Wanna crankie?

(see Kari's post for photos)

Let's shake this campus up a little more often. If there was a common thread in the reactions Kari and I experienced to our crankies on Monday, it was an uncertainty as to how to respond. The exhausting St. Olaf psyche is this constant need to always be in control, to know the right answer, to do the right thing. So what do you do when two girls walk up to you with these wooden box contraptions strapped on like washboards, one looking like she walked out of a kindergarten class and the other one any mother's worst nightmare?

Kari and I didn't plan for our crankies to offer stark contrast to one another but as chance (and personality) would have it, they did. It was interesting to play with how we presented our crankies and with the different variations, which reactions ensued. With both of us cranking at the same time, heads bounced back and forth, sometimes lingering on one rather than the other as something caught their eye. Looks ran the spectrum from delight to horror to "aw cute" to disbelief. Were we to do it again, Kari and I thought it would be interesting to mix a playlist bouncing back and forth between songs that matched with our cranky styles, playing with having our cranky performances match up with each song, and then other time performing our cranky to the others song type.

Our experience in the theatre building was by far a highlight of the hour. Before we had even walked into the office, the sound of loud, obscene music had caused a staff member to make an assumption and formulate an opinion before even knowing what was going on. Why shouldn't we blast music every once and a while during the work day? Did you notice how quiet Thompson Hall was as we congregated? The Reference Room is designated the "quiet" room for a reason - so that we can engage in conversation and activity on the rest of campus. Let's crank it up.