Do you want something to drink?

A friend recently asked for advice on how to enjoy coffee, especially in the business world. Other than the fact that I am a coffee lover, I'm not sure how my History/Comm degrees qualify me for explaining the importance of coffee in the business world, but I am an ardent coffee drinker, so I guess that counts for something. So I'm going to try to explain what you should/ should not order while having coffee in a business setting.

The most important thing to remember while enjoying your coffee is that even if you hate coffee you are enjoying your coffee. That means no making faces, no adding insane amounts of cream or sugar, and above all else no ordering tea instead.

Part I: Sending someone to get your coffee.

If you are sending Intern Rick out to get coffee from a coffee shop, keep your order simple. Ordering an iced half skim/ half 1% soy decaf no-foam fat-free vanilla latte is far too complicated and most likely Intern Rick will have some sort of nervous breakdown trying to remember it and you DON'T want to be the guy/gal who had to write their order down. My golden rule for asking ANYBODY to go get me a drink (which is rare) is this: you can make ONE personalization. If you are ordering a vanilla latte, you can make it skim, soy, decaf, no-foam, OR fat-free. Pick one. Having a personalized order beyond one degree is both difficult to remember and makes you look more than a little pretentious.

Finally, it is nice to keep your order the same from day to day. If your drink is the skinny vanilla latte, then each time someone goes out for coffee, you should order a skinny vanilla latte. It just makes things easier for poor Intern Rick.

Part II: At the Coffee Shop

Okay, so you are at the coffee shop. There are a million choices and personalizations you can choose from but be careful because you are only as strong as your drink. If you are unsure of what you want to order, then I suggest you enjoy a house blend with max 1.5 tablespoons of cream/milk. If you use milk you may have at max 2 packs of sugar but do not use more. Be careful with the amount of creamer you use because your coffee should be at the lightest the color of milk chocolate.

If you want a fancier drink, then stay with the espresso-based drinks and do not drink anything with "frozen," "iced" or "Frapuccino" in the name. Also remember that if you order a straight espresso you do not get a lot of beverage but it is incredibly bitter and very caffeinated. Be wary of the lattes and when in doubt, mochas are your friends.

Most coffee shops have some sort of food available but as a general rule, you don't want to be eating while you are having your meeting. You're going out for coffee, not lunch.

Part III: In the Break Room

Okay, so this one is pretty easy because unlike the coffee shop, there are not a million options. There's the Mr. Coffee which might be out of filters this morning. In this case, you will enjoy whatever coffee it makes and follow the same milk/cream/sugar rules as stated before.

So quick recap:

1) No matter what, you are enjoying your coffee.

2) You can have it your way, but don't get crazy.

3) Your drink should never be lighter than milk chocolate.

4) Be Kind to Intern Rick.

This is what my Week/ Fall Break is going to Look Like:

So, as we all know it is that time of year again (whatever that means....I'm pretty sure "that time of year" happens every couple of months) which means that we are all insanely busy and things are getting backed up, friends are getting neglected, and life is just spinning wildly out of control.

Okay, so it isn't that bad.

Right now, I am taking a break from studying for my (second) American City exam. What do you mean by second? Well, we had one on Wednesday, too. And we're going to have a "take home" exam due on Monday. I love my American Cities professor but sometimes I wonder if he is aware that some of us have other classes other than his...oh well. It's his last semester so I guess there's no real reason to bring it up now. I also have a paper due tomorrow which I haven't started but will and it will get finished tonight (hopefully by 8pm).

Tomorrow, after my exam and I turn in my paper, I will head down to the GAA to pick up not one, not two, but three assignments. I have a sneaky feeling that they're going to want these back before Fall Break (which as we all know starts Wednesday), so this will most likely shoot all of my weekend fun out the window. I'm pretty sure if I plan it right, though, I can definitely finish all three by Wednesday.

After my GAA meeting I will then go to work. 2:30-6. Followed hopefully by our traditional sushi dinner and then off to the Dean Dome for Late Night With Roy. I've never been and I don't care how busy I am, I am a SENIOR and I WILL be going! Nothing can stop me. Nothing.

Somewhere in all of that, I will also hopefully be sleeping. I've already let my parents know that when I get home, I'm probably going to just pass out for a day or two and that they shouldn't really expect anything of greatness from me until Friday at the earliest.

I wonder if I could finish my script over fall break....it's an interesting idea. I'm certainly going to try, if the writing juices are flowing properly.

Goth.

It's not about wearing black eyeliner and chalk white makeup. It's not about the devil. It's not about death.

The trouble with any subculture is that the mainstream community usually has some sort of misconception about it, and because human nature is what it is, these misconceptions usually lead to trepidation, misgivings, and fear. So, let me take a moment to tell you what goth means to me, your humble closeted goth girl.

Let us look first at the history of the word "goth." A goth was a term used to describe anything "non-Roman." The Goths were a tribe of people who did not take to being "conquered" by the Romans in the early part of the first millenium. The Romans brought with them a new way of life which stood to undermine every part of the Goth's heritage and culture. If this would happen today, people would be outraged and white girls would probably host a 5K.

But that was thousands of years ago. The world was different. How does this pertain to the "goth" subculture of today? It might sound super cliched, but the goth subculture is to an extent an attempt to fight back the "Roman" (read mainstream) influences on our lives. It's a mindset, not a fashion, though we often use fashion to express ourselves. What's the easiest way to show that we do not go along with the mainstream? Dress against the mainstream.

But Goth is much more than a reactionary effort. My experience with goth has led me to believe that it is about honesty. The type of honesty that people are afraid to admit. It's that honest little voice that tells us life is hard and the same voice that tells us it's okay to be sad sometimes. Our society has had this obsession with happiness ever since some guy who wore knickers declared that we have a right to it. But sometimes, it's okay to be unhappy. Bad things happen to good people because that's the way life works.

I think a major misconception that a lot of people have about goths is that they are sad people, but if you ever meet some, you will find that a lot of times they are in fact incredibly happy individuals who love life. Part of this love I think comes from the fact that they accept the good and the bad that comes their way.

Another misconception is the notion of religion. While yes, there are many among the goth community who are either atheistic or worship some form of "pagan" religion...there is even a satanic church, many goths do not. Worshiping the devil is NOT a requirement to being Goth. I am a perfect example of that: I consider myself to be a closeted goth girl, yet I am a devout Catholic.

And finally, we don't all wear black. I wear Carolina Blue and paint my face on game day. I wear reds and purples and a few teals. I do not wear all black. I don't need to in order to fit into the mold of being a goth. There is no formal dress code.

So there you go...I know that from that little blurb there is a lot left unsaid about the goth subculture, but hopefully some misconceptions have been corrected.

So....last week I wrote a pretty hateful Post...

about all the things I hate. Today I'm going to dedicate my post to all the things I love.

1. My Peter Pan Coffee mug. It holds the perfect amount of coffee and is really pretty. I'm a big Peter Pan fan and I like carrying with me a reminder of being young at heart. I think holding onto a youthful spirit is one of the most important things you can try to do in this life.

2. My giant gothy wall clock. This is literally a wall clock. It's a wall which has become a clock. Actually, it's a wall with a giant clock sticker on it and a small clock hand thing in the middle, but it's still REALLY cool. And, now I know what time it is in my room without having to find my cell phone!!

3. The air on the first days of autumn. That almost cool, crisp air and sort of wakes you up in the morning and makes sweaters required...that air is heavenly. I love it. Especially when there is a slight breeze to go along with it. Not too strong, but just a sort of "hi, how are you?" type of breeze. This brings me to...

4. Sleeping with the window open. I can't really do this in Chapel Hill for safety concerns, but when I was a kid in the summer, I would sleep with the window open which was amazing. This practice was partially because I liked it and partially out of necessity (we don't have A/C out there). The only downside was if I had my lamp on, bugs would come in and that was bad news.

6. Alice in Wonderland. I guess this ties back to the whole Peter Pan thing again, but I love the idea of keeping a sense of wonder about you. Yes, I know that Lewis Carrol is a little strange/ druggie/ might have been Jack the Ripper? But I like the idea of imagination.

7. The way Swain Media Labs smell. It's comforting and familiar now...whenever I stumble into it at 2am to get some work done, it makes me feel glad to be back. This was never more true than when I got back into Swain after a summer of being banished to the MRC "media lab." It was good to be home.

