All Hail the Penguin!
In the annals of our life, last weekend will go down as Big. Emily - my wife - graduated a week ago tonight with her Master's degree in 19th century US history. The ceremony was really nice, in many ways. No, it didn't escape the typical irrelevant and incoherent keynote speech. However, the ceremony was fast (lasted just over an hour), and came off pretty smoothly (no one fell off the stage). One thing that I really found remarkable was the overwhelming enthusiasm expressed by the audience for their graduates. You could really tell that these friends and family had an intimate understanding of the raw effort involved in earning these degrees. I don't want to give the impression that this occasion was marked only by solemnity. The accostinghooding of the Ph.D. candidates was improv comedy at its best. I'm sure you're familiar with the mortar boards worn by most graduates (the square hat that holds up the tassle). These look mildly funny by themselves, but the application of a hood whose opening is too small ...
Posted on May 12, 2006 11:13:33 PM EDT
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