Short on money, but long on time

I don't think anyone could describe my current living situation better than Paolo Nutini in his song New Shoes. As a college kid, I now understand what it means to be broke. After paying off reservations for a condo in Winter Park I looked at my bank account and realized I had $25 to my name. Eventhough I have two part time jobs, I also have a terrible habbit of swiping the little plastic Capital One card in my wallet. So, I've decided to try and cut back on spending, which is suprisingly easy here at CMC.

Broomball
So what happens when you give a bunch of college kids helmets, knee pads, sticks with plastic attached at the end and some ice time? They call it broom ball, but I'd say it's more like comedy hour. The sport started in Canada in the early 1900s and was brought to the US somewhere in the 60s. The rules to the game are pretty simple, no fighting, the goalie is the only one who can pick a ball up and he can't throw it past half ice. But other then the stacked team of hockey players, most of us have no idea how to handel the ball. We spend most of our time falling, even when we are trying to stand still. Our team currently holds a 0-2 record, although I think we are improving alot. It's a fun time nonetheless, a good way to relieve stress on Tuesday nights.

The Library

I love reading in my free time, but books can be pretty costly. I don't know why I've been so hell-bent on buying them my whole life. Other then the choose your own ending series, I don't think I've ever read a book twice. It's only lead to a collection of books that I'll never read again. From now on I'm going to check the library before I rush off to the bookstore. I'm currently working on Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult and would reccomend it to anyone looking for a good read.

Bowling
Did I mention there's a bowling league here at CMC? Every Thursday at 9pm students head to Snow Bowl to show off their skills. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the sport but I've been roped into subbing for friends several times now. It's fun to hang out for a couple hours and its completely paid for by the school.

Those are just a few of the many things do to at CMC that are both affordable and fun. I'm sure I'll be coming up with many more in the next few days as it is now Thanksgiving break and the campus is barren.

Changeling

Tonight for some cheap entertainment a few of my friends and I decided to take advantage of the $2 movie tickets offered to Colorado Mountain College students every other Friday night. We decided to go see Clint Eastwood's Changeling, and all I can say is Wow. Walking into the theater I had no idea what the movie was about, just that it was starring Angelina Jolie. I expected another film where she plays a sexed up woman who knows how to handle guns and fight better than her co-starring men. Considering it took me a half hour to figure out that the pale, innocent looking woman with bright red lipstick was Jolie, I was in for quite a surprise.

The movie starts out in the 1920s with a loving mother, Christine, who returns home from work one night to find her son missing. Months later the LAPD claims to have found her son, but when she arrives at the train station, to her dismay it's not him. I don’t want to give away the entire thing, but due to her publicly embarrassing the police department, they throw her into an insane asylum to shut her up. She is brutally abused by a system in which she has no control. Soon, thanks to a Reverend who devotes his life to fighting against corrupt cops, more evidence is found proving her case and they are forced to release her. The rest of the movie follows the corrupt moves of the police department and Christine’s brave battle against them.

It was one of those movies where you ended up thinking. You weren’t happy or sad at the ending, just wowed at the history of our country. I immediately started thinking about the case this woman had. It was very serious, yet tried in front of a city council, not the State or the Supreme Court. It set precedents for generations to come and helped fix a failed system. Yet here we are in today's society where a woman can sue McDonald's because she spilled coffee on her lap and it burned her. A man can sue a beer company because he didn't have as much fun as the people in the commercials did. Why do people do this? It makes a mockery of our system, which as presented in this movie already has enough struggles going on. Do we sue people for dumb reasons because we can't find anything better to do? Has our idea of a serious situation become so dumbed down and diluted that we need to run to the court house every time we slip on a patch of ice? Or maybe these people are greedy and want money, so they find ways to use the system to their advantage, just like the dirty cops in the film.

That last paragraph is by no means what the movie is about, but in one way or another, that’s where my thoughts ended up. Overall I’d recommend this movie as one of my top picks if you’re in the mood for something thought provoking. It’s right up there with Gone Baby Gone. I promise I didn’t give away too much, there are a lot of twists that I left out and my synopsis didn’t come close to giving it justice.

Top Ten Things You'll Need in College

At this point in the game I feel it's fair to say that most students are pretty well adjusted to the dorm life. It's like that in-between step from living with your parents to living on your own. You learn what the real necessities are pretty fast, but for those of you who are preparing to live in the dorms next semester or next year, I've come up with a list of the ten most important things to bring:

10. Pictures & Posters- Our walls are white and completely boring, the best was to make them more exciting is to personalize them with photos from home and a few posters. It'll give your room personality and make it feel more like your own space, not just a place where you are living.

9. Hot Chocolate- Remember when you were little and had a blast playing in the snow, but after a while you heard your mom calling and you didn't hesitate to run home; partly because your hands were numb and partly because you knew there'd be a nice warm cup of hot chocolate waiting for you? Well I hate to break it to you, it won't be prepared when you get back, but it's always nice to make some after a snowball fight or a day on the mountain.

