AHH! Song Saturday!

In honor of what I'm doing tonight (ZOMBIE PUB CRAWL!) here's Thriller by Michael Jackson to get us all in the mood to put on all sorts of funky makeup and get "zombie-fied." I'll be sure to get some pictures and share with you all.

p.s. For those of you not of the young adult age in Minneapolis, the Zombie pub crawl brings tons of people - 10,000 people say they are attending according to the Facebook group - IN COSTUME to a myriad of bars on the West Bank of the U of M campus. Technically off-campus, but still super close so that's what it's called. There are drink specials and I'm sure costume prizes and live music. It's just ridiculous! If you're from the area, I hope we see one another tonight!

Painting time.

 It's a bit of a photo-dump kind of day as I've been meaning to post these photos for a little over a month now. Whoops! Anyways, where I used to live, I painted two of my walls a calm, mossy green to give the extra-large room a bit of the relaxed, cozy feeling I would need after long days at school or work. It took my mom and I a couple of hours to paint the color, but it made a world of difference.

Then, the time came for my lease to be up and for me to find a new place to live. (In September...I told you I'm a bit late!) So I recruited a few friends on a random Wednesday night and we went to town bringing the white back to the walls, and making me feel like that chapter of my life was officially closing. This room was the very first of my whole college career that I stayed in for an entire 12 months. It was a turning point. I'm now a bit of a rolling stone again; content and happy with where I am now, but willing to move if the right job makes an offer.

But really, with friends like these, who will sacrifice their night, bodies, and clothes for a night of crazy loud music, silly conversation and lots of painting, who could ever want to leave?

Oh, and did I mention the hot tamales? :)

I'm a storyteller, that's what I do and love.

There are numerous, wonderful TED talks on their website, but this one caught my eye and ear today. I've been reading up on authors, their writing styles, why they write what they write, where they get their inspiration from, etc. It's just something I'm interested in. This woman, Elif Shafak, presents an incredible piece on the politics of fiction. If you have a little time, it's worth it.

Here are a few gems I especially liked from the talk:
"Everywhere I went I felt like my imagination was the only suitcase that I could carry with me."

"In the face of death and destruction our mundane differences evaporated and we all became one for a few hours."

"But don't you see? There is nothing in me that is not in everybody else and there is nothing in everybody else that is not in me."

"Identity politics divides us. Fiction connects."

Like what you heard? Watch more inspiring people giving riveting talks here.

I've become...

a tea drinker! Actually, I'm pretty sure that around this time for the past three years I've gone through a period of intense tea intake. However, this year it has really taken off! I haven't even had coffee for over two weeks. If you know me in real life, you know that's an accomplishment upon itself.

I'd been hoping to reduce my necessity for caffeine for awhile now, but never felt that it was 'the right time' to limit my caffeine intake. In other words, I was dependent for a reason: because I was far too busy to focus on my own health or to notice that the one cup of coffee I used to have had turned into around 3 caffeinated drinks a day. Whoops.

Don't get me wrong, I do know that some teas are caffeinated and I do not discriminate against them. Baby steps, people.

I hope this tea splurge lasts for more than a season, but I'm certainly enjoying it for now. My most recent flavor tries include: vanilla rooibos, orange green tea, english breakfast, earl gray, vanilla bean, and the absolute cream of the crop (my favorite) chai.

 

 photos from here. 

Do you have anything that the changing season ushers in as a change? Do you have favorite tea flavors? I'd love to hear them!

Have you seen The Social Network?

I'm not going to lie, I still haven't, but I have heard from a myriad of people who have. Some of those people are around my age, in college or just out of it, the first wave of Facebook users (at least, the first wave of when high schoolers were allowed to have an account.) Some of those people are from other blogs I read, including Meaghan O'Connell's account of how the movie made her feel. She is the director of outreach at Tumblr at 26 years old. (and also a bit of a personal hero.)

Anyways, I was wondering what you all thought? I'm planning on seeing it at some point this week - I still am not sure when, but it will happen - but I love reading up on something so real like this. This probably sounds a bit juvenile for those of you who haven't grown up in the Facebook/blogging/Twitter/smartphone generation that us Gen Xers have, but the film is about something that we ourselves have lived. Checking Facebook is a daily, usually many-times-a-day occurrence for over 500 million people. Those people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site. (Stats found here) This is where we document everything. This is how we check up on people, friends, family and foes alike. This is our world, at our fingertips.

Anyways, in case you have a little time and are equally interested in this topic, I've compiled a short list of articles I've found educational to read, and that hopefully will make me go into the movie knowing full well what is true and what is Hollywood lore to craft an entertaining film.

Mark Zuckerberg's Most Valuable Friend - by Miguel Helft from The New York Times
-A really wonderful in-depth article on how a 41-year-old woman and 26-year-old Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) truly work in real life.

Would That the Real Mark Zuckerberg Talked As Much As the Facebook Movie Zuckerberg - by Kara Swisher of BoomTree
-A unique glimpse into the chatty portrayal of an actually quite terse and less-than-chatty real world Zuckerberg.

With a Little Help From His Friends - by David Kirkpatrick of Vanity Fair
-A "he's not always the villain" article detailing Sean Parker (who helped create Napster and was a founding president of Facebook) in his real life. While his work ethic may be erratic, he is actually quite visionary and works hard....for awhile. I liked seeing the other side of the man who is cast as a villain in the Hollywood rendition of the film.

Now I'm going to go look up movie times!

Song Saturday!

I've been meaning to have Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings be a song Saturday for awhile now, but never did it! This summer, one of my roommates went to her concert and came home with her album on vinyl, on CD, AND with rave reviews. We listened to it a lot, and I've been a fan since.

Maybe you are, too?

STLF's Annual Event is Tonight!

Hello everyone! I know I've been pretty quiet here on the blog all week, but I've been overcoming a sickness that pretty much wiped me out this week. I'm still not 100%, but I'm working on it.

However! That doesn't mean that I'll be missing out on STLF's Annual Event tonight! STLF stands for Students Today Leaders Forever and is a nonprofit I've been involved with in one way or another for three years now. There was a chapter on my college campus that I was involved in quite a bit, and I even interned for the national office all last semester. Tonight is our annual fundraising event, where all of the money we raise goes directly towards scholarships for students to go on Pay it Forward tours. Pay it Forward tours are 9-day community service trips that travel to different cities each day, helping out in each community we stop in. I've been on four trips now, and helped plan or lead three of the trips, so I'm a big fan!

If you want to learn more about STLF, (or want to sign up for a tour!) head on over to stlf.net. Or! If you are around Minneapolis, come to The Crowne Plaza Northstar hotel tonight from 7-10pm and join in the fun! Don't worry if you didn't register, tickets are available at the door (and I'm helping with registration at the event so you will just have to look for me!)