inspirations

Looking back to some of the design blogs I frequent, I get this renewed sense of discovery and inspiration. The colors really come through with brightening my day, after a full day of being inside a government building. I really admire those people, its not like you can really buy it off of urban outfitters or anthropologie, it really has a sense of uniqueness and creativity that most shoppers lack. Ok, so I do like random stuff at those stores, but I'm saying there are just some people who just buy anything off the rack and think its good and has that "down to earth" style. Perhaps I'm just really easily bored and always trying to find new means to discover myself and be creative...

Which is where it got me to consider couchsurfing this summer. What better way than to save money while traveling, meet the locals, and have fun?? It really took me a long time to mull over this option, as I may be crazy, but I actually do consider my safety despite what people think (yes yes, i sometimes don't look both ways while crossing the street and have hitchhiked before...). It is interesting to have people welcome you into their own homes, traveling strangers, to sleep on that extra couch or bed. I considered hosting my couch, but I do have roommates and I would need to consult them before I decide to invite anyone. I think I'll give it a try in Portugal. Find some couches to surf on and see what its like to learn more about the Portugese culture besides what people in Lonely Planet write. I want to have a renewed sense of life, something that DC sorta kills.



I've been eating well (had steak with a side of sauteed asparagus, mushrooms, onions, and scallops! Who needs to eat out when such a great meal can be made for less than $10??), though I should be going to yoga more often (as in, in half an hour but I'm too exhausted to make the trek. excuses excuses, I know). I think I should start taking photos of the meals I cook again...things look really tasty on a big white dish for some reason.

As for yoga, I think I'll do the 10 day trial one that's closer to where I live starting after April 28, when my big assignment is finished. I love how they have $10 for 10 day trials.

I still have 19 more pages to write out of my 50 pager. I intend to write another 7-10 hopefully tonight before I go to sleep. It helps me to write out my goals so I can visualize it and make it more concrete. Now if I can start a new hobby of digitial scrapbooking....hmmmm (and looking at the cloth I claimed to make gaucho pants into..)

Ready to Graduate

I guess I had senioritis since September. Then I got back on track and passed my classes to the best of my abilities, only to realize that I'd graduate in May instead of December. Now, with one more month, I've got 1 50-60pg paper to write GPS navigation technologies, 1 7-10pg paper on gender equality with a comparison of US and Canada, and an 8-10pg white paper on how to approach space security in the future. Fun...all due by the end of April.

Plus right now I've caught a cold that has impaired my head (as it already hasn't been impaired enough??) and wisdom teething--so each time they want to pop out a bit about once a month, I get caught with fevers. Tylenol really isn't doing its trick somehow. Sleeping didn't really help, as my eyes still hurt.

I'm just ready to graduate. I need this summer to be away from DC. Looking back on my college experience, it was fun. I've learned a lot, grew up some more, and in hindsight, could've made better friends during freshman year. I guess life takes us to weird places where I'd never imagine myself knowing great people from a tiny kingdom in the Middle East, changing myself to be more conscious of doing good things after becoming good friends with someone in my program in China, and continue to still have an amazing relationship with my best friends halfway across the world after not seeing them for 3-4 years at a time.

So this summer I'll be going to London to visit my best friend (and I suppose my 2 cousins as well), then off to the Netherlands to another friend. From that point on, I'll be backpacking (bussing) down from the Netherlands to Portugal, where I think my two main stops will be Lisbon and Sintra, then head through Seville, and on a boat to travel to Fez, Casablanca (perhaps), and Marrakech. I'm excited for Marrakech. Yes, while most people spend their money on buying designer bags that everyone owns (sorry but Coach, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci are wayyy over-rated, especially when you can get the same for double digits in China, or Chinatown. And I don't see the fad in Juicy Couture except for a few necklaces. I'm not a fan of velvet and random bling though I do like their punk look. but Vivienne Westwood tops that)--I have a travel addiction where I need to pop out of the country at least once a year. You would've imagined that I've accumulated a bunch of travel points by now, but I really do wonder why I have 5 different travel memberships and the next flight I'm taking is through Air India.

So after all that, I'll try to find my way from Morocco up to Barcelona, where I will be settled in for 2 months doing intensive Space Studies....yep. space. That's still my niche. I'm excited about how I'm transitioning quite well into the grad program, and hopefully in two years time, the recession will ease up a little and I can find a decent job. I've never imagined finding a job to be difficult, but apparently my classmate is having some difficulty in the field. All I want is doing a job that I enjoy, and to be of positive use in the world.

My observations on the word "hate"

As I've been discussing hate as well as my stephist philosophy to people while reflecting back on my recent conversations, no matter what people think I am or feel, hate is a strong word that I try not to use. For it is also a strong feeling that takes a lot of energy to hold within oneself. Love and hate are two strong emotions of two opposite ends of a spectrum that I tend not to go towards.

Then there's Stephism: a calculation that evaluates to what extent something is wanted, and how i can get there and how much energy is needed. If it wastes too much time and energy for a shitty outcome, then its not worth the time and trouble.

Therefore, if we put this into the stephism equation, hate is not anywhere i need to get to, and it takes up way too much energy. Thus, it wastes too much time and trouble to hate. Then again, I often take on the alternate feeling of indifference. If it is not something worth my time and trouble, then I have no need to care about it. People should try it sometime, it wastes less energy and when you do something, it gives better personal fulfillment.

I mean what I say and uphold my word. Therefore if I reject something or a plan, it is because I know I will not be able to make it. Flakyness isn't my style (or is being lazy quite exactly), though it seems that lately everyone around me seems to be going through a "being lost" phase. I have just learned a great deal lately about friendships and what is meant to last and what isn't. In my observance, hate isn't included in the vocabulary, and people should not be hated unless they really purposefully make someone elses life miserable. That also takes up so much energy.