Professor Peruvian

I am a big, big, big fan of animals. I'm a complete sucker for most of them. Maybe notsomuch for snakes and other things that are the embodiment of evil.

Over the summer I got really, REALLY lonely and came VERY close to adopting a kitty from Petsmart but was thwarted when I found out you have to be 21 to do it. It was a good thing that I couldn't because I do want to wait until I'm settled for a longer period of time than just the next few months to make that kind of a commitment. And in the end it would be a lot of money... adoption fee, start-up stuff, vet bills, $150 pet deposit for my apartment, an additional $30 for rent... it adds up quickly.

I did the fish thing for a while and last summer it worked out REALLY well. Those guys lasted for a good long time. But since then all the fish I've had have been dead within a few weeks. I went through too many fish this summer.

I was still pretty desperate for some sort of animal companionship, but I was done with fish and couldn't afford a cat. So I came up with a happy compromise.

A guinea pig.

It's not small and creepy like a hamster; it's not going to die in two weeks like a fish; it's not a massive financial commitment like a cat or dog. It's a cuddly cage pet and the perfect solution.

My grandma was in town this weekend and she was nice enough to spring for the piggy and I bought his cage and set-up things and my roommate bought him some extra fun stuff. So far we're both thrilled. He's still adjusting so he's a bit nervous still, but he's very friendly when we hold him and makes adorable little squealy noises.

We named him Professor Peruvian. Someone (my grandma, I think) tossed out the name Professor which kind of stuck, and then we added Peruvian because guinea pigs are native of Peru. Though, we should probably call him Professor PeesALot since he likes to take a leak in my roommate's lap.

Pelican Festival

I have more mascot experience than I care to admit. My first job was at Chick-Fil-A back home in Colorado and one night I had to dress up as the CFA cow and do the chicken dance during half-time at the Colorado Nuggets basketball game.

Then, if you're a frequent reader (and you're probably not unless you're my parents, my friend Ryan, my boss, or the mysterious person at Meredith who has been hitting a lot lately... shout out to you all) you'll recall my Curious George experience. in 2007 I had to dress up as Curious George at the Blank Park Zoo during their Halloween event and that was all sorts of interesting.

A few weeks ago was the Pelican Festival at Jester Park Lodge. Evidently, pelican migration starts in late summer and early fall and hundreds and thousands of pelicans come to rest at the massive Saylorville Lake. So people come and gather and watch pelicans and learn some stuff.

I volunteered to help through my internship at the DNR. So I got there and was told that they needed me to be the pelican greeter, Scoop. Scoop, as it turns out, is this massive pelican costume that's just all sorts of ridiculous. Thankfully, by this point in my mascot career, I'm experienced enough and didn't need help getting into the costume.

So I dressed up as a massive pelican and I'm walking the best way I know how with toddlers on my ankles. Meanwhile other toddlers were shrieking at the sight of me.

Although, one very cool thing happened. A little boy pointed right at me and said "bird!" And his parents started freaking out because that was his first word. It was pretty special to share that moment.

And, because I evidently have no problem further making public my already public humiliation, I'm putting in a picture.

1/3 over

I realized recently that this semester is already 1/3 over. Granted that means I have about 5 weeks under my belt, but when you're feeling like things have just gotten started, thinking of it like that is really kind of shocking.

But things have just been so slow lately. I keep telling myself not to complain, but I can't help it. For instance, my magazine capstone... we're still making important decisions and only yesterday got actual writing assignments. But the book has to be to the printer BEFORE Thanksgiving break. Holy heck.

So I'm sure it'll all hit the fan here pretty soon and I won't be able to keep up with hardly anything. It's the calm before the storm, I suppose.

This week I also had my first entomology exam and that was weird. I don't remember the last time I ever really had an exam. Considering that I haven't had any sort of biology class since literally freshman year of high school and therefore am at a considerable disadvantage compared to the other students who are grounded quite well in the basics of things like biodiversity, morphology and evolution, I think it went fairly well. I can tell I generally know the info, but there were definitely some holes in my explanation of things. That doesn't change the fact that I love the class and the professor is one of the greatest I've ever had. Seriously. Keith Summerville. If he teaches it, take it.

In a couple of weeks the classes for next semester will be posted already and my roommate and I are both extremely excited. Generally I feel like we're both not terribly thrilled with classes this semester and getting to pick out new ones is really exciting. It's particularly exciting for me because I only have to pick 4 of them (yay for a 12-credit semester!) and it'll be my LAST. TIME. PICKING. Holy heck. It's crazy.

Senior Year

So it begins. Senior year. I'm mostly excited, although I admit things are going kind of slowly, which I'm not really used to. Not as far as school goes, anyway. But I should enjoy it while I can because I'm sure soon enough I'll barely be able to keep my head above water. Not that that's a bad thing. I enjoy that sort of challenge. So here's the class break down:

1. J122 Magazine Capstone. This is it. My last journalism class at Drake. And probably ever. Kind of boggles my mind, really. Each magazine class does their capstone project, which is an issue of 515 magazine. They do everything from start to finish. Content, design, advertising, web presence, editing... you name it. We recently had to interview for staff positions and I should hear about which position I've been offered tomorrow. The class is taught by Lori Blachford who is all kinds of amazing. I'd take anything if she taught it. She's knowledgeable and funny and generally just a great person to have in class.

2. Personal Finance. Eh. It's not as bad as it could be so far, which is good. And it's all important info to have. Budgeting and financial goals and all this business. Although, it may be presumptuous of me to assume I'll have an income to manage after graduation. Lol. But it's ok. And the professor's name is Daffodil, so what could go wrong?

3. Creative Non-fiction. I seem to be in that class with largely non-English major underclassmen. In fact, most of them seem to be pre-pharm. So that's different. Not bad, though. I enjoy creative writing and the stuff we've had to read so far is really engaging. Actually, probably some of the best I've read in college.

4. American Lit. It's an upper-level so this class has a lot of English majors and honor students and whatnot. The stuff we have to read is also fairly easy to move through, comparatively speaking. And I've had this professor before last semester and my first semester as a freshman for my FYS class. So we go way back. He's brilliant and funny, though I'm not sure he always means to be.

5. Entomology. A non-required science class. Amazing, right? Entomology is the study of insects and even though I'm the only non-science major in the class (lots of environmental science, pharm and pre-pharm, biology and chemistry), I seem to be keeping up fairly well. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Weber, my seventh grade science teacher, for teaching me what a phylum is. We get to go collect bugs and then identify them and all sorts of cool stuff. It's good to get a break from writing and challenge a different part of my brain.

Considering it's senior year, I'm not feeling anxious like I was expecting to. I'm not worried about finding a job after graduation. I'm smart and bold, I've gained a lot of valuable experience in not a lot of time, and I'm good at my job. And I've largely come to terms with the fact that it's not likely that I'll be working in publishing after I graduate. But that doesn't mean I won't be working. I'm good at the alphabet so I can file like nobody's business. And if that's what I have to do to pay my rent for a while before I can sneak in to the magazine business somewhere, then alrighty. There's no shame in it.