Movin’ on up
[ 3 Comments ] Posted on 08.28.05 in college, UF
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been getting all of my ducks of higher education in a row: my mascot scholarship from the Florida Marlins and the Florida State Baseball Association, my application to the University of Florida, my early decision contract to UF, my application for on-campus housing, and my letters of recommendation.
And I’ve decided that even though I really enjoy the rigidity and simplicity of the high school routine, I am really, really looking forward to college.
Identity Crisis
[ 14 Comments ] Posted on 08.24.05 in high school
Because Palm Harbor University High School was opened only 10 years ago, it is essentially devoid of any tradition or culture. In an attempt to change that, I approached Dr. Brown yesterday about the possibility of investing in a mascot that could be present at our school’s sporting events and the like. He met the idea with little opposition and said that, pending approval from the football coach and the administrator in charge of athletics, the school would probably be able to drop $4,000.00 towards the creation of a professional mascot outfit.
That was the easy part.
Our school is the home of the Hurricanes. Now tell me, what kind of mascot could one wear to represent a hurricane? The University of Miami has Sebastian, the Ibis; The Carolina Hurricanes have Stormy, the Ice Hog; it seems that to make a costume an actual round hurricane would be impractical and really, really lame.
So, I’ve been asking around and here are some suggestions:
- A pirate (The school’s original mascot was going to be Captain Storm, until the administration nixed the idea.)
- A bird of some sort (UM folklore states that the Ibis is the last bird to leave before a hurricane and the first to return.)
- Poseidon (This fellow, while not the Greek god of storms – that’s Zeus’ domain – is the god of the ocean, which could apply readily to the whole hurricane theme.)
- A palm tree (This was Egle’s contribution, and Doug drew a gnarly schematic during our math class yesterday. I liked it until I got a general reaction from a few students who said it would be stupid.)
I have no more ideas.
So, please, throw out some wisdom, lest you get stuck with Tempest the Tree all season:
Chance taken
[ 3 Comments ] Posted on 08.19.05 in food, awesomeness
If you talk to anyone who has known me for more than four minutes, they’ll all tell you the same thing: out of general principle, I am diametrically opposed to most (if not all) forms of affectionate interaction. I say this just to give a general idea of how far I actually went out on a limb this morning.
Every morning, I go to the local Krispy Kreme and order a medium bold coffee (with whole milk and three sugars) before I pick up my carpool (which, by the way, is very funny when Angus tries to get into my super-cramped backseat). I’ve gone every weekday since the start of school and have become quite the regular – most of the time, the lady who serves me every day only charges me 50 cents instead of the usual 99.
But for some reason, today I was driven to change my scheme. Instead of pulling up to the speaker box in the always empty drive thru lane and saying the usual line (“Just a medium bold coffee with whole milk and three sugars, please”), I decided to call her by the name that I had noticed on her name tag two days prior.
“Good morning, Debbie – I’ll just have my medium coffee with who-”
She cut me off and said, “Okay, pull up, sweetie pie.”
My friends, it seems that such a personal remark worked in my favor. Instead of a cup of coffee and the newspaper that comes with it, Debbie treated me to a doughnut in addition to my usual order. It was hot and delicious. Probably even more delicious because it was free.
Either way, this could be a lesson: once you’re comfortable with a person, once you’ve gotten to know them, once you’re no longer threatened by their strangeness, feel free to take that extra step and refer to your fellow human by name.
It might get you a free doughnut.