Positivity

Happy weekend, everyone! The past couple of days or so have been a blur of fun, sun, and relaxing. San Francisco experienced a slightly heat wave (or maybe it was just a rise in temperatures) last week, and as such my friends and I spent every possible second outside. We even donned our bathing suits and trekked to Golden Gate Park (which is much closer than the beach) for a little bit of tanning. While there,  Justine and I decided to romp around in the vegetation, and it left me feeling invigorated and alive! Nature tends to do that for me. 

Last night, the campus hosted a small concert of mostly "indie bands" in one of our gyms. I decided to actually do something on a Friday night and go with a small group of my friends. It turns out that the concert had started at four o'clock that afternoon, and we had missed the majority of it. Luckily, we made it just in time for the headlining group Augustana to perform. After experiencing their attractiveness and great music for myself, I would definitely recommend checking out their new album. I know I plan to download it!

So, I'm sure some of you are wondering about the title of this post. Being out in the sun has not only made me tanner, but it has altered my mentality on life slightly. I couldn't believe how much happier I was getting off campus and being in the park for just a few hours. Combining this with my thoughts about Lent (the liturgical season that the Catholic Church is currently in), I decided that I needed to make some positive changes in my living habits. This means wasting as little time as possible and actually being productive when I do work. I also plan on getting up a bit earlier to go on a walk at least a couple times a week. I did it today, and I've been much more energetic and happy. See, positive change!

Is there anything you can do/change to make your life more positive?

That's What Friends are For

This has been a tough week. I've had so much work that for a few days, I literally felt like I was drowning, or at least having a hard time keeping my head above water. Then last night, Wade and I were hanging out, and I showed him some of the songs I had recorded on Garageband. This led to a whole evening of goofing around with the default tracks that come with the program, which we recorded in this little improv video. It was so much fun, and just what I needed to relax, but "singing on your feet" is harder than you would think!

Merry Christmas!

I know that I am a little late (as always), but I wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. It was nice being home for the holiday, and this Christmas in particular has been very special.

For the past few years, my house has been under construction. However, this year my dad was able to push through and finish up the living room and dinning room. Needless to say, crazed by all the extra space that suddenly became available, we decorated like never before! Even the tree looked particularly wonderful this year...

Our dogs seemed particularly enamored with all the extra space. Zowie, our chubby little maltese, was so excited that she actually played with her new toy reindeer. That may seem like a weird thing to say, let alone report in my blog, but she literally never plays with toys! Not even when she was a puppy!

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and continue to enjoy the rest of the season!

The Days of the Sun

Although we are already well into November, something amazing happened this weekend. We had sun! Oh, so much sun and it still has not stopped. But now I am back to the daily grind of classes and papers and midterms. 

On Saturday, though, with all the carelessness of college students on a sunny day with little to do, we decided to take a trip to Sausalito. That's where Justine's from, so we decided to bring a little work with us and study at her house. Of course, in our typical fashion we missed the right bus, and had to take one that dropped us off all the way at the top of the hill leading down onto the island. Not that it was so horrible. I just enjoyed walking in the sun and taking in the sites.

We got sandwiches at a little deli and took them here to eat, before heading up to Justine's house. She had an absolutely gorgeous view...

In fact, everything about her neighborhood was magical. I tried to capture as much as possible on my handy dandy Blackberry, because I continue to forget to bring my camera with me when I go places! That being said, I think the pictures turned out quite nicely.

May you find something magical in your week. 

Little Happenings

This weekend was full of little happenings that added up to one very good time. Saturday was game one of the National League Championships between the Giants and the Phillies, and I went over to my grandparent's house to watch the game. Most of the family was there, and we made hot dogs, chili, chips and guacamole... It was the baseball fan's paradise. Complete with ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. My little cousins took to following me around for part of the night, and they even helped me with ideas for this drawing of mine. I think it turned out pretty good, don't you?

The best part of the night? Was it hanging with my family, watching the talented and adorable Tim Lincecum blow away the competition, or eating good food? The best part was that the Giants won!

