19 Candles

It's a girl!
Cake with a kitten on it
Cake with Superwoman on it
The first of the tweens
The first of the teens!
Sweet Sixteen
Legal, baby!
...even MORE legal, pass the shots!
Pushing 30
Over the hill
Under the hill.

Birthdays are crazy things. They've been on my mind because mine's coming up pretty soon, and I'm really excited! My family is a birthday kinda family. We may not throw the world's biggest party, but no matter where we are in the world- at some point in the day you will be reminded that we know what day it is and we care! So, birthday's have always been big to me.

But not everyone feels the way I do. Erin doesn't like recognizing her birthday too much because she thinks it's a permanent sign of her getting older. She's afraid she won't age well or that this time is just slipping through her fingers. Honestly, Erin? Not even my Nana has these worries!
Sara likes her birthdays, but is kinda anxious about them. Something has always gone wrong at or around her birthday, so she's always anticipating something rather than just allowing herself to enjoy her day.
Daphne, of course, is like me and TOTALLY PEPPY! It's a great day, the sun is shining!!!!

Which is how we all need to be. It's the only day of the year that we can rightfully claim as our very own and be a diva for a full 24 hours. Erin's right- there isn't enough time. However, I'd rather spend that time eating red velvet cake and dancing on tables than worrying about the wrinkles my age will one day bring. Sara's right too- bad things ARE coming, but they're not here right now, so what can you do about them?
Birth is beautiful. It's said that a newborn baby is God's way of saying that the world is to go on. It's new potential fed into a blanding world. Why not celebrate such an amazing occurrence? Why not throw caution to the wind and singing loudly (out of tune) to the smile blowing out the candles??

"Life's journey is not to arrive safely at the grave in a well preserved body but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy shit... what a ride!'"

Here's to your birthdays!

Curl Girl, out!

Peter Cottontail

I'm going to ask you a question.
The answer to it will tell you everything about yourself that you or anyone else will ever need to know:

...Do you eat your chocolate bunny from the top or the bottom?

I hope you all had wonderful Easters and the Easter bunny was good to y'all! 

Unless you're a start-from-the-bottom person. Then you're just weird and I'm not sure you deserve whatever the bunny may have gifted you with...

Well, I went home for Easter. Erin came with me and it was the greatest! My oldest brother (we'll call him Jason, I suppose) came home too and we all just jazzed together. 

Sunshine + family + great friends + good food = awesome holiday

It was like a teaser for school being over and being able to sleep in my own bed, take showers without sandals on, and walk around in my pajamas.

Wait, I do that last one already...

What I'm trying to say is that the final countdown has begun! Kids of every age are ticking off the final days of school until we can run screaming from the classroom and throw a bonfire- our notes as kindle. But don't let these last few weeks drag you down. These are the times when it's hardest to make yourself work. It's near impossible to see the sunshine through my window and stay seated, memorizing biology notes, but here I am and you need to try to do the same! We'll trudge (what a great word) through this together and celebrate on the other end!

Curl Girl, out!

Curl-Rex

So as I walked up the stairs pretending to be a dinosaur (sounds included), I realized that it's probably going to be a long time before I find Mr. Perfect...

I got really lucky with my friends, secretly they're all just as weird as I am. Some of them are in fact a little weirder. We hide it well with our cute skirts, good grades, and normal habits. But Erin will rawr back at me when that's how I choose to communicate and Daphne will join in when I'm tripping over myself and laughing. Jay (our good-guy friend) will start a wrestling match in the hall, and Beth (Erin's roommate) will purr and nestle with you like a baby lion when she's napping. Even Sara will sit in the middle of our room and croak like a frog to get my attention.
Yeah, we're the coolest cats you'll ever meet.

But where is the guy that could put up with this?
Is there someone who's okay with most serious conversations ending in a tickle war?
Is there a guy that enjoys being embarrassed by his gal daily?
Most importantly- can he speak T-Rex?

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

-Dr. Seuss

I'm not rushing it, though. Curl Girl's content here, I'm just kinda curious with Spring bringing out the couples and such. Of course, I must take faith in the fact that those boys (and girl for Jay) must be out there somewhere seeing as all of us are like this due to our weird wonderful parents... and they found each other, right?

See, even if I could be a little less me I don't think I would. My friends and I just have too much fun. It's not that I'm trying to say we're too confident to be pushed around by social standards. It's that I don't think "social standards" are what they're often portrayed as. People don't walk around straight and narrow. I would know, I'm on a college campus for goodness sake! It's not unusual to see a banana being chased by a gorilla or a few girls moonwalking to their dorm. Find me a 'normal' group of people and I'll show you the most bored people on Earth (and I know they're not on this campus). Everyone has their quirks! Some just are a little quieter about their's than others...
So while I wait I think I'll just croak back at my roomie and tackle Jay when he's not looking.

