Thumbs Up
Relay For Life at Tasca: This was a roaring success. It is a time-tested truth that the fastest way to a man’s pocketbook is through his stomach, and this event proved that rule is as strong as ever. Boston College students showed up in droves, raising money for Relay For Life. We are just left wondering why more fundraisers like this don’t happen at BC. We would much rather contribute financially to an organization through an event like this (where we can also contribute gastrointestinally to ourselves) than to those obnoxious hecklers who demand money from us when we walk by the entrance in Mac. Damn it, we just want to get in, get our food, and get out as quickly as possible!
Fall of the Wall: Twenty-five years ago yesterday, the Berlin Wall fell. Only 29 months after Ronald Reagan famously challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” the citizens of Berlin took matters into their own hands and brought it down themselves. At the time, it was known to be that start of something big, but how big was anybody’s guess. We doubt anybody taking his or her hammer or chisel to remove a piece of the wall to keep as a souvenir knew that in a few short years, not only would the Russians be out of Eastern Europe, but that the U.S.S.R. would cease to exist, also.
Early Retirement: We received an invitation for membership in the AARP in the mail the other week, and we have to say we like the idea of retiring before 65. We can seek greener pastures, where we can pursue bocce ball and croquet to our hearts’ content. Plus, the idea of 5 o’clock senior specials sounds fantastic. And we can wake up at 6 a.m. to watch This Old House.
Old Books: There is something solemn about thumbing through an old book. Holding the leather binding in our hands and gently turning the crisp, yellowed pages, we find ourselves taken back to a moment that is not our own. We can smell the musk of an earlier age and see the wear that time brings to all things. We’ve heard it been said that reading a book allows us to converse with dead people. If that is the case, then reading a book that has withstood the test of time without the binding loosing the pages upon the world is an opportunity not only to speak with those dead authors, but also to dance with them, hold them, and walk on a fall’s day under a canopy of golden-brown leaves in the twilight with them.
Thumbs Down
Public Shaming: There is no reason to publicly shame students who decide to leave football games early. It’s cold outside, the Eagles are on track for another spectacular loss, and—to give it the emphasis it deserves—it’s cold outside. We bought our tickets—we can leave if we want to.
Featured Image by Lukas Schulze / AP Photo
