Every May a thousand-plus mids attempt to climb up a stone obelisk known as Herndon in order to put an officer's cap on the top. Today was the opportunity for this year's Plebe class. Complicating their task was the thick layer of lard or shortening covering the structure, and the fact that before they could place the officer's cap on top, they had to pull off the plebe's dixie cup hat - which the upperclassmen thoughtfully duct-taped to Herndon. It took an hour thirty-two minutes and forty-two seconds to complete the task - at which point cheers from plebes, parents and onlookers erupted. It was great fun to watch!
On another front, for the first time ever, I've been tagged! Thanks Doojie - it's fun to know that someone besides me is reading this. Here's how the tag works: Each player starts with seven random facts or habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blogs about their seven things as well as these rules. At the end of the post they pick seven people to get tagged and list their names. Then, leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and to read your blog.
My first thought was "only 7?" I could come up with way more than that! But in the interest of playing by the rules (that's a novel concept), here are my 7 randoms.
1. I sleep in my glasses. Every night. True fact. I have terrible vision, and I am so impatient that if I wake up during the night, I need to be able to see IMMEDIATELY, not AFTER I locate and put on my glasses! It's a pretty hot look.
2. I hate the way pretzels smell. Ugh. Everyone in my family likes them but me.
3. I have a hard time sitting still. I used to get my nails done every few weeks, but the sitting still part drove me crazy. Now I get my toes done, because then I can read or do something else simultaneously.
4. I ran into Dennis Quaid (literally - I mean I ran right into him) on the campus of Southwest Texas State University in 1987. He was there filming DOA (remember that one? He met his once and former wife Meg Ryan then. She wore a great Halloween costume in the movie - she was a "Freudian Slip" - she wore a slip. Oops, I digress) I was late for a final exam (about a week late as it turns out). The class had taken the final exam a week early to allow the film production company to use the building "Old Main" in filming. My sporadic attendance that semester prevented me from having that key piece of info. Therefore, when I arrived at the class to take my final, found it empty and in the middle of a film shoot, I was frantic. Leaving the building I ran right into DQ. I don't know who was more surprised. Him or me. I remember running into him. Don't you think he remembers running into me?
5. My favorite thing ever is to cross-pollinate my friends! I want all the people that I know and love to know and love EACH OTHER too. I try to cross-pollinate every chance I get. It's a wonderful thing and the world gets smaller with each introduction. It's my own personal Johnny Appleseed mission.
6. I think that most people are well-intentioned and that they're doing the best they can with what they've got to work with. I love what Oprah said and I think actually Maya Angelou said it first. "I did what I could. When I knew better, I did better." I think we're all in the process of gettting better.
7. I also think we all have a responsibility to do something good. In whatever way we can, wherever we can. If we all do something, no one has to do everything.
Did that come off sounding preachy? Ooh - I hope not! I just feel like we're so lucky to get this bit of time here, and that we ought to wring out every last bit of it. I don't want to squander a moment of it!
Okay - I am tagging Lara (you knew that was coming), Amy (kickstart your blog already!), and ShabbyMama.
Onward to the rest of the day!
You did not go to Southwest Texas State University!!!!!!!!!!?????? I went there too!!! This is getting freaky...okay I was there 10 years ahead of you but still FREAKY, wow. Does Falls Hall ring a bell? Holy cow...okay, we're both from Texas and nearby in Texas, both have husbands who were at The Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA, and both now live near each other in Maryland, and now I find out we both went to SWTSU. Did I leave anything out? Wow...
Posted by: Doojie | June 12, 2007 at 12:50 PM