North Carolina

Pictures by Meg and I

Brilliant

Old

I’m getting old

Sure I’m only 21, but honestly alcohol, feet and Friday nights tell me otherwise.

Despite my second foot surgery healing relatively smoothly, I’ve noticed my body in general, deteriorating.

Last night, we said goodbye to another year of Char’s life and this morning I said hello to achy knees and an awful headache.

1.      Alcohol- I don’t know if it was the rebel in me fueling my illegal behavior, but up until this year I could drink all day, wake up and function as if nothing had happened during the previous night. My past few late night adventures leave me wishing I had never met Vodka.

2.      Feet- Flip flops are a no-go. I remember the days when I could get away with being barefoot all summer long. Now, an hour with unsupportive shoes leaves me wondering if I possibly forgot getting hit by a car during the previous night's adventures.

3.      Friday- It’s now Friday. I just ate my weight in takeout Chinese food, I still have a headache and I don’t plan on leaving this couch until tomorrow morning.

Basically, whoever mistakenly told me that College would be my wildest days was well, utterly wrong.

Maybe you are wild for a couple years, and then you get old and start forgetting about how cool you were during wilder days and therefore convince yourself that you were cool and wild all through college… but you weren’t.

Share

I get a mass text from MAWBV2 today asking had we (meaning Red, PE Teacher, MAWBV1 and I) seen her yellow-cutoff-jersey-shirt.

It obviously sounds like a necessary item to have in your closet, so with no hesitation I responded, "My red dangling earrings are also MIA fuckbag... but no I don't have your shirt."

"Well this is just a bummer- good luck with the earrings..."

Sharing clothes is unavoidable throughout college. Of course there are positives and negatives to all situations, but I assure you this is a one way street.

Positive when getting clothes
Negative when sharing

Sharing assures a few shruken shirts, stained pants, stretched shoes and/ or lost earrings. But trouble with saying "no" is that friends might get offended or even worse, the Kindergarten memories shouting "sharing is caring" starts interfering with better judgement.

Getting, of course, could result in the same outcome but hey, not your problem...

Luckily, MAWBV2 moves in to 420 in the fall and I fully intend to "share"/ innocently destroy every pair of her 93 shoes... and in return I just might consider letting her rock my grey 2008 Nikes

Positively awesome for me and well... not for her.

Warewolves

I’m not sure what to think about recent TV…

Besides Chelsea Lately, you just don’t know what you’re gonna get…

Has anyone sat down and watched MTV’s new show, Teen Wolf?

What happened to the days of TRL or just music videos in general? Greasy Italians on steroids was awful enough. Now you want to make a show about a high school boy who turns werewolf every time he gets a boner?

MTV- please rethink your channel. You don't wanna go down the same path as Nickelodeon. If I could offer you advice, I’d say think “Hey Arnold,” not “Spongebob.”

Regardless of MTV’S downfall, it’s not really them at all that’s making me consider protesting television, it’s actually the commercials.

If I see one more advertisement for “Eggies” I’m gonna kill a chicken…

It's Okay to Remember the Bad

Star Exponent Article this week...

College is often remembered for the parties, freedom and friends. I suppose that goes for life in general.

People talk about the good things. But what about that teacher that made you jump through every obstacle for a passing grade. What about that bad roommate, the financial difficulties, the broken bones and the deaths? Why don’t people talk about the bad things?

I suppose many, including myself, choose to ignore the harder parts in life, in hopes to disguise them with the good parts. But truth is, the hard parts never really go away. They can hurt you, tear you apart if you let them, or help you grow, let you learn, even excel.

The recent loss of Culpeper resident, Mark Simpson, hit home.

He’s just like me; a kid from Culpeper who left home to pursue athletics and education at a higher level. A kid trying to find himself, find a purpose and future.

I had just finished playing a basketball game at Concord University, the college Mark had attended. I was sitting on a bench awaiting the bus and up walked Mark with his infamous smile and charming “Hey, Hannah.”

I hadn’t spoken or even seen Mark since high school and with no hesitation he sat beside me. We spent the next 20 minutes talking of family and school. I had no idea the hug goodbye would really be goodbye.

