RIP

This faithful hairband has been on my wrist for almost a year now. He has saved me from hair in my mouth and sweat on the back of my neck countless times. Today his work came to an end. Rest in peace. 

a list of my favorite books

1.        The Bartemeus Trilogy, Johnathan Stroud

2.        The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

3.        His Dark Materials, Phillip Pullman

4.        On The Jellico Road, Melina Marchetta

5.        Mistborn Trilogy, Brandon Sanderson

6.        Let the Right One In, John Ajvide Lindqvist

7.        Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson

8.        Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson

9.        The Stormlight Archive, Brandon Sanderson

10.     The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater

11.     East, Edith Pattou

12.     Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling

13.     Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead

14.     Bloodlines, Richelle Mead

15.     Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor

16.     Coraline, Neil Gaiman

17.     Revolution, Jennifer Donnelley

18.     Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

19.     Eragon, Christopher Paolini

20.     Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan

21.     Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones

22.     Frankenstein, Mary Shelly

23.     A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray

24.     Lord of the Flies, William Golding

25.     Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

26.     Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine

27.     Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card

28.     The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

29.     The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater

30.     Penryn and the End of Days, Susan Ee

31.     The Darkangel Trilogy, Meredith Ann Pierce

32.     The Thin Executioner, Darren Shan

33.     A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

34.     The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

35.     Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare

36.     Entwined, Heather Dixon

37.     If I Stay, Gayle Forman

38.     Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech

39.     An Abundance of Katherines, John Green

40.     The Fault in our Stars, John Green

41.     Enchanted Forrest Chronicles, Patricia C. Wrede

Wanted: Name for Fabulous Houseplant

What should I name it? Right now I'm kinda thinking "Malvolio". 

a post because Jessica told me to

I am probably the worst blogger in the history of blogging. But never mind that.

As a preface to the story I am about to tell, last January, I decided to follow my life-long dreams and become an English/Creative Writing major instead of following the extremely boring path of Electrical Engineering.

My first semester at college (when I was still intimidated by things such as "the job market" and "being a starving artist"), I met this guy who was from somewhere in Africa (Ethiopia?) who was also part of the wonderful electrical engineering program. We met in the Junction and discussed our mutual engineering-ness and other such things. I saw him from time to time; basically we had the sort of relationship where I would wave as I passed him on the sidewalk and he would nod in return. I only really ever had that one conversation with him.

Last week the new semester started, and I was going happily along, excited for my schedule full of English and Literature classes. As I was walking, I saw this man again. As we were walking in the same direction, there was plenty of time for some conversation instead of the usual head nod. I was actually surprised that he remembered my name and such as it had been almost a year since we talked.

Anyway, it came up that I was no longer an engineering major. I'm not sure what sort of reaction I was expecting for this news, but I was definitely not expecting a lecture. For the extent of walking from somewhere around the education building to the library, I got to hear the reasons why engineering was the best major, and switching to English basically meant I was throwing my life away and giving up my one chance to change the world.

Well, thanks for that.

I'm not sure if there's actually anything interesting about that story, except for this: don't criticize people when they've finally gained the courage to follow their heart instead of going along with the expected "job stability" course, even if your intentions are good. It's not cool.

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.