Highs and Lows

Last semester I was part of a women's small group at the Wesley Foundation. Nearly every time we met, we spent part of our time going over our Highs and Lows. It's a fairly self-evident concept; we shared a particularly nice or happy and a particularly sad or frustrating experience from the past week. It gave us something to do if there was nothing special planned, and it was a good way the meeting otherwise. I thought I would include my own highs and lows for the month of September so far. Here goes!

Highs

• I love everything about my Constitutional Interpretation class, even the cheesy 90s video we watched on Wednesday. Professor O'Brien is extremely well-versed in his subject, and he happens to be a great lecturer and very funny to boot. My TA, Laura, runs a great section - almost worth missing forum at Wesley for! My friend Matt makes for quite an able class companion, too.
• The weather has been gorgeous. Not too humid, and certainly not too hot. Silly Virginians, sweltering in 90-degree heat.
• Charlottesville has a Farmer's Market on Saturdays. I've now been twice, and plan on going every week until it closes for the season. Delicious organic and local food, what more could a good liberal ask for?
• Clemons Library has an extensive Gilmore Girls collection, which means I don't have to wait for Netflix to feed my addiction. I couldn't ask for a better mom than my own, but I would love having Lorelai Gilmore as a quirky aunt or godmother. And the dialogue. Yes.
• This week's West Wing class was much better than last week's. There are still Republicans in it, but hey, you can't have everything in life.
• My Civil Rights discussion is amazing. The lecture is ... less so. More on that down the page.
• I love the Starbucks in the South Lawn.
• Actually, I just love the South Lawn. It is beautiful.
• We won our first football game of the season! I didn't go, but it was so nice to hear that we had a nice, healthy victory. I didn't think I could handle a redux of the William and Mary situation.
• People who have made me happy this week: Pooja, Kathryn, Lauren, Andi, Ruth, Meagan, my parents, my brothers, Maria, Matt, someone who shall not be named, TAs Tamika and Laura, and I'm sure I've forgotten countless others. Oh, and my dog, who is not technically a person but should be. Apparently it's rather amusing to watch for his reaction when I Skype home.
• Amélie with Pooja! Such a wonderful movie!

Lows

• I wish Professor Bond's class was more interesting to me. He's lived the history we're studying, which is amazing, but I've been quite sleepy in lecture. This shouldn't be the case.
• Ugh Republicans ugh. (No offense to Republicans I've befriended!)
• I have no time for pleasure reading. And I want to reread Anne of Green Gables, and Ellen lent me Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Payton lent me Wigfield. Dilemma!
• College has taken away my morning person trait. I am such a zombie before noon, it's not even funny.
• One of my bosses, Louise, has her last day tomorrow. She's moving to Boston. Best of luck to her, but we'll all miss her greatly!
• Mami's in Puerto Rico, and I'm not.
• Daddy, Richie, Josh, and Sirius are in California, and I'm not.
• I miss my family.

Au revoir, mes amis!

Entertainment 2010: August 1 - August 31

I just realized I haven't updated my blog since I came back to college. Oops.


Well, so far so good this year. Virginians and their inability to withstand temperatures exceeding 90 degrees make me laugh, but I suppose I shouldn't crow too loudly considering El Centro rarely has more than 10% humidity. Actually, if the news reports are any indication, Virginia was a downright miserable place to be this summer, so I'm glad I was in Southern California where it's normal to have 100+ degree weather every day. Anywho.


I'm taking some interesting classes (my favorite right now is Constitutional Interpretation) and enjoying the university life again. I do miss my family, but I've found there are also a lot of things about UVa that I've missed. El Centro is generally a pretty boring place. Charlottesville has the Downtown Mall, where there are crepes and farmer's markets and sunshine and puppies. You also can't see a movie for three dollars in El Centro, but there's the Newcomb Theatre at UVa. Of course, sleeping outside when you could be in a dorm room is a pretty strange thing to do wherever you go, but I've done that, too. What can I say? I have crazy friends (Lauren, Mary Lacy, Lacey, and Elizabeth, I'm looking at you!) who enjoy crazy things. Sleeping on the Lawn, I ask you.


I have an insane amount of reading to do, so I will just post my entertainment list for August and then hop to it. Expect another entry soon!


