"Why did you start blogging?"

Once upon a time, this Wellesley student was a first year. And when she was, she used to write for the Wellesley News, the student-run college newspaper. This is her story and this is her blog.

I started this blog in March 2012 as a first year in college. Ever since my sophomore year of high school I had been told by many a well-intended adult, "Writing! Writing is the essential to your future successes in whatever field you pursue!" So, like a good Wendy I started writing for the newspaper and I liked to think of myself as an artistic person so I wrote for the arts section.

And it was rough.

I remember spending lots of time writing my articles only to be told by the upperclasswomen who were the editors that it wasn't quite good enough. They deleted whole sentences that I thought were some of my cleverest and most witty and they thought the pieces I spent the least amount of time on were, in fact, my best. But when I called my dad nearly in tears because I thought these older writers were being mean to me, all he told me to do was to practice. Writing is an art so it can be mastered but not unless you put sufficient time into it.

And so I created this blog as a place for me to practice my craft. I was not unfamiliar with the idea of having practicing my writing. I had a blog in middle school, another one in high school and have maintained journals on and off since about 5th grade. Actually now that I think about it, one of my friends rolled her eyes when I debuted my blog in high school because I used to love writing really long and self-absorbed notes on Facebook about my 'experiences'. But this time was a little different. I think I was hoping that it would help me in all aspects of my life that needed writing of some sort. Little did I know that writing a scientific research paper is much different than writing one for an architecture course but I digress.

I didn't really have any one particular topic in mind that I wanted to write about. Even though I was an Arts Writer for the paper, I just wanted to write about things that interested me: new books, movies, news stories or even just ideas. It wasn't a travel blog, it wasn't a DIY blog and it wasn't subject specific. I didn't really want the blog to be about me per se, but it was just about anything and everything that came through my mind. I wanted to keep stimulating my brain to become a better seer of the world.

It's a little embarrassing to go back and read some of the things I wrote a couple of years back. Mainly just because I thought I had answers to all of life's problems when I know that I didn't know anything about anything (and still don't). But I have to envy my past self because she was always full of ideas of things to write whereas now I find myself stopping myself a lot more before hitting that "Publish" button. There are so many things to consider before I actually send any writing out into the Interwebz. Is it too provocative? Am I over-sharing? Is this too personal? Is this even interesting or relevant? Do I even know enough to write about what I'm writing about?

Writing here is a lot harder than I initially thought it would be. It's different from the writing I do for class and equally different to what I write in my journals. More recently I've been looking to other sites for inspiration be it XoJane or Thought Catalog or even other peer institutions' newspapers. But one of my goals for this New Year is to keep writing and to write more often. And really, I don't have a specific goal in mind other than to maybe try to have more experiences and learn about things worth blogging about.

It's a journey without a destination but I'm excited nonetheless.
Thanks for coming along for the ride,
-T

2013: A Year at the Movies

Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to movies, I would much rather watch everything from the comfort of my own bed. However, looking back on this year made me realize that I actually saw quite a few movies on the big screen this year, probably more than in any year in the recent past. And I guess having a friend who is studying to be a screenwriter certainly doesn't hurt. Nonetheless, here are the films that I saw this year in chronological order:

1) Iron Man 3
 I actually went into Boston on Derby Day to see this one but that is an entirely separate story. IM3 isn't really the type of film that I would choose to go see on my own but with the abundance of Marvel revivals in the last decade or so it's not surprising that I would eventually end up seeing one in the theaters. I hadn't seen the other films in the trilogy before but that didn't make too much of a difference-they explained everything anyways. It's definitely helpful if you've seen the Avenger's movie as they make a couple references but again, hardly necessary for enjoying the film as a whole. I think one thing that has always been really refreshing about Tony Stark is that his superpower is essentially his brain. Yes, he can fly and shoot things from his awesome suit but he made that suit and lots of other prototypes through his sheer ingenuity. And as the Tumblr-famous quote goes "Take that [suit] off and what are you [left with]?" Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He isn't really the distant hero that we have come to expect. He's sassy and brash and hot headed. And it is endlessly entertaining.


2) The Spectacular Now

I saw this movie at the end of the summer a couple days after it was released. The Spectacular Now was billed as an Indie film that showcased an authentic teenage experience, written by the writers of '500 Days of Summer'. It was advertised as a love story of sorts but frankly I find that kind of problematic. I think it would have been more accurate to bill it as a coming of age story. What it's really about is this one guy, Sutter Keely, a boy with a very bad case of Peter Pan syndrome. And he happens to meet this girl. But the story isn't really about her. And while I quite like Shailene Woodley as Aimee Finnicky, I can't help but feel like her character verges a bit on Manic-Pixie territory and this film barely passes the Bechdel test. Yes, she has her own journey of breaking free from her own demons but her plot definitely feels subordinate to Sutter's. The film deals cursorily with some things that people deal with in high school like drinking and sex but the argument that Sutter is a guy that lives for the now isn't one that's particularly compelling for me personally. I didn't find his character to be all that sympathetic, in fact he seemed a little too slick and very much satisfied with mediocrity. Which I guess being comfortable with what he has was kind of the point of the film but there were a lot of times during the film that I just cringed because his character is exactly the kind of guy that I would walk away from in a heartbeat. The Spectacular Now was an interesting movie that could hold my attention while I was in the theatre but it's certainly not one that I crave to see again and again.

