My Not-So-Secret Addiction by Kelsea Dunham
I’m sitting at a desk in the Student Government Association office, trying to find something to write about. I ponder writing about my February break trip to Universal and Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Actually writing about the art walk crosses my mind. So do Student Body President elections (of which I’m a candidate) and an upcoming burlesque show that I have. Nope. None of them are right.
So, while I wait, I pull a bottle of nail polish out of my bag, to give my hands something to do while I think. As the gold polish gets spread on my fingernails, I realize I have found my muse. My nail polish addiction.
It all got started when I decided to stop biting my nails. It’s a gross, dirty habit, and one that I’d had my entire life. It was time for it to stop, so, being the femme that I am, I decided that if my nails were painted, I’d be able to resist the urge to gnaw on them a bit. Well, it worked. A little too well.
I loved having my nails painted. Nail polish – cheap bottles at Target – became my go to self-reward. I figured that if my partner could spend $4 at a time on a cup of coffee, I could spend $5 here and there on a bottle of nail polish.
As I got more and more obsessed with this idea of having my nail polish, I realized I needed more color options then Target could offer me. I branched out into the world of high quality nail polish.
My favorite high quality brand is Julep. They have awesome colors, and they have what’s called the Maven program. Their polish is expensive – usually $14 a bottle! But, if you join the Maven program, for $20 a month, they will send you 2 bottles of the month, based on your style profile, along with something else. For the something else, I’ve got cuticle oil, pedi cream, an eyelash curler. You can also earn points, which you can put towards a free month or an add on color, if you love a color that’s outside your style profile. Broke and can’t afford a month. Trust me, I have been there! You can skip a month. Go check them out!
Another fancy brand that I love is Zoya. Once again, pricey, but cheaper then Julep, at $8 a bottle. Zoya has literally thousands of colors to chose from, and they often run deals on their site, if you sign up for emails. Recently, I got three bottles for $10, with free shipping, just by keeping my eye on my email. Their polish lasts forever on me, which is saying something, considering I knit in class and do a LOT of dishes at my house. They also have the coolest glittered and textured polishes in the market. Take a peek!
Some days, though, I just can’t wait for polish to come in the mail. On the days when I’m really desperate, I hit up the clearance sections at Walgreens and CVS, where I’ve got some really great deals.
I won’t admit exactly how many bottles of nail polish I have (because I don’t know!), but I will let you in on my little secret stress reliever. What’s yours?
Remembering Why by Sam Hill
Hello USM!
It’s been so long since I had to write a blog post that I pretty much forgot it was a thing even after Kelsea reminded me yesterday. Luckily, Crystal happened to be hanging out in the lounge of our hall in Gorham and reminded me.
The problem is, I have a million and one things to do. All the time. Right now I should be transcribing a half-hour interview for a thousand-word story that I have to have completed and to my editor by midnight. Being a journalist is rough, even at the university level.
Throughout working at the Free Press for a semester and a half now, I’ve thought about quitting a hundred times. With having to deal with writers not making deadlines, copyeditors tearing my work to pieces, working 20 hours most weekends and eating leftover pizza for just about every meal, it’s not exactly an ideal job choice.
But this past weekend I had an experience that kind of changed my attitude.
Last Friday night, I drove up to Lewiston to see this band called Skösh play. I had never actually listened to their music or even had a chance to look into them much before I set out. A friend I work with had mentioned them to me, there are USM students in the band and they had just won the Young & Free Maine 2013 Soundoff (Which is awesome. They get free recording time and get to play at Kahbang music festival this summer), so it was worth taking a look. Sometimes you just have to take a risk and go with what you’ve got in front of you. I had no idea what to expect. I had talked to their drummer and vocalist, Jedidiah, over email a bit and he seemed excited, but who isn’t about free promotion, right?
So anyway, I get there and they’re awesome. I mean, I don’t go to see a lot of live music, but these guys have to be one of the most upbeat, energetic bands I’ve watched. They played a set of covers at Fusion, this Ramada Inn up there, and EVERYONE is dancing all over the place to these guys. From Lynyrd Skynyrd to 2pac to everything Top 40 to that god-awful Gangnam Style song. All of it is funky and they twisted every song to give it a little of their own flavor.
In between their sets I got to sit down and talk with them. Just talked with them. I wouldn’t even call it an interview because it was so relaxed. I basically just got to hangout with them and record our conversation.
I don’t want to get into too much detail (because I have a lot of other things to do tonight), but it was the most, if only, fun I’ve had being a journalist. I was so excited to write the story when I drove back to Portland that I accidentally got in the northbound lane and drove to Augusta before turning around. I was pissed, but pumped up enough to let it slide.
