Social Awkwardness

Social awkwardness. Yes, these are two words I know very well. We're good friends, actually. I'm not sure if we're friends because I bring those situations upon myself or if it's just simple misfortune, but I'd rather us not be friends.

Take Christmas Day for example--the trek to my dad's girlfriend's house to eat an "early dinner" and to exchange the presents my dad mandated we buy for her. I'd been dreading this interaction since he suggested the idea a few weeks earlier. I respect my dad's desire for us to be closer with the woman he's about to get engaged to (as well as her young sons) but this is ridiculous. My brother, sister, and I barely know the woman and in order to rectify that, my dad forces us to smile and pretend that her house is the only place in the world we want to be at that moment and that we'd love nothing more than to share stiff conversation with her on several general topics. My brother was amicable, I was cordial, and my sister was stone cold silent.

And I could see/
That she was offended/
She said, "Well, anyway..."/
Just dying for a subject change

So what do I take away from such experiences? Don't force people to be close right away. If you want me to like someone, then let me get to know them on my own terms and in my own time. Don't force me into awkward situations so frequently and expect me to be completely comfortable. That's all I'm asking.

Lists

1. Three things that scare me:
spiders
heights
a broken heart

2. Three people who make me laugh:
Jimmy Fallon
Tyler Braddy
Captain Jack Sparrow

3. Three things I hate the most:
stupid girls
narrow-minded people
fighting

4. Three things I don't understand:
economics
people who don't try
people who hate to read

5. Three things I'm doing right now:
listening to RENT
thinking up answers to these questions
waiting for David to call me back

6. Three things I want to do before I die:
go to Europe
to love and be loved back
get published

7. Three things I can do:
recite lines from movies I love
sing (not particularly well, but I can)
play basketball

8. Three ways to describe my personality:
introverted
altruistic
compassionate

9. Three things I can't do:
hate you
play the guitar
drive fast

10. Three things I think you should listen to:
your parents
your true friends
the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack...it's awesome

11. Three things you should never listen to:
people who can't sing
Dido
bad advice

12. Three things I'd like to learn:
how to play the guitar
how to surf
how to stop caring so much about what other people think

13. Three favourite foods:
french fries
buffalo chicken sandwiches from Charley's
gyro wrap platters from Great Wraps

14. Three beverages I drink regularly:
water
chocolate milk
Mountain Dew Code Red

15. Three shows I watched as a kid:
Boy Meets World
Salute Your Shorts
Hey Arnold!

Christmastime at the Miller House(s)

I've been back in the Snellville/Stone Mountain area for a few days now, and already my trip home has been quite the experience.

First of all, I'd like to point out that while I don't enjoy the very commercialized aspects of this holiday (i.e. the shopping frenzies, the commercials for Christmas sales on tv, the Christmas music on 94.9 FM starting in October, etc), I do enjoy putting up the few Christmas decorations we have and putting up the Christmas tree. That being said, let me say that I'm pretty much the only one in my family who does. My mom gets into in once I do, but otherwise, I'm all alone in that respect.

So on Sunday, my mom and I brought the decorations down from the attic and I put them around the house. I tried to hide the box containing all of our contruction paper stockings, wreaths, and Santas from elementary school, but my mom has a radar for that sort of thing. I'm surprised she still keeps some of it. Nevertheless, she found the box under some other boxes (it wasn't placed there unintentionally, mind you) and displayed said decorations prominently in the kitchen. Now when people come visit, they can look at my artwork and see that I couldn't write my name in a straight line at age 5. I'm doing better now, you'll be happy to know.

Our next task? Find a Christmas tree a week before Christmas. This was a harder task than we previously anticipated, but we did eventually find one. I don't think you could call it a "tree" exactly...it's shorter than I am (I'm 5' 7") and looks more like a Christmas bush. Or maybe we could call it a "fun-sized tree." My brother (who's about 6' 4") said it best -- "If it were a fish, we would have thrown it back." Too true.

