Top 10 things to do before you turn 30

Enjoy your youth, be wild, and get it out of your system; here are the 10 things you should accomplish before 30.

Sitting here on the dark side of 30, I've been looking back fondly on my wild and woolly youth -- though some might describe it as mild and cottony. Anyway, I thought I would share some of my observations and opinions on important things to accomplish in those twentysomething years.

The things to accomplish during your 20s fulfill a few requirements:

• Doing your youth when you're young. There's nothing more embarrassing than some 50-year-old with his thinning gray hair pulled into a ponytail trying to re-live his youth. Get it out of your system now.
• No regrets. If you do the silly stuff when you are young, then later you won't regret what you might have missed.
• Good stories. Have some good times now, so you can regale your children with tales of your crazy youth.
• Growing up. The point of your 20s is to reach your 30s -- and by then, people will really be expecting you to act like a grown-up. So, you will need some experiences to teach you how to get there.

Don't panic: You can be hip when you're older -- it's just a different kind of hip. You'll understand when you get there.

1. Drive a wickedly cool car, even if you have to rent it. "Wickedly cool" is defined as any car that turns heads on the streets. They say life is a journey and you should enjoy the ride. Well, if that's the case, you might as well ride in style at least once. The best I ever did was a 6-year-old convertible, but hey, I was riding in style in Miami Beach.

2. Date against type. Better yet, date somebody "dangerous." Waking up tied to a bed with a person who has more tattoos than brains will give you stories to regale other members of the old-age home in your dotage. Also, dating "dangerous" types will make you realize what jerks they are -- and make you less likely to pass up a lifelong love affair with someone you're really compatible with.

Or if you already tend to date dangerous, then date someone your mother would like. What the heck, she might be right.

Similarly, I recommend dating someone much older than you. My age limit was no one older than my dad. Since he was 19 when I was born, I actually came pretty close twice. I learned a bit about mature relationships, appreciated someone with life experience ... and got to go to more-expensive restaurants!

3. See the world. It's much easier to do when you're 22 and footloose than 35 with two bawling babies in your backpack. Even if you never leave the United States, you'll see a good portion of the planet. Go cheap and travel light. This leaves you open to more adventures. Youth hostels are inexpensive and, even better, you'll meet tons of other adventurers there.

Seeing the world will broaden your horizons and make you a more interesting person. Plus interesting and funny things happen when you travel -- and remember, your 20s are your time to live the stories that you'll be telling for the rest of your life.

I still talk about the three months I spent after college driving through the Southwest United States. I worked as a volunteer at a National Park, visited the Grand Canyon twice and saw Muhammad Ali in Las Vegas, slept in my car at a highway rest area. I have more memories from that short time than from the next five years of work.

4. Live in a cool place. Maybe a loft in a trendy neighborhood "in transition," maybe just camped out on the beach in your van. Personally, I'm fond of the six months I lived on a sailboat when I was 25. Just think: no air conditioning, a lousy bathroom, mildew and lack of privacy. Yet everyone thought I was living some glamorous life. Later I lived in a one-bedroom apartment, and really appreciated the space. I still didn't have air conditioning but I was a 20-minute walk from the beach. Comfort isn't quite as important in your 20s as later ? take advantage of that fact.

5. If you're going to drink a lot, do it when you're young. Getting sick on cheap white wine after 30 is pretty pathetic. Young drunks sometimes get away with being "cute," though you may still have a lot of apologizing to do. Get this experimentation out of your system and you'll appreciate finer spirits when you get older.

6. Take risks with your job. I've noticed that most people end up changing direction in their careers after their 20s anyway, so, take the time to figure out what you want to do. There will be time enough to be a cubicle drone later.

Aim for the career you've dreamed of doing. If you have a chance to be a model or a dancer, go for it. Get the job in the big city. Volunteer to work on the big project that could make or break the company. Start up a smoothie business with your college buddy.

Or just have fun for now. You might want to be a bartender at the hottest club in town and pick up a lot of dates. Or take a low-paying job at the zoo just because you like animals. Later, when you've got the mortgage and 2.3 kids and a time share in Cocoa Beach, fun will be the last thing on your mind at the office. My husband still talks about having worked on a railroad on Mount Washington because it was a lot more fun than sitting at a desk every day as he does now.

7. Do something physically adventurous. And do it OUTSIDE! No one will ever be remembered for playing Nintendo or watching every single episode of "Friends." Enjoy your body while you're young, push it to its limits -?soon enough, you'll watch your muscles turn to flab and your rear end inflate like a rubber raft.

8. Take your parents to dinner. You'll probably have to struggle with your dad about paying the check, but this is one of those grown-up things to do. It gives you a chance to show your parents that you are an equal and that you are responsible. It's also a chance to show your appreciation for all those dinners they bought over the years.

