Movement Around the House

Yesterday I got to my Aunt Jamie and Uncle Craig's house in Marshall, Tx. There, Hannah and Sarah waited with them for myself, Gran and Grandad to arrive.

After being here for a whole day I realized the magic in this home, and they way it moves you about the house.

Walking in:

screams, flailing arms, and your vision locks in on the first warm body like a top notch targeting system. Bolt through the door and into a person. Rocking, patting, kissing.

Then someone pops out of a back hallway, and your body zips to them, streaking across wood floors and around cream colored corners. More squeals and rocking and kissing.

This whole process goes on for about twenty minutes or so, as more people show up.

So and so comes out of the back, someone gets back from the store. Eventually everyone is met and loved and expressed to, and then we settle.

Later the house has you, without fail, in the kitchen late at night. Something about the kitchen has the power to spring forth soul secrets and life plans. Maybe its the twinkle lights around glass paned cabinets. Or the smooth counter tops, perfect for sitting on.

But somehow, the house moves you there, usually sometime past 11:00, full from ice cream.

Sarah sits in the corner of the counter, in between two planes of cabinet. Her hands are on the green top next to the coffee maker and sugar jar, which waited patiently to be used and exhausted the next morning by groggy eyed relatives.

I sit next to her, in between the break in the cabinets and the sink. Aunt Jamie has pulled up a bar stool to the corner. We are a triangle of counsel and interest. The house keeps you there until about 1:00 a.m. usually, despite numb bums and slightly achy backs.

In the morning, you always find yourself in the den with a cup of coffee in your hands, perhaps a bagel. Breakfast in the den is something I've never really done in my own house. But somehow the magic of this home just makes it happen.

Aunt Jamie moving around the kitchen, pouring french press into chipped coffee cups. Sarah always moves with a stumble for the first half hour of waking.

But my favorite movement around the house is when we wake up in the mornings. Hugs, everyone gets hugs, accompanied by a "Darrrrlinggg!!" from the hugger.

The unsure path from out of bed and straight into a warm body. Every morning. :)

I love the movement around this house.

"I want room for cream and sugar" :)

[Day Old Blues-Kings of Leon]

-this song is beautiful, and I'm not even a huge KOL fan. worth emotionally investing into.

We FINALLY have winter weather :)

That wonderful, gloomy, misty, blue tinted weather I will come to hate in two months.

Still, the itchy wool strung round my neck brings me joy for today.

Sunday in church, I sat two rows behind the Wilkins family. Well, a fraction of the Wilkins family. They are the pastor's family, and one of the many boys (I think there are 6 boys?) sat two rows ahead of me with his family: wife, and three, well, three boys.

Ever experience a family you can feel God at the center of?

I watched his sweet wife Bethany (pregnant with another boy :) gently pat her husband, who in turn could not help but gently pat at least one of his boys constantly. I watched him pass kisses from their two year old to his wife, and back to his two year old, who laughed hysterically at this during is grandad's sermon.

This same pastor shared a conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of Godly children. If each family within the church had four children they raised in Christian faith, and those four had four. It reaches a very very big number very very fast.

It is interesting that going to Auburn church and switching my major to english have brought about the same realization for me. I probably won't end up doing what I major in. I may, or I may not, just as many college graduates don't.

For some reason, that thought never completely occurred to my naive brain.

But I do know that, by God's grace, I want to have a family. A big one, raised in a Church.

I think I could end up selling Mary Kay to old women with Bingo money to blow, but as long as I have a family in Christ, I'll be content.

White Winter Hymnal

I sat down to start this blog for a few reasons, many of which are new, many of which are the reasons for all my updates.

As is typical, I'm procrastinating what I ought to be doing. Typically, all bloggers do this, as inspiration only comes when you have some other very pressing matter to attend to.
How typical.
Ever say a word so many times you can almost hear the home country in it?

Another reason I started writing was because I haven't done so in quite a while. When school starts, most of the blogs I follow slow down quite a bit. As a result I feel there isn't a need to write, because no one is online to exchange thoughts with. But, as always, my Gran complimented the blog and told me it brought her such joy. How could I not write after that?

Lastly is that I was in such a good mood that I itched to express it somehow.
Imagine that; in a good mood alone at the office on a Friday night. I guess I have a lot of things to look forward to.

Recently there was a great change in my life that made me realize I haven't been taking good enough care of myself.

Oh goodness, I hope that did not come off as self absorbed and moody as it did when I read over it. I mean of course I am taking care of myself, but I hadn't done very much for myself lately. I wasn't expanding or tasting life like I should have been. I wasn't embracing community like I should have been, wasn't focusing on God like I should have been.

As awful as those moments are when we "stray from the path" in a very Hallmarky way, they are worth finding your way out of the brush, back to the pavement.
Like walking out of a matinee.


The greatest part? I found a church I l.o.v.e.
I have never gone to a church I love. The people, pastor, gospel all bring such comfort.

Indeed, I'll take the pavement.

Trying to look interested.

Sketching never goes as planned.

You can never find the desire.
When you have found the desire, you can't find unlined paper.
When you have found the unlined paper, you can't find a ball point pen
When you have found the ball point, your hand can't find the rhythm.
When you have found the rhythm, your pen can never find the lines it is supposed to.

Does that make sense. When you look down at the balnk paper, you can see the lines and where your pen ought to go. There it is, not on the paper yet, but you can see it. Its perfect, and easy.

Then your pen touches paper.

"What the heck is that?" Looking down, there is a half retarded drawn line on the page.
Desire-shrivled.
unlined paper-crumpled
ball point pen- yelled at angrily, maybe tossed.
rhythm-evaporated.

Ay, sketching never goes as planned.






Corey has been reading me his history notes (for a test tomorrow) for the past .hour. .and. .a. .half.

However, I have learned that the government used to sterilize women while they were under anesthesia without their consent.

Also, Theo Roosevelt got shot one time during a presidential campaign. He gave his speech anyways with a bullet in his lung.

First Day of Fall, 92 Degrees.

(La Vie En Rose-Louis Armstrong)

Trying to stay true to blogging has been especially difficult with the start of work. That's right, work, not school. In fact, I am in the office now. I have a feeling that I have spent more hours here than in my actual dorm room.

Things I have done recently:
I fired someone. Well, it wasn't just me. It was a group vote, and one of the most awkward situations I have ever been in.

I was in my first game of flag football. I scored two touchdowns, missed a perfect pass, and accidentally tackled the smallest girl on campus.

Yesterday there was a man in front of me on the staircase of the psychology building. Hewas short, stocky, had a red beard, and was thinning too early. I have seen him around, he looks like a cartoon character, and has a very kind face.
He walked down calmly, got out the door before me, and took off in a dead sprint (attire: button down short sleeve, bow tie, dress pants, docs.) He sprinted (awkwardly, the way you can tell he knows people are watching him run) to the edge of the parking lot, made a sharp turn at its end, and kept tracing the lot in a dead spring. It was one of the strangest things I've seen.

I decided once again just how much I love Meg Ryan, which I think I have blogged about before.

I have found best friends in the people I work with, and with the people in bible study.

I am STILL reading Trinity, and am falling in love with Ireland more and more with every page.

I am taking Neuroscience.

I found out that the Marriage Therapy professors are all kind of loopy. You know, the kid that burn incense, talk about chi, and refuse to realize that long hair looks bad when it is gray and receding.

After such a great summer, I am missing my family more than ever. In a healthy way.

School has become a side thought. NOT in a healthy way.

My grease geyser burns look like they are going to scar. (see previous post)

I bought a great big mustard colored scarf. Today is the first day of fall, and it is still unimaginably hot. I cannot wait till I can wear it.

"I was made for sunny days"

{The Weepies-Be My Thrill}

Today is a beautiful day.
The kind that should be spent on the sand or water.

I woke up early to head to the office to work on the paper, and I'll be honest, there was a slight dread in my step. That was until I got outside. I was greeted with a suprisngly cool gust of wind, and a smiling jogger that startled me.

Then sun is reflecting off of everything today, even the grass.



So the first week of school was absolutely chaotic. I remember slumping down in a chair at one point and thinking "I have to have been here for a month already." It was day number eight in Monroe.
Things are still hectic, but I am learning to love being swept up instead of whining every five minutes.

I have started to cook. Corey has an apartment now and I am using his kitchen as a testing ground.
I want to know where people get this image of novice chefs (especially young girls) with rice in their hair, all cute and covered in flour, laughing. PAH!

I tried to fry shrimp. Seemed easy enough, just dip the things in eggy milk, then batter, then into the grease pot! I guess I should have known that oil has smoking points. Idiot me cranked the thing on high and ended up filling the whole apartment with a thick smoke and the stench of burning oil. I wouldn't stop smoking, so of course...I panicked.

My first reaction was a ditsy one. (surprise.)
I grabbed the fuming pot and threw it into the sink, creating the biggest kitchen sink oil geyser I have ever seen. The scalding stuff sprayed everywhere, making this awful hissing noise and covering EVERYTHING.
If there hadn't have been hot oil all over the floor, I would have pulled a Julie & Julia and lay on the ground, crying, asking the ceiling "What Am I DOING?!"
But there was hot oil on the ground, and all of his roommates were home.
My cooking may never be superb, but maybe one day I could be the girl who looks cute with the rice and the flour all over her and the kitchen. (Personally, I still don't think she exists.)


The other day I was walking to class and met eyes with a man. Usually I would give a polite smile and look away. This time, his words came before I could react in that socially acceptable way..
"smile." He told me.
Now don't you just love people?

Toga! Toga!

