Ratus Ratus

I felt I should share something fun: the scientific name for the "black rat" (aka the rat that helped spread the Black Plague and almost completely demolish the European population in the 12th century) is ratus ratus. Made me laugh.

Back to work!
love,
m

Once Again, Long Time, No Talk

So I survived finals... yay? I'm now back home, sitting in my living room listening to the radio with the sliding glass door open, letting the breeze in. It is so nice to be back home and to not have to worry about how badly I need to do work or how i need to get up super early--though, today I did wake up around 6:58 for some ungodly reason. I did go back to sleep though--no need to worry about my sanity.


I'll probably do some longer posting later, but I wanted to get in a quick Music Monday in before I have to go get dressed and ready for hanging out with friends and Hana Tokyo and "Star Trek."

Today's Music Monday features Cobra Starship. My mom says they sound like the Backstreet Boys. If they do, they are much, much more "explicit" than the veiled innuendos of the Backstreet Boys. Just sayin'. Personal favorites of mine include: "Guilty Pleasure," "Bring It," and "The City is at War." They have a new CD coming out in August, I believe. They're collaborating with Leighton Meester (aka Blair Waldorf of "Gossip Girl" fame).

Okay. Must go get ready now.
love,
m

Long Time, No Talk

I'm in the middle of studying for finals, that's why there has been a distinct lull in posts. In fact, this post is going to be extremely short. How about some links to some music in lieu of a Music Monday?

Mk. So. Say what you want about the whole "Twilight" phenomenon, but it has introduced me to some great music. Granted, a lot of it is kind of whiny, emo music, but, alas, it's still great.

Jack's Mannequin. It was hard to choose just one song so I highly suggest you look them up and listen to all of their stuff. 

Blue October is the other good band that I discovered through "Twilight" and Stephenie Meyer. "Sound of Pulling Heaven Down" is one of my favorite songs by them (followed closely by "My Never" and "Jump Rope").

Hokay. I must get back to making flash cards and writing papers. Happy Mother's Day!

love,

m

Ann Hornaday Rocks My World

If you haven't seen "Adventureland" or "Australia," please do now. I've been known to not have any taste when it comes to movies, music, media in general, but I have a real, true critic that shares my views of these two movies and says that you should see them. Well. She doesn't really say that you should see "Australia" but she respects it and what Baz Luhrmann was trying to do and I think that's as good a reason as any to see a movie. Now read this and this.  Then go see the movies. 

love,

m

I'm Having a Ball!

Just one song for today: "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.

The amazing-ness that is/was Freddie Mercury is unbelievable. No joke. Always a great song to get pumped up too!

So. It's only noon but two bad things and two good things have occurred already. (Not good in my book. There should be more good and no bad. But that's just me.) Two bad: jury summons people being profoundly stupid and profs thinking that it's okay to take attendance TWICE in a 220 person class. Good things: it's absolutely gorgeous outside and it's Barnard's Spirit Day! 

More later. 

love,

m

Busy Beavers

As my sophomore year of college comes to a close, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but then again, I still feel a little more calm than usual. I'm actually doing my work and even though I'm having trouble finding articles and books on my subjects, I still believe it will all come together in the end. 

Anyway. I promised an account of Pittsburgh so that is what I shall give you! It seems like it was sooooo long ago even though it was only last weekend.... anyway. I've decided I'm not a fan of flying. Especially when it's in teeny-tiny planes like the planes I flew in last weekend. Seriously. I had to duck to get inside the plane. 

Once I landed in Pittsburgh, I was greeted by my friends and sped off to U of Pittsburgh. I should mention here that every single bridge in Pittsburgh (save, like, 4) are YELLOW. For further proof of this fact, please go see the movie "Adventureland." (Not only does it show many yellow bridges, but it is also a great movie and everyone should go see it.)

Friday night was fun, there was Chinese food to be had, drinks to be spilled (all my fault, I'm a total klutz), and Apples to Apples to be played. And, of course, one of my friends snored while my other friend and I stayed up talking until like 4/5 in the morning. 'Cause that's how we roll. I miss them :-(

Saturday was mucho fun too. It all started with the Hannah Montana movie. Which was excellent. Lunner was had at the Cheesecake Factory (Linda's Fudge Cake=YUM). Then we saw "Rent" and OH MY GOD. This was the 4th time I had seen it and it was by far the best production I had ever seen. And not necessarily because of Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. When we got back to the dorm, 2/3 of us tried to learn the Throwdown Hoedown. It was rather difficult. 

End Pittsburgh. Unfortunately. Did I mention that it was absolutely gorgeous the entire weekend? Now I'm back in NYC and currently, it feels like a sauna. Bah humbug.

