Free beer!
Hey, Peter Scully.
The main course was cheesey vegetarian lasagna. So my dinner consisted entirely of sides.
Leslie Staulinger went on for a really long time. It was primarily about the seedy origins of Vermont Law School which was originally started as a tax haven for a convicted criminal to scam college graduates with low LSAT scores.
Henry Tashjian talked about Chinese people's ongoing desire to brutally mutilate innocent animals (particulary sharks). I didn't know Henry's name prior to Thursday night, but I'd seen him around VLS plenty. He almost always is seen with his (presumed) girlfriend. Always. That's the identity of each one. Her identifying attribute is that she's in a couple with Henry and Henry's identifying attribute is that he's in a couple with his girlfriend. But I never actually see them talk to each other. I think Henry's excellent speech about sharks may have extended my perception of what it is that makes him identifiable outside of his unsettling relationship with his girlfriend.
Kathy Stickel talked about life's disappointments. Kathy's nuts. She's just all over the place as a human being. But I like that she tries to be funny.
Laura Ceva talked about America's war on drugs. Laura had some valid points (that weren't articulated very well) but I feel like everything she said was discredited by her later disclosure that she recreationally smokes pot at least once a day. Duh.
Some people couldn't handle the hard truths Laura was espousing and turned to sleeping upright in their chairs as an escape.
Molly Watson talked about the morality of hunting which was the topic of a speech you'd expect to be given by a middle aged white guy with a mustache and beer gut not a 20-something hot chick. The speech was really good and marvelously accompanied by a very poignant power point. But she said up front that she was giving the speech as a response to all those people that talk shit about hunters in Vermont. I didn't really get that part. I've never heard anybody here say anything bad about hunters. Not even in SALDF. In fact, I think Vermont is one of the hunter-friendliest states in the union. I would never put an "I (heart) Hunting Accidents" sticker on my car here, but if I were in California or Oregon or even Arizona, I'd probably think it was okay.
Erica Lewis gave a speech that brought me right back to my college Women's Studies classroom. It was difficult to track and for all the talk about sexual desire and humping, it was amazingly dull.
I had never even seen Matt Shagam before Thursday night, but his speech on the history of abortion was the best one of the night. It was clear, concise, compelling, and really funny. It included a great deal of research and was put together in a cohesive, streamlined way so that it was really easy to follow. As Prof. Kate Spence would have said, "It had a good roadmap."
Cara Cookson brough a soap box up with her. Her speech was really dark, weird, and inappropriate, and I totally loved it. She spoke candidly about being raped and about how VLS is a crappy law school. Even though she was talking about being forcefully raped, it didn't make me feel sad for her. I don't mean that because I'm insensitive (even though I am), I mean that because she didn't come off as a victim. I wouldn't say she came off as empowered either. She came off as a woman who was just so focused on other shit, that being raped didn't really matter that much. Way to go, Cara.
Than afterwards, Laura invited me over to drink and smoke pot (big surprise) at some people's apartment.
I wanted to talk about the speeches, but everyone else just wanted to watch 'America's Best Dance Crew.'
Rowdy was equally lethargic.
No comments:
Post a Comment