college

SoCS — The Periodic Table of Elements

Fandango19 Comments

Alvin and Doris were college freshmen at State University. Alvin was in the engineering college, majoring in chemical engineering. Doris was in the liberal arts college, majoring in literature.

Alvin was a very handsome young man. Doris was a very pretty young woman. As a chemistry major, Alvin was in his element when his class began to study the periodic table of elements. Doris, on the other hand, was very much out of her element, not just in chemistry, but in all of the science courses. Her real love was poetry.

It just so happened that Alvin was out of his element when it came to the humanities and was clueless about poetry. And with Doris being out of her element in chemistry, it seemed almost serendipitous that these two attractive college freshmen would figure out a way to leverage one another’s strength to the benefit of both.

Doris made the first move, approaching Alvin and asking him if he could help her with learning the periodic table of elements. He gladly accepted the challenge, saying to her that teaching her all about the elements would be quite elementary. Doris appreciated Alvin’s play on words and offered to help him to understand poetry.

Alvin tutored Doris on the elements in the periodic table, while Doris introduced Alvin the basic elements of poetry, such as meter, rhyme, scheme, verse, and stanza. It was a win-win for the two of them.

As they got to know one another, the chemistry between them was elemental, like a powerful force of nature. Their relation flowed with a natural rhythm and all the elements of a lyric romantic poem.

Needless to say, Alvin and Doris fell in love during their freshman year at State University and even today, years later, their relationship maintains all of the elements of that love and all of the chemistry that binds them together.

Written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. as you’ve probably guessed by now, Linda has given us the word “element” to play with.

What I Learned in College

Fandango17 Comments

When I was in college, I was often asked what I was studying. Being somewhat of a wiseass, I would occasionally respond with, “Underwater basket weaving.”

I was really shocked when some girl I said that to commented, “Really, that’s so interesting. How do you actually do that?” she asked.

I decided to run with it. “Well,” I said, “I take thin, narrow strips of wood and interlace them, or weave them, in order to construct a basket.”

“And you do that underwater?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, trying to keep a straight face. “That makes the strips of wood more pliant so they are less likely to snap or chip.”

“That’s amazing,” she said. “How much time does it take to weave a whole basket?”

I reached over to a rattan basket for my bicycle that my sister gave me for Christmas this past year. “This took me about a week,” I said.

“So can you actually make a living at underwater basket weaving?”

“Correct,” I said. I couldn’t believe she was buying this bullshit. “So far my baskets have gotten a great reception in the marketplace.”

“I’m so impressed,” she said. “I never even knew that someone could major in underwater basket weaving.”

“As the eponymous founder of the American Underwater Weaving Association, Walter Weaver, said, ‘There’s no weaving like underwater weaving,’ which has become the official liturgy of the AUWA.”

“That makes me so hot,” she said. “Let’s go have sex.”

And that’s when I knew that I’d have a great career as a politician.

Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (interlace), The Daily Spur (chip), My Vivid Blog (time), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (correct), Word of the Day Challenge (reception), Your Daily Word Prompt (eponym), and E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (liturgy).

FOWC with Fandango — College

Fandango20 Comments
FOWC

Welcome to October 29, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “college.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.

Meeting the Parents

Fandango4 Comments

We met in the classroom during that transitory first semester of our freshman year in college. She and I soon became best of friends and by the time our freshman year ended, our friendship at evolved into a romantic relationship.

She persuaded her parents to invite me home with her for the long Thanksgiving weekend of our sophomore year, and I was very nervous. She tried to reassure me that as long as I didn’t foam at the mouth upon meeting them, her parents would welcome me with open arms.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have been quite so overly effusive.

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (classroom), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (transitory), Ragtag Daily Prompt (friend), Word of the Day Challenge (relationship) , MMA Storytime (foam), and Your Daily Word Prompt (effusive).

I Know, I Know

Fandango8 Comments

“Have you picked your crew yet?” Drew’s boss, Aaron, the college’s athletic director, asked.

“I’ve spoken with ten guys so far,” Drew, the men’s crew team coach, said, “but I need to narrow it down to the best eight.”

“Well, you can’t just bring anybody on board,” Aaron said. “You mustn’t allow yourself to get all mawkish about it. There’s no room for sentimentality here. You’ve got to wield the proverbial ax and make sure you have a topnotch team.”

“I know, I know,” Drew said.

“And please make sure you that you review the blood tests results before eliminating anyone,” Aaron said. “Last year one of the crew members you selected had a serious bacterial infection and ended up bringing the whole team down before the season even began.”

“I know, I know,” Drew repeated.

Written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (crew), MMA Storytime (ten), The Daily Spur (anybody), Word of the Day Challenge (mawkish), Your Daily Word Prompt (wield), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (bacterial).