A-mazing

Rob & Amberthe brothers, wink, wink
The Amazing Race was on tonight-a two hour special, and ha ha the mean couple got eliminated. I was so glad; I really didn't like that guy. He was so mean to his girlfriend. I predict he'll be a wife beater someday. Yuck. The brother got in a jeep wreck this week and Boston Rob and Amber (from Survivor) didn't even stop to see if they were ok. Regardless I still like them, because they throw a wrench into the mix. The other teams don't like them so it adds controversy. Life lesson for this you ask? Well, even in real life a little resistance is good. No one wants to be surrounded by people they can steam roll over all the time (except for the narcissists out there). A good argument is fun and it stretches you. No doubt about it, a 'lil resistance is healthy now and then.

Easter Eggs

Tonight I am going over to my Grandma's house to paint easter eggs. It's family tradition to do so. We hard boil dozens of eggs and then draw on them with crayons, and then dip them in this vinager and dye mix and the wax from the crayons resist the dye. Some of them turn out pretty cool, but most are just "huh, that's nice." Every year I try to think of new ideas to draw on the eggs, but most turn out being bunnies or peeppees (baby chickens for those of not from PA). My favorite thing to do is to make random designs with a white crayon and then let the egg in the dye for a long time so it gets really dark and then only the white marks show up. Those usually look really psychedelic. Did I spell that right? Is there a right way to spell psychedelic?

God

In light of Easter I have put up a passage that I try to live my life by.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

Too often I find myself conforming to the world, viewing sin as not so bad. We all need an awakening now and again. May I always have a never-ending-passion to glorify God.

Christ died for us. Is it too much for God to ask the same of us? He may not be asking us to die a physical death for him, but he is saying that we need to sacrifice our desires and be made pure and holy in his sight. It is not something we can do ourselves. It is only by the grace of God, through faith, that we are saved. Praise God for his forgiveness and love. But always remember he is just too. Imperfect humans will never reach him unless we have accepted his forgiveness.

Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery. 2 Chronicles 19:7

I dunno about you, but that verse literally puts the fear of God in me:) Whether you share my beliefs or not, do not let a day go by that you do not recognize the presence of God and are not humbled by it!

Swan Squawking

Tomorrow or rather today (way early in the morning) is good Friday and Ship still has school. No Easter break for us. We still have classes even on the day Jesus died. Something just seems wrong with that. Jesus would want us to have a break.

Now I feel bad. Maybe I shouldn't have written that. Did I just offend God? No offense intended. But really Jesus died, and yet we just treat it like a normal day. Maybe this year I will reflect on Christ's sacrifice more closely, and then in a sense not having a break will be beneficial.

On a completely different note, wednesday during my British Writers class the professor was talking about how swans ruin landscapes and then she made this abrupt loud squawking nose that just made me laugh hysterically. The only thing was that I was the only one laughing. For some reason or another I thought it was the funniest thing I ever heard and sporadically during class I would unconsciously start smiling and almost lose it. I kept on thinking how it was so funny that SWANS ruined a landscape and then the noise she made only made it more ironic. I just kept repeating in my head, Jenn Jenn, just control yourself, no snorting or anything, apparently nobody else found the swan thing funny, but it definitely hit my funny bone.

Pitter Patter (or whatever rain sounds like)

hiya folks. This week is crazy, so many papers to write. In fact I have one to write for every class but one, all at the same time...ahhhh. Please don't mind emily in the former post, she's desperate (ha ha). (I think I'll pay for that later)

Ok so what to talk about. How about the fact that is RAINED today. It was like I stepped into a shower with all my clothes on and then walked to class. I love listening to the sound of rain, it is so peaceful and it puts me into sleepy mode, that is provided you aren't standing out in it. Which acutually is pretty fun. I love playing in the rain. It is one of the best things in life, simple, yet so wonderful. If it is raining where you are grab a friend, take off your shoes and run barefoot through the rain, maybe jump in a puddle or two. You will feel like you are 5 years old again and quite refreshed. No really, is there anything better? Go play in the rain and then cozy up with hot chocolate afterwards. Go now I'm telling you, go.

