My People

Beloit College just released their "Mindset List" for this year's incoming college freshmen.  Since I just celebrated my 27th birthday (shudder), I thought I would go onto Beloit's website and look up what the Mindset List for my incoming class looked like.  Here are a few that hit home (I've added a few of my own comments to their list too):

• Most were born in 1983 or 1984 (I was always the youngest in my class).
• "Ctrl+Alt+Del" is as basic as "ABC".
• Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
• Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their parents (and now they can legally marry in New York!).
• There has always been some association between fried eggs and your brain.
• Computers have always fit in their backpacks.
• The Osmonds are just talk show hosts.
• They have always been able to make photocopies at home.
• A Southerner has always been president of the United States (until Barack Obama, who is, of course, Kenyan).
• South Africa's official policy of apartheid has not existed in their lifetime.
• Cars have always had eye-level rear stop lights, CD players, and air bags.
• Bruce Springsteen's new hit, Born in the USA, could have been played to celebrate their birth.
• Barbie has always had a job (And still doesn't make as much money as Ken for the same job).
• Afghanistan has always been a front page story.
• The U.S. and Soviets have always been partners in space.
• Nicolas Cage, Daryll Hannah, Eddie Murphy, and John Malkovich made their first major film impressions the year they were born.
• The drug Ecsasty has always been around.
• Electronic filing of federal income taxes has always been an option.
• The Coen Brothers have always been making films.
• Datsuns have never been made.
• Directory Assistance has never been free.
• They knew how to pop a Popple and trade a Pog (Total flashback to 8th grade).
• They can still sing the rap chorus to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ("West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days..." Damn it, now that's in my head!)

Well, that makes me feel a little younger, thanks Beloit!  Now everyone older than me can proceed to the comments section and share their thoughts on me feeling old.  

Twenty Seven

More years than candles in the package.

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I started this blog. I find that really hard to believe. The blog was started as a way to keep up with family and friends, and to share the random pieces of my life with the dark void that is THE INTERNET. I have grown a lot since starting this site, and it has grown right along with me.

In my two years of blogging I have lost about 40 pounds, traveled, become a published photographer, changed jobs, applied to Grad School, and so many other things. The best part, though, is that you have been here cheering me on. Two years ago I would have been happy with a few people checking in on the blog a couple times a week. Last month the blog had 1,100 hits. I can tell you that the blog is read in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Belize, China, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Singapore, Iran, the Philippines, Denmark, India, Morocco, and more. I can also tell you that the majority of those readers return, and that is truly the key. When you take the time to read my words and look at my pictures, I feel a deep sense of gratitude that hasn't changed in the last two years. I am humbled.

Here are a few of my (and apparently your) favorite posts from the past two years.

A three-part driving journey through Europe.

A birthday letter to myself.

A Published Photograph!

Conversations with my father. One, Two, Three

How my mother tried to kill me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, My Grandma.

So, thank you for your support. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for helping to make writing this blog an enjoyable experience for me.

Here's to another year of blogging. I know the twos are notoriously terrible, but that's okay. I was also two once.

Remembering

Because forgetting history has gotten us into much of the trouble we are in today. Let us think of a quote from one of our founding fathers.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" - Benjamin Franklin

525,600 Minutes (Times 26)

Heather over at dooce.com recently wrote a letter to herself for her birthday post and I found it so inspiring that I decided to do the same. The feeling I was going for when writing it was more "kick in the pants" than "schmultzy", so I apologize in advance. 


     I remember in 8th grade writing a letter to myself that I was supposed to open at High School graduation.  While this seems like a good idea, writing down your hopes and dreams, I think it would have been more useful and theraputic to write to my past self.  To tell that 8 or 10 or 14 year old version of myself that everything is going to be okay.  So that's what I'm doing right now. 

Dear Meghan,

     Today you turn 26 years old.  That 312 months.  1352 weeks.  9490 individual days.  I know that some weeks feel like they are 9490 days long, but they really aren't.  That number, 9490, seems impossibly low.  How can your life fit into such a number?  The answer is that it can't.  No matter how hard you keep trying, your life experiences cannot be neatly packaged and categorized.  Life is a series of moments that don't know what a clock is and don't give a shit.

    Meg, you have been through more crap in your relatively short life than many other people.  On the other hand, it is important to remember that your life has been full of unicorns and rainbows compared to the lives of some others.  You've put in more hours of therapy than many people will in a lifetime.  And now you realize that this is not something to be ashamed of.  You've taken all the shit life and brain chemistry have thrown at you and chose the hard route, the route of working through it instead of hiding.  That's a spectacular quality.  A quality that led you to study Psychology and learn about yourself and people like you.  And just now it occurred to you that it was an amazing choice.  JUST NOW!  Why didn't you give yourself more credit and respect?

