Happiness is Only Real When Shared

I've moved!

2009-05-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've moved to http://www.caitiehawley.com

Come check it out!

In just four years...how we've grown!

2009-05-16T10:13:00.001-07:00

The "F Word": Future, Part I

2009-05-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, I graduated from college.

Now I'm sitting here on a chair at my parents house in Lima, Ohio (not Peru - contrary to the Twitter confusion we had earlier) wondering when I'm supposed to start feeling like an adult.

I'm one of many of my friends who does not have a solid plan. Yes, I have a pending nomination for a position teaching Math in Sub-Saharan Africa. But, nominations come and go. I might not make the deadline. I might have to wait for another nomination, and wait a few more months until I leave.

I'm accustomed to being busy. There was a reason I was involved with 3 organizations while I was in college. Geez. "While I was in college." Past tense. Scary. I have several projects and plans for while I'm home. I have a bag full of cloth and t-shirts that will hopefully soon become a quilt for my grand little [pending me learning how to use a sewing machine]. I want to update my blog and create a website for personal and professional branding. I have offered my services as a tutor to the Economics and Math teachers at my high school. I will be attending summer soccer practices for my old high school team to help them get into shape [pending me getting in shape...] I have emailed the President of Allen Economic Development Group, a private/public ownership dedicated to economic growth of the community, to see what kind of opportunities they might have available. I want to get a part-time job. I want to take my little sister on college visits. Oh, and I want to take some time to visit friends and spend some time relaxing at my lake house.

Pre-graduation, I thought my resume was packed with all sorts of leadership experience and relevant work. Now, I question myself. Am I impressive enough?

The only way to know is by throwing myself out there and trying to make a difference in the only way I can at this point. The economy is awful, jobs aren't available - we all know this mantra. But that's no reason to sit at home and do nothing. I grew up in Washington, D.C. which made me cut-throat and motivated to be the best. I went to high school in a small town, which made me innovative and creative in the ways I avoid boredom. Time to use both of those attributes to create something powerful.

2009-04-07T16:44:00.001-07:00

Recently, I've become obsessed with Soul Pancake.

Backstory: I am new to the Twittersphere, and I've just started Twittering regularly (maybe a little too regularly...). I follow @rainnwilson, star of one of my favorite shows, The Office, and a hilarious actor. While many people follow celebrities @perezhilton for his gossip, or @britneyspears, who can't possibly say anything intelligent, Rainn's Tweets (following someone on Twitter makes me feel like we're on a first name basis since I get to see all their thoughts...) are not only knee slapping, but also insightful (Others include @jimgaffigan and @michaelianblack, for example).

Rainn tweets at least once a day about Soul Pancake, so I felt like I had to explore it. And it's glorious. It was partially created by Rainn Wilson. Here's his description of it on the What is Soul Pancake section:

We want to make discussions about Spirituality, Creativity, and Philosophy cool again. Were they ever cool? I have no idea. But it seems like a good idea. We want to engage the user to “Chew on Life’s Big Questions”™. (I was kidding about the ™ symbol; you can use that phrase however you want. Even to sell frozen taquitos.) Where do you go on the Interwebs if you want an irreverent, fun, and profound take on God and Art and the Soul and Faith and Beauty? Fox.com? Maybe. But maybe also here at SoulPancake.com.

We provide some rockin’ content (interviews, blogs, challenges, contests, features, and more), but it’s really all about having YOU—the SoulPancake community—bring this site to life. Say what’s on your mind. Be real. Talk about WHY WE’RE HERE. And if I say something that offends you, let me have it.

Just remember: Life is a rich, weird, difficult experience. So join us as we go on the spiritual and artistic journey that is SoulPancake.

Make discussions about Spirituality, Creativity, and Philosophy cool again? Sounds like a GREAT IDEA.

Today's post was particularly thought-provoking. It started with a quote:

"A GOOD WRITER POSSESSES NOT ONLY HIS OWN SPIRIT BUT ALSO THE SPIRIT OF HIS FRIENDS." —NIETZSCHE

Then, it asked the reader to come up with a five-item list of people who influence your art and how.

Hm. Sounds like quite a challenge.

I would never go as far to call myself an artist. My art includes graphs of supply and demand, and what happens when you shift said curves. My art includes my [arguably] fabulous sense of humor. My art includes creations in the kitchen. My art includes my love for travel, exploring new cultures (from a new country to a new-found shop around the corner), and combining the two in the most efficient, educational, and cheap way. My art includes cuddling up with a good book and enjoying it for its content. This seems like a good place to start.

Economics

After 4 years of studying the major that makes people gasp, swoon, and faint, I found Professor Jerry Miller. He has a passion for Economics. He has a sense of humor with his students, and isn't afraid to call us out or make fun of us. I walked into his class the first day of Mathematical Econ - the scariest class I've ever grown to love. He said that we were to complete problem sets, and he would call us randomly to the board to do problems in front of the class while he asked us questions about our work. He forced us to think out of the box. On nights before the exam, you could find the entire class at the library in the study room fighting over markers to correct each other on the white erase board, wondering to each other, "What would Jerry be thinking?" Everyone in that class is now best friends. I didn't get the best grade in the class, but he taught me a deeper love for the field of Economics when I was considering blowing it off completely post-graduation.

My class will be getting dinner with him tomorrow night.

My sense of humor

Easy. My mother.

Never have I met someone more sarcastic, or with a more biting, at-the-expense-of-others, evil sense of humor than my mother. She invented the "Ohhh...too soon." While I try to tone it down a bit and avoid making random strangers cry, I've started to see that our senses of humor are becoming more alike. I'm even starting to laugh like her. F my L.

Cooking

My grandpa on my dad's side. He hailed from Siciliy and not only ignited my love for the Red Sox (he was the biggest Boston fan I've ever met - he passed away weeks before they won the World Series in 2004. He was definitely up there making stuff happen), but definitely has been the inspiration for my cooking. Most of my memories of him either include watching Boston games or him in the kitchen with an apron on.

Some of his dishes included pasta with giblet sauce (Google giblet. Yeah. He made it delicious). He marinated different types of meat in marinara for hours and hours, and served it over pasta. Even though he hated Spiedies (Google them too. My all time favorite food), he still made them delicious. If I end up half the chef he is, I'll consider it my life accomplishment.