9. Do volunteer work. You may be broke, but you can give your sweat and earnestness to a cause in which you believe. In addition to improving your world, you can allow yourself to be exposed to others in the world. Work in a soup kitchen and you'll appreciate your un-air-conditioned, one-bedroom apartment.

10. Use this decade to go to extremes. Climb the tallest mountain you can find. Picnic at midnight. Learn to sail. Talk to strangers. Road trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Take a midnight drive to the beach -?then stick around for dawn.

Sounds like your 20s are pretty fun.

But don't think this means the rest of your life will be a drag. My point is to take advantage of what you have: energy, idealism, enthusiasm, a willingness to experiment, a lack of encumbrances, a desire to learn and grow. Enjoy your 20s -- and you'll be better able to appreciate the next stage.

hm...

So this summer is going by quite nicely. It's nice to relax and enjoy myself after the school year and having some downtime. Last Saturday was Rillo's graduation party. It was fun! It was nice to see some APO peops. Good food, nice times, watching in amusement of drunk people doing kareoke and then walking away so to not get wrapped in the chaos, a good conversation with Reeta, seeing Biggie and Frank. I probably wouldn've enjoyed it better if my chest wasn't feeling wierd, but it was still fun. Tomorrow is Lindsay's party! Woo-hoo!

Lately I've just been thinking about a number of things in my life and where I'm going and what not. Sometimes I wonder what exactly I'm doing with myself and where I'm going. I could be partly the fact that I'm not working and maybe getting antsy in addition to having a lot of time for myself. My summer program thing doesn't start until mid-ish July, if mid-ish is a word. I look around me and it seems like everyone around my age are doing something, working somewhere and setting themselves up financially. My mom is just telling me, oh, don't worry about. You don't have to work, just sit back, relax, do nothing. It is nice though, but I kind of sort of want to do something. I'm not complaining because it could always be worse. Sometimes I find jobs I could do, but I don't have a way of getting there. Boo : ( I've started looking at grad schools lately, and that also looks "boo : ( ". I don't know where I'm going to end up, and some of the programs I've been looking at look really competitive. I still have some time though to raise my GPA and build up more things on my resume, so not all hope is lost, but I have my work cut out for me and I need to focus even more. I also started thinking about things around the end of the school year, and trying to figure out what "living it up" is. Is it having a grand time and partying it out? Is it doing everything you want to do in your life? I have enjoyed some of college so far, but I feel like there is more out there for me to experience. I just don't want to leave here with any regrets, wishing I had done this or that or done more. I don't know. The other day, I made a list of things I want to do before I graduate, and maybe I'll make a list of things I want to do in life. Perhaps I'm being too idealistic. Or perhaps it's time for me to sieze the day. Carpe diem. Well, I don't know. I just hope to enjoy this summer and everything else. I'm still deciding whether or not to commute or live during the summmer thing. We'll see. Maybe I'm worrying too much. Maybe I should do something. Maybe it's not that bad. I just hope everything works out ok with alot of the stuff I've been thinking aobut.

Observing current events and evaluating myself

Ahh summer. How good it feels.

Tonight I went to old high school's choir concert. Overall, they sounded pretty good. Treble choir was much smaller and they kind of mixed it up with less people being in jazz choir. They sometimes sounded softer with the smaller groups, but overall, it was good and sounded in tune. Now I see how old I am, since I didn't recognize most of the choir being a lot of youngins and newbies, and most of the people I did know had graduated. Sort of wierd.

Sometimes I wonder and question how independent I am. I was thinking of getting a job, but then I'm afraid that I'm going to be in this catch 22, since my mom wants me to just stay at home and relax, and I'm afraid she's going to get mad at me for getting a job. Seems wierd, but I guess I sort of don't know how to explain it. I don't drive either : ( Well, I don't have much time now to continue to write in here, so I'll write later and eat now.

I got in!

I can't believe I got in!

May 1, 2006

Dear Ame,

We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected to participate
in the IWL Community Leadership, Action and Service Project (CLASP). You
have been selected to work with the Institute for Arts and Humanities
Education's AMARD Program. As one of a select number of students chosen to
be a CLASP participant, you will have access to many of the excellent
resources and opportunities available through the Institute for Women’s
Leadership.

We are sending some materials about the program for your review in the
mail, including a description of the program requirements and a schedule.
Please review the program requirements and the schedule closely, and if
you believe you can fulfill them, sign the letter of agreement and return
it by May 15th, along with the questionnaire. Before accepting this spot,
make sure you are fully committed to fulfilling the requirements.

Congratulations, and welcome to the program. We look forward to working
with you over the summer months.

