Today in my teenage angst, I was startlingly self-oriented.
A couple of my friends told me today that they've started dating. My response was pretty typical. I was thrilled. Well first I was surprised, and then I was thrilled, and then I got sad.
Not for the gross and obvious reason that I'm not in a relationship myself and must therefore be sad that I now have even less single friends. No. Though I really have very, very few single friends left, I was sad, because I so didn't see this coming.
I pride myself on having attained a certain level of social perception. I don't know how or when this happened, but I've come to be able to read people, pretty well. I'm hyper aware of their emotions and keep stupid track of their life events, so as to be able to correlate their emotions with those events. This is weird and it might seem a little invasive, but if you know me, you know that it's just the way that I care. And I really do care. A lot.
Part of this, though, has resulted in a tendency to see people's romantic relationships develop before they do. Once, I encouraged this guy to go for a girl I thought he probably liked, before he was even aware that he liked her. They're married now. But because I'm not actively a part of a romantic relationship, I think I've taken to foreseeing these relationships as a way to invest in them and impose myself upon them. If I saw it coming, I probably had a part in making it happen, right? Wrong; but it's where my mind goes.
These friends of mine, are two of my favorite people. I mean, I have a lot of favorites, but these ones really take the cake. I'm happy. I really am. And I don't know what led me to make this exciting proclamation - though it was really more of a whisper because he told me in church - all about me. My selfishness is coming out and it's not pretty. But it brings me back to the reality that being aware of my inherent selfishness doesn't make it good.
I'm sorry guys. You two really are the best. Let's talk about how this happened, sometime. I promise I won't be jealous that I wasn't there to see it.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Logan.
Today in my teenage angst, I present to you . . .
Five Reasons why Logan Huntzberger is the best of Rory
Gilmore’s Boyfriends
#1 – He is really hot.
And like, so is Jess. But Logan is the kind of bad boy hot
that you want to chase after, not the kind of bad boy hot that you work hard to
avoid but eventually give into. Also Logan went on to do The Good Wife and Friday Night Lights. Where on
earth is Jess? Dean was clearly just crying to be set free to go hunt demons with
his brother. (Thanks for that Adriene.)
These arguments will get better.
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| Image via |
#2 – He challenges Rory to be better.
Believe it or not, our Rory Gilmore is a little flawed.
She’s focused to a fault, a little self-involved (in a super endearing way, of
course), and she has a hard time stepping out of her stringent self-monitoring.
Logan meets her where she’s at, in taking her on a Life and Death Brigade
outing for the purpose of journalism, and teaches her that sometimes the most important thing is that moment in
time itself. And while his willingness to throw caution to the wind often gets
him in hot water on a number of levels, he’s always willing to step up to the
plate when he needs to. Rory benefits from this part of his personality,
countless times, in countless ways.
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| Image via |
#3 – He already lives in the world in which Rory most
belongs.
As we know, Rory comes from a long line of upper class
Americans. Continuing this line, her mind and abilities have always been bigger than Stars Hallow and
while this doesn't always jive with Lorelai, she belongs in the world of her
grandparents. Logan steps into this world with a comfort that can’t be matched.
This is seen during the time that Rory works for the DAR – when she’s away from
Yale – and is in the public eye on a very regular basis. As he accompanies her
to events and his presence becomes a staple. He interacts well with Richard and
Emily, as well as their peers, and encourages her to perform her public duties
well.
#4 – He can match her on an intellectual level.
Logan’s family is overwhelmingly successful. This puts a lot
of pressure on him to become something big, in order to carry on this success.
While this tends to inspire his dare-devil rebellion, but it doesn’t remove his
inherent intelligence. Let’s think back to that episode when Rory had to
produce the paper in like six hours because Paris had a nervous breakdown.
Logan, though he no longer worked for the paper, stepped in and masterfully helped
her pull it off. Not only was this hilarious (Paris really stole this episode
with her Beautiful Mind-like bunker), but it showed Logan’s innate business
saavy and resourcefulness. Also it was super hot. I mean, who doesn’t like a man
who can get stuff done. I think we can all agree that Rory needs someone who can
meet her a social as well as an intellectual level. Logan is that someone.
#5 – He really, really, really, really, really cares.
