Confession #10

I love quotes.
Moreover I like quoteable things.
There is such beauty in different sayings and at times it seems as if reading them helps you understand yourself and what you think better. It’s as if Mark Twain-Joyce Brothers-Emerson read my confused and jumbled mind as was able to make perfect sense of it.
Some quotes I have liked lately:

“When you come right down to it, the secret of having it all is loving it all.”
- Dr. Joyce Brothers
“Well-behaved women never make history”
- Susan B. Anthony

“All the effort in the world won’t matter if you aren’t inspired”
-Chuck Palahniuk

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse…”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You’re much more attractive than punctuation.”
- Justin Hall

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did.”
- Mark Twain

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.”
- Winston Chruchill

“Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin

“As far as men go, it is not what they are that interests me, but what they can become.”
- Jean-Paul Sartre

“It was still night. I was the only one out there who thought it was morning. The first person to believe in the light.”
- Antigone

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
-Isaiah 55:11

“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”
-John Lennon

“Sometimes it’s a struggle to be not who you want to be, not who you used to be, not who you’re going to be, but just being right where you are, who you are.
-Vernon Reid

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
- Bessie Anderson Stanley

“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
- Mark Twain

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
- C.S. Lewis

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
- Winston Churchill

“But now it’s over. It’s nice and peaceful anyway. Everyone who had to die is dead: those who believed in one thing, those who believed in the opposite…even those who didn’t believe in anything, but were caught up in the story without knowing what was going on…And all those who are still alive are quietly beginning to forget them and get their names mixed up. It’s over.”
-Antigone by Jean Anouilh

Thanksgiving

I LOVE THANKSGIVING!
Seriously though, it is my absolute favorite holiday. There is no stress over whether or not someone will like the present you bought them or if it will be awkward when someone gives you a present and you didn’t get them one (this is a major concern).
Thanksgiving is a holiday that revolves around food and fellowship, two of my all time favorite things.
A few wonderful things that went down this Thanksgiving included:
Having a daily thankful status on Facebook.
Making hand turkey thankful shirts and Indian, excuse me, Native American head dresses to wear on the last day of school.
Having a Potluck Thanksgiving Feast in the cafeteria at school complete with a table cloth, sparkling cider, center pieces, and way too much food.
Having Sworth Family game night, visual telephone anyone?
Heading down to Hot-Lanta to celebrate with the Hollis-Sworth clan.
Watching UP in the theater at Uncle Hal’s house
All in all this Thanksgiving was incredibly successful and I enjoyed every minute.
Oh and of course Black Friday was a hit. Can you say “Gap Outlets” anyone?
But time moves on and so should we. Now is the time for christmas tree scented candles and Amazon shopping.
I have successfully completed the majority of my Christmas shopping, shocking right?
Today the Christmas traditions will commence with peppermint mochas from the Target Starbucks, Sandy Patty Christmas songs, and Christmas Tree decorating.
OH December.

Cofession #9

I buy too much music.
but I also listen to music all of the time,
and make a new soundtrack at least every month.
I was raised listening to Copeland and Jimmy Eat World
in the back seat of my brother and sister’s volvos.
I was tricked selling buttons at Courage Riley shows
The first flowers I ever received were from the drummer from Baumer
(I turned 12 and he was my brother’s best friend, aka my crush)
Music has been a large part of my life and I keep it that way.
I can’t listen to a song I’ve heard before without associating it with memories: smells, weather, people, and how I felt when I heard it.

