Potpourri No. 13

Days of Hour Lives
It’s that time again. I’m now viewing life in terms of hours and not days. As I write this post, I have less than 67 hours until I’m done with school. While the semester ending is always a joyous occasion, I’m actually graduating. I did this once with my philosophy degree, but because I was sticking around to complete another degree, it didn’t seem as significant. Now I’m leaving the school I’ve gone to almost daily for four years (including most summers). Wild.

Bustin’ a Cap for My Cap and Gown
Speaking of graduation, I’ve not actually applied to graduate quite yet. Given that graduation is only about a week away, this undoubtedly looks problematic. Because I’m not planning on walking, I’m not all that worried about having my name on the graduation program, nor am I worried about the $10 late fee I will be charged for applying after the deadline (which was last September). I’m only concerned about getting my degree, and it’s fine with me if it doesn’t post until later this summer. But, wouldn’t you know it, the same instructor who has made my education a living Hades for three semesters in a row is also the undergraduate advisor. This means he has to sign my graduation application. For some odd reason, he doesn’t want to do this until I’ve completed all of my graduation requirements. This doesn’t make sense, of course, because, as I said, you’re normally supposed to turn in your application at the beginning of your senior year. Other students have certainly applied for graduation by now, but I guess my procrastination has been just long enough for the man’s senility to set in. He seemed quite leery when I asked him to sign the application, like I was trying to get away with something. Anyway, I had another class to get to at the time so I didn’t push the issue, but it looks like I’ll have some confrontation to look forward to. What joy.

Striped Coca-Cola?
Having spent the last couple of weeks locked in front of my computer working on final papers, I’ve had to the chance to listen to some new CDs (some of which I purchased long ago but only recently opened). One album I’m quite fond of is The White Stripes’ latest, Get Behind Me Satan. I think this duo is seriously threatening to become one of my favorite bands. And, though I haven’t yet seen this on TV, the band’s frontman, Jack White, has written a pretty cool jingle for a pretty cool Coke commercial. Some may find it weird, but you can’t deny that it’s intriguing. Through the magic of YouTube, I now present the commercial to you:



You Had to Be There
A quote-that-could’ve-been has kept me laughing all week long. While attending a wedding reception over the weekend, a woman came and sat at the same table where I was sitting. Someone else sat down with her, but my glance was so brief that I felt temporarily uncertain as to who the person was. After a brief moment of careful observation, everything became clear. In the meantime, however, my mind had imagined the following exchange which, I am quite happy to report, did not actually take place:

Me (quite friendly): And is this your life partner?
Person that sat with the woman (quite perturbed): I’m her son!

Yeah, as I said, you had to be there.