What's your favorite Arabic word?

Hahaha oh wow. That is a totally crazy question!

Well, my current two favorites are:

بنفسجي [binufsijy]: purple
حقيقة [ḥaqeeqa]: truth

I just like how they sound. The first is insanely fun to say, and the second contains my favorite sound (not present in English). The meanings are entirely random, haha.

This is where you ask the questions you want answered. Or to make a random comment. Whatever the fuck you want to say.

checked out Alexandria @Glee

Give my Baby Alex a Gold Star so she can be on Glee and get the big break she deserves!!!

The audio isn't that great, due to college kid lack of access to good recording equipment, but you can hear the clarity of her tone. She's amaaazing!

checked out Alexandria @Glee

P.S. You can vote once a day!

Spring Quarter 2010

Sorry I haven't posted since before we returned from London!

Obviously we got back safely.

It is now spring quarter, and I am loving it!

True, that pale skin of mine which lacks pigment burns in the time it takes me to walk to class, but my classes are absolutely BITCHIN!

I am taking 3 classes:

(I was smart enough to only take classes I'm über interested in due to the cabin fever that is SPRING)

Arabic 411--Colloquial Arabic part 2

-->I've just gotta finish up the series. I mean... It was a bitch last quarter, but I think I know how to beat the system now. And by beat the system, I mean study correctly. It should be fine--it certainly can't be any worse than last quarter.

Linguistics 367.01--Language, Sex, and Gender in American Culture

-->This is my second writing course, and it's absolutely awesome! The prof is a young, hippie linguist who is an absolute joy in the classroom. I love this class so much that the two intense assignments we got this morning didn't dampen my day even a little.

History 526--Historical Perspectives on Sexuality: Same Sex Sexuality in the Western World

-->The professor for this class is fantastic! She is an older lesbian woman who is an absolute hoot. She is so witty and hilarious in class! I love the readings. Everything about this class is so great!

So, yes. I am in the middle of doing a ton of reading for the week, while listening to the xx (even though they are playing a killer show a mere 4 blocks away. DAMN YOU, RESPONSIBILITY!)

Soon, I will be shoving off to bed. Work at the library beckons early as shit. Drrr. D:

In other news, I BOUGHT A KITCHENAID STAND UP MIXER TODAY! Well, more so committed to buy it/had it set aside at a lady's garage sale this weekend. Yay craigslist! I got a $250 mixer for $125. YESSS! I also bought a $40, highly-recommended belgian waffle maker for $15. I LOVE COOKING AND CAN'T WAIT UNTIL SUMMER WHEN I HAVE A REAL KITCHEN!!!!

AAAAND! MY ALYSSA IS VISITING THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, G'NIGHT! xD

London, Day 11 of 12

Yes yes yes, it has been far too busy here to update every night as I'd planned. Apologies!

We've since visited Abney Cemetery, finished our expedition of the Science Museum, eaten at a shady Chinese buffet cuz it was cheap and we were hungry, went to Brick Lane and had SALTY BEEF BAGELS with MUSTARD, walked through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, got threatened by a swan, went to G-A-Y bar twice (perhaps again tomorrow night for one last hurrah?) and danced to Lady Gaga the entire time, went to Crazy Homies tequila bar twice, went to TWO West End shows: Avenue Q and Wicked, and going back to Camden Market tomorrow to pick up my sister a cute lil doohicky for her birthday and myself one and a itty present for James. Everything's eensy weensy because we didn't check any bags and carry everything on, soooo no snowglobes and only wittle fings, i.e. postcards.

SO. MUCH. STUFF.

So yes, tomorrow is the last day. Then we fly back. We'll spend the entire day traveling. I'm not expecting it to be bad. We're coming in during the middle of the week. I just have some reading I need to do before class on Thursday. Plus, uhh... I have an 8:30am class on Wednesday. Whateva. It'll be fine. :)

I've thoroughly enjoyed this vacation and had so much fun with my cousins and Walt. I'm so glad we got the chance to do this. Now, some reading that's due Thursday. ONWARD HO!

What is the most unexpected/surprising thing that you've learned about London?

Bums sleep outside bagel shops on Brick Ln. and no one cares. And people chain up their dogs outside stores and people don't pay it any mind. People carry little dogs onto the tube. Assholes pee in cemeteries. And they make you sign the back of your credit cards before they'll touch it. Also, random pubs will not serve you drinks if you don't have a "Pass Mark" on your ID. That is, if you aren't British, you get no cider. (Ok, it was just one random lil pub, but seriously wtf?)