Think back. Dean only cared if Rory liked him the most. Jess
only cared if Rory was using her mind to its fullest potential. Logan cared
first for Rory’s happiness, health, and safety. Furthermore, he cared for the
needs of her family. When Richard had his second heart attack, it was Logan who
rushed to the hospital to meet Rory and be present not only as a comfort to
the family but also to take care of any pressing needs. All of these were
put before there was ever a question of whether or not Rory liked him best or
was using her mind to the fullest. He was willing to make these worthwhile assumptions.
And I think that helped in strengthening their relationship.
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| Image via |
This isn’t to say that Rory and Logan never had problems. We
all remember the blow-up after Honor’s wedding when Rory found out Logan had
slept with someone when they were on a break. But Logan’s immediate solution is
to talk it out. Which I feel is a pretty healthy approach.
All this to say, Logan is the greatest and the greatest he
will stay!
Anyone want to build me an argument for the other two? I’m
obviously open . . .
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Spit: this post really is about that.
Today in my teenage angst, I've never had to work so hard to spit, in my entire life.
The university I attend has an Psychology honors program as well as a several graduate level psych degree programs. This is lucky for me, as a psych undergrad, because with all the research being done, everyone is in dire need of research participants. Which is lucky for them, because for as little as a 1% bonus mark (up to a 3% increase per class), I will participate in their research.
It's called the Participant Pool. A Ph.D. candidate runs this thing and I can't even deal with how complicated it is. You sign in online and look at the list of studies being offered. You select the ones that look interesting to you - which for me, is all of them. Oh but not because I actually think it's interesting, but because I'm in four psych classes, which together allow me to participate in twelve studies. Everything I can sign up for, I have signed up for. One current study is looking at the affects of smoking on anxiety. You need to be a heavy smoker. I may have momentarily considered taking up smoking. I refrained. I really need these bonus marks.
One study I signed up for, had an annoyingly long list of requirements. In order to participate (or so I thought, turned out it didn't really matter), I could not have had alcohol in the last 24 hours, caffeine in the last 2 hours, food or drink in the last hour, no physical exertion in the last two hours and as a female, I had to have been within the first 14 days of my menstrual cycle. A little specific, I thought. But I needed the credit, so I complied.
The study was measuring the affect of hormones on performance in mental rotation tasks. So that's fair, I guess. I didn't know that we did studies with physiological components, but later that day I participated in another study that took my pulse and temperature; twice. At the end of the whole mental rotation task deal, I needed to produce two fluid ounces of spit. Not phlegm; spit.
This was so stupid hard. Earlier in the study they had made me rinse out my mouth, for unknown reasons, and I don't think I salivated from that point on. So going into my attempts to produce a spit sample, it was like I had prepared for this by stuffing my mouth with cotton balls.
The room, in which I was meant to produce my sample, had walls covered with magazine photos of food accompanied by words like tasty, delicious and, savory. I guess these were meant to help me salivate, which gave me a clearer insight into the related pressures for men who have to visit reproductive clinics. I don't think I've ever concentrated so hard on something that is supposedly involuntary.
Eventually I got my two fluid ounces and I was given my extra-credit. I walked down the stairs from the lab and thought about how strange it was that my life had led to a point of requiring a production of saliva.
The university I attend has an Psychology honors program as well as a several graduate level psych degree programs. This is lucky for me, as a psych undergrad, because with all the research being done, everyone is in dire need of research participants. Which is lucky for them, because for as little as a 1% bonus mark (up to a 3% increase per class), I will participate in their research.
It's called the Participant Pool. A Ph.D. candidate runs this thing and I can't even deal with how complicated it is. You sign in online and look at the list of studies being offered. You select the ones that look interesting to you - which for me, is all of them. Oh but not because I actually think it's interesting, but because I'm in four psych classes, which together allow me to participate in twelve studies. Everything I can sign up for, I have signed up for. One current study is looking at the affects of smoking on anxiety. You need to be a heavy smoker. I may have momentarily considered taking up smoking. I refrained. I really need these bonus marks.
One study I signed up for, had an annoyingly long list of requirements. In order to participate (or so I thought, turned out it didn't really matter), I could not have had alcohol in the last 24 hours, caffeine in the last 2 hours, food or drink in the last hour, no physical exertion in the last two hours and as a female, I had to have been within the first 14 days of my menstrual cycle. A little specific, I thought. But I needed the credit, so I complied.
