2 million dollars?!?!?

Today was spent at Cleveland Browns Stadium. After surviving the pat down and the long trek to our seats the game began. The Browns were playing the Raiders (not of much interest to me, I'm more of a Steelers girl) and my only goal was to attempt to stay warm. That lasted for about 2 quarters, which is actually like 27 hours in football time, but something besides the biting cold was upsetting me even more...

Before the game started I asked my dad how much money NFL players made per year. He casually responded, "Like 1 or 2 million dollars if you play for a bad team, even more if you play for a good one". I more and more I thought about that the more and more upset I became. I finally lost it when they were doing a tribute to 2 men that served on the New York Fire Department and helped save people during September 11. According to the NYC.gov website their firefighters make an average of $60,000 a year.

How absolutely insane is it that the men that devote their lives to rescuing people make about 1/25 of what men who are good at tossing a ball make? It's ridiculous. These men are good at a sport and make more money than 99% of other jobs. Doctors, lawyers, teachers: the people who make the world go round make a fraction of what professional sports players make. We are the ones who have made it this way, that's what really hurts. Guys in college play and practice just as hard and don't earn a cent all while going to school. Some pros never even went to college, they are stupid as rocks and earn a painful amount of money.

Half way through the game the Browns were handing out a scholarship to a college age girl. It was for $10,000 which seems quite generous. But in reality, that's 1/200 OF WHAT ONE PLAYER MAKES IN ONE SEASON. That's not right, not at all.

The question I have is, would people stop watching if the players only made $500,000 a year? Hell no. Would people no longer be interested in sports? Hell no. Would the world crumble if NFL players made less money. Hell no.

What happened to doing something just for the love of it?

Winter Break Part II

So...I have survived yet another Christmas. It was filled to the brim with cookies, strange church services, insane family members, trips to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and of course ham and cheese potatoes. A success I would venture to say.

I have zero plans and zero things that have to be done for the rest of the time off. The snow is falling, I'm snug in bed with a cup of tea, and all of my house is quiet. Isn't life grand?

Winter Break Part I

I just spent the last half hour listening to Christmas music and laying with my head up against my sliding glass door watching the snow glisten on the trees. Then I ate some eggs. A perfect morning.

Winter break has been wonderful thus far. Tuesday involved some tasty Lebanese food, a little Christmas shopping, and a pretty funny film. Wednesday was cookie baking day! Followed by the best winter date ever. Thursday involved a surprise trip to Columbus to rescue a stranded friend. Friday was a delicious lunch with mom and visitng some old friends. Saturday involved chopping down the Christmas tree, a walk in the winter wonderland that is my backyard, and some much overdue grocery shopping.

It has been a pretty great week. There is nothing I have to do; no deadlines, no papers, no awkward small talk with adults I don't actually like, just what I want to do. I feel like such a kid, it's the best.

I am an incredibly lucky girl.

"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you must then have the courage to live it."

This was posted on the board when I walked in the room to take my psychology final today. I've been thinking about it since.

If you are lucky enough to find something that you love, you have to be willing to fight for it. To think that some people have found that something, but don't have the courage to stick up for it is a shame. I refuse to let that happen to me. Granted, I haven't found that something yet, but when I do I will fight for it. To have the opprotunity to find something you love, genuinely love, is one of the luckiest things in life, but you have to be brave enough to pursue it.

I now know the history of Lebanon and the importance of sticky ends in recombinant DNA, but it's things like that quote that really matter. The other things won't mean a thing, if you aren't passionate about the life you have.

That's my goal, to be passionate about my life, every single aspect of it.

Life has been busy. The kind of busy where you don't have time to brush your hair, let alone update the ol' blog. But all of that is coming to an end soon. Why? you may ask. Because today was my last day of classes. Sure, I have to survive a week of finals, but classes are done! No more dragging myself out of bed at 7 am to attend molecular and cell biology.

Soon I will be ready to devour 21 days of nothingness. All I have to do is survive this week. Word on the street is that there's Nakama sushi at the end, so that shouldn't be too hard.

Winter break is going to be a delicious mix of making cookies, wrapping presents, eating tasty tasty food, and spending time with the people I love. Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Let's see, what has been happening...

On Sunday, my mother got me a bus ticket and wished me adieu. I was on the ol' greyhound, on my way back to Pittsburgh. I sat with a guy who was a truck driver and let me tell you, he did not stop talking the entire time. I guess life is lonely on the road. He was amusing though, so it was quite alright. I even got to see a picture of him as a child dressed up like Peter Pan.

