college vs. craft show applications

suddenly, i am returned to the bosom of my youth.

i applied to college in the dark ages.

it was a process delivered by handicrafted efforts.

what the heck is that?

well we had computers then, however...

they took up small wings at the Pentagon.

yeah i am pretty old,

(just try to deal with that please).

i will reciprocate and not judge you to be a whippersnapper ...

nor will i raise my clenched fist and sputter.

when we applied for college, it usually was done on legal or conventional yellow lined pads of paper.

ideas were scrawled in longhand

skipping lines.

the potential to edit ones self many times over and scratch through that poor choice of

grammar, vocabulary, penmanship, or other ball pointed frustration.

ideas were delivered to that pad many times over.

not only were they done one time, but more editing on top of that.

so you created some "rough draft" to be typed on your IBM selectric.

this was done so that you could edit it all over again.

it was a kind of progress.

you counted your words for the limit with your finger and out loud.

or to yourself.

and more editing happened to get the length just right.

eventually, you filled in all the little boxes with letters that informed the admissions office

of your curricula vitae.

name, home address, social security number,etc.

( folks were not jaded yet. they did not just refer to it as your "social")

no email addy, no no no. loads of hand writing.

some insecure folks, penciled everything onto their forms to go over in ink afterwards.

this allowed you to see how neatly you could pen the answers

to each little spot as you divulged what was required.

nope, no little squiggly line under a word to let you know if you inverted your spellings

nor any missed required fields and a little asterisk to remind you.

you just filled the whole thing in like it was a personal crossword puzzle.

and really, it was.

the joy was in filling in all the blanks to get you to the spot where a big envelope came in the mail.

somewhere around tax time.

so it was pretty much guaranteed that you would be insane the same week as your parents would be.

rarely did folks do taxes early enough in the season to let this week in april be about your

death defying

indelible,

unchanging,

rest of your life

choice or choices if you were really lucky

and

your

FUTURE!!!

WHY???

pray tell am i going on about this anachronistic view of my life that is not in any way relevant today?

well i am feeling a pinch.

tonight i had some minor squabble with my 17 yr. old son.

i used the word "contiguous" properly in a sentence.

he really is a very very smart guy.

however....

the vocabulary choice stumped him.

he says i know what things mean and all since i went to school when teachers gave a crap.

i defined his other agenda item about private vs. public education as not part of a good argument

on his part.

seriously, often issues are resolved by real estate in the world.

in this case, my case was made and his was lost on two points.

both were that the dictionary

that thick red cloth covered book,

within stretched arm distance

could divulge the answer to his insufficient vocabulary.

this only works if you extend your arm and open the book.

point two was made, that the teachers are not responsible

for teaching you what words may mean.

if in the case where you are embarrassed after 3 years of latin ,

that you do not know a word's meaning...

you could overcome a factor of

EXTREME LAZINESS

and look it up.

thus ending the private vs. public school argument prior to it starting.

seriously?

what could be going on in that head?

oh yeah.

FACEBOOK.

EMAIL.

U-TUBE.

GOOGLE.

i do not want to go on.

i apply myself to all of these media

as regularly as he does.

now you are wondering if you have lasted this long...

why is she rambling on about this stuff?

well i have been witness in the past two years to

two extremely smart, although quirky

COLLEGE APPLYING TEENAGED

CHILDREN

(my brain feels as if fluid is leaking out of it)...

applying to a combined number of 2osomething

schools.

the admission process,

is seemingly excruciating for all who enter

the domain of the

COMMON APP.

as it is affectionately referred to.

this application is an on-line , computer generated, fill in the blanks, hand holding, neat penmanship

event.

it is set to turn a perfectly pleasant person into a

crying, hand wringing, neurotic, procrastinating boob.

which is not what i wanted to have on my mind.

also there is the secrecy factor. they never have to let you see what they are doing.

the proof comes in a short email and a large snail mail envelope.

in stages of the not too distant future.

i feel ridiculous about the whole process.

i feel ridiculous about pampering the kids as they try to harness the process.

i feel ridiculous about my short-temper.

i feel ridiculous about the sums of money about to be poured into the colleges willing to accept my

little heartstrings... aka children.

i feel ridiculous about how much solidarity i want to extend to other parents in this.

and as i try to apply to craft shows to sell my wares, i feel ridiculous.

i am now going through a similar process.

applications are a testimonial to frustration.

dare i add some empathy when all i want to do is rage against the machine?

and now after all of my own efforts, i am

WAIT-LISTED.

really?

i want to say, i have been to college a few times.

you are not college.

you are a venue for altercockers and hipster dufuses to stroll around and stretch

an enjoyable day out as long as $20 (budget)

will allow them to.

so i am a little off kilter.

would you have expected anything more?

or less?

or are you just looking for some consistency in the world.

sun rising in the east,

taxes,

death,

ben franklin,

etc.

just think i am too old to try to not be resistant to some changes.

when they are for common good and ass biting at the same time.

love and hugs,

wendy.