beulahbondo's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zip-a-dee-ay Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! I am done for the year with the big one. D-u-n done, as Sgt. Donna Puma would say. Despite worst weather ever in the five years I have put together this here arts festival, it went really well. Despite the last-hour fireworks of locked doors, yelling gatekeepers, flaky volunteers, missing bass players, and so forth, it went really well. One hundred performances in four hours, people. It's the kind of event I never go to, personally, because it's too overwhelming, but people do like it. The enthusiastic a cappella groups enthused, and the classical folks sawed and tootled away, and all that. During the lunch, which was under a tent on sodden grass, I saw the president of this World's Greatest University standing inexplicably alone. I tapped him on the arm with my umbrella and said, "Hi Larry!" He said, "Huh?" and smiled automatically and said "hello there." I wished him a good weekend and sped off perkily. I just felt so bad for the Big Schmuck. Bacchus knows this story already, but here you go. In planning an event for the other day honoring a very old and venerable poet, Professor G________ told my boss that she refused to say it was her honor, or even her pleasure, to introduce President S_________. (I can't afford to get Googled on this one!) She would not even agree to say that he was in fact the president of the university. So we all waited apprehensively to see what would happen at the event, when she was to introduce him so he could confer this medal on the poet. Here's what happened. There was an awkward pause in the conversation between Professor G__________ and the poet, and the poet said, with a laugh, even a chuckle, "I guess we're waiting for L _______ S________ ." And Professor G_______ flicked her fingers toward the back of the room and said diffidently, "He's right there in the back." And that was her grand introduction. Lady! Pick your battles, right? Tenure does not mean you have the right to be rude. Right, so I have been sleeping a lot since then, and taking baths. Tonight I'm going to the house formal and then by cracky I hope I'm done with Harvard for a while. See ya mates! 6:51 p.m. - 2005-05-09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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