Yale is ...

When I was visiting my nephews, who are 4 and 6, the younger one mentioned a few times that Yale was my school. Then when we were watching one of his favorite films, "Lady and the Tramp," he said something to the effect of, "Uncle John, the part with your school is coming up!" He was referring to a scene where a Yale penant gets hung on a wall. (Incidentally, this nephew just turned 4 ... I sorta can't believe how brilliant he is sometimes).

He seemed to get a kick out of the fact that I, like he, went to school. But what school do I go to? You can see for yourself what Google suggests. I have my own thoughts.

Yale is ...

1. Ancient. It was founded in 1701, making it the country's third-oldest college behind Harvard and William & Mary. That means if I had entered as a freshman in its first year, I would be 327 years old, which would make me the oldest living person, and probably one of the ugliest.

2. Attractive, in both architecture and student body. Some of the buildings, like Kroon Hall, and on-campus streets, like Hillhouse Avenue, are breathtaking. And so are some of the Abercrombie models running around with backpacks.

3. Well off. Yale has a $22.6 billion endowment. An endowment consists of donated money that the university invests and uses for capital expenditures and annual operations. I am not quite as well endowed.

4. In New Haven. Nobody's perfect, I suppose.

5. The wackness. Not sure what that is, but Google says so, and it sounds true enough.