In Honor of Thanksgving

232 things I'm thankful for

1. music
2. Mayday Parade
3. good books
4. rainy days
5. hot cocoa
6. iced coffee
7. mint tea
8. lap tops
9. typewriters
10. kindles
11. autumn
12. crunch leaves
13. video games
14. cameras
15. movies
16. Capn' Crunch cereal
17. cursive
18. mountains
19. blustery fall days
20. running water
21. long, hot showers
22. bubble baths
23. apricot face scrub
24. Queen-sized beds
25. fairy-tales
26. bedtime stories
27. warm blankets
28. cuddling
29. hugs
30. summer
31. vacations
32. cancelled clasess
33. good grades
34. art
35. paint
36. blue ballpoint pens
37. chocolate milk
38. chocolate in general
39. almonds
40. ice cream
41. clocks
42. lockets
43. old keys
44. water skiing
45. Po-Bev
46. rolling down grass hills
47. tshirts
48. boxers
49. flannel shirts
50. push-up bras
51. cute panties
52. dream catchers
53. stuffed animals
54. pillows
55. leather armchairs
56. balconies
57. window seats
58. libraries
59. widows
60. scarves
61. forests
62. flowers
63. bouquets
64. holidays
65. poems 
66. new notebooks
67. rock concerts
68. Pandora
69. my iPhone
70. cars
71. my family
72. Mom
73. Dad
74. James
75. Isaac
76. Alana
77. friends
78. the ocean
79. waves
80. sandcastles
81. ice sculptures
82. gardens 
83. turquoise
84. travel
85. NaNoWriMo
86. internet
87. biology
88. Walmart
89. thundershowers
90. cafes
91. rice pudding
92. henna tattoos
93. church
94. airplanes
95. miracles
96. prophets
97. apostles
98. Joseph Smith
99. Jesus
100. Heavenly Father
101. literature
102. college
103. being an English major
104. grammar
105. watches
106. vintage jewelry 
107. ceramics
108. water
109. teacups
110. sketchbooks
111. adverbs
112. semicolons
113. ampersands
114. braces
115. doctors
116. games
117. drinks in glass bottles
118. fireflies
119. shooting stars
120. mythology
121. Pokemon
122. Dr. Who
123. secret agent movies
124. crushes
125. romance
126. marriage
127. temples
128. scriptures
129. card games
130. magic tricks
131. real magic
132. mythological creatures
133. sharpies
134. mechanical pencils
135. sand
136. convertibles
137. boots
138. converse
139. high heels
140. sneakers
141. dresses
142. leggings
143. yoga pants
144. jeans
145. purses
146. conditioner
147. toothbrushes
148. toothpaste
149. straighteners
150. deodorant 
151. makeup
152. people who curl my hair for me
153. gifts
154. carpool lanes
155. trains
156. bears
157. moose
158. Mia
159. pets
160. nail polish
161. neon
162. black lights
163. constellations
164. sailboats
165. the moon
166. the sun
167. stars
168. streams
169. rain boots
170. tampons
171. liners
172. commas
173. private bathrooms
174. hot tubs
175. motor boats
176. cruises
177. climbing trees
178. bagels
179. chicken salad
180. the Script
181. beanies
182. texting gloves
183. back massages
184. skipping rocks
185. birthdays
186. swings
187. bakeries
188. having a job
189. puppies
190. Broadway
191. musicals
192. airports
193. Christmas
194. snowstorms
195. snow days
196. snow plows
197. lakes
198. aspens
199. water colors
200. big paper
201. grandparents
202. caramel
203. candles
204. perfume
205. lip gloss
206. letters
207. never-ending stories
208. mardigras parades
209. floating lanterns
210. Christmas lights
211. kites
212. rockets
213. grass
214. the word "aesthetic"
215. rainbows
216. clouds
217. the purple gray color the sky gets before a storm
218. butterflies
219. bridge jumping
220. ramen
221. mac n' cheese
222. string cheese
223. old books
224. graffiti
225. peanut butter
226. bananas
227. fancy dresses
228. glitter
229. Sherlock BBC
230. British television in general
231. British men
232. Scottish accents

Calculus Students

I am sitting in math class. Several students are bent over their desk, feverishly copying down notes written by the TA teaching our class today. Writing down the notes is all they really can do, because I'm certain no one else can understand her accent either. She has used up all of the whiteboard, and now needs to erase so that she can continue to give us the wonderful eternal gift of knowledge.

