Daily Nothing by Sarah Evans

RIP Steve

2011-10-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment Steve Jobs entered my life in a very big way.

Was it the moment I received my very first iPod shuffle, the long white stick with "Merry Christmas Sarah!" engraved on the side? Was it the moment I attempted to use my sister's iMac, which resulted in me leaving the room confused because I didn't know where the tower to it was? Or was it the moment when my brother-in-law got a job at the company, which sent them all the way across the country? It could even, quite possibly, be the moment I received my MacBook for my high school graduation, which has been attached to me ever since.

I guess, in a way, if it weren't for Steve Jobs, my life would be completely, completely different. And I'm completely thankful for that.

Steve Jobs was a man who got so far due to his simplicity, so I'm going to keep it short. He remains an inspiration. He funded Pixar at a time when no one else would, he was fired from the very company he would end up making the number one in the world, and he dropped out of college because it wasn't giving him the direction he needed.

I can't imagine a world where he's not guiding Apple. We were witnesses to a revolutionary innovator, a man who completely changed computers, technology, and the way we communicate as we know it.

Check out the Apple webpage. They are encouraging anyone who would like to share their condolences and memories to email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

This day always makes me cry

2011-09-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

September 11th will forever remain a day to cry on and not writing about it would be un-American. (If that's even a word). It's weird to say that ten years ago this all happened, because to everyone who was sitting somewhere having a perfectly normal day that day, only to have it rocked and shaken, it still remains as vivid as ever.

We get thrown right back into that moment each and every time. We can remember what we wore (I can tell you right now I was rocking some pretty awesome glow in the dark sneakers), where we were, and the minutes, hours, and days that continued afterwards.

I was only 12 at the time, which seems crazy. How can a twelve year old even try to comprehend what was going on? As a 22 year old, I can barely keep my cool about it.

I was sitting in health class when the PA system came on, my principal solemnly telling us the news. And I'm going to be completely honest here. When he said that the World Trade Center had been hit, I didn't even know what that was. It was only after my health teacher said "twin towers" did I even begin to picture a place, a moment.

Since I was young, none of my teachers showed us the news, which means I had to wait until I got home that day to see the devastation and our antennae wasn't working that well. I lived about three hours north of New York City and apparently some of our news coverage got beamed out by the antennae on top of the towers. To this day, I can't watch coverage without crying. I remember being obsessed with a collector's book about the events of the tragedy that my grandmother kept in her living room. Every time I visited her small house in Florida, I read it front to back.

I don't know why I love to pore over news about that day and I'm sure I'm not alone. There's a great exhibit in The New York State Museum in Albany with newspaper clippings and some objects that were damaged. My friends always told me they didn't like it because they couldn't handle it. But the artifacts and the firetruck just make it seem that much more real, not something I only saw on television.

Courtesy of Sam Spratt Illustration

I don't think there will ever be a day where I can forget that. And I'm thankful no one I knew was hurt. But to those people whose families were ripped apart, you inspire me. Your courage after such a day will always be remembered.

Meg Cabot always posts this entry every year, which is so moving and I think you should all check it out.

-Sarah

Random Squabble

2011-09-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest in saying that when nothing exciting in my life is happening, I have a tendency to withdraw from my blog, seeing as it's been awhile between my last post and this one. But, it doesn't mean I'm going to ever stop completely, because I love it too much and there are so many articles and subjects to talk about!

First on the subject list: "New Girl." Zooey Deschanel is starring in an upcoming show this fall on Fox and even though we don't get cable here, I am SO excited about it. I have loved Deschanel ever since I bought (500) Days of Summer discounted from the Hollywood Video store that was closing down. I will always see her as Summer no matter what role she plays.

She plays newly single and heartbroken Jess, who moves in with a bunch of bachelor guys soon afterward. She is cute and dorky, something all us girls can relate to. Not only does the trailer make me interested (just go here, the website I go to for my movie/TV show news drip feed) , but I just read today that Justin Long will be playing a love interest in a three episode arc! How exciting is that?! Two of my favorite people in one show! Who honestly does not love Justin Long? He's awesome.

I've been reading like a crazy person lately, devouring four or five books in a couple of weeks. It started out with Promises to Keep by Jane Green that was an incredibly heartbreaking story of two sisters, but in that really good way where you cry your heart out and as you turn that last page, you can't believe what just happened. It was personal and realistic and so so good.

I then got roped into two Marian Keyes novels. Keyes is quite possibly my favorite author (at this time anyway) and I love the way her stories start out seeming like your ordinary chick lit fluff, but then delve into emotional hardships and suddenly real scenarios, many of which stem from her own personal life. I think Keyes is really quite inspirational.

On a completely unrelated note, everyone has to go check out the Google homepage right now, meaning July 6th (which for me happens to still be July 5th, but we West Coasters are special in that way). It's the coolest Doodle ever featuring Freddie Mercury! They've really been upping their creativity when it comes to their doodles lately and I am very impressed.

It's big news (well, when it happened) here in the Silicon Valley with the sudden resignation of Steve Jobs. It was sad and his face graced the front page of every newspaper. You could feel the shock waves everywhere, even the Peets coffee shop I happened to be in the day after it happened. As an avid lover and user of all things Apple, I know I'm one in a million of people who saw Jobs as a revered and inspirational businessman as well as an innovative genius.

My favorite quote that really stuck with me was one featured in an article titled "Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO, stunning tech world." in The San Jose Mercury News.

"He always wanted to get technology out of the way for people to get answers in their lives, " said Jobs erstwhile partner and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. "I could never do it as well, but I always wanted to. He wasn't one day ahead of everyone else, he was 10 years ahead of everyone else."

And now there is this whole fiasco with the iPhone 5 being lost in yet another bar, this time in San Francisco, which is just making me confused and skeptic. It's shady and unclear and I don't think I'll comprehend it until the final story is uncovered.

I know this post has been random, yet I bring the promise of exciting things in the future. It will happen. You can count on it!

Until next time,

Sarah :)

Sesame Street Time

2011-08-11T23:24:00.000-07:00

It turns out, riding on the road is no problem! It's actually quite exhilarating, feeling the rush of the cars past you, sliding into lanes to wait for the light to change, feeling incredibly winded after going up a small hill. I think it may be the start of me getting over this fear.

This morning I woke up, as per usual, and opened my computer to read some new RSS feeds in my inbox, passively check Facebook, and see if any new emails came in from anyone important. Something that popped up was the petition to get Bert and Ernie (of Sesame Street fame) to marry. Apparently, about 700 people were trying to get PBS to out Bert and Ernie's friendship that has sparked homosexual rumors.

On one hand, this seems like a very progressive idea, trying to start acceptance at such a young age. But honestly, it weirds me out.

I'm very for same sex marriage. I always have been and I always will. It's a fundamental belief that I hope grows in the minds of many more people in the future. And after clicking through pictures of couples who recently tied the knot in New York, I felt an amazing sense of pride (no pun intended here) that the state I formerly lived in was so willing to move on from this ridiculous debacle.

But for as long as I can remember, Bert and Ernie were just bickering best friends on an awesome children's show. There's no romantic conversations, no playful bantering. One gets easily angry at the other when they ask ridiculous questions. (This seems very representative of the friendship I have with Carrie, who I've known since I was teeny tiny) But they always learn from each other. It was always this incredibly innocent friendship that we learned could happen when people learned to accept each other's differences.

I love that show purely because of its innocence, its charm. Adding a possible romantic situation would just over sexualize the show that speaks to the minds of children under ten. And it's not because of them being possibly gay.

It's because, frankly, if any of those characters decided to get married, I'd feel weird. They wouldn't be those lovable icons anymore. They'd be puppets of adults, who the show is not speaking to at all. I would feel the same way if Big Bird decided to marry the Pelican down the street. (For the record, I know there is no actual Pelican down in Sesame Street.)

Children (and the Sesame Street team of course) learn to count their numbers, share, sing songs, spell out words, and learn the fundamentals of a solid friendship. They can't possibly understand the complexities of a relationship, the blossoming of romance, and getting to that point where they're ready to settle down and get married. Maybe another show, another time. But for now, let's keep those characters as scandal free as they've always been.

Bikes and Obama

2011-08-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was hit by a car last year, I've been just a little bit tepid to ride my bike out in the street. Sidewalks were created to be shared, not dominated, by pedestrians. However, I can't say I don't feel just a little bit ashamed when I see some bike riders ride with the traffic at stoplights instead of beside it in the crosswalk.

This is how I currently ride. With hardly anyone around.

This is one of the reasons why the creek trail has worked for me so far. I don't have to deal with cars at all! The residential streets are mostly void of vehicles and even if there are some that pass me by, I feel comfortable enough that they won't hit me.

Alas, the creek trail will be closed for a couple of days due to brush removal on a segment through the woods. I haven't found any information on it online, but there are two big signs along the route that mention that citations will be written out for anyone who violates the rules. So tomorrow I will be trekking partway on the main road to work. (Yikes) But it will surely be an adventure.

One day I will be comfortable enough to do this. I just know it.

I read an article today about President Barack Obama that I think you should check out. My sister and I often talk about Obama and how he's getting an unfair amount of criticism due to Republican political schemes and this article definitely highlights what I've been feeling.

I really don't want Barack Obama to lose out on serving two terms, especially after we endured an eight year sentence with a president that no one had faith in. Even though things have gone wrong in this presidential term, there's never been a moment that I haven't felt safe with Obama. There's never been a moment where I felt that he wasn't trying to do everything possible in order to help his country out. And I think that's one of the most important traits a president can have. We just need someone to believe in. I still believe in him.

The link is here. So go read it. It's only a page and a half long and it's an easy read. :)

Battles and Books

2011-07-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

I used to think ants were mildly irritating creatures that, once in a while, decided to hang out in our cabinets. Although they partied with the syrup in there, we got them out, and then things were fine. Traps kept them at bay and it was as if nothing ever happened.

However, here, it's a different story.

It all started when we noticed them on the exterior of the house, forming a long, singular line. They got into my room, yet there wasn't any food in there, so they basically just crawled over my computer and my arm but eventually found nothing. There were some that crawled in the carpets, but I just vacuumed them up.

Then came the day when I was in the garage doing laundry and I just happened to notice the barrier between the garage door and the floor. A startling amount of them had made an ant line all along the groove into the house from the side near the dirt into the side near the kitchen. Me, thinking I was clever, got out the trusty vacuum and sucked them up. An hour later, the line had reformed, as if the chunk of population I had just decimated was just a minor blip among the amount living in the colony.

Every other day, I watched and vacuumed, but then at that point, it felt useless considering they just kept coming back. But then the cockroaches came, and with that, the exterminator.

It was similar to the moment in the third Lord of the Rings movie, when Pippin is sitting with Gandalf looking out from Gondor onto the plains, knowing a fierce battle is brewing. Pippin says, "It's so quiet," in which Gandalf responds, "It's the deep breath before the plunge."

In our scenario, we were a little naive and honestly believed the ants were gone forever. The line along the garage groove had disappeared. The little lines along the house were gone. It was heaven. Until the moment we opened up our cabinets and found they had completely taken over the food! The peanut butter was basically an ant colony's meal for a year. That took a while to clean up, but it was done and we were happy.

Until they found the garbage disposal and made their trek onward, trailing from the sink onto the counter top. The next day, after cleaning those friends up, the cats meowed at me all day, bugging me until I went out to give them water and noticed their food bowl was completely taken over. And now they have moved onto the dishwasher.

There is no way I could put a picture of real ants on here. They're gross enough!

Like I wrote in a text message to my sister, there should be a documentary titled, "When Ants Attack," and we should be the subject matter. It's a problem that I've been reading is the number one pest problem in North America, even though ants play an important part in our ecosystem.

So it's become a weekly battle of Sarah Vs. The Ants. I've researched and I've bought traps, sprays, and repellents. This battle is not yet over.

In other news, I've learned today that John Green, author of the magnificent Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska, is signing the first 150,000 copies of his new book, The Fault In Our Stars (I just realized that this is supposed to read 'In Our Stars' instead of 'Of Our Stars.' Sorry about that!) , which comes out in January. My initial thought was Ouch. But then, I realized I could potentially be one of those 150,000! For some reason, that made me incredibly excited and I rushed over to Amazon to pre-order my copy. Go here to read more about it.

His books are definitely a must-read. After my sister picked them up from the library for me, I devoured them in about a week. They are amazing, melancholic, deep, and smart, all from the point of view of teenage boys, something I didn't think I'd enjoy, but I most definitely did.

Also, the trailer for Battleship finally was released today. It's been talked about for awhile and I was really skeptical about how they were going to make that game into a movie, but as you'll see, it's a very loose interpretation of the title. Liam Neeson is in it though, which should make it pretty awesome even if the movie sucks. I leave you with the link to go watch it. Battleship!

Ben Folds: Still Rockin'

2011-07-23T01:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to see Ben Folds at The Warfield in San Francisco with my sister. He is pretty much the most awesome man alive and I'll tell you why.

Never have I heard or seen talent at the piano quite like the way Ben Folds pounds it out. Not only can he jam out on the piano, he also has the ability to master the drums and the bass guitar.

He gets the audience involved, asking them to sing part of the harmonies during some songs, which makes it fun.

After singing the two songs he wrote about his twins, Gracie and Louie, when they were born, he had them come out to the stage and we (the audience) got to sing "Happy Birthday" to them while they each got a cake. It was incredibly cute.

He sang a Ke$ha song, which was hilarious, after telling us a story about how she dived into a pool yesterday night in LA to retrieve his cell phone after he threw it in to the deep end.

He kept telling us how awesome his bass player, Ryan Lerman (who was incredibly hot), was and brought his name up several times in order for us to remember him.

He sang "Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)" in Japanese.

I'm always left feeling amazing after leaving a Ben Folds show (even though, really I've only seen two). It's not everyday you get to see one of your favorite artists show their true talent on the stage and I think the only way anyone could ever really understand is if they themselves experienced it.

I didn't take any pictures, mostly because I hate trying to multitask during a concert. I like to just stand there, dance, and sing along. But here's a picture of Ben Folds anyway!

RIP Borders

2011-07-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember, books have played a vital part in my life. In a way, those stories I got to read about, be it fantastical journeys or just some suburban fairytales, shaped who I was and who I am. And I finally just read the news that Borders will be closing.

I won't lie and say Borders has been the only place I've gone to buy (or read) a book in my lifetime, thanks to the library, but I'd say it has probably been the only store I've gone back to countless times after holidays, when I was searching for a gift, or just when I had time to kill in the mall while my mother got her hair done.

I used to love going to Waldenbooks back in the day, before Borders came along in the Crystal Run Galleria, and it was at a time when I was just discovering the young adult section. There were two bays full of books just for young adults and I was very excited about it, because they often explored themes and stories that I just wasn't able to talk about with anyone else. When the new Harry Potter book came out and the newspaper promised a "Diagon Alley" recreation, I rounded up my mom and sisters, and we drove down at 6am just so we could see it.

Then came the day I found out they were closing the Waldenbooks, which was sad. The book store was pretty much the only place I went at the mall; I was awkward about shopping for clothes. Borders was coming to take its place instead, which was the same company, promising a bigger and better store.

I remember the first time I was asked to join the Borders Rewards club once when I was in Albany, and I awkwardly (a theme here) stumbled out something along the lines of how I never went to Borders so I didn't need to join.
But now, I can't even imagine a world where I can't just stop by the Borders at the back corner of the mall (even though I'm sure more stores will have gone by the time I see that mall again). I can't imagine not being barraged by coupons and special offers and selections just for me sitting in my inbox. I don't think I've ever felt that way about Barnes and Noble, as cool as that store is. I think Barnes and Noble will always hold a place in my heart as that stupid store that wouldn't give me even half my money back at the end of my college semesters when I was trying to sell my books back.

Borders offered a sense of community, as cliche as that statement is. I always felt welcome and the chairs always seemed comfy. And instead of two bays of young adult fiction, there were about ten (of which I had to endlessly read the backs of just to try and find the one book that would pique my curiosity for the moment). Plus tables in the aisle. There would be special sections featuring classic literature, something that always made me giddy until I looked at how much the book was. My most favorite part of all were the Lindt truffles that waited for you at the cash register. I know that sounds lame and the fat part of me is just scratching her head and wondering why in the world we're telling the world how in a store full of endless books, the part I liked best was the food, but it's the truth. I'd always buy books that were way more expensive than I thought they would be (even discounted, books aren't the cheapest commodity out there) and those shiny delights would just sit there, 39 cents each, just asking to be bought. And of course, at the time, I'd be with my family so I just had to get them one as well.

These are the types of things that you get with a bookstore, something you won't always be able to have. Because the fact is, the manufacturing of literature is changing. There's nothing quite like picking up a new book, cracking open the binding, and getting lost for hours. But with E-Readers gaining popularity (which isn't news to anyone), it begs the question: Will there one day be no books? Will libraries cease to exist?

I don't think I can even think of that happening, but who knows? It might just be possible.

I received an email yesterday, which I scanned over quickly without even stopping to read the subject line. It was, yet again, an email from Borders. It's a daily habit, really, ignoring them, because its been a while since I've even been in a store, let alone felt the need to print out a coupon. But I read it today and it made me incredibly sad. I'm sure many of you received the same one, but I will post it below anyway.

Living Life

2011-07-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here, I often find myself having complete days off, either due to working nights, or due to the fact that both my part time jobs offer me scant hours throughout the week. And usually, I have no idea what to fill the day with.

One day I biked up to the Lexington Reservoir at the end of the Creek Trail.

I chose this picture due to the fact that you can see the trail snaking its way up the hill.

One day I just rode to Vasona Park, sat on a bench near the playground, and read.

One day I just stayed in the house, cleaned, and jammed out to music while doing so. (Jamming meaning singing along and dancing by myself in the kitchen) I often question what's wrong with me when I can't make the simple decision of what to do with my days off.