Wrote the story. It was really easy because everyone was so interesting. Simple. Loved it.
Jump back into the real world of journalism.
The story is too big, copy editors found out that I can’t actually write. Once printed, the delivery guy flaked and the paper didn’t even get out til Tuesday night. Tuesday! It sucks not being able to see your work immediately. It’s like carrying a baby, giving birth and having a doctor tell you he’ll go grab it for you when he gets around to it.
Okay, I might be exaggerating, but still. The story is posted online though, which is cool, except no one really reads online. Or so I thought.
I’m walking through Bullmoose on Tuesday night, buying cheap books to get rid of some stress and an employee comes up to me.
“Hey, you work for the Free Press, right?”
Jesus Christ. What’d I do? We only ever get feedback when we messed something up. I said yes. Apparently she is dating the bassist from the band and was at the show on Friday. She loved the article and thought I took some great photos, too.
This was the first time I had been approached about a story and gotten such positive feedback (Minus my ex-girlfriend when she told me she read all my stories.)
When I get home I see that the band shared the article on their Facebook page and are loving it! I couldn’t stop smiling after seeing people enjoying my work.
I feel completely rejuvenated and have promised my editor that I won’t quit for a while.
I know this was kind of a brain dump, but if you can take anything from this it’s that you need to stick with things. Life’s rough. Everyone has awful things going on that are stressing them out til they can’t sleep at night. The real rewards come when you can make yourself work through that. Really. Whatever you’re doing right now, keep doing it. I promise it’ll be worth it eventually.
Pivots in Academia by guest blogger, Philip Shelly
I am a non-traditional student (a euphemism for “old”) from New York, where I spent most of my life as an alcoholic rock musician, working in bars and bookstores. With the coming of the internet in the late-90s, I somehow wandered into the world of interactive advertising, where I was able to put my creative and conceptual skills (especially as a writer) to good use, and I ended up staying there for a decade, becoming (with a lot of help) gratefully sober along the way. I learned a lot about how the business world works (hence, really how the world works, stuff that blew my bohemian mind) and the experience helped me grow up a lot.
But I also realized that ultimately it was unfulfilling, and not good for my soul to create advertising and work in an office. By then I was in my mid-40s, and I had to come up with an escape plan quickly. I wanted to get out of New York, I wanted to do something that contributed to the community and was not evil. I wanted to stay close to books, my first and greatest love. A nearby ocean would be nice. Those were my criteria. So I came to USM to pursue my newly formulated goal of becoming a high school English teacher.
This is an incredibly pivotal time in the world of academia and education, and I feel incredibly lucky to find myself in the thick of it. There is perhaps no other major area of our society where so many culturally critical issues are currently being so hotly contested: the proper uses and limits of technology; the rapidly evolving demographic and linguistic makeup of the US; and the battle over whether certain institutions should publicly or privately held. At USM I have already been given several interrelated opportunities to start grappling with some of these issues.
Along with my classes, I knew that if I wanted to find a job in the future, it would be important to get as much experience as I possibly could working with high school students. Some kind of part-time volunteer work in a high school would help me get a taste of the job and see if I really wanted to do it, and also help me figure out if I was actually any good at it. On a more crassly mercenary level, it would also look good on my resume to have logged all these hours, and, assuming I did well, I would be making valuable connections in Portland’s tight-knit educational community, and working for people who could provide (hopefully) stellar recommendations to future prospective employers. (Another immediate practical benefit: writing about my experiences in Make It Happen helped me win a scholarship in 2012.)
One of the great things about USM (and colleges in general) is the way they provide resources for the surrounding communities, and are plugged into so many aspects of life – including, of course, educational life. So it wasn’t long before I found the office of Office of Community Service Learning on the Portland campus, where I met some very nice (but not ick-ily nice) people and was quickly matched up with a volunteer gig at Deering High School, as an Academic Coach in a program called Make It Happen for non-native English speakers (mostly African and Asian immigrants), helping them with any writing or schoolwork they have. This can be anything from homework, to papers, college essays, to research, or to just taking over certain ideas and concepts. There are math and science tutors, as well, but I am terrible in those subjects.
Anyhow, that was two years ago when I first started at Make It Happen, and it paid off more wonderfully than I could have ever imagined. For one thing, it is both pleasantly surprising and heartening to discover that pedagogical theories learned in my USM classes can actually be very effective when working with high school students. But really the main thing is, it is just a great group of people, and we almost always have fun, do good, interesting work, and share a great learning experience. No doubt, I learn as much from the students as they learn from me: about their (often) different cultures, sure, but also how to listen better, and to be more attentive, more kind, and more engaged myself.