8. Extra-Crunchy Leaves. Yeah....I'll go out of my way to step on one.

9. Gothic Novels- Because they are ridiculous and amazing. Because they are som completely a break from reality. Because so often they are rather poorly written but the stories will pull you in better than anythign I know. They are simply fun.

10. Last but certainly not least (and actually possibly most): My friends. You all keep me sane, or insane, whichever it may be. I really can't imagine my life without you guys and in all likely hoods, it would be far less interesting without you all. It seems so weird that we've only known each other a few years because honestly it seems like a lifetime.

So there you go...ten of my favorite things to go along with my list of things I hate from last week. Time to go get my laundry from downstairs.

Things I hate Today

So....have you ever had a morning where you woke up and for no real reason, you decide that you just hate some things? Maybe you don't wake up with a full list, but as your day continues, you realize slowly but surely that things that may be everyday occurrences suddenly and without warning make you so filled with unexplainable/uncontrollable rage and/or hate. Usually, this comes at the end of what is referred to as a "sneaky hate spiral" (http://www.hyperboleandahalf.com), but sometimes....there's no spiral about it. You just hate.

It's not even 10am but here are some things that I hate today:

1. Wet leaves. These things are disgusting and they stick on the back of my legs and are gross and I want to kill them all. And what's worse is that they ALWAYS stick to that one part of your leg where it's just too difficult or awkward to casually brush it off and so you end up spinning around yourself trying to get a stupid leaf off of you and end up looking like a moron. This might be amplified by the fact that I am already an uncoordinated and ungraceful person.

2. Pedestrians. I know that this was a kvetch a few weeks ago in the Daily Tar Heel, but there are 12 crosswalks on Cameron Avenue between Columbia and Raleigh Street....for the love of all that is Holy, USE THEM!!!!! This brings me to my next hated thing...

3. Drivers who let EVERYONE cross the street. I understand that there are rushes and a driver can't just start plowing through folks after they've had enough waiting, but we've all been behind that one idiot who, after a good 40 second stream of pedestrians, sees a straggler maybe thirty feet off, not moving particularly fast, and decides to wait and then wave them across the street. OMG Just move!!! Someone else can let the kid cross the street! Because of course what always happens is that by the time the straggler kid gets to the crosswalk, there's another rush about to start so it's another 20-30 second wait.

4. Umbrellas left in the breezeway. Okay folks, I know you don't want a wet umbrella inside, but don't make everyone else in the building try (and ultimately fail) to step around it so we can get to our mailboxes. Rude. We all have a linoleum entrance "square" inside our units...put the stupid umbrella THERE to dry.

5. Public Transportation. Alright, let me clarify: public transportation is an amazing idea. However, it can be exceedingly ridiculous at times. I have a class at 8am. If I want to take a bus, I have to be at the bus stop at 7:10. FIFTY MINUTES before classtime. The entire bus ride is maybe 8 minutes. Now, if you look at the schedule, you will see that the bus I need is scheduled to arrived at 7:24, and if it did arrive at 7:24, that would be fantastic and while a little early, not so early as to cause a fuss. But, the bus doesn't come at 7:24. It comes sometime between 7:12 and 7:22. Calling Chapel Hill Transit has thus far proved unhelpful except that they confirmed that the bus is suppose to be at the stop at 7:24. I think so far this semester, the 7:24 bus has been on time maybe three times.

Okay, so a lot of this had to do with general transportation, mainly because we have a tropical depression hitting campus which is really fouling up all forms of movement, be it walking, driving, or riding the bus. I'm sure that this hate was also compounded by the fact that the rain kept me awake all night and I didn't get up early enough to make coffee this morning.

Trust the Process.

That's what my professor said today in class while talking about writing. It struck me, though.

Trust the process.

Trust the process.

Trust the process.

I want to try something in my life: I want to trust the process. I know everyone is stressing out about what they are going to be doing after graduation- graduate school, job, etc, but I think I am just going to trust the process. This doesn't mean that I'm not going to actively look for jobs (okay, real talk...I'm already looking around), but instead of stressing out about it for the next 7.5 months, I'm just going to trust the process.

Because what happens will happen.

I might not get a job after I graduate. Most of us won't but we have to come to terms with the fact that that is okay. It's not great. It's not wonderful. But it won't be the cataclysmic end of the world like we fear. It will happen eventually. We just need to trust the process.

In other news. I am coming to some understanding of what I want to do upon graduation...at least narrowing the field from no effing clue to something in a general vicinity: writing/ publishing. Wouldn't it be great to just sit down and spit out the next Harry Potter or (gulp dare I say it) Twilight? As much as we want to convince ourselves that Twilight sucks, Stephanie Meyer made BANK. SO much bank that she doesn't have to worry about whether she is respected in the literary world....she can just go home and cry into her giant bags of money while her literary-minded critics go back to their one-bedroom flat above a Greek restaurant.

But I digress.....there's at least a plan now. Wish me luck! And don't forget...Trust the Process.

Welcome Back!

So, this week was a wonderful week filled with reunions w/ people I missed over the summer and the semi-excitement of classes starting up again. I can honestly say that I'm very excited about my classes because I'm not taking anything if I don't want to anymore...that's right. I'm a senior and I'm done with all of my requirements!!! Hooray!!!

So this semester I've got Audio Production (possibly the only class that could have gotten me up for an 8am), Russian Revolution, 19th/20th C. American Cities, 19th Century British Lit, Character Archetypes in Screen writing, and Writing the Feature Film.

But that's a lot of classes....

I know, it's the first time I'm attempting 18 hours, but I think I can handle it and honestly I would be heartbroken to drop any of these classes. My Wednesdays are pretty awkweird, however, because I have class from 11am until 9pm w/ two one hour breaks in there somewhere. If anyone wants to start getting dinner w/ me on Franklin Street on Wednesdays between five and six, please let me know.

It was a little strange on the first day of classes because this IS senior year and for some unexplainable reason, it does feel different. I'm trying to get over that and channel it into the Gosh Darn It, I've never had all A's in my entire academic career (save that one semester in 5th grade) and by God this is the time to do it! Wish me luck...I hope this holds out until Fall Break in any case.

I was going to take this time to tell you some amazing stories from the summer/ last two weeks, but alas I have a bus to catch to make it to class today, so I will come back to it perhaps tomorrow. Happy Friday!

It's Official!!!

Our Deep South Generation Now show has been confirmed so I can now give you all the delicious details!

When: August 19th. Doors at 7, show starts at 10.

Where: Deep South the Bar in downtown Raleigh. It's near the train tracks. Google Maps will help you (I honestly don't know how to give directions to the place).

Why: Because you are awesome and you like awesome music and you want to support awesome music. Also, you want to make your dear friend (me!) not look like a complete idiot.

Okay, so you're all excited about the show now, but you're wondering what the show is exactly. We will be featuring the musical talents of Doombunny and Dizzy Smith, two local bands from the Raleigh/ Chapel Hill area. It's going to be a great show and I know I'm shamelessly using this blog to promote this event, but it's going to be a really good show that I think you all will love.

Oh yes...$5 cover. Sorry.

A Day in the Life, or Why I Hate Joe Biden

Sometimes, I'm not sure if my life is a sitcom or an after school special. Regardless of genre, it's always interesting and sure to keep me and everyone around me on our toes. Let's just look at yesterday, shall we?

I wake up feeling pretty good about life; my alarm clock hadn't gone off and I was feeling incredibly well rested. After breakfast and caring for a sort-of-migraine-y roommate, I decided that I would go to my internship early so I could stop by Barnes and Noble and gift browse since the fall birthday season is upon us.

But then, in one of those shots where the camera zoom in and the background does that weird thing, I realized that my car had been left in it's convenient-yet-illegal parking spot from last night. I raced outside and sure enough, Denty was gone. Surprisingly, I didn't panic immediately. Called the towing company (which is really one man named "T-Roy") and sure enough, my car was there. He told me he would let me have my car back for the low low fee of $150 cash.

What college kid has $150 CASH lying around?

So Christina took me to Harris Teeter and I got the cash back so now I have $150 in cash. We go to find this place, which is on the other side of Carrboro, and after a few minutes, T-Roy pulls up, opens the gate and takes my money. He might have said three words during this whole thing.

In any case, we try to get home, get sort of lost because of construction detours, but eventually make it. I'm still not panicking, but do feel pretty lousy for being out $150 for being stupid. I pick up a few things and head first to my on-campus internship to fill out time sheets, then on to Barnes and Noble to finally do some gift browsing, though now I have about an hour left.

