Unfair

All right, so I promised that I would discuss why I think the "graduation minor" is stupid. But first, an entirely unrelated question. Have you ever listened to a lot of people speaking with british accents for an extended period of time, say, a few movies or a couple episodes of the podcast "Vaguely Live Radio" and then noticed yourself thinking in a british accent and realized that there is a very good chance that if someone came up to you and asked you a question that caught you off guard you would answer in a british accent?? Well, that's me right now.

Now onto graduation minor.

I definitely feel that minoring in something is valuable. At the most basic level, if the career you plan to have with your major falls through, you can rely on your minor. I also think that it makes a lot of sense to try to ensure (as my school does) that every student not only minors in a subject, but minors in a subject that is not too similar to their major. For example, you might think that someone majoring in Chemistry might benefit from a minor in Mathematics. But a Chem major is designed so that you take all the math courses you need and to minor in math wouldn't give you anymore advantage, it would just introduce you to other sides of math you wouldn't otherwise see if you were simply studying chemistry. My college (rightly, in my opinion) makes it possible for people with wide interests to pursue those interests, without over taxing themselves or feeling like they are wasting their money. While at another school it might seem frivolous to major in Chem and minor in Spanish, at Allegheny, it's relatively commonplace.

So far, so good, right? Right. But. Under this system I cannot major in German and minor in music, which is what I would ideally do. I want to go to grad school for linguistics and use music to support me during it and also keep me sane. However, I cannot do this because music and German both happen to fall in the division of humanities. If I were so inclined, I could, however, major in History and minor in Music History or, similarly, major in History and minor in Art History, because History is a social science and the other two are humanities. The infuriating thing about this is that Allegheny's slogan (it's all over their website) is "Unusual Combinations", but is a major in Psychology and a minor in Math or Biology that much more "unusual" than a major in German and a minor in music?

Ok, ranting done. It is time for bed. I think that I will better be able to motivate myself if I assign myself a topic for tomorrow. Also, I'll be able to think about it for a while. I think that tomorrow I'll tackle my personal environmental dilemma, how I can justify owning a car (or, if not justify, at least explain the reasons I do).

G'night!

Spur of the Moment

So I've decided to participate in BEDA, Blog Every Day April. Yeah. So this is probably not going to be very interesting, but...

Here we go. It's Wednesday, obviously, and it's my busiest day. Not very interesting day, but busy, none the less.

Trying very hard to come up with something to write. Hmm. Well, I could do one of those things where I just write about some small little detail in my life in order to better understand it. Yes, I think I will.

I'll talk about why I want to minor in music. Which is actually a not so small detail of my life, but whatever.

So, I've played flute since fifth grade. I loved it then, but I think I may love it even more now. I wanted to keep playing in college, and I have, but if I want to play all four years, then the only thing that really makes sense is to minor in music. Well, I have no problem with minoring in music. I would LOVE to major in German and minor in music. However. My school, Allegheny College, requires that you minor in a subject that is in a different division than your major. There are three divisions: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Well, of course, music and German are both in the Humanities, so I need to minor in something else which means I will be very, very, stressed, but hopefully I will graduate in four years. Yes, theoretically I could just major in German and minor in Classical Studies, my "graduation minor", and only the music classes I want, but if I'm going to be paying for lessons and spending that much time with my instrument, it seems like I should get some kind of recognition for it. Also, I would like to go to graduate school, and, theoretically, if I had a music minor I could teach private flute lessons to middle and high school students and use that to support myself through grad school. I could charge a better rate for lessons if I had a degree and I would have a more flexible time schedule than I would with a more traditional job.

So, there you have the reasons I want to minor in music. Both the impractical: I love it and cannot imagine life without playing my flute, and the practical: supporting myself through grad school.

Tomorrow I will discuss why I think the graduation minor is an idea that needs to be relooked at or completely scrapped. Or maybe not tomorrow. I mean, I have all month and I am a fabulous procrastinator.

Till then,
Catharine

Another one...

