college graduation, mortar board

Mortar Boards the way the world sees them

Dear Kid,

Once upon a time, you were born. Since then, it’s been a series of graduations. You graduated from pre-school, you graduated from Kindergarten, you graduated from training wheels (although there were fewer attendees for that one). We sat through (fairly short) speeches. We clapped politely for other graduates. We cheered for you. And we celebrated. Often with fabulous, age-appropriate desserts.

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that ‘individuality’ is the key to success. ~Robert Orben

It is time to plan the next graduation celebration. I’ve been thinking about it. I suspect the speeches will be longer, the cheering more exuberant. I’m pretty sure we will need fabulous, age-appropriate desserts.

college graduation, mortar boards from candy

Mortar Boards the way Pinterest sees them

Fortunately, there is help for me (yeah, yeah, not enough. I get it.) Pinterest is brimming with graduation-themed pins. Party ideas, cap decorating ideas, party decorating ideas, and food ideas. I love Pinterest and plan to steal borrow pay homage to at least a few of these ideas. That is, if I can pry myself away from Pinterest long enough to actually do anything.

The candy idea got me thinking about mortar boards. Who came up with this particular look as being a great fashion option? I still don’t know because everything that I looked at about mortar boards was serious and boring. Not my fave combination. I can’t find anything even mildly amusing about mortar boards. I looked. I thought there would be a treasure trove of hilarity out there. Nope. Nada.

Graduation: a ritual event where they award you a diploma, in the hope that you will have learned enough to be able to read it.

The only mildly funny thing (which really isn’t all that funny, imho) is that the color for business school tassels is “drab.” That is the name of the color, not some wisecracking description of the color.

Now before anyone gets all bent out of shape let me point out that both of my tassels are (shudder) drab. I discovered this when we were getting ready to graduate from Boston University (Go Terriers). There it was, a tassel labeled “Drab.” Who came up with this color?! Seriously?? We have marketing people, we have creative people, we have people who sit around and think up fabulous names for nail polish and paint, and the best someone could come up with for the tassel for business school is “drab.” Even saying the word sounds unhappy.

drab-tassel-business

Drab. I kid you not.

Sigh. Not that the color of a tassel is any reason to pick a field of study. It’s not. Not at all. Still, if things work out so that the tassel is pretty…

Have a very un-drab day, Kid.

Love, Mom