Other people have hobbies. I, on the other hand, need to get some.

Yesterday, however, I made the best (albeit a very unsurprising) decision: to see a movie in Campbell. I had attempted to see a movie once before when I traipsed to Los Gatos to see Super 8, a movie I had been extremely excited for. The trip was cut short when I found out I had to work and wouldn't be able to stay for the whole thing.

But yesterday, I knew I had the time to actually see an entire film (!). The great thing about seeing a movie by yourself in theaters is the fact that you can see whatever you want. I know that sounds pretty obvious, but how many times have you tried to see a movie with friends and while you were anxiously anticipating seeing something, you end up seeing something completely different?

I ended up seeing Midnight in Paris, the new Woody Allen film that I've been reading rave reviews about. If ever there was a film completely devoted to the love of a city, it would be this film. Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Marion Cotillard, I left the theater completely starry eyed and happy.

Owen Wilson stars as Gil, who has come to the city with his fiance and her family for her father's business trip. One night, after drunkenly stumbling through the streets trying to get back to the hotel, he's asked to jump into an old cab. When he gets out, he enters a party from the 1920s, the time period that he raves about wishing he could visit. He meets Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, and Ernest Hemingway.

Every night, the same thing happens and every day he is once again in the contemporary world. It leaves you constantly wondering which time period he will choose.

It's funny, cinematically beautiful, and charming. The only part I have yet to completely understand is Rachel McAdams character, who despises Paris and considers it overrated and not nearly as magical as it is. I have a hard time believing that any woman would hate that city.

Hair Styles

2011-06-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

It's funny how different it is in California compared to New York. Or at least the part of New York I'm from. I remember getting Seventeen magazines when I was a teenager and even though there would be certain trends that were new and apparently "in," girls in my high school didn't catch on right away. There was always that weird lag of at least a month between the two.

Here, on the other hand, it's completely different. I read in a magazine (probably Seventeen again, even though I'm 22) about the new fashionable approach to hairstyles using feather extensions braided in to the roots fand boom, within the week I was seeing it on almost every girl around.

It has even caught on in a different.. I guess you could say, "kind" of people. Today, while working at Pier One Imports, where I have been a sales associate for the past month, someone brought their dog inside. While it's weird enough to see a dog in the store (due to the terrifying nature of wondering whether or not they are going to run into one of the many breakable displays), I wasn't prepared to see a brightly colored feather tucked into the hairs on the dogs ears as she walked around.

I have to say, it definitely made the dog stand out. And surprisingly, it worked. Just wait until some celebrities here about this one. In fact, after doing a quick Google search, I found out that this sort of thing is a trend! Look at some of the pictures I found below:

I'm not really sure where it looks better.

Mountain Goats

2011-06-22T00:14:00.000-07:00

When you get called out for an encore three times, it's pretty safe to assume you're doing something right. That's what happened last night when The Mountain Goats performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco.

To say that The Mountain Goats are a good band is a bit of an understatement. I had first discovered them when my sister given her iTunes library to me and they were one of the bands I had never heard of. But as soon as I listened to "Palmcorder Yajna," I was hooked.

Led by John Darnielle, The Mountain Goats provide deep, meaningful lyrics packed with emotional resonance. Darnielle's voice alone is so unique and warm that you can't help but stand in awe as he rocks it out on the stage. One of the things I found to be quite remarkable was how much he hated people clapping when it was his turn to sing to us with only himself and his guitar.

Many of their songs are about how things get better, even though they might seem heavy at first. I was quite sad that one of my all time favorites, "Dance Music" wasn't played, but despite that, it was still probably the best performance I have ever seen. I'm still reeling from the show and it's been 24 hours since it ended.

The venue itself was beautiful, with glass chandeliers dropped from the ceiling, posters lining the walls telling the stories of other greats who had played there as well, and free complimentary posters as we, reluctantly, walked outside.

I love going to concerts such as this one when you can really tell that the audience feels and loves true music. At one point, I remember hearing someone behind me say, "Dude, this band is amazing," with his friend "Yeah"ing in agreement. So, if you are one of those people out there who haven't listened to this band, you must go do so. Right now.

Bike Party

2011-06-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

One of the few traditions that have been started here is walking to the gas station around the corner to stock up on junk food and energy drinks. It has gotten to the point where the man behind the cash register knows me and even let 64 cents slide one time when I didn't have an extra dollar.

Friday night, upon walking up the small hill to get there, I noticed a bunch of bicycles going by, with their lights shining on the road. At first, I just assumed it was a small get together of friends taking a nighttime adventure on the main street of Los Gatos. But then, the bikes never stopped coming. I watched in awe from the moment I saw them until the moment I left the gas station, bag full of chips in hand. Outside, some kid was dressed like a teletubby.

When I got home, I excitedly told everyone about what I had just seen and from there, we found out that it was the San Jose Bike Party. On the third Friday of every month, riders can meet at a rotated meeting place in the South Bay area and ride the planned route. A different theme is also picked out: last week's was 'That 70's Ride.' Next month is still a mystery, yet the website promises it will be special.

The rides, according to the website (which you can go to here) "aim to demonstrate a tangible alternative to car-based transportation and continue to provide a focal point for the local bike-friendly community for the long term."

The rides, which start at 8pm each time, are usually around 30 miles long through the San Jose suburban areas and they promise that even if you're out of shape, it's slow paced and the adrenaline rush of riding in a group gives you the stamina to get through it all. Since the beginning of the party in 2009, the rider count is around 2,700 riders and during the summer months, it grows due to the warm weather. I love their mantra:

"A bicycle is freedom, a bicycle is friendly, and a bicycle is life."

Anyone in the Bay area should definitely check it out, if they're unfamiliar with it anyway. It seems like a cool, fun way to meet people. As I watched from the window, it seemed like a ride for all ages, even though it is suggested that it's for the over 18 crowd. Below are some pictures that I grabbed from the Bike Party's Flickr page!

And, in honor of today being Father's Day, go check out this awesome slide slow on BuzzSugar featuring fatherly advice from movie dads.

Los Gatos Creek Trail

2011-06-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

Living in Los Gatos has been a wonderful adventure so far. The people are friendly, it's sunny most of the time, and there's a certain charm within the town that you can't help but smile at. Downtown Los Gatos is exceptionally nice, with pedestrian friendly streets, unique shops, restaurants, and even a small town square with benches and a fountain. Nestled within the surrounding mountains, I once overheard someone say that Los Gatos was a "destination town."

One of the things I've truly come to love about my new home is the Los Gatos Creek Trail, a paved pathway that extends for almost eleven miles from San Jose through Lexington Reservoir County Park. Not only does it provide a safe, traffic-free way to bike (or walk if you really prefer) from town to town, it gives me a fun, beautiful way to get to work.

I start at the entrance to Vasona Park, where I get to weave my way through geese and other trail-goers along the lakeside. Eventually I pass over the train tracks (of a small train that goes through the park) and go through the woods, which is my favorite part. Even though I grumble to myself about going up some hills, they aren't that challenging and getting the chance to see baby goslings and the surrounding mountains is more than worth it.

Getting to explore the trail is fun too. Yesterday I went past the area I usually stop and went onwards, which eventually turned into an unpaved track near the Highway. It travels on to the reservoir, which sounds exciting to see. I, however, turned around as soon as I saw the big hill I had to go up in order to get there (it was 90 degrees out). Check out some pictures below!

A New Beginning

2011-06-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

It's been about five months since I last posted, which got me to thinking: this place needs some redecorating. So as you can tell, things look a little different, but in a very good way and I've decided that I need to completely change my focus with this blog. I started it way back before I ever really knew what I was doing which has hopefully changed, and now I'm excited to start writing again.

But in order to do that, I need to extend my virtual hand and reintroduce myself.

Hi! My name is Sarah Evans and no, I'm not the infamous country singer that everyone seems to reference when they meet me. Instead, I'm a college graduate who can't find the job of my dreams. I'm 22, living in California in an amazingly beautiful place (pictures will definitely come eventually), and one day I'd like to be able to be proud of what I do (which hopefully will be to write). I'm an avid movie lover, indie music enthusiast, and I currently divide my time between two part time retail jobs, my niece and nephew, and of course, this super addictive computer of mine.

So stay tuned and hopefully, this will be a lot better of a show. :)

-Sarah

The Adventure

2011-01-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

"Pooty soon I'll be a-shout'n' for joy, en I'll say, it's all on accounts o' Huck; I's a free man, en I couldn't ever ben free ef it hadn' ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won't ever forgit you, Huck; you's de bes' fren' Jim's ever had; en you's de ONLY fren' ole Jim's got now."

When I was in 11th grade, the first book I ever had to read for my honor's class was "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", penned by the late, great Mark Twain. I clearly remember how hard it was to get through that book due to the dialogue of the characters, with slave Jim's rambling language that I literally had to translate onto paper to understand and the young Southern drawl that Huck was fond of. But if there's one thing I remember more, it's that it was my first foray into the classics, the first book that, though the premise sounded boring and flat, ended up being one of my favorites.

Sure, students complained. (I always had a knack of being the different one in the class. I remember loving John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" too in my American History class while most of the class hated it) A friend of mine told me she didn't think it was that good. She was bored while reading it. Some people just didn't like the storyline. I felt like the sole lover of that tale while the rest of the class hoped for something different.

There was something so fun and amusing about the young boy whose touching friendship with his former slave will forever be remembered. The way he thought about the world and the ridiculous shenanigans he ended up getting himself into were literary gold. It was a reminder of the times and Mark Twain delved into the issues of slavery and racism in a way that has constantly signaled red flares throughout the country. Many organizations and schools have tried banning the novel from being read and taught.

In case you haven't heard, news sites recently have been reporting a change in NewSouth Book's upcoming release of Mark Twain's infamous novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," which will be combined with "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" in a single copy.

The company plans to publish the novel replacing the N-word with "slave," which comes up a total of 219 times.

Censorship is something that this country should pride itself on avoiding. What people would be missing is the way the country was before. Rather than try to ignore the blatant racism and segregation that dominated the United States way back when, we should read and learn about it, and grow from it. Despite the fact that racism against blacks has been decreased and rights have been given to them, prejudice against sectors of society is still prevalent today. In 100 years from now, are books with the "f-word" that going to be banned from shelves? Because honestly, that words seems more offensive than the N-word, a word that is still commonly used in black communities. Are we going to attempt to ignore the past just so we forget our faults?

Friend Request From a Family Member

2010-12-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

My little sister received a friend request from one of my aunts the other day. It's a little troubling when family starts to become intertwined with our Facebook worlds. For so long, my circle of friends dealt strictly with who I knew at college and the few members of my high school that I decided I wanted to check up on from time to time. And of course, every college student has their fair share of drunken photos, embarrassing posts, and annoying self absorbent statuses that only the afore mentioned should know about. There is always that friend who decides to bring up past events that everyone really shouldn't know about. Even though, yes that moment was pretty hilarious, and reminiscing about it makes me happy, there should be a level of tact that should be taken.

When Facebook started to become bigger and better and family members decide to become a part of the phenomenon, and suddenly, we had to be really careful about what was being put up.

So, after my sister called me over, and we stalked my aunt's profile (it's always entertaining to see what information the older crowd puts down), we struggled with the dilemma of whether or not she should accept or reject the offer. Mulling it over for a couple of seconds, she finally decided to click the "Decide later" button, hiding it for a later date.

Of course, after this happened, I anxiously waited for the moment that I would receive a similar request. Even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't know how to respond, I assumed it would a natural next step. One niece onto the next.

So I waited. And waited. And to this day (granted it was two days ago), I have yet to see a bright red notification waiting for me up in the upper left corner.

It's not that I really want my aunt to be my friend. I like where she stands as the woman I laugh with at family functions. But still, I am feeling a tad bit slighted considering my own aunt doesn't want to be my friend.

Security Measures

2010-12-06T22:16:00.001-08:00

I often think to myself, when boarding the bus that travels from Albany to Kingston, why is security so lax?

They say you should arrive at an airport two hours early in order to prepare yourself for long lines to go through the security checkpoint. You have to rapidly take out your laptop, shove off your coat, and peel off your shoes before you walk through the metal detector. You have to make sure your liquids reach a level no larger than 8 fluid ounces and now, you have to walk through body scanners.

When going to the bus station, though, no one checks anything. I buy my ticket, hand over luggage that might have to be stored underneath, and walk on to find my seat. While in Boston recently, I frequently traveled by train. Sure, you have to get there early, but no one checks your luggage. You bring it on, store it above you, and just sit.

Not that I think these modes of transportation equally deserve such intense methods of security, due to strict schedules that need to be kept, but honestly, isn't there the same amount of chance that a terrorist could infiltrate these sorts of areas as well?

If people are so concerned with how safe this country is, why just planes? Yes, they did it once, but it wouldn't make sense to attempt to do it again. They must know we've been keeping a close eye on airports after what happened last time.

Why not trains? They travel throughout the country as well and stop in cities with large populations, such as the illustrious New York City and Chicago.

Why not buses? You hear terror stories about buses being blown up in the middle of the streets in foreign countries. I for one do not want to think about something like that happening when I take a ride.

I wish I had the answer to why there seems to be a noticeable difference between all three modes of transportation. To me, it just seems like common sense, to protect more than just the air travelers.

Books versus the Movies

2010-11-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

I've always been one of those obnoxious movie goers who absolutely spit on novel based films. If the directors weren't using the book as the script, I used to leave the theater disappointed, angry, and hurt. But now, after seeing the newest Harry Potter movie, I understand why that is completely wrong.

When reading the final Harry Potter book, I was completely overwhelmed by how fast paced it seemed and how sad and dark it was, and because of the fact that it was the last book in the series, I devoured it in a day and a half. I remember thinking to myself, now that would be a great film.

Seeing it up there on the big screen, however, made me realize that the book is meant to be read, and only read, and the movie is meant to be seen, and only seen. They are two different experiences that really shouldn't be related to each other.

There were moments when Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way through vast forests and towns searching for horcruxes that seemed to drag endlessly on, and I often was confused about what was going on. I had no idea why Harry carried around the shard of mirror, even though I know it plays an important role later on.

As someone who actually did read the book, I can't imagine what someone who didn't read it must have felt. There's so much to take in, to remember and piece together, and yet this is only part one of the finale.

Maybe this whole time, I really just never understood the concept of translating literary work into film. It's great when you can finally see your favorite story actually visualized, but is anything really ever as good as the tale that you loved in your own head? I don't think so. Some things just can't be compared, no matter how accurate it might be.

I love David Yates' camera work however, despite the minor plot flaws. And of course, I never realized how superb some of the acting is in those movies. I love the members of the Order, including David Thewlis as Remus Lupin and Brendan Gleeson as Mad Eye Moody, and who can ever forget the chilling face of Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort?

The characters, I think, will continue to survive way past the expiration date of the movies. Who knows? 100 years down the road (or maybe even less if things keep going like they have been) we might just be seeing new faces taking on the reins and retelling the story of the boy who lived.

Scanners

2010-11-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

In the height of a holiday, travelers have been expressing their concern over the new body scanners that have recently debuted in airports throughout the country.

These body scanners can examine your bodies (through your clothing) in order to make sure no one is hiding dangerous weapons in undisclosed locations.

Opposers to these new machines say they are intrusive, due to the fact that anyone who objects to going through these scanners will be subjected to a full on pat down.

I was there one of the first days that the new backscatter machines actually were in use, and I watched as certain people walked through two large blue rectangular boxes, holding their arms upright and turning occasionally. I wasn't forced to go through and I don't recall many people having a problem.

I guess I just question why people are so afraid to walk through the scanners. You can say no, but then you are basically being molested by a stranger (for good purposes, mind you). Are people just that afraid to have someone else view them naked?

For starters, according to the TSA's website, features on a person are blurred so no distinction about who you are really can be made. An example of what a security guard sees is here. Also, those photos that are taken are not stored or reproduced.

Not to mention, how many times has it been brought up in casual conversation about how, as strict as standards are in the airports nowadays, you could really get some things past the guards. Drugs for instance, can be stored in the anal cavity, as well as weapons.

Considering how many of our people have worried obsessively since the attack on 9/11 about safety on airlines, is this something that really should be made a big deal? I'm all for privacy, mind you, yet when I'm on a plane, the last thing I want to be worrying about is careening 35,000 feet into the landscape below.

If you ask me, this could also be a great way to target obesity. Think about it. Those who are questioning these so called "intrusive" scanners are just terrified of having someone else view them naked (honestly, who would actually choose the pat down over a simple scan? I've heard it likened to sexual harassment, but really, I think those people are just bringing it onto themselves)

It scares me to think that society has really gotten to such a prude point. It's the 21st century! Being naked is not something we should be ashamed of, considering after all, that that's who we are as beings.

Maybe now that our bodies may be projected to strangers on a less than personal level, people will start realizing that they need to take better care of them selves. It's a long shot I know, but I feel as if this entire argument is stupid. You can't tell me that half of these protesters really care about some pat down that wouldn't even be administered unless they decided to receive it.

What do you care more about? Amped up security or insecurity about your body?

End of an era

2010-10-25T23:45:00.001-07:00

When I was younger, I remember walking through the halls of the Galleria Crystal Run in Middletown. It was mesmerizing, with bright lights, signs promising sales, aromas of pretzels and fast food teasingly wafting through, and racks upon racks of clothes. The pet store always promised a depressed dog sitting behind the glass, at once becoming excited after seeing a face on the other side. It was pretty much the best place ever.

Over the summer, I once again walked through the wide set hallways, watching as hurried shoppers passed by the closed down Disney store and instead of smiling characters turning in their window display, cheap sports regalia hung on steel hangers. The pet store closed too, just a blank, white wall reminding those who remembered of the animals that used to roam inside. Empty stores featured odd advertisements in the windows asking customers to just walk a little further.

