With this page I hope to accomplish several things. I hope to fill your mind with boring historical facts, to expose your mind to a new culture and best of all, to share mutual laughter making fun of their "funny talk". My roomie, Cayla, and I    For those of you who haven't heard, Kevin is the man! He built everything in my room   There he goes again... fixing... building... Kevin is the man!        Thanks mom for another random picture.... Notice the pyramid of people - some of you were lucky enough to make the cut.               Yet another random kevin and j shot             WHERE'S WALDO? This is the Columbia College Honors team! (We fight crime and defeat evil-doers when we're not studying). If you find me before you find Waldo I will be impressed                                       Random pics from Moving Day! FUN Facts! 
Leading agricultural products - forestry, poultry, tobacco, cotton, 
Median household income - $26,25 First state to secede from the Union Nickname is "The Palmetto State"
The state animal is the whitetail deer
Fort Jackson (Columbia) is the biggest military training base in the country
The 1920's dance "The Big Apple" originated here in Columbia
American golf was first played in the SC The first public museum was in the SC
The first opera in American happened in the SC
 The Edisto River is the longest black water river in the world (Racist water?)
First building to be used solely as a theater 
   First free library established
First Black Baptist Church established
 The first U.S. steam locomotive
Integration of public schools begins in South Carolina in 1963		 THE HUMIDTY IS KILLING MY HAIR!!!!! HELPPPP!!!!  << K this was in the school newspaper and I think they only chose me because they wanted to make fun of my hair. Good thing they got my name right (at least they didn't add that dreaded 's' on the end...). Anyway, notice that I am sitting on a rocking chair. I have discovered that this piece of furniture is a necessity in this culture. Every single porch in the state has at least one rocking chair. In fact the Columbia airport is filled with them. Don't be surprised if they invent a rocking-chair version of the toliet.

 

 Ah and these little doosies to the left are, of course the confederate flags, which are still proudly displayed today. And by displayed I mean it flies EVERYWHERE - even over the capital building. People have it tattooed on them, on shirts, in windows, bumper stickers, etc. The Southerners who have realized that the Civil War is actually over that they won. The evil Yankees invaded them and retreated because they were getting their butts kicked. And, yes, Yankees are the nemesis of all evil. They chase me with pitchforks and torches on a daily basis. Families actually disown members who marry Yankees. I wish I were kidding, but the Southerners really do value their history to the extreme. 


 

 

 

 

 

 CIMG1578.JPG (639273 bytes) Cayla found us a new roomate! 
The gorgeous Reverend King.... Bow my head to pray? Yeah rightThis is Maeve from Michigan and Faith Our school had  a tree lighting! 
Before eating sushi....Yeah, so the weather down here is so gorgeous that people stay outside for weeks covering their houses with lights... enough already Dec 4th 		 This is Elizabeth. She sings like Snow White. She's fly cause she drives a kickass Jetta This is Fatr Susie. We gave her a makeover so she's a rail now This is Liz's suitor Jason. He goes to USC. He's the male version of Elizabeth (without the singing)

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Phantom of the Opera rocks my world. The relevance of is that is the pics above were taken right after we saw it. 


 		 We dyed my hair all one color (shown) before we highlighted and it was purdy....Hehe... Eli took the rest of theseThis is Maeve and she is from Michigan. Small world...This is a flattering picture of Angela. She's the happiest person I know - she even smiles when she works out...
This room is haunted by the way. Some girl hung her self two years ago and she now haunts its inhabitants... perfect place for a sleepover!Mmmm Dominos
Pretty pretty....The gal responsible for the madness...HottieMy hair is white?		 <<Right, so after visiting the USC campus, I realized ours sucks. What gives? Let's compare. Ours is to the left and an example of a USC dorm is down to the left. And I can prove the pic of our campus is a real life picture, because liz's jetta is parked out fronnt and there is a random prostitue walking by - I just can't make this stuff up.  So sitting at the movie theater Liz's bf makes a game out of squishing Cayla and meI am using this picture for my portfolio for America's Next Top Modelaw!Yes! The posse starts another trend - s'more parties are all the rage in the SC! for lack of a better word: chillaxin'That is one nice lookin wrist....BLAH The pics below are of my birthday cake! The most delicious birthday cake ever (made of 98% lard, 2% flour)

