Random Top-Five Rant.

Today's not even over yet and I've already got several things to get off my chest. I think, perhaps, a little ranting list will help keep the issues in check...sort of.

1. Some oddly shaped girl, who probably drives a Prius (Prius owners always seemed to be as oddly shaped as their cars), who happens to also be a drama teacher at another school, was presenting along with her group today in my creative writing class. When I raised my hand to comment, she listened to me for all 10 seconds (maybe 15, tops) and then stopped me and continued onward.

She didn't even hear me out nor did she let anyone else in her group say/do anything, except for what she had planned, most of which was only her talking. She even stopped some of her group members during the presentation because it wasn't what she wanted. It pissed me off to the point of almost walking out of the class and cussing her out. Bitch!

2. Just found out that Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 doesn't come out in theaters until November 19, 2010! I knew it would be a while before it came out, but I didn't think it would be that long! Although it's quite trivial I still hate waiting between movies. Sure, the books are a fantastic read, but I like the movies too. I'm from New Jersey, so I'm allowed to be a little impatient at times.

My 'Twilight' Experience.

I came across a brilliant 3 part article on The Washington Post's website about literary women, their love for the Twilight saga, and their complete and utter lack of shame for falling so hard for a silly tween love story.

Finding the initial piece led to another article about the healing powers of Twilight and it put me at ease, or at even more ease I should say.

When I first heard of this whole Twilight thing, it was during the holiday season last year and I was working a crappy mall job to pass time between semesters. People would come into the story raving about the movie, wearing the t-shirts and hoodies, and promising me how great it was. Initially I was very much against this whole vampire business, having had no interest in them prior, and swore up and down, to Jupiter and back that I would never Benedict Arnold my love and devotion to Harry Potter.

Then came the nonstop advertisements on OnDemand during the early spring time of this year. I kept ignoring them and praying they would stop showing me this stupid crap.

When a sudden and unexpected dry spell hit me, having no more new or old movies to watch, I caved in and decided to let myself find out just exactly what all the craze was about. So I picked up a copy of the movie and within 20 minutes, I was completely hooked. It was like I had been injected by an unwanted course of emotions and it wasn't going to stop.

South Mountain Summit.

"All I can hear is the murmur of cars down below" Ben said, as we sat in my car at the summit of South Mountain this chilly November evening.

The view from the top of the mountain is certainly something to see, particularly Dobbins Lookout. I've only been up there a handful of times, but each time some sort of philosophical spark seems to ignite my thoughts.

A flood of speculation nearly swallowed up my mind as the two of us sat there, beneath the stars, looking outward to the north and east. Being up there always reminds of just how small I am in comparison to the world and how lucky I am to be apart of something so grand; so beautiful.

Watching an entire city functioning right before your eyes is so bizarre in a way. I couldn't help but pay attention to I-10 & AZ-60, wondering where all of those people were going. Were they driving home to their families, running errands, rushing to a night class, or simply out for a Monday evening drive? Thousands of lights could be seen all around the valley, sparkling like an on ocean of glitter.

Arizona State Fair.

On Sunday, Ben & I checked out the local state fair. We walked around majority of the fairgrounds checking out the local vendors, assorted provisions - all of which seemingly offered on-a-stick, and rode several rides including the largest of the three ferris wheels. After several hours, we finished off our adventure with the obligatory funnel cake and headed home, bell

2,645 miles.

After 9 very long yet very exciting years with my car, the time has come to ay goodbye to my dear Honda. My parents were nice enough to sign one of their new SUV's over to me for my 25th birthday, which is less than two weeks away. I'll be flying back to New Jersey on Wednesday, taking care of paperwork, packing up a few things and then driving it back to Arizona. I'm taking the southern route instead of the standard (and very boring) route this time. Fortunately Anthony will be following behind me in his BMW because he's moving to Los Angeles. And my friends Mike & Dustin will be traveling the same route to New Orleans, so we've got a little convoy heading south. Should be a lot of fun. In other news, I was finally able to get up to Sedona and check it out. Let me just say how absolutely beautiful it is! Ben & I hiked the Devil's Bridge trail, which was far more intense than either of us had known, though we both handled it well and really enjoyed it. We're gonna be using my SUV and his SUV to tackle some of the harder trails once when we go back because we had to park on the side of the road and then walk 1.4 miles to the trail head, which was then another mile long. I'll be posting a few more pictures from Sedona, so keep an eye for them. :-)

Enchanting.

Now I have some what of a clear idea as to why Arizona is such an enchanting place to be. It has been a route often traveled by like-minded people. The true naturalistic beauty that is the Grand Canyon State offers all of its willing travelers the op

ATB @ Myst!

Furniture Shopping [is such a bitch]!

As you all know, I've recently moved into a stellar new apartment in a great part of town. I was fortunate enough to get a fantastic deal on the place considering all of the wonderful things it has including the vaulted ceilings and fireplace. The only downfall to this apartment is that I'm still without furniture - except for a bed, dining room table, and patio furniture, my place is still in its early phases - which I'm completely okay with considering that I get to start off with a totally blank slate and built upwards from there. The reason for this post is the coffee/cocktail table. I keep going back to this particular one even though it's rather pricey. I'm a fan of the minimalist/contemporary/fusion/trendy combo (that makes no sense) and this table most certainly falls into that category. I would just get something inexpensive from Ikea but I think that when the time comes I should treat myself to at least one nice piece for my living room. I also really like this couch and matching chair, along with the ottoman and matching throw pillow. Together, I think this would look so awesome in my apartment. I plan on painting as well, but once the money is readily available for furniture and all other decorative purposes, I'll fly Anthony in to full evaluate the place and arrange it appropriately. Plus, I've got a lot of vertical space which I'd really like to utilize with various pieces hanging from the walls. All in due time, all in due time.

