New this week in Newsweek

This past weekend I decided that I wanted to read the current (November 16) copy of Newsweek cover to cover. This may sound insignificant, unimportant, or uninteresting, but it's something that not only do I never do... I'm not sure I've ever done it at all. In the past, I've read some of the articles, flipped through the stories while eating breakfast, or simply opened it straight to the political cartoon page... but I'm not sure I've ever read every word of every story.

My family has had a subscription to Newsweek for quite some time now -- before that it was Time, or maybe it was both... but they've been piling up in our magazine basket for several years now. I don't know exactly why I'm never drawn to them -- it's partly an issue of time, I think. I also currently get Entertainment Weekly, People, Glamour, Allure, and Real Simple [before you protest, they were all free and I only have them for a limited amount of time. Oh, and I always give them to friends before recycling them] and I barely have time to read those as it is. On top of that, there's reading for school, for my bookclub(s), for fun... Yeah, I just basically never make it to reading Newsweek.

But I had a few quiet minutes on Friday, and it was just sitting there staring at me, so I started flipping through it, then I started reading it, and then I started reading all of it. I actually haven't finished at the time I'm sitting here writing this, but I certainly plan to read the rest. I can't say if this is indicative of a new pattern - if I'm going to be able to read every word of all the Newsweeks from now on, but I certainly have gained a new appreciation of the magazine as a whole, and a new knowledge of how interesting it can be to really read in depth.

The magazine's cover story is about lessons we can learn from Vietnam - and how they can be applied to Afghanistan. The story is really quite interesting, though I don't see what made it timely enough to make it the cover story; but I particularly enjoyed John Kerry's subarticle. He had a very striking conclusion that I think is worth sharing: "One of the architects of the Vietnam War, Robert McNamara, confessed decades later that he knew victory was no longer possible well before the American death toll had reached half its eventual total. He offers a horrific lesson that the time to voice concerns is now." It seems clear to me that America's involvement in Afghanistan is far from over, and I hope to follow its events and debates closer than I did with events in, say, Iraq. I was too unappreciative at the time of what was going on in Iraq to keep up and as such generally don't know what was/is going on there.

I have always admired John Green and other individuals who are very well versed in current events -- people who understand the innerworkings of what's making headlines well enough to explain them to others and debate them intellectually. I guess my reading Newsweek this weekend is, in part, an attempt to follow in those footsteps. Next semester I'll be taking a Modern US Policy/Diplomacy class, which I'm sure with further my understanding of the crazy world of political happenings.

The Newsweek issue had many other interesting stories - lots of chatter about the Berlin Wall Fall anniversary, about the recent elections in favor of the Republicans and what that means for the country, etc, etc. But I'm not going to go into that now... If you're interested, you can read for yourself!

If anyone out there happens to read this, I'd love to hear what YOU read in the realm of magazines, websites, RSS-feeds, newspapers, etc. How do you keep up with current events -- or do you not care at all? Let me know!

Cheers :)

Here goes nothing.

I. Have. So. Much. To. Say.

I can't even begin to tell you the number of ideas I've had for blog posts recently. I just couldn't find time. But here I am, back with a mission. I am, slowly and surely, going to get my blog caught up, and then start keeping it right. I know, I've said that before, but this time I have a plan. But I'll get to that in a moment. First, I want to say: this is going to be epically long. And it's going to have a lot of photos. Prepare yourself.

What's new with me? Let me see... I started college! I now live in a dorm! I had a birthday! I'm now 18! My cousin got married! Yes, lots has happened, and it's all BIG. Worth mentioning. I could probably make dozens of full blog posts out of each of these topics, but I'm going to cram them all together for now. Perhaps I'll return to them in the future and flesh them out a bit. But I've got to start somewhere

The sea of gold shirts at CU's convocation last week.