Hardly one thing, but I do believe they are all equally interesting observations.

This is where you ask the questions you want answered. Or to make a random comment. Whatever the fuck you want to say.

London, Day 5 of 12

So it's Tuesday.

We had trouble uploading photos onto facebook last night, but rest assured, it has been remedied.

Today, we went to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum and Harrod's. My camera wasn't working, so nothing much to post on here or facebook. Check out Walt's. He took hundreds. Mostly of stuffed animals.

The Natural History Museums was huge, and we spent most of the day there, but not horribly impressive. Their taxidermy animals were all faded. The panda bear was seriously white and beige. wtf?

But yes, it was a great day. We also saw the Hubble IMAX 3D movie. It was so cool.

Just before it, Walt and I bought tickets, went to a corner store, bought a 2-litre of Dr. Pepper, and chugged most of it, then met Beckie and Matt in the museum theatre. It was a blast.

The Science Museums was AMAZING. And we got very little done, and are definitely going back. It is free, after all!

Then we went to Harrod's. Not my thing. I felt really claustrophobic and uncomfortable. So much crazy expensive designer stuff and dumbass people willing to pay hundreds of dollars for it. Seriously. An umbrella was over 100 pounds. What the fuck?

We came home and have been uploading photos and eating dinner and watching youtube videos.

It is now 11:15pm. I'm exhausted. Off to bed.

London, Day 4 of 12

Today was great. Very tiring, but great.

This morning, Walt and I got up to go to the Tower of London. But on the way to the tube, we stopped to get waffles for breakfast. Mmmm MM!

We took the tube to the Tower of London. It was rather magnificent. I mean, it cost us a solid $44 to get in, but it was AMAZING. We spent the entire day there, had a bitchin' tour by Yeoman Warder Ken McGrath, saw the Crown Jewels, saw where lotsa people were held and tortured (yes, including Lady Jane Grey and Guy Fawkes) and did a shit ton of walking. It was great weather. Didn't even rain until later.

After the tower, we texted Beckie so she'd meet us at St. Paul and give us a nighttime tour of Westminster. But first, we ate at Subway. Honestly, American food is still cheaper than European food. And we'd just dropped a cool wad of cash on the tourist attraction of the day, so why not seal the deal with some good ol' 'Merican food. (PS YAY HEALTH CARE!!!!)

Then we walked around. Walked down Fleet Street, and went to this bitchin pub called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was basically in a wine cellar. It was really cool. Walt was drunk. Far too easily. Especially for just after having eaten a whole twelve inches of bread and meat. (not a penis reference)

After our pub stop and our tour around St. James gardens and typical tourist sightseeing, we walked to another pub to meet Matt, who had just gotten off work. We had another half pint and chips then caught the tube home, where we got 2 pizzas and watched Hot Fuzz.

Needless to say, we're fucking pooped. It is nearly 1am here. Time for photo uploading, as I promised, and some sleeps.

Tomorrow: FREE museums and IMAX 3D!!!!!

Oh, and more pubs.

Cheers!

Spring Break: London -- Day 1, 2, & 3

So. We left Ohio on March 18.

We arrived March 19.

The flight wasn't really that bad. There were 4 babies on our long flight from Detroit to Amsterdam (and no, we didn't smoke anything. stop asking) but it wasn't that bad. All but one were relatively quiet.

My cousin Beckie met us at the airport, and we took the tube back to her place.

We napped then met up with her husband Matt later for our first London pub experience.

It was a good day.

Saturday, Walt and I met up with my friend Zena, whom I'd met in Lebanon. It was loads of fun. We went to Camden Market, which is this MASSIVE outdoor market that was extremely fun and ridiculously amazing. There was this one really cool store called Cyberdog that was totally bitchin'. It was a raver's place and really loud music and blacklights and lots of dancing...but a store. You could buy trinkets and then the whole downstairs was fun clothes. It was hilarious. Walt loved it. He paid 5 pounds for a dancing robot toy. Ohhh dear....

We stopped by a shop on the way home. We bought toothbrushes (since I packed ours up then left them on the sink in Columbus... naturally.) and disposable razors and a 2-liter of Strongbow. Then we came back to the flat, took a short nap, and had dinner. Then off for a Saturday night of tequila, tequila, tequila!

