Learning Center Newsletter Logo

September 2002 Issue

Hit Counter

On the Lighter Side

Laugh logoWhat I've Learned at College Reading and Learning Association Conferences 

By Gene Kerstiens
Andragogy Associates
www.sbi4windows.com


Like itinerant alley crap games, CRLA conferences are mobile, moving from site to site every year. Loyally frequenting these gatherings, I seem to have forgotten profound thoughts and theories voiced during scheduled sessions but have managed to overhear spontaneous remarks that are somehow memorable. (My otologist tells me I have peripheral hearing.) I call these utterances "slip talk." They are somewhat more than slips of the tongue. Rather, they are oxymoronic slips of the brain that nevertheless make the point intended. Here are a few.

Heard from an exasperated participant retiring from a San Francisco keynote address: "If Maria Montessori were alive today, she'd turn
over in her grave!"

Remark whispered during a dull session in Portland: "…so we gave the student an  IQ test, and the results were negative."

An exuberant Oakland Conference participant exiting the Museum of Modern Art: "When I get home, I'm going to have a bust made of my daughter's head!"

Tempe: "We're thinking about networking our computers, but we'll jump off that bridge when we get to it!"

San Diego, where the conference site was on the beach: "We have the nicest little cabana; the sea comes right up to the shore!"

Sacramento: "I consider every student as unique, just like everyone else!"

Tucson: "The hospitality suite was crowded last night. Everybody in the room was there."

Hawaii: A participant upon having viewed Wailua Canyon: "Why, it was so deep it took two of us to see the bottom!"

San Diego Zoo: a wife reproaching her husband who had teased an ape: "Of course he's angry; it's only human nature!"

Sacramento: "I just want to live long enough to hear what people say about me when I'm dead."

Reno: "I don't want to go to that restaurant because it's always crowded. That's why nobody goes there."

Seattle: "Half of this test-taking game is ninety percent mental."

Seattle: "We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply don't enroll certain types of students."

Albuquerque: "Our coach is going to turn this team around 360 degrees."

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Questions or comments? Discuss this article with the author or with other readers by clicking here. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Have a  funny to share? Email it to lcn@learningassistance.com

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Main Page

 

Copyright © 1999 -2004 Engineerica Systems, Inc.
Email
webmaster@LearningAssistance.com if you have any questions or comments.
Last Modified: January 13, 2004 10:22:39 AM