Life as I see it...

Lists

2007-09-19T07:05:51Z

These lists are the product of living in a place where my only friends are my parents. Enjoy. I will add more later.

Things I love:

Chinese food
Driving with the windows down and the music loud
Clue (board game and movie)
Writing on thick pads of paper with a ballpoint pen
Tomato and Bacon pasta bake
Walking around London with my headphones on
Michael Kors
Henna/Mendhi
Tony Benn's voice
Conan O'Brien
Elephants
Jay-Z (HOVA!)
Tossing pizza dough
Lavendar and lilac
Stephen Colbert
Jon Stewart
Rummikub
Tim Gunn ("Andre? Where's Andre!??!")
Hermann Hesse
Naan bread
Vanilla CHai Tea
Well-done grafitti
The perfect state of drunkeness (intoxicated yet in control)
Hammocks
San Antonio
Family Guy

Thing's I secretly love:

Dick jokes
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Lisa Frank products
The old Britney Spears
Pauly Shore movies (particularly Biodome)
Lip piercings
Taking notes
Southern accents
Bill O'Reilly (for his sheer entertainment value)
Norwegian food
Katie Price and Peter Andre (Yeah, I know. That's why I secretly love them. They're a good couple, come on.)
Black-light posters
Cheap mystery/thriller novels lacking any intellectual value whatsoever
Thick eyebrows on guys (that's not to say unkempt eyebrows)
Writing a cursive L
Writing a really well-researched paper
Fidel Castro's hat
That statue in Venezuela that Chavez had put up of a warrior pointing his sword at the USA (the imagery...so incredible)
Norway (we have a love/hate relationship)

Update...Texas Edition

2007-09-19T06:21:20Z

So, I have been in Texas for a couple weeks and I am happy to report that it's not nearly as awful as I had anticipated. It's strange though, to hear this weird accent all around you. It's still new, I guess. I guess it'll become normal just like the Norwegian and English accents surrounding me did. It's not awful though, but it'd be a hell of a lot better if I had friends around here.

I have to say that there is only one major thing that has annoyed me about this place. It seems that companies change their marketing schemes specifically for the Texan market. This may not sound annoying, but it is. For example, one of the car companies has commercials here advertising their new truck line. However, they advertise their special "Texas Edition" which is apparently even more unnecessarily large and wastes even more gas! Yipeee cayay! I may read more into this than necessary, but it seems like there's a certain level of arrogance required in order for companies to be forced to change their marketing techniques in order to appeal to a certain "niche" market. Like simply advertising a regular truck would be insufficient for Texans who would upturn their noses to the idea of purchasing the same kind of truck as the rest of the country. I guess it's the whole "don't mess with Texas" mentality. I'm sure it can't be as widespread as it appears from the outside, but unfortunately I don't know anyone here who could tell me otherwise.

However, some relief is coming. Friday Mom and I are going up north to Minneapolis. I miss the North. It'll be great to see Andy and do some shopping at the MoA. After we get back it won't be too long until I head back across the pond. I do miss England. And I'm excited to start school again. I feel like I want to throw myself at it full force. This year I'm going to work my ass off. And I want to get involved in more societies and things. I think last year was more of a "fuck, I'm in actually living in England" sort of thing. This year I will focus. I swear.

Agnosticism: the mark of a true Catholic.

2007-08-20T07:04:06Z

It's hard to believe that in a little over a week I will be in Texas. This move is just ridiculous. I forgot just how much shit I have. And what's most ridiculous is just how little of it I actually use and how much money I've wasted on the other 60% of it. I now vow to keep the shit-quotient to a minimum. I will do my best, however, shoes and handbags are exempt from this new resolution. I am, after all, only a humble girl who must be allowed her vices. And thank God I have a job lined up for next year cause otherwise I would be screwed finance-wise considering I've earned no where near this summer what I earned last summer. And thank God for student loans. Hallelujah!

