Changes

Well, first, shout-out to the Biggie song in my title. Not at all what this post is about, but I will admit I love the song and even choreographed a dance to it back in 8th grade with a bunch of friends. Great times. 

Anyway, as autumn comes and the seasons begin to change, I find myself itching for a change myself. This weekend, acting on this urge for change, I decided to dye my hair. Was there any real reason to do this? No, not really. But, I was bored. 

As I’ve started to think about what I want to work on this semester, beyond school of course, I’ve decided that instead of changing something, I want to work on being content without change. Honestly, I’ve always been an antsy person. If I’m not dying my hair, I’m chopping it off, or buying new clothes to achieve a certain “look”, or deciding to change my major for the 8th time, or aiming to learn another language or instrument that I inevitably give up on within a month or two. I never just sit and enjoy what’s going on in the present. Instead, I need to shake it up. This urge has clearly manifested itself in my appearance, but it also spreads much further into my relationships—particularly with boyfriends. The only long-term relationship I ever had lasted as long as it did because we were constantly breaking up and getting back together. And when people ask why I transferred colleges, “Did you dislike where you were? Was it too far away?” No. The only answer I can come up with is, “I was bored.” Change. I wish I could pin-point where this desire comes from, but right now, instead of delving into WHY I do these things, I’m instead going to try to wake up each day and just enjoy where I’m at, because truthfully, for the first time in a very long time, I’m at a great place. I’m not going to decide I need to learn French so that I can move to Paris after college. I’m not going to decide to become a hard-core yogi to change my body. I’m not going to decide I should be a Buddhist because I need a spiritual presence in my life. I’m going to simply enjoy being me because, right now, me is a really good person to be. 

Anyway, that was a bit of a rant, but does anyone else suffer from the constant need for change? I know so many people resist it, never wanting to change their way of thinking, or even their hair, yet I’m at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum. I think change can be good, it can be great, but it’s not something that should be constantly pushed. Instead of coming up with something to change, or something you’re unhappy with, I think everyone should spend a little time this long weekend thinking about something they love in their lives right now.

Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend

First movie review!

The Movie: Taking Woodstock

Direction: A

The Cast: A-

Overall: A

So, basically, I really enjoyed this movie. I’m a huge movie fanatic, and I really appreciate truly great, well-made movies, and I think Taking Woodstock is definitely such a film. Sidenote: I also love predictable chick flicks or absolutely ridiculous slasher films, but I wouldn’t call most of them great films. Back to Woodstock. Ang Lee does an amazing job in his direction. Virtually every shot is aesthetically stunning, and he uses some unique techniques that work very well in the film. For example, he uses a split screen for a lot of scenes to show both what is going on with the main character and what is going on around him simultaneously. This technique helps give you the feeling of chaos that accompanied the “planning” of Woodstock and allows you to see all the different people attending the concert, which is really where the film does a fantastic job at making you feel as if you are back in the summer of 1969. In terms of the cast, I have to say I loved just about everyone besides the main character, played by Demetri Martin, and his mother, played by Imelda Staunton. It’s not that Martin does a bad job, he’s simply unimpressive, especially next to the secondary characters. Emile Hirsch, as a soldier who just returned from Vietnam, and Liev Schreiber, as a cross-dressing war veteran, are the real stars in my opinion. I mean, how can this not be amazing? 

Eugene Levy also makes a small but amazing appearance. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this movie to anyone looking for a great movie, both entertainment-wise and artistically. I should warn, however, that Woodstock fans looking for a movie about the music will be very disappointed, as none of it is ever shown, and there is a lot of unexpected nudity… although I guess in a film about hippies I shouldn’t have been so surprised.

A lil’ food and fashion

Well, last night I suffered from a bit of insomnia, which is pretty standard in my life, and at 4 AM decided I was hungry. I remembered that I had an almost empty jar of peanut butter and, in a blog-inspired fashion, decided to dump some oats on top. 

Honestly, I need to thank whoever came up with that because it is heaven. This is toward the bottom, and personally when I make these oats (this is with quaker instant maple brown sugar-not the healthiest but hey I need to go to the grocery store ), I just empty the oatmeal on top, dump in some water or milk (this was water), and microwave for 1-2 mins depending on how much liquid I happen to pour in. I don’t really stir it because, honestly, I love the chewy texture that the oats at the bottom get, and I love the layer of oaty-pb-ness that forms between the oats and pb, and I really love the super melty layer of pb underneath all that. For some, this might not be the preferred method, but I think its awesome. 

