FlowersBecomeScreens

My friend mentioned in the last post called me today in a panic because she sent in her deposit for Cornell and is now having second thoughts.  Maybe she's realizing that 76k is a bit too much, even for the Ivy League name recognition.  I hope no one was looking at me while I was in the car talking to her, because I kept making 'THANK GOD!  THANK GOD SHE FIGURED IT OUT!' faces.

Also saw a funny sign in a store window while walking to the train station over the weekend, one I desperately want to buy and put next to the toilet for my roommate to see.

How do you tell someone you love dearly that they may not be making a great decision...without looking like you want to rain on their parade?  One of my best friends recently decided she wanted to return to school to get an MBA and go into the hospitality business.  All great and wonderful.  I need to do a little background on her for you, though.

She is one of those people who vacillates back and forth between everything - men, careers, aspirations, goals, etc.  From week to week and month to month she has a different master plan.  Based on that, I have started to take what she says with a grain of salt, if you know what I mean.  It's a case of if she follows through, you're pleasantly surprised, and if she doesn't, you aren't really surprised at all.  This has been going on for at least the last three years, so it isn't a one-time deal.

She's incredibly charismatic and very intelligent.  It also sometimes seems like she has a split personality.  There is the girl I know - the goofy, smart, slightly geeky person - and the girl she displays to the rest of the world.  I'm not very fond of that other girl.  She does wild and crazy and unnecessary things to impress/dismay other people.  I don't really understand why she needs to be that way.  However, I've accepted it and have long since given up commenting upon the doings of that other girl.  She's her own person, I am neither her mother nor her therapist, and if that's how she chooses to act, that's her business.

Now, back to the dilemma.  After 6 years in college to get a bachelor's in Anthropology (after 1 school transfer and about 6 major changes), she has spent the last year or two floating from job to job, scheme to scheme, without anything definite.  The decision to pursue business isn't a surprising one since she has always been interested in entrepreneurship, event planning, and working with people in locations all over the world.  That I applaud because it seems like she is finally figuring out what she truly wants.

She went ahead and started applying to schools.  She set the bar high, as she should have, and got some great results.  She got accepted into both Cornell and UNLV.  They are the #1 and #2 programs in the country, respectively, for the area she wants to go into.  Both great options, right?

The breakdown is like this.  Cornell is the #1 program and has the Ivy League name recognition.  It also costs $75,000 for ONE YEAR and involves a significant amount of time spent in Singapore.  UNLV is the #2 program, is located in Vegas (a place that she likes A LOT, to the point that she has talked on multiple occasions about moving out there), and offered her a resident assistant coordinator job because she was an RA for 2 years at her previous school.  That would knock off a lot of the cost, and since she has been a bartender for almost 5 years now, she would definitely be able to find a decently paying job in Vegas.

One more important tidbit about this girl.  To her, if it's not New York City, North Jersey, Vegas, or some exotic island, it's really not worth her time.  She is a party person and can't stand being in places that aren't fast paced and upscale.  Put it this way - she hated University of Maryland when she went there, which is not rural and is close to Washington, D.C. (I visited and thought it was fine, if a little big).  She also hated ROME, of all places.  Yes.  Rome, Italy.  It wasn't good enough for her.

What program has she chosen?  Yup, Cornell.

Ithaca and Singapore.  For a girl who hates out-of-the-way places and tends to behave badly.  Not to mention a girl who is lucky if she has 75 dollars lying around, let alone $75,000.  I know there is a lot of value in saying 'I went to Cornell' or 'My MBA is from Cornell', but is this really a great time to put yourself in that much debt?  And yes, Singapore counts as international travel and I'm sure it will be great, but does she realize that in a country as strict as that, she can't get too crazy?

Am I just really cynical?  Or is she making a bad choice?

Do you guys remember Stains, the cupcake-deprived dog from the video I posted a while ago?  Well, he was just declared Entertainer of the Year on The Soup Awards and appeared on the show - and they gave him a plate of cupcakes to eat!  Yay Stains!

(Yes, that absolutely necessitated a post.)

Ok, sometimes I really can't handle Facebook!  It's this evil stalking vehicle through which I find out that everyone I went to HS with is married and having babies.  Just now I saw through a comment on another friend's wall that a girl that used to constantly get mistaken for me (and vice versa) is married and preggers.  Let's just say I wouldn't want her for a mother, knowing her history.  I guess it's not really fair of me to judge; maybe she's gotten herself cleaned up.  But really?  I just can't even express why this drives me insane.