I think I am lucky to be at Deering, where the culture of Make it Happen is pretty strong and self-sustaining. And for me, the more the students know me, the more I am able to help them – there is no substitute for time and relationships. Although weather and holidays seemed to disrupt the schedule a lot (I admit I do not always feel like driving over there, although I am always happy once I get there), I was also able to help outside school a little bit, giving students rides home, taking some kids on a USM campus visit, and participating in a Video Release Party.
I was once asked to sum up my work at Make It Happen, and I said the following, which, though it seems a little corny (even to me) is heartfelt, and I think, true; I will carry this lesson for the rest of my life:
“To me, what’s so impressive about Make It Happen is how focused the program is on fostering strong relationships and a sense of community. I am learning that when you have relationships and community, you can accomplish anything; and of course, when you don’t have them, it’s nearly impossible to accomplish anything.”
Hooked on History by Lucie Tardif
Who knew college could be so much fun? That has been a constant surprise to me these past few years. The current semester, though, has topped them all.
I had long wanted to take a class in Maine history, so I was ripe for History of Maine. (If you ever have a chance to take a course with Professor Libby Bischof, grab it and run! She’s fantastic!) Libby, though, makes it even more fun. One of our assignments is to make ten visits to historic sites in Maine (although there are plenty one can do here in the Portland area) and create a one-page journal entry for each via creation of a blog (and, no, this isn’t it), a handwritten notebook or a standard multi-page paper.
We were given a list of suggested sites, but I, personally, like to get off the beaten path and do things others might not do, which meant trucking off to my hometown of Winslow. I was nearly salivating at the prospect of these visits. I love this stuff, and I love playing tourist. Winter break was a perfect time to get going.
I had recently learned there was a marker on Lithgow Street in Winslow, commemorating where Benedict Arnold and his 1100 men disembarked from the Kennebec on their expedition to Quebec. I had long known Arnold had stopped at Fort Halifax nearby, but I had never known about this rock. I lived in Winslow from age 4 to 27 – 23 years. How had I missed that? Though Lithgow Street is not especially close to the house where I grew up, I spent many hours there at the Public Library. Back then, the river side of the street was lined with homes, but all but one of them (further up and on higher ground) were wiped out in the flood of 1987. (Fort Halifax went for a swim, too, but was retrieved and rebuilt.)
I figured the rock may be small and covered in snow at this point, but it was worth a shot. As I rounded the bend at the beginning of the street, I could see the rock at the other end – completely bare of snow. It’s larger than I expected (about the same size Plymouth Rock is now), and on it is a plaque indicating Benedict Arnold had landed there in 1775. Amazing!
I also visited Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. One might argue, “How is that historic?” Believe me, it is (and my instructor’s personal interest in history lies in the arts)! Railroad Square Cinema, by virtue of its founders, has put Maine on the film industry map with the creation of the Maine International Film Festival. The likes of actors Peter Fonda (sister of Jane, son of Henry), Sissy Spacek, Karen Black, Ed Harris; director Jonathan Demme; and Martin Scorsese’s film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, have graced Waterville with their presence during the festival. I was charmed by the facility, its former owners (who have sold to the newly-established Maine Film Center) and wish I’d had some popcorn – made on premises and smells divine! (You can’t get popcorn like that at the movies anymore.)
The very next day I headed up to Skowhegan and the Margaret Chase Smith Library. That is an amazing place honoring an amazing woman! I didn’t realize she had represented Maine (in either the House or Senate) for 32 years and through six presidencies (FDR through Nixon). The walls to the right as you enter begin to chronicle her life and political service, year by year from when she was born in 1897 to when she died in 1995 at age 97 (on Memorial Day, no less – how appropriate for a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee).
By the time I left over an hour later, I was in total awe of Margaret Chase Smith. I only regret I never got to meet her. (I did once meet her Democratic peer in the Senate, Edmund Muskie.) I watched a 20-minute video of her life and service and commented afterward that our entire current Congress should see that video!
This class, too, has had an interesting domino effect on my life and quite possibly my prospective life’s work. I joined the Maine Historical Society soon after the semester began and started receiving e-mail updates from them. I discovered the Portland History Docent (yes, PHD) training program. Since our course required a final project, I figured chronicling that program in some way would make a great one. My instructor agreed. I am now in docent training. (Great way to get site visits in for my other assignment, too!)
