We are the stories we tell

Last day of class: 20th Century Poetry

Actually, this was last Thursday, but I've been in no condition to post anything for over a week now. So now I'm catching up.

This was a great class. We turned in our final papers and had a little party. Everybody brought food and we just sat around and talked. Then the teacher asked us to each tell the class something about ourselves, some unusual story or fact that few people knew. Some amazing, and some really funny, stories came out.

One guy told us how when he was living and going to school in San Francisco about 10-15 years ago, he'd almost made the final cut to MTV's Real Life show. He didn't get picked ultimately, but he did make it all the way to the final rounds.

One girl told how she had seen a naked man when she was about four or five years old. The guy just decided to take a walk through their neighborhood stark naked. Her mom saw him first and told her to stay away from the window, but of course, that's just an invitation to any five-year-old to go look anyway. Then she said her mom went outside and yelled at him, "Go put some clothes on!" Hilarious.

One woman told how she had met her husband through an online dating service.

But the best story, I think, was Ben's. He told how his mother met his father while hitchhiking on Highway 1. She was this Santa Cruz hippie chick and he was this slick business dude in a gold Mercedes. And he offered her a ride. (Can't you just see it?) They were both really attracted to each other, but she didn't want to let on that he was all that, so she blew him off. But this is where it gets good. One year later, she's working as a waitress in a diner, and he walks in. At that point, they realized it was destiny. What a great story.

Oh, yeah, and my story? Well, I told them about the Cabaret, of course. Everyone was suitably impressed. ;-)