Boyfriend and I are spending the day together.

If we live to see our anniversary (tomorrow), I'll let you know how that goes as well. 

Before I begin, let me briefly discuss how wonderful of a girlfriend I am. Wednesday is my "day off," in this sense of the word, "day off" means the day when I don't have classes, but get caught up on the pile of work that has somehow amassed since Monday. It's also my day to sleep in a re-charge, since I probably haven't slept for more than 3 or 4 hours a night since the previous Wednesday. Wednesdays are amazing. Wednesdays are mine. This morning, I drove out to Ranson at 8:30 so boyfriend could take his car in to the shop. Since he has no transportation, or work today, he is here until we can go get his car. He likes ESPN, I like reading the British classics to the tune of MTV and VH1. You can see where the problems lie. 

However, I'm a great girlfriend and since our anniversary is tomorrow, I will read my British classics to the tune of some thing on MTV that is for current college football players entering the draft. It reminds me of the auctioning off of race horses, actually. 

Let's see...last night was the State of the Nation. I'm not sure what the difference is between the State of the Nation and the State of the Union, but, I am fairly certain Nancy Pelosi was wearing a pea-green Snuggie, a few shades darker than the green one advertised on the commercial. New goal: become Speaker of the House so I, too, can get a custom-made Snuggie and have it be totally acceptable on national television. 

I didn't catch the whole thing, I watched long enough to get excited about the promised education plan and scan the room for people falling asleep. We, then, went to Tony's for Fat Tuesday cheese fries to serve as a post-pancake supper dessert. My Lenten sacrifice to give up fast food and eat one fruit and one veggie each day is totally necessary now. 

Life is starting to calm down, so I'm embracing it...not entirely sure how long it'll last. 

Wind happens sometimes. Coldplay also wins stuff.

It is unexpectedly cold today because of some crazy wind that blew trash all over my neighborhood and I swear almost destroyed the classroom I was in this morning at 8:00. I'm not kidding. It's super-crazy blowy out. I was upstairs watching a very tall, very skinny tree whip around all over the place. It's going down. I came downstairs because I started to get nervous that I was suddenly going to have foliage in my bedroom. 

Actually, that's not completely true. Jon & Kate Plus Eight and What Not to Wear are on. Hooray for babies and NSFW clothing! 

I'm not supposed to blog about weather, am I? 

I guess I could talk about the Grammy's. I know the first rule of journalism is timeliness, but I'm not a journalist and this isn't a newspaper. I also know that most people don't want me to rant about how much I hate Coldplay. So, you've been warned. I'm going to rant about Coldplay and talk about the Grammy's. Click the appropriate x if necessary. 

I hate Coldplay. Coldplay is quite possibly one of the only artists that requires me to immediately change the radio station. They fall among David ArchuletaCook, Nickelback, and Kevin Rudolf. Honestly, these artists are the only ones I change immediately. It's an honored position. 

Coldplay won Song of the Year for "Viva La Vida." I accidentally listened to the song almost all of the way through once and couldn't get the brooding "I used to rulleeeeeeeeeee the woooooorrrllllddddd" out of my head at all. 

I hate Coldplay. 

I, however, do love Adele and thought her shock/acceptance of Best New Artist was just the cutest thing I had ever seen. Katy Perry's sparkly-fruit adorned dress? Well, she makes me feel like it's okay to dance like a white girl with my cherry Chapstick. (Did I ever write about the gas station employee that hummed "I Kissed a Girl" the last time I bought Chapstick? If I didn't...yes...it happened) Robert Plant & Allison Krauss winning Album of the Year gave me faith. Boyfriend was upset it didn't go to Lil Wayne. Album of the Year for an album that asks someone to lick something like a lolly pop? I just can't get down with that. "Ruuuuuulllllle the woooooooorrrrllllllldddd." 

In general, I actually really liked the Grammy's. I haven't been able to sit through an entire award show for a really long time. Just...don't get me started on Chris Brown and Rihanna. 

Enjoy your Thursday. 

Free your secrets and become who you are...

I just got home from DC. Frank Warren of PostSecret gave a lecture at George Washington University that was open to the public. My roommate and I went down. 

Words to not describe. Well, they do, actually. I think the ride back from Shady Grove station included the words, innocent, emotional, amazing, inspiring, funny, sweet and incredible to describe Frank's talk. If you aren't familiar, you should be. If you're familiar and not in love, you need to get there. If you're in love and haven't seen him speak, you need to find a place and go. Our tickets were only around $10 which is a very reasonable entertainment cost. 

He talks about himself, shows secrets that haven't been seen by the public, gives the audience a chance to share their secrets and shares some of his o. There's a different air in the room when Frank's talking. Something in the air that suddenly makes humans trust each other and care about each other. 

We all need a little more of that loving these days. 

Those familiar with PostSecret know that fans typically take secrets into bookstores with them and leave secrets inside other PostSecret books for others to purchase. Tonight, when I bought a book at the lecture, an old secret that Frank received and perhaps put online was hidden in my pages. I hope the girl who sent in her secret to Frank in 2006 is doing okay tonight, and that whatever ailed her three years ago is gone and that she has more happy days like the one she mentioned in her secret. 

