So, I thought it would be cool to do a post during Fall Fest, about Fall Fest. That’d be an awful novel, wouldn’t it? As it turns out, Fall Fest kicked my butt, and now I’m writing a post whining about it.Fall Fest, for those who don’t know, is defined by the BetheLingo page on the Bethel website as “An annual festival on campus that features music and theater performances, ethnic foods, craft vendors, alumni gatherings and homecoming athletics events.” This Fall Fest was a special one: due to the fact that our beloved Communications prof John M-J is on sabbatical, the “theater performances” were unable to happen. These were replaced by a Jazz Gala on Friday, featuring Jazz I and a quintet featuring guest artists and our own Jimmy Pisano, and the ridiculously named MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA on Saturday and Sunday, featuring just about everybody else in the music department.Essentially, what this all means is that if you were involved in music at all, the only time you were seen outside of your bed and not running from one place to another was the brief time you were actually on stage. Despite the exhausting Iron Man-like conditions of the weekend, I think it quantified all that I love about Bethel. Even at my most miserable, all I had to do was glance over at the circus tent on the Green, or have a brief exchange with a professor about borscht, or (the most common practice) whine, whine, whine to my friends, and a smile was irrepressible. Kind of like how when I’m up ‘til 3 in the morning writing an English Lit paper and running an IV of coffee, nothing will bring joy to my heart like watching Matt Stucky stumble around the Mod in a half-awake daze in an attempt to find the bathroom.
