The English Patient

Today at lunch, we were talking about Ralph Fiennes playing Voldemort in the next Harry Potter, which led to a "what else has he been in?" discussion, which led to the English Patient, which, as with everything in my life, led to a discussion of Seinfeld and the "English Patient" episode during which Elaine proclaims, "Just DIE already!" and is swiftly fired by Peterman for not loving the film.

So tonight, I pick up a couple of slices at my fav pizza joint, Allegros, and come home to settle in and watch my nightly dose of Seinfeld. Sure enough, showing tonight, is "The English Patient" episode. It was even funnier than I remembered.

I think that there could be a game similar to "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" called "Six Degrees of Seinfeld;" at least in relation to my life, as I seem to be able to connect pretty much everything to an episode of Seinfeld. I might just give this a try and blog my results.

On another note, I received my Wooster alumni magazine today. It was the annual IS issue. For those who don't know what IS is, Wooster requires all students to partake in Independent Study during their senior year. The end product is a massive paper, (mine was 120 pages!). IS is a journey that all Wooster alums have taken that bonds us in a special way. I mean, how many people WANT to go to college that requires you to become totally addicted to caffiene, not sleep for two months, research bizarre topics, meet regularly one on one with an advisor, have orals and pretty much pull out all of your hair. Oh, when you turn in your IS, you get a button and a tootsie roll. And a parade. I don't remember the parade because at that point, I had turned to alcohol. Anyway, every year the alum magazine puts out a special issue on IS that highlights a few of the "standout" projects of the year. Back when we were in school, they published ALL of our IS titles; guess publication costs have gone up to prohibit that now. One of the "standouts" wrote the following, "

"I would calm myself by highlighting the entire Word document and changing its font from Times New Roman, to Courier New or Algerian. The page number would increase three fold-as did, I convinced myself, my propensity to successfully complete such a daunting project."

To which I say, WE DID THAT 11 YEARS AGO TOO SISTER! YOUR LITTLE FONT EXPERIMENT ISN'T ALL THAT ORIGINAL AFTER ALL!
I want a magazine article written about me and my memorable zeitgeist of IS experiences that continue to haunt me to this day. I look at that 120 page monstrosity with disgust and accomplishment these days; talk about a juxtaposition of emotion.
Im a much better writer now, and certainly a better thinker. My life experiences have given me that. Sadly, that is something that Wooster hasn't quite caught hold of just yet. You write that paper, you experience this thing called IS and then nothing. I think a follow up article on "How IS impacted me (or didn't)" might be VERY interesting. Oh and by the way, mine was in PALATINO!

For interesting tidbits about IS, check out http://academics.wooster.edu/is/database.php
(you can even see my IS title!!!!!

Add: I would be a be-atch if I didn't thank my IS advisors, Nancy and Mark, who impacted me more in those weekly meetings than anything else I experienced in four years at Wooster.