2009 Year in Review

2009

Another year has come and gone, and so much happened in 2009 that prepare yourself for a very long post. Some of us got what we wanted and lost it, some of us lost what we thought we'd have forever, and it seems that in the last half of the year, most of us were looking to the future with the hopes that it would give us something that would make us feel again. For purposes of drama-control, I'll leave out most of the personal stuff and stick to the big events.

So lets start at the beginning...

1. Congratulations! It's a Blog!
Yup...I started this blog in 2009!!! I've had many posts and comments and I hope you all enjoy reading about my crazy antics as much as I enjoy living them. Here's to another year of documenting all of my sparks of brilliance and flashes of insanity.

2. RIP Jesus Crab
Okay, so if you weren't aware, MD and I had a pet crab at the beginning of the year...his name was Jesus-Crab because I thought he was dead for the first three days, but then he came back to life! It was a miracle! Unfortunately, he really did die six days later. I apparently suck at being a Crab-Mother.

3a. A New World Order
On January 20th, 2009, Barack H. Obama was inaugurated as President of the United States. It was a lovely ceremony filled with much hope and joy from liberals and eye rolls and threats of moving to Canada from conservatives. Of course, the real star of the Inauguration was...

3b. Aretha's Hat.
I don't even need to comment on this...just look at it!



4. Glambert loses to that other guy....
Okay, so Adam Lambert didn't win American Idol, but you know he's going to be the bigger star than that other guy who did win. Later in the year, his antics will amaze (and appall) many viewers.

5. Lady What? Goo Goo? No...Lady GaGa.
2009 Seemed to be such a huge year for Lady GaGa. Every song she released was a hit, from Just Dance, Poker Face, Love Game, Paparazzi, and Bad Romance. The hits keep coming and I have to admit, I have learned to really respect and enjoy her music. Don't hate, but she is incredibly talented. Go to youtube and look up "Stefani Germanatta" if you don't believe me.
Also, her performance at the VMA's wowed the crowd and the many Lady Gaga costumes on Halloween solidified her as the pop culture symbol of the year.

6. Free Iran!
This is actually one story that I'm really sad to see get ignored....all of the protests and the energy and spirit of the country wasn't enough to beat down the system. No matter what your stance is on our foreign policy, having a moderate Iran is in everyone's best interest and the young people of Iran who were fighting hopefully didn't get their spirits crushed to a point where they won't keep trying in the future. I'm still holding out hope of seeing a free Iran in my lifetime.

7.Mountain Adventure Weekend.
For those of you who were there....hmm...it certainly made for some interesting stories to tell later.

8. Greece Summer Adventure!!!
I didn't expect myself to miss Crete as much as I do sometimes. I know that I will get back someday, but probably not soon enough. I highly recommend going to a study abroad (it doesn't matter where) at least one time before you graduate because it really is amazing.

9. RIP Michael Jackson.
If you know me, you know my opinions about him and I'll leave it at that. I was in Greece the week after it happened and even there, people were playing MJ music constantly. It was surreal. The King of Pop is dead.

10. 10/15/09-Never Forget.
Everyone will remember where they were the day America stopped working and watched an empty balloon....yup, Falcon "Balloon Boy" Henne totally killed his parent's game when he announced during a live interview that they were doing it for a show. Indeed, his "parents" (if you can call them parents) staged an elaborate media hoax to win themselves a reality show. They got their 15-minutes of fame and a nice jail sentence.

11. Tiger Woods becomes a Cheetah!!!
Sorry for the lame joke; I was actually really upset about this because I love Tiger so much. I love how he let all his anger out on the course and didn't pansy around like that idiot Phil Mickelson. Anyways, the illusion is shattered and he is apparently off to rehab for "sex addiction". Good luck, Tiger!

12. The Christmas Bomb Plot.
Whoa that was scary! I hope you all kept up with that/ are keeping up with that because it's some serious business. This isn't looking good for Obama's administration and might result in some serious firings within his cabinet (watch out, Secretary Napolitano!).

So, here's to a bright new year- may it bring you happiness, peace, comfort, and whatever else 2009 left you wanting. Awake, arise, or be forever fallen.

Real Talk: Religion.

Let me start this post by saying that I am Catholic, and I converted to Catholicism a few years ago from a quasi-non-denominational Protestant background. Many have questioned my motivation for converting, and I must admit that there were times during the process that even I wasn't sure that my intentions were completely correct, but after almost two years of being Catholic, I am happy with my choice and know that it was the right decision. But, this bit of background brings me to my first point:

1. What makes us do what we do? Or, are our decisions really our own, or does God make them for us?

I am one of those people who likes to believe that everything happens for a reason, because without this reason, the world is in Chaos and the notion of God is somewhat defunct. Sure, I suppose that the universe could serve under God the Creator, where God creates us and lets us run wild, but I find several problems with that, which I will address later (perhaps not in this post).

If we are operating under the reality that everything happens for a reason, then no matter what I could have done, I would have ended up Catholic. In fact, Catholicism had tried before to get me, long before I went to college and met the people who helped me join the faith.

The first time the notion of Catholicism entered my head was when I was fourteen years old. We were discussing Romeo and Juliet in my freshman English class when we started discussing an aspect of Catholics' faith. I cannot really dive too deeply into what this is, exactly, but that class made me think about the world completely differently in a very profound way. It took me years to realize just how different my life could have been had that conversation not happened.

During my Junior year of high school, I was having one of a long string of faith crises, in which I just wasn't getting what I wanted to out of organized religion. I still remember clearly sitting in chemistry with some of my friends, discussing this issue, and they all recommended that maybe the problem wasn't me, maybe I just wasn't going to the right churches, etc. The thought of Catholicism hit me then, and I thought about giving it a try. Unfortunately, at the age of 16, I still really wasn't that good at making decisions for myself, and my friends were able to quickly talk me out of it. Could that lingering thought have been another attempt by Got to send me in this direction?

Three times is the charm, however, and the next time Catholicism entered my life, I was fully prepared to give it a chance. During the year-long RCIA process, many people (particularly my father) didn't quite understand why I was doing what I was doing. Many people thought that I was doing it to get someone's attention, and I cannot deny that my friends played an important role in my conversion, I will not say that they were the only reasons. I can be confident that my decision was based on my own will and conviction because on Auguest 26th, 2007, my second Mass, I had an amazing experience. During Communion, a friend I was with told me to cross my arms and go up for a blessing, and I did. When Father Wall put his hand on my shoulder in blessing, I felt this overwhelming sense that this was where I belonged. I almost started to cry. That was the moment I decided that Catholicism was for me.

So, to the point- why did I become Catholic? Could it have been entirely my decision, or was it God's plan the entire time? Were the previous two experiences simply coincidence? I suppose the answer lies in whether you have faith in a God who is an active participant in your life. Following the "everything happens for a reason" notion, my experiences in high school were not just chance, and were building up to my eventual conversion in college. My conversion was meant to be. It was inevitable and I fully believe that God willed it.

But if God willed it, why did it take three times before you converted?

Because God gave us free will. We always complain about how God is making our lives unduly difficult, but have we ever given thought to how we are making God's life difficult, too? Just because something is inevitable does not mean that it can simply be. God wants us to evolve and develop into who he wants us to be. Surely his job would be significantly less fun if he just created us to be perfect and to be exactly who he wants us to be. I believe that God wants us to realize things for ourselves, instead of him simply telling us things. He will give us clues and hints as to where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do, but deep down, it is up to us as to the timeline of our progression as souls and how we get to our final destination. This brings me to my second topic, which I will discuss in a later Post: God the Creator vs. God the Enabler.

A True Flash of Insanity And Other Things

Next time my instincts tell me to stay home, I'm staying home!!! (Told you it was a flash!)

ION (In Other News):

1. The Emilie Autumn concert rocked my provebial socks off. No, really. Check my FB for some fantastic pictures. Within the next week (and by next week I mean THURSDAY!) I will try to get those pictures up on here as well. If you are unfamiliar with Emilie Autumn, I highly recommend that you become familiar. Even if you aren't into goth rock/ industrial music, she is extremely talented and worth a listen (or two...give her two listens because she might scare you a bit on the first go-round).

2. I had a realization...it is very hard to end a parenthetical expression () with an emoticon (as seen in this beautifully demonstrated example ;-) ). <-- See?!! You see what I mean??? Sigh...

