<p>Just retrieving this for the mental health of all of us.</p>
<p>Checking in from mid-CA-college-tour partial-week. TJFH agreed to 3 stops: CalPoly SLO, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Davis. That’s it. Two down, one to go.</p>
<p>Think I should do trip reports?</p>
<p>(PS: Slugg, too bad we didn’t take this trip 6 months ago. After visiting SC today, he suddenly decided he’d prefer his GPA to be higher than it is. He’s got 3/4 of a semester left in which to kick butt and drag it out of the gutter to match his scores on everything else… Yes, it’s been That Good of a trip. He even purchased a cloth UCSC keychain lanyard and asked if I’d buy him a pair of banana slug print boxers if he got in. 
)</p>
<p>I was playing Trivial Pursuit with some of my friends (the '90s edition). Now, I spent the '90s with my nose in a book, so I was horrible. I did, however, know the UCSC mascot was the Banana Slug. :)</p>
<p>(I did not, by the way, let my friends know how I stumbled upon this information. Did not feel like having the men in white coats haul me away at that particular time.)</p>
<p>Mootmom, heck, I’ll buy him the boxers when he gets in! Mine visited one college with his dad over the weekend and I think it might have inspired him a little. He’s actually doing homework. Glad your trip went well. </p>
<p>Ariesathena, your behavior was completely appropriate. You don’t have to tell everything - a woman of mystery is a good thing!</p>
<p>I think TJFH ought to team up with Sluggson and some of these other guys (I’d volunteer mine except he mostly grunts) and write a sitcom…</p>
<p>On second thought, maybe we the moms ought to do it.</p>
<p>:) Aries, since I have a soft spot for all things spineless and slimy, here’s more UCSC trivia (probably than you want to know) for your next TP party: ~@@@<: </p>
<p>Back in 1981 when the university began participating in NCAA intercollegiate sports, the chancellor and some of the athletes at UCSC wanted to change the mascot to a sea lion. But, the students disagreed and overwhelmingly voted via referendum to declare the Banana Slug the official mascot of UCSC, a vote the chancellor initially refused to honor, on the grounds that it was the athletes who should choose the mascot. When a poll of athletes showed that they also wanted to be Slugs, the chancellor relented, and in 1986, the banana slug became the official mascot. 
</p>
<p>Glad the trip went well for you and TJFH, Moot! Fame and fortune IS possible at UCSC, but in weird and funny ways (is there any other way in SC?). 
One of SluggS’s original bandmates took third place in the natural beard competition at the World Beard and Moustache Championships in Berlin last October. He’s a Senior at UCSC this year. What a goof! :D</p>
<p>How about a soap opera, Alu? We could call it, As The GPA Turns or All My Children Return. :p</p>
<p>Ash is mainly mineral, not protein, so it should provide supplemental nutrition; not very delectable, however; there are more tasty ways to get minerals. Gold liqueur, for example.</p>
<p>Or we could call it Grunts: The Saga of Teen Boys, and then subtitle it. Or Who Wants to Go to College? Or </p>
<p>Wait. I’m not very funny. But the boys sure are. Mootmom - how’s it going?</p>
<p>Goldschlager!!</p>
<p>Little heavy on the cinnamon, from my perspective, and the gold flakes freak me out. Are those things digestible? Do they pass through the intestines? Do they cut your insides? Is someone going to x-ray my stomach someday and ask why it looks so pretty and glittery?</p>
<p>That’s why I stick with bubbly. Nectar of the gods has got to be healthy. :)</p>
<p>Eww, Aries! LOL 
Your post reminds me of those old Sid Davis educational films…</p>
<p>“Tammy was unaware of the unforseen dangers hidden in the bottom of her shotglass when she decided to listen to Rock and Roll records and drink Goldschlager slammers with her naive college friends. Thankfully, Tammy chose to go to the library instead, thus escaping painful spinal injuries and embarrassing intestinal impairments. Her friend, Tina, wasn’t so lucky…” (Pans out to show a blood-spattered water glass and an empty bottle of Goldschlager.) :D</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How about “Sneer Factor” ?</p>
<p>LOL. Love it.</p>
