Pomp and Circumstance: The Final Blog.

I graduated this morning!

My friends and I, assembled in our finery, bedecked in white tassels and black polyester caps and gowns, sweat our way through an hour and a half of impersonal speeches, perched in the middle of Spanos Stadium. But at last the moment came--we were free! We had graduated! On time!

We turned our tassels to the left and sauntered smugly off the football field to join our fellow English majors at the private English commencement. It was much better (though I am glad that I attended both), and much more personal. "To wombats!" we cried (some of us crying actual tears), shook our professors' hands, and posed for thousands of pictures.

Of course, it still hasn't sunk in. (This might have something to do with the fact that I haven't quite finished all my homework.)

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I want to thank all my friends and family for supporting me throughout these four magical years, especially my parents and my sister--you are my best friends and allies! In particular, I'd like to thank Lala for following my blog as if it were top news, for keeping me up to date on home events, and for being such a loving and constant presence in my life. I love you!

Now that I'm a "grown-up," or at least a grad, this blog is at its end. But my blogging isn't! You can find my new blog here: InnessFree

The last blog before I GRADUATE.

This is it! I can't believe that I have finally made it to this point. I am about to don my cap and gown and march down the aisle into adulthood (sort of). But before I do, here's one last blog before I graduate, and I am "College Kitten" no more.

The past four years have been a blur. I applied to Cal Poly on a whim; I never guessed that I'd end up here at this polytechnic, largely engineering- and agriculture-based school--but I'm so glad that I did. I've made some great friends and amazing memories, fallen in love, learned important lessons, discovered myself, and all the rest of the things that people say in their graduation speeches. There are a lot of things that I'm happy to have experienced, and a few things that I wish I'd done, but overall, I wouldn't really change a thing. I'm still have only the vaguest idea of what one does with a B.A. in English, but I'm figuring it out. I am equal parts excited and terrified, but I have high hopes for the future (I'm still in that post-grad optimism phase).

***

And now, for something altogether too familiar: a recap blog.

On May 31st, Joel and I went to The House of Bread to get free whole wheat cinnamon rolls. Then we went to Linnaea's to study and to eat delicious, freshly-made vegetarian food. At five o'clock, we went to a five hour Take it SLO rehearsal. We still had a lot to do to prepare for our spring concert at that point. Luckily, it was very productive and we learned all our choreography.

On Tuesday, we didn't do much until 8 p.m., when we attended a free movie in the newly remodeled University Union. The movie that night was "Alice in Wonderland," the most recent version. The best part about the movie was the free popcorn. The actual movie was terrible. Tim Burton used to be a great director, but now he must be stopped.

On Wednesday, Take it SLO had a three hour rehearsal.

On Thursday, I took my psychology final (which I aced; I got an A in the course overall). Then I went home to clean my house so that it would be nice for Taite and Mom. Then I went back to campus to attend Lavender Commencement, a little graduation ceremony for LGBTQ students and their allies. I got a certificate and a rainbow tassel for my cap, so now I have two tassels!

After Lavender Commencement, I went to my friend Ivan's house for wine and cheese and to watch people play a very heated game of "Egyptian Rat Screw." Then, since it was the first Thursday of the month, we went to Bike Night! The theme was "prom." For a few of my English major girlfriends, it was their first time at Bike Night. We all took so long getting bikes together and dressing up that we missed Bike Night and ended up doing the laps in our own little group. It was a fun anyway.

On Friday, Take it SLO had a dress rehearsal to make sure that everything was ready, and everything was!

At 2 a.m. in the morning, Mom and Taite arrived, laden with duffel bags and pastries from Andersen's Bakery in Santa Barbara. Eight hours later, Joel and I went to yet another Take it SLO dress rehearsal. Then at 4:30 we had a sound check--and an hour later, the doors opened for our annual spring show! The spring show went very well, and we recorded everything. You can see my solo, "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us," by Sufjan Stevens, here:

On Sunday, TitS performed one last time, at a "June Jubilee." The theme was "beach boardwalk."

On Monday, I had my last final, in Engineering 302: Manufacturing and Transportation. I'm pretty sure I passed!

