. . .

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

-- Henry David Thoreau

Thoughts (When I Should Be Writing This Paper)

The word subpar doesn't make any sense. When you break down the word, "sub" means under, and by golfing standards, under par is a good thing.

Is it "I couldn't care less" or "I could care less"? Because people are always saying it the second way, but I think it makes more sense the first way.

I like the way the word "provocative" sounds. I am also a fan of "elucidate." .... I think I have been spending too much time with my thesaurus.

. . .

What is defeat? Nothing but education;

nothing but the first step to something better.

- Wendell Phillips

Courtesy of xkcd.com.

. . .

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me", and when you have found that attitude, follow it.


[James Truslow Adams]

List of What I Want My Future Love Interests to Know About Me (Without Having to Tell Them)

Let's be honest. All girls have the list. We wish men could read our minds and know how much certain gestures mean to us (or tick us off). Things would be much easier for us both, we say, if they just intuitively knew these important things about us (which, of course, will never happen).

One of my girlfriends and I were talking about this the other day, and between the two of us, we got quite a list going.

Some things I'd probably include on my list are:

1. Daisies are my favorite flower. Roses are nice for anniversaries and such, but when you want to surprise me with a "because-you're-the-best-girlfriend-in-the-world.-ever." bouquet (of which I hope to receive many), it's gotta be daisies. Love 'em. They bring so much sunshine and spunk to a room.

2. If you sing to me, I'll melt. Better yet, write a song for me and then play it on your guitar. I don't even care if you can't carry a tune in a bucket. Nothing is sexier than a man with a guitar.

3. I'd like to think that I'm pretty laid back and easy going. If our first date is a total flop -- we got lost on the way to the restaurant, where it turns out you forgot to make reservations anyway, so we grab take-out at the janky mom-and-pop place down the street and eat in the parking lot of the theater-- that's fine. I'm cool with that, and we can laugh about it later. But I'm gonna draw the line when you plan for dinner at Denny's and a movie at the dollar theater. If you can't do better than that, I question your ability to provide for my future family of twelve, our matching Louis Vuitton suitcases, and our annual Christmas vacations in Tahoe.

4. Saying things like "I don't give a flying f******ck about school" (in a sing-song voice, no less) is not attractive. In this instance, ignore the suggestion in #2 and pay particular attention to the last item in #3.

My friend's list included:

- Spontaneous back rubs are fantastic.

- But don't try to rub her back when she's angry. That's just dumb.

- Flowers don't fix everything (but buying her shoes might do the trick-- she's a size 9 and likes anything with heels).

Alas, no man would ever know these things about us (if I hadn't just written it all in a super public place, of course), because men can't read minds. Sometimes I wish they could, and at times they probably wish they could too. But then again, it's probably for the best that men can't read our minds. I mean, I pity the man who'd try to decipher my emotions-- More often than not, I don't even understand myself.

More Traffic

I'd have to see some numbers to be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if Internet use increases considerably in college towns during Dead Week and Finals Week. Especially for sites like Facebook. I've noticed a swell in my blog "attendance" over the last few days as well. Very exciting stuff. I appreciate being an accomplice to people's procrastination methods.

Bahaha!

Happy May Day!

Planning for Europe

As I've never been to Europe before, I just spent an hour or so this morning Googling things like "what to pack for a trip to Europe."

The general consensus? It's all common-sense stuff. Pack light. Bring comfy but versatile clothing. Tell your bank you'll be using your card in another country.

Then there's all the confusing things, like cell phones and electronics and adapters for those electronics. Communication and doing my hair-- two things essential to my existence-- have suddenly become immensely more complicated.

For example, people can normally take their own cell phones with them to Europe, as long as they purchase a SIM card that works internationally. However, my cell phone, which I endearingly liken to a dinosaur, is the same phone I've had since high school. I'm pretty sure it was made before SIM cards existed, because there definitely isn't a place to put one anywhere on the device.

And doing my hair isn't going to be a cakewalk either. Apparently, even if I buy an adapter for my electronics, there is a really good chance my straightener will explode when used in France because of the higher voltage (almost twice as high). I'll probably get electrocuted by my hairdryer too. So that's great.

I can just see me now-- I'll be that crazy girl who doesn't own anything electronic (anymore), yet looks like she should be able to pick up reception from foreign space satellites with the frizzy poof she tries desperately to pass for high fashion.