3) Don Jon['s Addiction]
Don Jon was a movie that I had been waiting to see ever since it was released at the Cannes Film Festival. It is Joseph Gordon Levitt's debut as a director and he also stars as Jon, a bartender from Jersey. Jon meets a couple of girls who change his perspective on the world dramatically. While the media has endlessly ragged on rom-coms and fairytales for giving women unrealistic expectations of relationships, this movie argues that pornography does  exactly the same thing for guys. While women are waiting for their Prince Charming, men are waiting for that "dime" who will do exactly what they want. But even when he finds the most beautiful and willing women, Jon is still searching for that je ne sais quois.  There is something profoundly disappointing to him about real social interactions with women. Without giving too much away, JGL also doesn't really let his female characters down easy either and makes it pretty obvious that they also have an agenda. But more than that, they are real people. They have emotions and desires and are more than just his objects of fantasy (though there is gratuitous use of showing women as the object of fantasy). While the film barely passes the Bechdel test, I like the way that JGL portrays his female characters as decidedly different. Jon's sister doesn't say much but when she does have her line, it's absolutely a game changer. Barbara, played by Scarlett Johansson, is revealed to not be the complete dime that Jon initially saw her as nor is Julianne Moore's character of Esther. I like that the characters have a lot more depth than when they are introduced to us as kind of campy stereotypes. My only request of this film is that I wish it were longer.

4) Hunger Games: Catching Fire
After I crammed reading the entire trilogy on the Wednesday before the first film was released, I couldn't possibly go without seeing the second film and it did not disappoint. We meet Peeta and Katniss again after their win of the 74th Hunger Games only to be thrown back into the arena again for the Quarter Quell-special versions of the Hunger Games that occur every 25 years. I think this book gets a fair amount of slack for being the fluffy middle installment of the trilogy but frankly, I liked the fact that there was more character development than we saw in the previous film. I think the directors did a good job of showing that Katniss did what she did because she wanted to make it out of the arena alive and that it wasn't even her intention to start a revolution. It wasn't her intention to see people hurt. All she wants is to live with her family in peace but that can't ever happen. I think that showing her vulnerabilities helps to make her a more relatable character and it becomes very obvious that she is a very young person who has been given a task much larger than herself. And per usual, I always feel like the cast of the Hunger Games brings their characters alive in a way that I couldn't necessarily see in the book. Peeta has more grit to him and I absolutely adore Effie and Johanna. I'll admit that Finnick is a little derpy, considering I thought that the books portrayed him as really suave but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy the book. And as usual, I am not overly fond of Gale. But, there is still much more to the story and I want to see how it plays out on the big screen.

5) Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
I saw this film with a group of friends as a celebration of sorts for making it through my exams. The Hobbit was another film series that I just wasn't into enough to keep track of the films. I had read the book a long time ago but I don't think I even finished it. Nonetheless, I'm a fan of Martin Freeman in Sherlock so there wasn't much arm twisting involved to make me go see the movie. As seems to be the trend with Tolkien's work, the characters are on an epic journey. In this case, the Dwarves are on a quest north to reclaim Erebor, their ancestral seat of power in the Lonely Mountain. They were driven out years ago by a dragon Smaug, who appears to have just been napping on their mountains of gold in the interceding years. There were a lot of different skirmishes throughout the film and it culminated with a pretty epic battle with the dragon. There was even a romantic triangle subplot, though I have been informed that that wasn't actually present in the books though I enjoyed it nonetheless. The locations were beautiful, though I am sure that about 90% aren't real (such is life). Another fairly entertaining movie, I just wish I had seen the first movie or read the book again before going to see it.

6) Frozen
I remember seeing the trailer for this film and immediately dismissing it because it was basically just a 3 minute clip of a snowman and reindeer having it out with eachother on a frozen lake and I thought it was going to be really lame. However, this film is actually a retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of the Snow Queen, which I read a loooong time ago. In the weeks leading up to the premier however, some of my friends from Wellesley were disgusted that it wasn't as strongly female movie because many of the supporting characters are male....to which I say that is bull. This movie is ultimately about the power of sisterly love rather than romantic love and it passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. Anna is the younger of the two princesses and while her character is pretty charming I think I must be getting desensitized to the "adorkable" females because she is sweet but nothing really out of the ordinary. Elsa, her older sister, is the second Disney female to become queen on screen after Kida in Atlantis. Moreover, I think that the portrayal of Elsa makes her one of the most compelling "princesses" to date. Elsa holds the great power of being able to form snow and ice but has been told from a very young age that it's a dangerous power. She has constantly been afraid to be herself because she fears how people will react to her and more importantly, she fears that she has the potential to hurt the people she loves. She has closed herself off emotionally and physically to avoid this but eventually opens up in the end. There are some really stereotypical plot lines for the Disney movie, like the fact that it is a story about rich, beautiful princesses who live in a beautiful castle(the beautiful elite), the fact that their parents die, there's a huge party, a charming prince-all of the things you would expect from a Disney movie. But there's also a lot more that we can appreciate from the adult standpoint even though this is a children's movie. Frankly, I loved it.