Sincerely,

Judith Simms & Cynthia S. Gorman
Community Leadership, Action & Service Project

contemplation

Hello world. Well, some ups and downs since my last post, but i'm doing better i hope now. Where to start. Last night was senior eulogies. I realized how i might not be as close with other people I may have thought. Oh well. What can you do. In addition to being the emotional person I am, I just bawled at everything even if it wasn't directly related to me. I just have a lot of thoughts running through my mind. A friend of mine called up concerned of how i've been doing and said things that I can see where she is coming from with her suggestions and concern. I think if I was someone looking on the outside of someone like me, I could see some of her suggestions. I've been through harder times in my life though in comparison, so I how I've been feeling that one week is actually kind of minor in comparison. However, I was surprised at myself of how emotional I felt that week. And it sure as hell wasn't PMS. I just need to take a deep breather. Get things in perspective. Maybe talk to others. I don't know. I don't even know sometimes where things come from. Also this week my allergies were killer recently, and I just started taking some Claritan D, and it made me feel better. As far as emotionally, I hope everything will be ok. Sometimes I look at my past, and see how much it has influenced me. They say everything happens for a reason and everything has a purpose, even if you can't see it at the moment. I hope so. I see the stigma in mental illness looking at my extended family's reaction and that indian mentality. I'm sure it's not an indian thing, mental illness is just stigmitized in general. I've seen that and want to change people's minds about that, even though it sounds mad corny. It's one of the reasons I'm majoring in psychology. Man, some psych classes can be hard, like freaking physio, but that's a whole can of worms of other worries. I see other people majoring in psych, and some I think are studying it for the right reasons, but I feel there may be others that are having it as their major as their default, because it seems easy and they don't know what else to major. I mean, it could also just be a popular major because it can be interesting, learning about the human mind and something we can use in our everyday lives with our interactions with each other. Then again, those people that are majoring in it but seem uncertain if they are going to use it for helping people kind of frustrates me, because it is more competition. At the same time, who am I to judge what other's intentions and goals are. But still..you know where I'm coming from right? Well yeah. I just wanted to ramble about something that can help me get some perspective and self-understanding, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm getting to through all this.

Anyways, I just want certainty and sure stability in my future, even though you don't know what life can bring you and sometimes you have to roll with the punches. Someone told me that things that you don't know why is happening to you and challenging you is because it is testing you, of your strength, character, maybe faith if you believe in that and could perhaps be to make you stronger for certain things you will deal in the future. I think there may be some truth in that. Life hasn't come full circle, but at the same time, I'm young, growing, still seaching myself and only 20 years old. I'm remember joking with others and other comments and hear, man, 20 is soo old! Oh man I'm so old dude! 20 is not an old age now I realize just because you're no longer a teenager. It's a really young age in the whole perspective of things of seeing stuff right now in this way. Another thing that I've seen is that I've lost respect for some older brothers or what not. At the same time, if you look at it in another way, they are still growing people even though they are part of the older crowd in the college spectrum of things. They are people in their early 20s still growing and are going to see the real world soon. Yeah, the real world might be scary, and I think that transition from college to the real world may be a challenge for me because I know how I can be and my proclivity to act and feel that way in those certain situations. It is some time from now, but at the same time it's only 2 years away unless I become a 5th year which I hope I don't become. Anyways, I just hope everything will be ok. It mulled over me some of the things my friend told me. I mean, I might be ok, but I don't know if I should ask for outside help. I'm not so bad and I feel much better now.

I have feel so drained from school, allergies, APO and life. It's almost all over, fortunately and unfortunately. I just hope I find something constructive to do over the summer. I don't want to waste it away again. I just want to find something, anything to do. I wish I could find something I could do and get to, since I don't have a car and can't really drive. Work, volunteering, internships even though it's probably too late to find those. I don't care anymore just something, anything.

I hope everything will be ok. I have to make it ok for myself too though. We'll see what happens.

Depresses again. What else is new?

It doesn't matter what association I've felt. I can't live up to other people's expecations. I don't meet. I don't compare. Things I've planned don't have desired results..and not that that is such a bad thing because sometimes things don't go the way you plan, but I put effort into something that ends up taxing on myself. It's not worth it anymore.

Oh my goodness I'm so mad. I just typed an entry and accidently hit a button that deleted most of my entry right now and what's left is my previous paragraph. See how things aren't going my way already? I should just end everything here.

: (

I've been feeling pretty down and lonely lately.

