Weekly Wisdom

In light of recent events (turkey day!) it seems fitting that this week's quote is an American proverb. Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday. It transcends race, religion, and anything else that gets in the way of us getting together to celebrate. Some American dude (or dudette) said this way back in the day and it is something I firmly believe in. My life certainly hasn't gone according to plan recently but so far, everything I've done, planned or unplanned, positive or negative, has resulted in something positive. That's something I can be thankful for!

This is Your Birthday Song, it isn't Very Long... (I'll give thanks to that)

Happy Birthday Little Bro!

Despite the fact that his b-day is really today (Turkey Day), we celebrated yesterday so that we could feast on delicious roast beef, roasted potatoes, and supper yummy (pirate) cake.

Today we're feasting again (Thanksgiving style) on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, peas, pumpkin pie, and of course leftover cake :)

Thanksgiving is a day for being thankful. These are three things about my dear old brother I'm thankful for...

1. This picture... Mitch gave us all a huge helping of "awkward sauce," as he so wonderfully put it, when he entertained the whole fam by modeling the union suit he got for Christmas.

2. Good times wayyyy back in the day... playing vet with milla, moo moo, and moo cow, building forts with all the loft furniture and every blanket we owned, and of course all those times he let me dress him up in my ballet costumes... I'm sure he loved that :)

3. Just being my brother ♥

Adventures in the Land of the Presidents

Over the weekend "my super cool roommate" (as she is listed in my phone) and I drove to DC to visit her boyfriend. By that I mean, we came to chill with each other, while also visiting her bf who conveniently lives 3 hours north of me and 3 hours south of her.

A high point of the trip (for me)

occurred on my drive up when I passed a car with a large gutted deer attached to the back of it. Being the creeper I am, I immediately slowed down and waited for the car to pass me so that I could immortalize it in film... notice the deer's tongue sticking out

Because Jenny's an uber health and medicine junkie (I mean that in the nicest way possible...) we went to the National Museum of Health and Medicine which is in a part of the Walter Reed Military Hospital complex. That in itself was pretty cool because we had to get our picture taken when we entered the museum and then give it back when we left or else the feds would have come after us! A highlight of the museum... seeing good ol' Abe's blood on some dude's sleeve and the envelope the sleeve was sent in. Also reading about how they basically removed his entire brain in an attempt to find the bullet was pretty cool.

Since there isn't much else to do in the WRMH area we took the metro into the city and headed down to the International Spy Museum. That place was pretty cool, although it kinda makes you paranoid after you've been through it to know about all the various inconspicuous objects that you can hide a gun, or a video camera, or a tape recorder.... A highlight of the museum... I always knew they used pigeons for letter and message carrying, but did you know that they also worked as super secret picture takers? Yup! They sure did. In WWII they strapped cameras onto the chests of pigeons and sent them off to do the work that stealth planes do today!

A dinner of Mongolian BBQ followed our acquisition of new identities a the spy museum (I was Maria Falcone?). It was something I'd never had before and I must say it was a pretty neat and delicious experience.

We finished off the evening by walking from the Smithsonian down to the Lincoln memorial via the Washington and WWII. It was beautiful!

Together again :)

Sooo amazing!

They just wouldn't stop being adorable...

Pretty arches in the WWII Memorial

Walking in the (empty) Reflecting Pool

We're cool...

Well hey there Abe! We saw your blood earlier!

Weekly Wisdom

-Winston Churchill

This one's for you Lisa! Not because you're going through hell or anything (although some people may think that given your current academic endeavors...) but because I know that you knew that I was going to use this one today!

This is a great quote to live by... I was constantly referring to this one in the form of my magnet while I was struggling through Advanced Cell and Physics... if those two classes weren't hell in an earthly form I don't know what is.

So thanks Winston! You're a savior to many just for uttering those seven words, in fact baring leading Great Britain through WWII, it may have just been the most important thing you ever did.

Best. Blog. Ever.