A
- Available: yes
- Age: 19
- Annoyance: loud hallmates
- Animal: puppies!
B
- Beer: is gross.
- Birthday: Halloween!
- Best Friend: (in no particular order) Carly, Chloe, Chelsey, Erin
- Been in Love: no
- Been on stage?: of course!
- Believe in Magic: of a kind
- Believe in Santa: hehe
C
- Candy: chocolate
- Color: purple and blue and green
- Chocolate/Vanilla: it depends . . . generally chocolate
- Chinese/Mexican?: chinese
- Cake or pie: probably cake
- Continent to visit: europe
- Cheese: sometimes
D
- Day or Night: day
- Dancing in the rain: when it's warm :)
E
- Eyes: dark dark dark brown
- Everyone's got: questions
F
- First thoughts waking up: what was that crash (my roommate can be clumsy :)
- Food: is necessary . . .
G
- Greatest Fear: complacency
- Goals: do well in calc
- Gum: only mint.
- Get along with your parents?: absolutely
H
- Hair Color: red brown
- Height: 5'6''?
- Holiday: I love christmas, because of getting to see family
- How do you want to die: I don't know how, but I know that I don't want it to be any time soon!
I
- Ice Cream: mint chocolate chip or moose tracks
- Instrument: flute (I love guitar and piano too, but I'm not any good at them)
J
- Jewelry: I love earrings
- Job: I'm about to have my first real one! Writing Consultant!!
K
- Kids: are great fun, for the most part
- keep a journal?: none other than this . . . which you can't exactly call a journal.
L
- Love: is necessary to existance.
- Letter: I really do like the letter R. And the letter L, coincidentally. They're really pretty and fun to write!
- Laughed so hard you cried: Late summer nights with Car!
M
- Milk flavor: chocolate.
- Movies: Really not a big movie person.
- Motion sickness? never experienced it.
- McD’s or BK: don't really like either, BK if I have to pick, because they have veggie burgers.
N
- Number: 17
O
- One wish: That this week goes fast!
P
- Pepsi/Coke: Coke
- Perfect Pizza: Cheese.
- Piercings: Only my ears.
Q
- Quail: I'm sure they're lovely.
R
- Reason to cry: feeling helpless
- Reality T.V.: Not a big fan of reality tv
- Radio Station: Don't listen to the radio.
- Roll your tongue in a circle: I can.
S
- Song: Cathedrals by Jump Little Children. Everyone should hear this song.
- Shoe size: 10
- Salad Dressing: balsamic vinagrette
- Sushi: not a fan.
- Skinny dipped?: no. we were going to, but it was too cold.
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries
T
- Tattoos?: no, never.
- Time for bed: I usually go to sleep around 11:30
- Thunderstorms:Nice, when you don't have to walk to class.
U
- Unpredictable: Me? No, I tend to be pretty predictable...
V
- Vacation spot(s): Basically anywhere in Europe. But I especially miss Germany.
W
- Weakness: chocolate or hulu
- Worst feeling: helplessness
- Wanted to be a model: no
- Worst Weather?: winter
X
- X-Rays: I don't think I've had one since I broke my arm.
Y
-Year it is now: 2009
-Yellow: can be overdone.
Z
- Zoo animal: monkeys!

Real Blog Post

All right, I know it's been all memes lately. So here's an actual update.
It is the beginning of March! It is actually warm outside and I am loving it! I don't have too much work this weekend, so maybe I will actually enjoy it.
This blog entry is already starting to sound cheesy which is what usually happens when I don't have something specific in my mind to write about, so I need to quick come up with something witty and insightful to write.

Travel.
I find I am itching to go somewhere, specifically Europe. I may sound like a spoiled brat, but when April comes around, it will be the first time in two years when I wasn't out of the country for part of that month. Actually, the first time in two years I wasn't in Germany for part of that month. I miss Italy immensely and wish that I could go back for a lot longer. It's very disappointing that Allegheny does not have study abroad opportunities there (although not surprising, since they don't offer Italian as a language).
Anyway, the point of this is that I am discovering that I am one of those people who really likes to travel. I always thought that I was the sort of person that liked to stay in one place, not someone who was necessesarily afraid to go abroad, but someone who was content with home. Well, that is not the case. I have an almost literal thirst for travel. I suppose it's not really even travel in general that I feel I need, but more specifically going to Europe.

