Map Out Your Life. Or So They Say.

Lists. Goals. Maps. Brainstorms. Plans. Applications. Bookmarks. Emails.

EGHhh. It's all too much. That is a list (yaaah, I like lists, as we know) of the eck-factor of growing up. What I mean is that we are expected to make plans, lay out our life, have goals. We are supposed to know where we will be in 6 months, one year, two years, TEN years. PFFFF. Apparently having plans and goals makes us a 'grown-up'. Or so I always thought. I have always thought that I have to plan, make lists of goals (see an earlier blog as proof), check boxes off, bookmark job opportunities off the web, send off a million emails, wait patiently for responses, and, generally, just follow some sort of path.

Well, I say: SCREW the path. I have always planned so well, had clear goals, known what I want, and yet, things always turn out a bit differently than expected. OH, wait, I have hit the keyword right there... EXPECTATIONS. Therein lies the real problem with my life. I can plan all I want, but things will NEVER turn out according to plan.

[Written on 4/27/07, saved as an unfinished draft.]

Soundtrack to My Life

If I had to make a soundtrack to my life (when I say "If I had to...", I mean that I HAVE done it) it would consist of the following songs:

1. Hoarding it for Home - Mates of State
2. Fidelity - Regina Spektor
3. No Cars Go - Arcade Fire
4. Secret Heart - Feist
5. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
6. Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar (I'm torn... or Shadows of the Night)
7. God Put a Smile on Your Face - Coldplay
8. Next Exit - Interpol
9. The Way Young Lovers Do - Van Morrison
10. Real People - Common
11. Golden - Jill Scott
12. Part of the Process - Morcheeba
13. Ms. Fat Booty - Mos Def
14. Ease Your Feet in the Sea - Belle and Sebastian
15. Dance Like This - Wyclef Jean
16. True to Myself - Ziggy Marley
17. Who May Be Lazy - M. Ward
18. Times They Are A-Changin - Bob Dylan
19. Everyone Deserves Music - Spearhead
20. Suffused With Love - Sondre Lerche
21. Darts of Pleasure - Franz Ferdinand
22. Crown of Love - Arcade Fire
23. Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake
24. Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine
25. Float On - Modest Mouse
26. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Paul Simon
27. Fire and Rain - James Taylor
28. Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
29. More Justice - Damian Marley
30. Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers
31. Better Together - Jack Johnson
32. Give Peace a Chance - John Lennon
33. Da Booty - A Tribe Called Quest
34. Alphabet Song - Blackalicious
35. Onzieme Commandement - MC Solaar
36. My Humps - Black Eyed Peas
37. Get Up, Stand Up - Bob Marley & The Wailers
38. The Infanta - The Decemberists
39. It's Good to Be Here - Digable Planets
40. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles
41. Flying Horses - Dispatch
42. A Woman's Worth - Alicia Keys
43. Can't Hold Us Down - Christina Aguilera
44. Maria, Maria - Santana
45. Little Things - India.Arie
46. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Leo Sawyer

Ok... so maybe it would be a three-volume disc set for $19.99.... but, hey, it makes a FAB playlist!

And I like lists alot.

Things I Miss in the Good Ol' U.S.

While I love to travel, move around, and generally not stay in the same place too long, this tends to mean I miss things frequently. I mean, yeah, I miss events (like my aunt's wedding... WHOOPS and Ziggy Marley playing SpringFest). But, somehow, these pale in comparison to the following list of THINGS that I miss. And I do not think that makes me weird. Rather, it makes me normal! Everyone misses items... comfort foods, smells, people, etc.

Things I miss (in no particularly order):
-Reese's Pieces (I have a King-Sized package stored in the cupboard for an emergeny and have somehow managed to steel myself from gobbling it up).
-REAL Salsa.
-My friends.
-Flip Flops as acceptable footwear.
-Foreign films with English subtitles.
-Grey's Anatomy.
-Micro-brews like Fat Tire and Magic Hat.
-Barbeques.
-Hamburgers. The biiiig, juicy, meaty, everything-on-it kind. YUM.
-American breakfasts. Who DOESN'T love eggs, pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns, oj, and coffee!?
-Proper Heinz ketchup.
-Being able to USE my Nalgene (meaning I miss potable tap water).
-My dog, Timmy.
-Wearing comfy clothes to class (like sweats, though this is a rare pleasure for me, even in the U.S.).
-My mom, dad, sisters and nephew.
-American Apparel.
-Lounging on the grass in parks/on campus.
-Good ol' Vermont homegrown... (er... maple syrup?)
-Real, passionate, hunger-strike kinds of student activism.
-NYLON Magazine that doesn't cost $10 (egh, exporting mags from the U.S., such a business).
-People knowing what Facebook is. Errr, not that I'm addicted or anything...

Well now. That's alot to miss. And I daresay I can live without most of it! OBVIOUSLY I am loving my life more than ever now, without all of that! But that doesn't mean it's not dear to me and in my dreams... especially Reese's... ooooh, the cupboard is so close...

Meet Wally.

I have a humidifier. He is blue and white. He looks like a penguin. I like penguins. I named him Wally.

Is it weird that I even OWN a MACHINE to make the air more moist?! Don't most girls hate humidity?

"With Knowledge Comes Responsibility"

I spent some time reflecting on last week's post and what student had said about teaching horrible things, such as genocide. She blatantly thought it is not a good idea. I, somehow, knew that I thought she was wrong, yet I was unable to explain why.

I came across this quote somewhere while reading a book... "With knowledge comes responsibility". That's it. It is so simple. THAT is why we must teach the horrors of what evil men are capable of. We must KNOW what the posibilities are. We must know what is happening. Then, we are OBLIGATED to respond.

The U.S. has used this as an excuse for not taking a stronger stance on many issues. How many times have we heard presidents say that they didn't know what was happening in Turkey during the Armenian genocide, in Nazi-controlled Europe during World War II, in Rwanda in 1994, in Bosnia, and now... We don't "know" what Kim Jong Il is doing to his people in North Korea... We don't "know" exactly what Omar Al-Bashir is doing to fund the genocide in Darfur. THUS, we are not responsible. We do not have to intervene. Our hands are blood free, and busy with other 'more important' things.

PFUH. That is the sound of disgust.

Unfortunately, we know all too well what horrible things are happening around the world, yet we are loathe to get involved.

And while I shudder at the photos I see on NYTimes.com or BBCnews.com, I thank God I have access to such information. I am glad I know what is happening in the world. I am glad that I KNOW and am forced ot be RESPONSIBLE. Thank God I have a mind, a will, energy, and a desire to help and create change.