I have officially entered back into the college realm! That's right! No more babies, pets, or old people. Just caffeinated college kids with a naive zeal for the upcoming semester's classes. 

Yesterday Gran, Mom, and I arrived at ULM four hours after our 7 a.m. departure. 

Chaotic moment #1: checking in ~Th grand scheme of this took an hour and a half~

Chaotic moment #2: moving all of my junk out of the cars and up to the second story

Chaotic moment # 3: mom, Gran, and myself all trying to hang one object... multiple times.

Chaotic moment #4: working in the newspaper office until 1 a.m. And having to go back in at 10 today.

IT HAS BEEN SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

New roommate is amaaaaaazing :)

Yesterday, during a midnight conversation up at the office (one of many this year I'm sure :) Zach, a friend of mine, was describing to me the Creative Writing class I will be taking this year. He talked about how much he loved the professor, and how he will pick one story and dissect for an hour. I remember Zach reiterating the phrase"You don't have it," a lot. I am soooooooo nervous, but cannot wait until it starts.

Ok, so this post is very scattered and probably even a little on the slow side, but: I HAVE OFFICIALLY STARTED BLOGGING DURING THE SCHOOL SEMESTER! This is a challenge to no one in particular *:chough:*Hannah and Robbie*:cough;*:cough:* to do the same :)

Bye now!

Dear husband, love wife.

(Fesit- So Sorry)

I recently stumbled up a blog that I think is my favorite so far. I don't even know this person, but she warms me from the core out.

While looking for pictures for my dorm on google, I typed in "old romance" to see what I would get. After sifting through LOTS of wrinkly kisses, there it was. An old sepia toned portrait. Sitting in a chair, his body turned away from the camera, is a sophisticated man: overcoat, pocket watch, slicked hair. But, contrary to expected disposition, his head is thrown back, blanketed with a warm smile. His arms are around a sweet woman in her slip, with her curls down. She is on his lap in a nervous half sit half stand, lookig timidly at the picture, as he looks at her. They were beautiful. But, the link the picture took me to was even more so.

There I found a blog titled "Dear husband, love wife." In it I found the thoughts of a woman who was engaged and to be married soon. Her posts were all for him, (for some reason they are apart from each other) and I fell in love with them.

With eight days left, she listed eight sweet things he did for her while dating : standing in snow with hot chocolate until she got off work, fixing her car. She has planned ways for them not to become the boring student married couple, like playing Ding Dong Ditch on their neighbors, but leaving treats at the door. Or building forts in the house.
He has requested she call him Fire Rabbit, after the killer rabbit in Monty Python.
She loves that he loves the gospel.



How awesome is love?

With tabloid covers of women in tears mid strut, or statistics about 50% ending in divorce, capturing real love is like diving into a swimming pool on a hot day. I love finding it in people I don't know. There is nothing more refreshing. And nothing more spiritual.

I am so grateful for the good men I know, and the good man I have.
I cannot wait to help the good men and women who have forgotten their love.

A friend of mine once told me that his mother loves to cook. She cooks huge dinners that anyone is invited to every Sunday. She says she will not drag you to dinner, but cook a feast so inviting that those looking in the window will knock on the door. If it is not clear, her food is like her faith. I hope that my marriage will one day be the same. A feast I can share, for anyone to eat, to learn.

If this link doesn't work, sorry. I'm not the best at this stuff, but it is the picture I found.

http://tailornklairsgarbage.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/vintage_romantic_couple_stock1_by_l.jpg

"In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own"

Friday afternoon I skipped out of work about an hour early.
It was my last day, and I was leaving a week before camp was over.

I said goodbye to all my kids... then I saw Mason White.
I've had him in my group for two years now. He's not necessarily the best behaved kid, but he is one of my favorites. He is all that is BOY. Not scared of bugs, plays till he's sweaty, I've only seen him cry twice, and trust me, it was legit. Not to mention he's cute as all get out. You know, bleach blonde hair, freckly face, big blue eyes, and the inability to say his r's.

I told him I was leaving and he asked if it was "leavin f'w good?" When I said yes he jumped on my neck all rough, and planted about a thousand something kisses on my cheek. "Please come back next yeaw," he told me through a kiss. "I love you."

OH.MY.GOSH. I could have bawled.

After that me and Corey hit the road on our way to good ole Purvis, Ms. where his grandma (Judy) lives.
On our way up we pulled off in Covington to grab a bite to eat. Parked behind our sought out Chik-fil-A was a diesel pulling a horse trailer that seemed a little lop-sided. Hunched next to it's tire was dad, cranking away at something that stretches beyond my womanly knowledge of fixing tires. His little wife and four daughters sat in a circle on the curb next to him, munching on sandwiches; the mom passing her coke around to the little ones. It was really sweet.

The next day we left Judy's bright and early and made a TEN HOUR TRIP, packed like sardines, to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!!!!!

Now I'm sitting at the table wrapped in a towel and wet bathing suit. It's raining outside. Mr. Chuck is popping the second oldest's back with a bear hug. Brad, the baby, gnaws at rib left overs across from me. He's got this half sleepy look in his eyes that only all day at the pool can give a kid. Outside it's POURING. Speaking of pouring, Judy is making herself a Jack and coke. That's the kind of woman she is. I LOVE her. She's very Irish, goes to 7:00 a.m. mass, calls everyone "people," and everything "the damn so and so," and hums Billy Joel.

Tomorrow, WE GO TO HARRY POTTER WORLD. I'm not sure how much I can stress the importance of this. I have been wanting this ever since I was very small. The idea that I might step foot in the world of Harry Potter has filled my head in the place of many a school lesson. It is finally here!!! What's even better; I get to buy a Griffindor scarf and wear it all around my campus, because we have the same colors :)


"It's not like I like my space because I'm weird, I'm doing the dishes." Mr. Chuck to Nick (second oldest) who keeps hovering.

Before I left I asked Grandad for A Tale of Two Cities because I have never read a Dickens book.
"Ack, you don't need all that." He then handed me a very thick, very green book called Ireland. He tapped it twice and nodded his head. So far, I LOVE it. A line from the eldest storyteller in the Catholic village recollects to two young boys about English oppression.
"But lads... even in our most dire straits we kept the old language alive and never ceased the writing of music and poetry, and we clung as fiercely to our religion as we did to the bottle..."


I need to go, Nick is offering me twenty dollars to eat a nasty concoction...and I am a bit broke....

Van Morrison, I guess you just inspire that patriotic soapbox I've got stored away.

I just finished watching the old Bad News Bears with mom, Mindi, Garrett, Nick and Corey. (Nick is Corey's 15 year old brother.) We were practicing new America's past time of television as we learned from its original;

baseball.

A lot of Americans think this country has gone down the can. There are a lot of republicans rubbing their brows and tugging their hair, and their are a lot of democrats loosening their double windsors, pointing fingers at Mel Gibson and discussing Lindsey Lohan's mug shot. 

When Average Joe reads all of this in his paper, or online (seeing as our printed news is struggling to stay afloat in the black seas of the internet void) he throws it aside in dismay. What is going ON?? is all he can ask himself. Has this country completely run amok??! Poor Average J. He has forgotten everything; he has forgotten baseball. 

It's like this: You can distrust the satellites, fret for your phone conversations, Big Brother, Area 51, socialists, the whole lot. And lets face it, a lot of people do. The smallest embers of my temper really start to spark when I hear idiots; one Ipod earbud in the ear, hip cocked while they stare as they brush their thumb along the screen of their Ipod touch 4, " I don't know man, this whole country is so backwards."

And its true, they have forgotten baseball. 

Picture the game, ask yourself why we love it. Smell grass, hear the sunset. It was men, with tan leathery skin and leathery gloves. Sweat and spit, dirt stains on their pants and pressure. There is no hiding behind excuses, fake injuries, or your second place trophy when it is just you and your shaky bat hovering over home plate at the bottom of the ninth with two outs and an even game up on the score board. And when you swung at the ball and missed it clean, there was no mommy telling you that you were still her big champ. Ok so maybe she was, but dad sure as hell wasn't. There was this thing called shame, and humility. Like Tom Hanks told us, "There's no crying in baseball." And when you cracked the smack outta that ball and brought in a run, you felt your hard earned victory swell in your chest. 

So sure, our economy may be on the rocks, our president may as well be three sheets to the wind when he cuts hundreds of thousands of jobs, and we just don't make music like we used to.

But GUESS WHAT; you can still touch that green grass, and tear in the earth, and know that you are FREE. 

And you can always, always, start yourself a good ole game, of baseball.

I think that Katherine Heigl is my favorite.

I think that dusk in Baton Rouge is probably one of the most beautiful things in the entire world. 

Especially while driving.

Today was really nice.

As I was leaving Corey's house to head home, the sun hung just a few inches above the horizon. It was blazing, but a light film of clouds made it foggy enough to stare at. Nature's burning paper lantern. 

The clouds aren't half bad either:)

~like Hannah says, Baton Rouge has the best clouds in the world~

Half way through the drive it occurred to me to roll my windows down and turn my air off. My car flooded with colors, crickets, and sky. 

Whenever I'm doing the dishes, and an empty basin is suddenly filled with water, that water often skates up the sides of the basin in a big splash. I think that is what happened to the sky. And now the foam filled sea sky hangs above us, and the setting sun picks up the iridescent and soapy hues. I guess driving down Old Perkins and listening to "Your Eyes" can really get you going. 

Now I am watching 27 Dresses, being completely girly and completely empathizing with the poor main character as she watches her knight fall for a beautiful blonde with unnaturally white teeth. We poor women. 

