Cottage Dreams

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I have recently grown quite enamored with the idea of living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere growing my own food, or buying an obscene amount of non-perishables, and retreating from everything.

Photo Credit: www.pinterest.com

Yes to anyone who is extroverted and feeds off of social contact maybe this isn’t so great, but alas the idea of getting energy from social encounters to me is probably the second most exhausting thing in the universe.

I mean by no stretch of the imagination am I not social I just need some serious me time after. Understandably selfish if you’re the one I’m blowing off, oh well I’m kind of sorry if it’s any consolation.

I’ve always loved the idea of living somewhere that looks like it comes from a fairy tale. And if I can’t live in Hogwarts, a cottage in the woods is the next best thing. There’s something that is so distinctly cozy about this idea that I simply can’t ignore it.

I’ve always bounced around with my ambitions.

What can I say I’m fickle to the moon and back; for a brief time I dreamed of being a city rat or doing some crazy job surrounded by adoring people; or maybe travelling, never settling down living a vagabond life for all of eternity.

Photo Credit: pictures.finomnc.top

But recently I’ve had some revelations.

Yes I love travel, but then again I hate leaving, I fall in love with places too easy, I’d probably destroy myself trying to live eternally on the move. My possessions would lose value, I love my family far too much to leave them for too long, and mostly I like coming home. And so it was decided, no vagabond life for me I’ll never stop fantasizing about it, and I’ll probably try to live it for a few years then head home and stay home.

Now, the aspiration to be surrounded by adoring people and city life…yeah not happening. This life calls to me no longer, at all. I might live a city life for enrichment purposes, but never for a long amount of time. Too much helter skelter, too much contact with strangers, not enough time to just be.

I’ve now turned to the idea of finding a way to do as much as I can without sprinting. To find a way to be comfortable in my own skin, my own life-pacing. Living in a cottage outside of the common world bubble seems incredibly suited for someone as naturally hobbity as me.

Photo Credit: http://openwalls.com/

Not saying I don’t have a bit of a Baggins in me, adventure will always call  but there will also always be the shire to return to.

I am out of my time, surrounded by flashing neon and a world full of people trying to be louder and bolder than each other. Trying to outwit the clock, sprint faster than the second hand. Never enough time.

I like to take my time, I like to watch the clock and count with it, I like to see it stretched out in front of me. I like to see its line slowly meandering across the horizon. A horizon I could see out the window of another world.

Child Brides

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There are somethings about this world that just sicken me. Somethings that I cannot fathom or understand why they are integrated into society.

Child brides are one of those unexplainable and nauseating tragedies that society is plagued with. Thankfully, the United States is not one of those countries that participates in this horrific custom. I couldn’t imagine living in fear of being married at eight years old to a man who is old enough to be my grandfather.

I understand that the reasoning behind these marriages are often for financial reason, but what I do not understand is how the parents are okay with practically selling their adolescent child to an grown adult.

Don’t these parents have any compassion for their young child who has not yet lived their life, had an opportunity for an education or fallen in love?

Just because this is a custom that has been long ingrained into particular cultures I am blown away by how parents are content with doing this to their children. Do they not have a basic understand of what is humane, just because they are from a different country?

 

 

 

 

Make America Great Again

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With all the primaries and caucus’ happening right now, one can only imagine the rivalry occurring between the delegates. Specifically I want to talk about Jeb Bush and Donald Trump.

Obviously all the delegates own websites that they use to keep their followers up to date, like all websites they need to be kept up to date with their licensing and payments. Recently Jeb Bush decided not to renew his rights to the domain jebbush.com, and guess who bought it? You bet, Donald Trump bought Jeb Bush’s website domain. So anytime you enter jebbush.com it redirects you to Donald Trump’s main campaign website.

Here’s Donald Trump tweeting about it: 

I don’t support Trump at all, but I love his savageness.

