Thanksgiving dinner number 1

Last night Thanksgiving week began and it was epic. After defrosting the turkey for two days we finally got to take it out of its bag and bask in it's glory. It was still raw, but I knew it was going to be fantastic once we're through with it. So we began chopping fruits for stuffing and vegetables for the sauce. But that wasn't my job so I was emptying out the turkey and cleaning it nicely. It was gross and I felt like I was violating it but it was worth it in the end. Next I rinsed it, found it's neck in it's body and got rid of the stuff that freaked out my roommate. 

And since this was a big 12 pound raw turkey we needed to make it dance. Aside from that sillyness we also pretended to be best friends, walking, chilling, and flying. Then the crust was added, buttery and it didn't stick,  but it seemed that it would be fine since I'm sure others do it all too. It took about twenty minutes alone to make the butter stick to the turkey because it kept slipping out of my hands. Again, gross, but we got it into the turkey bag and off it went into the dish. The fruits were added to the turkey and the vegetables to the bag, zip tied and off into the oven for 4 hours.

Violoa! Et ici, c'est l'oiseau!
And in addition to the turkey we brought gravy

And also pumpkin pie! And remember, it's all home made, legit, man.

And the evening passed way too quickly from there on. It was glorious. We ate twice, probably an entire meal each time. And we talked and laughed like it should be.

I'm thankful for all the great food and the great company I had for Thanksgiving dinner 1 and all those that couldn't be there with me. I'm also thankful for the education I am getting and those that make it possible for me to be (<3) here because I get the chance to do so many things other can never even dream of doing.

The Dodo bird

from http://www.anyonefortee.com/Scoring/Pix/dodo4.jpg

Your magic

"Come see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for free at the Moolah on Monday, November 22 at 6:30 PM courtesy of the Student Activities Board

The first 100 students to the show get free popcorn.

I’ve never read the book, but if the trailer is any indication, the movie follows three friends as they fly around rural England in search of a nose for their friend, Michael Stipe"

I need to find whoever writes these things!!!

Pre-Christmas

Yesterday, the day our apartment living room moved from normal over to mess, then clean, and eventually winter wonderland. First step: mess. We moved everything around in order to clean the floors, the kitchen, the furniture, everything. It is spotless now. We were on our knees cleaning... it was exhausting.

Next up, unpacking. Everything, tree, decorations, arts and crafts, lights, hooks... Slow process, but it worked. And then arts and crafts, of course. That was by far the best part.

 

And now I'm ready to celebrate Christmas the real way. And, once back home, I'm excited to see all of the traditional HK decorations! Hint, mom, hint.

It's that time again...

You know that feeling when you are really confused about something in your life but you don't know how to put it in words? The feeling you wish to tell your friends about to get some advice but you just don't know how to say it all? The feeling that there is something you can't wrap your head around something really significant but you don't know what the thing is you want to have explained? I'm confused, essentially. I've been here before, I know. I've semi figured it out before, I know. But it just doesn't make sense to me to go with the second idea if it's not really what I want. Can I not do what I want to do? Is it really so impossible?

So I'm making lists, checking websites, seeing what I can find. Why is it so hard! Can't people writing these websites realize I'm freaking out about what I want to do and how I can get there and make me a step by step list as to how to reach that job? Come on! That would be so awesome of you. So if you do that as a profession, make a website for me and send me the link. I'll come hug you, I promise. 

In fear of reusing images from older posts, this is a colourful version of my brain... 

I was talking to a guy who is a doctor a couple of days ago and when I told him I was studying Criminal Justice and wanted to be an investigator but couldn't he asked what I decided to do instead then. Counseling, I said and he raised his eyebrows. He told me, and I'm only slightly paraphrasing, Counseling is a very boring and frustrating job, especially when it comes to inmates and juveniles. They won't listen to you or they will listen but not take your advice. So, if you want to do forensics, do forensics. But, dear doctor, it's not that easy it seems...

Pictures by weheartit.com

Life is a Cabaret

Last night the university theatre presented the show Cabaret. It was well choreographed, with good song choice, good casting, however, throughout the show there was just one thing stuck in my head: Do they not feel awkward being this naked and sexual with kids, other students, and professors out there watching? 

I guess and actor does what they must. But still, I wouldn't dare dance like they did with people watching. Their costumes were lingerie and silky stuff with a lot of cleavage on both ends. What made it most shocking to me was just one thing I heard while ushering for the show. If it hadn't been for this one person the show itself would have been more enjoyable to me. The lady outside, with three kids around the age of 13, was telling us that her daughter was in the show. "Oh, that's wonderful!" we commented before her story continued. "The funny thing is, both my daughters have the same part! She patted the little one, around 14, on the head. That was the daughter that had the same part??? 

Does she know they are all dressed in lingerie and are telling stories of their sexcapades. They are working at a night club as prostitutes. Is that really appropriate for a Jesuit university to show, let alone a high school?

