A Cold Hearted Office Quickie-the beginning of a love affair with art:

At 4:50 one Friday afternoon, the registrar of my then-new college rushed me to my counselor's door. The woman inside was curt, and her eyes flickered from my pen to the clock above my head as I wrote in my scheduling preferences.

"What can I do here?" I asked.

"That's an elective. You can do whatever you want. Just... pick something. I'll be back in a minute."

Bitch.

She returned approximately 37 seconds later with her coat on, keys jingling in hand.

I scanned the pages as quickly as I could. "Uuuuh, maybe ceramics would..."

"Okay, no problem. You'll receive your schedule in the mail in 7-10 business days."