Exploring on a budget

My grandpa on my mom's side is the kind of guy who, when discovering a restaurant has free refills, will order one glass of pop for a table of 4. And I love him for it. I'm fairly sure that my knack for finding deals came from him. I spent countless hours driving through the countryside and scouring antique stores for the best bargain. Where else would I have learned how to travel efficiently?

The world of literature

As much as I hate to admit it...my dad. He used to make me read for literally hours every day from when I was in 3rd grade. I read some really mature stuff. I remember thinking Animal Farm was a really dumb story about pigs, and crying through The Yearling. But, something must have rubbed off. I can't get my hands off books. I'll read anything, fiction and non-fiction, from Harry Potter to The World is Flat. The only acception: Twilight. Seriously, it's 400-page drivel about over-hormonal teenagers, some of whom happen to be vampires. Give. Me. A. Break.

Yeah, so after writing this, I realize that most of these are family. I think that's fitting, seeing as I'm trying to be as unlike them as possible.

tragedy after tragedy

2009-04-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

This week alone, there have been 5 shootings around the country. Taken from BBC:

Sat 4 April: Father is suspected of shooting dead his five children, then himself, near Seattle

Sat 4 April: Gunman kills three policemen in Pittsburgh before being wounded and captured

Fri 3 April: Gunman kills 13 people at an immigration centre in Binghamton, New York state, then apparently shoots himself

Sun 29 March: Gunman kills seven elderly residents and a nurse at a nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina, then is shot and wounded himself

Sun 29 March: Man kills five relatives and himself in Santa Clara, California

What is this world coming to? The last few years have shown us several university shootings, which is insane enough, but now nursing homes? People killing their entire families?

I remember watching Amityville Horror, the story of the DeFeo family who was found shot and killed by their son and brother, Ronald. His explanation? He was possessed by a demon. Religious beliefs outside, that is literally the only rational explanation I can think of for doing such an awful, awful thing.

I pray that this week isn't so devestating. I don't know if I can take any more bad news.

OU/Miami Rivalry...

2009-03-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

...if you are liberal with words enough to call it a rivalry. Our inferiors in Athens seem to care a lot more about the so-called rivalry, while we generally just ignore them. Probably for the best that they stay away. We don't want any of their infectious diseases.

OU's lame attempt at a slam on my beloved University, written by the ENTIRE EDITORIAL BOARD of their paper. Clearly, it takes that many OU students to create enough brain power to write such an article:

Miami University sucks. That isn't a statement of opinion - that is a scientific fact.

Take Oxford, Ohio, the earthly site of that university. Oxford sucks. You know what's a fun thing to do in Oxford? Leave. We don't want there to be any mistake that we're insulting the town, so let's be honest about what we're looking at here: eight dozen brick buildings in the middle of a cornfield. From there, the Miami equation is simple enough. Pull 15,000 teenagers out of their local Sunglass Hut, toss in a porn shop a few miles down the road and call it a day. The result is the kind of thing you wouldn't want your mother to see because it's just too dirty. Something like the hellish product of a one-night stand between Old MacDonald and Paris Hilton.

Want to get acquainted with the Miami Boy Experience? Throw on some Brooks Brothers and your upside-down visor and get ready to keg-stand for the next three hours straight. By midnight you'll be ready to stumble out, maybe crash your Escalade into a drainage ditch and possibly even take a swing at a cop.

And sorry, boys. We know you're at least making an attempt to appear presentable, but Neutrogena was never meant to be used by men, no matter what you heard during The O.C. commercial breaks. Ask an OU man - he doesn't even know what conditioner is.

Then there are the legendary Miami girls. We could rag on them easily enough, but we won't. Those girls already have it hard enough, what with Miami boys chasing them, and books not making sense to them.

Even Miami's student groups suck. Such as the Miami University Radical Student Alliance. Upon hearing the name, you might imagine this is something awesome, like an alliance of students who drink liquor and swordfight on skateboards. You'd be wrong. This is just Miami's "Students for A Democratic Society" group. Yeah - we know even ascot-wearing dandies want to feel edgy once in a while, but what's with the name? This group is about as radical as spending spring break in your family's stable, slowly brushing knots out of a horse's mane while you deliberate whether or not your body might be the Wonderland John Mayer is crooning about through your iPod headphones.

Of course, if you go to Miami, this is probably a deeply familiar scenario.

Looking back into Miami's history is an uncomfortable experience. It's like looking through your neighbor's family photo album and learning that his great grandfather was - literally - a Nazi. It's no secret Miami's founders originally called themselves the Redskins, and even drew up a tasteless, feather-headed American Indian stereotype for a mascot. It wasn't until nearly two decades of thinly-veiled racism had elapsed that somebody finally called them out on it.

They eventually settled on "RedHawk," which, it turns out, isn't even a real animal. It's easy to imagine they arrived at the name by asking third graders to write down their favorite animal and color and then drew words out of a hat.The whole thing actually came about because they needed to find a new way to use hats that wouldn't muss their perfectly tousled hair.

Anyway, do they really think they can get off the hook that easily? Who do they think they are, the PC police?

If there's one thing Miami got right, it's Green Beer Day. If they want to dress in OU colors and vomit into "uptown" urinals at 5:30 in the morning, who are we to stop them? We can't help it if everyone's catching green fever. Green Beer Day is like the college equivalent of a 24-hour, beer-induced Freudian slip, and the message is clear: OU rules. Miami sucks.

First of all, try reading this out loud. The wording makes me cringe. Wah wah wah. You "suck". Give me a break. We're aware of the preppy Miami stereotype. Be original, for god's sake...

The best are the comments, which can be read below the article, and are basically an assortment of embarassment and apologies to Miami for the imbiciles who wrote this.

Our response:

To the Ohio University Post's Editorial Board:

I write in response to your Feb. 25 editorial ("We do it better: As OU's biggest rivalry heats up, Miami is still anything but cool"), which haphazardly assailed Miami University. Our student paper's editorial board refused to pen a response, the reasoning being something about having class and a shred of decency. It's sad the only program worth attending at OU (didn't get into Miami?!) can only produce a muddled, unfunny challenge to our university's prestige. As a favor, I will demonstrate how it's done properly:

My cheating ex-girlfriend attends OU. We broke up because she is stupid and ugly. I only call her cheating because she is a student in the engineering department. For her term paper she even copied former graduate students' misspellings.

