4.28 4.29 4.30 A Goodbye. Except Not.

When and why did mustaches become the new thing?

I mean, it's funny... and I kind of like them

(on inanimate objects, only!),

But why are they so popular as of late?

For three of the days I missed this month, I have blog drafts written. They're just so... useless, I didn't post them. So really, I didn't miss quite as many days. However, I still failed I suppose. Oh well, we're not all as cool as Hayley G Hoover. Anyway, today is the last day of BEDA. I still feel as though it was a success, and that I will now blog more frequently in the future (I hope you do, too!). And, I made new friends through it. This is always a plus. :]

FINALS have arrived, my friends. And the bad news is... I NEED at least a B on my math final and bio final. I literally just took a deep breath after I typed that sentence. It is not going to be easy, folks.

Okay, now I have an assignment for you. Watch This Clip. Right now, just watch it. Before you read the next paragraph.

Usually I tend to just zone out laugh tracks during sitcom episodes, which is a good thing. However, as soon as I become consciously aware of them, I cannot stop paying attention to them. Furthermore, they bug the crap outta me. Almost to the point where I cannot even watch the sitcom anymore. You see, I will know when I want to laugh, because my brain will tell me. I don't need these fake bursts of laughter to help me. Does anyone really forget to laugh, but then as soon as they hear the laugh track they go, " Oh! Right, that was funny! Ha ha ha!" Why are they even there? Who's idea was it? Bah. That's why I like The Office. They let you laugh when you want, and the awkward silence is golden.

Now watch that clip again, while you are consciously aware of each and every laugh track. Horrible, right?

Anyway, there's a blogger hosting a Last Line Blogfest tomorrow, where she's asking everyone to post a last line (with it's previous context) on your blog on May 1. Something that you've written. I have one picked out. It's from my NaNo novel. You should do it too! Just make sure to sign up.

So, that's what you'll see here tomorrow. Then, I shall write a blog about Edward Monkton, and later this week I'll post my final Summer Reading list. Three blogs a week May. This sounds doable. TBWM. :]

Rad: Done with classes!

Unrad: Packing your entire room compact enough to fit into a van.

4.27 Nom Nom

"But, I'm in my jammy jams!" -Erin

"That's okay, I'm in my worky works." -Andy

(The Office)

So, I'm like four episodes behind on The Office. Today, since I had a paper to write, I watched the St. Patties Day one in attempt to start catching up. I am so a fan of Andy and Erin. They're adorable, and Andy really likes her. It's cute.

I have only three more days of classes. It's only April 27. This is so weird! I'm going to be home in a week and two days! I don't want to leave this place and these people for so long, though. For once in my life, I wish summer was like... a month. I suppose that's what I get for going to a college where all my friends live like 8 hours away. I just hate missing people! Everywhere I go, I miss people! Can we all just congregate? Please?

But I do want to be home. And here. Make this possible, please. I refuse to be your test subject, however.

Oh! Today I workshopped my monologue for my acting class. I had just finished memorizing it this morning, so my focus wasn't completely on my delivery. Except, she loved it. And I tapped into the emotion surprisingly well. It was almost an out of body experience. I really like how easily I'm able to embody this character...much easier than the last scene I did. So, yay!

Rad: I TOTALLY rocked my math test. Best I've felt about a math test, ever.

Unrad: Sickly boyfriends. :/

Better post tomorrow, I promise! It'll be about Edward Monkton. Hang in there, April's almost over!

4.26 Can. Not. Miss.

I cannot miss another day. However, I have nothing to say. I worked on math pretty much the entire day, and this means I have to write an entire paper tomorrow. So, I will have no time to write tomorrow either.

However, remember my whiney blogs about not being able to see Muse in concert? Fear not! I have a ticket. Officially. For next October. I don't like countdowns, but if I did this would definitely be an occasion for one.

Last night my friend alerted me of the new concert locations they posted. One three-way Skype call and ten minutes later... plans were set. :] AH!

Night, ya'll. :]

4.24 4.25 Nerdwhat?

Nerdfighter.

Ever since Brotherhood 2.0, I've tried to explain what being a Nerdfighter means on several occations to humans who have no previous knowledge on the matter. This, I have found, is extremely difficult. If you want to understand me, you need to understand that I am a Nerdfighter. This will not only expand our topics of discussion, but it will also help you understand several of my snarky side comment references for the past 3 years. So, today we are going to explore how to inform a non-Nerdfighter exactly what a Nerdfighter is. Since I know some of you are Nerdfighters, I am looking for input from you guys, as well.

