Skirts with Pockets

The question asked was which is the better creature between dogs and cats.  Well my answer to that is wallabies.  Wallabies are the coolest.

I used to work at a daycare center in West Lafayette.  During the summer, we had a couple zoo days in which a zookeeper came and brought a few animals with him to share with the kids.  Among these animals was a wallaby.  We made sure the doors were closed, and the wallaby was free to hop about the room.  This was the moment I decided I wanted to have a pet wallaby.  I am not currently so lucky, but I will when I am settled into where I want to permanently live.

I know what you must be thinking.  Why a wallaby?  I say to that, why not a wallaby?  I’ve done some research, and I’ve discovered that they actually make pretty good pets.  Wallabies are essentially 3 foot kangaroos.  They live about 15 years just like dogs and cats.  They can be housebroken.  They are also easy to feed as their diet consists of fruits and vegetables.  Still need a reason why wallabies are the best?  I’ve got one for you:  They totes like to cuddle.

So here we are at our 13th topic.  We are officially into the 2nd half of 24-hour Blog Day.  This particular topic is going to force me to open up a bit and delve into some uncomfortable territory.  I signed up for this though, so let’s do it.

Ok, deep breath and…I am afraid of sleeping in a place all alone.  I’m totally fine sleeping in my own room.  I don’t need someone right next to me.  It’s when I have an entire apartment or house to myself that I tend to freak out.  I have only attempted to sleep completely by myself a handful of times, and it has never worked out in my favor.  When it was time to go to sleep, my mind always wandered to the very unlikely possibility that someone else was in the apartment.  Completely irrational, I know.  That’s why I’m writing about it in this blog.  I check all the windows and doors to make sure they are shut and locked, I take the time to look in all the rooms, I lock my bedroom door, but my mind still wanders.  I can’t even begin to justify it because I know everything is locked.  The few times that I have had to stay in an apartment alone overnight, I didn’t sleep.  I attempted and couldn’t, so I stayed up all night watching movies or working ahead on projects.  Most times I knew all of my roommates would be out of town for a night, I found a friend’s place to stay.

This is not something I take lightly.  I really want to overcome this fear because I want to eventually be able to get my own place.  I’m not going to lie though.  The first place I have to myself will probably be a studio apartment.  The less rooms there are, the easier it will be for me to adjust.  It is something I’m working on, and I’m no longer going to look for a friend’s place to stay if where I usually stay is empty.

I don’t know why, but I’m really struggling with this one.  It seems like I should have a ton of different things to choose from when writing about Christmas, but I am at a loss.  Maybe it’s because I’m twelve blogs in at this point.  That’s definitely going to be a problem if that’s what it is because this is only the halfway mark.

Ok let’s see…Christmas, Christmas, Christmas…maybe the reason I’m struggling with this one is that I don’t think I get quite as excited for Christmas as most.  I like Christmas; don’t get me wrong.  I’m definitely not anti-Christmas.  I just don’t think it’s a huge deal.  I know one thing people really like about Christmas is the time spent with family, but I see my family all the time.  I still love seeing them for Christmas just like I love seeing them on birthdays.  My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all live within 10 minutes of my house.  We have a party every time there’s a birthday, and there are a lot of birthdays.  So if we are just basing this on family time, it’s just like any other birthday for me.  I have a feeling that will change when I am no longer living in the same time (Portland is a goal as mentioned in a previous blog).

Christmas is also very cold.  The snow looks pretty as long as I don’t have to go anywhere, but I usually have to go somewhere, and I’m usually very cold.

There are so many cookies at Christmastime.  Cookies are delicious.  I love cookies, but they are much too readily available to me at Christmas, and I always eat too much.

This is also when we buy a bunch of presents for all of our friends and family.  This is not something a broke student looks forward to every year.  I have never been able to buy gifts for everyone.  I’m no longer a student though, and I’m hoping I will be able to afford to buy gifts next Christmas.  I’ve always been a fan of Secret Santa gift exchanges.  I’ve been involved in several, and they’re always a lot of fun.  It’s great really.  Not only are you having fun trying to guess who has whom, but you are also only responsible for buying a gift for one person.  It’s the perfect solution for those in similar financial situations to mine.

Now for a bit of a rant…I can’t stand Christmas movies.  They always have terrible plot lines.  I’m not talking about It’s a Wonderful Life or other older movies.  I’m talking about the movies they put out every Christmas now in which the characters are competing for the best light show on the block or desperately trying to skip Christmas but realizing at the end that they just can’t do that.  (I have to make a side note here.  There are movies I enjoy that happen to take place during Christmas but are not about Christmas.  Examples would be Home Alone and Love Actually.)

I do enjoy the feel of Christmas though.  I enjoy the warmth among friends and family.  I’m no Ebeneezer Scrooge.  I don’t know any other way to end this other than to reiterate that I’m not anti-Christmas.  Please don’t think I hate Christmas.

I must now write twelve couplets that rhyme.
I’ll do my best in such little time.

I’ve chosen to write about the friends I’ve made.
For these friends are friends I would not trade.

Gooer looks great in a sweater vest.
He is so funny, and he is the best.