-------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, I am staring down half of a sleeping pill perched on the couch next to me. It is my first sleeping pill, but my throat has become so coated with knives (or so it feels) that I haven't slept in like two days!!! 

Isn't she lovely.

New layout!!!
Even though bright pink is not exactly something I would have chosen for myself, I was drawn to it!

Probably because I have been wishing I knew how to paint with watercolor A LOT lately. So...

Give feedback!! Is it hard on the eyes, better or worse than the eyes, etc.
thanks!

Rolling.

I am semi stuck in that blog inertia. The kind where you want to blog, but every time you finally become inspired! there is no computer around, and there you hav it: your second or third week without blogging.

SO. Here's a quick update to get the ball rolling again.

• Friday:

-Woke up feeling awful; achey everything, soar throat, drip, chills, and all that good stuff. Went to work with Taylor for the day and knew for a fact that I was dying of TB or the plague or something like that. So Corey let me leave early. Hobbled to the car, crept into five o'clock traffic on I 12, and sat in a parking lot. I. REALLY. WAS. DYING. Lower back pain, upper EVERYTHING pain. Thus, you have a stagnant parking lot of death. For a good hour or so. Dropped Taylor off and hurried on, got into bed by six and slept till ten the next morning.

• Saturday:

-Still felt like doo doo but a little bit better. So me and mommy rented movies like Julie & Julia and the old Bad News Bears.

Thought: I cannot wait to be young and married and poor and happy :) Yes I know that money is the number one thing that stresses couples out. But I've heard stories from both my Grandparents, having nothing and making it work, being good to one another. It is a stage of life I look forward to very much :)

-Later that night, drug myself out of bed to go see Inception. Totally worth the discomfort. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! Go see it now!! Talk about full blow, edge of your seat, gripping entertainment.

C'est Bon.

Driving home today I couldn't help but feel comforted by the sound of the man's voice over the radio as he announced Baton Rouge's traffic situation. I switched lanes as I wanted to make a left up at the traffic light, and gingerly waved to the momentarily kind hearted driver behind me.

BOOM, thought flow.

That maybe life isn't a stone set path, but it is at least a gravel road. No one is (really) telling me where to go, but they are most definitely telling me how to get there. For instance; why is it that there is a certain way for the traffic man to talk? Like he's an "old soul" or something. He is calm, breaks up his speech, and has a deep sing song voice. If he announced traffic any other way, he would sound quite strange. There is even a set way to wave in traffic: not too overexcited, but not too ungrateful. Obviously, it's not like I'm playing Darwin or Einstein here, social norms have always been around; that's no discovery. It was just an interesting thought is all.

From the bathroom I could hear Grandad, "At the Space Museum, I can type the word Baton Rouge in one tenth of a second!" I stop to contemplate this. How fast could I type Baton Rouge? Two, maybe three seconds? Then it occurs to me; no one could time something that fast in the first place...how much thought to I put into things that are an exaggeration? I often mull over many situations in my head that someone has just told me, trying to unkink the kinks, and then I realize: Seline, they were only exaggeration. I wish I could get all that wasted thought back, it seems to happen a lot, and my brain can seem pretty tired some days.

I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have written an entire post about nothing. Oh well; I guess I've just been reading too much Catcher in the Rye.

Sitting around Gran's living room with Hannah and Sarah couldn't be more enjoyable. Gran and Grandad sit in the kitchen, and I can hear a faint and steady conversation between them, even after 50 years :)

We sit in a hazy warm light, engulfed in couch cushions and contentment. We discuss my kids at work (who the girls finally got to meet!) and try to coax Hannah into pronouncing her French book title for us. Sarah tries, and sounds more like a phlegmy Gollum.

Also, I REALLY want to learn to play the fiddle. Ah life.

c'est bon.

Once you've found her, build your world around her.

Some things that I have noticed over the past couple of days:

Oil paint is in fact NOT the devil, and is quite beautiful when used properly. 

Also it doesn't EVER dry, so the fact that I always leave too much paint on the tray is irrelevant :)

When a child's bare feet are perched on top of yours for an extra inch, with water running down them from a drinking fountain, you catch a glimpse of what life ought to be like. 

I am lousy with my money. There's no pretending I'm not. However, I now have a gorgeous leather journal.

Meg Ryan breakup's are always like a conversation between old friends. That would be nice.

In Milo and Otis, when Milo (the cat) "jumped" off of the very high cliff and into the ocean, someone threw that cat! I wonder what they are doing right now, or if they ever tell anyone that they are the person who threw Milo off the cliff. That's one very unique fifteen minutes.

Dances With Wolves is one of my FAVORITE movies, I always forget it.

P.S. The other day I got punched in the face with a 5 year old's cast. Yes it was intentional. And YES, I can tell people that I've taken one to the jaw before.  

With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied.

there are many beautiful things about this world.

if we counted them all up into one great list, I'm sure it would be long enough to do something great, (or very cliche) like reaching to the moon and back.

A piano note is struck along side another, and their harmony tangos in the air and slides into the ear and delves into the most melancholy part of the brain. Like something magical, happiness occurs. Why is that? 

Beauty.

A flower that gazes at the sky will reveal its face to any passerby if given the chance. And when it sacrifices itself from the earth into the hands of its beholder, it is only time until its petals are crushed. It bleeds for you. The worlds first color.

And I am here. Here now, with curls and scars and lashes.  

Love simmers in everything that He touches; to be remembered by such greatness is validation enough for any life. And mine will do fine; it will do just fine.

quick

sitting around listening to Daniel Tosh, who is not exactly inspiring but absolutely hilarious.

I'm not in the mood to log but I haven't in so long that I figure even if I do a mediocure post I won't let it fall off my plate.

A good bit has happened!
The girls are finally here to stay for the summer, it has already been too much fun to try and put into words.

WE JUST GOT BACK FROM THE BEACH AND THERE WAS NEXT TO NO OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There as a tar ball here or there but nothing life threatening. Apparently it encroached onto PC sometime right after we left. Hooray blessings. It really was a beautiful week, completely relaxing, and a complete reinforcer of why I love my family so much.

I stopped working at The Chimes, too! It only took me about two days to realize that the depressed drug addicts that have been there for ten years just weren't worth the extra money.

So I'm back at the YMCA doing day camp with the little kiddies. Happiness galour! Now I am back to little boys running around naked outside of the pool, trying to eat their shoelaces, and playing Star Wars :)




Corey is an investagator :)


This summer has thus far been beautiful, and not just beacause the air conditioner in my car is fixed! I've met some great people at the Y and am already finding them to be fantastic people.

Must go, watching a girlie movie with Sarah and mom; welcome to my summer :)

Motography.

Every time I try to leave a comment on a blog without being signed in those little made up decoder words appear. You know, words like "innilate" or "niningrant;" words that sound so much like real words that you begin to second guess your own vocabulary. I always try to comment without being signed in, and so I always see these words.
POINT. That I really do think they get longer each time as if to teach me a lesson already. It may spell "motography," but it reads "haven't you learned already that we need to know if you are spam or not, and could be potentially be a virus?!!"

I do not think that I am spam. All the same, I should remember to sign in more.



I keep trying to write a short story. It would be very good for me, and I always enjoy it. The problem is that whenever I do reach up and capture that flitting bit of inspiration before it slips away, my stories always come out depressing! I could be listening to Jimmy Buffet (the most carefree, in no ways mood dampering music on the face on the planet) and still, all I get is Ethan Frome or The Yellow Wallpaper. Does this mean that I am depressed??
...I do not think I am depressed?

NO. I am neither spam nor depressed.

Maybe if characters didn't write themselves, then things would be much easier.



So I started my training shift as a waitress today.
Highlight?
I spilt water all over a little girl's phone. But do you know what I think?? GOOD RIDDENS! What the crap is a ten year old doing with AN IPHONE?!?! and better yet, what the crap is she doing with it, texting while at a family dinner?! In my world, that's justice baby. Not that I am rejoicing in someone else's loss or disappointment. I guess it is that I do not feel sorry for that that father may have to pay for a new phone. If that ends up being the case; lesson be learned about buying a child a phone worth more than that kid has ever made in their lifetime.
Whew.

On a happier note, the girls will be here in two days. Did you get that?? TWO DAYS! As I sit in this big house with no playmates, I cannot contain myself. I cannot contain myself at the thought of fresh afternoon coffee pots, meaningful conversations, movies, God, and so much more. I think that even if we glued ourselves to the couches all summer, these few months would still manage to be somehow...epic. :)

Summertime and the Livin's Easy

Don't you wish you could make someone call you a really great nickname??
It would never work, you can't just tell someone to call you something that has been preplanned.
Nicknames never work without spontaneity.

I am back at home :)
Last night we had about 20 or 30 people over for my birthday, it was quite shocking. I had about 6 or so people in my mind that I had coming, but; well, let's just say that my brother is a good brother :)

Tonight was a great night. Mom and Mr. Kenny went to go visit some friends for a bit, while Garrett cooked chicken and I made salad. Once the folks got back we had a really nice time. Then Garrett had to jet, and mom, me, and Mr. Kenny watched Lady and the Tramp (Mr. Kenny's idea and favorite Disney flick :)

It was fantastic. However.
That movie always scared me a bit as a kid, the rat in the baby's room, those cats, the dog at the pound that gets put to sleep.
When I was six, it was a horrifying experience.
It was GREAT tonight, though. We laughed a ton, and the movie was fantastic. It is amazing though that I still get fidgety during those rat scenes.
Tramp called lady Pij (Pigeon really)
I think that is so cute, I wish someone would call me Pij. However, there's not much spontaneity in sky rats.



