The College Girl's Trek Home

Well, it is that time again. When I pack my car to the brim and head south toward home. I have to say I am glad for the break; two eight page papers in two weeks means I need a couple of days off. Not only that, but tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I love Thanksgiving.

Here are some reasons why:
-It is a holiday that centers around being thankful for what you have, rather than thinking about what you want.
-There are not presents involved, so the focus is solely on spending time with the ones you love.
-Last but not least, there is some pretty amazing food involved, and after a couple months of cafeteria food I am ready for a good home cooked meal.

I hope that if you are away from family you have the opportunity to travel to see them, and if not I hope you have a place to go and share the holiday with others.


Safe Traveling....

Folk Revival

Recently, and by recently I really mean today, I wrote a research paper for my history class on the folk revival of the late fifties and early sixties. I must say that this paper was an absolute blast to do.

First of all I must say that yes, I am a folk fanatic, so this is right up my alley. I spent this past summer reading the newly published "Girls like Us," and "A Freewheelin' Time." "Girls like us," was a biography about Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon. "A Freewheelin' Time" was a memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, by none other then Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan's first real true love. Both books were great, and they really inspired an increased interest in the folk scene of the sixties.
Flash forward to the fall, when my history professor told us that we could pick any topic we like for research papers (as long as the topic was after 1945). I knew immediately that this would be the perfect opportunity to dig deeper into my interest of folk. So I chose the "folk revival," as my topic.
Well, the paper is now finished and I could not be happier with the outcome.
Not only that but this was more of a fun hobby then a dreaded assignment.

Candy

Recently I rented the movie Candy with Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. I found this gem of a movie at the rinky dink movie shop in town, which has every movie every made (it is the best!). I was not even aware that such a movie existed, it was strictly by chance that I found Candy as I longingly perused the glorious movie store. When I picked this one up what first attracted me, was that Heath Ledger starred and I think he is a superb actor. Ledger always seems to chose roles with depth to them, and I do not think I have ever been disappointed by a movie of his (well, maybe Casanova....). The second aspect of the movie that drew me in was its description:
A poet (Ledger) falls in love with an art student (Cornish) who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle -- and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.

The movie sounded intense, and it seemed like nothing I had ever seen. After watching the movie I was right on both aspects. The movie was intense and I had never seen anything like; it it was brillant. I highly suggest this movie for its acting and storyline. If you are a follower of Ledger's work you know that he gives 110% on all his roles and this role is no different. Cornish is also outstanding, you truly have to be a great actor to play these kind of roles.
Well, enough rambling about how excellent this movie was. Have I made you decide to go out and rent it for yourself?

RoutanBabymaker

There has to be a little silliness involved in life, right?

Well, I found my silliness for the day through a little thing called the RoutanBabymaker.

Have you ever seen the Routan commercials with Brooke Shields? She expresses her disgust at parents having babies so they can buy the new Routan. Well, Volkswagon has taken it a step further on their website by offering a fun little program that allows you to upload a photo of a mom and then a photo of a dad and meld them together to make your very own "Routan Baby." Sure it is utterly ridiculous, but it is also crazy funny.

So here is your free pass to waste 15 minutes and laugh your head off.......
Go forth and create a Routan baby :-P

Here is the link: http://www.vw.com/vwhype/babymaker/en/us/

6 months and we're back?

Yes, yes I understand my last post was six months ago, but something keeps drawing me back to blogging. Maybe it is all the wonderful blogs that have sprung up. I enjoy reading these blogs so I feel like I should/want to contribute.
But wow, a lot has changed in six months.
We have a new President-Elect, Barack Obama!!!!! It is funny because I was reading previous posts, and I came across one I wrote about Hillary Clinton winning the PA primary. I was upset about that. In the end, Barack won PA so there are no complaints here. I am extremely proud that my country chose Barack Obama as the fourty fourth president. Sure, I had some doubts, but I always had this feeling that when November 4th rolled around, the country would make the right decision. And we did.
Also in the past six months, I became extremely involved with Obama's campaign. I decided that I needed to go out and actually do something about getting him elected instead of being a vocal supporter. Working on that campagin was the best experience of my life. I met so many people that I would not have met otherwise, and I felt a fulfillment from working with my neighbors and peers on a common cause for advancement. The campaign has made my future a lot clearer. I know that whatever I do in life is going to be geared toward the bettering of society, and I will never forget where I learned that from.

Until next time!



P.S. The picture was taken on election night as OH was announced in favor of Obama. :-)

The Million Dollar Question

Yesterday, while I was walking my dog I was thinking of a question that I would really like answered. However, I am not going to tell you what the question was, because that is not the point. I was thinking about this particular question and how if I had the answer to it life would be a lot more simple. Everyone has their own "million dollar question," the question that if answered would provide a clear path and a clear conscience. I always think that I would like to sit down with someone older then me, who has lived a full life, and just fire off rounds of question. But then I began to think.........hey, they cleared their own path, so why shouldn't I? If I had the answer to my "million dollar question" then everything would just fall into place? Then I could stop thinking about the many possible answers I had been forming in my head?
No.
Now what fun would that be? We have to make our own answers to out million dollar questions. The range is limitless and we can explore what answer suits us best, because you know that one piece of advice is almost never enough. I think that is what life is about. You began to learn the answers to all your "million dollar questions" by trial and error. Of course your going to make mistakes and not always choose the best answer, but eventually you will get the hang of it. And then you will have answered that mind blogging question yourself, through years of living.
So I challenge you, next time you form a "million dollar question," try and explore it yourself. Ultimately, the answer you will find will be much more gratifying than any answer that could have been provided to you.

Too many thoughts.....?

As I go about each day I always think....hmm this would be something interesting that I could blog about. I probably think that maybe 5-10 times a day....... It is hard to decipher what exactly I think is worthy of being addressed.
Well, I am going to take a different approach.
Here are some topics that have run through my head during the last couple of days:
1. Selfishness
2. Family life
3. Religion
4. College
5. The United States and our present state
6. How much work kids really are....(I babysat for my sister, she has four)
7.How different things are as you grow up
8.How EXTREMELY weird it is to move back home after two years of college
Okay, I am feeling a pull to number eight, lets go. So after two years of college I am home for the summer, to again live under my parents roof and call Trenton my hometown. Now, don't get me wrong there is NOTHING better than being with my family and being home. But I have to say that it is just awkward. I can definitely notice a difference between last summer and this summer. I just feel out of place. I know that this is, and will, always be my home but I feel like I should not be here longer than a weekend. This is very weird for me, considering how homesick I get, but I am beginning to think that I like home in small doses? This is the first "grown up" feeling I have really had while living at home. I think I have finally adjusted to the new phase in my life. Looking back, freshman year seems like somewhat of a transistion period, you like college because it is so new but also miss the home and town that you grew up in for 18 years of your life. Well, I don't know how the second year changes you, or maybe it isn't everyone, maybe it is just me, but I feel like the second year stablizied me in this new phase of my life.
College students, any thoughts?