It makes me wonder about malls today. The Galleria is just one of a few that seem to envelop a museum like haunt, such as the Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino. As I walked through the seemingly endless corridors, cheesy 80s Muzak playing softly on the overhead microphones, it made me sad to think of what that place could have (and probably had) been. The big stores, such as Macy's, JC Penney, Victoria's Secret, and Sears, stood tall against their tiny neighbors. But still, as loud as their names screamed, they still looked sad, without many customers seeping in or out of their doors.

As I returned my nephew's clothes at JC Penney, I noticed the bored employees, the barely mussed up folded clothes, the giant sales signs. Granted, it was around 12pm on a Monday afternoon, but still, it was eery.

Stores with unrecognizable second hand names promised children's shoes, perfumes, and quality jewelry. The familiar pretzel store stood waiting for me.

These situations just beg the question: What is happening to malls? Are they dying out, losing their touch? Or is it a sign of the economy and consumer's unwillingness to buy as much?

According to MSN Money in an article from last year, "The pain of a dying mall is far reaching."

It's crazy to think about how life will be without malls. They were always such a social staple for teenagers. It was the thing to do on the weekends before we all went off to live our separate lives. Even in college, it was something we'd do when we were bored, and even that mall, which seemed to be in a lot better shape than those mentioned above, had its fair share of closings.

I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if this will turn around or if they will cease to exist, but it's something that may very well become a possibility.

Good news on the job front!

2010-10-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've been whittled down into a small group of finalists for a reporter job in Utah that sounds like my cup of tea. In the small metropolitan area of Logan, I would be writing about community issues and city government. The paper, according to the editor I spoke with over the phone, is a great opportunity for a start-up job and there seems to be enough security in the job which means I wouldn't have to worry about being laid off anytime soon. However, the indecisive voice inside me keeps nagging. During this tough economic time, do I even have the option to be choosy when it comes to a first job?

I shouldn't be too hasty. After all, the official choice has not been made-I may in fact not get the position-but my head is constantly swimming with questions and what should and shouldn't be priorities.

One important aspect I've been thinking about is the fact that I need benefits. We all know too well that I need them. Accident prone and clumsy are just two words that have been used to describe me and I constantly get sick all year long. I can't keep living without any sort of insurance. It seems like a bad move.

Two. I'm stuck between two coasts. I clearly remember when I was in high school, dreaming about just leaping and going where the wind took me. But that was before I had a really solid support system. Both halves of that support system are on two halves of the country, which means I'd have to create an entirely new one in Utah. That idea sounds scary and I don't know how to decide what is more important to me. Do I accept a job that sounds utterly perfect yet the location doesn't seem ideal?

The pay is something that has been universal in all the job prospects I've come across. Starting out as a reporter, I am expected to make about $20,000 a year, which is fine. I can totally do that. That's more money than I've ever made in my life, combined. I could handle it, and in Logan, Utah, the cost of living is low enough where I could get by all right.

So how does one decide something as important as this? I'm not sure. It's something I'm sure I'll be faced with more than once in my job search. How does one handle this sort of pressure?

Growing up-When?

2010-10-06T16:35:00.001-07:00

When do we hit the point where we have our lives figured out? Ever since I can remember, I used to look at adults and think, one day, I'm going to be like them. It seemed like a simple formula that you just grew to know, yet I feel like I didn't study the right cards.

I'm realizing now that the people who looked so secure when I was younger probably weren't. Maybe this struggle is lifelong, and that idea scares me. It's really difficult trying to break out on your own, and I think it's something that many people forget and ignore. It takes a lot of hard work to get to a point where you can sit back, relax, and look at your life with ease.

Just trying to work my way alone through a big city like San Francisco was hard enough. It became easier when I figured out what to do, but that momentary panic that pierced through me was enough to send me running. I'm getting older, yet I'm grasping onto the idea that I'm still a kid, and I don't know if that ever goes away. Do you always just feel like some clueless child for the rest of your life? I'm waiting for the day that I can proudly say I grew up. I'm hoping it comes soon.

California Dreamin'

2010-09-11T19:44:00.001-07:00

Being a college graduate is tough work. I somewhat put the idea in my head that it would be easy. I finished an amazing internship, got started with a fun magazine, and didn't realize along the way that my head was, in fact, completely in the clouds.

How does one get through this muddled mess? I have no idea, but I'm currently working my way through dozens of emails, applications, and the like just to find some glimmer of hope. The thing about it all is, the professors never really give you step by step instructions for what happens after you walk out of the classroom. And, honestly, how can they? You're supposed to figure it out. Isn't life supposed to be full of challenges you have to work through? They say you can't reach the top until you're ready to fall. So maybe, this is me falling, and all this paranoia and stomach upsetting rejection will lead me to something more. Here's to hoping.

Right now, I'm living with my sister in the mega tech Silicon Valley, loving the sunshine and trying to keep my head up. I don't know what the next few months will lead to, what decisions I'll choose, or who exactly will still be in my life at that point. I'm scared, I'm restless, but I'm ready.

Cars Roll On

2010-05-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

One of the first things you'll ever learn is to look both ways before you cross the street and, as an expert in what can go wrong when you think the coast is clear, you should probably listen to that little nagging voice in your head that sounds suspiciously like your parents. Even when the light is red and you think, "Hey I can go now!" make sure you pay attention to the cars on the sides of the intersection because when you're standing there wondering why that large white vehicle isn't stopping, surprisingly not much goes through your mind besides, "This is going to hurt."

I didn't even get that brilliant flash of my life that so many people talk about. Where were all the years that were supposed to present themselves in front of my eyes? Where was this life changing experience that was supposed to make me realize the bigger picture in life?

However, waking up finding yourself sprawled on a busy street, blood wet on the upper left corner of your forehead seeping down your face, head pounding in an unusual and scary way, right arm feeling odd, with paramedics asking you numerous questions about who you were and where you came from, does create somewhat of an impact on your psyche.

And then realizing later on that the vibrating phone in your pocket that you desperately try to answer as the paramedics tell you to ignore it is your mother calling you telling you that one of your best friends from home passed away gives you yet another wake up call. I may be bandaged, casted, and bruised, but yet every day I feel so thankful I'm ok. I relive that moment, the one where the front of the car rammed into my left side, so often, thinking to myself what could have been if I had been at another point in the road, if I had been facing a different direction, if the vehicle hadn't stopped. For someone like me to be so lucky while someone like my friend Ashley wasn't makes me feel incredibly guilty, yet extremely aware of what can happen in an instant. No longer do I feel that invincibility that young people often do.

You'll probably have friends who tell you that cars will stop for you, and for the most part, they're right. But that one chance sure scares the hell out of me.

I'm back...sort of.

2010-03-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

To the blogosphere:

It has been a long, long time since I posted last onto this site, which was a mere two months ago. That time seemed to fly by faster than I could have ever imagined, but it has been a long and grueling process of growth for me, especially when it comes to reporting. Everyone who ever reads this should head on over to the Legislative Gazette's website and type in Sarah L. Evans in the search box. You can see what I have been covering for the past three months, and boy, let me tell you, there is some exciting stuff on there. It is a paper dedicated solely to New York state's government and politics, but there has been some fun stories that I've worked on and I'm curious to know opinions. I promise I will be attempting to update this more often, and if not, continue to check out what I'm doing with my paper.

Beginning of the End

2010-01-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I've started my internship at the Legislative Gazette, and it's turning out to be hard work, not in a bad way mind you, but it makes me miss the days where I complained about boring classes. It's crazy that one week has already gone by so far. I've attended a press conference, gotten my own desk (and phone!), and spoke to important people over the phone.

However, it doesn't mean I have no room to make mistakes, because I'm pretty sure I've made a ton of them already. I'm prepared to accept that, however, and I'm excited to see how my writing and my reporting skills grow and refine themselves. Look for my name every Tuesday. I hope my stories don't bore you.

New Beginnings

2009-12-07T13:13:00.001-08:00

Professors always teach you something new, no matter how they present the course material. Some may stand up in front of the classroom and drone on for an hour an a half, causing you to fall into the familiar rhythm of head nodding after fifteen minutes, but then there are those who actually inspire you. They are the ones who are passionate about their subjects, who make you learn in a new way, who remember you and who leave an impression on you long after the class is over. While you may not remember exact answers, dates, or what kind of grade you got, you remember the things you got involved in, the people you shared your stories with, the ones you nudged in class to reminisce about how long it took to finish the assignment.

It's always sad when the last class finally blows in, and you realize that the tight knit circle of people you never knew will soon be unraveled. I'm never sure if I'm sad because it's the end, and endings are always bittersweet, or if maybe for awhile, I was surrounded by the comfort of having someone teach me something new, instead of having to figure it out for myself.

The classes that seem to combine both into one are the ones that are important. I still remember how scared I felt when, in my Intro to News Reporting class, we were assigned to go out and ask people about lowering the drinking age. Until that point, journalism was a curiosity, something I didn't know too much about and I really didn't know how to get information that well. Talking to strangers alone felt terrifying. But eventually, I grew, and I learned that people liked to talk. I had no reason to fear their rejection or their answers.

On the first day of my narrative journalism class, we had to go out and find a story. He didn't tell us specifics, which meant we blindly walked around until something came along. I talked to this girl on line at the SUNY Card office, and she told me a lot about her life in the past six months. I felt this incredible amount of satisfaction, and a bubble of happiness surrounded me in the fact that sometimes I really could do my job.

There are others, such as my Public Affairs journalism class, where I got the chance to shake hands with the mayor, and my Advanced News Writing and Reporting class, where I walked the streets of Albany to talk to different people about Richard Bailey, that also challenged me and forced me to learn. In my media ethics class, the infamous Jayson Blair talked to us about his life since his resignation at the New York Times, and we constantly challenged the rules of the media, wondering where the line was that journalists have to constantly avoid in order to bring true and fair reporting to the forefront.

Next semester, I start my internship at the Legislative Gazette downtown, which means I won't have the luxury of sitting in a classroom here on campus. It's going to be sad, yet a stepping stone for the start of the rest of my life. I'm nervous, yet excited, hopeful to be successful, yet prepared to make mistakes. I don't know what it will be like, but I know that these past five semesters have definitely been amazing. Thanks to everyone who supported me along the way and to all the professors who probably don't remember my name, but led me to an amazing opportunity in my life. It was worth it.

O Christmas, where have you gone to?

2009-11-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

What is it about Christmas time that sends shoppers into a panic induced frenzy? I realize how important reduced prices and one of a time offers are, but come on! Do you really need to be shoving people out of the way in order to get that one item off of the shelf?

I spent time with my best friend from home, Carrie, and her mom today before she left for the Thanksgiving break. Her mom had wanted to go shopping, which led us to The Christmas Tree Shoppe, which stocks little knickknacks, ornaments, potpourri, stockings, plates, and other unnecessary holiday items that everyone seems to go nuts over.

I will never understand The Christmas Tree Shoppe (which, granted, sells a lot of their products for low prices) and their way to draw large crowds of older women, moms, and dragged along fathers who get to push the stroller around through the narrow aisles. I couldn't even walk three feet without getting nudged in the side with a shopping cart or backing into a little old lady. I tried to get out of the way, which only put me in another moment of chaos. I clearly remember an old man saying to his wife, "Get what you want now because there is definitely no way we're coming back here."

It wasn't just that one store, either. Afterwards, we headed to the Crossgates Mall, where we were faced with yet another crowd, this one of the younger variety. The thing about the mall though, is that it's bigger than The Christmas Tree Shoppe, and it has many more incentives for customers to buy into. For instance, Santa sits waiting for children to sit in his lap in the middle of the mall. The aroma of pretzels, burgers, and Chinese food wafts from vendors and food courts. The stores have special offers that the people flock to, worse than The Christmas Tree Shoppe. Build A Bear's Workshop has now been transformed into Santa's Workshop. What kind of child can literally walk past that place without being enticed by that?

People wait in lines for this, and it will only get worse next Friday when everyone wakes up extra early to stand in the bitter cold for hours. When has it become necessary for people to wait in lines? Why should anyone who wakes up at eight o'clock instead of four not get the same opportunities for a sale?

Every year it seems, this same argument gets brought up. Why can't people just shop normally, like any other day of the year? This intense competition for some reduced item creates unnecessary (and possibly dangerous) situations. For instance, who can forget about the man who was trampled to death at the Long Island Wal-Mart by consumers who barged into the entrance. Was someone dying really worth that television for 40% off (this is not an actual calculated number, but I work at Justice, where there is constantly something for 40% off)? I think people need to take a real good look at what they're doing. Superficial items might buy your family love for that one day of the year, but the holidays are about more than that. Aren't they?

The Game

2009-11-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

I find it strange that exactly one year ago Barack Obama was chosen as our country's newest president, and as of right now (or rather, ten or so minutes ago), the Yankees have just won the World Series. These two aren't comparable at all, but the echoes in the quad are incredibly similar. The girls that screech at the top of their lungs, the mass amounts of voices that are screaming out from different quads, the stomping from three or so floors above. As my roommate Lauren said, "They're screaming more about the Yankees winning than the president winning."

I'm not sure that it's weirder that it has been so long since the day last year when chills literally ran up and down my spine from the news or that I'm pretty sure people screamed for a good twenty minutes before Lauren shut the window tonight.

Are these two events in any way comparable Can you honestly say that the Yankees winning the game is as important as someone winning the top seat in politics? I'm not answering because, honestly, I can't tell you. In my media ethics class, we have been debating (quite rigorously might I add) this very issue. The argument itself has been more so directed towards the ethics involved (like accepting gifts, remaining unbiased, et cetera) but I think one of the core topics we've discussed is what I just said.

There are sports fans who remain extremely dedicated to the craft; there are those who downright spit on professional sports in general; and then there are those like me who really don't care either way. I respect the talent that's involved, but when it comes to salaries, steroid use, and criminal affairs, that respect wavers. The big events are fun to be involved with, but as soon as they're done, I am too, and I go on about my days as normal as they day before.

I don't know what people care about more and I don't know if I ever will, but it was a moment of deja vu that I just couldn't ignore.

The Case of the Missing Scanners

2009-10-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, when the clock hit 11:00 pm, I wanted to go down to the vending machines. Sometimes I'll get a little hungry and want to munch on something small before I sleep, but sometimes I'm just plain thirsty. It's quite annoying when you only get to eat in the dining hall twice a day and there aren't any drinks in the room.

However, when I went down last night, I was determined to get a red Powerade. They always seem to hit the right spot whenever I'm dying of thirst. I swiped my card, and then got the message, "Sold Out." Of course I thought. So then I went to the soda machine, because it was my second choice. I'd get a Sprite.

I swiped my card. It read, "Not ready." I'm not really sure what to make of that, honestly. Will it be ready momentarily? Will it take all night? Did I do something wrong? I tried for a Diet Coke instead. Same message.

After I swiped a couple more times, hoping for something new, the girls behind me told me they had been trying also, and the machine didn't work. I was exasperated, but I had a little bit left of the Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper I had bought about three weeks ago left, so I chugged that down when I got back upstairs.

Today, I was hoping that someone came to restock the food and drinks. After all, they usually come in the middle of the week. I wanted a soda this time. I approached the vending machine, ready to swipe. But alas, instead of a card scanner, all that remained were two large holes, the bright white light from inside the machine behind it, glowing. Well, ok, I didn't really want that anyway.

The urge for the Powerade engulfed me once again. I walked the few extra feet, wishing that they weren't sold out. I pressed the button to make sure. They weren't sold out. But then, I tried to swipe my card. This machine had no card scanner either! I had no idea what was going on (I still don't know, to be honest)! Why did they decide to do that? (They being whoever thought this was a good idea. I don't really know who "they" are) Are they going to fix it? Will we never be able to buy drinks again?

I eventually traipsed over to the campus center, where I was able to score a bigger bottle of it instead, because my mouth and throat were dryer than could be. I'm really curious as to why the staff decided to do that. Maybe they need new scanners. Maybe they are putting in new machines. Who knows? All I know is that, while Lauren laughed herself into a tizzy about what had happened to me two nights in a row, I wanted to know some answers, and hopefully they will come soon.

I've Found One

2009-10-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

After a year and a half of fruitless searching for minimum wage jobs in Albany, NY, you are finally looking at an employee of Justice, sister store of Limited Too. I was just starting to lose hope when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

Who could it be? I thought. It was a random 518 number, which automatically made me think it was a future employer. However, just the day before, I had received a phone call from Peaches Cafe telling me that I was eliminated from the running to the fact I still live on campus.

I picked up my phone, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

"Is Sarah there?" The voice on the other end asked.

"This is her," I muttered, eagerly anticipating what she said next.

"This is Liz at Justice in Stuyvesant Plaza. We'd like to offer you a job. You still interested?"

At that moment, happiness surged through me, and relief flooded my head.

"Yeah, definitely!" I answered. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was waiting for a catch, for anything that would prevent me from getting the job, even though I remembered her telling me she was looking for people like me considering she already had people lined up for the holidays.

She then proceeded to tell me my hours for the upcoming week. After the conversation ended, I closed my phone. A thousand watt smile plastered on my face, I screamed to Carrie, who was sleeping in the bed, "I got a job!"

I'm lucky. I feel good, because I can finally afford another trip to California in the winter, and the pressing fear of running out of money has been somewhat lifted. So far, hours haven't been bad either, but then again, I've only worked two days so far.

I know plenty of people applying for jobs and never hearing word again. It's scary really, because not many retail stores are willing to hire students who live on campus. Work study is only available to select students and the bookstore jobs are gone quickly. There is always dining hall services (and the signs are around, believe me. I was tempted to call after I hadn't heard any word from any of the places that interviewed me) though, and I'm always surprised by how many students don't work for them. They will obviously work with flexible schedules and pay isn't that bad. There always seem to be a very high percentage of adult workers compared to the students.