Dancing Disappointments

I felt so depressed before because I tried out for the Mason Gross B.A. degree in dance audtions today. I think my form was ok, but the fact I messed alot made me really upset. I can do the moves, just that I know I can't pick up as quickly, so there'll be moments I'm unsure of what to do and then I mess up because I do the wrong move. I didn't realize there was no tondu's to the back. I'm gonna overanalyze everything I do now even though I'm sure probably someone who might read this might not care, but I'm just going over it for my sake. I don't even remember what we started. Something with our arms. Oh, now I remember, bending over to the front, side and diagnol. That didn't seem to bad, but with the tondu's and degajay's (sp?), I wasn't sure which way sometimes when to point my feet when we first started. There were moments where I think I may have put up or down my arms too soon or too late. And the arabesques, I hadn't even used that muscle in a while so when I brought my leg up in back...aaaa! It sucks. And you're supposed to have your whole body in alignment, when you do point your feet or raise your leg to the side, but I couldn't help but tilt just a bit, becauase staying up straight needs more balance. And I did terribly at first when we did the routine we just learned across the floor, because I went to soon on the 4th count of 3 and went into the attitude rather than holding and then I noticed the other girls behind me were still in splace. It sucked. I messed up too on the second time but I forgot what I did. When we were practicing and learning it in the center, I turned the wrong way and went to my right rather than left. I least I got it by the time we were doing it across the floor in threes. Oh, and I kind of stopped at the end because I forgot what he told us of how much we had to do, but I might have been right b/c we only had to do two set of 6's. Oh wait, maybe we did have to do 3 set of 6's. I don't remember. I did notice tho that the next set of 3 girls only went after one count of 6 instead of the 2 set of 6's that the instructor asked us. Maybe I should've went later after 2 sets, but then I didn't want to look out of sync, even though I might have been right. At least by the third time I got the routine down pat when I did it across the floor. The jumps with our legs up were fun but I missed a step going across the left side. OO, and when we were relevaing (sp?), we had to move our head's focus to another part of the room, and at one point my feet gave way with the heels going onto the side, and I was like, dammnit. By the middle of the auditionn I was like, fuck it, I probably didn't get in since I messed up so much. Oh, and when we had to drop one hand, in this case the left hand while still holding our balance and relevaying, I just dropped my left and plopped it down kind of abrubtly as it hit my thigh sloppily. Dammnit. I mean, I know that I may have messed up, and I can't pick things up as quickly sometimes, and I shouldn't care what other people think, but the fact that other girls saw me mess up and will probably say something to each other is what upsets me. Even when I was outside texting I think on the phone, and I think I heard a girl on my modern class saying to someone else walking out, that's the girl who messed up or something. Shut up. I know I messed up and got depressed and cried, but I know sometimes my form was ok and was better than some of the girls there. If only I could pick things up very quickly and perceptively, I would've been able to nail it. If the girls who I know I think got in and didn't get in, that means I know what the program is looking for and I know what I need to work on. I felt better afterwards when I had lunch with Frank and started talking and got things off my mind. Just depressing with this failure, and it'll be a surpise if I get in. I feel a little better now. But the fact that I didn't do up to par of what they may expect upsets me. If I did get in I'm sure other girls would all be like, how'd she get in, and stuff like that. Whatever. I'm so sad. I wish I could prove my self to them, because deep down I think I really do have it, just fine tuning in certain arenas in perception and perhaps other things too that I may not be aware of.

Thoughts

Ahh..plenty of thoughts on my mind. So yeah..I've been thinking. I'm trying and have in the past, be very open-minded and non judgemental of others. Especially in the circumstances I'm in now, I want to be able to have respect for everyone, even if they may not be my most favorite person. There is one person, and I've been having what I think is an internal struggle in accepting/tolerating him sometimes. There may be characteristics that irk me, such as being somewhat pretentious and full of himself, and disregarding any valid point I feel I may make in a debate. Then, the other day during the benefit relief concert, he did seem nice, and offered to pay my ticket because the stupid ATM was out of money. I mean seriously, ATM with no more money left in it? That thing should always be stocked at a certain level. Anyways, there are characteristics of this kid that not only I, but other people are a bit fed up on, even though they talk about it amongst themselves. I hate all that back talking.

Ahh! Enough of that. Sometimes, when I feel like I'm trying to be a good, genuine person in not talking of others, keeping an open mind, staying tactful and keeping my mouth shut of any trash talking, I feel like there's something building up inside of me. Ugh, I hate it and I want it to just go away. I guess this is what this baby is for.

There may have been some more things I might've wanted to get off of my chest, but I'm tires and it's getting somewhat late, so I'm going to go to bed after my post-midnight snack.

hi im lou: i'm talking to a brother from stevens
hi im lou: and he's asking about you: look

SolidSnake5684: so hows ya little
hi im lou: she's so cute
hi im lou: we're a really good match
SolidSnake5684: single?;-)
hi im lou: hi im lou: SHE'S A PLEDGE!
SolidSnake5684: i kno
SolidSnake5684: so is she single?
hi im lou: yes!
hi im lou: but you can't have her
hi im lou: SolidSnake5684: booooo
hi im lou: she's untouchable for one semester.
SolidSnake5684: lol
hi im lou: SolidSnake5684: is that chapter rule?
SolidSnake5684: or your rule
hi im lou: ...both!
hi im lou: damn yo. doods better back off of my little!

