You belong with me

Don’t get too excited- this post is not about Taylor Swift.

I’ve made all of these recent observations lately and its made me decide to write them down. Plus, I’ve been so busy lately that I really haven’t had time to sit down and write something insightful (at least in my mind) in a while.

Finals came and went. Projects came and went. The snow came and went. (hopefully more will come to grant everyone that “white Christmas” that they crave.

People love to be  a “part” of something. When I saw this, I mean many different things. Some people (and by some I mean most), LOVE to namedrop all of the things that they belong to. I’ve focused on this a lot recently in my Buyer Behavior class. Different reference groups and group influences allow you to try to associate yourself with others or in groups with others. It is human nature. But I still think it’s funny. Like at CU, people love to define themselves by what sorority or fraternity they’re in. Then if you are an advertising major, you should automatically dislike the “marketing” kids who don’t have as hard of a time as you do but they steal your internships and jobs at times. Also, if you live on the hill, you’re a certain kind of person. Wearing uggs? Someone will think something of it.

Hell, they’re probably putting you in groups that you don’t even put yourself in.

The most random account of this I can think of it cruise ships. I’ve been on a few cruises before and let me tell you, if you’ve cruised once you are in the “my family like to cruise” category. Because of this, you will always love to meet others to tell them what number of a cruise you’re on and if they match, you automatically understand each other.

It is like a secret pact. There is always that girl in the corner from some snobby suburban town close to a big city (think Chicago or NYC) who has bene on 21 cruises. She says this with an air of confidence as she elaborately goes into the 3 month cruise her family took from Australia to South America. Blah. Give me a Break. I just threw up a little in my mouth.

I wonder where I fall. What groups am I classified in?  I know the groups I would never want to be apart of.

MEAN GIRLS. I hope to never be like these bias below.

If I am EVER like this, I hope someone slaps me upside the head.

Peddle to the Meddle

So lately I have been plugging away rigorously at- well everything.

I will just number all I’ve had on my plate which might not appear to be a lot but really is:

1. searching for my future

actually very hard to explain

2. making a presentation to pitch at a huge ad agency in boulder

3. creating a marketing proposal

4. singing/ acting/ rehearsing in a French musical

5. Putting together my brand identity deck and presentation

6. teaching 6th graders still

7. not sleeping

8. not eating

9. not working out

SO in essence, this is my life right now.

I’ll be more insightful come Friday/ this weekend.

I promise.

Vinyls

I’ve mentioned this in passing but it is time that it gets a bit of individual attention.

I own a gorgeous record player. Below is the exact player that I own a Jensen 3 speed.

Artists/ Records that I own:

(I have to say before I go into detail, I am not listing all of my records because going through all of them is difficult and time consuming.)

The Carpenters, The Big Chill, The Eagles, James Taylor, The Beatles, Disney classics, Fleetwood Mac, Saturday Night Fever, Top Gun, John Denver, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Elton John…

People don’t understand why I am so in love with my records. It’s because music sounds so dramatically better on it. If people only realized that I think everyone would have one. I have observed also that there is something truly unique about listening to a record from start to finish and listening to the flow of songs. Listening to one song next to the other in the sequence it was meant to be listened to is really amazing. I can’t describe it, it has to be experienced. Also, you can really hear the different instruments and the beats and rhythms that make up songs. My Beatles record, for example, flows from one song to the next amazingly. There are all of these hidden tracks and instrumental rifts to songs so you can’t really pick out when one song ends and another starts. It’s also a great conversation starter and reason for people to come over. People are always like “My parents have so many records I’ll bring them for you.” I’ve heard so many people tell me this by now that I no longer think they’re going to follow through because they haven’t so far.

Also have you ever heard that scratchy sound that records make pre-song? It is so indescribable! I love that sound. I love picking up the needle and placing it on the record. I love turning the record after a measly 6 songs.

The other day I found this website that featured the 10 Best Songs for Friends. (RANDOM right?)

http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/friendshipsongs.htm

One of the artists,  Corinne Bailey Rae sings about putting your records on. She sings:

Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow.

Maybe that is what I need to do, let my hair down and put some records on.

Edward ScissorClaws

Every once in a while, a truly remarkable story happens. The kind of story that you want the world to know. While procrastinating studying for my Buyer Behavior exam tomorrow, I find it only appropriate to share this story with the world. If you were one of the lucky few that witnessed this, you can agree just how ridiculous it was.