    You, the girl who lived in the same house for 17 years, went to the same school for 8, then to the High School that was expected, you made a change.  You pushed aside your own self imposed expectations and changed schools.  You went from the "best" school to the "less than" school in your mind.  It turns out that they both gave you equally amazing educations and that the "less than" school was just as academically challenging, but in a better environment...without the nuns.  Then, on your 17th birthday, you moved from your only home to a new one 1700 miles away in a place you knew nothing about and where you knew no one.  You had to completely reinvent yourself and make new connections during your Senior year of High School, you know, because you didn't have enough going on.  If I could give that 17 year old some advice it would be to CALM THE HELL DOWN!  Do you need AP credits, and the right connections and the right extracurricular activities to get into the "perfect" college so you meet the "perfect" guy and have the "perfect" family in a world made of kittens and sunshine? NO.  And don't think that this crusty 26 year old me knows it all.  Let me tell you that you will be working on this concept for a Very. Long. Time.

    Meghan, you have an amazing relationship with your parents and family in general.  And because of all the shit you have put each other through over the years, I think that deserves its own paragraph.

    You have a college degree, a job, and every day your basic needs are met, and then some.  So take a breath already.  In 10 years you will look back at me, the 26 year old version of your now much wiser self and want to slap me upside the head.  You will scream about how you just wanted time to rush by so that you could be older and have this in your past.  You will try to remember why it was so important to fulfill others' expectations.  But mostly, I hope you will just hug me and tell me that everything works out okay, because that's what we all really need. 

    So spend year 26 making memories that will still be clear when you are 86.  Reduce the 365 days of your 26th year into one day - today.

   

Quite A Few Years Ago Today

My Daddy-O was born.  Happy Birthday Popsicle!

Six Years Ago Today

Arrow was born.

Happy Birthday Noodle, Spaghetti-O, Monkey Man!

Enjoying The Trip

I was looking through my Senior yearbook from high school and found a note tucked in the back.  My AP English teacher gave it to me.  It has a poem on the front and a personal note inside.  As I read it, for the first time in 8 years, I found how wonderfully it illustrates what being in my twenties, in this place in life in general is like.  Thanks Mrs. Williamson, you taught me so much!

Ithaca

by C.P. Cavafy

translated from Greek by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

When you set out for Ithaca, 

pray that your road's a long one, 

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon - don't be scared of them:

you won't find things like that on your way

as long as your thoughts are exalted,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them

unless you bring them along inside you,

unless your soul raises them up in front of you.

Pray that your road's a long one.

May there be many a summer morning when - 

full of gratitude, full of joy - 

you come into harbors seen for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading centers

and buy fine things,

mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfumes of every kind,

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

may you visit numerous Egyptian cities

to fill yourself with learning from the wise. 

Keep Ithaca always in mind.

Arriving there is what you're destined for.

But don't hurry the journey at all.

Better if it goes on for years

so you're old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you've gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn't have set out.

She hasn't anything else to give.

And if you find her poor, 

Ithaca wont' have fooled you.

Wise as you'll have become,

and so experienced,

you'll have understood by then what Ithaca means.

Recently I have been both dreading my birthday in August, which is a first, and wishing that I would be in my 30's already so I don't have to deal with all the shit that comes with being at this place in life.  Clearly I need to slow down and enjoy the moments.
(Oh, and take a look at the new photo of me on the sidebar!)

Tar Balls And Dropped Vowels

After the oil spill in the Gulf some 80+ days ago, I began thinking of my own childhood summers at Texas beaches.  Then, just a week or so ago, reports started coming in about tar balls showing up on Texas shores.  Suddenly, like a slap upside the head, I remembered tar on the beaches when I was little.  We always spent part of the summer at "The Coast" during my 17 years in Texas.  "The Coast" in this case being one of the barrier islands off the side of Texas like Port Aransas.  And after not thinking of it for years, I suddenly rushed back in time and remembered using tar wipes at the beach showers.  These wipes were just there, waiting by the showers to get tar off big and little feet alike.  I never thought much of it.  The beach came with seaweed and jellyfish and tar.  These problems can be taken care of with screaming like a dying seal when it brushes against you, meat tenderizer, and tar wipes respectively.  It never occurred to me that the oil rigs we could see way off on the horizon were responsible for the tar on our toes.  I suppose when something has always been there we don't ask questions.  Or at least I don't.  Like how when I was little I thought every city had a Sea World. 

Anyway, when talking about the oil spill recently I mentioned the tar phenomenon and people don't believe me.  Like this is what I would choose to lie about.  Look, I live with my parents, I have bigger lies to keep up with.  So I need the help of my fellow Texans to convince The Internet that this is real.  Just leave a comment saing how lovely and right I am.  I will bribe you with some cute photos of me at the beach when I was little.

{As a side note, I hope that we don't let drilling go so far that every beach has rigs in the distance and every child washes tar off their tiny hot feet.  Can we agree it isn't healthy for anyone?

Oh, and yes, like a good Southerner pronounce "oil" as "ol", one syllable no "i".  This drives my Midwestern mother crazy.  Just like when I pronounce "milk" as "melk".  Are you reading mom?  Melk, melk melk...Ol, Ol, Ol}

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yes, the photos in the 2 photo ornaments are of me and yes, in one of the photos I am talking on the phone.  I got started early.

Major Fun! Like, Totally!

Last week I was helping a colleague clear out an old toy closet and we came across this game.  It's the second edition and was for sale in 1988.  I can't tell you how much fun we had reading through the questions.  I brought it home because I saw its potential as a fabulous drunk party game.

