A smattering of smatterings

Jeff Cohen

(filling in for PJ Nunn)

As PJ attends to her family (and our best wishes are with you and your son, Patti!), just a few incredibly random thoughts:

*Curt Schilling for Ted Kennedy's senate seat? Please tell me I'm having a bad dream.

*I'm reading Nicholas Meyer's The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood (thank you, Book Soup!), and wondering: Why doesn't this man work more often? All he does is write stories and make movies that entertain royally without insulting the intelligence. Maybe I just answered my own question.

*I'm starting to get a few more newspaper assignments. Can this mean the economy is improving?

*When things are operating as expected, are they "in whack?"

*My daughter is deciding on colleges she'll apply to, and believe me, we've looked at every college book available, so I'm asking for help. Here are the criteria: First, her GPA and SAT scores are good. No. Very good. She wants something smallish, let's say no more than 7,000 students or so. She wants something that is diverse and welcoming, that doesn't expect every student to be the same as every other student.

And she wants it within a three-hour drive of our central New Jersey home. To help: She's already visited Vassar, Brandeis (some of these are more than three hours, which is why she's still looking), Tufts, Wesleyan, Bard, The College of New Jersey, The College of William and Mary, and one or two others. She intends to visit Columbia, Ramapo and University of Pennsylvania. But she doesn't feel like she's found "home" yet.

Suggestions?

*You watch enough baseball, you'll see plenty of commercials for Cialis (apparently, the fact that we're taking time to watch baseball indicates to these advertisers at least one thing we're not doing). And you get to wondering: What the heck are these two people doing in separate empty bathtubs outdoors overlooking scenic overdrops? I mean, first of all, whose idea was it to put two empty bathtubs outside to sit in? Have you ever sat in an empty bathtub? It's not comfortable. But then, assuming that the product being advertised has done its job, what exactly can you do in separate bathtubs, no matter where they are? That stuff must work untold miracles, because I'm having a difficult time picturing what they want us to picture.

*If a person really could freeze his ass off, I'd move to Canada in a heartbeat.

*Is it me, or did summer last 10 days this year? I mean, we had three months of rain, followed by two very hot weeks, and now it's a lovely autumn day. I don't want a lovely autumn day yet--where'd my summer go? 

*Does it make sense that it takes at least twice as long to publish a book as to write it? I mean, I start with nothing but a notion (sometimes less than that) and hand in a completed(ish) manuscript. They get a completed(ish) manuscript and put it between covers. I know there's more to it than that, but something seems--you should pardon the expression--out of whack here.

*I don't care what political label you use to describe yourself--there are tens of millions of people out there who can't afford to get sick, and an epidemic of flu on its way that they say could infect as many as a third of the population. Isn't it time to stop creating lies like "death panels" and get something passed?

*Oh, and while we're at it: Houston parents who want their children excused from listening to the President of the United States when he speaks to kids about working hard and staying in school because they think he's trying to indoctrinate the kids into "socialist ideas" are... what's the word?... nuts. I'm sorry. They are.

*Legislation must be passed--quickly--to prohibit Jon Stewart from taking three-week vacations. Barack Obama's vacation lasted one week. Get back to work, Jon! The country needs you!

*I can't believe my daughter starts school again on Tuesday. You can imagine how my daughter feels about it.

*On Wednesday, the Beatles will become a video game. There's something inherently wrong and right with that at the same time. I don't play video games, and I'm not shelling out the king's ransom required to own this one, but I do marvel at how those boys from Liverpool (and in two cases, their survivors) do manage to keep themselves relevant.

*On a related note, three weeks from tomorrow, Abbey Road  will turn 40. I  will turn 52. It seems like yesterday. Not the song.

Last but certainly not least: EVERYBODY check out our very own Shaz Wheeler, up on top of a... something in Trafalgar Square tonight from 1 to 2 a.m. London time (a very convenient 8-9 p.m. in New Jersey), bringing attention to journalists killed doing their jobs. Brava, Shaz!

Comments

[Paula Matter]

Has your daughter tried Lycoming College in Pennsylvania?

Totally agree with you about the two bathtubs. The other one is the couple on the bed outside. Can't remember the product. Sleep number bed? Mattress sale?

[openid.aol.com/krisfletchermail]

School suggestion: University of Rochester, in Rochester NY. Yes, it's farther than a three- hour drive for you, but it might be worth a look. There's about 4,000 undergrad students, and they really work to create a sense of community there. Interesting curriculum: kids are required to complete clusters in each of the basic areas (science, humanities, etc). A cluster is 3 courses that are somehow related, so even while majoring in one area, kids get exposure to other topics. They also offer a fifth-year option in which a student can extend their study for a fifth year, tuition free. (It's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.)

Good luck with the hunt - we're in the same boat, but for the second time around. It's a wild ride and quickly becomes the only topic of importance in life, but it can be survived, and, yes, even enjoyable at times.

[Eoen Anderson]

Has she considered Fairleigh Dickinson University? There's several campuses (including 2 in NJ, 1 in Canada, 1 in England, and 1 in Isreal).

The education was excellent. The class sizes are small. And there are plenty of classes to choose from.

[venusvaughn.blogspot.com]

That was a lovely smattering. I feel like there should have been toast points.

My recommendation for your daughter is: New College of Florida, my alma mater. It consistently gets rated nationally as the best value in public schools. It's not within driving distance, but it is small and diverse.

My only caveat with New College is to make sure it has whatever major she wants before she applies. Yes, you can build your own major, but it's really though when the building blocks are not there.

Re: Curt - scarier things have happened. eg The Governator.

[Leann Sweeney]

I have always wondered--and laughed--about those bathtubs.

I take no responsibility for Texas. I worked in the public school system for 20 years and you would not believe everything that NEEDS permission. Like girls learning about their bodies. We used to send a note home saying this is when the videl will be shown. You're welcome to come. But then, low and behold, it became a "you must send permission in writing" to see this bordering on porn little film about changing bodies and what's in store--and of course what's in store is happening whether the parents opted in for their child to see the film or not!

Oh, athletes ruling the world. That's great. At least our legislator's could get in fist fights in congress like they do in Britain. That would be cool.

My daughter got her Masters from Smith. She liked it there, beautiful town. But of course she wasn't there for 4 years.

Fun blog, Jeff.

[Julie Hyzy]

Hi Jeff,
My daughter who also has a really great GPA and excellent ACT (we Midwesterners do the ACT instead of the SAT) score, is also looking for a smallish, diverse school less than 3 hours from home. I'm in Illinois, so we can't share info, I guess ;-) Our best resource was her guidance counselor. While the counselor didn't recommend a specific school, she was able to provide detailed lists that are helping us narrow down the options.

My daughter wants to major in Psychology, so she printed out three lists of "Selective," "Very Selective," and "Most Selective" schools that offer the major. I'm pretty sure this database is available to all counselors but you have to ask for it. On each list is a code that gives details about each school. Most important to my daughter is the size. We're looking for under 4,000 students. We've visited schools from all three "selectivities" and have plans to visit one more. These printouts have been our best resource yet. Everything we wanted distilled into one document.

Hope that helps...

Julie

[Abby Zidle]

Are you/she dead set on the three-hour drive requirement? Because otherwise, go to Stanford! As an east coast girl myself, I can't tell you how liberating and exciting it was to head to California for school. And they're really good at balancing a lot of RA supervision with a general attitude of "you were smart enough to get in here, you're smart enough to behave like an adult." Plus palm trees!

OK, I'll stop now.

[Jeff Cohen]

Sorry, Abby, but my daughter is terrified of being that far away. Otherwise, I think it would be a wonderful school for her.