Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Bears on Leashes

I have not been responding to individual comments recently. Does that annoy you? Do you even go back to look at the comments on posts you've already commented on? I usually like bloggers to respond to my comments, but I suck at responding on my own blog. Sorry about that. And yet, I am not going to respond to the individual comments on my last post because there are too many. Yay!

My coworker's husband has to go on a business trip to the city where I went to college, so she asked if I had any recommendations for restaurants and such. Because I am a freak, I sent her a list of 4 restaurants with descriptions of each, and then I also listed 5 things he could go see/do if he has extra time and is bored. She forwarded the message on to her husband, as I expected, and it sounds like he is a little weirded out by my lists. Does he not want to have a Dr Pepper float at the Dr Pepper Museum? What is wrong with him?

My college had (and still has) bears who live on campus. Actual, real, live bears. They have a compound thing in the middle of campus where they live. But twice a week, each bear gets walked. A student puts a bear on a leash and takes them on a walk around campus. There are only a few students who are allowed to walk the bears, and they go through a lot of training. I think the professional bear trainer people sometimes walk the bears too. But anyway, STUDENTS PUT BEARS ON LEASHES and walk them around campus. I never saw a bear do anything but slowly meander around campus, but still, let me remind you, BEARS ON LEASHES. So occasionally, I would be walking across campus or sitting by the fountain, and then there would be a bear behind me. A 300+ pound bear. Behind me. I would act like, "Oh, yes, there's a bear behind me again. No big deal. Why, what a coincidence! Suddenly I have to take a sharp turn and go way over here, in the opposite direction of the bear. No big deal. Please don't hurt me!"

17 comments:

princess slea said...

I'm picturing those really sad old bears that used to be in the circus wearing tutus and riding a bicycle and completely toothless.
what other kind of bear would a university let on their campus? the kind that ate timothy treadwell?

so I have a funny mental picture of you walking with your books and looking behind you to see a bear in a tutu sneaking up on you.

princess slea said...

you commented back to the DVD rental question and this is a comment back to the reply (how's that for commenting).
anywho...Six Feet Under is not confusing at all if you watch it from the beginning. What I like about it is that each episode finishes yet you get to know this family subtly through each episode/death.
I could see watching it out of order might not be as enticing because what is really amazing about this show is the character development. i hope you give it a try.

Anonymous said...

I tried to comment on my comments, but it's time consuming enough to even blog, without doing that! I like to comment on blogs, and I sometimes go back and check to see if anybody has responded to my comment, but it doesn't bother me if they haven't.

Where the hell did you go to school, R? Because it sounds hilarious and I wish I could have seen you with your books and your terrified (yet calm on the outside) self.

steve said...

I think every school should have a wild example of it's mascot on leashes around campus. I'd pay good money to see some Banana Slugs on leashes chillin' on the UC Santa Cruz campus.

Feel free to not respond to this comment. I will take no offense.

Christine said...

Bears on leashes? If I were not so damned lazy I would use some mad googling skills to figure out exactly WHERE the hell you went to school. Because dude, bears on leashes.

3carnations said...

Feel free to not comment on comments. I used to never comment to comments, but many other people commented to my comments. Then I felt like maybe I should. Then Stinkypaw actually had a post that I think complained about people not commenting to comments, and I began to feel as though I was committing a blogging faux-pas, so I began responding. Now, I am finding myself back in the more-often-than-not-NOT-commenting-to-comments mode. I'm not sure it's a bad thing. Like you said, more time to blog, read blogs, and actually do WORK. Hopefully no one takes offense.

Bears on leashes? Awesome, and frightening also.

L Sass said...

Bears on leashes???? This is one of the more interesting college traditions I have ever heard of! It must be said: UFFDA!

claire said...

Bears?? That is the coolest thing ever.

If my university had bears, i would have done much better the first time around. You know, cause i would have been on campus more. For bear walking time.

Wow, bears.

lizgwiz said...

Bears on leashes--wow. That wouldn't have worked at my college, since we were "the Redmen," and I think there would have been a huge outcry if we'd walked Native Americans around on leashes. Though whatever two consenting adults want to do in private is their own concern. Hee. (Incidentally, the NCAA just made the school change that name, despite the fact that the university descended directly from a Cherokee seminary, and "redmen" simply means Indian and is in no way a racial "slur" and in fact the word "Oklahoma" is Choctaw for "red people" and should we change the name of the state in the interest of political correctness? Sheesh. Rant over. Sorry.)

Stefanie said...

I should know where you went to college (have you told me?), but all I am picturing now is you studying away up in Alaska or deep in the Northwoods or something. Bears on leashes. Wow. I suppose that is better than bears NOT on leashes, no?

As for comments, I do go back to posts I've commented on (here and on other blogs) to see if anyone's replied (and to see what other clever things people wrote), but I'm not bothered if you don't comment back. I have the same problem... I feel like I have to comment back to everyone or no one, but I don't always have something to say about every comment (you know, besides, the usual "Yeah! Thanks! Totally." or something like that).

metalia said...

I know everyone else is fascinated with the bears on leashes (and rightfully so), but I myself am a tad obsessed with the idea of a Dr. Pepper Museum. Wherein one could, if so inclined, purchase a Dr. Pepper float. Rad.

stinkypaw said...

Bear on a leash too cool! and scary! Hello student can't hold back a 300+ lbd bear even if it is on a leash! I would have walked away as well!

As for the comments, your blog you do what you want! I do go back to look... oh well...

Anonymous said...

That is the coolest thing I have heard all day, by far. And it's 20 of midnight! Day's over! Awww yeah.

Anonymous said...

OMG. That might be the coolest thing I've ever heard. And here I thought FSU was cool because there was a bar near it where I once walked in carrying a ziploc baggie full of bourbon and requested a pitcher of coke, and the bartender laughed and said, "Why don't I fill it half-full for you?"

-R- said...

Princess, now they are real bears with teeth and without tutus. I can totally picture a bear in a tutu sneaking up on me, which is hilarious. The bears are kind of smallish (for bears). Like 6 feet tall and 350 pounds.

Nat, I am going to e-mail you a link to my school's website with a picture of the bears walking around campus. If anyone else wants the link, send me an e-mail. It is awesome.

Libra, glad to help!

Steve, I agree. I think the U needs a little gopher compound on campus.

Christine, I am surprised you have not googled this. I will send you a link too.

3cars, thanks for the reassurance about commenting. It is just so much work!

L sass, uffda, indeed!

Claire, I can picture you waiting on campus, hoping for a bear sighting.

Lizgwiz, redmen is not racist? I will take your word on that, but it sounds really bad!

Stefanie, yeah, a lot of my comments are like "Thanks!" and that is it. But I am trying. And no, I did not go to college in Alaska.

Metalia, you should try a Dr Pepper float at home. They are the BEST.

Spaw, I know! I am guessing the students had a taser or something? They had to wear these leather apron/pouchy things, but the only thing I ever saw them take out of the pouch was raw meat.

Malia, it is an awesome but true story.

GG, a baggie full of bourbon? I don't know if that makes FSU cool, but it makes YOU cool. =)

don't call me MA'AM said...

I would totally send a list of restaurants or fun sights to see to people who were visiting a place I know about... and who wouldn't want a Dr. Pepper float from a Dr. Pepper museum?

You're not the freak. Everyone else is. ;-)

-R- said...

DCMM, thanks for the reassurance! I talked to my friend, and she said her husband did like the suggestions.