She works hard for the money, and you could do the same, honey

Originally, I thought that holding down a job my first year at college was impossible. My parents told me not to worry about it since getting adjusted and doing well in school was the most important thing. I just so happens that I stumbled upon my job as a photographer for the paper. I went to the meeting, signed up, and just happened to get a paycheck. And this job found me somehow.

But never did I feel overwhelmed because of work. Ok, maybe I didn't have traditional campus jobs, but they were still commitments that I was obligated to fulfill.

I had more than enough time to get school work done, work work done, and have plenty of extra left over to have fun with friends.

It makes sense, I guess. In high school I was in school 7 consecutive hours a day. At college I'm in class for 3-5 hours total throughout the day, so I have a considerable amount of extra time to hold down a job.

And it's so easy to find a job on campus. You could go the work/study route where Drake sets you up with a job to help you pay tuition or you can just go out and get one for a little extra spending money on the side. You could work pretty much anywhere on campus.

You could work the front desk in the residence halls, check people out at the library, make coffee and smoothies at the coffee shop, work at the bookstore... you name it, you can find it out there. And not only can you find a job, you can find the time to work it.

It's easy to do, and with only about half the class time you had in high school, it's a good way to fill in the free time. I never felt too busy between working and classes. Heck, it's summer vacation and I think I'm busier working the job I have now than I ever was at college.

On Garage Sales

They say that one man's trash is another one's treasure. Personally, I don't see myself being drawn to someone else's rotten banana peel, nor them being attracted to mine. But I guess whoever said that really wasn't referring to discarded fruit bits. They were probably talking about garage sales.

My family and I had a garage sale this weekend and it was generally successful. We got a lot of junk out of the basement and pawned it off on someone else for whatever change they had in their pockets at the time.

My mom also likes to GO garage sale-ing. Nothing makes her day like her quarter find. That is to say that she comes home beaming with pride every time she comes home with a new trinket that cost her a mere 25 cents. Sometimes these finds are books or picture frames or potted plants or something. Over the years the term "quarter find" I think has come to incorporate other things that didn't necessarily cost a quarter, but were simply a great bargain. She's come home with furniture, movies, crafts, candles, you name it -- she finds it and can get a great bargain.

I'll admit, garage sale-ing is fun. I like to look at other people's crap.

I have noticed a few common denominators among garage sales.

The first is Beanie Babies. I find Beanie Babies to be a rather tragic figure. Ten years ago the general public couldn't get enough of them, stores couldn't keep them in stock, and people flocked to McDonalds for Happy Meals when they were giving away those Teeny Beanies. Now, they're tossed in dusty bins and boxes, the "TY" tags that made them so valuable crinkled and chewed on or completely missing, with a sign reading "Beanie Babies $1" beside them. Personally, I don't know who is going to pay $1 for a Beanie Baby. I sold mine for about fifty cents and that seems a bit more reasonable for a piece of the fad that died years ago.

People also put out VHS tapes. VHS??? Who is going to buy that? Maybe someone will buy an unopened one for a quarter and then keep it around for a while and maybe it will become collectable and worth a lot of money or something -- assuming that it doesn't completely deteriorate before that! As soon as you unwrap the tape, it will turn into dust and blow away in the breeze. I have a DVD/VHS player, but that's just to play the movies and tapes I don't have DVDs of just yet. And even those have started to go. They get all staticky and stuff and the sound warps and then you have to REWIND IT WHEN YOU'RE DONE!?!?! No thank you!

Along those same lines I also see a lot of VCRs. I'm reminded of Back to the Future II when Marty is buying the almanac from an antique store and the sales lady says someting to the effect of "if you're interested in the 80s, here's a little number they called 'the dust buster.'" That's exactly what it's like. I feel like going up to customers and being like "If you're interested in obsolete technology, this little number is called a VCR. It plays tapes that are made out of this strange material called film..."

Another thing I find a lot of are aquariums. Some of them are fish aquariums and others are the kind that you keep reptiles in. I don't know why, but nobody who lives around me seems capable of keeping a pet. And if the pet didn't die, it probably escaped in which case getting rid of the tank said reptile lived in is not their biggest problem. Maybe they should make sure good ol' Fluffy the Python isn't making a home in their plumbing system.

Garage sales are fun, though... and if you're in the market for Beanie Babies, VHS tapes, a VCR to play the VHS, or an aquarium or tank, might I suggest you stop at a garage sale first. Those quarter finds are waiting.

Home, Home on the Front Range -- and in the Midwest??

Fall break was the first time I came back home since leaving for Drake and it struck me how, even though I was home, I also referred to Drake as home.