And it is here, my friends, that the panicking starts. I don't know why and I can't really explain it, but I just started to feel so very very lousy about the whole incident. Maybe it was because this was the second time in a week my car has been involved in some sort of drama (rear-ended last week on 54), but I really wasn't feeling it. I left Barnes and Noble and headed over to Deep South not in the perkiest of moods. But Deep South is always good for making me feel better and after editing photos for 4 hours, I was back in semi-high spirits, though I was surprisingly very nervous while driving home.

Now, this is where we get to my hate for Joe Biden. I've had a relatively rotten day and I have plans to hang out with friends and relax and there really is very little that is going to keep me from this. Unfortunately, the Chapel Hill police dept have other ideas. I get to Chapel Hill and Country Club is closed. Fine. Stay on south and head up Raleigh. I'm only trying to get to Hillsborough, so it shouldn't be hard. Alas...Raleigh is closed. I asked the traffic guy at Raleigh what was going on. In a very frank and "are-you-kidding-me?" way, he responded "The Vice President of the United States," as if just saying Joe Biden would have gone right over my silly head... I asked what else was closed. Franklin, Rosemary, Cameron, parts of Columbia/MLK, and further up parts of South (which made no sense). He then said it would last about 30 minutes.

I'm not a patient person, and the first thing I could think of shouting was JOE BIDEN WILL NOT KEEP ME FROM MY HOME!!!! I made a U-turn and headed towards Manning, as calmly as any insanely angry person could. I get to the Manning/ 15-501 intersection and there is a CAR stalled in the middle. I rationalized this to being Joe Biden's fault. Further up, there was a lot of construction which caused a delay. I probably more accurately credited Biden for this malady as well. Later, after finding Estes and sneaking back onto MLK, I see that traffic is backed up. I've met the closed part of MLK. An officer came up and I explained that I just needed to get to Bolinwood (which was up a few dozen feet past where the stop was), and I guess I looked pretty desperate/crazy because she left me go.

I got home, angry, tired, and twenty minutes later than I had intended, but in my mind, I beat Joe Biden, and that was the important thing.

Joe Biden. I don't like him.

The Journey to Jordan Lake

Today, Christina and I decided that we wanted to go nature walking/ hiking at Jordan Lake. We got all ready and I mapquested directions. This was my first mistake. See...MapQuest has a misguided assumption that you know in general where you are going, and so gives you directions accordingly.

But nethertheless, we headed out with full confidence that we would have a great day at the lake and still make it home in time for me to pick up another friend at the airport and for Christina to get on skype.

The directions said to take Mt. Carmel Church Rd off of 15/501. We did not find this place and suddenly wound up in Pittsboro, very confused. We stopped at an Exxon station and talked to a rather displeased and grouchy woman.

"Um..we're looking for 64 West?"
"Where are you trying to go?"
"Um...64...West."
"No, where are you going?"
"Jordan Lake?"
"Okay, well, if you're going THERE, you need to get out to this stoplight. Do you see the stoplight? There's a stoplight. When you get THROUGH the stoplight you'll make a left and get into your far most lane....to the right. Then you'll get on 64 and Jordan Lake is right there."

This woman seemed very annoyed that we had interrupted her day to ask directions. But we followed them to the best of our ability/ my own personal willingness, which brought us through the stoplight. I then decided to follow my flawless navigational instincts and go LEFT onto 64 West, because that was the road we were originally looking for. It took about five minutes for us to realize this was wrong (okay, Christina knew the whole time, but I'm stubborn) and turn around. We did find the road where Jordan Lake was off of and got very excited. But then we saw the booth and it is here we met the Ginger.

The Ginger walked out and said it was $6 to park. Christina and I looked at each other. $6?! I asked if he took debit and he said no. I then asked if he could be cool and just let us go, but he also said no. He then said there was an ATM just a little further back the way we came, so we turned around.

There was a plywood box next to the road. I'm not sure if that was the ATM or not, but it was in the yard of two doublewides that had been tied together with what looked to be chicken wire, so I wasn't so keen on finding out. We decided that we might want to cut our losses, since we had been in the car for over 50 minutes to find a place that was 16 miles away. We decided to follow the MapQuest directions back to see if they were right.

We didn't get a chance to find out if they were right or not, because I saw a sign that pointed to Durham and turned there before I could see the road sign. We had gotten onto NC 751. Neither of us had heard of this, but because I am a stubborn driver, I forged ahead while Christina rolled her eyes and tried to convince me to turn around. A half a dozen dairy farms later, I decide to call my mom, who for some reason couldn't understand that we were on NC 751 and was convinced we had already passed I-40, which we hadn't. Knowing that 751 eventually led to 40 was enough information for me, and with a bit more confidence, we continued.

Turns out, 751 comes out near Southpoint, and there was much rejoicing. To celebrate, we went to PETCO and looked at the cats.

We returned home after two confusing hours and without any hiking whatsoever.

Silly Bandz....oh dear.

So, I was at work the other day when two of my coworkers came up with these little rubber bands with kinks in them on their wrist. They were giggling and excited and then started trading them.

"I've got a dolphin..."
"I've got a dinosaur!"
"I've got no idea what's going on..."

So, what they had were these things called "Silly Bandz," the latest and greatest craze to hit the elementary school market. Following in the fine tradition of Pokemon cards, Beanie Babies, and Slap Bracelets, these bands can be collected, traded, and played with. I was shocked to see 21-year-olds getting excited over these things as well, but I'm never one to discourage being young at heart, so have at it, girls.

This is the first collectable craze I've seen in years and the first in which I have not been in the target age group, which makes me wonder "what's the big deal?" I'm trying to remember my childhood (oh so long ago...) when beanie babies were popular and pokemon were traded like they were gold. And yes, I did pay $0.35 for a Pikachu card (which I still own), so I remember the whole excitement part of it. But rubber bands in the shapes of animals? At least there was a game behind Pokemon. They've already been banned in many schools, including some schools in Raleigh for being distracting.

So what's the big deal with collectables and why are they always targeted at 9-year olds? Perhaps it's because 9-year olds are at that age where they are old enough to demand things like the from their parents and young enough for their parents to allow it. Maybe it's because fourth grade is really THE year that children (especially girls) start forming cliques and determining the social hierarchy of their class. Are YOU cool enough to have a rubber band shaped like a princess?

If you've ever read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, you'll remember the scene with Amy and the beans. Much like the Silly Bandz, beanie babies, and pokemon cards, beans were the hot commodity between young students, and Amy desperately wanted some so she could be cool like the rest of the kids. That was in the 19th century, which shows that this isn't a new phenomenon and sadly, most likely won't end for a long time.

Last year I taught fourth grade catechesis (Catholic Sunday School) and saw this trend among the girls of my class. Even though it was a Christian setting, the clique-building had already begun. We made rosaries and I had a bunch of beads. There were only a handful of these blue glass beads and their scarcity made them the most sought-after item. In the end, the girls who were the "popular" girls had a bunch of the blue beads in their rosaries while the less-popular girls only had a few; the least popular girl had none. It broke my heart to see this because I remember being the girl who didn't get any of the blue beads when I was in fourth grade.

I'm glad that these Silly Bandz are getting banned in schools- not because they are distracting, but because they are essentially a tool for deciding who the popular kids are, which will lead to bullying, especially among the girls. Sure they're made of sugar and spice and everything nice, but little girls can be some of the cruelest creatures in the world.

Rediscovering favorite music!

So, sometimes a song comes along and you hear it speak to you. Years will go by and you will still think of this song from time to time, and in the end, you realize that you are just supposed to love the song. Maybe it goes in and out of your life, meaning different things at different times. You might even love the song for a time, forget about it, then hear it again and remember why you loved it to begin with. But other songs require a journey to find them. You hear them once on the radio and you spend years trying to figure out what the song was, and then one day you find it.

This has happened to me for several songs in my life so far.

The first song was "All Coming Back to Me Now." I first heard it when I was seven, living in Apex, NC with my mom. We would listen to it on the radio and I knew every word by heart, but I didn't know the title. All I really knew was that I loved it and it was sung by the Titanic lady. This was back in the mid-nineties and I remember watching the music video of it and just thought it was wonderful.

But we moved and I stopped hearing the song. A few years later, I heard it again somewhere, I can't even remember, and I remembered how great it was. I finally found it and was happened.