I don't know if other people ever felt like this, but I kind of have the feeling that college is limiting me. I mean, last year, towards the end of my senior year in high school, I had this feeling that there were so many options (not about where I was going to school, that was already finalized) for what I could do in the next four years. It wasn't overwhelming; it was just exhilarating. I guess college is just more realistic. I feel like there are only a couple things I will get to take advantage of here and that I have to fold myself into a box to be able to graduate in four years. It's not just committing to a major that feels restricting, but even choosing my extra-curriculars feels like I've defined myself and now there is no room to go back on my choices (No! I'm not a musician, I'm an actor! No! I do community service! No! I write! I want to work for the newspaper! No! I play the flute! No! etc.) Maybe I'm timid; I don't deny that at all. But I still have a feeling that I don't have the time or mental capacity to do everything that I want to do.

Oh well, I still have three years, right???

Opening Credits
Sorry, Maria Mena (Well, that's not a very good sign...)

Waking Up

I'd Love You, Sonya Kitchell

First Day at School
Ik Kan Jou Niet Vertrouwen, Bouke (This is in Dutch, but I think it means "I can't trust you")

Falling In Love
Patterns, Simon and Garfunkel

Losing Virginity
Dear Remus, Tonks and the Aurors (...?)

Fight Song
Save Ginny Weasley From Dean Thomas, HatP

Breaking Up
Ten Steps, Marit Larsen (actually, this is a perfect break-up song)

Prom
Old Friends/Bookends, Simon and Garfunkel

Mental Breakdown
White Daisy Passing, Rocky Votolato

Driving
"40", U2 (I don't really listen to U2...and definitely not while driving.)

Flashback
Emo Guy, The Moaning Myrtles

Getting Back Together
And A God Descended, Dar Williams

Wedding
The Dim and the Dark, Jump Little Children (Well, that's bizarre and a little foreboding, I must say.)

Birth of Child
Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed), Bright Eyes

Final Battle
Classic Cars, Bright Eyes

Death Scene
Thoughts On The Ministry Of Magic, The Whomping Willows

Funeral Song
Sly, The Cat Empire (Well, that is one raucous funeral)

End Credits
Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love, Coldplay

P.S. I skipped over songs with no lyrics or that I didn't know and were just referred to by track number in my library.... Because I didn't think it would be that interesting if I just put "track 18, unknown".

Memes

Book meme:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your LJ[blog] along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag five people.

1. Both Paper Towns and Breaking Dawn are pretty close to me and I don't have a measuring stick handy, but I'll go with Paper Towns
2. Ok.
3. Did that.
4. "We still had no idea what, if anything, Margo was trying to say. She gave the book back to me, and they started talking about prom again.

All afternoon, I kept feeling like it wasn't doing any good to look at the highlighted quotes, but then I would get bored and reach into my backpack and put the book on my lap and go back to it. I had english at thte end of the day, seventh period, and we were just starting to read Moby Dick, so Dr. Holden was talking quite a lot about fishing in the nineteenth century."

It occurs to me tht John Green has a penchant for long sentences.
5. I didn't.
6. No thank you.
----------------