She does't have an eraser, so she uses a paper-towel to clear the board. Then, out of nowhere, one of the students (he's wearing a purple paisley shirt. I'm not sure if that little tid-bit is relevant, but I just want you to understand how odd people are) pulls out a dry-erase eraser and holds it up, asking if she would like to use it.

Okay, so it's very nice of him to be helpful and allow the TA to use his white-board eraser. I'm sure it works much better, and it does make a nice sound against the board, but really. Who carries around an eraser in their back pocket? I'm going to give Purple-Paisley-Man the benefit of the doubt and assume there is some logical reason for this, but I'm not too certain about that.

Moral of the story? You never know when you might need a white-board eraser. I've decided to get one for my backpack and laugh at everyone who ever has to use paper towels in the future. Take that, beeyotches. Muwahaha.

Dorm Bathrooms

I think I might probably be the only one who thinks this way, but I find it really awkward to run into people in the bathroom. Since I live in a college dorm building with a shared bathroom, this unfortunately happens quite a lot. Rationally, there should be nothing too awkward about this. I mean, everyone goes to the bathroom, but still...

It's like, what are you supposed to say? "Hey, I just peed. You're here to pee. How's your day going? Excellent? Wonderful. Go ahead and do what you need to do. I'm glad we could have this little chat."

Honestly. It's just weird. That is all.

P.S. On a totally unrelated note, NaNoWriMo has officially begun as of 38 minutes ago! Happy writing.

P.S.S. Ugh. I don't know what to write. I'm already failing and it's day one.

Awkward

Today I went to my creative arts class, which has 1200 people in it and is held in a huge auditorium. Because of this, it can be hard to find people if you meet up to sit together. 

Today I got to class first, so I texted my friend JesJes to tell her where I was sitting, and she said she would be there soon. 

So I was sitting alone, and this boy comes up and asks if he can sit in the seat next to me. I told him politely that I was saving the seat for someone, so he sat in the row behind me instead. 

Class started and JesJes wasn't here yet, so it was dark when she came in. She couldn't find me in the sea of a thousand students, so I had to sit alone awkwardly in front of the boy I told couldn't sit by me because the seat was taken. 

I'm consoled by the fact that I'll probably never see him again, and if I do, he hopefully won't remember. Yay for having such a big class! 

to walk in the wind

uitwaaien
(v.) to take a break to clear one's head;
lit. "to walk in the wind"

Sometimes I think I need to uitwaaien a bit. It is imperative that I figure out how to pronounce this word so that I can use it in my every-day language. It is my new favorite word.

My life is made

The Mystery of Social Protocol

Today I was walking down the sidewalk to go to my class, and a friend of mine happened to be walking in the opposite direction. Whenever that I happens, I'm reminded about how awkward I really am.

First off, there's the question of whether or not I should even acknowledge them. I could pull out my phone, or pretend to be super interested in something in the other direction so that I don't notice them, or I could just walk past as if I don't even recognize them at all. The problem with this is that I keep glancing over at them to see if they're going to say hello first. Then if you have both obviously seen each other, should I just say hi and get it over with?

That's not even the biggest issue though. What I can never decide is when to say hello. So, I'm walking down the sidewalk, and I see my friend who I know well enough to definitely say hi to, but they're still a ways down the sidewalk, and I never know what to do in that awkward walking time in between.

Should I just stare at this person for the entire fifteen seconds it takes us to be close enough for a hello to be appropriate, or should I just look straight forward and casually glance over once the gap has closed off a bit? I end up doing a strange hybrid of the two approaches, glancing over and then quickly looking away until we're close enough for me to mumble an awkward, "hi..."

and then we pass and it's over.

and then I spend the rest of my time walking to class wondering if everyone think's I'm really awkward, and I should just give up on trying to have any friends.

On a happier but totally unrelated note, it snowed today! Only October 3rd, and there's already snow. (On October third, he asked me what day it was. It's October third. Anybody?) It didn't stick to the ground or anything, but it was very nippy. And delightful. That's all.

David Tennant

I have a story to tell that reveals a lot about what a freak I really am. About two weeks ago (it was actually exactly two weeks ago, but who's keeping track?) I was out to eat with my friends, and there was a boy sitting at the adjacent table who looked a lot like David Tennant. 

Side track: I really love Dr. Who, and Ten is by far my favorite out of all the doctors. Like, I really love him. Don't even get me started. 

Being the creeper that I am, I took a quick snap.....and then I put it on Facebook. It was liked by my fellow Whovians, and my friend JesJes commented on how beautiful he was. 

Everything was fine and dandy until I get a random friend request from a person I've never met. Turns out, this was David Tennant who had found out about his picture going viral over the Internet. 

