What my Life Looks Like as of Right Now

My billionth attempt at knitting: My first ever scarf (hopefully)

The mess that is the view from where I'm sitting

Coffee utensils and a random pair of scissors

The view from where I'm sitting Round 2

Stranger Danger: Starbucks Edition

As many of my friends will tell you (if you know them, which you probably don't), I have a knack for striking up life-altering conversations with strangers. I consider this a talent and a hobby. They (my friends) consider this a death wish. Just a little back story.

Yesterday, I decided to sit in Starbucks and knit. I thought that I needed some "alone" time, whatever that is, and I didn't feel like walking all of the way back to my residence hall. A few minutes later, an older man with a large book took a seat in one of the comfy chairs next to me. At first, I was completely thrown off. Why is this guy sitting by me when there are other seats available?

We didn't really look at each other for a while, but then he asked me about my knitting (which I am obsessed with and will talk about for a very long time to anyone who is unfortunate enough to ask). Bam. We ended up talking about his book, a guide to trees around the country, and all of the trees that this man has seen (which is a lot).

It was beautiful. I have always loved trees, but this guy really took it to a whole new level. He even found me some acorns so that I could plant my very own tree (which is something I have always kind of wanted to do). It was awesome.This guy was awesome. The conversation that we had may or may not have made my day.

Look around, find your own stranger, and converse. You never know what you will learn..

Being a Life Learner

I never fully realized the difference between someone who lives their life to learn and someone who just exists.

There is a difference folks. A vast one.

For example, I just completely blanked on the exact definition of the word 'vast'. Normally, I would have just used a dumber word that I already know the meaning of, like large. Not today. Today, I looked it up, refreshed my memory, and utilized that term. Rock on.

For the past few days, I have been reminding myself to be continually curious about the world, and to learn for the fun of it. And guess what, learning magically became fun again! I now know the history of Tootsie Rolls, why people are late, what Lorde's song "Royals" is actually about, songs by Cage the Elephant, and the basics of knitting. It's fantastic.

While a lot of this information may seem useless, it really made me think. How many things do I not know? How many of those things will I never know, and how will that affect my life? Ignorance breeds intolerance and such. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Maybe not to this extent, but I would like to continue to keep an open (or at least as open as I can be) mind about life. Who knows what else is out there to learn?

Also, knitting is frustrating as all hell.

This is the World, That We Live in

After four months of being an RA, I am a tad bit burned out. I don't know about you, but I have the tendency to emotionally invest completely in everything that I love (such as this job), which can lead to faster mental and emotional exhaustion. Due to the fact that I am completely enamored with this job, and with life, I was not going to stay burned out. (Insert cheesy metaphor about re-lighting my candle and such here.)

So I looked for ways to reverse my burn out. Locking myself in my room didn't work, and neither did avoiding this issue (which is never an effective way to deal with your problems, but who doesn't try it anyway?).

The answer came after a presentation that I gave for my Young Adult Literature class. My group and I ran a class on my favorite book, 'Looking for Alaska'. We noticed that my older copy of the book had a candle on it, while the newer editions just had smoke.

Little difference, I just assumed that it was a stylistic choice. A girl in my class, Ashley, didn't. She looked up this book after our class, unprovoked, and found this and posted it to my Facebook wall:

FROM WIKIPEDIA: YOUR ANSWER!

"In August 2012 blog, Green revealed details regarding the cover design of Looking for Alaska. Green acknowledged the fact that the supposedly extinguished candle did lead to an "improbable amount of smoke," and thus revealed that the initial cover design did not feature the candle. Green then revealed that certain book chains were uncomfortable about displaying or selling the book because they did not want to encourage what looked like cigarette smoke - which Green revealed was the actual 'cause' of the smoke. Thus, book chains added the candle beneath the smoke so that they weren't promoting smoking.

In John Green's box set, released on October 25, 2012, the candle element of the cover of Looking for Alaska has been removed, and features the original cover design. Further paperback releases of the book also have the candle removed."

After reading that, I realized that I have been too comfortable with the world in which we live, assuming things and not looking for answers. So, as of this moment, I am vowing to myself to be more inquisitive, of the people around me and the things that I take for granted. The results of that will be in posts to come.

"Stay thirsty, my friends"

Blazer Challenge

I have been going through a 1/5 life crisis. I am 20 years old, but still feel extremely young for my age, especially as a resident advisor (RA), where many of my younger peers appear to be more mature than me. I am working on becoming a more "mature" individual in some aspects, which is weird as all hell.

As one of the parts of this maturity challenge, I decided that my style selections needed to be more adult-like (it took everything I have not to put that in air quotes), so I looked to one of my RA friends, Livia, for style advice. She always looks extremely professional and adult, no matter what the situation. I looked at her style, and thought about which parts of it made her appear especially serious. Then it hit me.

Blazers.

And just like that, the Blazer Challenge was born. Seven straight days of blazers. Livia even got on board and (temporarily) donated her blazer collection to my cause.

I give myself a C+ for this challenge. I tried to enjoy the blazers, but just ended up feeling constricted. Instead of changing my style to be more blazer-esque, I using some of my more drastic pieces to incorporate the blazers into my wardrobe.

After three days, I just couldn't do it anymore and ended up wear a super bohemian looking outfit, completely with fringe boots and head scarf. Even a few days later, my style is still younger looking and grungier than usual, like a style binge after fasting for a long time.

Maybe there is something to be said for immature after all, at least I would like to think so...

Off Campus Friends...

Getting attacked by Shrillz

...are the best people ever. They really are. As a junior living on campus, especially as an RA, it can be difficult to remember what it's like to talk to people that aren't forced to interact with me for work/caretaking reasons. It's also nice to be completely unfiltered, without having to worry about my job or being a role model (if that's even a thing).

Chris and I hanging out at his place

They also give me a lot of perspective. I can see the different things that they are doing with their lives: being in a band, student teaching in Texas, dating, doing dishes, and all sorts of other crazy things. It's weird though, I am rarely jealous of their lives (although I am so incredibly proud of each and every one of them). While I would love to light a candle every once and a while or blast music loudly, I wouldn't trade what I have for anything (as cheesy as that sounds).

My off-campus friends are supportive as all hell, and I could not love them more if I tried. Thanks for being around guys (especially because I feel like most of you are reading this)!