My cousins are friends with someone here who works at a tequila bar, and I had never had a Margarita, so we went there and were fed free drinks all damn night long. It was glorious. Then we left a massive tip and went to try to catch Matt's friend's gig, but we got there too late and the pub was closing. Then we took the tube as far as we could before it closed, then waited an hour for the Night Bus, aka the Drunk Bus. By the time we got home, it was 2.30am. The tube closed at 12.30am. That's how long it took. Yes, things close really early here. But whatever. Then we're over our hangovers early enough to get stuff done, haha.

Today is just a hang out day. We may go for a walk later, but right now, we're all on our computers. Walt and I hadn't fully recovered from the trip yet, so we slept REALLY late, and by really late I mean 3.30pm. So we'll probably head out for a walk soon. Then I think we're having a nice day in and watching movies with the cousins all day. I do believe we'll be heading out for meat pies and minty mushy peas for dinner and a few drinks. Woot!

Alright. Time to hop to it!

This is a fence we walk past a lot. It's so cool. :)

PMS

I'm sure none of you are unfamiliar with PMS.
It's either when you feel all crabby and bitchy and cry at fucking everything and hate everything (not excusively but particularly your uterus) or when your female friend is much more weepy or angry or anxious than usual.

Hello, my friends. My name is Emily. I have a uterus. Thus I have PMS.

Today, it hit me.
The PMS.
The anger.
The anxiety.
The illogical thinking which I recognize yet cannot, for some reason, discredit.
The depression.
The need for fuzzy animals.
The need for affection. A hug. A smile. A text. Anything.
The need for appreciation. To know that I am loved and valued.
The crabbiness.
The outlook. The bleakness of every situation running rampant in my head.
The little things that piss me the fuck off.
The littler things that throw me into tears.

The week and a half before my period is always hellish.
I am overanalyzing everything, even things that I had promised myself I would not analyze, things which I had labeled "go with the flow."
I am dejected and have an overly-active sense of observation.
I am paying far too much attention to the little details. As if I didn't already do that enough.
I am extraordinarily indecisive.
I am wanting nothing else but to curl up in a little ball of literature, music, and art, but also feeling the need for human interaction.
I am altogether restless yet incredibly bored.
I am a living, breathing, walking contradiction.
I am insane.

PMS is the small-scale simulation of my anxiety-driven depression.
And this post is a small-scale, hope-this-makes-me-feel-better, freak-out.

Every little thing. It all affects me today. I'm usually stronger than this. But these fucking hormones have taken it upon themselves to amplify every negative emotion, everything I feel.

I feel like I need a friend, yet I can't get myself to believe that I deserve to have them.
I feel like I need affection, but I cannot rationalize to myself how I could ever be liked and tolerated for any extended period of time.
I feel like I am not me and that this is just some fucked up version of myself, but then I wonder if it's actually the real me, the true me, the things that I feel and fear but suppress (though I do so for my own good).
I feel like there is altogether so much to do but it cannot all be accomplished, so what good is it if it is not done? Not quite all is equivalent to nothing. So what's the point of trying?
I feel like I still have no idea what I want to do with my life. I find everything shallow. Each and every external stimulus in my life makes me only happy for an instant, only as an outside actor; nothing inside me ever changes, nor am I finding that which makes me internally happy.
I don't understand the point of trying if I know that there is no path to happiness which I do not consider shallow, pretentious, external.
I fear rejection. And that's not normal. I don't usually care about it. Or perhaps it's the solution to the problem.

I keep telling myself that all these things I'm thinking, all these things I'm fearing, come and go. And just keep hoping that they will leave again.

Every time. I tell myself. I've been through each of these situations before. And yeah, it hurt like balls, but I got through it, and I'm happy with whom I am now. So why should I allow my fear of certain situations reoccurring bother me? I got through it once, twice, thrice, I can get through it again.

Today, it's just not working.
Today, I am in pieces.

"Stop now before it's too late.
You're eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate.
Nothing lasts forever -- that's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea."

formspring.me

Not a question, but I don't have a blogger account, so I can't comment on your entries, but I just wanted to say that It brought a smile to my face to see that you're doing well and have mostly landed on your feet.-Anonymous reader/personal cheerleader

Thank you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me. <3

What do you want to know? Ask me anything!