Rave On: Zombie Nation!

The Midnight Room | The Mondrian Hotel

Tonight: Paul Van Dyk!!!

Finally!!

One Year Anniversary!

So today marks one year since I moved to Arizona. It's weird considering how everything ultimately worked out, but as they say, everything does happen for a reason. So I've recently moved out of Mesa (thank God) and over to Ahwatukee, which is a really nice family neighorhood only minutes away from where I used to live at with Chad. This is where I had ultimately wanted to live and I was able to get a fantastic deal on an incredible apartment. I have vaulted ceilings and a fireplace! Things I don't need but absolutely love haha. I've been continually looking for employment and have been finding the need to have a resume finally, so I've been working on one. I'm considering taking a break from school next semester because I'm starting to get extremely burnt out. I've been in college for 6 years straight and I think it's time for a short break. We'll see how things work out. In other news, I think I may be cutting my long porn star hair off for a more simple style (and I use the word 'simple' very loosely). I'm considering cutting it short again because its getting to be too much of a hassle and I think a change would do me good. Plus, it's only hair and it will grow back, plus it'll be much healthier if I cut it. The first two pix are two that I've oogled over for the last 9 years hoping to be able to do my hair like that. The third & fourth pictures are more of a daily wear style, although I tend to do my hair up every day as it is, but shorter hair would cut the time down to a fraction of what it takes now. And, I also know many tricks of the trade whereas before when I was sporting a shorter doo, I didn't know what to do with it. My appointment is on Tuesday @ noon. I'm seeing the same girl I've been seeing since New Years Eve and she has done a fantastic job everytime. She fully shares my vision, even though its nothing like her own, but that just goes to show how talented she is. So we'll see! Let me know what you all think please!!

Relocation.

All moved into my new place. I shall post at some point in the next few days about whats been going on! Hope all is well with everyone :-D

Hell Yesssss!!!!!

The Dirty Jerz.

So my visit home wasn't exactly what I had hoped it to be. It was gloomy, overcast, and I didn't have a car to really get around. I was planning on renting one but the laws in New Jersey make it nearly triple the price to do so for a person under the age of 25. I was able to see the people I really wanted to see and the ones who complained about not seeing me did nothing to actually come see me. They did a fantastic job at complaining though. Perhaps they should have put the energy into coming to see me (knowing I didn't have a car) instead of putting it into complaining, the outcome of my trip would have been a little better. Its sad to think that my 'friends' won't even come see while I'm home for a visit but that I'd have to go see them had I been able to do so. Anyway, the trip was good I suppose. It was great to see the friends I did see. Being in Jersey was different though. Seeing everything reminded me of why I left in the first place. As much as I wanted to go home for a visit, I wanted to come right back to Arizona to Peaches and my new life. I missed the palm trees, the warm weather, and my car. It was a little difficult adjusting, even only for a week, to being back home. All-in-all it was an okay visit but I will surely have a car the next time I'm home. In other news, I've been reading my friend James' blog that he used to write in because he suggested that I do so to get to know him a little better. While reading it I came across the most interesting piece of writing, which he had posted that he had found, and it was truly a brilliant piece of writing that I think we all need to absorb.

"In our culture today we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less. We buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger homes but smaller families, more conveniences but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgement, more experts but yet more problems, more medicine but less wellness. See we drink too much, smoke too much, spend too wrecklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, and watch too much tv, and pray too seldomly… We have multiplied our possesions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, hate too often. We learn how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life, but not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquored outer space but not inner space. See we’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We conquored the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less, accomplish less. We learn to rush but not to wait. We build more computers to store more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. See these are the times of fast food and slow digestion, big men but smaller character. Steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce. Fancier houses but broken homes. These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. See this is the time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom… Yes this is the state of our current culture…"

I'd love to hear people's comments on this. It's time to do a little bit more living and a little less complaining. And to those friends who I know still care, please try and come visiting me in Arizona. I know you all complain about not having money, but all you need to do to come visit me is buy a plane ticket. It's not rocket science people. Less complaining, more living.

London Bridge.

Did anyone else know that the actual London Bridge is located in Lake Havasu, Arizona?! I just found this out and I was shocked. I immediately looked up all the information regarding this topic and to my dismay, I found that it was very much true. It was originally constructed in 1831 as a final project by John Rennie and completed by his son, with the same name. By 1962, the bridge wasn't structurally sound for the modern traffic so the bridge was put up for sale. It was purchased by Robert McCulloch, who is the founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He thought it was increase tourism and residents, which turned out to be true. It was disassembled and shipped to Arizona where it took 3 years to rebuild. Most people are familiar with the Tower Bridge in London, which is what they assume is the London Bridge. I'm very interested in seeing this bridge and visiting Lake Havasu, which used to be a huge spring break destination but not so much anymore due to the overload of young spring breakers being assholes to say the least. Hopefully I can round up some friends to make a weekend visit.

The Sweetness.

While running errands today out by Miree's neck of the woods, which is only about 10 miles east of here, located in a different part of Mesa, I had the luxury of smelling a very sweet scent. I've caught whiff's of it here and there in my part of Mesa (I live on the Mesa-Tempe border) but nothing like today. The scent I'm referring to is the Orange Blossom. At first I thought it was honey suckles but everyone kept assuring me that it was the orange blossom. We have tons of orange blossom groves around here and when they pollinate they release such a wonderful smell. Theres orange trees everywhere around here which makes me appreciate living here. Definitely something you can't have in New Jersey.