English 101

Top Ten Worst Movie Quotes

2009-12-15T00:10:00.001-08:00

The list below is the top ten worst movie quotes written by someone at http://www.filmsite.org/

"I'm king of the World!"-Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) with young Rose Dewitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), Titanic (1997): This line is used in ever cheesy cruise commercial and I'm pretty sure at least one person says it when they are on a boat. The line is said to symbolize Jack's freedom on the sea and while that is true, it has become so overused by people today that it's meaning is almost lost.

"Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner"-Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) about Frances "baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey), Dirty Dancing (1987): This line makes me laugh. While I do love Dirty Dancing, when Johnny says this to Baby's dad, I can't help but let out a giggle. Patrick Swayze looks so macho (I guess that's the right word) in this movie, and yet somehow this line ruins his bad boy image. However, his impressive dancing skills in the final routine with Jennifer Grey makes up for it.

"Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed"-Carrie (Andie MacDowell) to Charles (Hugh Grant), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994): I love this line. Simple as that. Charles is pleading out his heart to Carrie and she interjects with this line. It doesn't make much sense to what is happening during the scene despite the fact that it is raining. A friend of mine and I watched this movie. She thought Carrie was being sarcastic. I saw it as a random thought. Maybe it makes more sense as sarcasm. But whatever the case is, it doesn't fit with Charles's romantic monologue.

"I love you" "Ditto"- Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) and Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), Ghost (1990): Ditto? Really? Nothing better came to mind? If I was Molly Jensen, I would have been so upset. You tell someone you love them and they reply "ditto"? How can a person just not respond back with a simple "I love you too". They're married in the movie. It's not like they haven't said it before. "Ditto" always bugged me whenever I watched this movie.

"You can be my wingman anytime"-Tom Kazansky (Val Kilmer) to Lt. Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise), Top Gun (1986): Do guys really use the term "wingman" out in public? Really?

"I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her"-Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) to William Thacker (Hugh Grant), Notting Hill (1999) Ok, call me a sap, but I disagree with this line. I love Notting Hill and this part of the movie always makes swoon. It's just so romantic. Mayb that's why it's one of the worst movie quotes. It's too romantic.

"Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"-U.S. President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman), Independence Day (1996): The president in this movie was such an awesome character and hero but too bad he fell trap to bad one liners. This line will forever be made fun of in cinematic history.

"They make take our lives, but they will never take our freedom."-William Wallace (Mel Gibson), Braveheart (1995): Oh so over dramatic. This line is supposed to be serious but all I can do is just roll my eyes at it.

"You had me at hello"-Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) to Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise), Jerry Maguire (1996) Kenny Chesney wrote a song to Renee Zellweger called "You had me at hello". It's an iconic line in American pop culture. Everyone has heard of Jerry Maguire. It's a chick-flick must see. This line I'm sure has made many many girls swoon over guys. That's probably why it is on this list. It went from sincere to tacky by its overuse.

"You're a godsend. A saviour." "No, I'm a postman."- A blind woman to the postman (Kevin Costner), The Postman (1997) This line I cannot comment on since I have never seen this movie. But I have a feeling it is highly over used. Actually, I'm almost positive spoofs of this line are used in commercials and other movies.

My Hero

2009-12-15T00:09:00.000-08:00

My hero is not a famous movie star. It is not a politician or writer. She hasn't done anything famous or tried to change the world. But she changed my world. My hero is twelve but she was five when I met her. Colleen is happy. She loves to color and watch Full House. She loves the color pink (especially her pink glasses) Colleen has cerebral palsy. It is a disease caused by an abormality in the brain that controls muscle movement. The battle between her mind and her body occurs in every second of every day. Each step she takes must be precisely calculated. Exact hell and toe placement is crucial in keeping her balance. Sometimes the focus becomes too inteanse, and she loses concentration in school, but that does not mean she stops trying. The phrase "No I can't!" never escapes from her lips. After seven agonizing surgeries and countless hours of physical therapy, her tolerance for pain is extremely high. Colleen doesn't think much of minor bumps and bruises; they are second nature to her. Not much can slow her down because she is a fighter.
In her short lifetime, she has not only overcome phsyical hurtles but emotional ones as well. Intolerance from some of her peers is something she experienced at the tender age of nine. Girls teased her and made fun of her. They threw balls at her legs in gym class in an attempt to make her fall. They tried to tear her apart, butthey did not suceed because Coleen has come too far to let them affect her world. She has struggle many times in her short lifespan./ Her life is far from easy. There are many more challenges she has to face as she gets older. her determination is admirable, and I know she will succeed.
This past summer, both of our families spent a week's vacation in Walt Disney World. As we stood in line to meet Cinderella, Colleen smiled at me in anticipation. "I wish you were my sister, Lauren. I want to be just like you," she said. "I wish you were my sister, Lauren. I want to be just like you," she said. I was surprised. Colleen looked to me as a role model, when all along she has always been mine.