FUN FACT: The first song is the movie Stepbothers is "A-Punk" :)
Awesomeness!

UNFUN FACT: Vampire Weekend is NOT coming to n.o. during the summer like I thought. They came in April and so now the girls and I cannot go see them over break.

VERY FUN FACT: The girls will be here in a week or so; my spirit feels uncontainable.

Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate??

I am sitting in Sarah's tiny little dorm room all by myself, surrounded by the clutter of books, pens, paper, and every other tid bit of inspiring junk. So I decided to blog :)

It is so quiet in this tiny room, except for the sound of Hannah showering in the bathroom next to me. It is a perfect haven, and believe me, we were SO ready to get to any kind of haven.

After a day of driving, way too much Japanese food,the coolest frozen yogurt I have ever eaten, and great new friends, it was time to head back to the dorm room and take a bit of advice from Frankie. Thus, I am relaxing.

I was a close call though. Hannah and I trudged up all the concrete stairs to the dorms, banged on the door until someone let us in, asked the same nice girl for the code to the stairwell, and finally after confronting a locked dorm room and whipping out an old calling card/burglary skills, we got in.

And I am in Jackson, in Sarah's room with Hannah until she gets here. What a great, random weekend :)

After this bit of rest we were going to eat with Sergei, but seeing as he has more of a boyish ability to STILL be hungry after a crap load of Japanese food, Hannah and I will be hittin up some coffee instead. Then we will regroup, and watch OUR MUTUAL FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to see it, it will be a first for me. Five hours of British romance, here I come ^^

p.s. Did you know that coconuts DO migrate!!!!! (not by swallows of anything, but still!) If anyone asks me what I learned in college, that is what I will say.

You Fill Up My Senses.

Have you ever woken up with a yearning for someone? Longing for that spiritual steroid they seem to just inject into your soul? I guess I'm saying that I cannot wait to be with my girls soon, hopefully all summer. But even a day would do.

"Brighter than Sunshine"

Today, I got crabs and shrimp!!!!

I got to go home, even if it was just for one day.

Told no one that I was coming in. It's amazing how many people expect to see you in just two days time. It cannot be humanly done. So the only person I told was mamma :)
She bought me boiled seafood and we laid out under the most beautiful day I have seen in a long time.

I don't laugh with anyone like I do when I'm with my family, especially my mom :)
Of course we talked about EVERYTHING from past to present, from horror stories to heroes.
I told her about my in class crisis when hearing about Thailand and what I was doing with my life. Then she said to me, "if you are a woman in American, you are the luckiest woman in the world."
WOW, talk about no more wallowing in self pity.


I had a very deep conversation with a very good (and very new) friend of mine. I have decided that one of my cousins MUST marry him. No questions asked. Sorry girls, but I promise you would thank me ;D
It is amazing how much talks of God and talks of beauty can bring hope to any situation. Really, any situation. He mentioned the scripture about the sparrow falling from the nest, and I was immediately comforted, not that I was even in need of comforting. That is power.

I love that where I work (where I met this friend) challenges me so much. Whenever it happens, this job will be hard to walk away from. I have met some of the most fantastic, thought provoking people. They are definitly rare gems, Monroe is not exactly blessed with philosophical thought.

Gotta run, heading back to Monroe soon. I just thought that I would share that to be a woman in America, especially one in my home, is brighter than sunshine :)

"We will live on coffee and fashion"

My roommate is going to New York with a good friend of hers to buy ridiculously cute clothes for her boutique. The quote above is how Kelsie's (roommie) friend prepared her for the trip. Mine and her thoughts, "and thats a BAD thing???!"

I have to admit that I am quite jealous. Between her going to NY, NY and Hannah's being in London, I cannot help but loathe the sight of Monroe. My poor little town, it really is not that bad at all, and pretty great for a lot of reasons. HOWEVER, I crave skyscrapers and pubs.

Last summer Sarah spent most of her break in Thailand, doing mission work that was related to the sex trafficing there. I know that its awful over there, a lot of things are. But then we started learning all of the statistics during psychology. Did you know that 80% of women have been involved in sex trafficing in Thailand? There were much more gruesome details, ones I hate to think of even now. The point is, it makes you pretty ashamed to be learning about these things at almost 20, sitting in some paid for air conditioned classroom on my way to getting a doctorate. I think about the harsher realities of girls almost ten years younger than me, and what I'm doing seems so irrelevant.

In the mean time, exams sit fidgeting on our horizon. It is such an overwhelming feeling. Like standing in knee deep ocean water as a huge wave comes to pummel your helpless body. But that feeling is always a little exciting isn't it :)

In exam week, I can say that I look forward to:

A girl in front of me at Starbucks getting nine shots of espresso in her coffee at 9:00 PM.
The all nighters with friends who are all on the brink of insanity
Those moments when everyone decides they need a break, and we unite to do something ridiculously unproductive
Knowing we are all miserable together gives students this quite unity that i LOVE
I will be getting lots and lots of coffee with a VALID excuse!!!

I must look back on these things in, oh 2.5 weeks :)

multicolored palettes of roller coasters

Its 9:30, and already today has delivered a multicolored palette of events that have created a roller coaster in my stomach.

Mind you, roller coasters are not fun at 9:00 in the morning, I don't care who you are.

This morning I woke up slowly, fantastically so. Got moving around 8:00 in the direction of the coffee maker. Filled it with water, and while I was looking for our new bag of coffee, I heard an odd trickling noise. Funny, I didn't think I turned it on yet. A turn of the head and I discovered that I had turned it on, during it's previous use, and never turned it off. There the water poured, into a coffee pot, but into the absence of one, all over our little bathroom counter. I was extra sleepy, so it was about four cups worth.

One hour and one clean counter later I was headed to intro to research methods (blegh!) where I got punched in the face.

Well not really, but someone did mention that today was the beginning of registration. Ok people, if you have no idea what is going on in this state, let me just tell you, our schools are seeing some major budget cuts. That means we students are duking it out for any spots we can get. It was already 9:00, that meant everyone with 8:00 class had probably already registered!!! Class hadn't started yet, so I snatched up my bag and art pad and hit the hallways. Well, 20 minutes and one absence later I realized that seniors register today, and I can't register till about Thursday or so.

However this morning was not just a morning of chaos, and this post is not just one of irritating complaints.


I saw an older man, maybe mid 50's, wearing blue jeans, a button down neatly tucked in, and a worn out pair of chucks that looked like they belonged to him since before I was born. He was too cool for school...well maybe not since he WAS on campus and all. Nevertheless he was awesome.

My creme runs out in about a week or so, and there is a TON left. Thus, my coffee has been next to white for the past few days. Its been thoroughly enjoyable though, drinking toffee flavored coffee every a.m.

I want a Frankie Says Relax shirt so bad I can taste it.

I have really been missing my cousins lately. I guess that is because I usually see the girls at Easter, and that didn't happen this year. Plus the fact that they may be in Baton Rouge this summer has got me hanging on the edge of my seat, cutting through seat cushions with excited grip. Hannah, when the ash cloud goes poof and you get back to the states (if ever you do :) where are you going?? To Jackson, to Marshall, to the Lonely Moutain?? I must know. And if you tell me to get used to disappointment...well I just couldn't ;D

O me, O life!

10:00 a.m. friday morning

After a long night of studying for a ridiculous test involving chi square pretest-posttest design or within subject pretest-posttest one or two group experimental design; PLUS a four page psych article review on the Bobo experiment for the SAME CLASS, I opted out of my last class of the day, Biology. Instead I chatted with my advisor about killing phones and Bible thumping students while he packed his pipe full of tobacco and I thumbed through his book shelves. It was a much needed break. I cannot imagine being stuck in a huge auditorium class, learning the difference in the reproductive pattern of fungi. 

(If my mother is reading this I would just like her to know that I already have all the notes for the Biology class I skipped to day... and please consider not killing me.) 

I got introduced to Seabear by my boss. LOVE them, listen to them if you are into indie. Fo sho Fo sho. 

This weekend is going to be great. I have a red carpet event (Monroe style, nothing cool) to go to for work today. Some guy filmed a Flags of Our Fathers movie (which has already been done?) and he is from Monroe. My boss knows the guy and has more or less told him his movies are crap (in nicer words of course) and so I will be the one doing the interview. Only one thing, a woman's greatest problem...

I HVE NOTHING TO WEAR! I mean honestly, why the heck would i bring a floor length dress to MONROE?! 

*side note: Some guy on the computer next to me just let out a a really familiar "what the crap??" while launching his nose closer to the computer screen. Ah, don't I know the feelin. School cannot end fast enough, for all of us.*

Anyways, I have been waiting to rewear my prom dress, it is so awesome and so deserving of more usage. And now, probably the only time I'll get to wear it before my body begins to climb down off it's physical peak towards old age, and I don't have it with me! Oh forsaken dress, forgive me!!!!

So  now I must pose the obnoxious girl question of the day...Is it OK to wear a REALLY fancy shorter dress to a black tie event?!?!? The question, O me! so sad, recurring-What good amid these, O me, O life?

(Poor guy, he just let out a feeble, this cannot be happening...)

Fun stuff: I get to write an editorial about Lady Gaga and why she sucks so bad. Ok it will be more polite (maybe) and more eloquent than that, but still! Hannah, you will have to try and forgive me on this. It must be done!! It is weird to think that there are only three more issues of the paper to come out, which makes me very very sad. This has been the best job I have ever had, and definitely the most rewarding. I will miss it whole heartedly.

Ok, must go, my biology class is about to let out, and I am sitting in a big glass computer lab right across from it!!! 

