Everyday-Brood

I feel ambivalent.

Today my family and I dropped off my sister for her first year of college. On the one hand, I'm super excited for my sister to start her life at college, yet I can't help but feel a little glum when I remember that she's no longer sitting in her old room.

I should begin by saying that the whole moving in process was a lot smoother than I had expected, and we were able to finish unpacking within 2 hours of our arrival. Afterwards, my family and I took a little stroll around the beautiful campus. It was sweltering and I was practically drenched in sweat, yet I somehow couldn't escape the charm of the red brick buildings and towering green trees. Not to mention, there were university kids scrambling and prattling along in every direction. The whole scene made it seem as if we were temporarily on some kind of movie set. Anyways, during our walk, I pictured my new, college-girl of a sister purposefully scurrying from one building to another during the semester like a true undergrad scholar. For some reason, in that moment I felt so proud of my sister for securing a spot at such a prestigious university.

After our delightful little walk, we headed over to the Barnes & Noble down the street to get some last minute supplies. After all the supplies were safely put away in her new dorm room, we sorrowfully said our goodbyes.

Feeling a little dejected my parents and I decided to grab some food and head over to Balitmore's Inner Harbor. Needless to say, it was so gorgeous!

And Remember...
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right

That is all.

So, I think it's safe to say that it has been a while since my last post!

I got so caught up with school in the last few months that I haven't had time to post much. Actually, I find that the last few months of school are quite possibly the worst. At this point I'm pretty tired of schoolwork and all my classes. By the time February (and sometimes sooner) rolls around, I'm counting down the weeks until the end of school.  In those last few months, you not only have to think about grades but also about AP tests, SATs and of course the dreaded finals! All in all, I SURVIVED and I'm officially a senior!!

Anyways, this post is about keeping your cool.

We've all encountered someone or someone(s) that push us to the edge. This is may be an individual that you never see eye to eye with. Someone that makes subtle statements under his breath or quite possibly, bluntly makes offensive remarks to your face. You may have known this person for a lifetime or just met him within the last hour. Either way they're pushing your buttons and you're contemplating whether going to jail is worth it.


I know that at times it's hard to listen to people's nasty comments without exploding but you should always keep calm. In order to keep a situation under control and prevent the problem from blowing up, it's important for you to keep perspective. Don't strike back with hateful comments and an accusing voice. Instead, remember your manners and be polite. There is no need to sink to this person's level, after all, you're the more mature individual if you can learn to hold your tongue. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly acceptable to stand up for yourself , in fact it's very important to do so, but in doing so you should continue to be conscientious. As everyone knows, the best way to triumph someone is to keep your manners and not sink to their level.

Traveling is rewarding because, aside from the obvious pleasures of shopping and eating, it allows you to both think from a different perspective and learn about other people’s lifestyles. If you’re contemplating taking a trip or, maybe like me, just creating a bucket list for the future, here are, in my opinion, the top three crazily, quirky festivals around the world you should definitely include in your journey. So, grab some snack and let’s take a trip around the world without leaving the comfort of bed!

Was feeling a little antsy today. Hence, some positive vibes for this lovely Friday.


and lastley...

So, back in February, I made a card for my sister's 18th birthday.

To lay out the story, I should start by explaining that when I was younger, I used to make cards ALLLL the time. I didn't even have to have a reason! I would just sit around with my markers and glitter glue for hours making cards. I think I probably made the most for my Mom because I used to crank those things out like there was no tomorrow! Not only did I make cards, but I got super creative with it. One time, I made this card for my aunt and uncle, when they moved, that was in the shape of a house. The two flaps were attached with glittery string and I had glued together two different pieces of construction paper to create a different color on each side of the flaps. I even thought of a poem to write in it. So as you can tell, I'm not joking when I say that I went hard core.

Anyways, after my Elementary, and even Middle school, days I didn't quite get the same magnificent rush from painstakingly creating intricate card designs. In fact, I hadn't made a card in two or three years, but, naturally, I wanted to make something new and special for my sister because this was a big day for her! After doing much research on none other than Pinterest, I was starting to feel bummed because all the DIY cards looked super complicated and time consuming and with my meager time frame of a hour, it seemed like I wasn't going to be able to whip up anything particularly astounding. Well, just when I thought I would leave out the card, I stumbled upon this site which gave awesome step-by-step instructions on how to make an origami dress, which I could then attach to a card. If you're artsy and have the time, I think you should definitely give this DIY a try! Surprisingly, it's not one of those trendy yet completely impossible tutorials that Pinterest is oh so famous for.


Here's the link: Super Cool Origami Dress

I was never really a flowers kinda gal, but recently, after receiving flowers from my Dad, I have finally realized the marvelously enthralling beauty they possess.


