Like, duh!

Hahaha, like, my friends and I are like, having like SO. MUCH. FUN. Like, you TOTALLY wish you were here, like omg.

Because, oh hi, we're in middle school and have been watching cheesy movies, playing Apples to Apples, and prank calling people all night.

Granted, we've taken it to a whole new level. Our Apples to Apples game has been all puns and dirty jokes, and our prank calls are
college-level: "Remember that time we hooked up at the rainbow party? Let's do that again, you were a good kisser, for a pastor's son."

Yeah, we're being a little immature, but hey, at least we're not out getting trashed and doing things we won't remember. We'll remember this one and laugh about it tomorrow when everyone else is confused about their voicemails.

Also, I took second place in Apples to Apples! WHOOOP!

RIP JD Salinger

I was going to participate in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop today, but something else has taken precedence.

JD Salinger, one of my favorite authors, passed away yesterday at 91. I'll be honest, I wasn't a *huge* fan of Catcher in the Rye, but Franny and Zooey, 9 Stories, Raise High The Roofbeam Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction... Those stories were fantastic. I even wrote my own story, Taylor, that was inspired by a combination of the chapter "Franny" in Franny and Zooey and The Awakening (Kate Chopin, another favorite). There are rumors of a posthumous collection, which I really hope is true, but even so this is a huge loss to the literary world. :(

Salinger, who remained an enigmatic figure after giving the world only one novel and four collections, taught me a lot through his characters -- it's okay to be an angry, disaffected youth: It's okay to want something different, it's okay to want the world to change, it's okay to take every day by the horns, and it's okay to think for yourself. He may have refused to give a lot of interviews or to come out of his self-imposed seclusion, but I think that's part of his legacy and we have a lot to learn from him.

"Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and for every else to rave about me doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I'm sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of splash." --Franny, Franny and Zooey.

I hope to have the courage to be absolutely nobody.

Do any of y'all have a favorite author that taught you a lot?

Writer's Workshop: Passion

I want a tattoo. Actually, I want many, but only one really has to do with Mama Kat's prompt this week.

It's not that I'm passionate about tattoos, or that they make me live my life with passion, or anything. Tattoos don't change me, they don't inspire me. But I really want a little heart tattoo with the word "Shalom" in Hebrew inside of it on my left foot to remind myself to walk in love, peace, and passion. Because I truly am an incredibly passionate person, but my shy nature often allows me to forget that.

I'm passionate about today. You know, carpe diem quam minimum credula postero; seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow. (That's another tattoo I want.) I live every day of my life passionately with the hope that if I die tonight or tomorrow it will all have been worth something, anything, to someone.

I'm passionate about human trafficking. Perhaps I should say I'm passionately against human trafficking. The fact that right now someone, somewhere is being forced into some sort slavery -- whether it be into Joseph Kony's child army, prostitution, or any type of involuntary servitude -- literally makes me sick. It makes me shake, makes me see red, makes me nauseous. That passion is why I'm devoting my life to an organization like The A21 Campaign or International Justice Missions or Human Rights Watch once I finally graduate.

I'm passionate about peace, hence the word "shalom" inside the heart. No, I'm not one of those people that has peace signs all over anything but doesn't really seek it. I honestly crave it; it's like an eternal hunger that gnaws at my heart. In Psalm 34:14 our God, the Prince of Peace instructs us to "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it," and I intend to do just that every day.

Loving people makes me passionate. I love, love, love people in general. It entirely conflicts with how shy I am, which irritates me to the ends of the earth, but it's true. The biggest joys of my day are seeing other people smile. Sure, I also really enjoy getting an A on a test and watching Grey's Anatomy (it's Thursday!), but those are temporal, and while happiness is temporal as well, it's so much more effectual and in many ways so much more eternal.

Seize the day

I know I’ve mentioned this before – carpe diem and the whole idea that goes along with that – but I feel like I haven’t been living it recently. If you’re friends with me on Facebook or have been seeing my tweets recently, you know that I’ve spent most of the past two weeks counting down to when I’ll be back in College Station. It took me until just now to realize that that is not living in the moment. I always say that one should be grateful for what they have and live every day to the fullest, but I’ve spent the greater part of the past fourteen days doing exactly the opposite of that – I’ve been going to bed too early, sleeping too late, spending too much of my time on Facebook, working too much, playing too little, worrying too much, being outside too little, planning too much, having fun too little, counting down too often. I’ve been living too little.

I won’t be long and drawn out (it’s time to go out and play!) – but I’m saying right here right now that I’m making goals for everyday – I’m not planning, but committing. I know I won’t be able to accomplish all of them everyday, and I never know what order I’ll do them in, that’s for sure, but I’m going to try.

- Read a little bit of a book everyday. Related: try to read this list of 50 banned books by the
end of the summer.
- Learn something new everyday.
- Take a picture everyday.
- Have fun everyday.
- Do something for someone else everyday.
- Be impulsive.
- Work hard and play hard.
- Write everyday.
- Talk to a family member everyday.
- Read the good book everyday.

I know things will interfere – there will be days at the lake and vacations and parties and sicknesses and other things that will take away from one or more of those things – but I’ll classify most of those things as having fun and playing hard and let them slide. I’m going to live and learn.

Carpe diem.

(photo thanks to http://treehugger.com)

On Life

Carpe Diem. It’s a Latin phrase from a poem by Horace, written between 65 and 8 BCE. The full line actually says “aetas: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero” which in English roughly mean “Sieze the day and place no trust in tomorrow.” I freaking love that phrase. I’m pretty sure I like it better as just “carpe diem;” the “place no trust in tomorrow” part seems rather pessimistic, and while I understand it’s supposed to say that we’re not supposed to assume we’ll have tomorrow to do anything, I like to keep things positive and hope that there will be a tomorrow to enjoy as well.

I know that not everyday can be happy and peppy and positive (heck, today wasn’t happy or peppy) but I do know that we have to spend each day living, because if you don’t live today, when the heck will you?

Carpe diem.