The second song was "If God could Talk." I don't remember where I first heard it, but I know that it came back into my life in middle school when I was having a lot of trouble dealing with concepts of God, religion, and a lot of other things. In any case, it was a song that I really connected to as a confused twelve-year old. This time, I at least knew the artist was Meatloaf.

The third song was "The Future Just Ain't What It Used to Be." I first heard this in 2002/2003 in the horrible MTV movie Wuthering Heights. While the movie was horrible, I really liked the song, but I forgot it for about seven years. It wasn't until this year, watching the movie again and hearing the song again that I remembered how much I liked it. I even sang parts of it in a performance for a comm class this spring. I didn't realize it was a cover.



Okay, so where is all this going? I recently picked up a Meatloaf album and listening to it, discovered that all three of these songs are on this one album. It's strange that all of these songs, which influenced me in different ways at different points in my life all came from this one album. Neat how things work out, huh?

The album is The Monster is Loose by Meatloaf and has a lot of other great songs as well.

I need a Heavy Dose of Air.

The World is Loud.

This was the discovery I made a few days ago, while I was sitting in my car, listening to the radio, trying to find my ringing phone, and driving down I-40 in Raleigh, NC. I suddenly couldn’t remember the last time there wasn’t noise in my life- even if it was just background. In the car, it’s either talking on my phone or listening to the radio (and not even good music…G105.1 with Ryan Seacrest); at home it’s music from iTunes or the TV; at work it’s the constant chatter of customers and the registers; at the gym it’s my iPod. The only time there isn’t noise is when I’m sleeping.

So I bought a backback. A relatively inexpensive one as far as backpacks goes (but man, oh man…when did $100 become the norm for quality backpacks?) and I picked up some trail maps of the Triangle area and this summer, I am going to turn the noise off as best as I can.

^This is the backpack I got. Pretty sweet, right?

First Day at Deep South

Yesterday was my first day at Deep South Entertainment and it was amazing. I felt a little out of place because I showed up in business casual (see earlier post) and it turned out to be a haven of jeans-clad employees and interns, but oh well. Better over dressed than under, though I'm glad I won't have to bring out the satan-heels again for a while. :D

So, I got there at three and met with my supervisor. He set me to work going online to facebook, reverbnation.com and several other sites to makes sure that all of Deep South's events were posted. Then I spent most of the time photoshopping pictures from past events to clean them up.

After that I got assigned my big project. THE big project. The project that will consume the rest of my summer (hopefully). See, the interns pair up and work together to put on a show at the Deep South Bar. We're responsible for contacting the bands, getting them to show up, marketing, and hosting the event at Deep South the Bar. I don't have a partner yet, but I do have a show date: August 19th, 2010. Put it on your calendars!

The next semi-big project that I was assigned was the market research project. Each intern gets three cities to research and find bands to recommend to our supervisor to get signed. My three market areas are San Francisco, Boston, and Charlotte. I'm really excited to start stalking myspace and finding new music.

And now for something completely different:

I'm in the MRC and these two guys (one looks like a death metal fan...long black hair, black t-shirt, etc) are talking about music. Sample of the conversation:

Death Metal Guy: The only lyrics of her's (unknown musician) that I like listening to are the ones about the Devil and Unicorns.
Other Guy: You know- those seem to go pretty hand in hand.
Death Metal Guy: Well...it's not just unicorns. There's trolls and dragons and that sort of shit.


I thought you might enjoy that.

This post is brought to you by the letter B

Because, for the first time in my college career, I have a 3.0!!!!!!!!!


Seriously, this is one of the proudest moments of my life. I'm sad to say that my GPA has suffered unnecessary abuse and neglect and it was only recently that I started treating it as important. But considering that after sophomore year, I had a 2.6, this is a huge deal. In one year, I pulled it up to a semi-respectable 3.0. Perhaps I have a shot at getting into a graduate program somewhere...

So, I'm back at Chapel Hill and back to work for GAA, Student Stores, and soon...Deep South! I know I talk about this a lot, but I am so excited about this! First day is tomorrow. But right now, I suppose I should focus on GAA stuff. I've got two videos due by the end of the week and I'm hoping to get the big massive project done by the end of next week...I know I wanted it done by Friday but then I realized that I wasn't going to have much time to work tomorrow and yesterday was shot because I was moving into Yomesh.

Anyways, back to work!

Back to Work!

Well...Boone is Boone but I'm going back to Chapel Hill tomorrow and I have a lot of work I need to get done. First- I need to get the Anoop video done for GAA, then the Senior Week video. If I can get these done by Thursday, then that will be fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my beloved Swain Hall so I'm banished to the UL. :'-(

But at least it's not iMovie...

Anyways...here is my schedule for the next few days:

Tuesday-Drive back to Chapel Hill/ get there around noon. Drop some stuff off, then get to editing in the UL by 2:30. Finish the videos in a timely manner, then figure out what else I need for the BIG HUGE PROJECT OF DOOM.

Now, what is the BIG HUGE PROJECT OF DOOM? Well, it's a "campus tour" video of a bunch of different buildings on campus. The main goal of this is giving alumni who can't/ don't go on the tour of campus given during reunions a chance to see what UNC is like today. I'm hoping to have that finished up by the end of the week. I wanted it done before going back to Boone, but with classes, projects, and other GAA projects, that just wasn't going to happen. But it can be done by this Friday no problem.

Anyways, Wednesday is going to be much of the same- turning in the two finished GAA projects, working on the big project, etc. Stu Stores at 4:30 until 8 and then going to see a band called Caribou with KL after that.

And then Thursday...the day I've been waiting for for about a month...the first day of my internship!!! I'm so excited about this- I've already got my outfit picked out (gray shift dress with black kitten heels and a bright necklace). I don't think you can appreciate how excited I am for this. :D

It's going to be a fun week and I'm just ready to be back on the Hill.

I want to be Betty White.

Because she is 88 years old and still runs around like she is in her 50's. Because she is smart and sassy and snarky. Because she doesn't accept that, as a woman in her late-80's, she should be quiet and reserved and shy away from things things that are racy. Because she says fuck. Because she is 88 years old and younger than most people in their 40's.

I want to be Betty White. When I am in my 70's, 80's, 90's, and on, I still want to be young.

Summer Time!!!

It's is officially summer in Samland, which is a very exciting thing. I don't know why, but this semester seems to have been rather tough on everyone. But....it's over!! And despite all the shenanigans, I think I fared pretty well academically. As it stands, I have been awake for approximately 40 consecutive hours (except for a 2 hour nap from 9:00 until 11:00 this morning), which is my new record (hooray?).

See, the reason for my acquired insomnia is the fact that I had an animation project due today at noon, but I had to be at work at 7....it had to be finished by at the latest 6am. It was finished at 5:00, but really, at that point, is falling asleep for an hour and a half really worth it? I think not. So, I stayed awake. Luckily, while at work, a miracle occurred and one of my good friends and coworker came out of the blue to work for me. Perhaps he saw my facebook status and knew I had been up until at least 5. In any case, I was grateful and it was at this point that I took my two hour nap.

So what to do with myself this summer? I'm staying on the Hill and working at Student Stores, plus an internship at Deep South Entertainment in Raleigh and potentially an internship with a theatre group in the area, which would be amazing. But other than making a ridiculous amount of money, here's what I want to accomplish:

1. Read Dumas. This includes The Count of Monte Cristo and the D'Artagnan romances.

2. Do a lot of writing. Lots of it. I know that's not very specific, but it is what it is.

3. Study for the GRE. I know, studying in summer is so lame, but it must be done.

I'm sure various other things will come up, but for now that is all I have for you.



I can't believe I'm going to be a senior in college next year....scary.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

And stupid. I was so looking forward to this weekend home, so much so that I was even willing to convince myself that things were going to be different. But after two days of listening to my dad explain to me how my generation has f-ed up the world, I'm ready to get out of here.

See...I'm used to disagreeing with my dad on a lot of things- mainly politics and religion, and despite trying my best to avoid these points of conversation, it doesn't seem possible. This is never going to end. I can't stand being in this house- there's so much negativity just swirling and it's incredibly stressful to be here. He is so hateful and I don't know what to do about it other than avoid him altogether.

A line was crossed when I went out ot my car. My rosary which usually hangs on the rear-view window was missing. I found it on the passenger side floor. I put it back. He saw it and told me to take it off. At this point in the weekend, I'm not willing to fight it anymore, but this was a line that he shouldn't have crossed. Honestly, if he wants to fight this war, bring it.

