It seems like I've kind of, accidentally, unwillingly turned this into Blog Every Other Day April. I'm working on it, I swear! Thanks for all your questions and comments, buddies!
Unfortunately, I have a massive headache and am putting myself to bed early tonight since I can't seem to get rid of it any other way. I feel like I get headaches way too often. Part of that might be that as a vegetarian, I tend to be anemic, which causes migraines. I do take an iron supplement, or at least I'm supposed to, every day, but I forget a lot. You'd think the pain would help me remember.
Sorry this isn't longer. Staring at the computer is giving me some serious brain pain. Keep asking questions if you have them, and I will answer them very soon.
4.25.2009
4.23.2009
Quirk
I'm continuing Cara's question idea by asking you all to ask me questions (as many or as few) as you see fit.
I like answering questions. People think it's strange that I like taxes. Not the losing some of my money part, but the filling out the forms part. I always have. Like those random surveys that used to come in the mail. My parents would just toss them, but I'd always fill them out first. Something about answering the questions and filling in the blanks is just fun.
I like quizzes, too. I guess that's pretty strange. But I set myself goals to learn stupid things--the names and locations of every country in Africa, or the order of the order of the presidents. And then I quiz myself relentlessly until it's in my head. As a consequence I know all sorts of totally random, un-useful things.
And I have a good memory, which exacerbates the problem. I unwillingly remember the names of scores of celebrities. Pointless scientific studies I've read. The details of almost every book and movie I've seen. It's amazing that my brain isn't crammed completely full by now.
Anyways, I really don't have anything interesting to say today. Went out to Noodles & Co for a delicious pesto dinner, with a Chocolate Shoppe ice cream chaser. Failed to do my Econ homework. Ah, well. I didn't pay attention in lecture, so there's no way I know how to do it anyways. The end of the semester is hard--I can't focus, much less motivate myself to do anything.
Soon it will be summer and I can get back to memorizing the order of the British monarchs.
I like answering questions. People think it's strange that I like taxes. Not the losing some of my money part, but the filling out the forms part. I always have. Like those random surveys that used to come in the mail. My parents would just toss them, but I'd always fill them out first. Something about answering the questions and filling in the blanks is just fun.
I like quizzes, too. I guess that's pretty strange. But I set myself goals to learn stupid things--the names and locations of every country in Africa, or the order of the order of the presidents. And then I quiz myself relentlessly until it's in my head. As a consequence I know all sorts of totally random, un-useful things.
And I have a good memory, which exacerbates the problem. I unwillingly remember the names of scores of celebrities. Pointless scientific studies I've read. The details of almost every book and movie I've seen. It's amazing that my brain isn't crammed completely full by now.
Anyways, I really don't have anything interesting to say today. Went out to Noodles & Co for a delicious pesto dinner, with a Chocolate Shoppe ice cream chaser. Failed to do my Econ homework. Ah, well. I didn't pay attention in lecture, so there's no way I know how to do it anyways. The end of the semester is hard--I can't focus, much less motivate myself to do anything.
Soon it will be summer and I can get back to memorizing the order of the British monarchs.
4.22.2009
Stars
I'm 19 now. So far it seems basically like 18. When did birthdays stop being so exciting? I remember my 11th birthday was a surprise party, and that was dang phenomenal. Since then, the aging process has not been nearly as fun or felt as significant. That's probably a bad sign if I've hit that point already.
Otherwise, there's not too much interesting going on in my life. I'm busy, per usual. Finals are coming up in a couple weeks, which is seriously putting strain on my schedule. Papers, final projects, tests--it all adds up to not much fun time. Which is a bummer. You know how long it's been since I had time to watch a movie? (And I'm a hardcore movie person. No, really. I keep a log of every movie I see, the date I see it, a letter grade, and any pertinent notes. I think that before college I was averaging a movie every 2 days.) It's been 2 1/2 weeks. And I haven't finished a book solely for pleasure in a month.
I am sneaking some fun in, though. I hung out with some friends for my birthday yesterday and ate birthday apple pie. This weekend I'm going to see a few more friends and head to a couple super-awesome concerts (OK Go and Flight of the Conchords anybody?).
And tonight I went stargazing. This was originally just to help friends out with their Astronomy project. But it ended up as a great way to spend an hour and a half. We walked out along the lake to Picnic Point just after dark (with sufficient flashlights/rape whistles, don't worry) and found constellations and just enjoyed the peacefulness of a spring night.