People, we are only 25!  Is education/career not cool anymore?  Or is my attitude of 'I can do that later' going to leave me a spinster? (P.S. I'd be a bitchin' spinster - I'd have dogs instead of children.)

I could go on, but I'm supposed to be getting ready for work, not ranting on here.

I laughed just as hard at this as I did at poor Stains the cupcake-deprived dog.  I guarantee that this is what my future children will be like.

As usual, I nicked this from someone else. :-D


.o1 Did you date someone from your school? Yes, 2 guys.  One I'm still friends with and the other dicked me over for my (at the time) best friend and now they're getting married, this Saturday (Valentine's Day), I believe.  Doesn't that make you want to puke? (I'm over it, I swear)

.o2 Did you marry someone from your high school? No, and it is highly unlikely that I ever will.

.o3 Did you car pool to school? Yes, because my school was built when the population of my town was 1/4 of what it was when I was there, so, even with ONLY the seniors allowed to drive to school, we STILL had to go three to a parking spot.  Until we figured out how to scan & duplicate the parking passes, anyhow.  Then it was first come, first serve, and everyone else parked in the rec center across the street.

.o4 What kind of car did you have? First I had a Dodge Spirit that nearly killed me like 18 times because everything kept breaking at inopportune moments, like, say, in the middle of an intersection.  I got a Nissan Altima once the Spirit (nicknamed the Old Grey Mare - don't ask) finally kicked the bucket.

.o5 What kind of car do you have now? Still that same Nissan Altima.

.o6 It was Friday night...where were you then? The mall, movies, Applebee's, or at someone's house doing god knows what.

.o7 It is Friday night...where are you now? home or out with the coolest bitches in Philly

.o8 What kind of job did you have in high school? I was a goalkeeper trainer (taught younger soccer players the fine art of flinging your body in front of speeding black and white projectile spheres) and babysitter.

.o9 What kind of job do you do now? Occupational therapist in training in Central Bucks school district, resident aide at a mental health facility, freelancer

.1o Were you considered a flirt? a few people might say yes, but for the most part, no.

.11 Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? no, no, and no.  I gave up playing instruments in 7th grade and am not a good singer.

.12 Were you a nerd? I was and still am a nerd, but in high school, I was more the scholar-athlete type.  The athleticism somehow made up for my high dork factor.

.13 Did you get suspended or expelled? nope

.14 Can you sing the fight song? We didn't have one.

.15 Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? There are a few.  Mr. Lanz, my history teacher and track coach, was one of the most intelligent, quirky people I ever knew and had a great sense of humor.  Ms. Sobeck, creative writing teacher.  Mr. Nuccio was the one who introduced me to philosophy for which I am endlessly thankful.  Mr. Scheiner, my AP English teacher, who taught me how to say exactly what I needed to say when I wrote without any excess bullshit, for which I am also endlessly thankful.  Plus, he was hot. LoL

.16 Where did you sit during lunch? My gigantic group claimed our own table in the cafeteria.

.17 When did you graduate? 2002

.18 What was your school mascot? We were the Braves.  Our mascot was a Lenni Lenape Native American warrior.  As an athlete, I was a LADY Brave, lol.

.19 If you could go back and do it again, would you? Absolutely not.  I didn't hate high school, but I would never want to repeat it.  You have no freedom!

.2o Did you have fun at Prom? What was the song?  I don't remember the song for either junior or senior prom, but I think one of them might have been 'Here's to the Night' by Eve6.  Junior prom was fun.  Senior prom was not, because I was very sick, was in the midst of the drama mentioned in #1, and there were wildfires going on which significantly impacted post-prom activities.

.21 Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Considering I did not have a date to either prom, yes, I still talk to myself, hehe.

.22 Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Maybe.  The crazies at my school decided a 5 year reunion was necessary and I skipped that.  Five years was not long enough for me to want to see some of those people yet, haha!  I might go to the 10 year, though, just out of curiosity.

.23 Do you still talk to people from school? yes, about 15-20 people in total. (considering my graduating class was 500, that is not a lot)

.24 What are/were your school's colors? Predominantly red and white, sometimes accented with navy.  I played so many sports that I've only just started to like the color red again. :P

My friend agreed to change the date of her birthday party so now I can go see Above & Beyond in DC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RAPTURE!