End of the first Semester of College

2009-12-14T22:35:00.002-08:00

As the final days of my first semester come to an end, I have learned quite a few things since becoming a college student.

1. Naps are VERY important: When classes begin at eight or nine am and you went to bed at three after staying up that late watching a True Blood marathon in your friend's room, naps are the most important thing in the world. They are more valuable than gold. Naps are what help when all nighters are needed. I tried telling my six year old cousin the other day that naps are essential in college. He stared at me like I had four heads. He informed me that naps in kindergarten were stupid. He would much rather play Star Wars on the play station then take a nap. I told him that will all change once he gets to college; just like his opinions of girls.

2. The food may be good, but it's never as good as mom's: Food at Rathbone or lower UC may be apetizing (the buffalo chicken wraps, wing night, and chicken finger Friday are a few personal favorites) but nothing beats mom's home cooking. Home-cooked meals are what make coming home to visit even better. There are some nights when my mom's homemade lasagna would sound so much more appetizing then the food at dinner. It's the worst feeling knowing that you either eat what they have, or resort of the easy mac under your bed in your dorm room. I've done that a few times.

3. Not washing your sheets weekly is not the end of the world: At home I would wash my bed sheets every Sunday for fear of germs. Since coming to college, the weekly time frame has been expanded...a lot. Sheets mean an extra load of laundry that I really do not wish to do. I wait to take them home and wash them there. Germs in college are not as scary since getting sick inevitable. Once one person gets sick, everyone gets sick. It's a vicious cycle that never ends.

4. Skype is a beautiful thing: Video chatting and skyping with friends from high school has made my life so much better. It helps to be able to literally hear their voice and see their face rather than read about their day through a facebook post or the occasional email. It's made keeping in contact with my best friends from home easier. Some of my friends from home have met some of my friends at Lehigh and they talk like they've known each other for years. Technology is a beautiful thing.

5. When classes end at noon, that does not mean the rest of the day is free. It means time to visit Linderman: This took me a little while to figure out. In the beginning, I would come back to my room, go to lunch with friends, talk with people on the floor, hang out, take a nap, and then dinner, movie time, shower, and eventually homework. Before I realized it, work piled up and visits to Linderman library became more frequent.

6. Schoolwork in college is a lot harder: Enough said.

7. Flip flops must be worn in the showers: for obvious sanitary reasons. Bathrooms in college are not the cleanests places in the world...especially after the Lehigh/Laf weekend...

8. Sharing a room with a stranger sometimes works out (in my case it did), but sometimes it doesn't: rooming with someone you never met can be difficut especially if you two are different. It worked out well for my roommate and I, but for others they weren't so lucky.

9. The first month consists of answering the same questions: Name, grade, home town, major (or intended major. That is subject to change many times), dorm building

10. Time flies: I cannot believe a semester has already passed. I now know why my mom always says to enjoy it. These past five months went really quickly. One semester down: seven to go.

Up the Mountain for a Tree

2009-12-14T22:35:00.001-08:00

This morning, I went with my parents and got a Christmas tree. It's a detailed process that we follow. We woke up early and drove an hour away to go get our Christmas tree. Before arriving, we stop at the local diner for breakfast because cutting down a tree on an empty stomach with no coffee is not fun.

