Back at Oberlin

So I'm typing this entry from the Decafe. Yeah OC! As a side note, I think we should sue Fox for damages to intellectual property. Now when someone says "yeah OC," it sounds like they're talking about a lame drama. And sure, Oberlin IS a lame drama, but at least it's one that subverts the patriarchy.

That was probably the first and last time that I will use the phrase "subvert the patriarchy" in this blog. I'm Oberlin, but I'm not all that Oberlin.

I came back for the Oberlin Jazz Dance Festival, which has been great and has challenged my fears that swing is rapidly declining. Good, cool, talented, excited crowd.

Seeing the Oberlin students is a trip too. I've been thinking recently about how everyone has certain styles that they can make work and other styles that they just really can't. Like I can make ugly hawaiian shirts work reasonably well, but if I wore a sweater-vest... I'm sure you get the picture. Anyway, Oberlin people, especially the boys, look like they're all in the process of *figuring* out what esthetic actually fits them. So you have these people with strange assortments of piercings and facial hair. And its not that piercings and facial hair can't work for some people, or even for them, but they just haven't gotten it quite right yet. There's a mild comedy to it, which I think you can only appreciate if you've been there.

Oh, I had a great Fiume (Dirty Hippie Bar in Philadelphia) moment on Thursday. I've often said that thhe place is pure Oberlin -- Oberlin prices, coop owned, Oberlin feel, and a crazy per capita concentration of alums. I usually describe it as "if you say Oberlin in there loudly, three people will turn around like you just said their name." That's supposed to be an exaggeration, though. So Thursday, I'm talking with a friend from Penn and mention my beloved OC, and the people at the table next to us say, "did you just say Oberlin?" Turns out they graduated in '03. One of them lived with Amanda Smith, the other one actually lived in the apartment below me senior year. Fucking hilarious.

Not much to report beyond that. Been great hanging out with Becca and Rachel (Rachel drove out with me to see Becca). Awesome seeing James, my boy got into Yale for grad school though so he deserves a good ass-kicking. Oh, poker has been going great again. Made $1000 last month, already made $1000 this month. Lifetime profit (in a little less than a year, now) = $6,750. I'm hoping to make enough over the next couple months to finish paying off my credit debt and have enough in the bank account to survive the summer. We'll have to see if that works out or not.

'kay, time to hit the road.
-DK