First, we need to start with a definition. Let me take a quote directly from John Green's Wikipedia page.

"John Green and his brother Hank ran a video blog project called Brotherhood 2.0. The original project ran from January 1 to December 31, 2007, with the premise that the brothers would cease all text-based ("textual") communication for the year and instead converse by video blogs, made available to the public via YouTube (where they are known as the "vlogbrothers") and on their Brotherhood 2.0 website."

'Nerdfighters' is the official name for their more dedicated viewers. The community established by John, Hank and the Nerdfighters is often referred to as 'Nerdfighteria'."

Now, this video is the next thing you should watch. The playlist they link you to at the end doesn't include the videos I would have picked, so if you want my little opinion as to what videos you should plunge into first, ask me. Warning: Catching up on the VlogBrothers is a huge undertaking, but highly rewarding.

Now you have a basic understanding as to what a Nerdfighter is, I must inform you. This is not a little community. Their followers are many, and their gatherings are huge.

Personal Notes:

- Nerdfighters often post Nerdfighter notes in copies of John Green's books at bookstores. The first time I found one, I basically had a field day. It was the background of my phone until I got a new phone.

- My friend and I took a Nerdfighter picture at prom junior year, and it was in one of their montage videos. It definitely made us happy for a long time.

- At midnight on the day Papertowns was released, I checked all over town and no one had it. I was bummed. The next day, I came home from school and their was a signed copy on my bed. AH! Thanks, mom. :]

- Project for Awesome ("John and Hank created an annual YouTube charity project called The Project for Awesome (P4A for short), a project in which YouTube users take one day (December 17th) out of their year to create a video promoting a charity of their choosing.") is on my birthday.

Now, this was not much of an explanation as it was "watch this" type deal, but really that's how it is. You won't understand if you don't watch.

Any comments?

Rad: Nerdfighters

Unrad: Decepticons

4.23 Psych!

Quote of the Day:

"Allyson, what's 1/4 divided by 1."

"Stacy, we're screwed."

Food for thought:

I really want a huge, slightly offensive, worldwide (or national) psych out. Wouldn't this be just fantastic? For example:

-On election day, all the news broadcasters are told to report results inaccurately so that a third party representative, or some unknown guy is leading in the poles. After they announce the winner, Obama pops up on the screen and yells, "PSYCH!"

-Or the Weather Channel lying about tornados and hurricanes. So, after all the sirens have gone off and everyone is hiding away, the meteorologists start laughing and yell, "GOTCHYA!"

-Or if all the doctors in the world lied about a new epidemic, and started diagnosing everyone.

Awful, but funny.

My roomie and I were having fun with this concept the other day.

Also, I've have a tune from a commercial in my head for two days now. NO idea which commercial. SO annoying. I wish I could hum it for you. If you have my number, call. I will hum, and you will figure it out for me or be annoyed with me. Either will do.

Rad: Mall of America tomorrow.

Unrad: Well, I don't know!

Jam of the moment: If We Ever Meet Again

Add me on the Book of Faces?: Let's be friends. :]

Also, I haven't updated you on my Greek progress in forever, so I'll start that again, now that I've started watching again.

Greek Episode: Season 3 Episode 8

dftba.

4.22 Awake.

I went to Caribou Coffee today, and their current cups have several fun inspirational 'goals' to set for yourself to fit with their slogan 'Life is short. Stay awake for it.' I thought I'd write them down. The ones that are bold, I've accomplished in the recent past. The ones italicized I am going to try in the near future.

So, here's that list:

Have a favorite charity. (Invisible Children)

Lighten up.

Spin the globe, then pack your bags.

Dance in the rain.

Pour yourself a cup of karma.

Be the first to apologize.

Don't wait for New Year's to make a resolution.

Sing out loud.

Get your hands dirty.

Donate blood, you have plenty.

Step 1: Rake leaves. Step 2: Jump!

Learn to say thank you in ten languages.

Be the first to enter and the last to leave the dance floor.

Indulge in chocolate therapy.

Plant lots of trees.

Only look back if it makes you smile.

Marshmallows have no nutritional value, and that's okay.

Savor every sip.

Lighten up.

Hold hands, not grudges.

Do something that scares you.

Learn to dance a jig.

Listen first, talk second.

Make time for silly.

Do it for love, not profit.

Skip, don't walk.

Grow older without growing up.

Thank a teacher.

"Life is short. Stay awake for it."

I rarely think a store motto is actually quality, but I really enjoy Caribou's coffee marketing tactics. They're cute, clever, and well designed.

