"Through crimson stars and silent stars and tumbling nebulas like oceans set on fire. Through empires of glass and civilizations of pure thought. And a whole terrible wonderful universe of possibilities."
Wow! It's been almost a month since I've updated - sorry that time has gotten away from me!
Things are going really well in college. I'd be lying if I said I hated it - I'm learning so much, and not just in my classes. Sure, I can now explain to you how to tell if early hominins were capable of bipedal locomotion based on the location of their foramen magnum, and I've learned to analyze world affairs based on liberal and realist perspectives. But I'm learning more than just academic information.
I'm learning how to deal with being lonely, for one thing. I always thought I was such an independent person, and I still believe that. I can spend hours and hours on my own, wandering around campus or walking along the bike trails with my music or sitting in the gardens writing. But some days I feel like I've spent just a few too many minutes on my own and I start to get a little lonely. That's okay - it's important to know how to be by yourself, because at the end of the day you've only got yourself to live with. And I prefer to be by myself most of the time, so that helps. But some days are tougher than others, especially when your friends start pairing themselves off with men, and they start to wonder why you're not with someone. Truth be told, I don't know that I have anyone in my life I want to spend that much time with. Maybe someday.
I'm also learning not to talk to strangers! College kids are extremely friendly, sometimes a little too friendly, and I oftentimes find myself in situations I didn't mean to get into.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I'm learning that not everyone likes the music I like. This is a big deal, because I spend roughly 70% of my day listening to music - I listen while I'm getting ready in the morning, I have my earbuds in when I have time between classes, Pandora is always running in the background. But my roommate hates Dave Matthews Band and doesn't know who Bob Dylan is. My friends don't want to hear about my obsessive love with the Avett Brothers. I just ignore them - if they don't want to hear the music, they can put their headphones in :)
Some stuff I'm really loving this week:
1. Tuesday nights!! From 7 to 8:30, I sit down, shut my phone off, and take some time to chill by watching:
Glee!
AND
The New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel. Adorable!
2. Moleskine notebooks. I use them for writing my NaNoWriMo plot ideas, songs I hear on Pandora that I want to remember, and just about anything that passes through my head that I feel is important enough to be documented.
3. ADELE! Particularly this song, "Right As Rain."
Hope everyone is having a great week! Happy Sunday, and happy fall!
What a great three day weekend. Friday I got some MUCH needed 'alone time' as my roommate went back to Columbus for Labor Day. So that was great - I ate a pizza, I watched 'Easy A', I saw Bailey, I worked out. Good stuff.
And Saturday was jam packed! It was the first Husker game of the season, so campus was a-buzz with excitement, and for the first time, I got to be apart of that! A good friend of mine has season tickets and ended up having one extra - so she asked me to come along. And it was so fun! After the game we went back to another friend's to celebrate her birthday with burgers, bonfires, and boatloads of fun!
Now I'm back on campus and, after having a great dinner with a new friend from class and a very productive newspaper meeting, I'm am just sitting in one of the lounges finishing some homework and listening to the Bathtub Dogs (for those of you who aren't college students living at UNL, the Bathtub Dogs are an all male a capella group formed on campus. They practice in Neihardt, and it's just great, if you ask me.)
Some great things that I'm really loving this week (in no particular order):
1. "Grace is Gone" - Dave Matthews Band. I love this man. And I love this song.
2. Hand sanitizer. I got the cold first, and now my roommate has it. Here's to not getting it again!
3. GLEE Guys on Love Songs. Please just listen to Chris speak at the end. He really captures how I've felt all these years about "Toot It and Boot It"
4. The Lincoln Farmer's Market. Good music, good food, good people. I like hanging out there Saturday mornings.
(This is not a picture of the actual farmer's market, by the way. This is just from the internet.)
5. This website. Just doing some planning, you know ;)
Well! I did it. I am an official college student now! Are you proud of me yet?! I'm actually a little proud of myself.
