Tag: College

  • When Halloween Was Fun, Then It Wasn’t, Then Was Again

    The other night, my daughter was asking me a bunch of questions about what Halloween was like when I was a kid. I mean, it was only thirty-eight years ago, not like it was a million years, but it was a million years ago. When it comes to this holiday, not much has really changed; you dress up, you get a bag, knock on doors, say the magic phrase, and you get candy. There are teenagers that are too old to be Trick or Treating, in both epochs, and grownups openly sneak their drinks on the street as they escort their kids around the neighborhood. Nothings changed.

    Then she followed up with asking me what I did when I stopped Trick or Treating? Like, when I was in junior high and high school. And I had a hard time remembering. I remember the last Halloween I went out, and I had this feeling that I was too old to be doing this. I think I was twelve. After that, it gets a little fuzzy. I think in junior high, I handed out candy at home, or watched horror movies at friend’s houses, which entailed handing out candy. As for high school, I was in theatre, so I went to some costume parties, but I remember them being really lame. One year, whoever hosted it, put “When Harry Met Sally” on the VCR, and they wanted everyone to watch it. So, there was like a six-year period where it wasn’t fun.

    Then I went to college, and it started to be fun again. Still was in a theatre department, but the costuming game was totally upped, and rather awesome. Having costume designers as friends lead to some really amazing outfits. But also, the parties got way better. Maybe alcohol and pot had something to do with that… not sure, might be up for debate. My point here, at least the one I want to make, is that I had to do a very delicate dance with my daughter as to why college parties were so much better, and I made the costumes the reason why it was better.

    Then I had a kid, and things got fun and sweet again. It’s fun when late September rolls around and the kid starts trying out ideas on us. “What if I went as…” or “Could I go as…” We let her decide what she wants to dress up as, and we help out as needed. Sometimes we are included in her costume, but not always. (I have been wanting to go as The Intergalactic Beastie Boys, but she still isn’t game.) Limited time on this, and trying to take sit as it comes. Maybe we have two or three left before she starts to feel too old. It will happen, it always happens, but that isn’t a bad thing.

    She’ll get older and we’ll all head out to the Village Halloween Parade.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Worst Week, Worster Week, Worstist Week, and I Quit

    So, the week started off bad with the Cowboys choking, but at least the Eagles collapse was a much bigger story. One might say that there was little solace in that fact, but they would be wrong – I really enjoyed watching the Eagles lose to Tampa Bay. I am pissed about the Cowboys, but this will be the last I write about it. Just can’t believe that no one showed up to play on that team. Sure, every year I think they will win the Super Bowl (that’s how I was raised) yet in a realistic sense, I thought for sure they would make it to the Conference Championship, and then lose to San Francisco or Detroit; whoever made it there. But enough of that.

    Then my wife hurt her back on Monday.  Now, she is one tough woman, and I have been doing my best to comfort her, but there is nothing I can do to take her pain away. It’s a pretty helpless situation to be in, and that goes for both of us. Slowly she’s been getting her mobility back, but it has been rough going. The whole week got shot to hell for both of us, so it feels like we are running behind, too. I know she will be better soon, and we will get thing back on track, but it’s just frustrating.

    And then the kid had a big test at school that she was positive that she wasn’t going to do well on. It’s a reading and writing test, and she’s not wrong, she is having trouble with writing her thoughts down. Part of this is left over effects from Covid causing school closings, and this is the educational crack she fell into. And unfortunately, many other kids did as well. I helped her prep for the test this week, and she can comprehend and do the work, but she just doesn’t have much confidence in herself when it comes to the test. This was another place that I felt very helpless this week. I was trying to encourage her, build up her confidence, and I even used sports metaphors about how you have to believe and expect to win first, then put in the hard work to be successful. I don’t know… We haven’t got the results yet on the test, so it’s agonizing waiting to hear how she did.

