If it's not Raven, it's crap...

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

It's 2011. Shit... 30 is coming up, I've managed to make it in Germany for the past...mmm...5 years (almost, more or less) More or less on my own terms, e.g. not for "love" or some other bullshit -- not that love is completely bullshit, but...it really can be. My Hamburg crew (including those who no longer live in Hamburg...ahem... Cheffe , looking at you...even though you don't read this anymore), I've known y'all for almost 10 years now. Which is scary and exciting all at once. The Smith College JYA program is celebrating its 50th anniversary. I'll probably go to some of that stuff, because some things will probably be free. I don't have to say the rest of that sentence if you know me very well. But I was thinking about 2001-2002...and my time in Hamburg. In Rudolf Laun Haus. In the "barteam". Vollversammlungen , etc. This song came up recently in my life and reminded me of that time, because I listened to Pinkerton a lot on my own a