College is great fun. I don't know if anyone has told you otherwise, but they were wrong. It's fantastic here. I can come and go as I please, and I learn responsibility on my own. Already in these first few days, I've been learning to take initiative, speak up when I have something to say, accept the fact that I can't do everything, learn to say no politely, and learn to properly address professors. I've also learned how to study for three and a half hours straight, take a break for dinner, and then study for another two (That's the fun part, let me tell you).
So here's a rundown on my classes:
Intro to International Relations - My professor for this class is very passionate, and loves to hear our opinions, which is something a little new to me. I have only been in a handful of classes where the professor engaged us in conversation in order to hear OUR side of the story. But it's great! So far this week we've watched Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, and done a lot of reading from the textbook.
Intro to Pre-History - Not really sure what to think of this class so far. Our professor told us the first day that our final exam was optional, and then today we had to interview random people around campus about 'the past.' So the jury is still out on this one.
French 202 - I signed up for this class with the knowledge that the professor was going to be the woman in charge of the French department. In fact, it is a fast paced man from the Congo who loves 'get to know you' activities. He is hilarious! It's nice to get back into French again. (Hopefully a Study-Abroad trip will come out of it, too!)
University Chorale - This is the time of day where I get to spend time with the music students, AKA a bunch of kids who love singing and sharing their feelings. It's kind of nice having something familiar.
Intro to Philosophy - My professor is a Japanese woman with a British accent, so a lot of the time I feel like I'm at Hogwarts. Philosophy is going to be TOUGH! I've had a lot of reading so far, and I have to spend a lot of time focusing on it. However, once I finish the reading, I always feel more accomplished and a little smarter, too. So this is going to be a good one.
Art and the Search for Meaning in Life - This is my Honor's Seminar, and on the first day, our professor spent a lot of time talking to us about how this should be a 'sanctuary from the outside world' and we should 'be able to share our feelings without being afraid of judgement.' AKA "Let's share our feelings with each other." But I don't really mind because it's mainly a reading and writing class - and those are my two favorite things!
EN Thompson Forum - This meets once a week at 5 in my residence hall, and it is going to be challenging! It's a mostly conversational class, as we discuss world issues and prepare for upcoming lecturers who will give presentations at UNL. I am not a very vocal person, nor do I enjoy confrontation, so this class could be difficult. I do think, though, that with a mere 11 kids in the class, I will find my voice and share my opinion.
So those are my classes! My residence hall is great, too, and my roommate is very sweet. We get along well and are starting to get into a better routine now that we've been living together for a few days. She stays up later and sleeps later than I do, but I've learned how to use my phone as an alarm clock so as not to wake her up.
Other interesting things I've learned since being at college:
1. I can kill two birds with one stone if I workout while listening to news podcasts on my iPod. That way, I have a great idea of what is going on in the world without having to click though a lot of worthless links on the newspaper websites.
2. The food in the dining halls is actually very good here. Surprise, right?! So far Mini-Pizza day has been the best :)
3. Neihardt (my residence hall) has great study rooms: Two beautiful, big parlors decorated in Victorian-era furniture, a courtyard with iron wrought fences and decorative chairs and a big, expansive lawn, and (my personal favorite), a long hallway that has been dubbed "the Harry Potter hallway" because...well, just because it looks like a Hogwarts hallway.
Kind of like this! Except instead of those benches on the left, there are desks along the hall.
The second day was the hardest adjustment - my roommate had just moved in and I was sort of mourning the loss of my personal space. However, there were a few things I did to combat that, including:
1. Plastering this poster along the wall and putting a chair in the back corner under my lofted bed to create a sort of "Adrienne corner" where no one can disturb me.
2. Taking long walks around our dorm, finding secret hallways and exploring little parlors and rooms. This was what I did oftentimes when I felt homesick at Bard. The scenery there was so pretty! It's pretty nice here too.
