February 27th

February 27: hear

"Where'd you hear that?" is a common phrase now...and probably always. People hear things through 3 main sources today: face to face interaction, online sources, and phones. The three can be intermixed (thank you, skype), but "hearing" something generally implies learning new knowledge. There's a lot that I haven't heard yet, and a lot that I've already heard. C'est la vie.

I'm thrilled to have been accepted to the Patterson School of International Diplomacy and Commerce!

I feel like this. The relief of the above and the giddiness of the below.

February 26th

February 26: lift

One of my absolute favorite things to drink is Lift, which is the brand name for apfelschorle, which is total lecker. It's carbonated apple juice, and German apple juice is so good - not too sweet. So I've been searching for an American equivalent ever since I got back, and the best I have found is Izze. It's not pure apple juice though, but mostly apple with added juices. Drinking it tends to lift my spirits. It reminds me of how happy I was all summer (I'm still happy, but that level of euphoria couldn't be sustained more than a summer), and makes me smile.

February 25th

I took these pictures on the correct day, but I didn't upload them in a timely manner. Oh well.

February 23: live

There are stairs to nowhere in UCA's fine arts building. I climbed them anyhow. Climbing on stairs to nowhere is symbolic somehow...I guess. The thing is, I knew the stairs weren't going anywhere, and that meant I had to climb them. A set of stairs that went somewhere weren't of interest to me! It's the opposite of life...where we don't want to get stuck going nowhere. Hopefully, my life will not be like these stairs. Hopefully, I will live.

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February 24: vision

One needs vision to run an organization. Hopefully it's not short-sighted vision, but sometimes that happens to all of us! I spent this day thinking of "Be Thou My Vision." I don't like that song very much, but my reason for disliking it isn't very strong. I should give it another try.

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February 25: cover

1) I have had the song "I'll Cover You" in my head all day. I don't really like Rent.

2) My first thought was to take a selfie of myself in my dripping raincoat because it covers me and protects me from the rain.

3) Then I saw this sign in the bathroom at Pat Walker. Part of it at the bottom says "get covered!" Pat Walker is covered by the student health fee, and other stuff is probably covered by insurance. I'm fortunate enough to have both of those paid by someone else at this point in my life (yay not being 26!). We're often fortunate enough to have something or someone covering us. I know I try not to take it for granted, but I need to think about that more often.

(Side note: antibiotics are covered by insurance, which makes going to the doctor and getting a prescription way cheaper than trying to get better using over the counter medicines. So happy to be covered. And if this post is odd(er than usual) I blame my excellent coverage.)

Berliner Dom

I just discovered that the Berliner Dom is super beautiful on the inside. If I ever get the opportunity to return to Germany, I'm definitely going to have to visit it. It's annoying that I visited every Catholic Church in Germany, but I didn't get to go into this beautiful Protestant church...oh well. C'est la vie.

Also, I've been listening to German church music because I've been reading the lyrics for poetry class.

Side note: I have pictures for the past two days! I just haven't uploaded them. I'll do a three-day recap sometime today...

February 22nd

February 22: spirit

I've been watching too much Parks & Recreation lately. Mostly because one of my favorite fictional characters, Ben Wyatt, got married on the show last night, and as a devoted fan I felt compelled to watch the episode 4 times.

So the word of the day is spirit. I chose to take a picture of Li'l Sebastian...which seems odd. But it's not what Li'l Sebastian is, but what he represents (in the world of the show. not seriously). He represents the spirit of Pawnee, Indiana. It's hard to capture the spirit of small-town life in a single object, but Li'l Sebastian successfully portrays how ridiculous a town can be while remaining entirely sincere.

My first thought when I think of "spirit" is air, but it is hard to take a picture of a light breeze.

This film approved by the Nazi Party...

Today in German Cinema, the film showed was Die Feuerzangenbowle, which was made in 1944. So this film had to get through the Nazi approval process before being showed to the public. It's really funny...not a propaganda film. I didn't realize that other kinds of films were being made in Germany at the time. It kind of seems like a waste of money and manpower that could've been used to win the war, but I guess that turned out all right for me!

There's a scene at the end of the movie where a student (below, right) is impersonating a teacher (below, left).

It reminded me of this scene from V for Vendetta, which seems peculiar because the first movie was made under the supervision of the National Socialist Party and the second is clearly anti-fascist. 

Anyhow, this scene is hilarious.

February 21st

February 21: love

I wasn't sure what to do for this one until I got home from class and checked the mail. I had this card from my mom with a picture of Bobama on it...just because she'd never sent me anything at my apartment before. I have a really outstanding family.  

    

February 20th

I finished catching up on my photo-a-day today, and I found Drake Field, so now I have a more accurate picture for wonder. Today it snowed, and everything was icily beautiful. Days like this don't happen everyday...or even once a month. I'm glad I got to see the U of A blanketed in snow once more before I leave.

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February 17: settle

Over the past few years, it has come to my attention that selling insurance is a way of "settling" in life. (Unless that's what you wanted to do originally.) I don't want to settle for anything short of my dreams...I just need a bit more time to hone in on exactly what my dreams are.