Mark was memorable. So was my friend who I lost senior year, my uncle who I lost in October of this year and my Nana who followed closely in November. All memorable — all whose memories I try to overshadow with less hurtful ones.

The “what if’s” and the “I wish time would rewind,” phrases aren’t even worth saying. Time is not what we fear; we fear what time will change or what it won’t change, what it will bring. But changes should be embraced — good or bad, learn from them, and grow from them. Time is inevitable, change is unavoidable, but growth is limitless.

I’ve learned a few things along the way; one being that all pain clenches the heart just as hard. Death or break up, doesn’t matter, the difference only being that some pain lasts longer than others. Two, is that no matter how heavy the worries of the world may feel, I assure you it does not stop spinning.

My Dad once told me that bad things only happen to the strong, because they can handle it. Here’s the catch, bad things happen to everyone — therefore everyone is strong. So lift the pain off your chest, take the world off your shoulders and dance. Go ahead; celebrate the good things — spin with the world.

So College Advice: Find a way to relieve your worries. Talk to someone; write it down, life is full of struggles awaiting your strength. It’s OK to remember, but not OK to let life bring you down. My brother and his buddy just made a song, if you need a smile check it out. YouTube: Green Ink  “Thumbs Up” music video.

Don't Do This

Bamf, Mo, Ben and I were boarding a ferry the other day

The lady whom we bought the ticket from asked us to pull up to check Bamf’s ID.

Bamf- of course

(Weird because never before had they checked ID’s)

Clerk- So there are four of you in there?

Bamf- that are alive, yes…

Clerk- (She giggled a little) As long as you don’t have any explosives in there!

Bamf- wait, wait, wait… no one told me I couldn’t have explosives.

Moment of Silence

Clerk- I’m gonna need to check your trunk…

She eventually cleared us… but oddly enough, we were the only car that got examined. Weird??

Boyce Avenue- Great cover band... check them out

Stalk Away

No one can deny that Facebook has become an obsessive part of our collegiate lives. Whether it’s stalking, sharing or taking pictures for the public, it’s obvious that social media has become a center piece to our daily living.

I despise Facebook…

1.      Taking pictures of yourself is simply put… disgusting. Stop. Please stop. I can assure you that no one wants to see your biceps or your abs and if you honestly think the picture of yourself is worth showing off, send it to a modeling agency and if they also agree then sure… post it. If they forget to get back to you, I suggest you never fucking take a picture of yourself again, you self-conceded idiot.

2.      “Liking” your own comment does not make it likable. Obviously you “like” your comment or else you wouldn’t have posted it. Please don’t feel the need to like it, we viewers can decide for ourselves if we like it.

3.      Writing “I love you” or giving a personalized shout out to your boyfriend or girlfriend via Facebook status, is obnoxious. You know, usually when you’re in a relationship with someone it’s okay to text or call them. Trust me when I say that no one, NO ONE cares about your relationship … except yourself.

4.      Writing something along the lines of “Hey Brittany, I’m right next to you, but you are so cool!” … is completely beyond not cool. Is it for attention? Umm because you don’t have to type to the person you’re sitting next to… they are next to you- it’s called talking.

5.      Updating status’s every fifteen minutes- ridiculous. I can assure you that unless you’re famous or popping out babies on Teen Mom, no one is interested in when you wake up, when you’re drinking coffee, when you’re going to the gym or when you are about to take a nap… so fuck off or get a Twitter and pretend like people follow you.

6.      On the topic of status’s, posting inspirational status’s every few minutes about God, Finding God or Seeking God, is not helping anyone else… if it’s consoling for yourself, drop Facebook and hire a therapist.

7.      Last but not at all least, RIP statuses. “RIP Grandma” ten minutes after  her passing, offers two things. 1- You want attention and you know how to get it. ( in this case you are brilliant- take full advantage) 2- You are so obsessed with Facebook that you want to let everyone know of your life, when I’m sure you should be consoling your family, yourself, etc…

I hate Facebook… Still, I can’t stop stalking these entertaining idiots.

http://www.socollegeblog.com/

Thumbs Up - Life's Good!