At the end, he offers a book signing. And he signs all of them. I have never met a "celebrity" before and was incredibly giddy, but when I thanked him for his project and gave him a secret of my own (!!!), he smiled and said, "thank you, I like it, too." 

Little Victories

I just finished and successful attempt at my mother's home-made macaroni and cheese recipe. Probably the only one of her recipes I was scared to attempt, because it involves making a white sauce. My patience and attention span resembles that of the middle schoolers I teach on most occasions, so something that involves whisking until it boils really isn't high on my fun things to do list. I was really craving it, though, and it tastes a world better than the box stuff. Little things like that make me realize that I'll do just fine on my own.

Sometimes, it's just best to focus on the little things. 

As I scrape the rest of this cheesy goodness off of my bowl, I pride myself on another Thursday success. I'm not watching MTV, VH1 or TLC at the moment. Not that HBO is really any better, but we're watching Brokedown Palace, which I have never seen before but honestly with I had. The prison these ladies are in really doesn't seem all that bad, but apparently I didn't watch the beginning. I'm not really one to talk though, I passed out at the detention center when I was in high school. Good movie though. 

Now, I'm making boyfriend watch Charlie's Angels. 

I'm running on the glorious concept of sleep deprivation. I stayed up a little too late and woke up way too early because of school. I had my interview today with Club Z. I guess now I'm a tutor...as soon as I get a child. To tutor...I'll need to work on that not sounding quite so icky. 

In other news, we've been hit with the awful cold weather everyone else has been hit with. For my class trip to D.C. tomorrow, we have a projected high of a balmy twenty degrees. With the wind chill...I just can't get down with something like that, even in our nation's capitol. 

I'm going to close this horribly disorganized, sleep deprived, super proud entry with a quote from my roommate, regarding my macaroni and cheese. 

I think I just died and went to cheese heaven.

Night, kiddos. 

My Favorite Pop Culture Moments of 2008

I'm feeling a little better since my first post of today, and felt really inspired to wrap up 2008 in terms of popular culture. These are the top 10 moments I feel really captured and molded my 2008. Enjoy.

10. Paris Hilton runs for president. When the McCain camp was running ads revolving around the celebrity factor of his opponent, Paris Hilton released her response. She filmed an excellent campaign commercial where she made some, I hate to admit it, fantastic points, on the energy crisis. See you at the debates, bitches.

9. Russell Brand hosts the MTV Video Awards. MTV was apparently hit by the economy as much as the rest of us in 2008 and brought in Russell Brand, a relatively unknown British comedian, to host the Music Video Awards. After his opening bit insulted President Bush and the Jonas Brothers' vow to remain virgins until marriage made the audience squirm with shock, awe and discomfort, my friends and I were sure MTV put him on the next emergency flight to Britain. 

8. Twilight. Not my favorite to participate in, but the phenomenon I found the most fascinating in 2008 was the takeover of "Twilight." Subbing, at least three students per class would be reading the book. My peers were reading the book. My peers' parents were reading the book. People ran to the movies. Grown women fantasized about teenage vampires. I stood by in awe mumbling, "W...T...F..."

7. Sharon Osbourne Attacks Megan Hauserman. Sharon Osbourne hosts "Rock of Love Charm School." Megan Hauserman tries to manipulate her way through yet another reality show and fails. Sharon Osbourne is amazing. Megan insults Ozzy. Sharon pours a drink on her. A cat fight ensues. The crowd goes wild.

6. Kaitlyn Maher on America's Got Talent. A four-year-old girl brought tears to the eyes of, I'm guessing, 60% of Americans in June. When Sharon Osbourne asked her if she was from New York, the little girl said, "Um. I'm from America." If that didn't bring tears, Sharon asking her if singing made her happy should have. If you were completely heartless, you too were reduced to mush when she started singing, "Somewhere Out There." Adorable. 

5. Fanny Pak. I love a gimmick, and Fanny Pak was a walking one. Easily my favorite on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew," they gave me a deeper appreciation for hip hop on the Missy Elliot episode. I texted for them week after week, and they were still robbed of a win. I was crushed. 

 4. The Snuggie infomerical. At first, I found myself mumbling to myself that the Snuggie was a product for the epitome of lazy people. Upon more investigation and struggles to keep my quilt over my shoulders as I made my morning coffee, I realized I was one of those lazy people. Please, someone give me a Snuggie. 

3. The Britney Comeback. Perhaps not a big-time pop culture moment, but the first time I heard Britney Spears' "Womanizer." I tried to change the channel and escape from the Big Britney Comeback of 2008, but it was on two channels. So after several seconds of "womani-shit, zer, womani-damnit," I let myself go and found myself rocking down the road. It's Britney, bitch. 

2. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Need I say more? Who could forget seeing Russia from our houses or my personal favorite, "for all you Joe Six Packs playing a drinking game at home...maverick." If you're keeping score, the Vice Presidential Debate was also the night of El (Vice) Presidente margaritas for Jessica and I. A couple of regular Jane Six Packs ourselves. 

1. A RickRoll of Epic Proportions. My personal favorite pop culture moment of 2008? When Rick Astley, himself, RickRoll'd the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Honestly? The Rickroll has re-invented Rick Astley, and as he sat around his feast that evening, I'm sure he was thankful for YouTube.