And the Oscar goes to...

This weekend I got to go home and just relax for a few days. Home is always the best remedy for a stressed out college student and I'm so thankful that I live close enough to school to be able to go home.

In addition to being around my family again, this weekend consisted of one word: Culture! I went to San Jose and got my ballet fix when I saw Swan Lake. Let me tell you, it was gorgeous! I was moved by the emotion behind the dancer's movements. I'm not going to lie, I did shed a tear at the end of the ballet. It was simply gorgeous and it made me wish I had stuck with ballet when I was young. It does give me hope for when I'm a rich old woman and I've become a patron to the arts in Seattle (yes, that is my plan and I fully intend to make it happen). As I've gotten older, my love of the arts (classical music, ballet, opera, etc.) has grown tremendously and I wish I didn't have to drive so far to be immersed in it. I seriously need to live in a place where I can get it whenever I want. I saw the ballet with my mom and it was a completely enjoyable afternoon.

Tonight was the Academy Awards and my brother and I had a little bet going with Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture; each category would give the winner a dollar. Let's just say I won three dollars. I was pretty proud of the fact that all but two of the categories I predicted were correct. There were some superb movies this year, The King's Speech and Black Swan being among them. (Check out the trailers below)

Tonight for our little party, I made pizza and an easy snack of popcorn with melted marshmallows. I love watching the Oscars year after year because movies hold a special place in my heart (as most of my friends know I almost always see all the movies that are in theaters).

This weekend home has been extremely relaxing and I can't wait till the next time I can return when I just need a break from it all.

Don't speak and forever hold your peace

Today I've decided to write something a little more politically charged, but still close to my heart. In America, it is nothing new that we have the freedom of Speech, as protected by our Bill of Rights. I'm all for free speech, however, it is when that speech becomes violent, or contains hate towards our government that I have a hard time with. It is OK to disagree with government; I actually encourage that speech, it is when that speech is filled with dripping disdain and language that can invoke violence that I can't stand.

Why am I suddenly moved to write about it on this forum? It is not only from the language that I head after the congresswoman from Arizona was shot, which has been replaying over and over in my head and on national news media, it also stems from some comments I heard in class today about our president.

Today in class we were discussing the end times and the anti-christ when a girl behind me proclaimed to the class that President Obama is "the anti-christ". There was no joking tones or laughter to signify that it was all a jest, this girl was completely serious. It is speech like this that promotes hatred.

I am not an Obama supporter by any means, although there has been a few instances in which he has surprised me and I have agreed on some of his actions, and I am in fact a card-carrying conservative. I did not vote for this man; quite the opposite actually (I worked on John McCain's campaign), but when I hear speech towards the leader of our nation that is filled with so much slander and hate, it makes me sick.

I believe that in America, there is no place for language that puts down our politicians and causes a rift between political parties. What does hateful language solve? Instead of focusing on real issues and solutions, when there is unproductive language, America gets distracted with the rhetoric.

I'm not an activist, and I don't pretend to be a seasoned politician or political analyst, what I WILL be though is a concerned American that is extremely sickened by the political rhetoric in this nation from all sides of the political spectrum.

A day that will live in infamy

So ladies and gents, yesterday was Valentine's Day. The one day of the year when boys can act like total saps and not be punched in the gut by their friends, and girls can complain all they want about being single. What is it about that day that makes the air just seem like it carries more life and excitement (it rained yesterday so apparently the excitement levels weren't very high)?

I woke up that morning with a slight headache, caused from too much love in the air (haven't you ever heard that when there is too much love in the air oxygen levels decrease? no, I made that up? bummer...) or from my serious lack of caffeine (I've mentioned that I'm addicted to tea). Anyways, I climbed out of bed and got dressed, knowing full well that I would be faced with an amount of sugary, nauseating love equivalent to a fat kid's banana split. I'm all for love, don't get me wrong, but I was in the category of the girls that complain about being single on Valentine's Day.

Being single this year on V-Day, and not having any prospective suitors (look at me, I sound like I popped out of a Jane Austen novel...oh if only....the things I would do to Mr. Darcy....awkward...) was actually ok; I realized that as the day went on (and trust me, it didn't start out that well). I spent the evening moving into a different dorm room (out of a triple and into a double) and had a great time just talking and laughing with my fellow single ladies (Que annoying Beyonce music).