Quote of the week

My two little bros, bamf and i just stopped in to a charmingly dirty bp station for gas and coffee

Lady cashier:dem yo real eyes? (looking at ben)
Ben: yeah
Lady cashier: Nuh Uhhh
Bamf: yeah, he's gay though...

Byee

Wise

My grandmother's boyfriend bought a BMW and  has yet to drive it. He says he doesn't know how to work it and frankly I'm  happy he doesn't because this is the same guy that falls asleep at the dinner table. I asked my grandma if she had driven it and she said, "I'm scared of it."

now with this being shared tell me are old people really wise or do they just have a lot to share? and by sharing I mean a lot of stories about "back then."

Anyways, to expand on the fact that my grandmother has a boyfriend, I suppose she just needed a companion. Grams doesn't really like to call him her boyfriend though. He's old and well, she still thinks she's a hot 22 year old.

Grandma getting rich boyfriend= now that's wise.

http://www.socollegeblog.com/

Good Things

Star Exponent article from June 10th little late...

Have you ever picked up a pile of sand just to watch it sift between your fingers?

It’s funny, how most of the grains sail by salty air to distant sands,

While others find a place along the lifelines of your hands.

For over a month, I’ve adored the simple sounds of Carolina’s crashing waves and hungry seagulls. I’ve grown accustomed to the seashells that managed to find a place on my floorboard and somehow found appreciation for the peanut butter, jelly and sand sandwiches I ate every afternoon. 

With a college graduation and a career in my near future, I know it will be a long while before I can manage another 34-day vacation. I spent my last morning on the beach watching the sand “sift between my fingers” and wondering how impacting this trip has been on my lifeline.

I filled the last month with nothing more than sunshine, a pad of paper, a pencil and my thoughts. I’m leaving with nothing more than bad tan lines, an increased chance of getting skin cancer, pages of poems, sketches and unfinished lines.

From week one of school my schedule is booked. Days filled with class, practice, meetings and film sessions leave me begging for days of nothing. Days very similar to the ones I have been experiencing.

But what I find fascinating is not at all the freedom that I’m finally getting, but how ready I am to give it up.

Call me crazy, but I need structure. I need routine. I need to get back in to work and in to a regular exercise routine. What I need most of all is to remind myself of how good it feels to deserve a vacation.

I think people are inherently good. Sure, society molds our likes and dislikes, our social views and attitudes towards things, but I think the ability to differentiate between right and wrong is somewhere within all of us.

With that being said, I think that people want to deserve things. I know I do. I want to deserve good things. I want to work hard and do what I’m supposed to do so if and when good things come, I can take them willingly, knowing that I am deserving of it.

So College Advice: I should probably consider writing a book about the things my parents have taught me. I’ll title it something like, “The Nonsense That Raised Me.” But for now, I’ll just share their oh-so-wise-advice with you.

My Dad always says, “Good things come to good people.” I do the best I can and I think I’m a pretty good person, but still I know I was in no way deserving of a 34-day vacation. I’ll leave you with this, I think good things do come to good people, but when good things just come for no apparent reason, I suggest you enjoy every bit of it and when it’s over, head back in to reality, ready, willing and determined to get what you deserve.

http://www.socollegeblog.com/

Advice

If you are in a "comfortable relationship" at the age of 21... I suggest you get out of it. We don't need comfortable! We need exciting!

During dinner we were discussing how bad a comfortable relationship can be. It feels necessary, but not right... can that possibly be good? .... Probably not.

Char Char explained comfortable relationships perfectly and if you are stuck in one, I suggest you take her advice.

Char Char- Do you wear sweat pants everyday?

(She didn't give the chick seeking her advice time to answer before she continued...)

Char Char- You might because it's comfortable, but it sure as hell doesn't look good.

Let's face it folks, a comfortable relationship just looks bad... get cool... be college

http://www.socollegeblog.com/

quote of the week

me: we're in a fucking dorm room why are you scared?

belle: uhh haven't you ever seen scary movies?... in dorm rooms?

me: umm no

belle: well me either, but i've imagined them...

