dentist report

I was praised for the overall state of my teeth - nothing horrific in the tartar department - but I have 3 cavities and an appointment to get them filled in 2 weeks. I knew there were spots being watched last time I was at the dentist, so this is not a huge surprise. Still mr. flea is disappointed in me. It has cost $250 so far.

Very tired and unmotivated this morning, possibly as a result of having left the house without food or a caffeinated beverage. I am now remedying this situation with coffee and a chocolate and pecan scone from Saladelia.

I bid on (and did not win) a lot of 4 identical Nine West purses on ebay last night. They were black, burgundy, red and pink, mock-croc, an old-fashioned style with a kiss-clip. I think I want a purse, even though it is completely impractical for my stuff-carrying needs. So in the coffee shop I noticed the woman in front of my had a beautiful croc purse, and was about to ask her what brand it was so I could check it out on ebay, when I realized she and her husband and teenager were probably prospective Looni parents, and there was a decent likelihood that that beautiful croc bag was in fact a genuine Hermes Kelly bag. That would have been tacky, eh?

Have I mentioned in this space the shocking revelation (via a student column in the student paper) that 60% of Looni students do not receive financial aid? Total annual costs are now estimated at $48,000 (I think this includes books and food and stuff). Pretty much anyone with a family income under $200K who applies received financial aid of some kind. So, 60% of the students here come from families making $200K a year or more. Less than 3% of US households make more than $200K a year. I hate working at a place that caters to the rich.

a strange student

I've been riding the bus in the mornings pretty often this year with the most unusual Looni student I've seen in my days here.

He's a tallish, skinny white man, with a short beard. He dresses in enormous t-shirts that hang to his knees, exclusively either plain white or black. He wears jeans that pool at his ankles, and Timberlands. He wears trucker-style baseball caps. He wears strongish cologne. His walk is jaunty, what I've seen described as a 'pimp roll.' (Is there a less offensive way to describe this sort of walk? It's very distinctive.) He carries a messy sheaf of notebooks and papers, no backpack. He usually has a German textbook. He gets on the bus outside of the Admissions Office, at 7:50 am - it's not near any dorms, and I don't know where he's coming from at that hour - off a city bus? From an early morning job in one of the buildings there?

The first day of classes he was in the library with two potted orchids. A coworker asked about them and he said they were presents for his professors.

He is very friendly with all the bus drivers. I've never seen him chat with a student. He's not in his first year - he's referred to "last year" in conversations with the drivers.

Basically, he's a white guy who dresses 'ghetto,' and seems to be friends with staff but not students. There's nobody else like him on campus. A year or more here have not made him act or dress like the majority of the preppy or low-key generic college students. I wonder what his story is.