I hope other people have the same kind of luck as I did. It took a long time, but I've finally found something.

Harsh Future

2009-09-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Before college, I never really read too many newspapers, other than The Times Herald Record, which is the local paper from home (Sullivan County), mostly because I didn't always have internet access, and I really never had the urge to.

However, since becoming a journalism major at SUNY Albany, I am much more interested in the news, and papers like The New York Times and U.S.A. Today, and magazines like Newsweek, are now at the top of my list whenever I want to find information out. I even subscribe to the New York Times online, which is somewhat of a rip off to the company, since I read for free. I get daily emails and also news alerts whenever something big happens (like for instance, today, which read:

"After a half-day of animated debate, the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday rejected efforts by liberal Democrats to add a government-run health insurance plan to major health care legislation, dealing the first official setback to an idea that many Democrats, including President Obama, say they support."

That makes me sad, especially after the event I attended that I spoke about in my last post. People were just so passionate about that issue, and to see it fall through is somewhat depressing.

But I didn't write to talk about that, even though it's obviously something big, and something I care about, because to be honest, real reporters are going to be covering that much more extensively than I am going to be.

I guess I'm really more interested in the fact that I get the New York Times for free each day. At first, maybe it doesn't seem like something interesting, compared to public option being rejected, but to someone like me, who plans on (hopefully) graduating in the spring, it affects me in a really big way.

Newspapers are dying. It's a simple truth that every professor here agrees on. Some of the older ones say journalism itself is dying, but the other ones say that it will never die. The style is transforming, and the way news is gathered and distributed is changing.

So I get The New York Times for free, which means people aren't getting paid. No salary for the writers, for the editors, for the deliverymen, for the ink, for the paper. Only the people who pay for that actually help it, and if someone who has internet gets the choice to choose free news or the actual paper delivered to their doorstep for $7.40 a week, I'm pretty sure they'd choose free.

This isn't new information by any means, but it is the reality, and it is scary. The future of my career field has no security whatsoever at this point, until something is done. There was a really good article written by the editor of The San Jose Mercury News that I read a couple of weeks ago about it, but of course, now I have to pay for it. I wish I could show it to you. (Maybe if my sister reads this, she can put a link up or something. She is the one who showed it to me after all.)

It's a terrifying reality that's hitting me in the face everyday, making me wonder what I'm doing even attempting traveling down this road. Hopefully, something good will happen, and make my worrying go away, but if it doesn't, who knows what will happen?

I know I've been really lazy with my writing in this blog, and as always, I apologize profusely. I never mean to wait this long between posts, because I love writing in it, but with six classes, balancing priorities is becoming quite a task. Just don't give up on me yet. I'm not going anywhere.

Scott Murphy

2009-09-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

For one of my journalism classes, I was required to attend a public event, one which, at first, I didn't think I'd be able to find. I am usually horribly bad at deadlines (I always get things done, but I wait a while before I start) but I knew that if I didn't find something by this Thursday, when the assignment is due, it would be incredibly hard to stay ahead, or rather, even stay afloat, in my class.

I had searched and searched thoroughly through the Times Union newspaper and various Albany events sites, coming up with nothing more than art events downtown and sports games. Finally, I emailed my professor, hoping he could help me out, which he did, not directly of course. But he had said to try labor day events, and considering everyone has off today, I figured I'd find some cute little memorial event I could go to. However, that isn't exactly what I found. Scott Murphy is the local Congressman that represents the 20th district in New York, who happened to schedule a meet and greet at the Price Chopper in Clifton Park. At first I had been mildly excited about it. I had never met a Congressman before, and it would give me an opportunity to see firsthand what a politician promised.

That was before I found several blogs about how many people were against what he promised (especially regarding healthcare). There were so many people who wrote about how they were planning to protest. Immediately, I realized this public event I was supposed to cover was going to be completely different than I had first imagined.

Media coverage was also going to be there, which slightly intimidated me, I have to be honest, but it's something I'm going to have to deal with soon considering this is the field I really am interested in following. I needed to do research, and fast, because if I had no idea what was going on, there was no way I could construct enough questions to ask.

I did, and this morning I arrived fully prepared to do what I had to. That is, until I saw the people with the signs. It's not like I didn't expect the signs. After all, what's a protest without the signs? (By the way, they weren't all protesting the cause. Some of the signs were for support) Then a man started yelling about how we need public option, which I think is a good idea honestly. After his rant, the other side decided to contribute also. I had never been more afraid to approach someone than at this moment. What if he started asking me about what I believed? I can't really tell him how I feel, though, if I want an interview, so would he be willing to say anything?

Eventually Scott Murphy walked up, shaking hands with his constituents. As loud as some people screamed, it was evident how many people were there to hear what he had to say. Some people had very genuine concerns, especially the older people who were starting to believe the rumors about death panels (which Murphy adamantly denied), or those who wanted to know if they'd lose health insurance all together. There were snickers amongst those present whenever someone of the opposite party asked him a question, which made me feel tense at times. Over all though, it was exciting to be part of such a debate. I became so much more interested in politics during the morning, especially about healthcare. I think if a Congressman of yours ever comes to speak at a town near you, you should definitely go and listen, because it is after all, our future that will be changed.

The above picture was taken from Google of Congressman Murphy. Stupid me forgot to bring a camera.

It's the End of the Summer As We Know It

2009-08-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

In exactly one week, I will be writing from this computer sitting atop of my UAlbany dorm bed, and you have no idea how excited I am. I love the summer, I really do. I get to see my friends from home (rather, friend, since many of my high school friends have drifted away), hang out with my family, and eat very good food (I never minded the dining hall as much as my friends from school, but honestly, a home cooked meal always seems to taste better), but it also means the familiarity of what life was like before college.

It's not bad, but it always makes me feel like I'm living in the summer after senior year all over again, even though I know what to expect. I'm anxious to return, even though I have an 18 credit workload this upcoming semester, and I'm probably going to drive myself nuts. But I love being around people my age, who are doing the same thing I'm doing, and who are facing the same problems as I'm facing. We seem to be going to college in an incredibly hard time, and I really hope that I get an internship in the fall. I'm crossing my fingers that it might boost up my resume a little bit, because in all honesty, I'm scared of the day after I graduate.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that when I get back to school, I will have access to the internet more, and I know I usually promise that I'll write more, but I always fail to follow through. So let's hope I'll try harder and write more.

Williamsburg

2009-08-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to visit is Williamsburg, Virginia, known for its vast history and tourist attractions. It hasn't ever seemed like one of those tacky tourist towns, even though, technically, it is one. Sure, there are the occasional souvenir shops, trying to make their money by making cheap replicas of old artifacts and selling them at ridiculously high prices (like for instance, this bell I rang in the store, which came to $89.95), but there is a particular charm about the place that really can't be ignored.

First off, if anyone ever decides to vacation in Williamsburg, they have to,

without a doubt, check out the historic section, because while Busch Gardens may be fun, there's nothing like walking down a street, listening to the fifes and feeling like you're back at the start of our country. I've been there at least two or three times already in my life, and I still love going back.

The houses are quaint, the gardens are exquisite, and the whole setup reminds me how good we have life today. The heat was unbearably stifling ( literally, every time I walked out of the air conditioned buildings, it was like I ran into a wall of warmth), and by the time the day ended, my feet were killing me from my stupid decision to wear flip flops (I was wearing a skirt though! I can't wear my sneakers with a skirt!). It was still totally worth it. I even managed to take pictures today, which means I can share them, for the first time ever. I hope everyone is excited about this as I am. I hope you like them.

To explain this as best as I can:

Picture #1 is the green in front of the governor's mansion.

Picture #2 is the armory.

Picture #3 is a post to tie up horses. (I think anyway. It just looked cool.)

Picture #4 is one of the houses along the main street you walk down.

Picture #5 is a lamp post in front of another building.

Picture #6 is a little shop that you can actually buy things from.

Picture #7 is the capital building.

Picture #8 is a staircase I discovered while finding my way through the maze behind the governor's mansion.

Picture #9 is the garden directly behind the mansion.

Picture #10 is the mansion yet again, but from a better point of view.

John Hughes, 59

2009-08-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

When I opened up the newspaper yesterday, I didn't intend on reading anything over the top. There were the familiar tidbits of information about car wrecks (which are really common during the summer time), the economy, and lawmakers. Of course, every day since it's happened, some long article about the Diane Schuler accident on the Taconic Parkway shows up about three pages in, and even though I know I should read it, it practically breaks my heart every time I try. Tragedy is one thing, but when it involves innocent children, it becomes something so much more. After I turned the page, briefly skimming what that article was about, I read the small and insignificant celebrity columns. I always read them (I have to admit, I used to be wildly obsessed with the Perez Hilton website), even if they have no impact whatsoever on my life, because there is always something scandalous/interesting/et cetera happening with their lavish lives. But when I dove in, ready to digest some fluff, I realized that I was gulping down an obituary. John Hughes, iconic director of Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and so much more, died at the age of 59. My heart plummeted.

I have an immense admiration for the films mentioned above; they are, after all, some of my favorites. I have seen Pretty in Pink at least five times already, and yet, it still never gets

old. Molly Ringwald, while I never thought her amazingly pretty, always lit up the screen, and the actors who got to play along with her were unforgettable.

Who can forget Jon Cryer's Duckie? He was the biggest nerd with the weirdest fashion sense (or was it just me looking back at the clothes of the 80s that made it so horrible). How about Anthony Michael Hall as The Geek in Sixteen Candles?

These characters are one of a kind, as well as the movies. Still, 20 or so years after they first debuted in theaters, they manage to have an enormous effect on pop culture.

Goodbye John Hughes, you will be sadly missed.

Windmills

2009-08-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever since I've written on this last, but after a whirlwind of slow internet connections (or sometimes even NO internet connections) and trips, I have finally gotten the chance to write yet again, and this time I'm heading back to one of my favorite topics, energy saving! But this time, it might even be interesting.

As I sat in the car that took me five hours away from home to Buffalo, NY, I noticed something really cool moving in the mountains about a mile away...windmills. I know some people are used to seeing windmills but to me, they are a foreign delight. They were like white towers in the distance, spinning in the wind (sometimes they didn't move though, which I don't understand). Not only are they a staple of visual pleasure, they also convert wind into electricity, rather than miles and miles of power lines stretching across the land.

When you get to a certain area near Arcade, NY, when the road dips down into a more valley-ish landscape, the mountains are littered with hundreds of these things. Not only can you not ignore them, you can't pass them by without falling into awe.

They are bigger than I had ever thought they could be, which makes sense, given how much they do. I literally took out my sister's camera and recorded the drive (which I'm not going to show...because I sound like an idiot and I didn't really possess the greatest of skills in holding it). I remember sharing my fascination with my family (who I was actually supposed to be visiting, not the windmills) and listening to what they had to say too.

My mother's aunt shared how she thought they were pieces of art that really could be a tourist attraction. She was totally right! They were pieces of art, because no matter how many times I saw them twirl outside my window, I had to see more. I just wanted to lay underneath them and hear and feel the magnificence of their duties. I'm not exactly sure how low they get to the ground however, which could impose a problem.

So maybe they aren't the most exciting things ever, and perhaps they may be used in a lot of places all over the world, but honestly, if you haven't seen them yet, go. It's pretty awesome.

The Concert of the Summer

2009-07-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

There's nothing quite like seeing a favorite band live, especially when you've memorized their songs from the luxury of an iPod, never really knowing who was in the band. Last Sunday, after months of wishing I could go to a Fountains of Wayne concert in Woodstock, NY, but knowing I couldn't go, a breeze of luck passed through, making it so that the plans my mother had originally planned for the afternoon got cancelled, which gave me the chance to go.

While I wasn't too keen on the idea of my mother joining me, she was the only ride I had, and it was music I knew she wouldn't hate. The ride there was excruciatingly long, as my heart beat for the music I was about to hear. We pulled up, after riding over a scenic mountain, to an amazing group of wooden buildings. Two were restaurants, and one was a concert hall. The grounds surrounding the buildings were beautiful too, with a small fountain (granted, it wasn't working, but it was still really pretty!), benches around a tall mossy tree, and a seating area up front with a huge brown bear you could take a picture with.

I was honestly surprised by how few people were there, considering Fountains of Wayne, best known for Stacy's Mom (which is definitely good, but I have more favorites than that one song), the song that is on everyone's iPods, isn't that unknown of a band. Sure, maybe they do only know that one song, but isn't that what usually prompts them to listen to some more? A major hit that sparks their curiosity?

The doors opened at 8pm and I made my way into the medium sized space, taking in the polished wooden floor, high ceilings, and a really great atmosphere. An older crowd settled in on the upstairs balcony, complete with chairs (which I really don't understand. I love the feeling of getting swept up in the standing audience. I'm not sure everyone feels the same way though).

The opening singer was Mike Viola, whose raspy voice was enchanting. The woman who sang with him Kelly Jones, also was very good. Their voices together created a very rare harmony, and when he decided to sing without microphones, it was possibly one of the most beautiful acoustic pieces I have ever heard.

When Fountains of Wayne finally came onstage, I was in the center of the floor close to the front, which gave me an amazing view (because of course, everyone always wants to look at them). When the lead singer, Adam Schlesinger, first opened his mouth to sing, I knew it was going to be a good show. Not only did they sound amazing, it was even better than what I had heard through the speakers of my headphones. They performed Please Don't Rock Me Tonight, which is one of my favorite songs. I love when that happens (like when I first saw another one of my favorite songwriters Ben Lee for the first time. He played Nothing Much Happens, which is the song that made me really interested in his work. I was ecstatic for days). The whole time, as I sang along to the words I knew, and kind of made up words that I should have known but didn't (like during songs where I knew the first verse and chorus VERY well, I didn't know the second...), I was in an elated state, which I hadn't felt since I saw Phantom Planet last year. They were very low key funny guys too, which always makes it that much better. After the show ended, for about five minutes, all you could hear was the shouting of the crowd, roaring to have them come back again. It reminded me of what Ben Lee said back in 2004 at the Knitting Factory. "Never ever believe a rock band when they tell you they're finished. They always come back." And of course, they played the favorites, the ones I could actually sing along to.

I still am wearing the entry bracelet, and I have no intention of taking it off until it falls off.

Hello Again.

2009-06-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Oh internet, how I have missed you so...

It's a strange sensation, the one you get when you aren't constantly connected to the internet 24/7 after being that way for about two years. I've read tons of articles talking about how great it is and how relieved people feel, being away from the stress and tension from needing the web so much. You feel more connected to the world around you, rather than the virtual one that is put in front of you. But honestly, in this day and age, it seems so impossible not to be on the internet all the time, especially for people my age.

My college constantly emails us students information we may or may not need, information about the school, stuff like move in day details (which I won't need yet, thank God. I'm pretty sure move in day is my least favorite day ever. It's so stressful.) I also receive updates daily from several different websites, including but not limited to, Den of Geek, which is so fun to read, Meg Cabot, The New York Times, Twitter, and so on and so forth. What about friends that I can't text or call because they're so busy or they only receive a certain amount of minutes on their phone? Please tell me how I am supposed to keep in contact with these people.

I know up front, it seems like a very weak argument, but once you get addicted to something, you start to get withdrawals. Like caffeine, for instance. I remember last year, when my sister was still breast feeding and I visited her for a week or two, her diet absolutely restricted caffeine. When I didn't have it, I started getting insanely intense headaches that wouldn't go away. At first, I thought it was just from lack of sleep, which made sense, because being at college has taught me not to go to sleep before 12:30 (which is really late for my sister's family, and my niece likes to wake up really early.) But then, after it persisted for days on end, my sister finally explained to me that it was probably due to the lack of caffeine. I took one cup of tea, and after that, it was perfectly fine! Why had I ever stopped ingesting that stuff? Who cares that it's probably one of the worst things to be addicted to (rather than, you know, smoking...or anything like that)? I needed it, or else these awful headaches would come back.

That's how my lack of internet connection has felt these past couple of weeks, when my neighbor's signal suddenly went dead (I know, technically, I was stealing, but really, it never cost them anything extra!) and I had to bare days on end without knowing every single detail that happened online. I'd feel anxious, and left out, because while my friends kept telling me things that had happened, I couldn't know, because I had no resource to turn to. When I finally got it back, it was like a breath of fresh air had been blowing from the door. I felt calm and happy, and for a moment, I was caught up in the frenzy. Every Sunday, however, I have to return to a life of normalcy, where the highlight of my day consists of visiting my friend Carrie and watching Ghost Hunters for hours on end (which is a REALLY good show, so anyone who reads should watch Wednesday nights 7pm until 12am).

So until two weeks from now (and possibly longer), goodbye, and I'm sorry for not updating until now.

Up and Away!

2009-05-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ever since I saw the teaser trailer last year for Up, I have been counting down the days until I could finally see the latest Pixar film up there on the small screen. And while nothing really was given away from that trailer, given the history of past Pixar movies, I still wanted to pay the ridiculously high price of a movie ticket to watch it. After the (painstakingly) long wait, I joyfully sat down in the gross, darkened theater with the biggest smile on my face today. I didn't care at all that there were going to be young children possibly screaming, crying, or carrying on, or that the theater wasn't brand new and comfy. I just really needed to see this movie.

Up definitely delivered, and after reading so many positive reviews from the Cannes film festival, I didn't doubt it. The emotional impact from the beginning sequence of events, in which we see the life of young Carl Fredricksen and his dreams (this part is actually my favorite. I loved the procession of years set alongside the piano accompaniment. I remember reading somewhere about how much it was like old silent films, and it really was!) , carries through the entire film. The story of a grumpy old man flying his house with balloons alone seemed interesting, but after seeing how and why this guy did it, you really begin to understand. Even the addition of the annoying boy scout (who you do actually like) makes this story one of a kind.