7) Saving Mr. Banks
This is the type of film that is right up my alley! Saving Mr. Banks is the behind-the-scenes story of adapting P. L. Travers stories about Mary Poppins into the movie musical we all know and love. However, the road to creating art (as with most things) was not a smooth one. This movie juxtaposes scenes from Travers' childhood in Australia with creative meetings with the great artistic minds of Walt Disney and the Sherman Brothers in 1960s Los Angeles. The cinematography is absolutely exquisite and the score, brought to you by Thomas Newman (the musician behind the scores of Finding Nemo, Skyfall and WALL-E) made the film feel very much like a fairytale. And naturally, I'm always drawn to the clothes of the 1960s because they always seem very sleek, stylish and streamlined. Everyone looks modern but feminine at the same time and it has the same kind of quality that I like a lot about Mad Men-showing characters looking of the time but not necessarily dated. It makes you feel like you could have been there, without the fuzziness of film that we usually see the decade through. Because this film was produced by Disney Studios, I have to wonder a little bit about whether or not it was an accurate portrayal of how things went down. Cursory research has lead me to believe that P. L. Travers never really liked the film adaptation of her book and was very upset with the studio until her death not to mention I can't imagine Disney studios showing Walt Disney as anything other than a well loved creative genius. Nonetheless, I really loved the film and the story.

While seeing a lot of these films wasn't necessarily pre-meditated on my part, I generally liked all of the storylines for each of the films. Can't wait to see what's on the queue for next year.

Pizza is love

I was making my usual rounds around YouTube when I noticed this TedTalk on the left. It's pretty self explanatory but to sum it up, the speaker calls out the fact that using baseball as an analogy for sex/sexual things is really exclusive and problematic in more ways than one. It's something that I hadn't really thought about too much but the language that we use to describe something oftentimes shapes the way we think about the thing itself. Using a sports metaphor primes our brains to think about sex as a means to an end rather than a journey. Not to mention that it's no wonder lots of people have "performance anxiety" about it considering we have the mindset of "the game must go on!" regardless of what our brains and bodies might be telling us. I think that our approach to sex and sex education is the type of thing that I've noticed a lot more since coming to Wellesley because of its implications for women but this video makes a good point that the current system hetero-exclusive as well. And while not everyone likes pizza, I think that it definitely seems like a more useful way to start the conversation.

This Semester I Learned...

This semester I learned that sea otters hold hands when they sleep so that one doesn't float away...or at least so that one doesn't float away without the other. I learned that whales have a culture and that seawater, sand and sunshine have a way of washing away the sadness, if only for a day.

This semester I learned to appreciate the built environment and to see spaces as more than just capsules that separate the inside from the outside. They are places to dance in, to learn in and to live in.

This semester I learned that it is really easy to be cavalier about scheduling 8:30AM classes when it is warm and the sun rises before you need to be out of bed. And it is much less so when you need to trudge across campus in the snow when it is dark out and you would much rather be in bed.

This semester I learned that zig zags on paper can have exponentially more meaning than you would initially expect. And I learned that while they can't solve everything, Persistence and Patience can at least get you started on the path to success.

This semester I learned that it's okay to not always gun for the top in everything and that it actually is possible to be pushing yourself too hard. I learned that cutting yourself some slack can help you fall back in love with what you're doing and help you remember why you wanted to do it in the first place.

This semester I learned that it is good to leave the bubble sometimes because it will always be there when you return. The experiences outside the bubble, however, don't last forever and there are moments that demand to be seized sometimes. This semester I re-learned that contrary to popular belief, the occasional bout of fun will not in fact kill you. My head is still spinning from it too.

This semester I learned that loss comes at unexpected times. And that no matter how much you know it's coming, you can never really prepare yourself. This semester I learned that there's no way to know how to deal with it until it's here and staring you in the face and impossible to ignore anymore.  This semester I learned that sometimes all you can do is just carry on.

This semester I learned that things get better the same way that they get bad-so slowly you don't even realize it's happening until you turn around and look back.

This semester I learned that it's okay to not be okay and that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign that you are not a robot. It just means that you are human being with feelings and emotions and needs. And that is more than okay.

This semester I learned the value of reaching out to other people. Of teamwork in-class and just friendship outside of class. I re-learned that it is a choice to be around people the same way it is a choice to isolate yourself and that the key is in finding the right balance of the two.

This semester I learned that not every friendship is meant to last forever. And that the moment that it stops being a mutual thing is the moment you should be a little bit on your guard. This semester I learned that, as painful as it is, sometimes it's better just to let it go because trying to hold on too tight will ruin everything anyways. This semester I learned that no amount of sentimental attachment should be an excuse for not being a good friend. Your friends are the people you choose to have in your life so choose wisely.

This semester I learned that the people around you will try to bait you all the time. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. You don't know their situation and more importantly, you don't need to rise to the occasion even if you do. It will just end with frustration all around and that distracts from getting the real work done.

This semester I learned that there is a distinct difference between setting standards for yourself and holding yourself back with arbitrary rules. This semester I learned that trying to hold yourself to the way you think you should act or the way that things ought to be often just does more harm than it does good.

This semester I learned that there are times that you just need to forgive yourself, it will be okay. Because life will go on.

Resolved: the 2014 booklist

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions (why is this time of year more special than any other time of year to be the better person?). However, this is a very convenient time to try out a new project as I finally have some time to.....read books!

