The lights are off, but everyone is home

Monday, December 1st, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Blackout. No, I’m not talking about what happens when you go out, drink too much and can’t remember what happened the next day. I’m talking about the warm welcome I got when I returned after Thanksgiving break, my power went out, just as I sat down to write a paper.

Apparently I am not alone, fellow residents of Magnolia Ave. also experienced this. My question is what was the cause and why did it take over two hours to fix it.

Possible reasons I have heard include the wind knocked out the power or someone hit the power box. If you have any other theories, please comment below.

Was anyone else inconvenienced by this?

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Monday, November 17th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

I am a shopaholic. There, I said it. Admitting the problem is always the first step to recovery right? I think in the back of my mind I always knew it, but it really hit me over the head when I was reading “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” I totally identified with the main character’s thought process way too much. For those of you out there who like a fun, easy read you should definitely go out and buy it or at least put it on your Christmas list.

As someone who has a shopping problem, Christmas is probably one of my favorite times of the year. No, not just because I get new things, but also because I get to give new things. While it is hard to shop for other people, my family and friends can be some of the pickiest people I know, it is so much fun to watch their faces as they unwrap their presents.

The best presents aren’t even necessarily the most expensive things, they can even be ones you make yourself. The best presents are the ones that show how much you care about someone because they show how well you know them. It’s so exciting to open a Christmas present that is perfect for you that you didn’t even know you wanted.

This year I am at a loss though as to what to get friends and family. Please post suggestions below.

And on a side note, one of my favorite Christmas experiences was in Mrs. Williams’ class in fifth grade shopping for an angel tree child. This past Sunday when I was in church I heard that it was changing this year and they were looking for monetary donations instead of actual presents. I don’t know if it was just the church I went to or what, but I thought it was sad. If you have never done an angel tree child or toys for tots I recommend you do it. It was an amazing experience.

‘Oh the places you will go’…or at least maybe one day

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Do you ever wake up and feel like life is passing you by? In the middle of all the late-night cram sessions, prepping for finals, sometimes I have to wonder…why am I doing this when there is so much other stuff out there I would rather be doing.

I know the whole point in all of this is to one day get a good job and everything, but with the economy the way it is, I need a little something more to keep the faith that the end of the educational tunnel is near.

There are so many places I want to see like Paris, California or Costa Rica. I want to go to exotic locations; be a world traveler like Carmen Sandiego. The only exciting place I have ever been is New York. It was the only time I have ever been on an airplane. Shocking, I know, I’ve lived a sheltered life, what can I say.

I am dying to spread my wings and see what is outside of the perfect Auburn bubble we live in.

If any of you are like me, you are literally going stir crazy staring at the walls in my apartment, constantly day-dreaming, making it hard to get any studying done.

But, study we must if we want to get a job that will finance any of these amazing vacations.

The face on the milk carton

Monday, November 3rd, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who in the past few months have had one of their friends go missing. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for you wondering where that friend was and if he or she was OK and I am so thankful that the students who have gone missing have been found.

That being said, we are all in college and we are all (or at least some of us) are adults. We need to start acting like it.

When you go some where please please please tell a friend, roommate or family member where you are going. I completely understand if you just need space and time to yourself, but tell people that or at least one other person where you are going.

This is going to sound like a total mom move, but I am going to say it any way. If you have protective parents like mine, it might not be a bad idea to give them your roommate’s or close friend’s phone number in the event of an emergency and they can not reach you. I know my parents start to go a little crazy when I don’t check in if I am traveling back to Auburn from out of town.

Whether foul play was involved in the two students that have gone missing this year or they just forgot to check in is beside the point. With at least dour student deaths this past year, some due to car accidents others not, people are going to start to worry when they have not heard from you in a few hours.

Again, my deepest sympathy to those who have actually experienced this kind of a scare, but sooner or later people are going to stop taking it seriously when they have not seen or heard from someone in a few days, and brush it off as their friend just needing some space. Then someone might not be so lucky as to be found.

Christmas vacation…not just yet

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

I get into Christmas every year. There is something about houses decked in lights, the scent of Christmas trees and a good Charlie Brown special on TV that just puts a smile on my face, but there is a time and a place for this type of holiday cheer and that time is after Thanksgiving.

Is it just me or has everything turned red and green way too early? I have gone into countless stores lately already stocked with Christmas decorations. I know it may feel like we will be walking in a winter wonderland any minute now with this abnormally cold October we are experiencing, but it’s not even Halloween yet.