Wow it's been a while!

Hey all....so, a lot has happened in the past month, basically, Lent is over (hooray!) and it's suddenly the end of the semester!!!!! Where did this one go???? I've been freaking out over grades and such as usual, but I recenly found out that I'm doing better in my animation class than I thought and I got some stuff sorted out in another of my comm classes, so that leaves Geology to fret about along with a 10-pg paper to write this weekend for medieval theology and a "mystory" performance to write and block out.

In other news, the internship search is finally over and with great success- I'm working at Deep South Entertainment this summer in Raleigh, getting some hands on experience in the music industry. I am super super excited about this and it's nice to not be stressing over what I'm doing this summer.

Right now, my car is packed up and I'm ready to get out of Chapel Hill to have a quiet weekend in Boone and to spend some time w/ the fam and to just get away from a lot of craziness. But before that, I have to go to Geology...........sigh. I really don't like geology but hey, three more weeks and I'll be done w/ all my Gen Ed requirements, right?

Sorry for the boring post. I need to get back in the swing of it I guess. Have a good weekend!

Two Weeks of Hell and De-Stinking My Shoes

So the past several weeks have been rather difficult/ troublesome. I'm still looking for that normalcy that I lost about two weeks ago, and yes this week was better than the one before, it was still no where close to being what anyone would consider normal. But things are getting better.

In other news....I'm trying to de-stink my converses. They are narsty. Not just nasty...narsty. They were soaked in laundry detergent, baking soda, and vinegar last night for a while and now are covered in baking soda. I have no idea if this will work, but according to several folks on chatrooms about stinky shoes (yes they exist) it should. If not....it might be time to move on from these converese. To be fair, they have a few holes in them anyways. I also need some new rainbows because frankly, mine are disgusting. I have no idea what I did to them, but they dry my feet out and crack my heels everytime I wear them. I might replace them with other flip flops or at least some open toed sandal for spring, but I'm not sure when that'll happen. The rainbows are in the trash officially.

Oh, and Lent is ending this weekend. The Lord is Risen and Duke still sucks. :D Okay, okay...I'm a Tar Devil and have Duke in my bracket winning the NCAA, but I don't like them. I picked them because I think they're going to win, not because I want them to win.

Alrihgt, well, I'm back to cleaning my room and I might sit outside in the sunshine because it is beautiful.

This has been a batteries...

Okay, tonight has been a crazy crazy day...

First, I had a very strange day at work and I can't really tell details on the blog, but ask and I'll let you know what happened. ;-)

Second, I got back to the apartment and ran inside. When I got back to the car, my battery was dead. After asking for help from a few folks around the complex, I ended up calling AAA and getting a jump. The guy came and tested the battery and said I needed a new one because this thing was six years old and car battereis usually last around 3-5 years. So RT and I drove over to Durham to buy a battery from Wal-Mart.

By the way, it's raining and nighttime now.

With battery and wrench in hand, we go at it and get the new battery installed. Now, the people of walmart have told us that if we bring the old battery back in, we will get $9 back, so that is what we do. Unfortunately, the people of walmart failed to mention that batteries leak acid and that you should never tip them or really carry them around once they have bit the bullet. So I am holding the battery and we head into walmart. A man approaches us and asked why I was carrying the battery and why I was getting battery acid everywhere (including my bare arms). He gave us a cart and told us to go wash it off.

Now at this point, it started to itch. This itch quickly turned into burn. Because there was battery acid. On my arm. I washed it off as best I could but it was still very red. We then got my $9 and started back to AC's.

But wait! There's more!

Turning onto the road, one of my contacts fell out. I couldn't get pulled off or else I would have just let RT drive, but no...I carried on. PS- It's still raining and dark, and now I can't see and I have lingering battery acid on my arm.

Luckily, I'm able to get through driving on I-40 enough to get back to Chapel Hill and to AC's apartment. I found a box of contacts in my purse after we got there and so I was able to see.

But this has been my day. Really and truly. Insanity.

Two and a Half Days Left....

...until Spring Break and I am feeling significantly less stressed than I was a few days ago. I just finished my geology exam and think I did well on it (yay), and I got some more work done on my animation project, due Thursday. So tonight, I need to finish up my journal for Comm 160 and get a good chunk of my geology current events assignment done, but first it's going to be naptime. Talk to you later!

-SR

My Chat with Miley Cyrus.

Okay, as per CK's request, here is the story about how I found myself having a conversation with Miley Cyrus. First, before you freak out and such, let me say that it is not that exciting and the whole thing might have lasted five minutes. But rest assured, it was the real Miley Cyrus and yes, I did have a chat conversation with her.

See, there is this website called ChatRoulette.com and I heard about it the other day when one of my friends posted that one of THEIR friends talked to the Jonas Brothers. I was tempted to see if I could get anyone famous like that, so last night I ventured out into cyber land armed with my webcam and the understanding that this site was most likely filled to the brim with creeps and pedophiles.

This understanding was found to be quite true and I don't recommend this site to anyone who has any self respect. Again, I was there for the sole purpose of seeing if I could get a celebrity to talk to me, as dumb as that may sound.

I was having a conversation with a nice guy from Texas when he had to go. The next person who came up was Miley Cyrus. I was confused for a second and asked if she really was Miley Cyrus. She confirmed this and the conversation pretty much fizzled (c'mon, what would you say to MC?). I wasn't going to BS her and say I love her music/movies/etc because honestly I don't. I find the poor girl vapid, but that is beside the point. I was talking to Miley Cyrus. She sent me a link to a youtube video for Jay-Z's song "Empire State of Mind" and we sort of danced at each other via webcam for a minute. It was a good laugh and then she had to go because her mom needed her.

It was a very surreal experience.

But yes, that was my "chat" with Miley Cyrus. The end.

Farewell Facebook.

Hey All

So, we've entered the third month of this year and while it has been pretty awesome so far, there are a few changes that need to be made, so here we go.

I've deactivated my facebook account (again) except this time I think it's going to be for semi-keeps. I'm going to try to get through the rest of Lent (which is until April 3rd) before going back to it because frankly, my schedule does not allow me to spend that much time on social networking.

If you guys were privy to my mild freak out this past weekend, I think I've come to the conclusion that one thing I need is simply more time, and so getting rid of the facebook for a while will do that. I'm a double major with Production and History...this shouldn't be a surprise. And if it is, let's just look at this week and everything that I need to get done (and realize that a lot of weeks are a lot like this):

1. Geology Test Tuesday
2. Footage/ Basic graphics and animations for Production class due Tuesday (which I've decided I'm going to try to keep it because hey, if I can do it, why not?)
3. Clay/ Object animation project due Thursday
4. Internship from 5:30-11:00 on Wednesday
5. Two GAA videos due Friday.
6. Working 7p-8 on Tuesday; 7:15a-11:00 on Wednesday; 5p-8 Thursday, and 8a-1p on Friday.
7. Actually going to classes.

This leads me to point number two: Don't expect to see me this week. All lunch plans/ coffee plans/ plans to do ANYTHING are tentatively cancelled. Sorry.

In other news...after Friday, it is Spring Break, which means that all of this crazy will be worth it and I can sleep and go do things. If anyone wants to go to the movies, bowling, shopping, etc after Friday, please let me know because I will totally want to go do something fun (I think this message is applicable to AC, CR, and RT mostly because you are the only ones I know who are staying around for Spring Break).

Alright, see you all on the flip side of break!

I just saw the new Twilight...er..."Remember Me" Trailer.

Okay, so Robert Pattinson is right now the hottest actor around because he plays an effeminate sparkly vampire who is over 100 years old and is sleeping with an 18 year old. (GREAT message to send to young girls everywhere! Pedophilia is A-Okay!)

Anyways, in his latest movie, which should probably be more aptly called "Edward Cullen goes to College," we watch as Edward (though they keep calling him Tyler for some reason...) falls in love with a pretty girl who is strange and he can't understand her and omg....it's the SAME PLOT LINE!!!

Alright, JUST from the trailer (obviously the movie hasn't come out yet, but I will see and review it for you lovelies) here are the MAJOR Direct from Twilight Rips that this movie has.

1. In Twilight, Edward has his hands full saving the remarkably stupid Bella Swan from the perils of human life. In Edward Cullen Goes to College, Edward is seen rescuing a (blond) Bella Swan from the perils of some guys attacking her, while his voice over muses poetically about Ghandi.