3. I've been spending a lot of time in Swain recently, working on things, etc. I wanted to share with all you lovelies one of my recent projects. It's due Monday so if you want to leave comments (YES PLEASE DO!!!) as to how to make it better/ what you think, let me know! It's for my motion graphics class and is a mash up of two of my favorite things ever: Hamlet and Emilie Autumn.


Now, this project has given me a new understanding of my professor's favorite phrase: What New HELL is this?!

See...we use this nifty program called After Effects (which I love and adore), but for some reason, no matter what I did, it crashed on me a lot! And it wouldn't load my footage when I would re-open, despite reconnecting the lost footage. The footage still played in other programs, but AE was just not having it at all....thus, the project took forever to complete (the worst part is I lost six hours the first night because I didn't figure out how to beat AE at it's own twisted game). Add to that my own personal insistence that this project be as close to perfect as I could get to the image I had in my head of this, and you're in for one long night.

Hell Week(s) are going well...I already have one of my papers turned in, and I still have to finish the History Paper, which is going...not at break-neck speed, but it isn't dragging. We are (according to the syllabus) in competition with one another for grades in this class, so I'm trying my best to crank out a really amazing paper. I'm learning from this semester that I have become one extremely competitive person. Hopefully this is a good thing because I'm going into an extremely competitive field when I graduate.



Oh, and expect a semi-deep post soon about my views on life, the universe, and everything (but no, really).

Eleven Days...

I have eleven days until my semester is for the most part over. Don't hate me, but I don't have exams this semester. Instead, I have a lot of stuff that is due during the last week of classes. So, forgive me for not being around and probably missing lunch and generally not existing anywhere that you might expect to find me.

How busy and I? Well...

12/1-COMM 330 Quiz Paper due
12/2-History Presentation on How the West was Won: The American Western During World War II
12/3- COMM 330 Screenwriting Movie Paper due
12/4-12/5-Shoot the final two scenes of Tell-Tale Heart
12/5-12/8- Edit Tell-Tale Heart together
12/7-COMM 654 (Motion Graphics) project due
12/8-COMM 330 Final Draft 17-page script due
12/9-History 395 20-page paper due
12/9-Tell-Tale Heart due


Now, Thursday, December 10th, will be a wonderful day, but don't expect me to get out of bed because I'll probably be sleeping the entire day. :-)

See you all December 11th!

Amanda Palmer (Again!)

Oh, everyone's favorite Brechtian Punk Cabaret singer came back to Carrboro for round two of her Who Killed Amanda Palmer tour. I saw her in March and she was fantastic, and this go around, she certainly did not disappoint. Doing everything from mash ups of "Summer Love" from Grease with The Doors to a kick ass cover of "House of the Rising Sun" to all of her best songs from both her solo album (Who Killed Amanda Palmer) and her days with the Dresden Dolls.

Anyways, I really cannot describe what an awesome concert it was in words very well...so here are some pictures that I took from last night.

Hurricane Ida or, Why I wish it would stop raining.

Reasons for it to stop raining:

1) All of my clothes are wet because it has been raining.
2) I desperately need to do laundry, but can't, because I have to carry my laundry outside, and it's raining.
3) I have no rainboots because they are in Boone right now.
4) I don't like having to just accept that I'm going to be cold and wet for a few days.
5) Ida? What kind of name is Ida? Isn't that the name of that weird monkey-bird thing that was supposed to be the missing link?

Oh well...I'll come up with more reasons later I'm sure. For right now, I am sequestered inside (with my wonderful housing-provided space heater Spacey) and trying to decide if going out is really worth it unless absolutely necessary....

CONCERTS CONCERTS CONCERTS!!!!

It's November! Which means that it is time for AMAZING end-of-semester concerts. There are TWO amazing concerts coming up at the end of this month: First- Amanda F*cking Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls) is returning to Carrboro/ the Arts Center on the 20th. If her concert in March was any indication, then this will be an amazing show. Not like normal concerts- more of a sit down and watch this amazing thing happen than dancing to the music, but still fantastic. I'm so looking forward to it.

Amanda Palmer-Nov. 20th-9pm-The Arts Center

Then, the big one- Emilie Autumn is coming on the 29th to Cat's Cradle. EVERYONE SHOULD GO TO THIS!!! Well, anyone who likes Gothic/Industrial music should go. She's amazing and brilliant and I'm so very excited because not only am I going to a fantastic concert, I'm going to a fantastic concert with some of my favorite people. Concert + Friends = Fantastic.

Emilie Autumn-Nov. 29th-8pm-Cat's Cradle

Anyways, I'm getting super excited....9 Days unitl Amanda Palmer, 18 days until Emilie Autumn.

Guess My Costume!!!

Okay, so tomorrow is Halloween....here are some pictures of my costume....can you tell who/what I'm supposed to be??



Hmm...were you right? You'll just have to wait until tomorrow night!

Have a great Halloween everyone!!!

Time for a Change (and maybe a reality check?)

I need to make some changes in my life. I really do need to start taking better care of myself and learning when to let things be. For example, right now: I am sitting in my room (which is a complete hectic mess, though I am working on it) at 4:26am . Awake. Why am I awake? Because I've kept myself awake with the hopes of getting work done.

This isn't the first time I've pulled an all nighter. This isn't even the first time I've done it on a weekend. I think since this semester has started, I've pulled maybe six or seven all-nighters. Often, one follows another closely. Like this time. I pulled an all nighter the other night as well, staying up for 38 hours while studying/ doing work on a project, etc. While not sleeping is a great way to literally had hours to my day, I need to stop because it is going to drive me insane sooner or later. And sleep is good. I miss it.

There is obviously a lot more than just the not sleeping bit that is making me reconsider how I treat myself, but since it is 4:30, it seems to be the most obvious. Also, I do not feel the need to tell a blog how I'm not taking care of myself in extreme detail. It is boring, I would know.

So, starting tonight, I am going to start an effort to really take good care of myself- good night sleep, waking up in time to get a breakfast, etc. I've learned in the past two weeks that being good to oneself is not something that you can put off until it is more convenient. That mindset is equivalent to setting your curtains on fire and then hurrying off because you are late for a teeth cleaning.

Goodnight!

Sometimes, I just need a sign...

And a lot of times, I turn to iTunes for this sign. I've been super stressed recently, thought have tried my best to cover this fact up because I know everyone is stressed out and going insane. I think it's called life. Anyways, I've been going crazy over things that are both in and out of my control, which again is normal and a shared condition. But sometimes, even thought I know that it is a shared experience by most students this time of year, it's nice to hear someone (or something) else say that things will get better.

Now, what does this have to do for looking for a sign in iTunes? I believe that God speaks through iTunes when it is put on shuffle. Don't laugh because people believe in far "sillier" things than this. Anyways, tonight (actually right now), I turned iTunes on shuffle and it played two songs consecutively that gave me some peace of mind: the first is "Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar. The second is Moby's "I'm Not Worried At All." You can't convince me that someone up there had a little smirk on their face when they set the iTunes algorithm tonight.

In other news:

I cannot make crepes. I learned this tonight because I tried and failed. Not once, not twice, but five times. I think I might need some sort of lesson because clearly my 25% French heritage means nothing in the kitchen (though I knew that long before this incident).

Upcoming Events:
Amanda Palmer Concert- 11/20
Yup, she's back! Same location as in January and even more excitement because I remember how amazing her show was last year. Hooray!

Emilie Autumn Concert- 11/29
Heck yes! The woman herself is coming to Carrboro for what is looking to be a fantastic show! I can't wait!

In conclusion:
A lot has been going on with everyone and with everything. Things are getting crazier than I would like and I'm starting to get that feeling that maybe I have once again bit off more than I can chew comfortably and with proper manners. Right now I am working on my proposal for "special projects" next year in Comm, still working on an endless line of projects for my current classes, trying to remind myself that I am actually taking a history class this semester, and on top of that just trying to exist. But Christmas is only 63 days away, which means 55 days until I'm done with exams!!!!!

Praise.

I understand that I'm rambling a bit and this is sort of chain-of-consciousness, but isn't that sort of what a blog is? Anyways, my history professor recently shared some music with us from WW2 (it's a WW2 history course), and one song stuck out to me. I think I need to start following it's advice:

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

Finally catching some breaks.

