4/19/09 Word/Page Count

Words: ~ 3129
Pages: ~ 7 (I skipped around too much to really count)

I watched the Natalee Holloway story today on Lifetime Movie Network and it was pretty sad. It just reminded me that something bad can happen to you at anytime and you shouldn't take your life for granted. Also you should always be vigilant. I was thinking about my semester abroad and how I put myself in bad situations for no reason. Luckily nothing happened to me. In fact, the only person who stole from me was a classmate and it sucked. But I should have listened more. I mean, I walked around Vietnam alone at night not really sure where I was going. Not once but about three times. And you know, for the most part it was safe, but you still shouldn't DO things like that. And there's other things that I did that I shouldn't have, in the states and overseas.

So why am I here and Natalee is not? I do not know.

My study abroad class had about 700 people in it and out of those only 18 were black (only one was a guy) with one black staff member. Most of us hung out together and we would joke that we didn't have to worry about terrorist or kidnappers because they would want all of our white counterparts before having anything to do with us. I don't know if that joking mindset contributed to my inflated sense of safety but looking back it's kind of silly. Everyone has to be careful, no matter what your race is, no matter where you are.

What did writers do before spellcheck? I swear, I'm the worst speller in the word. So many words get me. If they are more than four letter long I don't know how to spell it. I remember in 2nd grade I used to do so well on spelling tests that I was part of the group that got to play Oregon Trail in the back while the other kids had to take the spelling test over again. Well I peaked in second grade and that's sad.

I wrote a letter in longhand the other day and it was the most painful experience. My handwriting is awful and I have that spelling problem. Luckily, I didn't have to be very multisyllabic so I made it through. I was totally going to transition into a different topic here, but I forgot so I guess it wasn't that important.

There's a new channel on Music Choice called Throwback Jamz and I love it. I can't do anything in silence. I must have noise around me at all times. Whether it's TV, music or human chatter, I wanna hear it. Maybe it's my generation, we're used to constant stimulation. That's why we can write a paper, chat on IM and Facebook and watch TV and listen to music all at the same time. It's essential! Well for some people. Not all. But I can't imagine ever being in a silent room trying to do serious work. Oh no, that would never work for me. I would go crazy. I might have to jump out a window.

This weekend I spent a long time walking. It's great for thinking. I like to constantly be in motion, along with music or whatever the auditory stimulation of the moment is. Sometimes I know I should take the headphones out of my ears and really listen to the world but the music is so good. I don't know, I'm not cool.

Well, one more day until American Idol. There's not much to do but wait. We Anoop fans are gearing up for a real FIGHT come Tuesday night. There's one girl who says she's going to be voting with three phones. I don't know how that works since you only have two hands. Me, I'm stuck with only one phone so that's frustrating. We're all a little frustrated because we've been doing the best we can voting every week and our poor guy is still in the Bottom Three despite STELLAR performances that the judges always try to paint as less than they really are. Still, we're die-hard fans, we muddle through, ready to vote again. The double elimination is going to be really tough but I can really see Anoop making it through the storm. I just want him to make this one more week so we can stuff it in the face of all the haters who think he's a goner for sure. So vote for Anoop! Yeah.