This is a photo of my bulletin board in the dorm room I shared with my roommate Debbie M our freshman year. I studied it for quite a while to identify what was important enough for me to look at every day. I’ve deduced that I was still a girl with one foot behind me in high school, and one foot moving forward. And some things never change: Family and friends obviously mattered.
What I can identify:
First, I figure most of the cards stuck up there are Valentines, because the calendar lets me know it’s February. Across the top of the bulletin board, I’ve made a train of my empty Animal Crackers boxes. (I still like Animal Crackers.)
There appear to be:
Ten Valentines.
Birth announcements with photos of my twin nieces Sarah and Gina (happy birthday January 14!).
Ticket stubs from Crimson Tide football games.
A “Look Out For The Bull!” poster. Why? I don’t know. I never drank Schlitz Malt Liquor in my life. I guess I liked the ad art.
Two photos of my nephew Daniel.
One photo of my nephew Josh.
My brother’s senior portrait.
My sister’s cap and gown portrait.
Lynne’s senior portrait and cap and gown portrait.
Jim S’s cap and gown portrait.
My then-boyfriend’s senior portrait, a photo of him at his desk in his dorm room, an 8×10 of him, and a black and white 8×10 of him playing in a high school football game.
Two postage stamps.
A set of notes from my roommate Debbie and a photo of her from high school (though I didn’t know her until college).
An 8×10 photo of my high school marching band (I was in it).
An 8×10 photo of my entire senior class.
An 8×10 photo of my high school football team (boyfriend was on it).
Larry H’s cap and gown portrait.
A photo of my high school journalism/typing teacher/newspaper sponsor.
A photo of me from a beauty pageant. (Shut up. I’m Southern.)
A photo of my mother.
A photo of my father.
A picture of Denny Chimes.
A University of Alabama button.
Someone’s name card from a graduation invitation.
What may be a campus parking ticket (must have borrowed the boyfriend’s car).
A campus map.
A memo pad.
A black and white photo of someone I can’t identify.
My high school graduation tassel.
Oh. And my class schedule. Nice to recall what I was there for.
But the real story of this bulletin board happened in the wee hours of a spring morning. Our room was on the eleventh floor. There were no screens on our window. We’d just turned out the lights and crawled into our beds. (Ugh. Dorm room beds. TORTURE.) Everything was quiet, then I heard a little thump. A few seconds later, Debbie quietly asked, “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “What do you think it was?”
“I’m not sure I want to know,” she said. But she turned on the light and there, in the middle of my bulletin board, was the most ginormous palmetto bug (nice name for flying roach) that ever lived. I shrieked and ran to her side of the room. The bug dropped to the floor, which meant it was under my bed. Where all my luggage was stored.
Debbie reached for her tennis racquet and began using it to gingerly pull out my luggage a piece at a time while I stood on her desk chair and was generally no help at all. Suddenly the bug came running out from under my bed, and Debbie beat it to death with her tennis racquet.
MY HERO!
Becky, I love your Animal Crackers train, and it is very sweet how you enshrined all your loves within the frame of your bulletin board; but, alas, it is painfully obvious that my Palmetto Bug Relocation Program had not yet caught on in the dorms of Alabama.
Thanks. =) And don’t worry. Every time we killed one, we bowed our heads and thanked it for giving its life so that we might have stories to tell.
Namaste.
I think we need a closeup of your beauty pageant picture!
Somewhere I have a page from the newspaper with little photos of all the girls in the pageant. I don’t remember how many there were, but I made it as far as the top ten, which meant I had to answer a question. (What profession would you choose and why?)
I can remember the names of only five of the other girls in this group. The winner is the third girl from the right, Joy.
Here’s the photo my mother took afterward. We were in the school office, and for the photo, she made me hold the flowers that were on the counter. It was a small version of this one that was on my bulletin board.
Here she caught me walking in a winter wonderland.
OMG how did i miss the beauty pageant item? So pretty! Your intelligent brow, glorious facial symmetry, healthy complexion, bright knowing eyes, sweet smile, and look how your hickory brown hair so gracefully drapes across your shoulders.
You were robbed.
Ha ha! I wish I looked anything like that now, and I’d have no regrets about being “robbed.”
Trust me, Joy probably answered her question way more intelligently than whatever I babbled.
Joy is showing a little cleavage and is the only one showing complete arm … no long sleeves or gloves. I think those were the key to her victory, because clearly you were the rightful owner of the tiara. What did you do for talent? How did you work “world peace” into your answer?
Joy is wearing gloves. They’re kind of glowy, iridescent gloves. And she was a very intelligent young woman and deserved her win–she was already out of high school and was poised and lovely.
The pageant didn’t have a talent requirement, thank goodness, because I didn’t have one.
Well there went my theory.
Also … the bulletin board… well it is the most organized bulletin board I have ever seen. I also love animal crackers and also trick myself into believing they are “healthy” because they aren’t Double Stuff Oreos. I don’t believe your story about “the bull” That’s right becks, I’m saying it – you’re full of Schlitz.
I’m not saying I never drank Schlitz or beer. I’m saying I never drank malt liquor. THAT truth you can stake your froufrou umbrella-bearing drinks on.
Though I may leave chaos in my wake, I’m very organized as I hurtle forward–I was raised by a Virgo.
I too was raised by a virgo – it didn’t take.
You must STEAL and absorb the best parts of others. This is the only way you’re ever going to get power as a nemesis.
Also, have you seen what’s at the bottom of my page? I found it yesterday and after giggling hysterically about it, was persuaded by a mischievous Tim to add it to my blog. I hope I’m not the only one who can see it.
Oh I love it! I think it should be displayed more prominently!
It’s too big to go on my sidebar. I tried.