Fiber makes floaters.
I could have gone a lot longer without this piece of information. I blame the Internet.
I figured somebody had to make a complaint to go along with the rant by Turbulent Velvet regarding the negative possibilities of the social networking of the Internet. It’s a great piece, really. Of course I say that after having recieved a nice comment from someone who stumbled into a piece I wrote last November reacting and pointing to an article about Lewis Carrol, and after having checked out a book that some visitor to my site recomended regarding the history of the novel that seems to be just what I’m looking for… I guess you could say that my complaints with the Internet are superficial by comparison.
It all started after a fruitless search for Cicero’s De Inventione. Virtually everything else from Cicero is available on the Internet, but not any of his works on rhetoric. I needed it to ground a post I want to write about the classical Roman structure of the essay. I’ve seen it quoted a dozen places, but I like to go to the source. That’s the problem.
Now I’m faced with a lot more work. Chances are, I’ll go ahead and transcribe the relevant sections and put them online. The original text is quite rewarding in regard to the different possibilities of speech-making or writing. It teases out the well-honed six-part essay structure into even more subtle choices.
I could have ordered the book, but since I was sure it could be found in the university library, I decided to make the drive back. Being a Friday afternoon, I knew the place would be deserted and I could park more easily. I had to make a pit stop to rid myself of some excess fluid (more than you wanted to know, I’m sure, but it’s essential to the story).
I wrote a long time ago about the practice of placing advertising in bathroom stalls on campus. During the homecoming race last year, some bright soul placed a campaign poster featuring a fresh-faced young girl in a placard above the urinals. This year, it was just a long list of health tips, including the aforementioned “fiber makes floaters” gem. I much prefer the campaign posters.
I snagged a photo I meant to put up long ago from this year’s homecoming race. It seems that Supergirl ran for homecoming queen. She was prancing around the campus in her tights, but what amazed me most was the incredibly flattering photo. They didn’t go quite so far this year with their electioneering, and I didn’t notice any photos in the bathroom stalls. It’s a shame really, because there were some fine ones.
The up-the-nose shot has always been one of my favorites. She’s got nice nostrils, doesn’t she?
I think some spaces should just be private. No, I don’t want to sing “row row row your boat” while I’m washing my hands to make sure I do it long enough.
I absolutely insist on drinking caffeinated beverages before going to bed. As a matter of fact, my sleep habits are none of your business while I’m urinating. How rude. Keep your health advice to yourself.
However, the electioneering, particularly of attractive young women, doesn’t really bother me while I’m standing in the stall.
Student elections also featured an interesting odd couple. The whitebread fellow on the right was elected vice president, while the campus elected the first black female president in the university’s history. It’s about time, for a campus which is nearly 40% black. I don’t have an explanation for the Uncle Sam character.
It’s amazing how little the journalism departments on campuses have changed over the years: this cheesy shot would have been perfectly in place in 1977, the last time I was in a college journalism program.
