Lovin' me some Pirates ... SPOILER ALERT!

If you haven't seen Pirates III and plan to, stop reading! I'm just going to spill all of its secrets!!!

Nobody makes a life of piracy look so glamorous (or as sexy) as Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly. Most reviews I read expressed major disappointments in the third installment of the swashbuckling trilogy. Each critic gave the flick mediocre ratings at best. But, one in particular pointed out something crucial to the imminent success of Pirates III -- who cares? And he's absolutely right. It could have had no consistent plot and fans would go out in droves just to see it and Jerry Bruckheimer could just roll around in his millions.

Personally, I felt Pirates deserved a higher rating than a mere C+. Maybe I was distracted from its lack of cinematic value by all the Captain Jack's running around the screen when the real Sparrow was hallucinating, but still, I found myself entertained for the better part of three hours, and isn't that really the goal?

I agree with the assessment that the plot got a little TOO tricky in parts -- Why did the Singapore dude hate Jack again? And good luck figuring out who is on whose side... And I would have loved to see more Keith Richards who is subtly portrayed as, not only the keeper of the Pirate Code, but also Jack's father.

I have to say that I thought that Kiera Knightly's character, Elizabeth Swann, was absolutely incredible. She was fantastic as a strong, independent woman who is clearly in a man's world. But she doesn't merely exist in the man's world, she dominates it as the Pirate King and it is ultimately her to inspires the hopeless pirates to band together to fight the evil tyranny of the East India Trading Company and defend piracy (which clearly symbolizes freedom). That speech she gave on the boat before the final battle scene wasn't unlike that of Aragorn in the final Lord of the Rings movie, I felt. I love where the writers went with that character.

And I can't believe I've gone this long without mentioning Depp's performance. Captain Jack is a rock star (which is not to play off that whole thing where Captain Jack is based off Keith Richards). He's this wild, bad, manipulative being that I can't help but love because he's also witty, endearing, utterly brilliant and ultimately, very honorable. And that's not to mention the fact that I love the loser. In the end it is Jack who is left without anything or anybody but Gibbs and his pirate wenches (both of whom he manages to alienate in the final moments of the film).

FINALLY!! Orlando Bloom's Will Turner is not such a pretty boy goody-goody. Well, I mean... he his, but he's not. He finally comes into his own as a pirate which was so rewarding. I must say I had quite the scare when Davy Jones stabbed him. I was really, really shocked and I didn't realize that he could come back to life after Jack forced his hand to stab Jones' heart. But, let me tell you, that moment when the Flying Dutchman popped out of the water with an incredibly hot (for once) Orlando Bloom at the helm, shirt slightly open to show the scar from his heart being carved out, I was so relieved. He was able to keep his promise to his father, which I thought was a lost cause. Although, not being able to be with his new wife except for one day every ten years? That might cause problems.

But I loved where they showed Will and Elizabeth together for that one day to start a ten-year period of separation. That was probably the perfect amount of romance. Although, I didn't find it nearly as romantic as their marriage that was performed mid-confrontation with the EITC.

Overall, I loved it. I thought it was better and darker than the second movie. But, like I said, it doesn't matter if it's any good... because you'll see it anyway. Probably twice.

Summer blooms

I love flowers. If there's a weed in the yard that has flowers on it, I won't pull it just because it has flowers on it. Sunflowers are technically weeds, I guess. We've never planted sunflowers in our yard, but we always end up with them. And who in their right mind is going to pull sunflowers up? Psht... not me! What I partiularly love to do is take pictures of flowers. I can go out with my camera and spend a couple of hours outdoors finding little flowers all over the place.

Check out some of the pics!


The columbine, the Colorado state flower

On Your High School Graduation

In high school, I became immediately attached to the graduating classes of 2005 and 2007. And that makes sense, I guess. I spent three years with each class so I got to know those kids pretty well. 2005 left me, then it was my turn, and now it is your turn, 2007. Because I love ya' I've decided to offer you some wisdom -- some tied and true and some a little bit more offbeat.

First of all, establish a meeting place with your parents and friends so you can find each other and take pictures after the graduation ceremony. Stadiums and such are much larger than they looks and everybody is dressed alike, which hardly helps matters. I remember that I didn't find ANY of my friends afterwards; NO faculty members, and I couldn't even find my family until most of the others had left. It was kind of funny. I really had a laugh about it. Especially when it started raining. I felt like I was in Disney World and I stopped for a second to get a look at Mickey Mouse and when I turned around again my parents were gone. That's actually never happened, but I'm pretty sure something like that happened on Full House once.

Don't try to find people in the crowd when you're on the stage. If you know where they are BEFORE you're up there, fine... go ahead and look their direction and smile at them or whatever. I didn't know where anybody was and I stayed on the stage a bit too long looking for my family and friends. It's impossible. Just look out at the crowd as a whole and move on -- the principal is waiting for you.