The show was good, but I couldn't get that thought off my mind anymore. It was seriously disturbing, thinking as the show goes on that that 14 year old girl was playing a prostitute on stage like her sister was. OK, so they might not have dressed them as scandilously or danced in the way our students did, but it's still a show about sex and stuff. Second half of the show, well, last 30 minutes, I realized the show was actually about Nazis and Jews in Berlin. Oh, I see... it teaches about acceptance and stuff. But I couldn't get the 14 year old's show out of my head!

Pictures by weheartit.com

Campus Kitchen

Volunteering is the best. I love it. I just wish you could survive without making money. I would do this forever. I found a great one, I assure you this is awesome. What do I do there? I cook, for like two hours straight, only, it's sad. But they only have two hour shifts, the next shift is packaging. But still, I can do it twice a week. What's better than cooking for homeless shelters or religious groups or other unfortunate people. I have the time. 

Last time I made apple crumble cake for 55 people and French toast for 30. This time I made Apple oatmeal bars for 80 people and pancakes for 20. The way it works is that Campus Kitchen gets orders of what the other organizations would like to have and for how many people. Then they rummage through the recipes and find the right ones and students then come in and cook the stuff. It's amazing, you get to know a lot of students that got in trouble and have to do service hours. Then you meet a lot of great people that do this for their courses, a certificate, or just for fun. You also meet a lot of stand up great looking guys... Just so you know. 

Pictures from weheartit.com

Redbull awesomeness

While driving from the zoo (coming soon) to the costume store we got into quite the traffic. Freeway with 5 lanes, 3 of which were closed. Slowly driving, we spotted the Redbull car. So what, right? You can see those all over the place all the time. Well, the driver of our car, Dino, put down her window and looked at them as they looked over at us. The Redbull girls rolled down the window and Dino asked if we could have some Redbull. Expected responses were: "we can't do that" "they cost" "not while driving" etc. etc. 

Their response? Normal or Sugar-free?

Sweet! So they drove closer to us and at our speed. We evened out and they handed me four Redbulls. While driving at 30mph. On the freeway. I'm pretty sure everyone else was jealous of this greatness. 

First rule of fight club

Well apparently it's be rude. 

It was just last night that there was shouting coming from outside. Living next to a bar often visited by underage people that think themselves pretty clever for "tricking the system" we didn't think much of this shouting. But it was no longer funny drunk shouting. It now turned into aggressive shouting. Intrigued, and somewhat worried, we finally got up and had a look. Just in time, I think, right outside a guy got hit to the ground. 

And so it begins. Two guys beating on one. Unfair, you would think. Yes, that's what we thought at first too but it didn't take long before we started to believe that the little guy on the ground was at fault. He wasn't little, just a matter of phrase. Anyway, One guy was punching him, mostly missing his face and head and hitting the guys shoulders and arms. But the second guy did nothing to intervene. When the guy on the floor started shutting up the two guys walked off. Before we could pry open our windows that now weighed close to a ton each, the guys had already said something again and the fight continued. The boy on the floor, feeling he had the upper hand, commented on what seemed to be a touchy topic already. So the beating continued. This time the little one managed to get up and, bam! Two punches from the double team, right in the kisser. 

So what next. We called the campus security, that's what. And you know why? Well, the two guys walked away again and the guy on the floor was still antagonizing! Are you kidding me? After all that? He didn't even get one hit in... Anyway, we're calling security because the guy just reached in his pocket and pulled out something dark. Considering where I'm living we naturally jumped to conclusions about what that item may be. There's three levels of object danger. 

1: gun, daaaaamn. 

2. knife: not appreciated. 

3. blunt weapon: I guess it could be worse?

Well, 3 it was. The guy pulled out a bottle. And those things can cause serious damage. I know... I watch a lot of CSI.

He walked to the guys walking away with his bottle firmly in his hand. Was this going to get bloodier?? Luckily a girl came rushing over, she seemed to know them all because she was pretty flustered about the events. Shocking though? She didn't once try to break the whole thing off. But as soon as the girl was around the guy turned around and walked off. "Dude, you ok?" we asked out the window. No reaction. Fine then... don't care... 

Security arrived about 3 minutes later... quick reaction, guys.

Pictures from weheartit.com

Some students are wonderful

I have been looking at events when I came across some wonderful descriptions for the university events i the next couple of weeks. They were so good I thought them necessary to share:

"The Student Activities Board will be showing the movie Inception  on Friday, November 5 at 8 PM. Sponsored by After Dark and the Student Activities Board, the movie follows a band of friends as they take a lot of naps. There will be free popcorn! For eating!"

"This year, at least six teams will be building trebuchets to compete at launching pumpkins across Tegeler Field. During the launching, the Association of Parks College Students will be holding a canned food drive and will sell apple cider and pumpkin pies (which will not be made from the remains of the pumpkins). Half of all procedes will go to charity."

Thank you frustrated and darkly humerous student body.