Finally!

Here are the long-awaited Florida pictures! I took a few hundred but these are just some of my favorites, especially the Flagler Beach one. If you click on the image you should be able to see a larger picture. I figured these would be great to look at after all the snow we've had! I don't know about you but I've been craving some warmth and sunshine, I guess these pictures will just have to do for a few months. Hope y'all are staying safe and having a great weekend!

Snowpocalypse, Take Two

Our power just came back on, yay! It was out for about an hour and a half, and we were a little worried that we wouldn't get any power back for a while. Hopefully we'll have power for the rest of the storm now. I'm very glad to be at home for this one, because a few weeks ago in that really awful blizzard my family and I got caught on the road and had to make an emergency stop at a hotel for the night. Thankfully, we were lucky to hitch a ride the next day with someone who had a Jeep, but it was very scary for a while there. If any of you guys are also experiencing the storm, I hope you're staying safe and warm!

Je suis fatigué!

Oh boy, well so far this week I have taken/will take FOUR quizzes. That's right, four quizzes in the second week of school. I'm pretty sure they're trying to take out the entire student body one sad, overworked soul at a time. I'm taking 3/5 classes this semester (five if you count lab classes separately from lecture, which I do) and they are all very time intensive.

French should be easy for me, and I did very well on the first quiz, but since I skipped a class I'm having to scramble and catch up so there is still a lot of work to be done, and I probably have more homework in that class than any of the others, which is saying a lot.

Microbiology is...interesting. My lab instructor is a little scary, I normally love sarcastic people, but not when I am living in constant fear of mockery. But he's good, and my microbiology lecture instructor is nice too, but having the class at 7-8:30 at night does NOT help with concentration...it's probably better than the 8:30 A.M. class though.

And then there's A+P. This is the second class in the duo, and it looks like there's going to be a lot more work in this section than there was in the first one. And we have to dissect cats! Poor kitties...when I came home after the last lab my kitty wouldn't stop talking to me for at least a half an hour, I think she knew what I had done :(

So yeah, thought some of you might be interested to read what's going on in my life at the moment. Again, I'm sorry that I won't be able to post as frequently anymore, but I am thinking about all of you! Hope you have a great day!

I'm Alive!

I'm so sorry for not posting anything this week, starting classes has been even more hectic than I had thought it would be. I apologize that this post is a little rushed, but I will try to be better about posting now that the initial frenzy is over.

This week I thought I would write about something that is very near to my heart: gay rights. I spent a long time trying to come up with my thoughts on the subject, but my words seem to be failing me tonight. So instead I'll just talk about what brought this post on...or rather, who. Cindy McCain has thrown her support of overturning proposition 8 into the ring, posing for a campaign with NOH8.Image from Adam Bouska and the NO H8 campaign


I think anyone who adds their face to this cause is amazing, but Cindy McCain just floored me with her support. There are so many things to love about this, I don't even know where to start. I think most importantly is that she is now making a huge impact on what people think it means to be a republican. I'm a libertarian, but anything we can do to make this issue one about basic rights and not partisan politics is a step in the right direction, and I applaud Cindy McCain (and daughter Meghan too) for such a courageous move.

Thanks for reading, and I promise next week I will try to post much more!

Books!

Hey everyone! I'll be posting pictures from Florida soon, but I wanted to get these book reviews out. I'm starting a new semester tomorrow, so this week is going to be a little hectic but hopefully I'll get through it!

The first book I read was Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles. You could read it in a night if you really felt like it, and it was pretty entertaining. It was interesting to compare the Holmes from the book to the one in the old shows and now Robert Downey Jr.'s interpretation. To be honest, the "book Holmes" seemed a lot more condescending and frankly annoying than any other ones. Maybe something picks up in the translation from text to film. Anyway, it was fun to read and as one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most recognizable works it's probably important to be familiar with it from a purely cultural standpoint.

My sister gave my mom the second book, and then she gave it to me. It was When You Are Engulfed in Flames, but David Sedaris. It's a collection of comedic personal essays and they are hilarious! I told my mom afterward that I would never be able to write anecdotal essays because I would have to admit to the world what an amazingly awful person I am...and I would probably end up alienating every family member, friend and aquantance I have ever had. But I am perfectly content to laugh at/with other people braver than I. I would definitely reccomend this book to anyone interested in the genre, and even though it is pretty large I finished it in two days because it is so hard to put down.

The last book was The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. What a depressing book. If your idea of a good time is giving up all hope in humanity and spending the rest of your night curled up crying in the fetal position in the loneliest corner of your room, then this book was made for you. It was...good, though, if that's really the right word. I saw that they had made a movie based on the book last year, so I'll probably end up being sad and masochistic and see it. I guess I would say it was tough to read but worth it in the end...probably.

Hope you all have a great night!

I'm Back!

Hey everyone! I'm back home finally, all safe and sound. I'll be writing a much larger post tomorrow but I just wanted to say hi really quick. Florida was pretty nice, a little cold though. I took a lot of great pictures, and got a few antiques for my room. I'll be posting pictures tomorrow along with a few book reviews. I have lots of catching up to do, hope you all had a great week!

Greetings From Fort Jackson!

Hey y'all! After a seven hour drive, we finally made it to Fort Jackson, in South Carolina. Another six hours tomorrow should get us to Palm Coast. We're in an officer's cabin on the lake on post, and it is gorgeous! I wish it were warmer so I could take a walk around the lake, but it's been in the mid-30's all day. Oh well, there's a fun window seat in my room so I'm happy to curl up with a book for tonight. I'm crossing my fingers for some great Florida weather!