Oh, and be careful of bird poop if you're outside. You wouldn't believe how many birds sit up in those rafters. The picture of the graduating class at the beginning of the ceremony showed a sea of blue hats -- afterwards, it was a sea of blue and white hats. But I guess you'll never be wearing it again, anyway -- that's your younger siblings' problem.

That's enough about graduation... Graduation is simultaneously the end of your old journey and the start of a new one. It's the transition between something old and familiar into something knew and unknown. And that's the part where these next pieces of advice come in -- the unknown.

When you scamper off to college and decided that you're going to eat a waffle with strawberry topping and ice cream on it everyday for breakfast, don't be surprised when your favorite pair of jeans doesn't fit any more.

When you go to the bathroom, put your phone in your front pocket. Actually, this doesn't just apply to college -- always have your phone in your front pocket. If this isn't a habit already, make it one.

Oatmeal is NOT portable. At all. I don't care if it's in a dandy little cup -- it's still not portable.

Bring things from your room at home that will make you feel comfortable -- stuffed animal, pillows, certain photos. These are good things to have, but you'll find that you won't need them after long.

Save your quarters when you get change for something. If you want a soda from the machine, use dimes and nickels. NEVER SPEND A QUARTER ON ANYTHING... unless, of course, it's laundry. Start looking under the couch cushions and collecting those quarters this summer!

On that topic, jeans are good for about six days before needing a good wash -- or until your room smells like a hamper, whichever comes first.

One word... FEBREEZE.

I don't even remember what my ID was for in high school, but the college ID is nothing you want to loose.

Bring an extra set of sheets.

Subscribe to a magazine just so you can get mail.

AIM, iChat, and E-mail... they're available, so use them for cryin' out loud. Not EVERYBODY from back home will be at school with you.

3M! 3M! 3M!! I love these people and their special little hooks and removable adhesive dealies. You should use these and masking tape ONLY. Those little foam adhesives WILL NOT come off of your wall. Can you say dorm damage?

Don't live with your best friend; don't take someone else's food. DO take chances, DO explore.

And ENJOY THIS SUMMER YOU HAVE WITH EVERYBODY TOGETHER!

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be at your back, and may those pesky birds in the rafters not poop on your cap.

Happy graduation, 2007! May you be filled with both pomp and circumstance.

On Roommates -- Skip the BFF and Honesty is the Best Policy

No matter where you plan on going next year, you will receive your housing contract sometime this summer. This will also include some personal information that you'll be required to fill out in order for the residence life people to put you with the best possible roommate. This is crucial as this will basically decided whom you'll be living with for the next nine months of your life.

First of all, DO NOT room with your best friend. DON'T DO IT. My best friend and I ended up at Drake together and originally planned on rooming together but eventually decided not to. As luck would have it, we ended up right next to each other. I'm so happy that we didn't live together. And I bet she is, too. You see, just because you're friends with someone doesn't necessarily mean you'll make good roommates. I don't know what it is, but there's some sort of "X factor" that successful roommates have that might not always be found in your closest friends.

Plus, rooming with someone you've known for a while will automatically isolate you. Generally, you won't be tempted to go out and meet people because you'll already have a friend with you and, therefore, don't feel the need to meet others like many of the other kids do. This is especially true if you decide to go to school out of state. I have a feeling that if my best friend and I roomed together, we would have stuck to ourselves and would have become the "Colorado Girls" on our floor. And neither of us wanted that. I'm glad I had her so close, though and knowing that she was there definitely helped my transition to college.

And can you imagine if you got into a big fight? Maybe she left chip crumbs on the futon AGAIN and you can't stand that. Suddenly, you're shouting at one another, and then you're not speaking at all. Then, sooner than you can say "it's over," your friendship is completely destroyed. You really don't want to risk that.

Once you and your BFF have decided to kick it in different rooms, fill out your personal information COMPLETELY AND HONESTLY. Maybe you smoke, but your parents don't know you smoke, so you write that you're a "non-smoker" on your form, just so they don't find out. Then you run the risk of getting placed with someone who requested a non-smoking roommate and causing immediate problems. Maybe you're embarrassed to admit that you're kind of a slob, and write that you're a neat freak instead -- that will cause problems, too. If you're honest, you'll end up with someone who is compatible with you. Granted, you might not be best friends, but getting along and respecting one another is crucial. Plus, you really don't want to deal with the drama of having a roommate that's the polar opposite from yourself. That will cause unnecessary stress during what is supposed to be one of the best years of your life.

Design on a Dime

Since I'm going to be an RA in the fall, I will be living in a room considerably smaller than the one I just moved out of. As such, creative storage solutions are going to be more important than ever. When my mom came up to Des Moines to help move me out, we decided to take some measurements of my RA's room since it would be mine after the summer was over. We wanted to know how much room we had to work with so we could plan any additional furniture accordingly.