I desperately want to go see Above & Beyond (trance DJs) in Washington, DC on Feb. 21.  The only problem is, a friend of mine already requested to use my place in Philly as a planning/launching ground for her birthday party that night.  I said yes before I knew about the show.  But these guys are based in Europe and people in the USA don't like trance music, so the odds of me getting to see them on American soil anytime soon after this show has passed....are very low.  The odds of me getting to see them EVER after this are low!  ARGH.  I didn't go to see Sasha (of Sasha & Digweed) on New Year's because I had no one to go with and I also passed up Tiesto at one point because of a scheduling conflict...I'M TIRED OF MISSING THE BEST DJS! *throws a tantrum*

*Moans* What do I do?

A few people have posted poems lately, and it inspired me to write a few of my own. Today's snow was the perfect mood-setter.

White

I watch a snowflake softly fall

The storm’s fragile afterthought

And I wonder

Is the atmosphere spooning sugar

Into the bitter drink of the world?

Radiator

Like a sentinel you stand

Moored

Clicking, hissing, clanking

Protesting your man-made fever

Until you burn dry

And lose your fight to this cold night.

Critical Thinking

I could rhyme

Like some clever writers do

I could converse all in verse

To please and even vex you

I could find a far off slant

For the words that do refuse

I could even be conceiving

A clever little ruse

Of words that sound like poetry

But are so trivial to me

And you will try in vain

To endlessly ascertain

The meaning of meaningless.

They #1

They say

How can you miss someone you’ve never met?

I say

How can you lose something you’ve never bet?

Man

I’m made of your rib

And so I fit against your heart

To shelter or reveal it.

Why is there a giant space under here? The world may never know. Anyone want to smoke hookah with me now?

EDIT: Well, there was a giant space but it has mysteriously disappeared. The hookah offer still stands.

For reasons unknown, I'm slipping back into my ambient/electronic middle eastern music phase. It's been about two years. I'm having an eargasm listening to the cds that have been stashed on my shelf all that time.

This is 'Trigana' by Kabul Workshop. Muse food, pure and simple.

03 Trigana

No fieldwork today, as the school district is closed!!!  Yay.  It was nice to sleep in a bit.  I should probably go out and shovel at some point, but I'm not feeling too much motivation on that front.

Anyhow, I got an e-mail from a guy on a dating site that basically said this: "Wow, you wrote a lot in your profile.  To be honest I didn't read any of it, but would you want to talk or meet up sometime?"

-_-

No, I would NOT, since you can't even be bothered to read what I spent the time to write! *huffs*

( An update on the two-timer )

I was in a bad mood before, but this video changed that.  I laughed so hard I cried.

I think you guys have guessed all that you reasonably could on my 15 songs, though I am still surprised no one got #13.  Here are the answers and little bit about each song. :D

EDIT: Sorry about the obnoxiously uncooperative music playlist.

1. Can't Sleep (Signum Remix) - Above & Beyond:  A beautiful song, and it perfectly captures the feeling of still loving someone even though you can't stand them.

2. The Heinrich Maneuver - Interpol: Not much to say, just an all around good rock song.

3. Sullen Girl - Fiona Apple:  I love Fiona Apple and wish she didn't go sort of nuts, lol (though she still puts out good music).  Tidal is probably one of the best albums in the universe.

4. Wonderwall - Oasis:  I won't lie, I get a little verklempt whenever I hear this, because it makes me think of Charlie Pace.

5. Merry Happy - Kate Nash:  One of those songs that sticks in your head but you don't resent for doing so.

6. Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly: An unofficial St. Patrick's Day anthem.  Goes well with green feather boas, cheap bead necklaces, green beer, Boondock Saints, delirium tremens...

7. Alfie - Lily Allen: Does anyone else find it amusing that her brother, who this song is about, is now the lead in Equus?

8. The Girl You Lost to Cocaine (Stonebridge mix) - Sia:  Sia's brilliant.  She has this great, unique voice and is so soulful.  Listen closely to the lyrics.

9. Martyr - Depeche Mode: When I need to get my goth on, Depeche Mode is always a good place to start.

10. Vow - Garbage: Basically, the best revenge song EVAR.

11. Ooh La La - Goldfrapp: I would do a burlesque routine to this song, no joke. (that, or to Gold Lion by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

12. Say Aha - Santogold: A lot of people compare Santogold to M.I.A., but I think there is no comparison.  Santogold is better by leaps and bounds.  I love her album.

13. Poker Face - Lady GaGa: How did you guys not get this one?  It's the only one that's anywhere near the current Top 40, lol.

14. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash:  I think you're pretty much inhuman if you don't like Johnny Cash.

