If you had to pick one album to sum up your college years, what would it be?
(If you didn't go to college, answer it anyway, applying the standard college age range of 18-21).
This morning I'm burning some of my CDs into iTunes on my PC at work. Right now I'm listening to Ben Folds' Five's "Whatever and Ever, Amen." This entire album is so evocative of my college years. I got it as a birthday gift when I turned twenty from one of my friends, Big Jon, who attended Widener University.
I partied more at Widener than I did at my own school (which is amazing, considering that West Chester University has a nearly legendary reputation as a huge party school). I even had more friends at Widener and UDel than I did at West Chester! I don't think I could name a single person from West Chester. Oh well. I guess that's what happens when you're NEVER in class. Hee.
Anyway, whenever I hear any song from this album, I am sent back to that time in my life. I remember the good times: sneaking into The Bent Elbo, Abilene and Manny Brown's on South Street, and Walio's Frog Pond (Widener's campus bar) to celebrate their 21st birthdays while I was still underage; smoking bongs in the absolutely decrepit bathroom of the off-campus rowhouse where Jon lived with his two roommates, Pat and Bob; playing Beirut and "Think While You Drink" with them, going to strip bars with them (yes, I did!); going glo-bowling at midnight at Conchester Lanes in Aston.
I also remember the not-so-good times: being in love with David, my ex-boyfriend with the serious drug problem, who never wanted to hang out with my other friends; the handful of one-night stands I had with guys I really liked but who wouldn't commit; watching all my Widener friends graduate (they were a year ahead of me, remember?) and move on with their lives while I was still unhappily stuck at West Chester; and oh yeah--failing out of college. How could I forget that one?
Still, this album never fails to put a smile on my face. All those experiences made me who I am today, and I will always look back fondly on those days.
So tell me about your musical memories from college.
In My HeadThursday, May 11, 2006
This morning, for some reason, I got to thinking about the worst date I've ever had. I dated a lot of guys back in the day (yes, I was quite the saucy minx!), so as you can imagine, I have lots of fodder for this topic.
When I was about 21, I left college and started working full-time at Vanguard (the mutual fund company). The guy who was my on-the-job trainer for my first position there was named Dave, and he was pretty cute. He was from Trinidad, made reggae music on the side as a hobby, which fascinated me, and was really funny and sexy.
The attraction between us was pretty evident, and one night a bunch of us went out for happy hour after work. As the night (and alcohol consumption) progressed, he became more and more flirtatious. Around 10 p.m., everyone from our group went home, leaving us by ourselves in the bar. We decided that we wanted to go dancing, so we drove down to a club on the Philadelphia waterfront and stayed out until 2 a.m. We had an awesome time.
The following week, he asked me to dinner after work at another local restaurant. We got there and started drinking right away. I was a little nervous, because I really liked him, so I drank a LOT in a short period of time. I guess he felt he had to keep up with me, so within two hours, we'd each had six or seven cocktails. We were pretty blitzed, so we hung out until I was sober enough to drive him back to work, where he had left his car.
We left the restaurant and ok, I admit it, started making out furiously in the parking lot. Just kissing, really, so no big deal. But then I broke away and said that it was time for me to go, because it was a work night and I was tired. I told him I'd take him back to his car at Vanguard, and we headed to my car.
I got into the driver's seat of my car, started the engine, and leaned over to unlock the passenger door for him. He walked around the front of my car, but instead of coming to the passenger side, he stopped dead right in front of my headlights (which were already turned on, by the way), dropped his pants, whipped out his little friend, and began peeing. In the middle of a crowded, well-lit parking lot, further illuminated by my headlights.
I honked my horn but it didn't seem to faze him. He gave it a little shake, tugged his pants back up to his waist, and staggered over to the passenger door, at which point he fell into my car and promptly threw up. All over the interior of my car. Lovely.
Then he passed out.
And I couldn't wake him up. I drove around with this schmuck passed out in my car for nearly two hours, until he was finally able to stay awake. I dropped him back off at his car and told him I'd see him the next day at work.
The following morning, he passed me in the hall. I winked, grinned at him, and said, "Rough night?"
His face was steely and he didn't respond, just walked right past me. For the next two months, until he left Vanguard, he never spoke another word to me. In fact, he could hardly bring himself to look me in the eye after that incident.