Mk. I think that shall be all for now. Must go do more researching.

love,

m

You Can Sit Beside Me When the World Comes Down

Eek! It's Monday again!

For today, I just have one music suggestion: 

"When the World Comes Down" by All-American Rejects

Listen to the ENTIRE CD. I've listened to most of it (I'm listening to it right now, actually!). It's fantastic. Personal favorites include "Gives You Hell" and "Mona Lisa." 

I'll update later on how much I miss Pittsburgh.

love,

m

There are Other Fishies in the Sea!!

YIPPEE!

So I am going to Pittsburgh tomorrow! I'm insanely nervous about flying. I haven't flown anywhere for about three years and I haven't flown anywhere alone since I was seven. And then they did everything for me. Despite my nervousness about whether I'll be able to find my way around (I haven't been to LaGuardia.... ever, and I haven't been to JFK since I was, well, seven...I think) or whether they'll let me carry on my carry on or if I die in a plane crash or what-not, I'm SO EXCITED. 

My excitement mainly stems from being able to see friends from home who are just awesome and a little bit from being able to see "Rent" on stage with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. However, what I'm looking forward to more than seeing "Rent" is seeing the Hannah Montana movie! OMG Send! Okay. So. That's a lie. I would really like to see the Hannah Montana movie (because I am just THAT COOL), but it's not at the top of my list. 

Another cool thing about this trip is that I actually have at least a little bit of money for it! Yay! I've been severely lacking in the funds the past couple of months (my own fault, but it still sucks!). 

And oh my god. I'm listening to the "Rent" soundtrack with the original cast and am having, like, heart palpitations listening to Adam Pascal. Who the hell knows what's going to happen when I see him LIVE ON STAGE?!

Okay. Going now to fan myself.

love,

m

One More Day in Paradise

So. I have a music recommendation for you. There might be more tonight when I'm trying to procrastinate reading books written in the 12th century and researching Andy Warhol. At the same time. Obviously. 

On to the recommendation! A throwback to the early 2000s, the recommendation for today is Vanessa Carlton's album, "Be Not Nobody." Most of it is very soothing and just hauntingly beautiful. Personal favorites of mine are "Ordinary Day," "Pretty Baby," and "Twilight." (And no, I don't like the song "Twilight" just because of the book of the same name, I liked before I had even heard of the book. So there. It's just really pretty.)

Okay. Maybe more later.

love,

m

Happy Easter!

I loved Easter when I was a little kid. In fact, I still do. There was just something about dressing up in new, pretty, spring-like dresses, wearing outrageous hats, waking up to see that the Easter Bunny had come, and then going on Easter Egg Hunts. I just decided right now that Colleen must have a metal detector embedded somewhere on her person. That is the only way she was able to find all of the money-filled eggs. Every single time. No joke. 

These past two Easters have been kind of sad only because I haven't been home. I haven't been able to wake up and find candy on my bed, then walk out to the living room and find my three baskets worth of candy and goodies, or had any of my mother's Easter ham. Not that the ham was anything special. I'm also not really complaining. Last Easter, my mother and I had an early Easter so I could come back to school before the holiday rush. This Easter, I spent the day with friends. And seeing "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway. See? I really have no reason to complain. 

Back to "Guys and Dolls" though. While it had its short-comings (the dancing was a little to hyper and intense, Lauren Graham's Adelaide had a very deep voice for some strange reason--that girl could sing, Kate Jennings Grant had a weird voice, I could go on), it was good overall. I had a huge smile on my face the entire time, I was bouncing with excitement at random intervals from about 12 pm to about...well, now actually. I got to meet Oliver Platt (and tell him that I thought he was really good in "The West Wing"), Chris Bierko, and got a wave from Lauren Graham! 

So. All in all, the magic of Easters past might not be lost after all. It was a good day.

love,

m

Uninspired Music and Movie Recommendations

So. The muse has left. Oh well. I'll leave you with some quick recommendations though.

Movies: 

Only one for today: "Yours, Mine, and Ours." The original. With Tim Matheson, Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Van Johnson, and many, many others. It's a great feel-good movie. A mother of eight marries a father a ten. It's an adventure. Roll with it. It's amazing.

Music:

A Fine Frenzy's CD, "One Cell in the Sea." All very chill songs, I recommend "Almost Lover" and "Liar, Liar." The title of this blog comes from the song "Lifesize" which is also phenomenal.

Okay, well, that's all I'm really feeling up to today. Enjoy!

love,

m

Warmth and Sunflowers

It's gorgeous outside. So, of course, I'm inside, in my room, attempting to clean and write cover letters. Goodie. Did I mention it's supposed to rain tomorrow? Also not cool.

