Homecoming

I was never very interested in watching sports that other people were playing. I enjoyed playing them myself - I was a member of the track, swimming, and cheerleading teams in high school. I only mention this to illustrate that I am not against sports in general. I just don' t like to sit and watch other people play them. So when I was in college, it seemed rather convenient that when everybody else was watching the big game, I and all of my theatre classmates were busy building sets, rehearsing, or playing silly theatre games. Usually some time around ten o'clock at night, all official sporting and theatrical activities had eneded, and we all reconvened at the dorm to do the general socializing that college life is famous for.
So, being, as I am, not all that crazy about spectator sports, I have not been all that crazy about going back to my alma mater for Homecoming, either. It always seems to be scheduled around some big football game, that quite honestly, I couldn't care less about.
BUT.
The day after Heather, Robb, and I went to the Ren. Faire, we stopped by the college that Heather and I went to. It was only about half an hour from her house, and we thought it might be nice to just drive through the campus, see our old haunts, and take a look at the new additions that have been made in the decade (!) since we graduated. Well, a drive-by became a visit, and we were able to talk to Dave, our professor of stagecraft and set design, and Eric, the current costumer. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures, because I was too busy walking around with a big, open-mouthed grin, looking at what's changed and just how much hasn't. For instance, in the costume shop where I learned to sew and spent four years of work-study hours, they still have the big wooden shelves along the walls that hold large boxes of fabric. They're all labeled, and organized by color. The only thing that's different is that instead of cardboard boxes, the fabric is in those large plastic see-through tubs. And the cardboard shoeboxes that held buttons and lace and zippers and "notions" have been replaced with their plastic counterparts as well. The scene shop and costume shop are both still well-organized and clean, and there's storage space! REAL storage space for costumes and props. And the statue of the maiden that was built for a show my freshman year is still there, and in pretty good condition still. Apparently, she gets about as much stage time as most of the students.
By contrast, the theatre company I work with has a storage unit that's packed to the gills with lumber, and a few random props. We have no scene or costume shop - anything that gets built for a show gets built in the performance space, on the loading dock of the theatre, or at someone's house.
Heather and I jogged each other's memory - "do you remember that time that you, me, Val, and Dana..." "OHMYGOSHYES!!!" *fits of giggles*
The ever-patient Robb was there to be a witness to Where I Come From - "see Robb? These are my people. Doesn't a lot of stuff make sense now?"
I wasn't able to see any of my other former professors but, to sum up this rather long and blathery post, it did my soul a world o' good to see my old home.
I wonder if they're hiring?