Monday, November 3, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sunday, October 13, 2013
life revelations
Hey. Did you know the government is shut down? Did you know that most people in America don't care? That's what I learned this week.
In AP GOV we learned about Middle America, and how most of the population doesn't give two craps about the government, and is in fact rather uninformed. Most papers don't talk solely about the federal government.
Living in DC, we are immersed with politics, so it is a pretty big part of our lives. In most of America, this isn't the case, and problems in Washington can seem far away. Also, most people's daily newspaper isn't The Washington Post, which is read by leaders from all over the world. I think it's cool that ours is.
The reason I like learning this is because I love knowing where I am in the grand scheme of things. (That's why I plan on taking AP HUMAN GEO). I often sit down in front of the mirror in my room and pretend I'm a monkey. Or no, I am a monkey. I don't even know why I'm typing. God. Okay. I should write my AP GOV paper and study for chem.
Haha. Ha.
In AP GOV we learned about Middle America, and how most of the population doesn't give two craps about the government, and is in fact rather uninformed. Most papers don't talk solely about the federal government.
Living in DC, we are immersed with politics, so it is a pretty big part of our lives. In most of America, this isn't the case, and problems in Washington can seem far away. Also, most people's daily newspaper isn't The Washington Post, which is read by leaders from all over the world. I think it's cool that ours is.
The reason I like learning this is because I love knowing where I am in the grand scheme of things. (That's why I plan on taking AP HUMAN GEO). I often sit down in front of the mirror in my room and pretend I'm a monkey. Or no, I am a monkey. I don't even know why I'm typing. God. Okay. I should write my AP GOV paper and study for chem.
Haha. Ha.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Why I Don't Mind Living in America
One of the most common things I hear from people my aged is "I hate living in the USA" or "why can't I live in London or Paris! Ugh!".
But, contrary to many people in my twitterfeed, I don't mind living in the United States of America.
I live in Washington DC. I actually enjoy living near such a powerful, beautiful and prestigious city. Not that DC is my favorite place in the world, but it is nice to be able to hop down to the White House any day I feel like. Also, when traveling internationally it's super fun to tell people I live in Washignton DC, rather than trying to explain to a Dutch person where *small unknown town in possibly familiar but not totally familiar state* is.
I'm in the middle of the world. Living in DC means being equal distance from California and England. Therefore, I am the center of the universe.
I can freely travel to the desert, ocean, mountains, plains--North, East, South + West. I'm not as constricted in physical travel as someone living in France, seeing that America is so big. Am I sick of the humid city? I can go to a cool city...or a small, dry town in Colorado. No visa required.
I identify with awesome pop culture icons--BEYONCE has the same cultural instincts as me! America has a huge supply of celebrities and socialites. That means I have a special, 300,000,000 / 7,000,000,000 bond with Beyonce, Spielberg, Liza Minelli, etc etc etc etc.
But, contrary to many people in my twitterfeed, I don't mind living in the United States of America.
I live in Washington DC. I actually enjoy living near such a powerful, beautiful and prestigious city. Not that DC is my favorite place in the world, but it is nice to be able to hop down to the White House any day I feel like. Also, when traveling internationally it's super fun to tell people I live in Washignton DC, rather than trying to explain to a Dutch person where *small unknown town in possibly familiar but not totally familiar state* is.
I'm in the middle of the world. Living in DC means being equal distance from California and England. Therefore, I am the center of the universe.
I can freely travel to the desert, ocean, mountains, plains--North, East, South + West. I'm not as constricted in physical travel as someone living in France, seeing that America is so big. Am I sick of the humid city? I can go to a cool city...or a small, dry town in Colorado. No visa required.
I identify with awesome pop culture icons--BEYONCE has the same cultural instincts as me! America has a huge supply of celebrities and socialites. That means I have a special, 300,000,000 / 7,000,000,000 bond with Beyonce, Spielberg, Liza Minelli, etc etc etc etc.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Running
On December 22, 2012 I decided to start running. I've never been a runner. In fact, I've never been an exerciser of any sort. Group sports give me anxiety (and still do!) and when we had to run the mile in PE I wanted to actually die. This was my mindset up until December 22 2012.
