1. the new fall semester is starting in two days! as much as i’d like to use the apothegm, “i can’t believe it!”, i cannot as it’s untrue. i can totally believe. in fact, i am in complete anticipation over it. this will be my last september as an undergrad… i’ll be graduating in may or summer of next year so this is kind of a big deal for me. it’s nothing i’m going to miss terribly because it’s not my fall semester ever. after graduation, i’m still going to be a student, just a graduate. this fall i’ll be taking some really interesting courses this semester and actually reading some really great books. jane eyre, dorian gray, connecticut yankee, cabeza de vaca anyone?? yeah it’s going to be a great semester. since i’m wrapping up the whole undergraduate thing pretty soon, i’m trying to promise to myself that i’m going to do excellently this semester. i never do wholly excellent. i’m an A/B student but i’d really like to get all As this semester. (more…)

1. as we lazily stroll through summer and enter the third week of july, i realize that the season is about half over. as much i like to complain and harrumph about all the odious things that summer entails, there are things about these three months that i do enjoy. i like that, at work, things are even more relaxed for me than they are in the september-may months. i like that summer classes are given at an accelerated pace and a whole course can be knocked out in five (in some cases, three!) weeks instead of over four months. i also like that in the summer, when i’m only taking only class at a time instead of four, i can read for my own pleasure without the guilt that comes with neglecting to read for school. i do miss dressing in dark colors and wearing tights, boots, layers, and jackets. i also miss my regular tv programming like 30 rock, but i have the notion of mad men’s season premiere in under just two weeks to comfort me. also, in the summer, i usually re-activate my netflix account and start watching all those classic movies and independent and foreign productions i’ve heard about during the year. i know that if i have netflix active during the year, i tend to just hoard whatever dvd last arrived and forget about it in some corner of my room. (more…)

1. For a few months now, a good friend of mine from high school that I used to play golf with has been asking me to go out to the riding stables with her. I’ve been wanting to go riding for ages now, but I just hadn’t been able to work out a good time for me to go. Yesterday, however, I got a ride home from her and, as she was dropping me off, she asked me if I wanted to join her at the stables. I said yes and half an hour later I was down there wearing a white shirt, jeans… and chucks. I know, I’m such a city slicker. The two girls I went with actually looked (and knew!) what they were doing with their cool cowboy boots. My turn came to get on this horse called Canelo and I put my first foot in the left stirrup as you are supposed to do. Admittedly, I did have trouble swinging my right leg over to the other side, as I’m not usually in the habit of straddling seven foot beasts. So, yes, when I was about to attempt getting my other leg to get on the saddle, the horse got spooked and took off running. I fell flat on my stomach in the sand from the corral. When I was down there, I thought to myself, “Oh shit, this is that part where horses trample on people and I’m going to be left deformed and/or brain injured.” After a few seconds, though, my friend asked me if I was okay and I got up and I was. Just a little spooked and winded. And dirty. (more…)

1. I really love horror films. Whether they be incredibly graphic and disgusting or terrifyingly creepy to the point where I can’t forget about the poor victims for weeks on ends, I seem to enjoy subjecting myself to the scary shit that other people create. Lately, I’ve been on this major Eli Roth kick. I rewatched Cabin Fever, his debut motion picture. I saw this movie when I was in the eighth grade and it was seriously disturbing. Recently, I purchased both of his more recent films: Hostel and Hostel II. These movies are amazing. They’re disgusting, disturbing, hilarious, and filled with fantastic writing. Eli only ever directs films he writes, and his writing is something superb. Not only is Eli a fantastic director and writer, his acting chops are nothing to be dismissed. When an actor dropped out at the last minute from Cabin Fever, Eli moved over to the front of the camera. It was a small role, that of a slightly deranged stoner, but it somehow caught the attention of fellow director Quentin Tarantino. So much so, that Tarantino put Eli in his then-current project, Death Proof. In his last project, Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino also gave Eli a role: the Bear Jew. The Bear Jew role was one of the best in Basterds, not seen enough but fantastic anyway. So, yeah, Eli Roth, is my current fascination. But I’ve been thinking about giving up on him. The reason why brings me to my next point. (more…)

1. last night i went out with two of my closest gal friends. we started off the night at a relatively new bar that was pretty chill. more importantly, however, we got there before happy hour had finished and got two-dollar u-call-its for a good while. they had a live band that was playing lots of awesome eighties throwback songs. we were drinking kind of fast so by the time we got to the next bar, the bleu room, we were feeling pretty great. at this bar, the dj was pretty good, but the music was totally different. lots of lady gaga and hip-hop. here we started crazy-dancing and acting pretty silly in general. the bar at this bar was looking pretty good even though the first time i had met him a while back, i had thought it was an average joe. the last bar we went to was this place called old number two which is pretty sucktastic. i mean, it’s chill, you don’t have to worry about getting dressed up, but i don’t know… there’s just something that i don’t like about it. it’s probably the fact that that’s where most people my age would go. most of the other bars i go to on a regular basis, the crowd is generally older. i was with friends, though, and i had a great time nonetheless. the night itself was a success. nothing weird happened that dampened the enjoyment. i got home at a semi-decent hour, and i woke up on time for work! (more…)