Poor guy.
When I was about 21, I left college and started working full-time at Vanguard (the mutual fund company). The guy who was my on-the-job trainer for my first position there was named Dave, and he was pretty cute. He was from Trinidad, made reggae music on the side as a hobby, which fascinated me, and was really funny and sexy.
The attraction between us was pretty evident, and one night a bunch of us went out for happy hour after work. As the night (and alcohol consumption) progressed, he became more and more flirtatious. Around 10 p.m., everyone from our group went home, leaving us by ourselves in the bar. We decided that we wanted to go dancing, so we drove down to a club on the Philadelphia waterfront and stayed out until 2 a.m. We had an awesome time.
The following week, he asked me to dinner after work at another local restaurant. We got there and started drinking right away. I was a little nervous, because I really liked him, so I drank a LOT in a short period of time. I guess he felt he had to keep up with me, so within two hours, we'd each had six or seven cocktails. We were pretty blitzed, so we hung out until I was sober enough to drive him back to work, where he had left his car.
We left the restaurant and ok, I admit it, started making out furiously in the parking lot. Just kissing, really, so no big deal. But then I broke away and said that it was time for me to go, because it was a work night and I was tired. I told him I'd take him back to his car at Vanguard, and we headed to my car.
I got into the driver's seat of my car, started the engine, and leaned over to unlock the passenger door for him. He walked around the front of my car, but instead of coming to the passenger side, he stopped dead right in front of my headlights (which were already turned on, by the way), dropped his pants, whipped out his little friend, and began peeing. In the middle of a crowded, well-lit parking lot, further illuminated by my headlights.
I honked my horn but it didn't seem to faze him. He gave it a little shake, tugged his pants back up to his waist, and staggered over to the passenger door, at which point he fell into my car and promptly threw up. All over the interior of my car. Lovely.
Then he passed out.
And I couldn't wake him up. I drove around with this schmuck passed out in my car for nearly two hours, until he was finally able to stay awake. I dropped him back off at his car and told him I'd see him the next day at work.
The following morning, he passed me in the hall. I winked, grinned at him, and said, "Rough night?"
His face was steely and he didn't respond, just walked right past me. For the next two months, until he left Vanguard, he never spoke another word to me. In fact, he could hardly bring himself to look me in the eye after that incident.
Poor guy.
Labels: college, funny stuff, memories, Philadelphia, work
Posted by Lori at 5/11/2006 01:46:00 PM
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Thursday, December 08, 2005
OK, so I'm at work, and actually busy for once, so I don't have time or energy at the moment to think of 100 things about me. Here's the first 35 to whet your appetites:
1. I’m an only child.
2. My husband is an only child.
3. I am sometimes sad when I think that I will never be an aunt.
4. I don’t drink coffee.
5. I sometimes drink hot tea, but not often.
6. My favorite (non-alcoholic) beverage at the moment is Tropicana Light Fruit Punch.
7. I finally kicked my 2-can a day soda habit about six months ago. I’ve lost about four pounds without even trying since then, and I think avoiding soda has played a part in that.
8. My favorite clothing store is Kohl’s. I adore their Croft and Barrow and Apt. 9 brands.
9. I buy most of my shoes at Payless, because I have a very wide foot and they make cheap, cute shoes in wide widths.
10. I also love Homegoods. It’s like a TJ Maxx or Marshalls, except it only sells housewares.
11. I currently wear a size 12/14, but most people wouldn’t know it, because I have a very narrow waist and a J.Lo butt.
12. Actually I have a fairly traditional hourglass figure. And I like it that way. So does my husband!
13. My two favorite forms of exercise are weight lifting (I’m talking serious iron…not pastel-colored 2 lb. dumbbells) and walking.
14. As previously mentioned here, I have majorly slacked off from weight lifting because I’ve been studying for the DC-1 exam.
15. I plan to return to the gym this weekend.
16. My favorite subjects in school were Spanish and English.
17. My least favorite was math. I sucked at any kind of math.
18. How I wound up in the financial services field, considering my complete ineptitude at math, is still a mystery to me.
19. I love pizza. Especially margherita pizza from Bertucci’s.
20. Sadly, I’ve had to cut down on my pizza consumption, because otherwise I’d be 300 lbs. by now. I’ve gone from eating several slices of pizza a few times a week to eating it only a few times a month. Boo-hoo.
