Back to School

No, I'm not referring to that Rodney Dangerfield opus that was shot at my alma mater, but I have returned to school, as a grad student.

It's been years since I've been in school full-time and I've noticed quite a few things during my first week, for instance...kids smoke alot more today than when I was in college. We're talkin' buttloads more. I've never seen anything like it. I can kinda understand the wanting to smoking to stay thin, or rather corpse-like thin, but these days it's ridiculous. Sure, I tried smoking when I was a co-ed. Hell, it looked cool to be an underager in a bar in LA, smoking Camels and sipping Budweiser (cheap beer, didn't know any better, and oh, SHUT UP!). But, when I couldn't breathe during crew practice and that whole pesky asthma thingy, I decided it would be best if just let my Camels loose. As for hooch/maryjane/mother nature's hair, well I plead the Fifth.

Which leads me to my next observation. Kids are fatter-not in any of my grad classes though. Now, I could stand to lose a few pounds too but there are lots of chunky college folks-men and women. Those who are smoking to keep their weight down will probably succeed but I wouldn't be surprised if, by the time they hit 30, they're carrying around an oxygen tank. Always a good look and I've even seen a few tanks with custom made cozies to cover up the obvious tank appearance. Those who are smoking to get thin, well, news flash. It ain't working. All the smoking is doing is upping their chances of having a heart attack. Something to shoot for: a quadruple bypass for a 25th birthday present.

Next would be tats and piercings. Guess it's a generational thing. I'm all for self-expression and some tats are beautiful, but I would have a hard time giving a possible applicant a job if they have tats on their necks and other exposed areas(unless the job is at either a tattoo parlor or record store). Seriously though, what is attractive about the big-ass holes in the ear lobes? Like the ones that mimic the Yanomami of the Amazon? Those indians sport Moe Howard haircuts and tie their wee-wees in slings- both looks I'm glad the youth of America hasn't glommed onto.

I shouldn't be too harsh though since mullets and the Flock of Seagulls haircuts were considered foxy when I was in college.

Computers and all that they represent. Gosh, I really wish we had them when I was an undergrad. The internet would've been a grand thing then, but knowing how much I love it, I probably wouldn't have graduated at all.

Cuter clothes. So much cuter than leggings, long sweaters and pointy-anointy flats. Wait..that look is actually making a comeback. Something we can all do without, except the pointy-anointy flats-I love mine.
Some fashion should remain in the 80s vault and then blasted into oblivion.

Cooler school supplies and dorm decor. I had Marimekko sheets, blankets and towels (courtesy of Crate & Barrel) up the whazoo. Now, there's all this cool crap from Target and Urban Outfitters (a store which made an appearance spring semester of my senior year). Trapper Keepers are a rare siting these days. Instead, there are cool folders with funky colors. Sharpies in every imaginable color. I can't get enough of them. Sometimes I line them up according to color and marvel at the beautiful sight in front of me. That, my friends, is pure heaven.

Textbooks are still silly expensive but it's easier to buy used ones courtesy of eBay and Amazon.

Tuition..oy. It's incredible how expensive school is these days. I didn't believe it until I applied for FAFSA loans. Thanks to our wingnut President and his minions, it's harder to get decent loans. AND, they've cut the loans and grants so there ain't much there to get! Lovely! Makes lots of sense to keep the poor uneducated since they won't have the smarts to figure out how this Administration is screwing them royally. However, I'm pretty sure the poor have an idea of what W is doing.
Another entry for another time.

Time to hit the books. I am glad to see the classics are still around. I have to read Mike Royko's "Boss Richard J. Daley of Chicago". I read this book in high school but it's fun to read it again. Also, I was encouraged to see a student in the bookstore line with two plays by Shakespeare and Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon" in her pile of books. Glad to see the classics still have a place in this society.