Recent musical obsessions...

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Brett Dennen! Especially the song "Ain't No Reason"

Tristan Prettyman. A fav. being, "Love Love Love"

Jessie Baylin's "Contradicting Words"

Schuyler Fisk & Joshua Radin's "Paperweight"

Jonah Matranga's cover of I want you back

Joshua Radin's "Closer"

Imogen Heap's "Speeding Cars"

Regina Spektor. FAV FAV FAV ---> "Fidelity"

actual e-mail I sent my mom:
I sent this jokingly because my O-chem work has really taken a toll on me lately and thought it would be funny to send this to them.

Dear Mom & Dad,

As I sit here wasting away doing O-chem, my brain hating me for deciding to double major in Sciences, I wonder why you weren't the creators of the Chia Pet or Peace Frogs even. If you were, I'd be the first in line to the Peace Frogs/Chia Pet empire and rocking out somewhere in Europe rather than... Blacksburg, VA.

<3 a very stressed out daughter,
Mary

Response:

Mary Anne,

In case you weren't aware, your parents live in the richest county in the nation according to the Census Bureau and The Washington Post so stop complaining. Also, if your dad and I had invented the Chia Pet/ Peace Frogs (which we wouldn't have because they are not useful to anybody), we still would have made you go to college and get a job. You know we wouldn't have wanted to raise you to become a jerk. Have fun with your O-chem, it's not that bad.

PS: We're proud of you and are really glad you want to go to Med-school. See you soon.

Love,
Mom

I'd say it went well...

Long story short, Saturday was rather eventful ending with an unconventional marker fight between Zabel and I. Needless to say, from the pictures, you can probably conclude that we both were victims of each other's marker annihilation. It looks like we both got beaten up pretty badly especially in his picture, the arm on the right looks like it was destroyed. Jason was also visiting this weekend so we went and met up with him while covered in marker. On the way back we passed a group of guys in the corps and I said something along the lines of "he beats me." It was dark so my arms totally looked battered and one of the guys turned and got so angry and was like, "don't hit her man, it's not cool" and I felt bad because they seriously looked like they were going to beat him up so I was all like just kidding guys it's just marker. Anyway, we wake up this morning and everyone decides they need to go get breakfast ASAP and since we completely slept through McDonalds breafast hours we had to go to an actual restaurant. What sucked was that I couldn't shower beforehand so I went out in public with marker all over my arms and face. We got some pretty interesting reactions from people when we walked into restaurants (obvi) but I guess I can look back on this and laugh because how many other times in my life will I actually do this? Probably zero.

Visitors!

Jason came to visit this morning. :) He was one of the first people in my neighborhood to befriend me when I was "the new kid" in 6th grade. We go way back and I LOVE this kid. He came this morning and basically went straight to the tailgate and went to his first Virginia Tech football game. He thinks we're crazy... but I mean, what can I say other than this town LOVES football. Anyway, afterwards we met up and he went to dinner with Matt and I. It was so good to see him and just hang out and talk. He reminds me of home. No matter how old we get, I think he's always going to be one of my friends that I never lose touch with. I could probably go for months without talking to him and randomly see him one day and not be awkward about it. Anyway, we were talking about his family and plan on visiting his brother and some of our friends in Boston sometime. We're not sure when yet. He tells me I have to see Boston like there's something wrong with me for not having already seen it. We planned for Thanksgiving break but decided nobody would be there, and then over Winter break, but his brother will be in Niger, so we're thinking Spring Break? I'm not sure yet, but it's in the works.

Cool Store Alert

Since I don't have class Friday, I spent my morning running errands and shopping for a new dress. My trip into Christiansburg was completely fruitless (and honestly, who am I kidding - it's Christiansburg. On my way home, I was passing downtown and thought to stop in some of the boutiques there to see what I could find. Normally, I don't buy anything from any of the boutiques downtown just because most of the stores cater to the "i like barely there clothing crowd." Anyway, while I was rummaging through these stores for a fun Fall dress I came across a place called Home body. I've been in there a few times before, but this time, the items really caught my eye. There was a nice selection of vintage-wear for girls along with tons of great t-shirts for guys, and lots of american apparel. Anyway, I ended up getting this great vintage dress which I'm completely excited about. If you guys are searching for one of a kind pieces, this is the place to go. The prices are great and the service is wonderful.

If you're interested, here's a link to the store's website: Home Body

Rando thought...

If you had gone out with a guy and you two broke up and later down the road you decided to date again, would you introduce him as your New(old) boyfriend? Quite the conundrum.

I have a new boyfriend,

... his name is O-Chem (short for Organic Chemistry). I wish he had a facebook profile so that I could say "It's complicated w/O-Chem." He always screws me time and time again and I can't break up with him because I'm afraid of what he will do if I leave him.

I've stretched this metaphor WAY to far. Ha. I'm actually studying for an O-Chem test that I have tomorrow. I'm freaking out (obvi) and I also plan to rock this bitch.

Concert in your room!

Zach Braff got to take over an Indie radio station for 5 hours to promote the soundtrack for his movie, The Last Kiss. Anyway, it was recorded and now it's on the internet for you to watch! My favorite performances, though they were all AMAZING, were Schuyler Fisk and Imogen Heap. Imogen Heap's set reminded me so much of a Howie Day set because he does the same thing with the synthesizer and it's surprising that not many people have seen this done. It's amazing to see live, Howie's REALLY good at it. Okay on that note, here's the link:

The Last Kiss radio performances

It bit you where?!

