Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Sizzle or fizzle?

I randomly have the urge to do a hot and not list. This is so SocrGirl circa 1999.

Hot
Bourbon Street in NYC
This is my second time visiting Chelsea and she took me to this fantastic bar/restaurant last night on the upper westside called Bourbon Street (Amsterdam & 97th). The decor is fantastic, with chandeliers and deep colors to make you feel like you're in New Orleans. Tuesdays are Chubby Tuesdays (like "Fat Tuesday" I presume) and there was a live band that played some upbeat jazz (Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man") but with some cajun flavor. $5 Hurricanes. Fleet week. It was a good night.

Billy Reid
Southern charm meets city fashion via Billy Reid. His line is primarily for men, but there is a small collection of women's digs (mostly menswear style, but with softer fabrics). He has a shop in NoHo (54 Bond Street) decked out to make you feel like you're an urban cowboy, think saloon & Western meets kitch & trendy youth.

Not
Celebrifeed
A lot of people do not get why Twitter is so popular or useful. I think it's a great tool for sharing interesting content, real-time coverage and short glimpses into places/events. But there are a lot of people who clog the tweetline with nonsense. I guess MSN's Wonderwall wanted to make an example by collecting all the useless and pretentious twitter users out there and streaming their tweets in one page. And so Celebrifeed was created; a one-stop shop to read about all the posh parties you'll never get to go to (and they're AWESOME. her tweets says so), how fantastic he or she looked on their guest appearance and random and out of context @replies to random fans/people/stalkers. HOORAY!

I'm trying to think of another not but things are great right now and I can't think of anything else that's crucially negative. Mean people suck, but that's pretty standard and not worth ranting about. Maybe I wish there were more hours in the day? What do you think is "not" right now?

Thursday, May 21, 2009

hello sweet summer

My fello Marylander Leland blogged about her summer plans, so I thought I'd do somewhat of the same since I have reached some what of a writer's block in blog topics.
  • Start audiocandy+. I've already got the blog registered (http://audiocandyradio.blogspot.com), so it's only a matter of figuring out NiceCast. Anyone know how to set it up? I think I'm going to buy the full version soon.
  • Grizzly Bear in Philly! I've never been to Philly or seen Grizzly Bear, both things I've always wanted to do. Plus, Tuan is going/hosting! It should be a fun little short road trip. I was pure chance that I was scheduled off on the needed days!
    ps babies dancing to "two weeks" is the cutest thing ever.
    that's how you know it's truly good music.
  • Bonnaroooooo! Second time going, first as a volunteer. Heading down with Kitcat, Michael B. & tuaniffer! Ready for Tennessee sunshine, live music & meeting cool people.
  • Visiting Chelsea in New York City. I'm trying for at least once a month. I'd love to do it more, while she's there for the summer. Bolt bus is so easy/fast/cheap. Plus I'd love to go dancing with Mariel, see Julio & everyone else in the Tri-State area.
  • Wildwood Beach ultimate tournment. I'm hoping Katie and Chip can be on our team. It's a co-ed 4vs4 ultimate frisbee tournmanet in late July, where you can either play 3 men & 1 girl or 2 men & 2 girls. I think we'll go with the former, just because I think me and Katie will be the only girls on our team. But let me know if anyone is interested! I think some doomers and Maryland friends are going to be on the team!
So those are some plans. I'll be sure to blog about each of them as they come up. I'd love take more road trips, see cool things, so comment any suggestions!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Hey World

I am ashamed at how much I have neglected to update pa(i)gewithwords. My deepest apologizes to those who frequent my blog.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind: losing my internet service thanks to the boys who lived in the apartment below Katie and me, getting an iPhone for graduation (but at the price of being without cellphone service for about three days when goodbyes were being exchanged), graduating Syracuse University, packing up my entire apartment/life while still dedicating ample time to hanging out with my best friends, making the trek back to Maryland, unpacking, job interviewing, soaking up all the memories and making plans for new ones in the near future (NYC, Brendan's birthday, Bonnaroo).

I am still in the process of unpacking all of my things, but I oddly do not feel overwhelmed.

Maybe a rarity among the class of 2009, I have been glowing with optimism ever since graduation.

I feel like my life is really starting, and all the things that I have so longed to do, I can. I am so fortunate to have a well-paying job at Nordstrom, with benefits, that affords me the opportunity to shop around for a job until I find the perfect one to begin my career track. I also have the chance to take hobbies to the next level and see if I can cultivate them into something.

I thought for so long that I would be freaking out right now after graduation because I would not have a path to follow, like I had been doing for the past 16 years. There has always an assumed progression of life, from elementary school to middle school to high school to college. Sure, some was left to chance--what I would participate in after-school, who I'd meet in classes, what I'd choose to focus on both in and out of the classroom-- but there was always some form of certainty of what I would be doing and where I would be.

Now, there is nothing but the open road. Maybe not even a road; that is too direct and formulated. More like the open sea, an open pasture.

I finally have that piece of paper--a college degree--that can prove, and legitimize, to the world what I have known for so long: I am ready to do something of value, and I can.

I have a lot of projects I want to work on, a lot of growing to do, a lot of passion to invest.

But, I am young. I have ideas. I want to meet people. I want to live life to the fullest.

And I am planning to do just that.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Auf Wiedersehen!

It is only courteous to say goodbye at the end of a conversation, whether you are bidding a friend farewell at a party or ending an impromptu run-in a friendly stranger.

But other than that, there is no real reason for them.

Call me romantic or naïve, but I think that goodbyes are unnecessary on a long-term timeline and should only be reserved for when casual dialog require them.

As I near the end of college, I am flooded with people’s requests to meet to say goodbye, which will be unavoidably the most awkward encounter ever. Seniority cannot even escape this.

You would think after high school and summer internships and trips abroad, we would have some idea of how to go about a send-off. But of course, there still is no real protocol.

I have begun to avoid goodbyes. I do not want my last memory or interaction with people I like or will miss to be some weird, small-talk-fueled, short-lived meeting.

People might look forward to saying goodbye to a crush, it being one of the few acceptable (and less creepy) times to share an extended hug or sneak in a kiss on the cheek. But even in this situation, things would be better if the goodbye was all-together avoided. The absence of that person in your life would not be suddenly felt, being reminded of the impending void with each footstep taken away. Plus, the replaying memory of him or her will not be the retreating blob barely seen through your tear-filled eyes, but of happier times. Hopefully.

The funniest thing is that the most pressure to deliver a serious college good-bye comes from the people you actually hold near and dear to your heart. They are the people you will most-likely see within the year, making a long-winded, heart-stricken farewell obsolete.

Then you also have those situations when you have to give a college good-bye to someone you would not even issue a “ta-ta” to under normal circumstances. Just think of it as an official kick-off to your future without him or her.

It is not to say I, or we, should not have closure in our lives. I just prefer the open-ended kind. No dramatic "OMG. We're graduating. I LOVE YOU. I'm going to miss you sooooo much, but the off-the-cuff “see you soon.”

Because I probably will, thanks to our planning or Fate.