Ponderings

I've had a lot of things on my mind lately and, to sort them out, I've been meaning to write them for some time now. First off, this past Monday, the 15th, was both Dan's birthday and our first anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since I first went to Ireland and since I first met him. The time has passed so quickly, but then it also seems like we've always had each other, like we've known each other for ages. He's only been gone a couple weeks and already I can't wait till he comes again at Christmastime. It'll be much more relaxed this time, since I'll be out of school and we'll mostly be sticking around town. There's been several nights I've been sleepless, thinking over all the things to show him, everything we'll do, what we'll talk about, what movies we'll watch, and just how good it'll be to be able to touch him, to see his face while I talk to him. It's been hard being this far apart, but it feels doable, and I just keep looking forward to the next time he calls me, the next time I'll see him.

Another thing on my mind is everything I have ahead of me as far as school goes. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to transfer to CSUS this coming year. I still have several general ed classes to complete, as well as lower division classes I can complete at Solano and save money. Thus, I'll probably have another year at community college, and perhaps transfer for spring semester a year from now.
I'm also debating the whole living at home situation. Right now I'm looking at buying another car since Meghan technically owns the Camry and she's been driving me nuts. At some point in the near future I'd like to buy a house in Village Homes, but I can't afford monthly payments on my salary, even if I rent out the extra rooms. I don't want to waste money on renting an apartment, but I really am not sure how long I can stay at home now after having lived on my own in Ireland. I'm hoping I can stick it out until I have more money saved up. Otherwise, I might have to fork out the money to share an apartment with someone. Any takers? :P

The last thing I've been thinking about is the current drama in the gang of high school friends. I've noticed over the years that the biggest drama's usually revolve around two friends in the group who dated. My sister offered the suggestion, "well, that's why you shouldn't date friends." However, I've noted something rather interesting: rather than dating within the group of friends exclusively, we tend to date other people, and then those others get incorporated into the group. For instance, I became friends with a great portion of the gang through dating James. Had I not dated him, I never would have met Molly and Olin, and that whole drama wouldn't have occurred. I just find it interesting how our group has grown and morphed through time, with one person or another losing favor as alliances change. Since I have pretty much been out of the picture for the past couple years, I feel that I can't know which side of the story to place myself (not that that is new... I've usually been in the middle of things in just about every issue... good ole neutral Anja :P). I don't really want to get caught in the middle of the silent feud that seems to be going on, but I'm not going to write off one side just because another side says I should, and I don't feel any animosity against the accuser, either, for they have their reasons as well. Basically, I'm going to remain neutral until I know more of what's happening, and even then, I will probably remain neutral. If that bothers people, that I can't and won't pick a side in most cases, then they really don't know me very well and are too closed minded to understand that every side, no matter how bad one or the other sounds, has its own reasoning that needs to be listened to and empathized with.

more random tests/quizzes

Am-I-Dumb.com - Intelligence Test

    66.5/100Rate My LifeRateMyLife.net - Find out if you suck at life


HumanForSale.com - For sale by owner!


CadaverForSale.com - How much is your body worth?


NameThatDisease.com - Test your disease knowledge


NameThatSerialKiller.com - Test your serial killer knowledge


Click here to create your own painting.

Just twelve days to go.....

Well, once again, I have failed to keep up the blog regularly. Not too surprising, really, as whenever something is not done easily, I tend to procrastinate until I forget all about it.
But anywho, I've been home now for a month. For the most part things are back to normal, though I am already itching for the freedom of living on my own again. I'm so tempted to find some house to rent a room in, but I have so little money at this point (a grand total of $300 in the bank, $200 of which I cannot touch if I want my savings account to stay open) that I really could not afford to pay rent and utilities. My only feasible option for the near future is to completely raid the rest of the money from the funds my grandfather set up for me and use it to make a down payment on a house. Then, I could rent out the other rooms to people and use that money to make the monthly payments. But really, that isn't going to happen for at least another year.
Once again I am back into my crazy-busy schedule. To give you an idea, here's what my schedule for this week is looking like
Monday- 7:30am (8:00 at latest to miss traffic) drive to Solano for classes
9-10am Music Theory
11-12 Beginning Modern Dance
2:30pm drive back to Davis
5:30-11:30pm work at the hotel
Tuesday- 7:30 drive to SCC
9-10 Music Theory
11-12:30 Beginning Ballet
12:30-1:30 Beginning Jazz
1:30-2:30 Voice Class
2:30 drive back to Davis
5:30-11:30 work at the hotel
Wednesday- same as Monday
Thursday- same as Thursday, no work
Friday- same as Monday/Wednesday, but add:
1:00-3:00 Jazz & Pop Voice Class
no work
Saturday/Sunday- 12:00-6:00pm work at the hotel

This schedule, by the way, does not include the belly dance classes I'll be taking Thursday nights starting on the 9/4, nor the ballet classes I want to take at Applegate. Phew. So far my feet have been behaving fairly well, so I'm hoping that they'll stay good so I can start getting back into shape.