I recently ran into an old high school friend, who went to OU, at the local Bath and Body Works, where he works. I pretended to be interested as he explained why OU's girls' volleyball team is better than Miami's. "We're rivals, you know?" No, I didn't. The average Miami student thinks our rivals are the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Notre Dame University, Ohio State University again and then OU, in that order. You can be our rival when you get a hockey team. Maybe if your university's president had turned down that bonus…

I often hear from my cousin that the Halloween party in Athens is "off the hook." I asked her how many friends she invites into town to share in the festivities. "Just one. The university only gives me one guest wristband!" Nothing says wild and crazy like letting your administration put attendance quotas on your parties.

In your article, you mention Green Beer Day as a Miami student's day to wear green and pretend we go to OU. Okay I'll bite. We imagine you do start most weekdays with copious amounts of alcohol in an effort to numb the pain of living in Appalachia. Hooray for vomiting into urinals! The janitor at Skipper's confirmed this is indeed an OU tradition (class of '86 BTW). Oh, and speaking of accomplished OU alumni, those two guys who made Enzyte, the penis enhancement pill that was really just a placebo-they were Bobcats.

Finally, in response to your article's mention of our university's old mascot: Yes, the name Redskins is belittling and politically incorrect. So we changed our name, and we currently work with the Miami tribe to restore their language, display their artwork and offer scholarships for their young people. How fortunate Native Americans never inhabited the area around Athens, Ohio, knowing the land would some day be needed for an average academic institution serving middle-class, stoned, suburban underachievers.

Do I even need to touch on average SAT scores?

Take a shower to wash this one off. It would be your first in a few days.

SLAM.

My favorite comment on our page:

"Personally, I'd pay the OU article zero attention. When I was at Miami, OU was simply a giant party that happened to have a school attached to it. We'd roadtrip to Athens a couple times a year and pillage their women, who had much looser moral standards than their Miami counterpart. OU...not to be taken seriously."

Finally, I'd like to quote an anecdote from Phillip R. Shriver's "Miami University: A Personal History":

...in 1931 Jean West, a student from a farm in Scioto County, Ohio was denied further attendance at Miami because she failed to make sufficient progress toward a degree. Jean West did not accept her dismissal from Miami, and, with the encouragement and support of her father, she brought suit against the University...in the opinion of her father, testifying before the Court of Common Pleas in Butler County, if her daughter didn't have the smarts to graduate, it was up to Miami to see that she got the smarts and graduated. The university's case was that it had done its best to educate her, but Jean would have to do the rest for herself.

In the Appellate Court, the argument of Miami University was upheald, and Jean west was not allowed to return as a student. She promptly applied to Ohio University and was accepted, thereby elevating, as one wag suggested, the academic standards of both institutions simultaneously.

Miami > OU. It's a historical fact.

tomfoolery

2009-03-23T11:34:00.001-07:00

I generally use my blog to broadcast my silliness and other such ridiculous thoughts, stories, and adventures. Nisha, on the other hand, is the epitome of someone who uses her blog to share her beautiful and intelligent words and thoughts. And she's gone far with it! She's taken it to the level of having her own ".com", which to me, is the indication of success in our wonderful world(wideweb). She's literally become my online idol. I get excited when I find out my friends read my blog. She basically has celebrities following her every word.

I met Nisha through AIESEC, and we became closer as we both took on a great amount of responsibility within the organization. There are few friends I have who have watched me grow and experienced the changes I have gone through over the last few years. I feel I have done the same with her. One of AIESEC's statements is that it turns regular college students into change agents and leaders. Nisha is a perfect example.

Before you start thinking we're having a love affair (or are we? ANSWER: No. I'm very committed to my "wife" Ilana, another amazing AIESECer I admire, though she's been in Spain and away from me for over a year), I'd like to share the point of this tell-all infatuation post.

I get made fun of by a lot of my friends for keeping a blog. For having a Twitter. It's difficult to put into words why I want to share my thoughts, feelings, and stories with the world - especially in this day and age, where it's dangerous to put anything online, lest it be found and misconstrued by some future employer. But here I sit in my apartment in Oxford, Ohio, pouring my heart out as quickly as my fingers will type. Truth is, I want to make a difference in the lives of those who read my blog. Ok, that's a little bit of an overshot, but I really do want to.

Back to Nisha. She has given me (and all her other readers) 25 ways to use your blog and social media to create change. Reading this post inspired me to stop posting about jackalopes (ok...maybe I'll still post about jackalopes, but only because they're awesome) and start writing about things that matter - to me, and to other people.

Don't worry readers. You should still expect silliness. It's in my nature.

I just sent in my medical forms for the Peace Corps and should be leaving in July for 2 years of tomfoolery in Sub-Saharan Africa. If internet access is available, I will be blogging about my experience. Before then, I must set some goals for my blog:

1. Find a better forum than Blogspot. No offense, Google - it's easy to use, but I'm looking for a little more class.
2. Make my blog look better! Maybe a picture banner? Suggestions of what to make it of? I'm thinking frolicking jackalopes...
3. Follow some of Nisha's advice on pound out a few of those 25 ways...

2009-03-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Meet Sir Elton Joel. I found him in San Antonio. Unfortunately, he costs $74, so I wasn't able to purchase him. However, if you have some extra cash lying around, and like me a lot, feel free to send him or one of his friends my way.

my bracket

2009-03-16T12:05:00.001-07:00

...can be found here!

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/entry?entryID=1377073&sp=true

I have Kansas, Pitt, Syracuse and UConn in the Final 4 with Syracuse winning it all!

Don't make fun of me. I only like basketball one month out of the year. My basic strategy is "I like School A better than School B." But Syracuse is scrappy. I don't think it's completely out of the question for them to win!

Let's see how I do.

bitchroll'd

2009-03-15T15:37:00.001-07:00

I woke up at 4:00pm this afternoon, refusing to give in to the realization that the Spring Break of my senior year really is over. After this, there are 8 weeks until graduation. This means only one thing: start kicking the fun into high gear.

This past week was a great way to start. It was a perfect metaphor for a school week. Here's how the vacation with my sister and 4 Delta Delta Delta's went.