21. I love Panera. I always get the same thing when I eat there: French onion soup and a chicken Caesar salad.
22. I love to cook, and am an avid Food Network viewer.
23. My favorite shows on Food Network are Good Eats and Everyday Italian.
24. Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats, is one of my secret crushes.
25. Joaquin Phoenix is my huge, not-so-secret crush. Drool…
26. I was expelled from college because I hardly ever went to class. I was a commuter student and hated it.
27. My parents forced me to be a commuter student, rather than live on-campus, because they thought I’d party too much if I lived away from home, and that my grades would suffer. How ironic.
28. My final semester’s GPA was 0.0.
29. My parents still don’t know that I was expelled. They think that I just decided to leave because I wasn’t happy.
30. I began taking online college classes through the University of Phoenix a few years ago. I’m on hiatus now because I have to get some professional credentials for my job.
31. My current GPA is 3.94.
32. I’ve never watched a full episode of any reality TV program.
33. I think most TV is garbage.
34. When I do watch, I usually stick to Food Network, Discovery, HGTV, or PBS.
35. I think I’m the only person on earth who doesn’t own an MP3 player.
1. I’m an only child.
2. My husband is an only child.
3. I am sometimes sad when I think that I will never be an aunt.
4. I don’t drink coffee.
5. I sometimes drink hot tea, but not often.
6. My favorite (non-alcoholic) beverage at the moment is Tropicana Light Fruit Punch.
7. I finally kicked my 2-can a day soda habit about six months ago. I’ve lost about four pounds without even trying since then, and I think avoiding soda has played a part in that.
8. My favorite clothing store is Kohl’s. I adore their Croft and Barrow and Apt. 9 brands.
9. I buy most of my shoes at Payless, because I have a very wide foot and they make cheap, cute shoes in wide widths.
10. I also love Homegoods. It’s like a TJ Maxx or Marshalls, except it only sells housewares.
11. I currently wear a size 12/14, but most people wouldn’t know it, because I have a very narrow waist and a J.Lo butt.
12. Actually I have a fairly traditional hourglass figure. And I like it that way. So does my husband!
13. My two favorite forms of exercise are weight lifting (I’m talking serious iron…not pastel-colored 2 lb. dumbbells) and walking.
14. As previously mentioned here, I have majorly slacked off from weight lifting because I’ve been studying for the DC-1 exam.
15. I plan to return to the gym this weekend.
16. My favorite subjects in school were Spanish and English.
17. My least favorite was math. I sucked at any kind of math.
18. How I wound up in the financial services field, considering my complete ineptitude at math, is still a mystery to me.
19. I love pizza. Especially margherita pizza from Bertucci’s.
20. Sadly, I’ve had to cut down on my pizza consumption, because otherwise I’d be 300 lbs. by now. I’ve gone from eating several slices of pizza a few times a week to eating it only a few times a month. Boo-hoo.
21. I love Panera. I always get the same thing when I eat there: French onion soup and a chicken Caesar salad.
22. I love to cook, and am an avid Food Network viewer.
23. My favorite shows on Food Network are Good Eats and Everyday Italian.
24. Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats, is one of my secret crushes.
25. Joaquin Phoenix is my huge, not-so-secret crush. Drool…
26. I was expelled from college because I hardly ever went to class. I was a commuter student and hated it.
27. My parents forced me to be a commuter student, rather than live on-campus, because they thought I’d party too much if I lived away from home, and that my grades would suffer. How ironic.
28. My final semester’s GPA was 0.0.
29. My parents still don’t know that I was expelled. They think that I just decided to leave because I wasn’t happy.
30. I began taking online college classes through the University of Phoenix a few years ago. I’m on hiatus now because I have to get some professional credentials for my job.
31. My current GPA is 3.94.
32. I’ve never watched a full episode of any reality TV program.
33. I think most TV is garbage.
34. When I do watch, I usually stick to Food Network, Discovery, HGTV, or PBS.
35. I think I’m the only person on earth who doesn’t own an MP3 player.
Labels: celebrities, college, family, food, FYI, health, marriage, meme, school, shopping, TV
Posted by Lori at 12/08/2005 10:31:00 AM
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