Well over a year ago, my friend started participating in this meme where you set 101 goals to accomplish in 1001 days. Some are rather easy, but some are very extensive. I've seen a few people's lists. I was never ambitious enough to make one, plus it was kind of 'her thing' in high school. Anyway, are any of you participating in 101in1001? I like internet memes. :]

Wow, it's only 12:30 A.M and I've already written the blog for the day. Lovely, tomorrow is quite the hectic day. Have a lovely 22nd, everyone!

Rad: Ambition.

Unrad: Pond organisms. Yep, still unrad.

4.21 A Year in The Life

I'm going to write this now, as I finish a Scrabble game and wait to head to the library. There I will be studying pond organisms, and the classifications of all things unnecessarily classified, until past midnight. This is the last Lab Practical of the semester, though! Huzzah for the death of science tests!

We each have one more turn, and the score is:

Me: 326

Him: 328

Are you nervous? I am. I'll keep you updated.

Oh! I know what I wanted this blog to be about! Harry Potter! (Again, yes. Let me be!) Okay, so today we were discussing the 7th book in class, and someone eventually brought up the 19 page epilogue. I cringed, not because of the epilogue, but because of the negative opinions I knew it would stir up. Now, let me tell you how I feel. Of course I was yearning for more, but I'm glad she included it. I'm glad she tied it up, so that people wouldn't be nagging her for more books. I wish it would have been longer, yes. But it's her series, and she did what she though was right.

Goodness, the negativity! Some people said they would have been happier if it wasn't included at all! Some people wished it wouldn't have been a fairy tale ending. As for the first argument, that would have left it wide open for more books, and she isn't writing any more! As for the second, the seventh book wasn't fairy tale! Some of the most beloved characters died!

People kept expressing how it was too cliched (a word I HATE... this could be a whole other blog), and how she should have thought of the fans more. This argument bothers me too, because people seem to forget why an author starts writing. For themselves. Because they need to write. If you start writing for any other reason, don't even bother. If you've watched "J.K. Rowling, A Year in the Life" (Which the entire class has!) you see just how emotionally attached to this series she was. She knew people would loathe the ending.

"Some people with absolutely loathe it.

But the thing is, that's as it should be.

Because for some people to love it, others must loathe it...

I'm actually really really happy with it."

There. That's all you need. She said she finished it as she needed it to be finished. She knows the exact years of character's deaths and marriages not mentioned in the book because she needed to sort it out. I do wish she would have included this giant family tree she wrote out in the book, though.

However, she wrote what she needed to write, and generously let us into her world. Let's be happy. So I stood up for her. :]

Okay, back to Scrabble. So, it was my last turn and I was losing by 11 points. I had one letter left, an 'E'. I tried everywhere, but I was coming up a few points short. I finally surrendered, and placed the 'E' for 8 points. But THEN, ladies and gentlemen, it told me I WON! He had letters left!

I won! I WON! Against an English major who's graduating in weeks! HUZZAH!

Final score:

Me: 338

Him: 333

Rad: Winning!

Unrad: Pond organisms and classification.

What did you think of the epilogue?

4.20 Bonnaroo

"I’m waking up to see the sun.

It’s a light that lets me know a new day’s begun.

I can leave behind the tears of my unconscious mind,

To the sunshine."

-Into the Sunshine, Julia Nunes

So, I was putting this off because I had no idea what to write about. Then YouTube happened. So, today Julia Nunes posted a video for the first time in a long while. Now you must know, I ADORE Julia Nunes. She's pretty much why I started playing ukulele over a year ago. Anyway, she posted a ton of new tour dates.

Now, for the past month of checking artist's tour dates, I've also checked for the June dates I'll be in Nashville, because it has some pretty sweet low key venues. So, I saw Julia would be an hour out of Nashville the same weekend I'm there. At this point, my hopes skyrocketed. Seeing Julia Nunes in concert would probably make my summer. Anyway, she's performing at the music festival Bonnaroo. Look at that line-up. LOOK at that line up. Pheonix, Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, and Julia Nunes alone would be fantastic. (Not to mention The Temper Trap, Needtobreathe, Okgo, Bo Burnham, Weezer, Conan O' Brain) All of this? Pure bliss. Oh my goodness.

But it's expensive. And from as far as I can tell, you have to stay the whole weekend.

Hopes back down. Juliaaaaaaa, I'll see you someday. I will.

This was a sad blog, but I had a good day. Promise.

Rad: Homemade cookies

Unrad: Knowing this musical festival will be taking place an hour from my presence.

4.19 Summer Reading List

(No, I am not reading this book.

I enjoy my meat, and frankly I don't care to know gross

things about it that may threaten my love for it.