P.S.
Buy this guy’s cd

Confession #8

I don’t know everything.
Surprising isn’t it?
I am still learning. I’m learning about myself, about my faith, about my friends, and about everything else.
Some things that I have learned lately:
-You’re never too cool to have school spirit, dress up for homecoming, or go to football games
-Making a random Harry Potter reference will still get laughs
-Waiting until the Sunday to do homework is never a good idea
-Pretending you know exactly what you’ll be doing next year doesn’t fool anybody
-Krispy Kreme doughnuts are modern day manna
-Dancing is fun, especially when your dancing is awkward
-It’s only awkward if you make it awkward
-You’ll be happier if you talk to that person you haven’t talked to since middle school/that class you had with them that one time. It’s senior year, you’re running out of chances to say hi in the hallways.
-What underclassmen think of you is not important
-It’s ok if your team loses the homecoming game
-Teachers like it if you bring doughnuts and glowsticks to class on their birthday
-Carrying glowsticks in your purse will undoubtedly come in handy

Just trying to share the knowledge.
Keep Learning!

Thr3e

Three movies that I need to see as soon as humanly possible
1. The Julie & Julia Project
I read the book and it was a great read, a little frustrating with the amount of f-bomb usage but still a good book all around. Hopefully the movie will be just as good if not better.
P.S. apparently Meryl Streep defined awesome in this movie

2. The Time Traveler’s Wife
I’m showing my nerd… I read this book as well and it was incredible. While the constant change of setting and time was a little confusing if not annoying the plot was perfect and the characters sublime. If I hadn’t been at work when I finished it I definitely would have cried in the ending. For having a sci-fi-ish theme the book was down to earth and simply put, human. Here’s to hoping the movie will be at least half as good as the book, and since I love Rachel McAdams I’m sure it will be.

3. 500 Days of Summer
“Tom, the boy, still believes, even in this cynical modern world, in the notion of a transforming, cosmically destined, lightning-strikes-once kind of love. Summer, the girl, doesn’t. Not at all. But that doesn’t stop Tom from going after her, again and again, like a modern Don Quixote, with all his might and courage. Suddenly, Tom is in love not just with a lovely, witty, intelligent woman – not that he minds any of that — but with the very idea of Summer, the very idea of a love that still has the power to shock the heart and stop the world.”
with an amazing soundtrack to boot.
Yes please.

Confession #7

I am rarely doing what I should be doing at the time. This is a close relative of procrastination, for instance right now I am at work so theoretically I should be doing work things (like answering phones and making copies) but considering that today is a slow day and there is nothing to do I should be working on my Psychology summer work since school starts in a week but this is the homework that I should have done at the begining of summer because now I should be working on my extended essay that’s due in the beginning of September when I will want be doing senior year stuff (like football games and hanging out with friends) when I should be applying to colleges and taking the ACT so that I can get into a good college and become an attorney.
So in run-on sentence fashion that is my confession, I procrastinate which in turn causes me to do the wrong thing at the wrong time.

On a side note- I am officially a senior. This is it, the end of all ends. I won’t have anymore first day of school outfits or school pictures, no more parking permits, tardies, agendas, ID’s, cafeteria, looming threats of afterschool and ISS, making fun of C-hall kids, walking in the breezeway, sitting in the commons, and basically all of those things about highschool I love and hate.
So cue senior year- I am beyond ready.

Confession #6

Almost had you fooled didn’t I. Well turn that frown upside down, the confessions are back with a vengence, or hug, whichever way you prefer to look at it.
Everything needs a soundtrack. At least in my mind this is true 100% of the time. Every thing I see has a soundtrack, whether its Death Cab for Cutie from the top of the Eiffel Tower or Taylor Swift while making cookies, and yes I do admit to listening to Taylor Swift, frequently. Every part of my daily life has music playing along in my head. I obsessively make mixed cds and new playlists on my ipod for this purpose. Sometimes though its hard to fit a song to a scene, for example during my trip to France we were riding a bus through the Alps, I can honestly tell you that I have never seen anything more beautiful or awe inspiring. Basically driving through the Alps beats Corley Mill on any day of the week. But I couldn’t find something to fit those mountains, I just kept listening to one random song after another which in a way was fitting, they deserved more than just one soundtrack.
So next time you see something beautiful, or hey, even something ugly, give it a soundtrack.