LOLOL

random entry

Most people in my grade are turning 20 this year. It's a bit wierd, because, I don't feel anywhere near the independence I should feel for someone of that age. I mean, I still have 6 months left of my last year as a teenager, so I'm good for now. I still feel like a little girl inside. Not to mention I probably look like a little girl as well several years my junior to some people, but that's besides the point. Is that the right terminology? Several years my junior? I think that's right.

In social psychology class we've been learning a number of things, like fundamental attribution theory, which is something that was right smack in my face most of the time in high school. >Insert angry emotican here< Life has been the usual, studying, classes, eating, shitting, showering, hanging out. How lovely does that sound, lol. No serioulsy, I've been trying to focus the majority of my energy to schoolwork lately. I don't have that firm of a grip as I really really want to, but I'm getting there. So, a dear lovely friend of mine and I don't want to go to a thing we were invited to because we need to study and it is a bit of a hassle/out of our way having to take the trip to get there or what not. What would be the most classiest way of getting out of it without making our drama-prone hostess have a fit with us?

Ehh..so it's almost 3 and I have a 10:20 tomorrow. Oh, another couldn't hurt, now could it?!

So...I want to be able to have more meaningful entries rather than the ones that reiterate what I did for the day. I mean, I guess it's not a bad thing. I don't know where to start.

I'm looking forward to this semester after I first step foot at the first APO meeting. There's this really warm feeling and positive aura. For some reason, my collegiate career (I think I can call it that?) will feel so much more complete if I did this, and I cannot wait. I wish every other aspect of my life felt like this. I guess perhaps a number of people yearn to be part of a family of some sort whether it be within your friends or whatever social/community group or organizations you're in. It's somewhat human nature to be gregarious and enjoy that tight familial feeling. It just feels better with connecting with others. I just don't want to be thinking this because I myself am probably yearning this. No..I think some of what I said has some truth.

Oiy! Ok, so after not feeling well the first couple of weeks of school, I'm happy to report that I've recuperated significantly. I went to the health center and the final verdict is that I'm not completely 100% fine from before I started school, but I have been feeling ALOT better nontheless. This reminds me, in health psych class, we were learning how health is correlated with other factors that are psychological, like placebo effect, self-efficacy, stress and a whole lot of other stuff. The whole health, body, mind, spirit connection was too true my sophomore year in high school. That was one of the hardest years of my life, and I wouldn't want anyone to walk in my shoes that year with all the Hell I endured then. It's so fascinating though, don't you think? Of how the one time I really showed symptons this week was when I was nervous right before Deep Treble audtions. Well, yeah, I guess maybe it's not such a big deal that nerves can trigger a bunch of things in your body involuntarily, but isn't it fascinating how our whole body's system is interconnected like that? There is someone who is thinking along the same lines as me somewhere in this world and is amazed at this too right? I remember my doctor saying one time of how the body is smarter than the mind, because if there is something not good for your body or you're not treating/taking care of your body the best it could, it'll reject what it takes in. Or something like that. Hmm..maybe I should focus on what I want to major in something in this direction.

Oh, and I miss dance. I don't think I want to to Rutgers Performing Dance Company b/c well, it's not the same atmoshpere as APO and I have alot of other obligations during night time with other things I have to do and go. Whatever.

Oiy, and it's time to clock in 5 hours of sleep tonight! I need to go to bed earlier.

: )

I am so rushing for Alpha Phi Omega. There's just this positive aura in the room and I look forward to each thing that I plan to go. There's not a negative in not joining. Perhaps not getting into the a capella groups did serve it's purpose for now? Ame = estatic

Ok, so..I know I should be going to bed for my 9:50 am music class on college ave, but 10 minutes before 2 am writing in my blog won't hurt anyone. Let's see, the infamous Grace-face visited, and it was muchos fun : D . Trip to NY, even though Lindsay and I separated from Grace, Amy and Bridgette. At the end of the night when I took the train and got off by myself at the New Brunswick train station, I couldn't get to the other side of the station so that I could walk down the path I'm familiar with to the Grease Trucks. Some emo looking freshmen kids were making some wierd banana documentary, and one of the kids sitting on the bench offered to run with me to the Grease Trucks through the back alley way since that was the only way how to get there on the side of the train station I was on. He had to run because his friends were waiting for a train in the next 7 minutes to go to the next town over just to eat. Apparantly, they were really bored. So anyways, we had this brief conversation panting out of breath on our way running to the train station. He lived in the McCormick high rise and I was like, oh, I was just there last night. Oh, and another funny thing, my friend Winnie who I took the train with home who got off at Edison said she was at Rutgers, sleeping over McCormick the night before us girls went to NY. C'est interessant, non? So yeah, the point of this story was that it just made my day that some random kid would run with me to the bus stop risking missing his train. It was nice. I hope he made his train.