After the old man's wife passes away, his one mission in life is to save his house. For some time, contractors and developers have been trying to level it. After being sent to court, where it has been determined he will stay in a retirement community, he brilliantly comes up with the idea of helium balloons. It seems like a flight of ease and comfort, him and his memories flying toward the one place he always dreamed of, until the knock on the door is heard. After that, his journey with the young boy begins.

I don't want to give any more plot away than that, considering I actually want people to go see it. It's amazing, really, how one can get so swept up in an animated movie. There's lots of humor too, which definitely makes the kids happy, as was evident in the small company of munchkins who watched in front of me. That's one thing I've always loved about Pixar movies. They have this ability to attract both children and adults, pleasing everyone. In case you haven't seen it already, definitely go. Plop down your money for this one, because it's probably one of the best computer animated films I've ever seen. The wait was definitely worth it.

Seasonal Rant

2009-05-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

I've taken time out of my incredibly busy schedule (please note the sarcasm there) to address an issue that I think people really need to hear about. It's been one that has been in our lives for years, and it's about time we really start rallying against this insane phenomenon: season finales. I know you aren't going to understand at first, but here goes. Why is it that every single show that happens to be broadcast leaves their most exciting, over the top, extremist situations until the very end? I understand the need to get us viewers enticed for the next season, but come on now, do these writers really need to infuriate us?

For instance, today I happened to finally watch the season finale of Ugly Betty. I was really excited too, because instead of one measly hour long episode, there were two. Two! When there's too, really, anything could happen. Whatever you see in the first one is totally up in the air when it comes to the second one. It leaves me sitting on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, and possibly grabbing at my hair until the end, and boy, that's where they get you.

Betty finally manages to grab an editor position (and really, I'm not giving anything away here. I'm sure anyone can find this information out on other websites), loses it, and then gets another one, completely happy and carefree, but, then stupid ex-boyfriend Henry gets thrown into the mix. I hate stupid ex-boyfriend Henry. He always comes in to ruin things right when I'm happy just enjoying what she has already. Like last year for instance, when she was really happy with Gio and he offered her a trip to Rome (honestly, what girl gives up a chance to go to Rome???), stupid ex-boyfriend Henry decides to come back! And guess what happened?? She didn't choose either one of them! She did, however, manage to finally grow up and live on her own, though, but still, why did he have to come in and ruin things?

This year, Betty had this really cool boyfriend, Matt, who was really nice and did all this cool stuff for her. It was going fine too! Then, for this finale, they broke up! Why?! Please tell me why, ABC executives, writers, and producers! (Another major character's wife died, too) I hate this constant up and down emotional roller coaster ride that all these shows force you to go on. It's not just Ugly Betty either, because I've heard other stories.

I used to religiously watch One Tree Hill, too, but then, after countless seasons repeating the same storyline down my throat, I gave up on it. It was way too much of a hassle dealing with all the drama, the babies, the hookups, the breakups, so on and so forth. I thought to myself, If I'm going to watch something this long, I really just need to enjoy every episode. I love shows where you can watch one episode and be very much entertained, like sitcoms. That's the beauty of a sitcom, too. They're funny and you don't have to know what happens every. single. moment of the show (yes, those extra periods were necessary). Apparently, in the season finale, lots of tears are shed, and one of the main characters is possibly going to die (actually, she will die, because it has been reported that both Hilarie Burton and Chad Michael Murray are leaving the show, which I don't understand at all, because the show used to revolve completely around Chad Michael Murray's character). Why does everyone die at the finale?!

Grey's Anatomy had its fair share of disturbing shortcomings for its characters too. Goodbye Izzie and George, both of whom are major components of the script (just so Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight can get out of their contracts).

I know this sounds like a rant, and pretty much, it is. It just infuriates me to no end how much stuff shows manage to pack in to one final hour of the season. Does this much drama actually happen in real life? No, no it doesn't.

Look how cute they are! See, it's perfect!

But, oh, look, stupid ex-boyfriend Henry has to come back! Don't be fooled by his geeky glasses and smile, he's actually evil!

George: I think I'm going to die.

Izzie: You, too?

Expect something in the upcoming weeks about Up! You have no idea how excited I am about that movie.

Show Time

2009-05-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

When riding down the main street of South Fallsburg, NY, one of the first things easily noticed is the old Rivoli theater, a building that seems run down, abandoned, and lonely. The only way of telling that it’s still in business is the change of signs that occurs every two weeks or so, and even then, it doesn’t give much promise of anything spectacular.

The rest of the town does not help, either, full of bad drivers, homeless walkers, and used car dealers. However, when the night swings in, and the lights turn on, the Rivoli Theater comes alive.

When I was first dragged feet first to see a rendition of Fiddler on the Roof last year, I didn’t expect much. The theater had looked gross from the outside and the people who shuffled along outside scared me. However, when the lights dimmed, I was stunned from start to finish.

The actors did splendid work, even though they were a small local group, and it was very obvious they took their passion to a professional level. I especially loved the lead actor of the play, whom I mentioned last year after I had seen it. I managed to see Dial M for Murder also, a few weeks afterwards, which also was really quite entertaining to watch.

Sure, a lot of the time, small parts are filled by first timers, but as the cliché goes: In theater there are no small parts, just small actors. A lot of the same actors are recycled through different productions, but seeing a familiar face is never a bad thing.

The reason I bring this theater up had to do with my viewing of Arsenic and Old Lace, a play I had heard of, but wasn’t familiar with. At first, I was skeptic of how well it would be played out. The actresses who play the lead old ladies of the house spoke almost too quietly for the audience to hear, lines were forgotten, and parts of the set fell down.

It eventually got going, though, and was definitely a production that both entertained me and made me laugh. The man who played Jonathan, the crazy brother who hadn’t been around in 20 years stole almost every scene, with his twitchy facial expressions and his ability to go from sane to manic in an instant. He played the part of the villain exceptionally well.

I’ve learned something from going to these plays. You really can’t judge something by it’s façade, and even though that’s something that’s been drilled into kids’ heads ever since they were young, it’s something that needs to be experienced.

Hello. Goodbye.

2009-05-14T14:28:00.001-07:00

Another year has come and gone in the life of this UAlbany student, and it's making me feel crazy knowing that I only have one more year left. Already, half of my college career is gone, and I've made amazing friends, experience insane random incidents, and seen things that I never will be able to again. Friends are starting to leave (ahem, Danielle and Aaron), which means next year will be one heck of a ride, trying to make new friends, learning new material (this one being a biggie considering I'm taking six classes next semester and possibly getting an internship in the spring), and everything else that comes along with doing things for the first time without a set of training wheels.

As for now, I know I haven't been great at updating this, mostly because of my bad habit of procrastinating for most of my classes. I managed to pull out two eight page papers in two nights, both of which didn't require me to stay up until the sun rose. I remember the feeling of about two tons of bricks being lifted from my shoulders after those were completed. Of course I knew about a month ahead of time when those papers were due, but being the lazy college student that I am, I waited until the weekend before. You've got to love those moments in life. Where else can you fully appreciate your work until you get it done at the last possible moment?

Also, I guess, I was actually out doing things for a change. Believe me, it was a shocker. The fact that I managed to do fun things outside of my room was a huge difference, but whatever, I'm a new person now, if you want to call it that. I saw Dane Cook perform live on a stage. I stumbled through an intense crowd of drunken college students all huddled in a giant fountain. I smelled dozens of tulips and greasy food as I walked through Tulip Fest in Washington Park. It was an amazing spring semester and I'm going to miss it.

Goodbye Albany amazingness. Hello dull, three month long summer.

Fountain Day madness

2009-04-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

There is one day a year where shoving your way through crowds in a three foot pool of water is considered normal, and that day is Fountain Day at UAlbany. It's probably one of the most craziest scenes I've ever had to witness, especially since most of the kids are either tipsy or drunk, and the goal is to get closer to the center, where the water pressure is higher and the water is slightly deeper.

I can't tell you how many people I had to be squeezed against as I attempted to get in the middle. Flip flops were thrown at my head, beach balls seemed to be flying from unknown places, and tons of people shouted the famous UAlbany chant in my ears (UA! Uknow! I know, not the most clever of chants, but whatever, that's what it is). It was insane, and I loved it.

Before hand, free food was available, which my friends and I totally took advantage of after standing on line for an hour (only the first 5,000 there got free T-shirts) first, and cool activities were set up everywhere. There was the mechanical bull, which, oddly, not that many people were interested in, the "boxing" ring where anyone could equip themselves with oversized gear, scavenger hunts (which we, stupidly, became a part of. I ended up falling and scraping my foot and leg. We actually lost, too), photo booths, caricature stands, and the Vitamin water tent.

My friends from home always tell me about what their school does similarly to Fountain Day, but honestly, I don't think it could match this day at all. Where else can you possibly enjoy a fountain this much?

I wish I had photos to display, but considering I was drenched in water for an hour and a half, I didn't think bringing my camera was such a good idea. Not to mention, holding on to my shoes alone was a big task.

Green Fast Food

2009-04-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

I know I've been somewhat failing on the whole "updating my blog" thing, but it has been increasingly hard to balance the little social life I have, schoolwork, and anything else that seems to be thrown at me hard. But, I am going to try maybe a little bit more, even though I've been saying that for quite a while now. I do love writing in this, and it should be more of a priority, but sometimes I feel that the world wide web isn't really that interested in what I say (those of you who read this, namely my sister, I apologize) and that writing about dull, mundane stories of my day really isn't something to frequently update.

However, there is a pressing matter I really need to discuss. How many times have you walked into a fast food restaurant, bought your food, sat down, eaten your food, and then quickly thrown out your garbage without even thinking, just to continue on your day? This is a normal recurrence I do have to say, but today, as I was sipping my bottled water, staring at the odd people walking in and out, it hit me. There aren't any recycling bins!

Now I know, for the most part, nothing recyclable is served at restaurants. However, how many restaurants are now opting to sell you bottled waters instead of what is on tap? Answer: a lot of them. McDonald's has the option, Burger King has that option, and now, even Wendy's is telling you to buy it. Why aren't there other ways of throwing out your garbage?

I had such a complex throwing my empty plastic water bottle into the can, joining the mass amount of greasy papers and stained plastic-ware, because I knew that that bottle could actually have been thrown into a plastic recycling bin, no where to be found in the vicinity.

I have to be honest in saying that, with today's society constantly throwing green etiquette down our throats (which I am not disagreeing with in any way. I actually love how much companies and such are trying to show us the right way to treat our planet), one of the first places it should have hit were fast food restaurants. They are one of the most universal joints, not only in our country, but in the entire world. You can go pretty much anywhere to get your Big Mac or Frosty fix.

I'm just saying, if we care so much about how our environment is being treated, it should probably take effect everywhere.

Jim Norton

2009-03-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a very very good day, at least in my world here in Albany, NY (aside from the fact that I'm starting to get a cold, which I am proud to say I haven't gotten since January. Now the only problem is getting rid of it).

It was sunny, blue skies were all around me with the slightest wisps of clouds, and I could even tolerate the wind today. Class went a lot quicker than I had planned, and for my Russian film class, I managed to put quite a bit of input into the discussion (nothing to do with the fact that at the time, there were only three other people in the room and my professor was urging me to go on the entire time).

Dinner was absolutely amazing, too. Italian night always is, with their special foods they only let us taste every once in a blue moon. I had a mushroom calzone finished off with tiramisu (I don't care about what Lauren and Danielle say. I think it's amazing even if it's not authentic).

But dinner is not what made my day so good. Neither is the weather or the class situations. It mostly revolves around my night, which was spent in the Ballroom of the Campus Center of the SUNY Albany campus.

My friend Lauren had been telling us all about this amazing comedian named Jim Norton, and I, not knowing who in the world he was, kept blowing it off, because stand up comedy has never been a strong interest of mine. After a lot of convincing, I finally headed over to the Copies Plus center to buy my ticket, and even then, it still wasn't this thing I was excited about.

I wasn't really excited about it really, until today, because we usually have nothing to do on Thursday nights, and I'm always up for discovering new things, especially big acts that the college brings to us (last year, they brought Sue Johanson, the infamous host of "Talk Sex with Sue Johanson" and we literally were put into another room because of the crowd that had come) and with the disappointment of Parkfest (at least for my friends and I) coming up, it couldn't really be any worse.

When I got there, a fairly large crowd was lurking in the stairwell and on the ground floor, managing to outrun the humongous amount of people who were coming in behind me (how I did it, I will never know). We even got second row seats, which has never happened to us before. Everything else we've seen has been from the back of the room practically. A photographer came by to take our picture, mostly because Danielle had seen him and screamed, "Us next!", but he was taking pictures of everyone in the front anyway, so maybe in the upcoming days, you can see us on the Times Union website.

The first act, Erick James, was really funny. He instantly tuned in with everyone and made the entire room shake with laughter. I felt kind of bad when he announced Jim Norton and the entire room clapped and yelled, because he really did not get that kind of attention when he first walked on stage.

But I have to say, Jim Norton was definitely amazing. He has this weird twitch in his eye, that you can notice as soon as you see his face, and he walks kind of funny. But, he uses that to his advantage and when he makes certain expressions, it's priceless. I

personally loved when he talked about the tiger at the San Francisco zoo. I guess it appealed to me because I've been there, and I've actually seen the other tigers there (and the huge gap

that the tiger jumped over, which is SO big. It's crazy to think that something jumped across it) and I hate the fact that stupid kids ended up making it happen. I know I should value human lives more than tiger lives,

but I'm pretty sure that tiger was on an endangered species list, and having it killed bothered me a lot.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the jokes he told and the reactions he got, but in all reality, it's hard to capture the magic that was on that stage tonight.

(Jim Norton is the one sitting, Erick James is up above, just the headshot)

Attention all people: Spring is here!

2009-03-15T17:33:00.001-07:00

This weekend has been one of the nicest weekends of the year so far, which makes everything seem a lot better than when the constant cold keeps me from wanting to go outside. I love being able to throw on a light jacket and walk through the campus comfortably, and that I definitely did.

It's funny how everyone seems to have the same idea when the sun finally comes out and the temperatures rise. While my friends and I were studying outside, middle school boys performed tricks on bikes down the stairs (which I have to admit I was jealous of. Those kids were crazy! There was this one boy who landed backwards! I want to land backwards on a bike!)

Also, a few minutes prior, loud shouting came from the middle of the fountain (which doesn't have water right now). I walked over to the edge and noticed a group of about ten guys step dancing in sync with each other, while onlookers clapped loudly.

Everybody was smiling, laughing, and basking in the sun, and it made me really excited about the future of this semester. It's absolutely amazing to be outside all of the time, instead of being cooped up in the small dorms, where hours pass by without you knowing.

Happy Spring everyone! Here's hoping it lasts for a really long time!

I know the above picture has like nothing to do with what I've just been talking about, but I just couldn't resist putting a cute little chick in my post for today. They are just adorable. I would totally get one for a pet (that is, until they were chickens because they're ugly. And if, for some unreasonable explanation, I did in fact like said chicken, I'd be freaked out for the rest of my life whenever I ate one)

IMAX time

2009-03-08T12:48:00.001-07:00

I've never been to an IMAX theater. That alone made me extremely excited yesterday when my friends and I went to go see Watchmen, the highly anticipated movie based off a popular graphic novel. I had seen the trailer, which was mind blowing itself, and I desperately wanted to know what everyone was going on about.

Without the IMAX screen, it would have been amazing. But with the IMAX screen, I was quite literally blown away. I walked in, after waiting on the longest line ever and sat in the front row. When the screen first appeared, my heart raced in my chest (it was a lot louder than I thought it would be). The previews blared on, which I've got to admit are one of my favorite parts of the w

hole cinematic experience, and even though I've seen them all, such as the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Transformers. When it finally got to the movie, I was mesmerized. I don't know what I would have felt if it had been on one of those normal screens, but all I know is, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been the same.

Since we're on the topic of things I've never done, one of those is that I've never read a graphic novel. My high school Spanish teacher had been an avid fan of the genre, always recommending titles to her students. When she told us about them, I wasn't fully convinced they'd be my cup of tea. They were full of dark violence, grotesque humor, and a twisted sense of morality I wasn't read

y to experience. The works we had to read in class had always carried subtle hints of those three elements and that was enough for me.

However, as I grew older, I began to accept them, which lead me to actually like them. For example, as weak of an example as it is, Sweeney Todd became one of my favorite musicals of the year last year. 300, which was also based off a graphic novel, had me on the edge of my seat for the entire film even though, when it first appeared on the screen, I was skeptic, due to the grey hues of the sky and the intimidating war that was bound to happen.

I always write about the movies that I see, about how amazing they are, and how you, as a reader, should also go watch it. Watchmen is definitely one of them. It's been a day later and it's still having a huge impact on me. Just don't bring your children with you. It was a 10:30 showing, which was the earliest that wasn't sold out. In the middle of the movie, whic

h was full of blood and depressing themes, a small child, who couldn't have been over the age of 8, started crying. I just don't understand parents who bring their kids to an R rated movie. So, if you're in the mood for a dark comic, full of romance, gore, justice, and villainy (this is a word, I just looked it up), go see it. It will not disappoint.

Pointless Update

2009-02-27T20:16:00.001-08:00

I am no longer a teenager, which makes me feel weird. Honestly, when people ask me how old I am, I still want to reply, "19!" but I can't. I'm 20. The big two zero. That number seems so large and ominous, like a fourth of my life just whizzed by in a blink of an eye.

When I was younger, the age of 20 seemed so far away. Even two days ago, 20 seemed so far away. I liked being a teenager, because people expected teenagers to mess up, to make mistakes and learn from them. When you reach 20, it's supposed to be different. You're supposed to grow up, and that right there is what I'm afraid of.

I don't want to grow up. I'm pretty sure half of the adults I've met haven't wanted to grow up either. After college is when all the big decisions come into play, where you start to meld into the ever changing society. Eventually, us kids will become those adults we hate. The ones who tell us what to do and how to do it. It will not be a fun process.

