We didn't do any of that where I grew up -- graduation was after high school, with attendant pomp and circumstance. The kindergarten and fifth grade and eighth grade graduations kind of diminish the big one, in my opinion.

nods

Among my people, Graduation means you finished University. I don't know, maybe some people talk about finishing High School as 'Graduation', but I've never heard it called that. And as for Junior School and Infant School and Nursery...well, no. None of the wee mortar boards and scrolls business.

I'm in two minds about it. A big part of me thinks 'what a load of silly American nonsense! Bah humbug!' but another bit of me thinks 'Well, I guess it's nice for the kids to have something to celebrate...?'

At the time, dressing up to graduate eighth grade seemed right. Now, maybe it was Too Much. But I wore the dress for years.

'Well, I guess it's nice for the kids to have something to celebrate...?'

Some of the kids (and parents) were very excited. But if they grew up in this town, it's something they've anticipated all year.

At the time, dressing up to graduate eighth grade seemed right.

It was *casual dress* and most of the boys took that very literally. Except for the one stone-faced boy whose mother obviously made him wear a suit and tie. I hurt for him. And the girls! Most were dressed nicely, but some of them... Is it wrong to look at a fourteen-year-old's dress and think, "That would work really nicely on Avenue C at 2 a.m.?"

I always thought 8th Grade Graduation was over the top, but then they told me that in my home town two generations ago a lot of kids went into the mines instead of High School. I was suitably chastened.

I remember being a little agog at the level of fuss for my sister's middle school graduation, with whole families and practically formal wear and all.

Thing is though, in urban publics anyway, for more of those kids than I like to contemplate, that is the one and only graduation. Not a thing of the past by any means.

We had caps and gowns for our 8th grade graduation. It is a little over the top. I didn't have a kindergarten graduation, but I did have one in nursery school, which mostly consisted of a little talent show.

Thing is though, in urban publics anyway, for more of those kids than I like to contemplate, that is the one and only graduation. Not a thing of the past by any means.

Even here, I'm not sure how many of these kids are going to make it through high school. Which is just unbelievably sad to me.

Happy Birthday, Teppy! Forget the phone calls, we should have sent you a stripper.

Yesterday I left my 90+ degree workplace at 4 and walked downtown with my DH to see Thank You for Smoking. It was very amusing. By the time we got out, Berkeley had cooled considerably, and the vegan sushi place had a table next to an open window so we ate there. Then the DH went home an made himself a "real" dinner. Veggies and tofu only ever amount to a snack for him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEPPY!!!

Le woot. I think you should come to Vegas in September to celebrate.

We only did a graduation at the end of 12th grade, and it was pretty consistently the case that half the kids who started high school didn't finish high school, so they never had a graduation. Which I'm okay with, hard-ass at that may be.

I mean, about 5 per year didn't finish high school because they died, but that's another thing entirely.

In honor of Tep's birthday, I had a lovely Me Day. I think Tep Day should be an international holiday.

Also? Officially sick of the World Cup. I know, I know, humbug. But seriously people - sausage packaged to look like soccer balls? FIFA soccer ball shaped cereal?