I always knew that Columbia was pretentious. It drove me crazy when I went to school there. But it becomes even more glaringly obvious when you look at it as an outsider.

I had to teach a series of workshops last night, which is different than my usual setup. in the past, I would teach 1 workshop a night and be in and out before you know it. Painless. Quick. No need to see people. But I had no such luck last night. I am now doing "double-hearder" workshops; one from 4 - 6 and another from 6:30 - 8:30. I had a half hour break in between and headed over to the cafeteria to grab a snack. Just on the way there (less than a block), I overheard two conversations that made me want to bludgeon people. In the cafeteria, kids were sprawled out at tables with items purposely placed on the table for maximum coolness; The Onion, an iPod, cigarettes, a book that looks intellectual that they definitely are NOT reading.

The real kicker came when I went to pick up my car. There is a hierarchy of loathsome people at Columbia, and at the very top of the list are Dance & Music majors. If I had a dollar for every time I saw some snothole in the hallway stretching at Columbia, I would have enough money to buy myself a nice meal at Blackbird. But Music majors....dammmmm. You get one of those that is a real attention hog and you are in for a treat. So I am waiting for my car and there is a girl sitting on the bench next to me. And she starts singing opera. FUCKING OPERA. IN A PARKING GARAGE.

I was so embarrassed for her. And it reminded me why Columbia drove me fucking mad. Don't get me wrong; it's a great school and I got a great education... But it would be much better without all the other students.