So a few weekends ago I had my four best girl friends come visit me who I met abroad. These girls know me really well. We spent every moment together abroad. From  getting along in France using our French with our all-too-typical American accents to laughing at the French have a hard time distinguishing and differentiating the words bitch and beach and shit and sheet (it’s a really fun game, try it with a French person some time), we have all been through a lot.

Of course by nature this story had to happen when they visited. One of the girls visiting has a few very close friends from Chicago who also attend CU. The weekend I spent a good amount of time with these boys as well seeing that they wanted to see her as much as I did during her 48-hour visit.

So we decide to go one of the guys houses, located just off of the Hill  (the general student ZONE at CU loaded with student houses.)I should have known it would make a good story when the reason we went initially was to meet Desi, the puppy who one of the boys (who shall remain nameless for identity purposes and because I want him to still be my friend is he reads this) was obsessed with. “Desi is the cutest dog ever,” he says. Yeah ok, whatever, I think. My house has a dog, Steve. In my mind Steve is the cutest dog. Everyone thinks that their dog is the cutest.

Of all of my years at CU (four) I have never been into a house with so many animals. We walk in and Desi, (yes I will admit the puppy was VERY cute as a German Shepherd with blue eyes) attacks us. The guy picks her up and starts kissing her open mouthed. They are full on making out. Then we notice a strange case on the side. He explains to us that it is his houses’s ecosystem, or terrarium. He holds up Salamanders, lizards, and points to the pond. He tells us that he probably goes to Petsmart like once a week. IN COLLEGE? GET OUT OF HERE. I can not believe that him and his roomates go to Petsmart once a week to buy an animal or food to keep up the “ecosystem.”

Then he gets tip-tup who is in solitary confinement for murdering 6 other fish in a pot. My girls and I get heated because we’re thinking that this is mean! Tip-Tup didn’t chose to murder the fish. He was hungry. Maybe they all shouldn’t be put to live together like a big happy college family.

Then one of the girls screams in the bathroom and runs out. She goes, “OMG there is a crab in the toilet!” The guy goes, ” oh yeah sorry about that I meant to flush.”  (thinking she said crap) “Wait, what, how can you go to the bathroom and have that come out?” “OOOO the CRAB. yeah that is not for you that is for H.”

ok so recap. E goes to the bathroom and sees a crab in the toilet that is not there for her, it is there for H. Wow.

So we all start laughing at the craziness of this situation. Crazy until it gets documented.

So there is Edward Scissorclaws in  the toilet. This spurs the following conversation:

Warning: If you get offended easily don’t read this

 

B: edward was no scrub….

 

T: you guys are so disgusting, not to mention inhumane poor tiptup has been living in a cooking pot the size of his shell for the past two weeks

 

I: t, do the three of us have to ground you again for these comments.

 

did you or did you not put a fish down the garbage disposal? …I rest my case

 

E: Yeah well I was the one who ran into the bathroom bc I had to go so bad and what guess who is staring up at me about to pinch my butt!?!?! Not one of the better boulder experiences…

 

B: he was dead he could not have pinched ur butt!!!! and t ur grounded!!! no cell phone for a week either!

 

J: i think maybe the picture of eric making out with your dog should get some more shout outs…i’m tired at looking at this picture…i throw up in my mouth a little each time

 

H: way to make a joke about a sensitive subject…edward was a good crab.

 

B: a damn good crab…the best ive ever owned

J: still throwing up in my mouth a little

 

A: if only tiptup got the same level of respect as edward…

I: Edward didnt kill Jackie Chan, scruffy, and sub zero plus many others…tip tup is getting the respect he deserves…he was sentenced by a fair and impartial trial and sentenced to life in prison

 

H: As I understood things tiptup did receive due process…and a jury trial was carried out

A: what is tiptup’s current status – is he still locked away?

 

I: yes of course hes locked away A, what dont you understand about life sentences? He will be locked away untiil we get a snake and have to lose him

 

T: if you get a snake I might have to report you to animal inhumane societies…not kidding

Oh college. The guys need a hobby other than buying animals and putting them in the toilet.

ICE ICE baby

I’m going to focus on something for a second that no one EVER seem to focus on. Iceland. That is right. That wonderful country of Iceland located well, where the hell is it located exactly you ask? After googling Iceland for 2 seconds I pulled some insightful info. for you about Iceland.