             The colors.... burn... my eyes....   If this would have been any more of a hippie cake, pot leaves would have been sprinkled on top

 Me and Miha! I forget her real name...I think it's Mihaela.... so she's from RomaniaThis is the after shot. Yeah it looks the same as the other one. Note: the Rachel Roehrig sweater is born-again!This is Alexandrina, one of the many crazy BulgariansCayla and her brother Josh. I like this picture because you can see me taking it in the mirror behind themLiz = hair goddess Like I said, I got served Loser My guinea pig - wha ha ha OOH who's the pretty girl?!! (Not Liz - the bald one) Ta da! As the dye drips off my head, on to the floor staining it forever  They're so tall.... damn lithe Europeans I think this might be the first pic of me laughing on my website. And oh, what a goodie!  Yah, that pretty much killed our bubble blowing competition Lol I should open a salon...  Gets frisky instead Hmm what's on her mind Behold the lotion dispenser - best going away present ever!  Grace and Karen! Chelsea (Wisconsin native!) and Angela I love this - they built their piers/docks to go up and down with the tide when it does its thang - how cool! "A Change of Venue" - my professor let the committee borrow her beach house. It served its purpose quite efficiently Lovely day to play on the beach Beach communities are so cute The other side of the beach house The chanel that runs behind the house. I love how all the houses are built on like toothpicks. Safe  MMmmm! George like okra! Mmm! Cornbread! We should get a Lizard's Thicket in New Holstein! Why my school has an abanoned phone booth in the basement no one knows. Having fun Ooh! Tara experiences the internet Ya gots to love them rockin' chars! At the hotel 

These are the rest of the Honors posse: Chelsea, Jennifer, Susannah, Helena Chelsea was obsessed with the azaleas and kept mauling the bushes We stayed on the 18th floor of the Marriot and we had a nice view of the interstate We ate at CiCi's pizza! This is Dr. Fields, assistant honors director and Dr Z, honors director This is the whole Honors group. This was taken right after our [successful!] presentation Cold, angry wind of death While we wait outside a gas station for our newly founded friends, Chelsea spits on Baton Rouge. She has this tradition of spitting on every state she's been in. Saturday was sooooo much fun! We went to a farmer's market downtown and spent the rest of the day acting like tourists. Louisiana has the tallest statehouse, as seen in the background. We went to the top and took pics of Baton Rouge The infamous LA bayou is characterized by that nasty mossy stuff hanging on the tree... Most gorgeous senate... If you look close you can see Huck Finn and Big Jim swimmin' behind the ferry So this is one side of the city This is another Didja know - Baton Rouge means 'red pole' - how clever Gee whiz - it's a barge! This is the garden in front of the statehouse. We played in it for hours. And if you look closely you will see dozens of white dresses everywhere. Well apparently the ideal place for a bride to have her wedding pictures taken is at the statehouse Chillin' on a canon at the gunpowder (arsenal) museum 
Naturally, let's kick it off with some good ole funny talk. Vocab lesson!
Shopping cart = buggy
chewing tobacco = dip
Bubbler = water fountain (stupid teachers were right)
Getting ready to = fixin' to (I'm fixin' to leave)
*If you're hardcore you say "I'm fixin to ___ directly"    meaning I'll do it when I feel like it*
Collect = take up (teacher take up assignments)   
 cooter= turtle
What? = Ma'am?		 A certain Hootie & the Blowfish started in this lovely city. They went to school at the University of Columbia and still love here. So if you wanna go Hootie Huntin' come check out my hood!