15. Distractions - Zero 7: Sia is singing on this song, too.  I always wanted to slow dance to this song with someone I was falling in love with.  Hasn't happened yet, but I have time. :D

Ganked from redheadfaerie  again.  She's cool like that.

* Step 1: Put your playlist on random.
* Step 2: Post the first line from the first 15 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
* Step 3: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.


1. 4:30 am, I'm awake again...singing to the dark through open eyes
2. How are things on the West Coast?
3. Days like this I don't know what to do with myself, all day and all night
4. Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you
5. Watching me like you never watched no one, don't tell me that you didn't try to check out my bum
6. Must it take a life for hateful eyes to glisten once again
7. Ohhhh, oh dearie me, my little brother's in his bedroom smoking weed
8. I've stuck around through thick and through thin
9. I've been a martyr for love and I will die in the flames
10. I can't use what I can't abuse
11. Dial up my number now, weaving it through the wire
12. Louder than they allow, say Aha! 
13. I wanna hold 'em like they do in Texas please
14. Love is a burning flame and it makes a fiery ring
15. I fancy a big house, 2 kids, and a horse

Guess away my pretties. :)

Pinched from redheadfaerie .

1. What are your nicknames?

They are many, some old, some new.  Old ones include: Ange, Smiley, and Psycho Barbie (don't ask).  New ones include: Andreaus, Stavrosina, Twinkle Tits, and Spilly McGee.

2. What's your favorite holiday?

It's a toss up between Halloween and Greek Easter.

3. What's new in your life right now?

A long and boring commute, actually sort of enjoying being an OT in a school district, and trying to recover from the plague.

4. Where was the last Starbucks that you visited?

I rarely visit Starbucks, as I'm not a big coffee drinker.  I like their iced teas in the summer, though.  The last time I went was probably in August at the Limerick outlets.

5. Are you introverted or extroverted?

Mostly extroverted, though I have my moments of introversion.

6. What books are you currently reading?

Nothing that isn't OT related, unfortunately... *sigh*

7. What celebrity do you have a crush on?

Jason Isaacs, Ewan McGregor

8. What brand of TV do you have?

Sony - my uncle works for them so we get everything cheap

9. How many songs do you have on your iPod?

Around 600.

10. First three things you do right after you get up?

Go to the bathroom, shower, brush my teeth

11. You go out with friends to get some ice-cream. How many scoops and what flavors do you order?

Depends where we go.  If it's Cold Stone, birthday cake remix with gummi bears.  If it's anywhere else, it'll probably be vanilla with sprinkles if it's soft ice cream and anything involving peanut butter if it's hard ice cream.

12. What do you love to wear?

Flip flops, ballet flats, retro cardigans or dresses, oversized hoodies

13. When people guess your age, do they usually think you're older, younger or get it right? 

I get both.  When I'm with little kids, people always think I'm in my 30s and the kids are mine (and this happened when I was as young as 16!!!).  Other times, for whatever reason, people think I'm around 19.
</lj>

I am having no luck today.  I tried to post a few quizzes/memes and they aren't coming out right.  Maybe it's Firefox or something.  But in case you were wondering, I'm a Slytherclaw and my sexuality is British.

I caught a cold and I'm not happy about it.  I sanitized my little heart out at fieldwork the last two weeks.  It must have been airborne - nothing I can do about that.  I always get sick in January anyway.

Of course I have to work at the mental health place tomorrow (one of my part time jobs).  It isn't bad and I will be able to relax, but all of the residents smoke like chimneys and that will not be pleasant for the cold.  The office is also drafty as hell and with it being the coldest few days of the year (it's 8 F, or -13 C, with wind chills as low as -2 F, or -19 C - and there are plenty of places that are much colder!), I will be freezing my butt off.  Tomorrow will be a day where it is difficult for me to resist taking my patients' medications, lol!!!

I should probably go up the street to the Rite Aid while it is still open so I can get some cold meds.  But the thought of walking up the hill when it is EIGHT degrees outside is pretty much killing that and there's no way I'm losing my parking spot because it's the one of the two that are directly in front of my house.  City living...

I should go to bed.  I probably will after What Not to Wear.  Incidentally, I really want to nominate my supervisor for the show.  Her clothes are godawful.  Are you ready to scream?  I'll describe some of her offenses.  Tapered pants that are too short.  Sweats or yoga pants trying unsuccessfully to look like dress pants.  Zip up holiday sweaters with faux fur at the cuffs and collar.  A color palette that includes white, black, grey, brown, and olive green.  Snore.  Seriously, I feel way overdressed when I'm with her.  Her outfit today: button down lumberjack flannel (appropriate for the temperature, but not much else), black too-short tapered pants (, crocs.  My outfit today: purple v-neck sweater, grey dress pants, sparkly black flats.  Why has she given up?!  She's only 38.