Happy Thursday everyone!

See this squirrel? This is a good representation of how I feel right now. Anatomy of Gray has ended, which means that I actually have a life back and have time to do things that I couldn't before- like sleep and do my homework, which will be a nice change and might even surprise a few of my professors. No...of course I did all my work during the show...I just didn't sleep. No really! Three all-nighters in one week, people! Crazy shenanigangs there. Never do that if you can possibly avoid it.

It had been a very stressful week which turned into an equally stressful weekend. See, my parents came in for parents' weekend and to see my show, which I really appreciate because I know they really don't like theatre stuff, so for them to sit through 2 hours of a play where I'm just running the sound board is pretty awesome. Of course, because my life is turning into an episode of "I Love Lucy," misadventures happened.

See, in the same building, there was a second show going on: Opus. Now, Opus is a very good show, but the subject matter was not something that my dad really wanted to condone. As fate would have it, my parents were accidentally escorted to see Opus instead of Anatomy. So, my poor conservative father had to sit through a play about gay chamber musicians for no reason. He was quite regretful after Anatomy let out to learn that he had gone to the wrong show.

Well, fine, that was all well and dandy, and they didn't get to see my show Saturday night. They were still planning on rolling out of town on Sunday, leaving me with all day to get my work done (something I desperately needed to do because I had a Comm 230 project due Monday!). Well, come Sunday morning, Mom has a brilliant idea- they would stay and see the Sunday night show and then drive back.

Okay, I just want to make it known to all readers that I really really REALLY appreciated what they were trying to do, but once they had agreed that they could/would do that (and omg drive all the way back to Boone at 10:30?! Insane!), I watched as all my work time flew out the window. Now, I'm scrambling in my brain to figure out HOW I'm going to get this project done because I've got another couple of hours of work before it is finished and really, this project would have been done last weekened but the TA wanted it in Final Cut Pro, which I do not have because I am a PC. GAHHHH!!! My mental state has now dissolved into something like this.

<---

So what's a girl to do? Well, I dragged my parents to Swain Hall to work on my project, that's what.

Now, this wouldn't be a compelling I Love Lucy episode withouth even more shenanigangs, right? Well, I get there and the Mac I'm on doesn't seem to want to print my project to tape. I finally give up and go back to my dorm and take an angry nap while my parents chill somewhere.

The show must go on and the show that inght was fairly good. My parents headed off to home and I headed off to Swain Hall, now armed with a CD of pictures and a jump drive and determination. Long story short, I got the project done and then went home. :D

Monday was a new (and therefore good) day, and now that the show is over, my life is significantly less stressed out. Have a good rest of the week everyone!!!

Busy Busy Busy sound bite Christmas sound bites

This is how I feel right now.

Tech week for Anatomy for Grey starts tomorrow. Plus trying to get a sub for Catechesis, plus finding time for Mass this weekend, work, getting to the gym, getting my school work done, reading a book for History (though it looks pretty neat), watching at least three movies for my classes, CK's "Find me a Wife" adventure party....ahhh!!!!

O hai! I found the busy...it wuz behind the sofa.

Please be patient with me if I seem stressed/tired/grumpy/not around. I don't mean to be, I am just busy, busy, busy!!!!

Oh well, I suppose. 'Tis the life of a college student. It is nice to know that I am not alone in the busy, and in all honesty, the things I'm involved with are not of the most mind-numbing/ dreadful of activities. I really do enjoy running sound boards and watching movies...all I need to do is to prioritize my time right and get things done! Like right now...off to watch The Godfather, Part One!

See you hopefully soon!!

POSITIVITY

So, I had a really crappy weekend, but I do not want to make this post about all the crappiness that was entailed, because I really want to have a super happy post. I will give you some brief highlihgts of my weekend- the spots of sunshine- and ignore the rest of it.

1) Daily Tar Heel!!!
Alright, because I know each of you reads your DTH religiously, I'm sure you all noticed my picture...okay just kidding, especially because by "my" picture, I am referring to a picture that I took and it was buried deep in the paper (though all of you Sodoku/ Crossword lovers should have seen it). In any case, I was really excited because it was my first assignment and the picture I took got into the DTH. Perepare thyselves for some shamless self-promotion in three...two...one:

LINK!!!
http://dailytarheel.com/content/students-describe-work-rural-areas

Okay, shameless self-promotion over with.

2) LAUNDRY!!!
Okay, so for those of you in the know, I really fell behind on my laundry this week...I was seriously pushing the limits of clean clothes and kept scheduling Laundry Time but then kept re-scheduling it due to random things, but it FINALLY got done after the football game!!!! There really is no better feeling than getting your laundry done (and probably no lamer blog subject...sorry).

3) "I once wrote down a list of all the cuss words I know!"
So, yesterday was my first day in the classroom as a Catecist (Catholic Sunday School teacher). There are three of us for this fourth grade class of 12, and they are all precious in their own special little ways...okay not ALL, but a few are worth keeping. Anyways, during snack time, I was sitting with one little girl and she was explaining her, um, vocabulary: "I saw a movie that had a really really bad cuss word in it! It was alarming! I can't repeat it but it was bad!" She was so precious and props to her parents for teaching a 9 year old the proper use of the word "alarming" and for getting it into her vernacular. She then gave us the little gem: "I once wrote down a list of all the cuss words I know in school...but then I lost it. I hope no one finds it because I think they know my handwriting!" She's adorable, and for her sake, I hope they don't find it.

Anyways, those are the bits of sunshine of the weekend. Have a great week everyone!!!

So....um, this is awkward.

If you keep a blog, you might be familiar with this feeling- there is something on your mind that you would love to just blog out and get it off your chest, but you feel like you can't/ shouldn't. That is where I am right now. This week has been one of the strangest weeks I've had in a long while. It was at some moments amazing, but at other moments, terrible. Life tends to even itself out, I've found.

Everything seemed to come to a head yesterday. I had a hectic morning involving moving my car around campus to a place where it wouldn't be towed, followed by the long Friday opening shift. Afterward, I had lunch with a friend whom I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with, and he said something that while I probably needed to hear it, I really was in no mood to listen to him say what he was saying. It really put me in a bad state of mind for the rest of the day.

Anyways, I then headed down to campus health and a doctor looked at my knee, which was getting progressively worse throughout the week. The only think I can think of causing this was back when I fell in the gorge in Crete, but I never went to get it looked at, which is probably why it got to this point.

After that, all I freaking wanted to do was my laundry. I was nearly out of clean clothes and was desperate to get it done, but after the doc had her way with my knee, I was struggling to get back to the dorm, let alone try to haul laundry up and down steps. I had a reason for calling CR, but I forget why now, and that turned into me joining CR, RT, CK, AC, and VR for a sushi dinner followed by locopops.

By the time I got back to the dorm, I didn't have enough time to do laundry. This upset me more than it should have, but oh well. I was already in a mood. I then had to go to a CD release party for Spider Bags at Nightlight on Rosemary Street.

Now, this is where I started to lose it, and unfortunatly where my story must leave you hanging, because it really isn't blog-appropriate.

The band was actually pretty good and I had a good time at the show, but the incident that happened on my way over there sort of kept me in a fog and I was really distracted. I got some good shots and I hope the photo editors at DTH will like them.

Walking home at 12:30 from Nightlight by yourself is not the best of ideas, but I got home alright, and by the time I got home, I had made what I thought to be a great decision...though after talking to CR/RT/AC today, it might not be possible... :-( I really want it to be possible, though!!!!


Anyways, that was basically my Friday/ a glimpse into why I was in a bad mood last night/ today.

No More Bio and Patrick Swayze

Good morning everyone. It's Tuesday and I had a pretty amazing day yesterday. Mondays are suppose to be the most dreadful of days, but this was not the case! So, the day itself was not actually that fantastic, but I at least got some great news!

I passed the BIOL 101 Placement exam!!! This is cause for great excitement and joy. That Bio test I had today? Didn't have to take it! That all nighter I pulled last week studying was officially worth it. I would have been rather distraught if I had done that to myself to no avail. I now get to drop BIO and carry on with my life as thought the whole little incident had never happened. :-)

In other, sadder news, Patrick Swayze died yesterday of pancreatic cancer. All the girls on the hall watched Dirty Dancing last night to console ourselves while eating pokey sticks and Gumby's pizza. I haven't had Gumby's in such a long time.