Meet Emily!

Hey, this is Jenn's darker side...yes, there are two parts to Jenn. I am pure evil. Heh, just kidding. I'm just filling in for Jenn because she's busy working on some poem for English. My name is Emily and I like long walks on the the beach at night, daisies, and frozen mochas. I am single and a college student...two for one!!! I love dogs and think that everyone should have a dog at least once in their life. I'm a bio major, pre-med...so I have to have all my fun now because later, I won't have anytime, so if anyone's up for some fun, call me!! If it's nice out and warm, I enjoy playing soccer or volleyball or even a relaxing run. Fall is my favorite season because it's still a little warm out, and yet there's a slight cool breeze passing through. I like a guy who is intelligent and can hold a decent conversation with me, but isn't up tight and knows how to make me laugh. He has to be a Christian, but not so strict that I feel like a heathen. Ah, he has to love dogs too. Oh, plus, I'd like a guy who can wear the pants in the relationship and can take initiative, but I also want to make decisions and be the boss too, so I suppose the guy has to be able to "share the pants" with me. Hmmm, kinda hard to describe, because I'm an independent girl, but I want a guy who can make decisions too. Anyway, if you want, leave a comment...this was just a "get to know Emily" blog....not really good, but when I post later, it'll be more interesting! Ciao!

DC Day

Friday was DC day.

We left on a bus in the morning to go to the National Gallery of Art to get our critiques done. I did mine on a piece by Calder since he is probably my favorite artist. He's the one who made wire-working an art form. Next we went to the Museum of Natural History with a nice orchid display and the infamous Hope Diamond. Lastly (educational wise) we visited the National Archives with the Constitution and such in it. For supper we went to this diner place~ Jaleo, I think, that cost 6 bucks for a plate of strange food the size the size of a CD. We decided that we were paying for the trendy atmosphere, not the food. Right afterwards we went across the street to Starbucks for a real treat. Frappochinos- yum. The weather was perfect, and overall I'd say we had a very fun day!

St. Patty's day

Nothing is better than field trips. It's like going to school to have fun. How often does that happen? Tommorrow, with my art appreciation class, we are going to Washington DC. Wahoo.

So today is St. Patricks day. The day where us sober people just smile and nod at all the wanna-be irish drunks. Why can't it be enough to simply wear green clothing to celebrate St. Patty's day ? (Which I forgot to do.) So since I am not fond of drinking, my only contribution to the day of leprechons is the four leaf clover here for you to admire. Isn't it lovely?

strange garments

So for my 3D design class we just finished our cardboard abstract art project (mine was expressing the word argument) and now we are assigned to make an outfit or clothing item out of some sort of unusual material. I'm so excited about this project. Some examples in class were out of tires, or silk flowers, or soda cans, or nails, or basically anything. Last year I made a dress out of duct tape for a contest at our school and that took forever but was still tons of fun. This time I'm thinking straws. I bought a whole bunch at k-mart and I spent 5 hours tonight tying them together with fishing line, but I haven't even made a dent in the possibilities or come close to completion of the ensemble. I envision many long hours working on this project, but I think it will be worth it.

Here are pics of my duct tape thing from last year, it's been in a box for a while now so it’s not a spectacular as it once was-aka large creases from folding. You'll just have to be happy with photos of the shoes and gloves/mask only. The whole outfit also has a head piece, arm band, mermaid-like skirt, a strapless top, a necklace, and of course what you see in those photos. Ha. Now that I think about it, guess what I named my duct tape outfit? Yep, that's right, Moonlight Masquerade, hence the name of this. Wow, I amaze myself at times. Ha.

NEW YORK BABY!!!!