Don't give up, people!  Looking good makes you feel good and when you feel good you look even better, no matter what size or shape you are.  As they say, dress the body you have, not the body you want!

Over and out.

Stolen fromzauza , who stole it fromla_belle_ange .

Ten things you’d know about me if you knew me really well

1. I think weather is really cool and secretly want to be a meteorologist
2. I have a large, crazy family that I will someday write a book about
3. I'm a pacifist at heart
4. I understand philosophy and really like it
5. I hate fractions.  Seriously.  They're evil.
6. I'm a huge geek/nerd/dork - whatever you want to call it
7. I'm a dog person
8. I'm afraid of being on a horse (not the horse itself, I can look at them and pet them but you will never get me on one)
9. I used to play soccer and was very good at it
10. I have dissected a human body


Nine of my worst qualities

1. I procrastinate
2. I sometimes give people advice when they don't want it
3. I restrain my emotions at times because I don't want to look stupid or weak
4. I find going to the gym incredibly boring
5. I am not afraid of confrontation (the verbal kind)
6. I bite my nails
7. I am a bit too sarcastic
8. I forget to call people back
9. I can't stand when people waste my time


Eight movies that I could never get tired of

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Joyeux Noel
3. Anchorman
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Love Actually
6. The Illusionist
7. Any of the Lord of the Rings movies
8. Gladiator


Seven best days of my life

1. The day I finish grad school
2. The day I purchased something at Loius Vuitton IN PARIS (I felt like I'd made it - how short-lived THAT was, lol.)
3. Prague
4. Pompeii
5. The Perfect Storm aka my 23rd birthday
6. The day I finally saw Radiohead live (wish I hadn't been too poor to afford anything but lawn seats!)
7. The respective birthdays of all my nieces and nephews (Kyria, JP, Devin, Nicholas, Christopher)


Six things I’m known to collect

1. Unique wine/beer bottles
2. Foreign currency
3. Ticket stubs for the scrapbook(s) I will never make
4. Ballet flats
5. Anything star-shaped
6. Really random family possessions that no one else ever noticed or wanted


Five things that are always with me

1. lip gloss of some kind
2. gum or a mint
3. water
4. cell phone
5. sunglasses


Four places you could find me if I was missing

1. Prague
2. A beach somewhere
3. Wawa
4. Newport, Rhode Island


Three wishes I want to make

1. To find my other half
2. To be successful as a published author someday
3. To eventually be able to see and do most of the things I dream of
(Do I sound like a terrible person for not saying world peace?)


Two names I’d give my future children
1. Penelope
2. I have no idea.

One thing I’m really good at

1. Writing (duh)

Ok, I have to partially rescind my last disgruntled entry.  I went shopping at another store today, a store in which I never buy bottoms because they don't fit...and in light of my difficulty with everything being too big at Gap, I decided to experimentally try the pants that are always too small.  They fit.

I guess it is me.  I don't know how I could possibly have managed to LOSE weight over the holidays, but I suppose anything is possible.

Vanity sizing is still dumb, though.

You know what sucks?  (...did I start my last entry with that, too?)

When a store that you previously loved and could always find things at feels the need to change their sizing, so that NOTHING fits you right anymore.  Everything I would have worn before is now too big.  I'm not foolish enough to think it's because I've lost that much weight.  The holidays just passed and they aren't exactly known for promoting the LOSS of weight.  The natural solution is to go down a size, but of course, that doesn't fit right either.  I could wear it, because I can get them closed/zipped without pinching any vital organs, but they are either too short, a bit too tight in the waist, pulling across the crotch, or ten feet up my butt.  I am well and truly 'between' their fake sizes.  I would rather be the bigger one if it meant that it FIT RIGHT.

Vanity sizing is stupid.  I don't feel better about myself because the number that is assigned to describe the dimensions of my lower half is 2 counts less.  I feel worse because society finds it necessary to try to make me feel better about myself by attempting to fool me into believing that I AM smaller.  Newsflash, society, I like my body and size is just an arbitrary number!  Get over it.  UGH.

IF IT ISN'T BROKEN, DON'T FIX IT.  Do you hear that, Gap?