Random Thoughts During the A to Z Challenge

Some things that might have merited their own blog post, had I thought about them any time but during the A to Z Challenge:

This one. That's what
I bought. Source.

The first time I heard the phrase "A (eh) to Z (zed)" and it stuck in my head was one day on the phone in Glasgow. Someone was trying to give me directions and asked if I had an "A to Zed". Unfortunately, due to her Glaswegian accent and my American brain, I heard "Eightys Head". I knew that couldn't be right, so with all my eloquence I asked, "A what?" She clarified, "A Streetfinder." Ah. I knew what that was. I had to admit that no, I didn't have one, so I had no idea how to get to where she wanted me to go. I went out the very next day and bought one-- and I've never lived anywhere since without having at least one map in the house in case I had to look something up. (Of course, Google Maps has made this practise obsolete, but it's a habit.)

During the NCAA Finals: It's fun watching college sports and knowing they're the same age as my classmates & coworkers. I don't miss being that age, not even a little bit, and that's confirmed almost daily by the angst of my young friends. However, I am SO going to miss having this time with them. All of my friends are 10-15 years younger than me, and they're all delightful. I'm really sad that starting next week, I'll have to work hard to get to hang out with the early '20s crowd. This is why people become professors, I'm convinced of it.

Inspired by Karen Elizabeth Brown's Beowulf post: We read an excerpt from Beowulf my senior year of high school, and our teacher assigned us to write a follow-up story. So I wrote Grendel's diary, with the final installment coming as he lay dying because Beowulf has torn his arm off and he's bleeding out. I'm sure it wasn't fabulous, probably not even my best writing in high school, but I got full marks. Why? For the final entry, I switched to writing it left-handed (this was, of course, before the days when all assignments are typed). My instructor was impressed with my creativity. I don't know... even now, I think it's pretty goofy.

Overheard in the Rhetoric Dept. computer lab: Some grad students were talking about health care reform. I tuned them out, because I was trying to get some work done, but I managed to start listening again just in time to hear one of them say, "Imagine you're in a car, right? And you can just make part of it vanish. Is it more aggressive to make the engine vanish, so it can't go, or to make the brakes vanish, so it can't stop?" I've no idea what he meant. Take from that metaphor what you will.

I had some canned ravioli one day for lunch at BikeTexas. I mentioned to a coworker that I was singing the ravioli song in my head, as it was a mainstay for us to sing back in my day camp days (age 6-10, if memory serves). He had no idea what I was talking about. I was a bit horrified. So, in case you don't know it, either, here are some adorable children singing a slightly, erm, tamer version than I remember:

What's on your mind today?