In other news, it is now just under two weeks until Dan is coming to the States! I can't begin to describe how excited I am. I mean, I know we've been apart for roughly the same amount of time before at Christmas and while I was traveling in Europe, but still, 5,800+ miles and 8 timezones is a heck of a lot bigger distance than previously experienced. I've managed to keep from being overly preoccupied by his/my absence for the most part, with only periodic times of complete loneliness, so I think I'm coping okay. Still, it's really, really difficult. There isn't a waking hour of my day when I don't think of him, when I'm not wondering what he would think of this or that, or just really wishing I could see the way his eyes light up when he smiles. I know I've been in relationships in the past where I was so certain of things, where I thought I knew it would last, but nothing thus far has compared to my relationship with Dan. We just seem so well suited to each other that it's as if we're an extension of the other person,without losing our own identity. We argue, quite often really because we both are stubborn and like to debate, but only rarely does it seem to hurt one or both of us, and we never go more that 5 minutes staying mad at each other.... it always ends in "I don't like being mad at you", "I don't like being mad at you either," "I'm sowwy," "I'm sowwy!". I know I'm kinda gushing, but I really haven't had much opportunity to do so. The only person I've really discussed this with is my mom, and that's kinda different, no?
Anywho, when Dan gets here, we have a trip to Disneyland planned, the big birthday party for Meg & I, a couple trips to S.F., and just general exploring around Davis and Sacramento. I can't wait to show him the dance studio, Village Homes, Slide Hill Park, all my old childhood haunts, and show him where I came from. Now will be the time to introduce him to all the places and people I've told him about over the past year.
But yeah, I think I've done enough babbling for now, and as it's almost 1am and I have to be up in 6 hours to get ready for school, I'd best be off to bed. Hopefully I'll update with more soon!

Some random quizzes...

... cuz I'm bored of sorting my luggage out.

You Are Fall!

Thoughtful Expressive Creative Poetic Smart

What Season Woman Are You?

What Fruit are You? (Detailed personality description.)

YOU are a GRAPE! You are very reflective, sensitive, flexible, creative, and prefer to work in groups. you learn best when you can work and share with others, balance work with play, can communicate, and are noncompetitive. You tend to have trouble giving exact answers, focusing on one thing at a time, and organizing. Try to pay more attention to detail. Don't rush into things, and be less emotional when making some decisions. Ideal job: Some kind of artist/musician. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

What Law & Order Character Are You?

Lennie Briscoe Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

What Elemental Goddess Are You? (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water) + Pictures +

Earth Goddess Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Coming Home

Well, as some of you already know, I'll be back in Davis in less than a week, the night of the 26th. Man, what a year it has been. It's seemed to have flown by, but it also feels like I'm coming home to a different planet... so much has changed. I'm having a hard time facing the immanent loneliness that faces me upon my return. Pretty much since high school ended, I have had wild bouts of loneliness punctuated with relationships I've unconsciously used to fill the gap. This year abroad has taught me a lot about myself, and frankly, there is a lot I don't like, but I really am not sure how to change it, or even if I should. Would I still be me if I didn't worry so much? If I wasn't indecisive? If I wasn't so paranoid about hurting others that I end up hurting them anyway?
I've been painfully aware of the fact that I've grown apart from all of my old high school buddies, perhaps beyond repair in most cases, and that the only real friends I've made are the guys I've dated and their friends. Luckily, in Ireland it has been a bit different, and I have made a small number of friends on my own, though I'm having to leave some of them behind. I'm hoping upon my return to Davis that I can try to patch up some of the shambles of friendships that I've left behind, and to make peace with my conscience with those I've hurt in my struggle against this oppressive loneliness. So, if you are one of the above-mentioned people (and willing to give me another shot), I would really appreciate it if you would give me the time to meet up with you at some point, just to talk or hang out, just to see if there is anything left for me to grasp onto.

Just because I'm lazy and don't want to type up similar messages for other pages, I'm copying this from my blog and posting it on MySpace and Facebook as well.