3. Listening to this song. And yes, I realize this isn't a song that really discusses any of the feelings I might have had about going to college, but for some reason, listening to it on repeat was very soothing for me.
It's probably because Darren Criss is the lead singer. Whatevs.
4. Using Tumblr, a website that one of my close friends Amy recommended to me. It has funny pictures and videos and animations on it - searching "Harry Potter Funny" in the tags gave me lots of amusement.
5. Calling on the telephone. Cosmo recently came out with this study about how texting people isn't as comforting as calling them on the phone (and no, you may not judge the validity of the article just because it is from Cosmo. Jeez). So I've spent quite a bit of time talking to my parents and my best friend on the phone. Hearing their voices is soothing.
Overall, college is so great so far! I'm learning a lot about time management, especially since I thought I had great time management skills before - college just fine tunes them, I suppose. I love the people and the atmosphere here, and I am so grateful for this opportunity!
Tomorrow I leave to go live in the big, scary world all by my lonesome. I'm so excited, and a little nervous too, mainly because my roommate doesn't know who Bob Dylan is (if you don't either, shame on you! Go here and have a listen. You'll love it!) Yeah, I know it's a small thing. But I grew up with Bob. He's a legend, an icon. And it's weird to me that not everyone knows (and loves) him.
I'm so excited to move, though. I can't wait for this independence, the chance to live on my own and make my own messes and learn to clean them up, too. I can't wait to meet new friends, and I plan to take this second chance seriously - I want friends with ambition, compassion, intelligence. I don't want to settle.
Tomorrow I leave to go live in the big, scary world all by my lonesome. But really, I won't be alone. I'm taking the love and lessons that my parents gave me, everything from knowledge on how to reset my computer when the Internet won't work to knowledge on how to say, "I'm sorry, I'm busy!" This is the song that will remind me of them the most while I'm away:
"Where You Lead" - Carole King and daughter, Louise Goffin
I'm also taking friends who love me and care for me, and want me to do my best and live my boldest. They have taught me so much, allowed me to grow and change without judging me, and have continued to let me know how much they would do for me, just by being there when I need them.
Over the years, I've also collected a handful of important movie and TV characters that have taught me lessons in humility, tolerance, and compassion. They've taught me how to love, how to get through disappointment, and how to forgive others. Clearly I can't leave them behind! I'll be taking the following with me to college:
Lorelai and Rory Gilmore (the Gilmore Girls), who have taught me to dream big, travel often, read insatiably, and talk to your mother!
Brooke Davis and the cast of One Tree Hill, who taught me that above all your friends are more important than money and fame, fortune and winnings. Treat them with kindness and respect, and use them as your ultimate source of comfort and love.
Dr. House, who taught me to question everything and believe that above all, people lie. It is up to us to figure out why they're lying and what or who they are trying to protect.
Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione, who taught me about love, friendship, loyalty, and doing the right thing even when it is the toughest thing.
And finally, there are some pretty influential musicians that I'll be taking with me, too. Musicians whose music has gotten me through some of the greatest and toughest times in my life: Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews Band, Bonnie Raitt, Sonny and Cher, The Avett Brothers, The Band, Paul Simon, Billy Joel...I could go on and on. But I won't, don't worry.
So somehow, I feel as though I'm not going at this alone. And that, my friends, is a liberating and exciting thought.
Wow! So it's been a while, and I am STILL on vacation. Lucky girl, right? Yes. Yes indeed. I have had so much fun these past few days, so I thought I'd share a couple pictures (not as many as the last post, I swear!)
We spent our first night after Chicago in Woodbury, MN with my aunt Annette and her family. No pictures, unfortunately, but we had a great time at a baseball game, eating food from the grill, and playing on the Wii.
The next day we got up and made the trek up to the Twin Cities for a little trip to Mall of America!
Here's the three of us on the Log Ride in the Nickelodeon Theme Park. Eliot absolutely loves this ride and makes us go on it every year. Then, every year Elise and I swear we won't go the next year. Aaaaand, repeat.