Sometimes, I feel lonely around here. It's alright though, because this year, I feel like I'm meeting more people. I'm getting more involved.

10 minutes has passed. Even though Ame wants to write more..Ame however must force herself to sleep for the morning classes she stupidly scheduled for every day of the week. It's not such a bad thing though because my afternoons are free. Signing off.

So

So..I decided to give this baby an update. Classes in swing, school, going out, same same. One thing I do realized is that I find myself more alone nowadays this school year. Last year with the open door policy in our freshman dorms and there were people usually around often. This year, it's more quiet, which isn't a bad thing by any means, but it means that I can't run to a nearby neighbor or a friend living next door just to talk or ask about something. I don't even know who some of the people living down the hall from us are. Oh well, it's not such a big deal.

Today I studied a good chunk in the library, and then just bummed in the dorm when I got back. I'm lazy, but at the same time, I'm sort of not. So someone I knew from high school imed me, and it was great talking to him after a long time. Only thing is, I think he needs to see someone. I mean, well, you should just meet him yourself to see what I'm talking about. Very nice individual though.

Oh, and last night, Nik called me, and then Viet got on the phone telling me to go out at 1 AM in the morning. Pshh. Sometimes I claim of how "I have no friends" : ( . I guess I do but our timings are bad and some of them are nuts.

See how boring my life is? It's alright though, because this week is full and busy of practices and audtions. I might not go to some though, even though I listed them on my little calender planner. I just need to do something! With the classes I have and how I scheduled them, there is no excuse for me to be able to do awesome academically and balance some dance/music/something anything activity that I'd like and be passionate about!

I almost forgot today was September 11. I was going to go to the Candlelight Vigil thing they were having, but then I left the dorm right at 9:30 and they were already gathered there in a small ellipse, and I didn't want to bother them. So I just kind went back up. Gosh, this whole entry has just been about me and I feel a little bad. The one thing that I thought about was my former cross-country couch. There was some important meet on that day that year that he was amping up because it was a decently competitive team that we had a chance at beating. I remember him saying how he wanted this one to go to his twin brother who died that day. Then the whole September 11 deal happened, the same day of the anniversay of his twin brother's death, and the meet was obviously cancelled. I forget if we ever did beat that team, but that just crossed my mind.

I should go to bed because I stupidly scheduled morning classes on different campuses where I have to take 2 buses. Bleh. Oh, and I met a new person in my health psych class! I hope that doesn't sound loserish if that's a word. Maybe I just need to meet new people or something.

: (

I could cry a river

Damn Dorms!

Omg I'm going to kill someone! Kill someone! I hate these freaking old ass dorms from 1929 that lock me out! Freaking dysfunctional crap and locks and no air conditioning! Ugh! I got my lock jammed and was locked out until 2:30 AM for a whole freaking hour! Ugh!ksfsfkdsjkdfjgdfjgdfjgdfkjgdlkfgjkdfgkrtoreigkjgbjkfbfjhbfhkfjggfdgfdgjkdfjgkdfjgkdfjgfkdljgs;df

Ahh..but yes..allow me to recollect my day. So...I woke up and watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show this morning/noon. So random of a movie. Haha. After that, I had an urge to go see Deep Treble perform at the college fair....but by the time I got there, they were done. Oh well. However, I did get to got to the Rutgers College fair at College Ave, and I found a lot of stuff. The bad thing is that I signed up for absolutely everything, so I'll probably be getting junk mail and what not. The things I may want to join are Dance Performing Company, maybe a choir if I get in, Alpha Chi Omega, and perhaps that seeing Eye Dog Puppy Club. Oh and maybe a sport like Rugby or an intramural one. Not sure. So..about 2:30ish I left because I had to meet up with Priya. So when I left to get on an EE, the bus was somewhat full with people standing. The lady driver was such a bitch. I was the 5th and last person able to get on. There was a whole crowd of people and they couldn't get on. Felt bad for people waiting for over an hour. I saw Brienne! The buses these days have been horrible. I saw Nancy, JC, Jeremy, Chris and Sean walking. Apparantly they walked from College Ave to Douglass. Man. Get to my dorm, see Lindsay's friend Kim chillin there, talked for a bit, and then left to meet up with Priya. So nice to see Priya in such a long time! She was with roomie Chayne and Priya's other friend Amanda from Ruet. First it was the whole..oh..how is everything, summer, classes. Then it got quiet. Then Chayne had the idea of playing pool, but we didn't end up doing that and headed to the activities fair. It was alright. Saw the Mckormick crew who were attempting to mooch free stuff. Priya and Amanda had already left to Amanda's Newells apartments. Then headed over to busch, chilled, ate dinner. Had this whole talk of the legal ages of people having sex. Chilled then went back home soon with Chayne. Chayne is really cool. That was really the first time I really talked and hung out with her.

