A fishy idea

I don't have any real excuse for not writing the past few days - you'd think the fact that it's finals week would render me incapable of keeping up with a personal blog, but that really isn't true. While I had five finals this week, I had more than my fair share of leisure time. To sum up yesterday, for instance, I sat and watched The Office for essentially the entirety of the day. My roommate and I were in bed for about seven hours straight; blinds shut, nestled under our covers. I made it through one season (and possibly half of another... I lost track, to be honest) of The Office and I can honestly say that my dream last night incorporated The Office characters in it... yeah. 

Today, I had one last final and afterwards continued my Office craze until about 2 or 3, when I simply couldn't lie in bed any longer, so I bundled up and took the subway to Walnut Street, where I did some Christmas shopping. It snowed during my shopping excursion (which was ultimately mildly successful) which was a welcome surprise - I've never seen Philadelphia during the winter. The snow's a little more than a dusting and already students have gone down my street and written various profanities on random cars. That's what I call Christmas spirit.

Anyhow, my advice to keep your college life stress-free is inspired by what is currently playing on ABC Family - Finding Nemo. I know mostly everyone's home for break now, and probably won't be back on campus for a while, but while you're home, get yourself a fish! Of course, nothing elaborate is required, but owning fish have proved to be great stress-relievers for a lot of people. Believe it or not, caring for a simple, cute little water-dwelling creature is proven to reduce blood pressure as well as stress. Simply sitting in front of an aquarium or watching a fish swim is enough to make your life seem quieter, less cluttered. Not to mention, caring for another living thing, even if it's only a fish, will certainly give you a sense of accomplishment. Goldfish are, like, one dollar at pet stores, so go get one and share your college escapades with it!

Keep calm,

Sarah

Just some thoughtful words

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky”

Need a distraction?

I know I just posted about an hour ago, but I wanted to recommend one thing, if you haven't already... well, stumbled upon it.


It's a website called Stumbleupon. Just create an account, specify your interests, turn on some music, and you will find that four hours pass by a lot quicker than you'd think. Try it!

Keep calm,
Sarah

And the answers were gone...

All right, so here's the deal. Today, I'm going to write about something totally and completely random because the things that are on my mind right now probably shouldn't be public - too much going on. So instead, I'm going to do something I always used to adore doing: make a list! Sorry if this bores a lot of you, because I know most people reading this don't honestly care about my favorite songs or any of that bullshit. So skip this entry if you don't really care, but here are my ten favorite songs of all time (not the kind of "favorite songs" that change every week):

1. Chicago, Sufjan Stevens: I am absolutely blown away by this song every single time I hear it. The line "All things go" rings so true to me, it's been one of my major philosophies in life; in fact, my favorite quote is "This, too, shall pass" which acts as a constant reminder that all feelings, both good and bad, will eventually pass... everything, believe it or not, is temporary.

2. Let Go, Frou Frou: This song, or rather, this band, was introduced to me by someone I used to know, and it carries so many beautifully sad and nostalgic thoughts with it. Half of the lure of songs are the images they bring to my mind when I listen to them - and a lot of the time, those images are blissful memories that I won't forget. But I appreciate this song for the value of its words too, not simply the memories it comes with. "There's beauty in the breakdown" is such a positive attitude to take when going through an absolutely horrible time.

3. Satellite, Dave Matthews Band: I was caught between "Ants Marching" and "Satellite" for this spot, but I think I like "Satellite" a little better. I just so appreciate the earthiness and fun...ness (?) of DMB.

4. A Day in the Life, The Beatles: The Beatles have always held some sort of really soft, loving, happy spot in my heart. One of the most intense moments in my life (note: "one of" not "the most"... just saying) was when I got to see John Lennon's childhood home. I guess "A Day in the Life" would be, in my opinion, the ballsiest and most creative song of theirs, by which I'm immensely impressed. I just get chills every single time I hear it.

5. On the Radio, Regina Spektor: This could be broadened to essentially any song by Regina Spektor, but I figure that probably isn't fair, so I chose my favorite. This song has one of the most wonderfully calming and genuine phrases I could imagine any song ever having: "This is how it works, you're young until you're not, you love until you don't, you try until you can't. You laugh until you cry, you cry until you laugh, and everyone must breathe until their dying breath." I cannot even begin to tell you how many times these few lines have given me exactly the comfort that I        needed, more than any of my friends or family could.