This has been a tradition for many many years in my household. We have survived rainstorms, snow storms, frigid temperatures, and hailing winds to find the perfect tree. This year it took us about an hour once we arrived to settle on the right one. It's an intricate process of finding the right height, and width. Then once that is found, the trunk has to be checked to see if it is straight (many Christmas trees of years past have been chopped down and then not fit in the tree stand causing many four letter words to fly out of the mouth of my father). It has to smell right also and there cannot be any barren areas. Once it is chopped down it must be dragged (because using a tree caddy would be too difficult) to be shaken and bundled up. Then it sits on the front porch until it is deemed dry enought where it takes a lot of time to be placed straight in the tree stand. Lastly it is decorated with the angel going on top. The process is long and intricate, but I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Make a Wish

2009-12-14T22:26:00.002-08:00

Today I went to Macy's to go shopping for my boyfriend's interview the following day. He needed a tie and some dress pants and socks. Yes, socks. As we walked into the store, we passed by a table with prewritten envelopes drawn on and they asked for a simple request: write a letter to Santa Claus. Feelin nostalgic of my youth, I sat down at the table and began to scribble down some things I wanted for Christmas just like I used to do when I was younger. Perfume, some sweaters, a pair of cream colored gloves, an A in all my classes, and a gray coat seemed to top my list. When I was finished, I wished Santa well, signed my letter, and placed it in the large red mailbox. As I walked away, I looked over and read that for every letter written to Santa, Macy's would donate one dollar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I stopped for a moment and smiled. Make-A-Wish was my favorite organization. It makes the wish of a child with a disease within their limits. Some wish to go shopping, others want vacations, and some want to meet someone famous. It always puts a smile on my face knowing that a child's life could be brighter by one simple wish. I felt a little selfish as I walked away from the bright red mailbox. On my letter was all materialistic things written down. But I began to think of what was the most important to me. It wasn't clothing or perfume, or even good grades, it was my family and close friends who make up my entire world. Without them, I don't know where I would be. At that moment, I wanted to erase what I had written and wish for health and happiness for everyone I loved. The children who are nominated for the Make-A-Wish foundation are going through struggles I cannot imagine. I should be so thankful for my health and the health of my friends and family. As we walked out of the store, I realized that that was what the holiday season was all about. Not the presents, but the people you share them with.

Theatre

2009-12-14T22:26:00.001-08:00

I am a thespian. I have been a thespian for a very long time. I have been in countless productions and played parts ranging from a mother to a child to a historical figure. I've been a flapper, a storyteller, a high school student, and a muse. I've sang and danced and acted all upon the stage.

And I have loved every minute of it.

There is no better feeling in the world than performing in front of an audience. Their laughter or tears is a small pat on the back for a good performance. Any emotion evoked from an audience member is a good thing. That's what makes theatre so great. Every performance is different. Some audiences laugh during awkward moments. Other stare in silence. A laugh one night may not occur the following. It's unpredictable and sometimes improved and it's wonderful. It's my form of a drug. There is a certain high that a person gets with applause.

The theatre world is one filled with many interesting characters, on the stage and off of it. It's an accepting place where a person can be an individual and be looked at as just a normal person. There is no judging. Because everyone is different in their own special way (as cliche as that sounds).

I've acted with many different theatre groups but my favorite by far was my high school theatre department. We were more than friends or scene partners. We were a family. We all fell in love with the same passion and bonded over our experiences together. There were fights and hard feelings, but those came with casts lists, rather than petty, trivial banter. We won together and lost together in the terms of the Freddy Awards. And at the end of the night, we knew what a stellar performance we had all done with everything. We supported each other through the highs and lows, good times and bad. And I miss it greatly.

This fall, I assistant stage managed for Lehigh's Twelfth Night. It was a new experience for many reasons. Not just learning a position I had never tried, but starting over again in a department that was not familiar. Their stage I couldn't call home. Their black box was not a place where I spent the majority of my days and nights. It was hard to adjust to. Starting over is never easy. Especially in college. Leaving the nest into unfamiliar territory is scary in so many ways. But just like any theatre group, Lehigh accepted me into their family.

Do I still miss theatre from high school? Of course.

There are days when I wish I could just go back.

But I can't.

And moving on is only for the best. It is time to make new memories.

Black Friday Shopping

2009-12-14T22:25:00.002-08:00

It was seven am. I was woken up to the blinds flying open and the covers flying off my body. My room is the coldest room in the house. Needless to say, I was quite grumpy to be up before the sun. I get dressed and stumble into the kitchen and pour myself a much needed cup of coffee. Maybe today I'll drink two. I grab a bagel with some cream cheese and sit down to watch whatever is on the television this early in the morning. It's not seven thirty seven. Too early in my opinion. My mom informs me we are leaving at eight. Wonderful.

It's not that I don't like shopping. On a normal day, I would love to go shopping. Shopping and me are like two peas in a pod. We just go together. But that's only after eleven am. Waiting in line and battling crowds is not something I particularly look forward to. We leave the house at eight fifteen. No one ever said we were on time. We battle the crowds at the Promenade shops and wait in line for what seems like forever.