Day 1: Regret for not preparing earlier. I spent Saturday with Cami and Andy, working on my submission video for the STA World Travel Internship. Cami's relative expertise at editing videos, combined with my pictures and video, and Andy's Mac laptop led to a pretty stellar submission, if you ask me. I told Jenny I wouldn't be ready to go until 9pm, because we still had a lot of work to do. Apparently she didn't listen, because she kept walking into my apartment to check. Hi. No matter how much you bother me, it's not going to make this go any faster. At 9:15pm sharp, I was ready to go. I loaded up my things, and got into a car with 5 girls who didn't hide the fact that they hated me. After my iPod died, I was left with nothing to do but share my misery with friends via text, and Twitter concerns about the upcoming treacherous week.

Day 2: Realization of the hell that I'm in. We arrived at the condo in Florida, and I started unloading my suitcase in one of the bedrooms. Unfortunately, someone else had other plans. My sister Jenny came into the room, yelling at me for taking one of the beds that she had promised her friends. I didn't see the reasoning, since my own baby pictures were on the walls. Jenny started telling me that neither she, nor any of her friends, wanted me there. That I should stay out of their way. Then I heard her talking to the other girls, telling them what a bitch I am. That they shouldn't listen to anything I say, because I'm fake. I sat there, crying on the phone with Cami, and they plotted how they would make the rest of my week miserable. Never in my life have I heard such manipulation.

After talking to my mom and asking her to book me a flight home at the end of the week so I wouldn't have to drive home with these girls, I cleaned myself off and got dinner at the Fish House. I bought a bottle of wine for the girls on the way home, hoping that might help things. Once I got home and sat down with my book, however, I started feeling sick to my stomach. I spent about an hour in the bathroom before I finally got to bed. What perfect timing.

Day 3: Work it I woke up feeling decently on Monday. I walked down to the beach, then walked the 4+ miles down to the pier to rent a bike for the week, so I wouldn't have to worry about being stranded. It took about 2 hours, including breaks for water and beer and oceanside bars. After locking up my bike, I went to the bar where I met some Michigan Staters on Spring Break as well. They were really chill and fun, so we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying dollar drafts. After getting sick to my stomach the night before, my first food of the day was a hamburger at the bar. Bad idea. A few minutes after biking home, I got sick again. I hoped this wouldn't continue as a trend for the week. All in all, though, a pretty good day (excluding whatever was keeping me from eating anything without getting sick). I avoided the girls, met some cool people.

Day 4: Letting up Woke up Tuesday feeling refreshed. The girls asked if I wanted to go to the beach with them, so I did. I lay there for a while, but got bored and asked some guys nearby if they wanted to play soccer. My sister and her friends pointed these guys out earlier as being from Indiana, but they said I shouldn't talk to them because of some reason I didn't really understand that made absolutely no sense. I took this advice with a grain of salt, and went over to say hi. I had a lot of fun kicking the soccer ball around, and after about an hour, got their number and said I'd love to meet up later on. The other girls had said they were going to the pier, so I biked down to meet them.

Once I arrived at the pier (at about the same time as the girls, who were driving), I found myself very hungry and texted Jenny to see if they wanted to meet me at a really great Greek place for some food. She said she would rather not, and that they were going shopping. That left me by myself, yet again. Something I was getting used to. I was disappointed in Jenny's attitude, because I was starting to get along with some of the girls. It seemed like she was pretty dead set on making sure I was alone and away from her friends.

[A little relevant side note: When me and Jenny were little, there were several times I would meet her friends and become better friends with them than she was. I was beginning to see, at the present time in Florida, that she may have been fearing this scenario]

Nevertheless, we went back to the condo, enjoyed some pasta for dinner, and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. Jenny was eerily silent as I laughed and joked with the rest of her friends.

Day 5: Silent storm Wednesday morning, Jenny and a couple of her friends decided to drive 2 hours to Tampa to go to the aquarium. We had agreed that this was the night we would grill out, and they said they would be back in time to make and have dinner. Charlie, Nicole (the two remaining girls) and I had a really great day, going down to the boardwalk at the end of the island, having lunch and drinks at the pier, and walking along the beach. We found out about a beach party starting at 6, and went back to get ready and wait for the other girls to return. Even though we warned them, they didn't actually make it back until almost 8. I had made some Mac and Cheese as we waited, hoping that would expedite the process. I did everyone's laundry. My mom texted me to ask how things were going, and I said that Jenny was still being pretty bitchy. When Jenny got back, she started yelling at me yet again. How dare I make Jenny's mac and cheese? How dare I text my mom and say that she was still being bitchy? If I was going to say that, then she would work harder at making me miserable. How dare I try to be nice to her friends? I didn't see the point in , so I left immediately to meet the Indiana guys at the Outrigger.

That night ended up being one of my best on the beach. After some drinks at the Outrigger, we continued wandering around and having a lot of fun. It was the first night where I actually felt I could be myself without being judged by my sister. When I got back, I found her on the couch while all her friends were out. According to her, she couldn't go out because I had ruined HER night.

Day 6: Apathy After the drama from the night before, I decided I no longer cared what the others thought. Scott and Doug, friends from Miami, drove up from Naples and we spent the day at the beach building a giant sand Miami "M". I was pretty tired, so I went back to shower, take a short nap, then met the Indiana guys at their place before we went to a bar for my last night at the beach. Not as crazy, at least for me, as the night before, but even sipping on water was fun with these guys.

Day 7: The End I woke up early on Friday, knowing I had a flight at 5:30pm that I'd have to make. I met the Indiana guys out at the beach and threw the football around and swam in the ocean for my remaining hours. I left them at 2 to head back and pack my things so Jenny could drive me to the airport. It was a little tough for me to say goodbye, but since they live in Fort Wayne - less than an hour from Lima - I knew I'd see them again. Without these guys, this week would have been a lot tougher than it was. I knew that Jenny and a couple of her friends' goal was to make my week as miserable as possible. As hard as they tried, though, I will definitely look back on this week fondly, thanks to the Indiana guys.

After Jenny dropped me off at the airport, I could tell this traverse wouldn't be as simple as the 1 1/2 hour layover in Atlanta implied. I couldn't find anyone in Oxford who would be able to pick me up when I arrived in Dayton, so my mom arranged for a shuttle to pick me up and bring me back to Miami. My flight from Ft. Myers was delayed 40 minutes due to apparent bad weather in Atlanta. When I finally arrived in Atlanta, it became clear that I missed my flight. As soon as I had twittered about it, I got in touch with Nate. An hour later, he picked me up and we were headed to the bars to meet up with Tiffany, Charlie, Morgan, Ryan, and Masato. This night rivaled Day 5 in its ridiculousness. We went to a karaoke bar, where I sang Piano Man, and we RickRolled the place. After the requisite Waffle House visit, I got an hour of sleep and Ryan drove me to the airport for the last leg of my journey. At the gate, I found Amy, Hilary, Allison and Ashley, 4 other AOPis on the same flight as me, coming back from their spring break.