1. Do you wear a name tag at work?
I don't work. Yet. Soon, hopefully!
2. What kind of car do you drive?
A 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo. Named Agatha.
3. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?
A cheese quesadilla. Which I realize is redundant if you understand spanish (it's actually still redundant if you don't understand spanish, but then you aren't conscious of its redundancy), but I mean, a cheese quesadilla as opposed to a chicken quesadilla.
4. Have you ever had a garage sale?
No.
5. Is or was your best friend a cheerleader?
No. Well, now that I think about it, one of my really close friends was a cheerleader in 7th grade, but not for my school.
6. What is your best friend's favorite color?
Well, I don't have just one best friend, but I think there is a general like for purple among a few of my very close friends.
7. What college do you go to?
Allegheny
8. What's the most unique thing you have in your place?
Year-round Halloween decorations?
9. What’s your favorite scent of Yankee candle?
Anything with apples and/or cinnamon, I guess.
10. Do your bed sheets match your bedroom?
They match my side.
11. What's the color scheme of your place?
My side is blue and stainless steel (with red, of course for the Wings). Zada's is PINK.
12. What kind of cell phone do you have?
Samsung. On AT&T.
13. Who was your best friend soph and junior year of high school?
The same people who were my best friends senior year and freshmen year and now . . . Chloe, Carly, Chelsey, and Erin (in no particular order)
14. What color is your is your ipod?
Green:)
15. What kind of dog do you have?
The non-existent kind :'(
16. Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?
No.
17. What is your favorite keychain on your keys?
My Red Wings one from my uncle Tom.
18. What did you get for graduation?
A laptop. And money.
19. What is your favorite Dane Cook quote?
Dane Cook? meh.
20. Who introduced you to Dane Cook?
My cousin Emily, I think.
21. Who was your prom date?
I ditched prom to go see a KT Tunstall concert . . . so I guess Erin?? lol
22. Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear?
No.
23. What DVD is in your DVD player?
Well, I don't have a DVD player, other than my computer, but Gilmore Girls is in my roommate's.
24. What's something fun you did today?
Bought new headphones??
25. Who was the principal of your high school?
We didn't have one.
26. Has your house ever been TP'd??.
No.
27. What do you think of when you hear the word meow?
Kitties! Duh.
28. What are you listening to right now?
Regina Spektor, "Sailor Song"
29. What is your high school's mascot?
A tornado. Although we never had a live mascot. That was just our symbol, I suppose.
30. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart?
What kind of question is this?? The one with chocolate in it??
31. When is your mom's birthday?
Next Wednesday!!
32. When is your dad's birthday?
March the 31st.
33. What is your natural hair color?
Reddish brown.
34. What did you get for valentine's day?
A very large chocolate heart from my mommy :)
35. Which one was your favorite Backstreet Boy?
Ugh, I probably could not even name them.
36. Where did you buy the shirt you're wearing now?
Target.
37. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?
No. My graduation tassel was there, but it annoyed me.
38. Favorite class last year?
Ooh. Does Italy count as a class? Then definitely Italy. If not, then probably Physics.
39. How many states in the US have you been to?
21.
40. Which ones?
Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
41. What kind of milk do you drink?
Chocolate, but not that often.
42. What are you going to do after this?
Shower.
43. Who was the last person you went shopping with?
Zada.
44. Does your grandma have a dog?
No.
45. What is your favorite fruit?
Probably clementines, but only in late October and November.
46. What about your favorite dessert?
Polish ones :)
47. What is something you need to go shopping for?
There's nothing I need to go shopping for.
48. Do you have the same name as one of your relatives?
Yes, I was named after my aunt Cathie.
49. Do you know how to play Chess?
No.
50. What bank do you go to?
National City and UofM Credit Union.
51. Do you like pickles?
Yes. More so as a vegetarian. On my sandwich, but not as much plain.
52. How about olives?
Not at all. And I will never understand how people can.
53. What is your favorite kind of gum?
Mint kind. Fruit or cinnamon flavored gum is an abomination.
54. What is your favorite kind of juice?
I don't really like juice. I guess orange.
55. Do you have any tan lines?
Perpetually.
56. Do you have one of those fuzzy things on the lid of your toilet seat?
Absolutely not. They creep me out. They cannot be hygienic.
57. Do you remember the name of your kindergarten teacher?
Of course! Mrs. Mall and Mr. Paul, and then Mrs. Hazelbaker.
---------------------------

1. open your itunes
2. look at your top 25 most played tracks
3. post the first line of lyrics from each one (and no skipping tracks no matter how embarassing they may be)
4. see which one of your friends can guess the majority of the 25 songs you play most
5. NO CHEATING