When fresh and new, flowers add a certain carefree, cheerful atmosphere to any room. Their mere presence seems to brighten up the dark little nooks and crannies that would otherwise be cast aside and forgotten. Not to mention, the blooming blossoms have an effortlessly chic vibe that adds a simple elegance to anything they're situated around.



After receiving the flowers, I decided to place them in a vase and strategically position them on my plain, clean-cut desk. Well, the flowers certainly did the trick by adding pops of bright orange, girly pink and mysterious red to my simple, white worktable. All of a sudden, my once meek desk gained a cool yet classy character.


Although the blossoms looked great when they were lively and spirited, they seemed to grow in elegance as they aged. They reminded me of those unbelievably gorgeous celebrities that seem to miraculously grow more and more beautiful as the years pass (AKA Meryl Streep). As the days went by, I noticed the bright and cheery roses turning into tastefully muted versions of their former selves. This realization made me finally understand the aesthetic appeal that flowers cast in our society.

Needless to say, I have garnered a new love and appreciation for flowers. They encompass the breezy elegance that I one day hope to posses, myself.

So, today's the day...the day you show your undying love and affection for another person. Today is none other than Valentine's Day. In honor of such a magical, heart-warming time, I have put together some of the best Valentine's Day cards out there. If you're looking for the right card to express your eternal passion for that special someone, then look no further.


Since by now you're all probably just dying to see the the most amazingly spectacular cards to ever have come into existence, here they are:

So, recently I read Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I LOVED the book although I will admit it took me a little while to get accustomed to Vonnegut’s chaotic, out-of-order writing style. As previously mentioned the events of the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim's, life do not follow a straightforward chronological order, instead they are randomly arranged throughout the book. Initially, I got a little confused about what was happening in the story but when I realized that the book was meant to be written in such a manner in order to mirror the mentality of an actual soldier both during and post war, I could not believe Vonnegut's ingeniousness.

Naturally, I think the best parts of the book were the numerous sections where Vonnegut specifically included subtle people, such as the German innkeeper outside of Dresden and the poor Russian prisoner of war, whom effectively countered the typical notions of various groups of people during the war and helped focus on the natural humanity within all individuals during WWII regardless of the side they fought on. Specifically, I want to focus on Germans because I feel that they are almost always portrayed as the villains of the war. I am by no means advocating for the Nazis (considering I am neither Aryan nor Christian) and of course, the monstrosities that the Nazis committed were and still are unacceptable; however, I believe that the Germans accepted Hitler, his mentality and his party not out of a pure evil and lack of humanity but because it manipulatively gave the people a way to regain their lost pride from previous wars especially World War I, in which Germany was forced to take the brunt of the punishment with the Treaty of Versailles, established by the Allies. The Nazis gained membership by promoting a sense of national unity and from the recent 1929 depression which Hitler used to undermine the Democratic party that previously held a majority. Therefore, although it is easy to assume that Germany and it's allies were simply composed of inept, heartless brutes the case remains untrue considering much of the Nazi's popularity was due to previous embarrassments which, when correctly exploited by Hitler, developed into an appealing propaganda package that enticed the majority of Germans.



Another cool part of the book was the sci-fi aspect. My favorite idea that Vonnegut developed was the idea of Tralfamadorians seeing events in the Fourth Dimension as a continuous, never-ending stream rather than in a logical, linear progression as humans do. I suppose in the end most people would agree that life is better as a series of progressions because it allows people to work hard rather than loose the enthusiasm for life that knowing your future brings. However, I think that seeing in the Fourth Dimension could have one big positive which is being able to see people as they truly are: a product of their collective actions rather than a single deed. Oftentimes people are quick to judge others based upon one moment rather than taking the time to understand the individual and his story. Regardless, I think we can all agree that being able to see moments and events in the form of a mountain, like the Trafalmadorians, would be pretty awesome. (If you deny it, you are lying to yourself.)


The last point which I like about Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughter-house Five, was the idea of no heroes. Being in high school myself, I feel that in English classes, history classes and in textbooks our society continuously stresses the significance of war heroes who courageously saved our nation from various catastrophic endings. The truth is that there is no universal hero because even though some guy just saved one nation he had to murder others to do so. So, the whole idea of a hero, in terms of war, is totally subjective and therefore I don’t think it truly exists even though we would all like to think it does. Murdering others just because you deem them to be the forsaken “enemy” does not make it okay to kill people. Yeah, yeah, I know that war is unavoidable but I think that our society sometimes stresses the idea of “war heroes” a bit too much without realizing that those people just killed so many others, so should they really be heroes when under any other circumstances killing others would never be acceptable?

Some pretty heavy stuff in this EXTREMELY long post, but hopefully I didn’t bore anyone too much! And if you haven’t already read Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut I definitely recommend you try it out!
‘Till next time :)