In Class Assignment at SMU

Remember the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus?" Well, here's a prime example offered by an English professor at Southern Methodist University:
In-class Assignment for Wednesday:
Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple.  Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his other immediate right.  One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story.  The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.  Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached. The following was actually turned in by two of my  English students, Rebecca and Gary. "
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator.  "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off, a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth  -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully. Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Au'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow'em out of the sky!" This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent. Yeah?  Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
Asshole.
Bitch.

Great Job

A guy came home to his wife and said to her, "Guess what? I've found a great job. A 10 AM start, 2 PM finish, no overtime, no weekends and it pays $600 a week!" "That's great," his wife said. "Yeah, I thought so too," he agreed. "You start on Monday."

Lifestyles of Men and Women

Women's Lifestyles Through the Ages
AGE... DRINK -

• 17: Winecoolers
• 25: White wine
• 35: Red wine
• 48: Dom Perignon
• 66: Shot of Jack with an Ensure chaser

EXCUSES FOR REFUSING DATES -

• 17: Need to wash my hair
• 25: Need to wash and condition my hair
• 35: Need to color my hair
• 48: Need to have Francois color my hair
• 66: Need to have Francois color my wig

FAVORITE SPORT -

• 17: shopping
• 25: shopping
• 35: shopping
• 48: shopping
• 66: shopping

FAVORITE DRUG -

• 17: shopping
• 25: shopping
• 35: shopping
• 48: shopping
• 66: shopping

DEFINITION OF A SUCCESSFUL DATE -

• 17: "Burger King"
• 25: "Free meal"
• 35: "A diamond"
• 48: "A bigger diamond"
• 66: "Home Alone"

FAVORITE FANTASY -

• 17: tall, dark and handsome
• 25: tall, dark and handsome with money
• 35: tall, dark and handsome with money and a brain
• 48: a man with hair
• 66: a man

HOUSE PET -

• 17: Muffy the cat
• 25: Unemployed boyfriend and Muffy the Cat
• 35: Irish setter and Muffy the Cat
• 48: Children from his first marriage and Muffy theCat
• 66: Retired husband who dabbles in taxidermy and stuffs Muffy the Cat

WHAT'S THE IDEAL AGE TO GET MARRIED?

• 17: 17
• 25: 25
• 35: 35
• 48: 48
• 66: 66

IDEAL DATE -

• 17: He offers to pay
• 25: He pays
• 35: He cooks breakfast the next morning
• 48: He cooks breakfast the next morning for the kids
• 66: He can chew breakfast

 
Men's Lifestyles Through the Ages
DRINK -

• 17: Beer
• 25: Beer
• 35: Scotch
• 48: Double scotch
• 66: Maalox

SEDUCTION LINE -

• 17: My parents are away for the weekend.
• 25: My girlfriend is away for the weekend.
• 35: My fiancee is away for the weekend.
• 48: My wife is away for the weekend.
• 66: My second wife is dead.

FAVORITE SPORT -

• 17: Sex
• 25: Sex
• 35: Sex
• 48: Sex
• 66: Napping

FAVORITE DRUG -

• 17: Pot
• 25: Cocaine
• 35: Really good cocaine
• 48: Power
• 66: Advil

DEFINITION OF A SUCCESSFUL DATE -

• 17: Cop a feel
• 25: Breakfast
• 35: She didn't set back my therapy
• 48: I didn't bump into her kids.
• 66: An actual erection

FAVORITE FANTASY -

• 17: Thirdbase
• 25: Airplane sex
• 35: Menage a trois
• 48: Taking her company public
• 66: Swiss maid and/or Nazi love slave

HOUSE PET -

• 17: Roaches (to be burned later)
• 25: Old college roommate
• 35: Irish setter
• 48: Children from her first marriage
• 66: Barbi

THE IDEAL AGE TO GET MARRIED -

• 17: 25
• 25: 35
• 35: 48
• 48: 66
• 66: 17

IDEAL DATE -

• 17: Triple Stephen King feature at a drive-in
• 25: Split the check before we go back to my place
• 35: Just come over
• 48: Just come over and cook
• 66: Sex in the company jet on the way to Vegas to see Frank