That day, I finally told Jenny that I'd had enough. She has spent this entire year using all the tools she has to make my life miserable. Between stealing the car from me, refusing to let me use it when I need it to go to the grocery store, spreading rumors about me to friends of mine who, luckily, know me enough not to care, and this week, I decided it wasn't worth it. She told my mom awful lies about me and turned family against me. She didn't back me up when I went through a hard time last semester. I have hundreds of friends who are better sisters to me than she could ever compare to. Today, I found out that my littlest sister, Emily (16), is planning on being a Math major in college. I'm lucky that I still have a wonderful sister, and tons of friends and other family members who love and support me. I won't miss Jenny one bit.

Day 8: Back to Reality...kinda I arrived back in Oxford with a sense of relief. I was finally home. As I approached my door with my key, I experienced a swell of panic. The key on my AOPi key ring was not that of my apartment door. I used the remaining juice on my laptop to email my landlord from last year, and waited at Good Vibrations, an AOPi house until she called me around 5:30 and said she could let me in. Once I entered my apartment, I realized I hadn't eaten since the afternoon before at the Ft. Myers airport. I made myself a big meal, Andy came over to hang out, and a few hours later, Emily, one of my roommates was back. The Indiana guys, who were driving back, decided to stop at Miami at 5am. It was good to see them, especially after the stressful traveling I experienced. After they left, I went to sleep and woke up at 4pm. And here I am.

As I said earlier, Jenny and some of her friends tried really, really hard to make me miserable. If there's one thing I learned, it's that there are always people trying to get you down in life. It sucks especially when that person is so close to you. I've learned that when someone is that set on getting you down, the only solution is to cut them off. Life - not to mention the last 8 weeks of my semester - is too short to keep that kind of poison around. Luckily, I was able to meet some really cool people in my time of need, and I will look back on SB09 with fondness.

HELP ME GET MY DREAM JOB!

2009-03-09T08:26:00.001-07:00

I'm applying for the STA World Travel Internship!
http://www.worldtravelerintern.com/

They're going to choose 2 students to travel around the world and share their experiences through blogging, pictures, and video. They're looking for someone with passion, someone who loves to travel and share their experiences, someone who's outgoing, and active.

So you're asking yourself: How can I help?

You can find my video submission here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfEg8GVMDCY

The more ratings/comments/views my video receives, the better the chances of me winning! Please get on there, comment on it, watch it all you want. Also, TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!

Thanks and love,
Caitie

You have only a week to vote for me so I can make the shortlist (20 people!!) PLEASE SEND THE LINK TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

2009-03-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

In a recent US News article, there is discussion of repairing the image of the Republican Party. I say, it's about time - but how exactly do they plan on doing this?

Here's what I've been seeing in the news:

Head of RNC Michael Steele apologizes to Rush Limbaugh after making the following remark - “Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer,” he said. “Rush Limbaugh, the whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary, yes, it’s ugly.” Limbaugh went on to berate Steele on his radio show, and Steele quickly apologized. It's clear to see who runs the show (pun intended) when it comes to the G.O.P.
I didn't catch much of the CPAC on CSPAN over the weekend, but that which I did see made me gag. If these kids are the future of the Republican party, who's going to tell them that the image is changing?

And changing to what, exactly? After the 2006 and 2008 elections, it's clear that the white southern man no longer prevails on the ballot. Even their diverse selection of Jindal, a Governor from Louisiana of Indian descent, has been criticised.

From US News:
"We forgot those core ideals" that had led to success in the past, such as fiscal discipline, shrinking the size of government, and personal responsibility. "We walked away from the trust of the American people," he says. Steele pledged to not back down from confronting Obama and the Democrats on "basic principles."

Honestly, I wish Steele and the G.O.P. good luck in their quest for a new image. If they can find a way to relate to Generation Y - the youth and future of our country and our world, then good for them. I'm not talking about those who are simply Republicans because their parents are. I'm talking about those who think for themselves, and want to see our world as a better place, without looking back to the "good old days". It's time for a new sense of value in that party. As a proponent of bipartisan competition, I'm rooting for you.

2009-03-03T13:24:00.001-08:00

The Travel Channel has been frustrating me lately. While I was watching Anthony Bourdain explore Uruguay yesterday, I noticed commercials for two new shows I didn't know about before.

The first is "Bridget's Sexiest Beaches". Bridget, from Girls Next Door and Playboy fame, explores beaches and resorts around the world in attempt to cure her travel needs.

The second is "Dhani Tackles the Globe." In this show, Dhani Jones, an NFL player from the Cincinnati Bengals (EW! FIRST MISTAKE) travels to explore the local sports in different countries. This is a little closer to the mark. At least he's looking into some of the culture.

Anthony Bourdain gets pretty close to feed my needs with his exploration of cuisine in back alleys and other such unexpected places, usually through the eyes of some of the local people.Where are the shows that focus on nomads who travel from hostel to hostel, couch-surfing their way through countries and exploring the culture through the local people?

Alright, alright, I'LL DO IT.

2009-03-03T13:03:00.001-08:00

What's the ideal number of friends? According to a recent BBC article, the average number of close friends someone has is 5 (making Friends fairly accurate). The maximum number of close friends most people can handle is 6-12. If one examines wider circles, the count goes up to about 150:

"They usually consist of an inner circle of five "core" people and an additional layer of 10, he says. That makes 15 people - some will probably be family members - who are your central group and then outside that, there's another 35 in the next circle and another 100 on the outside. And that's one person's social world."

At a latest count, I am at 1448 Facebook friends. A little excessive, perhaps, but if you consider the number of AIESEC conferences I've been to (most of whom, admittedly, I became close to during the conference but I regrettably neglected to keep up with after wards), the amount of traveling I've done, and the student organizations I'm in, it makes sense.

In AIESEC Miami, there were about 40 members when I joined sophomore year, dropped to a measly 10 during my junior year, and has since grown to about 65. Considering those who graduated and those who've left the organization, this tends to add up. Alpha Omicron Pi: Joined Spring of sophomore year. A solid 150 members after recruitment every Spring. 150 members have graduated and moved on since I was a pledge, so that adds up to 300 members total. Add in the Water Ski team, College Dems, and it certainly adds up! Not to mention the rest of my friends come from meeting people in classes, in my dorm Freshman and Sophomore year, random encounters at parties, family members, etc. Whew!

