Exercise in mediocrity

The latest issue of the S.A.Q. (that's the Smith Alumnae Quarterly... not like Secretly Asked Questions) found its way to my mailbox. Of course, it wasn't by accident. As soon as those student loan mofos tracked me down, it's just something that I get once every quarter. Sorry, if I sound a bit bitter, I suppose I'm happy that the phone-a-thon people haven't found me yet. Not that I don't want to give back to my alma mater, but I'm still paying back that shiiiit.

Like some kind of bizarre consolation prize, I get the Alumnae Quarterly. Huzzah! Let's sing a round of "Gaudeamus igitur" (note: after the first two words of the song, I am lost).

Before Facebook, this was the way that I kept up with my fellow Smithies. If you've gone to a fancy-shmancy school with an alumni association, then you probably know what I'm talking about. And, well, Facebook was actually kind of around when I was in college (the tail end at least) but that's really neither here nor there.

Every time the S.A.Q. appears, the first thing that I do is flip to the back to see what my classmates have accomplished. It's almost masochistic in a way, because the magazine is almost entirely dedicated to awesome things that Smith College students (past and current) have accomplished.

I've been tempted to send updates and/or pictures, but in between the marriage/birth/book launch/doctorate/world-changing announcements...my news just isn't that great.

My alumnae updates would read more like Facebook status updates. Things that I'm generally pleased with right now, but really have no significance for anyone else:

Raven '03 is enjoying life with her new iPad, has finally found a birth control pill with tolerable side-effects and has discovered that she prefers carbonated water over non-carbonated water.

Yeah, that would be it for right now, but if I sent that in, it'd be pretty out of date in 3 months when the next issue rolls around. However, part of me is seriously considering sending in precisely these types of updates. Along with equally absurd pictures, like one of me eating a bowl of cereal in my PJs, hair looking like a hot mess and the caption "Raven slept in until 2pm today, it was fantastic"

At any rate, I think this is the year that I will send something in, even if I have to stage/photoshop an event.