As the hours tick by, we begin to cross off more names off the shopping list.

By four pm, shopping is completed.

Almost everything has been purchased and now I am ready for a nice long nap.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-14T22:25:00.001-08:00

The holiday I seem to skip over the most is Thanksgiving. It's just so inconvenient. It falls right between Halloween and Christmas. There is a lot of excitment for Halloween. Costumes, trick-or-treating and candy. And Christmas is just the best holiday around. Nothing beats Christmas. The atmosphere and general feelings people have are just filled with joy. Poor Thanksgiving is left in the dust. Christmas and winter decorations go up almost immediately after Halloween in my house. The snowmen were all out on Turkey Day. Even in the dorm room we had our Christmas tree and Christmas lights up by the middle of November. Our stockings were hung and paper snowflakes were taped to the windows. Thanksgiving does have some perks though. It is the one holiday out of the year when we get to eat turkey and sweet potatoes. I will never get old of sweet potatoes. And there is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. As far back as I can remember, I have watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year on Thanksgiving. It's probably one of the only days out of the year when I choose to wake up early on a weekday (the other day is probably Christmas). The smells coming from the kitchen are just amazing on Thanksgiving. You cannot beat it. I feel bad that I normally skip over Turkey Day. It's a very under appreciated holiday in my eyes, but I will still always love it.

Twilight Craze

2009-12-14T22:24:00.002-08:00

I do not understand the craze about Twilight. Yes, I have read the books and I do own the first movie, but I am not an obsessed fan. I do not wish to marry an "Edward" nor would I prefer to have a vampire bite me. Someone told me today about people who dressed up at midnight to go see the newest edition to the saga. Yes, I will admit I did go see it opening weekend, but that was because nothing better was in theaters. Twilight is what I call a "beach read" its easy to follow and quick to finish. It's not a literary classic. I don't think it will be taught in classrooms in the future, but it's a pretty good book series. A typical chick flick. What upsets me the most is the fact that before the movies came out, the book series was not nearly as popular. Many people have jumped on to the Twilight bandwagon due to the pretty faces of the actors. Even celebrities are getting in on it too. Now there is a fight over which is better: Edward or Jacob. Either you're team Edward or team Jacob. And people are deeply offended when you do not choose their side! It is a franchise that I do not think Iwill ever fully grasp. Ido not understand the appeal of being dead forever and getting bit in the neck. Maybe some people like that. But who am I to judge.

Lehigh Laf Week

2009-12-14T22:24:00.001-08:00

Before I arrived at Lehigh in August, I had heard about the intense rivarly between Lehigh and Lafayette. Being from the area contributed as well as family friends who are Lehigh alums and a dad who is a cop at the school didn't hurt either. I didn't think much of it before hand. I just knew: Lafayette sucks. Lehigh/Laf week this year was one to remember.

Monday's festivities started out with our attempt to watch the meteor shower. Then we realized it will not be visible until about 3:30 am. So the meteor shower trip turned into watching a movie in my room. (I know this has nothing to do with the rivalry, but that's all we did on Monday)

Nothing too exciting happened on Tuesday.

Wednesday was the bed races. They were intense! And tons of fun to watch. We froze our butts off sitting on the cold grass outside the University Center. But that night was wing night and a hot chocolate station. Nevertheless, we all had a couple cups to warm up.

Thursday was the Turkey trot (which sadly I missed) and Girl Talk/bonfire. That was the longest night of my life. We got to the bon fire around 9:15 and were stunned that so many kids were pushing to get back onto the buses. That should have been our hint to not get out of our seats on the bus. But no, we got out of our seats, stood around the bonfire and concert for about fifteen minutes and decided it was too rainy and too muddy to enjoy ourselves and decided to head back. We did not step foot into the dorms until after 11 pm. The bus drivers left and we were basically stranded at Goodman until some of Lehigh's own buses came to pick up students. A lot of them walked back. I refused.

Friday was epic. We watched Lehigh win the diving and swim meet and the hockey game. The hockey game was a ton of fun. The Lehigh and Lafayette fans were next to each other and tensions began to rise when Lehigh started winning. We left before the end of the game but I'm sure it was fun once it was over.

