L-D-R?

I was a bit excited when I found out that Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore and Justin What's His Face, is attempting to chronicle the humor and heartache of a LDR. I'm not huge on Chick Flicks (another post for another post) but I am willing to check this one out or at least rent it.

Why was I so "excited" when I came across this movie? Because I'm in a long distance relationship that's why.





There are days when I feel that the world in front of me only consists of hand holding couples, flirtatious laughter and loving glances. On these particular days, it seems that everywhere I go people are in love. When the world around me morphs into a surreal version of Disneyland on Valentine’s Day, I must remind myself that I too have someone to laugh with and to love. It is on days like these that I am constantly reminded that I am in a long distance relationship, and it is days like these that I feel the most alone.

Yet, statistically I am not alone. According to The Journal of Social Psychology, about one third of all dating relationships amongst college students are long distance, and their prevalence is even greater amongst first year students, such as transfers or freshman. It appears that not only are more young adults opting for the college route, but choosing to follow their own dreams and goals despite the presence of a relationship. Ambitions are high—students are taking on both midterms and midmonth flights to their significant others. And to stay afloat in this fast paced age of texting and tweets, long distance relationships have transformed into three short letters: LDR.


The above is from an article I wrote last Fall for my UWP class. At that point, I was fed up with all the negativity that had been thrown my way regarding my own LDR. I was use to people's faces morphing into looks of pity when they heard that my boyfriend lived miles and miles away. I was use to people launching into long stories about their brother's cousin's nephew's own LDR that had ended in tragic break up. And I was sick of people questioning the validity of my relationship. As my boyfriend simply and aptly put it--"Most people think long distance relationships aren't real relationships."

But here I am, more than two years into mine and still going strong. Sure, the stress of such a relationship can wear on you. And sure, it takes work like everyone says.

(That being said, I definitely have to remember to charge my phone.)

But I wouldn't give it up for anything.

(awwwww....)

(yeah, whateves.)

Anyways,

Stay tuned for more LDR musings and mumbles.

Explanations and Definitions

I feel a bit embarrassed. I haven't written a post for my blog in months. But who am I apologizing to?
My mother?
She's the only person who reads my blog--which may be one of the reason that I post so infrequently. In fact, right before graduation, my patience blew a fuse and I posted a not so nice, but extremely organized, rant about my former roommates. A day later, I received a voicemail from my mom saying "Do you really think you should post something like that? What if they [former roommates] were to read it?"
My Mother is usually right about these things.

So needless to say, I deleted the post and have yet to blog since. I think I'm a bit worried that my words will catch up to me someday.

But, the summer is half way over and I've decided I need to suck up this fear and keep writing, because really...what else is there to do?

My summer so far has consisted of the following:

1. Job hunting via my computer
Definition: An extremely saddening experience, which only highlights my lack of, well...experience. Also, online applications are a bitch. Seriously, who designed these things? A tortured soul, that's who. The last online application I filled out
took an hour and asked for a cover letter that I spent a good deal of time sweating over. Only come to find out, when I pushed the "submit application button," seconds later the status of my application read "under qualified." ?!?!? Thank you.

2. Reuniting with friends
Definition: Spending lot's of money on dinner, lunches, ice creams and coffee. Reminiscing about our friendship before we/I went away to college and mututally complaining about the job market. These reunions are kind of bittersweet, as in the back of my mind I know that this is all that is left of our friendship--meeting up every year or so when we are in the same location. Also, you begin to realize that people change. For example, good girls can turn into vodka stealing pot smokers. Who knew?

3. Studying for the CBEST
Definition: Having my younger brother reteach me basic mathematics. I hate math, and even more than I hate math---I hate math without a calculator. I am seriously panicking right now, as I still have a lot to cover and only a week or so left to study. And although I have been studying for a month, I have to say that morale is low. I seriously don't know what my chances are of passing the math portion.
Also, my brilliant idea to become a substitute teacher while I pursue other jobs turned out not to be so brilliant. Apparently, due to teacher lay offs, there are now plenty of highly qualified individuals who can be subs, leaving no room for individuals like me on the sub lists. Go figure. But I am pressing on. I'm going to get my CBEST score, darnnit!

Thoughts on Carrie Bradshaw

So late yesterday afternoon, I arrived home from visiting le boyfriend in Santa Cruz. I was tired, I was bored and I was fighting both a migraine and allergies from Hell. Needless to say, I was not in the mood to tackle my to-do list (see previous post). Instead, noticing a copy of Sex and the City: The Movie, laying on our coffee table, I decided to pop it in. And began watching. And noticed this:

Carrie Bradshaw makes life look so easy.

Sure, she has Mr. Big issues, but really? Life doesn't suck too much if you are Carrie Bradshaw.

First of all, she is a super successful writer who writes not so brilliant books/columns, but us as viewers are suppose to find them to be brilliant/revolutionary. Most of the time she has the most random analogies. Are men really like a pair of designer shoes? Also, she can afford Manolo Blahniks on her freelance writer's salary. Uh, huh. If this were reality, I would be going to grad school for journalism in the Fall.

Secondly, she wears pearl necklaces to bed. And her bra. And I'm pretty sure she wears makeup too. I cannot pull this off. I like to comfortable when I sleep. Also, I don't own a pearl necklace.

Thirdly, she has a group of four, rich and fabulous girl friends who can fly her to Abu Dhabi at a moments notice. To live in a world of that much fabulousity? Does it even exist outside of movies and "reality" TV?