Yes, it is true that I read blog posts all the time and read scholarly articles all the time but that usually means that I don't have time to sit down with a book and just unplug for a bit. I feel like about 75% of what I read nowadays comes through digitally and I'm not sure why but I have a harder time really processing it. And though e-books are very convenient, I miss being able to curl up with a physical book and reading it. (So yes, I am going to try and find physical copies of these books which might take some time)

So. While this is going to be another one of those promises I make into the abyss because there is literally no one who is keeping me to this promise other than myself-this is my formal promise to read the following books during this year. Furthermore, consider this my formal promise to also write about these books:

1. [January]: History of the World in 6 Glasses
I wanted to start with this one because I think it will be an interesting and breezy start to the list; also because it is currently sitting on my coffee table.

2. [February]:  Great Expectations
I was supposed to read this for my 9th grade English class but ended up stopping after about three chapters. I have been assured that it actually is quite a good book and figure it's high time I find out the truth for myself so I can praise is or continue disliking it intensely.

3. [March]: Catcher in the Rye
This one I actually have a genuine interest in reading I just never actually got assigned to read it for class.

4. [April]: Wuthering Heights
Another one I was supposed to have read in class and didn't get past the first 10 pages or so. I have seen both versions of the music video(red dress is far superior to the white dress version) as well as the Gay Best Friend video. Time to give it another chance I guess?

5. [May]: The Beautiful and the Damned
Also another one I've wanted to read for a while but just never did.

6. [June]: Count of Monte Cristo
My mother was actually shocked that I never read this one because it's one of her favorites and it seems like an adventure story so let's give it a go.

7. [July]: Moby Dick
Ever since I visited the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, MA, reading this has seemed like a more and more appealing idea now that I have a better historical and biological context for it.

8. [August]: Crime and Punishment
Another one I should have read in high school. It's not that I didn't want to per se-from what I remember the prose was straightforward and interesting but I think it just came down to the fact that I didn't feel like I had time so now I'm going to make some time.

9. [September]: Emma
This one might actually get moved up because I'm currently following the webseries 'Emma Approved' which is an updated version of the book. I think it would be nice to have an idea of where things are going more than what I've pieced together from watching 'Clueless' and it's a little embarrassing that I have only read one work by Jane Austen.

10. [October]: Uncle Tom's Cabin
I think I've wanted to read this ever since Nancy Clark told me I should in AP US History oh so many years ago and again-just never got around to it.

11. [November]: The Importance of Being Earnest
A name that I hear thrown around a lot but figure I should read it for myself.

12. [December]: Common Sense
Because 'Murica. But actually I think it's a pretty important historical book especially for a Bostonian like yours truly.

Well, that's a little embarrassing to have up now because I feel like I was expected to have read all of those in high school.  But may this serve only to motivate me to work through the list faster! I have also included a rough correlation between books and months just as a flexible-ish schedule because naturally some months will be much more relaxed than others but I want to keep moving through these.  In fact, I might even switch the order up or substitute books as my mood sees fit but I've wanted to read these for a while so I'm going to try pretty hard to stick with them.  Typically, I usually read kind of sappy or sad romantic things so I figure that this could be a good opportunity to branch out. So let's see how this goes.

The Facebook New Year's post

So I used to do these Facebook surveys because I was a super self-obsessed high schooler who thought they were introspective and cool and liked letting people know this fact. (I like to think I've gotten more subtle in my old age). I resurrected this tradition last year and thought I would do so again this year but no juxtaposition to the old answers, just the 2013 into 2014 transitional ones. 

1 - Did you kiss anyone?: 
Not in a meaningful way so effectively no. 

2 - Did you date anyone?For a fashion. 

3 - Are you going to kiss someone when the ball drops?Well I don't know what I'm doing New Year's Eve so I don't know yet. We'll see. 

4 - Did you lose any friends?I think so. The process of losing friends is so curiously painful that I try not to think about it too much and focus on the gains. 

5 - Did you gain any friends?Yes, wonderful people that I am very thankful to have in my life. 

6 - Did you do something new?I saw a whale and learned how to punch the crap out of some cushions. Oh and I left the bubble a few times too. 

7 - Had a boyfriend/girlfriend?For a bit. 

8 - Did you change?
Not by choice, but so it goes. 
9 - Are you happy with the year over all?Yeah, I think so. 

10 - Whats the best thing that happened to you?I think I found my footing at Wellesley a little bit more. It's a little pathetic that it took so long but better late than never.

11 - Did you fall in or out of love?You already know the answer to that. 

12 - Are you happy the year's almost over?Yes and no. I think next year will be wonderful but also stressful. And the same could be said for this year. So I don't really know. I think it's more of a "Let's continue on then, shall we" attitude rather than "Ugh I am so over this year!" attitude. 

13 - Are you going to change something about yourself next year?I am going to agree with my past selves and say that Change is not something you can really plan for yourself(that's why it's called change) but I do have plans to try and aspire to be my best self, as always. 

14 - Do you think 2008(2014) will be a better year then 2007(2013)?I mean, you can only go up, right?

20 - Did you go on a summer vacation?(Btw: I'm not entirely sure where the other numbers went)
Not exactly. I got to go to the beach a lot during the Fall though so that counts, right?
21 - Did you lie to your parents?No, I try very hard not to do that.

22 - Did you get into a fight?Oh boy.

