Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

So, it's homecoming weekend. I don't know anyone who's all that excited about the actual homecoming festivities, though I'm sure they're out there, and good for them. But among the people I talk to, the two biggest topics of conversation are A.) Jack Nicklaus dotting the I, and B.) Halloween costumes.

Jack Nicklaus dotting the I is actually a bigger deal than I expected. I was half-expecting people to tell me "I didn't even know he went here!" But not only did I not get that, I had lots of people telling me how excited they were that he was going to do it. There isn't a lot of excitement about the game itself, somewhat understandably. Minnesota is good enough to not get blown off the field, but lacking any exciting playmaker. Plus, it's supposed to be cold and windy, if not rainy. Certainly everyone will be there and cheering, but the part of the day that will get the loudest cheers is when the Golden Bear dots the I, no question.

As for the costumes, they are a very important part of college. Halloween might not be the biggest party weekend of the year, but it's close. Everyone has a costume, from the people that spent weeks assembling incredibly clever costumes to the ones that put it off until the last minute and end up dressing as serial killers ("they look just like regular people!"). For some examples, check out CollegeHumor's Halloween section. Girls, it should be noted, have it easier than guys. If guys want to impress people with their costumes, they either have to find something clever or get a costume that looks uncannily like a movie or TV character. Girls, on the other hand, just have to pick a noun and put "sexy" in front of it. Sexy nurse, sexy devil, sexy cat, sexy duvet cover, sexy pizza - all are viable costume ideas. Once again, I must go to College Humor, which has an entertaining video that pretty accurately describes the situation:


If all you see is white space above this, click in the middle of it to play the video. There's some not-safe-for-work audio there, but let's face it: if you didn't think a video of girls' Halloween costumes was inappropriate for your workplace, what's a little bad language gonna hurt?
As for me, I'm going as a grad student. I bought a long-hair wig that I've put into a ponytail, I picked up a cheap sport coat at Goodwill, and I'm going to wear a dress shirt and jeans. Basically, it's every male American teaching assistant I've encountered (that may be a slight exaggeration).