Tuesday was a perfect fall day. The sun was shining, the leaves were blowing around, and the air just smelled like fall. I love that. That night, my friend, Abby, and I were feeling brave so we decided to attend a yogarythmics class. The flier promised that we would leave feeling a greater sense of well being. As it turns out, it was totally right. The class was small, only 9 of us. We worked on being in touch with our chacras and releasing our "inner child". The entire class was about free form movement and doing what felt right for your body. We ended by meditating with the lights off for a long while. I entered one of those strange states where you can recognize that you're alive, but that's about all. You don't think about anything and you aren't aware of your body. It's perfect. I love yoga classes and I sometimes forget that, but not anymore. I am making people refer to me as "yoga girl" currently.

Today I recieved a package from my mother filled with lots of Halloween treats. It was the perfect pick me up. :)

Your Own Bed

Being sick away from home is no fun. No fun at all. There is no mom to make soup, no dad to tell jokes, no little sister to offer hugs, and no cat to pet.

I have the flu. The I can't move, my head hurts all the time, I'm not hungry, I want to die FLU. I went to the doctor yesterday and her advice, aside from consuming grotesque amounts of gatorade, was to go home. So that is exactly what I did.

My dad came to get me and I'm currently laying in bed. I am feeling better already.

It's 2:23 a.m., my head hurts, my eyes hurt, my neck hurts, but none of that matters because I am basking in that post-study glow. Sure, I may not know everything about microfilaments and the actin that makes them, but I do know that I've studied as hard as possible. And that's as good as it's going to get Dr. Moore. That's as good as it's going to get.

I'm leaning back in my chair, looking out the window to the city, and listening to This Providence. Well deserved in my opinion.

Yesterday

Once a month for my Global Sociology class we gather together late at night to watch a foreign film. This evening was one of those nights. I put on all of my layers and left the comfort and warmth of my dorm room to head to the farthest possible building where the film was being shown. It was bone chillingly cold outside, and the whole time I was walking there I kept thinking to myself “This had better be worth it.”

Yesterday was the title of the film. I knew nothing about it, except that it depicted life in South Africa. 94 minutes later I was sitting in my seat trying desperately not to cry. The film was simple it told the story of one woman, her husband, and her daughter. That is all. It took place over the course of only one year. Yesterday, the wife and mother, learns that she has HIV. Her husband has contracted the illness as well and is suffering much more so than she is. He is forced to leave his job in Johannesburg and come home to their small village. The villagers are frightened and do not want the husband around, so Yesterday and Beauty, her daughter, build a make-shift hospital for him. Eventually the husband dies and Yesterday realizes that she too will die soon. The most emotionally intense scene in the film occurs right after the death of her husband. Yesterday is so upset and angry that she destroys her hospital with a sledgehammer. It doesn’t sound like much, but the grief on her face, the stark African landscape, and the music in the background make it one of the most upsetting scenes I have ever seen.

Yesterday is intense, simple, and poignant. Exactly what a film should be.

It's Monday. I am in the library. Shock. I lost a cottage cheese eating contest today.

Saturday night was not one of the best nights I've ever had. Actually it was one of the worst. So, by Sunday morning it was time for something fun. I bundled up in a cute fall outfit and hit the street. I had no destination. Just a lot of time, my iPod, and a building hunger for a delicious bagel.

My first stop ended up being a bookstore where I was able to replenish my stationary collection. I got these really cool cards with hand-sewn flowers on them. I also got a fresh moleskine that I believe is going to have a very interesting life.

Soon after I ran into a bagel shop, and let me tell you, bacon cream cheese is the BEST idea ever. Absolutely delicious.

I kept meandering and ran into this tiny church. It was smack-dab in the middle of town. It was fenced off and had a gorgeous garden surrounding it. The place was almost magical. It was perfection surrounded by definite not perfection. I desperately wanted to go inside, but the door was locked.

After spending plenty of time meandering around, I noticed that 9 out of 10 people were carrying little white paper bags filled with mini doughnuts. I stumbled out of a really fun coffee shop and low and behold the doughnuts were right next door. I got a bag of powdered sugar ones and spent ten or so minutes in a state of pure bliss. They were that good.

A perfect Sunday morning.

Run Run Run

Today I got one of those urges to run. Now, you must understand, this doesn't happen very often. Generally, intense physical activity is something I shy away from. I'm more of a yoga girl. Anyhow, I threw on a tee-shirt, excersise pants, my super awesome new tennis shoes and went for it.

At first I was just going to run in the Power Center, but since it was an absolutely gorgeous fall day out, I decided to run around town. It was marverlous. I ran for blocks and blocks and blocks and it felt great. Eventually I decided to take a side street and see what there was to find. Unfortuantely I soon became lost. The buidings were a maze and I was stuck inside.

I figured that my best plan to get un-lost was to follow a person that looked like they were going somewhere that I might want to be. I did just that. The man I was following quickly figured out that I was being suspicous. He kept turning around and shooting me death stares. I decided that I should probably stop.

