Early January sporting some bangs!
In April Michael lettered me, right before he went Alum! This is a big deal in the Greek world, it means I'm allowed to wear Pi Kappa Phi letters and must be treated with the same respect (or more) that a brother gets. Pledges will always see my name in the list of ladies they must know of!! It was just a wonderful memory, and a great way to enjoy our last college formal.
May Michael graduated!!
Spring/Summer I began to learn to play golf!
4th of July spent on the boat, wonderful!!
This wall seperated the Pi Kappa Phi and Phi Mu houses... And greek row was sadly torn down this summer, so we took some photos together before it was gone!! Many memories of walking to this area of Campus. I remember running down when I got my bid... and the magic of it all. And then later on, often walking with Michael hand in hand to Chapter every week. I will never forget those houses!!
In August my cousin got married!!! Also in the picture is her brother :)
September: A nice night out in Flat Rock!!
October: We met Charlie, who came to us so skinny!!
He filled out nicely!!
November: We meet out little Pippa!!
December: I turn 24! Wow I am old!!
Oh and Christmas was also lovely :)
All in all, it's been a lovely year! I'm always excited about new beginnings, so I'm happy it's a new year. I plan on really working on improving myself, inside and out. Being more positive, and happy. I also want to blog, read, and take more pictures!!
XX,
Brooke
Aw it looks like such a fun year!! You are a Phi Mu? I am an ADPi :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun year! And yes I most certainly am a Phi Mu!! And ADPi is my other favorite sorority! I have many friends in ADPi, and really appreciate the bond between our sister sorority's!!!! Yay!!! Are you still an active?
ReplyDeleteCatching up!
ReplyDeleteWoah! You got lavaliered? Congratulations! Such a HUGE deal for the Greek set (not that those outside will ever get it).
I'm a Kappa Sig, which you probably know already from having perused Kyoto Maiko.
Thanks Kionon! Yes, for the Pi Kapps, being "Lettered" is the big public thing that they do, this is what the house must all agree on and support, since we're wearing the actual letters. Lavaliering and Pinning are the more traditional I believe... I asked for a Lavalier for my charm bracelet! Lavaliering and Pinning for Pi kapps is just between the lady and brother. Do Kappa Sig's just pin or lavalier? I'm glad you get the significance! It was such a big deal to me, so meaningful that he did it before he went Alum... (Alums don't need permission for these things)! And somehow I missed that you were a Kappa Sig! Yay for Greek life!! We had Phi Kappa Sigma, as well as Pi Kappa Phi, I'm guessing that is different?
ReplyDeletePhi Kappa Sigma is a different fraternity. Kappa Sigma is the largest IFC-style fraternity in the nation. http://kappasigma.org/
ReplyDeleteUse of letters both inside and outside of the fraternity depends on each individual chapter. In my chapter, only active brothers can wear blocks (the type of letters you are wearing here). Pledges and and significant others, with permission, can wear the letters on shirts of a different style. However, if you take our chapter at University of New Mexico, everyone wears blocks, pledge or active, and I think significant others as well if everyone agrees.
Traditionally, across most of Kappa Sigma, we only lavalier. We NEVER pin, because our "pin" is called the Star and Crescent, and there's a whole host of things that goes into that badge (and it's much bigger than a pin) from our history and traditions. It's not appropriate. You can't really let someone else wear it... They're also incredibly expensive:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/KAPPA-SIGMA-Vintage-Fraternity-Pin-Badge-10k-Gold-Rubies-Diamonds-Pearls-Greek-/310368008434?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item48435ff8f2#ht_4020wt_1187
That's a little on the upper end, price wise, but the nice one's are $200+ easy...
That is a Beautiful and elaborate pin, WOW!! And I thought Kappa Sigma would be a different Fraternity, I'm glad because I didn't like the Phi Kappa Sigs, who went by "Skulls". Of course all chapters are different, you know how it goes. I am very fascinated by the traditions and history of the greek letter organizations! That's interesting about the block letters too, for the Pi Kapps you must be initiated to wear them and can only letter a lady after you've been in the house for a year and been serious with her for at least that long etc. I knew pinning existed but never thought it was even done anymore until NYE when a recently married brother said he had pinned his wife on their wedding day. I thought that was sweet... I think it would be nice to pin both mine and his badges on a wedding bouquet. But what else would one do with a pin? My mom, a tri delt said back in her day that's all that was ever done. Said she was pinned by three different fraternities!
