[Leica] OT, but joyful: saloon keeper's daughter graduates

[philippe.amard at sfr.fr (Philippe Amard)]

  :-)
;-)
:-D
Phx


Brian Reid wrote:

> Day before yesterday I was part of an intimate little crowd of 11,000 
> people who sat in plastic folding chairs under constant threat of rain 
> next to the Charles River while about 2000 people were conferred with 
> degrees at MIT. My youngest child, Elizabeth, who is a member of the 
> LUG but has been too busy being a student to participate much this 
> year, was awarded a Master's in Electrical Engineering and Computer 
> Science. Her cap was attached to her hair with so many bobby pins that 
> she needed her sister's help to get it off her head afterwards. (Last 
> year at her BS graduation, the wind blew her cap off just as the 
> official photographer snapped the official picture).
>
> I only got to the ceremony 2 hours before it started, so I was seated 
> so far back that I couldn't see the stage. I did manage to get off a 
> photograph of the Jumbotron video screen while it was showing a 
> smiling Elizabeth, but I forgot that Jumbotrons are interlaced and set 
> the shutter speed too high, so the picture is a little odd. But she 
> showed me the diploma afterwards as proof that she really was up there 
> when they called out her name.
>
> Elizabeth's sister (Vanessa) and I did some stopwatch work during the 
> graduation ceremony, and we determined that they were reading the 
> names of, and finding diplomas for, and sending across the stage, 32 
> graduates per minute. If you are not astonished by that number, why 
> don't you find a list of 32 names from 20 countries and try reading 
> them out loud and see how long it takes you.  At least 2 of the test 
> names must have more than 12 syllables. You get no credit unless you 
> pronounce them all correctly. Rehearsing is permitted.
>
> I didn't get any pictures because I didn't really want pictures of the 
> backs of the heads of other students' parents, and I was there to 
> jubilate and not to photograph. So I bought package C-7 from the 
> official event photographer, which will include a TIFF with right to 
> print for family use.
>
> She's not flying home with me today because she's got a wedding to 
> shoot next weekend here in Boston; then she'll fly home, soon to start 
> an actual job in Cupertino, California.
>
> Thanks for listening. I'll probably stop smiling in a few weeks, but 
> next year Elizabeth's sister will graduate from law school and I get 
> to do it again.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>