Saturday, January 07, 2006

11: Back

I am back.

Scrolling: Laptop fan, humidifier purr, hard disk murmur but no music

I submitted my UCLA application yesterday. I am finally done with applications. Now I have to wait. If I don't get any interview calls, life will be easy. If I get any interview calls, I will have to match my socks with my clothes and pluck my eyebrows. If I get dinged after going through all that, life will again be easy. If I don't, ah! Life will be really hard.

While working on my applications, a number of times I would just wander in random directions. The essay questions are so hard that even Google doesn't have answers. Trying to concoct answers long enough to come close to 90% of the word limit, I kept going off track. For example, when I was answering the "Why UCLA" question, first I got sensible reasons like "proximity to the pacific coast highway", but as time went by, all that came to my mind was "why a tie?"

Why a tie? That's something Google has answers to. 226 answers. Wait, I take my words back. Google does have 9420 answers to "Why UCLA". Why didn't I see this 16 page answer before? The professor puts the answer to the question on her website and I still fail the test. Then I complain.

Anyway, back to ties. I read the first answer Google came up with. It didn't convince me. Sometimes I think a tie makes sense, after all, it's an accessory, like a nose ring, or a highlight, like a tattoo or a statement, like the word "Mom" shaved on a person's head. But it's really not. It's made of fabric. So it has to have a purpose. Everything else made of fabric has a purpose - shirt, skirt, pants, jacket, shorts. I talked about this with my neighbor and she added that caps are made of fabric too. They do have a purpose though - you can put the initials of the bschool you went to or are currently attending, right smack on the cap in big letters on the front, the full name on the back, and the logo on the right and left. They also hide bald spots, shade your face from the sun and stares (or son and stairs? heh, that's cool), save other people from getting a taste of your hair in their food, enable you to play frisbee if you don't have a frisbee, protect you from bird droppings and last but not the least, work well as a begging bowl.

Writing bschool essays has paid off. After writing reasons for why I chose to do better in subject A and not in subject B in 7th grade, why I went to college instead of auditioning for roles in Tarantino films, why I decided to be in charge of procuring donuts at work and why the long term goal in my career is to retire (how long is long?), I can now answer any "Why X?"

But I still don't get it, why a tie?

16 Comments:

Blogger i_will_make_it said...

Congrats on getting all your apps out the door!! I know, waiting for interviews will drive anyone crazy. Then preparing for them is another story...

Why a tie? Why earrings? Why a corsage? Why a wedding veil?

When my boyfriend asked me for cuff links for x'mas... I realized I had no idea what cuff links were - what they looked like, hell - what their purpose was for??

"Why cuff links?" I asked him.

"Umm... because they look good."

Why a tie? Because somehow that extra piece of silk just makes my man look extra HOT. (I love men in suits.)

Why? Let me have a discussion with my: 1) eyes, 2) senses, 3) hormones - and I'll get back to you on that one. :-D

8:05 AM  
Blogger i_will_make_it said...

Oh, wait. Just found some info for ya: "The tie was initially born as a piece of material worn by Roman legionnaires around the neck for reasons of hygiene or climate and was called a 'focale.'"

Hygiene eh? So i think it's wiping the sweat off of bald spots on those hot, humid days and protection from those bird droppings you speak of. lol.

Cheers!

8:12 AM  
Blogger Marina said...

You learn something new from reading people's comments I guess. I never knew that whole thing about the tie. Awesome.

Highly doubt UCLA will give me an admit after that horrid interview experience - but if they do it's all yours my dear BBB. I cannot remember if you already interviewed with them or not?

I think we can do a regression analysis on the chances of getting into one's desired school based on their link proximity on others' pages to those currently attending the forementioned school. Sounds like a fun project...

8:06 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

you should have told me when you were in SF...

I definitely cannot handle whiskey, but I can do a vodka challenge

4:17 AM  
Blogger Marina said...

I don't wear a watch, but since my cell is in my purse most of the time I never know what time it is when I am walking around the office or out at lunch with just a wallet.

Unfortunately no pics from the beer challenge...though having met so many bloggers lately I have been thinking about de-anonymizing (i am pretty sure that is not a word) myself.

CBS wants us to have fancy calculators...probably for stats..

5:10 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

I was the same way as you described in undergrad, but I have a feeling (and I guess a perception from talking with people) that b-school is more structured as far as group meetings and social events on top of the classes....who knows :)

So what is new in your world of applications?

8:11 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

You are so perceptive. I am totally restless and got bored with the old name. Now I am trying to play with HTML to make my page even prettier....we'll see how THAT goes.

Sounds like you are handling the wait pretty well!

5:26 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

Hey BBB!

I don't have any work to do because I have pretty much transitioned all my tasks to the FL & Boston people. They call me once in a while and actually once we close January I will have a bunch of analyzing to do...but other then that I am finito. I am actually at my parents' house right now, doing laundry and eating their food. I certainly foresee travel in my future!

p.s. you need to update more often

10:23 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

Ok...I tried REALLY hard but I don't get the Jackie reference :(

4:04 AM  
Blogger Marina said...

Yeah...the Deloitte days were not the fun days of my life. All those 14 hour work days and travel....yuck.

I think I knew that Jackie is Russian :)

7:14 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

Where are you on the east coast again? I always forget...

I was pretty sober after the 15 minute walk to the burrito place, the eating experience, the 20 minute walk to another bar, a glass of H2O and the walk to my car. SO I drove home :)

11:08 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

BART is mostly used to commute in and out of the city. I would actually have taken the MUNI had I needed to :)

you know, I WILL be in NY in April...

6:00 AM  
Blogger Marina said...

Nope, though I am a Pisces. It is March 9th. When's yours?

11:50 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

It would be fantastic to meet you!

11:47 PM  
Blogger Marina said...

you are so sweet! Thank you!!!

6:35 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

A tie to clean your hands when they are dirty, a tie to hide the missing buttons, a tie to cover up a bulging tummy, a tie to choke the interviewer incase he/she doesn't appreciate the talented YOU.

Need more?

10:41 AM  

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