On May 25th, after not reading for much of my freshman year, I was fed up and decided to challenge myself to read 101 books in 1001 days. Since then, I've made some pretty good progress, but there's still a ways to go! Check out the master list here!

Just Finished: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling takes the reader on a trip through her psyche. It's great because it feels very personal and conversational, much like the way I write. You learn so much about her personal life and how she views everything. I loved the chapters discussing her body and how designers hate her size. Speaking as a fellow size 8, it's an awkward size to shop for. We're not skinny and gorgeous, we're not heavy and gorgeous, we're just hanging out in the middle, uncommitted to an extreme, living life with an elliptical and a pint of Ben &Jerry's. 
Through Kaling's writing, I feel like I know enough to be her best friend. Honestly, she seems like she would be an awesome friend. Let me know girl, I'm always up for an online shopping marathon!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, but I think that any almost-twenty-something or just-after-twenty-something woman would love it.

Check out my review on Goodreads!


Currently Reading: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Yes, I am still reading this absolutely massive novel! It's a bit difficult to get through, based on the sheer size of it. It gets a little easier every time I crack it open. And as anyone who's every read any Russian literature know, the names are just insane sometimes. Lots of characters with 3 very complicated names, and a seemingly endless amount of nicknames. It's a process to read, but I'm fighting through!




In  the mean time, I'll keep reading, and you can add me on Goodreads to see what I'm reading and get updates when I finish a book!


Writing to you from M, Personally

101 in 1001

8:05 AM

After yesterday's minor meltdown(s), I have taken a metaphorical Xanax and finally calmed down a bit. But before I recount the day, I would like to share with you my pride and joy:

I spent probably a good 4 days on this board, a project that realistically should've taken a few hours. But hey, what's the point of life if you rush, right? No that's just my lame excuse for dragging it out! But that's okay, she's hung up and she looks pretty! So it's all okay! I have to be honest though, I'm not looking forward to having to cover it up with papers and punch holes all over it with the pins. Maybe I'll make it work somehow. But that's an issue for another time!

Back to my original point, I did much better today. Went for a good run, ate some pf the best granola for breakfast, did some work in my room, and went to the zoo with one of my closest friends from last year! It was an amazing day, even though I unfortunately did not see the new baby panda.

And to top it all off, we went to the famous (or is it infamous?) TDR for dinner. I have to be honest, it was surprisingly good! They redid all of the interior which looks cleaner and more open now. There are lots of new tables, quite a few high-top types, which I personally love! I usually only got a salad or burger at TDR, but I decided to be adventurous and try some of the General Tso's Chicken. There was a chef right there making the stir fry portion! The rice I got was a bit overcooked, but still good! The meal was actually pretty delicious! And in my usual dining fashion, I topped it all off with my absolute favorite AU food, one of the TDR brownies! They're truly a wonderful guilty pleasure.

As much fun as today was, tomorrow is much less exciting. Another quick run in the morning, a good breakfast, a trip to the container store for a shoe rack-type-thing, and then it begins, I have homework to start! Which is annoying since classes haven't even started yet. I have reading for three classes, Macroeconomics, Comparative Politics, and American Dreams/American Lives. These three seem like they're definitely gonna be the most difficult, but not unmanageable!

So far so good though. Other than one little thing..

My roommate chose tonight to reconnect with all her friends from last year. Now don't get me wrong, usually I wouldn't have a problem with that. Except she is reconnecting with everyone at midnight. Three loud foreign girls have a lot to catch up on. Looks like I'll be up late for my run tomorrow.

Some days, I really hate communal living..

BUT I am going to keep it positive! Because it's all good! To close up, here is a little quote I have taped up next to my desk:

So what does that mean to me? It means that I've already hit the end. It hit the end, the rock bottom, the worst place last year/spring. And this is it. There is nowhere else to go but up. I'm starting from the end now. And it's going to be hard. Really hard. But I've got a good self-support beneath me, good people standing by me, and a blog where I can work my thoughts out. I've got this. I can do this. 

Writing to you from M, Personally

College Life

9:10 PM

Well. It's quarter to 10 at night and I'm pretty much finished. A 15 hour day. Very sore legs. And a quickly developing case of homesickness. Yes, it's certainly move in day. And I am sure as hell glad it's over. It's been a heck of a day and I'm going to abuse today's post and I'm gonna get a little negative on you tonight. I need to vent for a minute. Where should I begin?

Let's go with the most common issue, Homesickness. Common and hard to overcome, everyone, no matter what, misses the regularity of home. I miss my dog. I miss my mattress. I miss my family. I even miss hearing my little sister's music through the walls at all hours. Instead I've traded in those comforts for a musty room, a faintly urine-scented hallway, a randomly assigned roommate, and the high-pitched squealing girls next door. Safe to say, my dorm isn't exactly what I had been hoping for. And I admit it. To you, and God, and everybody, I miss home. I want to go back to familiar smells and sounds and showering without shoes on. I want my clean bathroom and my mom back.
Luckily, homesickness to the first-day-degree usually fades after a week or two. It rarely comes back in such full force to rear it's ugly head. I know I'll be over all of this (for the most part) soon. But it's just hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for now.

