Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

I forgot to mention one thing we did on Saturday, my sister and I. We stopped in at the apartment of a couple she and her boyfriend know, to drop off a wedding present for them.

The woman of the pair was in her shorts, playing a video game, when we got there. He was on the computer. Another friend was just hanging out.

As soon as they saw the present had a handle, they knew it was a wok. They were very pleased, which is not surprising, given it was from their registry at a local store.

We hung out and she showed us all the wedding pictures and gave us slices of leftover wedding cake and cookies.

They'd had a cool idea where they sent everyone scrapbook pages, which they could complete any way they wanted to and then bring to the wedding. From this, the bride compiled a scrapbook. My sister and I agreed it was a great way to create a unique keepsake with only a small amount of personal work. Most people had included photos, but some included poems or other memories.

She also showed us her engagement journal, which contained ideas for the wedding, compiled as she was planning it. Some of the entries were amusing, such as cartoons.

I think she might have enjoyed my sister's Martha Stewart costume.

All weekend I was quite happy to do the driving, since I enjoyed showing off my new car. My sister didn't seem to mind, either, especially when I put in the Los Straitjackets album I'd bought this weekend.

On Sunday, my sister and I slept in and then went downtown to return the videos and onto campus to hang up fliers for Wild Violet. It's amazing how much has changed, as well as how much has stayed the same.

Some classroom buildings, like Willard and Boucke, had endured only minor changes. For example, the classrooms in Willard no longer had the raised platform in the front of the room, which we always used as a stage during Penn State Monty Python Society meetings.

When we walked past the computer lab in Boucke (pronounced "boo-key"), my sister said, "This lab sucks." So not much has changed. Boucke lab was always one of the most cramped, unpleasant labs. However, it was conveniently placed in the center of campus, across from the student union building, the HUB (Hetzel Union Building). So I spent a lot of time there.

I did notice an office for the student organization, LGBTA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual Association). Back in the day, it was just LGSA (Lesbian, Gay Student Association). My sister and I argued about the necessity for including "L," since "lesbian" is implied in "gay."

"I suppose the lesbians don't think so," I said.

Then there were buildings that were entirely different, like the HUB. They not only expanded it, but they completely renovated the inside so that it's unrecognizable. I would have gotten lost if my sister hadn't been there to direct me.

The HUB today is spacious and light-filled, with high ceilings and a variety of solutions to student needs, such as a spacious food court, study areas, resource centers, and more. In my day, the HUB was relatively cramped and dark, with wood-paneled walls and seemingly little light, despite the many windows (which at Penn State, seemed designed to let in the winter cold).

But I fondly remember the so-called HUB Fishbowl, which was the affectionate nickname for the student study lounge on the first floor. Walled in on all four sides with glass, the Fishbowl was also sound proofed from the rest of the building. The comfy furniture drew students to the Fishbowl to study or nap between classes. And if you haven't guessed, all of this was visible to anyone walking down the first floor hallways, hence the nickname.

I perfected the technique of power napping in those days, glancing at my watch before lying down and then awakening exactly 10 minutes later, or whenever I'd determined. I wasn't the only one to have perfected this skill, if my fellow nappers were any indication.

Even my sister got lost at some points, since the campus had changed so much since she started school. She'd spent the last couple years of her studies near the Health and Human Services buildings, unlike me, who'd worked for Penn State Audio Visual Services and therefore, at one point or another, had had a reason to go in virtually every campus building.

We were specifically targeting buildings where we knew there were general purpose bulletin boards. Despite getting lost in the heavily renovated library, we found a couple places to hang flyers there. The library had a photo display recalling the 1993 flooding of the stacks, an event I remember vividly, having been terrified about its implications. As it was, they'd managed to rescue most of the books through careful handling of the damage.

I'd spent many hours in the library, since in my day, that was pretty much the only way to do research. My sister, however, did most of her research through online databases of scholarly articles.

The Kern Graduate Student Building, Arts building and the Forum were all pretty much the same. The main difference we noted was that the Forum now has room numbers painted on the outside windows, a simple enough addition that has no doubt resolved a lot of confusion. Since the Forum is an octagonal building, it's difficult to navigate. We always had a joke that whenever you entered the Forum building, it would spin like a roulette wheel before you came back out, leaving you disoriented, staring out in an entirely different direction.

Of all the changes made on campus, my sister and I agreed that one more is needed: to bulldoze Hammond building. Built by engineers, it looks like an oversized high school building and is about half as attractive. Inside, it's a maze of long, winding corridors and ugly, ill-lit rooms. Perhaps they're keeping it to serve as an example to architecture students about what not to do.

Walking around campus brought back many memories for both of us. My sister and I talked about the insane squirrels on the Old Main Lawn, which crawl up your leg and take food out of your hands, or even out of your mouth. I once heard about one unlucky squirrel which pilfered a lit cigarette, no doubt to its eternal regret.

Of course, this problem is exacerbated by the foolish football fans and alumni who insist on feeding these increasingly corpulent bushy-tailed rodents.

Walking around, I remembered my Penn State days. Oh, here's Schwab Auditorium, where the Penn State Monty Python Society held the Coke-In. Here's the place where Gary Cattel, the Willard Preacher, tries to convert passersby. Here's West Halls, where we used to run around like idiots playing a late-night vampire LARP, hiding behind bushes and leaping out at each other.

We saw a lot of students talking on cell phones as they walked around. That's a big change from when I was there, when everyone was listening to their Walkmen.

It was getting late, so we went back to my sister's place and took our dogs out for a walk in a nearby natural area. They loved it, especially when we let them run around for awhile, one of their favorite activities.

Then I gave The Gryphon a call, to let him know I was heading out. Packed up the car and headed home, dictating my experiences for the past weekend into my mini-tape recorder. Listening to the "High Fidelity" soundtrack, speeding on home.

More Halloween weekend shenanigans:

November 3, 2003 - Halloween Living

November 4, 2003 - Getting Wiggy With It

More explorations on the Penn State campus:

May 28, 2003 - Urban Spelunking

Copyright 2003 by Alyce Wilson

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