I took a high school english elective on Madness in Literature. You can get a fair amount in there - from King Lear to The Yellow Wallpaper to Salinger.

I took a class in college on The Bible In Literature. Not the Bible as literature. We read The Master and Margarita, Barabbas, I can't remember what else. But I thought it was as interesting idea.

In high school, the only English electives I took were speech and essay writing.

If someone gay asks you out, what's wrong with "No, thank you"? Always assuming that you don't want to go out with the person. I suppose you could say, "You mean, as a date? Or just to go out somewhere?" I guess I assume you don't ask someone out on a date until you've gotten to know them just a bit more closely than "cute person on the other side of the room, must acquire."

Giant toaster mural made entirely of toast

It took several days of work and several friends and their toasters to prepare the 2.500 pieces of toast necessary to build the gigantic mosaic, which reproduce a photograph of a toaster.

We totally didn't have english electives in high school, except for one grade 12 course in Canadian Literature. There wasn't even AP English.

Similar story for sophomore and junior english, though our teacher veered more towards fawning all over the brown-nosing boys and dismissing the girls, when she wasn't badmouthing men and marriage. We wondered if there had be an affair with a much younger person. It was a bit uncomfortable.

Oh, our teacher wasn't at all unfair in her treatment of the boys in the class. It's just that the syllabus was heavily weighted toward the Torvalds and King Claudiuses and whoever jilted Granny Weatherall. We finally staged a class discussion mutiny over Macbeth, as none of the students (male or female) were willing to accept Lady Macbeth as the poor victim of her beast of a husband.

Oh, and I did mean to say that most of the rest of that New York Magazine etiquette guide was funny and on-point, but the dating part was jacktarded.

And I've had guys pay for dates and it's just nice. There, I said it. I like when people buy me stuff.

The Yellow Wallpaper

I love that book. Can't remember what class I read it in, though.

And I've had guys pay for dates and it's just nice. There, I said it. I like when people buy me stuff.

oh, yes. I like this a lot. But, if I ask a guy out, he shouldn't be expected to pay, or thought of as a cheapskate because we split the bill.

and I am suddenly reminded of a bit in Bridge to Terabithia when Jess (?) goes to the museum with his teacher, and she buys him lunch and says "when I ask a man out, I pay"

Sappho and the Golden Ass

Now that sounds like a story!

The Lottery is one that definitely impacted me, and seems kind of appropriate these days.