By Nora Clancy

Brigid Dunn ’07, of Croton-on-Hudson, NY and Collier Meyerson ’07, of New York City, NY, skipped an episode of Law and Order to discuss the issues. The two got over a first year rivalry to become housemates and close friends for their junior and senior years. Dunn, an International Studies and French major, and Meyerson, a History and American Studies major, keep busy. Between Dunn’s Arabic classes in Minneapolis, to Meyerson’s internship at a local law firm, the two make it a priority to spend time together. They like to indulge in lunches at Acme Deli and vintage shopping trips.

I’ve heard you two really identify with seahorses. Why?

C: We totally love each other.
B: Shhhh.
C: Shhhh. That’s what we do every time we see each other. Every time we say things at the same time we go, “shhhh.” Seahorses are the only animal that have love for each other. I’m serious, I just looked it up.
B: If a seahorse were to make a noise, it would be, “shhhh.”

Seahorses are pretty, but not quite as stylish as you two. How do you manage to stay so put together?

B: I think it’s safe to say that we’re from a classy region of the country. We consider ourselves the culterati of Macalester. Every morning we match our cardigans with our Uggs. Collier was in Paris last semester (fashion capital of the world) and we’re one step ahead of the game.
C: I think the biggest trend, really, of Winter 2006 are JNCOs.
B: Collier has about ten pairs of JNCO jeans.
C: Yep, JNCOs and the Vans from 1994 that are like, glitter, we’re into those.
B: I have a few pairs of Generation X jeans, which are really in right now. We also have what, seventeen different colors of glitter gel?
C: Yeah, exactly. I like to wear lip liner with nothing inside. I really like that.

Were you always so on top of your style game?

B: Freshman year, we were kind of behind, fashion-wise.
C: Yeah, freshmen year I wore Sevens!
B: Oh, it was really all off. Collier, didn’t we match our Burberry scarves to everything? That was really a disaster. But now we’re the real deal. We’ve lost a lot of weight since freshman year. So we like to show that off. Elastic-waist pants really accentuate that weight loss.
C: I also, thankfully, gave away my Chanel bag. I mean, it was just really gross. You know, like, so not in style.

Between the two of you, you have a unique assortment of boots and plaid shirts. Where do you get all these special items?

B: We live in close proximity to three vintage shops. We probably go to Up Six about once a week. We have a stop in, peruse the selection.
B: They have a really great collection.
C: It is totally apropos to our style. When I was in Paris I noticed that the 90s were really coming back. There were other subliminal things that reminded me of the 90s, too. In my head I was like, what is a marker of the 90s? What could I bring back? I went to Up Six—we were having a party that night, so I was like, gotta have something for the party—so I picked up this flannel shirt. I showed it to Brigid. She said, “This is great, how about we both wear them tonight as a debut?”

B: They are not actually flannel, they’re plaid. We have yet to purchase an actual flannel shirt. Maybe that will be our next thing. I’m predicting that neon orange skull caps and black and red heavy flannel jackets with real boots. That could be really cute. Like, really Wisconsin.

Up Six isn’t the only thing in your neighborhood. Tell me about your outrageous neighbors on Hague Avenue.

C: We live on Hague Mile, that’s what we call it.
B: We had these neighbors last year across the street—a man and a woman both probably about 25. They were living as a couple in the house, but they were a tumultuous couple.
C: Right before junior year started we were about to go out to Drink in uptown.
B: We were waiting outside for someone to pick us up and we look across the street and here are our neighbors outside, and the girl is sitting on her step with her head in between her knees vomiting—in the front yard of their own home! Like, why would they not go inside?
C: And the guy is peeing next to her.
B: Not even in a bush, just urinating on the street! This was early, like 9:00 p.m.
C:Then months passed and it’s Thanksgiving break and they came over to the house. They knocked at the door and said, “we need to borrow your phone.” So they have our phone and say, “we don’t have the money, ok.” We found out later that someone had kicked down their door looking for them and this money. The next day they were gone.
B: A few weeks after that, a van kept coming with this man who wore a mask and gloves into the house. So finally, Collier and I were too curious to just sit and watch. We went over there and told the guy that we were really disturbed about what happened to them because we had given them a spare key to our house and we wanted it back. He said, “well I’m the owner of the house. They had to leave. I shouldn’t tell you this, but they owed someone a lot of money.” I said, “was it drugs?” Collier goes, “what kind, meth?” He looked at us like we were really weird and reluctantly he provided us with the information we were looking for. They were, in fact, freebasing off of every single thing in the apartment—light bulbs, spoons. Following that, he asked us if we might want to live in that house, because he wanted to rent it!
B: Meet me on Hague Mile.
C: It’s going down.

Besides the drama in the neighborhood, I’ve heard you also get excited by tornado sirens.

C: You know how every first Wednesday of the month the tornado siren goes off? Well me and Brigid were walking across Shaw Field after eating at Acme Deli.
B: We had huge sandwiches. We were like, REALLY full.
C: Suddenly I feel this rumble in the ground.
B: This rumble was really from the depths of something. It comes up from the earth, and I thought it was Collier passing gas! I looked at her and she has this look of complete terror. I’m like, oh my God, she’s scared of her own gas—she didn’t know something like that could come out of her.
C: But really, I thought that Brigid was farting, and I was like, oh my God!
B: Literally, Shaw Field was shaking.
C: Then the sound gets louder and we just started hysterically laughing.
B: To this day, on the first Wednesday of every month, we look to each other—even if we’re not with each other.
C: We call each other.
B: And whisper, “Shhhh.”

Correction: In the October 13 Spotlight, Alessandra Williams ’07 was misqouted. She attends seven classes for a total of 18 credits and studied Contemporary African Dance in South Africa, not “Ethnic” dance.