I've done a few other things since coming back...I went to the dentist and had a strange woman clean my teeth and tell me that I just need to floss more. Of this fact I'm well aware; what I wasn't aware of was how easily my dental hygenist could carry on a one-sided conversation with me about the importance of flossing and how an electric toothbrush is so much better than a regular one. "Why am I telling you this?" she'd say, and without looking for a response, she'd immediately finish, "I'll tell you why..." Honestly, I didn't really need to be in the room for her to talk. She just kept going and going...eventually she made a note on her records not to cover teeth whitening with me the next time I come since she'd told me everything there is to know about the subject in a span of 30 minutes.

I also saw the movie "The Holiday" with a few friends. Good movie--a chick flick, yes, but still good. I was surprised to see Jack Black in it, and not as one-half of Tenacious D but playing a man who composes the music for movies for a living. What a cool job! It was a tad long, but worth seeing.

Finally, my brother came home last night, which is awesome. We jammed to Journey this morning (by the way, search YouTube for their "Separate Ways" video because it's terribly entertaining) and then went to a nearby park to play frisbee and walk around. After tossing it around for a while, we took a short walk on one of the trails and came back to find his Duke frisbee and the light jacket I was wearing gone. What? In a small park in Gwinnett County? Apparantly so. They were sitting by a picnic table on the ground, but someone decided to take them anyway. LAME.

And so, for the rest of my holiday, I will be writing soon while travelling between my dad's house, my mom's house, my dad's girlfriend's house (awkward), and my high school friends' houses. Hope everyone has a great holiday!

This Day in History: Basketball

The "This Day in History" part of my Google customized homepage was great today--on December 15th, 1891, James Naismith invented the game of basketball. It reads:

James Naismith Invents Basketball (1891)
"Looking for a way to relieve the boredom of his students during indoor gym class, Naismith nailed a peach basket to each end of a gymnasium, created 2 teams of 9 players, and thus invented basketball. Basketball was inspired in part by a game Naismith had played as a child, called Duck-on-a-Rock. One month later, Naismith published rules for the game, which did not allow for what is known today as dribbling; players had to move the ball up the court via a pass. ollowing each "goal" a jump ball was taken in the middle of the court. Although it wasn't a rule, players would commonly use the dust of coal to cover the palms of their hands, allowing them to get a better grip on the ball. The coal palm was used up until the early 1930s when the Depression hit, making the raw materials very pricey. Also interesting was the rule surrounding balls out of bounds - the first player to retrieve the ball received possession."

Today I honor you, Mr. Naismith, because I don't know what life would be like without this great sport. Everyone in my family played basketball, and my dad used to coach it when he was a history teacher (before he became a journalist).


Also in honor of this post, I salute the Duke men's basketball team on their excellent season so far. They lost some great players (like Sheldon Williams) but they've got some great players still there (like DeMarcus Nelson). Here's their record so far:

Duke 96, Shaw University 45
Duke 92, N. C. Central 63
Duke 86, Columbia 43
Duke 72, Georgia Southern 48
Duke 75, UNC Greensboro 48
Duke 71, Air Force 56
Duke 62, Marquette 73 (our only loss so far)
Duke 75, Davidson 47
Duke 54, Indiana 51
Duke 61, Georgetown 52
Duke 57, Holy Cross 45
Duke 69, George Mason 53

Keep up the good work, gentlemen.

Buyback Time Once Again

At the end of every semester, students can go back to the bookstores to sell their books back for cash. Don't want to see that chemistry book ever again? No worries--get rid of it and get some money in return. So I find myself back at the bookstore once again to buy your books back and get some cash money for Christmas presents in the process.

As the days go by, I've started to notice some trends among my fellow students. Hey, you stand at a counter at the front of the store for a few hours every day and you tend to pick up on little things.

• People tend to avoid reading signs. I've got to admit, I've been guilty of this one myself. But it does bring a smile to my face when people try to pull on the front door when you really should push if you hope to go any further. Especially when there's a sign on the door that says "PUSH." Or even better--when we're closing for the night and people try to open both doors at the front of the store when they're locked. The confused almost-customer tries both doors again, then turns his attention to the open/closed sign with the CLOSED tab visible and our hours clearly listed. Comprehension dawns on his face as the lights go out and the last employees drive away. Way to go, champ.
  