On Tuesday morning, to celebrate our freedom from finals, my English major girlfriends and I had mimosas and pancakes.

On Wednesday, I went to Tahoe Joe's for happy hour with my creative writing class. I had a delicious margarita. Later that night I went to a bonfire with Take it SLO and we made s'mores.

On Thursday, I turned in my senior project. Later that day, Joel fired up the barbecue and we cooked all the meat that we'd horded in the freezer and fed it to Take it SLO. Then my English majors came over, and we made more s'mores and Taite ate three chicken breasts with her hands in front of the open fridge. It was awesome.

Today, Taite, Joel, and I went to Pismo Beach to have breakfast with Dad and Annie at the Honeymoon Cafe. Afterward, Taite and Mom and I went to Santa Barbara for a nice day of shopping. We also had a tasty lunch at Andersen's Bakery.

And you know what happens tomorrow!

A small adventure in Arroyo Grande.

Although Joel and I spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing, we managed to turn that around in the afternoon and go to Arroyo Grande for the Strawberry Festival. We also went to take a peek at the (many) antique stores there, and to get ice cream at Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab.

It was a lovely warm day, a welcome change from all of the chilly and rainy weather we had all through May. Memorial Day weekend really does seem like a "hello, summer!" kind of weekend.

I love how labyrinthine antique stores can be, and those we visited today were no exception. They were also piled to the brim with neat things, including some very fabulous hats. I bought a simple black velvet hat with a rhinestone pin on its brim; it fit my head perfectly so I couldn't just leave it. No sooner had I bought that hat, however, than I wandered into another store, which had a treasure trove of outlandish and brilliant hats. One was saffron gold silk with a matching plume of ostrich feathers, and I wanted it just so I could look at it every day and be happy about owning it. It was a low enough price that such a thing wouldn't have been financially ridiculous, but my policy is that unless I truly have a use for something and/or I am in love with the thing, I leave it for some other lucky person to find.

After we had exhausted the antiques, Joel and I wandered through the Strawberry Festival booths and bought some overpriced, greasy, delicious booth food. Then we had merlot/raspberry and marzipan ice cream at Doc Burnstein's, and took home a pint of Mandarin chocolate.

And now, some outfit pictures.

Because I know you really miss those.

I wore this (including the shoes Dad got me for my birthday--thanks, Dad!) to get a drink downtown with a couple of friends. I was in the mood for a quiet, sophisticated bar and a quiet, sophisticated drink, but instead we went to Mother's Tavern and watched people grind all over each other. I still tried to order a Prohibition-era drink like I wanted, but the bartenders in SLO are used to mixing Jack and Coke and concocting bright blue monstrosities, not real drinks. My Sidecar tasted awful.

I wore this for the Take it SLO photo shoot. We were supposed to wear something that was "Urban Outfitters catalog in spring." I tried to make my hair very big and curly, because fashion hair = bird's nest. This is the airiest, springiest dress I own (thank you, Martz family!) and it is very fun to pose in.

There's not a lot to say about this outfit, except that I was wearing old-fashioned shapewear underneath and it required stockings. I don't like stockings when I have to wear them. The dress was a Christmas present (thanks, Dad!). Also, I wear those shoes a lot, don't I? (Thanks, Lala & Grandpa!) Oh, and I had straightened my hair and attempted to do a mock victory roll on one side, but it ended up just being some bobby pinned hair. I was proud of it anyway.

This outfit (and my face) looked way better in person. Some days just aren't good for pictures.

I wore this to the ImprovApella (Fermata Nowhere/Smile and Nod) show. Those shoes were $9 at Target and completely white. I colored them in with black permanent marker so I could have saddle shoes. Those glasses, as always, are fake. This was one of my proudest hair moments of the year.

I wore this on my birthday. I also wore that polka dotted black dress on my 18th birthday! But it was new then.

The dress is from the 1950s, and I always feel kind of nervous when I wear it. The purse is also vintage, likely 1950s or 60s. Everything else is modern.

Past three weeks, last two weeks!

When we last saw our heroine, she was looking forward to a combined improv comedy and a capella show on the evening of Friday, May 7th.

