Wacky Walk (Stanford University Commencement) - Stanford, CA [Crazies]

or...

What I Did After My Bachelor Party

(Pictures taken with my Canon Rebel XTi.

Click here to read my entire Bachelor Party Series.)

My bachelor party was on a Friday, and I'm lucky that I didn't have to do anything that Saturday. I don't think I would have been able to handle it. It felt like I had an anvil in my gut and a hammer in my skull. It was quite possible that a Greek warrior goddess was trying to spring, fully formed, from my brow. Thankfully, she gave up after a few hours.



Sunday morning was my sister's graduation from Stanford University. Silver Paladin, whose brother was also graduating, and I managed to find each other in the stands. Pretty impressive, given how large the stadium was. Stanford traditionally has one gigantic commencement with all of its graduates present. Afterwards the students and their families head to separate, smaller ceremonies to receive diplomas from their respective schools within the university.



The highlight of each year's commencement is the "Wacky Walk", a relatively recent Stanford tradition. Instead of filing out in an orderly manner, the students flood the field en masse, demonstrating their creativity and spirit with floats, balloons, sketches, and placards. This year, one group of students came out in a giant caterpillar costume. Another group came out as a giant present, which broke apart into signs with "Thanks, Mom and Dad" written on each one in a different language. There was a bullet train, walking groves of palm trees, and large arrows made from helium-filled balloons that pointed down towards specific students in order to make it easier for their families to spot them.



Particularly amusing were members of the women's softball team, who came out in uniforms and played several impromptu games. Some male students set up a Slip-N-Slide on one end of the field, stripped off their robes to reveal red Speedos (Stanford's colors are red and white), and proceeded to belly surf to the roar of the crowd. Silver Paladin and I were rather taken by several hotties (girls) in red cheerleading outfits. No pictures of them. I'm not going to be one of those guys.



NorCal in June tends to be very hot, and that Sunday was no exception. Before the degrees were awarded, each school had a lunch reception with refreshments. The crowd seemed to appreciate this long row of plastic bins filled with ice, bottled water, and sodas. There were also free water and snack stations set up along the main thoroughfare leading to the different school ceremonies.



Hors devours were also served at the reception. Nothing fancy. Cubes of quiche, sliced sandwich wraps of roast beef or turkey, and vegetarian finger sandwiches with pesto, mozzarella, and tomato. The wraps and finger sandwiches were ok. Typical Costco deli bulk fare. The quiche bites were awful. Dry and tasteless, they were very difficult to swallow. I wasn't actually sure they were supposed to be quiche until I dissected one. I'm still not entirely sure.



The crudités baskets were much better. Then again, it's hard to mess up raw vegetables. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about any of the food, since it was all free. Or as my dad put it, free after $200,000 in tuition. Mmmm... Loved those cherry tomatoes.



I'm going to skip describing the ceremony where my sister got her degree and move straight on to embarrassing her. Here's her getting double-smooched by my happy parents...



... and here's her with her boyfriend (on the left) and a friend (both also Stanford students). Now, I like my sister's boyfriend a lot. He's a nice guy, and I think the two of them are good for each other. But, he is dating my little sister. I used to change her diapers and get her her bottle. Therefore, I've just got to do this.



This is a little something he and some friends cooked up to celebrate her birthday set to David Hasselhoff's "Hooked on a Feelin'". You must must must MUST watch it. The panda commands you!

Congratulations on graduating, sis! We love you and we couldn't be prouder!

PS. Now I'm totally cool with your boyfriend. (^_^)