• Some people might want to look in the mirror one more time before leaving the house. Ugg boots and Soffe shorts? Not a choice I'd make, but some girls do it. Hopefully they were rushing out the door and grabbed the first pair of shoes they could find on their way out. More than likely, however, they thought it looked cool. Poor things.
  

Hmmm...that's all I can come up with at the moment...more to come later I'm sure...maybe when I'm not worried about another final exam...

Exams, Real Men of Genius Style

"Today we salute you, stressed out college student during exam week. As you sit in your lonely cubicle in the library, doped up on Starbucks and Aderol, you think to yourself, 'Am I ever going to need to know this stuff in life?' The distractions are tempting, and you have suddenly diagnosed yourself with ADD, along with advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage. I'm sure by now you know exactly what everyone is doing because you have checked your buddy list 800 times. Christmas break is just days away, and your Prozac prescription will be in tomorrow. So crack open an ice cold (root!) beer after that last exam, because for most of us, Christmas will be spent in rehab." -Real Men of Genius

I dedicate this post to all those taking final exams starting this Friday (or for my high school friends, a week or two from now). I think the Real Men of Genius guys hit the nail on the head here--change "buddy list" to "facebook" and change "cubicle in the library" to "table in the SLC" and you've got a relatively accurate representation of finals week at UGA. Especially the part about getting easily distracted; I was studying for my 19th century British prose final a few minutes ago, but the internet seemed a little more interesting somehow. Or take this past Saturday for example--did I study hard all day? Of course not. Christmas (or Hanukkah in Alison's case) shopping seemed much more appealing. ;)

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

It's Time

Thanksgiving draws near and it's time.
It's time to visit my Thanksgiving home.
It's time to fly to Connecticut to see my dad's relatives.
It's time for my dad to ask us if we've packed everything...and then ask at least 3 more times before we leave.
It's time for the hustle and bustle to get to the airport.
It's time for my dad to give the same "make-sure-to-say-please-and-thank-you-and-offer-to-help-out" speech he gives every year without fail.
It's time to watch my luggage ride the conveyor belt and disappear, only to reappear in the tiny Hartford airport hours later.
It's time to listen to the same computerized voice tell us when to get off the train. "The next station is Concourse B, Concourse B. Concourse B is the next station."
It's time to fidget in my seat at the gate and wait for our section to be called to board the plane.
It's time to watch the old safety video with the same actors who are unusually calm during the simulated emergencies.
It's time to tell the flight attendant that yes, peanuts would be nice and a Sprite would be great, thanks.
It's time for my sister to make fun of me for one thing or another...she doesn't get to do that daily anymore with me being in college, so she uses her time well when we are together.
It's time to descend into Hartford and then have to remain seated at the gate for at least 20 minutes before we can get off.
It's time to watch for our suitcases and get mad when ours take the longest to come out.
It's time to look for Uncle Bill waiting to greet us and drive us to his house.
It's time to see the familiar landmarks along the way and wonder how my family has changed since last year.
It's time for big hugs and "How are you?" and "Look how much you've grown!"
It's time for Aunt Janet's cooking: several batches of pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin muffins, and the Thanksgiving feast.
It's time for hours of video games and ping pong in the basement.
It's time for watching the snow fall through the bay window and hurrying outside to enjoy it.
It's time to catch up with relatives I haven't seen in a year and answer the same questions about college and what I want to do with my life over and over again as more family arrives.
It's time to see just how similar my dad and his brothers are.
It's time to listen to crazy stories from their youth and imagine what they were like as kids.
It's time for games of poker every day with my uncle's customized poker chips and his usual, "Come on guys--one more game. Just one more game."
It's time to appreciate the Miller family traditions that never let me down.
It's time to fly back to Atlanta and wish that Thanksgiving wasn't so far away.
It's time to eat at Applebee's for dinner and head back to my dad's house.
It's time to go to sleep and dream about next year.
It's time.

Too Many Books

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
-Arnold Lobel

I saw this quote online the other day, and I think it suits me. No, I'm not going to have a beard seeing as I'm a girl, but technicalities aside, I do have a pile of books that I need to read. I try to keep one with me everywhere I go--you'd be surprised how often you find yourself sitting on the bus, or with a large gap between classes, or any number of places where a good book comes in handy.