Hey, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to get some lovin! you go girl!

 While some of you were out with your sweethearts (or in the case of my roommate having an awkward run-in with an ex that came to her room while she had another boy in the room with her...) I was doing several things:

1)drinking milk out of a plastic champagne glass...yeah I'm that classy. It would have been classier if the bottom didn't keep falling off
2)singing "Ice, Ice Baby to my friends" (be jealous)
3)avoiding homework

So lovelies, how was your valentine's day? did you do anything fun with your sweetheart? Just because the calender progressed doesn't mean we have to stop sharing the love! keep those oxygen levels down people, I'll suffer in the name of love!

Mondays

What is it about Monday mornings that make me want to stay in bed forever; when dragging (or falling) myself out of bed takes a half hour.  Monday mornings are the days of the week when I lay there and stare at the ceiling or the clock and contemplate: "do I really need to be in class today?". I do my best thinking when I'm rolled up in my sheets, as I wiggle my toes and stretch my arms. Side note...does anybody ever have that horrible moment when their sheets are wrapped around their body like a boa constrictor and you panic thinking you are going to strangle to death? Or is that only one of my many fears coming alive and so I am the only one to experience this? Anyways, back to the topic at hand... I have history classes in the morning and let's face it, that subject isn't changing anytime soon. But, like a good student (who skipped way too many classes when she first started out in college) I always get up and get ready for class.

What is it about Mondays that make me feel so lethargic? I know it comes around every week, so why don't I prepare myself for it better? There never seems to be enough time on the weekends to do all I plan to do. Why does the hourglass of the world run out of sand so quickly on the weekends? Do I dread Mondays (Monday mornings in particular) because they signal the long week ahead? Probably so. But I think I dread Monday mornings because it means that it's the start to all that I vowed would change, the promises I made to myself while I did the inevitable soul searching over the weekend (of which I quickly forget about come Wednesday).

This afternoon, to try and get over my Monday slump, I took a nice long walk. I measure my time spent walking or running in songs (does anybody else do this?). So, I walked for an entire Andrew Belle album and Pete Yorn album. I love being outside and just relaxing in all that has been given to us by our creator. One of the things I've noticed about this modern world in which we live is that we seldom walk places and enjoy the world in which we live. So often, we are in such a rush to get from place to place that we never appreciate our natural surroundings. I vow (and I'll try not to forget come Wednesday) to take time out of each day to walk outside and appreciate the world.

This really has nothing to do with this post, but it's my favorite (or one of my many favorites) paintings by Edgar Degas and it made me smile today.

PS. I'm totally crushing on Madeleine Peyroux right now, she is so mellow. If you like jazz, you'll like her.  Check her out

in the morning when I rise...

It’s the calm that gets me. The time of day, usually in the wee small hours of the morning (great now I’m singing that song in my head) or the late hours of night, when the world is still and you have time to think. When everything is peaceful and you realize your mind is a storm of thoughts and you think about things you didn’t even know that you were thinking about. Do you know what I mean dear reader?

This morning, while I was dreaming about an omelet…I don’t know why I was dreaming of an omelet…I woke up on my own at 10am. It was wonderful. I loved laying there in my bed, recovering from altitude sickness (as I may have mentioned, my bed in my dorm is 500 feet in the air), while the sun peeked in through the slits in the blinds and warmed my face. Dressing in my rolled jeans and black sweater, I pinned my hair up and sat at the table in the main room and just soaked up the morning.



I'm totally crushing on tea cups without handles lately. Don't you love this set?



I’ve slowly realized that I may have an addiction to tea, if I don’t have a few cups in the morning I end up with a headache. At least my addiction is tea right? Tea is healthy; better tea than drugs. As I ate my multigrain toast, kiwi, and cottage cheese, I sipped on tea and read my Vanity Fair and just enjoyed the chatter of all those around me. I love listening to other’s conversations. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here kids, it’s not that I eavesdrop or anything like that. I just enjoy the chatter of people; I don’t always necessarily listen to the words. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit and enjoy the life that is going on around you. I’ve become a human anthropologist of sorts and have recently enjoyed people watching more and more.

