This is what work (or lack thereof) has driven me too...

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars (Every year that I went to girls camp.)
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper (I am the oldest of 5. It wasn't a choice)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (Paris is Yummy!)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort (Um... this is probably the best story ever. Ask me if you want to know.)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun (Everyday. Okay, not everyday, but a lot. I am a thespian...)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India (I want to SO SO SO SO SO SO badly)
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain (sadly, no. Someday maybe...)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (I live here, so not a big deal. I walked it multiple times.)
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph (I haven't driven one, but my dad does this all the time in his new bmw)
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands (it didn't live... )
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse (I even got sneezed on by a horse. How many people can say that?)
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone (it is a great paying gig)
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (in mini-golf)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube (And Rubik's Revenge. Yes, I am a nerd)
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

People Marching to the drums, everybody's having fun to the sound of love.

Today was so much fun. I cut my hand when i was opening a nunchuk for our wii. I really hate how many electronics are in the really tight plastic packages that are almost impossible to open. Maybe it is a test to make sure that the user is worthy. I guess I am and I get an awesome battle scar ;)

We also have 15 people staying at our house besides our family. That means there will be 22 people sharing 4 rooms and 5 beds plus some air mattresses and sleeping bags. It is going to be an interesting 8 days.

In order to prepare for this exciting week, I spent the day cleaning. It feels good to see the efforts of my labor, but all the stress in all the members of my family was not worth it. I am pretty sure everyone in my family cried at least once today except my dad. That is pretty pathetic.

I love cleanliness. Sometimes I don't like to clean, but I love having clean space. There is something so freeing about clean open space. So, it was nice, but now I have to give all my clean space to our visitors, not that it is bad, I just miss my space.

I also got an email from my roommate for next year. I am super excited! We are going to have so much fun. We are going to make aprons and door signs; we are going to throw tons of parties. It is going to be crazy. Next semester will be incredible!

I am now going to nurse my wound and go to bed now. After I convince my dad to stop watching Doctor Who with little kids in the room. Goodnight!

And I would answer all your wishes if you asked me too...

First things first, I was given a great present for my birthday. I was given knowledge. My friend told me about this fantastic English band called McFly. I have been listening to them nonstop for the past few days. That is how I am with music. If I like it, I listen to it until I know all the words to it and it gets sickeningly old. Then I move on. It is kind of like I have to really learn it and then I don't want it. Oh, how fickle I am!

So, right now I am still in the passionately enthralled phase with them. The reason I bring this up is my blog title comes from one of their songs. I am working on trying to figure their music out. It is still a bit of an enigma to me. I keep trying to place their music into a category, but depending on the song, they remind me of someone else. Oh well.

This post part 2:

(I didn't want to think of a good segue. So I didn't. Sorry for people who like to read things that are well thought through and take time. I am not that kind of girl. so you are stuck with "this post part 2:" Now, on to part 2!)

As part of the 888 challenge and my life reading challenge, I am reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. (SIDENOTE: I have come to a discovery that not all nonfiction books are boring. who knew?) I was reading about how some people are more emotionally receptive and others are more emotionally emanative. I don't know were I fall on the spectrum, but I it got me thinking about how our mood affects the moods of those around us. And how I can have an impact on people by changing my attitude.

I have decide that I need to smile more. I realize that I don't smile as much as I could/should. Research has shown a correlation between mimicking facial expressions and having those emotions effect your emotional state. For instance, if you smile you will start to feel happy. Even if this doesn't rub off on others, like I hope it will, at least i will be happy. So, in order to promote a happy lifestyle, I will start to smile. Wish me luck :)

I love the way she glows in ultraviolet light

Everyone thinks I am a dork, but I love Icelandic. I am infatuated with everything Icelandic. I don't know what it is, the language or the culture or what, but I want to be Icelandic. I want to go there and look at it's fjords and eat Icelandic candy while listening to Icelandic music. I can pass on traditional Icelandic food ;)

I am totally excited because I am taking an Icelandic class next semester and I can't wait! I have a dream that one day I will be able to write and speak fluently. I spent a lot of time today writing to my friends in Icelandic and it got me all excited because it reminded me that I only have a few more months before I will be doing all the time for class.

Anyway, I am super excited, that's all.

P.S. I am thinking of getting an Icelandic BOM. Am I ridiculous?