23 - Did you leave the country?No but hopefully some day I'll get to go somewhere new. 

24 - Did you have a good birthday?A lovely birthday weekend. Lunch with my friends a couple days beforehand, Flower Sunday with my Little and eating madelines with friends on the actual day. I like this concept of several days of celebration. I think we should carry this on to next year too.

25 - Did anyone in your family get married?Not yet, but we're working on it

26 - Did you get any taller?No but I learned how to walk in heels better and that amounts to the same thing.

27 - Did you dye your hair?I didn't but I'm contemplating it for this year....because that's going to go down so well for interviews, right?

26 - Who did you talk on the phone with most?I don't really talk on the phone with anyone but I guess my parents?

29 - Did anyone sing to you?
Haha yeah they had to plan it out a little but it happened eventually.

30 - Did you sing to anyone?Naturally.

31 - Did anyone tell you they loved you?Lots of people did. And not necessarily through words.

32 - Did you ever go to the hospital?Err no but I did spend a little bit of time in Health Services. It was not fun. 

33 - What did you drink and eat the most?Tea probably. And maybe french fries? Or avocados?

35 - Did you change your profile over 10 times?Probably.

36 - Did you get a tattoo?Nope. Still not planning on it. 

37 - Did you vote?No but that was me just being lazy.

38 - Are you going to make New Years resolution?Yeah I have a few lined up. 


39 - Did you stick to your New Years resolution from last year?I don't remember what they were...

40 - Think you'll date someone in 2008(2014)?Well I guess we'll have to see about that. 

41. - Where will you be when the ball drops?I haven't thought that far in advance yet. 

42 - Do you think you will make new friends in 2008(2014)?I hope so.

43 - Are you hoping to meet someone special in 2008(2014)?No, leave me alone I'm a hermit.

44 - How do you feel, another year has passed you by?
Old? It's a little daunting because we're closing in on my graduation year and so it means that I have to start being a real person soon. But at the same time, things are on the up I think and I can't wait to keep spending time with the wonderful people who have waltzed into my life this year. So...

Of Princesses and Villains

It's no secret that I am a huge Disney fan and so one of my friends wanted to know who my favorite princess and villain were. Unfortunately in the last few years, my college education has taught me that a  majority of the princesses were rather useless bimbos and victims of the patriarchy which puts a damper on things a bit. However, I think there are some strong female characters to be had in these movies so let's examine them a bit.

Princesses: Tie-Tiana and Mulan
These are the two "princesses" that happen to annoy me the least. However, you may notice that they are not actually princesses. Tiana is the protagonist from the movie The Princess and the Frog and is a young chef trying to save up enough money to start her own restaurant in New Orleans. Mulan is the star of the self-titled film who enlists in the army during the draft in her father's stead.

Tiana I think is a really refreshing character from the rest of the 'princesses' because  it is made abundantly clear that she is from a humble background in the first five minutes of the film. She herself does not buy into the romance that her childhood friend so obviously does. Tiana has already learned that the world does not operate the way it does in fairytales(though for her, this is a bit ironic). Her family does not have a ton of money but they do love eachother fiercely and bond over food. The fact that Disney shows that there can be dreams outside of the castle and the Prince is valuable because it transfers nicely to real life. Furthermore, also in the first ten minutes of the film, we see that Tiana has been working hard for a long time to save up enough money to buy the building for her restaurant-and it's not glamorous in the least. She works two jobs and is dead on her feet but she is willing to sacrifice a lot for her dream. She does end up getting the Prince in the end, but he fell in love with her determination rather than her beauty. 

Mulan is one of Wellesley's favorite princesses I think. She gets the equivalent of the Chop and proves that she is every bit as strong and even a fair bit smarter than the guys. Mulan completely shatters the gender norms and just wins at everything. She also goes into a war for her father which shows a great love of family and courage because she could die if she were to be found out and she could also die on the battlefield. Also, she's a little awkward and clumsy in the beginning  which you have to admit is a little endearing. The one thing that I will say annoys me a little bit is her naivete in thinking that she will never get caught-what did she think was going to happen in the end? She could just ride into the sunset after the war was over? Though, she managed to keep up her disguise for several months which I can't imagine is an easy task so kudos for that. 

Villains: Mother Gothel

I don't know if she's necessarily the "best" villain but I think she's one of the scariest. She stole Rapunzel as a child from her parents for completely selfish reasons but she is so good at putting up the facade of being the over-protective mother and is even a little bit charming. Gothel is so good at manipulating Rapunzel emotionally and putting up the facade as though she cares for her well-being when really she can turn around and be absolutely ruthless. There's ambiguity in whether or not she does care about Rapunzel because she does agree to make a journey to get ingredient for her favorite food but I still think that's even a facade. Frankly, that ability for deception makes her a lot scarier than the other villains who use magic but are much more honest about being evil. Furthermore, she also undermined Rapunzel's confidence at numerous occasions over the course of the film. I think that everyone knows someone a little bit like Gothel in their lives and that realness makes her the most formidable villainess of them all.

On the Nuances of Peeling an Orange

December is finally here with means that it's that time of year again-time for clementines!

As we enter into this very exciting and festive time of year I would like to take a moment to draw everyone's attention to a very important issue that has been wearing on my mind for quite a while.