Other than that. Today I watched The Number 23 and Premonition. I found out that my DOB adds up to 32 which was significant in the movie as an "evil" number. Kind of freaky. Not that I put any stock in that stuff, but still, freaky nonetheless. I find the whole numerology thing kind of interesting. It's amazing to think how people can create some belief code out of nothing. Or maybe there is something actually in it. Who knows? I certainly don't. I guess that's why I'm an agnostic, cause I think that there's always the possibility but there's never a way to know for certain. As I like to say: "agnosticism: the mark of a true Catholic." It never fails. Every Catholic I know, which is a lot considering my entire family is, is along the agnostic line. None of that Evangelical "I-know-for-certain-God-is-out-there-watching-out-for-me" crap. Catholics are marked by their hypocrisy (it may come across as hypocrisy but I don't think it is true hypocrisy in the normal sense, we just know that we have confession to fall back on. Such a good idea!) uncertainty, and what I would call a fairly (for the most part) liberal political outlook for a Christian denomination in America. I'd say in America at least, most Catholics seem to fall away from the political beliefs of the Pope/Vatican. Well the new pope at least. John Paul II was pretty on point in my mind. I'm not too much of a fan of Benedict. Anywayssss. I'm really not that religious so I suppose my thoughts on it are kind of irrelevant, but I still find it all so interesting.

Am listening to Daft Punk at the moment, and am kicking myself in the ass for not going to O2 Wireless to see them and LCD Soundsystem. WTF was I thinking! I thought $70 was too much. How wrong I was. Ah well, I will go to a festival next year. And I mean, at least I got to see Queens of the Stone Age this summer which was BA beyond comparison. My plans to stay in England next summer, provided I find a job/internship/summer school possibly at LSE will aid in this plan. And my job at JJ2's should give me some good cash to splurge on such an event. I've just seriously got to keep the shopping down. Damn my mother for encouraging me to buy things I love/want! Ah well, I guess I shall have to find a suitable job in order to fund my habit or I will have to just stop. I'd prefer the first.

Oh! A note to anyone that by any chance reads this entry: 50 Cent's new record comes out the same day as Kanye West's new CD and "Fiddy" has gone on record in a new interview as saying that he is so confident that he will outsell Kanye that if he doesn't he will no longer release any new solo albums. Now, I don't care if you hate rap to the most extreme degree, but that sure sounds like the best excuse possible to invest in the new Kanye West CD, if not merely to save the world from further 50 Cent records. Seriously people, go out and buy that Kanye! Besides, he's pretty good. And while you're at it, can I suggest some Common and Talib Kweli to compliment it.

Well, I think that's about it for me. Remember: do your part; save the world from "Fiddy." God kveld.

Been a long time...

2007-08-19T05:18:01Z

So, I haven't posted in a long time and I really need to, but I am tireddd. Moving/packing is not fun and is extremely exhausting. I've gotten rid of so much stuff, yet I still have loads. On the plus side, at least now I kind of have an inventory of what I own. Anywho, I'm going to bed, but tomorrow night I shall post a longer entry.

The Final Summer

2007-07-20T07:00:56Z

The past month has been hectic. Final exams, moving into our house, flying home to America, getting a job, working at the internship, etc... Am so happy things are starting to calm down. It's strange though cause I don't think things will really slow down at all this summer. Mom retires in a week, then we have my cousin's wedding, then packing, then moving to Texas, then I go back to England. Insane. I guess that's the life of a college student. Rolling with the punches.

But for the moment, I am home and I don't want this summer to end. It's just starting to hit me that this is the final summer of my "youth." It is the final summer with my friends from childhood. With my parents moving, I will rarely if ever come back here and I doubt most of my friends from CR will come visit me in England or Texas when I'm there. Don't get me wrong, I will keep in touch with a couple of my friends come what may, but I find it sad that I will lose touch of most of them. I said I wouldn't allow that to happen with my friends from Norway, but it inevitably did. I don't want it to happen again, but I know it will. And I can't see myself going to Texas next summer. It isn't home. England appears to be the closest thing to home that I will have come September. I feel like that is my home. And that scares the hell out of me. The future is uncertain and that is frightening. Yet, I'm excited. Excited to see where life leads me.

I remember when my brother graduated from HS and I asked how he felt about it. He told me: "It's bittersweet, Abi. That's the only way to describe it." I felt that at my graduation too, but because of Norway I felt like I had already moved on from HS. Now I'm just starting to realize that I hadn't completely. It's all coming back to me, but at the same time, I feel ready now. I feel independent and ready to handle the fact that I've truly been on my own for the past year and will be on my own in the future. It's kind of a powerful feeling; realizing you are completely and utterly responsible for your own fate. You can screw yourself over so easily, yet force yourself to thrive just as easily. The unknown factor is how much effort you're willing to put in.