Saturday: the day Lehigh won it's version of the Super Bowl. Our seats were on the thirty yard line in the lower part of the bleachers. We were fifteen rows up from the field. We had a perfect view of the game. It was nerve-wrecking at points. And I held my breath during the over time. But we won. My friends and I rushed on to the field in triumph. Lehigh had won two years in a row. The rest of the season didn't matter. The only game that counts is Lehigh vs. Lafayette and the Mountain Hawks had come out on top in all three games against Lafayette during the week.

It was a week that lived up to its hype. It's a week I'll never forget.

Decorating for Christmas

2009-12-14T22:23:00.001-08:00

It's only been three days since Halloween and my roommate and I have already started decorating for Christmas. We've purchased pink Christmas lights which arrived today. We've already hung them along the perimeter of the room. Christmas music has been playing off of my roommate's Pandora list for the past few days. We've cut out snowflakes from stolen printer paper from the printer down stairs. The stockings were hung on our bulliten boards and held up by thumb tacs. We bought candy canes. Our friends enjoy eating those. Our room is filled with holiday spirit. It makes me so happy inside. Christmas is my favorite time of year. Whether it occurs at the beginning of November, July, or December 25th, nothing puts me in a better mood than Christmas. The air is just filled with cheer and good wishes.

I feel a little ashamed because we have basically skipped over Thanksgiving entirely. But the Christmas season is so...magical. It makes us happy inside. I don't care if people think we're crazy. Truth is, we probably are a little nuts for starting so early. But no one can say our room isn't festive.

Halloween

2009-12-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Tonight my friends and I decided to dress up for Halloween and head out. For the almost the entire month of October we would go back and forth about what to wear or what to dress up as. It was a huge debate of pacing break to see what everyone would come back with for costumes. For guys, it's simple. They can go as almost anything. Girls on the other hand have it more difficult. Often times girls are pressured into wearing something cut too low on the top and too high on the bottom. Sadly, this is what most girls are expected to wear. A friend of mine said it was the one night out of the year when dressing "slutty" as she called it was acceptable. I can't help but disagree. Why are girls expected to look "slutty" and a guy can wear a sports team jersey and expect that to be a costume? To me, I think it's highly unfair as a female to be forced into wearing something inappropriate or made fun of for wearing something more conservative. In today's society it is much more acceptable for people to show more skin and less fabric. Especially on Halloween.
Another aspect of Halloween costume shopping is money. As a poor college student I don't understand how people can spend easily fifty bucks on a costume they will wear for a few hours and then throw into the back of their closet probaby never to be worn again. My favorite costumes are the ones that people make out of things in their own closets and get creative to create a new look. It shows that the person has creativity and originality instead of succumbing to the popular costumes in most stores. Some of my favorites from the night were a disco ball (a girl had on a sequin dress that she wore that night with face and hair glitter to add), a Harry Potter Quidditch player, and a gypsy. As for what I went as? I went as a flapper. Fringe dresses and feather boas. Can't be more fun than that!

Eastern State Penitentiary

2009-12-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

For Halloween, my friends decided it would be a good idea for all of us to go visit the converted state penitentiary in Philadelphia. For those who don't know, the pentitentiary has been converted into a haunted house filled with rooms designed to scare the shit out of anyone. They all thought it would be a good idea...I on the other hand, did not.
Much to my dismay I was talked into going on the trip and participating in the night's festivities. The bus ride there seemed to take forever and maybe that's because it did. But as we waited to arrive at our destination, my stomach grew more and more nervous with anticipation. When we finally arrived we unloaded from the bus and got into a long line to enter. As we waited in line, one of the workers walked up to a friend of mine and began talking to our group. My roommate and I were scared out of our minds by the worker who was not phased in the slightest by out screams of disapproval.

Eastern State Penitentiary on October 25, 1829 and is considered the country's first penitentiary. The cells had a metal door and a wooden door to muffle noise. Some thought that the small door frames were designed to make it harder for prisoners to escape. The halls were designed to replicate the feeling of a church and they had a single sky light which was called the "Eye of God". Many prisoners were kept in isolation as to get closer to God, however the long amounts of solitude caused a lot of mental illnesses in prisoners. In 1913, solitude cells were abandoned due to over crowding reasons. The prison was a congregate prison until it closed in 1970. Al Capone was once kept in Eastern State Penitentiary.

