablemates looked at him before saying that, since potatoes are vegetables, vegans could eat them. Pasqualichio soon added, though, that if a cow helped plow the fields, there might be exceptions.

While sitting, Kelly asked Pasqualichio if he wanted to deal cards one night soon. The two deal cards for various poker games, and it’s one of the few jobs Kelly said he could hold, since it takes just a few hours off his weekend evenings.

The conversations continued for about an hour, with topics ranging from Shrek 2 — a movie Kelly hasn’t seen — to Kelly’s addiction to the online community Thefacebook.com, to Kelly’s newfound allegiance to the Steelers, despite coming from eastern Pennsylvania, to whether Kelly and Pasqualichio were supposed to eat the green, leafy garnish on their cheese-covered potatoes.

As the crew left the restaurant, Kelly continued to debate Tuesday morning’s campaign strategy. Waking up before the sunrise and being at Pitt by 7 a.m. wasn’t something he looked forward to doing again.

He picked up the group’s tab and asked if that could buy him an extra hour of sleep. Harris said no. He later asked if a doctor’s note would get him out. No.