The study was measuring the affect of hormones on performance in mental rotation tasks. So that's fair, I guess. I didn't know that we did studies with physiological components, but later that day I participated in another study that took my pulse and temperature; twice. At the end of the whole mental rotation task deal, I needed to produce two fluid ounces of spit. Not phlegm; spit.
This was so stupid hard. Earlier in the study they had made me rinse out my mouth, for unknown reasons, and I don't think I salivated from that point on. So going into my attempts to produce a spit sample, it was like I had prepared for this by stuffing my mouth with cotton balls.
The room, in which I was meant to produce my sample, had walls covered with magazine photos of food accompanied by words like tasty, delicious and, savory. I guess these were meant to help me salivate, which gave me a clearer insight into the related pressures for men who have to visit reproductive clinics. I don't think I've ever concentrated so hard on something that is supposedly involuntary.
Eventually I got my two fluid ounces and I was given my extra-credit. I walked down the stairs from the lab and thought about how strange it was that my life had led to a point of requiring a production of saliva.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Things: Part . . . something.
Today in my teenage angst, full disclosure, I spend a lot (a lot) of time floating around the internet. I have lately started drawing, but other than that, I don't do a lot in my spare time. I watch a lot (a lot) of TV, and I float around the Internet. Taking a cue from Nova, I started 'favoriting' the best things that I saw and put them into 'things' posts. The problem is that because I spend so much time floating around the internet, I find all sorts of crazy/amazing things. I am not, however, great at consistency and end up with massive blocks of 'favorites'. Yesterday, I sorted through two months of bookmarked favorites and am presenting here The Best of the Best!
You should feel lucky, because I have obviously great taste, and the best interests, so all of the following links are going to be amazing. Hahaha. Just kidding. I like being fake pompous sometimes.
Suzy's Jian [Ghomeshi] Chronicles. Oh man. And guys, I was there for the show and he really is just so amazing. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
Collage Art by Jesse Treece. If anyone wants to gift me a solid, I really want this print.
One Plastic Beach. [video]
These movie posters are Grade A Epic. Maybe that should be Grade E Epic . . .
Oh Tina. I miss you already. Tina Fey on Jimmy Fallon in April of last year. [video]
Heymonster on Society 6. There's a Buffy poster. So....
Bubble Magic. [video]
Kim Jong-Un Named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive. Thank you, The Onion.
The Blazing Meh - I would like a female to be my girlfriend. These kids are the best. And also I sort of know them.
Things That Make Me Scared To Be A Mom But Shouldn't. This woman's story of unexpected, but welcomed pregnancy is so beautiful. I can't deal.
Five Things We Can Learn From Carrie Mathison. I really miss homeland.
Look At This Instagram. [Video] The most hilarious. Also a Nickleback parody, FYI.
Kitten in Slow Motion. [Video]. Can life get better?
The Tiny House Movement. [Video]
Bizkit - The Sleep Walking Dog. [Video]
SkipRope by Tweenchronic. [Video] Oh my land this video.
Grimmy Chats to Emma Watson. [Video] I just watched Perks of Being a Wallflower a couple of days ago and man was that ever worth it.
Piglet Uses a Tiny Wheelchair Made of K'Nex. [Video] Get ready to die . . . emotionally.
Tavi Gevinson on Jimmy Fallon. [Video]
So there we go. That's a lot. I'm sorry. I'm not going to be linking to Hello Giggles articles anymore, which let's face it, is from where most of this comes. I'll be re-blogging those directly onto Tumblr, because that's how I find them anyway.
Have the best upcoming weekend! . . . . . . and then I remembered it was only Tuesday. I'm the coolest.
Senior.
Today in my teenage angst, I helped four different senior citizens learn to use their e-readers.
Do you know of this phenomenon? Young, technologically oriented thirty somethings, are buying their older, less than tech savvy, generationally distinct parents e-readers and tablets for Christmas, Birthdays and any celebration that requires more than a pair of socks or a tie. And this is great. The demand for electronic alternatives to everything, is huge. The problem though, is that these kids, buying these gifts, are giving them to their parents and then saying, "Have fun!"; leaving them to their own (less than accessible) devices.
Luckily, there is the library, who, along with their service 'Library-To-Go' (the borrowing of audio and e-books online), offers training in using your e-reader along with our Library-To-Go software. Which is where I come in. Upon entering my new position at the library as a reference technician, I taught myself how to use several formats of "e-reading."
