Thanksgiving

First off, I'd like to say that I think that Thanksgiving is a silly holiday, but that being grateful for what you have in life is a wonderful thing to celebrate.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I have decided to start a notebook in which I will make a daily entry of all the things I am thankful for each day. To start it off, here is a list of ten things that I am incredibly thankful for:

1. My family. Despite the craziness of it all, I have the greatest family in the world, and I mean that with the utmost sincerity.
2. My friends, especially my close friends. I definitely surround myself with some wonderful people, and I really don't know what I'd do without you.
3. The amazing opportunities I have throughout life.
4. The jobs that I have. Although stressful, they are what keep my bills paid for, and what more could I want?
5. My car. This seems silly and materialistic, but I love my Bella baby (nickname...and no, I did not name her after the Twilight character), and I am so thankful that I am able to own her.
6. My cats. I love them. End of story.
7. My camera. I have no idea how I would express my passion for photography and creative imagery without that beautiful piece of plastic.
8. Music. I am listening to "That Could Happen to Us" from the Kissing Jessica Stein album (check it out), and it expresses exactly what I am feeling and it is amazing!
9. Ballet. What a beautiful art form, yeah? Thank God I am able to dance!
10. Finally, the cliche "The air I breathe." I don't think this one needs explanation, but if we all remember the seemingly unimportant things such as oxygen, won't we all be just a little more appreciative of what we have and grateful for life?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Commandments of 104

Commandments of 104

I. Thou shalt frequently be in for the kill

II. Thou shalt consume citrus tinged popped kernels with additional flavor of the sea

III. Thou shalt slumber in the presence of fierce creatures

IV. Thou shalt devour knowledge of potential soul mates

V. Thou shalt frolic

VI. Thou shalt wage imaginary cardboard warfare against compatriots

VII. Thou shalt embellish thy chamber with festive bobbles

VIII. Thou shalt fashion a colorful identity for the threshold

IX. Thou shalt feast upon fruit filled pastries on the ground

X. Thou shalt be assured in thy command of time as a human fabrication

Arbitrary Thoughts

Saggin = Niggas (As in sagging your pants = niggers).

I have been procrastinating my homework for about

three hours.

People are crazy jealous.

Explosions in the Sky is

the. coolest. band. ever.

I really like photography.

And ballet.

What cool art forms.

Oh, and arctic foxes are my favorite animals ever.

(Photographs copyright of Zara H.)

Soul Mates

My best friend Rachel and I were talking about the idea of soul mates today and she sent me this quote by Elizabeth Gilbert:

"A soul mate's purpose is to shake you

up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show

you your obstacles and addictions,

break your heart open so new light can

get in, make you so

desperate and out of control

that you have to transform your life."

I feel as though this goes against the common current of beliefs in regard to "soul mates." Most people seem to use the phrase as a synonym to "the one," which I think are entirely different things. I most definitely agree with Gilbert's quote. There is one person in my life that I consider one of the most important of my soul mates, and the situation between us ripped me apart completely, and then I had to build myself back up from scratch (just like Gilbert says). Despite the incredible amount of pain that the relationship (and end of) caused me, it was most certainly one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

Oh yeah, I also believe that we have more than one soul mate. Way more than one. I could name three of mine with immense confidence.

I made myself who I am today with the unintentional help of one of my soul mates.

Pretentiousness

Yes...I am still awake.

The incredible pretentiousness of my ridiculously expensive school is obnoxious. Not transferring credits from a smaller school simply because it is a community college and not a liberal arts college is absurd, especially when they are general education classes like math or basic composition courses.

There is a lot of construction happening on campus currently (why they waited until the school year began to start the project, I do not know) and I heard that if the construction workers speak to any of the students, they will get fired immediately. I have not looked for a reliable source to provide this information, but I cannot even comprehend the immense automatic class separation that my school has created. Are the students really that much better than the construction workers? Let me answer that for you:

NO.

In fact, many of the students are just as stuck up and pretentious as the school itself.

Why, you might wonder, am I here if I have such a negative view of the school. It is simple: education. I am receiving an incredible education here, and the learning style is fits like a puzzle piece into my life, which is hard to find. The professors are wonderful, the classes are small, and a select few of the students are amazing. If I were here for the people or for the degree alone, I never would have even applied.

I just wish people would stop placing themselves above everyone else when, in reality, none of us are any different from the people who surround us.

Missing People/Time as a Construct

Okay, so I intended to go to sleep a while ago, yet here I am.

I can't get someone off my mind, and I have been wondering why. I am not talking about the traits of this particular person with whom my thoughts are absorbed, but the biological reasons why I continue to think about him. Are there biological reasons? And if there are, why do we focus on one person in particular?