Some claim that Facebook has made friendship less meaningful. While this argument has its validity, I tend to disagree. Facebook, along with other networking sites has made it easier to keep in touch with people. How else would I be able to remember who I know in Atlanta, so I can let them know that I'll be driving through on Sunday and want to meet up for breakfast?

I remember thinking freshman year, while I frantically wrote down names of people I was meeting at the earlier social events, "How did people make friends before Facebook?" Obviously the answer is simple: they collected phone numbers instead of stalking once they got home, but now things just seem so much easier.

Thank you technology for making me feel a lot more popular than I probably really am.

promises

2009-02-25T12:08:00.001-08:00

So, I was raised Catholic and Republican with a hint of cynicism and guilt. Things have changed in some ways and not others. Still, I've decided to make a Lenten Promise this year to supplement the New Years Resolutions that I've been surprisingly good at keeping so far.

I've decided to have lunch/coffee/dinner with one of my sorority sisters as many days a week as possible. Kind of an expensive promise, but seeing as it's my last semester...it'll be worth it. My goal is at least one girl from each pledge class per week, with a slight emphasis on the seniors and my own pledge class.

2009-02-24T13:47:00.001-08:00

I'm seeing a new trend in blogging. Websites where you can post things that are hilarious, weird, and aligning to a certain theme. Here are some of my recent favorites:

fmylife.com: People post awful things that happen to them. For example: "Today, I received my passport in the mail. They got my birthdate wrong. Then I picked up my birth certificate that I had sent in with the application. Turns out my parents have been celebrating my birthday on the wrong day for 16 years. FML"

thisiswhyyourefat.com: A website with pictures and descriptions of heart-attack inducing foods that look frighteningly delicious. For example: Meatloaf wrapped in bacon with a layer of mac and cheese in the middle.
Doesn't that look delicious?

Dinosaursfuckingrobots.com: I love dinosaurs. I love robots. They love each other. Pictures created by artists and comedians, all with inspirational quotes. iamneurotic.com: People describe different obsessive compulsions they have. For example: "I don’t breathe through my nose around people unless I really like them. I feel like I am taking a part of people in and there are very few people I want to inhale."

Any more anyone knows of? These are my new guilty pleasure. I'm going to find one that doesn't exist, create it, and be very famous and very poor.

NEW ADDITIONS: 2/25

cryingwhileeating.com: People send in posts of themselves crying while eating. Pretty self explanatory. Pretty hilarious. THANKS MADDIE!

stuffwhitepeoplelike.com: Stuff white people like with hilarious descriptions. Examples: Frisbee Sports. Black Music that Black People Don't Listen To Anymore. Appearing to enjoy Classical Music.

FEEDBACK: 2/26, 12:56am

Bryan: so, i read your blog post on the different websites and have done nothing all day

Mission: Complete!

Here's some more for your viewing pleasure:

Overheardinnewyork.com: I'm actually a bigger fan of Overheard at Miami, but there tend to be a few more crazies on OHINY.

Fark.com: Interesting interpretations of news that just makes everything that happens in our world sound really stupid. Which it is.

Stumbleupon.com: Create a profile, get personalized recommendations of random websites to go to. Basically the perfect way to waste time. Or, just click the Stumble button and it'll send you somewhere on the World Wide Web to a random video or game. Good times.

I think I'll start keeping a list of these on my sidebar.

2009-02-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

Please vote for my friend Muff for the BEST JOB IN THE WORLD by clicking the link below, watching his video, and rating it with 5 stars!

http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/Ni4cuNXKWC8

and the oscar goes to...

2009-02-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

The Oscars this year were the most amazing and inspiring I've seen. Every nominee deserved their nomination, and the winners, while predictable, were extremely deserving as well. I found the "smaller" awards, like those that were involved with production and technology, very interesting as well.

My favorite part, however, was Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech for his Original Screenplay, Milk:

"When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.

I want to thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours.

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you God, for giving us Harvey Milk."

After hearing that speech, I had to wipe away tears. Even though celebrity influence on politics is annoying sometimes, this was a prime example of how it can be used for good. I hope everyone who heard this speech was as inspired and moved as I was. I hope minds were changed.

El Tango De Roxanne

2009-02-21T09:53:00.000-08:00

I try not to litter my blog with junk like this, but I think these things are really funny and telling sometimes. If you haven't seen this before, the point is to put your iTunes on shuffle and with each song that plays, fill in the questions in order. One thing I noticed is that apparently, I have a lot of soundtracks on my iTunes. It made for some very interesting answers...

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY?
Christmas Eve Montage from Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack

This doesn't make any sense. The song doesn't even have words.

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Fantasy - Ludacris

Ha. At least I think so.

3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Thanks for the Memories - Fall Out Boy

Well that's a little pessimistic.

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Technologic - Daft Punk

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Hey Hey Hey - Cavashawn

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Mama I'm A Big Girl Now - Hairspray Soundtrack

True. I have to convince my mom of this a lot.

7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Men and Mascara - Julia Roberts

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Ever Ever After - Carrie Underwood

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
That's my DJ - Girltalk

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Pirelli's Magical Elixir - Sweeney Todd Soundtrack

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Flashing Lights - Kanye West

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY
Coyotes - Jason Mraz

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Making Christmas - Nightmare Before Christmas

I want to be Santa!

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Jingle Bell Rock

15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
One Sweet Love - Sarah Bareilles

16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Something in the Water - Jealous Girlfriends

Maybe these two should be switched...

17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
My Funny Valentine - Michael Buble

18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson

19) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield

This is one of the songs I dance to with my friends quite often.

20) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Drinking for 11 - Mad Caddies

That would be pretty bad

21) HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Empty Apartment - Yellowcard

Alone? Ouch...

22) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Something Bad - Wicked Soundtrack

23) WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Sunday Mornings - Maroon 5

24) WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Mix Tape - Avenue Q Soundtrack

25) WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Negative - Project Jenny, Project Jan

OH NO!

26) WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Destination - O.A.R.

27) DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Salty Dog - Flogging Molly

28) IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

SO. TRUE.

29) WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Hold You In My Arms - Ray LaMontagne

30) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
El Tango De Roxanne - Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

2009-02-17T16:02:00.001-08:00

For my Racquetball class, the final assignment was to write a 3-page paper on the sport. Luckily, I've spent the last 4 years perfecting the art of bullshitting. Here's an exert:

Discovering Racquetball: Discovering Myself

It was 10am on the second day of the classes in the second semester of my senior year. I readjusted my goggles as I prepared for Will’s next serve. The blue ball bounced off the front wall and flew towards me at what seemed like mach speed. I swung my racquet wildly, completely missing the ball and sighed after I watched it bounce behind me for the second time. I swore under my breath at Kelly, ruing the day she convinced me to sign up for this class with her.

I thought back to the days when I was both coordinated and athletic on the soccer field. Obviously, this sad excuse for a sport was not for me. I was not meant to spend an hour stuck in a large white box, wearing unattractive goggles and leaping around in what seems like a perverted mix between tennis and dodge ball. I spend just as much time trying to avoid being pelted by this demon of a blue ball as I do attempting to hit it back to the front wall and return Chris and Will’s hard serves. I rubbed my hip after being assailed by another one of Will’s unnecessarily brutal hits.

Flash forward to now. Playing with the boys has obviously paid off, as Kelly and I dominate the girls’ doubles tournament. We control the games with ease, and almost feel bad as we beat the other players with scores like 15-1. Racquetball has become fun. I look forward to the mornings, where I am able to come in and socialize with my friends as we play aggressively. The boys still beat us, I continue to whiff occasionally, and I still hit the deck to avoid being killed by the boys’ returns, but I no longer feel frustrated. I am by no means a master of the sport, but I feel comfortable with the grip of the racquet in my hand. I return one of Will’s especially hard hits, and chuckle at him as the ball bounces twice on the ground past him

Racquetball was created in 1968 and was wildly popular until aerobics took over as the exercise craze of the 80’s. It is seeing a comeback as it becomes less of a sport for old retired men with nothing better to do but strap on an old pair of short shorts and bring themselves back to the “good old days”. I can attest to the excitement of blue balls whizzing past you at breakneck speeds. To the pain that comes from diving across the court for a ball, or being hit in the leg, forehead, and stomach with what at least seem like the 200 mph hits the pros dish out. But through all the pain, there is little more satisfying than the feeling of connecting perfectly with that hollow little blue ball, and the sound it makes as it strikes the front wall and bounces twice past your opponent.

25 random things...

2009-02-17T06:28:00.001-08:00

...that I love about Miami University, in honor of the Bicentennial

1. Being able to walk essentially everywhere but having the Miami bus pick me up anyway and seeing the smiling face of a friend I haven't seen all semester on the bus, sitting next to them and catching up on our lives.
2. Thinking back on how much I've changed and what a better person I am after 4 years here, and knowing it was because of the incredible friends I've made and how AWESOME Miami is.
3. Knowing our fight song by heart after one hockey game, because we sing it at the beginning and end of every period, and after we score every goal.
4. Being bored with my roommates and knowing the only thing this town has is Super Walmart and then having a blast as we go on the week's third Walmart run.
5. Seeing President Hodge on campus and chatting with him as he walks back to Roudebush and I meander off to my next class.
6. Red brick. Everywhere. So. Pretty.
7. Seeing the lights on campus shining through the trees at night as I walk home from the library
8. The lump in my throat I get when I look at our beautiful campus.
9. Telling everyone I know that we're the REAL Miami, and watching them roll their eyes and I go on about Miami Tribal Indians
10. Tuesday Nights: $2 drafts at BW3s, $2 pitchers at Stadium, $0.90 drafts at 90's Night at Brick Street
11. Wednesday Nights: $2 margaritas at Burrito Loco, $1 drafts at Skippers which are enjoyed even more from a "beer tower" in 70 degree weather on a Sunday in spring
12. Knowing I have friends that will go out with me every night of the week, but will also sit at home with me, a box of tissues, and a large carton of ice cream as we watch Moulin Rouge for the quadrillionth time.
13. Getting up at 5:30am to go to the bars with 5,000 other students on Green Beer Day
14. Seeing people in classes and at parties who lived in my dorm freshman year and having marathon conversations with them even though we never really talked back then
15. Making fun of the freshmen who dress up for class and live up to the J.Crew U standards, because...really? Who cares?
16. ...but taking pride in the fact that the girls here are hotter than at any other school. It's true. Come here and you'll see.
17. 15,000 students. Big enough that I can hide, but small enough that I'm within one degree of separation from basically everyone.
18. Meeting people that I have a million mutual friends with and wondering why we weren't friends before.
19. Having professors that care so much about me that they go so far as to take me out for brunch after class when I lose a bet in class. And sit for hours with me in their office talking about life. And add me on Facebook. And wave enthusiastically at me from across the bar.
20. Being able to say for a year, "My roommate is the Editor-in-chief of the Miami Student, the oldest university newspaper in the U.S. That's why I know random facts and gossip about everyone and everything." And now being able to say, "My roommate WAS the Editor-in-chief of the Miami Student. It was the most stressful experience ever for her, and everyone around her. You can find us at the bar for the rest of the year, thanks."
21. Bagel and Deli. 'Nuff said.
22. The fact that pretty much ever restaurant delivers until 2am (and sometimes after)
23. The fact that you can get beer delivered. Yes. Beer. Brought to your front door. I know, it's incredible.
24. AIESEC, Alpha Omicron Pi, the Miami Water Ski team, College Dems, and all the other amazing organizations I've been involved with. Not the mention the amazing people I've met through them.
25. Knowing that I go to the best damn school in the ENTIRE WORLD, and that being reaffirmed when I visit my friends at other schools and find that nothing beats Miami U!

2009-02-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 200TH BIRTHDAY MIAMI UNIVERSITY!

200 years ago, Miami was chartered. 200 years later, it's the 10th oldest higher institution in the country.

So proud.

recognize!

2009-02-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

H. Res. 128

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

February 10, 2009.