I was still very lost, but I embraced it. I took my time and ran slowly checking out all of the buildings around me. I stumbled upon some pretty neat places. My favorite was this magical looking toy store that I spotted across the street. It was glittery and colorful and looked like the best place on earth. I made a mental note and hope to find it in the future.

I believe that I am also in a new movie. I ran straigh into filming. It was incredibly cool. There were cameras and lights and props everywhere. I did some research and it happens to be a new Russel Crowe film. Neat, huh?

An hour later I finally made it back here, got an overpriced strawberry smoothie, and called it a day.

Last night we ordered food. I got a slice of pie a la mode. Tell me that that isn' t the coolest thing ever.

Currently the sun is shining, there isn't a cloud in the sky, and I am headed to the Warhol. Best Saturday EVER.

Pony Epress

A few of the things that constitute a perfect day...

• blue sky, sun shining
  
• wearing a dress


• being with people I love


• the presence of bacon chocolate


• a large piece of salmon


• watching an episode of Gossip Girl


• buying a new sweater


• driving around with the windows down


• picking flowers


• shopping for food


• GETTING A LETTER

There is almost nothing better than the feeling of recieveing a letter in the mail. Every day I check my mailbox. Sometimes there is nothing, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by a fresh issue of Vanity Fair, and then there are those perfect days when I get a letter.

People say it all the time, but the art of letter writing is sadly disappearing. With texts, twitters, facebooks, and e-mails there is no real need to send snail mail. But where is the fun in that? The feeling of ripping open an evelope and logging into an e-mail account cannot and should not be compared.

Sometimes I feel outdated, but I genuinely love sending and getting letters. It is, hands down, my favorite form of communication. Picking out stationary, stamps, pens, and envelopes is thrilling to me, as lame as that sounds. I am currently infatuated by the thick, luscious Crane and Co. stationary that I purchased at a bookstore the other day. Sending a letter is almost as much fun as recieving one. Almost.

So while the world advances and letters become even more obsolete, I am going to be doing just the opposite.

99 Luft Balloons

In an attempt to put off actual work that needs to be done, I am instead playing around of iTunes.

Listening to music is magical. I realize that that sounds cliche and lame, but it is in fact very very true. Sure, some songs I listen to because they have a nice beat or cool sound, but most songs take me back to somewhere. That's the amazing thing about music. You hear a song and can immediately relate it to a time and place. Maybe it was one of those perfect days where you were walking around the park in silent bliss or maybe it was one of those days where nothing in the world seemed right and all you could do was cry or maybe it was even one of those days when you were with a group of people you love doing something you know you will never be able to forget or maybe it was a day when the whole world came crashing down around you. Regardless, music evokes emotion. That is the point. That is why I love it.

Just a few...

Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling"- Driving over a bridge into Savannah, GA on a perfect summer night with a car full of my best friends. We all felt untouchable. I am sure of it.

Rick Ross "Hustling"- Going to a dance workshop with my dance girls. We listened to it on repeat the entire way. I learned every word. Unfortunately.

The Kooks "Naive"- A concert I went to. One of the most fun nights of my life. We drove to Columbus, jammed ourselves into a full concert hall, and spent the rest of the night doing nothing but dancing and being happy.

Dave Matthews Band "Crash into Me"- An absolutely horrible day last winter when I had no idea what to do. I was at my dance studio, went into a room alone, and danced until I cried.

Nena "99 Luft Balloons" (The German version, of course)- When my little sister found this song she was thrilled. We'd loved it for years and stumling upon it made the day complete.

Regina Spekto "Us"- This is the song I listen to and then feel inspired. I feel like when this song is playing the world is perfect and I am capable of doing anything.

I'm back in the burgh.

It took a bit longer than expected to get back here due to the fact that my greyhound got stuck in a pothole for 5 hours. Sad but true. Luckily the bus was full of other kids going back to college. I met some really fun girls that go to school here and this hilarious guy from Point Park who made the whole delay much more bearable.

It was kind of hard to come back, I got into the groove in Marietta when I was home for break. But when I came out of the tubes and the city was shining brightly in the dark I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like I was coming home and that is a great feeling.

Today is probably the worst day Pittsburgh has ever seen. Absolutely freezing out and raining. I almost died walking to class this morning. Nothing a plate of cheese fries and a new fall coat can't cure though. Hopefully the weather improves; nothing is better than a sunny fall day.

Overwhelmed.

One word to describe how I feel right now: OVERWHELMED.

I have spent the last week basking in the glory of doing nothing. I went to parties with my friends, had dinner with my cousin, visited my grandmother, watched copious amounts of television with my little sister, and enjoyed a few nights alone watching One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl and eating raw cookie dough.

I now have to head to back to school. My workload is insane. There are papers to be written, on-line quizzes to be taken, labs to be understood. It's ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I have no qualms about working hard. I love giving something my all and accomplishing it. But that's the problem I have currently, I am taking all these classes, but I'm not really sure where they're leading me.