Doesn't the box alone tell you so much?

The only place you'll find hair like that today is on an FLDS compound.

And here are a few examples of the cards.  These are the kinds of things that make Gloria Steinem cry.

This is a conversation I imagine happening during this game back in the day:

"But Tiffany, like, what if I want to be an engineer?"

"Eww Becky, that's grody.  That's totally a boy job."

This last one was deemed important enough to put on the box.

Also, why is Friend's in italics?  Probably because if you are putting an ice cube down her shirt she is more of a Friend than a Friend.  Dontcha think?

Texas Trip Part 6 - We're Outta Here

The morning after the wedding, some of us woke up feeling fitter than others.  There was a lot of champagne.

We packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed out to my Grandma's house since we had a couple of hours before our flight.

My Grandma had recently moved to a house very close to my Aunt Camera and Uncle Doolittle.

Plus, since we had been to Texas last she had acquired a new dog and several goats.

Yep, we're the goat people.

So we met Fiona (and her ever-present tongue) and immediately fell in love.

She has apparently been taking eyeliner tips from Arrow, who gets his straight from King Tut.

Then we met the goats that my Grandma bottle fed.

Then we checked in with Manan, my Grandma's long suffering Siamese.

Then, during a walk to my Aunt and Uncle's house, I spotted my Dad's old Studabaker pickup that he owned when I was small.  It has since made its way through the family and is now sitting on my Uncle's property.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  But I would know the color of that truck anywhere.

We call it Helen Green, because my Nanny (my Mom's Mom) went through a phase where she painted everything this color.

Here's a comparison for you.  The Studabaker now:

Me in the Studabaker circa 1985:

Our time in Texas was drawing to a close so I walked back to my Grandma's house to say goodbye.

Grandma is also coming with us to Tahoe after Christmas, so the goodbye was softened.

Then mom and I trudged off into the thick humidity to catch our flight back to California.

It was a wonderful trip.

A trip full of memories and laughter, new friends and old.

I leave you with this intelligent look from Fiona that pretty much sums up her feelings about us leaving.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.  Remember, your luggage must be under 50 pounds, allow 2 hours for security, and the peanuts are no longer free.

Texas Trip Part 4 - Humidity Sucks

Day four of our trip to Texas began with me sleeping in very late.  I didn't get back to the M Spot until about 2 am and I figured I earned the extra rest.  At some point the night before I had agreed to meet Mel and her girlfriend S at Taco Taco for breakfast.

Are you sensing a theme to my meals during the trip?

Anyway, we decided to meet at the M Spot at 11:45 am because then our meal still qualified as breakfast.  R had a Grad-school paper to finish and couldn't join us so we decided to make it a girl's morning.

The breakfast at Taco Taco was amazing and we all waddled out of there an hour later promising to never eat again.

Then we headed back to the M Spot for a little chatting.  Well, a little chatting turned into a lot of chatting and even more picture taking.

On a side note: Mel went to New Mexico on summer vacation with my family and the M family about 10 years ago, so she fits right in.  She and G get along especially well since they both enjoy antiquing.

We did a little reminiscing about the aforementioned New Mexico Trip

We got to know S better (LOVE her!)

We all did a lot of hugging

Which Mitzi is not a fan of so she stayed under the table and gave us the stink eye.

Finally, we hung out with Slick, the gecko who I mentioned several posts ago.  He is 17.  No one is sure how long these guys normally live.

Slick doesn't seem at all bothered.

Then before we knew it, the time had come to pack up and leave for the wedding.  Goodbyes are never any fun.  This time it was a little easier since the M family will be coming up Tahoe with us after Christmas.  I keep pounding it into Mel's head that she must come too.  She keeps whining about money and something called "responsibilities".  Whatever.

So we left the M Spot in our zippy red convertible, headed for New Braunsfels for the wedding.

We got in too late to take any good photos and headed to bed pretty quickly (but not before giving my Grandma a spin in the convertible).

The next day was the wedding, and it was so much fun!!

Texas Trip Part 3 - Bappy Hirthday! More Mardagritas!

Day 3 of our Texas trip began with some birthday wishes for the Queen of Hearts.

Then she, G, and I went shopping.

G is R's mom and is my second mother.

Her hugs will lift the dark clouds above your head and her smile will shine light into the darkness.

After shopping I took a few photos around the M Spot.

Then we all got cleaned up and ready for the evening.  We started our celebrations with R's famous margaritas on the porch.

The evening was filled with conversation.

Back rubs.

And wondering where the time has gone.

Then we gathered ourselves together.  (And by gathered together I mean that I tried to see straight after realizing that R had been refilling my drinks all night without my knowledge.) Then we headed out for a wonderful birthday gathering full of friends and Mexican food.

After dinner I dropped the Q of H off at the M Spot and headed over to Mel's house to wish her a happy birthday and to meet her girlfriend S.

I neglected to take photos because it was 2 am and I left my brain at the restaurant.

It was wonderful though, trust me.

Then I headed back the the M Spot to join everyone in catching some Zs before our last day with them before heading to the wedding.