Moral of the story? I don't actually know; I'd probably do it again. 

The Arabian Nights

At my school library, they have a shelf where they sell used books for really cheap. Most of them are super old; like, you can imagine them sitting on a shelf in Belle's library and being completely at home with their worn bindings, yellowed pages, and engraved cursive lettering. 

If I'm a sucker for two things, it's old books and antiques. 

Las night, I found a gloriously vintage copy of The Arabian Nights, it had two volumes of peeling, crinkling beauty. I was going to buy them ($5 for both of them? I think yes), but the circulation desk had already closed for the night. And so, with a parting sigh, I placed them back on the shelf (indented a bit, so they were more hidden), and promised to return the next day. 

I came back today after class with a crisp five dollar bill (okay, it was actually a ten, but that's not important. It was also kind of old and wrinkly); I was very excited for my new/old books. 

I got there, and there was a man standing there, holding my books! I was about ready to snatch them from his hands and tell him they they were my books--I has found them first, but some minuscule amount of social awareness kept me silent and helpless as he walked off with my hopes and dreams tucked under his arms. That might be a little bit of an over-exaggeration, but that's basically how I felt. 

Moral of the story: being polite and normal was totally not worth two beautifully glorious books.  

I like ampersands

This is totally unrelated to anything, but I think I have problems. I've recently discovered that the semicolon is my favorite punctuation mark. Who even has a favorite punctuation mark? I also really like to use ampersands instead of the word "and". Double ampersands are my favorite. Hello && Goodbye; doesn't that just look cool? & besides, it's fun to write it 'cause it's all swirly and stuff.

Now, please carry on with your life and forget this ever happened...

Disney Movies

I'm currently watching Disney's Mulan after just finishing The Emperor's New Groove. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a HUGE Disney fan; I love all Disney movies, and the princess movies hold a special place in my heart (I've got to say, Tangled is my favorite). Recently, I've been seeing a lot hating on all the princess. The general complaint is that Disney princess have no good qualities except for being beautiful and skinny, and that they only get a happy ending because of their good-looks. Well, what I have to say about this is:

Okay, so they do make some stupid decisions, but so do we all. That's the point, I think: to learn and grow. Let's take Jasmine for example. Maybe it was stupid of her to run away from home for the sole reason that she was being forced into an arranged marriage with a man she had never met. I'll admit that Ariel's decision to give up her voice and leave her family for a man she never really met wasn't the smartest decision. 

Still, a movie about a girl who decided to do what she was told and live the rest of her life dreaming of what could have been wouldn't make a good movie at all. Besides, she's 16. She's growing up, and making mistakes is part of that. The moral of The Little Mermaid isn't that you should be pretty and get married; it's that sometimes you need to make sacrificed in order to reach your dreams. And you're going to make mistakes along the way, but you can always push through them. Sometimes you'll be prone to fits of crying on your bed, and that's okay. What's important is that you go out after and fix it. 

One more example--Cinderella is quite easily my least favorite princess, but she still deserves to be defended. So, Cinderella lived in the slavery of her step-mother and was only saved because she had the beauty and charm to make a handsome prince fall in love with her. She never would have gone to the ball if it wasn't for her fairy godmother and little mice friends; she did nothing for herself. That's not true, and I doubt that many girls who hate on Cindy have a life like hers. Even under the harsh treatment of her family, she still manages to stay kind and find joy and hope in life--which I think is the most important part of the story. She worked hard to finish her chores so that she would be able to go and fulfill her dream, and who can blame her for getting a little help along the way? Being kind to people, even the smallest of creatures who have no apparent ability to help you, and someone will always be there when you can't make it on your own.

As for hating on the princesses because they're all thin and beautiful, I think that's ridiculous. I'm definitely not a size 0, but that doesn't mean I hate on other people because they are. If the princesses were all overweight, that would just mean that it's okay for little girls to look up to that. You should be comfortable in your own skin, for sure, but having motivation to strive for a healthy body is definitely not a bad thing. This might sound a little cruel, but I don't think it's okay for girls to think it's fine to be super overweight, keep eating nothing but junk food, and not do anything about it because "I'm beautiful the way I am". And Disney still always stresses that inner-beauty is more important than outer. 

Last thing, I promise. The Disney Princes have been getting a lot of heat for their faults as well. I'm going to say it again: people aren't supposed to be perfect. You should learn to love people despite their faults. 

I'm done now. Sorry that my first blog post is a huge rant, but I just had a very deep conversation with JesJes, and I'm all fired up now. Just remember, Disney Princesses are awesome!