The Last Ten Years

So, my friend Arielle told me about this exercise : write down everything you can remember, or that you consider formative, in the last ten years. I may have blurred the high school years a little bit — but this was interesting. I tended not to include incredibly personal things, and really only used ex-boyfriend’s or teacher’s names, as I found it funny. This is more cathartic than anything. Do your own.

Here Goes:

2000: Was a moderately good runner on the Cross Country team; Started hanging out with the opposite sex; watched A LOT of movies in Mr. Johnston’s “English” class, including the old Romeo & Juliet where you see her boobs for a long period of time; felt strangely that my family was among only tens in Edina to have a Gore sign in the yard

2001: was the “upstairs maid” in Valley View’s production of Annie; Sam Liebo broke my middle school heart; I recovered; Saw Elton John live in nearly front-row seats; Started High School at Edina; took AP Bio; Memorized the Krebs cycle and a lot of other stuff that I no longer have memorized; Went to my first ridiculous Edina dance; Broke Tom Lydon’s heart; he recovered; got my Mr. Peanut pajamas for Christmas

2002: Saw Simon and Garfunkel live; Tried acupuncture; went on Accutane and pretty much blanked entire year out of mind; except for AP History with Brian Simpson and the infamous History video incident

2003 : Spent the summer at Carleton’s Summer Writing Program; Got my first real job at the Bead Monkey; Applied to seven different schools, thinking that I would probably go to Sarah Lawrence; Got my driver’s license; Got to drive a ’97 Passat outfitted with a cat-in-a-hula-skirt hood ornament

2004 : Opted to take an independent study on the Chronicles of Narnia instead of AP Physics; Traveled to London for Spring Break; Got in to almost all schools and decided on Smith; Graduated from Edina High School; worked incessantly at Nordstrom in the fashion jewelry department; Traveled cross country to Smith, stopped at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and Niagra Falls along the way; Moved into Jordan House; Drank a lot of Smirnoff; Wanted to transfer from Smith; Figured out that I loved Smith

2005 : Smashed my Ibook laptop with my printer; Bought my 1993 Volvo, Seymour; Spent the summer at Oxford University; Traveled all around Ireland, Paris and England; Was the Head Of New Students of Jordan House at Smith; declared a double major in American Studies and English Lit; spent Thanksgiving at Plimouth Plantation

2006 : Took George Colt’s Writing about American Society class; spent Spring Break interviewing old people in Iowa for said class; Moved to DC for a semester and worked at the Smithsonian; Snuck into a lot of bars because I wasn’t 21; Broke my collarbone while trying to do a keg stand

2007 : Lost my grandpa; Traveled to Berlin; Started my thesis;  got to say “hi” to the Dalai Lama while I sat studying for finals on Chapin Lawn; traveled to Memphis, Alabama, and Mississippi for field work; Interned at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Met Evan; Began my senior year at Smith; Discovered the Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts; Spent a lot of time at the Dirty Truth and the Smith library

2008 : Finished my thesis; Graduated from Smith, Traveled cross country home and visited Frank Lloyd Wright houses along the way; Moved to Minneapolis; Got my first apartment in Uptown; Started taking public transportation regularly; Got my first job with benefits; Worked media (read: not politics) at the Republican National Convention

2009 : Traveled to Jamaica; Relished having a steady income; Decided to move to Chicago; Moved in with Evan; Experienced being a poor freelancer; Applied to copious amounts of things; Spent my first Thanksgiving sans-family

Theme song, naturally:

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