First my mom made a drawing, to scale of course, of the whole room. Then she made small cutouts, to scale, of all of the furniture in the room so we could rearrange the room on paper.

We came up with an arrangement that we liked and then we went shopping.

But we didn't go to a store -- we went garage sale-ing all over the neighborhood. And, friends, let me tell you, that's the way to do it.

For less than twenty five dollars my mom and I snagged a small white shelf ($2) to use at a night stand, a gliding chair ($15 complete with ottoman), a full-length mirror ($.50), some wire shelves ($1), a tray table of sorts ($3), and a collapsible card/picnic table ($1).

Some of this stuff needs a wee bit of work, of course. For example, the chair is covered in a dark green fabric, which won't match my room at all, so I'll probably buy a flat sheet or something to cover that. And the mirror is an ugly brown color, but I can use the money I saved by buying it at a garage sale to buy some paint to make it pretty. And the shelf is a little dirty so we'll have to wash it.

Sometimes you just have to know how to look for things. And, yeah, a lot of stuff you'll find will need some improvements, but I think it's worth it for the amount of money you save.

I'll take some pictures for you later.

I Go Back

My RA told me that I shouldn't go back to visit high school. Actually, a lot of upperclassmen I came to know said that. Everybody said that in your head you're expecting it to be your triumphant return to your stomping grounds and you'll be welcomed back like a hero, but it actually just ends up being awkward.

Despite this advice, I couldn't not go back -- not after only one year away. There were people there I had to see and had to talk to and had to catch up with.

And, yes -- it was awkward, very awkward.

It wasn't so much the catching up part that was awkward because being with the people I've known for so long was great. I really enjoyed it. But walking down those halls again was weird. It didn't feel like home any more at all. It felt like I was a visitor, mainly because I was one, and being in that high school atmosphere was almost scary. I felt strange and self-conscious among the very same mass of students that I used to be a part of. But it really made me feel good after thinking about it because it means I've grown up and moved on (and much more quickly that I thought I would when I was graduating). And that was really reassuring after a while. The people there and the lessons I learned in high school are very much still a part of me, but the building is not. And I think that's the way it should be.

But, like I said getting to see the people that I haven't seen in months was great. I saw them every day my senior year and I took that for granted. And then, suddenly I was five hundred miles away from everybody and I didn't realize that I missed them so much until I came home.

Everybody I talked to, naturally, asked me about my first year of college and if I love it and all that stuff. And I don't know if it was the contrast between being in that high school setting and talking about college, but after talking to so many people I really walked away with the feeling that I absolutely loved my first year at Drake. And I knew that before, obviously, but after talking to everybody it became so much more apparent, I think.

My parents say that I would have loved college no matter where I went, though. And for the most part I agree with them. They say that I made the most of my time there and that's why it was such a successful year. But, I think the programs and people at Drake really played a large part. I feel like I did a lot of growing up in not a lot of time and I certainly have Drake to thank for that. Sometimes smaller schools are overlooked for larger ones, but they really offer some great opportunities that I honestly don't feel that I would have had at a larger public college.

One down, three to go

I'm the most hated person on campus. Why? Because I'm sitting here at home and have been for almost a full 24 hours. AND because I didn't have any finals at all. It's pretty sweet. But, people hear that and they're like "ugh! Lucky!" Yeah, it's lucky but it's not like I didn't have anything to do. As a journalism/English major I had a lot of stuff to write. I think I ended up printing over thirty pages worth of papers and whatnot. That's a lot. So, yes... having papers are nice because as soon as you're done, you're free to go. But, at the same time it really depends on your preference. Personally, I can write pretty decent papers quickly, but others prefer to take tests. I'm a terrible tester generally.

Anyway, I can't believe that the year is over! It went so quickly! They say your freshman year goes the fastest and so far it is the fastest since I have nothing to compare it to. But it's so weird to think about how I was feeling in August and all of the anxieties I had.

All of that left me so quickly.

I think it helped that I had a group of kids on my floor who I eventually became friends with who were going through exactly the same things. They didn't know what to expect or what to do, either and we figured it out together. And it was probably scary at the time, but looking back on it, it was fun and it really bonded us together like nothing else did.

I was worried about just surviving my first year away from home, but I did more than just get by -- I really did well.

I was a photographer for the campus paper and took pictures of Michael J. Fox, Ben and Jerry, and Bob Costas.
I landed a job writing these blogs.
I was hired to be an RA.
I joined APO, received the Omega Award for service, won the Pledge of the Year award for my pledge class, and was recently appointed the APO secretary.
I was inducted into the NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary) at a banquet I never got an invitation to.
I dug through the garbage to find things that could be recycled.
I was the Student of the Month in February.

That's not a bad resume for my first year, huh? Now comes the hard part... finding a summer job. People who will only be around for three months are nigh unemployable...