 
The Southern diet consists of fried chicken, grits, okra, and sweet tea. (And nothing more)

 Famous SC Peeps

Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Leeza Gibbons, Edwin McCain, Strom Thurmond, Aaron Tippin, Vanna White, Sister Hazel, Crossfade, Kristin Davis

 

Have I mentioned how welcome I feel here?

>>>>>>>>

On the courtship frontier, Southern folk are a bit old-fashioned. It is customary for the gent to pay for EVERYTHING... Often, a male will take offense when a female offers to pay the bill. Also, when the couple pays a visit to the mall, you can guess who picks up the tab. Don't worry - I'll be bringing back a few SC boys for my Yankee chicas!

 

 Yeah, so that Josh guy up there - I have no idea who he is. I mean I met him, talked to him, etc but I have seen no proof that he is really famous. He was on American Idol (anyone remember the season with the country-singing Marine? That was him) and he came here to my college for a concert and I worked ALL day for it. I helped set up and take down the stage, sold tickets, and everything else and all for an autograph. Oh and an all-access pass. Thanks.... No, so listen, tatoos are ILLEGAL in the SC!!!
 The blue laws forbid it!
      (and also the sale of alcohol on Sundays)


Ugh... lovebirds - need I say more?

I'm still trying to get the smell of Boy out of my room...

 

 

 Alright so January 22nd we decided to get rid of my nutria colored hair and decided to "add a few highlights".  And as you can see it turned
out as expected. While the chemicals ate away at my hair, we ordered pizza and
watched Man in the Iron Mask, an unbeatable combination.		 Mansion on Erie Street near Michigan Avenue, Chicago (2002) Never underestimate the importance of exfoliating              Oh Cayla! Right, so all the pics from above are from February 5th. Cayla, Liz & Jason and I all squeezed into my Cooter and went to Sushi Yooshi - the best place in Columbia to get sushi! It was awesome and the sushi chef kept flirting with us (and by us I mean Jason) and giving us free food. Then we went to see White Noise which was Meh. Michael Keaton saved it. Then we went back to USC


CIMG2268.JPG (118851 bytes)
So we dyed Cayla's hair black... afterwards people mistook her for Pocahontas

 

So continuing our recent hair-dying obsession, we dyed Miha's hair dark red and cut it and we dyed mine brown, even though it has faded into exactly what it has always been - how exotic. 3.17..05 So we had another hair-dying party. Let's count the days until my hair falls out! So anyway I dyed Miha's hair brown and while we waited we had a bubble-blowing competition and I got served. Then I cut Miha's hair. Lemme tell ya that was an experience... Then Diana came in and Miha spit her gum out while laughing. It flew across the room- funniest thing I ever saw. Then Cayla went on a skankish rampage. Good times... 3.19.05 - The Honors Induction Committee retreated to an island near Myrtle Beach in North Carolina for the weekend to plan the festivities for next year's orientation. I chased seagulls. This color font hurts my eyes. 3.23.05  - So Tara was in the hood and stopped on by Columbia College. We experienced some fine SC cuisine at Lizard's Thicket. Then we walked around campus and got shot. Hope you enjoyed your visit, Tara!

So this is our room (clean)

Southern Regional Honors Baton Rouge! March 1-April 2. The trip was awesome! The conference was great - I got a lot out of it. Our hotel was super nice (we were on the connoisseur's floor!). Baton Rouge's night life was kind of dull, but daytime is fun! Chelsea, Jennifer and I went to like the Gunpowder museum, the Statehouse, etc. We were such nerds but it was so much fun. We ate at this lil place called Poor Boy Lloyd's and it was here that I decided I hate the accent of Louisiana folk. Then we played in the Mississippi (I have never seen it before). The last night there, our Honors Director took everyone out to eat at the Melting Pot. Best food ever... Desert consisted of cheesecake and fruit dipped in Bailey's Irish Creme/Chocolate fondue... Need I say more?