Mike has the purplest of hair.
To his dashing looks, no one can compare.

Tim and Mary are married and fun.
They are very well liked by everyone.

The most adorable one is Joe.
He always puts on a really great show.

Chelsea’s been my friend since we were eight.
She’s pretty and witty and just plain great.

Amy’s also been my friend for a while.
She’s quite quirky and will make you smile.

Lauren and I were Russian roommates.
We’ve continued our friendship back in the states.

Hannah is someone who is very kind.
She’s always got a great story in mind.

I met Melissa at Wonderful Weekdays.
A special place in my heart is where she stays.

If you got no mention, you are still my friend.
It’s just that this is number twelve, so I have to end.

I’m actually pretty excited about this topic.  I knew as soon as it was picked what I was going to write about:  Portland, Oregon.  I first visited Portland in December of 2008 when my friend Athul got a job at Intel and moved out there.  For 3 days, I traveled by U-Haul truck with Athul and my then-boyfriend Phil.  Although I do not speak to Phil at all now, and I speak to Athul only on occasion, this is a very fond memory of mine.  We helped Athul pack the truck, and we hooked his terribly out of shape Toyota Corolla to the trailer.  Being the only girl on the trip and the smallest, I was automatically assigned the middle of the cab the whole way there.  I made the best of this position, and I sprawled out across the entire cab.  I’d lay my head down on whoever was in the passenger seat and my feet across the lap of whoever was driving, and I made myself a much more comfortable ride than either of them had.  We told stories and played games on the way there, typical road trip activities.  When we got there, I immediately fell in love with the city.  It is the perfect place for me.  (photo courtesy of Athul)

I was able to visit the city again during the summer of 2009.  Phil and I had just broken up, and Athul offered to buy me a one-way ticket to Portland.  Less than 2 weeks after he informed me of this, I was on a plane to Portland with my suitcase and my newly acquired kitten Bagheera.  My friends Chelsea and Gooer would eventually join me in Portland, but I was on my own for the first 2 weeks.  Athul still had work, so I was left to my own devices during the week.  I would spend this time reading on his balcony (from which you could see Mount Hood if it was a clear day), or I would put on a comfy pair of shoes and explore the city.  I discovered Powell’s Books, the largest bookstore in the world.  I spent hours wandering the aisles, completing crosswords, and solving the puzzles in the Mensa books.  I had never spent so much time by myself, and I enjoyed this time more than I thought I could.

When Chelsea arrived, we started applying for jobs because we knew we couldn’t live there for the summer without any sort of income.  We both managed to get hired on the spot at a Thai place in the food court.  We took turns working every other day from 11 to 4, which did not interfere with our social time at all.  We got memberships at the Portland Rock Gym and went rock climbing at least twice a week.  We went hiking at Crater Lake, and we visited Canon Beach where The Goonies was filmed.  When Gooer got there, we took a day trip to Seattle, Washington.  We showed Gooer all of the things we had discovered about Portland, and he and I visited the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry one day and had way too much fun with the brainteaser section.

Leaving Portland was very sad for me.  As much I wanted to stay, I knew I couldn’t.  I still had a year and half of school left.  I left Bagheera in Portland with Athul because he could take much better care of him than I ever could.  Gooer, Chelsea, and I took the 50-hour train ride from Portland to Chicago.  It was terribly long, but it was much cheaper than a plane, and I was with friends.

I suppose I should say a bit more about Portland in case you have never been there.  Portland is a city, but it’s a much smaller city than New York or Chicago.  To me, it’s much less intimidating.  It is also in a very beautiful area.  It has mountains on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other.  The Willamette River with the backdrop of the cityscape is a beautiful site.  The people there are very friendly, and there are nowhere near as many angry drivers as there are here.  Portland is a place in which I really hope to live someday.  I have visited it again since my summer there, and it just feels like home to me.  I can’t really explain why I so easily developed a connection to this location, but I just get this sense of belonging there.  I’m at peace with myself when I’m walking around the city.  It may take a while, but I’m confident I will call it home someday.

Since the little slip of paper drawn did not specify if this was a positive or negative utopia, I’m going to write about the idea of a negative utopia.  I have enjoyed the reading I have done on this topic in such books as Ayn Rand’s Anthem and George Orwell’s 1984.  I would like to focus more on the films I’ve seen for this one.  Four films in particular come to mind, and they all portray a negative utopia in a different way.  V for Vendetta is an excellent example.  I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it, and I have gotten friends together every year on the fifth of November to watch it again.

Remember remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot.  I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

There is also Equilibrium, The Matrix, and Dark City. As I said before, these films find different ways to portray this idea.  V for Vendetta is similar to 1984 in that it is about a totalitarian government.  V is the one who is trying to break down the political system.  In Equilibrium, the government is controlling the people by taking away their ability to feel.  They inject themselves with a daily solution in order to not let their emotions rule them.  This, they believe, will keep peace in their society.  City of Darkness and The Matrix are very similar.  In The Matrix, people are plugged into a world they believe to be real by the machines, whereas in Dark City, the people are in a world they believe to be real by telekinetic aliens.  Please take the time to watch these movies if you haven’t already.  They are all really great.

