Wednesday, October 7, 2009

My Sincerest Apologies

I would like to begin this post with an apology. I have been getting numerous complaints about the length of time between my last post and now. I am sorry, midterms are killer. I will be better from now on.

Moving on to the real business. The oval.

The South Oval was bustling today, and I was quite impressed! Overall, everyone was pretty aware today! I didn't see too many people plugged in or shaded over! The atmosphere was pretty low key, but observant.

Who knows why I seemed so visible today, perhaps it could be because I was perched like a bird along the wall of the Passion Pit, or maybe because everyone was just excited to make friends today. Either way, I got dozens of waves from friends, welcoming smiles from acquaintances, and awkward stares (as to say "Why the hell are you staring at me") from strangers. It was a good day!

Also, I got a glimpse of some of the things I have been waiting to see all semester long. The funny stuff, so here it is:

-General Humor: As I was sitting on the corner of the passion pit, happy in my own world of observation, I received a visitor... Kind of. About 15 feet away from me and on the opposite corner, a boy climbs up onto the wall and begins to walk it like a tight rope. I didn't think much about this, he was too close to openly stare. I try desperately to use my peripheral vision to capture every moment. Then he got to the entrance of the pit, where there is an opening in the wall about 2 or 3 feet. I watch him openly now, while he obviously contemplates leaping the entrance. He thinks about it, he bounces on his toes to test his longevity, he takes his leap! However, he is a little short, but lands on his feet. Then he sees me watching, does a run/walk over to a tree and hides behind it until I look the other direction. Yeah, it was pretty awesome.

-Bikers: First of all, I noticed today that the majority of the biker population on the Oval is made up of guys. I don't know why this is. Maybe girls don't want to worry if they wear a skirt one day, or they feel it isn't feminine, who knows. The point of it is, more boys prefer to ride bikes than girls.

One of my hypothesis about this was that boys choose to ride bikes because it is further proof of their masculinity. Proof: Bikers are crazy about ramming people. Proof: bikers get crazy aggressive when someone slips a toe into the bike lane. (I think sometimes they aim for the people who enter the lane, even if it isn't actually in their way). Proof: Bikers usually like to show off, they ride around you through the grass, they hop curbs, they steer with their knees, etc.

*I was completely convinced of this until my theory found its glitch. The Mini Biker. It was a boy on a bike much Much MUCH smaller than he was. Just chillin' and riding along. I was surprised how few people noticed this. He reminded me of a clown. I obviously stared with amazement, my jaw dropped, trying to retain my laughter. How had anyone else missed this?! It was BEAUTIFUL! This man was obviously not trying to prove his manliness with aggression, it looked like he had stolen his little sisters bike. It would only have been better if it had a little basket and streamers. Or if it had Dora the Explorer stickers along the sides.

*As if the prior example wasn't enough to disprove my hypothesis, there was yet another scenario that made me giggle. I don't know what this is called, tandem maybe? There was a boy driving the bike and another boy riding on the handle bars. Like you see in the old movies, where the guy chauffeurs his girlfriend around on the handle bars of his bicycle while she swings her legs and squeals. It was EXACTLY like this... minus the squealing. There was none of that. However, the guy on the handle bars did seem pretty happy to be there. It was great.

*This doesn't really go with my hypothesis, but it is just a funny scene. A boy was trying to pass the bike lane, and the second his toe pushed that little white line a biker came out from no where ready to ram (like any true biker would). Then the walker throws himself backward onto an innocent bystander, who catches him. All three of the parties live, but the walker and the innocent bystander become friends. They walk on laughing and talking about what had just happened. What a happy ending.

Shout Outs!

-To all of my friends who spotted me today and said hello!

-To all the tangent bikers out there!

-To the grown men who steal their little sisters bicycles!

-To the random stranger that I smiled at and got scared and walked by without eye contact!

-To all the people who openly resent smokers on campus... you guys are just funny.

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