Ooodelally Ooodelally

On Friday a friend in Monroe called and asked if I wanted to drive to the track meet with her the next morning. The meet was at North Texas, a 5 hour drive from Monroe. It was a really big day for Corey, so I decided heck yeah!

Saturday 6:30 a.m.
I set out for Monroe after some packing and really sleepy goodbyes.
Was making really good time until I got trapped in Winsoborro for the Catfish Festival. Talk about some legit road rage.
Finally got to Monroe, sent in an article for work.
30 minutes later myself, Denise, and Devon (all track people) loaded into Denise's car for NT.


I was in the car alllllll day!!! Got to the meet, had a great time, Corey ran great, threw the Frisbee, got some free food.


Left NT at 11:00 p.m.
Devon took benadryl without realizing he was literally going to knock himself out, and after about 40 minutes of him fighting back sleep and delirium Denise and I made him go to sleep.
One power nap and energy drink later, Denise and I were having those great conversations that only happen on long road trips. I really do think that a full tank of gas and a stretch of highway is the best way to get to know someone.
We finally got back around 3:30 in the morning. I was still so awake, stayed up till 5.


Now I'm in that hazy lazy feeling, where there is so much I want to get done and I feel the need to be productive. For some reason, I can't get out of bed, and my fingers cannot find the off button on the remote. I am mummified in laziness.


Great, now Shooter is on. If i couldn't turn Tom Hanks off earlier, there is no way I am gonna be able to forsake Mark Walhberg.



Not to mention school is like an annoying five year old that won't quit tugging at my shirt tail. Summer cannot get here soon enough. Or at least this coming Friday. That will do for now :)

strawberry fields forever.

(Regina Spektor :)


There is one slice left of mom's awesome straberry pie. IT WILL NOT GO AWAY. It is just sitting there, smack dab in the middle of the fridge, mocking me every time I open it. Mom literally begged Garrett to eat it so that she wouldn't today.
"Ok, I'll eat it!"
She immediately shoved a fork in his face.
...It is still there, I just won't go downstairs...that will solve it.



It has been such a nice spring break so far.
Easter was beautiful and glorious and I ate way too much.
I dyed my hair, its a little dark and a little awesome.

I passed the tradition of paquing eggs onto Corey's family!!!! We were dying them Saturday night and I was trying to explain how we Cajuns do it. My egg was pink with smiling sunshine stickers on it. Corey's was blue with crayon words that read "Collette has no friends." I am happy to say his egg did not win :)

So dad got bit by a snake, anda water moccassin at that (or however you spell it)...the poisonous kind. The man child decided that he would pick it up as it swam past his boat, except he grabbed a little too low on its...neck? Then the snake was like WHATS UP! and got one fang in him. Poor daddy spent two days laid up in the hospital, getting ragged on and called einstein (not in a complementive way of course). Well, he survived, the swelling in his arm has gone down, but I think his ego may still be a little sore ;P

Tonight we get CRAWFISH!!!!!! I have not had good crawfish in forever; north Louisiana, you officially suck at crawfish season. Mr. Kenny is allergic, and is also having tummy issues. Thus, he will be drinking chicken broth inside while mom Garrett and I destroy them critters. Its a hard knock life I guess.

I saw The Blind Side again, and I definitly want to be that woman. She was so great. She was pushy, but she pushed her love on you, you had no say because she knew it was best, so you may as well just zip it and accept. Loving freely baby, well, sort of :)

a quick thought

its been a long time,

i have lots to say, but am extremely busy right now.

at coreys house, its late and there is coffee in my hands

his little brother is narrating about an nba game in overtime

i am about to start painting a hallway with his dad, there is no school till monday.

life is good :)

Great things are happening.

For some reason my life seems to be full of spice lately. I can't really think of a better way of putting it. No big pot of gumbo, no sack of crawfish, just the spice.

I saw A Serious Man, at the suggestion of Zach. (my boss who is super super cool, whose movie taste is almost cooler than he is.) I have a new respect for the Coen brothers for sure, it was one of the most well done movies I have ever seen. After seeing it and talking to Zach, I almost felt a bit dumb at how much he had noticed that I had not (but that's just Zach). But he told me that I really didn't miss that much, it just goes to show that there is *something* in every scene. And almost all of it relates back to the Bible. So so so so sooooo impressive.

The next movie I watched was The Proposition. It was a western with Guy Pearce. I know, you think western and go blegh! However, this was an artistic western. So much meaning and beauty in it, but with the same grit that makes the greatest westerns so great.

Yesterday was the first day of spring! It was hot and windy, a wind that blew in some serious rain. I spent most of the day in Lafayette at the track meet. It wasn't until driving back that the rain hit, of course. It was dark, we didn't know the roads, and Corey's car lights were unforgivably dim. By the time we got back, I was exhausted! Passed out, woke up this morning, headed straight outside to make my way to the cafeteria and what do I find????

SNOW!

I mean sheesh, has this Louisiana lost its mind?? Probably, and probably a long time ago. Everyone is attributing it to El Nino. All I can think about is the SNL episode about El Nino. As for what its doing around the country? I don't know, but its snowing in Monroe and Chris Farley was a funny guy.



I encountered narnia on my way to Lafayette, by the way. While driving through a town (or four way stop, whichever you prefer)..I had to go. What's new, though. So there is a tiny little gas station, a few cinder blocks piled high with burnt out letters that read pit stop. It gave me the heebee jeebies, but I had to go. So I stop, walk in ( I am the ONLY person in there that didn't know everybody else.) The two ladies behind the counter wore camo tshirts, and everyone had those early 1990 bangs. I minded my busniess and scooted toward the back of the store where RESTROOMS was screaming at me. I opened the door, and WOOSH, I have gone through the wardrobe. Mexican tiled floors, a toilet nicer than the one in my own home, a marble sink, cleverly built into the corner, complete with one of those touch on touch off sinks. It was AWESOME, despite the lack of lions and witches :)

And now I am back in Monroe, its stopped snowing, and I'm painting with ink, something that sounds fun but really it isn't. However, there's Starbucks in my left and a brush in my right. And I am blessed.

aimal collective review

If your life has ever lost it's meaning, and you begin to feel irrelevant to this world, pop in Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion. The album makes you feel like your life has its own soundtrack, and suddenly, you are part of a story again, back to being a main character.

Most of the songs are filled with carousel sounds that make your head spin. The album toys with the line between playful and creepy. I say creepy because it is just weird enough to rouse the id inside of you that gets addicted easily. This is one addiction that should be fed as frequently as possible. The soul rocks out; meanwhile, the brain is stimulated into questions about why we are written into the world by lyrics that tap into every human's need to seek true purpose.
The band members often switch up roles within the band, which allows everyone to be expressed, giving their listeners a taste of each of their lives. They have come a long way from where they started, writing about psychedelic experiences at 16.

Now they sing about wives and children and their desires to be good men for the ones they love. Songs like "My Girls" and "Daily Routine" show a newfound maturity and grace without the loss of the bands spunky style.

In "Daily Routine," Panda Bear (one of the lead singers) describes the simplicity of his life with deep appreciation, singing "What good is it to make it fast?/Sing a song to pass the playground/What can I do as traffic pass?/Guard my girl from muffler's black gas." He is a living paradox to pop culture, a rockstar who makes declarations on the worth of family, which seems to be scarce in today's world.

In "Also Frightened," (a song in which he wonders if the world would be a better place if his kids
turned out like him), he describes his children beautifully with "Excited and screamin' their voices grow wild/And rise with the birds mating up in the pines/Down to the puddles that breathe covered by leaves/With mud they make prints on their backs." With this album, Animal Collective looks deep into their own lives while making you question yours.

Though their lyrics may be profound, their sound never gets too serious. The happy pounding your heart sends into your head when you're running to base as a kid is the best way to describe the staticy, pounding rhythms of Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Playing over the bass are high-pitched, bubbly tones, sort of like MGMT but much better. Animal Collective blends this sound, along with their voices, whose harmony is something like that of an old school revolutionary band such as The Beach Boys or The Beatles.

They combine a futuristic sound with the lost elements of vintage rock. Take, for instance, the song "No More Runnin'." This song is like a modern day Simon and Garfunkel piece; you can almost see the chlorine water sloshing against Dustin Hoffman's scuba gear while it plays.

Animal Collective incorporates some of the most honest lyrics music has yet to know, where they long for easier days of "back porches with the torch of a Firefly-lit tree." The band that started off sporting face paint (artistically so, not like that of old Jewish men with super long tongues) is not afraid to unmask themselves for their audience. By doing so, they have created an original almost spiritual experience. The only downfall, (if such a band had to have one) is that every now and then the poetry of their lyrics is lost in such an overwhelming sound. However, if this ever does happen, one can still get lost in the deep beats, where meaning is still waiting to be discovered.

A Pirate Party

I had the most awful dream last night. Well sort of.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning, got together all the "good luck" signs I had made, ran and slipped them under the track guys doors. Then I took Corey to the track and saw them off.

Back to dorm.
Go to sleep....CANT go to sleep.
"But Collette you are tired, relax and fall asleep!"
"What? It's been 30 minutes?...Why am i thinking about black women's hair weaves...FALL ASLEEP!"

Finally, fell asleep. Then the dream ensued. I dreamed I snuck a little boy out of an orphanage, a nice orphanage too. We went to a pirate party.
It was ok at first, Garrett was there?, and everyone was very well behaved. Then suddenly I lost Toby. (Apparently, that was the boys name). Some toothless idiot brought him back to me, they had been giving him rum! He was sloshed, poor boy! ....and then he died.

BOOM, slightly weird dream, meet nightmare.