I really don't have much else to say about that or anything else, so I guess this concludes the blog post. I promise that I will try to become more interesting before I post again.

September 11th, 2009

Today is awkward. Today is that day that, for the past eight years, has just awkwardly insisted to remain on our calendars despite the fact that we really don't want it there and would certainly like to not be reminded of it. Today is the day that we pause to look back at the greatest tragedy certainly in our lifetime and possibly even American history. It is important that we remember what happened that day for sure. I hate to imagine that some day in the future, a September 11th would roll around and I went through the whole day and simply forgot about it.

This year, though. I feel that there is something different about people's attitudes towards September 11th. The razor-blade edge of the memory seems to be softening for a lot of people, and it appears that a lot of people are ready to put the memory of what happened on 9/11 on a nice, respectable mantle of their mind, possibly next to Aunt Trudy's urn, and carry on with their lives. No one is advocating forgetting what happened- that itself would be a tragedy, but the present American climate just feels ready to move on.

We will always keep the memory on that mantle and will polish it from time to time, but the days of reliving each detail of what happened that day each time Sept. 11th rolls around, talking it out with lots of people- where were you when it happened- are over. The organization that puts flags up on the quad each anniversary seems to feel this way too...the flags which are usually in the more prominent Wilson side of the quad are today in the quieter South Building side.

But no matter where we put the memory in our mind, we must always take it down every once in a while. God Bless America.

Things I've Learned (A 10-min study break starting at 2:25 am)

Greetings-I've decided to do a "Things I've Learned" because I really feel that this year has already proven to be a rather educational experience.

1) Though it took two years to learn, I finally realized for good that no matter what, I absolutely cannot study in a dorm room. I am now at the UL and have been studying for a good 4 hours (with occasional 10-15 min breaks) and I feel so productive! Granted, this is partially due to the coffee that I started drinking around 11:15 (it's still here- haven't finished it yet...hooray 16oz coffee!) and the supreme motivation of OMG if I pass this placement exam, then I don't have to take a lab science in college and that would be so fantastically wonderful! The exam is Thursday @ 4:30...prayers/ well wishes appreciated!

2) I think that the ability to photosynthesize would possibly be the most amazing super power of all time for a student...gosh, I'm tired...let me go sit in the sun for about 20 min and I'll be good for a while! Of course, it might require me to be green (like, literally green, not eco-friendly), which wouldn't be so hot, but hey, a light tint of mint might be alright.

3) Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans album is the most wonderful study music around. I listened to it maybe 3 times before my iPod died and I relocated to a computer to use Pandora. It is so calm and relaxing and has some fun religious tones.

4) On the other hand...RT was correct- The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack is possibly the worst study music. I can't help but to step out the Time Warp whenever that song comes on, or sing along with Tim Curry (love).

5) Drinking coffee slowly prolongs the effects and thus reduces the amount of coffee needed throughout the night. I still have maybe 6 good gulps left in mine, and while yes it is cold, it doesn't taste that bad.

6) If one is going to study in the UL at night, it would be wise to bring a sweater. It's so cold in here!!!! I'm sort of cool natured anyways, but dang, it can't be more than 70 degrees in here!!! A warm shawl might also help if a sweater is not readily available, though I wonder how many people have warm shawls and no sweaters...I'm sure someone does.

In Other News:

I got my first assignment at UNC-TV next week! Unfortunately, this conflicts with the first RCIA meeting, which is terribly sad, but this is just a one-time inconvenience so I think everything will be alright. Anyways, my task will be to run a camera for next week's pledge drive! Everyone who can/ wants to should watch it and be satisfied that at some point, they are watching me in action! Okay, so pledge drives are not exactly the "Grey's Anatomy" of television programming, but maybe if you tune in for just five minutes? Please? Actually, it doesn't really matter to me. Just tell me that you did. ;-)

In Related News:

I got my paycheck from the AT&T commercial today! It was very exciting...my first professional/ "work that is actually in my field" (aka not StuStores) paycheck. I should have taken a picture of it before I cashed it, but oh well. I'll keep the stub as a reminder...and maybe one dollar of it as my first "media industry" dollar earned. Sorry, I'm sort of happy about this and I know I'm rambling but hey, it's now 2:41am so I think that it is somewhat acceptable.

My new laptop is working wonderfully and now I will be able to upload the last of my pictures from Greece!! Though it might be this weekend before I get around to it because I sort of have things to do tomorrow/ Friday. But fear not! They will be up!!! ZOMG the new laptop also has a built in camera so expect an increase in video blogs since the whole uploading them from the camera step (quite honestly the most tedious part of the process) has been cut out.

So, despite the fact that I am celebrating my first all-nighter with my bio book and long and unimportant blog post, this has been a pretty fantastic week.

Okay, so its off to learn more about the exciting process of how cells release chemical energy! G'Night/ Good Morning!

The Longest Weekend Ever!

Alright, so this weekend started off with a bang, er, sore throat, cough, runny nose, and nausea...aka some sort of flu strain. I went to the doctor and she advised that because this "most likely was a mild strain of the H1N1," I should either quarantine myself in my room or, better yet, get off campus if possible. So, that's what I did. I jumped into my car and headed back to the mountains for some R&R and good quality study time with my precious Bio 101 book.

But...the moment I was feeling better (around Friday afternoon), I started to get that good old Chapel Hill itch and needed to come home quickly. I made plans to leave Saturday, hoping to avoid the traffic nightmare that was Chapel Hill on a home foot ball gameday. My attempts were to no avail and while I arrived on campus promptly at 3:00, I did not exit my car until 4:00, having parked at CR's apt. The rest of the day was spent watching weird sci-fi movies w/ RB @ Newman, including Delecatessen and Mad Max (though I wouldn't really consider the later to be a "sci-fi" movie, but still pretty interesting).

When the game was over, I went grocery shopping w/ CR and then headed back to the apt for another movie, Disney's The Sword and the Stone. This is still one of my personal favorites, despite what some people might think...but c'mon, who can deny the adorableness of the squirrel love??


Anyways, movie night turned into sleepover and in the morning, we all made breakfast. Poached eggs and pancakes. It was quite delicious. Even so, the time came to return home for some more study time, so I headed back to the dorm and studied, etc until it was time for Mass. After Mass, we all gathered for dinner at the apt and I made chicken and it was served with the most facinating combination of whole-wheat goldfish, fruit cups, and pepermint patties. As the night continued, we found oursleves in a Sweeney Todd sing-a-long with the original stage show soundtrack (God, I love Angela Lansbury!).

So, now today...I made breakfast and studied some biology. I need to do laundry, take out the trash, and still do a lot of work. Oh yeah...I'm out of minutes until Sept. 11, so if you all could possibly not call, or if you do, leave a message and understand that I'm not answering, or text me because despite what I said eariler, I do have texts left for the month. Anyways, that's how you should attempt to reach me.

Happy Labor Day!

Wednesdays are the Worst...

Alright, so Wednesdays are pretty awful. SEVEN consecutive hours of class starting at 10am and ending at 5pm...this is going to be undoubtedly my least favorite day of the week. Especially because I have a grand total of THREE classes...two comms and one history. I'm slowly coming to the realization (actually, not slowly, rather quickly) that I like Comm SO much more than I like 3-hour history seminars. While the seminar is somewhat interesting, after four pretty amazing hours editing and creating motion graphics, it doesn't do much for me. Also, I'm pretty tired by the time I get to the class (2pm until 5).

On a somewhat different yet still sort of related note: a breakfast bar is not enough of a lunch to keep one chugging along through the second half of the day.

Moving On:
Labor Day weekend is coming up. Now, for most students, this is a time for beaching it up etc, but I am staying on campus and enjoying myself in the calm and quiet surroundings of Student Stores on Game Day. Oh Game Day! A day for everyone who proudly bleeds Carolina Blue to rise together and sing songs of spirit and unity while the Citadel hands us our ass on one of the "hand painted" ceramic plates that we sell at Student Stores. As Tiny Tim would say, God bless us, everyone.