That is, of course, the subject of peeling said clementines.

Frankly, I don't see why anyone would forgo the pleasure that comes from peeling a complete and perfect twist of clementine skin. To do anything else is frankly just laziness, in my humble opinion. In fact, I distinctly remember having competitions with my father on who could produce the more beautiful twist since I was a young girl. However, I realize that not everyone had the same emphasis in their childhoods so I would like to address the following points.

Carnage, I tell you!

1) To not peel the skin in one continuous spiral is little more than blasphemy. The dexterity required to complete this task is something that everyone is capable of learning. To minimize the chances of breakage, however, try to keep the width of each spiral as consistent as possible.

2) You must circle the orange at least three times before terminating your spiral. That is to say, the width of your spirals must be less than or equal to one-third the diameter of the fruit. You finished your peel with only half a spiral? Please, you're not fooling anyone.

3) The easiest way to begin your spiral is to use your fingernail to create a small puncture in the posterior side of the fruit. Only amateurs use knives to initiate their spirals and buffoons use spoons.

While some advocate the use of the "Caterpillar" method of peeling, the spiral is a time honored method and frankly much more humane than attempting to make a watch or flower out of the fruit. The orange already died for your benefit, there is no need to be cruel.

Best wishes for a wonderful clementine season!

Eat, Pray, Love IRL

Prompt: Eat, Pray, Love is the story of a woman who pursues the things she thinks will bring her happiness. If you could find it in yourself, that bit of bravery to leave the comforts of your everyday life behind and pursue your own happiness, where would you go and what would you pursue?
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Eat: Paris, France
Anyone who knows me knows that I have basically wanted to go to Paris since the first time I watched Madeline as a kid. While I have no particular proclivity towards French entrees, French desserts are divine. I think I may actually die of happiness if I were allowed to eat my way through a patisserie(either that or diabetes). I suppose if I had to pursue something while there, it would be death by chocolate. I'm not sure how many chocolate truffles and eclairs I could go through in 4 months but if I'm sure it's a formidable figure. Also, I hear the cafe scene is hopping.

Pray: Kyoto, Japan
Anyone who knows me well knows that I have also wanted to go to Japan since I was in middle-school and saw my first dorama. From an art history student's perspective, the shrines and temples in Kyoto are stunning and it would finally give me a chance to put my Japanese speaking skills to the test. Kyoto is the old capital city so I'm sure there are also plenty of haunts that I don't even know about. I feel like it would be a great place to just stay and think awhile.

Love: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ahh the City of Sin; Amsterdam is a relatively recent addition to my bucket list of places to go but I feel like there is plenty of romance to be had here(outside of the Red Light district, thank you) and not least of all because one of my recent favorite love stories featured the city heavily. Again, this is another place that I would love to go to for academic reasons(mainly so I can go to the Van Gogh museum) but from what I've seen it looks pretty magical to me.




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So there it is; short post today because I have a rather significant exam tomorrow morning but I felt bad that I had skipped yesterday so I will probably do two tomorrow. I might even have a "Punishment" prompt like the Vlogbrothers do when they violate certain rules of the vlogdom. Worth noting though: I wrote a similar post back when I had first started this blog and all three of these cities are on it which I suppose should be comforting in a way. I might do an updated bucket list in the future though because there definitely are some new additions!

I think one other thing to address though is how remarkable this would be if I got to do it in real life. First of all, I'm not even sure I would have the strength to leave behind my life right now because I feel like I've put so much effort into building it to be what is it, pathetic though that might sound. It would take a truly brave soul to just pick up and leave. Financial concerns aside, I hope that I do make it to these places soon they all have so much to offer.

That time I went to New York

Prompt: In honor of the 100th anniversary on February 1 of New York City's famed Grand Central Station, write an essay about a time in your life when you travelled—it could be daily travel, such as the commute to and from a job; seasonal travel, such as heading to a beach community every summer; or a vacation, such as a trip to a foreign country. Focus on what compelled you to go and the transition of leaving one place and arriving in another.

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The summer before my sophomore year of college I hopped on a bus at Boston's South station and headed to the City that Never Sleeps.

I feel like a trip to New York City is a certain rite of passage for all college students in the Northeast. This would be my second time ever going to the city but my first going by myself. I had told myself that before I graduated college, I needed to do this trip. In high school when I still wanted to work in fashion, I remember not being able to wait until I got my chance to go back to New York. It seemed so much more glamorous than Boston and one of my close friends had made it sound like magical every time she told me about her trips there. Not to mention Gossip Girl was filmed there as was Breakfast at Tiffany's; the city had a special kind of allure that can't be ignored.

So, I left my dorm at precisely 6:30AM to get on a train to South Station. From there, I boarded a bus that would take me into the heart of downtown Manhattan. Gatsby in hand, I watched the endless road that passed us by from my window seat. I wasn't quite sure of what things would be like but I was excited to find out. 

As I got off the bus, I remember feeling like it was the most adult thing I had done to date. After assuring my mother that I had indeed reached the city and not died in a ditch on the side of the road, I basically had the freedom to do...whatever I wanted to. That freedom was kind of glorious. 