2. In Twilight, Edward is odd and reclusive and doesn't go outside because he lives in a small town and is afraid the local community will kill him if he reveals that he is a fairy...er, sparkly vampire. In his new movie, after saving Blonde Bella's life, he goes all moody and depressed to a point where his best friend, Captain Obvious, has to mention it and threatens an intervention? Dude, just get him laid this weekend, it's not like he's some strange celibate creature of the night...oh, right.

3. In Twilight, Bella Swan's father is the local police chief. In the new movie, Blond Bella's father is...the local police chief? Okay, maybe not, but he's a cop which is close enough.

4. In Twilight, Edward can understand EVERYONE except Bella. In Remember Me, it looks like we've got the same idea going, except this time it's not because Bella doesn't have any thoughts in he head to read, its just that the girl is crazy and apparently doens't date sociology majors? Seriously, who doesn't date someone based on their major? Okay, so new Bella doesn't really do a good job at showing old Bella up on general common sense, but she is in college which means that she in theory is smart.

I know you should never judge a movie by it's trailer, but this one looks like it's got "rip off" written all over it. However, it does look like we are going to get several reprieves on this re-make: mainly, we don't have to endure Kristen Stewart's angst for another two hours and most likely once Edward actually starts dating new Bella, he'll stop being such an emo headcase.

I might do a video blog based on Twilight soon.

What Happened?!?

I don't understand how such a great day can be thrown into utter chaos and suckage. Everything was fantastic- after coffee I went grocery shopping and then went to Newman where I sat outside in the sun and it was amazing. I haven't really sat in the sun in such a long time (thanks, winter). I start making some quiche for CK's party tomorrow (I've never made it before, so I wanted to give it enough time to figure it out if I got it wrong). At 5:30 I stick them in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes, just like the recipe says. I then go get my phone and there is a text message from a coworker, received at around 3:45: "...Just reminding you that you're supposed to come in at 4..."

WHAT?!?!?!

No.

No.

No, this is very wrong and just...no.

I call her back and ask if she's sure. She says my name is marked in for another boy and I am suddenly releived. Clearly, she is reading last week's schedule when I did take his shift. She says no, that it says "Feb. 19th" and my name is still marked in. I suddenly get that light-headed feeling whenever I get super stressed very quickly. So I did the only thing I could- turned the oven off, left my tray of quiche and hi-tailed it to work, trying to figure out exactly how I messed this up.

This wouldn't have been such a problem except I was supposed to hold auditions for my film project at seven, and the shift was to last until 8. I get to the desk and look at the schedule because I really still can't believe that I could have neglected this. Sure enough, my name was written in for the other boy's.....but in who's handwriting?????? It wasn't mine, which means that (obvious argument coming up) I didn't write it/ I didn't okay it. I sighed a little bit of relief, but I still had to talk to a manager to clear it up. Even though he said it was okay, I was still really really upset. I went back to my dorm and literally just sat on the floor in the dark for about twenty minutes before I had to get ready for the auditions.

The auditions. Okay, I had something to look forward to. I had a lot of responses and expected about 6-8 people to show up. Again, they were set to start at seven. At 7:05, I started to get nervous. At 7:10 I started to get anxious. At 7:15, I was really starting to panic. This was the last shot I had to raise this project from the ashes that it had been left in after last weekend's fiasco. Finally, one guy called and he came in and read for both of the male leads, but that was it. No one else showed up. It was finished. The project had died and I had failed. I sat in the basement of Swain for half an hour and just cried.

But the day did not end in saddness. In my own personal pity party, I remembered my abandoned quiche, still sitting in the oven (which I did turn off) at Newman. I eventually left Swain and went back to Newman, where I turned the oven on and proceeded to sit on the floor. While I have moved locations, I'm still a mess and I'm still crying. A lady walked in and she asked what was wrong. I just told her I had a bad day at work and she told me that sometimes it's best to put things in Jesus' hands. I appreciated the thought but at the time, I really didn't want to hear about how Jesus was going to fix all my problems because I learned a long time ago that He doesn't- He gives you the tools to fix them yourself, but He rarely just waves His hands and makes everything better- not when it comes to the stresses of day-to-day life.

Anyways, she invited me into the Newman library where there was a whole group of ladies and they were eating fondu and all sorts of other deliciousness. I had never had fondu and it was amazing. I went back into the kitchen and took out the quiches. Considering they had been left in an oven for about four hours, I had no great expectations for them, but they were pretty good for my first try. Good enough put me in better spirits, anyway.

So yes. The day dropped off a cliff around 5:30 but then with the help of Fondu and success in the kitchen made things a little better. I still have to e-mail my professor and figure out what I'm going to do with this project/ figure out the most gracious way to tell her I quit and I'm dropping the class completely. But I can deal with that on Sunday. Tomorrow is CK's 21st Birthday party and it will be a fantastic time, for sure (with my quiche!!!)





I need to get a haircut tomorrow, too.

Hipsters and Open Eye

So, I'm sitting here in Open Eye Cafe, surrounded by pretentious hipsters and I'm tyring very hard not to laugh, which I guess makes me pretentious...I guess its one of the super circular arguments aht leads to nowhere except admitting that you are what you try not to be and some great epiphany about life, the universe, and everything.

BUT this isn't what this blog post is about, so I'll stop being deep and start being superficial. Let's just look around the room and discuss these people. This can be a writing exercise on character, if you will.

1. Girl in large headphones, ziz-zag strpied pea coat, Mac Book, and short hair with great spike potential. She wants you to know that she is serious about her music- why else would she have spent $100+ on those big ass headphones? Her hair is in a pretty conservative style right now, though as I mentioned earlier, has great potential for being spiked out for a night on the town. Right now, it is that perfect mix between "I just rolled out of bed" casual and "I actually care about my appearance" styled. She's drinking a very small cup, which usually means that it has a lot of espresso in it. Whatever it is, she looks like she is in the know enough to know that it is very strong and therefore we can assume that she needed it.

2. Woman in oversize green long-sleeved shirt, long red hair, and flip flops (in FEBRUARY?!?!?!)
Okay, grow a brain, sweetie. It's February and it's cold outside. You took the time to find the perfect unmatching scarf to wear with your shirt, which was most likely from some Fun Run you took part in two years ago to benefit Darfur, so why couldn't you have completed the look with a nice pair of converses or some sort of closed toe shoe or something!!!! She's sitting at her MAc book (black- old school) and has a huge binder so she is most likely a grad student. I'm guessing she works either in anthropology or English literature...leaning more towards the ANTH, though. Most likely single.

3. Boys in suits??? What are you doing here? You're not hipster- you're conformists who believe in the man and corporations and...oh, you're in Business school? So...you're going to have a job? And make money? Well then...carry on.

4. Guy sitting by himself- cotton polo shirt, khakis, and a very large over-sized watch: Hipster alert! This post-grad is most likely still searching for what will be his career, though in the back of his head writing is what is his true calling. Sigh...if only some lit agent would pick him up. You might have better luck if you had glasses. As we speak, he is most likely looking up good programs around the southeast to get your MFA in creative writing. Sigh, I knew a guy who had one of those...he was pretty awesome.

5. Okay, Woman #2 has been joined by her much more stylish friend, who I really want to call Nancy for some reason. She seems like a Nancy. She's wearing a very adorable outfit that could be pulled from the pages of Vogue should they every do a spread on hipster wear. Shes' got the dark mustard cardigan, a gray shirt, shiney silmver purse, pleated navy skirt, opaque navy tights, and blue ankle boots with several gold zippers around the back of the heel- purely for decoration, of course. I'm actually in serious fashion envy of this woman.

6.Man in gray /orange argyle sweater with white collared shirt underneath, jeans, slouched position reading a book (he's writing in it so I assume it's for class). He has conservative, small
framed glasses and standard $3.50 earbuds, which shows that while he has an image to promote, he is nothing if not practical. Perhaps he is an Econ Major, with a poli sci minor. He, too, has a mac book, but like the rest of his appearance, it is minimalistic- the 13" one that you can get for under $1000 and comes with the iTouch (which he most likely gave to his younger sister for Christmas or sold it). He's not trying to fit a look or make a look fit him- he just is the look, which in this place of pure pretension, is refreshing.