I've recently come to appreciate my place in the techno-journey of my generation, through my work at the reference desk. Having the other reference staff wax-nostalgic about card catalogues and hanging files of reference material, makes me nauseous. The speed with which I can access information because I've grown up in the information age is the best. I really, really, really love it. I blocked off a whole afternoon to lay down my understanding of how to use the various e-readers. It took me fifteen minutes to learn the process on three different devices. And with that, I became a self-proclaimed resident expert. I now accept appointments, drop-ins, over the phone (though this is always hard), etc. And I've come to see each person as an exciting new obstacle in my day at the library.
One of best things about the people that come into the library for this purpose, is that they legitimately can't figure this out on their own. So this relationship works really well both ways. I love helping people accomplish something they couldn't do by themselves, especially when I'm helping them accomplish something I know a lot about or am really good at. In turn, these people look at me as their sort of e-reader savior. Ego-boost? Yes.
I continually find that inter-generational relationships are hard. This is probably the most evident (in our culture at least) with Senior Citizens. Like maybe we think their life-experience is useful, or their baking is tops, or they're super cute, but we don't want them to drive; and forget about using their computers. That's probably just beyond them. But our ability to learn never dies, right? And life is super cyclical. So all the while they're teaching us, we can be looking for ways to teach them too. The best part about this whole deal is that these opportunities are literally falling into my lap. Well, the e-readers are. The seniors are falling into the chair next to my desk, looking tired from trying to figure this whole system out. And they want to learn. They want to learn so bad. And all I have to do is garner a little patience, slow down the speed at which I would normally perform this process, and watch their excitement grow as they realize all the things they now can do.
Do you know of this phenomenon? Young, technologically oriented thirty somethings, are buying their older, less than tech savvy, generationally distinct parents e-readers and tablets for Christmas, Birthdays and any celebration that requires more than a pair of socks or a tie. And this is great. The demand for electronic alternatives to everything, is huge. The problem though, is that these kids, buying these gifts, are giving them to their parents and then saying, "Have fun!"; leaving them to their own (less than accessible) devices.
Luckily, there is the library, who, along with their service 'Library-To-Go' (the borrowing of audio and e-books online), offers training in using your e-reader along with our Library-To-Go software. Which is where I come in. Upon entering my new position at the library as a reference technician, I taught myself how to use several formats of "e-reading."
I've recently come to appreciate my place in the techno-journey of my generation, through my work at the reference desk. Having the other reference staff wax-nostalgic about card catalogues and hanging files of reference material, makes me nauseous. The speed with which I can access information because I've grown up in the information age is the best. I really, really, really love it. I blocked off a whole afternoon to lay down my understanding of how to use the various e-readers. It took me fifteen minutes to learn the process on three different devices. And with that, I became a self-proclaimed resident expert. I now accept appointments, drop-ins, over the phone (though this is always hard), etc. And I've come to see each person as an exciting new obstacle in my day at the library.
One of best things about the people that come into the library for this purpose, is that they legitimately can't figure this out on their own. So this relationship works really well both ways. I love helping people accomplish something they couldn't do by themselves, especially when I'm helping them accomplish something I know a lot about or am really good at. In turn, these people look at me as their sort of e-reader savior. Ego-boost? Yes.
I continually find that inter-generational relationships are hard. This is probably the most evident (in our culture at least) with Senior Citizens. Like maybe we think their life-experience is useful, or their baking is tops, or they're super cute, but we don't want them to drive; and forget about using their computers. That's probably just beyond them. But our ability to learn never dies, right? And life is super cyclical. So all the while they're teaching us, we can be looking for ways to teach them too. The best part about this whole deal is that these opportunities are literally falling into my lap. Well, the e-readers are. The seniors are falling into the chair next to my desk, looking tired from trying to figure this whole system out. And they want to learn. They want to learn so bad. And all I have to do is garner a little patience, slow down the speed at which I would normally perform this process, and watch their excitement grow as they realize all the things they now can do.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Synch.
Today in my teenage angst, I'm going to talk about an issue that maybe nobody cares about. But it relates to a larger issue that whether or not we care on the surface, we're all affected by. Let's say it out loud so we can acknowledge it happens and get over ourselves.
"Performing artists sometimes lip-synch."