I ended up meeting up with a friend later that day who introduced me to the Shake Shack and then I took my first ride on the New York subway as I headed to the Lower East Side to meet my roommate with whom I was staying the weekend. We ended up walking around for a bit before heading to K-Town for Korean BBQ and froyo. I spent most of my time in the city eating Asian things and shopping though I did manage to fulfill one my dreams of finally going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art(I think my art nerd is showing a little). I stayed in the city for about 2.5 days, so my faithful roomie took me on a whirlwind tour of the area. To be honest, it's a little bit of a blur but I know that in one day we hit 4 of the boroughs which was pretty cool. 

Actual pic from the trip

I've been separated from the experience by a bit of time so I have forgotten some of the particulars of the trip. However,  I think I can sum up my impressions of the city thusly:

1) Wow, everything is open so late! There are trains running past 1:30AM? I can buy myself a cake at 3AM if I wanted? What is this madness?

2) Everyone dresses so chic-ly here; I see no Harvard sweatshirts or Sperry Topsiders so I know I'm definitely not in Boston anymore. 

3) Even the men dress better than I do. What up with that? (though I was informed that was just a product of us being in K-town)

4)  How do people have money left over for food if we keep taking the train so often?

5) Why are there so many people around me right now? I would really prefer that there weren't.

I definitely had a lot of fun that weekend and even though I haven't gone back since then, I definitely could see myself visiting again in the future. In many ways, the New York was much more the prototypical American city than Boston is. All the buildings were taller and shinier, the people moved faster and dressed better and there were exponentially more different types of ethnic cooking. I think if I ever decided that I didn't want to be found, New York would be the perfect place to disappear for awhile.  However, I think I've gotten way too attached to Boston to really want to move there without the incentive of a job/school. But it's not your fault, New York-you put up a good fight but nothing compares to my hometown, the City of Champions. ;)

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Author's note: I am incredibly tired right now an am writing this because I told myself that I wasn't allowed to go to sleep unless I posted something....so it goes. 

What I am Thankful for

I am thankful for fuzzy socks because they make my day a little more delightfully fluffy. Also thank you for being ridiculously patterned and colored because as long as I wear boots no one even knows-it's my little secret, my fabulous little secret.

I am thankful for Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Peppermint White Mochas for ushering in the holiday season, my favorite time of year. I look forward to you every year.

I am thankful for tea: green tea for helping me focus and milk tea for comforting me during late nights, as well as making me feel a little bit superior over those who do not drink tea. Also I am thankful for tea so that I can have a few moments of respite in the middle of a stressful day.

I am thankful for coffee helping me get through my studies-no really. I don't think I would be able to do it without having a cup in the morning. Thank you for making me want to get up in the morning, every morning.

I am thankful for fairytales for always letting me to return to you, even after all these years. Thank you for reminding me that Love is the closest thing we have to magic, even when I now know that it's not Prince Charming that I'm waiting for but my partner in crime.

I am thankful for the opportunity to study at Wellesley College. Wellesley, you make me want to scream and tear my hair out and you have definitely made me cry on more than one occasion. But at the end of the day, I am so much a better person for having come to you. I am thankful for all the lessons I have learned inside and out of the classroom and I truly believe that they could not have been learned anywhere else. I can not wait for the day that I will come back to you as the proudest alumna there ever was.

I am thankful for the teachers who have truly touched my life. There haven't been as many as I thought there would be and it took me a while to find you but I am so glad I did. I am grateful that you took an interest in me not just as a student but as a person in general and live-r and lover of life. You found me at my most vulnerable and made me love learning again. It is a debt that I can never repay.

I am thankful for my friends, who have seen me in my darkest hours and are for some reason still here. Thank you for being strong for me when I didn't know how to do that for myself. Thank you for not giving up on me even when I wanted to give up on me. This year was barely bearable but without you, I would have just given up. I am thankful for having people by my side to push me to be my best self. I am thankful to have you at my side pushing me towards new experiences, while letting me know you will be there for me to fall back on. Thank you for pushing me to be my best self. Just...thank you.

And most of all, I am thankful for my family. Circumstances change and whether I liked it or not, we have been scattered all over the globe. Thank you for reminding me that it is not the place or time that is important; when I am with you, I am home.

Tiff's war on Writer's block

Hello Lovelies!

I've been having a problem for about a year or so and I think it's finally time to talk about it.

I don't know what to write about here.

There, I said it. It's actually really hard to come up with topics to write about and I usually start articles that a relevant in a moment but when I try to come back to them later they wouldn't make sense to talk about outside of the moment in which they were conceived. Also, to talk about subjects, one needs to research them thoroughly to present them in a clear fashion to an audience.

And what about talking about myself and my own personal experiences?

Well if you know me in real-life, you'll know that I am partial to my privacy, especially in this day and age when nothing feels like it's private anymore. Not to mention to share anything on a deeper level is exposing myself and making myself more vulnerable than is really prudent. Not to mention, what if I make a strong claim and then change my mind? That would be rather embarrassing for me wouldn't it?

And on top of all of that, these writings need to be interesting/appropriate to a wide audience of people? I think that just thinking about all of that has been a little paralyzing.

So, I'm starting going to the modified/written equivalent of what is a common practice on YouTube: just writing everyday.

A lot of content creators(i.e. Hank Green and Hannah Hart; Grace Helbig/Shay Carl do this on the regular) on YouTube take a month or so to just vlog. By forcing yourself to practice your craft every single day for a while and to put it up for others to see, you don't really have time to think too much about how it will be received.