Yeah, NEW YORK BABY!! So we pick the two days in the whole year that a freak blizzard hits New York to go visit. Our spring break consisted of temperatures that were way below freezing. While we we looking at the statue of liberty the snow was painfully pelting our faces and the wind about knocked us over. Not to mention it wasn't the greatest picture taking weather either. I think we may have been cursed or something. We neither got onto the taping of Regis and Kelly or Conan O'Brien which was sooooooooooo disappointing. Also the swing dance club we had reservations for was closed due to their heater breaking. Nonetheless we still had fun. I had my moment of being angry/depressed (and I apologize guys) but thanks for making our trip fun anyway. I rode a subway for the first time in my life and hence I am happy that I have my good ole car to haul me around. If katie and tami hand't caught me the one time I almost fell over into someone's lap, I think I may have been shot. We were on the 12th floor of a hotel right by times square which was a nice spot. We browsed around the huge, might I add, Metropolitain Museum of Art. We ate at Planet Hollywood on Wednesday and probably the highlight of my trip was seeing the Jean Claude and Christo gates. Emily and I almost slipped on the ice with excitement when we saw they weren't taken down yet. We had assumed they took them down right before we got there but when we saw the billowing orange cloth in the distance we started screeching with delight. NY was tons of fun even if it didn't turn out as planned. Here are some pics of our fun.

Mike was amongst us four girls. He was a great sport and actually survived with nothing more than a few frost bitten toes:)

I wan't kidding when I said the snow was pelting our faces. I've never been in a snow storm quite like this before. It was all I could do to face the wind to take the picture.

Yay, the celebrated gates! Let me know if you want to see the rest of my pictures of them. (Note my new profile pic)

This is in the lobby of our nice hotel. I think it's a painting of the highlights of NYC.

Here we have my friends gawking/gazing/ohhing and ahhing/looking at/admiring/viewing/apreciating some modern painting at the MET that no one knows what it is supposed to be. Actually Mike is probably trying to explain it to the everyone else.

Finally the nightscape of NY. All the ads and lights and such. Too bad photos can't convey the cold. I'm telling you, it was unbelievable.
I'll probably put up some more photos later from our trip so keep checking back.

blister fingers

I hit some golf balls with Dan today at the range and now my fingers hurt. I've got some nasty blisters because I forgot to put on my glove until I was 3/4 done with the bucket. Catching up with Dan was pretty cool, but man, my golfing is ugly. I haven't swung a club since new year's day. I have to get into the groove here before summer comes. Right now I'm working on my golf camp brochures to give out, since I will be coaching 2 different weeks. I can't wait, especially since I love kids. Finally-- tonight we leave at a 2:30 in the morning, so watch out NYC, here we come.

Phantom

So today is Sunday. High school friends are also home on spring break so I get to hang out with them. Funess! Today I'm going to watch Troy at Emily W's house. We can talk girlie talk and hang out. I'm so excited to get caught up. Yesterday we had a pow wow at my house. The Phantom of the Opera sound track rocked, you guys!
Note for those of you who don't know. The phatom's mask changes during the movie as his emotions change. Isn't that cool? I find that fasinating. Also in the book he was much more evil and dark, and you didn't really feel sympathy for him. In the broadway and movie version you actually wanted him to win the affection of others. I think I like the nicer image of him. It gives the story less depth, but in some ways it is more satisfying.

BBC quiz

Ha, so I stole my favorite questions from this quiz at the BBC news website. See if you know the answers. (This stuff really did happen) I got 5 right out of 7, but I only put 4 questions on here.
The answers are at the bottom of this post.

Question 1
What began this week and ends on 2 August 2012?

A: The return voyage of the Cassini spacecraft from Saturn to earth
B: A new cycle of the study of the Talmud, a Jewish holy text that takes more than seven years to read
C: A scientific study to ascertain whether the so-called "seven-year itch” – the point at which partners are said to tire of their marriage - has any basis in fact


Question 2
In a controversial case in Bangladesh this week, four babies aged between three months and two years old were put on trial. But what were they accused of?