College is... different. The first weekend, setting up my room, and first week of classes was completely hectic. I feel like I'm beginning to find a routine, but it's definitely taking some getting used to. I'll be talking more about this at my official college blog, which can be found here: http://cubookstore.blogspot.com/ It's important to know, if you're reading this, that I didn't go very far from home at all, and I can't even begin to explain what a good decision that was. Anyway, overview: I'm doing a 15 credit semester, and I'm a film major. I'm enrolled in Intro to Film, Women in Film (Honors), Constructions of Knowledge, Advanced Writing, and British Literature (which was formerly Physics, good switch).

In my next post, you'll see a virtual tour of my dorm room, something I've been promising I'll do, so go check it out.

Music Fail

So, I just had a rather frustrating half hour. This summer, one of those big overarching mega-things I've been wanting to do is learn guitar. My Uncle gave me a guitar (I know, right?) several years back and I basically never picked it up. This was not from non-interest - I think guitars are beautiful instruments and I envy people who can play well - I just never did it, basically. Learning a new instrument is complicated - so I've found out. A few weeks ago now, I had what a friend of mine would call a C2J (Come-to-Jesus) chat with my mom. I was distraught at the feeling that summer was ending soon (even sooner now, as I write this) and that I hadn't done any of those big overarching mega-things I had been saying I wanted to do. So, she encouraged me, even if I only had a few weeks left, to just do my best to do them. Guitar was high on this list.

So I took out my guitar, wrote it on my to do list, opened up GarageBand (a nifty Apple program that has a lesson section), found a pick, tuned the sucker, and started trying to play an E chord. FAIL. My fingers were numb for a week and all I managed were a few dissident noises. But, even though I didn't practice again for a few days, I still had hope and interest. I was doing this now - I was going to magically teach myself guitar in the last few weeks of summer. I came back from the mountains this weekend, I practiced E chord again, started messing with G and C and... nothing. The cords were still a buzzing, thumping, music-less mess while the weird guy from the GarageBand lessons seemed to act like it was a piece of cake. (Side-note, where does that expression come from? It doesn't make a lot of sense). My fingers still hurt excruciatingly after a few seconds of holding a chord down... yada yada. So, here's today, attempting to have at it again, and, I just can't do it. I know you have to build up calluses and practice and ALL THAT, but that seems to be advise for when you can touch the damn strings for more than a few seconds without causing permanent nerve damage! I just don't get how to BEGIN!

So, in a fit of frustration at the GUITAR itself, I sat down to play piano. For many years (now long ago), I took piano lessons, learned songs, had little practice schedules (which I rarely followed), etc... But it fell by the wayside in the latter years of high school. What I've realized recently is that I really love the piano - I love playing it (especially since I tend to only play MY kind of music - sondtracks) and I love the way it sounds. Thus, when I got out my favorite song, (which I never fully learned), "My Heart Will Go On," I guess I was hoping to be cheered up in some sort of "SEE, YOU CAN STILL MAKE BEATUFIUL MUSIC" kind of way. Not so much. I can barely even read music anymore! I barely remember where the basic C octaves that you look for, what the song is supposed to sound like, and a few parts that I practiced ridiculous numbers of times. I'm sure if I picked up any of the other songs I had actually mastered, my fate would be just as grim. I can't play the piano anymore! And, more importantly, I want to be able to!

I'm in a great situation. I have two instruments I want to learn and fail at, and 3 real days left of summer (HOLY GOD!!!) I realize this is a rather spastic blog post but, I guess I'm sending this out into the universe to ask for... help? Advice? I'm leaving home (and my piano) behind, and I'll shortly be living in close quarters where guitar practice would probably be unwelcome... But despite all that, I don't quite want to give this up for a lost cause until next summer. Lessons, especially for guitar, sound like an obvious option, but I have a nagging doubt that I won't be able to fix it. What do I do?! I could mess around with reading music to get some piano skills back and maybe try to get in some time in music rooms (if the music school has open ones)... But, GAH, I just feel stuck between my desire to get a bit of music in my life and my apparent inability to do so.

Yeah, right, that's it from me for now. Cheers.

I Resolutely Resolve, Solemnly Swear, and Hereby Declare...

Happy New Year !!!