I feel like these are probably questions that seem really simple, but if you take time to consider what I am asking, you may see it a little differently.

I understand that there is "chemistry" between people, so is the memory of that chemistry what keeps us thinking about that person? If so, why is he always on my mind? (Like a headache, as I recently analogized.) Is that chemistry still going off in my head?

That thought brings me to the idea that time is a construct. This is not an easy concept to explain, but what it boils down to is this: Time is fictional. It is something that we, as humans, have created so that our minds can physically process everything that is happening to and around us. In this theory, since there is no time, everything is happening all at once.

Now, if this were true, all of my questions previously posed are invalid for the reason that he is always on my mind is that he never leaves my mind because time does not exist.

Woah.

My questions are obliterated into the past...except they aren't, because the past does not exist since everything is happening at the same time(!).

Is this the answer to all of life's questions? Probably.

Enjoy pondering.

Wealth, what a joke

The ideology of wealth is so incredibly misconstrued. When I looked up the word "wealth" in the dictionary and the thesaurus (something I tend to do quite often), I noticed that another word appeared quite frequently: prosperity. Do material wealth and prosperity really go hand-in-hand?

I feel like society teaches us to desire the following life path: grow up fast, get good grades, go to college, get a "good" job, make a lot of money, have a family, wish you were young again (ironic due to the first step on this path), continue working your ass off at a mildly enjoyable job (but, hey! the money!), raise your kids to follow the same path, and then retire to a life of "prosperity." What is that centered around? Money, money, money.

Who cares about money?

What has it ever done for you?

It certainly hasn't helped me. I mean, I'm the one who needs blankets.

Speaking of Katie's mom, she recently sent me a yam. Apparently she felt bad sending Katie and Karen a large dish of non-vegan food, so she found a yam in her refrigerator and felt the need to send it to me. What a sweet woman. (No sarcasm intended.)

That's all I really have to say. I only hope that you consider the meaning of the word "prosperity" and determine for yourself what exactly that entails.

Oh, and on a personal note, you aren't "poor" if you don't have to choose between paying the electric bill and feeding your children. Grow up and be grateful for the many blessings life has to offer you...that's what I am trying to do and it's surprisingly helpful!

I feel like it's important to suggest other blogs to follow, so check this one out. It is pretty depressing, but the photography and poetry is quite lovely. http://www.iwrotethisforyou.me/

Death by Chainsaw

I am feeling colorful today.

My dear friend Olivia wrote a blog about zombies and how we need to prepare ourselves for their attack, and she cleverly created a list of important things to know for those of us who have had no prior training or education on the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately for me, Olivia thinks that I will get infected and try to eat her, so she explained how she would kill me.

This is where it gets cool.

She says that she would decapitate me with a chainsaw! How AWESOME is that? Obviously the actual death part would suck, but consider the obituary...

Zara lived a short but fulfilling life. She worked

hard, went to school, and had a great circle of

friends. She enjoyed writing, dancing, and photography.

Zara was in a tragic newly discovered zombie state;

therefore, she was decapitated by her best friend with

a brand new STIHL chainsaw in her tiny dorm room as

she lunged for her first (and final) taste of human flesh

with an intense in-for-the-kill kind of inclination.

She is survived by her mother, father, eight siblings,

extended family, close circle of friends, extended

circle of friends, her two dead cats, her one-billion

living cats, her "children," her computer, Jackson,

her printer, Alexander, her iPod, Rodger,

and her car, Bella.

Have you ever heard of a death being cooler than that? I haven't.

For all this and more, I thank you, Olivia.

How?!

Ok, so I am eating lime and salt popcorn (thank you, Orville Redenbachers)...don't you ever wonder how on earth people thought of these things? Who thought to shove popcorn kernels and oil and lime juice and salt into a tiny paper bag lined with what, wax and chemicals? and suck the air out, then stick it in a microwave (yet another insane invention), and then wait for the kernels to pop, AND THEN..............eat it?!

How do people come up with these things? Or things like bread...how was that invented?? Who thought to take ground up wheat, yeast (whatever that really is), salt (how did we decide to start eating that? And how come we didn't confuse it for sand? Is that even a possibility? I don't know.), water, and whatever else goes into bread...mix it together...heat it up, let it rise, watch it cool, and then eat it. WHAT?!

Don't even get me started on some of the super crazy things like cell phones or the internet.

I will probably never really understand. I suppose that's okay.

P.S. I am obsessed with the song In for the Kill, Let's Get Ravey Remix, by La Roux. It's really good when you listen to it loudly in your car with your eyes closed...try it.

P.P.S. check out my friend's blog: www.olivia-goingcommando.blogspot.com. It's hilarious and I promise you'll like it!