Since Diane (Reefswimmer) so nicely asked--and since every writer loves to be begged, I shall now blather on about my 21-year-old daughter's observations.  I've got Lie to Me cued up and ready to offer some mindless entertainment for the rest of the night (while I pretend to myself that I am actually learning critical lessons in reading facial expressions.). 

So, let's just go right down the list.  (I'm not filtering...YOU decide what's worth thinking about.:-)

Silly bandz...yup,even the college students love those little animal-shaped wrist bands now.  

Vanilla vodka (and other flavored vodka drinks).  The drinking rite of passage is now vanilla-flavored, it would appear.  They have so much more flair than I did, drinking grain alcohol and nuclear-waste-looking lime kool aid out of a 20-oz. plastic cup.

Hookahs with apple tobacco.  (I know, the hookah resurgence is not new--but I still find the communal aspect and the summertime popularity interesting.)

Tattoo removal.  Yes, those girls who got the tramp stamps the summer before college are already looking to have them removed.  Well, some of those girls, at least.  As the term "tramp stamp" would suggest, they have come to connote a certain trashiness.  The butterfly RIGHT THERE is neither original nor endearing.  Besides (and this you moms might want to be aware of), when these young women give birth, that tattoo is right where the epidural gets inserted.  Did you know that the ink can be dislodged when the epidural goes in--releasing toxins into the bloodstream at a very, very bad time?

Ditching scary, stalking boyfriends.  The girl who was recently murdered by her boyfriend at UVA was an acquaintance of my daughter's.  Too horrible for words....And her fate (as well as her appearance on the cover of People) has triggered quite a lot of discussion about the ex boyfriend who just won't go away.  You know what?  I just have to say this...the whole "get your ex back" niche makes me queasy.  I think there's a wide-open niche for getting your ex to stay FAR FAR away.  Through restraining orders if necessary.  There.  I feel better now. 

Time to go watch Lie to Me, so that I can further educate myself warn all of my daughter's girlfriends when they've got a real creeper on their hands.

Oh, I guess we've got one more niche there.  Reading nonverbal cues for dummies.