Last year, at UC Davis’s alumni Picnic Day, I didn’t get a chance to make maggot art because there were too many kids in line and eventually the activity closed.  This year I kicked all the kids out of the way and got my turn.

Actually, there wasn’t any line so I just walked right up.  But I was prepared to kick the kids out of the way, and that’s what counts.  The maggot art supervisor said, “Would you like to start with blue?” And I looked at the maggot held between his forceps and took its measure: it definitely had an artistic temperament, and it was clearly undergoing its blue period.  So I said “Yes please,” and then he dumped the maggot in a tiny paper cup full of blue paint, and then I took the maggot out with my own forceps and started him running along a sheet of white paper.  Then I dumped him in red and yellow, and a few minutes later I had a piece of maggot art.

I got very excited about it and my friend Su said “You’re just like a kid.” But no.  My art was much better than all the kids around us; it showed more maturity and perspective, conveying the weight of my relative age and experience.  I think you can see what I mean:

I’m calling it “Humanity.”

Speaking of kids, I also took the opportunity at Picnic Day to get a read on what the kids are wearing these days. There was definitely a trend: college girls wore T-shirts with phrases like

FREE HUGS

and

KISS ME, I’M SINGLE

All of which leads me to conclude that the kids today are more relaxed and upbeat. When I was in school?  The shirts were more like I’M PACKING MACE and EVEN IF IT’S CONSENSUAL, IT ACTUALLY ISN’T.