Now they are all bad pirates, and Im dragging a string of about 30 orphans away from this pirate party!!! A man is calling me as we are running, its a detective that looks like Al Roker.
He knows I've killed the boy, or got him killer anyhow. Then we have to cross the bridge that looks strangely like the one on campus, except there are floating spirits in the fog.

Then we realize its paretns! and hey, its Halloween night! Oh, what do ya know, Toby's alive! The children and I make it back to the orphanage, I am not in trouble. We are tired and offered biscuits.

END.

What the heck brain?!?!
So I wake up this morning, feeling awful, still feeling like I had killed poor Toby. I can't shake it, I'm in a funk. My roommate is still asleep, and I've got that feeling in my stomach I used to get as a kid when I'd sleep at a friends house and wake up first.
And its too cold to layout and do homework like we had wanted. Drat. Will study indoors.


HOWEVER,

"Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity;. That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse."

Taking initiative to change me own mood!

miniature update

Beirut has an EP out, I'm doing my article review on it, its awesome!!!

I want to know why "it" possessive is spelled "its" and not "it's." Bothersome, or maybe I'm just ignorant.

Andy is reading Pride and Prejudice, he loves it. I am officially stoked.
His favorite character so far is Mrs. Bennett :)

Things I've heard recently around campus that have made me chuckle:

(While watchign the History Channel, a lady from 1960's sported some awesome plaid pants)
David: "Gosh, look at those plaid pants, I feel sorry for their men"
Me: "The men wore pants, too!"
David: "Yeah, but they all golfed."

A group of people were asked, if they could take anyone dead or alive to dinner, who would it be?
Guy: "Hitler"
Us: "You would take Hitler?"
Guy: "Yeah, and when he'd ask what's on the menu, id say..'A KNUCKLE SANDWHICH!'..."


Ok, so I should be writing articles instead of telling you all the pointless corny stuff i enjoy. I'm just stalling now... ("YOU'D LIKE TO THINK THAT WOULDN'T YOU!! ;)
Please be a nerd like me, get where that came from :) ^

sleepy eyed and tussled hair.

woke up early to see corey off to his first observation for classrooms.
decided to open up my new pink bible with silver lined pages for a quick glance before the day begins. (is it wrong if i think my bible is super cute?? i dont think so...)

what i read i never have, and i loved.
it said to give glory to God, for his faithfulness. it sounds so simple, but when put to deeper thought is beautiful.

i hope you all have a wonderful day

You ARE the brute squad?

As much as it annoys me to walk into Intro to Research Methods with a headache, (not that the class isn't painstaking enough) it has been interesting to watch the group of smokers by the door each day. It started with just two or three people, hanging around the building entrance, getting a few last drags before class. They were awkward and quiet and stared mostly at the ends of their cigarettes. Slowly there were more and more and now they are this little gang of laughs and wise cracks, chums, all shivering in the cold with their fingers to their lips.

On a more painful note, I was forced to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3 last night. Corey told me that i had to finish the movies, and I watched with an open mind, really I did. But that movie made me so angry and bored at the same time that it was impossible to be engaged. I could rant for hours, but here is what bothered me most.

slap) Elizabeth Swan is not a butt kicking ship captain three months after denouncing the English high life. She irked the crap out of me.

pinch) Why is Jack Sparrow suddenly a joke? Of course in the first ones we wondered whether or not he really knew what he was doing, but he was still so COOL. For some reason, this movie made him seems two feet shorter than everyone else. He was an idiot, a babbling maniac.

sucker punch) Another thing, why were there little jacks coming out of his ear and hair??? Yeah it was cool that one wasn't good and the other one evil, they were both bad. BUT, if that would have happened in the first movie, would it have fit or made sense at all???? of course not!!

tug of hair) When all you have is a reaching plot and recycled lines from the first movie that ten year old kids quoted for months, you probably shouldn't go on to make a 2nd or 3rd film.

I could keep going on about how each scene was too long, Will was a jerk, and it was boringgggggg and no one was fun....but i won't. You get the pain that ensued watching it.


I finished A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I started that book because I was assigned a book review, and Sarah said that it would be a good choice and that it was really well done. I didn't know it was going to change my life though. And as hokey as that sounds, it really has. I'm not going to say why, because I don't want to short change the book, I just won't be able to put it like Donald Miller can. If you are looking for a good book, this is it, READ IT. Heck, even if your reading list is miles long and *another* good book to read is the last thing you need, READ IT ANYWAYS. It's like looking at lights on a pier through black ocean waters :)It's JOY in print form. It's the bees knees. O.o


I am getting good at golf! Well, whacking the daylights out of the ball anyways. We won't get to putt, because Thursday is our last golf class. I will enjoy the extra sleep on Tuesday/ Thursday, however :)

Did you know that Mac computers need appointments just like people do? I do, because my poor Mac is ill :(

Lastly, I keep trying to copy and paste a word article into a post, and it tells me the HTML is wrong. Any ideas as to why??

Off to do the million other things I should have been doing when I started this post :)

clap your hands say yeah!!!

what she said.
that band is quickly becoming a favorite of mind.^ look it up, i promise it wont be as traumatizing as the last time i told you to look something up (sam, the world's ugliest doggy :)
so i should be writing the articles that are due tomorrow for my job, but i have been writing none stop since 7 o'clock and need a break. This is the only thing i can do that wont slow my writer's heart rate. Think of it as walking instead of dropping out during a race, technically i am still on track.
I think my boss might be one of the coolest people ever. he is exactly how you would picture someone when you hear some college writer refer to "my editor." hes got long hair, usually in a ponytail, a scruffy face, black rimmed glasses, a ridiculously awesome sense of style, and a mad laugh. i guess it makes me feel cool that i have a cool editor. legitness. (which reminds me, i watched hot rod the other night, soooo under rated :)



what ever happened to the "Dude, It's A Dell!" guy?? These are the kind of thoughts that Introduction to Research Methods bring to my head. You would think that verbalized statistical theory would be more interested right? right......


so apparently some modern age john dillegners robbed a best buy, and stole about 26,000 dollars worth of macbooks. They were cut a whole in the roof, rappelled down like two stories, never touched the floor, exposed themselves to cameras, or set off motion sensors. and they completely got away with it! i feel awful that this excites me. its like true oceans 11 stuff, where you cant help but love the bad guys.

so i have three shots of espresso in me, and the bathroom has been occupied (in starbucks) for at least ten minutes. i think id rather go through water-boarding.
on that glorious note i should probably get back to my articles. They are pretty interesting actually. Im doing one on music (atmosphere, one of the only great hip hop bands out there) one on the book sarah and sergei recommended to me A Million miles in a Thousand years. This book has actually changed my life. I have found a lot of great answers in the past week. Ill post my review on it. Lastly is an article on the state wanting to increase the graduation levels of all the colleges. Did you know that when i started at tech and then transfered to ulm, it will be tech getting credit for my graduating? my retention stat will go towards them, not ulm. i think thats awful. ok, peace!!!

I am a lone reed.

Just about everyone has left for the indoor track conference in tennessee. All that is left of us is Kelsie, myself, Kendall, Britt, and Andy. (Kendall and Britt are roommates that are also on the guys team but are injured) Andy is a good friend from high school.

So Kelsie and I decided to rent all the gushy love movies we've been wanting to see since it is just us girls here. The rental list went as follows:

The Phantom of the Opera
You've got mail (presently filling my tv screne for the second time)
The Princess Bride (my own movie)
Schindler's List (ok so this isnt exaclt a romance but Kelsie hadn't seen it and it's not exactly something you watch with your friends on any saturday night.)

Phantom of the Opera practically ripped our hearts out of our chests. Kelsie cried just about the whole time :) When the movie was through, we began to psychoanalyze characters that did not even exist. "HES A HUMAN BEING TOO! People back then just didn'y understand physical deformities, it's not his fault, it's biology!!!!"
We were extremely serious, and extremely entertaining I'm sure.

The Princess Bride we have not watched yet, but we have watched You've Got mail and Schindler's list. Somehow, I have found the messages in these two films, and today's mass to all tie together. I know that sounds crazy, as most of them seem not to relate at all. BUT.

I've been focusing lately on living a more courageous life. The book I'm reading by Donald Miller constantly makes declarations about what it really is to live your life, and that we are scared to point to a certain horizon because after we do that, we have something to fail at. This message has constantly been on my mind. And then we watched You've Got Mail, in which a woman who realizes things in life remind her of a book instead of the other way around, decides to change her life. She takes on a true challenge she found hersel much too mild to handle before. Frank, her boyfriend, reassures her with " YOU, are a long reed." I love this saying. Then we watched Schindler's List. I could ramble on forever about all the thoughts I had as I watched that movie for the second time. Mainly, it makes me so grateful to God for being so blessed. He could have so easily placed me back then, belonging to a Jewish family. But my soul is here, and I am blessed daily. Then I went to mass where the priest spoke of Lent as a time of courage and bearing a cross before reaching glory. I have decided to focus more on living for God than myself, more so than I have in a very long time. I've pointed to a horizon, and claimed it as mine. I am living a life that I thought I was too mild for, and it is a relief.
Who would have thought three random things would all produce the same message that I have been looking for!

Also, Oschar Schindler is my favorite historical figure, and a hero of mine. I really want to see his grave someday.

