Boom Boom

I know that I have not posted in literally forever but I have a story to share.

The other day I received the privilege  of going to Grand Junction high school and helping out in the English as a Second Language class.First off, the teacher I met was an amazing woman who I feel so blessed to have met! I figured I would just sit in the background and watch to see how she operated her class but as soon as kids showed up for homework help she put me right to work. I got to interact with the students we talked about soccer at one point which was fun because it allowed us to relate to each other. Then I met a girl who needed help with her math homework she happened to be from Ethiopia! As all of you probably know a few years back I got to travel to Ethiopia for eight days. I know I enjoyed being able to connect with her through my passion and love for Africa but I could tell she lit up when I said a few words I remembered like"ameseginalehu" which is "thank you" and discussing injera which is Ethiopian spongy bread! It was so much fun and I was asked to come back as often as I can and I definitely plan on doing that!

I wrote this on Sunday June 13, 2010 and it still rings true today....

1. I am shy and awkward unless I am around my best friends. 
2. I want to end war, suffering, global poverty and change the world but I don’t believe in myself enough to accomplish my dreams. 
3. I love and respect pretty much everyone but if you lie to me I probably won’t respect or like you. 
4. I’ll tell anyone about Africa – facts, my trip there, my love for the continent and its people- I could talk about it for hours. 
5. I write poetry and one day I hope I am brave enough to share it on a stage in front of a crowd (I am actually a published poet!) 
6. I hate being judged and hate it when I see myself judging others. 
7. I often feel worthless because I don’t fight for human rights and peace every second of every day that I live. 
8. Sometimes I think my morals and beliefs hold me back from truly living life as a 19 year old. I wonder what I am missing. 
9. I am NEVER quite satisfied. 
10. My greatest fear is not dying alone, my greatest fear is not living up to the plan God has for me. I know I am supposed to be a great humanitarian! 
11. I judge myself and hold myself to moral standards that even I can’t live up to.
12. I talk to myself; a lot actually. 
13. I hate drama and I manage to stay away from it most the time. 
14. I don’t believe in the old sang “forgive and forget” instead I tell you “forgive and don’t forget” once you forget you allow history to repeat it’s self. 
15. I believe everything is a form of art. 
16. I can’t drive a car or ride a bike- they scare the hell out of me. I guess it’s because I don’t trust myself with mine or someone else’s life. 
17. For a long time all I wanted more than anything was a guy that would make me feel worthy as a woman. I am learning to love myself now but wouldn’t mind if a cute boy wanted to take me out on some cliché or non-cliché dates. 
18. I love to dance but you’ll never catch me doing it in public. I think I only danced 3 times at the dances in high school. 
19. One of my favorite things to do is swing in the park! I used to play a game where I would try to touch the moon or tree branches with my feet. It gave me the feeling of flying. I wish I could fly! 
20. I want to believe in love and marriage but the divorce rate and marriages I have seen in my own life make me believe less and less each day. 
21. I usually have more guy friends then girls- my mom used to get upset that all my friends were male- and I tend to confide in them more because there honest, straight forward and drama free! I love all my guy friends! (No offence to my girls! I love yall too!) 
22. I wish I was more confident and willing to accept who God has made me. 
23. I speak the language of sarcasm fluently- this sometimes offends people. I am sorry but the house I grew up in spoke it fluently at the dinner table so I have learned from the best. 
24. I believe music, food and sports breaks are the three things all barriers and connect people of different race, religions and backgrounds together. 
25. I love making mix CD’s. It’s what I do. If you ever need a themed CD or random CD let know! 

“Mastering the art of travel is not accomplished with practice or talent no school will give you a bachelor’s degree on not getting shot when back packing through eastern Africa or avoiding Montezuma’s revenge on your trek through Mexico. It’s a way of life unknown to the majority.  It’s almost impossible to convey to your friends back home over the course of a single conversation. It’s more of a feeling. It’s the excitement I experience the night before a trip. The high that comes with booking a one way train ticket to a place I’ve never heard of. The little things that often go unnoticed.  The friends I’ve made, the countries I’ve called home and all the bugs I’ve eaten by accident.   Mastering the art of travel requires deviating from one’s plans” - The art of travel

One Season Wonders

One season wonders:Celebrating shows that were taken off the air too soon or those that had a long life but are gone and I miss them. 