I know I haven't blogged in awhile. I should do it more often, but it's hard when there is so much pressure from school. I have constant reading and papers. It really is starting to drive me crazy. Last week I had a break, yet I feel like I need another one.

A Day In No Life

2009-02-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

Slowly, I am becoming a major slacker. Well, actually I'm pretty much already one. It brings to mind that teacher in the Back to the Future movies who always yells at Marty.

Since I've been home for the break, the highlight of my week was when I was forced to go to Walmart yesterday. The joys I have when I come home. However, I did happen to watch an amazing movie, I'm sure to everyone's surprise. It seems that's all I do, no matter where I am, where I go, or what I do.

When I visited my sister in California, we tried watching a different movie every night (try being the key word. Usually I was so e

xhausted by the time we ended up watching it that I practically passed out by the time any movie was over.) When my parents come visit me at school, somehow or other, we go to the movies. It's like the go to entertainment of my life.

Even tonight, I'm going to visit my friend Carrie, where we will, inevitably, watch a movie. I woke up today...and watched a movie. I have no life.

So yes, I am a huge nerd when it comes to movies, but sometimes I'm a little slow on the bandwagon to watch them when they originally come out. I watched Garden State. I had always heard excellent reviews about it, but I never actually got around to watching it.

It stars Natalie Portman, and she honestly is one of my favorit

e actors. I loved her in Where the Heart Is and Anywhere But Here. Even Zach Braff, who I only know from Scrubs and The Last Kiss, was the major lead of the movie. It was so different than what I expected!

It was good, though, so if you're like me and haven't seen it, you should. It's somewhat depressing but it has a good ending, I can promise you that. Zach Braff wrote it, which surprised me, in a good way. I didn't know how much talent he really had, but it definitely shows with the screenplay.

Like always, when I recommend a movie, I'm going to feed you the same line. Go see it, you won't be disappointed.

La Strada

2009-02-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

La Strada stands out as one of the best movies I've ever seen. To be honest, in my European Screen Artists class, I wasn't sure what to expect, movie wise. But when the lights dimmed and the movie began, I was captivated from start to finish.

It was directed by Federico Fellini, whose works are often celebrated in Cahiers du Cinema's Top 100 Greatest Films lists (Cahiers du Cinema is a French magazine that's been around since 1951. It literally means Film Notebook). However, this piece isn't one of them, which really is a shame, because it's that good.

The story revolves around a Chaplin-esque girl named Gelsomina, who must marry Zampano, a tall, strong man who offers her mother 10,000 lire to take Gelsomina with him. He travels by motorcycle, carrying a trailer behind it.

Zampano is a cruel man who yells, abuses, and scares Gelsomina. They travel through cities to put on shows, where he breaks chains with his chest. She is the bumbling assistant dressed as a clown.

Gelsomina isn't your everyday person, however, and she's quickly distinguishable. She becomes amused by the smallest wonders, smiles a lot, but also feels like no one wants her.

She meets a tightrope walker one day, and he teaches her that everything, and everyone, has a purpose, even a small pebble on the side of the road. Zampano doesn't like him though, especially after the walker ruins his show one day. That rage leads to quite an unexpected ending.

Just go and watch this movie. It's one of those movies you won't be disappointed with. You will laugh, and you might just cry, but you definitely won't forget it.

I'm still here!

2009-02-06T20:18:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't been posting as much on here lately, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that most of my classes are at night this semester. I may have the added luxury of getting Fridays off but I also have to read a bazillion pages (which I totally do, kind of, ish), watch movies outside of class, and do small papers. I feel like I should devote at least two times a week to this, though, and I hope more updates will be coming soon.

I have to write an op-ed piece for my journalism class, something I'm really interested in, because we get to choose the subject. So many choices are just waiting out there! I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I think I need to hurry, considering it's due Tuesday. (Seriously, if anyone has an idea, let me know)

I'm starting to get really worried about ever finding a job, too. I know I had this problem last semester, too, but this time I went in prepared. I went to about ten different job sites to fill out applications, and I did them all on the same day. I went in with a smile, and hoped for the best. I even managed to scored an on the spot interview for the pet store. Still, I wait for a phone call, and it's driving me nuts. Why is it so hard to get a job at the mall? Is it really that competitive that no one will give me a chance? I hate the economy and it's current situation. It's not doing me any good.

On the plus side, I realized how amazing the school pool is. That has nothing to do with my unemployment status, but today my friends and I hurried over and dived right in. The water didn't feel cold and people were there just to have a good time. Who knew how amazing swimming in winter would feel? I'm sure it's something we will continue as the semester goes by.

Hopefully, I will be posting more than what I have been. I just hate writing about stupid subjects (even though today's is pretty bad). I forget a lot too. Keep checking in, though. Maybe you'll be in for a surprise.

Fire Drills

2009-01-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

Fire drills are an awesome part of today's society, especially in huge buildings where catastrophes are easily avoided. Just think about the infamous Triangle Factory Fire, where fire safety codes weren't even thought of. It's gone a long way since then.

However, I hate when fire drills are set off due to something stupid, like if someone burns popcorn. Like this morning, for example. I know 10:20 is really late for some people (well, ok, most people), but for college students who don't go to bed until 1 or 2, it's not a fun time to get woken up, especially by a blaring sound of doom.

Not only is it a bad time, but the temperature outside should not be faced with mere pajama pants and a sweatshirt (I, on the other hand, remembered to put on my coat), like so many of my fellow college students did. We all stumbled out of the building, annoyed and disgruntled.

After realizing what the cause was for, i.e. popcorn being burnt, or at least that's what it smelled like, my friend Lauren and I decided to head on over to the dining hall. About five minutes later, the entire tower of students that I was apart of, walked down, all clad in sweatshirts, sweatpants, and sleepy eyes. It's one moment I will never forget, considering I was forced to get up about an hour before I was planning on.

I kept thinking in my head about what would happen if a real fire were ever to occur. Would we all just file out slowly, like today? If that were the case, I'm pretty sure someone would get hurt.

It's a really scary thing to think about.

Sorry for the lack of postings. I don't know why, but I haven't had the urge to just get on and write. I hope I'll do a better job in the coming days.

San Francisco and It's Wonders

2009-01-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought my device wrecking days were over, I managed to pull a fast one. For the last two weeks, my computer's hard drive sat completely crashed, which meant I had no access whatsoever to the internet, to my music, or anything else for that matter. This time, though, it wasn't my fault. I really didn't do anything wrong, and with Apple's awesome Applecare plan, I didn't have to pay anything for it either.

But anyway, since I've been absent for two weeks, I feel like I must write a lengthy entry today, just to make up for old time's sake. It seems like forever since I last sat down to write something in here.

For one thing, I am busy visiting my sister in California at the moment, instead of back in cold, snowy New York. The temperature hasn't wavered below 65 since I've gotten here, which was last Thursday. For that, I am completely happy. No more slushy roads or salty pant bottoms! (at least until next Tuesday, that is)

Friday and Saturday were days devoted completely to the city of San Francisco. I can't possibly go on enough about how awesome of a place that is. Even Castro Street (or rather the Castro district) was full of amazing life, shops, and pride (it is after all, the gay capital of the world). My sister and I managed to see To Have and Have Not, an infamous Bogie and Baccall film at this amazing theater in the same area. Read here for more details about it. I don't think I could give it it's justice.

The one thing I love about San Francisco in general has to be the atmosphere. Everywhere I found little pieces of a world that I had never seen before. As I gripped on to the pole of the trolley car, the wind in my hair as the streets slowly rolled on by, I loved the feeling that I was discovering something new. We visited the aquarium, saw the Golden Gate Bridge (which is definitely a must), and watched the sea lions as they roared on their docks.

When we finally were on our way home, we decided to take the cable car for one last time. Of course, by that time, many people were waiting for the same exact thing. Needless to say, when we finally got on, we were crammed.

At one point, we stopped to let an old man get on. He walked slowly, with a hunch, and happened to sit down right next to me. As we continued on, he started giving us an unofficial tour of the city, something I found very interesting. Either he had lived there for years and was just riding for fun, or he had been there so many times visiting that he knew the history that had been told to him for years.

"Hold on tight. We're about to drop 20 stories in one block," he told the passengers of the bus. We all lurched forward, which could have been prevented if we had just listened to the man. It was incredible how steep that hill was.

The most interesting part of the ride, I think, was when we got to a point where a building stood, dark gray stone covering the entire bottom of it.

"See that, right there?" he asked everyone, "There used to be an old castle there. You can even see one of the remaining turrets if you look back on the next block." I looked, and lo and behold, a small turret stood on the other end of the street.

For a few moments, I learned something new that had never been told to me before. If it wasn't for that man, I never would have known about parts of that city. So now you know, when you visit San Francisco, and you just happen to go onto the trolley car, look up a street. You just might find a castle.

Holiday Fun Time

2008-12-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

Every Christmas, for some reason, my family always puts up the tree closer and closer to Christmas. Since I've gone away to college, my mom wants me to be there for the annual tradition of hanging our ornaments, some that we have been using for years, onto our pre-lit tree (which is so much easier than trying to string regular lights around it). Finals week usually lasts until the 17th or 18th of December, so you can see how close that is.

Of course, that means my mother is in full out decoration mode, which can be a little scary at times. The entire house is transformed. Entire containers out in the shed hold every little knickknack that is used, from garland to stockings and figurines.

While the spirit of the holidays is obviously everywhere, one thing I really can't stand is the local radio stations choice of music. I love radio stations most of the time, because of the eclectic array of songs, from the 70s onward, you can hear at different times of day. But right after Thanksgiving, they start playing their Christmas songs.

For a little while, I sing right along with them, until you hear about ten different versions of Silent Night. At that point, I wanted to throw something at the DJs who were choosing to play those songs. Why can't they choose one version of the song to play? It is really that hard for them?

Not to mention all the different singers who come out with their own Christmas songs. I heard Celine Dion, N*Sync, Britney Spears, and The Beach Boys. I'm not going to lie when I say that at points, I have liked some of the aforementioned (I actually do like The Beach Boys song. It's really catchy). I just hate listening to the classical gospel songs and then hearing a normal Christmas song, and then hearing one of those. It gets to a person after awhile. I get it. Christmas is here.

With that in mind, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or Chanukkah, whichever you celebrate, or nothing, if you don't)! Sorry I don't post as much, it's just hard to think of things to write.

Life

2008-12-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, I visited, once again, one of my favorite movie sites I've discovered so far. I've proclaimed numerous times about my fascination with the site and how much I respect and admire the writers behind the reviews and other articles.

Well, I was looking through their articles after not going there for a while (and boy, was there a lot of articles to look at) and I noticed one named PICTORIAL: Life's insight into geek movie history, which for some reason I passed by at first. When I finally looked at it, I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

"On the 18th November Google announced that it had secured an agreement to make available online about 10 million photos from the Life magazine archive. It's a collection of staggering breadth and depth, dating back in certain p arts to the 18th century, and comfortably covering the entire history not only of cinema but of photography."

Then below, many photos were available to look at. It was mesmerizing really. The photos were amazing and behind the scenes shots for some of the most celebrated movies out there could be seen.

If you want to try it out for yourself, type in a word (be it a movie, director, actor, etc.) and then after it type "source:life". You'll like what you see.

Tattoo Excursion

2008-12-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, I did something that is usually out of character for me. It was all my friends' faults really, because I wouldn't have done it if they had stopped nagging me about it. After they told me they'd pay for it, I was totally willing. So I went ahead and I did it. I got a tattoo.

Now there are those people out there who are really against tattoos. When I was looking for an idea, I remembered seeing a comment by someone saying that "all tattoos on women are trashy," which is completely ridiculous in my opinion. It's a simple way of expressing oneself. My sister has a bunch of tattoos, as well as one of my best friends, and neither of them appear trashy at all.

For one brief moment of my life, I didn't care what anyone else thought. I, with the help of my sister mostly, picked out something that would be cool. I wanted words, even though I wasn't sure what they were. I found so many, but then I was reminded that it had to be short in order to be less money. After much brain raking, I finally settled on three little words, Burn to Shine, a song by Ben Lee (and Ben Harper, too, but I didn't refer to that one).

Everyone always asks me what they mean, and I always have to tell them. It's kind of annoying because I didn't think they were that hard to understand. I wanted to have some kind of inspiration on me, sort of like a reference point to when I'm feeling down. I figure that you need to be burned in order to shine, so even on my worst days, I will know that everything will turn out fine.

So that's my explanation, to all those that care. Now, if anyone asks, I will just tell them to go online.

Lexulous...the end of a Scrabble clone?

2008-12-09T20:16:00.001-08:00

My sister and I love to play scrabble. It's so much fun, and even though I'm not the most amazing at it (she always beats me!), it gives us something to do. It's really hard to do that with someone who's all the way across the country and three hours behind.

We always played through the site Scrabulous, which eventually became named Lexulous after Scrabble brought up a lawsuit, which was fine. It had the same layout, the same number of letters, and the same point values. But then, a few days ago, we went onto the website just like normal, only it had been awhile since I've been so busy.

It was totally normal. I logged in, I went to our favorite room (Tiles Lagoon), and then I waited for her to make a room. But then, as I looked at the screen, my eyes started freaking out. Everything was different! The layout of the triple letters, triple words, double letters, and double words was made to resemble some sort of pretty pattern. The letters were worth more than they previously were, and we received eight letters instead of seven! I had no idea what was going on.

I just thought to myself, Ok, just play like usual. I can totally kick her butt this time. But after time went on, I realized I was losing. By an enormous amount. There was a 200 point gap between our scores! Why was this happening?

Because she managed to get both a triple word AND a double word at the same time! How on earth is anyone supposed to compete with that? There was no way I was winning the game.

So today, we attempted again. And of course, the first letter she put down earned her 65 points! 65! I get happy when I get above thirteen for a word, and right away, she was killing me.

One day I will beat her. I don't know when. I don't know how. But I'm going to, and it will be at a time she will least expect.

Finally, a new post! :)

2008-12-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

So after a grueling weekend full of three papers, I am finally done with my fall semester. It was fun while it lasted and I'm going to be sad to let it go. I think it has been one of my favorites so far. Not that any of the others will be less amazing, but for once I discovered things about myself.

Number one, next time my brain decides to think about a fantastic journey to take an upper level English class for no reason, I am going to fight back and say no. I didn't expect the amount of reading that came along with it. I had to read for my Intro to Journalism class every Monday and Wednesday, besides reading entire halves of books, and blogging, and writing, and after awhile, it really started taking a toll on me. I made really good friends in that class though, so I guess in the end, it wasn't that bad.

Number two, I am good at some things. I always considered myself average. I always have, it's who I am. I have never gotten an A in a science class. I've always gotten a B. Have I ever sat there questioning why I wasn't an A student? Of course not. That would be silly, because I know, science is just one of those things that isn't me at all. I don't understand it half the time. Same goes with math. Except statistics. Somehow, I managed to get an A in that class, but that was mostly because of the small number of students (there were six of us) and the leniency of the professor (seriously, we painted a chart on the wall for extra credit). But somehow, when I started blogging and writing (in both journalism classes, and my English class, too), I started to feel good about it. I hope it will lead me somewhere. If not, at least I enjoyed it.

Number three, cinema is good in small doses. I love movies, obviously. I have for awhile now, but studying film is a lengthy process. It was good to have a film class just once a week so I managed to get a taste of it besides the extra work of everything else. This class required no homework or papers, and none of the four tests were cumulative. How awesome is that?

Number four, I love learning from classes! My globalization class taught me so much about our world and our culture that I am starting to tell people about it. I mean, how crazy is it that corporations are ruling our world? Is that right at all? They could possibly be the reason for global warming too. Think about all the delivery trucks that go everywhere full of goods, and the airplanes and the ships, too. It's insane. And it scares me.

Number five, I procrastinate way too much. I learned this a lot about myself this semester, not that I didn't know this beforehand. I have done this in high school, too. I think it might be human nature or something. My friends kind of look at me funny when I do it, but I really haven't changed that much. I've just been very lucky with time frames. One of these days it's going to bite me in the butt, but I'm not worried just yet.

Now I'm going to relax and do nothing. At all. Because now that I'm all done with these papers, I feel this incredible wave of relief. And it feels good. I hope that I'll want to spend more time on this, because, as you can see, I've been neglecting it, save a few posts from class. But now that class is over, and I'm going to have to depend on just me from now on..once again.

Internet Sites

2008-12-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

Over the break, my journalism class was instructed to look at several different websites and read them...and then write about it on the blog. Of course, all these websites have to deal with the future of the media world, and writing on a blog surely shows that the world of the media is definitely going in a new direction.

Every single one of these sites has their own different stance about this issue. In my other journalism class, I learned pretty much the same thing (I even had to watch one of the same videos, believe it or not). Some people are definitely all for the internet and what it has to offer, such as the GoogleTechTalks video on youtube.com, and some are definitely questioning it, such as Jimmy Leach in Here to Stay.

For one thing, I am definitely all for the internet revolution, especially since life without the internet would be totally pointless (and somewhat horrifying, also). How else am I supposed to listen to music, play games, and work on a paper all at the same time? It's impossible.

But so many people are so strongly against it, saying that it's given more freedom to people who definitely don't deserve it, undermining truthful journalism. They can write what they want and destroy someone, like a politician or celebrity in less than 24 hours.

However, what about all the good it offers? Paul Colligan highlighted everything that new technology gives to people. Cheaper television, books, and music are all on the rise (rather, they are here right now).

So yes, sometimes the internet seems like just "noise" as Leach stated, with mindless people spewing horrific things everywhere, but at the same time, it's definitely a step forward in our world. Information is given to us at such a faster rate, and many credible sites for journalists are out there.

