Saturday, October 27, 2007

Why is it harder for an American citizen to get back into their own country, then into another?


Okay, so I haven't updated in forever, but seeing as nobody reads me at the moment this blog exists solely for the purpose of my own amusement and therefore I have no need to post regularly.
Really all I'm doing is delay the potential for my blog to get 'discovered'
which probably won't happen anyways
In conclusion it doesn't matter when I update, despite my catchy name, (which, surprisingly, I still like) no one cares to read my blog.
Probably because it sucks.
Now onto todays topic, a nice little rant on something that ticks me off a lot.

Did you know it costs money for me to get into my own country? The other day I thought I'd take a nice day trip up to Canada and show my friends who haven't lived in Buffalo all there life the wondrous beauty that is Niagara Falls. We parked on the American side for a couple of reasons, the first being I was lost enough as it is in my own country, the second being that traffic across the rainbow bridge is ridiculous and annoying because terrorists might want to see Niagara Falls as well. So we walked across the bridge, this was really fun because my friend from D.C. who has never been out of the country in her life kept saying "Are we in Canada yet?" and was very excited as we crossed the boarder. We got into Canada no sweat, apparently we don't look like terrorists. It's the way back that ticks me off, because you have to pay fifty cents to get into your own country. I don't know why, probably a toll, but I'm sure the bridge has been paid off by now, it's been there since forever. What would I have done if I didn't have the money? I'm sure my father would love it if I called him asking for some change to bail me out of Canada. Then came American customs, a lot colder then American customs. First of all, the guy asked us if we were related, it must be said that I'm am just about the whitest person that ever walked the earth, and that the two friends I went with were Black and Hispanic, respectively. I wanted to cop an attitude and say 'Do we look related?' but you don't cop an attitude with these guys, because then you are a terrorist. After the third degree from them to make sure we were not terrorists we finally got back to this wonderful country... or whatever it is.
Tune in next time when we discuss the secret lives of Drag Queens!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

I should be tired


I don't know what's wrong with me, I just had Starbucks and a Coke before bed, when I'm clearly already sleep deprived. I've been drinking caffeine all day, because despite the fact that I have an 8:30 Saturday class, I went to Union Bash Friday night and stayed quite late.
What a night it was. First of all, it was 80s themed, which means naturally, I went all out. Are you ready for this? Black pumps, black leg warmers, neon pink leggings, black polka-dot miniskirt, gaudy black angora sweater with metallic sequins all over the collar, neon pink waist belt, hot pink lipstick, way to much blush, body glitter, turquoise eyeshadow, hair teased out to there with a giant pink bow in it. It was ridiculous, but oh so much fun. The night started off slow, my friend and I went down to dinner in the lobby before we left, it just happened to be the busiest night I've seen in a while and we got a lot of stares, it was quite awkward. Then we got to Union Bash super early because my friend had to go through sorority-rush-like rugby procedures involving practicing incredibly vulgar song parodies. I felt very weird sitting there with them, the songs were appalling, and I wasn't really sure how to act. As a Christian, this situation was very repulsive and awkward for me, I knew I didn't do the right thing by not joining in, but did I do the wrong thing by just sitting there? This is the problem with not living on campus, I don't have a place to go when I'm there. All my really close friends live at the hotel or commute so I can't go to their rooms to chill and kill time. Finally, Union Bash actually started and I spent the rest of the evening with Intervarsity. It was so fun, I danced, acted crazy, I got to be myself, it was wonderful. I really love the people in that club, I feel like I fit. We hung out for a really long time after we packed up and left Union Bash. I was the first to leave. I got out to the parking lot and realize I had finally done it... I had killed my car battery because of leaving my lights on. So I walked back up and asked if anyone could give me a jump, luckily someone had jumper cables and was parked in the same parking lot as me and after finally finding the battery (it's in a ridiculous place in my car) I got my car running normally. Needless to say, that kept me out even later. So I overdosed on caffeine this morning during my 4 hour sewing class, which I think actually made me more productive than usual. I only had to use the seam ripper about twice, which is much better than the usual fifty or so. I got my shirt done, a little later than I hoped, but still efficiently, it actually turned out pretty good, well except the sleeves are different lengths, but even that sort of works. Maybe I'll post pictures someday when I get a digital camera.
Maybe this entry sucks
stupid boring life of mine

