Monday, November 30, 2009

Thankfulness

Hey, remember me? I'm that person that sometimes used to blog here. Yeah, that's right, Valorie. Uh huh. Yeah, I'm alive. Where have I been you ask? Oh, well, that's a pretty long story. How about I try to catch you up while I catch up and list the ten things I was thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I'm thankful...

1. For my family. I drove home last Tuesday to surprise my parents (I was supposed to go home Wednesday) and earned a scream from my mom, who was on a conference call with her boss when I walked into the house. We then drove to Arkansas to visit my Dad's family and stayed there until Saturday, which was simply wonderful. I have a big family but I rarely get to see any of them because we're all so spread out. Like a dummy though, I didn't take a single picture the whole time so I can't show you them. Lame, eh?

2. That I don't have to write another paper this semester. No, seriously, I actually silently said thanks for this at the lunch/dinner table on Thanksgiving. I really do love to write, but I *hate* writing research papers. My only one this semester was due last Monday -- now I just have to wait and see how I did.

3. For my friends. I saw most of the ones I'm really close with over the few days I was there -- it was wonderful. Very few of my close friends actually go to A&M, and I don't really have the money (or the time) to be driving all over the state of Texas to visit all of them. Though I do have plans to visit Cyndi in Houston next semester. I'm excited. :)

4. For dayquil. I've been sick on and off for the past week, so dayquil has been a life saver; without it there's no. way. I could have gotten out of bed for classes today or last Tuesday. Though, if we're honest, the liquid dayquil tastes awful. Absolutely. If anyone involved in the production of dayquil is reading this: step it up. Also, why is it burnt orange? That's pretty much the worst color ever. (Gig 'em, Aggies! [Yes, it was necessary.])

5. For Black Friday. I got some pretty suh-weet brown "leather" boots that day. As well as a really bad a set of 10 picture frames for $12 bucks. And a couple cheap-y necklaces that will break by the end of the week, but that's okay because I paid less than $5 for them, as well as a purse that better not break by the end of the week, though I did pay less than $20 for it. And a bulletin board, though I'm not actually sure why I bought that since I don't know where the heck I'm going to put it. Caught up in the shopping fever I guess.

6. For Barnes & Noble coupons. They send me some pretty much once a week, but last week there was an email for 50% off and another for 40% off waiting in my inbox, like a little reminder that it will all be okay, that the world isn't coming to a halting stop before exploding into a fiery ball of doom. Needless to say, I made a trip over there immediately, and now have a copy of Superfreakonomics and a beautiful leather bound journal that will eventually be used for #55, once I can bring myself to destroy it (which is, of course, the whole freaking point).

7. That I'm still in school. During my catching up with all my friends, I was caught up on all the old high school gossip (don't look at me that way, you do it too), and I realized just how many people that were supposed to go off to college and become successful lawyers and doctors and teachers and whatevers... are now bums, smoking pot and doing nothing with their lives. The most important thing any of them do is wait tables and play at the coffee house on Tuesday nights. On the one hand, it's like, 'okay cool, do what makes you happy.' But they're not going to be young forever, eventually they'll need to make more than $7.50/hr. Maybe I'm being judgmental.

8. That I haven't actually quit Mary Kay yet, though I still have every intention to. I'm actually going to have a big 25% off sale starting on December 1, which I'm extending to you guys through this website. I just feel like it would be easier to sell all the product than return it to the company. (If you have any questions about the sale, feel free to email me -- beautifuliconoclast [at] gmail [dot] com.)

9. For extra credit projects in my Chinese class. And for going to class on Tuesday even though most of the class skipped and finding out that I have an extra credit project. I'm already half done with it and I only spent about an hour on it last night, so it should really work out. The fact that it's giving me somewhere between 1 and 5 points on my final grade it pretty stinkin' wonderful. :)

10. THAT IT'S ALMOST TIME TO START CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS. I love Thanksgiving, really, it's one of my favorite holidays (right after Halloween), but there's just something about the Christmas season that really makes me happy. But, I do really hardcore believe in not celebrating Christmas before December 1, so it DRIVES ME CRAZY when corporate America is like "oh it's November 1? It's almost Christmas! Put up the decorations now! We've got to suck consumers dry before the holidays really even start!" Consumerism isn't even what Christmas is supposed to be about... But that's for a whole different post.

Does that catch y'all up enough? How were your Thanksgivings?

Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Thought While Researching

I'm reading a lot of John Stuart Mill and Henry David Thoreau tonight in an attempt to do some quick research for a paper I have to write and somewhere between the lines of passive resistance and utilitarianism (the harm principle), I had a thought:

In worrying about who we will be tomorrow, we lose sight of who we are today.