So when I was back at the dorm, I thought to myself, I don't want to be bored and alone. Who will I chill with? Called some people, then Viet called me and he was around Rutgers. After a while of figuring out how to get to my dorm, Jay and Viet came over. Then Jay's brother who I'm good friends with met up and they were all outside smoking. Chilled, then Nikhil who is Jay's brother came up with the other guys. Decided to go to a frat. Lambda..the Asian frat. Hot as anything inside there. Ran out of almost every drink AGAIN just like Sunday night. Oh, and of course, I can't get around Rutgers without officially meeting people who I've seen around my hometown in Edison. Saw Megan, that girl Tatiana, and met Jeff Ho. Then we bounced and I came back to my dorm around 1:30ish..and of course the stupid door lock gets jammed. I was having trouble trying to lock my door when I was leaving, and Nikhil helped screw in a lose screw. Had to paige the RA on duty, but I guess I was doing it wrong and didn't know how to paige. Went to my current RA. Lorraine and Kiwi were there, had opened the door and I told them what happened. Lorraine offered if worse comes to worse, I could've slept over her room because she has no roommate. That was cool of her and I really like her as a person. She's really smart and seems like a genuine person. I knew her from Shaping a Life last year. So finally Elaine came, made some calls. She wasn't too bad, because I've heard that she was stuckup from other people, probably from Grace or someone. Overnight housing workers or something came and fixed it. It was lose, which was something I noticed when I was tryng to leave and lock the door. Ugh, they finally got it and now I have to call for an extra screw. Now I am writing this for the .2 people who read this. So that was my day. Intriguing no?

sunday night shenanigans

Yes, it was kind of a weak party night for the people who was with us last night. So, I went over to McCormick with Lindsay yesterday. Ate dinner, watched the VMAs, and met Nancy's new freshman roomates. After some uncertainity of who was going to go out, Nancy, Chris, Seamer, Eugene and I headed out. We went to SAM's (Sigma Alpah Moo or something) and that sucked. People drinking and standing and beer pong that ended after awhile. They ran out of beer, hot as anything and we found it boring, so we headed outl Then from after that it was everyone except Chris and we walked and went to some place...uh..some house near a parking lot. Just waiting outside and it was like..whatever. I texted and called Melissa, and she said they heading to Lambda. Sometime before, Nancy ran into two friends of hers, Andrew and Aaron I think, and they were with us for most of the rest of the night. So we were heading over the Asian frat and those guys started talking to these girls we met out of nowhere. I'm like, what the hell. It was funny though. I just randomly met people that night that I had no idea where it came from. So, on our way to Huntington we passed another group of asian girls sitting in front of Au bon Pain, overheard us and said Lambda was boring cuz they were just there. The two guys just were there talking to them and we left them but we'd catch up with them later. Blah blah this is boring never made it to lambda. Afterwards we went into DKE for two seconds, but it was a long line for alchohal and we left because it was even hotter in there. I kind of liked DKE though. Eugene decided to go back home. Then met up with Andrew and Aaron and headed to their place at 17 Mine St. to just chill. Met some more people. Heard there's a party in Edison near the train station next weekend. Saw some Sin City. Headed to the bus which was pretty full, but then it headed to the Grease trucks and there were a whorde of people just on outside and in front of the bus. Oh my God, and the bus ride was packed after it was already full with drunk people up against each other and cheering stupid chants. Some girl took a picture of the whole crowd running to the bus..haha! Then we finally got home and I passed out on the Mckormick lounge couch. Ehh..yeah...kind of a sucky party night. We'll have better nights.

Aaaa

Aaa..how good it feels to be back!

I feel so much happier here. You know, broadening my horizons on many levels. It's great.

Edit: Ok, so now I'm updating here after taking a nap after doing greeting. Oh, and this must be more than a coincidence. My good friend Baneen from high school got into the same freshman dorm room Grace and I had! That is so cool! It must be a sign. I think this will give Grace an excuse to visit our old room or something. But really, that's a bit wierd..you know?

Anyways, I've been thinking some things lately. I really did not get a chance to hang out with some, actually most of my friends.

Edit #2: Ok, I have a very short attention span on this thing. I didn't get to finish that last thought and I was going to continue it later, but whatever. So..since I can't take Dance Appreciation because I guess it's for Mason Gross people, I was looking for other opportunities to dance around Rutgers. That's strange though with Dance Appreciation because in the Douglass yellow book it says it fulfills a humanities requirement. So there's these non credit dance classes, Rutgers Dance Company, Ballroom Dance Team which I don't really want to do and Modern Dance 2 which is a 2 credit course. I found there's a non-credit break dancing class! Whoa!

Some of them don't fit in with my schedule and wow this probably sounds really boring but I don't have anything else better to write about on the top of my head because I am slightly bored now.

Head Automatica is great!

Ok there was no central focus and point to this post. I just wrote this in a couple of attempts when I had nothing else better to do online.