That led to an interesting connection. I am taking Photojournalism this semester, too, and one way to get extra credit (which I will go for every chance I get) is to snap a picture that gets published in a legit newspaper, magazine or website. I learned Greater Portland Landmarks publishes a quarterly newspaper for its members. I wondered if they needed any pictures of buildings for what was likely to be an upcoming issue. The first person I contacted seemed to think I couldn’t get anything in the next edition, coming right up, but she forwarded my message to the responsible person. That woman said they were “desperate” for pictures of two buildings to accompany an article going in the spring issue. I was out the door with my camera, and they were thrilled with the shots. I’ll get my extra credit, and Greater Portland Landmarks is eager to have me take more. (They are working on a list.) I am just as eager to do it!
Now, I wonder how I might combine degrees in Media Studies and English and a minor in history into a job? The more history I’m exposed to, the more I want to work in it!
Why You Should Care by Brian McNally
After seeing another of my Facebook posts dedicated to a mini-rant on misogyny and slut-shaming, one of my aunts asked me “when did you become such an angry young woman?” Ours is a strange time, dear readers. Back in December of this just-past year, Salon ran an article entitled Why are women scared to call themselves feminists? after Katy Perry felt it necessary to announce to the world that she is not a feminist as she accepted the Billboard Woman of the Year award. An odd choice of timing for such an announcement, but I guess that’s why she wins awards and I just complain on the internet. While I will not sit here and tear apart Ms. Perry for her statement, I can and will explain why I think her shying away from the term is dangerous.
Feminism has gotten a bad rap, especially in recent times. Some people still see it as a movement based on degrading men, or elevating women to a dictatorial position over men. While there may be some who identify as feminist and pursue these “ideals”, it is important to recognize that they are to feminism what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity. To ignore a group because of its most fringe members is to miss the important lessons they can share with us. In this case, the message feminism seeks to spread is that women still need equal treatment.
“But why should I care?” you might be asking, especially if you read my title and noticed I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. “Because women’s rights are human rights,” I’d reply if this conversation actually happened. Women deserve the same rights that men do, and the simple fact is that they don’t have them. Women still don’t make the same pay that men do, and that is largely due to women being pressured from a young age into stereotypical jobs, or that they should be intimidated of maths and sciences, or that they simply shouldn’t earn as much as their husband. Just try to imagine what it would be like growing up and having everyone from your parents, to your teachers, to strangers you just met wondering why you would want to go into a particular field, just because of your gender. Its insanity that such commentary is still encountered by women in this day and age.
Statistically speaking, you probably know at least one woman in your life. There’s a good chance you are even close with one, whether by blood or your own choosing. Every day, they and people just like them have to deal with a society that wants to keep them “in their place”. They will be judged not by the quality of their work, but by their appearance and willingness to play their part in a man’s world. That’s not the sort of world I want for my mother and aunts, my cousins, my loved ones, and my future progeny. I hope its one you don’t want for yours, either.
I Am An Americorps VISTA by Molly Decleene
I am an AmeriCorps VISTA. An acronym that stands for Volunteers In Service To America, AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program with the aim of fighting poverty. Members of the program commit to serve in local community organizations for a year working to expand and strengthen programs designed to bring individuals and those communities out of poverty. (1) John F. Kennedy originated the idea for a service program focused on fighting poverty and in 1965 Lyndon Johnson created a domestic version of the Peace Corps resulting in the AmeriCorps program. In his first State of the Union Address, Johnson declared the War on Poverty stating, “It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until the war is won.” (2) Programs such as Head Start, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formally known as Food Stamps), and work study were such victories that came from this battle; however, it is fair to say that the war on poverty and equality has not yet been won. While poverty rates have decreased since Johnson delivered his speech (decreasing to a low of 22.9 million individuals in 1973), they are higher than ever before, reaching 46.2 million in 2010. (3)
Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. (4) In the United States, official poverty rates are issued each year by the Census Bureau. In 2010, the poverty rate for a family of four was set at just over 22K. (5) However, the face of poverty does not lie in definitions or numbers, but it exists in our communities, our neighborhoods and in many cases, our own families. Growing up in a lower-middle class family (whose parents both work for the United States Postal Service), I have experienced some minor inequalities. Knowing this injustice of disparity has driven me to join the war against the cyclical ailment of poverty and the system that imposes it; meeting the faces behind the casualties of our losing battle.