7. Woman in red/black crocheted hat, large white scarf, short black hair, and dark jeans. She has moved tables several times since I've been here. Clearly a regular, she isn't even drinking anything- just using the free internet and doing work. She probably hates it when new people come and find her place (like me). Not necessarily afraid of change, but certainly content with letting well enough alone, I'm sure I'll see her again next week.

8. Boy in black shirt with black mesh undershirt and black spikey arm warmers. Now this is Gothic pretension at its most...er...pretentious? Even his cup is black. His skull candy earbuds are red and while he is on a PC, he secretly wishes it was a Mac. He should probably upgrade to Windows 7 because it is very Mac-like. Short, conservative hair which suggests that out in the real world, he makes a sincere attempt at being a productive member of society. This is clearly an escape from a reality of North Face fleeces and leggings under Nike running shorts. Aww...he's drumming along to his music. Rock on, Goth Boy. Rock on.

Internships Internships Internships Internships

So....I have a dream. It isn't as lofty as other dreams, but it is MY dream. My dream is to have my 21st birthday in New York City. There is only one way of making this dream a reality- get an internship in New York City for the summer! This is why I've applied to not one, not two, but 10 internships in the City. I really hope I get at least one. Please, please, please, God. This is what I really want and being in NYC would be the greatest birthday present from the universe since I don't know...

Of course, I want the internships for more than just being in the City for my birthday. I want the experience. I wan to get right in there and do things. I understand that I'll be doing a lot of secretarial stuff, I still really want the experience of existing within the industry. Which brings me to my next tangent:

I'm actually making an attempt to do better this semester- perhaps the thrills of not getting verbal lashings over Christmas break has inspired me, but in any case, I have made a huge move forward in my learning of what it is to be a student. I did my homework. All of it. This is the first time I have been completely caught up with my reading/ homework since.....I don't know, maybe kindergarten when homework was come in with the knowledge of your favorite color.

I'm a bad student. I always have been. Why they ever let me into a university, I'll never know. But I am thankful that they did. I also understand that my lack of ability at student-ing fits perfectly with my chosen course of study.

Yes- One must study in Media Production. Yes- one must work hard in Media Production. But do you know what "homework" is in Media Production? Watching movies, learning from those movies, and then teaching yourself how to do what those filmmakers did. There are of course books to read, but for the most part, you teach yourself. It's one of the most fantastic educational experiences I can imagine. While you all are studying your math and science and business and history, I hope you get to experience your education like I have.

The Blog has Moved

So...the blog has officially been transferred to the proper account. I had to search around on some forums to figure it out, but in the end, I got it to work. No URL changes, no losing all my posts, just a nice, semi-easy transfer from one account to another.

Moving On.

A lot of things are going on, both internally and externally. Externally, there is confusion and change that I never saw coming, while change that I thought I saw coming never did. Internally, there is doubt. Doubt in a lot of things- and a lot of questions that I hate to have to ask myself on a semi-daily basis. I'm used to having questions- I'm a rather curious creature, but I'm not used to questioning so much in my life all at the same time. Everything from the choices I'm making in my classes to my friends to questions about God- the scariest being whether there really is a God or not. I absolutely hate myself for questioning all of these things, but right now, none of it makes sense.

Perhaps this is simply the entropy before things become clear.

Everything from nothing.

Blogger is Giving me Difficulties....Sparks of Brilliance may be moving.

So, I blog. I blog because I care, and because I want you to care. However, it seems that in it's infinite knowledge of life, the universe, and everything, Google, Supreme God of the Interwebs, has decided to make my life quite difficult.

Therefore, Sparks of Brilliance and Flashes of Insanity (the blog you're reading RIGHT NOW) may be moving in the near future, from one Google Account to another. So, how did I end up with multiple accounts and chaos everywhere? Well, I'll tell you.

See...once upon a time, there was this girl named S, and she wanted to share all of her adventures with the world, good and bad. So she created a blog, and used an e-mail address s******@*****.***.***, and all was well.

About a year later, S was tired of having multiple e-mail accounts- the one she had from high school (which was used primarily for Face-y Spaces) and her college e-mail (which was proving to be more and more glitchy each time the technology gurus decided to "improve" it) were simply too much for one girl to handle. So, she went back to the Google and requested a solution. The solution to her problems, the answers to her interweb prayers was to create a g-mail account- a magical place where all of her e-mails could be sent without having to go to everything and everyone and explain that consolidations had to be made (S's extended family did not prove to be really "up" with internets in general, so explaining a new e-mail to them would be difficult...she's sure her "pandasarecute2000@yahoo.com" account from 5th grade STILL gets messages from S's grandmother).

So this was done and S was happy...for a time. Until she tried to log back in to her blog. Because she had a g-mail account, blogger welcomed her not as her normal "TheRoamin'Catholic" profile, but as a new, unfamiliar profile. S was confused, but tried to work through it. She tried to change basically every setting she could find, only to discover that Google, in its infinite wisdom of the interwebs, did not allow such combination of accounts or any sort of account-to-account transfers.

This isn't such a big problem, but as S saw it, she is in the exact same multiple-accounts situation she was in before creating her new g-mail account, and she rolled her eyes accordingly.

So what is S to do? Okay, so in reality, she could just deal with it because hey, S is a smart and sassy 20-year-old geek-chic gal and signing out/signing in shouldn't be beyond her, but she is also wildly impatient and finds it quite annoying that she has to log out of her g-mail just to log back in to her blog, when she knows there is a better way. Which brings us up to date with the present- Sparks of Brilliance is moving. I'll keep you all posted when the domain name changes (if it does, we'll see....it might be salvagable).

Anyways, that is all for now!
-S

What a very Long Day.

It started at 6:30 this morning and is ending now, approximately 1:30am. A lot got accomplished today...none of it had to do with my homework or my zombie movie (well, a little, but it was rahter indirect). It's nice to every once in a while take a day and COMPLETELY ignore academia and focus on getting your own life together. Today, I accomplished this by rearranging my room, doing laundry, going to Raleigh, and purchasing/ assembling/ filling my new bookcase.

I started off the day at Student Stores, and was surprised to find out that I was not scheduled until 11 like I thought, but only until 10. I used this extra hour to get my laundry done and then start the demolition. See...our room was arranged in a way that was not the most efficient or effective way. After much deliberation and thanks to IKEA's awesome freeware room planner, RB and I found a way to make the room better. It gave us enough space to keep Wanda the fuzzy pink chair out in a semi-permanent position and we were able to get a bookcase.

This bookcase is amazing and I am so in love with it right now. It is dark brown and so cheap looking (hey, $30 from Target, what can you expect?) and AMAZING I love it! It is filled with my books which, until now, have been living in terrible conditions inside a big sterilite crate under my bed. But now, they are properly displaced and easily accessible...not to mention organized in a way that makes me feel good about the world.

The room is still in quite the disarray, but I have tomorrow to fix this problem. I have dedicated most of tomorrow to the task of finishing organizing the room. That being said, I am now quite tired and will be going to sleep. Goodnight!

Despite what it looks like, I'm not in a mess right now.

So, in the past week, two people have pointed out that perhaps my appearance has started to change. Right off the bat, no, I'm not pregnant. I sincerely hope no one jumped to that conclusion straight off the bat, but might as well cover my bases, right? Anyways, RT saw me last Wednesday and said I looked "wild" and I certainly felt, well, not wild, but tired and completely out of it. Then, AC last night saw me and said I looked like something was wrong. Nothing was really the matter- I was a bit distracted because my animation project sat back at my dorm, unfinished and lonely, but I was fine. It was just strange because while things have been going down around me, I'd like to think that my face is a little more complicated to read than "Fun with Dick and Jane." Maybe it isn't...oh well.

I got rid of facebook last night. I really think this is going to be good for me because I need to make sure I don't get behind on my work, etc. Although, I still haven't heard back from some people about the Vagina Monologues, so I need to e-mail them and see what is going on there. Tonight after class, I will do my laundry. It is an absolute must. It's getting to be a desperate situation here. But it will get done, at approximately 7:00, just in time for my double-booked evenings of meetings, etc. Great. I'm not even sure if I'm going to go to any of them...none of them are that mind-crushingly important because I'm too busy to get involved with CPG this semester anyways. I might just chill at home and clean the room...which is actually what I really need to do because RB and I are rearranging the room on Friday and Saturday to make more space. Honestly, the layout isn't working at all and it's just a clutter magnet because there isn't enough space to make it work. Unfortunately, this means I'm lofting my bed, but I can deal with that, I suppose. I've had a nice semester w/o the lofted bed, so I can't complain too much.

