oxymoron on opposite day

I am a walking and talking, real-life contradiction. 

I can't stand to read Nicholas Sparks books but I loved reading the Twilight series.

I don't like it when people cry on reality TV, but it doesn't bother me so much on regular TV drama.

I love to make collages, paint, and sketch- but I hate having to print out pictures, sharpen my pencils, and get new notebooks.

I hate early morning classes, but afternoon classes are a mystery to me because I feel like they are during the prime napping hours.

I don't overly enjoy being addicted to caffeine- or any substance for that matter, but I cant bring myself to stop drinking a fat cup of joe in the mornings- or multiple throughout the day.

I get bored when people say "thats what she said" all the time, but I cant help thinking it at opportune moments.

Even if I have read a book that has bored me to tears, I refuse to let it off my bookshelf.

I am a huge Harry Potter fan, but I judge people for playing Warcraft.

I even liked the Lord of the Ring series, but I have minimal respect for people who play Dungeons and Dragons.

I enjoy confrontation but I am a huge people pleaser.

Even though I strive to impress and please others, I am quite possibly one of the most competitive people alive.

I hate claiming to be hurt and mock the flailing soccer players (you know the type), but not many months go by in between my multiple injuries.

I may be a leader in many facets, but behind closed doors I am a neurotic basket case that needs to constantly be calmed by others.

I am an independent women that talks to her mother on the phone every day.

I am an English major that does not overly enjoy editing peoples' crap papers.

A [moderately] high-maintenance feminine, athletic, liberal, protestant, feminist. I fake and bake, get my nails done, clamor for the outdoors, love to get dirty, be aggressive on the court, and go hiking with my dog. 

A bred and raised Californian, current OC beach dweller that highly anticipates fully assimilating into the Mountain states.

an introvert forced to be an extrovert.

think in lines- that are circular

At times I sit down to write, and I have little to say, or what I have to say is so ridiculously random I pity the people who see my blog title show up under the little followers screen. I think to myself "what a waste of their lives" but then they come and tell me that they enjoy my thoughts, so I keep going. 

I guess if I really didnt believe that someone out in the cyber abyss actually cared I would just write in my journal. 

I have like four journals, none of them are completely filled out. They have different purposes: a journal for songs and quotations- anything beautiful or evocative, a journal for sermon notes, a notebook for sketching, a journal that is pretty on the outside that has horribly spaced lines so I never have actually written in it, and lastly- my dream/wish/ goals journal.

People always told me to read lots of Virginia Woolf- she does the whole stream of consciousness thing, which, there really isn't a better way to begin to understand the feminine psyche until you begin to read the unaltered, unedited thoughts of a woman. That is what the critics will say at least. 

I don't know if I agree with that. If you claim to understand the feminine psyche through a specific authors  writing style, you will most likely miss out on the inevitable uniqueness of every woman. We are individualistic creatures, deal with it.

My capstone professor may be right: the semicolon (;) and the colon (:) are being phased out of writing. People are now just choosing to [over]use the dash. It might just be a trend, a lazy one at that, but it might be a  lasting grammar coup.

Speaking of capstone- (and there is the damned dash) I have never been more angry with "the man". Apparently the journal we are producing, the Synecdoche, is currently under a mass amount of political pressure and we as editors and authors are facing some serious censorship. Some pieces were cut entirely due to the "racy" content and violent, or sexual undertones.  As an editor, I can tell you in all honesty that these papers were stimulating, academic, and well-written. They not only promoted diversity in the journal, but genuinely showcased the talent and merit of the work of my fellow peers. Additionally, we had to go back and edit some cursing from various pieces. If ya ask me, and you actually didn't, that is more compromising to the piece than it is belittling of the journal. This situation goes far beyond just wanting to say "shit" at the end of a creative work, it is about the decrease in caliber of work submitted, or lack thereof in the future, as well as a silencing of voices in our very own community.

Why is it that christian universities cannot function in a manner that is comparable and competitive with other secular universities?  Are we honestly that afraid of being immersed in a culture that is different from the quaint, conservative bubble that is isolated christian environments. News flash: that bubble does not really exist-we are immersed in the world. We are human beings. We are no different. Saved by grace- not through our own brilliance or folly.

Stop trying to define what my relationship with Christ looks like, and allow me to use the brain and adoration of language He gave me. 

dumb.

ugh. worse bracket of my life.

I hate Mizzou and I abhor Villanova.

Basketball update

March Madness:

Well, if I were getting a grade on my bracket it would be around a 72%. Not so great. 

Personal upsets:

UCLA- loss to Villanova. I still love my Bruins.

BYU- (not that I had really high hopes for them- but it would have been nice)

Utah State- which, that loss in itself was bad, but it led to Marquette getting going, and ultimately Mizzou getting so far. I hate Mizzou. Take that, Nicole.

USC- lost to Michigan State. UCLA might be my favorite, but I still support the locals. This probably seems ridiculous to Bruins fans.

University of Utah- are ya kidding me? All of my Utah teams are out. Hell.

NBA Update: team near and dear to my heart,

 Utah Jazz. They beat the Rockets tonight, which is great. Greater story: My parents were the honorary coaches tonight ( compliments of StoresOnline) and got to sit a row behind the bench. This is ridiculous for 2 reasons:

1. When I went to a game last Tues ( they beat Washington!), I sat so far away I could only recognize Korver by his socks.