Take It SLO hosted Cal Poly's Smile and Nod and 2009 ICCA champions, Fermata Nowhere. We had two shows and they were a blast! Afterward, I hosted a altogether too large and too drunk party at my house. It was fun for everyone else, but I could not relax because I do not like large, drunk crowds of people. But I do like pizza, and we had ten pizzas.

The next day, after Joel, Lisa, Aaron, and I breakfasted at Bon Temps, the only Creole-based restaurant in SLO, TitS took Fermata Nowhere to the beach. Joel and Aaron made a giant chessboard in the sand and used rocks as pawns. It was very impressive. Later, we went to one of Smile and Nod's last shows of the year. As always, they were in top comedic form. After that, there was another party. I was quickly partied out.

The next week was very busy, as I had a psychology group debate to craft. The topic was "Are girls bigger bullies than boys?" My team was the "Yes" side. Apparently we were very persuasive (and very lucky that our class is almost completely composed of girls, who are well aware of how cruel other girls can be), because we won.

It was also Pride Week, and I attended an Ally workshop titled "Transgender 101" on Thursday, which was both fascinating and baffling. After school, I went to my TitS friend Inbal's house. She is a vegan, and we planned to make vegan key lime pie. We did, and it was delicious and so easy to make! Next we want to make chocolate ganache pie. Later that night we went to the second annual Dollhouse Drag Show at Downtown Brew. Fierce!

On Friday, TitS assembled at my house to make a Take it SLO banner and t-shirts for Relay for Life. On Saturday, our entire group did Relay! As in the past, it was ridiculously fun. This year, however, I was the Captain, so I felt especially proud that it went well. Our group even won Most Spirited!

The next week wasn't that exciting. On Monday evening I took Joel to his first ever drive-in double feature. We saw "Iron Man 2" (eh) and "How to Train Your Dragon" (surprisingly wonderful).

On Friday evening, Take it SLO performed as "background music." It was sort of awkward, but we got free wine and hors d'oeuvres, as well as $300.00. The next day, we did something similar, this time at Embassy Suites, and again we were paid. It is especially weird to be background music when there aren't sufficient microphones for the background to even be heard.

Last week was even more uneventful. Joel and I went to a free showing of "Shutter Island" on campus, and it was pretty good. Take it SLO had a photo shoot on Wednesday before rehearsal. I finally tried a "White Gummy Bear" at Jamba Juice (it's one of the secret flavors). Last night, a few members of TitS had a game night. We played Taboo and "Task Jenga," where every block has a command on it (which we'd written in advance), such as "Speak in a foreign accent for the next round." It's an entertaining game.

Today Joel and I might visit Arroyo Grande to peek at the Strawberry Festival and to visit the Antique Mart.

I have my tassel, cap, gown, and tickets. I have one real week left, then one week of finals (although I only have one final, on Monday). And then I graduate. Before this week, I vacillated between extreme terror and extreme excitement. Now I just feel very anxious. There's so much more that I want to do, but no time.

And I didn't swing dance once this whole quarter.

Twenty-one to twenty-two.

The week before and of my birthday:

• Tuesday, April 27th: I attended Open Mic Night at Outspoken Beverage Bistro, a neat little cafe that I had never before patronized. I drank free coffee and listened to random people step up to the mic to read poetry, play guitar, and/or sing. I was going to put my name on the list, but I chickened out because I had nothing prepared.

• Wednesday, April 28th: After school and rehearsal I went to Yogurt Creations.

• Thursday, April 29th: I went on a "guerilla singing" spree with Take It SLO to advertise our upcoming show. Afterward, I went to the Women in Athletics forum hosted by the Women's Center. There were two or three female Cal Poly coaches and at least two female Cal Poly athletes (volleyball and softball). They talked about the effects of Title IX and their experiences in sports at Cal Poly. It was pretty interesting!

• Friday, April 30th: I carpooled with Joel and our fellow TitS member and friend, Nicole, to Lake San Antonio, the location of Wildflower. Wildflower is a huge, world-famous triathlon, and we had signed up to volunteer for the weekend. On Friday we set up our tents next to the lake in Beach City, ate some dinner (pasta...we would very soon tire of pasta...), and watched everyone get drunk. Wildflower is an equally huge party.