This day marks a new day. I have been inspired by those around me to enjoy each and every day that I have been given to the full extent. I plan on living each day with a fresh pair of eyes; with the rising of the sun each day, I will awake with a new sense of pride in all the things that I will accomplish that day. It is my conviction to embrace and enjoy each and every day. Join with me, dear reader, in loving this day, enjoying it fully, and do something productive for yourself today.

Friends: cheapest therapists ever

Today has been a good and much needed day with some of my girlfriends. I've been stressed out lately, to say the least. I feel like I have little leprechauns jumping around in my stomach wrecking havoc with my emotions. Why leprechauns...I have no idea. Back to the subject at hand. So much has been on my mind lately that I'm having a hard time figuring it all out.

Today I went on a walk with my good friend Jessica; it was nice to just voice some of the things that have been on my mind lately. I've really realized that it's not good to hold things inside, eventually the things we keep hidden will boil to the surface like Pompeii and all of our emotions will scatter like villagers in unwanted ways. Just having girl talk, while enjoying nature was amazing. I feel so much better talking things out and getting an outsider's opinion. Friends are always great for at least one thing: being a backboard for all the thoughts that we choose to throw at them.

Later in the afternoon, I went to Target and Origin, a super cute coffee shop, with my other friend Dominique. (check out her blog at http://goodfoodgoodhealth.blogspot.com/)
When we got to Target, we parked in front of a light post with this sticker stuck on it:

Boy did it spark a conversation! What is the universe trying to tell us?! Cruel joke God...cruel joke. When we got to Origin, the real girl talk started! Sometimes, the best things in life is sipping a cappuccino with a good friend. It was nice talking to her because it made me realize how similar we are.

I'm so excited about this weekend, I have a good feeling that this weekend will not only be productive (because I have an amount of homework that makes Mt. Everest look like an ant hill), but it will also be a weekend of learning more about myself and I'm really going to try to learn more about what I want in the future and in the present. 

The Glory Days

We are an interesting breed of humans, my fellow college students and I. When does the shift occur from normal student (high school) to serious college student, when the world comes to a crashing halt if our computers crash. Is it due to the fact that we have officially offered up our first born and our souls in order to fund our education that we begin to take school seriously? College is a whole different ballgame than high school. In my second year participating in this glorious rat race, where the finish line is the perfect job offering, I've noticed several things about college students...

1)Coffee. There's not much more to say on this subject other than the fact that this dark liquid is the equivalent of the elixir of life. Drink three cups and call me in the morning.

2)Textbook prices that cost as much as a down payment on a large home. No wonder college students are broke. Why are books so expensive? If I'm paying a million dollars for a science book it better be engraved in gold sheets.

3)Awarness. ahhh yes, you know the college student. The one that is aware of their surroundings, the one that has a "save the whales sticker", "save the naked mole rat", or any other small animal that nobody really knows about. These types of students seem to run ramped on college campuses. Is there some type of rule as we enter college that a certain percentage of us most become socially conscious? I'm not saying it's bad thing to want to be a little more green, but come on people? save the mighty mosquito? no thanks. (SF State, I'm lookin at you)




I found these awesom comics on Toothpaste For Dinner. Just another example of how we are taught useless stuff most of the time. Excellent.

 4)I love how in college, the students have a certain air of pseudo intelligence in their answers. Not every class is a philosophy class (unless of course, you are a philosophy major). How does a topic progress from how many tests we will have in a semester into Kim Jong-il and his use of nuclear weapons and the threat they pose to society? Sometimes, students will hide behind a flowery vocabulary to hide the fact they have no idea what they are talking about...these are the students that just love to hear themselves talk. Don't get me wrong, I have met a number of extremely intelligent people on different college campuses that I've been on, but a good majority of us just fake it.

5)The 1am food run. Why do we get hungry around this time of night? When we enter college, do they pass out a second stomach along with our orientation packets? If one ever gets hungry at this time of night, one doesn't have to look far to find a ride to the nearest open restaurant. It seems that almost all college students get the munchies at this hour. Of course, some get the munchies from endless hours spent studying the rise and fall of Hitler or the Soviet Union, while others get the munchies from more organic means...if you know what I mean (Humboldt State, I'm lookin at you here kid).

Whatever the stereotypes about college may be, some true and others false, college is supposed to be the best years of our young lives...or is that high school? I hope it's the former, because the latter was not the best and if that's the case I want a refund.