Thursday, October 18, 2007

New York, New York

I fully regret my recent shopping spree.
I do not regret the beret, I felt fabulous all day wearing it, it would've looked great strutting down the streets of Manhattan, but Alas, I have a mere $10.80 in my bank account and I am not going to New York this weekend. See, a dear friend of mine called me a few hours ago asking me if I wanted to go to New York tomorrow night. Of course I want to go to New York this weekend! Unfortunately, bus fare is $120 and though my hotel expenses would be covered by him, I still do not have the bus fare. I wish my metro card worked for cross state trips, I would've even skipped my Saturday sewing class despite the fact that my knit shirt project is due and is still in a state of 2 pieces of cut fabric and a pile of elastic. Oh woe, oh misery, what fate lies against me that I may not travel to New York! With it's great shining pillars of progress and glamor! It's cornucopia of sights and sounds! Oh Broadway! Oh Greenwich Village! Oh 5th Avenue! Why must you tease me, sitting just out of my grasp!
I love being dramatic. The trips obviously not in the cards. This happened to me last October as well...
I'm cursed.
Oh well, I guess it's for the better, at least I'll get my project in.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Black Beret


I bought a black beret today. It's been something I've been meaning to do for years, I've just never got around to it. I've never exactly been financially stable, I'm good with money, I've just never had much of it, and when I had the money, I didn't have the means to get to the mall. Now I have the means, not the money, but in honor of my second job interview I splurged a little and bought a couple warm cozy items for fall/winter. It was only $10.50!! I feel so glamorous, so poetic, so fashion, so Paris. (not Hilton, of course) I may never take it off. I'm dreaming of matching it with my pink princess peacoat and my black cashmere scarf, and the new boots I just bought. I suppose I'd pair them with my black leather (possibly pleather, I don't know they were an Amvets find) gloves with the bows on them, though I wish my cashmere ones hadn't ended up in a snowbank during a particularly sudden snowstorm during a shopping excursion last January. I'm going to look so cute this winter. I'm also very glad I got boots, cute ones, I really didn't want to go another winter all Uggs all the time, their not even real Uggs, their not even real sheepskin. I really should get one of my friends in Australia to ship them over, I know where they can get sheepskin boots mad cheap. Or all just hold out as a reason to visit once again, I miss it terribly, I miss them terribly. Back on the subject of hats, I finally found the white knit hat I've been dreaming of (for less time than the black beret, but still a significant amount of time) however, I do not have as much hair as I've had while dreaming of it and realize it will do better to wait until next winter, or when I actually get the job. Well, I'm actually on a hardworking streak lately, so I'm going to take advantage of it and try not to do my homework at the last minute for once.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Blog Action Day




Ok, I have approximately 31 minutes left of Blog Action Day
Today is Blog Action Day, being the tree hugging environmentally friendly, public transportation taking, windmill loving girl I am I'm of course participating in this wonderful event. Maybe I'll be able to add another leave on the 'I Am Green' Facebook application for it (I'm already up to 74)!
Lightheartedness aside, this is a serious issue. I just saw on the news this morning that most of Georgia only has enough water left to last them 3 months. Is it time yet? Have we realized that we need to do something about this now? If the entire population of Georgia was threatened by a terrorist attack, you can be assured that the government would be on top of it. They would do everything and anything in their power to stop it, so why not this? Why isn't enough being done? I mean there are so many simple things that can be done to save the environment. Here's some things I do:
-I always recycle, not just newspapers and soda cans, everything I possibly can. Especially clothes, I don't see the point in throwing out clothes. Maybe it's because it's my art.
-I bring my own shopping bags shopping, and when I do acquire a plastic bag, I reuse it.
-I use public transportation to get to an from school everyday, despite the fact that I own a car
-I try and do everything in one trip when I do use my car
-I wear clothes several times before washing them, this is obviously exclusive of socks underwear and items that have gotten sweaty, smelly or significantly stained
-I use compact florescent light bulbs, they're more expensive, but they last longer, it wins out, it's kinda like buying wholesale goods
-I use towels several times before washing them, your using clean towels to dry a clean body thus the towel remains clean
-I only use cold water to do my laundry, it gets the same amount of clean, I also suggest using Arm and Hammer essentials, it has more natural things in it and less chemicals, and I swear it's the only thing that got the grease stains out of my clothes when I worked at a pizza place.
-I turn off lights, the computer, the TV, and even the heat when I'm not home/they're not in use.
-I don't leave my car running when I'm waiting for people etc. I turn it all the way off instead of letting it idle
-I shower every other day, unless I'm really gross for some reason it's better for your hair anyways, helps restore natural oils your hair produces to make it shiny
-I own secondhand clothing, a lot of it actually I'm addicted to Amvets
-I don't litter, if you litter I've just lost some respect for you
-I turn off the water when brushing my teeth
-I try and shop locally, Buffalo doesn't have much, especially not in my price range, but the amount of fuel it takes to ship clothing from China is ridiculous and buying locally is definitely a good option.
-I don't smoke, it's bad enough your putting it in your lungs, must you put it in our air?
Come on, is it really all that hard? Half those things aren't even sacrifices, they save you money on gas, electricity and heating bills, other things that drive us crazy. So what do you say? Will you take a green initiative in your life, and save our planet before it's to late?
Done with 4 minutes to spare.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