"Honey you are a rock, upon which I stand"

So I found a book in which I completely relate to the author. Well, I am only on the 50something page, but I LOVE HIM. It's the book Sarah and Sergei suggested, A Million Miles in 1000 Years. Talk about brilliant. It has informed me that I am in charge of my story, and that God does not give or take. He realizes that conflict drives everything, and says stuff like "We think that God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller." And describes people as "poems rising from the mud." I found relief that he went through a stage in college where he was constantly startled by life. In a way where he would just be walking and then think to himself, "Oh my gosh! I am alive and part of life!!!" I think this all the time, and am often told I get overexcited about silly things. Then I feel unjustified and a little on the ridiculous side. But I am realizing that it is so true, that people are so used to the miracle of life that it is normality now. And that is sadness! The author thinks that we might value it a little more if we could remember our birth the way we do a wedding or something. He's such an interesting guy.

Updates, and then bed. I have to get up extra early to hunt down an 80something year old professor. Sounds easy right? Like I should be a step ahead of this one, but it's not! I am doing a yearbook article on this guy purely on the fact that he is AMAZING, and a bit loony. Ok, so he's 80+ right? Well on the first day of all of his classes he makes a grad student follow him into the room, boom box atop their shoulder with Rocky theme song blaring. In front of said grad student is Dr. H.P. Jones, adorned with boxing gloves and a silk robe. He pounces into the classroom, wailing on the air with his fists!! (Mind you, he's on his 5th hip replacement.)
On Halloween (a day he always gives a test on) he makes his grad students wheel a coffin into the room and tell the class that H.P. has died, and there will be no test. Then he pops out of the coffin with the tests, and laughs at his own joke hysterically. Other days he parades down the isles with a prosthetic leg in one hand, hollow and filled with tootsie rolls that he throws at students. The man is one of a kind. But apparently this kind is one that is hard to find, so after updates, I will be going to bed in preparation for my search :)

I had a psychology test today that was way too hard. However, it did ask if a person could ever own too many motorcycles. B) No Way!!

A good friend separated from a darling today, I hope she knows I love her

I miss my family, in a good way

Hannah's extremely entertaining post about Ireland has made me want to live there even more. Oh to be retired.

I made Sam, the world's ugliest dog (LOOK THAT STUFF UP) Corey's background on his computer. He doesn't know yet :)

I am getting a wee bit sick of Modern Warfare. There, I said it ><

I have four articles to write before the week is . YIKES.

The back of my neck burned when I got embarrassed for the first time today.

Corey is growing long hair.

I want a Ford Bronco so bad.

Going to sleep with Animal Collective stuck in my head, the band I'm covering this week. They are new to me, but they are long time poets.

"The World's A Playground...

and somewhere along the way people forget that."

I seem to be surrounded by entrepenuers of life. I have just bought a book about a man who decided to redirect his life, it's called A Million Years in a Thousand Miles by Donald Miller (suggestion of Sarah and Sergei). So far all I have read is the inside cover and I am already completely inspired. Then I'm watching TV and once again Yes Man is on. What is it with this movie and inspiring me?? It's a good movie, but it's no Amelie. Lead girl says to lead man " The world's a playround! Somewhere along the way peope forget that." It's so true. What is life if you are not having fun??!
However, the must wait. I have a test tomorrow AGAIN. Don't these teachers know that this college??? What's with all the tests??! ForPete's sake, I thought I was goining to be able to look back on today twenty years from now and say, "THOSE WERE MY GLORY DAYS!!! and till still have those legs..." How am i supposed to do that if all I do is study?! Sheesh, college, what a waist of time ;D



I was in books a million buying A Million Miles, and the girl at the register was so pumped about everything! She saw my shirt and was trying to guess where it was from because she "LOVED IT!" After I told her it was an unfair test because the shirt was from Baton Rouge, she told me about her boyfriend moving there, forever twenty one, and feather brains. She was great! Hoorah for human connection.



I am most disappointed about the whether. I say "whether" because it has NO idea whether it wants to be sunny or extremely gloomy. Twey so days ago it was hot and the sun was blazing! And now what? They say it is going to snow.


In the mean time, I'm headed to dinner. Off to have fun :)

From My Heart Flow

So the twinkle lights I've got hanging in my room reflecting in my black tv screen look like stars in the sky. Cool :)
I had a really insignificant day (except that whole being alive thing). I babysat a friends puppy while doing loads and loads of laundry at his house. This may sound quite simple, but the day took a turn for the worst when the puppy decided to have the most potent diarrhea I've ever experienced. Poor dog :( But she didn't seem to mind much; it was Kelsie, Corey, and I that bore the brunt of it. When we drove back to the dorm it was night, and the rain brought with it a cool fog that clung to the bayou waters. It was beautiful.

So I saw Shutter Island. I LOVED IT. Well, most of it that is. The ending I was not fond of, but the rest of the movie was SO SO good that an anticlimactic ending was worth it!!!! And who knows, maybe I'm wrong and the ending is awesome!

I am craving a toffee coffee shake...

gone for fifteen minutes...

corey took me to get one!!! He is so great :)
Craving satisfied, I am now being forced to watch The Sweetest Thing, probably the stupidest movie I've ever seen. It has women in the bathroom feeling each other's breasts for perfectly scientific reasons. Way too much witty banter with extremely bad acting. Oh well, if Cameron Diaz is my biggest problem, I'm doin alright ^^

wiggity wiggity

It's been an interesting few days since I've been back to school. There was a moment today when I thought it was Tuesday due to our wacked Mardi Gras schedule. When I realized it was Friday, lets just say i basked in the glow that was the upcoming weekend. Or maybe it was the sun which has finally decided to shine.

Last night was a great night. Although I had two huge tests to study for, the Olympics were what were on my mind. In a panic, Kelsie (roommie :) and I flipped through the channels thinking we were missing the greatest thing since sliced bread, male's figure skating. When we realized it wasn't on till nine, I decided to pop down to the Starbucks which is right next to my dorm. ( note: this is EXTREMELY unfair to my budget.) But when I arrived, I found that more than just hours of nonsensical macro-evolution awaited me. Instead I found HUMANITY!! It was so great!!

Ok, so sitting across from me was this man. He had a huge poster board, glittery stickers, markers , potted tulips, and about four different valentines day cards spread all over the place. Realize that this was the 17th. The poor man sat there for quite a while, huffing and puffing as he examined his poster at all sorts of angles. I guess he was hoping this would make something magically appear. Finally he had it! ...Happy Valentines Day in huge letters. It was cute :) the Y on the 'Happy; had this shaky little wave of a tail that went all along the edge of the poster. Men are cute :) Then his phone rang. "Hello? Hey baby. Wait, you almost here? Nah nah that's fine! Where am I? I had to run out fo a minute, I'll be...I had to run out. Just out. It's fine baby I just... I'll be home soon. Hey, I love you. " I gave a bit of a giggle at his situation. He shot a glance at me and then told his lady on the other line. " See now this girl is laughin at me! I be lookin like a fool for you! But hey hey, I love you!" He smiled at me, completely aware of how taken he was. Then three women walked in who must have known him. They started picking up the cards and reading them, and he explained that it took him an hour and he still couldn't decide so he ditched the fifth card that said "I would die without you," and just bought four. Then one of the girls asked what he would do if she did not take him back. Eyes on my notecards, I turned an ear towards them. He let out a sigh and said he honestly did not know what he would do without her. It was so sincere! They left, and an hour later he was satisfied with his poster, and got up to leave. He looked at me one last time. I decided to be brave and "challengerish" and told him good luck. He smiled wide and walked out the door, confident.


I realized what time it was and raced back to the dorm in time to catch the end of women's half pipe and then, MENS FIGURE SKATING LONG PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND EVAN WON THE GOLD! HE HAS WON THE GOLD! THE AMERICAN HAS WON!!!! Heh, sorry, I'm still not over it. Plechenko got sliver, everything in the universe is as it should be :)

Today was ok, my tests were anything but easy, but I think I did alright. What was really awesome is that I turned in my article for the newspaper about the music of this year. It was my first time ever writing an article like this so I was nervous and had NO idea what to do. But my boss loved it!!!! This was the first time he didn't make any kind of corrections to anything I did. I was SO complimented, because he is an amazing boss, and therefore very thorough. Then he asked me if I wanted to be a part of the Freestyle team, and do a music review once a week on an album!!! I am so pumped!!!!! It's like being promoted. No more stories about budget cuts, ULM lubrarians writing children's books, etc etc. I finally feel like a WRITER. Ooooodellally Ooooodellaly (fortune tellers, lucky charms!)


I am arguing with Andy about the hilarity of Monty Python. I win, whether or not he agrees with me, because it's simply fact :0

have to go, seeing Shutter Island yayyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Ashes.

Corey, Kelsie, myself, Denise, and Moses (track team) just got back from Mass. Ash Wednesday has got to be one of my favorite services. The whole messages is such a beautiful one, the ashes such a beautiful symbol of forgiveness. I feel so at peace, even if it is 9:00 and I have much to do!

My trip home was a blast!!! I took the long way round to Jackson to stop in and see Sarah and Sergei. Well, I of course got lost, making the exact wrong turn that I did a month ago during a similar fiasco. With my phone on low battery I rang Sergei, who so splendidly led me back to Belhaven after about an hours worth of "uhhhhhh, turn around," and "you're on what street??! How did you get all the way down there?!" It was quite an adventure :)
When i finally got to his house, Sarah had just left for a Mary Kay party and would be back in an hour or so. Sarah, I love you to death, but man did me and Sergei have fun!!!! I love him more and more each time we hang out, as we cooked, played Mario on the Wii, and had deep psychological conversations on why marriages fail and the problem with most young couples. It was a blast. Then Sarah and Mark joined us!!! Talk about a steroid shot to my SOUL. It's amazing what turning around to see her walking through the door can do to me. Mmmmmmmmmmm family :)

After a much too short but much needed visit, I hit the road again. Three hours later I rolled into my driveway, gas light a blazin. Proceeded to have a wonderful week at home! Sure the whole trip was great, but my favorite part was probably hanging out with Taylor all day, especially with Gran and Grandad. I love seeing them with children, it shows me how much they must have doted on me as a kid. Grandad of course provided me with the funniest quote for my blog (unintenionally :)

Taylor was in the back playing games on the computer, and her Hannah Montana website could be heard in the kitchen. Grandad sat at the kitchen table, elbows spread on the table, a ham sandwich resting in his hands.
"What's all that music?"
"That's Taylor's Hannah Montana stuff"
"Oh yeah, that uh, uh, Miley Cypress girl!"