Entertainment 2010: August Update


Books - New Reads
N/A


Books - Rereads
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling


(Wow, this is pitiful. I am a bookworm, really!)


Movies - First Viewings
Vampires Suck (DO NOT RECOMMEND. Oy vey.)


Movies - Repeat Viewings
Inception
Iron Man 2
Anastasia
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


¡Hasta luego!

Farewell to Hair: A Story in Photographs

Friday, August 13, 2010

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Soapbox: On Heroism and Decorum

Much hay has been made of the incident on a JetBlue flight earlier this week of a flight attendant spectacularly losing his cool when faced with an obstinate passenger. Steve Slater now has thousands of Facebook fans and something of a folk hero status. When confronted by reporters, he merely gives a cocky smile and expresses gratitude toward the national outpouring of support that he apparently has. He seems not to have any regret for his role in the altercation or the blatant unprofessionalism he displayed. Slater may be enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame, but I have to wonder what the media reaction says about the state of American heroism. Because, in my opinion, there is nothing commendable or admirable about cursing out a passenger over the intercom, grabbing a beer, and activating the evacuation slide to make a flashy getaway. Ballsy, certainly. Honorable? No.

Passing over whether it's even acceptable that such a story counts as news nowadays, let us ask ourselves why such behavior elicits many a "Hell yeah!" from the average American. Perhaps it is not so surprising. This is the land where the political candidate with the most votes is the one people want to have a beer with. This is the place where earning a postgraduate degree makes you an out-of-touch elitist, where Joe Six-Pack is held in high esteem, where mistakenly using the nonexistent word refudiate is hailed as a daring and impressive move instead of the inevitable consequence of misplacing (or indeed, refusing to purchase) a dictionary. Maybe a man who lets his testosterone flow so openly is the natural hero of the same people who disparage arugula.

And yes, perhaps it is true that I have simply not been wronged enough by the world to appreciate the cathartic pleasure one reputedly receives from hearing of such a display. I am, after all, nineteen, and have only been on the payroll for three establishments thus far. The passenger in question was being very rude, and she did not listen to instructions. I empathize with how Mr. Slater was probably feeling, and as someone who in the past has had trouble with not stooping to the level of an antagonistic acquaintance, I understand how hard it can be to keep one's temper under control.

But you know what? The last time I ever had a fit was when my seventeen-year-old brother got on my nerves and I gave in to a childish impulse. I have made my fair share of mistakes over this past year, but I was taught to recognize that my actions have consequences, and to own up to them when I am in the wrong. Flying out at someone in a rage is something that is excusable in a five-year-old. It is not the proper behavior of a nineteen-year-old college student at home, and it is certainly not the proper behavior of a grown man in his place of work. I get that even the best of us occasionally succumbs to our frustrations, but we have the right to expect professionalism from our service workers. We don't have the right to lash out at them when we don't follow the rules ourselves, and the woman who so irked Mr. Slater was most definitely out of bounds. However, that does not make it tolerable to launch into adolescent tantrums, and then turn around and face authority with contempt. Is a little civility too much to ask for?

Maybe. But heroes are people who put others before themselves, who sacrifice and stand up for what is right. There was nothing about Mr. Slater's behavior that wasn't petty and selfish, and it's time we recognized that.

On Notice

Paying homage to one of my favorite comedians of all time. The On Notice board is his, I'm just playing with it.

Entertainment 2010: January 1 - July 31

I have been keeping track of (mostly) every book that I've read and every movie that I've watched this year, in my quest to become more cultured and well-rounded. And to have interesting things to say at parties. Ahem. This is something I've seen on other blogs in the past, and I thought I'd like to try it myself. As I've just started blogging mid-July, I will post my entire list so far; afterward, I will update it on a monthly basis. Without further ado, my distractions:

Books - New Reads

1. Paper Towns by John Green

2. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

3. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

5. Savvy by Ingrid Law

6. The Princess Diaries, Volume X: Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

7. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Books - Rereads

1. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling

4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

Movies - First Viewings

1. The Princess and the Frog

2. Valentine's Day

3. The Road

4. Sherlock Holmes

5. Letters to Juliet

6. Shrek Forever After

7. Iron-Man 2

8. Toy Story 3

9. Grown-Ups

10. Despicable Me

11. Inception

12. The House of Mirth

13. Love Actually

14. Moulin Rouge

15. Bright Star

16. Their Eyes Were Watching God

17. Iron-Man

18. Up in the Air

19. Emma (2009 miniseries)

20. Pride and Prejudice (1940)

21. Dirty Dancing

22. Mansfield Park  (1999)

23. Pride and Prejudice (1980 miniseries)

24. Les poupées russes

25. Y tu mamá también

26. Definitely, Maybe

27. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

28. The Last Airbender

29. Little Miss Sunshine
30. Princess Mononoke

Movies - Repeat Viewings

1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

2. Julie & Julia

3. Clueless

4. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

5. Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi

6. Northanger Abbey (2007)

7. Sense and Sensibility (2008 miniseries)

8. Bridget Jones's Diary

9. Anastasia

10. The Princess Bride

11. Persuasion (2007)

12. WALL•E

13. The Incredibles

14. L'auberge espangole

15. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

16. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

17. Toy Story

18. Ratatouille

19. Miss Congeniality

20. The Lion King

21. Robin Hood (Disney)

22. Peter Pan (Disney)

Happenings: July 2010

Wherein I compile the month's goings-on and categorize them into the good, the bad, and the random.


The Good:

• Reading with mon petit frère every night. I don't think I can make him as big as a Harry Potter nerd as I am (like that's even possible), but there's no shame in trying! I really enjoy it when he's genuinely surprised by something that hasn't been in the movies, and I love hearing his theories, when he shares them with me.
• A lovely lunch with Miss Jacqueline and Miss Sadie this past Monday. I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian, but if I do I shall miss Mexican food very much. And of course I shall miss my friends when they head off to Notre Dame next month!
• Rescuing dogs with Jackie. Well, just one, but I think we had fun, in a kind of weird way.
• Inception. Just Inception.
• I am now $700 dollars richer. Go summer jobs!
• Going to see Despicable Me with Alyson Fink. Such an adorable movie.
• Chilling with Sara Fink the week before. Awesome times were had.
• A Very Potter Sequel.
• My two West Wing days with Jessi. Who knows, we might have another one, seeing as how we're only on season four in our best-of-the-series marathon.
• A federal judge striking down a good portion of the Arizona immigration law. I wish the whole thing would just go away, but this is a great start! Now if we could only convince half of Americans to get over their xenophobia...
• Getting excited about my writing again.

The Bad

• I still don't have my financial aid from UVa yet. I understand it's taking longer than they anticipated, and I'll be very grateful when it does get posted, but I'm starting to feel a bit anxious.
• The Sunburn of Evil is now peeling, which is unpleasant to say the least.
• My legs are really, really hurting, which I guess is what happens when you attempt to do lunges for five minutes and then walk your dog. Ow.
• Summer cabin fever (yes, I am allowed to make up conditions). Restlessness from being away from school, I suppose. It's not a good feeling. I love my family, but I'm really looking forward to going back to Virginia and seeing my college friends again.
• Looks like San Francisco is a no-go at least for this summer. Boo.
• BP still sucks. As do Republican partisans with video-editing software. Or, you know, just the Republican Party in general.

The Random

• I guess I'm just sensitive to the cold, but the air conditioning in my room is like a meat locker. And I thought I wouldn't have much use for my UVa hoodie this summer.
• I've just gotten used to Pacific Standard Time, only to have to go back to Eastern Standard Time in about three weeks. So yeah.
• My dog is such a ham. He's always rolling over onto his back and wriggling in front of me so I'll scratch his belly. He's also adorable, so I can't resist. Come to think of it, he's a bit like his namesake. Attention-seeking, handsome, smart ... and that's where the comparisons end. Because he doesn't really mind being cooped up in the house, although he does enjoy his walks. Er, his name is Sirius, by the way. Three guesses who named him.

Also, it is July 31, which means I must wish a very happy birthday to my all-time favorite author, J. K. Rowling. You are an amazing woman, Jo, and an inspiration to any aspiring writer! Thank you a million times over for your wonderful books!

See you in August, everyone!