Just a few books in my pile:

• The rest of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. See the description below for more details.
• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Yes, this is the book that inspired the musical by the same name. I own the book--it was a Christmas gift from last year--but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. That's my next task once the Dark Tower is done with my soul haha.
  
• Maus by Art Spiegelman. 2 of my friends have recommended this to me. It's a graphic novel depicting the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats...I'm told it's brilliant and moving.
  

Here are some books that I would recommend:

• Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Honestly, he wasn't an author I planned to read, but a few of my book-loving friends convinced me to try him out. It's a 7-book series with a very diverse set of characters from different wheres and whens coming together in search of the elusive Dark Tower (shocker). I envy King's imagination--especially when I read these books. They're very long but well worth the read.
  
• Anything by Bill Bryson. As I've noted in previous posts, the man is brilliant. I've read 3 of his books and I own 5, but I'm in the midst of the Dark Tower series...
• The Keeper's Son and Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. If you ever saw the movie "October Sky," then you'll know the name Homer Hickam--that movie was based on the book Rocket Boys and it's an excellent read. So is The Keeper's Son, which takes place in a small coastal town in WWII. I really like fiction that takes place in small southern towns...throw in the beach and you've got me hooked already.
  
• Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide by George Beahm. As an anglophile and an avid Harry Potter fan, I must recommend this book. Beahm tackles 4 main categories: Fabulous Beasts, Wizards Through the Ages, All Things in the Magical World, and Enchanting Places; he gives detailed descriptions (all in alphabetical order by subject) and important background information for all the entries that give the average Potter fan more understanding into the beasts, characters, things, and places J. K. Rowling writes about. Excellent read.
  

Next Blog >>

Have you ever clicked the "next blog>>" link at the top of the page? I did just now and saw this quote posted prominently on a blog entitled "headlines on things that matter":

"I'm old enough to be satisfied with what I have, and young enough to still want more; Lucky enough to have been really stupid and lived to tell about it--cursed enough to have a good memory; Intelligent enough to understand that I still have a lot to learn, and ignorant enough to continually prove to myself that I still haven't."

I like it. :)

Weird Places to Answer the Phone

Is it just me, or do some people answer their phone in weird places? A few weeks ago, I went to the bathroom in Target and heard one half of the phone conversation of a girl a few stalls down. It happened pretty frequently when I lived in a dorm my freshman year, too. Today I was trying on jeans at Kohl's when I heard a girl answer her phone in the dressing room across from mine.

It's always interesting when the person calling finds out where their friend answered from. In my experience, either they find it terribly amusing or really strange. "Yeah hahahaha I'm in the bathroom hahahaha," I heard the girl in the stall say. "Yeah I'm in the dressing room right now...no that's not that weird! I just thought you were calling for something important so I answered..." Brilliant reasoning right there. Just brilliant.

When I worked at the Off Campus Bookstore, I always hated it when people answered the phone while checking out. It's frustrating when I'm trying to tell someone what their total is and they proceeds to tell their friend to "hang on a second" and then ask me to repeat what I've just said. Checking out can be a quick process when you actually pay attention to the cashier. And you can always call them back--that's one of the benefits of cell phones.

You Know You've Had A Good Weekend When...

• ...You work on your article over the weekend and come Monday, your hard work has paid off and your story runs in the Red & Black.
• ...You go home to see your sister's play (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown) and she rocked. And you got to see your brother and grandmother too, since they're in town for the same play. And there are pictures.

Aww look at Catherine...she played Sally. And she was great!!

My dad and my sister

Catherine and Charlie Brown (aka Derek Chamberlin)

Catherine and Lucy (aka Rachel Templeton)

• ...You go visit one of your friends as she walks in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. And there are pictures from this one, too.
  

Alison!

I like this one.

• ...You're not that bummed about the weekend ending because Fall Break starts Wednesday afternoon. Faaaantastic.

*Bill Bryson*

I write this post today in honor of Bill Bryson. If you haven't read him before, start now. As in I'm giving you permission to stop reading this post right now if you feel the need to run out to your local Borders and purchase one of his many fabulous books.

