Orange closer to yellow than Cardinal

Two years at the University of Wisconsin – Madison have spoiled me. The campus has not one, but two major student newspapers of reasonably high quality. I was always a fan of The Daily Cardinal, but my preference stemmed primarily from the presence of the fabulously funny comic "Everyone Drunk But Me" by Laura Beth Brandt and the slightly smaller size of the paper. Both it and its major competitor, The Badger Herald had a good selection of news, sports, and human interest stories. (Though not a constant reader I liked the Herald enough to apply for a position on its staff.)

Syracuse University isn't nearly so fortunate. Only one major student paper can be found here, and I suspect this lack of competition is a contributing factor to the overall trashiness of The Daily Orange. The articles are often little more than thinly veiled complaints, the comics are only funny if you are stuck by their randomness, and the sports section is monstrously overgrown (although I realize that this is probably not a bad thing given the readership). As for "human interest" stories - well let's say they take that a little too literally. You can see what I mean in this bit from yesterday's piece "Strap Tease" by Erin Hendricks and Katie Walsh:

Bra Unhooking 101:
- Check to make sure she's actually wearing a bra
- Ease her shirt off
- Feel her up to check on the clasp location

If it's on the back:
- Keep making out while moving your hand to the middle of the back of her bra
- Put your thumb on one side of the clasp, and your fingers on the other
- Pull together, and the bra will unhook easily

If it's on the front:
- Keep making out and move your hand to the front of her bra
- Squeeze the clasp together with your thumb and forefinger
- Twist clasp and lift up on the hook
- The bra will open and leave you with an eyeful of breasts

[...]

What the experts say...
"Whenever I'm drunk and can't speak, let alone get a bra off, I just push it up over the prize."
- Matt Smith, sophomore computer engineering major

"One time I was hanging out with a lady, kind of drunk, and I was looking around for a solid 30-40 seconds for a clasp before I realized it was a sports bra."
- Mike McQueeny, sophomore political science major

"If you're fooling around with a girl who's wearing a black bra and took her own shirt off, take the bra off one-handed. But if you're with a girl who's wearing a white bra and you have to do it all, go with two hands - it'll make you seem like you don't have as much sex."
- Ryan Donnelly, sophomore accounting major

I wish I could say this was anomalous.

Live from the Centro

It's thirteen past one in the morning, and I'm sitting on bus 9950, traveling route 344 from College Place to Slocum Heights via Euclid and Westcott. There are eighteen passengers in addition to myself, and two of them are unbelievably drunk. Both are girls, and I'd wager freshmen (or maybe lightweight sophomores), and they are two of the loudest people I've ever encountered. They've been "singing" (shouting) the whole ride; I recognized "Maria" from Santana's album Supernatural but none of the others. "Jake," who's also had a few drinks but is handling his liquor far better asked them to be quiet, and now they're quite upset with him. One of them is taking a rather aggressive approach, accusing him of being a square, being sexually frustrated, being a closet homosexual (in far less polite terms). The other is trying to get him involved in "the fun," trying to show him how his own evening activities should make him as easygoing as them. Jake's keeping his cool.

The girls got off four stops too early. They had intended to ride to my stop. I'm not complaining.

Bubblicious

Anne sent me some cool soaps, and waiting on my door step when I arrived home this this afternoon was the best smelling package I've ever received, bar none (if you'll excuse the pun). She included a cool print she made along with three bars, all of which I had named as top choices.

Two bars were NatureNate's herbal soaps: Orange Clove (which "has a very uplifting fragrance and lathers up great in the shower!") and Lavender, Rosemary, & Tea Tree with Oatmeal (which "is great after a stressful day, relaxing yet uplifting[...]with the mild exfoliating effects of ground oatmeal").

The third bar was made by Dahlem's Soapworks, and the scent is FarmGirl Clean (a "very fresh and tangy grapefruit scent"). I'm sure Anne took some small amount of pleasure from the fact that I selected a soap called "FarmGirl Clean;" she likes to make sure that her heterosexual white-boy friends (and I'm certainly one of them) remain devoted feminists.

Autumn

On a cool Saturday in September or October, there's nothing I'd rather do that go to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano, Minnesota, eat a few apple doughnuts, find the very best pumpkins for Halloween carving, and then go home to peel apples for my dad's apple pies and crisps.

Nature walk

I undertook a much needed trip to the P&C this evening, picking up the essentials: milk, bread, bananas, and cream of mushroom soup. It was dusk when I departed, and a fog was settling over south campus. My "neighborhood," Slocum Heights, is on the highest ground, and setting out from it was a descent into a wispy cloud. The afternoon drizzle had abated, and the rain that's currently falling hadn't yet begun. South campus is by no means an attractive place; there are no real sidewalks; buildings are built in an almost random arrangement; power-lines mar the little bit of wooded landscape (although less so that the cell phone tower that is masquerading as an amazingly fake looking pine). Despite these short comings, I enjoyed my environment this evening with the fog and the darkness smoothing out the rough edges. Dark had come by the time I made the return trip, and I was using the blue light of the emergency phone as a guide. With my attention so occupied, I was almost on top of the four deer lounging on the field I was crossing before I noticed them. I came onto them once before, but they were much calmer this evening. I must have come within ten meters, and they did no more than watch me carefully.

I've spent the remainder of the evening reading, writing, and snacking on a pumpkin doughnut while listing to the rain.

Meanwhile back in the Madtown

I saw that the Wisconsin State Journal has an update on my former professor Keith Cohen today. I wrote about Prof. Cohen back in March.

Cohen, 60, pleaded no contest on July 28 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to one count of exposing a child to harmful materials. He was sentenced to two years' probation and 30 days in jail, with work-release privileges.

His jail sentence started Aug. 26 and ends Sunday. Starting Aug. 29, Cohen had been serving part of his work release on campus. He wasn't teaching classes, but he commuted to Madison to work at Van Hise Hall, where his office is located....

"Our goal throughout all of this was to find productive work for Cohen - since we are required by law to pay him - that would keep him away from students as well as staff and faculty," [UW- Madison Provost Peter] Spear said. "Now that our investigation is complete and we have determined that he should be terminated, we have decided to remove him from campus immediately."

The full article is here. I hope the thirty days knocked some sense into the man, but I also hope that he's okay and that his friends among the faculty can forgive him.

Since 1984

Happy twenty-first, Claire!

Centipedes

I've long had a significant fear of centipedes, a prevalent and speedy pest in my parents' home. Over the past five years, I've been working to overcome my fears slowly but surely. I still call for someone else to kill the bugs if the possibility exists, but I've gotten much better at dealing with them when I'm home alone. I started with a broom, worked my way up to a paper towel with rubber gloves on, and this summer was able to get a small one without the gloves.

As no one has come to live in the other bedroom in my apartment, I'm quite alone here. Alone aside from the centipedes, I should amend. So far they've all been in my kitchen, moving back and forth from under the fridge to a crack between the floor and the frame of the door to the outside. I've usually caught them in the mornings, and they've always managed to get back to the crack before I could react. Coming home late this evening (or early this morning, if you prefer), I found a couple when I flipped on the light. I think they were confused by an apparent early dawn, and they froze long enough for me to take them out with two slaps of my sandal.

I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm hoping that if I have to continue to deal with the creepy little buggers this year, I will be able to kick my fear once and for all.

Treading Lightly

I think whoever had this apartment last year must have had a stapler fight with someone. About every second or third day I step on something sharp, and then have to get down on my hands and knees and work a staple out of the carpet. I'm not getting any better at removing the staples - this morning's took be a while to work out - but I am getting better at easing up as soon as I feel something sharp digging into my foot.