WTF?

Is it just me..or does it seem apathy has swept over teenagers? I think may be more of a buzz going around campus if you're there taking summer classes, and considering there are people occupied with various other activities at other places during their summer that they may not be as aware. According to local news, the process of restructuring Rutgers University elimates all the separate colleges and ties them all under one umbrella. That would mean my college, Douglass college, will cease to exist and the only remnants of our campus that would seem to stay the same are the all female dorms. It's all over the prominent Jersey newspapers, but why do I feel like no one seems to care? Or perhaps it's simply me? Just two days ago, the Douglass alumnae launched a website in their campaign to save the college. If Rutgers does decide to go ahead and merge, the uniqueness (if that's a word?) of our smaller community within a greater community will be extinct. The alumnae sponsorhip who have donated time, commitment, and money to this school will not be able to do so in the same fashion as they have in the past under this new infrastructure. If plans for this re-organization does prove successful, it states that students will be called to unite the student governments of Livingston, Cook, Rutgers and Douglass, or to remain separate. Wouldn't the combination of these institutions and our self-governing systems create even more of an anonymity in an already colossal system that bases students' identity by a faceless social security number? Isn't the beauty of having these seperate entities to form a tighter community, academic environment, and social/professional network in this already gargantuan of a university that a foreigner could easily get lost in while driving around this area? Especially under the current drawn out Route 18 construction that is never ending. In addition to a student's quote, it also develops a sense of pride for someone's own campus. They claim the science and math programs to support women in this underrepresented field that was specially designated for this school wouldn't be affected. But still, what would happen to some of the programs that are designed for giving opportunities to the female population under this college? I just feel if the bullshit Rutgers bureacracy is triumphant in this ordeal, this little college, where I feel is almost like a small, personal homely college with it's delicate scenery and the friendships I've founded here will be gone forever. Ok, so maybe the delicate scenery and friendships will still be in existence, but...that atmoshphere of a small school where if you didn't know it was under a big name like Rutgers you probably wouldn't have known, and just thought it was another run of the mill small college in Anywhere, USA.

Despite maybe some run-on sentences and discrepancies in grammer in my blog, here are some of the links in the media that discuss in more detail of the current situation..if anyone freaking reads this damn blog or gives a rat's a s s. Oh yeah, and tuition was hiked 8% in several higher education state institutions in NJ, Rutgers included. That's a whole other blog where I can go off on a tangent and vent.

NJ.com/The Star-Ledger
The Home News Tribune
www.savedouglasscollege.org

P.S The Home News Tribune has several articles related to recent occurances in Rutgers. Just poke around and you'll find all of them. Or better yet, go the Rutgers University section on the side menu, and you'll find it all.

In addition, Cook College will not be affected becuase of it's science/environmental focus. There's also no mention of what would happen to Mason Gross. Would they be under the the Rutgers heading or would they form themselves to be their own academic enitity, separate from Rutgers?

To be continued

So, due to a surge in curiousity in podcasting, I found this random women's blog thoughts here . Then I found an i p o d tutorial ! I haven't realized that podcasting has been available since last year. Then again, I'm always the last to hear of such things. It's going to on my list of things to do when I get back to school, well..other than studying, attending classes and being involved in school and community-related activities of course. If anyone out there reads this and can translate m u s i c technology jargon to a computer/math illiterate simple-minded psych major, please feel free to help a soul out.

I shall update more later with a more mainstream alternative rock playlist! However, human urges to consume food calls, so I will elaborate on this later.

I'm back with a vengeance bithces. Here is what I've been listening to lately:
Electrelane: "If Not Now, When?"/Axes
Wilco: "War on War"/Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The Features: "The Beginning(Week One)"/ The Beginning : )
Head Automatica: "Beating Heart Baby"/Decadence
The Beta Band: "The Eclipse"/Hot Shots II
Shonen Knife: "Redd Kross"/The Birds And The B-Sides
Garbage: "Bleed Like Me"/ Bleed Like Me
Armor For Sleep: "Car Underwater"/What To Do When You're Dead
Modest Mouse: "Ocean Breathes Salty"/Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Nine Inch Nails: "Hand That Feeds You"/With Teeth

Little bit more mainstream this time. Sorry if I lack exceptional writing skills like many other bloggers I have seen on the particular site. So far, Seton Hall's WSOU Pirate Radio is by far the best college radio station our local area has to offer with eclectic forms of rock. Rutger's 90.3 FM The Core is the better radio station out of the two that Rutgers has to offer. Going back to Seton Hall, their Thursday night programming of Under The Stars will make your life more complete if you have a penchant for this kind of m u s i c. Outside the college radio realm, I feel that G 106.3 tickles my fancy and satisfies my thirst for modern and alternative rock hits.

So this is how I spend my summer days. Exciting, is it not?