2. My mom actually spoke to Kyle Korver tonight, and to her credit yelled aloud "Will you marry my daughter?".  She isn't stealth but she is persistent.

blog for King- Honorary Keeper of the Bridge

Today, we decided- after much consideration- that the fruit that was eaten in the Garden of Eden was not an apple (a common misconception) but rather a tomato. 

The text just says fruit- but a lot of people always refer to the forbidden fruit as an apple. There is no real evidence for the apple, which is why we entertain the theory of the tomato.

The forbidden fruit probably wouldn't have been something so delicious as an apple, it would make more sense if it were one of the "mediocre" fruits.

according to tasteforlife the apple is the third most popular fruit- beat out by grapes and bananas.

I think it small- minded of us to blame the apple- there are plenty of other fruits to judge. Like the tomato or the persimmon.

penny for your thoughts

I really should have taken advantage of my Spring Break- in a more productive vs. apathetic kind of way.

7 weeks till graduation- apathy and narcolepsy needs to hold off just a little bit more.

I was spoiled rotten this weekend. I love my family. 

I would have loved them even if they wouldn't have spoiled me.

Life with an ipod is much better than life without an ipod. Life should be a musical.

I watched the movie Twilight [twice] today. It is actually not that great, but I love the books and the film began to grow on me. I think the first time I just had such high expectations it was doomed to fail. I just have to remember: books are always better.

I don;t see the point of annotated bibliographies. I am obviously going to read the articles I cite, why do you need to know that ahead of time?  I like reading those articles.

April is going to disappear before me eyes, and then so will California.

I tore my meniscus boarding. This is a serious problem for myself and my mountain bike.

eyebrows

Eyebrows are a funny thing, don't ya think? I mean- if you are a female people dont really want to see hair all up on your face so you tweeze, shave, wax- choose your pleasure. If you are male, the scruff is acceptable, but there is an imaginary line that runs halfway across your face and neck for that matter, that hair really shouldnt go above or below, respectively. Yet, we have the phenomena of the eyebrow. Little hairs that peek out that are apparently acceptable. Actually, it is beyond "acceptable"- I would say half of Audrey's sex appeal is directly linked to her eyebrows.

 People might even think you are weird without them- like the "chola" stylings circa the 90's (see below).

the eyebrow. weird.

the downside

Tomorrow, the President, Barack Obama, will be speaking at the OC fairgrounds. The fairgrounds are a good 5 minute walk from my apartment, and a 1 minute walk from school-- yet I am 10 hours away (driving- not walking) and doing not very much with my life.

all I can think about

I am helping out at a debate tournament this weekend- by "helping" I mean being held against my will and better judgement- but this tournament is different than most others.

Let me describe a typical debate tournament: smelly debaters, lots of suits, some people not in suits because they are making a statement to protest capitalism- even though they cannot really offer another economic model that is even feasible, a guy who walks around in a cape, holding a skull because he believes that societal constraints are  demeaning to the autocracy of all individuals everywhere, there are judges walking around critiquing others and giving long monologues about how they thought the debate round should have gone- mostly to prove that they are smarter than you because they can't come to terms about their bleak career coming to an abrupt halt, students giving speeches of going green, masturbation, the perils of plastic bags, and human rights violations across the Atlantic, and lastly lots of smokers- probably those liberal, hippy bastards from Northern Arizona or Long Beach State.

whew. Imagine living in that for 72 hrs straight, 14 weekends a year.

back to my original thought: this weekend is different because it is not a regular national tournament-- it is Christian Nationals (NCCFI).

There are no smokers (I'm guessing people are smoking but they just cant on Biola's campus), people are moderatley kind, I was told not to use my favorite words "hell" and "damn" so as not to offend, and we prayed at the opening ceremony. The quality of debate is not lesser than the norm; however, the content of the individual events is much more PG rated. There is no man with a skull and people are still decrying human rights violations.

New thought: Since attending this past weekend's Gender & Justice Conference my mind has been plagued with statistics and images of the women and children that are being trafficked domestically and abroad. 

Did you know that we (coastal living peeps) are all inhaling particulate matter from China? gross. We really should care more about their toxic pollution levels, and not just during the Olympics.

I can't stand that these debaters who protest human rights violations finish their rounds and then go and stuff their face with Nestle chocolate. Nestle! Talk about not fair trade. I wish these people would stop creating such outlandish plans and start to actually make a difference right at home. 

one more thing...

So, I hear from many different sources that Twitter is an up and coming phenomena and to be aware of its impending revolution. Maybe I should sign up. But am I signing up so that I don't miss the phenomena, or is my signing up actually perpetuating a fad that never would have actually become a phenomena had I (and plenty others) not joined. It's a classic chicken and the egg kind of thing.

my life in lists:

1. I write all the time.

2. I am currently reading Angels & Demons and Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada. These books are stark opposites but they fulfill their respective purposes.

3. I was ridiculously stressed last week during the Board of Trustees visit and all that that encompasses, so much so that I had Coldstone ice cream twice. I am lactose intolerant.

4.My roomie just finished reading the Twilight series, and I want to read them again. that would be round three. Ridic.

5. I have spanish homework to do.

6. My office is covered in "to-do" post it notes, not the widget types, the honest to goodness yellow sticky things.

7. I am thoroughly enjoying my Christian Heritage class.

8. I am so stoked I get to see my family next week. I am a huge supporter of Spring Break.

9. I am protesting the institution of chapel until further notice.

10. I worked out last night, well, a quasi-workout sesh., and I am actually sore. Also ridiculous.

11. I went shopping this week trying to emulate Keri Russel's style.

12. I am now so broke, I cannot afford food.

13. If you haven't already realized, accounting is definitely not my major.