8. Quarters- I know it’s college and clean clothes are not our number one priority, but when you finally run out of clean socks or underwear you'll realize quarters are your best friend. They are rare to find here in the dorms since the change machine is always broken and people tend to hoard them for their own use. I'd recommend always keeping a back up stash hidden somewhere.

7. Stamps- One of the most exciting things that can happen here at college is to receive a post card or package in the mail. It's always good to know that someone is thinking about you, and I think snail mail is more exciting than e-mail becuase you know some time and effort went into it. You'll need the stamps to reply with a thank you note.

6. Alarm Clock- For those of you who like to stay out late I'd definitely recommend getting one of these. Although the earliest a class starts here at CMC is 9am, it can be very difficult getting up after a late night of cramming or GTA with some friends. I'd highly recommend getting one with a snooze button; it seems to come in handy.

5. Water Purifier- Because of the high altitude it's incredibly easy to become dehydrated out here. You definitely need to drink a lot of water. You could keep buying bottled water, but for those of you who like to help the environment and save money in the long run, a water purifier is the way to go.

4. Vitamin C Drops- The Dorms are breeding grounds for illness. In the winter you basically have two choices: freeze to death from opening your window to circulate air or get used to being sick. Since I don't like the thought of either I've opted to take a daily dose of vitamin C.

3. A George Foreman Grill- As a going away gift my Grandma gave me a George Foreman Grill. I'll admit it was thoughtful, but I didn't think I'd be putting it too much use. Oh how wrong I was. It comes in handy on those nights you miss dinner or simply can't stand to eat cafeteria food anymore. Plus grilled cheese parties with your neighbors are always a fun way to brighten up a boring day. I've found George Foreman has become one of my best friends. (Thanks Grandma!)

2. Downy Wrinkle Releaser- Okay, other than for waxing your ski/board, who has used an iron recently? I know I definitely haven't. But I like my clothes to look clean even if they aren’t, that's why I think Downy Wrinkle Releaser is the best thing since sliced bread. Just a few sprays, a couple tugs and my clothes are wrinkle free.

1. Snowboard- I can't even tell you how many of my friends don't have their gear our here yet. In their defense Steamboat won't open until November 26th, but if you have the college ultimate pass you can go to Copper (which opened yesterday) and Winter Park all you want. Not to mention Buff Pass and the CMC Rail Yard, which have rails and jumps set up for some pre season fun.

Things I thought I would need but really didn't:

TV- There's free cable in all of the lounges that are rarely used, so there's no need to pay for it.

A Car- I'll admit I miss jumping into my car and cruising to wherever my heart desired, but I don't miss paying for gas. Steamboat is a small town so if you like to bike or jog you can pretty much go anywhere. Plus there's a free bus system that takes you all over town, and most of the kids here are friendly, so if they see you walking up the treacherous Bob Adam's Drive they'll give you a lift to the top.

CDs/ DVDs- All of my music is on my Lap Top, I've found that CDs just take up space. And living here is like having a personal Blockbuster because some kids decided to have their entire DVD collection shipped out. There are enough movies around to keep anyone occupied for days.

So there you have it, my list of necessities and a few things that aren't so important. Hope this helps any students coming out here! And feel free to add ideas if you think I left something out =)

Enchanted Castle

I'm sure you've all been wondering where I've been this past week, maybe even a little worried. Fear not, I didn't get lost in the woods or eaten by a bear-- I can't even claim that I was trapped in a car due to an overwhelming snowfall. In fact, we don't have any snow in the valley at the moment, although I've heard rumors of it coming this week.

Third Floor Lounge

So where have I been? Midterms aside, I've been busy preparing for Halloween! As you may or may not know, Steamboat is a resort town and many of the houses around here are winter houses/condos that people don't live in year round. How sad would it be if as a child you went trick-or-treating and most of the doors you knocked on were vacant? Steamboat's solution: The Enchanted Castle. Each year CMC students and faculty decorate the dorms, put on a mini carnival with games and prizes, and open up rooms up for trick-or-treating. I was part of the carnival committee. Our day started with decorating at 10am, and ended around 9 o'clock at night with clean up and free wings. Overall I think it was a complete success. For the sake of privacy I'm not going to post any pictures of the little kids on here but they were incredibly adorable!

Contest Entrants

Friday, which was Halloween day, the school hosted a costume contest. There were some really creative ideas, like Where Is Waldo and a CMC Cheerleader. Not surprisingly, Jack Sparrow took it home as he did an excellent job of both dressing and acting the part.

Tamara and I

I spent the rest of Friday in Breckenridge for a friend's birthday. A group of us decided we were going to get a hotel down there for a mini vacation. Let me just say, Breckenridge does nothing but first class. The cheapest place we could find was $100/night and it was very fancy. There were no chain hotels in sight so we ended up paying a little more than planned, but we definitely enjoyed our stay there. As we walked to dinner we realized that it's a very spirited town, everyone on the street was dressed in costume. Sunday I got a ride down to A-Basin and went snowboarding, the perfect way to end a week. Overall it was a hectic week, but completely worth it in the end.