Portfolio Review

I'm not from around here. When the time as a teen came to apply to art school, I considered the one in Chicago, the one in Rhode Island and the one in Baltimore. The school in Rhode Island required ten specific application assignments which then became their property. Yeah, right. I sent slides to Chicago and had my mother take me with my live portfolio to interview in Baltimore. The conversation with the admissions officer made my cheeks glow, as did the dim lamps in the lobby of the grand pallazio that the art school's main building mimics. My mother was proud of me and descending the stone stairs to the sidewalk, offered to buy me a sno-cone from the vendor parked out front. The day was warm and as we approached the truck to inspect the colors of syrup the man had on offer, I noted the open National Premium on his counter. "I'd like a beer flavored sno-cone, please.",  I blurted, more to flirt than really wanting one. "Woll, shore.", the hippie in the truck replied, flirting also and dumping the bottle over a ball of shaved ice in a paper cone...My mother dragged me down the street by the armpit without the sno-cone but it was too late. I was in love. Hello, Baltimore!