I recently discovered the blog Wonders Never Cease and it has quickly become one of my favorite ones ever. The blog belongs to a store called Proper Topper, which is in DC and I've never been to, however they do sell quote cards so they are real up there in my opinion. They also sell cool jewelry, hats, clothing, and fun gifts. Their blog is an eclectic collection of fashion advice and other neat things. Monday they profiled the Tweed Ride in DC, an event where people dress from head to toe in tweed and ride bikes. Last week they talked about Virgin Atlantic's VTravelled. However, my favorite feature of their blog is the weekly Wednesday play list.

Every Wednesday they create a "play list" with a theme. This week's theme was "fashion's a stranger." It was dedicated to artists who were known for their uniquely amazing fashion sense... and occasionally their music. They picked two songs from each decade from the 1930's to the 2000's. My favorite entries...

1. “Besame Mucho” – Josephine Baker (1930)

Born into poverty in St. Louis, Baker quickly rose to international fame for her incredible stage presence. She wasn’t known for her singing, but one can surely forgive musical flaws when the performer is dancing in a skirt made of bananas.

Iconic style: sequins, feathers, fruit, African-inspired costumes, a pet cheetah.

4. “Night and Day” – Frank Sinatra (1942)

Fred Astaire first performed this Cole Porter hit, but Sinatra’s velvet vocals and signature phrasing make his recording the better-known. And no one can resist Ol’ Blue Eyes.

Iconic style: fedoras, tailored suits, pocket squares, gin.

14. “Wannabe” – Spice Girls (1996)

These spunky Brits inspired their fans to be sporty, ginger-y, posh, scary, or baby-like, and their “girl-power”-inspired anthems are still guilty pleasures on many an iPod. And their fashion-dynamic informs the style of girl-groups to this day.

Iconic style: see the adjectives listed above, and add a good helping of pigtails and high-heels and hemlines.

And my all time favorite... (particularly the Iconic style part.)

16. “Fashion” – Lady Gaga (2009)

Whatever your opinion of Lady Gaga’s talent, you cannot deny recognizing her, um, creative fashion sense. (Grace Coddington used her in this month’s Vogue, after all.) What will she wear next? Bubbles? A falcon? Silly Putty? She might just have to be on the list for the ’10s, if she keeps this up.

Iconic style: We’re not quite sure, but it definitely does not involve pants.

Soft times :)

In Honor of Fall

This year's fall was basically one of the most brilliantly colored, beautiful falls in recent history... here are just a few pictures to remember it by.

Yesterday while I was at work I saw someone using a leaf blower to blow the pretty yellow leaves off the trees... what a shame.

Quotables

Most people who know me know that I have two major obsessions... scarves and greeting cards, or more specifically, fresh ink and quote cards. This obsession is pretty ridiculous but I can usually manage it by exerting superhuman amounts of will-power upon entering a Hallmark store. Unfortunately, it usually doesn't work. I'll often go into Hallmark expecting to purchase a single card and come out with three. Once I even walked into Hallmark (on autopilot), only to remember once I was inside that I didn't need any cards and had, in fact, intended to go to the store next door. I bought 4 Fresh Ink cards that day... In fact, one of the reasons that I hate the whole super early Christmas bonanza, is because Fresh Ink cards are often the first to go when Hallmark has to create shelf space for Christmas cards.

My little problem gets even worse if I'm in a store that carries Quotables cards. Since they're harder to find, I have been known to buy four or even five at a time, especially if I've never seen them before. Luckily for my bank account, that isn't too often. But hey, at least the greeting cards I compulsively buy cost under $3, as opposed to shoes or designer bags that cost hundreds!

Anyway, I've decided to share my large collection of quote cards with the world (or at least the 5 people who actually read this blog). It will be my gift to you each week.... or so.

This week's quote (seen above) is my all time favorite quote. Read it, remember it, live it.

Amazing Images of the Day

My dad decided to use the cat as his computer cushion... typical.

Dear Weather,

Please make up your mind.

I don't know whats up with the wacky weather we've been having recently. Last week it was sunny and warmish, this week started out mild and turned ugly. It rained all day on Wednesday and Thursday and most of Friday. It was mildly cold on Wednesday (60s), absolutely freezing on Thursday (30-40s there were freezing rain alerts), less freezing on Friday (40-50s) and now its warm again (I have on a T-shirt and I'm a little hot).

