Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Graduation Déjà Vu

It seems as if I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in English last year. After all, I did complete all of my graded assigned requirements, bought my cap and gown (skipped on the Honor's tassels--$14?!), participated in Commencement, received my empty diploma, smiled for pictures, had a party, etc. ... Oh, wait a minute, that's right, I never turned in my ungraded Writing Portfolio! The Writing Portfolio for Eastern Connecticut State University consists of a collection of an English major's writing over their time at ECSU, as well as a 300-word essay on what being an English major means to them. Well, I thought it was bullshit, so I never did it. Until March of this year.

I just got a letter from Eastern basically stating, "Congratulations! You've now passed all of our requirements for graduation." So now, instead of having a printing of a 2008 graduation date, my diploma will be printed with a 2009 graduation date. Big deal. I still graduated a year ago. Chalk another score under the "W" column for this guy.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Stand Up and Rock the Boat

As fate would have it, it turns out that I'm going to be in an off Broadway production of Guys & Dolls tomorrow evening. My girlfriend, as some of you know, is a theater major at Roger Williams University. A mutual friend of ours, who was also a RW graduate, had some folks drop out of the show a week before, leaving him scrambling to fill their places. Now, the last time I graced the stage was over a decade ago, for our high school play ... Guys & Dolls. I know the music, some of the dance movements, and I have a pretty good idea of the blocking, which, apparently, makes me an ideal last minute candidate for the role of "Male Chorus Member."

Luck, be a lady these next two days?