Oh, and I finished Sun Storm last night. The Amazon link to it is in my sidebar, and you can also find any of the books that I talk about/read on that list. If you're a fan of thrillers, you'll probably enjoy this book. Åsa is a great writer, and the book was filled with very subtle plot manipulations and quite a few interesting characters. It was a little difficult for me to read at points though, I should know by now that whenever a book or movie puts a dog into the mix it won't be ending well. If any of you ever write a novel that has a dog in it, let it survive for me, please?

It's Tiberius!

Tonight was movie night, and can you guess which movie was on the menu? That's right, Star Trek. This is the second time I've watched it and I really do think it's a great movie. In my opinion Zachary Quinto as Spock completely stole the show. It touched one of my many nostalgia nerves for the series, and, as you might be able to tell, my favorite captain of all, Jean-Luc Picard. I wasn't around for Kirk's heyday, and then I was not particularly interested in Picard's successors. It's just not possible to improve on perfection, yeah?

On another note, I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to post this week. I will be visiting my grandmother in Florida and since she doesn't have Internet access I might only be able to post once or twice when I can get to a wi-fi spot. But when I get back I'll have lots of pictures to show you! Until then, lots of love ^_^

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. These three phrases are the backbone of Michael Pollan's amazing book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Chock full of common sense, this book is not going to tell you anything radically different from what you already intuitively know. It does, however, provide more than enough research and statistical evidence to prove it. All of this is bundled up in a great package of prose, heavily peppered with incredible insights and conclusions into the politics and science (most of it faulty and unfounded) of the food industry. This was a quick and very enjoyable read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in where our food comes from and the history of the industrialization and politicization of the food industry.

Transitioning now to the world of fiction, I've been trying to add a few modern novels to my reading list, and I picked up The Inhabited World on a whim on one of my trips to the library. I'm glad I did. To be honest, it wasn't instant-classic good, but it was enjoyable to read. Sometimes you do just want an easy, steady-paced book that doesn't require wading through long-winded monologues or pages upon pages of description. This is what I would call a dessert book, and as one is a success. It's about a man dealing with a sort of purgatory after his death, and is mostly a collection of his significant memories. There was a side-plot, dealing with the woman currently living in the house that our main character is "haunting", as well. The characterization of our "hero" is really the shining achievement of the book, grasped through his understanding of the defining moments of his life. I would recommend this book as a fun, fast read if you have the time.

I have about ten more books to read from my last trip to the library, but I'm already thinking of my next list. What have you been reading lately, and do you have any books that you love and wish everyone would read?

The Quote Post

I love quotes like nobody's business. Little snippets of wisdom or hilarity that tell so much in just a few words. I go hunting for them when I can't formulate the right combination of words myself for what I'm feeling or thinking, and I never come up empty-handed. Here are just a few of the many quotes that I love.

Those who fear the imagination condemn it: something childish, they say, something monsterish, misbegotten. Not all of us dream awake. But those of us who do have no choice.
~ Patricia McKillip

Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of life amount not to wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus.
~ Wallace Stegner

If the world were really a logical place, men would ride side-saddle
~ Unknown

Joy's smile is much closer to tears than laughter
~ Victor Hugo

Carlos: So, what, were they psychos, or...
Seth: Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are!
~ From Dusk Till Dawn

It is a fine thing to establish one's own religion in one's heart, not to be dependent on tradition and second-hand ideals. Life will seem to you, later, not a lesser, but a greater thing.
~ D. H. Lawrence

Snorgles!

What am I loving today?

Re-dying my hair the right color
Scooby-Doo ringtones
Reading a good book by the fire
Searching through the library stacks for hidden gems
Comfy flannel "man-shirts"
Pumpkin cheesecake
Being able to start my car this morning
Giving my adorable, long-suffering cat lots of snorgles

Sex With Ducks

I just discovered Garfunkel and Oates the other day, and I am IN LOVE! These girls are amazingly talented and pee-your-pants funny. This video is one of my favorites, and you can find many more of them on youtube. Enjoy!

Who's Watching You?

Well, after a marathon reading session I finished 1984 in two days. My brain is something close to soup. Satisfied, well-read soup but soup all the same. I have to say out of Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984, 1984 definitely takes the horrifying parts-of-it-are-so-similar-to-daily-life-now-that-it-takes-less-of-a-stretch-of-the-imagination-to-think-of-this-actually-happening-but-parts-of-it-are-also-so-alien-that-it-scares-the-shit-out-of-you award. I'm still keeping Fahrenheit 451 as my favorite, but maybe that's just because it's slightly less mentally exhausting and painful than the other two. Either way, 1984 is definitely all it's cracked up to be. I definitely hope you'll read it if you haven't yet.

On a related note, I went on a bender at the library yesterday, and got a HUGE pile of books to keep me company in the next few weeks. I've already started Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and it is absolutely heartbreaking. Actual content aside, there can be no doubt when you start reading her prose that she is an amazing poet. Maybe I'll finish it tomorrow, but for now I'm taking off my crazy-underground-hermit reading glasses and maybe opening my blinds so the sun can come in...maybe.

Spring Cleaning

I love fresh-cut flowers, especially in winter when it can get so gloomy. Tulips are some of my favorite, they're making me feel like spring is just around the corner!

And what better way to celebrate the impending spring season than with some pasta...um...yeah. So here's my recipe goodness for the day! I made Giada De Laurentiis' Farfalle with Turkey Sausage, Peas and Mushrooms, and it was delicious!


I couldn't find the cheese that she specified in the recipe, so I just went with a Parmigiano-Reggiano instead. I would give this recipe a solid four stars out of five. Very tasty. For dessert I made a yellow-butter sheet cake, and that ended my day full of yum ^_^

On a different note, I finished Brave New World, and it definitely lived up to expectations. Fahrenheit 451 is still my favorite "scary future apocalyptic" book, but Brave New World comes in a very close second. To continue with the theme, I'm starting 1984 tonight. What books have you been reading?