So why did I, all of the sudden, start running on the treadmill? I'm not really sure. I never watched a video that truly inspired me to start running, and it wasn't ever a new year resolution. From what I can remember from 7 months ago, it was winter break and I had probably eaten some junk food that morning. Therefore, I felt crappy. So instead of slowly moping on the treadmill for ten minutes (2 mph, yo!) I decided to run and feel less fat. That day, I burned 400 calories.
Since then, I've burned a minimum of 200 calories/day on the treadmill--every day since December 22. Part of my success in running (mental success, not necessarily physical success--though I'd like to think I've had both) has been my consistency. I've never ever skipped a day of running, with the exception of a few days in Philadelphia/New York where I instead walked around, as well as the recent day when I got a tooth pulled.
But now I love running. It definitely gives me an au natural high, and it makes my day feel accomplished, even if I didn't leave the house. I can easily run 2 miles at a 8 min 30 sec pace (this is what the treadmill tells me, who knows if it's totally correct).
Speaking of leaving the house: My only complaint about running is that I'm too scared to run outside in my neighborhood. The reason behind this is rather silly: I don't want any people I know from school to see me running...I think it's kind of embarrassing. Although whenever I go to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or New York or anywhere run-able in the future, I happily run outside. But in my neighborhood..not so much.
If you'd like to know my "technicalities" for running, here they are.
-Nike shorts (basketball style, not running style...I can't rock short shorts, sadly)
-Whatever loose, solid color old navy shirt I have (although I'd really like some better running tops)
-Nike dual fusion running shoes (gray)
-Normal short white socks (from Target, of course)
-iPhone + Earpods
Some inspirational stuff I like to watch:
Any of Casey Neistat's videos...he's a big runner and some videos show him running, which is oddly inspiring.
This video by a guru/vlogger named Allison.
An article with great tips for running.
Happy running!
So why did I, all of the sudden, start running on the treadmill? I'm not really sure. I never watched a video that truly inspired me to start running, and it wasn't ever a new year resolution. From what I can remember from 7 months ago, it was winter break and I had probably eaten some junk food that morning. Therefore, I felt crappy. So instead of slowly moping on the treadmill for ten minutes (2 mph, yo!) I decided to run and feel less fat. That day, I burned 400 calories.
Since then, I've burned a minimum of 200 calories/day on the treadmill--every day since December 22. Part of my success in running (mental success, not necessarily physical success--though I'd like to think I've had both) has been my consistency. I've never ever skipped a day of running, with the exception of a few days in Philadelphia/New York where I instead walked around, as well as the recent day when I got a tooth pulled.
But now I love running. It definitely gives me an au natural high, and it makes my day feel accomplished, even if I didn't leave the house. I can easily run 2 miles at a 8 min 30 sec pace (this is what the treadmill tells me, who knows if it's totally correct).
Speaking of leaving the house: My only complaint about running is that I'm too scared to run outside in my neighborhood. The reason behind this is rather silly: I don't want any people I know from school to see me running...I think it's kind of embarrassing. Although whenever I go to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or New York or anywhere run-able in the future, I happily run outside. But in my neighborhood..not so much.
If you'd like to know my "technicalities" for running, here they are.
-Nike shorts (basketball style, not running style...I can't rock short shorts, sadly)
-Whatever loose, solid color old navy shirt I have (although I'd really like some better running tops)
-Nike dual fusion running shoes (gray)
-Normal short white socks (from Target, of course)
-iPhone + Earpods
Some inspirational stuff I like to watch:
Any of Casey Neistat's videos...he's a big runner and some videos show him running, which is oddly inspiring.
This video by a guru/vlogger named Allison.
An article with great tips for running.
Happy running!
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Film: The Social Network
9:00 pm, Saturday night. I've just finished watching The Social Network (TSN) and it was astonishing.