Today was our first rainy day of the year. I went for a little walk in the rain to pick up some groceries, but for the most part every one just bummed around the dorm in sweatpants and slippers, trying to find the motivation to actually do our homework. And unfortunately, the Giants lost by five whole runs.

Hopefully they get their game back by Tuesday!

Home Sweet Home

I haven't posted in so long that it may qualify as a case of neglect. But never fear, I promise to make it up to you.

Last weekend was fall break, allowing me to go home for the four day weekend. I didn't realize how many little things I missed until I was able to use them again. Like not having to wear flip-flops in the shower, getting to use my own toilette, and good breakfast food. I didn't do too much; rather, my family treated it as though it were any weekend. I got to help with chores, go shopping with my mom, and eat dinner with my family. The normalcy and simple household tasks made me feel completely relaxed.

I also got to see the tree in my backyard drop some of its leaves as the season changes.

I flew back on Tuesday night, and it was weird being back on campus. My dorm room is, however, really beginning to feel more comfortable. According to my mom, that's simply because it's becoming my reality. I personally think it's because I'm really adding my personal touch and making it reflect me, which makes it just feel right. I've started a sort of collage/collection on my wall:

Maybe I will post more pictures as the collection grows.

Today marked a landmark in my college experience so far, as it was the first Friday that I actually went out at night to do something. A large group of my friends and I took a trip to Market Street to see the movie "Never Let Me Go." It's based on the amazing book by Kazuo Ishiguro, and although sad, was a very good movie. It felt good to go out at night, even if it was just for something as simply as a movie. Quite frankly, I'm proud of myself.

The ride back to campus was a little more eventful. When our bus stopped at one of its designated stops, a homeless man got on the bus and refused to pay the fare. Of course, he also refused to get off the bus, and the driver ended up calling the police. He declared the bus temporarily out of service until the cops showed up.

Needless to say, we got off the bus to avoid the trouble that was brewing. Our group ended splitting up; three of my friends ended up taking a cab back to campus, while the rest of us decided to "rough it" by sticking to public transportation. Of course, the bus we ended up taking was so crowded that we got stepped on, sat on, and temporarily separated. But we got off okay, and had a good story to tell our friends.

Everyone needs at least one crazy, late night experience on the bus.

Random Happenings and Serious Questions

Looking back on all the posts so far, I've realized that this is almost becoming a photo journal. So, in keeping with theme, here are some more pictures!

We had another glorious day of sun! I started the day with a little housekeeping: laundry, cleaning our microwave and refrigerator, and changing my sheets. Afterwards, I decided to walk to the local Boudin Bakery for some lunch. Although I love pretty much everything about their sourdough bread, their turkey sandwiches are heavenly! From there I made a quick trip to Trader Joe's.

On the way to Trader Joe's, the first weird thing of the year happened to me. I was waiting for the light and glanced over my shoulder. Unfortunately, that caused me to look directly at a rather old man wearing a lime green valor sweatsuit, and a semi-bowler hat. He was also riding a scooter. When he came to a stop by the light, he turned to me, gave a big grin, and said "Hello there!" Thankfully, I had my cell phone in my hand and quickly started dialing while completely ignoring him. I wanted him to think that either I was calling the police or that whoever was on the other line would miss me if he tried anything sketchy. It must have worked, because he scootered off as soon as the light changed without another glance in my direction.

Ah, the people you meet in the city.

After returning with my precious groceries, I decided to go sit out on the grass and study. While I did get stuff done, I think I also reburned the arm that I burned on Sunday. I have some really random tan lines!

And now for my "serious questions." One of the first things that happened when I arrived back on campus was that my friends filled me in on what I had missed. I mentioned in my last post the night of in-the-dorm-drinking, vomiting and sleeping with random people. I forgot to mention that they then went out the next night and, failing to find a party to go to, went back to their rooms and got drunk, again.

So this leads me to ask: why do we go to college? Society and the media portrays college years as full of parties and promiscuous sex. Unfortunately, I think there are people who go into college expecting that experience.  Personally, I don't think the point of college is to go out partying every night. Heck, you could get drunk at home without having to pay all the tuition money. Call me old fashioned or naive, but I always thought of college as a place where people who are truly passionate about learning and pursuing knowledge come together. I was looking forward to random, spontaneous intellectual conversations! So far, I've only really had one.

