Calooh! Callay!
Jabberwocky Translated into Africaans, Esperanto, Yiddish, and other languages.

At School
So this one boy comes into class late, drops his bright blue bag on the floor and sets a substantial bottle of cologne on the desk. My job as an instructional assistant today was to take a few students to another classroom so they could take their tests away from the others. When I returned from that duty, Mr. Cologne was at the teacher's desk and I had a chance to see his full outfit. He had on a flashy ring, baggy jeans, basketball sneakers, and a cable-knit sweater. Over the sweater he wore a leather (?) belt with a medium-sized metal buckle. Girls in my high school wore belted sweaters (usually papagallo belts or metal belts) twenty years ago.

These sorts of things happen all the time. Boys seem to be wearing things that look feminine or out of style to me. With their baggy pants, though, it's the gesture that seems ladylike: to facilitate actual walking, the guys gather up their pants (at thigh height, usually) rather the way women gather up long skirts to go up stairs. Now on the one hand, I believe in tearing down gender stereotypes: girls should be allowed to wear pants in public, play sports, and run for political office. Boys should think about growing up to be teachers and nurses (or even librarians), and know how to cook. So shouldn't boys also wear pink or belted sweaters and gather up their voluminous skirt/pants when walking?

Val
One of the things noted at tonight's VYA meeting: the Valentine Richmond History Center's new website. You'll find a frequent Capital City Desk reader here, sporting a smart hat.