PF... sucks

I joined at Planet Fitness for the month while I am here in Wilmington, NC and simply put… I hate it.

It was this one dollar deal and if I cancel before this Friday than I pay nothing more than that one dollar. I have full intentions of quitting.

They have this “No Judgment” policy, which drives me up the fucking wall.

Sure I limp around on my broken foot and struggle with those five pounders so yes, I’d like to avoid any criticism, but the problem here is not the policy, but rather the extent in which they promote the policy.

They have a “Lunk” alarm which is used in severe cases of “Lunk” …ing? Dropping weights, cockiness and shouting all apply to being a Lunk and therefore calls for the alarm.

Unfortunately, “Lunk” closely resembles the word, “lump” … maybe only to me? But every time I look at it, I think lump. I then think I’d rather see someone shouting rather than sitting and I think I’d rather see someone running rather than eating the free bagels that they offer free of charge and of course judgment every Tuesday morning.

While I’m on the topic of food and gyms, Planet Fitness (also known as PF for short) has Tootsie Rolls at the entrance and exit of the gym…

Hey fuckers FYI I’m trying to lose my Tootsi Rolls and you want me to eat them? And don’t say you don’t, because you place those juicy chocolate pieces of heaven right in front of the elliptical and after I run a mile DUH I’m gonna want the fucking chocolate…

Don’t you see that I obviously have a hard time avoiding junk food outside of the gym, I finally come to the gym to do something about it and holy Jesus Christ there it is again… like a sign from above saying “I’m commanding you to eat the chocolate.”

It gets better… Thursday night’s they have pizza night… Again, I’ll add that the pizza is both free of charge and judgment… I really shouldn’t have to expand on this, but obviously I will.

As a broke college student, guess what I’d do if I was a full time member of this place. I’d plan my Thursday nights as follows…

5pm- stretch at PF

5:10pm- eat 4 pieces of the free pizza at PF

5:21pm- leave PF

I’ll leave you with this… One small piece of Domino’s cheese pizza has 175 calories which is equivalent to 15 to 20 minutes on the Elliptical…

Here’s what I have concluded about Planet Fitness. I AM JUDGING.

Your 63 signs talking about “leaving my ego behind” and “no judging,” just makes me feel like the overweight 12 year old that never got picked for kickball teams…

I walk in

Immediately feel like I’m a loser

I work out

and then you slap me on the back with a slice of pizza and a “Hey, good work today bud, you deserve these calories back.”

http://www.socollegeblog.com/

Embrace It

Yesterday's Star Exponent Article :

My mom has a lot to do with Highland School’s graduation, so I’ve been reluctantly listening to her ideas and plans for months. Our conversations never cease to remind me of my own graduation day.

I remember not being able to differentiate the feeling of nerves and excitement and I remember walking carefully across the stage praying intently that my wedges would guide me towards my diploma without a haunting face plant.

I wrote a “pretend” graduation speech on a bored afternoon post- graduation. After a quick search through old notebooks, I came across a few messy words dated June 23^rd, 2008.

I wrote, “You are dancing on freedom’s ledge. In just three short summer months you can jump — of course not into familiarity, but into everything you haven’t learned in the past 17 or 18 years.

If high school has only been useful to pass the time, well then it was put to good use. But one day, if it hasn’t yet happened, you will experience education’s power. It may be after that first good book, when you witness the value of words. It may be a math problem you didn’t think you could do: but you did. It may simply be a morning where you walk into class thinking ‘Today I will learn something new.’

You can seek education’s power — or you can wait for it to seek you. You may be 30, 40 or 77 before you even realize that life’s clock is actually ticking, but of course by then you will at least understand not the power of education, but the loveliness of being young.

Yes the power of youth is something you may have learned in high school, its beauty, good metabolism, strong elbows and knees, courage and fearlessness. But of course we probably won’t grasp a complete respect for youth until we are staring into the bathroom mirror at our first gray hairs.

