Low on Monet

postersale.jpgAh, the first week of school. Along with trying to find that tricky room in Classics for Intro to Greek, students are still getting situated in their new digs. The photos of friends and family, the inspirational poster of a man at the top of a snow-capped mountain with “ACHIEVEMENT” stamped in all caps at the bottom, the colorful tapestry hanging over the desk—it’s all good, but there’s still room behind the bed for that perfect decoration.

The solution: the Reynolds Club's annual back-to-school poster sale. In the past, students pretty much bought only art prints, said the woman behind the counter, which was stocked with poster tack to dissuade students from poking holes in dorm walls. Monets are still a popular item, she said, “but now students buy everything.”

“Everything” consists of hundreds of large posters in the $8–$10 range, as well as smaller prints and $1 postcards. Did you become a Megan Fox fan after her recent stint as host of Saturday Night Live? Well you’re in luck: a scantily clad Fox revealing a Superman “S” was on display in multiple spots. Do you wake up in a cold sweat on Sunday nights wondering what’s going to happen with Chuck and Blair? Hang the Gossip Girl cast on your wall to watch over you while you sleep. For the spiritually inclined, the sale offered a selection of posters featuring the Dalai Lama’s nuggets of wisdom, like "We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves." And there was no shortage of famous artworks.

The friend I was with, a fourth-year English PhD student, pointed out the “Procrastinator’s Creed,” a list of rules by which all procrastinators should abide (starting tomorrow). “That’s perfect for you,” he said, before picking out the Gustave Doré drawing “Don Quixote in His Library” to hang in his new apartment.

The sale runs through tomorrow, October 2, from 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Ruth E. Kott, AM'07

October 1, 2009