I was first introduced to this man and his brilliant writing skills when my brother gave me "Notes from a Small Island" for Christmas last year. Bryson grew up in America but lived in England for a substantial portion of his adult life. Before returning to America, he decided to make one last trek through the whole of England, detailing several funny anecdotes from different towns along the way. I carried that book around and read it whenever I got the chance. Since then, I've also read "A Walk in the Woods" and started "Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting it Right." I own a few other Bryson books, but I haven't started them yet because I have this Dark Tower series to finish first (I'm on book 3 out of 7, in case you were wondering)...

And now Bryson has come out with another book for our reading pleasure. Just the title alone makes you want to buy it and add it to your bookshelf-- it's called "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid." Doesn't that sound cool? I can't wait to get this book. Here are a few quick reviews of the book:

“Bill Bryson’s laugh-out-loud pilgrimage through his Fifties childhood in heartland America is a national treasure. It’s full of insights, wit, and wicked adolescent fantasies.” –Tom Brokaw, NBC News

“While many memoirs convey a bittersweet nostalgia, Bill Bryson’s loving look at his childhood in The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is genuinely sweet. Framed within young Bryson’s fantasy of being a superhero, it matches the author’s sparkling wit with his vivid, candid memories of 1950s America. Adding a healthy dose of social history, Bryson tells a larger story, with vignettes that reveal the gap between America’s postwar glow and its underlying angst. Bryson also touchingly recalls his father’s career as a sportswriter, his mother’s awkward experiments with cooking and the outrageous adventures of his infamous traveling companion, Stephen Katz.”–Publishers Weekly, Fall Preview

So I must thank my brother for recognizing that I'm an anglophile and giving me a book by another anglophile for Christmas. And now I pass my love on to you, reader. Pick up a Bryson book and read. Now.

Lack of Updates

My apologies, avid Claiderbaider Methodology readers, for not updating recently. Turns out I'm allergic to tests and papers and quizzes, which have been prevalent over the past week or so (and which I believe have caused my slight sickness as of late). I'll update soon...

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures I took a while ago when I went bowling with the OCBS crowd...I miss these guys...

me, Maran, and Tyler

Laura Milner, Maran, and Jeanna

the quintessential tyler picture

awww Sakeenah and the baby

tyler looks intense

Today's Lyrics (from Jason Mraz)

Selected Lyrics from "You and I Both"

Was it you who spoke the words that things would happen but not to me
Oh things are gonna happen naturally
Taking your advice and I'm looking on the bright side
And balancing the whole thing
But often times those words get tangled up in lines
And the bright light turns to night
Until the dawn it brings
Another day to sing about the magic that was you and me

Cause you and I both loved what you and I spoke of
And others just read of
Others only read of the love, of the love that I loved

And it's okay if you had to go away
Oh just remember the telephones, well they work both ways
But if I never ever hear them ring
If nothing else I'll think the bells inside have finally found you someone else
And that's okay
Cause I'll remember everything you sang

Cause you and I both loved what you and I spoke of
And others just read of
And if you could see me now well then i'm almost finally out of
Finally out of
Well I'm almost finally, finally out of words

Just in Time

Tony Bennett is one of my favorite singers, so I was very excited to see him on the front of the "Arts and Books" section of the AJC this morning. The article focuses on his new album "Duets: An American Classic," which is set to come out on Tuesday. Check out this list of people he's singing with on the new album:

• Bono
• Michael Buble
• Elvis Costello
• Celine Dion
• Dixie Chicks
• Billy Joel
• Elton John
• Juanes
• Diana Krall
• k.d. lang
• John Legend
• Paul McCartney
• Tim McGraw
• George Michael
• Sting
• Barbara Streisand
• James Taylor
• Stevie Wonder

It's amazing that at 80 years old (his birthday was August 3, the day before mine), he can still sing so well and collaborate with so many famous artists.

My favorite quotes from the article:

"So he comes to the studio prepared, expects his partner to do likewise, and after a little relaxation and rehearsal, the idea is to nail it —- 'three or four takes and you have it.' (You may have heard a song by Bennett about leaving his heart in San Francisco. That version released in 1962? One take.)" Wow. One take. That's amazing.

