Husker has been known to latch onto faddish jokes and actions. “I remember he would keep using stuff from Saturday Night Live. Stuff like ‘Da Bears.’ And it took him weeks to stop renaming everybody and everything after he heard their “Richmeister” routine," recalls lifelong friend Campadoo. Way before that it was Jimmie J.J. Walker’s “Dyn-O-mite!” And even when he was a real little kid he would endlessly repeat “Aayyeee” like the Fonz on the show Happy Days,” he said.

But unlike his earlier episodes, Husker's headlining obsession seems to have intensified. “I thought he was going to lunge over the counter when he was told at the Barnes and Noble that the last copy of Our Dumb Century was sold out,” said ex-girlfriend Tiffany Kranz. “But suddenly he calmed down and just muttered: ‘Area Man Finds It Hard to Believe Barnes & Noble’s Inventory Control So Flawed.’”

That was the first time she heard him speak in a headline, but, said his mother Lori Husker, soon after that “he started to speak only in headlines.”

Recalls Kranz: “When Wendell and I went to see Harry Potter, he kept whispering to me ‘Area Man Is Now Sure All John Williams’ Movie Scores Truly Suck the Big One.’ I mean like he ruined the whole thing for me.”

It wasn’t long before his relationship with Kranz was pushed beyond the breaking point. For her birthday, he took her to a White Castle.  “That alone I coulda’ handled,” she said. But it was all over for them, said Kranz’s best friend Amber Lasswell, when Husker gave her an “Area Woman” T-shirt gift-wrapped in a copy of the Onion, then "broke out in a stupid grin and handed her a dummied Onion page with the headline: 'Area Man Has Some Good Lovin’ Waiting in His Pants for a Lucky Birthday Girl'.”

“This nuttiness all sorta’ came outta nowhere,” said Husker’s younger brother, Bob. “At first Wendell was just doing the usual thing we all do after reading the Onion -- you know, sometimes somebody would just recite a headline or reference an Onion story they just saw, or e-mail it to everybody, and we’d all have a good laugh. But now, no matter what were talking about, or what happens, Wendell turns it into one of his stupid “Area Man” headlines.”

“I mean, jeez, I know the guy is no brain trust, but at least if they were funny or clever like the real Onion we might be able to put up with it,” added Campadoo, “but they’re really kinda mediocre, if ya ask me.”

Husker’s increased use of satirical headlines as a vehicle for his own unpopular opinions have started to grate on those around him.  “I remember it was about a week after the attack on New York and we were watching the news on TV and he mumbled something like, ‘Area Man Avoids Mentioning He Thinks Grief Counseling Is Just a Lot of Crap,’” said Campadoo.

Since then, the situation has deteriorated.  “Wendell’s been a real dork lately,” said sometime-acquaintance Dan Billingham,. “Like when a bunch of us were driving around sort ‘a bummed out about the whole Trade Tower thing and we all decided it’d be okay to go to a comedy club in the city because we figured not going would be just what the terrorists want.  So dickhead Wendell, who didn’t even seem to realize there had been the Trade Tower thing, mutters something like, ‘Area Man Thinks He Will Disembowel the Next Person Who Ends a Sentence with “…But That’s Just What the Terrorists Want.”’  I mean I never cared much for the guy in the first place, but lately he’s become a real asswipe.”

After eviction from his apartment, Husker has recently moved in with his mother. "I can take anything for a little while," said Mrs. Husker, "but he will have to make some adjustments too." She pointed out as an example how, he has worn the same Onion “Area Man” T-shirt for days.  “When I gently suggested maybe he should have more than one so he could keep them washed, he just said: ‘Area Man Mulls Blowing His Last Unemployment Check on Over-Priced Onion Products to Avoid Maternal Pressure,’” she said.

At the bidding of family and friends, Husker is currently seeking therapy, or as he put it, “Area Man Plans to Test Limits of Doctor-Patient Relationship.”