In the Air Tonight

Like many people, music forms the soundtrack of my life. When I hear a song that's had an impact on me, for better or for worse, I am immediately transported to that point in time when the song was imprinted on my brain. For this reason, while I love the Clash, their classic Rock the Casbah will forever remind me of a party full of drunk, singing frat boys in college that my girlfriends and I hastily departed. Conversely, while I'm not a fan of Phil Collins, the crappy Genesis song Invisible Touch reminds me watching a bunch of grade school kids dancing their hearts out on a ferry crossing the English Channel which renders it almost tolerable to me.

Horrifyingly, the Phil Collins song that I heard this morning, In the Air Tonight, reminds me of SU's Day Hall my freshman year. We had one elevator in a bank of three that, when you pushed the "emergency stop" button, would skip floors. I lived on the eighth and top residential floor -- so we continually bumped every floor stopping for no one. We called it the Day 8 Express. The repair man was also a frequent sight on our floor, and in the control room in the empty floor above, as the elevator was forever stopping between floors with the doors wide open (i.e., where people would have to climb in and out) and/or simply breaking down (i.e., out of order).

One warm, sunny day, my friends and I spent the day studying, hiking and playing Frisbee at Green Lakes State Park. When we arrived back, the winding road leading up to our dorm was closed so we parked down the hill and walked up. As we got closer, we initially noticed crowds of people gathered outside the dorm fire drill style and a moment later we saw the coroner's van. It was a slow motion, surreal experience.

Based on what we were told, a blond kid from my floor named Matt was getting into the elevator and it went up, doors wide open, to the control floor above -- decapitating him and sending his body down the shaft.

When we were allowed back into the dorm, to say the mood on the floor was somber would be a gross understatement. To the best of my recollection, we were not given grief counseling. Maybe I just don't remember it. What I do remember was a group of us sitting in Fernando's dorm room in silence just listening to music.

Well the hurt doesn't show but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you and me

Defying the Odds

I went to dinner at JoJo again last night because they have the best hummus on the planet (never mind the garlic). My girlfriends were asking how my niece, who just started her freshman year at Rice this week, was doing because they knew I was nervous for her. We started talking about the college experience including that initial fear/sadness that quickly dissipates and the wonder of co-ed dorms.

We were trying to remember if Day Hall at Syracuse University had officially sanctioned co-ed bathrooms after midnight or if that's just how it panned out (due to laziness) during the middle of the night. I commented that, on a co-ed floor of 80 kids, there were only eight girls my first year so the bathrooms were pretty much co-ed all the time -- not much you could do.

My girlfriend Christine responded, "Wait, there was a 72:8 ratio and you still never hooked up?"

Holy cow! Seriously, I've never thought about it like that before.

72 dudes and eight chicks and I never had a single date. Defying the odds, once again.

We All-a-Screama for Ice-a-creama

Son #2 elaborated more on his college plans over the weekend.

Son #2: "Can I study anything I want?"

Me: "Sure. What are you thinking of studying?"

Son #2: "I want to learn how to make ice cream."

Me: "Oh, that sounds great. I think it's called 'food chemistry' or something like that."

Son #2: "I want to make stinkbug flavored ice cream and hide a dead rattlesnake inside."

Me: "Hmm. I really don't think that's going to fly off the shelves at Wegman's."

Son #2: "Yeah it will. I'm going to label it 'grape'."

What a pleasant surprise.

Re-Tarzan

A few weeks ago I made the mistake of giving son #2 the moniker "re-Tarzan" because he kept running and smacking into the couch. On purpose.

Last night, he asked me, "Can I go to college before middle school?"

"No. Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, when I'm in college, I'll be able to run and crash into walls without anyone telling me not to." He then proceeded to run into the door to the garage.

What is it with my kids and their hifalutin college expectations?

Be Very, Very Careful!

I read on CNN.com yesterday how "San Diego State University has suspended six fraternities after a sweeping drug investigation that landed members of three fraternities in jail on suspicion of openly dealing drugs on campus." It reminded me of this guy I knew in undergrad who, upon answering a knock on his dorm room door, told an undercover cop, "Wrong room. I think you want the guys next door." He later found himself facing drug charges as an accomplice.

The following summer a letter from the D.A.'s office was sent to his parents' home simply stating that his drug charges were dropped. The funny part (or not-so depending on your viewpoint) is that he shared the same name as his father who a) opened the letter thinking it was addressed to him and b) flew through the roof.

Good news, your drug charges have been dropped! Just what every parent wants to hear . . .

My heart goes out to all of the parents of those drug-selling college kids in CA who just messed up their own, and others', lives. I'm sure it's heart wrenching for them to bear.

Knock Yourself Out

When Son #1 turned six, he was really excited. “Only 10 more years until I get my license!”

Recently he asked me, “When I go to college, can I really do anything I want?”

“Depends. What do you want to do that you can’t do now?”

“I want to go fishing whenever I feel like it.”