• Freaks and Geeks: This series aired on NBC network from 1999-2000 with only one season being released due to poor ratings. The show was highly reviewed by critics and had a strong cult following (which helped lead to it's eventual DVD release). The series appeared on Time magazine's 2007 "100 Greatest Shows of All Time" list, and in 2008 Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years.). This brilliant portrayal of suburban high school life was created by the mastermind producer Judd Apatow and featured several now famous actors in career making roles. It had actors such as Linda Cardellini (E.R), John Daley (Bones), James Franco (Spider man), Jason Segel (I love you man) and Seth Rogen (Knocked up). The show not only had an amazing cast but a brilliant plot that followed sister and brother Lindsey and Sam through the trials of high school in a small Michigan town set in the 1980's. The soundtrack featured authentic 80's classics and is another reason this show made my top 8 list. I wish the show had been given the chance to live up to its full potential but sadly it was another "One Season Wonder".

• Undeclared- Another Brilliant Judd Apatow creation that got the boot before it could fully blossom. This show aired on the FOX network from 2001-2002. It was sort of a follow up from "Freaks and Geeks". It even featured many of the same actors (this is something Apatow is known for). The show centered around a group of friends during their first year of college. Each half hour segment was delightful, funny and honest. Having survived my Freshman year I appreciate the college insight this show offered something I didn't grasp when I first watched it in High school. They now play re runs of this and "Freaks and geeks" on the Independent Film Channel (IFC)

• The O.C.- This show is not a "One Season Wonder" in fact, it lasted four glorious seasons on Fox before being taken off the air. During the first season The O.C had 9.7 million viewers. The series main focus was Ryan (a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who ends up living in the prestigious Orange County) and his sidekick in the show Seth (a loner in the O.C who becomes more than just best friends with Ryan but, brothers). It follows the characters and their family's through high school and one year of college before the network called it quits. Although I love all seasons I think that seasons 1 and 2 were the best followed by 4 and then season 3. My favorite aspect of the show is the relationship between Ryan and Seth- similar to that of Abed and Troy from "Community" or Phil and Lem from "Better Off Ted". The show was successful at making sure the characters were not static. The characters grew and changed from episode to episode just like in real life. For those who think this show just magnifies bad stereotypes about the rich and glorifies their lifestyle your wrong. In fact, it shows the sarcastic side of these stereotypes and manages to break through these boundaries. I own  every season of this show and enjoy starting at the beginning and reliving the experience over and over.

• Veronica Mars- This show centered around the sarcastic and defensive Veronica Mars and her father Keith Mars. Keith is the former sheriff and current owner of a privet investigator business where Veronica helps out. Each season has a season long case that Veronica is working towards slowly solving and each episode contains a mini case's. It follows the ups and downs of high school, college, friends, family and boys. I loved how strong and defensive the main character was portrayed as. It is one of the few shows on television to ever feature a fierce and strong woman fighting in a male dominated work world. Rumor has it there may even be a Veronica Mars movie in the future! If you have Netflix all season are available for instant viewing. 

• Roswell-A science fiction teen drama that first aired in 1999 on the WB where it ran for two seasons and then got moved to UPN for it's final season. The premise of this show is three aliens who look like and pretend to be normal teenagers at a high school in Roswell, New Mexico. They seem to be fooling everyone until Max one of the aliens uses 'magic powers' to save the life of human Liz Parker. Soon a romance blossoms as the government begins to investigate these three aliens they are forced to figure out where they really came from and how they can get back.  This show had decent reviews but once again had horrible ratings. This show is also no Netflix!

More 'One season wonders' later...

2 holiday songs I just LOVE!

Et je maintiendrai toujours une photo de vous dans ma pochette et vous serez avec moi partout où je vais. Let's ont une aventure!

Christmas season

It's Christmas season and that makes me wish you were here. I want to tell you how I have changed. I want to tell you I am a Christian now just like you. I want to hug you. I want to eat around the dinner table with you. I want to pass jokes with you. I want to watch the train go around your  tree like it did every other year. I want you to tell Grandma everything will be ok. I want you to accuse us all of cheating at cards. I know that right now you are in Heaven partying it up! and I know it's selfish but I wish you were here.

Last night, was amazing! I don't even know what to say but this years Progressive Christmas dinner was way better than I remembered last years being. Finals are next week. Then I get to go back home on Thursday!!! But I still don't get to see Phil (my oldest brother) until like December 20 something. Which makes me sad. It will be six months since I have seen him and I seriously missed him at Thanksgiving! I am just ready to go home!!!! And soon enough I'll be ready to come back! :)

THIS IS ALL I HAVE TIME TO WRITE!