Well, I should go...time for class. Have a great weekend, everyone!

How can so many things happen in only a week?

It seems strange that it was just over a week ago that I came back to the Hill because it has been non-stop stuff going on around here. Classes, seeing friends, some news I wanted to get, some news I didn't want, and some stuff that scared me to death. Okay, so most of the action really took place in a 24-hr period, but still!! How can coming back to the hill feel like so long ago????

In any case, hopefully this will not be an indication of things to come, because I don't deal well with having things get all settled and secure just to have them yanked from under my feet unexpectedly. Call me old fashioned, but I sort of like to have some level of stability.

One thing that was nice was that at the end of the crazy 24-hr period this past weekend (which ran from about 10pm Saturday night through 10pm Sunday), I went to Mass and Father Wall's homily was what I really needed to hear. It's funny how things like that work- I can't count the number of times that going to church after a bad day has given me exactly what I was needing. His message was about change (to have a MLK Jr. Theme), but it was much more than civil rights and remembering political oppression in our country. It was about change on a personal level and a spiritual level- a hopeful outlook that "the past will not be our future" and conversely, the future will not be our past. I think a lot of times, it is hard to remember that- we get so used to something, or the idea of something, that we have a hard time moving on or letting go of accepting it when it leaves. On the other hand, we cannot look at the worst of a past situation or present condition and resign to thinking it will last forever. Because our past is not our future, and our future will not be our past.

It was a rather excellent homily. Thanks, Fr. Wall.

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise."-Les Miserables

RIP Richard Volpe 1924-2010.

Joys of Returning to the Hill

Well, after a speedy exit and a long and silent drive back to the Hill, I'm back!!! Woo!!! It is great to be back in the dorm and I am very excited about this coming semester. It shall rock. I was going to come back today, but last night, Dad came in to my room and told me that I had 45 minutes to pack and leave because there was (another) ice storm coming in.

So I jumped in the car and headed out, only to discover that my radio wasn't working. It was quite bizarre, but when I tried to fix it, the radio thought that I was stealing it (thanks, Anti-Theft), so it no longer works. FML. It's a 3.5 hour drive from my house back to the Hill, by the way. There was much singing loudly and many hypothetical conversations happening in that car. Anyways, I got back to campus safe and sound and this morning was allowed back into my dorm at 9am.

I then unloaded my car (still haven't unpacked.....) and took a nap (couch surfing is not the best sleeping conditions when it's cold and you don't have a blanket!). Then, I picked up my roommate, went grocery shopping, bought text books, and got my work schedule, which is fine and normal, though my boss told me that it was no where near the final version, so I should expect changes in the next several weeks.

Anyways, I'm going to go back to reading my awesome Animation textbook. If you get back to the hill and want to hang out, let me know!

Another Grand Adventure.

alright, so I'm going back to campus on Friday, and I am muy excited about this (Haha I've been practicing my Spanish, can't you tell?). I am determined to make this the best semester ever. Last semester was okay, but I am very much looking forward to this semester. Why? Because in May, the big question will be answered: Will she graduate early? I'm not going to lie, the options are still being weighed and the whole thing is still up in the air. I'm leaning towards one decision, but I'm not going to make any big reveal until I'm 100% certain of this.

Of course, this whole will she/won't she depends on whether tomorrow I am able to switch two classes for two others. I'm hopefully switing ENGL 580: Film Issues for Experimenal Film and COMM 452: Film Noir for Animation. I do very much want to take the English and Film Noir class, but I can take those later. I have been wanting this animation class for so long! :D


Alright, well, it is close to 2am and I think I should try to sleep, though I took a long nap tonight from 7 until 10:30 (10hr drive from Florida will do that to ya).

Goodnight and Good luck.

Back in the Swing of Things...119 Days and Counting.

Yes indeed, there are only 119 days until Summer and while some of you are groaning at this fact, I'm gearing up for one of the most hectic semesters of my life. I sometimes wonder if I do too much because I like what I do or if I do too much because I like being busy. In any case, I've had a lot to do recently and feel so much better than I did earlier.

Honestly, for me, sitting around is the most loathsome thing in the world- I need something to do or else I will go crazy!

And the thing I'm now working on is....The zombie apocalypse! Well, basically the gay zombie movie that I've been working on for a while. I need to get a script finalized (or at least in semi-coherent draft form) by next Tuesday. Luckily, I've already had some people express interest in helping me out (thanks, EP!) but I'm going to need a lot more! I know it's super early for this, but I don't like waiting on things, so, here is the basic cast list with descriptions, etc:

James- 21, fit and handsome, the "devoted" one; his world gets turned upside down when his boyfriend, Pete, gets turned into a zombie.

Pete- 20, slim and young looking, the "extrovert; " we don't see a lot of him as a human because he turns into a zombie pretty quickly in the film, so for the most part, he is a zombie and his main character motivation is to get his hands on as many brains as possible.

Lucy-19, the "silly" one; Lucy is madly and blindly in love with James and does a lot of growing up throughout the movie as she struggles to decide what the right thing to do.

Mike-22, the "villain;" Mike is the alpha male and wants to be in control of things. When he learns that James and Pete are gay, then he goes after them, forgetting the threat of the zombies.

Elizabeth-21, the "mother"; Elizabeth spends much of the movie trying to keep her boyfriend, Mike, from killing everything that moves. She isn't strong enough to stand up to him directly, but she does give her two-cents a lot. She also helps to comfort Lucy and James at certain times.

There are other smaller characters that appear for a scene or two and then we don't hear of them, like Dr. Reid and the Umbrella Man (he's fun), but for now I'm focusing on the main five.
Also, we need an army of zombies. Do you have what it takes to be in a zombie army? Of course you do!

Anyways, this project is going to be a lot of fun and I'm really excited about it. Let me know if you want to be involved, even if it can only be for a day (because that would help, too!).

Welcome to the New Decade (and Welcome Back to a Dying Art!)

Happy New Year, everyone!

For the third year running, I spent New Year's Eve at my Grandparents' house in Kissimmee, Florida. Mom and I headed over to Downtown Disney to see the shops and lights and to go see a movie. This year's New Year's Eve movie was The Princess and the Frog. It was precious and adorable and had a great message about hard work, etc. Should I do a full movie review? Okay, I've got an hour or so before I need to start making dinner, so why not.



The Princess and the Frog- 2009
Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker
Starring Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David

The classic storybook tale is turned on it's ear in Disney's adaptation, moving the setting from far-far away to New Orleans, Louisiana. A young woman with a big dream (Tiana) knows the importance of hard work when it comes to accomplishing her goals. When she makes the acquaintance of Prince Naveen (who has been turned into a frog), she agrees to kiss him to turn him into a prince on the condition that he help her get the rest of the money she needs for his restaurant. Unfortunately, she turns into a frog, too, and they must go on an adventure through the Bayou and discover that what they want isn't always what they need (Did I mention this is a Disney Movie?).

What makes this movie spectacular is not the story, it's the art. Back from the dead, this movie is completely hand-drawn animation and it is spectacular. I have missed this so much and when it started, I thought to myself "This is the first Disney movie that I've seen in a long time." While there were some hiccups in the animation (a layer or two didn't move like the others in a few shots), Disney animators still got it.

The shots of the firefly swarm was spectacular and the black-magic voo-doo scenes were great. One thing that was missing in this film that Disney seems to specialize in is a distinctive style. There seemed at times to be too much going on and too many ideas happening to really flow. Color schemes could have been a little better (especially in the cemetery, where everything is dark and gem toned, suddenly bright primary-colored voo-doo dolls pop up and they don't match at all).

The music was, as to be expected, amazing. Unlike the animation, it was able to stay true to one style. Disney has always been a master at their music, so it really was no surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dr. Facilier had, without a doubt, the best songs and was, for the most part, the most interesting and well-developed/ well-executed character in the film. It the entire film had looked and sounded as polished as his character was, it would win the Animated Film Oscar (Sorry...I'm betting it's going to go to Up! this year).

Overall, this is definitely a film worth seeing for anyone who grew up in the 90's/ misses the old hand-drawn animation feel of classic Disney movies, but don't go in expecting it to be the next Beauty and the Beast/ Hunchback/ Aladdin/ etc.

Rating: B