This Picture

This picture drives me crazy. We're making these ridiculous faces - which looks playful on some people, but never seems to work for me - and the lighting is blown out all weird so my skin is paper white. But for some reason Kaila likes it, and since she was here for a couple of days, I'm posting it in her honor. 

Kaila was going to be my roommate this year. We lived across the hall from each other in the Radisson last year. She has six siblings (FIVE are younger sisters!) and always had chips, salsa and that canned cheese dip on hand. We'd snack on it while we watched Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill or listened to her bootlegged music.

This year her financial aid didn't work out, so now she's enrolled at Michigan and LOVING it. She came back to visit and move her stuff back home. While she was here we talked and laughed and ate all the things she can't get in the Midwest. We also decided she's going to use her next flight credit to come back and visit again.

Til then, I'm gonna miss that girl. 

Where I'm Going

So guess where I am going?

First up, I'm taking advantage of a ridiculously amazing opportunity to attend a fundraiser for the Minority Whip in Beverly Hills. I just need to figure out something to wear to that....

It'll be wayyy easier to figure out what I'm wearing for the MIKA CONCERT I'm going to in late October with B, my roommate Hye-young, and our friend Taylor.

It's gonna be at the Palladium in Hollywood, and since it's Mika we think we should all wear something completely ridiculous. Like metallic leggings. I'll keep you posted on that.

And I know EXACTLY what I'm wearing to the 2009 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS!! Troy Hall Building Government (thanks to yours truly) is offering significantly reduced-price tickets to the AMAs, which are being held at the Nokia Center in late November. I'm so psyched. Hye-young and I are going, and we've decided to dress up for fun. I know the exact, hot pink BCBG dress I'm borrowing for it! 

So yeah. That's what's going to be going on here. Politics and pop culture. I love LA...

Macintosh!!

I went mac!! 

I'd been thinking about it for quite a while and did a lot of research. Almost two weeks ago, I purchased myself a 13 in. Macbook Pro. I'm in love with it.

If you haven’t gone Mac, you probably should, especially if all you use are common applications around the house or for school. The operating system is just so, so easy. Ask anyone you know who has a Mac. When you’re considering how to do a particular thing, think of the EASIEST POSSIBLE SOLUTION. Looking to get a photo off the internet and onto your computer? Literally drag it off your browser and drop it on your desktop. Want to edit it? Label it? Catalog it based on event, date, location taken and people pictured? Drag-and-drop into your iPhoto application and it will automatically DO IT ALL FOR YOU!!! Wow. My life made easier.

 Perhaps the biggest shock, though? Windows for Mac is vastly superior to any Microsoft product operated on an actual Microsoft system. It is faster and has better features, like a note-taking interface and Publisher-type operations integrated into Word. And I hate to weaken my argument by sounding so shallow, but it just has to be said: this thing is so pretty. And durable. And portable. The entire thing is made out of ONE SINGLE piece of aluminum and weighs less than five pounds.

 Oh, and restarting the computer? Less than ninety seconds. NINETY SECONDS, PEOPLE!!! I’ll race your PC (or mine, I kept it and still like it – I am from Microsoft country, after all) any day of the week.

 So yes. Call me a lemming if you must. I have joined the 80-some percent of college students who now use Macs as their primary computers. And I really did feel shallow for about five seconds. Well, okay, not really, but only because this thing is so darn fantastic, I just felt SMART for making the purchase. You should too!!

 

The Gas We Pass

Last Tuesday, I submitted my very first official essay as an English major. The assignment, for my British Literature to 1800 class, was vague: four to six pages, on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (we read it in its original Middle English). This particular professor seems to like really quirky and original essay topics. 

