a whale of a problem

My Alma Mater

I graduated from the the prettiest college ever. Really. The campus has won awards and stuff for being pretty. When I went there it was a college. Elon College. The town was Elon College. There was one bar in town, the Lighthouse Tavern. I was a bartender there for two years.

Now it's a university. Even the town changed it's name from Elon College to plain old Elon. And the Lighthouse Tavern is no longer the only bar in town. A Kappa Sig that was at Elon the same time I was, opened up a bar called...I think the Westside grill? or something like that. Now when the kids say, "I'm going to the bar tonight." They don't mean the Lighthouse.

I had a great time. I had such a great time it took me five years and one summer session to graduate. It was all those nights at the Lighthouse.

Many people find this following information amusing, and obvious...but I was a sorority girl. I was a Sigma Sigma Sigma. Our colors were purple, our flower the violet, our reputation ... drunk and slightly slutty. We were the party girls.

I had some great professors at Elon. It was a great little safe little bubble of a place to spend my late teens.

My college friends are the dearest people in my life. We stayed in touch and connected before this fandagled modern thing called email was all the rage. We went to everyone's weddings, kept coming back for homecoming, and visited each other often. And even now, eleven (yes eleven) years later, I miss them all.

some information about elon...

* a book title Harvard Schmarvard listed Elon as the number one alternative to an ivy league school

*US New & World Report ranked #5 among southern master's-level universities

* The Fiske Guide to Colleges ranks Elon one of 28 "best buy" private universities

* The Education Trust recognizes Elon for excellence in freshman retention and outstanding graduation rates.

* Princeton Review has recognized Elon for having one of the nation's most beautiful campuses. The wooded grounds have been designated a botanical garden.

* Newsweek-Kaplan named Elon the hottest college in the nation for student engagement in its 2006 guide

Google.cn

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/magazine/23google.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

There has been much discussion about this lately. I think it's an interesting article - it's a long one - but for me, obviously, I found it worth reading.

leaving on a happy note

when was the last time you chose to have a drink at Bennigan's?

For me it was Friday. Our class ended early, it was a clear sunny day that begged for drinking outside, so two other mfaw'ers and me cheesed up at Bennigan's ...

what a nice way to end the week ...and start the weekend.

We were only there for two drinks and large salads, but it was perfect.

Sun almost setting, cripsy breezeless weather, and tourists tourists everywhere.

supporting my brother no matter what

this is a sketch my baby brother did with fellow syracuse graduates and friends. My brother is the terrorist. Seriously, don't know what I think of it. But you know, he is a funny kid, very talented, and will go places. http://www.northpalmwrestling.com/Flight11.html

Easter dinner with my family

"Is there an elephant in the room?" My aunt turning to me.

"Oh yeah," me, sarcasm, bitterness, frustration.

This was easter with MY family.


other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

watched my neice and nephew hunt for eggs, at first they didn't notice that I was holding a piece of paper with a list of where all the eggs were hidden. then, being precocious and all, they caught on and I had to swere to GOD that I didn't hide the eggs. Which was true. The "easter bunny" gave me the list so that none were forgotten.

had tasty polish saugages and ham and a rather nifty and delicious dish that was spinach, mushrooms and palenta.

listened to my grandparents tease each other and tell stories about the old days.

oh and fought with the pink elephant... and currently I'm not speaking to her

but otherwise had a nice easter with my family

And from my religious practices:

Maundy Thursday: eat up for the last time and wash your dirty feet.

growing up it meant i got out of school early and had to go mass at night.

For my friends who are the choosen ones

Happy Passover ...

seder

One entry found for seder.

Main Entry: se·der
Pronunciation: 'sA-d&r
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: Hebrew sEdher order
: a Jewish home or community service including a ceremonial dinner held on the first or first and second evenings of the Passover in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt

~~~~~

and to link to the blog of friend's friend... a charming and hilarious description of what passover means http://kittenloss.blogspot.com/2006/04/does-bread-count-as-leavened-bread-its.html

Allergy

On top of my wb (which according to the reading for my class is not really writers block, but novice nerves, and the article gave the sage practical advice to pull the rip cord on my insecurities and ignore the self doubt in me and just write ...well DUH...easy to say, hard to do) I am allergic to something in Chicago, it must be something that is not in DC or New York because my usual remedies of Claritin or Benedryl is not helping. My brain is now clogged with mucus and my throat is sore from nasal drip.

Did I mention that I'm cranky??

At least we have beautiful weather. The sun helps. And wearing sandals.

Word of the day

panoply \PAN-uh-plee\, noun:
1. A splendid or impressive array.
2. Ceremonial attire.
3. A full suit of armor; a complete defense or covering.

Writers Block

I have it. I can only write about a sentence at a time.

Luckily tomorrow in my situation of the writer class we are talking about writers block.

Except as part of my writers block, I have readers block. I can't read anything. So I'm having a hard time doing the reading on how to be unblocked.

I'm kinda cranky right now.

Jam and Toast

My bestest friend got married this weekend. It was great. She never hit bridezilla status and nothing disastrous happened. I'm friends with all her friends and my parents were at the wedding. It was nice to be able to drink dirty martinis with my friends, boogie on down to "I Will Survive" and dance a dance with my father, and of course see my best friend look beautiful and beam beautiful happiness and see the same love and happiness in her groom’s eyes. As Maid of Honor, I gave a toast ... below is a version of it:

I met K in ninth grade in Ms. Jaffe’s drama class. We’ve been through it all, our friendship even survived being roommates for three years. She’s been more than a friend to me, she’s been more a sister and she’s my family.

I remember the night that K met B. She turned to me and said, “I wanna kiss him.” And as we all know, tonight she finally did.

In the first few months of their relationship, B and I had a conversation one night when he shared with me how amazed he was with K, with how independent and together she was, he was impressed and smitten.

I came across a poem the other day that reminded me of the night K and B met and that conversation I had with him.

I caught sight of a splendid Misses. She had handkerchiefs and kisses. She had eyes and yellow shoes she had everything to choose and she chose me

Life and love is about choices. K and B, you have chosen each other. Every day, remember that, cherish that, and celebrate that. Salute!

*the poem is a Gertrude Stein poem