I don't quite have a whole month to do this, since exams are almost upon us. However, here's the game plan: I have compiled non-fiction writing prompts and will be publishing a post every day for a week starting tonight. I originally started this blog when I was a staff writer for the Wellesley News so that I would have a place to practice writing so I guess in a weird way, I'm going back to the basics.

I'm not sure how these posts will turn out but I'm excited to share them with you anyways!

Here goes nothing,
T

The best of Tiff's "What would I say?"

For those of you who have not seen this yet, there is a trend starting whereby a website ran a program to mash up old comments and statuses together into new hypothetical statuses for you. Most of it is gibberish or ridiculous and I imagine this is more or less how reading over drunk texts would feel like. However, there have been a few gems I wanted to share some of the more colorful ones generated from my statuses and comments over the years. Let's start shall we...

Yes. They absolutely do.

Not even the right professional field....

Ever the optimist.

Well, that's a bit of a problem. We should always feel FABULOUS.

If you think you ate something, you probably did.

Lolskis, indeed.

Were it only that simple >.<

That's pretty true, I guess.

With awesomeness, I hope

HOLY CRAP, WELLESLEY, you're awesome and terrifying and I hate you but I also love you. It's complicated.

The Lemon Plants are alive and well!

It's been a while since you've seen anything about the lemon plants and that's mainly because I haven't seen much of them myself! I took one pot with me to school in an attempt to grow them in my room but unfortunately they were not flourishing. As such, after about a month or so of waiting for sprouts, I decided to take them to the Wellesley Botanical Gardens to see if they could rehabilitate them. I was hoping that the warmer temperatures and more abundant sunlight would give them the extra boost they needed. 

Taken 19. October. 2013

And behold...the new sprouts! It's been a much slower process than what I observed in the summer with my first two pots but they are trying really hard to grow! It was a little weird that I had put so many seeds in and only got 5 sprouts back because one seed can give way to about 3-4 sprouts because of cloning. But, it only takes one plant to become a tree anyways! It's also nice that they are currently being housed in the Greenhouses because that means I need to go at least every other day to go and water them. If you haven't visited the Greenhouses yet, I highly recommend it because it's like going into a retreat without ever leaving the Science Center. Unfortunately, I think I will probably need to bring this pink pot home for the winter within the next month because it can't really stay there indefinitely. For now though, it has a cozy little home and lots of visits from me :)

So how are the original plants doing? Well Mama C and I repotted them this morning! I didn't count but I would guess that there are 30 individual sprouts so they were getting desperately crowded! I haven't ever repotted plants that were this mature(They're about 4 months old) so they had pretty extensive root systems which were difficult to deal with. It was actually a kind of violent process and I think it's a little bit traumatic for the plants but hopefully they'll be okay. I'm a little worried now that we're going into the winter months that some of the seedlings won't be strong enough to thrive after the re-potting but since I planted them in the height of summer I hope it will work out. I believe it takes about 3-4 years before they'll look anything like trees but at some point, I'll try to repot some to give them more room to try and become trees. For now though, they're kind of cute little shrub-by things. I am kind of in awe of what you can accomplish. This was really just meant to be small project because I saw it one day on Pinterest and now I have three pots of pretty sizable plants. And while 3-4years seems like quite a far ways out from now, I think it will be really fun to come back and look at these posts again. I think that planting these little buggers from seeds and seeing them grow into something is one of the most rewarding and easiest things you can do. 

Taken 3. November. 2013

Hopefully more to come!

"10 Things I know to be true"

I recently saw a TedTalk where there was a poet/teacher who asked people to think about the things they know to be true as a mechanism for writing poetry about things they care about. Here is my list:


10) I have never regretted a work out. It is a pain in the butt to try and get yourself to go to the gym but how could you possibly feel bad about doing something to make yourself stronger?


9) Swimming can wash away most of the evils of everyday life. There have been many times where I haven't really been able to think about what has happened to me, only that I knew I wanted to swim and I knew I didn't want to stop. If nothing else, it will make you tired enough to collapse into bed and a new day will come that much faster.




8) Tea is good for your soul. It may even be the closest things we have to magic.

7) I say that New England is most beautiful in Fall and Winter but let's be real, it's beautiful all year round. Though if we're being honest, mid-September to early January is still my favorite time to be in the city ever.

6) Reading a good book is the fastest escape from the world you could possibly have. Whether it's a new one or an old favorite, a book will never judge you for opening its covers.

5) The perfect cup of coffee can make your day that much better. It's one of the smallest yet most important joys I know.

4) Time to yourself is important but you need never be alone if you don't want to be. This is a more recent one that I learned and I think I'ms till getting the hang of it, but it's also the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself.

3) Given the opportunity, I will always return to the seashore. It is one of the most (if not THE most) beautiful places I know.

2) It is really hard to be productive when your bed is close by. I don't know about yours but mine is fluffy and warm and pink. This is not conducive to homework in the least.

1) You can never go wrong with small acts of kindness. A smile, a text or even a meal can make huge differences in someone's life to know that someone cares. I know it has in mine.

We were instructed not to think that deeply about this list so there's my list with minimal editing and  here's the video if you would like to watch it because I highly recommend it! I should have more posts up soon, there's a lot of topics in my queue waiting to be written.

Bises,
T