I called my paper, “The Gas We Pass: Flatulence in The Canterbury Tales”. Needless to say, that was also its topic. I was very happy with how it turned out, and even though it only received a B (the lowest grade I have EVER received on any essay in my entire life!!), it still earned the highest grade in the class, so I’m okay with that. In the process, I also learned a lot about the approach this professor likes (loved the topic, hated one of the four arguments I made, and had hugely valid points against it I hadn’t considered) so if any of you are interested in reading it, let me know by leaving a comment on this post (hit the comment button at the end of the post) or sending me an email, and I’ll get it to you. 

Patrick Swayze, 1952 - 2009

Wow. I can't believe that, as I type this, Patrick Swayze has passed on from this life, has succumbed to pancreatic cancer after a long, eighteen-month struggle. 

 I do not have a lot to say on the subject that has not already been said, will not certainly be repeated, by others older and more qualified to eulogize than I, but I will say this:

 I will never, ever forget the first time I watched “Dirty Dancing.” My Mom insisted, and though I wasn’t excited to turn it on, as soon as it started I never wanted to turn it off. As the credits rolled, the three of us all looked at each other, and my mom finally said, a little giddy, “You wanna watch it again?”  It was what we had all been thinking. She rewound the tape (yes, tape!) and we played it again, right away, not even getting up from the couch.

 I love that movie. I will always love that movie. Thank you, Patrick Swayze. That is how I will always remember you.

 

Just remember

You’re the one thing

I can’t get enough of

So I’ll tell you something,

This could be love because

 

I’ve had the time of my life

No, I never felt this way before

Yes, I swear, it’s the truth

And I owe it all to you

My New Roomie

So one night last week while I was drooling over my Mac, minding my own business, and I heard a key in the door. And someone came in. Actually, three people came in – my roommate and her parents. They quickly dropped off her stuff and left, and I quickly panicked. I was really hoping to hold onto my single; I had grown accustomed to living alone, and didn’t want to deal with all the roommate drama of last year.

Fortunately, I seem to have lucked out. My new roomie’s name is Hye-Young (pronounced Hey-Young). She’s a sophomore transfer from UC Davis, and she’s taking classes in PR right now, and hoping to work her way into the film industry here in LA. She’s originally from here, so she goes home on weekends to work and spend time with her parents. I was hesitant at first about the whole roomie thing – especially since her placement kind of dropped out of nowhere – but it turns out we have some mutual friends here, people she knew in high school, which is nice.

So far we’ve had a great time hanging out, watching movies, listening to music, and experimenting with cooking. Hopefully there are many good times to come!!

My Boys

First things first.

Yes, I have a new roommate. Yes, I purchased a 13-in MacBook Pro. Yes, I have submitted and received my very first college paper, and received a grade on it. But first things must come first. I DO have my priorities (no worries, my roomie fully understands and respects my priorities too).

So before  I talk about any of that other stuff, I HAVE to talk about my boys. By that I mean my Trojan football team. Did any of you catch their game against Ohio State on Saturday? Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot of action, but if you didn’t see it, I highly recommend you check out the game recap on ESPN.com. It’s only a couple minutes long, and it covers that final, long drive that I think is a huge harbinger of success.

Barkley – after being sacked at least three times, and under enormous pressure in a packed-to-capacity stadium full of Buckeyes looking for retribution, not to mention a crazy time crunch – showed he can operate at level worthy of top-10, Division I football at barely 19 years old. This could be the beginning of an era, people. With this current offensive line-up, and Taylor Mays (my all-time FAVORITE Trojan player, from my brother school back home in Seattle – he’s #2, keep an eye out!) at safety, barring any atrocious and unexpected failings (coughOregonStatecough), we could really be in it this year.

Just for a little walk down memory lane – and because we didn’t take any pictures on Saturday because it was a home game and we were too alternately stuffing our faces with nachos and wringing our hands – here’s one of my favorite pictures taken just before LAST year’s game against Ohio State at the Coliseum, my very first Trojan home game.

We won that game 35-3. Ohio State didn’t even get a touchdown. We won this game 18-15, but it was in Columbus and with a freshman quarterback. Ohio hasn't fared so well against the Trojans. Poor Buckeyes.