My second issue is the aforementioned Roommate. A very nice girl judging by our conversations. Of course we've said maybe 50 words to each other in total. I know, I know, time will help and we'll be better friends eventually. But I really question that philosophy. I'm still not the biggest fans of my roommates from last year. I just hope I don't walk in on this one doing-the-do like I did last year (twice!). Not an experience I would like to repeat again. Back to the point, she and I already seem to be at odds, purely based on the fact that we are insanely different people. We come from two very different sides of the world. Literally, she is from China and I'm from a small beach town in New Jersey. A VERY big difference if I do say so myself. We're both very quiet people, so that part is really nice. I just feel at odds with the rest of my floor, since most roommates are people who are already friends and know each other pretty well. And yet here I am friendless with a stranger for a roommate.

Which brings me to my next issue, Friends and the Lack Thereof. I am a very introverted person, I hate trying to be social. It's painful for me to go out of my way to talk to someone. If I could just fast forward through that and just become friends with them, I would in an instant. That's not to say I don't have any friends at all. But I really only have one at AU who I'm remotely close with. I don't know anyone on my floor exceptionally well, I sort of know a couple of people through College Republicans, which is a step in the right direction. I just don't want to make the same mistakes that I did last year, and end up befriending the wrong people. Don't get me wrong, the group I ended up being friends with last year were all very nice people. But they partied too much, smoked even more, and became a very bad influence on my life in a lot of ways. Ways that I will recount another time, but just can't get into tonight. But they molded me into a person who I didn't want to be. It scared me. And I'm still scared that I'm going to have a repeat of that again this year, a mistake that I can't afford to make again.

And on the topic of mistakes, I come to the fourth and final issue for tonight's venting session, my Relationship. Now, I want to keep my relationship private, but I've got more than my fair share of fears for my relationship. After spending a lot of time together this summer, this is the first time that we are far away from each other for an extended period of time. For the sake of privacy, all I can say is he will be across the world in a few days, 6 hours ahead of me. So we're taking a very solid, but still somewhat new relationship, and sending the people in opposite directions, roughly 4,760 miles apart. Then limiting communication to realistically, about 3 texts of conversation per day, and little to no time to Skype or call. And keeping this up for a three week to three month stretch. While, I usually wouldn't worry about our relationship, it's fair to be a little nervous about such a distance.

45 minutes later, and I'm practically falling asleep on my laptop, I think it's time to close up for now.

Tomorrow I'll be back up writing more and updating plenty of things on the blog. I'll also be posting my daily workouts on my Tumblr!


Writing to you from M, Personally

College Life

7:28 PM

You need to watch this video, tell others to watch this video and share this video to your page.
Posted by Jim Hanlon on Sunday, September 23, 2012

This video came up on my Facebook timeline today. I just had to share it with my tiny political audience. This is what really drives my political aspirations. I don't want to be a politician who sits around and just votes on party lines for the sole purpose of getting reelected. I want to be the shit-stirrer. I want to actually READ and COMPREHEND bills, I want to look my party leader in the eye and fearlessly say, "No" to supporting something that will not benefit my future district or state. I have my own set of thoughts, ideas, and opinions. And I stand by them. That is not to say that my thoughts, ideas, and opinions won't change as I learn more about the world or a topic and as I get older. That's natural of course. But I will not be a politician who gets so desperate for election/reelection that I blatantly lie to get what I strive for. If I can't earn my seat or job with what I really am and with what I really believe, I sure as hell don't deserve it for lying. Does that mean that I may be fated to be a one term politician? Maybe. I may never even be elected! But I never want to be the kind of person who lies and has to use back alley-methods to get what they want. And please, for the love of all that is holy, if I ever get to be this person, someone better find this blog post and send it to me! That's my teeny weeny political rant for now.

Writing to you from M, Personally

Politics

5:50 AM

If you remember, I recently decided to read 101 books in 1001 days. And so far, I've made pretty good progress! Kind of. I haven't read as much as I would have liked. Between work and applying for jobs in DC and working on college stuff and occasionally sleeping, reading got (once again!) tossed on the back burner.

Aside from all that, I am still (stiiiiiill) reading Anna Karenina, which is turning out to be a much more challenging read that originally anticipated! I'm sure once I get more into the book and the plot it'll go by easier.
I did finish The Great Gatsby last weekend! A nice easy read, it took me about 3 days to finish, through I probably could've done it in one! It's a real favorite of mine and it's been a while since I had read it. I love the way Fitzgerald describes some things through Nick's voice. It's such a strange view sometimes and some of the passages I could read over and over and over again. One thing I really dislike about the book is Daisy. I never disliked Daisy's character until I saw the movie.
I mean the movie was amazing, Luhrmann is an AMAZING director (um, hello, Moulin Rouge) and Carey Mulligan looked exactly like I imagined Daisy would. But she was just so much more eh in the movie. I guess I always pictured her a little less helpless and whiny when I read the book. Now that I've read it again I don't know if she was always helpless and I never noticed it or if I'm just really noticing it now that I have Mulligan's character in my head. And therein is a literary life lesson, kids! Always take notes on books! Yes, even the ones you read for fun! Because you can read things different every time.

After all of that, I just have to mention it! That amazing final line!

While Fitzgerald wrote so many fantastically memorable lines, this has to be one of my favorites.

Check out the 101 in 1001 list and my 101 in 1001 Bookshelf on Goodreads to see what else I've finished so far! 

Writing to you from M, Personally

101 in 1001

7:31 AM