As if this crazy O-chem test I have on Thursday hasn't put a damper on my week already, add mosquito bite right under my eye to the list of things to royally make this week painful. I know, who does that ever happen to? I'm here to prove that yes, it is humanly possible to have a mosquito bite you on the lower lash line of your eye. It's a really awkward place to have a mosquito bite so obviously it hurts. It doesn't itch really, but it is swollen and it looks like I have an abnormal growth there. However, thanks to the magic that is benadryl the swelling went down a bit today so I at least looked human, but needless to say it still hurts and is a royal pain in the ass. :(

Chai Me!

Recently I've become obsessed with Oregon Chai. I've been spending 3 or 4 dollars a day at coffee shops purchasing chai and I figured I should probably buy my own and start making it to save some money. I was talking to my friend Kathryn about what kind to buy and she suggested Oregon Chai. You can buy in the form of tea bags, powder, or you can buy boxed concentrate. I bought the boxed concentrate and I absolutely love it. It's half concentrate and half milk (I use soymilk) and you heat it up and you've got a great cup of Chai waiting to make you smile. This stuff is really good, I am hooked already. My roomate Drew tried some and he really liked it too. It cost me about $4 and best of all... it's organic!

Front of the boat! 

Le lovebirds 

Yep, our sentiments exactly. Life is good. 

He does cool tricks. 

Awesome 

Claytor lake last weekend 

Updates coming at you...

- I saw The Last Kiss Friday with some friends and we LOVED it. It was a very absurd movie that provided no real solutions on how to right a very big wrong. I really liked the honesty in the fact that the ending was left somewhat resolved yet open ended. It really got me thinking if this is how my friends and I would turn out in 9 years. It kind of saddened me that we are all so capable of inflicting so much pain on somebody we love and vice versa. In that way, the movie was depressing because you realize that this happens to people all the time and they just have to figure it out. Conversely, though it was sad, I thought the bits of comedy throughout really saved it from being a complete downer. My roomate saw it with me and he said that he thought the movie could be depressing or funny depending on how you interpreted it. I can see how he would see that it's funny because in a way, the absurdism of it all pokes fun at our lives. I think I stand somewhere in between. I thought it was a good movie and if you're a Zach Braff fan you won't be let down. Go see it.

- We played Duke yesterday here at home and soundly beat them 36-0. It was a really good game, the weather was perfect. Here's a vid:



Tech Football on Vimeo

- Today is Mitch's 21st Birthday but he had his party last night and it was great. It wasn't a big party or anything, but he was surrounded by great friends and that's what a birthday should be right? The band, Glass came and celebrated with us. They're pretty cool guys. They even played some acoustic outside which was great. I had fun.

Your Life: The Soundtrack
Opening credits:	Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Waking up:	Perfect Time of Day - Howie Day
Average day:	Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World
First date:	I Wanna Call It Love - Sondre Lerche
Falling in love:	Goodnight And Go - Frou Frou
Love scene:	To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
Fight scene:	Helicopter - Bloc Party
Breaking up:	Title and Registration - Death Cab For Cutie
Getting back together:	First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
Secret love:	Secret Heart - Feist
Life's okay:	Life is Wonderful - Jason Mraz
Mental breakdown:	One Too Many Mornings - Bob Dylan
Driving:	Nervous Tic Motion of A Head to the Left - Andrew Bird
Learning a lesson:	Love Will Come Through - Travis
Deep thought:	New Slang - The Shins
Flashback:	Firefly - Saves The Day
Partying:	Glass Danse - The Faint
Happy dance:	Bleeding Powers - Ted Leo & The Pharmicists
Regreting:	Fidelity - Regina Spektor
Long night alone:	A Stone - Okkervil River
Death scene:	A Fond Farewell - Elliott Smith
Closing credits:	Lion's Mane - Iron & Wine
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It's a first!

I forgot to mention it yesterday but I completed my first su do ku ever. I'm really really excited in a very geeky way. Who does su do ku in their spare time anyway? I tried to stay away from it since they started putting it in our school newspaper because so many people were addicted to it, but alas, I gave in and I actually did one, correctly!

I wrote the date on it and tore it out of the newspaper. Don't worry, I won't frame it or anything, but I will hang on to it. It really made my day.

Remembering...

There's nothing that can be said about today that hasn't already been said... but this struck a cord,

"We've come back to remember the valor of those we lost, those who innocently went to work that day and the brave souls who went in after them"

- Rudy Giuliani

In all the times I've gone to New York since 9/11, I could never bring myself to go to ground zero. However, this summer on a trip with my parents, I finally went. As I expected, it was completely overwhelming and that's from an outsider looking in. Needless to say, I had my sunglasses on and was standinging there with a few of my friends and we were just crying. It's unimaginable to have a gap that large in the sky... especially in the New York skyline where buildings are built on top of one another. It's been 5 years, but I can say that it still feels the same. I feel like I'm in my sophomore year of high school again, hearing about it on the PA system while chaos breaks loose as people try to contact their parents who work in The Pentagon... the wounds are still fresh. It's hard to let go.



Sept 11 (doc) on Vimeo