Maybe, life is easy for her because she is fifty? She's got it figured out. She's fifty and she still acts like a twenty something. Which is confusing for those who are actually twenty something.

I'm confused. But I still love Sex and the City.

And "reality TV." I can't bash either without feeling like a hypocrite.

AND I want these!

O, Paper Week.

PAPER WEEK HAS HIT.

Which means two things:

1. Finals Week is approaching.

2. (MY) Graduation will follow.

As I'm a bit too stressed /busy/ anxious to write a full blown post, I thought I'd post another list. There is something assuring about listing---it calms me down a bit. In fact, I just discovered a great site called listography.com

Here's a look a current list of mine that I just put up. Coincidently, it is composed of everything I must do (academia wise) before I can touch my diploma.

List LOVE

I love lists. In fact, I think that if I ever did pursue a post bachelor degree it would be in Library Science. Yes, I know that there is more to it than just organized lists, but whatever. I love lists. Everyone around me knows this is true. Especially the strangers who sit next to me in lecture. If lecture gets boring, I find this an opportune time to either start doodling ( I doodle the weirdest things...) or make a list. In fact, I did this today during Developmental Pysch and Victorian Lit:

I want to do the following things next year:

-reteach myself to sew

-go dancing in Sac

-get a library card from the bibliotecha de Davis

-join a gym or find a yoga class

-learn how to trim my own bangs

-actually write in my blog/tumblr

-live the dorm life vicariously through my 18 year old brother....(another post for another time)

-buy a plant for my room and keep it alive

-learn how a "deal" with preparing raw meat (Explanation: my roommate is Vegetarian, and I try to respect that and consequencely haven't touched raw meat in forever)

So, that's the list.

More on that later.

The Post Where Lindsey Spends A lot

Still suffering from senioritis. I can't concentrate. I can't do much at all. I've decided that I am bored with all things school. And I've decided that my status as a Senior means that I have mastered school, which explains the boredom. This is what I'm telling myself.

This weekend I took a break from my psuedo stressful life and went to visit my boyfriend in Santa Cruz. Yes, I have a boyfriend in SC. Yes, that means I'm in a long distance relationship. Yes, that means another post for another day.


Anyways, it was a wonderful weekend. We swung down to Berkeley to pick up our friend and headed on to San Fran. There is something so freeing about spontaneous roadtripping. Also, the Parking Gods were on our side this weekend, as we did not have to pay a single penny for parking in Berkeley or San Fran. Thank you wonderful person who left us a three hour parking stub in the ticket vendor. Thank you random street in SF that has no parking limitations (we all got out and read the sign--we couldn't believe it either!).

The above made (both paragraph and picture) me very happy, because I spent a little too much this weekend. Not a lot, but just a little more than I typically do. But gas, and overpriced tourist clam chowder and the Santa Cruz Diner add up.

And to top it off, I went out again tonight. (You may get the notion that I don't eat out much because I tend to complain when I do--you're right.) However, tonight was special; I had dinner with my new roomies. Tonight, I had the pleasure of dinning with four UC girls. I'm kind of excited about next year because they seem like they are outgoing and fun. My current roommates are really sweet but extremely studious, which sometimes makes for boring conversation and boring Friday nights. (Currently, my roomate is reading outloud to herself in French) Hopefully, they will be a good balance of crazy fun and quiet nights at home. And hopefully I'll learn a new language because all four are billingual.

I have my Food Science and Folklore midterm tomorrow, so I'm praying that it goes well. I just filled in my dry erase calendar for this month, and realized that May is going to be a bit....full.

Like my stomach. Mmmm. Chocolate bunny from Easter. I may have had the will power to save it, but not the will power to stop once I'm eating it.

Breaking the Myth of Senioritis and Other Highlights of My Week

This blog may be labeled Life After College but unfortunately I am still in college at the moment. I say unfortunately because I am still taking midterms and buying books and attending lectures. And I am still stuck reading perhaps one of the most dreaded books in the English language--Paradise Lost. For those of you who don't know, I am an English major, so I do a lot of reading. Don't get me wrong, I am use to heavy reading. I eat and breathe books. But as of this quarter I want to take said book and throw it against the wall. I get the feeling that Milton and I would not have been friends. And I get the feeling that this thing called senioritis, really does exist.

For those of you who remember senioritis from high school, this is nothing like that. And for those of you who remember senioritis from college, you probably agree with the former. College senioritis is different. I am potentially leaving school behind FOREVER. (unless I grad school it, which is another story in itself). Leave behind late night cram sessions and annoying TAs and obnoxious term papers. The word FOREVER sounds really nice next to those items. And I'd say that it's enough to make anyone a little antsy and a little unmotivated (note how I am writing this and not reading Milton's masterpiece).

But moving on....

Highlights of this week:

I signed a lease. In August, I will be moving into a very nice but very small room and sharing an apartment with 4 other girls. Hello estrogen.

I went and saw Kick A** in theaters on Friday. Two things surprised me about this movie. One: how desensitized I--and millions-- have become to hardcore violence. And two: How much I loved this movie. Oh, Generation 00, we have issues.

I cleaned out/reorganized a ton of stuff. Apparently, I may lack motivation to do school related tasks, but I seem to have the energy to Spring Clean. As Lauren Conrad said last night on the never ending rerun of The Hills, and I loosely quote"There is something to be said about cleaning things out, you reevaluate your life." She was moving to a house with Audrina and Lo, and I was cleaning out my toiletries. Whatever. First time watching that show, and probably the last. But I make no promises when it comes to reality TV. Like I said, GEN 00 has issues.

Linds