Ok, well, I lied. This was supposed to be a list of ten, but due to the fact that I'm still sick and tired and begin the first round of finals tomorrow, I'm going to cut it short... but expect this list to be continued! As for my "piece of advice" for the day (which has been getting lamer and lamer by the day in case you haven't noticed), I'd suggest you write. Even if you don't write, write. About anything. Start a journal. Seriously, journals aren't just for ten year olds; I've kept one since about that age but I plan on keeping one for my entire life. It's incredible what writing can do to your mind. My english teacher always used to say that writing allows you to stumble across ideas you didn't even know you had in you. If you need help with what to write about, check out this website that my friend Katie (search4muchness.blogspot.com) sent to me for some help with my own blog: http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html
Good luck on your finals if you're taking them, and remember: tomorrow is "Hug a Stressed College Kid" day!

Keep calm,
Sarah

Cover Your Cough!

Apparently this has not been happening on Peabody's fourth floor. The common cold's passing through the hall in an almost door-to-door fashion; every time I walk down the hall to the bathroom, I can hear coughs and sniffles from behind closed doors. Fortunately, I've not been left out of the loop - within a few hours of waking up this morning, I was essentially left incapable of studying due to my cotton-stuffed brain and scratchy, dry, sore throat. Not to mention that I feel about 80 with my aching bones. I've been downing water and Orange Juice, I've burglarized a handful of oranges from the dining hall, and I've been layering up almost superfluously - let's hope I can beat this cold before my first ever round of finals.

Anyway, enough complaining. I'm not much in the mood to write tonight, and nothing's really happened today. Thus far, my day's consisted of watching Sarah Palin's Alaska and studying for finals beneath my bed covers. Also, I've pretty much had these three really great songs on repeat today, introduced to me by one of my few good friends here at Temple, so, if you're looking for some good music to just chill out to, I'd suggest giving these songs a shot (thanks Eric, if you're reading this):

Hope everyone's feeling well-prepared for finals and enjoying their weekend; sorry for the lack of advice today.

Keep calm,
Sarah

Finally, the end of the semester

 

Today finally marked the end of my first, and hopefully worst, semester at college. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm home free - Temple gives us two "study days" along with the weekend, so, after tonight, I'll be practically a permanent resident of Paley Library and, on occasion, the Tech Center (although when I stopped by the Tech today, it was so full that it took me 45 minutes to snag an open computer to print something out). But tonight, I'm allowing myself to celebrate the end of the semester by "going out" for the first time in about two months. If you couldn't guess by my posts on weekends about staying in, I'm not too big on college parties, but I figure I'll try to have some fun tonight. It's a holiday party (a "Festivus for the Rest of Us" party, to be exact) with plenty of egg nog so, naturally, I'm sold. 

Anyway, my advice for the day: Cook! I was inspired to give this little piece of advice not because I went out and cooked but because my roommate, last night, made homemade mac n' cheese and brownies. I've been getting fairly bored with my diner's relatively plain, burnt, American food they tend to offer, so a home-cooked meal was welcome indeed. The dorms here at Temple have little apartment-sized kitchens on the bottom floor so, while it may be hard to find some alone time to cook, it can't hurt to try. Cooking will allow you to take control of at least one situation when your life may seem so rocky and unstable, as mine often has lately. It gives you reason to completely divert your mind - look up a complex recipe, find a grocery store and buy the ingredients, and cook away! There's nothing like providing your own meal for yourself. The healthier the better! If you don't have the money or resources to make a home-cooked meal, try watching Food Network. Seriously, my roommate and I sit and watch the Food Network for hours in between classes. Just watching the Barefoot Contessa or yes, even Paula Dean, cook a tasty meal is a huge stress-reliever for me! Bon apetite, and have a good Thursday!

Keep calm,

Sarah

Find some stability in the midst of chaos

If my boyfriend and I were Polar Bears, this would have been us this weekend. I went to visit him in college for our one year anniversary and we shared a lovely weekend that consisted of mostly snuggling, hiding indoors from the biting wind (the fact that ABC Family had a Harry Potter weekend only added to my motivation to stay indoors). We ventured outside, though, to play a few riveting rounds of pool on Saturday (all of which Trevor won) and spent the morning in the student center studying, calling it quits after only about an hour to trek over to the nearest Domino's to get our "usual" - a medium cheese pizza and an order of Cinnastix. I suppose, as lame as it sounds, that would be my word of advice for this weekend (I feel like I'm just getting lazier and lazier with these words of advice): Pick something and stick with it, make it a symbol of normalcy in a life of chaos.

Trevor and I, for instance, started our Domino's tradition - something that's stuck with us, something we know will always happen, no matter what. This all started on our vacation to Orlando in August when we woke up starving. Since then, we've ordered Domino's once per visit. I used to think I embraced change, I used to think I hated patterns and that sense of same-ness, but now, I welcome anything that represents a pattern, such as this. It gives me something to lean on.

I hope everyone's staying warm!

Keep calm,

Sarah