<p>Now I am pouring a shot of the only decent whiskey in the place, just in case Cur - who had the audacity to bring up in the PF that an embarassment of riches can cause problems too - needs it.</p>
<p>Alumother–I don’t get out that often, but I just dropped by to do the same thing! I hope he hears it. Cur’s D’s saga is one of my favorite stories here–let’s face it, for me, it’s all about the writing, and he can write.</p>
<p>Garland. I couldn’t agree with you more. The boy can write. And sluggbugg, that goes for you too. If you and cur have offspring in your next lives Katie bar the door:). Cur will be v. surprised to know that we are following not only this life of his but his next one as well. He he.</p>
<p>I’ll join you all in sharing a shot with Cur, and all those whose writing shows so much love, care, humor, and joy in the wonders of life. It’s a wonderful part of this community, long may it continue!</p>
<p>Last year, my S#1 was in the position of having to choose between 7 admissions offers that most kids would have swooned to have <em>one</em> of. It was difficult not to say anything much about that embarrassment of riches, so mostly I didn’t talk about it here. That balancing act is a difficult one, and I empathize with those who are walking the line so carefully, containing their joy when they feel like bursting. </p>
<p>Next year, it is becoming painfully clear that S#2 may end up at a local community college, if he’s lucky. (I am teaching him now to say, “Do you want fries with that?” It might be a useful phrase.) Given his current course and speed, I will be here a year from now, reading everyone’s news and sharing it with this supportive community. But I expect to have little “so happy for everyone’s kids who are getting good news, so sad for what might have been” tears rolling down my cheeks, remembering that there are two sides and a long edge to every coin. And that life will go on.</p>
<p>Bottoms up, as happy news continues to roll in!</p>
<p>moot, if it helps at all, my H garduated in the bottom 1% of his class. Lower, you did not graduate. Did I mention this was from college?</p>
<p>He has had a phenomenal career and is extremely smart. A nerd even! Probably the undiagnosed ADD was a big part of it but maybe also the 1970’s and all that that implies…</p>
<p>Anyway keep the faith-- TJFH can morph into a heavenly adult some day.</p>
<p>XX
SB</p>
<p>Moot, after the third week in August, I’ll be in the overcrowded booth in the back covered with Silly String and confetti, wildly celebrating with all of the community college and state university parents who just dropped their FOTO’s off (Finally On Their Own) at college…any college! It’ll be non-stop Hawaiian music and tall, frothy drinks with little umbrellas in them. </p>
<p>Here’s how I look at it…most kids end up where they’re supposed to be, and if they don’t, then it’s up to them to make a change. For these really creative, smart, talented, independent, hands-on types who learn best through experience, it might not be a straight line from beginning to end. It makes our job as parents a little more <em>challenging.</em> </p>
<p>When my boy was five, he told a nun to keep her hands to herself and called his PE teacher a “fat, bloated idiot” (straight out of Ren and Stimpy cartoons…yes, I was a fabulous parent, I know). The school’s ideal model for a student was female, compliant, and afraid of people in frocks, none of which was our son. In April of his Kindergarten year, he marched out of the school lobby, and as the doors swung open in front of him, he defiantly announced in his little boy voice, “I’M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!” :o And, he’s still like that. Anyhoo, just follow the graffiti to the back booth. I’ll be there! </p>
<p>Alu & SB, I think we’ve stumbled upon a whole, new TV genre…
THE GUY WHO GETS COFFEE FOR THE APPRENTICE
PIMP MY BUS RIDE 
TRADING SOFAS :rolleyes:
QUEER EYE FOR THE GUY WHO STILL LIVES WITH HIS PARENTS :D</p>
<p>Slugg you are wrecking my reputation as a serious managerial type. I cannot snort with laughter silently very well. Come save me if I get carted off to the funny farm.</p>
<p>I like the Queer Eye for the Guy Who Still Lives with His Parents.</p>
<p>Trading Sofas!!! LOL</p>