Music
Similar to a recent favorite, The Great Gatsby, the music throughout TSN was not only fitting to the movies theme, but was necessary for the film to flow so wondrously. At times, the music simply provided the mood for the scene; Lawyer scenes, 'scary' scenes, etc. Other times, most notably during the scene where Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Einsenberg) Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) discuss Victoria's Secret / business in a bar, the music literally carved the movie-goers experience due to the sheer noise level the tunes were at. If, say, I was scrolling through my twitter (should I say Facebook?!) feed during an easily audible scene, I wouldn't have too much trouble multi-tasking. The loud club tunes were louder than the voices of Mark and Sean, so I had to put extra focus into that scene in order to get that plot line. Personally, I think that's a super cool technique.
Script
Do people from Harvard actually talk like Mark Zuckerberg? DO THEY? The witty comments in the lawyers room (I don't really know what else to identify it as..), almost always coming from Zuckerberg's mouth, left me feeling not only intrigued by his brains lighting fast ability to think of responses to tricky questions, but also intellectually stimulated mah own braiyun by his use of the English language. My ears just had such a convivial experience with this movie.
Sometimes, such as with Mean Girls or Easy A, the script is the only thing that makes the movie good--you could say the dialogue is the only factor that makes the movie so good. Other times, such as with Like Crazy, the dialogue does not need to be as strong in order for the movie to be worthwhile--the beauteous filming is good enough. The phenomenal and fast paced script of TSN added to the great music, great characters, and many other considerable factors of this film to make TSN an exceptionally wonderful piece of art.
Characters
My favorite element of Jesse Einseberg's character, Mark, was the way the viewers--or at least my--opinion on him changed multiple times throughout the movie. At one point, I thought Mark Zuckerberg was mentally ill. Later I thought he was smart. Just after that, I despised him and his actions. (If you're wondering, by the end of the movie I really liked his character. It was just a roller coaster getting to that point.) Specifically, Jesse's acting was phenomenal when, while in a lecture class, he was handed a mean note. The face Jesse created was outstanding and so chilling, and brought a new level of sensitivity and humanization to his character. (Click her to see the face he made, in meme form. )
Erica Albright. Rooney Mara?!! Dumper of Zuckerberg. Lawyer for Zuckerberg?!! My mind still can't get over that character development/whatever her character's deal was. Good plot twist. As a film maker, which I am NOT, I feel like it must be hard to translate the idea of a character's plot twists and developments from the head of the writer or director to the big screen. Since Erica Albright was fantastically communicated as a developed character, good job to the people working on TSN.
Finally, London Tipton. I mean Brenda Song. I mean Christy. First off, Brenda's acting was really phenomenal...in fact, I've always thought her acting was phenomenal--even on The Suite Life. For a moment as Christy was evilly eyeing her boyfriend (who was preoccupied with Facebook drama), I for real believed that TSN was going to become a full out horror film. So that was some goodcharacter stuff acting.
In conclusion: TSN was a wonderfully made film that provoked far too many picky and, most likely, uninteresting opinions of mine. These opinions of mine were so prevalent in my mind that I made a legitimate blog post about them.
Wait!! I would like to add one (more) random thought to this rambling review:: If anything, this movie made my have some nostalgia for the past of Facebook, and life before social networks. Not in the sense "Oh, life was so simple before social media" because that's stupid to say, and I don't believe that statement. Facebook was, quite simply, the first big social network. While MySpace was around before Facebook and E-Mail provided one of the first online communication forces, Facebook truly shaped social networks. And the reason I am slightly nostalgic after this movie is because, while Facebook is technically growing in size, no one who I associate with--none of my peers--use Facebook normally. This is because Facebook isn't considered to be 'cool' anymore. TSN documented the fantastical story of the creation of Facebook; something still--(although fleetingly, as with any social network)--relevant today. Sorry, that was UBER ramble-y and unnecessary.
Good night.
Music
Similar to a recent favorite, The Great Gatsby, the music throughout TSN was not only fitting to the movies theme, but was necessary for the film to flow so wondrously. At times, the music simply provided the mood for the scene; Lawyer scenes, 'scary' scenes, etc. Other times, most notably during the scene where Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Einsenberg) Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) discuss Victoria's Secret / business in a bar, the music literally carved the movie-goers experience due to the sheer noise level the tunes were at. If, say, I was scrolling through my twitter (should I say Facebook?!) feed during an easily audible scene, I wouldn't have too much trouble multi-tasking. The loud club tunes were louder than the voices of Mark and Sean, so I had to put extra focus into that scene in order to get that plot line. Personally, I think that's a super cool technique.