The 888 challenge

I decided to do the 888 challenge. These are my categories:

Jane Austins I haven't read:

1. Persuasion
2. Mansfield Park
3. Northanger Abbey
4. Emma
   
5. Lady Susan
   
6. The Watsons
   
7. Sanditon
8. Love and Friendship
   

Non Fiction:

1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
   
2. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
   
3. Nerds by David Anderegg
4. Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
   
5. The elements of style by William Strunk Jr.
   
6. American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent
   
7. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
   
8. The Self-Healing Personality by Dr. Howard S. Freidman
   

David/Leigh Eddings:

1. Guardians of the West
2. King of the Murgos
3. Demon Lord of Karanda
4. Sorceress of Darshiva
5. The Seeress of Kell
6. Belgarath the Sorcerer
7. Polgara the Sorceress
8. The Rivan Codex

Recomended to me:

1. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
3. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
   
4. The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas
   
5. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
   
6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
   
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
   
8. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
   

Madeline L'Engle

1. A Wrinkle in Time
2. A Wind in the Door
3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet
4. Many Waters
5. The Arm of the Starfish
6. Dragons in the Water
7. A house like a Lotus
8. An Acceptable Time

Banned books:

1. The Giver by Lois Lowery
   
2. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
   
3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
4. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
5. Animal Farm by George Orwell
6. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
7. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Brothers Grimm
   
8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
   

Classics

1. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
4. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
5. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
7. Notre-Dame of Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) by Victor Hugo
8. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
   

Movie Books

1. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
   
2. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
   
3. Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones
   
4. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
   
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
   
6. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
7. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
   
8. Mimzy Were the Borogroves by Lewis Padgett

Books Read: 20
Left to Read: 42

Some Hearts

I have been thinking about anti-intellectualism recently. I am reading a book called Nerds by David Anderegg. I was expecting it to be about anti-intellectualism in America. I discovered that David Anderegg is a child psychologist and book is more about the nerd stereotype and how it is affecting our children and how that is changing America.

I find that many of the points he brings up I can't identify with. I think that mainly has to do with a few things about my life that are uncommon. First, he talked about how the many girls don't pursue a career in math or science because of social pressure that tells them it is unattractive to be more intelligent than boys. He brought up the point that many schools feel that girls and boys should be educated separately than boys in math and science to reduce this pressure. For middle school, I went to a Private Girls School which heavily emphasized math and science. Because of this school, I excelled in math and science and took very advanced classes in High School. I believe part of the main reason why I went there was because my parents felt this is an issue and then wanted to prevent that. Since I haven't felt the pressure myself to dumb myself down for boys, I can't really identify with this societal problem.

Next, Anderegg talks about the portrayal of nerds and how that affects a child's behavior. Since the concept of a nerd is difficult to understand, most young children believe a nerd is a suck-up, someone who pleases the adults around him. The problem that occurs with that is children that hear their parents make jokes about nerds logically believe that if they are to be liked by their parents, then they shouldn't be nerdy. This is also an idea that is foreign to me. My dad is a huge nerd but he defies the traditional stereotype of a nerd. Since I have grown up with my dad as a norm, I never really had the need to rebel. Even now, I don't really feel the negative connotation that most people associate with the term nerd. It is my secret aspiration.

The other day, before I started reading this book, I was talking with my mom.I told here that the two things that bug me the most seem like opposites. The first thing is I hate people underestimating my intelligence. This actually happens a lot. I am blond and I sometime a bit slow and sometime I do dumb things. However, I am not stupid. So, when people see me and try to dumb things down for me, it makes me really angry. The second thing is when people think I am smart. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. Before I changed my major, back when I was still an electrical engineering major, when they asked, I would tell them my major. One of the most common responses was "Oh, you must be smart." Well, my problem with that statement is to them it is not a good thing. They have just classified me as one of those "smart people" that they can't associate with because I am too smart. Now, that usually doesn't happen, but it just as insulting as if it were true.

Why do Americans look down on those who are smart? Has our success as a country pushed us so far that we believe we don't intelligence and a good work ethic? Is this why our national leadership has suffered? America, it is time to step up and reevaluate who we are and what we want.

Happy Birthday to ME!

So, today is my birthday! I am now a full two decades old. I have always had rather disappointing birthdays but this year there is nothing to be disappointed about. Yesterday I helped my mom cook my birthday dinner. Sometime this week, we will go out to Indian food as a family. I think that the best part of my birthday were all the people who wished me happy birthday. I am feeling like this is a good birthday even though I still had to go to my crappy job :)

Anyway, Here is an update on my job. I work in an office. It is a really cushy job. I make really good money. And I don't have anything to do. Now, I know what you are thinking. A job where you can do what you want and get paid for it? That is not as fun as it sounds.

My cousin had a job last summer where she was basically in the same boat I was. I thought that sounded great. Boy, was I wrong. I feel guilty doing things I want to do while I sit there, so I pretend like I am working while i covertly check my email or read webcomics (they are a disease. Don't start, they will haunt you...) At least I will have money.

Well, I am going to add music to my MP3 player, work a little and then call it a night.

'night everyone :)