Iceland is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic Ocean east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle. It lies about 4,200 kilometers (2,600 mi.) from New York and 830 kilometers (520 mi.) from Scotland. About 79% of Iceland’s land area, which is of recent volcanic origin, consists of glaciers, lakes, a mountainous lava desert (highest elevation 2,000 meters–6,590 ft.–above sea level), and other wasteland. About 28% of the land is used for grazing, and 1% is cultivated. The inhabited areas are on the coast, particularly in the southwest where about 60% of the population lives. Because of the Gulf Stream’s moderating influence, the climate is characterized by damp, cool summers and relatively mild but windy winters. In Reykjavík, the average temperature is 11°C (52°F) in July and -1°C (30°F) in January.

Blah, blah blah. Let us get to the good stuff. I have a friend who traveled to Iceland. Random right? She told me it was her favorite country that she has EVER been to. She said it didn’t feel like reality. So now I’m thinking what is Iceland’s secret?

To start if I were to ever visit Iceland, I would stick out like a sore thumb. Think about it, I look the OPPOSITE of every citizen in a northern slavic country. I am a brunette. I have hzael/ brown eyes. (woah I feel like I’m writing a personal ad describing myself for dates.) I also like long walks on the beach, candlelit crab dinners for two, Al Stewart (who doesn’t?), AND I’m a Sagittarius. The archer. Meaning I am incredibly optimistic.

Back to Iceland. I’m looking for a good reason to convince my parents to take our next vacation to Iceland. Have any good ideas?

Oh I just came up with one! I HAVE to go to a live concert of Sigur Ros. He is icelandic. Haven’t heard of him? Check out his songs: Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur, Hoppipolla, Saeglopur, Gobbledigook.(for the record, I had to go into my I-tunes and copy and paste the titles of these songs because they’re so hard to type. Try even pronouncing them. I can kind of do it after listening to the songs. I am assuming though that Sigur even says these words in his songs.

I don’t know if that will go over so well with the rents. They aren’t too keen on my music taste. Hm, how about

After some more Google searching, I found something really good by the Icelandic Tourist Board: (I wonder if they even get a lot of tourists.) I am by NO means trying to insult Icelandic people. In fact I have never met an Icelandic person. I would love to have an icelandic friend.

Iceland – Discoveries the Entire Year
Iceland is not only closer than you think, but far different than you ever imagined. Where else can you witness such marvels of Mother Nature as a tremendous icecap and several glaciers, spouting geysers and steaming solfataras, volcanoes (hopefully dormant), raging rivers and magnificent waterfalls, a multitude of birds, cavorting whales just offshore and many other surprises. Summers are surprisingly warm and winters not as cold as you might expect. Regardless of when you visit, be assured that the warmth shown by Icelanders, their desire to share their culture and the efforts made to make your stay as pleasant as possible will, like the spectacular landscape, never be forgotten. Looking for a holiday or vacation in Europe? - Visit Iceland for your holiday – Your official Iceland travel guide to Iceland vacation.

Let’s go! Who’s in?

 

ROOMATEYS

college is so weird. think about it. you openly choose to live with a bunch of random girls or guys and hope you get along.

sometimes you do. sometimes you don’t. you definitely learn who you can live with though and who you can’t.

The best are the super weird roommates. You know the kind of people that make you wonder “What planet are you from?” These people don’t 1. shower 2. clean 3. recognize your existence 4. add any presence to your house. It is really strange that you rightfully choose to live with them but then when it doesn’t work out you bitch people out.

Here is the top list of things that I think are necessary to be a good roommate:

1. Cleanliness

2. Consideration

3. Respect

4. Open-mindedness

5. Cooking skills (ok maybe that is a little harsh to claim)

The “Rules”

When it comes to dating, we live in very confusing times. Oftentimes at my shoe store we talk about what College was like for my bosses. Now my bosses are by no means old, but hearing their opinions slightly freak me out. They weren’t nearly as connected as we all are nowadays. Think about it. Everyone owns a phone. Everyone texts. Everyone calls. Everyone checks their e-mails, facebooks, AND twitters on their phones. There really isn’t a point in time when we AREN’T all connected to the entire world around us. Now compare this trait, truly characteristic to Millennials, with Gen X and Baby Boomers. My mom loves to lecture me that when she went out on dates she would have to plan long in advance for the date. She would have to be reliable because unless she was home, she wouldn’t know who was looking for her. Imagine what life would be like without your cell phone. Pretty liberating. Pretty darn liberating.
Or would it be? I forget how connected I am to everyone else. I love the online world and the depth of knowledge available at my fingertips. At the same time however, I think it is really detrimental. I think that we take advantage of how connected we are and as a result we mask behind this deep longing to be connected. It’s kind of sad if you think about it. We try to be SO connected to the world around us to prove to others that we are connected. But we’re not. We’re not able to just see people eye to eye. We are losing the ability to relate to others on a personal level.
Sometimes I try to imagine what life would be like if I lived in a time before cell phones. Were guys any different back then? I bet they weren’t.
Was life different back then? I bet it was. I have this hunching suspicion that people had to be a lot more accountable and a lot less sketchy. If you were going to a certain bar or party or house back in the day you had to go. You didn’t have a choice if you wanted to flake out and text someone.
Did you know that some people have come up with certain acceptable rules for dating.
Here are the top 10 rules for women:

1. Be a Creature unlike any other. Being a creature unlike any other is really an attitude, a sense of confidence and radiance that permeates your being from head to toe. It’s the way you smile (you light up the room), pause in between sentences (you don’t babble on out of nervousness), listen (attentively), look (demurely, never stare), breathe (slowly), stand (straight) and walk (briskly, with your shoulders back). When a relationship doesn’t work out, you brush away a tear so that it doesn’t smudge your makeup and you move on!

2. Show up to parties, dances and social events even if you don’t feel like it. Realize that you may not meet Mr. Right naturally and that you therefore must take social action immediately even if you don’t want to. Get a manicure and go out on another date or to that singles dance — do something to increase your chances of meeting men.

3. Its a fantasy relationship unless a man asks you out. 
Don’t waste time on a fantasy relationship. You may have a good rapport with your doctor, lawyer or accountant, and you may find yourself wondering if he is interested in you romantically. How can you know for sure? If he’s never asked you out, then He’s Just Not That Into You!

4. In an office romance, do not email him back everytime he emails you unless it is business related. On all non-business e-mails, responding once for every four of his e-mails is a good rule of thumb. Remember, you never know who has access to your e-mail, so keep all romance off the screen and save it for Saturday nights.

5. If you are in a long distance relationship, he should visit you three times before you visit him. Remember, the first three visits are really nothing more than three dates… and on the first three dates we don’t sleep with a man or have him stay at our place overnight.

6.When considering whether to use personal ads or other dating services, you should place the ad and let men respond to you. It goes back to the basic premise of The Rules: Man pursues woman. When writing your ad, remember that every man has a type, a voice or a look he likes. There has to be a spark for him that attracts him to you, something that makes him find you unexplainably special.

7. If he doesn’t call then he is not that interested. Period. We know this is hard to accept, but it’s not that he hasn’t called because he’s busy, or because you didn’t smile or talk enough (or did too much). It’s not that he lost your phone number. The bottom line is, if he hasn’t called, he’s not that interested.

8. Close the deal- rules women do not date longer than 2 years. 
If you’ve followed The Rules, your man probably loves you and wants to marry you. Your problem is not if he marries you, but when! If it’s been more than a year, see less of him and think about dating others. You’ve already spent more than a year waiting for him to propose; do you have another year to wait?

9. Buyer Beware: Observe his behavior do you don’t end up with Mr. Wrong. 
Love may be blind, but Rules girls are not stupid! How does he act in the relationship? Is he cheap on dates? Is he critical of you? Remember, The Rules are not about marrying the first man you are attracted to who calls you by Wednesday for Saturday night and buys you flowers. It’s about marrying your own personal Mr. Right — a man whom you love and whose character you admire and can live with.

10. Keep doing the RULES even when things are slow.
Take care of yourself, take a bubble bath and build up your soul with positive slogans like “I am a beautiful woman. I am enough.”
You must learn to accept that, as an adult, you can’t always rely on a friend to do things with you. Even if you don’t meet Mr. Right, going out — whether it’s a restaurant, lecture or party — is a chance to meet new people and practice The Rules.

Are the rules old fashioned? Should there even be rules for dating?

I phone therefore I am

To all of you haters of the world, I have an Iphone. I say haters because you probably hate for having one if you don’t have one. Maybe you are a blackberry who swears that they are so much cooler because you own one. (Instantly making the phone cooler). Maybe you have one of those random phones that takes on smart phones names but isn’t smart at all.

Exhibit A:

The point is, the Iphone has thus proven why I love Apple. I really, truly do. I think Apple is an example of an amazing and innovative company and one that many should learn from. My Iphone has the best features. I like the touch screen. I like being able to do so many things with my phone. I like my I-pod on it. I like the Apps. I like to think different. Talk about inspiring. I could quote Apple campaigns all day. I admire both the Steves (the founders.) I admire their 1984 commercial that they had to push to put on the air. I’m a Mac. I own a Macbook. You should too. If you don’t you probably wish that you did. If you do, then you know what I am talking about.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

If the world knew what was good for it, it would try to aspire to be more like Apple. The world would be a healthier place.