As it is now November and all the Christmas decorations are out and Christmas music is on the radio (all things I disagree with but that was another post) I think that the weather should cooperate. November should be cold, so far it's not really at all. And why, I may ask, was so much of September and October freezing?

Ahhh Fall in Virginia.... shorts and T-shirt weather one day, Eskimo weather the next <3

It's Friday the 13th...

How was your luck today?

I celebrated this day of unlucky by sleeping through my alarm. Then, when I got into my car to go to school, it wouldn't start. Good times. Needless to say I was very late to class.

I don't really know why people think that Friday the 13th is such a bad luck sorta day. It happens all the time and its not like more people die or the world ends. Did you know that we will experience around 150 Friday the 13th before we die? That's a whole lot of bad luck. I for one, refuse to believe that the combination of a numerical date and day of the week are enough to cause bad luck across the globe. Although that new movie 2012, you know the one that talks about how the world is going to end, was released today (Friday 13), so maybe that's our bad luck for the year...

On the positive side, I finally made some progress on the articles I have to finish by Monday and it sort of stopped raining by the end of the day. Oh and all that was wrong with my car was a loose cable.

Maybe Friday the 13th isn't so bad after all.... or maybe I just have a really lucky horse shoe...

Where Have all the Turkeys Gone?

Dear America,

Over a week ago you decided to start celebrating Christmas. Today is November 10, am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

It's disconcerting to go into Target on a quest for fun Halloween things to send to my friends and hear Christmas music in the background while I'm searching through isles of stuffed monsters, funky socks, and Halloween candy. When did we decide that it would be ok to start putting up the Christmas displays before October 31? Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas just as much as the next guy... it just makes me wonder, what happened to Thanksgiving?

Now that it's November, I guess most other stores are going to start trying to force us all to feel like its that Christmasy time of year about a month early...

Over the weekend I went to Kohl's with my mom and I was appalled to hear Christmas music sprinkled in with the normal music. A little later we stopped into Michaels to get some yarn and the same thing happened. Since then, I've had similar experiences in other stores. Then I go to ballet on Monday and guess what I am forced to deal with? Christmas Music! Apparently from now until the end of term we will be doing "Christmas Barre" every day.... great. Is everyone going crazy? I mean seriously, won't we get sick of Christmas if we start celebrating it a month early? The world only has so much Christmas Cheer.

Don't you remember when, back in the day, we waited with baited breath for midnight on November 30th for the Christmas music to start playing 24/7 on the radio stations? That was back when Santa heralded in the Christmas season by ending the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Now, Christmas music is polluting our radio stations before Thanksgiving, Christmas displays are polluting our stores before Halloween, and ABC Family has a countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas. This is crazy! Who wants to watch Christmas movies on November 10? Well, you can watch Snow and Snow 2 if you tune into channel 311 at 8pm.

As for me... I think I'll leave November to the turkeys and save Christmas for December.

Weekly Wisdom

"Breath Deeply and Often"

(Anonymous)

Just Stop Slinging Mud Already.

I have a beef to pick with the politicians of America.

It has nothing to do with the economy, taxes, health care, or even what they are wearing or how they do their hair. I have a problem with the way they campaign.

Why, oh why, do they (or their campaign dudes) insist on playing and replaying television ads that attack their opponents? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem when one guy's campaign ad shows the bad things that his opponent has done politically, but only if he also says how he could do better.

What I have no tolerance for are ads that completely pummel the opponent for something that does not in any way reflect the his political decisions. As a voter, I don't care if your opponent has had an affair or written a book or accidentally broken the leg of his best friend from Kindergarten. That's his problem, not mine.

I've lived in Virginia my whole life, but until last year, it was never really a big state for political competition. We are a republican state... or were...

But that changed when statistics maniacs and political gurus decided that VA would be a swing state in the presidential elections, perhaps even one of the most important. The result? A wave of political ads and endorsements for Obama and McCain. Obama ran a pretty clean campaign, while McCain played a little dirtier... as a result (combined with his politics of course) I liked Obama better. So did Virginia.

This year we chose a new governor. Because Virginia has some crazy law that a governor can not serve a second term, we had to choose between two new guys, McDonnell (R) and Deeds (D). The onslaught of TV ads began around May. Apparently this was a very important election. It was going to be Virginia's way of either supporting or denouncing their decision to vote Obama into the white house last November. If Deeds won, then we were affirming our love of the Democrats and everything Obama, vice versa for McDonnell.