But really, there is a sort of spirit on football game days that is somewhat infectious. Perhaps it is the marching band that sets up right outside the store and begins warming up the entire brass section at 8am, or maybe it is the ridiculous amount of money people spend when they visit the store...I had one lady who no joke spent over $700 in one fell swoop, but whatever it is, there is definitely a semi-consuming excitement that sweeps over the campus. I do like football days. And while I have not been to a single game since the UNC-Duke Game in '07, I like to think that by helping people locate not-quite-hypoallergetic face tattoos, I am right there in the stands screaming until I can't talk with all the other football/ UNC enthusiests.

So, Good luck this weekend, boys! Go Heels!!!

PS-If you would like to visit me this Saturday, I will be at Student Stores from 12:45 until 4:45.

This is tuning up to be a very interesting year.

Ahh...the month of hope is almost at a close, but I guess that is how it must be. I'm not going to lie- I had a pretty amazing weekend and is seems so long because I don't have class on Fridays. So, let me begin my tale on Thursday, for that is really the start of the weekend.

After my last class (COMM 330 Intro to Screenwriting for the curious), I headed back to the dorm to celebrate my wonderful roomie's 21st birthday. She and her mother bough a most wonderful cake that was delicious (and as of my just now peek into the fridge, still there). Due to space issues and the fact that there were people in our lounge, we went outside for the cake eating. Once the cake was done, my roomie and her over-21 friends went to a few bars while I went back to the dorm and finished up the last of my homework that I had to really do. A bit later, CK came over and we went to the Mrs. D's welcome back dance.

I don't dance. I am the definition of awkward white girl trying to dance.

So, the dance was okay, but not the most fantastic time of my life. I think if there had been more people there I knew or if it just wasn't 500 degrees inside the room...the night was just sort of a bust, but that is alright. Not every night can be the night of your life. CK and I headed home after a little while and went our separate ways.

Friday was a pretty amazing day as well. After working the morning shift, I caught a bus and got my car to drive over to the UNC-TV/ PBS station in Durham for my facility tour and interview. Very exciting news: I got an internship!!!!!! This put me in an excellent mood for the rest of the weekend and we went out to dinner to celebrate at 35 Chinese. I wasn't feeling all that well physically becuase I really think that I am getting sick, but it was still a good time.

Actually, I was getting really mad at one of my friends at the dinner, but I had plans on talking to them later so I was trying to not let it show...I have no idea how effective this was. But c'est la vie, yeah?

We went back to RT's apt for a moment so that we could pick up a copy of Mary Poppins on DVD and then headed back to CK/CR/RB's apt to have an impromptu movie night. I love that movie. It is so wonderful! After the movie, we all sat around and talked for a bit until it was time for me to give RT a ride back to his apt. On the way, I sort of made it known that I was getting mad at him (really, it was quite trivial, but one of those things that at the time really bothered me). We ended up having a very good disucssion and then realized that it was 3am and we had just been talking and I still needed to go home. It then took me 45 minutes to get from Carrboro to Lewis Hall because I couldn't figure out how to get into the Cobb deck. I eventually made it and so everything was alright.

The next day, or really later that morning, my roomie and I went over to the library and had our training for the NC Literary Festival (Sept. 12th around campus all day COME!), and then I headed over to CK/CR/RB's apartment (hearafter known simply as the Apt) for an awesome study party. I came home for a little bit to tidy up and whatnot and then picked CK, LS, and two other people that are friends of CK up to go get some free chick-fil-a sandwiches with our student IDs and to go to the movie Taking Woodstock. The movie was alright, 3 out of 5 and a passable knock off of Across the Universe.

I had plans on spending the night at KL's place after the movie and had my overnight bag all packed- toothbrush and everything. I dropped everyone off after the movies and then went over to her place. There, the unthinkable happend (well, not really unthinkable, but just awkward). She, another girl, and some guy that I don't know decided that they just wanted to be naked. So they got naked. And I got awkward and certainly didn't have any intentions to drink myself out of the awkwardness, so I left and went back to Newman, where I planned on staying the night. I was just about fall asleep when my phone rang and it was CK, semi-insiting that I do not spend the night at Newman and that I could stay at the Apt. Seeing as the Newman couches are short and itchy, I took him up on his offer. The new plan was to head over to one of his friend's places and watch a new Godzilla movie (2008?) and then go back to the apt. By the time he got there, plans had changed and Godzilla was off, so we hung out with his friend whom we had seen the movie with at his dorm. It was pretty fun, but soon it was time to go and when we got to the apt, CR and RT were already there and I crashed on possibly the most comfortable couch I've yet to sleep on. It was a definite upgrade from the Newman couches.

I woke up this morning, RT gave me a ride back to campus, and then I studied and went to the library. Later this evening, I will finish up the last of the weekend juice by going to Mass. Thus concludes the weekend blogpost. I'll try to update more frequently through the week, but who knows what will happen?

August

Well, move-in weekend is nearly over and we have another day left until classes start and as far as I can tell, most everyone is pretty excited about the start of a new year. This is why I love August the most. It is my favorite of favorite months. August is a time of hope and excitement and new beginnings. I realize that once I enter the real world, the joys of August will no longer apply as much, but it will still be a good month-in my top twelve, at least.

But August is great. I love August. The month of August hold a little bit of summer still, but then there is the fun of starting a new year-a new chance to prove that you are awesome. Everything you did last year is to an extent reset. Sure, your GPA follows you, but rarely will that English project about Hamlet haunt you as you navigate through your Biology textbook. August is a month where you haven't screwed anything up for the current semester and you still have the opportunities that you'll wish you had taken three months from now. Just think- in four months or so, a lot of students will be wishing to come back to this very day so they could do it over again. THIS exact day. Well, a few might wish for tomorrow, but today is the DAY.

On Mythbusters, they had an episode where they tested the theory of "hit the ground running" and they proved that if one were to hit the ground running, they would in fact be faster than if they just ran once they hit the ground. Okay, the difference was fractions of a second, but hey! Faster is faster, yes? So, hit the ground running is what I plan on doing...just as soon as I figure out why I'm falling.

Have a great start of the semester everyone!

I won!

Ahh...there is nothing sweeter than victory, especially when it is against one of your greatest of Foes. For some time now, I have been telling you of my long and arduous battle against the ITS department of UNC. I have screamed and cired because of them and I have pretty much hated them for quite some time. A terrible war has been waging between them and me, and it has finally come to a close.

And I won, damnit.

I should be getting my new laptop in about a week with an envelope to mail in Azzie. I am getting an extended warrenty. Oh, and I don't have to pay the $250 insurance cost becuase it has been determined that the faults of my computer were due to hte manufacturing and not becuase I have mistreated it. Their leader, Steve, called to offer his surrender along with his terms for the treaty. This is a very very good day!!!

I might miss Azzie a little bit...I know I will miss his stickers. I must try to save them.

In OTHER news, I got to work as a Production Assistant on an AT&T commercial today on campus, staring our own #50 Tyler Hansbrough. Now, if I get the general idea of the commercial correct, it is about a little girl who has lost her puppy, and thanks to the great pix and txt services from AT&T, she is reunited when Tyler Hansbrough finds it and recognizes it from a pix message one of his friends sent him. Aww....look for it eventually! I don't know when it will air because I don't know how much editing etc goes into these things. But, on the plus side, I did get $115 for the day's work. :D

In RELATED news, I am back on Campus!!

Movie Review: District 9

District 9
2009
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starrring Sharlton Copley

Alright, I'm going to start this off by saying that I really don't like monster/ alien invasion movies. Sci-Fi has never been my favorite genre unless its something classic like Star Trek or 1984. I had no intention of going to see this movie at all. But then, I read a review of it by DJ Dustbunny (http://djdustbunny.blogspot.com) and he said that it was very good and that I should see it. So, I went to see it with EP.

This movie is SO GOOD! I cannot say enough how much I enjoyed this movie! It was a very exciting ride that will make you squirm in your seat.

The movie starts out intruducing the characters and the situation in a documentary style intermixed with News footage. It reminded me a lot of Baz Lurhman's style in his first two Red Curtain movies (Strictly Ballroom and Romen + Juliet). Actually, a lot of the movie reminded me of Baz Lurhman's movies. The way they set the movie up was perfect because there was so much that needed to be explained that if they tried to just let it all come out in the wash, most of the audience would be confused. It also did a good job in introducing Wilkus, our lovable protagonist, as one who finds the aliens (or "Pranws" as the deroggatory terminology calls them) just as disgusting as the rest of the humans. This of course sets him up to develop into a really good dynamic character.