ReplyDeleteThis is what my pin looks like:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHI-MU-sorority-10k-Yellow-Gold-Vintage-Greek-Society-PIN-Badge-/370574055969?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5647ef5a21
And a pretty Pi Kapp pin: (Michael's is plain)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PI-KAPPA-PHI-14k-Gold-Pearl-fraternity-Vintage-PIN-/370382751184?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563c8845d0#ht_4040wt_1137
My mother, a Kappa Delta, was at the same school as our largest chapter of Kappa Sigma. Their houses were right across the street facing each other. She never talked about pinning, probably because since Kappa Sig was the "top tier" fraternity on campus (and still is), and we can't pin with the Star and Crescent, it probably wasn't very common at her school...
ReplyDeleteHere's why the Star and Crescent cannot be worn by anyone but an initiated Kappa Sigma, and why pinning wouldn't make sense:
ReplyDelete"The Star and Crescent shall not be worn by every man, but only by him who is worthy to wear it. He must be a gentleman... a man of honor and courage... a man of zeal, yet humble... an intelligent man... a man of truth... one who tempers action with wisdom and, above all else, one who walks in the light of God.
Oh that's interesting that I guess kappa sigma never pinned! I personally think it seems a bit dated, and doesn't really make sense. I wouldn't give someone my badge as they don't know what it means to me and my sisters. Perhaps it's a tradition that has died out for a reason? Earning letters and a pin is particularly brutal for a fraternity anyway it's an interesting concept! The lavalier isn't as significant to the eta zeta pi kapps at least since the letters are more an outward representation of the chapter. It's interesting to contemplate! I haven't thought too much about this all since I found out about letters/lavaliers an started dreaming :) I do however wish I could do something back.
ReplyDeleteSome sororities allow "reverse lavaliering." You might see if Phi Mu has any particular bylaw against it...
ReplyDeleteThat's an idea to look into! Not sure if he would wear a Lavalier, but I shall see :) thanks Kionon! Interesting conversation! And always nice to meet another Greek. I find men who take their Fraternities seriously to be serious gentlemen.
ReplyDeletePS,
Have you encountered Total Frat Move yet?
Even knowing it to be parody and satire, I loathe and despise Total Frat Move. The fact that humor value derives from the fact that too many fraternity men and sorority women fit into the stereotype portrayed by the website is quite sad. That so many individuals in the Greek community either fail to recognise it as satire, or actually attempt to use it as a guidebook for how to act in a social setting, makes me rage. I also, personally, hate the word frat, consider it a negative label, and correct people who use it. I am a fraternity man, I am not a "frat guy" or a "brodude."
ReplyDeleteWithout getting into gender politics, blogs are not really the place for them, I consider myself an ardent feminist and I strongly dislike some of the courser, more patriarchal, and misogynistic traditions and tendencies of the Greek system, and I work to raise awareness of the ways in which they are harmful and are at the root of why so many non-Greeks view with suspicious, hatred, or contempt.
Oh I agree, it is very immature, setting a bad example for Greek life for sure. I have found some Total Srat Moves cute, some are more sweet than anything but many are trashy... it's unfortunate. And kudos to you for being a feminist, it's always refreshing when a man has a respectful view of women. It's unfortunate the view many non greek have... a view that some greeks have earned us. Greek life at Queens was far more service based than anything, the Pi Kapps (the only colonized fraternity at Queens) did far more service work than the sororities. Many members of one of the smaller chapters were doing the Journey of Hope every summer (a bike ride across the US stopping to raise awareness for disabilities). I always admired this, and how seriously most brothers believed in what they stood for. It would of been nice to have had more sororities/fraternities and bigger chapters however, we were never the stereotype and I am grateful for that.
ReplyDelete