I did the same thing the night of my high school graduation party. I had friends spending the night after the festivities ended, and we decided to pile in a car and head out on a remote country road for prime star-viewing territory. We parked, lied on top of the car and just lost ourselves in the stars for an hour. It's a great time to talk, and it's a strangely existential experience. If you can find somewhere that's so perfectly dark that you can see thousands of stars, you start to get this sense of the bigness of the universe, but realize that you have your small, vital role to play. Rather than overwhelming, it made me feel more connected and content.
Sorry if that got too philosophical. It's also just pretty!
Otherwise, there's not too much interesting going on in my life. I'm busy, per usual. Finals are coming up in a couple weeks, which is seriously putting strain on my schedule. Papers, final projects, tests--it all adds up to not much fun time. Which is a bummer. You know how long it's been since I had time to watch a movie? (And I'm a hardcore movie person. No, really. I keep a log of every movie I see, the date I see it, a letter grade, and any pertinent notes. I think that before college I was averaging a movie every 2 days.) It's been 2 1/2 weeks. And I haven't finished a book solely for pleasure in a month.
I am sneaking some fun in, though. I hung out with some friends for my birthday yesterday and ate birthday apple pie. This weekend I'm going to see a few more friends and head to a couple super-awesome concerts (OK Go and Flight of the Conchords anybody?).
And tonight I went stargazing. This was originally just to help friends out with their Astronomy project. But it ended up as a great way to spend an hour and a half. We walked out along the lake to Picnic Point just after dark (with sufficient flashlights/rape whistles, don't worry) and found constellations and just enjoyed the peacefulness of a spring night.
I did the same thing the night of my high school graduation party. I had friends spending the night after the festivities ended, and we decided to pile in a car and head out on a remote country road for prime star-viewing territory. We parked, lied on top of the car and just lost ourselves in the stars for an hour. It's a great time to talk, and it's a strangely existential experience. If you can find somewhere that's so perfectly dark that you can see thousands of stars, you start to get this sense of the bigness of the universe, but realize that you have your small, vital role to play. Rather than overwhelming, it made me feel more connected and content.
Sorry if that got too philosophical. It's also just pretty!
4.20.2009
Birthday
It's my birthday tomorrow. So, this past weekend I went back home to spend some quality time with my parents and relax. I got to see one of my best friends, eat home-cooked meals, have a delicious birthday cake, and get presents!
It was a good haul this year. A penny-saving jar that counts each coin you put in. A book about Tibet written through interviews with the Dalai Lama. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which looks like just about the best book ever written (http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347). A "VOTE" t-shirt. And another highlight: a book called Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts.
This is a good time to mention my intense love for all things Harry Potter. I started reading the books in 1999, in 3rd grade, not long after the first ones came out. My grandparents got me the first three books for Christmas a few months after that. In 4th grade, classmates and I worked on a script, intending to put on a play of the first book, though we never actually did (I was to play the narrator and a second minor role as the young Ginny Weasley). Also in 4th grade, my science lab partners and I named our hermit crabs Hagrid and Norbert.
Then the movies started coming out. I went to midnight releases for both the books and movies. In full costume. I followed HP-related news on Mugglenet. I started listening to MuggleCast. I bought extra HP reading material--guide books, theory books. I read fanfiction. I learned songs from the movies to play on piano. My friends and I held a "Happy Birthday Harry" party on July 31 one year. I became a fan of various wizard rock bands.
Now that I'm in college, I'm taking a one-credit Harry Potter roundtable discussion class. My English TAs reference the books in class. I make random new friends based solely on our shared love for the books.
I started reading the books when I was 9. I was 17 when the last book came out. I literally grew up right alongside Harry. I bawled whenever my favorite characters died, and cried like a baby when I got the 7th book in my hands at the bookstore.
I really feel lucky to have lived through this time. Though I'm sure our children will love the books when we introduce them, they will never get to experience the agony of waiting two years for the next book. The theorizing, the shipping, the scouring for clues. There will be no fervor, no constant news coverage (they'll scoff when we tell them the outing of a fictional character dominated the news for weeks). But it will live on, and for that I am glad.
Harry Potter fanatics unite!
It was a good haul this year. A penny-saving jar that counts each coin you put in. A book about Tibet written through interviews with the Dalai Lama. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which looks like just about the best book ever written (http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347). A "VOTE" t-shirt. And another highlight: a book called Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts.
This is a good time to mention my intense love for all things Harry Potter. I started reading the books in 1999, in 3rd grade, not long after the first ones came out. My grandparents got me the first three books for Christmas a few months after that. In 4th grade, classmates and I worked on a script, intending to put on a play of the first book, though we never actually did (I was to play the narrator and a second minor role as the young Ginny Weasley). Also in 4th grade, my science lab partners and I named our hermit crabs Hagrid and Norbert.