In April 1945, twelve prisoners escaped from behind the prison walls by digging at 97 foot tunnel underneath the prison.
The title of the frightfest is "Terror Behind the Walls" and boy are they not kidding. Some may say that I'm a scardy cat. I can barely make it through a horror movie without curling up into a ball and hiding my eyes. So as a participant in the number one haunted house in America, let's just say I gave my title as a scardy cat justice. On the website itself under the FAQ, they mention that they will do their best to scare you. And boy did they. Well at least I was scared. You are taken around to five or six different areas of the prison all of which are equally frightening. There are robots that jump out at you as well as real people who are paid to scare you silly. Loud noise, fog, and dark lights make the location even scarier. To say that I barely survived would be an understatement. I could not wait until I was out of the prison. It was a miracle I didn't lose my voice. I wanted to kiss the ground outside and say a thank you prayer to God because I survived.
That night I barely slept. My roommate and I wanted to sleep with the lights on. Our friends thought we were crazy. However, we both thought it was justifiable. Luckily we didn't have any nightmares.
But, on a lighter note, a friend who came along, who is an architecture major at Lehigh, did point out the different architechtural details that were popular when the prison was built.

Build Me Up Buttercup

2009-12-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

When I was in elementary school, and my mom would pick me up at the end of the day, she would put on this one CD and press a certain track number and a smile would grow wide across my face. The song that wold come out of the stereo loud speakers was "Build me up Buttercup" by the foundations and it is a song that has made me smile even during the worst days. It's a song that brings back a lot of fond memories of belting the tune out with the sun roof open as we would sit in waht seemed like hours of traffic on the highway just trying to get home. As a child, I would sing whatever song popped into my head, normally very loudly, and this song was always at the top of my list.

Some days when I feel upset about something, I put on this song and it makes me smile. The song has a cetain sound about it. It catches your ear from the moment it begins with its long intrumental solo. The drums begin to build as the lead singers tarts to belt out the tune. I can only imagine what growup in the 60s was lilke and hearing this song play daily on the raido. It's upbeat and fun to sing along to despite its depressing lyrics. It tells the story of a man waiting by the phone for his girl to call but she never does. She leads him on and yet he still goes crawling back to her. I guess everyone can relate to what the lyrics are saying. It may not be in the form of a relationship, but in anything in life. It talks about addictions and how sometimes we cannot overcome them no matter how hard we try. "But I love you still...I need you...More than anyone darlin'...You know that I have from the start" that is just a piece of the lyrics from the song and they tell the struggle a person feels with someonething or someone. I know personally I can sometimes become addicted to things like Facebook or a television show or even hcocolate. And no matter how much I try to stop or cut back, some days I just keep coming back to those things I try so hard to avoid.

Whether I am feeling depressed or energetic, I often play this song and it puts me in a good mood. I'll dance around my dorm room or sing it in the shower to the catchy tune. It makes me rememeber what being seven or eight when the worst things in school was five math problems for homework and the teacher ran out of Jolly Ranchers. Back then life was much simpler and easier. Huge problems then, are simple problems today. Life didn't revolve around jobs or grades or worrying about the future. Back then, the world was much more fun. Cartoons and playing school with my dolls was what occupied my night time instead of psychologoy tests and hours of calculus homework. Sometimes it's nice to go back and remewmber not to take advantage of the present. They say that youth is wasted on the young, and looking back, I agree. I'm not saying I'm old but I'm saying that I miss being a kid some days because life was eaier then. I guess that's the worst part of gowing up, is realiing that the times when things were solely about fun with no responsibility are gone.

I just rambled on about two completely different topics in this blog. I guess that's kinda cool that a song can cause me to write about two totally different things. I love that it made me reminisce about my childhood. Sometimes I have to sit back and remember those days before the memories are all gone. With the help of a song about a guy still in lvoe with a girl who treats him badly, it's a little easier to remember.

Sickness in College

2009-12-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

Somehow in college, when one person gets sick, everyone else on the floor seems to get sick as well. It seems to me that the germs just multiple faster in college. Maybe it's the close living quarters or the fact that I am around the same people almost twenty-four/seven but whenever I get sick, I discover, to my dismay, that a friend of mine had the same symptoms a week earlier, and another friend had the same symptoms I had the day before. It a good thing and a bad thing because I can just ask the person who was previously sick what to expect, but yet I still know it's coming and there is practically no way to avoid it. No matter what I do whether it is medications, tea, a good night's rest or just staying away from the person who is sick, I will end up sick. And I will get someone else sick, who will get someone else sick, etc. until the illness has taken over the entire floor. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but simply put: when one person on my floor gets sick, we all eventually get sick. I can only hope that the vicious sickness cycle will not occur sophomore year. Maybe I should start stocking up on the airbourne now.