I've been so freaking guilty of that recently. Damn.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Photo Blog

I know, I know. It's November 17th. November 17th and I still haven't posted Halloween pictures. Talk about epic fail. But, that will change tonight! As you read, even! For, here are pictures from Halloween!

All the Greeks together. :)

All the ladies. :)My friend Stephanie, a pirate for the night. She's wonderfully photogenic and I love taking pictures of her.

That's all I'll post of those, simply because I don't want to overwhelm you or my computer. Now coming at you are photos from a 20's themed party Phi Lamb threw this past weekend.

Travis and I posing in his newsie and my 20's mobster costume (flapper was simply not going to happen for either of us).

My roomie and her boyfriend, really getting into the theme with their 20's-style flirting.

A cool picture of me Travis took. I love it. :) He's a good photographer, huh? I love my best friend.

Those are my favorites; the highlights. Have y'all taken any cool photos recently? Link up, I'd love to see them. :)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Beauty of Anonymity

I should have been an anonymous blogger so I could tell you guys more about my life.

Oh, paradoxes, how I love y'all.

But, alas, I am paranoid, and while my life has been quite exciting as of late, I hesitate to tell you much about it.

I met someone, I think it's safe to say that. The conditions under which he and I met are less than fantastic, so that will stay a secret; for that I'm sorry, because it's definitely interesting. It had a lot to do with coffee, I'll say that.

He's a good guy, if you're curious. Strong faith, really intelligent, politically aware. Funny, definitely funny.

One of these days, hopefully I can tell you guys more about him. Until then, feel free to theorize all you care to. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Tomorrow, Halloween and Roaring 20's-themed party photos. Get excited. :)


Friday, November 13, 2009

Letter to Illness

Dear Sickness,

I've noticed that you liked to come at the most inconvenient times, in the most annoying of forms, like a stomach virus that causes high fever and vomiting.

For instance, you so cruelly came into my life at nighttime, between the hours of 1 am and 7 am when all I'd really like to be doing is sleeping.

You decided to pay a visit the week I need to write a big ten-page research paper.

And the weekend that my best friend, Travis, is supposed to come visit me in CS and go to Phi Lamb date party with me Saturday night.

Now, sickness, I understand you're a necessary part of life. I get that you come and go at least once a year, but really? This week? You couldn't have waited like a week, until after I'd written my paper and Travis had left? Really?

*sigh*

Love,
Valorie

P.S. TWLOHA! You better have written love on your arms!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Almost Officially Unemployed

As you guys may or may not know (regular readers, hmmm?) I'm a Mary Kay consultant. Or, I am for now because I'm quitting tomorrow after I finish my economics test.

See, I kind of feel like I'm doing a bad thing there. I've always been this huge proponent of the idea that women shouldn't feel like they need make up to feel beautiful... hell, that we shouldn't feel a need to be beautiful. A desire for beauty shouldn't be such a driving force in our lives. We shouldn't value ourselves based on how beautiful society thinks we are or aren't.

We're so much more important than that.

We should place our value in our intellect, in our caring nature, in our skills as leaders or listeners, in our wisdom or our compassion or our zest for life. In the fact that we get to be mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives. In who we are not what we look like.

And yet, here I am, selling make up to women, telling them they need it to cover up that blemish that doesn't exist or that they're not pretty if they have wrinkles or that such-and-such product will help them lose an inch off of their thighs or reduce those fine lines on their hands and elbows and by their eyes. That they need to use our products as a way to stay young forever because youth and beauty equal happiness.

The MK company motto is even, "Enriching Women's Lives." How pretentious is that? As if you won't have a rich, happy, wonderful, beautiful life without their products to keep you young and thin and pretty.

Eff. That.

I refuse to be a part of it anymore. I refuse to be a part of something that would try to tell this woman that she isn't beautiful because she has wrinkles and doesn't wear any make up. I refuse to be a part of something that claims that it's improving the lives of women when all it's really doing is saying, "oh hey, you're not pretty enough, let's fix that." When it's making them doubt the beauty and personality God gave them.

You're beautiful. Really. I promise.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Writer's Workshop: Letters

Hey you,

You're killing me. The mixed signals? Yeah, they're not cool.

You have a great smile. And you're incredibly intelligent and down to Earth, which makes conversation wonderful.

But I hate you. I mean, I don't really. I wish I did, because that would make things so much easier. That's almost the same right? Hating someone and just wishing you did so you didn't have to like them? It is in my book. At least, for now.

Stop being so great, okay? Thanks.

Love,
Simply Valorie

(This post was brought to you by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Misconstrued

Today, I told my room mate, "I don't know what I want."

She said, "Well, hell, I could have told you that."

We were talking about food, but she seemed to mean it on a deeper level somehow.

I really need to get my life straightened out.


Sunday, November 1, 2009

Nostalgic

I miss the days when I could get lost in a book.

Now, I'm all grown up.

And there are always other things to worry about.