"I'll have to take this back home with me," I'd say. And "I have this one back home."

Drake became "home" so quickly. Fall break fell only two months into school and already I felt as though I was at home.

I was comfortable on campus and in the residence halls. I got along with my roommate and our neighbors. I knew where the food was and how to get it. I never felt lost when getting to classes. In fact, after only a few short weeks it felt like I'd been there for much longer.

But just because I consider Drake home, doesn't mean my real home is demoted in any way. I certainly do still feel like this is home. This is where my family is and where I've grown up these past ten years and going to college will not and did not change my emotional attachment to the building or, of course, the people within it. I found a quote that seemed to sum it up nicely "Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts" -- Oliver Wendell Holmes.

For now, it certainly feels like both places are home. Imagine! At the age of 18 having a summer home!

When my parents move, I don't know if I'll consider the new house home. Certainly I'll be home in the sense that I'll be with my family which is really the important part, but I won't be attached to the actual building which definitely contributes to that homey feeling.

But for now, I'm going to enjoy the next couple of months at home before I have to pack up and head back home.

Going through some crap

A few weeks before I left for Drake, my mom and I went through EVERYTHING in my room and got rid of a considerable amount of stuff that I don't use anymore. Allow me to make that same recommendation to you.

You need to realize that your room at home will only be inhabited three or four months out of the year and therefore, a lot of the things you have probably won't see much use anyway. Between getting rid of so much and then packing most of what was left to go to school with me, my room was pretty empty. I mean, obviously all the furniture and stuff was there, but all the drawers were only half-full at best.

At first I didn't really like it. I came home from fall break and missed all my stuff at school.

But NOW... all that has changed. What I wouldn't give to have my room back to the way it was during fall break.

I STILL haven’t found homes for all the stuff I brought home from school. There's a laundry basket full of stuff outside my bedroom door, a box of stuff under my table, and heaps of stuff downstairs in my dining room. Where did it all go before I left?

And then what am I supposed to do with all of the new stuff I acquired???

Seriously! It boggles my mind how I could have fit all of that crap into half of a room and then come home to a room just as big, all to myself and still not have room for all of it.

And then I have a lot of stuff that is simply college stuff that I have no need for at home. I have stuff like pillows and a giant trunk that locks closed and stuff. I have pillows already and I'm less than concerned with having my iPod stolen within my own house -- although... my brother is around... just kidding!

The logical thing to do with all of the items that I don't need for the summer is to put them in a specific area in the basement so when the time comes to head back to Drake, we can find everything quickly and not worry about leaving something behind.

I was in my basement a couple of days ago for a reason completely different than to find a place to store my stuff, and I happened to notice a large quantity of ... discarded disarray, lying about the basement floor. I walked around, stepping over boxes of old toys, broken vacuums, a handful of phones, a telescope nobody uses any more and countless other items.

It was time to clean out a little bit.

Somehow, I was able to convince my parents into having a garage sale with pretty much whatever we could find in the basement that was suitable to sell.

As I was looking for things to get rid of, I came across something called "Meagan's Millennium Box." I had absolutely no recollection of ever making said box at all... Before I opened it I thought it might be a time capsule of sorts. I always wanted to make a time capsule. I imagined a picture of N’Sync; something with a Lisa Frank creation, a stamp, and maybe a CD would be in it. But, as it were, this "Millennium Box" was not a time capsule.

It was, just as it suggested, a box of memorabilia from New Years' Eve 1999-2000. It seems so simple.

The contents of the box made me question why I keep the things I keep. For example, in the box was the cork from the champagne I was too young to drink, a flimsy party hat I have no memory of wearing, a party horn that (miraculously) still works, a paper menu from a restaurant (whose food I didn't particularly enjoy), and a noisemaker I found on the sidewalk.

I chose these particular items to commemorate that evening.

I'm sure they meant a lot to me at the time, but now it looks like a bunch of junk I was too lazy to throw away -- and perhaps I'm still too lazy because I put my "Millennium Box" right back on the shelf.

But it wasn't just the "Millennium Box" that had lost it's value. I found plenty of things that just didn't mean that much to me anymore. In a way I feel like deciding that something will just "go down to the basement for a while" is more or less condemming the object to a new life of neglect, which is kind of sad. But, as I grow up, I don't need some things anymore, and others take their places.

So, you see? I had to go through my crap in my room BEFORE college with the hopes of having room for the NEW stuff that would come home with me. But THEN, I couldn't even fit it all in, so I HAD to go to the basement and go through crap THERE and encounter the "Millennium Box" and other similar keepsakes in order to fit the REST of my college stuff down there... it's a never-ending cycle.

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.