Then the movies started coming out. I went to midnight releases for both the books and movies. In full costume. I followed HP-related news on Mugglenet. I started listening to MuggleCast. I bought extra HP reading material--guide books, theory books. I read fanfiction. I learned songs from the movies to play on piano. My friends and I held a "Happy Birthday Harry" party on July 31 one year. I became a fan of various wizard rock bands.
Now that I'm in college, I'm taking a one-credit Harry Potter roundtable discussion class. My English TAs reference the books in class. I make random new friends based solely on our shared love for the books.
I started reading the books when I was 9. I was 17 when the last book came out. I literally grew up right alongside Harry. I bawled whenever my favorite characters died, and cried like a baby when I got the 7th book in my hands at the bookstore.
I really feel lucky to have lived through this time. Though I'm sure our children will love the books when we introduce them, they will never get to experience the agony of waiting two years for the next book. The theorizing, the shipping, the scouring for clues. There will be no fervor, no constant news coverage (they'll scoff when we tell them the outing of a fictional character dominated the news for weeks). But it will live on, and for that I am glad.
Harry Potter fanatics unite!
4.17.2009
Silence
I haven't said a word all day. I am participating in a national observance of Day of Silence, promoting LGBTQ rights. (LGBTQ? LGBTQI? LGBTQIA? I've seen them all and am never sure how many letters I have to say to make sure I'm being all inclusive. Can't we just make it "A" for awesome?)
As evidenced by yesterday's post, I often go into things willy-nilly, ignorant of how hard they're going to be. I either underestimate the challenge, or overestimate my own will, or a bit of both. Either way, not talking all day is really, really hard. I don't think I realized how much I rely on talking to get by and stay sane before today. Like when I accidentally bumped someone with my elbow and started to say, "sorry," before catching myself and just making an apologetic face. Or trying to get lunch by pointing, smiling, and nodding.
I made it through a whole day. It was hard, but it was worth it a hundred times over. Being consciously silent made me think all day about what I was doing it for. And when I didn't respond to friends in class, I got to show them my "speaking card" to explain the reason for my silence.
The FBI says 16% of reported hate crimes are motivated by sexual orientation. 1500 happen each year. 1/3 of people who identify as gay or lesbian try to commit suicide. Over half of those who identify as trans attempt to kill themselves. These horrendous realities stem from a culture of hate that manifests itself throughout our society--not least in the bans on same-sex marriage that exist in some form in 43 states. Some of this hate is motivated by religion, and most by sheer ignorance.
This cause is very close to me. So many people, some of them close friends, suffer against prejudice, discrimination, and hatred for their LGBTQ self-identification. Who they are and how they love is denied at every turn. The reality that people have to fight just to express who they are hurts me so very deeply. I may be an idealist, but I want a world where being yourself is never looked down on, a world without hate, and a world with equality for all.
So go out and fight. Our weapon is love.
As evidenced by yesterday's post, I often go into things willy-nilly, ignorant of how hard they're going to be. I either underestimate the challenge, or overestimate my own will, or a bit of both. Either way, not talking all day is really, really hard. I don't think I realized how much I rely on talking to get by and stay sane before today. Like when I accidentally bumped someone with my elbow and started to say, "sorry," before catching myself and just making an apologetic face. Or trying to get lunch by pointing, smiling, and nodding.
I made it through a whole day. It was hard, but it was worth it a hundred times over. Being consciously silent made me think all day about what I was doing it for. And when I didn't respond to friends in class, I got to show them my "speaking card" to explain the reason for my silence.
The FBI says 16% of reported hate crimes are motivated by sexual orientation. 1500 happen each year. 1/3 of people who identify as gay or lesbian try to commit suicide. Over half of those who identify as trans attempt to kill themselves. These horrendous realities stem from a culture of hate that manifests itself throughout our society--not least in the bans on same-sex marriage that exist in some form in 43 states. Some of this hate is motivated by religion, and most by sheer ignorance.
This cause is very close to me. So many people, some of them close friends, suffer against prejudice, discrimination, and hatred for their LGBTQ self-identification. Who they are and how they love is denied at every turn. The reality that people have to fight just to express who they are hurts me so very deeply. I may be an idealist, but I want a world where being yourself is never looked down on, a world without hate, and a world with equality for all.
So go out and fight. Our weapon is love.
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