I *heart* Buffalo New York


I've just come to the conclusion that I'm living on my own. I'm actually living on my own. I wake my self up everyday, I put myself to bed every night, I feed myself, I get myself places on time, I'm looking for a job on my own, I'm managing my own money. It's crazy. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. I just can't believe I'm actually doing it. I'm thinking back to last year at this time. I was so scared. So worried. I didn't know where I was going, what I was doing. There was no plan. See, the thing is though, there's always a plan, God's plan, and that one worked for me. If you would've asked me about a year and a half ago where I would be at this time, I would've told you I would be at Parson's, studying fashion, living a fabulous life in one of the best cities in the world. Well, It's close. See if you would've asked me a year ago I would've started pulling my hair out and listening to Run Kid Run. (seriously, We've Only Just Begun got me through this time in my life) See, I didn't realize (though I should have, but I've never been the most organized) that you needed an Art portfolio to get into Parsons, I thought I would be submitting a Fashion Portfolio. I'm not a serious artist though, I'd love to be, but I never really pursued it. Don't get me wrong, I love art, I know all about it, a lot of people consider me 'artsy', but I don't sit around drawing still life and portraits and other things deemed necessary for a portfolio because apparently they show some skill other art forms don't. So I couldn't even apply to the 'school of my dreams'. Or I could've whipped up a portfolio in 2 months on top of school work, a job, youth group, etc. I however, enjoy getting a moderately good amount of sleep, and a low stress life.
So I'm here. In Buffalo New York. See the thing about Buffalo is, it's not as bad as people think.
Sure, our weather is awful, and our sports teams are cursed, there is absolutely no reason tourist would want to come here (other then cheaper hotel prices then actually staying in Niagara Falls) and oh yeah, we're the 2nd poorest city in the nation, but there's something about those of us that actually stay, it's like an unwritten bond; we're all moderately insane for living here and we accept that. It's for the most part, lived up to it's title of the city of good neighbors. Now, I'm really in Buffalo, see I grew up in a little bubble town suburb of Buffalo, I loved coming up to the city for art festivals and local boutique shopping, it had that city energy I always crave. Not a lot of it I'll admit, but you'd be surprised if you stayed here long enough. I've also been seeing a lot of hope for Buffalo lately, rumor has it we're finally developing the waterfront (tourists?) Someone just bought a bunch of the abandon buildings downtown and is fixing them up for stores and apartments. (yes, our downtown is basically abandoned, there is no life there unless there is a Sabres' game) We're taking in alot of refugees from wartorn countries (Did you know Buffalo's west side is the 2nd most diverse area in New York State, next to New York City?) Best of all, we're getting greener. Green roofs have been popping up, we also have and eco friendly dry cleaner, best of all, we have windmills, 8 of them, they're probably my favorite part of Buffalo, they were built on basically uninhabitable old factory land from Buffalo's steel days. I remember coming home from vacation this summer and looking out the plane window and seeing them right away, right on the lake like little tiny pinwheels stuck in the ground by a child, it was beautiful. Actually they were quite beautiful today as well, set against a little strip of pinkish sky peeking out from underneath looming gray clouds, as Lake Erie sparkled with sunset hues.
So, it's not New York, it's not the original plan, it's not what I dreamed of in High School, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Everything about this makes sense, the fact that I get to experience Buffalo on my own, like I never really have before, the fact that I'm getting a sweet financial aid deal and am going to school nearly for free (a lot better then $42,000 a year at Parsons) I can study abroad while I'm hear and take my senior year at FIT (basically just as good as Parsons, besides Tim Gunn isn't there anymore) I have more time to watch my baby sister grow up, and help my other younger sisters and my parents (and me as well) adjust to me being away and on my own. I know I wouldn't be this okay with everything in New York, I'd be losing it. Everything's working out, everything's relatively perfect. I don't even wonder 'what if?' I know I'm where I'm supposed to be, meeting the people I've been meeting, everything, and I'm staying in a really classy hotel, (college ran out of dorms, funny huh?) which is nice, I don't have to share a bathroom, I get free breakfast every morning (it's really nice too) I get to feel like I'm classy and rich. It's wonderful, it really is.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Mood: Happy... no angry... um what?