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February 18: world

J. William Fulbright. This man epitomizes my dreams. He opened the way for me to even have a hope of going to Europe next year. People like Fulbright who came from humble beginnings, but distinguished themselves inspire me and encourage me to persevere in my studies.

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February 19: wonder 

Yes, I already did this one, but now I have a photo of an actual airplane.

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February 20: evil

Evil is a concept difficult to define. I considered this for a while before going with a gun for today. I almost took a series of pictures of good things in an attempt to define evil by what it is not, but I decided to go with this. 

So why the gun? Yes, I am liberal and in favor of stricter gun controls, but I don't believe that every gun should be taken away from every person ever. I support more education and limiting gun purchases to those that can be used for hunting. Guns do, however, symbolize war. Guns are used to kill other people. Guns can accidentally kill people if misused. I know this can be said of other things, which is what makes evil so hard to define. Guns don't do exclusively evil things, which lends itself to the conclusion that most things can be utilized for nefarious purposes. 

Lenten Photo-a-Day

Lent has become more important to me over the past few years. Last year, I started going to church in Fayetteville during Lent, and this year I'm really excited for this season. I'm using it as a time to better myself and reflect on the past four years as I prepare for major life changes in the coming months.

It's almost a full week into Lent, but I just discovered this photo challenge for Lent, so I decided to begin it late. I already caught most of the ones I missed, and I'm planning to capture the other two today or tomorrow.

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February 13: Who am I?

Humans define themselves using words. Therefore, there seemed to be no better way to demonstrate who I am than by taking a picture of part of my book collection. The words contained within these novels can define me, as do the experience of reading and contemplating their stories.

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February 14: return

The word return has two common meanings: to go back someplace and to give something back to its owner.  The most common return in my life is returning materials that I've borrowed from either the public library or Mullins.

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February 15: see

My vision is very important to me! Without glasses or contacts, I am virtually helpless and incapacitated. I suppose that's a good sort of spiritual parallel - we need help to see things in our lives.

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February 16: injustice

Injustice is a common problem in the world. However, finding a way to capture it in a photo was a bit daunting, so I chose this symbol of injustice. 

Many students struggle to pay for their collegiate education. Even more drop out or do not attend due to this high cost. It seems ridiculous that the athletic department can accrue enough donations from alumni to build a new workout center for the football team when people are unable to utilize the University for its true purpose, education, due to tuition and other costs.

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February 19: wonder

There is nothing that is guaranteed to turn me into a squealing eight year old more quickly than flight. Airplanes seem magical to me. I don't understand why man thought he could achieve this, and am still completely stunned that it was achieved and is accessible to everyone with government ID and a few hundred dollars. As such, I'm in awe of birds and how banal something so incredible must seem to them.

(Birds do know how to use their skill of flight well, however. It was almost impossible to get a picture of one when I was walking to my car today.)

This is my go-to look.

I identify with this as well. But not all the time.

Fun fact about me: I don't engage with drama or ultimatums. You get that one for free, internet.

How I'm going to bid my friends farewell at graduation

This way.

Downton Day!

Hello, non-existent blog devotees! I'm watching Downton Abbey right now, and since I got an angry tweet last time I live-tweeted it, I'm going to blog it!

- Oh Thomas. Grabbing a guy's hand does not make him like you.
- Mary and Anna! My two favorites in one scene!
- Lord Grantham kinda deserves Cora's Wut.
- "I'd like to call her Sybil." Oh Branson, you're going to make me cry.
- "I do not speak much of the heart because it is seldom helpful to do so."
- "You know the trouble with you lot? You're all in love with the wrong people!" Mrs. Patmore speaks the truth.
- Daisy & Mr. Mason may be my favorite part of the show. It's so sweet.
- Bates, I don't like you! Go away!
- O'Brien, are you trying to sabotage Thomas? I like it...
- GRANNY! You are the puppetmaster and I aspire to be as wonderful as you when I grow old.

Not Watching the Super Bowl

Yesterday was the holy of holies. It was Super Bowl Sunday. To celebrate, I ate junk food while watching New Girl. Then I studied for French. Then I watched Blade Runner. (I'm not sure how I feel about that movie. I wanted to get to know the replicants better.)

But the topics on everyone's twitter and facebook pages were Beyonce and the blackout. Most of these posts were annoying, but people had no way of knowing that their clever thought was not original. Being a 21 year old girl who didn't watch the game, I naturally have many opinions about these topics.

1) Beyonce
Her drummer is my sister. MOTS, Cora. Also, I didn't need to watch this to realize that Beyonce would be amazing.

(The internet wants me to change "Beyonce" to "Bey-once." The internet has been watching SNL.)

2) Blackout
If you have never been to New Orleans/the Superdome, then you are missing out! It shows that having money doesn't prevent a place from being creepy and decrepit! The blackout didn't surprise me. In retrospect, I'm surprised that this didn't happen during the 2011 Sugar Bowl.

On Friday, my applications for the University of Kentucky (my top choice!) and George Washington University were completed. When I got the e-mail telling me that, the theme from Metropolis started playing in my mind...and because it's 2013 and instant gratification is what my generation is all about, on my computer as well. Metropolis is such a good movie! I can't quite describe why I loved it so much besides basic terms (J'aime la musique. J'aime la intrigue. Alles hat mir gut gefallen!), but everyone should watch it.