• Saturday, May 1st: I woke up at 5:00 a.m., wishing that I had gone to bed earlier than eleven, to a cacophony of alarms. About five police cars all turned on their sirens at the same time, and the din was awful. It was impossible to sleep through it, which I suppose was the point. I got up, very crabbily ate a bagel, and walked with my group the mile to Wildflower. We were instantly put to work, but it was fun work: we did "body-marking," where we wrote each athlete's number on his or her shoulders, hands, and thighs with a big black marker. I got to touch a lot of very muscular male thighs. It was a pretty good job. Then we stood at the end of the first section of the race (swimming) to direct the athletes through the transition to cycling. After we'd done that for a while, we were split up into groups of two and ferried across the lake to three separate docks. Joel and I got North Shore. Our job was to pull the pontoon boats close to the dock so people could get on and off. It was a pretty lazy job; most of the time we just sunned ourselves and dangled our feet in the water. After about seven hours of work without a break or lunch, we were finally relieved to go and get...pasta. (At least it was free.) Then we went back to Beach City. I was smarter that night; I went to bed at 9:30p while the party raged around my tent.
  

• Sunday, May 2nd: Since the second day's race started later, we were allowed to sleep in a whole half hour. Since I had gone to bed so early, I felt pretty good waking up. I felt even better the rest of the day, when we shirked our volunteer duties and napped in the sun, listening to a swing band play. Around three we went back to Beach City, and by four-thirty we were back on the road to SLO and TitS practice.

• Monday, May 3rd was uneventful.

• Tuesday, May 4th: Joel and I were planning to go to the beach after our only (morning) classes, but that plan was derailed by BEES. A colony of honey bees had swarmed Joel's car while he was in class. He had to climb into his car through the trunk. We spent the afternoon trying to track down a beekeeper who never answered our calls. The last time we inspected the bees, however, there was a young woman--my neighbor down the street--with a spatula, spooning huge clumps of bees into a box. We gleefully watched the docile swarm transfer to its new (albeit temporary) home. The lady said that she had wanted to keep bees in her yard for a while, and we were only too happy to let her take ours. Maybe we'll get honey now!

• Wednesday, May 5th: My 22nd birthday! Twenty-two feels weird. I'm not sure how much I like it yet. I didn't do a lot during the day, because Joel had class and so did I (or I was supposed to...haha). Then I went to Take It SLO rehearsal and Nicole had brought chips and salsa, Joel had brought rhubarb pie, Inbal had made vegan banana dream pie, and Jacob had made peach dump cake. Then they sang "Happy Birthday" to me in horrible minor tones. It was great. After practice, Joel and I went to happy hour at Applebee's (don't judge!) for a quesadilla and a three-dollar margarita. And that's how I celebrated my birthday.

• Thursday, May 6th: Birthday celebration, part two! Joel and I drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea after class to have lunch at Little Napoli, a very tasty Italian restaurant. We had gnocchi in gorgonzola and sage sauce, tasty salads, far too much bread, and tartufo di limoncello and panna cotta for dessert. Then we drove back to SLO, stopping at Target (yay!) along the way.

Tonight is Take It SLO's concert with Smile and Nod and Fermata Nowhere. It should be a lot of fun.

Thank you, Lala & Grandpa, for the beautiful and classic Shabby Apple Nantucket dress!
Thank you, Dad, for the comfortable and cute Anthropologie Coated Rouge shoes!
Thank you, Nana, for the nice card (et cetera)!
Thank you, Grandma Sue & Papa Thor, for the sweet card (et cetera)!
Thank you, Martz family, for the funny card!
Thank you, Mom, for the neat Whitman card and the Midas-touched Born Adele ballet flat in gold!
Thank you, Taite, for the charming Gabriella Rocha Ginger shoes in turquoise!
Thank you, Joel, for the travel-inspired Anthropologie "Air Mail" skirt!

Thank you to all of my family and friends for being so wonderful and for loving me! I love you, too.

Shabby Apple discount!

You can get 10% off the Shabby Apple dresses in my wish list with this code: purple10off

Good until May 1st.