When I first attended the local community college three years ago, I got stuck in an Intro to the Internet class. It was a terrible three-hour torture session every Monday night, and it was easily the worst class I have ever taken in my entire life. Except maybe speech. Or any P.E. class ever.

Point being, I hated it.

By the time Halloween rolled around that semester, I was about ready to transfer to the Intro to Murder class. Instead, I wrote this entry on LiveJournal:

I am sitting in my "Intro to the Internet" class regretting having run over every five-year-old Grim Reaper I passed on the way here. I yearn for death right about now . . .

Tonight's topics include browsers and search engines. So far, we have learned how to save an image from a web site to your computer, how to set your home page on IE, how to clear cookies and history, and how to kill your instructor! I mean that in the most loving of ways, really I do.

Oh goody, now we're adding things to our favorites list. Faaascinating.

Break time! Huzzah! HOLY CRAP! AN OOMPA LOOMPA JUST WALKED INTO THE CLASSROOM OUT OF NOWHERE, AND I REALLY REGRET NOT BUYING A CAMERA PHONE! DANG IT!

Oh man, that totally made my night. Of all things that could save me from death, I should've known it would be either a hobbit, a midget, or an oompa loompa . . .

That will go down in history as my favorite community college experience of all time. (If they start offering the Lord of the Rings / Chronicles of Narnia class again, that will be a different story.)

All this to say, I would like to give mad props to the gentleman seen walking across the parking lot the other day who stole away the #2 spot on my favorite moments list at the godforsaken time of 9:30 a.m. I don't usually find anything pleasant in the morning, but this fellow was wearing a top hat that Abe Lincoln would have envied. Just casually strutting across the parking lot, wearing this top hat, this marvelous foot-tall creation of preposterousness, on his beautiful little head. To class. Like he was born to do it.

In one brief moment, I fell in love with the world all over again.

Kids, go to school. It's good for you. Also, wear more hats. It's good for me.