Whereas article III of the Northwest Ordinance states that ‘religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and its happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged’;

Whereas Miami University was named for the Miami Indian Tribe that inhabited the area now known as the Miami Valley Region of Ohio;

Whereas Miami University is our Nation’s 10th oldest public institution of higher learning;

Whereas Miami University’s motto is Prodesse Quam Conspici, ‘to accomplish without being conspicuous’;

Whereas Miami University is a student-centered public university deeply committed to student success, building great student and alumni loyalty, and empowering its students, faculty, and staff to become engaged citizens who use their knowledge and skills with integrity and compassion to improve the future of our society;

Whereas Poet Laureate Robert Frost once referred to Miami University as ‘the most beautiful college there is’;

Whereas Miami University is the birthplace of the McGuffey Eclectic Readers written by William Holmes McGuffey, ‘School Master to the Nation’, who wrote and compiled the first 4 Readers while a Miami University faculty member;

Whereas Miami University is cited annually by national college rankings as being one of the Nation’s best values among public universities, and provides the opportunities of a major university while offering the personalized attention found in the best small colleges;

Whereas Miami University is named as one of the ‘Public Ivies’, offering ‘an education comparable to that at Ivy League universities at a fraction of the price’ in the book ‘The Public Ivies: America’s Flagship Universities’;

Whereas Miami University is among a select group of universities in the Nation that have produced a Rhodes Scholar, a Truman Scholar, and a Goldwater Scholar in the same academic year;

Whereas Miami University’s faculty are nationally prominent scholars and artists who contribute to Miami, their own disciplines, and to society by the creation of new knowledge and art;

Whereas Miami University has its own campus in Luxembourg and consistently ranks among the top 25 colleges and universities in the Nation for the number of undergraduate students who study abroad, where more than 35 percent of students study abroad before they graduate;

Whereas in Business Week magazine’s latest ranking of undergraduate business programs, Miami’s Farmer School of Business appears among the Nation’s top 5 percent, ranking 8th among public universities and colleges;

Whereas Miami University has a retention and graduation rate that exceeds the national average for undergraduates, students of color, and athletes, and has the highest graduation rate in Ohio;

Whereas Miami has first-rate facilities, has completed a number of new facilities in recent years, including an engineering building and the Goggin Ice Center, and is currently constructing a new business school facility and planning for a new student center;

Whereas the Miami Student, established in 1826, is the oldest university newspaper in the United States;

Whereas Miami University is known as the ‘Mother of Fraternities’, as it is the Alpha Chapter for 5 national Greek organizations, Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Tau, and the Delta Zeta sorority;

Whereas the University has over 150,000 living alumni who reside in every State of the union and numerous countries throughout the world, where they contribute significantly to their local and global communities;

Whereas Miami University is ranked 7th on the Peace Corps’ Top 25 list for medium-sized schools, with 39 alumni currently serving as volunteers, and since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 809 Miami alumni have joined the ranks, making Miami the No. 44 producer of volunteers for all time;

Whereas Miami University’s alumni have a history of service to the United States, including a President of the United States (The Honorable Benjamin Harrison), 9 United States Senators, including sitting Senator Maria Cantwell (WA), 31 United States Representatives, including sitting Members, Congressman Paul Ryan (WI) and Congressman Steve Driehaus (OH), a Speaker of the House, the parents of a United States First Lady and grandparents of a United States President, 6 governors, 11 United States generals, and 7 United States ministers to foreign governments;

Whereas Miami University’s alumni include 27 college presidents;

Whereas Miami University has enriched our Nation in the arts, humanities, and sciences through students and alumni who have achieved the pillar of their professions such as a United States Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winners, a National Teacher of the Year, National Institute of Health Fellows, National Science Foundation Recipients, National Endowment of the Arts Awardees, and renowned journalists;

Whereas Miami University is known as the ‘Cradle of Coaches’ for the unparalleled number of nationally prominent collegiate and professional coaches it has produced, 18 of whom have been recognized as national ‘Coach of the Year’ including Paul Brown (Cleveland Browns), Walter ‘Smokey’ Alston (Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers), Woody Hayes (Ohio State University), Bo Schembechler (University of Michigan), and Vicki Korn (Miami University);

Whereas Miami University has created a Culture of Champions, an environment that teaches student athletes to excel in their chosen endeavors as distinguished by a National Football League Rookie of the Year, National Football League Super Bowl Champions, National Basketball Association World Champions, National Hockey League Stanley Cup Champions, Major League Baseball World Series Champions, and Olympic gold medalists;

Whereas Miami University has contributed to the economic growth of this country through the education of men and women who have gone on to lead some of our most August corporations such as AT&T, Inc., Proctor & Gamble Co., the J.M. Smucker Company, and United Parcel Service of America; and

Whereas Miami University is the largest employer in Butler County, Ohio, and serves as an economic powerhouse for Southwest Ohio, the State of Ohio, and the Nation with an economic impact of over $1,000,000,000 per year to the State of Ohio: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) congratulates Miami University on the momentous occasion of its 200th anniversary, and expresses its best wishes for continued success;

(2) recognizes Miami’s profound achievements and unwavering commitment to liberal arts education and the active engagement of its students in both curricular and co-curricular life that has continually attracted and produced some of the Nation’s brightest faculty, staff, and students; and

(3) directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to make available enrolled copies of this resolution to Miami University for appropriate display.

makes me think

2009-02-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

After seeing "He's Just Not That Into You" which completely blew my mind about certain aspects of relationships (or lack there of), I found this picture on PostSecret at exactly the right time.

From the time we're little, our girlfriends, mothers, and other female figures in our lives give guys excuses. They tell us that guys act like assholes for an endless amount of reasons. They tell us stories about women who were dating jerks, but then the jerks changed and turned into the perfect man for them.

The moral of "He's Just Not That Into You"? Those woman are the exception. 99% of us are actually the rule - the women that men don't change for.

Last week started out with one of the biggest rejections I've ever gotten. Valentine's Day came and went, but I survived. I actually more than survived, and thought I had a really fabulous weekend. But sometimes I think my emotions and feelings cover up what's really going on.

It's not that I want anyone to change for me. I would never. My theory is that if a guy isn't right for me to begin with, why would I try to change in to be better?

I just wish someone cared about me as much as I care about myself, and as much as I know I deserve to be cared about.

I am SO the rule right now.

insha'allah

2009-02-14T07:52:00.000-08:00

Spring Break Plans
*****************
3/5: Green Beer Day, Oxford Ohio (OBVI)
3/6: Fly out to Phoenix
3/6-3/15(ish): Road trippin' with Nura (and possibly KZim and Uyen) through the wilds of Arizona to the Grand Canyon and to Vegas
3/15: Back to Oxford for the 2nd half of my last semester.

Ballin'.