Over the course of the campaign trail, Deeds was consistently on the attack. He used negative ads, twisted McDonnell's political records, and even dug up some thesis McDonnell wrote about how women are basically baby makers and that's it... maybe you heard about that? I know I sure did... daily.

McDonnell's campaign was more positive. I guess it was mostly because he was constantly being attacked and had to keep showing that he didn't actually suck at life. But, he campaigned effectively and as a result, was usually ahead in the polls. He used his ads to show that he was a good guy, to outline his politics, and to say that he was the better candidate, not because of how bad the other guy was, but because he had plans and a vision for our state and our failing economy. Even when his ads highlighted the bad things Deeds had done in his career, it was sort of positive and McDonnell used that to show what he would either fix or do better.

Personally I think that a different message was sent on November 3. Virginians elected McDonnell, not because we hate Obama, many exit polls across the state showed continuing support for him. And not because we think that McDonnell is the guy who will fix all our problems.

I think we just hate negative ad campaigns.

It's Football Night in America!

It's week 8 of regular season football and as we (my family) sit here watching the Giants/Eagles football game and my mom dives deeper and deeper into depression as the seconds slowly tick by and the Giants continue to be dominated by the Eagles, I can't help but think... what drives our unabashed loyalty to one team over another?

People go crazy over their sports teams and personally I think that football brings out the most devoted sports fan in a person. I have friends who would sacrifice their brand new puppy if it would help the Eagles win. In her excitement, my mom knocked over, and consequently broke, a lamp when the Giants won the super bowl. I know people who believe that the stock market is influenced by whether one team wins over another.

So, why do we like the teams we like? Well, most people have one team that they just can't live without... for my mom that would be the Giants, for a bunch of my friends at school that would be the Eagles, for my cousins, the Patriots. I guess a lot of it has to do with where you're from. Being from near Philly, most of my school friends are expected to support a Philadelphia team. The same goes for my cousins, in New England you pretty much have to like the Pats or you will be lynched... or worse. My mom grew up in Jersey, thus her deep bouts of depression when the Giants lose...

Of course, there are also those teams that you just have to hate, loath, and despise out of loyalty to the team that you like. A prime example is the Eagles/Steelers feud. A true fan of either of these teams will hate the other. It's the classic cross-state rivalry. Consequently a "Pennsylvania Super Bowl" would be awesome.

So once we get over that initial can't live without 'em team, how do we decide who else to root for?

Well at least for me, it's completely arbitrary, sort of...

The Good Guys...

The Eagles - With PA home to both family and my college, how can I not like those green and white clad guys? I personally think that most philly fans take McNabb completely for granted but that's just me

The Giants - I know, they are in the same division or whatever so they compete for standings but I like 'em because I like my mom.

The Bengals - These guys are easy to root for... they woulda made it to the super bowl about 3 years ago, except that some guy on the Steelers broke Palmer's knee... bummer. Now they are back and rocking a pretty good record. Plus, they are my bro's team

I also like the Cowboys, Steelers, Broncos, and Colts because either I have ties to their respective cities or because I have friends who do.

The Badies...

The Rams/Cardinals - Hands down. Now I don't really hate the teams, but I hate them for their association with their quarterback, Kurt Warner. I've hated him ever since that one time when the Rams beat the Titans in the super bowl by tackling that guy right before he made it to the end zone. I was so mad that the Titans had lost and that stupid Kurt Warner's team had won, especially with all that Cinderella talk. I've never forgiven him for that.

The Dolphins/Redskins/Cowboys - I associate these teams with those starter jackets that were super popular back in the early 90s. As a result, I don't really like these teams very much, although I've gotten over this to some respect with the Cowboys. I don't know why those jackets bothered me so much but they really did. Maybe it was because our old cleaning lady wore one and I didn't like her. But, whatever the reason, these teams had the misfortune to be popular when I was in elementary school, soo there you have it.

The Patriots - They are overrated and I don't like Tom Brady. I'm glad the Giants ruined their perfect season. Sorry to the masses of fans that they have.

Isn't football fun?