I just like this picture. :] )

Well, it's about that time again. The time when I formulate a summer reading list that I usually fail at completing by the end of summer. Well, kids, this time I mean it. I probably say this every summer, but... this time I'm fo real, yo. (I changed my dialogue to show that of ghetto resemblance to explain just exactly how serious I am.) I promise to also review them in this blog. This is a very rough list, subject to change.

So, can you help me out with this? I'll start.

Capivating by John & Stasi Eldredge

- I've had this book in my possession, whether it be a borrowed book or finally my own copy, for about a year now. Time to actually read it.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

- I'll have time to read this in three weeks. Three weeks.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

- I haven't read any Libba Bray, but this book sounds especially off the wall intriguing. From what I've seen of Libba Bray... I believe it.

Hunger Games and possibly Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

- I'm behind on this new Hunger Games obsession. All I know is that they are dystopian novels, and I quite enjoy these type of novels. (1984, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of The Flies) Has anyone read the Hunger Games? Any other favorite dystopian novels?

Catcher and the Rye by J.D Salinger

- Because I'm embarrassed to say I've never finished it.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

- Same reason as above. Also, because it seems to be a frequent favorite book. It's just one of those books I've never come around to reading.

Also, I am going to the library, finding two to three random books I have never heard of that sound interesting to me, and reading them. So those three are TDB(1, 2, 3).

A fair amount of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories.

- I love this style of writing, and have heard many good things about his short stories. I've actually just started An Offshore Pirate. Let's say ten. I'll read ten.

List Possibilities:

The Last Summer by Ann Brashares

- Just because I enjoy her style of writing.

The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld

- Because these have been sitting on my shelf far too long, as well, and everyone that I know who has read them has seemed to enjoy them.

If I Stay by Gail Forman

- It intrigues me, and it's quite popular right now.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

- This has just been on my list for a while. Emily, you're reading this now, aren't you?

There. The list has started to take shape. Now I need to finalize it, formulate a goal from it, and devise a reward for myself at the completion of said goal. As my list changes and finalizes, I'll update every step of the way.

So now I have some questions for you:

Have you read any of these? Comments?

What is your favorite YA book of the moment? (not on this list)

What is your favorite Classic?

Any other suggestions?

Rad: Summer Reading. The band that just came up on Pandora: Faded Paper Figures. Also, finding a new favorite channel on Pandora. Mine is now that based on the band Phoenix.

Unrad: Failing to complete such lists.

I want frozen yogurt.

4.18 On Time, Huzzah!

"Went to the porch to have a thought.

Got to the door and again, I couldn't stop.

You don't know where and you don't know when,

but you still got your words and you got your friends.

Walk along to another day.

Work a little harder, work another way."

-World at Large, Modest Mouse

Today I read this, and I would like you to read it as well, because I think it is perfectly lovely. It's a portion taken from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

"The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

But the Skin Horse only smiled."

Lovely, isn't it? One of my favorite things about this excerpt, besides the obvious content reasons, is the fact that she uses the verb "swagger". This book was published in 1922. :]

This morning wasn't much better than last night, as far as optimistic energy goes. I woke up at 11, but didn't get out of bed until 2. During this time I had a conversation via text with Josh that went like such:

J -"What are you doing today?"

Me -"Being lazy, depressive, melodramatic, and unhealthy."

"Why? Let's go play frisbee, it's beautiful out."

"I haaaate being social. fhjdsifghu. Besides, I have a serious case of bedhead. I need to get ready to be social."

"What."

"Having a bearable personality takes effort, and I enjoy being that of a lazy antisocial poophead."

"Um. Okay. I'll let you get ready."

Why does he put up with me? I have no answer. However, I am thankful he does. I got over myself by 3 P.M, only at the offer of coffee. I lead a simple life, really... no matter how complicated I may seem. I promise. Just offer me coffee.

I turned to Pandora to put me in a better mood while I was finally getting ready for the day, and chose the Coldplay station, because this is one band that never fails to make my heart lighter. Except, wait a minute.... FAIL. The first song to come on was Look What You've Done by Jet. People, this is a depressing song. Are you aware of the lyrics? Comical, really.

So then, after a fine afternoon, I decide to pick of Sylvia Plath's journals, and begin to skim a few entires. It just so happens I chose the ones where she first begins to talk of the idea of suicide. Not a mood stabilizer!

Why did all of us BEDA gals have off days this weekend? Let's cheer up, okay?

I wonder if I have a paper due tomorrow.... this may be Unrad.

Rad: Friends who put up with your antisocial tendencies. xx