    Finally, to shit out my week, I learned yesterday that a good friend of mine from college died suddenly the night before. There was no warning… they were here and then they weren’t. Logically, it’s been twenty years since I was in college, and unfortunately these things will happen now. That’s a meaningless thing to say because logic in these situations never makes anyone feel better. I hadn’t seen them in close to eighteen years. I hadn’t spoken to them in, like, fifteen years. Hadn’t communicated with them in five, and the last interaction we had was about five months ago when we “liked” each other’s pictures. Just thought there would be one more chance. Like the next time I was in Texas, I would head out to the theatre they worked at, and I would see them. And they would be friendly and kind, and hug, because they were kind. The kindest. They were especially kind to me when I was new in the theatre department, and didn’t know anything. They were kind to help me then, and as I see the tributes on social media, I am hearing again about their kindness, and how wonderful they were to everyone.

  • It’s Halloween, Ya’ll!

    The day is finally here. The kid had trouble sleeping last night, because she’s very excited about all the fun that will happen today. Not only does she get to wear her costume to school, she’s going as Coraline, but this year her parents are joining in on the fun and going as Coraline’s parents. We’ll get an early dinner, and then meet up with friends and do a group Trick or Treating tonight. And right before the grownup’s invade the streets of New York to have their fun, we’ll get a cab home to avoid all the shenanigans. It will be a late night, with a possible tummy ache.

    The funny conversation we had while skipping to school this morning was her asking me when was the last year I tricked or treated? I was in 6th grade, so that puts it at 1988. I went as Indiana Jones, and walking around with my friends, going door to door, I felt the embarrassment of being too old for this. Twelve years old is an awkward age, but I’m pretty sure I was the twelve-year-old that wanted to be a 16-year-old, and being around real little kids just wasn’t cool anymore.

    I fear that the reason the kid asked me this was to try a gage how many trick or treat Halloweens she has left. I hope that wasn’t the reason because that would mean that she is aware of the mortality of certain events in her life. I had thought we had a year or two left of her thinking these occasions/events/holidays went on forever in their cycle – never changing just repeating. But they do change. Ever so slightly from year to year.

    And that’s why I told her that Halloween does stay fun. I had a bunch of really great Halloweens in my college theatre department. It is a holiday that is prime for a certain group of people who like to put on costumes, get into character, and then have a late-night party – that was a lot of fun. But most of all, I remember the friendships, and the good times with people I enjoyed seeing, being with, and working with as well. There was a lull between kid Halloween and grownup Halloween, but each one has its place. Now I’m smack in the middle of parent Halloween, which is pretty unique on its own, and also has a very special place as well.

    So, I hope everyone has fun tonight. Be safe and celebrate in your own way. For me, I’ll be that guy chasing after his daughter in a green Michigan State sweatshirt, because that’s what I want to do for Halloween.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Gumbo, Tottenham Tears, and Tag

    (I’m in the people business…)

    Every weekend, I try to make a big family meal. My “go to” is a roast chicken, mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. If I get really crazy, I’ll make carnitas for tacos, or a pot roast. This weekend, I am yet again, trying my hand at making gumbo. I have been working on this recipe, more off than on, for the past couple of years, and it never turns out the way I want. I have a very specific vision of what my gumbo should be, which is based off of a local restaurant in the town I grew up in. Sadly, the restaurant has gone out of business, so I’m going off my memories. When I think of this magical gumbo, I see a deep brown color, I taste an aromatic spicy flavor (not “spicy hot” though they encouraged you to add Tabasco to your personal taste,) and it smells fresh as it has been made from scratch. Most of the recipes I have tried put tomatoes in it, which makes the color reddish, or it calls for too much spicy making the heat kill any of the flavor. But, the weather will be cooler this weekend, I have made my own chicken stock, and armed with another recipe, I will chase after this whale.

    When I think of Tottenham, it makes me want to cry. It’s like the team doesn’t want to win. They are on the verge of being eliminated from the Champions League, and when it comes to the Premiere League, I think they have parked themselves in 5th place, and won’t be going anywhere else. Like I said, I just want to cry.