JP in the house

As I recently explained, I am intrigued by politics. For this reason alone, I have gotten involved in the Colorado Political Scene. I was involved with the Boulder County Democrats during election season last fall volunteering to count ballots and votes and to canvas. (Its really fun to canvas btw…NOT). I believe for anyone and everyone interested in politics, you must find at least one issue that you’re passionate about.

If you stand for nothing, then you’ll fall for everything.

There are in the end of the day a hell of a lot of issues that I stand for. I am pro-choice, I am pro women’s rights. I am pro gay marriage, pro abortion, pro pretty much every social issue that democrats would deem worthy of time and resources from the government. I am also pro-Israel.

Let me go into this a second. It really pisses me off when people are like how can you be so liberal and pro-Israel. For some reason, this is a really bad stigma to being liberal, democratic, and pro-Israel. People regularly think that Conservatives, or Republicans would first take on this issue and make it important in their hearts. I can see how some can claim this putting Israel in the category of national defense and international diplomacy, which in the past has often been associated with war and thus more of a Republican hot button. YET, on the other side, Israel is an extremely liberal country. Way more in fact, than the US and 100 x more liberal than any middle eastern country. I know I’ve already ranted about this, but you would be amazed how many ignorant people there are out there. At the same time I am not saying that I am know-it-all. If anything, I am thirsty for this information so I make it a point to read up about it as much as possible and to actively make an effort by being an activist.

I think more people would be involved in politics if they saw how easy it is to become involved. You can chose how involved you are, what issues you care about, and what direction you would like to do. It is so cool to be able to lobby and to MEET congressman, senators, and their aids/assistants. They are the people that are making big, HUGE, influential decisions in our lives and they want us to be involved. The time is now.

Which brings me to the title of this post, JP in the house. JP stands for Jared Polis, and he is Boulder’s newly elected congressman in DC. He is very pro-education, and very knowledgeable, which is why we are bringing him to campus, my group, the Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the College Democrats, to discuss Iran.

Damn, democracy feels good.

Je t’aime

Has anyone ever seen the movie Paris, Je T’aime. According to the trusty IMDB:

Paris, je t’aime (French for “Paris, I love you”) is a 2006 film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities including American, British and French. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements. (The various neighborhoods in Paris) The 21 directors include Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gerard Depardieu, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Nobuhiro Suwa, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, Walter Salles and Gus Van Sant.

If you haven’t here is one of my favorite clips from it, thanks to the good folks at Youtube:

(I’m including the version with the translation as this movie is originally in French and I know for some this is slightly difficult)

The funny thing to know about this clip is that the woman’s accent in French is HORRIBLE. Like so mad I can not even try to imitate it.

This is hands down one of my favorite movies in the world. I would advise anyone to see it, even if you aren’t that fond of Paris or France or French. The central theme is so moving, and the vignettes really accomplish a unique feel.

This brings me to a movie that was recently released but isn’t on a large national scale yet, New York I love you.

According to IMDB again:

In the city that never sleeps, love is always on the mind. Those passions come to life in NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU(rendition of 2006 PARIS, JE T’AIME) – a collaboration of storytelling from some of today’s most imaginative filmmakers and featuring an all-star cast. Together they create a kaleidoscope of the spontaneous, surprising, electrifying human connections that pump the city’s heartbeat. Sexy, funny, haunting and revealing encounters unfold beneath the Manhattan skyline. From Tribeca to Central Park to Brooklyn, the story weaves a tale of love as diverse as the very fabric of New York itself. Written by Vivendi Entertainment, Distributor

Below is the trailer.

Youtube says: This super-project film brings a collaboration of storytelling from some of todays most imaginative filmmakers and featuring an all-star cast. Together they create a kaleidoscope of the spontaneous, surprising, electrifying human connections that pump the citys heartbeat. Sexy, funny, haunting and revealing encounters unfold beneath the Manhattan skyline. From Tribeca to Central Park to Brooklyn the story weaves a tale of love as diverse as the very fabric of New York itself.

 

New York I love you is in select theaters RIGHT NOW. I am slightly killing myself slowly by not being able to watch it. So please if you can do yourself a favor and go see it. For me. Eventually it will get to Boulder. Key word being eventually. (and I’m being hopeful)