Script
Do people from Harvard actually talk like Mark Zuckerberg? DO THEY? The witty comments in the lawyers room (I don't really know what else to identify it as..), almost always coming from Zuckerberg's mouth, left me feeling not only intrigued by his brains lighting fast ability to think of responses to tricky questions, but also intellectually stimulated mah own braiyun by his use of the English language. My ears just had such a convivial experience with this movie.
Sometimes, such as with Mean Girls or Easy A, the script is the only thing that makes the movie good--you could say the dialogue is the only factor that makes the movie so good. Other times, such as with Like Crazy, the dialogue does not need to be as strong in order for the movie to be worthwhile--the beauteous filming is good enough. The phenomenal and fast paced script of TSN added to the great music, great characters, and many other considerable factors of this film to make TSN an exceptionally wonderful piece of art.
Characters
My favorite element of Jesse Einseberg's character, Mark, was the way the viewers--or at least my--opinion on him changed multiple times throughout the movie. At one point, I thought Mark Zuckerberg was mentally ill. Later I thought he was smart. Just after that, I despised him and his actions. (If you're wondering, by the end of the movie I really liked his character. It was just a roller coaster getting to that point.) Specifically, Jesse's acting was phenomenal when, while in a lecture class, he was handed a mean note. The face Jesse created was outstanding and so chilling, and brought a new level of sensitivity and humanization to his character. (Click her to see the face he made, in meme form. )
Erica Albright. Rooney Mara?!! Dumper of Zuckerberg. Lawyer for Zuckerberg?!! My mind still can't get over that character development/whatever her character's deal was. Good plot twist. As a film maker, which I am NOT, I feel like it must be hard to translate the idea of a character's plot twists and developments from the head of the writer or director to the big screen. Since Erica Albright was fantastically communicated as a developed character, good job to the people working on TSN.
Finally, London Tipton. I mean Brenda Song. I mean Christy. First off, Brenda's acting was really phenomenal...in fact, I've always thought her acting was phenomenal--even on The Suite Life. For a moment as Christy was evilly eyeing her boyfriend (who was preoccupied with Facebook drama), I for real believed that TSN was going to become a full out horror film. So that was some good
**************************
Wait!! I would like to add one (more) random thought to this rambling review:: If anything, this movie made my have some nostalgia for the past of Facebook, and life before social networks. Not in the sense "Oh, life was so simple before social media" because that's stupid to say, and I don't believe that statement. Facebook was, quite simply, the first big social network. While MySpace was around before Facebook and E-Mail provided one of the first online communication forces, Facebook truly shaped social networks. And the reason I am slightly nostalgic after this movie is because, while Facebook is technically growing in size, no one who I associate with--none of my peers--use Facebook normally. This is because Facebook isn't considered to be 'cool' anymore. TSN documented the fantastical story of the creation of Facebook; something still--(although fleetingly, as with any social network)--relevant today. Sorry, that was UBER ramble-y and unnecessary.
Good night.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
bedroom inspiration
...because I hate am bored with my room.
Low bed. Love the platform/side table. Such a cool concept!
For the brick wall and sheets.
I absolutely love when beds are right up against a window (with curtains, of course). It reminds me of hotels, and I always sleep well in hotels.
Nice wall decorations.
Would I ever put a mosquito blanked over my bed? Probably not. But there's something about that look I find so intriguing.
Window: check. Fairy lights: check. Comfortable bed situation: check. Wall accents: check.
all of these photos are from tumblr
Low bed. Love the platform/side table. Such a cool concept!
For the brick wall and sheets.
I absolutely love when beds are right up against a window (with curtains, of course). It reminds me of hotels, and I always sleep well in hotels.
SO much character. I want a tilted ceiling, I want I want I want. The carpeting sucks, but that ceiling and window is amazing.
Nice wall decorations.
Would I ever put a mosquito blanked over my bed? Probably not. But there's something about that look I find so intriguing.
Window: check. Fairy lights: check. Comfortable bed situation: check. Wall accents: check.
all of these photos are from tumblr
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