    For the record, there was a game of tag that I won back in spring of 1997. It took place at a playground not too far from the dorms at UNT. I hadn’t thought about that night in almost 25 years, but it came back to my while I was running on the treadmill this morning. Funny, huh?

  • I’m a Beta Tester

    I mentioned a while ago about the Biden/Harris Student Loan Forgiveness stuff, and how I feel about it. If you didn’t read that post, (don’t blame you – it wasn’t my best) I am for the program, while also admitting fully that this Forgiveness doesn’t address any of the underlining issues of the unaffordability of college. For me, I view this as a first step to correcting those issues, and I know full well that there are people who will not agree with me on this. Some disagree so much that they are trying to sue the Biden/Harris Administration over this program

    This Saturday, I received an email from StudentAid.gov informing me that I had been selected to be a Beta Tester for the application process. I wouldn’t say that I felt honored to receive this email, because something in my gut told me that everyone got this email. Or, just about everyone got this email. Either way, I filled out the form on Sunday morning, submitted and received a confirmation email in less than two minutes.

    Now I wait and see.

    Yet, I’ll believe it when it happens. As mentioned above, I know that several states are suing this program, and from what I read, most likely will fail in stopping the forgiveness, but will delay the roll out. (For the party that is overwhelmingly Pro-Christian values, I find it odd that they always go out of their way to stop any form of forgiveness – debt, wrongful imprisonment, drug convictions) I know, also, that StudentAid.gov has lead me to believe that I qualify for the program. I even checked Nelnet again, and they told me that my loan starts with the correct letter code, so that my loan qualifies.

    But I still don’t believe it.

    I know it has to do with feeling like I was taken advantage of when I went to college. I had a strange and winding path to university education. When I graduated high school, I went to college right away, but after two years I dropped out. My parents told me that if I stay in school, they would pay for it, but if I left and wanted to go back, I was on my own. And they held to that. I was out of school for four years, and then I decided that I wanted to go back, which meant that the financial burden was on my shoulders. AND, I was going back to school to be a theatre major, so I really knew what I was getting myself into. So, I never felt like the loan took advantage of me; that was my responsibility.

    It was the cost of tuition.

    My father went to a state public university in 1964, and he paid $20 a quarter for a full load of classes. In 2001, I was paying $2,000 a semester for a full load of classes at my state public university. (And I remember thinking that two grand was an affordable amount to pay.) If you adjust for inflation, then the $20 my Dad payed in 1964, would have cost $141 in 2001. (Today, it’s $191.) And that has always been my question; How did the cost of a college education go from $20 to $2,000, when it should have cost me a little over $141?

    I have never received or read a straight, logical answer of why. Some claim that inflation, some say it’s the government cutting support, some say it’s competition between schools, other say that colleges have become more like resorts that schools, others say that colleges are overloaded with administrators and executives.

    I had a sociologist professor tell us that the reason school became so expensive is because capitalist doctrine invade universities. She said that in the old days, universities put education, and student quality first, and as long as the institution broke even, no one cared. Then, she said, after the late 60’s when students protested on campuses, universities started bringing in private sector CEO to run their schools, with the idea that these CEO’s would bring order, and efficiency. What we got was college education turned into another American capitalist industry. The new generation of university leaders wanted to make money, so they raised tuitions, and accepted just about everybody who wanted to go to college. These leaders couldn’t get bonuses and stocks, but they could get huge salaries, as long as that endowment kept growing.

    Is that the truth? I don’t know because I have never seen anything verify that theory. But, I never seen or heard anything yet explain how we go to this complete unaffordability of a college education. I’m open to suggestions.

    For now, I will gladly accept my loan being forgiven, but like I said earlier, I’ll believe it when I see it.

    (I see you over there. Don’t be ashamed of your curiosity – embrace it! The easiest way to do that would be giving a like, a share, or a comment to this blog. Even following it will release a great amount of exuberance in you. Trust me!)