Seeing 20-20

Seeing as this is my first Monday being 20, I thought I would piece together a list of 20 things I’m into right now.  This isn’t a list of the 20 best things of all time; in fact, few of these things would appear on that list (napping would.  You guys would.).  But I am a woman of phases, and these are some phases I’m in right now.

• "Sometime Around Midnight" by the Airborne Toxic Event.  How does one fit the phrase “feral waves” into a song about seeing an ex at a bar?  I also love “the piano’s this melancholy soundtrack to her smile."

• "Tiny Glowing Screens Pt. 2" by Watsky.  Nicole is the Watsky fan amongst the blog group, but I really like him also.  There’s a concert tomorrow, but I couldn’t find anyone to go with, and I have Spanish class at the same time.  Usually a bad idea to miss class.

 

• This.      

• Alex Watson. How has he existed this whole time without telling us?!  Doesn’t the world know I’ve been in love with Emma my entire life?  Now I can finally feel straight about my Watson fetish.

•  California. I went home for spring break, and took a lot of naps.  Naps on the patio, naps on the beach, naps at my grandma’s.  I’m a nap lady.  I also visited my friend Alison at UCSB.  She is having a wildly different college experience than I am.  It’s so beautiful up there, and everyone rides bikes and lives in adorable little houses right by the beach.  I loved it up there.

My horse was named Goldie, and she wanted to go fast.

• Horses.  I went horseback riding when I was home, and it only reaffirmed my love for horses and being outside and wanting to live on a farm and forget saving the world.  I’m afraid I probably can’t do that.  But I have to figure out a way to spend time outside this summer, being happy and in shape and with nature.  That sounds really hippie-esqe, but I spend so much of my time busy and scheduled and under synthetic lighting that I’m ready for spending time (read: reading and napping, working if I absolutely HAVE to get out of this hammock) outdoors.

Me hammocking in a great albeit urban campground in El Moro right by Newport Coast.

• Hammocks/naps.  Along the same line, I’m super into napping now.  Not getting enough sleep at night and my catlike personality compel me to want to nap in warm, sunny settings, preferably in a hammock outdoors.  I can’t wait for Spain, where the siesta culture will blend seamlessly with my love of naps.

• Spain.  I got accepted into the study abroad program, so it’s official!  Voy a Madrid!  Please come visit me, thanks bye.  I really want to do the Camino de Santiago, 500 miles of beautiful backpacking in western France and across Spain.  It takes over a month, so I obviously can’t do it, I just want to.  It’s definitely on my bucket list.  But it’s one of the three big Christian pilgrimages, and according to the book I’m reading, the Catholic church forgives all your sins if you complete it.  And I’ve been dying for atonement, so finally I have a route to salvation (though not literally dying for atonement, that’s what Good Friday is about).

• While in Europe, the program includes an excursion to Greece; Italy; and Istanbul, Turkey.  I am very excited, particularly about the first two because I love art history and am more familiar with the western aspects of that, so I’ll actually appreciate what I see.  But I’ve heard Istanbul is beautiful and vibrant, and doubt I would go there on my own accord, so that should be a blast.  I feel really lucky to be able to go, and hopefully I can get some scholarships to boot.  Probably not.

• Brokeback Mountain and Blue Valentine.  These are the sad movies I’m in love with right now.  I highly recommend either, as long as you don’t mind beautiful people and realistic, rather than Hollywood, endings.  I happen to love both of those things.

• Getting my ONE interview made into a blog and published throughout the internet.  This was a big moment for me.  The link to the blog is here (http://www.one.org/us/2013/03/06/skills-for-saving-the-world/), you’re welcome to look it over.  The blog team made a few edits and added pretty pictures.  I’m doing another interview with two book authors next Thursday that I’m really excited about.  The book is Minimalist Parenting, so clearly it’s super relevant to my current life situation.  Truly, though, it does have good advice and I’m enjoying it as much as can be expected.

• NOAA Hollings scholarship asking for my official transcript.  The big (up to $16,000) scholarship I applied for a few months ago asked for my official transcript, which was the next step in selection.  I find out a week from today (ahhhhh!!!!) and I will be bummed if I don’t get it, but with the sequester, seeing as it’s a Congress scholarship, they probably aren’t accepting as many people this year.

• Accepted 2017 blog.  It takes the dumb/weird stuff that this year’s incoming freshman say and immortalize it.  I saw one from a Princeton freshman talking about wanting an “old money” roommate and felt like I’d been taken back to Great Gatsby, but in a bad way.  This is an example from Middlebury: “I’ve only heard good things about Middlebury’s milk. Refreshing, thick (butnot too filling!), and always readily available! The more I hear about it, themore I fall in love. I keep having dreams about my first few sips.#milkenthusiast”

L to R: Desi, Haylee (my g-big), Natalie Portman.

• Being a big.  I spent the last week decorating the room of my little, Desi.  My fraternity makes a big deal of bigs and littles, so it was quite an adventure, especially after a red eye on Tuesday.  Land at 5 AM, sleep for 1.16 hours, intern for 5, nap (thank God), write Spanish essay, then dinner, decorate, and class.  It was some way to spend my birthday.  Anyway, she said she was half-Slytherin, half-Gryffindor, so I made her a Slytherin cowl (since I have lots of Gryffindor swag).

• Stressing about summer plans.  I want to make money without having a job.  Thus far this seems impossible.  I really am reaching out to “farm people” about working there for a month.  Most places are in central or northern California, in cities only Derek has heard of.  But it would be really good for me to get out.

• Getting to be an "Official Business Visitor" at the Capitol.  That pretty much says it all.  I got to go to a "Voices of TB Survivors" panel in the Senate meeting rooms, so I got a paper badge saying I'm awesome.

• Egg fried rice.  The way I do Asian food: I go through a “one-plate phase” where I, well, only order one dish every time I get it.  It was pad thai, but now I’m in an EFR phase.  EFR isn’t a thing, I’m just making it one.

• Thinking about backpacking every moment of the day.  I wanna go!!

• Short stories.  Reading, writing, editing…. I love short stories.  If you have any you like, particularly if you wrote them, send them my way.  Derek, don’t throw any of yours away.

• Finding out Kevin and Jason are engaged.  J and K asked me for my address, but wouldn’t say why, so I asked Jason if he was sending out wedding invitations, to which he replied “Yeah Kevin and I are engaged.”  He even played along when I asked if I could be a bridesmaid/groomswoman: “Hmm, idk. This is all new for us.  We didn’t plan for our love to blossom so suddenly.”  Disclaimer because Jason will get mad: This isn’t real.  Boom.

• The socks Kevin and Jason sent me for my birthday <3.  The real reason they wanted my address was to be TOTAL BADASSES.  They’re the best.

 

 Thus completes my list of twenty things.  This took FOREVER to format, so hope you enjoyed  Below is a picture of what the world decided to look like today.  Pretty, but cold.

-Rachael