The gray hairs will bring a few moments of reminiscing: Summer days sitting poolside, the loss of a good friend, the excitement of Friday night football games, finding first loves, feeling that first breakup.

And then hopefully you’ll say, ‘Life wasn’t too bad’ or maybe, just maybe, you’ll venture to say it was beautiful, perfect or flawless.

So College Advice: At 21, I still consider myself young, but after two foot surgeries and a few extra pounds, I’m reconsidering the line about “good metabolism, strong elbows and knees.” If I could offer one piece of advice to those graduating high school, I would insist you keep a journal. Jump … fearlessly, and write it all down. You will amaze yourself when you reread what you once knew compared to what you now know.

Don't Bother

Upon my recent interest in the Judeo- Christian religions, I’ve discovered that it’s well… quite ridiculous.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer in the Ten Commandments and the basic moral values that religion has offered me, but the problem resides in everything not preached. The words that are hardly ever mentioned, but clearly stated in the scriptures. The not so “positive” words, the ones that don’t at all display the “all-forgiving” God that I’ve been raised to know.  

I dare not say the following is mentioned to contradict other’s beliefs because actually according to the bible that is punishable by death… yes, death (check it out Deuteronomy 17… while we are on it, “Deuteronomy17; 2-7 also says, “Kill anyone with a different religion.”) So instead, I’m just throwing these quotes out there for thought.

Thought is okay right? Because God did give us a brain which allows us the power to think and therefore leaves us with far too many questions.

Because let’s be honest with ourselves, the first and second testament were absolutely not written by God or Jesus… they were written by mankind such as Moses, and Paul and many Apostles. Each passage written from word of mouth or their memory or maybe God’s word?

Well, we all know men are far from perfect so I suppose we can’t blame these good hearted men for their awkward, disheartening statements that happen to disregard every value I’ve ever learned about God… What we can blame is ourselves... for believing that these words are in no way faulty and are the direct word of God- despite the already stated fact that they were written by men... very normal men.

“But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me.” Luke 19;27

Luke quoted Jesus saying this, which I’m hoping is a misquote, because I thought Jesus was a forgiving kind of guy… maybe not?

Regardless, those “enemies” who chose to not refer to Jesus as their king are actually the Jews. They are idiots obviously, because they deserve death and don’t say they don’t, because those who truly believe the bible is the word of God, should probably take out their shot guns and head to all the banks, law offices and hospitals they can find… PS don’t worry about the 6^th commandment that clearly states “Though shall not kill” It’s totally okay in this situation- Jesus said so.

While we’re on the topic of killing, homosexuality is also punishable by death.

“And if a man lie with mankind as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them”- Leviticus 20;13

Now this proves numerous things. If we are going to take it literally than OBVIOUSLY  man can not “lay” with man like he does with women… it’s physiologically impossible- duh. But if we can assume that God is talking about sexual intercourse in general, than why does he make no mention of women with women…

Two possible reasons:

1.      The bible is outdated! Women at this point did not “lay” with women because they didn’t do anything without their husband’s permission. Lesbians were not prominent, maybe they didn’t even exist! and therefore there was no reason to mention it.

2.      God is just like every other man and well… you get it.

Now at this point, if you are still a firm believer in following the bible’s word, why haven’t you killed a sinner, such as the one’s just mentioned? Well if it’s because you are scared you will have to go to jail for the rest of your life, then obviously you’re not willing to sacrifice for God and well that’s just selfish… Jesus died for you, I don’t understand why you can’t spend a few years eating cold food and sleeping on a hard bed to defend God and Jesus’s words…

Leviticus is full of interesting rules and laws.

“Don’t cut your hair, nor shave.”- Leviticus 19;27

fail.

“Don’t wear clothes made of more than one fabric”- Leviticus 19;19

fail.

“Psychics, wizards, and so on are to be stoned to death”-Leviticus 20;27

Jesus made a dead man come back to life... that's the best magic trick I've ever heard of.

The next one is my favorite. God makes us, yet doesn’t accept our offerings as equal… total dick move.