A: Fraud
B: Criminal damage and looting
C: Burglary


Question 3
This week, a US food company was forced to halt production of a new range of sweets, after being threatened with a boycott. Why were the sweets controversial?

A: They came in a range of meat flavours including beef and bacon
B: They were found by a consumer magazine to contain a record number of artificial colours and flavourings
C: They were shaped to look like animals killed on the road


Question 4
Why are Indian scientists maintaining a colony of 500 fat rats weighing 1kg or more?

A: The rats have sensitive noses, and could be trained to replace police sniffer dogs
B: The scientists are hoping to identify a gene that leads to obesity
C: The rats fur is especially fine, and can be used to make clothing for astronauts


Answers
1:B Jews read one page of the Talmud each day. The book of rabbinical laws and commentary has 2,711 pages, and takes seven years and five months to complete. One cycle finished this week and thousands of followers promptly returned to page one again.
2:B The court eventually dropped the case and suspended four police officers over the case, which highlighted the widespread practice of filing false complaints to harass people.
3:C The US food giant company Kraft decided to halt production of the sweets shaped like flattened snakes, chickens and squirrels after after animal rights activists said the sweets encouraged cruelty to animals, and threatened a boycott.
4:B

Mosaic Floor

Today seemed like Saturday all day long since I had nooooooo classes. Ah, the life, it was wonderful. I have made it my goal that before break is over I should be at least half done refinishing my bathroom floor. We ripped out the old linolium and bought a huge container of broken tiles and blue colored grout. I am going to do a mosaic with all the pieces. Unfortunatley it is a lot more work than I expected. First you gotta lay out all the tiles where you want them and then pick them up and mix the cement stuff, then smooth it down and then put the tiles back, stick caulking between them, wipe off the extra gunk, and finally seal it with glaze stuff. It seems like there are a million steps, plus I'm afraid I'll mess it up and then not be able to fix it. Even still this project is exciting; I can't wait to see it once it is done. When I'm done I'll do a before and after picture to show you the transformation.

The ever elusive purse with a long strap

So today was the last day before spring break. Time goes by much slower when you are conscious of it. Every 5 minutes I would check my watch to see if class was over yet. Finally I can be carefree, finally we are that much closer to going to NYC. We are going to have so much fun. I got an email today confirming our reservations at swing46, this jazz dance club with live music and dinner. They say you have to dress up to go and it seems like a very stylish classy place. Later on I'll have to put up some pictures of our trip. I just can't wait, although I must find a cute black purse before we leave. No one wants to walk around New York looking out of place. You have no idea how hard it is to find a purse with a long enough strap to put around your neck these days. They just don't make any cool ones like that anymore. The long-strap ones are limited to momma purses or suitcase sized ones and I definitely don't wanna carry a momma purse! Oh, the worries of being a girl. Feel lucky boys, you can shove everything important you own in a wallet and in your back pocket. Plus you can't leave anything in your pocket behind like I tend to have the habit of forgetting my purse at places, and then have to back track my steps and hope the world is a good place without theives and robbers who may see a lonely purse and help themselves to all the good stuff in there like makeup and tissues, right? Although on the bright side purse shopping CAN be fun, but usually I find things when I don't need them, but when I really search for something it stresses me out and can't be found. I've concluded that shopping plays games with your mind. Resist the temptation... or not, and go shopping anyway in order to find things you weren't really looking for in the first place.

(On a side note: like *ahem* pretty brown boots that friends trick you into buying that you really don't NEED.)

There is such a thing as a free lunch

Kristin and I went to talk the professor of this new honors class that we want to take next semester. I am so excited about it. Not only do we get 3 credits for planning our own non-profit organization, but I can imagine its pretty hard not to get an A in a class you design yourself. We'd be organizing the gathering and sending of textbooks to schools in the Phillipines that don't get much funding. How awesome is that? The fact that it is a class, but yet I could see myself doing on my own time is just too cool. Plus we got free lunch just for showing up. Nothing says thanks for meeting with me like grilled cheese and green tea.