Warm weather like this makes me think of sunflowers. They are by far my favorite flower. They're always so happy! I have sunflowers all over my room (fake and pictures of, not real ones). 

My suggestion for today is that, if you're feeling down, go to Google Images and search "sunflowers." I'll warn you that there is an Anne Geddes sunflower baby on there. I advise that you don't look at it... it detracts from the happy. 

love,

m

Breaking Down

I just spoke to my future advisor about becoming a History major. Premodern History. My major declaration form is due today and for some reason I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. If not nervous, then emotional. And I still have two classes left! Breaking down is NOT an option! I shouldn't even be on the verge of breaking down. I (almost) have an amazing advisor and I'll be majoring in something I love--why is this so hard??

I just had the bright idea to put my headphones in and listen to some music. It's already calming my nerves.

I'm thinking of doing a movie/music Monday thing. You know, like, movies/music you should check out, songs I constantly have on repeat, etc. Thoughts?

In a completely different direction, Sarah Dessen just launched a new online community for her fans called Sarah-land. As you would know if you knew me, I'm a sucker for quotes. I actively seek them out a lot of the time. So, as a fan of Sarah Dessen, I decided to check Sarah-land out and, lo and behold, I found a thread about Sarah Dessen quotes. Can you say goldmine? Anyway, I'll probably be dispersing a lot of her quotes throughout this blog mainly because she's kind of amazing and I love her books and quotes. Here's one I found today that really resonated with me in my current state: "Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend." (from Someone Like You)

Now, I haven't read Someone Like You, but I can completely understand this quote and would just like to say that I have been completely and utterly blessed to have as many good friends that I have now. I've never been one of those people that has, like, 90 different friends. Heck, I can pretty much count all of my friends on my two hands. Okay, I might need three hands, but that is stretching it a bit. I've always been taught quality over quantity and it is something I believe in wholeheartedly. I wouldn't know what I would have done if I didn't have my really close friends (you know who you are). I've been through some rough times and am truly thankful that they are able to just sit and listen and comfort. And when I'm freaking out about something that I should be freaking out about, or I get really angry or frustrated at someone for a heinously stupid reason, they aren't afraid to tell me.

Oh God. The nervous breakdown is coming back.... I have to go get one last signature on my major declaration form. The heart rate is accelerating. Not even A Fine Frenzy can save me now.

Love,
m

Assisi

Art?

EDIT: The pictures shown got a little chopped off. Don't worry, you still get the same effect. Trust me. You aren't missing anything. I'll do my best to make them smaller in the future.

Okay. This might offend some people, but not anyone I know personally that would actually be reading this. I think. Slash hope. Oh well. Here goes:

What, exactly, are the guidelines for art? In my Late 20th Century Art class, we've been talking about artists like Mark Rothko:

and Jackson Pollock: 

I fail to see how these men can call themselves artists and become known world-wide when I could produce both of these just as well. I get that Rothko has a way with colors and knows how to create beautiful and sometimes scary combinations. I also get that Jackson Pollock was revolutionary in that he changed the axis of painting (he laid the canvas on the floor and let gravity work it's magic). But in all seriousness: WHY? I just don't get it. After seeing my first Rothko at the National Gallery of Art on the Mall in DC, I decided that I should start making artwork. I started making artwork out of the left over food on my plate, random doodles on class notes, things like that. I would mention to my friends how my artwork should totally be in a modern art museum. None of them believed me and they all mocked me. 

Now, of course I'm joking about my "artwork" going into a museum. Kind of. Can someone please explain to me why these guys (and the COBRA artists for that matter) are so well-known? My professor goes on and on and on about these guys, and I get the basic themes he's going on about, but it still infuriates me. He talks about how some artists (mainly the COBRA artists) wanted to deskill the art of painting and make it so the public realized that painting and art is something everyone can do. But why didn't more people from the general public start getting their "art" in museums and becoming famous. COBRA was a fairly exclusive group, why didn't they let more people in?

So this whole rant was a build up to this, which I hope works, because I don't really know how to do links on this thing... Anyway, the video I just linked is a performance art piece by Vito Acconci. Basically, Acconci is trying to break down the "Fourth Wall," or, the wall between the audience and the viewer. First of all, the linked video is super creepy. My friend and I sat in this class of about 100ish giggling through the entire thing because it was so awkward and creepy. This same friend then wondered aloud, "Would this be as creepy if it was Robert Pattinson?" and we came to the conclusion that, yes, it would be just as creepy, just a little more pleasant because Robert Pattinson is freaking gorgeous. In my own, humble opinion. 

Okay. I need to go do a little reading and work on a paper now. Just an FYI, not all of my posts will be this long or this semi-intelligent ranting. I'll try to stay away from going all fan-girl on things, but it's unavoidable in some situations. 

love,

m