University Application Hell

iPod morning commute music: The Band, The Band (1969)
I really wish I could remember when I first bought this album. My guess would be 1970 or 71. It went hand in hand with my discovering Dylan, which was in the summer of 1969. This remains my favorite album by The Band, though I also have Music from Big Pink (1968) and Rock of Ages (1972) on CD, as well as the box set Across the Great Divide (1994). Still, to understand The Band one only has to listen to this disc. It's a classic.

It seems all vacation that I've been stuck with my son in University Application Hell. Tatsu really wants to go to the University of Oregon, but we can't afford out-of-state tuition, so he has to apply for scholarships. This should not be so difficult, but between tight deadlines which can only be met after other tight deadlines are met is enough to drive one mad. Just one hour after we had his SAT scores sent to the U of O by snail mail, Tatsu discovered they needed to be there by 1/15. Of course, you can't cancel an order, so I had to reorder; the U of O will get them twice. And I don't even want to talk about FAFSA, other than to say that this is the first time in my life I've had my income tax prepared in January!

I suppose many of you reading this (I know of at least a couple who do!) have been through this, but it really took me by surprise. But it's finished now. Tatsu I can relax for a few days, until the next round of applications need to be filed. What a month it has been.