The World of Stuff .com

Still Volkswagens

I’m nearing the end of my Economics class (American Government in the first quarter, Economics in the second), and the teacher is having us do a project where we pretend to buy a car and take out a loan. That sort of thing is fine to do in 8th grade (when I actually did the same kind of project in my math class), but not so much in 12th, when many people in the class have actually bought a car for real. Sure, though it has nothing to do with anything we’ve learned in Economics class, it is useful to learn how loans work, I guess.

So anyway, we get to pick out a car to imaginarily buy. We got to go online during the class today and search the web (or newspaper) for a car. Naturally, I looked for the craziest cars: a Volkswagen Thing, a Peugeot, a De Lorean, and basically the very cheapest cars I could find. But since I still have an affinity for the VW Karmann Ghia after all these years, I decided to go for a $10,000 Ghia convertible. Who cares if it’s in Colorado? It’s my project.

I, like many people, enjoy the looks of classic cars, but would I be able to handle the maintenance of one? Maybe not. I don’t know if it’s easier or harder to own an old car than it is to own a new one, but there are certain features in newer cars that are more desirable: better safety features, for example. Oh well. It’ll be a while before I buy a car for real.

Last year around this time, my friend Nick said that he wanted to put on a stage production of The Year Without a Santa Claus. In August, he started working on it, and I agreed to play Santa. Since then we’ve rehearsed pretty much every week, and on Friday, we had what was basically a “glorified dress rehearsal” for some kids at St. Elizabeth School. We arrived early to set up everything — we had never done the whole show in order without stopping.

There was a pretty small group of kids there, and they came early, while we were still getting made up. I had never worn makeup before, and I was surprised to notice that it didn’t really feel like anything (even though I had SO MUCH ON MY FACE). I just couldn’t shake the awkward psychological feeling, though. I could never be a trannie. (Luke & Co. are going to have fun with this one. I dare them to make fun of me!)

Anyway, I think the show went well. Of course, some people flubbed their lines, but I think we covered it up well. There weren’t any problems changing the sets, from what I understand (I didn’t take part in any of it because my costume was so cumbersome that I could hardly see around me, let alone move things.) The kids laughed at some parts, but not as many as I would have liked. Overall, the play was an hour long, but it will be longer next time because there will be an intermission. I hope this performance has served as a learning experience about what to do and what not to do for the final show.

I don’t really like arbitrary top tens, but this one’s good: The Top Ten Lamest Superheroes of All Time.

Artists and bands in LEGO.

Two years ago: “If you’re wondering, it’s about dissociate fugue.”
Three years ago: “I had my friend Josh sit still (which can be hard for him at times) while I sketched his profile.”