"'He completely shaped pop music,' singer K.D. Lang once said. 'You hear his influence and his phrasing everywhere.'"

Headlines

Headlines. Every story has one. It has to sum up the main thrust of an article in just a few words, depending on the amount of space the story gets. And I thought it was interesting that something as simple as a headline could be considered unethical. But my media ethics professor pointed out that some can be more inflammatory and one-sided than others. Take, for example, the front page news of the AJC vs. that of the New York Times yesterday. Both papers covered the speeches that Bush and Ahmadinejad made, but they used very different headlines to describe the events.

AJC: "Bush Calls Out Iran: Tough speech at U.N. labels regime a threat to peace."
NYT: "Leaders Spar Over Iran's Aims and U.S. Power."

See the difference? As much as I love the AJC and defend it (especially since my dad writes for it), my professor made a good point. Their headline is one-sided and borderline inflammatory, whereas the NYT headline covers both sides of the story. And that's our duty as journalists--to get the whole story to the public, not just one side of it. We need to be more careful about covering both sides and letting the readers make judgments on their own.

Ribbons

Every so often, when I have a large break between classes or I just need something to occupy my time after I've read the paper, I check Banterist.com. Writer Brian Sack writes all sorts of stories, from interviews with the guy who created the "Tiny House/GEICO" commercial to conversations he's overheard in New York. But I particularly like the article and website devoted to ribbons. Yes, the "support (fill in the blank)" ribbons people so frequently plaster on the back of their cars.

"See? We can make a difference. That difference starts with you. Don't be discouraged by the seemingly overwhelming task ahead of us. Though there are countless un-ribboned causes--like Fat Acceptance and Dandruff Pride--we can come up with ribbons for all of them. But we need you to help. "

You can read the article here and check out the website where you can custom-design your ribbons here.

Today's Lyrics (from the musical "Wicked")

Selected Lyrics from "For Good"

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those
Who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better
Because I knew you
I have been changed...for good

Post Secret

My friend Alison is addicted to Post Secret, which, for those of you who don't know, is "an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." There's a book out filled with them and there's a blog that updates with new ones every Sunday. Some of them are really sad, some are funny, some are serious, some are just downright scary. I decided to look at the website this afternoon and here are a few of my favorites:

I'm an anglophile. And I love Spongebob. I do believe it's evident why I like this one.

Awww. Too cute.

Yesss. Story of my life!

There are a lot more on the blog, and they change them every Sunday. Check them out!

Baby Steps

As of late, I've realized just how afraid I am of challenging myself. I'm afraid to take really hard classes. I hesitate to challenge where I am in my faith because I'm content to stay right where I am. I'm afraid to go past the "Easy" setting in Guitar Hero. And I'm afraid to tell people how I feel about something because I'm afraid of their reaction. If I have something on my mind, I can write about it, tell the friends that it doesn't affect, think about it at great length. But when it comes to telling them, I chicken out. At first, I set a deadline. "I'll talk to them about it tomorrow when I see them." But the time comes and I freeze. I can't bring myself to express what's going on inside.

Once I find my comfort zone, I stay there and tell myself that I'm content where I am--why mess with a good thing, right?

Wrong.

It's easy to stay right where you are, to convince yourself that if you just continue on the track you're on, things are going to be okay. But how do you grow as a person if you're content to stay exactly where you are for the rest of your life? Let me answer my own question--you don't. So now that I've realized this, where do I go from here?

Baby steps. I'm working on it one little step at a time. For example, I played a few select songs on Guitar Hero on the "Medium" setting today. I know that sounds lame, but I'm trying. And I went to a Bible study group last night...I'd never been to one before last night. But I tried it, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Like I said--baby steps.

Childhood TV

Ah, the magic of dvds! My friend David and I went to Target last weekend and came across a bunch of dvds of shows from our childhood. Here are some of my favorites:

The Animaniacs. Who didn't love this show? Yakko, Wakko, and Dot; Pinky and the Brain; Buttons and Mindy; Slappy the Squirrel; "It's time for another good idea, bad idea..."; "Wheel of Morality, turn, turn, turn...tell us the lesson that we should learn." Brilliant.