Am I hanging out with the wrong people? I am not so ignorant to think that I am the only person on campus who would rather stay in on a weekend night and read a book or watch a movie. I can't be the only one who doesn't want to drink. Frankly, I don't see the logic of it. If it smells that nasty, it must taste atrocious! As for the stupid things alcohol can make you do... well, I'm surprised that anyone drinks at all!

Thankfully, I haven't been pressured into going to anything that I didn't want to. So I guess you could say that I must have found at least a decent group of people. But I still don't understand why you would pay to come to college (and an expensive private school at that) and spend most of the week completely wasted or hung over. Where's the appeal?

I have a feeling this will be something that I'll be trying to figure out all year.

Let the Sun Shine!

After the cold and fog of yesterday, we were lucky enough to get sunshine today, and lots of it! Most of the family was over today for my grandpa's birthday dinner, and we got to spend most of the day outside. My grandparents have a nice yard with a big deck, where we ate a light lunch and held ping-pong competitions. I did,have some homework to do, but at least I got to do it while curled up in the sun!

Of course, I just had to get sunburned on one shoulder... But it was definitely worth it!

Before dinner, large group of us decided that we wanted to take a little walk. There's a nice park a few blocks over...

It's a beautiful park with lots of open space and beautiful trees. Some of my cousins decided to try to build forts out of some fallen branches. All I can think about when I look at these pictures are wood sprites!

I myself am not much of a tree climber. This log was about as high off of the ground as I got!

So, while my uncles were playing football and my younger cousins were off being monkeys in the trees, I decided to take a short walk to the lake. I have to admit that I was shocked at how high the water level was! I'd seen it high before, say, up to the stairs, but never covering the entire walkway! And boy, did the water smell.

I am now back on campus and in my dorm room. My roommate also went home for the weekend, but apparently quite a lot happened while I was gone. All of these things included copious amounts of alcohol, vomiting, and sleeping in random people's beds. Needless to say, I am glad I decided to get off campus when I did. Not that I would have joined in, of course. I just don't like having things like that go on right outside my door.

I enjoy more clean fun, like hanging out with family and going to the park. Hopefully you all are enjoying your weekend as well!

Weekend Relaxation

Hello everyone! Hopefully you are all enjoying your long Labor Day weekend. I know I am. I decided to spend the majority of the weekend at my grandparent's house, and I have not regretted my decision once. When I arrived, we had an amazing dinner of meatballs and angel hair pasta, and I immediately felt like I was back at home.

My grandparents have a number of different rooms for people to stay in. There's one dubbed the "Princess Room" for it's pink bedding and Disney princess decor. There's the attic, where my brother and I usually sleep when my family comes to San Francisco to visit. There are desks and beds up there, as well as a collection of drawings and models from when my dad and his brothers used to sleep there. And then there's the "Big Room." It really is just that; it's the one of the biggest bedrooms in the house and has an attached sun room. This was where my grandparents decided to set me up, and I'm loving every minute of it.

After staying in a dorm room for a few weeks, this room feels like a small apartment. It's large enough to spread out in, yet cosy enough to feel like home. And the bed happens to be the most comfortable thing I've slept on in a while!

The only weird thing that's happened this weekend is the large amount of flies here at the house. I've been doing a lot of laundry in the garage, which is where we first discovered the flies. They must have nested and mated down there, because when I arrived here on Friday, there was a whole swarm of them clinging to the garage door. They have since migrated into the house.

So this morning, when we were out doing a little shopping, we stopped by Ace Hardware and picked up a fly swatter. Between my cousins and I, we've managed to thin the fly population significantly. But back to Ace Hardware. From the outside, it looks like a tiny little store. And it really is, only they've crammed stuff in everywhere possible, and created this master piece:

I definitely wouldn't want to be there during an earthquake, but it really was quite a site to behold. It just kept going further and further back, and they actually had stuff mounted on the walls and ceiling. What can I say? I'm a fairly easy person to amuse.

I now think I will go enjoy my comfortable bed. Wishing you all a good weekend!