I could have died :) He is so pleasant. Now I'm sitting at my desk, watching the Olympic half pipe event, patiently waiting for Sean White!!!
Which reminds me...
I am unhealthily addicted to men's figure skating. I know, they are kind of creepy with their feathers and pink tassels, but I just can't help myself! My greatest fascination Evgeni Plushenko. He won gold at the last Olympics. At first, mom and I had prematurely decided we did not like him. He looked mean, he never smiled, and he was much, much, too serious. We did not like him....then they did the segment where they interview him at home. First words out of his mouth "Many people do not like me."


IMMEDIATE GUILT TRIP.


Ten minutes later, he was mean, he was quite. He never smiled because he was tragic. And he wasn't serious, he was an artist who was dedicated to his art. His face has that same appeal that Adrian Brody's does, like he is always on the verge on tears. I think my first son's name is going to be Plushenko.

Peace!

"The snap of a few sparks, a quick whiff of ozone, and the lamp blazed forth in unparalleled glory. "

Vampire Weekend, Olympics, my home, and facebook chat with Corey. I hope this is what they mean when they say "thats just life."

_______________________________________________________________
So My mom got Mr. Kenny the a much smaller version of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story one year for his birthday. i forget how awesome it is :)
_______________________________________________________________


It has been SO nice being at home! I was trying to explain to mom how releaving it was just to walk around. Like, I dont have to face North while making coffee, turn to face South and practically be sitting on the toilet. Its funny how the soul can get squished. A squishy soul. Now thats a funny sounding thing...

Tomorrow I may muster up the strength to go run at like 6 a.m. YIKES. I haven't had to do that in like two months.

Then I am going to pick up Taylor (Valencia's........dad's gf......daughter) and am taking her to Gran and Grandad's and then to the mall with mom. Marc Antony (my mac) is coming along for a check up. He won't start :(:(:( poor darling. He withstood many a battle, but alas, cookies were his demise.

Wow. Corey just changed my profile picture to an autistic man in a superman costume. Is that really the image i give? oh my oh my....





So mom and I were watching highlights of the saints game the other day, except they were playing the miked sound bites of the players talking. First off, Scott Fujita was always cool, but now he is TOP NOTCH COOL!!!! He is like a little boy, running up to Payton Manning and asking him to throw him a few, then running back to Sharper like a little boy laughing, "dude, dude, guess what i just said to Payton!" He is the most excited player I've ever seen. ( OK, so it was the Super Bowl but still!!) Secondly, the clip where Sean Peyton and Brees finally find each other amid the chaos is INCREDIBLE. That moment was an imbodiment of a whole seasons worth of why we love this team so much.
I tried to find it on the internet but couldn't. It went like this: (I'll do it as much justice as I can)
Drew: Hey coach!!!
Sean: THERE YOU ARE!!!!
(full force embrace, reamin so)
Sean: I LOVE YOU!!!
Drew: I LOVE YOU!!
( Big manly kisses on each others cheeks followed by huge smiles :)
Sean: YOU DID IT!
Drew: WE DID IT!!

The segment ended with some camera man's footage down on the feild during the celebration. Saints professed their appreciation for the city and the fans, thanked God, and played in the confetti with their children. It was beautiful. They were brothers, and we were their family. They finished with the now infamous shot of Brees holding his head phone strewed baby, teary eyed, while the baby's tiny outstretched hand grabbed at confetti. His wife smiling beautifully beside him. I took one look at mom, both of our eyes were all welled up with tears. It was hilarious, moving, deep. We laughed at ourselves, but a good bit of it was from sheer happiness. The Saints have WON THE SUPER BOWL. A city is triumphant, the good guy has won.(Not that I don't love Manning, I really do.) But he's already got one! God is just so good; it's amazing to STILL feel the victory in my bones :)


It's so amazing that Vampire Weekend can lift my soul so much. Its 11;30, I'm tired, being naggeed by people on facebook chat now that Corey has gone to bed, and yet, I'm so pumped about life!! I guess thats just what Vampire Weekend exists to do, get you hyped to be alive :)
I'm writing an article for the paper on them, and other various artists. it's been a real eye opener to how much music affects the human population. It's got to be one of the oldest artifacts ever. I think it's my favorite artifact, other than that huge pit of asian soldier statues, those guys were pretty awesome...



goodnight moon :)

This man is incredible

I was perched outside in the pouring rain
tryin to make myself a sail
and I'll float to you my darling
with the evening on my tail

~

Sit beside you in school
While we paint I make you laugh
Mine was never very good
Yours looked exactly like a photograph
Looks like im growin
I'm growin up beside you.
and the sun sets the scene
while the rain misses me
and all the time ill be growin
growin up beside you

~

Work my days for you, cause I love you
Girl, I don't want you
I need you
and I can't see no other way.
Darlin', I work my days for you, cause I love you
Girl, I don't want you
I need you
and I can't see no other way


Quickest pick me up when you are feeling down, or self sorry. Why i love Paolo Nutini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSnrf3Q9kh0

!oh best of all, i got my baaaaaaaaaaaabyy! :)

Escapees: The Lot of Us

So Corey and I were driving about today, looking at all the melting snow, and i saw one *the* funniest things in a good while. There, outside the old folks home, were two snow men. Well, a snow man and a lady really. But instead of your typical uprights three section icebergs, they were done up like old people! One (the lady) was sitting in a wheelchair-contribution of the home i suppose. the other was an old man with a cane, and a slightly humped back. I found this extremely hilarious, even though it was a bit of a mockery, and maybe even a little politically incorrect o.O

But then i had a thought. What if they really were two old people, escapees for that matter!!! Lovers on the run, well, more like on the roll and hobble. And then the snow was coming down so fast, and they were moving so slow that they got covered and are still stuck there!

How awful. I feel compelled to go and check.

All around, it has been a wondrous day. With school canceled, and two murderous tests postponed, i am GIDDY. Not much happened today to deserve such a great mood, I am just alive! And i finallyyyyyyyy found a second artist to go in my article, thanks to Hannah's AMAZING website. Andrew Bird has made the cut, and boy does he deserve it! My list has boiled down to a final Paolo Nutini, Vampire Weekend, and Andrew Bird. Muse gets honorable mention simply because even the mediocrity of this album they remain incredible musicians. Another great happening of today was Corey and I finishing Lars and the Real Girl. It was precious, and the faith you develop in every character is so refreshing :)
I think what has me the most excited is that I too, an am escapee. Well, as of tomorrow morning that is. I AM GOING TO BATON ROUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wooohoooo! i have five days to spend there, and golly gee am i excited. It feels like ages since I've been home. Probably just because my family is that awesome, making them that easy to miss.

*Drat. I have just made a steaming bowl of ramen noodles and have managed to loose the seasonings. They are NOWHERE to be found! Disappointment-extreme.*

I think i might put the article I write for the paper on here, just because I feel like those guys deserve all the notice they can get.

Sorry if this here post wasn't quite as interesting; I'm trying to become more inspired in order to begin my article. It's not working, obviously. I will just have to put on Paolo's "No Other Way." Even in the darkest of hours that song can move the soul a mile.

Around The Well

iron and wine's newest^
~and boy with a coin is it good~

i work for the newspaper. did i tell you that? i do. its a new job, and one that constantly has my nerves in a tangle. But I have finally been assigned a piece that won't reflect too much on how little i know of the world. Best albums released during 2009-2010.

can i get an amen????

This is so awesome!!!! I'm sticking with indie and folk music mainly, and so far the research has been most pleasant :)






Today is good now. It got off to a rocky start however.
*advice* Walmart has chai tea latte mix that is only four dollars for eight of them. Buy this. Save money, along with your soul from the evil cooperation that is Starbucks. I lecture, but man do they get me with their modern art and fancy flavors.

ANYWAYS, the day looked good around 8:00. I had showered and was proceeding to put on a very comfy tshirt and jeans. then it happened. CAAPOW, Collette's hand (that i do not claim responsibility for, as my body has a mind of its own) swats an entire thermos of scalding walmart latte all over the vanity. Gush Gush Gush, it came out in waves like the thermos was vomiting or something. (It and I are not on good terms, along with the hand.) My bobby pins still smell like chai, which is fine by me i guess.
So the game plan was to sacrifice my bath towel for the greater good, and rush off to class.
I skipped art today; for some reason the two and a half our class seemed to be surrounded by a magnetic field that did not compliment me, and i was immediately repelled all the way back to Commons 1. My dorm.
I now sit at Coreys computer, fresh out of bio lab. I am listening to Iron and Wine's new album, which makes me feel like i am actually sitting on their record as it spins. Amazing. The faint cries of Corey's Modern Warfare echo in the background, and this room actually feels like home. Amazing that after 18 years in one city, it took only two years for North Louisiana to start feeling homey. I guess they have been a pretty detrimental two years. And filled with good people at that.
i guess its time for that amen i asked for...
Amen, signs body, and exits.