“No man with any physical defects may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed”- Leviticus 21;17-18

I feel awful for all those stuck in a wheel chair or who have red hair... God doesn't want your offerings.

NOW, Just FYI

Paul, who was the one said to see Jesus rise and ended up writing the first 80 some thousand words about Jesus’s teachings based upon his witnessing, was hardly the man I would want to learn from. It is documented that he was a believer in slavery as well as oppressing women… real cool bro.

So after learning that Paul was the sole witness of Jesus’s rising and he was the one to originally spread the word of Christianity I started thinking he was a lot like… well… I hate to say it, Hitler. Think about it. Both very influential and capable of convincing thousands of people that what he knew was absolutely without a doubt… right.

Moving on…

"No man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the Lord's people.” Deuteronomy 13;1

Dude, sucks if you had testicular cancer- you should probably skip surgery and just die because then you could go to heaven. Does this count for pets too?

"No one born out of wedlock or any descendant of such a person, even in the tenth generation, may be included among the Lord's people” Deutoronomy 23;2

This one totally screws half of my generation… and my older sister… suckerrrrr

So I’ll stop. I get it.

If you're religious you hate me and if you’re not you don’t really care about this. So I’ll leave you with the following- I want to believe, honestly! And I do!

I believe that the basic moral values derived from the bible are absolutely necessary in our current culture. I believe that the bible is outdated, maybe perfect for the time it was written- BUT GUESS WHAT! – nearly 1900 years later we have changed. The bible was written at a time when men were in total control. And sure they may have been preaching the truth, but whos to say they didn't add their own sly opinions?

So many people get defensive when Jesus’s story is compared to the story of the well-known mythological names such as Dionysus, who had an incredibly similar story to Jesus and was oddly written about many years prior to Jesus. Well, I’ve come up with two reasons for this…

1.      People NEED an explanation for everything, so these apostles wrote a long story (new testament) about this guy Jesus (derived from Dionysus) and convinced people that this is why unexplainable things happen.

2.      Or maybe it all did happened! Some guy did live and performed miracles and died and resurrected and now is spending eternity next to his father. The problem here is that there are many similar stories- ever think that maybe it’s the same story and the same hero it was just interpreted differently by different people? Maybe Paul and his gang were just really fucking influential and convinced everyone that the other stories were just myths!

The slight problem with number 2 is that majority of the Christian religion explains the previous “similar Jesus stories” as the work of the devil… yes the devil… (something about the devil knowing it was going to come so he tried to convince people to follow him first and blah blah blah…)

Truth is …we will never know what is right or wrong, what we can do is open up our minds and be willing to learn!

It’s quite obvious the bible is outdated, or maybe it's not!

Maybe it's exactly what we should be following... that would suck big blue balls, but who knows? 

Maybe we can follow what is important, the main purpose of the higher power?

Or maybe we could just not believe at all and just listen to our moral intuition that tells us what is wrong and what is right… Just food for thought.

What I definitely do know is that I am no where near educated enough to alter your opinions, so with that being said, don’t try to alter mine. I interpreted the readings just as your Rabbi or Pastor, Priest or Preacher did, because we are all human so we have the ability and right to do so…

http://www.socollegeblog.com/

Think About It

Dino and I are sitting on the beach making small talk about the random questions, thoughts and ideas people often think, but are not really ever answered.

I write in the vernacular.... which makes absolutely no sense because vernacular is not everrr used in the common language

Why do boys/men wear shorts so long that they resemble parachute pants?...Man capris are fairly popular in Europe and unfortunately with my dad, but im confused on why some males cant clearly differentiate between shorts, capris, and pants... and unless you're four or younger your butt isnt cute.
Baggy pants was so five years ago.

Tattoos of deceased pets ... why? First of all, if you're gonna have paw prints next to Spot's name on your shoulder than your arm better have the names of your great uncle and that goldfish you flushed down the toilet at 13.... Second of all, pets are surely a valuable part of the fam but your next 6 dogs are gonna be awfully jealous if you don't acknowledge the years you spent picking up their shit... think about it...

http://www.socollegeblog.com/