The Bane of My Existence

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If I had power over the entire world, here are a few things I would banish from existence:

1. Mushrooms

  • Mushrooms are the bane of my existence. They are fungus. Fungus! Yet people still choose to eat these smelly, squishy, brownish-gray lumps of decay. I will never, ever understand these abominations.
Photo Credit: http://www.deliciously-thin.com

2. Moths

  • Moths are terrifying. I don’t care what anyone says. These papery, powdery creatures flock to lights and windows at night, casting ominous shadows and evoking nightmares.
Photo Credit: http://www.pestcontrol4london.co.uk

3. Donald Trump

  • I don’t think any explanation is needed here. Just banish him.
Photo Credit: cdn1.theodysseyonline.com

4. Certain words

  • Some words are DISGUSTING. I don’t mean the definition, just how the word itself sounds when spoken. Take the words moist, ointment, stringy, and squelch. Now say them out loud. They just sound revolting. I hate saying them. I hate hearing them. I hate just typing them here. They should be taken out of the English language.
Photo Credit: cdn.petcarerx.com

5. Homework

  • This one is a cliché, I know. But let’s face it: no one enjoys homework. Not even teachers. It’s pointless. This mind-numbing, stress-inducing phenomenon benefits no one, and should be taken out of schools, and out of existence!
Photo Credit: ststephengrade3.weebly.com

Uh-Oh Superbowl

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The Super Bowl. Probably one of the most American things to happen in America.

Being an American for my entire existence I’ve come to enjoy this sporting event. I’ve seen so many, that I know if it is relatively good or not.

This year was the 50th Super Bowl. That means half a century of an annual celebration of two team going head-to-head throwing around a football. Because of this, I had high expectations. And I was let down.

Now, I’m not a huge football fan, but the actual game wasn’t that exciting. From pretty early in the game, the Broncos were dominating the Panthers. The best football games are the ones that captivate you until the last quarter. But by the fourth quarter, the Panthers didn’t stand a chance.

The next disappointment was the half-time performance. This year it was Coldplay ft. Beyonce and Bruno Mars. Now, I thought Coldplay and Beyonce were going to perform their new song, Hymn For the Weekend. And during their colorful performance, Coldplay provided plenty of buildup to make the final number worthwhile. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Coldplay performed some of their most popular singles and then Bruno Mars and Beyonce just popped up. Donning black leather outfits with gold accents, the two stars competed in a dance battle. Unfortunately for Coldplay, Beyonce completely upstaged them. Especially, revealing her Formation World Tour right after. Overall, there could’ve been more cohesion during the half-time performance.

Finally, the commercials. Oh how terrible they were. The only one that gave me hope was the Heinz commercial with the wiener dogs running in a field of flowers. Now that was cute. Besides that, there was honestly no good content. I mean there was a commercial for IBS and toenail fungus.

And that’s why this year’s Super Bowl was not my favorite.

Millionaire’s Row

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Cornelius-Vanderbilt-II-House-Fifth-Avenue-NYC
Photo Credit: Untappedcities.com

The Vanderbilt Mansion

This gorgeous mansion, along with seventeen other private mansions, was located in New York City on Fifth Avenue, AKA Millionaire’s Row. Unfortunately, this amazing property has since been demolished. Unfortunately (again), there are so many mansions are Millionaire’s Row I will only include three in this post.

The Felix M. Warburg Mansion

This huge mansion was built in 1901 by none other than Felix M. Warburg. It ran for $44 million in 2010 when Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world, bought it. The details of this mansion are outrageous. The mansions is 20,000 square feet compared to the average 750 square foot apartment. This castle mansion also boasts five stores, 12 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, and almost as many fireplaces.

Astor Family Mansion

Grander than grand, John Jacob Astor received the land for this mansion as a wedding gift. The usual. While the outside may look inconspicuous, the inside is anything but. And yes, it does include a ball room.