1. All right.
2. Ok.
3.
1.Te conocí un día de enero
2.In the shadows of tall buildings
3.Eres como una predicción de las buenas
4.She likes the photograph, the one me and Simone, out in the rain on a Sunday morning
5.Quand tu, quand tu me prends dans tes bras
6.(Hoooohooooo)Something caught the light out on the street and it crossed your face
7.One of these I'm gonna wake up walking
8.2am and she calls me, 'cause I'm still awake
9.She wore out the feeling with a tender killing
10.I'm sitting on a citadel, contemplating life
11.(lelelelehe) Why do all my friends now want to be your lovers?
12.I've tripped again and things have started to get interesting
13.I won't let you go, I won't let you go
14.Well I wish I had something to say
15.Ay, como muero por ti
16.Ay payíta mía, guárdate la poesía
17.Fine with the fall of a nation, fine with the killing fields
18.You say you fell while holding in your hands
19.Two pills and a slap across your face will put you in a better way
20.Told you I felt lucky with my humble breasts
21.Come along with me now, cuz there are things I've been dying to tell you
22.Too young to learn it, too young to earn it
23.(deladelaylo deladelaylow) It's up to you, for every passing day, to not let the past pass away
24.Was it you or was it me who said that we were one?
25.Bleib, Baby, bleib, Baby, geh' nicht wieder weg
4. Um, as far as I know my friends do not read this. Nor anyone else for that matter. Surprisingly, this doesn't bother me. Nor does it make me feel awkward in the least.
5. I didn't!! Why are memes always so untrusting??



Ok, so I really don't use this thing to blog. I just had a sudden urge to fill out surveys and since I didn't want to post them on facebook and annoy everyone I just decided to put them on here.

17 Things

1. As a not very religious person (at this point in my life) I’m not sure how I feel about the commercialization of Christmas. On the one hand, I’m definitely not pro-consumerism as the main goal of the holiday (especially as a financially challenged college student), but I have to say, I love the decorations. I love cutting down a tree, or at least getting a potted one to replant, but it has to be alive and smell like pine, otherwise there’s no point, and decorating it, I love cooking, I love Christmas music, and I love lights. And maybe these are all thing invented to benefit some industry or another, but I would argue that they have taken on a significance beyond their monetary value and I can never see myself boycotting everything about Christmas that makes me feel good, just to make a statement about my values. Because yes, every other month of the year I would argue strongly against cutting down trees with abandon, buying all sorts of needless plastic and using electricity to light the outside of a house, but I don’t think it’s exactly true to my “values” to speak out against something that means something on such a fundamental level to me. And maybe it’s superficial, but it doesn’t make me feel superficial, and I would argue that that is what is important.

2. An ongoing discussion I’ve had with my friend Erin is about which of the four elements we most fear, mostly based on the destruction they cause. For example, if your greatest fear is drowning, then water would be your most feared element. If the idea of an earthquake or mudslide is more frightening, then earth. If you fear your house burning, forest fires, or lightening, then fire. If you’re afraid of tornadoes, hurricanes, and, one could argue, height, then air is the element you fear. My friend’s is fire. I think mine would be too. I love the water, and in all the places that I live, there has never been much likelihood of danger from air or earth.

3. Speaking of water, I love the stuff. Nine times out of ten, if you ask me what would be the most refreshing drink you could give me, the answer would be water. With ice. None of this European room temperature business.

4. Of all the things that have been an influence on my life, reading is definitely the strongest. I would be a completely different person today if I had not started reading (and consequently stopped doing pretty much anything else, including mouthing off in class) when I was eight.

5. In that same vein, sometimes I feel like I am betraying myself by not majoring in English. If only there was enough time in the world to do both. And some profitable career.

6. I have never been drunk in my life and I don’t ever want to be. Honestly.

7. I love being alone in the car. Driving and listening to music or podcasts or the wind relaxes me and I miss it at college.

8. College is much easier than I thought it would be. I don’t mean the classes, they’re pretty much what I expected and I felt prepared and all that. What I mean is that it’s a lot easier being away from my family and friends than I expected. Considering how I handled the first couple weeks in Germany, I expected to be a wreck at college and things have gone surprisingly smooth.

9. That being said, I think it is important that we address the topic of me being friendless. I mean, Zada and I totally hit it off and we get along better than pretty much anybody in the history of roommates, but aside from the people she knew in high school and the people she has me through them, I have hardly anyone else on campus that I could really call a friend. Or even an acquaintance.

10. This doesn’t bother me nearly as much as I would expect it to. Or nearly as much as it would bother my other friends from high school.

11. Sometimes I’m afraid that nobody else has the same relationship to music that I do.

12. I really want to go back to Italy.

13. Ditto Germany.

14. I generally prefer quiet to loud.

15. Strange, because I tend to not hear very well.

16. My favorite season is spring, even though I was born in fall and I think it's beautiful, spring just makes me so happy.

17. My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip.