Thursday, January 04, 2007

Admissions and Donkeys

Today I applied for admission to UW-Madison. It was a quick, online application. Since I'd already been a student there once, in the olden days, I got to skip a few questions, but only a few. I still had to answer questions about my parents.

Is your father living? No. What is his present address? Brandt Cemetery, plot number unknown, Stockbridge, Wisconsin.

I didn't actually answer the question of his address, but I was tempted.

I also loved the one about the last time my mother registered to vote. How in the name of...am I supposed to know that? As though it mattered. I did not call and ask her.

There was also the question of my ethnicity, for which I checked, "I prefer not to provide this information." When I applied at age 19, I checked "other" and wrote in "human."

I had to write a "concise statement" with important information for the admissions committee to consider. I wanted to write something clever, utterly unrelated to school that was just a little glimpse of me. But profanity is likely frowned upon in an admission packet, and I wanted to get the damn thing done, so I just wrote platitudes about moving into the next phase of my life and showing my growing girls the importance of dedication and higher education. I also mentioned my 4.0 GPA since returning to MATC and my job as editor of the school paper. Gotta suck up once in a while. My nose and lips are a shade of brown tanto de la moda.


Drop The Dead Donkey

Today I watched some of season five of Drop The Dead Donkey. I haven't watched much TV since school started in the fall, so it was nice to watch a few episodes. I'm still chuckling over George saying "motordyke" instead of "motorbike" to Helen's girlfriend.

DTDD is a show about a television newsroom in England. They wrote a rough script, and as things happened in real life, they wrote a last-minute script, incorporating very current events into the show, so as it aired, it was remarkably up-to-date. It was done in the 1990s, so the "news" doesn't have any immediacy to it anymore. Much of it, of course, was very Anglocentric, and I don't know who a lot of the people are they're talking about. I'm up to 1996. Clinton is about to get re-elected. I think anyone who's worked in any kind of newsroom would appreciate the show.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to love Drop the Dead Donkey! My lordy, I'd forgotten that show. I had a crush on one of the guys in it, but I can't remember his name or anything. It was bloody funny!

Amy said...

Probably Dave. He seemed to be the swinging womanizer who was supposed to be the heartthrob. He reminds me of the director guy on WKRP in Cincinnati. I think it's the hair and the swing of his hips. Did you get WKRP down under?

Anonymous said...

Wow. You've been busy. The last time I checked this blog, nothing. Today there was all kinds of news.
Glad to hear you're ok. I was sorry to hear about your Mom. I hope she continues to feel better.
Very, very cool about your play. I'm sure it was excellent.
Love the tampon crafts. Might be fun to invite all those ladies who've been trying to get me to come to their mind numbing scapbook parties to a Tampon Craft Night. I think I'll make the heart earrings..

Amy said...

Glenda! I do think the heart earrings would liven up a scrapbook party. Those earrings were a bit disturbing--the color of the blood was so bloody. Maybe at the next Pampered Chef you could ask for the drippings, then whip out your tampons....

I'm so glad to hear from you. I've been horrible, I know. Take such care. I'll email a real email. I swear on my bloody heart earrings.

Anonymous said...

We did get WKRP here, but it's a bit before my time. It wasn't one that was repeated endlessly here like MASH and some others!

Don't remember a Dave on DTDD, but there was definitely one I fancied!

Amy said...

Kath, maybe it was Damien? Gus? Surely not Henry.

MASH is still repeating endlessly here. I saw a box set of all the shows plus hours of extras at a store recently. It was $199. If that had been available when I was 13, I would have dropped the money in a heartbeat. As it is, I think I'm really completely over my MASH phase, and even when I find it on, I'm not especially interested. I wouldn't have thought it was possible. (I still have my MASH t-shirts, though, tucked away, so they can't get ruined, next to my softball jerseys and my Girl Scout sash.)

Anonymous said...

I still watch MASH if I channel surf into it!