Slated to sing the National Anthem at the Presidential Inauguration on Monday, January 21st, Beyonce and Jay-Z arrived looking like the phenoms that they are. Anyone that followed the election and was also on Tumblr (and also follows Beyonce, on Tumblr) knows that She, Shawn and the Pres and basically besties. Pictures of their visits to the Office are frequent and well known. Her support of Barack's campaign was clear, carrying us with her even into the ballot box. So it was no surprise when it was she that was chosen to sing those immortal words. In case you didn't see it, this is that performance.
Let's take a step back and think about how hard that would have been. Very few of us, if given the choice, would choose with all our current skills and abilities would choose to stand in front of a billion people and sing the national anthem. But that's okay, Beyonce will do it. And in all reality, we should want Beyonce to do it. If you've ever seen performances of her live, be it at the Grammy's, the Superbowl, you'll know that she is amazing. She is a show(wo)man. And she (usually) sings live.
Going into this Inaugural performance, as protocol dictates, a track of the performance was made ahead of time. Minutes before her performance, she opted to use that track. Minutes before her performance, try to imagine the nerves. Imagine the second guessing of your ability and experience. Imagine, being Beyonce; here. This might have been one of the most important performances of her life, and while Kelly Clarkson, in the same position, chose not to use the track, Beyonce proved she's only human.
This next video caught both audio tracks. You can hear her singing along to the pre-recorded track and proving to those, questioning their IV devotion, that pre-recorded or not, she's still got it and she is still flawless.
"Performing artists sometimes lip-synch."
Slated to sing the National Anthem at the Presidential Inauguration on Monday, January 21st, Beyonce and Jay-Z arrived looking like the phenoms that they are. Anyone that followed the election and was also on Tumblr (and also follows Beyonce, on Tumblr) knows that She, Shawn and the Pres and basically besties. Pictures of their visits to the Office are frequent and well known. Her support of Barack's campaign was clear, carrying us with her even into the ballot box. So it was no surprise when it was she that was chosen to sing those immortal words. In case you didn't see it, this is that performance.
Let's take a step back and think about how hard that would have been. Very few of us, if given the choice, would choose with all our current skills and abilities would choose to stand in front of a billion people and sing the national anthem. But that's okay, Beyonce will do it. And in all reality, we should want Beyonce to do it. If you've ever seen performances of her live, be it at the Grammy's, the Superbowl, you'll know that she is amazing. She is a show(wo)man. And she (usually) sings live.
Going into this Inaugural performance, as protocol dictates, a track of the performance was made ahead of time. Minutes before her performance, she opted to use that track. Minutes before her performance, try to imagine the nerves. Imagine the second guessing of your ability and experience. Imagine, being Beyonce; here. This might have been one of the most important performances of her life, and while Kelly Clarkson, in the same position, chose not to use the track, Beyonce proved she's only human.
This next video caught both audio tracks. You can hear her singing along to the pre-recorded track and proving to those, questioning their IV devotion, that pre-recorded or not, she's still got it and she is still flawless.
I think we put a lot of unnecessary pressure on performing artists to "keep it real." Write your own songs! Sing live! Play your own instruments! At the same time though, we expect them to look amazing and put on an incredible show. That includes dancing, crazy costume changes and probably pyrotechnics (which are so effing bad for your vocal cords). It's too much! We can't do this to them anymore. If we want Justin Beiber to dance hardcore hip-hop then we can't expect him to sing live. No one can do that and sing live. If we want Beyonce to welcome the President into his second term with the National Anthem, then we have to give her room for some nerves and self-doubt. We already know she's amazing. Why would we let this change that?
Give it up guys. They're not gods. They're people; who are really good at what we're ultimately asking for. And when you think about what that is, we're clearly asking for far too much.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Awesome. (sometimes I can't remember if I've already used words as post titles. But I'm pretty sure no one cares or remembers.)
Today in my teenage angst, I worked the evening shift at the library. It was really cold outside so it was a slow night; and by slow I mean one person talked to me at the reference desk. One.
On my break, I went into my boss's office, at the candy off her desk and watched half an episode of Community with the lights off.
My job is awesome.
Also, this is going to be me someday. Probably some day very soon.
On my break, I went into my boss's office, at the candy off her desk and watched half an episode of Community with the lights off.
My job is awesome.
Also, this is going to be me someday. Probably some day very soon.
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