It's rather difficult to be passionate about something when you can't really see the end. Everything I have ever worked hard on, I could see what I was working towards. I realized the goal. Sure, I realize that the point of college is to get a degee, but it's challenging to give your all when the goal is that broad.

I am rambling.

Thank you, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The G20 Economic Summit is currently going on in Pittsburgh. I am in Marietta; classes were cancelled for the week. As I was heading out of town on Tuesday, the city was already starting to get crazy. The protestors were out and police were in their riot gear.

The G20 is a big deal for the city. We've spent the last month beautifying town: everything from trash clean ups on the South Side to the complete renovation of the Hilton. The city looks great, everyone is proud.

My grandmother who has lived in Pittsburgh her entire life, is especially excited for all of the visitors. She lives less than two minutes from downtown and is refusing to heed everyone's recommendations to stay at home. She is fearless and determined to go to town and see what all the fuss is about. I can picture her now: cardigan, button-up shirt, slacks, slightly gaudy jewlery and oversized sunglasses fighting through the crowds of downtown Pittsburgh. She infomed me that her goal is to have a protestor accost her. My grandmother has no problem saying what's on her mind. She plans to remind the protestor that America is the best country in the world and there is nothing to complain about.

This got me thinking, she is partly correct. America is a great place to live. Sure we have our problems, but overall it is a magnificent country. I am thankful to live here.

So for now, I can just sit back and enjoy my week of nothing, while Pittsburgh has its fifteen minutes of fame. Congratulations Pittsburgh. You deseve it.

Picture: protestors in London at a previous G20

I am in my hometown of Marietta this week with nothing to do. Ah, what a magnificent feeling.

I have lived here for almost my entire life and genuinely love it. Granted it's a pretty small place, with not a lot to do, but it's still my home. The people are friendly, there are a couple of delicious restuarants (hello, Buckley House and Austyn's), the houses are gorgeous, and the Ohio River is always shining brightly. It's a great place to be.

I was chatting with a friend last evening and she informed me that it's her goal to never return to Marietta. She said that there are better places in the world and this town means nothing to her anymore. She claims to only remember the bad things that happened here and none of the 18 years of fun she spent here. Personally, I believe that she is being semi-ridiculous. Sure there are larger, more vibrant, more cultured places on the earth, but that doesn't make Marietta any less special. This town is great, a quintessential American town. And I love it. Regardless.

Today was perfect. I spent the afternoon meandering around town visiting some of my favorite places and people. I had lunch with two of my very best friends at Marietta College. It is one of the lovliest college campuses ever and they both seem to enjoy their time there. I went to Giant Eage (my favorite grocery store), and took some photographs around town as well. It was an all over good day.

My sister promised to make me a delicious spaghetti dinner and I have a date with my dearest friend Ashley tonight. This week is going to be grand.

Home Again.

Today I boarded a greyhound and headed home to Marietta.

I got dropped off at the station in the pouring rain this afternoon, checked my bags, picked up my ticket, and settled into a highly uncomfortable chair to wait with others until our bus, #10, arrived at the station. Eventually everyone got in line to prepare to board. 30 minutes, half an episode of Las Vegas, an embarrassing fall off my suitcase, and a nice chat with the woman in front of me later I got on the bus.

I happened to be a greyhound virgin at the time and didn't really know what to expect. I sat in the front, as my mother advised, next to a seemingly nice man. The next 2 hours were quite an experience as I soaked in the culture of the colorful people surrounding me. I'm pretty sure the man next to me was making a bomb. What else does one do with a Zip-loc bag filled with batteries, petroleum jelly, hand sanitizer, and paper clips? The man behind me was even more of a trip. He was sporting a pair of Daisy Duke cutoff shorts and large sunglasses. He spent the entire trip talking to himself and singing Born in the USA. I was ready to kill him AND Bruce Springsteen.

3 things helped me keep my sanity: a bottle of Lipton sweetend black tea, Regina Spektor's "Soviet Kitsch" album, and a few humorous text messages from my friend Vince.

What seemed like eons later I got off at my stop. A quick fact that I was not aware of: Truck stops count as bus stations in small, out of the way cities. That being said, I perched on a slab of concrete outside of the Shenandoah Truck Stop and waited for my ride.

I made it back to my town and am looking forward to a glorious week of doing nothing.

I love a lot of things in life.

Delicious food, my cat, fabulous vacations, evenings out with my friends, trashy magazines, the occasional bike ride in the park, and most recently my new life in Pittsburgh.

I've been in the city for a month and have grown to absolutely love it. I am thrilled that I picked to continue my education here. I am having a ball. Plain and simple.

Picture: Strip District. Pittsburgh.