Extremely brief plot overview: After a failed eviction plan for the aliens living in District 9, Wilkus finds himself behind enemy lines and has to decide who are the real monsters.
I don't want to get to into the plot because it is really easy to spoil and that would be no fun for anyone, so I'll just skip it for now.

The effects are pretty solid and a lot of the twists are pretty clever (the cat food and the guns that respond to Alien's DNA, for example). Some of the more gruesome effects could have been left out (I'm talking the fingernails and teeth...I actually had a nightmare about that last night!) and I'm not sure that EVERY person obliterated into pink mist had to shower the camera, but oh well...The real surprise is the acting performance from Sharlton Copley. When you think that he did a majority of this film as a one man show (the aliens were added later), then it is pretty amazing. He does a great job at giving the emotional punch that is often missing from these types of alien movies.

On a political note, it is interesting that they chose to set the movie in Johannesburg, South Africa, a place that is known for it's segregation (Apartheid, anyone?) because most of this film deals with issues of xenophobia and segregation. I really like how they incorporated the theme without hitting the audience over the head with it. Maybe it's me, but it seems rare that movies like this have themes this political in them.


Overall: This movie is a must see! Go see it right now!!! A+

Packing and My Cat

So, I'm packing today because I'm going back to the Hill on Wednesday and I am extremely thrilled about this fact. I cannot wait to get back to class and to see all of my friends again. This post is pretty short because there isn't really much to discuss with packing and I can only say how excited I am so many times before you stop reading. There was one highlight: I was debating on whether or not to get a new backpack, because my old one is starting to tear at the seams. It's not bad enough to really merit a new one, but it might not last the semester. Anyways, my Cat ended the debate by peeing on it. New Backpack Time!!! Um...Thanks, Kitty (?)

I'm reading New Moon...

...and am legitimately liking it. I read 140 pages in one sitting tonight and never once struggled to continue through the book. I am actually really and truly finding the plot interesting enough to keep me reading. Okay, okay, these books are not going on my top ten list of books and they certainly pale in comparison to other teen series (um...Harry Potter?), but it seems that they are getting more crap than they really deserve. People are knocking them before they are trying them because they have seen the movie (which is, as per usual with book-to-film endeavors) much worse than the novel or they have heard from their friends about it and draw their own conclusions.

I was one of those people for a long time. I love vampires but I HATED the thought that they would be so melodramatic to come up with lines like "You are my life now," and heaven forbid that a vampire should EVER sparkle. But you sort of have to give Stephanie Meyer some credit for trying to break out of the stereotypical mold of vampires where they turn into bats and die in the sunlight a la Dracula. While I doubt that Twilight and its sequels will go down as literature of literary merit, they are pretty standard fluff and if one simply lets go of reality, or what they think is reality for vampires (this IS fantasy, remember?), then they prove to be a fairly fun read.

I think what Twilight-haters hate is not the books themselves, because it's hard to hate a book that you are not forced to read (and I challenge anyone to show me a syllabus from their English class with these books under required reading) because it is all to easy to avoid. It's like saying that you hate musicals but continue to buy tickets to every show on Broadway. I think what they hate are the fans. The rabid teenage girls who flock to the bookstores and libraries every time they hear the name "Edward Cullen" and make ridiculous amounts of Flair and Bumper Stickers on Facebook and stay up late for the midnight premiers and so on...but isn't that their right? Sure, you can dislike seeing it everywhere, but its like anything that has a fan following.

Fans of Harry Potter do the same thing. But no one is condemning them. They dress up in cloaks and run around with wands in broad daylight with sharpie on their foreheads, but not many people are deeply concerned. You might argue that Harry Potter has more literary merit than Twilight (I apologize for using this phrase over and over, literary merit, but it was drilled into me Senior Year of high school...I cannot help it), but isn't enjoyment just as worthy a cause to be a fan of something? Someone famous, perhaps Emerson, said "Beauty is its own excuse for being." So, if a thing of beauty is a joy forever and beauty is its own excuse for being, then isn't joy it's own excuse for being? Twilight brings fans joy. It may be short lived. It may be superficial, but it is joy.

So, in conclusion, Twilight-haters/ Twilight-Fan-haters- c'est la vie and live and let live. Stop the hating on the Twilight series.

And so it goes....

Every once in a while, I get this strange inkling somewhere in my mind that God knows what he is doing. Or, at least is good at timing things so you don't go jumping off the nearest bridge every other Tuesday. Tonight was one of those nights where timing was perfect.

In Other News:

1) Julie & Julia- ADORABLE MOVIE!!! Take your mom to see this one and may I suggest not doing so right before dinner? There is so much good food and you will be hungry/ eager to cook once you leave the theatre. Totally worth seeing.

2) Twilight- by Stephanie Meyer-Yes. I read it. I finished it last night and it took me about a week or so to get through it. To be honest, I didn't hate it as much as I thougth I would. Actually, I didn't hate it at all. It was quite the interesting fluff-read. While it probably won't go down as some of the best literature of the 21st century, it is an exciting read and offers a lot of (unintentional) laughs. I now have New Moon from the library and hopefully will finish that before school starts.

3) New York City- So, this past weekend, I visited my BFF Jack in NYC and fell in love all over again with the place. It's strange that a city that I've barely been to can feel so much like home. This time around, I tried to venture away from Midtown/ Times Square and wandered through Greenwich Village and then hung around the Union Square area where I visited the Strand Bookshop with 18 MILES of books...It was very very interesting. Jack's mom took us to see Shrek the Musical and it was delightful. I have the soundtrack if anyone wants to give it a listen. I had such a good time up there and can't wait to go back someday.

4) How far from the Hill is Atlanta? Because EMILIE AUTUMN is coming in October and I really would like to go to the show, if at all possible (and I'm a firm believer that almsot anything is possible). If you have not heard of Emilie Autumn, then you should definitely check her out at www.emilieautumn.com

5) My cousin is in town! I haven't seen her in a few years and it's really cool to have someone within the same age bracket as myself in the house. She's a high school junior and I'm taking her on a college tour of the Hill on Wednesday. *Hint*Hint* If you want to hang out/ join us for the exciting tour and will be in town on Wednesday, let me know via facebook/ blog comments.

6) Hair Color!! Haha just kidding everyone! But no, I'm considering re-dying my hair brown because the gross orange is sort of coming back at the ends and soon it will be two-toned again and we can't have that, can we? People, I won't name names, but it was RoB, have actually tried to use it as a legitimate arguement against me in debates. But alas, it will not happen until I am back on the Hill.

That's all the news I have for now, folks! I'm back on the Hill for good on August 18th! See you all then! Or Not. That's cool.

SheNaniGans!!!

So, this weekend, three of my nearest and dearest friends, CR, RT, and CK came up to the mountains to visit for a weekend that would prove to be as epic as it was movie-filled. It was a rather memorable few days and now I am (according to RT) now officially an American, though my passport has confirmed this fact for some time now.

See, the real issue with my American-ness was the fact that I had never seen Star Wars (the original ones with Luke, Vader, Leia, Han, and Chewy). This was clearly unacceptable and I spent much time trying to defend my citizenship, but finally I broke to peer pressure and arranged for a weekend to watch the three original movies. I must say, they are not my favorite of films, but I can now understand why people love them and now I feel like I have a better foundation for understanding many pop culture allusions that before went over my head. Okay, I knew a lot about them to begin with, I'm not an idiot- I understood the concept of the Force, I knew Vader was Luke's father, and I knew who Yoda was, etc, but that clearly wasn't enough for some people in my life (RT!).

But the real fun of the weekend wasn't watching the movies, but it was being with my friends (and the hilarity they bring to most situations). Friday, CK was able to find the place relatively easily, while RT and CR who came together seemed to have more difficulties than necessary. I must apologize to them because I was unaware that they had removed the sign marking my street due to construction, which make it much more challenging fo find. Eventually, after several phone calls which all had the general theme of RING RING "Hello?" "Where the HELL do you live?!?!" everyone arrived and the fun was ready to begin. After some brief socializing/ telling stories of our summer adventures respectively, we popped in the first Star Wars disk and began the marathon.