Curl Girl, out!

Gimmie Frogger!

So, it has come to my attention that I am old, and that is very sad.

Not old enough to act mature or anything, at least I hope not.

You see, there have been all these tour groups on the campus recently. Some of them are trying to convince the straggling seniors that this awesome place should be there home next year, and some of them are the high school juniors that are just starting their stressful journey of application season.
But what caught me was the group of younger middle schoolers that passed me. They were all trying not to look too excited as the crossed through our dorm area, but every time a skateboarder made the sidewalk clack or a frat boy jumped over them for a frisbee their heads turned as if on a swivel!

My school never took field trips to colleges so I asked Sara, who was with me, what this was all about. "Kids think we college kids are the shiz, don't you remember?"

Um... yes, I do remember. Was that not just yesterday? When did I actually become one of those old kids that walked around looking like they had a handle on what they would be doing for the rest of their lives? Did I really look like those kids I remember, with the strong voice, to-go box, and laptop?
As soon as it hit me I wanted to stop and reassure them. "No, don't worry! I still have no idea where I'll be in four years! I don't have a boyfriend that I'll be marrying! Heck- I haven't even planned dinner yet! Don't freak out- you have time!"

If I look around, I see all the things that I guess aren't anymore. Sailormoon isn't a regular show every morning. Those gell-balloon things aren't on the infomercials. Hello Kitty is RETRO (wtf??) and green ketchup is no longer a magical wonder.
When people tell me I'm part of a generation, I don't think about it much. But when I look down at those middle schoolers and wonder if they were heart-broken the day Looney Toons stopped playing every Saturday morning... I wonder.

And can someone find me the number of Peter Pan? I have a trip involving the second star to the right I think I want to arrange.

Curl Girl, out!

Snail Mail

My tongue feels weird from licking all those envelopes...
But at least I don't have this guy's job!

      If you can't tell, I've been doing a lot of letter writing today. I finally got some stamps (...from my mom) so now I can finally catch up on all those people I needed to answer. I know it sounds weird to hear from a freshman in college that I have a lot of letters to get to- but they've become one of the most precious things to me.
Writing is such an intimate thing. You're not only putting pen to paper, but also a tiny part of yourself to send along with the letter in that Beatles "and I'll send all my loving to you" kinda fashion! It wasn't like I wrote in love letters today- a birthday card, answering my Nana, and a fun letter to Erin's army boyfriend to keep him entertained. None of them were too special but are in a way because they were written. I once had an English teacher who said she was glad she hadn't been a writer because she wasn't sure she could be so naked in front of the world. That is what writing is though- offering a piece of yourself up for someone else to observe and even keep.

I had a friend from way back before I moved eleven years ago. Her name is Kay, and after I moved we continuously wrote to one another. Getting a letter from her was the best part of any day, and writing her came right after that. But we grew up and boys and sports teams became a little more important. Years went by and one day this year I found her on Facebook! I thought Kay and I would catch up and suddenly be as close as we once were. Technology would save us- I had my old bffl back! But a few messages and a chat session later, I haven't heard from her in months. We'd been so much closer in those young, misspelled letters than an email that reached across two ends of a coast.

So take some time today and write someone. It doesn't have to be anything from the deep caverns of your heart- just a hey (excuse = Easter card). It's fun! When you open your mailbox and it has a small little envelope in it with a cute little stamp, you'll be glad you did!

Curl Girl, out!

Procrastination

...is what I'm doing right now.

You see, I have writers block on this essay I'm supposed to be doing about authors that have affected American literature. But I just can't get what I want to say on paper, so I figured I could write to you wonderful readers and maybe that would inspire me!

This weekend has been rather relaxing. There hasn't been any drama, there were only a few hours when the sky wasn't blue, and it's just been a generally chill couple of days. Friday and yesterday, I didn't feel very productive, but yet I didn't feel lazy either. Maybe I didn't strike too many things off my to-do list, but when you're laughing and messing around with your friends- that to-do list slips to the back of your mind pretty easily.

It's going to be hard to do work with all this beautiful sunshine going on. It's time for my very favorite sub-season. It's those few weeks when Winter doesn't really want to let go, but Spring is coming full force! The afternoon is warm and breezy, but there's still a chill left on the morning, and a sweater needed at night. It's just right for playing frisbee until the sun starts to go down and you curl up in a blanket for a bon-fire. It's part of the reason April is my favorite month (being born during it does help too, though). The flower buds are still a bit shy on a lot of the flowers, but the cherry trees are bursts of color!