On a side note, I am purchasing a hot pink Snuggie today after work. And yes, writhing in a jealous rage is completely acceptable.

America is my country and Paris is my hometown

So in response to my last confession I must suceed to the fact that I will not be finishing the 10 confessions, not at this time at least.
I just returned to America on the 4th of July which was very fitting for someone as homesick as I. Not homesick necessarily more like America-sick. In between faithfully journaling my French adventures I would write lists of things I missed about America and things I disliked about France, I also made lists in reverse about things I was not so keen on in America and things I so adored about France.
Some interesting things (or bad things) about France:
-No shower doors
Now one normally wouldn’t see this as being a huge problem but having lived my entire life showering with shower doors or curtains it creates quite a dilemma, and a wet floor.
-Bathrooms literally only contain the shower and sink
Toilets were in a separate room and subsequently when someone else was using the shower you could not utilize the sink after using the bathroom, cue hand sanitizer.
-Finding public bathrooms was impossible
France apparently does not believe in public restrooms, especially not free public restrooms. My friend, Joy, and I started playing a game revolving around this problem. 10 points for finding a bathroom, 15 points if it was free, 15 points if there was soap and or toilet paper, 25 points if the smell was tolerablem, and a whopping 30 points is it was a real toilet and not a squatty potty.
-French people eat bread. A lot of bread
Now I like bread, actually at home I love bread especially French bread, but in France they believe that breakfast should consist of a hunk of baguette and some condiments (nutella, fruit spread, etc.). So that was fun, for a few days… After 16 days of carb filled meals I was ready for some salad, or you know, anything not bread-like.
-Getting leered at in France is a completely different concept
French men are a lot more open about their feelings- especially attraction. My friend Joy and I shortly realized that we should not go anywhere without a guy from our group. Not that we were worried about kidnapping or anything that serious, though we have all seen Taken, which was probably not the best decision. We just aren’t fans of French men being so open. And the whole we-don’t-speak-french-well thing didn’t help much…
-Paying $5 for coke in France is a good deal
In France it is not unusual for Coke or Coke Light to be sold for over 2 Euros, which is around $4. The most I remember paying for a Coke Light was 3 Euro, which is wayyyy too much. But when you need a fix it doesn’t matter, right?

Those are just a few tidbits that you won’t find in your French book.
More on my adventures to come!
And yes, that was meant to build suspense.

Confession #5

I’m really quite good at starting things. Homework, cleaning, organizing, blogs, applications, etc. But when it comes to finishing that’s a completely different matter all together. This is quite the interesting dilemma, for instance I start cleaning my room and get busy or distracted and so I pause the whole organization process until I find more time or regain my interest. The problem with that is by the time I have found time or motivation my room messier than it was when I started. So here’s my confession: I’m a compulsive starter. I don’t

Confession #4

I have an expiration date phobia. If something is expired or expires this week or today I will, under no condition, eat it. When drinks or snacks are on sale I am very skeptical and I check the dates. I don’t even like to eat or drink things past the sell by date. In my house things expire often, no offense mom, we just aren’t home much and we aren’t constant eaters. I go through cycles. One week I’ll eat veggie noodles and tomato sauce for dinner every night and the next week I can’t stand the sight of the stuff. This doesn’t bode well for things like bread- sandwiches are so last summer and eggs- an occasion desire. I also have a problem with anything being odd about my food or drink. Sometimes diet coke cans smell funny, if mine does I can’t drink anymore from the can. I don’t eat fish because it smells terrible and when my family makes fish in my house I smell it for weeks. If I see mold on a bun or veins in meat I’m am instantly done with that dish. I also don’t like to eat off or drink out of other peoples dishes. I worry to myself that its not clean or if it smells different than my dishes I just have issues with it. This isn’t as prevalent as my expiration date fear, just a thought in the back of my mind. I’m a fresh freak. The end.