This will be the last of my introductory paragraphs. I've realized that they serve no purpose but to be introductory. And who needs one? You all know what this is about. Questions. Answers. Big whoop.
Dear Norma,
A certain male friend of ours--we'll call him Joe--recently revealed to us his nefarious scheme for scamming on women. We feel obliged to warn our sisters about Joe's crafty strategies. Get this, Norma: he tries to pick up women by asking them for advice on wooing other damsels. Sometimes he tries this on several women at the same party. Heaven forbid that any innocent lamb should be caught in this social wolf's paws. We'd like to warn our fellow Cliffies, but don't know how. Oh, Norma, fount of all wisdom, guide us. Appalled in Adams
Dear Appalled,
Thank you for writing about this important and dire issue. He's so tacky! I hope you take my advice, which I have mulled over for hours and hours. There are several ways you could inform your "fellow Cliffies" about Joe's disgusting behavior. 1) Take out an advertisement in the Crimson. We have an enormous (but indeterminate) circulations, and you would reach most of your audience eventually by word of mouth. This costs money, however. 2) Put up banners in as many house dining halls as possible explaining Joe's exploits. If you use computer lab paper, this would be free. Very large audience. 3) Make announcements in classrooms. This and the banner methods are strange enough that Crimson News will report it, and you'll get free Crimson advertisement space. Doing both takes a lot of guts, though. 4) Gossip. Cheap, easy and bound to go far. Take at least one of my suggestions...he must be stopped!
Dear Norma,
I am a demon. My self-absorbed, sexist husband just won't let me go. He buried my ashes under the hazelnut tree and hasn't stopped mourning since the Carter administration. Now he's sold his soul to the devil to get an interactive CD-ROM to beam me out of my comfortable one-bedroom in Purgatory. He's such an asshole. What should I say to him when I see him? Should I bring up our earthly marital problems? Should I dress as Helen of Troy? Help me, Norma, what's a girl to do? Perturbed in Pudding Purgatory
Dear Perturbed,
If he's as terrible as you say he is, you should make him regret selling his soul. Tell him everything you've dreamed up saying to him since you died. I'm sure you have some doozies. What else do have to do in Purgatory besides drink, learn how to twitch, and think up bitchy things to say? Make his life hell. You're a demon. It's your job. But whatever you do, don't dress as Helen of Troy.
Dear Norma,
I'm a pre-frosh, and I was wondering if you could help decide which college to attend. I'm choosing between Harvard and Yale. I've made a ranked, weighted pros and cons list and tallied up the score: The schools tied with a score of 15,635.338. I'm so frustrated! What should I do? Help! Perplexed in Pierre, North Dakota
Dear Perplexed,
I feel your pain. I really do. I had to choose between Harvard and the Nashville Auto Diesel College, and it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. I finally allowed the powers of the cosmos (and not my Mom, my significant other or my shrink) to help me.
I found the following spell in Madame Nack-wackyginger's Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo: The Best Spells and How to Cast Them (Random House, $14.95, hardcover):
Halooofubbidonko (or, Dream decision making)
Read more in News
Nobel Laureate and Others Continue Apartheid Sit-Ins