I’m sorry for the lack of posting, but will warn you that it’s going to be this way for the foreseeable future. I’m pretty much my job’s bitch these days. I have been in the office no later than 7:30 every morning and before I know it, the day is over. I haven’t had time to read Monday’s paper yet, and I don’t have time to comment on mind-boggling crap like this, which is unfortunate. I’m sure I could put together a good rant about that one.

(Ok, I'll digress for a minute. It would be irresponsible not to. This paragraph appears in that column: Is it really that bad for America if an athlete opts to put their body at risk in order to become a better player? Am I really the only one who thinks the idea of a steroid-only baseball league is as attractive as Jessica Simpson knocking on your door at 3 a.m. with a case of cold beer under her arm? Seriously, someone actually wrote this. Someone who does not work at the Evil Empire. Ok, moving on...)

But I managed to escape from the office early enough the last two evenings to represent my alma mater at college fairs for local high schools. It’s something I like to do as often as my crazy schedule allows. Both fairs had good traffic and I fielded a lot of questions from prospective students and their parents. I got a surprisingly high number of inquiries about whether OSU has fencing. Is fencing the hot sport right now? Is fencing a sport? My first high-school boyfriend was a fencer (and a tuba player, just to make him doubly cool) and I don’t know that I’d have considered him an athlete.

Anyway, culottes and Stevie Nicks skirts are in for girls. Haircuts for boys are not. The white-boy 'Fro seems quite popular. And I saw not one, but two guys wearing Earth Wind & Fire t-shirts. Are they enjoying a renaissance?

I also enjoyed the following exchange with a father and son:

Father: "So, Ohio State is a really big school. That's good. That would probably increase his (gesturing to son) chances of getting a girlfriend in college."

Me (to son, with a kind smile): "He's killing you, isn't he?"

Son: Unable to speak

My favorite kid was a sophomore who expressed an interest in journalism. I jokingly tried to talk him out of it but he’s determined, so we chatted about that for a while. He wants to write for Rolling Stone and thus wants to go to school where he’ll have access to a variety of music, concerts and the like. He was a little gangly and shy, but adorable, and you could tell he's going to be a good looking young man. I wanted to tell him that in 10 years, he’ll be The Man and have girls fighting over him, but I thought that might be inappropriate and get me arrested, which I’m sure isn’t what the folks in Columbus are hoping for when it sends me to these things.