After the movie, we all went to dinner at the incredible two-story Wendy's that is in the adjacent town and enjoyed some of fast food's finest. Of course, we sat in the upstairs portion of the building. We then headed back to Blowing Rock and hit up Kilwins for some home made ice cream, and then headed back down to the car, parked at BR School. Because we were not yet finished with our ice cream and there were no people there, we decided to play on the BR School playground, which turned into an impromptu musical review of all our favorites- Phantom, Les Mis, Sweeney Todd, etc...

We went home again after spending about an hour frolicking through the slides and see-saws and put the second Star Wars DVD in and began watching. But, this time, though most of us agreed that this movie was better than the first, we continued to have ADD breaks, including one which led us downstairs to listen to my Dad's records, which in turn became another impromptu Michael Jackson dance party.

We did not finish The Empire Strikes Back Friday night.

Saturday morning, there was much sleeping in, with the occasional tidying up of the living room, etc. In our Michael Jackson-induced joy, I forgot to put the pretzels back in their bag, so they were pretty stale and gross...whoops. Once everyone got up and were ready, we finished The Empire Strikes Back and then immediately went into Return of the Jedi. After the movies, we had to say goodbye to CK as he had to work Sunday, so he could not stay for the rest of the weekend.

RT, CR, and I, however, still needed to get dinner so that we could enjoy the rest of the weekend, so we went back to Blowing Rock and went to Mellow Mushroom, which was good as usual. We wandered around the town for a time and sat in the town park and watched little kids run around before getting back in the car and driving over to Boone to pick up another movie to watch (we're really big movie people...): Disney's Pocahontas. Oh, and we're kids at heart.

Before the movie started, RT tried his best to play on a piano which hasn't been tuned since before 1986. It wasn't too bad, though there was a definite difference between that piano and the tuned piano we're used to hearing him play. We then tried to start a fire in the fireplace, but since it had rained a bit earlier in the day, the wood was fairly wet, so we decided to just burn some personal failure (aka my Russian and Latin note cards). It really felt good to read off the note cards and then watch them go up in smoke... ;-) Unfortunately, personal failure fire is not very good for making s'mores, but we tried anyways, though quickly gave up. Time for the movie!

I think we had forgotten how nice Pocahontas really is...

Anyways, Sunday, we woke up early and went to Mass, then headed over to Grandfather Mountain. When we first go there, the bridge was closed, so we decided to not go, but then a few minutes later it re-opened, so we got to go! Hooray! The bridge is really pretty neat. A mile high and it is very windy when you get over the center of it. The three of us then went on a ".4" mile trail through the woods to a lower parking lot, and then back up.

Sadly, the Mountain Adventure Weekend had to come to an end, so when RT, CR, and I returned home, they gathered their things together and went back to Raleigh. Overall, it was a pretty fun and memorable weekend, and now I'm antsy for getting back to school so that I can hang out with everyone on a regular basis! 22 Days!

My deepest apologies...

So, if you have been keeping up, you will noticed that I have been noticeably lacking in blog posts about my adventure in Greece and I guess I need to give you the reason. We have to write several papers about our journey, what we saw, what we experienced, and so on, in order to receive course credit. It came to my attention that one, possibly more students who went on the trip had found my blog and were planning on using it as a basis to write their own papers. I'm not sure in what context they were going to use it, be it a memory jog or brief reminder of what we did each day, but I fear that the more likely answer is that they were planning on using it as a substitute for their own notes and information. Knowing the situation, I cannot blog about my adventure in Greece at this time. I will tell you all in person when I see you, or perhaps post the blogs after the due dates of the papers, but in any case, there will be no Greece blog entries for the next few weeks.

July 2nd, 2009- Good Morning, Crete

Getting off the boat was a welcomed moment for everyone in our group. We got outside and met the two men who would make the rest of our stay on Crete one of the most enjoyable experiences ever. These two men were George, Prof. McCoy's good friend and guide-extrodinaire of Crete, and Aleko, the loveable, flirtatious, and almost picture-taking-loving bus driver.

In continuance of the boat's perpetual suckage, there was no breakfast, so we bussed through the city of Heraklion until we found a hotel and went in for their breakfast. Our first Cretean breakfast introduced us Cretean Orange Juice, which is not unlike American orange juice in the sense that yes, it is orange. However, this is where the similarities end. It looked and tasted like Tang, which makes me wonder if it actually was Tang. If so, the Creteans must have an intense love affair with Tang, because that is all we were given when we ordered 'orange juice.' The standards of any Greek breakfast were there as well, which means a lot of pastries filled with goat's cheese.

Still tired from the boat (disembarkation began around 6:30 or so...), we were all a bit draggy that first day. But, ever the chipper skipper, Prof. McCoy loaded us back onto the bus and took us to the site of the Minoan Palace of Mallia and later on to Gournia.

The site at Mallia was pretty impressive. They have most of the palace and a lot of the outlying town excavated. George was great, hopping around and showing us all the ins and outs of the palace as if he actually lived there at one point. Palace complexes are a big part of Bronze-Age Crete History. They were the centers for trade and administration for various districts, and these places have EVERYTHING. They are not palaces in the modern sense of the word-sure, the royal families lived there, but they were pretty open to the public and had the main courtyard where games would be played (especially their favorite, bull jumping), religious functions would take place, and general agora-esq activities.

After looking around for a while, we found the old altar at the center of the courtyard and took our Treasure Hunt Oaths.

Treasure Hunt Oaths?

Okay, so in the interest of making our stay on Crete both fun and interesting, Prof. McCoy came up with this great idea to have a Treasure Hunt. The rules? Five teams would solve a series of riddles. After two weeks, the top three teams would compete to find a treasure box, the contents were unknown. Sounds fun, right? What could possibly go wrong when you add competition to a group trip and split people into teams? Okay, enough with the petty sarcasm-in the end, the Treasure Hunt caused way too much drama and did a good job souring part of the trip. More on Treasure Hunt Drama later, though.

On to Gournia!!

When we first pulled into Gournia, it struck everyone as less impressive than anything we had yet seen. Remember, we've just come from a cool Palace site, not to mention we have the Parthenon/ Athens still fresh in our minds. However, it turned out to be pretty interesting. At the top of the site, there was an amazing view of the coast which took almost everyone's breath away.

After Gournia, we took the bus to the town of Sitia and to our (ocean front) hotel. It was gorgeous. Some folks took a nap and went out later in the evening but I decided to take a wander about the city and then went to bed early. I didn't want to wear myself out too early-and the wander was pretty worth it. Sitia is a neat little town with some cool places to explore.

July 1st, 2009 (Cont.)- I'm on a Boat!

Please excuse the blatant pop-culture referance, but it was made so many times while we were on the boat that it seemed only fitting to title the blog post with it.

After Acrocorinth/ Ancient Corinth/ Canal of Doom, we drove back to Athens (well, the Harbor, which isn't really in Athens proper, it's on the coast about 4 miles away) to board the boat that would take us to Crete for the remainder of the trip. Everyone was, thanks to Lonely Island's recent song "I'm on a Boat," very excited to be on a boat. As we entered, there were signs to the swimming pool, lounges, bars, and a disco. Plans were quickly made that all four sites would be visited that evening. We got to our rooms, which were a little smaller than the hotel, but that was expected. This was the first night that I was rooming with AH because there had been a cancellation and her roomie couldn't come and I was down for a single. AH is really nice and I am thoroughly enjoying having her as a roomie.

We all hit the deck because we had a few hours until we actually left Athens (we got there at 6pmish and we were going to set off at around 9pm) and found the swimming pool. It was empty. We all sort of sighed and then went back down to one of the bar/lounges. As we were all sitting around, some of us got drinks. They had the best hot chocolate I have had in quite some time. Suddenly, one of the girls, SB, comes up and she looks quite panicked and really upset. She informs us that her wallet has been stolen, and it had a good $600 worth of Euros and USDs. We went down and tried to sort it out and find it or at least see if anyone had seen anything.

See, SB had been sitting at a table and then gotten up, left her wallet at her seat, and gone to get her food. It was all of a 15-20 second trip as her table was right next to the counter. Someone sitting near said the only one who walked by was a waiter. We asked the waiter and they told us that we shouldn't look for it and we should just give up. It was pretty fishy and a lot of us had our suspicions. SB started looking in a trash can and a waitress looked at her and said "you aren't going to find it." After that, we were all but convinced that it was an inside job. The boat was not as we imagined it would be.