As an AmeriCorps VISTA, I have lived at the poverty level (a requirement of service) in two communities (not originally my own) serving in organizations that focus on education as a bridge out of poverty. My first position (in Tucson, Arizona at the University of Arizona) exposed poverty rates unknown to my pleasant and (needless to say) less than diverse upbringing in rural northern Wisconsin. In 2010, Arizona ranked among the top five states with the highest poverty levels. (6) My second term, here in Maine, also involved the forefront of a population experiencing high levels of poverty. Although many think of (with appropriate support) Maine as the whitest state in America, it is also one of the leading states in refugee resettlement. Populations within the state represent over 25 different countries. (7) (If you are unfamiliar with refugee resettlement in Maine, please click the footnote to learn more!) While diversity, and the acceptance of that diversity in Maine, is (in my opinion) refreshing, there are still many barriers being faced by these new populations that can push them into the cyclical system of poverty.
Working at the University of Southern Maine in the Office of Community Service Learning as a program coordinator for after-school programs, I define myself outside of these titles as simply someone who seeks to end poverty. If you too believe in equality and are ready to take practical action in your community, please become an AmeriCorps member, serve at a local after school-program in Portland, or simply learn more about poverty in our nation. For further inspiration stay tuned for my next post highlighting one of your fellow USM students who fights poverty by dedicating his time to a local educational program.
Footnotes-
- http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1589660
- http://npc.umich.edu/poverty/#3
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty
- http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparebar.jsp?typ=2&ind=6&cat=1&sub=1&cha=15&o=a
- http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2011/09/arizona-poverty-levels-among-highest-in-nation-census-figures-show/
- http://www.ccmaine.org/refugee-immigration-services/facts
This Is Effing Awesome! by Kelsea
Tomorrow is the First Friday Art Walk in Portland. This happens, well, every first Friday in downtown Portland, from 5-8ish. The galleries and coffee shops and restaurants and everything in Portland, I swear, all open up to the public and let you wander through. Lots of them have free munchie food, like cheese and crackers, and free wine (if you’re 21+!), if you get there early enough. This is seriously my favorite date night every month.
And that’s what I was going to write about.
But, then this song happened.
And I remembered how amazing the thrifting scene in Portland is. So, I’m gonna tell you all about it, because I’m a grown up, and I do what I want. (It’s been a long week full of sick kiddo and sick me, and I think I’ve said this to Agent P about a million times over.)
So, here’s the lowdown on thrifting in Portland, with much influence from my girlfriend, who loves thrifting in a way that I don’t think I can even begin to explain. (She says that being around other people’s discarded junk is therapeutic for her. Huh.)
We’ll start with the standards.
First up: Goodwill. My personal favorite is the one in Falmouth, because that’s where folks from Falmouth bring their stuff, and I have found some ah-may-zing things there, like a Le SportSac duffle bag with the tags still on it. If you go to their website, you can check out the color of the week, which are all half off.
Next: Salvation Army. Honestly, this isn’t my favorite. Be prepared for the hunt, as things aren’t organized by size. But, if you shop deal days, you can get some decent stuff for cheap. Be warned: nothing is half off on Monday.
And, now, for the goodies. Portland has a ton of really great, locally owned stores.
Little Ghost Vintage is owned by an awesome girl named Dawn, and is technically more of a vintage store than a thrift shop, but I love it, so I’m gonna tell you about it anyway, so there. Dawn knows her vintage, and while you aren’t going to get stuff super-duper cheap, you are going to find awesome, one of a kind pieces here. She has clothes and stuff for your apartment. Located at 477 Congress Street, you can just hop on the Metro bus and go right there.
Just up the street for Little Ghost Vintage is 604 Thrift. Located right across the street from the State Theater and just a few doors down from Coffee By Design, this is my favorite to stop into when I have just a few bucks in my pocket and I’m not looking for anything special. Fairly priced and locally owned, this store is adorable. I’ve found sunglasses, earrings, and cute sundresses in the summer.
Last, but certainly not least, I’m going to encourage you to check out Portland Flea-for-All. They’re located at 125 Kennebec Street, down near Bayside Bowl. While, once again, technically not a thrift store, they’re only open on Saturday and Sunday, but they are awesome. They have vendors, selling everything from records to vintage clothes and jewelry. If you wander upstairs, you’ll find some awesome housewares. They take credit and debit cards, so be careful. The best thing we’ve found here is a tie between awesome clothes for me at Alley Oop Vintage and some super sweet (cheap!) Rogue’s Gallery gear for my girlfriend.
I hope this gets you started. Do you have a favorite? Leave it in the comments and I’ll check it out!
Marco Polo 