I urge you to keep to your desk! Get your work done so that you can go out and enjoy this awesome time!
I'm sitting at my desk with this unfinished essay in front of me, looking out my window as the sun prepares to depart and it's darn near impossible to stay with my computer when I'm itching to feel cool grass between my toes. I must remember that I did take that time yesterday. It's tempting to think that I wasted that time when I could have been working when now I'm stuck with the paper today. But "the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." So I know I made the right choice- and must now put away my frisbee and pick up my notebook.

Perhaps if you're reading this, you too need a break from what you've been working on for a while. Take some time and go not-waste it! Wherever you are, whatever the weather- it IS a beautiful day- go conquer it!
...then send me some tips on American authors....

Curl Girl, out!

We Remember

Today is a day of remembrance for Virginia Tech, and Hokies nation-wide. 

I'd like to take this small space to ask you to remember those extraordinary lives we lost four years ago today. Please take a moment for them and those they left behind. We must honor the families that had to piece themselves back together after such a tragic event. 

The Hokies of Virginia Tech are a tight community of bright students from all over. The Hokies are strong, and will continue to be. Instead of allowing today to be full of sadness, let us be proud to be a part of such strength! Today we are a Hokie nation. Today we honor and remember.

neVer forgeT.

We are Virginia Tech!

Lights...

...camera, action!

I recently have become involved with the lighting crew in the Theatre&Cinema Department. As in mastering anything, you have to start at the very basics and work up. I had to construct a light before I could even set a light or even think about mixing color papers. The Light Director, my new friend Kevin, was very patient with me as his right-hand man Scott (who is hilarious) taught me the way around the studio. Scott took me to all the odds and ends so that I would never be lost, and praised my every attempt. I burnt many a finger, and broke several nails, but I followed his word as it was law 57 feet above the theatre stage.

When he began to teach me about angling the lights, he told me "the director secret."
He pointed up to Kevin and said "I love that guy, he's amazing. But he's just like any other director. You can move a light around all day, and then get it to one spot that's close to what he wants. He can say 'shift it to the right just barely!' and you'll go to move it. You grab the light and it shakes a bit, but before you go to actually move it he'll yell 'STOP! That's it-lock!' Don't ever tell him you didn't actually move it. Just lock the light, and step away. To him, you just made his scene perfect."

Each of us sees the world from a different angle. We never quite understand what someone else is seeing until we walk all the way down to center stage and take a look. Even then, we might see something just a tad differently. It's okay- if we didn't then the world would never change!
Angles can be as big as a country divided about their government to two roommates (coughUScough) being divided on how clean the room should be. Sometimes you have to adjust and shift all day long before you can get it right. It's about moving so that you can both see the center stage- both see the action and enjoy it. It's a lesson we have to continue to relearn as we meet, work, and befriend new people.
It's all about the angle of the light.

Sometimes you just have to lock it, and step away.

Curl Girl, out!

April Showers

"April showers bring May flowers!"
...why should May get all the glory for April's hard work?

Where we live, the weather is pretty bipolar- yesterday was beautiful with sun and warm breezes. Today is cloudy and it has been on and off raining since about seven this morning. 

I'm in a total frump because I'm so much happier when it's sunny. I remember at home on rainy days I could just curl up with a Harry Potter book that I'd already read too many times, and just enjoy the rain drops racing to the bottom of the window.

Not so much at college- the deadlines won't wait and we'll have to actually go back outside to get food at some point.

But thinking about how it used to be reminded me of something I found not too long ago:  

Which kid were you?

If there was a table where you both had cable AND had the (yummy) left-overs, that'd be the Curl Girl table. But seriously, I can remember my old cafeteria being very similar to this. Honestly, it didn't change too much through middle and high school. That's why half of you who saw this first thought of the version mapped out in Mean Girls.

So, my plan is to throw some Michael Buble' (I don't care what ANYONE SAYS I'm pronouncing it "bubble!") and stare at my American Lit essay, pretending that if I finish it, I can go read some Potter.

Theme Song of the day: "If You're Going Though Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)" by Rodney Atkins

Curl Girl, out!

A New Beginning

Hey there!

So, as you can see, I've gotten rather off schedule. I can make all the excuses up that I want, but when it comes down to it, I think it's been mostly because this form of blogging isn't working for me. There isn't enough room for change, and change is what we're all about here in F500!

In the next few days, or sometime after I handle my approaching deadlines, this blog will continue- but revamped. There will be lessons, but they will be constructed differently. I'm going to shake things up a bit and provide a little more variety, engage a little bit more with the world and see what happens.

To be such a young blog and change so soon may seem silly, but just as we grow and change, so must the things we do.
Here's to a new beginning!

Curl Girl, out!