The Gloriousness of Linderman Library

2009-09-02T21:04:00.000-07:00

I had a friend pick me up from work over the summer at Lehigh and I took him on a quick tour of the campus. He huffed and puffed his way up the not steep incline from Packer Avenue to Linderman library. When we got to the top of the library steps, he stopped and gawked at the old stone building in front of him. "It's like Hogwarts," was all he could muster up to say.

There is a certain presense when you stand outside Linderman Library. It stands along side the gradual slope of Library Drive and it draws your eye towards it. Maybe it's the architecture that makes it so eye-catching. Or maybe it's the years of history and knowledge held within its walls. Stepping inside the stone building takes you into an immediate mix of modern architecture combined with the historic charm of the building. The gold-leaf ceilings glisten above as opaque tiles line parts of the floor. My favorite part of the entire library is the rotunda off to the right. Inside there feels like you are carried into another world. Looking up at the ornate stained glass ceiling makes you feel like you are somewhere special, well at least it does to me. The spiral staircases just beg to be walked on so they can lead you to somewhere off from everyday life. The history and knowledge that swim within the walls of Linderman Library facinates me everytime I step inside. It's literally a giant time capsule that can be opened any time you wish to do some digging in the past. There are copies of Life magazines from decades past bound together just itching for someone to read them. There are days that I wish I could just spend my entire afternoon just sitting along the window seats of Linderman Library curled up with a good book just taking in the atmosphere of the building. It's my place to escape with a cup of coffee and just let my mind wander away from the stresses of everyday life.

Interview of a fellow freshman

2009-08-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday morning and my second day of classes. I survived the steep climb up the mountain (well technically it's a hill since there aren't any official mountains in Pennsylvania) from Zoellner Arts Center to Drown Hall in under the ten minutes of time I was alloted with my schedule. I headed down to the bottom floor of Drown, huffing and puffing wondering in my mind if I'm late and if the professor would be pissed at me for not showing up on time to his Composition and Literature class. To my surprise, I'm not late, I'm not even right on time, I'm acutally a few minutes early. How the hell it happened, I have no clue, but I award myself with the closest seat possible and begin to rest my throbbing leg muscles.
Our professor begins with the normal first day of class routine: introductions, syllabus, etc. He explains we'll be keeping a blog and our first assignment is to interview a person in the room. Any person we so choose.
In my mind the word "shit" is on constant replay. I HATE having to pick a random person on the first day of classes. I look around the room and see if there is any chance that I recognize anyone and save myself from the humiliation of being the last person in the room without a partner.

I know no one.

I decide to go with plan B and check the person sitting next to me. We make eye contact, I smile and ask if he has a partner. He replies, "no" and I proceed with the question, "Do you want to be partners?" He smiles and says, "sure", and I mentally give a big sigh of relief. And my legs are happy for not having to move from my chair. (I don't think I'll ever get used to these hills here at Lehigh).

We decide mutually that I'll begin with the interview first. I discover that my mystery partner's name is Joshua and he is living in the neighboring Palmer dorm in Lower Centenial. We debate which is better (Williams of course). He tells me he is an engineering major, either in material science or industrial/mechanical. He's from a small town outside Middlebury, Vermont and an alarm goes off again in my head. "Middlebury, that's where Steven is going to school," I say to myself silently. I decide to share this news with Josh that I have heard of Middlebury because I have a friend attending college there. It's trivial knowledge and I'm sure he could care less, but I shared it with him anyway.
We proceed with the average interview questions. Josh has an older sister and two younger brothers. He lives on a farm and is a sheperd (which is so cool). He listens to progressive rock and his favorite movie is Ratatouille. I love Ratatouille also.
Josh is into martial arts and loves the book Lord of the Rings. I inform him that I have never seen the movies and he reccomends that I watch them.
I'll have to remember that.
He loves video games and his favorite is the half-life series.
He also loves pasta.
For one last question, I decide to ask him if he could meet anyone dead or alive who would it be AND if he could travel to any point in time where would he go. He chuckles and pauses for a moment.
I know I'm a pain for asking questions that make you think because I myself don't have an answer to either one of those.
Josh answers with he would meet Teddy Roosevelt and travel back in time to right after World War II. Satisfied with both answers, I tell him its his turn to interrogate me.