Prof. McCoy was not happy with the way this trip was going at all...expecially since he had be robbed the previous day and earlier that day as well (he was pick-pocketed on the Metro in Athens and then our bus driver stole around 800 euros from him while we were hiking Akrocorinth). Shenanigans were going down that ought not be going down and he was fuming. We all tried to calm down, considering that these recent shenanigans had happened literally within an hour and a half of getting on the boat. As cool as we all thought it was going to be, we all wanted off the boat as soon as possible.

A bunch of us went to dinner on the boat and it was relatively good food. It might have been more universally enjoyed had we not been in such a foul mood, but c'est la vie, yeah? Most of us took some anti-sea sick medicine and went to bed without checking out the Disco. Sigh. When we woke up, we were in Crete and it was a new day. On to phase two of the trip!

July 1st, 2009- On the Road Again!

Today we checked out of the Airotel Parthenon and left Athens for the remainder of the trip (until we go home). We drove approximately 15 miles to the Temple of Demeter in Eleusis. This is where the mystery cult initations took place. Because of the similarities in characteristics, when Christians came through, they put up a Church to the Virgin Mary at the top. It was also very pretty and very simple.

There was a museum at the top that had all the statuaries from the temple. The ladies who worked there kept yelling at us because we were setting things down on this bench. Apparently, it was from the 1st Century AD, but we had no idea-there was no sign and it was next to the other benches that were okay to sit on. I'm pretty sure those ladies hated us. We were the only ones there and were most likely ruining their otherwise normal and quiet existence. I highly recommend visiting this place if you get to Greece anyways. Just don't touch the bench.

After Eleusis, we went to Corinth, making a pit stop at the canal. It is very high and reminds me of Indiana Jones. A few of us brave souls ventured to a smaller bridge under the main road. I'm not sure if McCoy knew we were down there...it sort of looked like a Vietnam bunker and was a little creepy, but we survived and got great pictures!

We then headed over to Acrocorinth. Acrocorinth is this huge rock much like the Acropolis with a temple to Aphrodite on the top. I challenge anyone to be more dedicated to their religion...that was quite a climb. One girl almost had an asthma attack and another girl had what they call in competitive eating a reversal of fortune. But eventually, we all made it to the top. The site is quite disappointing after a long hike like that. We all wanted there to be some great reward for our efforts, but there was basically a foundation square of rocks and that was it. We basically ignored the actual historical site and just focused on the view. After reaching the top, a bunch of us wandered back down looking at the much more facinating medieval and 19th century fortifications, which, as opposed to their ancient counterparts, were actually still standing. There was even an old cannon!!!

Back at the bottom, we visited Ancient Corinth, which was pretty neat. There were a bunch of columns and was similar in appearance to the Agora and the Olympion in Athens. One of the mor interesting places we saw was where Paul spoke to the Corinthians.

Oh, and one last note...on the way down from the hill, I had a full out epiphany! I had no idea what BAMF meant at all and then it seriously just HIT me! It was a good feeling. PS- Acrocorinth is a bamf. Pictures soon, I promsie (and by soon, I mean July 20th, 2009 at the earliest).

June 27th-28th-Athens!

June 27th, 2009
After we left the Acropolis, it was 5:30 and we decided to commemorate our first full day in Greece as a group by going out for dinner and drinks. After much debating about where we would go (some wanted to get some American food at Hard Rock...really?!) we ended up going to the Athens Club, a hotel with a rooftop restaurant. The view of the Parthenon and the Olympion were, as expected, spectacular. The food was pretty descent, a bit over priced, but with that view they can get away with it.

After dinner, we went up to the Plaka district and found a little hole-in-the-wall bar. Some people decided to try to save money by getting beer/alcohol early instead of paying 8+ euro for a drink at the bar. We had the whole rooftop to ourselves and the Parthenon was right behind us. Don't worry, blog buddies, I neither paid for drinks at the bar nor bough alcohol beforehand, though I did have a glass of wine before dinner, which was enough for me. Our server was hilarious and since he couldn't speak English and we really couldn't say anything other than "hello," "thank you," and "this food is delicious," there were some funny lost-in-translation moments. Eventually in the evening, bottles started being dropped and glass started going everywhere (and yes, there was some blood, though not mine), we split up and a lot of us went back to the hotel. I was in the group to go home.

June 28th, 2009
9:50 pm
I am so exhausted! Today was not so much longer than yesterday, but the whole group started dragging. More than half of the students were hungover and Prof. McCoy was very not happy. It didn't help that he got a complaint from the hotel's management because someone spilt beer and stained the carpet in their room. It is a little annoying to think that some people on the trip are not trying at all to be good guests in Greece. They are being exactly what Europeans imagine as stupid Americans. Ask me for specific examples.

This morning we went to the Acropolis Museum. It is brand new (open for 5 days when we went there) and is right across the street from the Acropolis. It houses all of the shards of pottery and votive offerings and friezes which are not housed at the British Museum. There is a lot of debate as to whether or not the BM should now send what they have back to Greece. The museum is pretty interesting, but it could have taken a significantly shorter amount of time to go through. Even Prof. McCoy was shocked at how long we spent there-so shocked that he cancelled one of the sites we were going to see that day. he imagined it would take us maybe an hour, hour and a half. We sludged out of there after three hours. I think McCoy was a little sad that we were not so Beatlemania-ish about each individual broken piece of pottery as he was. All I'm saying is that at after a certain point, a Kore statue looks like a Kore statues which looks exactly the same as another Kore statue. It would have been better if we hadn't been as tired, too, but that was our fault.

In the afternoon, we headed over to the Agora. This place was really neat. It was funny because it seemed to still be a little center where people would go and hang out...like just a normal park. The Temple of Hephaestus might be my favorite site we've been to in Athens. It is the best preserved temple around and is so beautiful. It was a perfect way to end our time in Athens.

July 29th, 2009- Official Start of the Program!!

Greetings Blog Buddies! So, this morning we went to the Temple to Olympian Zeus and the Temple and Theatre of Dionysus. Both places were really amazing (get used to hearing this adjective). The Olympian Zeus Temple was built by Hadrian and now has 15 remaining columns left (one was felled due to a thunderstorm). The Theatre was also very nice-they were doing a lot of construction work to preserve it, so it was not quite the somber, awe-inspiring moment you would imagine, but still cool all the same. I think my favorite part of the more touristy sites like the temples and theatres has to be the whistle blowers. Yup. These people are the Ninjas of Attica. Step just a foot out of line and bam! They come out from the trees, behind columns, and from the graves blowing their whistles. Yes. They literally sit in trees and hide behind columns and yes, they really do have whistles.

After visiting the two sites, we were given an hour and a half for lunch. Despite all the "dumb American" moments I've had so far (especially dealing with the hotel room and how things work), I was able to make it up somewhat. I negotiated for some worry beads IN GREEK and saved 2 euro. Okay, the whole thing wasn't in Greek, but I did say hello, asked how much, and said please and thank you. It's a start!

After lunch, we went up to the Acropolis. It is absolutely stunning! The Parthenon is currently under some renovations/ conservations, but I did get some good pictures without any construction. I'm going to try to photoshop some of the construction out of the other pictures. As wonderful as the Parthenon was, I think my favorite temple on the Acropolis was the Erechtheum. It is a beautiful Ionic temple and is a lot smaller than its big sister, which is Doric. I'll let the pictures do the talking when they get posted because I really can't describe it properly otherwise.

July 28th, 2009- Arriving in Athens, or, How Greek Hotels are a lot different than American.

The two other students and I got a cab to the Airotel Parthenon from the airport and we got to the hotel at around 1:30. I had a single the first two nights in Athens and the room was absolutely gorgeous. The hotel is quite literally around the corner from the Acropolis. The hotel is quite different than any hotel I have ever been to in the States. First, to get electricity, you must plug your key into the wall. Second, the elevator- you manually open the door (like normal doors) and they are big enough to fit two people if they get cozy...there is a video coming soon of the elevators because these things are wild.

Also, the door knobs at the Airotel don't turn...there is a button on the top that you push. It really made me feel like a stupid American...oh, and there was a fully stocked mini-bar with a lot of alcohol. I didn't take any though because mini bars charge a lot and I don't feel the need to drink while I'm here.