Alright I’m going to have to break the rules of blog day for this post.  I’m not going to write 3 paragraphs for this one; I am merely going to type up a list.

Weezer-The Good Life (hanging out with a group of good friends)

Death Cab for Cutie-I Will Follow You into the Dark (expressing love to a significant other)

Beirut-Postcards from Italy (missing a lost love)

Rilo Kiley-Breakin’ Up (relationship ending but pretty happy about it)

Mumford & Sons-White Blank Page (relationship ending and not happy about it)

Katy Perry-California Gurls (if you feel like torturing yourself)

The Hush Sound-Break the Sky (feeling independent)

Florence + the Machine-Kiss with a Fist (really angry)

Jason Mraz-If it Kills Me (in love with someone who only views you as a friend)

Pedro the Lion-Rapture (if you happen to be cheating on your wife)

Ben Folds Five-Kate (if your name is any version of the name Kate)

Kate Micucci-Dear Deer (if you want to warn a deer to stay away from hunters)

Currently, I can’t think of a band more worthy of my 7th blog than Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s (I will be referring to them as Margot for the remainder of this blog).  I am particularly fond of their album The Dust of Retreat.  If you have not heard of them, as a lot of people I have spoken to have not, I strongly recommend you give them a listen.  Or perhaps you have heard of them and just haven’t gotten around to checking them out yet.  Either way, what are you waiting for?

I’m not quite sure how to describe the style of music, but it seems to be some classical elements mixed with modern day alternative music.  The vocals are very soothing, and they use an interesting mix of instruments including but not limited to guitars, bells, melodica, banjo, trumpet, and cello.  I think the cello may be what drew me to them in the first place.

I also tend to pay a lot of attention to lyrics in songs, and I find the subject matter of these songs to be quite different.  All of the songs are great, but a favorite of mine on this album is Skeleton Key.  This is quite possibly due to the highlighted cello in the song.  Anyway, you should totes check them out.  I was introduced to them about 2 years ago, and I never get tired of listening to them.

I’ve had a lot of friends come and go.  Some of my friendships have ended due to geographical proximity and simply growing apart.  Others have ended due to less amicable reasons.  I do feel that over the past few years, many of my friendships ended because I chose the wrong friends to begin with.  I spent my time with people who were self-centered and very easily influenced by others.  They also created as much drama as they could to keep themselves entertained.

I finally feel I have fallen into a really great group of friends.  The people I spend a good portion of my time with now are genuinely good people.  They are so much fun to be around, and I always enjoy myself with them.  I recently went on a little road trip down to Louisville for New Year’s.  We all piled in Mike’s van, and they were the funnest possible people you could be stuck in a van with for 4 and a half hours.  We played games and sang songs and laughed.  I thought about giving some personal shout-outs, but I have decided against it at the risk of accidentally leaving someone out.  You know who you are.

There is one person I would like to bring some extra attention to, and that’s Gooer.  If we’re going to talk about friends, then I need to take some time to talk about him.  Gooer, more commonly known as Matt, is and has been my best friend for the past 5 years.  I can’t think of a single time he wasn’t there for me when I needed him.  He’s been there for me even when I didn’t know yet that I needed him.  Gooer, thank you for always being a wonderful friend, sticking by me, making me laugh, pushing me into improv, and giving me expert fashion advice.

Well I’m sure for most, the first thing that pops into your head when you hear alter egos is a superhero.  My favorite superhero has always been Batman.  I like Batman because he’s not really a superhero.  He doesn’t have any superpowers.  He can’t pick up a bus or fly or see through walls.  He’s just a regular guy who has enough money to buy really cool stuff.  If any superhero could be considered realistic, I think Batman is as close as it gets.  For the discussion of alter egos, however, I would like to reference one of the final scenes in Kill Bill Volume 2. 

Bill makes an argument for why Superman is his favorite superhero, and I find it to be a very interesting argument.  He points out that all superheros are an alter ego of their original selves.  Bruce Wayne’s alter ego is Batman, Peter Parker’s alter ego is Spiderman, and Tony Stark’s alter ego is Iron Man.  (side note:  I am a fan of Iron Man for the same reasons I am a fan of Batman.)  All of these characters started out as regular people.  For Superman, it’s the other way around.  Superman is who he is, and Clark Kent is the alter ego.  Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker put on costumes and masks to hide who they really are.  Superman puts on his nerdy Clark Kent glasses to hide who he really is.

Bill continues to describe the idea behind Clark Kent, and this is what I find really interesting.  Clark Kent is Superman’s attempt at blending in with everyone.  We view Clark Kent as this incredibly nerdy and weak individual, but that is how Superman views the entire human race.  He chooses the persona to fit in as much as possible.  It makes me think of some of the things people do to fit in different groups.  People do all kinds of things they wouldn’t normally do when they are in an uncomfortable situation, and it’s this same concept.  If someone acts differently at a party, for example, he/she is merely adopting the persona most widely present at the party.  This even makes Superman more like us.  He simply did the same thing we do when we don’t want to stand out.  I think this is a fascinating discussion, although Superman still doesn’t surpass Batman for me.