I’m not trying to be a Scrooge, and while I have to admit I’ve started to compile my Christmas list, you won’t see me baking Christmas cookies or belting out Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” any time soon.

Besides, Christmas should be about spending time with loved ones, not commercial things. I know, I know, how much more cheese could I pile into one sentence, but you have to admit it’s true and not being able to walk into a Target right now without seeing a reindeer just goes to show how the holiday has become much more about products and less about sentiment.

This emphasis on Christmas takes away from the importance of the holidays that come before it, so while it is killing me to have to wait to share a few laughs with Clark and Cousin Eddie, my DVD of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” will have to stay in its case until after Thanksgiving, out of respect.

Ode to “Heathers”

Monday, October 20th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

After a rough weekend, I did what I always do to cheer myself up. I made a trip to the DVD section of Target and much to my surprise I found one of my favorite 80s movies of all time, “Heathers.”

For those of you who have never seen the movie, you are truly missing out on a cult classic. It is full of crazy goodness that will constantly make you go “they did not just do that.”

While I am a huge fan of John Hughes’ flicks starring the iconic Molly Ringwald, “Heathers” puts a new perspective on high school comedy giving it a lot more bite and sarcasm compared to others of the genre.

Starring none other than Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty the movie epitomizes the high school hierarchy and how easily you can be replaced. The movie is dark and twisty in all the right places, keeping you laughing all the way to the end.

Your either in or your out

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Over the past couple of years “Project Runway” has become one of my favorite shows. Tomorrow night, the show says “Auf Wiedersehen” to Bravo.

Don’t panic, it’s not the end of the world as we fashionistas know it, the show is simply switching networks. After season five, the people will have to tune into Lifetime to get their dose of Tim, Heidi, Michael, Nina and the show’s eccentric contestants.

I am not normally a big fan of reality TV, especially competition shows, but the participants on ”Project Runway” actually have to have talent to go far.

Year after year the people on this show put their blood, sweat and tears into what they design. A lot of them have come from humble beginnings and come on the show to fulfill their life-long dream of showing at Bryant Park. Aside from the clothes, I think that’s the reason I love the show the most, it’s that the people are real.

Also, it’s not so much about the back-stabbing that most competition shows are consumed with. While the contestants do go on and on at times about how much they hate each other, it is kind of hard to stick a pins and needles in someone’s back when you’ve got your own project to work on.

I’ll have to admit, the clothes are what keep me coming back week after week. It amazes me how innovative people can be, in both a good and bad way, under such intense pressure.

Contestants always bring it when it is time for their garments to take their turn on the cat walk. This season’s contestants were no exception.

My pick to win is Leanne. While I like Kenley’s retro-inspired creations, I’m not so crazy about the way her presonality comes across on screen. Also, Korto’s vibrant, African designs are breathtaking, something just draws me to Leanne and the way she mixes the delicately feminine with sophisticated structure.

Not to mention when I saw her wedding gown walk down the aisle, in the words of another Bravo celebrity, Rachel Zoe, “I die.” It was drop-dead gorgeous.

Only one of them will win and I can’t wait to tune in tomorrow night to find out who it is.

When it rains it pours

Thursday, October 9th, 2008 | Campus | No Comments

It happens every semester. I don’t know why it still catches me off guard, but as soon as midterm rolls around I get swamped with school work.

You would think that as a senior, by now I would be able to see the projects coming from a mile away, but it just doesn’t happen.

Every semester I start out strong, planner and syllabus in hand, writing down every assignment my professors give me. Then, fast forward a few weeks, and ask me where my planner is.

I guess poor time-management skills are to blame for my being overwhelmed, but it might also be an extreme case of senioritis.

Four years of different versions of basically the same type of paper or test at the same point in the school year have started to take a toll on my brain. Instead of feeling like a student, I’m starting to feel more like a robot.

I’m not asking for less assignments, I just wish there was some way that they could be more spread out over the course of the semester, instead of packing them into one week.

Also, it never fails, whenever a week stuffed with school work rolls around, it is also the week when everything that could go wrong does go wrong, adding to the anxiety. This will be the week when I get locked out of my apartment, forget to e-mail my assignment and my car gets towed.

I don’t know, it’s probably just me and my incredibly bad luck that small misfortunes have a tendency of building on top of each other, but Thanksgiving can’t come soon enough.