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. 2 chipmunks, 2 mice, and a fly making the world a safer place. It was one of my favorite shows and now they've put it on dvd. FAAANTASTIC.

Tailspin. Baloo and the gang flying planes around. I always really jealous of Kip's board that he used to fly behind the plane on. It was so cool!

The Muppet Show. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great. The whole gang's here. And this dvd is the original muppet show that debuted in the 1970s, which is so entertaining.

Pinky and the Brain. "Pinky and the Brain, yes Pinky and the Brain. One is a genius, the other's insane..." "Gee Brain, what are we going to do tonight? ... The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try and take over the world!"

There you have it. There are tons more, but those are the ones we saw last weekend. More to come later I'm sure.

Side note: I must admit that I was VERY distraught when I found out that they're not releasing any more Boy Meets World seasons on dvd. There goes my collection...

"I Don't Wanna Be A Stupid Girl"

I opened up the Red and Black this morning, as I do every morning as I walk to class, and what did I find? An editorial from a girl that needs a serious attitude adjustment.

Right smack dab in the middle of the editorial section, sophomore Eli Dillard wrote that our generation (of men) is devoid of manners and politeness. Apparently, men aren't allowed to sit on the bus unless every single female is sitting. Wait, what? What sort of logic is that? In my humble opinion, I think that members of both sexes should be able to sit. I believe that's the point in riding the bus--sitting as it takes you to your destination (gender aside). It's nice if a guy offers his seat to me, but I don't think it's something that all girls should automatically expect.

She then moves into a more feminist approach, saying that since women can vote and hold office now like men, we should have the doors opened for us by those men. To me, that seems a bit contradictory. We're equals but men should open doors and give up seats? I don't think so.

Towards the end of the piece, she briefly turns the blame to women. She says that girls objectify themselves by the way they dress and behave, ergo men don't respect women who don't respect themselves. But wait...it gets better...she says that if men had boobs, they'd do the same. Suuure. So women might be to blame, but men would be to blame either way. Uh huh.

So here's what I think: If guys want to open the door for me or give up a seat on the bus, then so be it. That's nice. I'll thank them for the gesture. BUT it's not disrespectful (in my opinion) if they don't. I don't think men sit there and say, "Hmm...I think I'll be selfish and keep sitting in my seat on the bus today." Besides, girls can open doors and offer seats too. What if some guy with a broken leg and crutches gets on the bus and can't find a seat because all the girls have to sit? What then? I'll tell you what then- you give up your seat so that the guy with the broken leg can sit.

And for Miss Dillard's (and current or future boyfriend's) sake, I hope she's not one of those girls who always has to stay sitting in the passenger's side of the car until the boyfriend comes around and opens the door (and potentially gets mad at the boyfriend when he fails to do so). Last time I checked, I learned how to open the door for myself when I was a kid. I'm sure she did too. Again, it's a nice gesture that I appreciate, but not something entirely necessary. Polite? Yes. Disrespectful? Nope.

Confused.

I've found that the best way to understand everything that's going on in my jumbled head is to write. That's just how I've always handled things...I think and analyze and write out what I'm feeling so that I can make sense of it all. So if you're reading this and you don't want to hear about the complications in my life, then I advise you to stop reading right...about...now (I'll post something of a lighter nature soon, I promise).

So tonight I went to the Wesley Foundation for the second time. There are a couple of people that I've known since freshman year who go...I've heard them talk about it but I never had any interest in going. But this semester I came more closely in contact with it, since my then boyfriend and several of his friends were active members.

Now, I'm a member of the Catholic Church, and I have been since I was baptised (a few months after I was born). I went to Sunday School (CCD as it was called) through the 8th grade, and I was confirmed before I went to a Catholic high school in Atlanta. I go to Mass every Sunday morning and I'm proud to be a Catholic.