We met Grandma at the mall, too - here's the four of us waiting for the park to open. We were right on time!
So after the mall, we drove about an hour and a half to the lake where we stay every year. The first two nights were great! We did some swimming and played cards and went shopping (again). Unfortunately, the third day we were there, it rained heavily and backed up the water systems at the cabin, causing some leakage. So we moved into Grandma and Grandpa's house for the rest of the trip!
Every year we celebrate my brother and uncle's birthdays because they're ten years and one day apart. So here's a picture of our little birthday extravaganza. Aunt Betty and Uncle Loren also came out for the day and it was great to see them!
After a few days at the cabin, we moved on to Montana, somewhere I'd never been before and was anxious to see. And boy, did we do everything. The first day, we got there in the late afternoon, so we mostly got settled and ate a lot.
The second day, we had all sorts of things to do! In the morning, Aunt Lynn took us out on the four-wheeler so I could see a view of the mountains!
We also took a look at the car Uncle Tommy built - the last day we were there, he took us for a ride. So much fun!
He also taught me how to shoot a rifle! It's hard to see from this picture, but I hit the bullseye. I was so excited to try something new!
On Wednesday, Aunt Lynn and Uncle Tommy took us up to the Rocky Mountains. It was absolutely beautiful! I'd never seen the mountains before (something that Aunt Lynn couldn't believe!) and was so excited to cross this awesome experience off my bucket list.
Here's Elise and me at the tip-top of the mountain! We're standing on a snow bank and freezing as the wind blows furiously around us - but it was so worth it. What a great trip! Thanks Aunt Lynn and Uncle Tommy for hosting us.
This morning we left Montana and drove through eastern Montana, the corner of Wyoming, through South Dakota, and are now staying the night in Chadron, Nebraska (yeah, super exciting, I know). By tomorrow night, we should be home! I am so excited to get there and see all my friends. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I couldn't see them so often.
I've had such a great two weeks with my family, and I know I'm going to remember this vacation forever. I am so grateful for parents who love me enough to take me on these great trips and let me see and explore the world for myself. Thank you, Mom and Dad! You have taught me so much and I am grateful for everything you've given me.
Just wanted to share some pics/video from Dave Matthews Band Caravan, as well as our adventures in Chicago! The caravan was great - the atmosphere was very edgy and dirty and a lot of fun...I made quite a few "friends" that I probably wouldn't have made anywhere else!
The first day was definitely the best, music-wise: Amos Lee was fantastic! It was so mellow and I stood close enough to the stage to see him really well, and there weren't a lot of drunken college kids stumbling around.
Here's Amos Lee on the screen on the right hand side.
Toward the end of his set, he brought out this guy whose name I didn't catch. He just sang this really funny song about how hot it was outside and how he wanted to shower with his lover and then threw mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner into the audience. Again, not really sure who he was or where he came from, but he was hilarious.
Next I caught Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Performance? Pretty good! The audience that he draws in? Super sketchy. Definitely not my favorite.
I did record a smidge of the live version of "Home." If you haven't heard the original, check it out here.
Then came Ray LaMontagne, who was both extremely loud, but really great. I always think it's so funny to see what kind of people come to hear which artists. Ray's audience was definitely extra chilled-out, so chill that it almost seemed like they didn't care - until, that is, he started singing "Trouble" and then they all freaked out.
Super blurry, yes, but there's Ray on the screen. Every time I tried to take a picture or video of him, my phone completely shut down, so apparently it has some sort of aversion to his music.
After a nice break, I came back for the main event: DAVE MATTHEWS! I was so in awe of the whole performance that I really didn't take any pictures or videos, I just stood and danced and loved my life. It was a great experience overall, and for once, I felt like everyone was there just to be in the moment and have a great time dancing and singing - no one was judging, no one cared if you could dance or you couldn't, no one even cared if you were dirty and grimy and smelly from the day. Everyone just loved the experience.
