Much Ado About Cornmazes

When looking back on my college experience so far, I simply cannot believe I have been living on my own for nine weeks. In terms of never living away from home, that is a long time for me. I have finally gotten past the homesick stage, and I am fully embracing college and the freedom that comes with living on my own.

I have said it before, and I will say it again- I absolutely love my roommates! I do not think it possible for anyone to have as much fun as we do in our little apartment. This week Krista, Megan, and I asked boys from our building to go on a group date to...wait for it...The Little Bear Bottoms Cornmaze...yeah Little Bear Bottoms. I think the name is pretty hilarious. After the first boy I asked had to cancel the day before, I got a finalized date with a boy across the hall. But no worries, the first boy is taking me out to dinner next week, so no hard feelings. The cornmaze itself was a bit lame, but it was fun to make a new friend. We ended the evening by getting some gas station hot cocoa, and going back to our building and watching Avatar, the blue person one, not the Air Bender one. Now the first time I watched Avatar, I was not particularly a big fan, which to many people was blasphemy, but this second time round I really enjoyed it. Maybe that anthropology class is helping me accept things more easily haha.

Now if you want to hear about an awesome cornmaze, I will tell you about the cornmaze I went to on a date last week on a date with my good friend Karl. I went with Karl on a groupdate with my other two good friends, Beth and Grant. This cornmaze was haunted, which in my opinion, made it all the more spectacular. There was supposedly "corn cash" hidden in the stalks, but honestly I am quite certain it was a lie. Karl and I searched and searched for some "corn cash", even making up a song about it, but never did we sight the so called "corn cash." We discovered that the spookers wouldn't scare you quite as badly if you complimented their performance, and we even got a couple pointers on how to get our way out of the maze. All in all, it was a great night!

On the school side of things, everything is going great! I can say that I truly enjoy my classes, even Geography, and my Creative Arts class where I am practically tested on the professor's life story. No joke, a question on the last test asked me what the name of his fourth grade teacher was. My absolute favorite class is Study of American Culture, which is the study of America through the perspective of the home. I love it! We get to analyze literature, study art pieces, etc. So basically I am in an English and Art lovers heaven. The class is actually only made up of about twenty people, so it is very much discussion based, which I love. My 12th grade AP English teacher, and Art History teacher would be so proud of me and the comments I make in class. The taught me well haha.

But of course one can only get to much of a thing. I have not been home in three weeks, and I can honestly say that Fall Break is truly a heaven send. I sit here in the library, with one class left to go. Although I am supposed to have classes tomorrow, my professor's have graciously cancelled class tomorrow. Tonight I am going home after watching the Jazz Singer for my Creative Arts course! Even better, I am surprising my parents, because they think I am coming home tomorrow. Soon this crazy state of mind I have been in due to midterms will be ended, and I can finally go back to my dear old K-Town. Where I will joyously watch Boy Meets World with my Gavbo! Hooray!

Never Too Much- Part Two: Billy Joel State of Mind

Simply put, I am a Billy Joel worshiper. He is my favorite artist of all time hands down, no doubt about it! If you don't believe me, I ask you to look at the 375 Billy Joel songs accumulated on my iTunes! Yeah, 375! I think it may be possible that I am somewhat obsessed, only somewhat of course.

I am in love with the variety that his music gives. He can go from singing a lovely ballad, to going all out rock and roll. Not to mention his phenomenal piano skills! I have been lucky enough to see him in concert, and I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone move their fingers as fast as he did when he played the beginning of Prelude to an Angry Young Man. The man is a musical genius! When I saw him in concert, it was by far one of the greatest nights of my life. I have been lucky enough to see all of my favorite artists in concert, with the exception of Tony Bennett, which I truly hope can someday happen. But the night of that concert I got to see two of my favorites perform together, Billy Joel and Elton John. Because I have already written a post about the concert I won't delve into details, but needless to say it was completely spectacular.

For the most part, I listen to Billy Joel everyday. As each day passes by, I discover new aspects of songs, and by now I have gone too far past the point of no return that there is no possible way for me to have a favorite song. Some days I may tell you New York State of Mind, others River of Dreams, or it may be some obscure song that only true fans like myself would know all the words too like, Until the Night. It literally changes by the day. I love to listen to the different live versions of the songs, and find the different variations that come with each one. I am the literally definition of a Billy Joel nerd. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love good music, and Billy Joel is good music! He has nothing to do with that electronic, artificial music that seems to be the craze nowadays. His music is pure talent. He is really singing, he is really playing the piano that good! So everyday I will go on with my Billy Joel State of Mind, and I think I enjoy life all the better for it!

Never Too Much- Part One

It seems to have become a sort of habit for me to title all my blog posts after a song, and this is no exception. Today I have decided to start a blog segment name after one of my very favorite Luther Vandross songs- Never Too Much. In my life I have acquired many things that I really just cannot get too much of. So I have decided to dedicate the next few posts to all the things I LOVE. So here is part one, more to come in the next few weeks.

#1- HARRY POTTER
All those who know me know that I have an undying love of Harry Potter. The books are my absolute favorite. I can read them over and over again, and I have in fact. I never tire of the stories. Harry Potter has been this immense part of my life since the first grade when my mom and I would take turns reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone out loud. Harry Potter is what made me love reading. It literally expanded my mind. I almost feel as if Harry Potter is in fact my childhood. The magic has become so real in my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I remember when the first movie came out, my mom checked me out of school early and I wore my quidditch shirt that I got at the Warner Brothers store which unfortunately no longer exists. Simultaneously, as the movies started to come out, new books we being made. I would anxiously await them, and would excitedly begin to read them the day they came out. And as the new movies came out, the same tradition ensued each year. My mom would check my out of school; sometimes I would wear my Hogwarts robes, other times I would wear Harry Potter shirts. As time moved forward I began to go to midnight showings- some with my family, some with my friends. I always felt so cool when I would read a Harry Potter book and Harry and I would be the same age- the same feeling would arise as the movies came out.
Then as I grew older, I grew to love it even more. I kept re-reading the books, and I met one of my best friends of all time, Kelsey Milligan, who loves Harry Potter even more so than myself! As the time came for the last movie to come out, I started to gain bittersweet melancholy feelings about it. Ever since that day my mom and I started to read that first book, I was hooked; now it felt as if everything were coming to an end. Just as Harry Potter was ending, so was my childhood. I was eighteen and about to live on my own, and this movie seemed like it marked the end of my childhood. The week before the movie came out, Kelsey and I became Harry Potter Hermits. We would lock ourselves in her basement and watch Harry Potter movies, and get so excited that we could hardly stand it. And since she is an amazing makeup artist she even painted a Dark Mark on my arm. When the time came for the night of the premiere, Kelsey, Jennie, Shandra, and I got together, and since we are such avid fans, we dressed up. Kelsey was a werewolf, Jennie was Bellatrix Lestrange, Shandra was Prof. McGonagall, and I was Tonks!

Needless to say we all balled through the movie, as so many of our favorite characters died, and we cheered when our favorite parts came. I squirmed in my seat when Neville Longbottom came on the screen, because he is my absolute favorite character! I am actually convinced that I will someday marry the man who played him, just kidding. But sometimes I like to think that I will! As the movie ended we all raised our wand up in the air, (yes, we have wands ahah) and recited, "mischief managed." Long after the movie ended we all simply sat there in our seats, paralyzed from awe and a bit of sadness. Even though it did seem somewhat like an end of an era, I know that as long as there are people who love it as much as I do, Harry Potter will always live on. I will read it to my children, and my grandchildren. I can only hope that they in return will keep the magic alive. Because through Harry Potter magic is possible.