"If dreams were thunder
Lighting was desire
This old house would have burned down
A long time ago."
-Bonnie Raitt

A confused sort of smile.
I love my roommate.
Pocrastination.
Fuck it.
Student leader.
Nightmares.
Day time dreams.
Breakfast.
New shoes.
GPS.
Christmas time.
Selfish wants.
Coffee time.
Random lines.
My life in signs.

We all fall down

Today has been a really shitty day. These two songs are helping me survive.

Just GO.

I just got an amazing offer from Ari my best friend back home- a summer in Europe or a cross country road trip! It sounds amazing but I already had plans to apply for an invisible children internship. This internship has been a dream of mine for years as has traveling but I said that we should go on a road trip that would take me to CA for my internship. This would be a compromise. More than anything though I am conflicted between following my dreams , doing what I know I want and doing what the world expects and what my parents want. Today I made this decision based off an awesome movie, "you do what you love and fuck the rest"- Little Ms. Sunshine. I have made it a commitment to ALWAYS follow what I love over the social norm's that society places for us. Summer 2011 JUST GO.

*Stay hungry, Stay foolish.

Sorry I am being emo and this is what you get!

I have been hurt by so many people lately
that I don't even feel whole any more
like a cracked vase that you cant repair
because these scars will always be visible
I built up all these walls
all these networks of friends
something to cover up my insecurities
something to make me believe I belong here at
I thought I belonged here
I thought I had friends
Why then do I feel so alone?
It seems like everyone has found someone
But me.
alone.

Living list

1.    Visit Africa

2.    Visit Greece

3.    See Mount Kilimanjaro

4.    Visit the rock and roll hall of fame

5.    Visit Brazil and the rain forest

6.    See a world cup soccer game live

7.    Fall in love

8.    Adopt kids/ Foster parent

9.    Stand up for something I believe in

10. Make a positive difference in someone's life

11. Make new friends

12. Learn a new skill

13. Learn how to screen print

14.  Speak in front of a large crowd

15. Tell my life’s story to a stranger

16. Visit one of Mother Teresa’s Orphanages

17. Visit Mother Teresa’s Orphanage in Calcutta

18. Go sky diving

19. Go paintballing

20. Go rafting

21. Go kayaking

22. Back pack across Colorado

23. Go on a road trip

24. See Alaskan polar bears

25. Overcome a fear

26. Be on TV for something great I have done

27. Get my teaching license

28. Get a tattoo

29. Learn sign language

30. See all 7 wonders of the world

31. Break a record

32. Tour Europe

33. Volunteer abroad for at least one year

34. Watch all the 100 greatest movies of all time

35. See the sunset and sunrise at the monument

36. Learn to snow board

37. Take a photography class

38. Learn to play the drums

39. Give someone a hair cut

40. Paint a picture

41. Collect over 500 vinyl records

42. Make an Extreme cake

43. Own my own dog

44. Meet  one of my idols

45. Listen to every song on my I tunes in one sitting

46. Read the entire Bible from cover to cover

47. Perform a slam poem in front of an audience

48. Give an important speech in front of a large crowd

49. Visit the original Starbucks

50. Learn video editing

51. Stand in two places at once

52. Climb a 14er

53. See a meteor shower

54. Raft the Nile river

55.  Spend Christmas morning at a homeless shelter

56. Write a song that gets performed 57. Visit Salvation Mtn. (Slab City,CA) 58. See burning man 59. Learn to ride a bike 60. Buy a strangers grocery 61. Tell a secret to a stranger 62. Exercise everyday for 1 mo. 63. Appreciate chess 64. Win a game of monopoly 65. Participate in a rally 66. Organize the largest game of musical chairs 67. Play HVZ 68. Play capture the flag 69. Street perform and make money to donate 70. Dance like CRAZY in public 71. Go rock climbing  72. Get paid to do something I love 73. Successfully be a vegetarian  74. Plant a tree 75. Visit the bus where Christopher McCandeless lived 76. Find a geochache on every Continent 77. Study Abroad in New Zealand 78. Do free hugs 79. Pick the winning team for the world cup 80. Give this list to my husband 81. Get a song written about/ for me 82. Become published 83. Take a photo every day for a year  84. Attend a cycling class 85. Meet Andrea Gibson 86. This one is a SECRET 87. Train seeing eye dogs 88. Go bungee jumping 89. Play disc golf 90. Enter a paddle boarding competition