Wesley, however, is slightly different from what I'm used to in an organized religion. At Mass, we have a certain routine and structure that we follow. The priests are in vestments, there's an altar and a crucifix...it's formal and structured and I've always liked that. But Wesley is different...there's a minister who gives a sermon, but he's in jeans and a polo shirt instead of formal robes. They sing songs like we do, but the songs I'm used to are more like hymns. When I went to Wesley for the first time and heard their music, the first words that popped into my head were "rock concert for Jesus." If Jesus were around today and he wanted to rock out loud, then he would go to Wesley. And that's not a bad thing--it's just very different from what I'm used to. It's tailored for college students, which is something I think the Catholic Church could work on.

The first time I went to Wesley was a week ago today, but my reaction then was different from the one I had after tonight's service. When I left last week, I started to get mad. I don't think I was mad at anything or anyone in particular, but suddenly I found myself in a really bad mood. I couldn't explain it. All I knew was that Wesley and the Catholic Church are both Christian institutions, but they are very different in practice. And I couldn't figure out how I felt about the service I had just attended. It was nice...I liked the message that the minister gave, I saw all the people that I have known for a while as well as some friends that I had made in recent months, and my opinion on the music was still up in the air. But after careful consideration (over a couple of days), I felt torn between the two institutions. I've always loved the Catholic Church--like I said, I'm very attached to it and proud of it and I enjoy going to Mass. But Wesley wasn't so bad, either. I liked the sense of community I felt (it was an everyone-knows-everyone-else sort of thing, which I admire) and the message in the sermon (if that's the proper term for it...we call it a "homily" in the Catholic Church). To some extent, I felt that truly enjoying Wesley would be an insult and a betrayal to the big part of me that's attached to the Catholic Church. And because I was afraid that it would be more like Life Teen Mass, I was ready to dismiss the service before I even set foot in the door. And for that, I'm ashamed and sorry. Being judgmental is something that Christians are taught to avoid, and there I was on my high horse, assuming that attending a service at Wesley wouldn't be as great as going to a Mass in the Church. My boyfriend and I discussed what we felt that night and ended up breaking up based on our separate religious affiliations and the consequences of staying together despite our beliefs.

So I decided late Friday night that I needed to give Wesley another chance. If I could legitimately get something out of the sermon and apply it to my daily life, if I could somehow grow in my faith thanks to a service like that, then I should try to go again. I shouldn't condemn it just because it takes me out of my comfort zone and shows me a different aspect of Christianity. And knowing how much it meant to my ex-boyfriend and several of my friends (and many of his, too) also drove me to abandon my assumptions and judgments and give it another go. I just got back not too long ago, and I realized that I liked Wesley more than I expected, mostly because of the message that I got out of it. The music still throws me off, especially when people start putting their hands in the air and nodding their heads to the beat. Again, it's not a bad thing, it's just a different way to worship the same God. So I guess what I'm getting at is that I still feel torn between the two. I'm lost and confused, as it were, and I don't like it. Do I keep attending Wesley? Do I just stick to Mass? Do I do some combination of the two--but then which do I associate myself with? I don't know. What I do know is that I'm terribly sorry for judging and condemning Wesley the way I did. I'm so sorry.

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Gold Watch and Chain lyrics
Darling how can I stay here without you?
I have nothing to ease my poor heart
All the world, it seems sad, dear, without you
Tell me now that we never will part

I will pawn you my gold watch and chain, love
I will pawn you my gold wedding ring
I will pawn you this heart in my bosom
Only say that you'll love me again.

And so it begins...

First entry of the new blog...and I don't know how to begin. Thanks to Brian and Tyler for inspiring me to make the blog, and especially to Brian for helping me come up with the name.

And now an explanation behind the name "Claiderbaider" : My best friend Amy and I used to babysit for our neighbor, Drew. So one time Amy tried to get him to say "Claire Bear," but it came out more like "Claiderbaider." And the name stuck, somehow. Amy's family still calls me that to this day.

So what's new with me, you ask? Well, I just got my new assignment from the Red and Black. I'm going to interview a doctoral candidate in the department of anthropology about her 1-year scholarship to study in Mozambique. How cool is that? I'm interviewing her tomorrow and one of her professors on Friday. My editor said that it should run sometime early next week, so be sure to watch the Red and Black (or check the online archives for it)!

But alas, I must leave you to do homework. I have a good amount of reading to do before the day is through.