Welcome to 2009, my wandering peeps! I have to say, just by the nice round look of the way 2009 is written out, that I hope and think this will be a good year. Though it's late at night, I wanted to take a moment to get in a quick post before bed on this, the first day of a brand new year. I've got a ton of ideas for blogs over the next few days - so much so that I might have to do a couple in a day to fit them all in!

The New Year, for many people, means - of course - resolutions. People begin feeling down about a part of their lives, take the new year as a clean slate, and resolve to change. I believe it's a nice sentiment, so I'm here to share my main resolutions (or goals, if you will) for 2009. I'll list them off first, then take a moment to elaborate

1. Choose a college; Finish IB and high school.
2. Get to know more people from Leaky; Attend LeakyCon.
3. Watch films, make films.
4. Get and stay fit physically and mentally.

1) Okay, this is kind of a big one. Sometime before May I will have to choose from the three schools I have now applied to. This all hinges on financial aid and scholarship money, so a corollary to this resolution is to complete all necessary scholarship applications and, erm, hopefully get some of them. That's out of my hands though. Then, starting as soon as I get back to school and culminating in May, I will be facing the final stages of the IB program in English, History, and Spanish... I hope to do well in my certificates. Finally, I just hope to make it to that last week of May in one piece. This has been a long four years and it'd be a shame not to make it in the last few months. (Just kidding - I know I'll get there).

2) While I spend a lot of time on Leaky, Skype, YouTube, and now on Twitter (the latter mostly with people from Leaky), I hope to get to know some of these people better. I hope this will culminate in LeakyCon in the final weekend of May, which promises to be all kinds of awesome. (I'll know by the time I get back to school whether or not I can actually make it work - it requires skipping the last few days of school and graduation so, well, we'll see.) After that, I just have to book plane tickets, find a place to room, and scrounge up some money.

3) I watch a lot of films. So many, in fact, that I almost made it to 100 in 2008 (more on that another time). I'd like to continue to expand my horizons by watching well-made films in addition to the Blockbusters that I so enjoy. I want to crack the spine of 501 Must-See films, and maybe work on the AFI Top 100 list. Additionally, since I keep saying I want to make films, I want to - well, do just that. I'd like to write some part of a screenplay or film a short film. Anything to get me moving in that direction.

4a) This one has two parts. In accordance with the wonderful fantabulous project Fitting It In (very briefly, it's Melissa Anelli's goal to manage to "fit in" fitness sometime in the next year, and many people have joined the social community headed for the same goal), I want to fit fitness in. I want to make going to the gym easier and more possible - every Thursday during 4th would be a good place to start - and find a primary activity to do at home when I am not able to make it to the rec center. I would also like to stretch at least 5 days a week in my efforts to become more flexible.

4b) I'd also like to continue to stay healthy mentally. That includes continuing to write in this blog regularly - I'm now going to make my official goal 5 days a week, because I'm really starting to enjoy it. I'd also like to make more of an effort to quite simply be happy. I know that sounds obvious but there you have it. I'd like to make an effort to find a balance in sleep - it's tough when I have to get up at 6AM, but I basically manage to ruin my weekends by always having to sleep in. More caffeine, maybe? Just kidding. I'll keep thinking about this one.

So there you have it. Those are my 4 goals... Wish me luck!

Blog Goal, Day One.

Whew, long time no see! Life got pretty crazy there for a while... but I have a new resolution. I want to try blogging at least once a day, every day. If I miss a couple here and there, that will be fine, but other than that, I'd like to see if I could do it. I think it'd be a good writing exercise, a good way to express myself and to get some thoughts out there, and a good way to unwind and relax. It will be fun.

I'm sure it will be on any topic... I've been meaning to write about Twilight, Quantum for Solace, 24... plus other, non-movie topics like Jane Austen, and Facebook.

See, I have ideas! It shouldn't be that hard. Here we go then.... This is my goal, to post a blog every day, and I hope I can keep to it.

I guess it's a New Year's Resolution come early.

See you tomorrow!