So that was day one. Day two was a little different. Because it is so hard to get into the concert site (it's in Southside Chicago, which, if you didn't know, is an extremely dangerous part of Chicago and not one that you should spend a lot of time wandering around in), I skipped day two. I know, I know, I could've seen Ben Folds live (!!!) and another fabulous show by Dave, but I knew I had Sunday to look forward to, and frankly, I was exhausted from Friday.
So instead...we went to Navy Pier!
Mom took these pictures of the ferris wheel that we rode on - this is looking up!
A view of Navy Pier
And a view of the lake!
We had such a fun time, and it was nice to take a break and see some Chicago sites before heading back to the DMB Caravan site on Sunday!
I went back on the 10th so excited to see Michael Franti & Spearhead perform. I had been anticipating it since I'd seen the lineup, and I couldn't wait to get there. And they were great, musically. Michael Franti has a really strong voice and a great presence. But the thing that made it less than perfect was the location, I think. I walked away a little disappointed and it took me a while to figure out why: he is such a Caribbean, beachy crooner, that to put him on stage on a big gray stage in front of an audience sitting on woodchips kind of ruins the magic of his music. Nevertheless though, I loved him. I want to see him perform in California or something, though. I feel like he's incredible when the location matches the genre.
Here's him performing - he's the one in the white hat with his arms outstretched. All he really wanted us to do was jump and sing with him.
I also got a video of one of my favorite songs of his: "Sound of Sunshine." But then I really wanted to dance and groove, so I shut the camera off about a minute in.
After Michael, I went and found a place to sit for DMB, and I ended up meeting some really nice people in their early 30s from Ohio/Florida - they were brothers and sisters. One of them was a real purist, had been listening to Dave for over 15 years and had been to 60+ shows. He was excited to hear that this was my first! They made it a really great experience and it was a nice end to the event.
Here's a view of the Caravan site. The sun was just starting to go down, and it cast a really great shadow of everything.
There's Dave on the screen! Just ignore the weird people I was standing behind.
Once it got really dark, the lights cast a gorgeous hue over everyone. The second photo gives you an idea of just how many people were there. Not only were there this many in front of me, but they extended behind me a good 30-40 yards, and there were just as many on either side of the stage.
Here's a final view of the Caravan site. Obviously it was much bigger than this, but this gives a little context. Beyond the ferris wheel was one of the minor stages (Lakeside) and to the right was the Slip stage, where Michael Franti played. Way far over to the right was the major stage (Southworks), where I saw Amos, Ray, Edward Sharpe, and Dave every night.
It was such a great experience, and I'm so grateful that my parents made it possible for me to go by providing housing and transportation (not just to Chicago, but all over Southside Chicago too) for free. I love you guys!
Tomorrow is the big day. The day in which we drive 8.5 hours and then I get to spend 6 hours with my favorite men in the world: Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne, Edward Sharpe, and of course, Dave Matthews.
I spent all of today packing and shopping and making playlists, which is my absolute favorite thing to do. So, here's a little bit of my playlist!
Bryan J. I think he's so funny, and this song is just ridiculous.
Nickel Creek has slowly become one of my favorite bands. A guy I went to school with/sang in choir with introduced me to the band, and I've been hooked ever since!
I found Jamestown Revival through Rolling Stone magazine, and even though they didn't win the cover contest, I still think they should've. They're very mellow, and they use a banjo sometimes...all of my favorite things.
Gomez is one of the bands that will be performing at DMBCaravan this weekend, and I got this song on the Caravan sampler. I love their sound!
Hope that's given you a little music for your weekend. I'll post some pictures once we get to the caravan!
I'm just a regular girl who is trying to live a life worth remembering. Getting interested in things like playing the ukulele, eating a record amount of Red Mango, roadtripping, and watching One Tree Hill.