While most of the articles online showed the future of the trade in relation with the internet, one definitely scared me. The Chauncey Bailey Project showed how a journalist, namely Chauncey Bailey was killed after doing a story. A ton of other journalists came together to help finish his story.

Now I'm really considering straying into another field of study.

Lazy Days Off

2008-11-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

It seems that in the last day and a half, amazing, awful things have been happening to me. Last night I found out that Phantom Planet (known mostly for their theme song on the OC), my favorite band, whose concert in New Haven, Connecticut was my first ever, is breaking up. Or rather, going on an "indefinite hiatus". Like my sister said, I hope they pull a 7th heaven.

Of course, today I also found out about a hold on my college account because I forgot to pay the $4,000 and so dollars I owe them. Which is usually paid for by loans, but stupid me forgot to apply for another loan for this year.

However, the day hasn't been so bad. I've managed to play hours (and literally, hours) of Singstar on the Playstation with my little sister and my best friend Carrie. I've eaten food I haven't tasted in three months. Spaghetti just tastes so much better here. As weird as this sounds, I also got to hang out with my cat. I don't know about any other pet lovers out there, but leaving my cat for three months is a really hard task. Who else would come sleep in the nook of my bent legs in the middle of the night? Nothing at school would do that, let me tell you.

In other news, my cell phone completely dried out, saving me $60 and making me eternally grateful for all these gadgets I own. I do evil, evil things to them, yet they remain alive, for some weird reason.

Now, I get to wake up and watch the Macy's Day Parade (which I inevitably will get bored of halfway through and do something else). I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and eat well!

Water and Phones...Not a Good Mix

2008-11-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

I am not always the smartest person. You can ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you just that. But usually, the things that I'm stupid at are small, insignificant things, like getting sayings wrong (I've said "flipping over a new leaf" instead of "turning over a new leaf" before). However, there are those other occurrences that happen to get in my way.

There was last year for instance, when I accidentally spilled Yoo-Hoo all over the front of my laptop. Nothing was broken permanently, but I had to go quite a while without any Rs in my words. You have no idea how hard it is to have a conversation without that letter.

Today, I washed my laundry. I was so happy because I finally did it before it was way too late, but, when I approached the machine, I saw something I really wished I hadn't. I had thrown my sweatshirt in at the last minute without a care in the world. But, my phone, unbeknownst to me, was in the pocket.

It was one of those moments that I had to slap myself on the head, mostly because if i had just felt through my pocket, it wouldn't have happened. So now, I get to wait through the night, hoping that my phone will dry itself out. Which it should, because it still turns on. And lets me text. It just won't let me call anyone.

Math Sucks...

2008-11-19T22:04:00.000-08:00

When I came to college, there were at least three things I was excited about; getting out on my own, meeting new people, and never having to take a math class again. When I was in high school, I managed to get the credits necessary to fill that gen ed requirement.

I kept telling myself that I needed to find a job that wouldn't take a toll on me with the whole math thing. I was never amazing at it, but I always passed. However, in class yesterday, I was forced to take a math test because even though journalism sounds like math shouldn't be necessary, it is. I was happy because I got everything right (after a whole year of no math whatsoever, I felt awesome). We were then instructed to go to the website and try to take the entire test. Needless to say, my elatedness about doing so well quickly was penetrated after I got a grand total of 5. Out of 13. Now I must go and brush up on my skills or I will be...(how do I say this?) screwed.

Plays and Hiatuses

2008-11-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

For once in the past two weeks, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief (small, yet definable) to actually write on this thing. I've been constricted with papers, tests, and the like, leaving me with very little time to do anything but. The thought of trying to write anything worth reading for this made my head want to explode, literally.

I'm not going to pretend I didn't slack off however, during this time of no postings, but usually it had something to do with mindless games, music, or food. All of which are things that require no activity whatsoever in my brain.

I did want to say something about a play I managed to see last week for my English class. Anna in the Tropics, set in the 1920s at a Spanish cigar factory in Tampa, Florida, was played at the Capital Repertory theater in downtown Albany last Wednesday.

In the beginning of the semester, when my professor proclaimed his interest to the class, everyone agreed. He then proceeded to count said people who wanted to go. At least 20 hands were recognizable. However, when I walked into the doors of the small, cozy, theater, only four other students were sitting there ready to watch the play. One of those four wasn't even from our class, but instead someone who was accompanying another.

Throughout the entire performance, I was very pleased. The story was just so much more magnificent in person rather than on pages in front of me. I walked out happy.

The actors, while some weren't what I expected (like the man who played Juan Julian. He was supposed to be sexy and debonair, but instead reminded me of Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat) but emotions were intensified as affairs, arguments, and cigars rolled on by.

I would definitely recommend the play by Nilo Cruz. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, which has to mean something. I don't know how good each performance of it however, in different venues would be.

When we finally started talking about it in class, we realized how bad it actually was. Some costumes, props, and characters were done completely wrong. A classmate remarked about how a picture that was supposed to be Juan Julian was in fact a baby photo.

It was still enjoyable, though. I'm not a very good critic when it comes to plays, mostly because I love the atmosphere too much.

Probate Court

2008-11-14T12:54:00.001-08:00

I've always heard grand stories, either on television or in books, of people gaining huge inheritances and sums of money after a relative died. It all sounded so easy. Someone croaks and gives something super valuable to someone they cared deeply about. In those stories, there was usually some person who had been unknown to the family, like a mistress or a hidden friend.

However, I was never aware of the annoying process that goes into wills, mostly because, at my age, there is definitely no need to have one. I don't own anything halfway decent enough to be passed along and even if there were, I wouldn't know who to give it to.

We were assigned to blog about probate court, which, though it sounds completely boring, can be really important later on in life. First off, probate sounded completely foreign to me when I started looking this up. I had never even heard of this word before, but it means "legal acceptance that a document, especially a will, is valid." (I should probably cite this, but I don't know how, so I will just tell you where I found it. The Credo Reference tool on the University at Albany website)

What happens after someone dies usually involves a court, namely, the probate court. There, administrators and executors hand out the appropriate objects and properties, and the validity of the will is examined. For those who don't have a will, they try to figure out where everything should go. There's really not much else to it. But the question remains, why is this important, at least, for those who aren't dealing with getting anything?

Let's just say someone died who had been highly influential, but at the same time, highly secretive? Not only is there a listing of assets, but withstanding charges on bills, taxes, and credit cards also came along. That right there could be an amazing discovery. You never know if a forgotten relative or a hidden child could be getting something either. Things could be found out about people that were never known, giving a clearer insight about them.

Class Assignment

2008-11-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

Saw V

2008-11-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

Numerous times, I have remarked about my distaste for horror films. I hate the fact that they scare me for longer than they are supposed to. I hate the fact that when I am laying in my bed at night, if I hear anything that isn't normal, I freak out. I cower under my blankets and I usually lose some amount of sleep for the night.

When I saw The Ring, I was terrified if I heard a TV come on to only white snow, which happened quite frequently after a VHS tape was over (yes, I still use them). I honestly didn't want a girl coming out of my television.

I even was scared of the hit show Supernatural, which airs on the CW. The depictions of horror on that show were supposed to be mild, at most. However, similar to the situation of The Ring, one episode featured Bloody Mary in mirrors. I'm sorry, but if I ever saw some creeper come out of my mirror, besides the girl coming out of the television, I might just die from fear.

Which is an amazing reason why I am a fan of the Saw franchise. While they might be lacking in depth (at least according to many critics, while I honestly believe the story goes together quite well. There is definitely more to it than gore), they get by with clever intertwining elements. For example, the fourth movie was supposedly happening at the same time of the third. Many different characters were connected in strange ways, and even though no one deserves death, the victims did something that enabled them to be players of the game.

Saw V definitely delivered mild thrills and gore wasn't the top priority. The first scene was a little twinge worthy, but the rest of them weren't as bad. I managed to walk out with few scars and I definitely wasn't terrified through the night.

Agent Strahm, played by a favorite of mine, Scott Paterson, put together all the clues of Jigsaws infamous ruses, making him the ultimate good guy. The victims committed acts that you wanted to punch them for, such as the young millionaire's son who freaked out a little too much, which you can see as the plot plays out. In the end, someone gets framed, someone escapes, and some people die. Not telling who, though.

If you have seen the other films, this movie, while lukewarm compared to them, will definitely pose as a good sequel. I am slightly clueless on where they will be going with the next one, though. Hopefully not to a stupid place.

Are We Really Changing?

2008-11-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

This week, when Obama was elected President, I was ecstatic for our country, as was evident by my last blog. However, the next day, I suddenly realized that as far as this nation has come, there are still so many obstacles that I feel will never be leaped over, such as Proposition 8 over in California.

Now, this is something that doesn't really affect me personally but rights are being taken away from people and that bothers me. It's just so hard a concept for me to understand why people are so reluctant to let members of the same sex marry. It's so easy to understand a normal marriage and sometimes they are just as uncomfortable to bare as people are saying same sex marriages are.

Prop 8 is the amendment in the California constitution that doesn't allow same sex couples to marry and that only a man and woman would be considered a legal marriage. Not only is this very old fashioned, but it's also very discriminating. Why should any one person not be considered as much as a citizen as the next? When divorce rates are growing each and every year, it seems that sometimes same sex couples deserve it more. Love should be the everlasting bond that connects two people, no matter what gender each of them are.

Some people are scared that their children will grow up and learn that same sex marriages are right. But as my sister and I discussed this, we both realized that not once did we learn about regular marriage in school, so why would children be learning that? Aren't we supposed to be teaching children to respect everyone no matter what their religion, race, ethnicity, or beliefs are?

I have friends that this might affect in the long run and the thought of them not being able to live the same way I can makes me want to run up to uncomfortable conservatives and punch them in the face ( and I'm not a violent person!)

When Barack Obama stood in front of the huge crowd of supporters, I thought people were getting used to change. I felt that that was what they wanted, especially now. I've learned though, that people aren't really ready for change. They just want to feel safe again. After a devastating war and a terrifying economic crisis, who would blame them? But when will everyone grow up and accept those who are different? After hundreds of years battling this sort of ridiculousness, shouldn't it be time for us to unite because of our differences? After all, we pride ourselves on the blend of cultures that are in this country.

Our new president

2008-11-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

As I sit here in my seventh floor room, screams are roaring throughout the quad. I honestly thought someone was dying near the dining hall when I first heard the sounds. After those initial screams, someone below us blew an air horn. But, what everyone is screaming about is something so much bigger (well, maybe not someone dying, but you get the picture) than anything else.

For the first time in our nation's history, a black man has been elected into office (biracial to be correct). Not only is this a significant step in textbooks, it marks the start of change, of something new. For the first time in my life, my voice counted as something. It's the weirdest feeling in the world. Chills go up and down my spine as I know what this means for our nation. Who knows what will come next?

Rocking the Vote

2008-11-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

It seems almost unreal that in two days, the election for the next president will take place. For months now, I have watched debates, learned about the issues (and where I stand), and anticipated the day. I have seen skits about both candidates (er, well maybe just about McCain and Palin) and I have watched people go crazy about which side they were on. Needless to say, I hope people actually take the initiative to vote this time, instead of just hoping that the right candidate fills the position.

I get really angry at the people who always say that their vote doesn't matter. I've heard it plenty of times, from students in classrooms to adults who've had the same attitude about it their whole lives. For once in our daily routine, we get to have a say in what's going on. We live in a democracy, not a fascist regime. If one person thinks their vote doesn't matter, there sure are going to be a heck of a lot more thinking the same thing. That's why I love it when celebrities and the like do commercials about it. I feel a lot more people are going to be willing to vote when someone they admire so highly tells them to.

I have been quite amused about how many companies are providing free things on Election Day. Ben & Jerry's is giving out free ice cream cones. Starbucks is giving out free tall cups of coffee. I plan on going to each coffee franchise I see (I know of four) and getting an amazing flavor of ice cream (last year, on Ben & Jerry's Birthday, they gave out free cones, and they didn't disappoint. They gave us a normal amount of ice cream, instead of stupid small samples, like Cold Stone did.) I know it seems crazy that I am dreaming of ice cream right now, given that it's twenty nine degrees out, but if it's free, it's cool. College kids love free things (Well, ok, I don't know of anyone who frowns upon free things) so when the opportunity arises, we take advantage. Last year, we had free iced coffee day at Dunkin' Donuts. I will never forget how happy I was about having that cup placed into my hands without needing to give anything.

So this year, maybe elections will mean more to everyone. Our economy is failing, a war is occurring, and people are losing hope. It seems like a pretty important time to get your voice heard.

Rockefeller's Laws

2008-10-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

Each year, tax payers fork over enormous sums of money to New York state. The reason for this deals with the Rockefeller Drug laws, set into place in 1973. Today, while the laws have been amended a small amount, they still manage to create a problem.

When the governor of the State, Nelson Rockefeller, decided to target major drug dealers, he created a law that would send anyone in possession of a certain quantity of drugs to jail, sometimes for years at a time. However, those who are major dealers are able to lower the sentencing easier than those who are, say, first time offenders. They know how to work the prosecution better because they know how to provide specific detailed information, which many first time offenders can't.

These drug laws have been called racist by many groups, due to how high the percentage of Blacks and Latinos is in prisons. Another conflict facing this law is how much money is being spent on these laws. Instead of cheaper ways to fix the drug problems, such as community counseling or any other sort of drug treatment, tax payers instead pay immense amounts of money to send drug dea

lers to jail. In today's economy, is that what we should be paying for?

2008-10-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

When Beth Hundsdorfer and George Pawlaczyk walked into our small classroom, I was nervous. The last time we had had someone in as a guest speaker, she had been hesitant to tell us her story, due to the disrespect she had received that morning from a late driver. We had to step it up if it was the same . However, I relaxed a little when they started doing most of the talking. What they started telling us affected me deeply, mostly because they had investigated a story about how the Illinois DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) weren't doing their job properly and letting parents who obviously weren't able to be parents (like the infamous Jackie they spoke of, who gave birth to a child in a toilet). If case workers let a child die, they were given very light punishments. Due to George and Beth's story, a new law was set into place that made the punishments stronger. If that has helped anything in the DCFS program, no one knows. There were so many things I learned during their brief hour and a half talk, and one of which was about investigative reporting. Any time I had ever heard about it before, I could have told you straight up that it was something I never wanted to do. I never wanted to search around for clues, possibly putting myself in danger, and I honestly didn't want to search around in public records for hours boring myself to death. However, both of them made investigative reporting sound so much better than that.

Beth Hundsdorfer told the class about a time when she had tried to interview an ex Olympian wrestler/Marine who was a suspect in his daughter's death (he was later found guilty of sexually molesting another biological daughter for several years). She had died from a seizure on a bus ride. "I still laugh at this story," Hundsdorfer said. She explained that upon arrival at the house, she had been friendly. She had only pulled into the driver when the stepparents of the Marine started yelling at her to leave. After she didn't immediately leave, huge dogs were set loose on her. Obviously, she left.

Both Hundsdorfer and Pawlaczyk told their stories of past investigating and a tiny gear shifted in my brain. It started to seem like something that I possibly would be able to do (not that this is a final decision, let me tell you. I'm not sure I can be an investigator, as cool as that sounds). Visions of me stopping criminals in their tracks and bringing out the greater good to the people ran through my mind. They told us tips on how to ask questions (Pawlaczyk, back in the day, used a six pack to lure people to talk) and how easy it was to get into journalism. I am now excited to see what kind of skills I can learn from this class.

taken from web

It feels like a winter wonderland...in fall

2008-10-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

With elections coming up just next week, the issues are probably at the forefront of most people's minds. For example, today it started snowing. Not that it isn't uncommon for this time of year (because I've totally trick or treated when it snowed before), it seems weird to me how much we are getting. Granted, here, in Albany, NY, nothing actually amounted to anything, due to the excess rain we had from the past day and a half, but down in my hometown, they were expecting eight inches. That seems like such an incredulous amount. I've never ever seen it snow that much in October. My younger sister even got sent home early because of it. Global warming, as much as I'd like to lay the blame it, may or may not have something to do with it. But we, as citizens of this country, really should look into changes that can be made, especially with energy resources. It scares me how much weather can be altered just by insignificant changes in the planet's atmosphere. Not to mention, polar bears are said to have a very small survival chance and their extinction could be possible within 40 years. We can't change nature, but we can stop polluting the atmosphere. Where is everyone?

Rant about movies

2008-10-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

I love watching movies from classic Hollywood. They have a sense of charm around them that really astounds me, especially because of the color schemes (black and white) and the camera work. I especially like the way the actors speak and how different cinema really was from today. Today, fake scenery as a backdrop would never pass (unless accompanied by a green screen of course, and even then, sometimes its really easy to notice) as nicely to the audience. Audiences want many action scenes, special effects, and steamy scenes. I had the opportunity to watch Orson Welles' infamous Citizen Kane tonight in my film class. I loved everything about it. Sure, it wasn't the happiest movie I've ever seen, but the way everything blended together was magnificent. There is a reason why so many people refer to it as one of the greatest films of all time. I feel like a lot of people don't appreciate the movies of long ago. It's a shame, really, how much people are changing. I guess it shows how much has happened in history, as a world, and as a country, since then. Things are very different from back then. It would still be cool, though, to see someone make a film similar to those made in the early years. Good Night and Good Luck was a pretty good try. I enjoyed that a lot when I bought it. Why aren't other people trying that? I would totally be one of the first people in line at the theater if something like that came out.

Michelangelo Antonioni- He died recently (I don't really know much about him, but when I typed in Movies of Long Ago in the Google search box, he came up and it looked the part)

Weekend Encounters

2008-10-26T21:47:00.001-07:00

Parents weekend, one of the most anticipated series of days by students' parents, started off amazingly. I had food I haven't tasted in months, tons of mom-bought items (mostly snacks), and the comfort of a really nice hotel. Let me tell you, you have no idea how comfortable a bed is until you lay down on one at the Hilton Garden I stayed in.