Firewatch

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It takes a lot to get me emotionally devastated by books, movies, tv shows, and video games. The new game, Firewatch, broke my heart and made me shed a tear just 10 minutes in. The player plays through the eyes of Henry, a man with a lot of problems. The first 20 minutes is mainly text with very little interaction. In this prologue, you go to a bar where you quickly meet the love of your life, if there is such a thing. The dialogue goes through several life events leading up to the point where your wife is diagnosed with early onset dementia. She is 41. Life goes on and she gets worse. The player has to decide between taking full care of her or sending her to a home. Unbeknown at the time, whatever the player chooses, her parents will come and take her to their home with them. A week before he was supposed to go visit her, he sees a job in the paper. He takes the job of being a fire lookout, starting the game. The player never sees or meets the wife, Jules, and only knows her through the information given in the prologue. There is still a strong connection with Jules, established from the start. Immediately after the soul crushing prologue, Henry arrives at Two Forks Lookout, his new home for the summer. After entering the tower, Henry is welcomed by Delilah’s lovely voice. She is his boss, working in the next closest tower. Delilah introduces herself while intoxicated. Henry is in constant contact with her throughout the game. Delilah is a character that is never met, but a big relationship is built between the two. They are both escaping reality by coming out here. Throughout the whole game, there is some strange stuff going on. For a while, they try to ignore it but it gets worse and worse; someone is recording all of the conversations the two share. If Henry doesn’t get to the bottom of this Delilah won’t just be out of a job, but may have to go to prison. The complex dialogue allows the player to connect to Delilah as much as they want, creating a unique atmosphere that the player is involved in. This was the best story game and the best plot I have seen. I had high expectations for this game and they were all met.

 

Star Wars Spectacular

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A few weeks ago my friend Hanna and I decided to go see the latest installment in the beloved Star Wars series. I had only seen one of the movies previous to this, so I really had no idea what was going on. I walked into the theatre thinking it was going to be a super nerdy movie about bizarre looking alien-like creatures

I walked into the theatre thinking it was going to be a super-nerdy movie about bizarre looking alien-like creatures who fight each other with laser beams.

Although I was somewhat right, I loved every minute of it.

I have been turned into a total Star Wars fan, I have been watching the older movies in the series, obsessively.

I enjoy the action and adventure of the series, similarly, I also adore Indiana Jones and James Bond, but who would have thought I would become a Star Wars geek.

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Sorry Men Suck

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Uber is a blessing. Uber saves lives, but this month every girls worst fear about Uber came true for the daughter of director Kevin Smith. Harley Quinn Smith posted on Instagram the details of her scary encounter.  

Harley, who stars in her father’s newest movie Yoga Housers alongside another famous celebrity offspring, Lily-Rose Depp, wanted to warn the people of Los Angeles about her almost life threatening run-in. 

“I was just standing outside a Starbucks in Brentwood” Smith wrote on Instagram, “There were two white men (age 20-30) in the driver (blonde hair) and passenger (brown hair) seat with an uber sign on their front window, but they were most definitely not uber drivers.” 

Harley Quinn asked the two men who the Uber was for to make sure it was for her and when they couldn’t answer they began grabbing her .  Thankfully she got away and they drove off.

Naturally, Harley was flustered by this event and her Father made her feel better in the best way ever-in the form of a chocolate cake with “Sorry Men Suck” frosted on the front.  

The 16 year old wrote,”Just when I was about to lose faith in humanity after almost being kidnapped today, my dad got me this cake and made me remember that some people, like himself, make the world a lot better,” 

 

Hallmark Day

raining17Leave a comment

Happy Hallmark Day.

Or more commonly known as Valentines Day, which is right around the corner. This Sunday, the world will come together to celebrate (or not) this holiday, falling victim to colors like red and pink, and hearts as far as the eye can see.

Photo Credit: http://www.clipartbest.com

Hallmark holidays earned their name from their sole purpose of existing for commercial reasons, as opposed to commemorating an important event or tradition. Go into any given department store, and flashing signs point to isles of mushy cards and pink, glittery decorations. Although said to celebrate love, some argue that Valentines Day is a money-maker for stores, marketing thousands of cards and mass amounts of chocolate.

Don’t get me wrong – I think celebrating love is great, and important to do. However, an emotion that should be constantly expressed shouldn’t be stressed on one specific day just because a holiday is devoted to it.

This annual holiday puts a large stress on love and relationships, with demands like flowers, candy, and expensive jewelry. For most, relationships aren’t about material goods. One’s love is not measured by the amount of money spent on a partner, or the number of material items given.

Love can be celebrated every day, and doesn’t need to be shown through cheesy cards and cheap (or very expensive) chocolate. It can be sweet, but it shouldn’t be a representation of love, or a relationship itself.

Whether Valentines Day is celebrated lavishly or strongly ridiculed, there’s only one thing that remains important. This Hallmark day, full of stuffed bears and chocolate hearts, should never be the basis of romance.