Anyway, after that lovely snack/breakfast/I don’t really know, I watched some TV and got showered and dressed for work. I’m trying a new shirt (I guess you’d call it a shirt?), and I’m not 100% sure if I can pull off the look, but it’s worth a try. 

One day I’ll show my face, I’m just being a tad shy right now. Anyway, hope everyone has an awesome Wednesday!

Daily trashy news update – crazy chicks

I must admit I am slightly addicted to trashy news (aka AOL news, People magazine, etc), so I’m thinking that I’m going to include a bit of trashy news daily to keep any readers I get up-to-date. Today, I came across a pretty disturbing piece on aol.com about a sorority at Colorado State that hazes pretty intensely. As a freshman, I went to a big state school (I transferred), where I joined a sorority. Personally, I loved my sorority… I met some really sweet girls and was never ever hazed. This article talks about a very different kind of sorority, in which girls were starved as part of the hazing ritual (unless they chose to eat cat food). Like, what?! How can any human being do that to another, especially one they will one day call a “sister”? Does anyone understand the hazing ritual? And, I mean, I get wanting to fit in, but why wouldn’t any of these girls simply leave after being starved and sleep deprived? To me, that’s not any organization I’d like to be part of, but it does kind of show how much people will endure/put themselves through to be accepted. Just something to think about. 

To leave you all on a happier note, check out these pics of the new SATC movie. I didn’t personally love the first, but I’m always willing to give Carrie another shot. The shoes are beautiful. 

 

From InStyle.com

Hello world!

I thought the default title was appropriate, so I kept it. Anyway, hi everyone (or no one)! I thought for a while about what my first post would be, and although this may be a heavy start, I figured I’d explain a little about how I made the decision to blog. The first time I ever read a blog was when self.com created the food blog. From there, I started reading the plethora of food blogs that quickly followed and became slightly addicted. The truth is, I was definitely getting over some serious eating issues, and sadly (or maybe not so sadly because the bloggers seem to be great people) the internet was my only real place to find support. From all the stories I’ve read, it seems like so many of you have awesome support systems-mostly from family-but I hate to say that I completely lacked that. If I’m going to be honest, someone in my family was basically the catalyst for my issues. I gained some weight and was told I looked fat and should lose weight asap-and was even given the advice of starving myself for a short period-so I did to make someone else happy. Of course, the losing became an obsession, and shit got bad. Luckily, I hit a point where I finally realized I hated what I saw in the mirror-the bones look just wasn’t for me-and was able to listen to myself and begin to get better. Now, I don’t want to put all the blame on this family member, because heck I was the one listening, but my point is simply that without some of the food bloggers out there, I probably wouldn’t have realized what a normal day of eating looked like and how very off my eating was, even during a time when I thought I was eating normally again. I will admit I had a few awesome friends who tried to help, but I tend to be a very private person and therefore never completely confided in anyone about what was going on. Instead, I lied about why I was so thin and consequently lost a lot of people. Today, I am definitely at a better place, but I still keep that time of my life pretty locked up because I hate the idea of being defined by one portion of my life, and sadly I fear that might happen with some people if they knew. I really don’t like people worrying about me, and I know that if some friends knew they would begin to question every time I refused a dessert, for example. 

So, that is the explanation for how I got into the blogging world, and now the reason I’ve finally decided to start a blog is two-fold. 1) I really have grown to love all the bloggers I’ve read and thought it was time to put myself out there the same way they always have, and 2) as a communications student, I think it’s important to delve into the media world a bit, especially since I’m someone who has always been slightly afraid of new technologies. This is my way of breaking that fear. In terms of what I will blog about, I’m not too sure yet. I’ve decided not to do a food blog, partially because I am not THAT exciting food-wise, but also because I think there’s so much more to me and to life. I live in NYC, so I’m hoping that blogging will make me go out and take advantage of the city more so I have some good blog material . I also love to read and write, to watch movies, to shop (yea, I’m a girl) and to travel, so I’m hoping to include a little of all that in this blog. Hope I get some readers, and feel free to email me if you have ANY questions or comments… I check my email like a crazy person. Ta-ta!