However, the next day did not run as smoothly. Not only was I forced to engage in an induction ceremony for the NSCS, but it rained. Poured, really. I was in the mall at the time, after being rushed out of the Friendly's we were eating at due to a "chemical spill" at Hot Topic. I have to be honest in saying I was somewhat thrilled when that happened. I received an extra ice cream sundae for free (the worker made an extra by mistake) and I have never been witness to something like that. The smell was horrible, fireman were roping off areas of the mall, and the staff at the restaurant were a little nervous. I later found out that the chemical was some cleaning agent that the employees apparently weren't supposed to use. I like to say that there was a chemical spill, though. It makes it seem a whole lot more dangerous.

After we got to the other side of the mall, we sat down to finish our ice creams where I watched two men being led into a small room in handcuffs. I don't know what they did, but the cops (are they cops or just security guards?) didn't look too happy. I've never seen anyone with real handcuffs. I was witnessing the cross examination (not really, but that sounds cool). The fun never stopped the whole time I was there.

Even though the weekend was full of random mishaps and stressful encounters, it was definitely worth it to see my family. I managed to see a new movie (Secret Life of Bees, which was very good. I advise everyone to go see it) and I got to come home to a jacuzzi. There's nothing like jumping into a hot tub of chlorine at the end of a rainy day.

Ciudad Juarez

2008-10-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

The other day I got to listen to Veroncia Leyva from Ciudad Juarez. I know that I already spoke briefly about her, but, upon reviewing for a midterm that I have to take tomorrow, I realized something very important about the city that she is from. I feel so stupid that I didn't know it beforehand, but Ciudad Juarez is an Export Processing Zone, which basically is a place that attracts foreign investors from around the world. Apparently, the location of Ciudad Juarez is in such a strategic spot, with a pretty much equal distance for driving throughout various parts of the United States, that it is actually one of the most important areas for investors. However, since the companies are run from different countries, a lot of the investors aren't interested in anything more than cheap labor and high profits. So when it comes down to workers wanting more money, the question of whether or not the investors will still want to have their company in that city remains in the air. I honestly wish I had known this before going in to my class on Tuesday. I'm not sure that everyone there is aware of this, but still, the fact that there is a huge amount of factories there, probably more than anywhere else, is really astonishing. Click here for a video, which is actually trying to show the good side of it all. Of course, when you watch it, you will notice all the videos on the side to click on.

Halloween's Just Around the Corner

2008-10-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's funny how fast the weather changes around here. One day its sunny and the next it's raining and freezing. Walking to class starts seeming like a daunting task, even though I usually don't mind it when I get there. It would be an amazing week if the weather stayed the same each day Then, I would know ahead of time to prepare myself. I guess this means that Halloween is going to be another cold one this year. It makes the atmosphere come alive, though, with the rustling leaves and the howling winds. Even in the tower (where I live), kids are going to be able to trick or treat up and down the stairs. Me and my friends even helped decorate the halls so that when the children went to all the rooms, they'd have something cool to look at. However, on our floor, our things have been missing. The first night, after two hours of creativity and hard work, we were really proud of what we did. Black garbage bags hung over the lights, making it dark and spooky. We also had orange holiday lights that cast a creepy orange glow on one side of the floor. We hung cobwebs and covered up the green doors in black, writing "Beware!" and ghosts with a white paint pen. When I woke up in the morning, I was greeted by a rubber skeleton on the futon. At first, I wasn't sure what it was and thought that someone had just bought a decoration for the suite. But then, as I looked even more carefully, I noticed it was the same exact skeleton that had been hanging in the hallway the night before! As the week went by (because we did this just a mere 7 days ago), more things started disappearing. Now, we just give up, and plan on redecorating the night before the kids are expected. What else can one expect from a bunch of immature college kids?

Mexican Workers and Their Rights

2008-10-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

I love when two classes diverge in topics, especially my two most favorite ones. Today, I got to hear from Veronica Leyva, a maquiladora worker from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. It was a weird experience, especially because we had to give our questions to the translator instead of straight to the speaker. The fact that I knew a lot about the working conditions of Mexico concerning the maquiladoras gave me somewhat of an edge when I talked, but somehow, I was very nervous to ask a question. I wanted to know more about what happened inside the factories, but when it came down to learning that or discussing femicide, a widely spread important issue in the city, I couldn't distract her. I also remember her saying that she couldn't really remember her time spent in the maquiladoras. Somehow, it was weird hearing her talk about something that I've only heard in one class before. My professor, Mr. Leiva (pronounced the same as Veronica's last name) always had great enthusiasm in making us aware of what happened as new industries start taking over the world. NAFTA has a huge part in the structure of the maquiladoras, especially since a lot of huge conglomerate corporations are staring to gain power almost exponentially. It's something that I'm learning to care about a lot. No one deserves to have both their lives and their family's lives threatened for a job. No person should have to deal with the consequences of the toxic waste from the factories after products have been created. No family should think about sending their family away to the United States illegally as a better idea that combating their own system in their own country. I think this was a great learning experience, especially for a lot of my other classmates who had no idea what was going on. Hopefully, this will help.

Allergies

2008-10-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

I hate allergies. I went through a solid six week phase where I basically couldn't breathe, smell, or function correctly. Then, for about a month to maybe a month and a half I miraculously got better. I was so happy too! I didn't have to deal with itchy eyes, sore glands, or stuffed up sinuses. I could smell things again! However, something in the last week brought me and my old friend back together again. So now, not only do I have the common side effects, I have no voice. If anyone heard me right now, they would either laugh at me or not know who I was. This always happens at the most inopportune moments too. I have three (yes, three!) midterms this week and I have Parents Weekend (technically it's called Homecoming Weekend but that seems too much of a high school term). I'm honestly thinking about getting some kind of surgery that will stop allergies forever (they could replace all the organs in my head, I wouldn't mind, or my lungs, or my tonsils). So for now, I get to meander through my days missing a sensory organ. It's pretty cool, let me tell you.

Pieces

2008-10-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Until this year, I've never realized how many parts there really are in a news story. Whenever I read one, I honestly thought that the author just had a special knack for writing and that it just came naturally to write the way they did. However, it is a lot more complicated than that.

Alicia Shepard came to visit us about a month ago, explaining all the details that went into interviewing. Of course, before then, I had no idea who she was. Yesterday in class, we finally got a chance to read her work, and I was pleasantly surprised with what was in front of me. Now, I get to explain to you all the elements and pieces that go into her work.

First off, ledes are important ( I never know if it is supposed to be "lead" or "lede" as that both have been used in the classroom) for getting a story going. Alicia Shepard managed to hook me in pretty early with her piece titled A's For Everyone when she wrote, "It took an hour to compute and type in the grades for three classes, and then I hit "enter." That's when the trouble started." I wouldn't have even cared that much until she wrote that. I wanted to know what exactly the trouble she was talking about was.

She was commenting on how so many students in college think that they deserve better grades and the attitudes she has to deal with. A paragraph that pretty much summed up what the article was about (essentially, a nutgraph) said, "It's a concept that many students (and their parents) have a hard time grasping. Working hard, especially on the night before a test or a paper due date, does not necessarily produce good grades."

I have to be honest in that, throughout my entire academic career, I have been guilty of doing just that. I usually wait until the day before something is due to start. It's just something I have been used to doing and I think a lot of people expect it from kids my age.

Shepard has a way of using quotes to be direct and honest with her topic. She weaved not only other professors quotes, but those of students who are guilty of doing exactly what she wrote about. We never once get a one sided take on this issue.

Her transitions are fluid and easy to read throughout the piece, too. Many paragraphs have ending sentences that really grabbed me in, such as when she wrote, "Then I talked to other professors in the School of Communication. They all had stories."

I was so curious to read what was coming next. What other ridiculous students are out there, caring so much about a grade change? At least when I get a bad grade, I know I deserve it. If I know I spent only a small amount of time on something, I know that I'll probably end up only getting a B. That's what enticed me about this piece. I wanted to know that these students were for real, and not some hazy dream I had heard about and not seen.

One of my favorite quotes throughout the whole pieces was, "We've made a transition where attending college is no longer a privilege and an honor; instead college is a consumer product. One of the negative aspects of this transition is that the role of a college-level teacher has been transformed into that of a service employee." It was said by Stuart Rojstaczer, a professor at Duke University.

Another element that is in a lot of journalist's pieces is called a kicker, the end of the pieces that connects to the beginning idea. Shepard's, of course, was funny and truthful.

"She worked so hard, she told me. This time, though, I was prepared. I had the numbers to back me up, and I wouldn't budge on her grade. No more Professor Softie."

As SchoolHouse Rocks plays in my mind...

2008-10-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

We've all been taught about the process of how a bill becomes a law. High school classes give that subject at least two or three days to learn. So why is it, after so many times of learning it, I can never remember it? I always have to look it up. If only I had kept my notebook from my 12th grade government class. This would have been so much easier.

However, just because those resources (meaning my notebook and my high school) aren't available doesn't mean there aren't any other options to go to. So today, I will try to highlight the main points, and if for some chance, it isn't easily understood, then I guess I'll have to try again.

First off, an idea has to form (obvious I know) and from there text gets written up. Someone who is a Member of Congress must introduce the bill by sponsoring it. A bill has to be introduced while the House of Representatives is in session. It is placed in a box called the hopper, which is located on the desk of the presiding officer. Next, a bill clerk gives it a number.

After it is given a number, it is read aloud and then given to a committee. There, they debate on it and possibly try to amend it. They can table (or dismiss) any bill they think is unnecessary. If it is given a thumbs up, it goes onward to either a subcommittee (where pretty much the same thing happens) or to the floor of the House.

It gets reported (which means a report of the provisions becomes attached to the bill) and then gets put on a calendar before it finally makes it way to the floor. There, it is voted on.

If it gets passed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it gets sent to the President. He can take no action, and if the Congress is in session, it automatically becomes a law after 10 days. If, however, the Congress adjourns and the President doesn't take any action, the law will become vetoed. It can also die if the President decides it is unlawful or unnecessary. If he does sign the bill, it becomes a law. If 2/3 of Congress decides that a vetoed bill is necessary, they can override the decision.

Those right there are the basic rules to making a bill into a federal law. Now I can be rest assured that that stupid song will forever be ringing in my head (or at least for a couple of hours).

"I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, sitting here on Capitol Hill..."

From working class to hero

2008-10-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

What started out as an interesting make shift press conference in my journalism class quickly turned sour when, after our professor asked us who the president of Brazil was, every single one of us remained silent. We violated one of the most important rules, especially since we knew about our Brazilian visitors ahead of time.

No one did any research whatsoever on the background of their country. It made us seem very egotistical, which we are. After that embarrassing situation, I knew I just had to find out (and maybe the push of our professor who assigned this to us helped a little too) who this guy was.

His name is Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. A father of five and a faithful husband, he was born in Pernambuco. He grew up in a poor neighborhood, which forced him to have a job for the first time at the age of 12 (he officially became employed at the age of 14). Dealing with poverty, his family did the best they could for young da Silva. He received public schooling, at least enough to read and write.

He became actively involved in unions after his brother inspired him to run for an office. Eventually, he was elected as Head of the Trade Union. After his first strike that involved police oppression and brutality, he pondered about the idea of a Worker's Party.

His work trying to change the government, from worker's rights to direct elections, paid off. He became President in 2002 at the age of 57 and won again, with a large percentage of the votes, in 2006.

This information is available everywhere. I think it's important for people to be aware of the world around them. I hope eventually our country will think of the countries around us too, instead of blatantly staying inside an isolated bubble.

Taken from www.presidencia.gov

Slow Progression

2008-10-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

What started out as a hectic week has turned into one of ease, at least so far. Sunday started out fine until about 4:00pm when I realized that a group project that we thought was due Wednesday was actually due Monday. I was forced to work hard and fast to come up with a solution. In the end, though, everything worked out fine, giving me a somewhat decent breath of relief. But then, lo and behold, I remembered I had a midterm at 5:45. Of course I haven't been keeping up with the readings, so for five hours I had to quickly scan my textbook before the class started (I ended up doing well, or so I am to believe). However, today ended up being far more relaxing than I had anticipated, and I feel so utterly calm about the rest of the week. I managed to keep my calm when interviewing Brazilian students, I stayed awake during my next class, and I was able to discuss the text in my English class. Tomorrow, I get to listen to a poet for said English class, and the next day I get to listen to a foreign correspondent talk about his book. I have to say, I am incredibly excited for that day. It will be cool to hear someone's point of view who is not a normal fiction writer, but a journalist instead. I want to ask him questions other than, "What personal experiences have gone into writing your novel?" Hopefully I will actually have the courage to ask something intelligent.

Compound Interest...what is it and why should we care?

2008-10-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

As a broke college student, things like compound interest and retirement funds sound completely irrelevant to anything I need to deal with. However, when I started researching all the parts of compound interest (which I have to define for class), I realized it's a lot more important than I thought.

I had to do research for this one, even though the idea is simple. Apparently, if you have a life savings, you receive interest on that amount in a certain period. After that period is over, another amount of interest gets computed based on the amount you have plus the interest that you received. At least, that's what I got out of it.

After a long period of time, that interest builds up, which is something wealthy people have learned to recognize. If you start when you're young, as the years go by, the amount in your account will accrue almost exponentially.

For example, if you start out with $1000 in the bank account, 4% interest would give you $40 extra. The next year, instead of figuring out the interest based on the beginning principle, it will be figured out based on the principle plus the 40 dollars. That would give you $1081.60 for the second year. After three years, you should come to $1124.86.

Taken from Newsweek.

Friendly's

2008-10-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

Since the dining halls are closed, we students have been forced to eat in the campus center. This usually isn't too bad, but since this is the second week we have had to endure this, it is honestly making us sick thinking about gorging on Wendy's, Sbarro's, or Au Bon Pain (even though this place serves some of the best soups ever. I'm in love with the Broccoli Cheddar). Although I'm broke, my friends and I decided to go to Friendly's (after we saw the entree and sundae special for $9.99 sign as we passed by). Friendly's is one of those places that I used to love going to when I was younger. Even as I grew up, it was a staple in a lot of my memories. When we came to visit my sister the first time when she was in college, we went to Friendly's. When I forced my mom and sisters to head down to Waldenbook's at 6:00 in the morning for the new Harry Potter book, we went to Friendly's. When I met my brother-in-law for the first time, we went to Friendly's. I really can't tell anyone why that is, but nonetheless, it seems like a place that I go to for sepcial experiences. I missed how good the food was and the way the sundaes seem like the most amazing ice cream concoctions ever, even though you know they were done the same way any others are. I don't know if this time will be something I remember forever, but for tonight, it was the highlight of my day.

I survived Double M's Haunted Hayride

2008-10-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am very easily scared, especially around Halloween. You can bet that any kind of movie that features blood seeking murderers, revenge loving ghosts, or weird inbred creatures will freak me out. However, as scary as they are, I know they aren't real. Granted, blood seeking murderers still lurk around out there, but not the way they are portrayed in movies. For the Halloween spirit, various venders like to set up haunted houses, hayrides, and mazes, which I had the fortune of going to tonight. I've been to many before, and they all have the same setup. Some have hayride that you wait a while to get on which is followed with some sort of maze or haunted house (or in my case, both). A lot of others combine different elements together to try to make it scary too. I personally love the actors who walk around through the lines. They don't scare me at all (nope, not at all). My friends and I decided to go to MM Haunted Hayrides in Ballston Spa (coincidently the same place where the maze was, but not anywhere near it really). The advertisements on the radio sparked our interest weeks ago. The hayride was a perfect length, featuring many different spots along the trail with scary music and characters running after you (like Michael Meyers. I loved it when he came after us with a knife.) However, inevitably, there were people on our wagon that really needed to be pushed off. It's one thing to be scared, and believe me, we were scared. We screamed at a lot of stupid petty stuff. But when a group of high schoolers jump on and start saying things like, "Hug Me!" and, "Pound it!" to every person that ran along, it's taking it to a whole new level. I sat there thinking for most of the ride about the amount of trouble I would be in if I pushed them off. Not only did I have to listen to that, but a lot of the times, the people who were scaring us didn't want to get anywhere near them, and I had to sit next to them! I was still scared though, which definitely made it worth it.

After the hayride, a "maze" followed. The maze wasn't an actual maze, but it was still fun to go through. It featured a redneck wedding, complete with a bride tied down to a bed and a woman who tried to convince me to use the cardboard toilet paper rolls as curlers. I wasn't so much scared as I was entertained. It seemed to be a sort of comic relief of sorts.

Then (cue the foreboding soundtrack), we approached the Haunted Manor. Usually, these things are easy to get through. They all have similar rooms and usually the people just jump out. It all started to seem like that too, until, we reached the doctor's room, who was mercilessly cutting a girl into pieces. After that point, we followed the path into the dark. No lights. No exit. We knew we had to go forward, as scared as we were. I've never held on, so dearly for my life, to my friend's jacket as I did during those few minutes. We finally got out, screaming. I saw the rest of the people outside, and from then on, I knew we'd be all right.

The 7 Word Description

2008-10-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to describe myself in 7 words. At first, I was so excited about it that my thoughts kept tumbling throughout my head. But then, it hit me that thinking of only seven words to describe me out of the bazillion or so words out there seems utterly impossible. Even here as I'm about to attempt this, I am so clueless that my brain just might stop working from overactivity. I can't even describe myself in a paragraph, much less a sentences, but here goes:

Grew up too fast, now facing future.

This is so hard. Probably the hardest creative process my brain has ever had to go through (which is pretty pathetic actually). I have to say, it does define me, not all the way, but enough. Hopefully someone else agrees.

I don't know what's been going on with me lately with the posting. I really love writing, but I have been skipping nights like crazy. I'm going to have to get back into my system, or else this won't work.