Today I was walking and I saw a pigeon alongside the walkway picking at the ground as pigeon's tend to do. I first thought of a friend who once said 'Buffalo's not a real city because it doesn't have pigeons' or something along those lines, I really should write him and tell him Buffalo's a real city now. Then I noticed a huge bug on the side walk near the pigeon, by huge I mean roughly slightly larger than the pigeon's eye. Then the pigeon noticed said huge bug and got all startled, I swear it jumped back a little. It made me laugh. It was just such a human gesture, that's normally something you can expect from chimps, puppies and kittens maybe sometimes parakeets (but I think that's only because they can have the ability to speak). But you rarely see human like behavior in pigeons.
I am also strangely happy today, not that I'm depressed or anything, far from it, but I just had this great joy inside me today, the kind you get when you go to church camp and you feel filled with Christ's love, but a little different. Perhaps it was that my dear friend bought me a box of Disney Princess crayons, no, not the cheap 8 pack not even the 24 pack, she got me a 48 pack. I can't wait to use them to color in my Disney Princess colouring book. Maybe it's because some drama that I thought was going to go down never did. Maybe it's because the Dallas cowboys and their insane and quite drunk fans are no longer staying at my hotel.
Time for a side rant.
I'm not into football, hockey, yes, football, I could care less, too confusing, but from growing up in Buffalo and interacting with at least 1 man throughout my life, I have been able to conclude that; a. the Bills kind of suck and b. We hate the Dallas cowboys. This is understandable seeing as their from Texas (side note: This is not inclusive to all Texans, only stereotypical ones, I'm sure your all very nice people, and I don't stereotype generally, though Texas seems to fit the stereotype more often than not) So anyways, they were in the hotel all weekend, there was tons of cameras and fans and an autograph session and blocking off the doors and hogging the good parking spaces and acting drunk and unruly. This was mostly the fans. The hotel did feel it necessary though to give our student lounge to the football players. Resulting in some nasty dirty towels being left around and some unidentifiable sticky substance on the desk. To top it all off at approximately 2 am a quite drunk cowboys fan and a quite drunk bills fan decided to get into a drunken brawl resulting in the throwing of a fire extinguisher, resulting in a big explosion of smoky stuff, resulting in the 2nd fire alarm in 2 days to wake me up, this time since there was real smoke, I actually went outside instead of walking downstairs to make sure no one was screaming and proceeding back to my room, as is normal fire drill routine.
Hockey fans are so much better.
Well, Homework beckons... unfortunately.
Until we meet again (nonexistent) readers, peace and love.
<3Mandy

Thursday, October 4, 2007

"I'ma hook you up"


One of my good friends has a new mission in life; to 'hook me up' apparently I need 'someone to keep me warm at night' I told her I'll turn up the heater. See, I really don't want a boyfriend right now. Is that so hard to believe? I'm not upset with her about it (though it is getting to the point where it's slightly annoying), after all she is, as she says doing it out of the 'goodness of her heart'. Honestly, I'm waiting around for prince charming, as ludicrous as that may sound, why settle for less? A lot of people go through life messing up in unhealthy relationships, or relationships that just don't fit right. I don't want to be that girl. The way I see it, is Prince Charming's definitely out there, and he's waiting for me too. I know at my age I'm obviously not ready for marriage, or any long term committed relationship, but when I'm ready, he'll be there, and he'll sweep me off my feet. It will be so beautiful. So why would I want to ruin that by going out with random guys who arn't prince charming? I strongly beleive that God has chosen my husband especially for me, and that God will reveal him to me when the time is right. It's like the superchic[k] song, Princes and Frogs (Underdog Mix), one of the lyrics is "the frog you've got seems cute enough to kiss/And maybe frogs seem like that's all there is/But just because you haven't found your prince yet/Doesn't mean you're still not a princess.And what if your prince comes riding in/While you're kissin' a frog what's he gonna think then/So look into his eyes/Are you a princess or a fly?" I want to be a princess. I mean how terribly romantic is that? Waiting, fighting against all desires and temptations, just to make sure that you fully belong to your prince charming? It's like a freaking Disney movie. Oh, I just love Disney movies, especially Beauty and the Beast... and Sleeping Beauty. Belle didn't date Gaston, even though he was a hottie (the handsomest guy in town) she waited for her prince charming, even if he was a beast at first. Aurora? She didn't even meet any men before Phillip. They all lived happily ever after. So why would I want to screw my fairy tale up by dating?
 

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