Cheers

Snatched from James

More ranting

Well, the past two weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions. I've gone from completely happy to utterly hopeless and depressed, and back again, and down again, and so on. I've gone low enough that I've scared myself and worried the few I've let see what's happening. Two nights in a row I cried for hours, unable to get control over my own body and mind. Luckily, the past few nights have been better, but tonight I can feel myself starting to go down hill again. This time, at least, I can sorta identify a trigger, or at least one of them.
My entire life, there has always been one constant for me, and I'm sure all of you know it: dance. It's been my only true passion. Sure, I love music and reading and all that other stuff, but dance is what is in my soul. However, my body and mind can't seem to cooperate to make things work. Last night I stayed up late to watch a Baryshnikov movie (White Nights, which also had Gregory Hines, Helen Mirren, and Isabella Rossellini) and tonight the episode of "Cold Case" was about a dancer. I have to say, I've never lusted over something so much as to wish I could dance like those people. My heart fell and soard with the dancers, my arms unconsciously mimiced and marked the steps. Even my breathing matched the pace of the dances.
I first felt this hopelessness when I sprained my knee. Granted, it didn't last long, and it never got this bad, because through it all I knew I'd get through it, even if only because of the fact that I'd have to in order to survive. But now I know better. Now I know that I do not have the drive, ambition, or the tallent to become a true dancer. Sure, I dance, but can I really call myself a dancer? I have this hopeless dream of being great, of performing in movies like those famous dancers, of taking classes at the great ballet schools. Yet, I know it will never happen, and knowing that is starting to wear away at what optimism I had.
Since I developed the plantar faciitis, I took 6 whole months off from dancing to let it heal. And then, this spring, when I tried to start up dance again, the injury reared its ugly head again and squashed my hope with it. My feet have gotten a bit better again since the show in mid-March, thanks to medicine and staying off of them as much as possible. However, my mood has dipped lower and lower in the process. I fear that I'll never be able to dance as much as I wish to, ever again. If I can't even manage one ballet class a week, and a very easy class at that, how will I ever get back into shape? How will I ever re-learn technique? When I sprained my knee I was at my peak... I could actually believe that someday I might be good enough to audition for the corps of some company. And then, after the sprain, I just never got it back. I even lost my desire to try, and now that the desire is back, it's as if my body conspires against me.
But dance isn't the only thing bringing me down. The vast emptiness that is my future life spreads before me with no road for guidence. Aside from continuing my usual persuits (dance, cello, singing, teaching), I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I still haven't decided what I want to study... I still haven't decided on a career. A part of me wishes I could study to become a formal dance teacher, but I doubt I'd ever be able to do so unless my feet get better. I feel so utterly weak and lazy. And because I have no goal, I find myself slacking off in school, and thus stressing over grades way too much with out any idea of why I'm even bothering. And, to top it off, I'm facing leaving yet another person behind, and this time I just know that I'll end up hurting them, that I'll be fickle yet again and that I haven't learned anything from my past mistakes.
So yeah, over all, right now I just wish I could disappear. Fade myself from people's memories of me. I'm pretty much to the point of hating myself and most things about my life, and am starting not to care whether or not I change anything. It scares me, but I'm so tired of always having to work so hard to change myself, to fix habits, to become what I want to be. For the first time I actually feel hopeless and can't see an end to the causes of this dark mood, let alone a cure for it. I hate myself for putting my problems upon others, always complaining instead of sucking it in and fixing things. Of being so damn lazy and emotional.

Some ranting

I seem to be going through another period of self-hate and general moodiness. It's odd, because it's more sunny outside, and really what S.A.D. I have should be clearing up. Ireland seemed to clear up my general apathy for awhile, but it's come back with force. Spring break starts tomorrow, and I have a trip to London planned out. Momma's coming in about a week, so that'll be good at least.

I hate being so broken all the time. I always seem to have a cold, or injury, or something. Right now my feet are acting up again, which isn't helping my mood because it means I can't go out for walks in the sunshine, nor can I dance. I can't even soak my feet properly because we don't have any pots big enough. I end up having to clean and put away all the dishes so I can sit on the counter and put my feet in the sink, and that only works sometimes. Between my feet, buggy head/migraines, and sucky moods, I'm not the best of company right now for my friends (who themselves are stressing out over exams), which means I'm left to entertain myself quite a bit, which means I get nothing done because I'm lazy.

So yeah, bleh.

CGD update

The show was a blast! Lots of things went wrong, but overall it was so much fun. I'm still recouperating, though :P As for how Mark & I did, we won the judges high score, and after the audience vote we were tied with another couple. However, after the tie brake vote from the judges, the other couple won. It was still great, though. As our piece was a lyrical, romantic ballet piece, it's pretty easy to see why the other couple won... they simply out-flashed us with a perkier, showier dance. Oh well. But yeah, I'd forgotten my camera, so I didn't get any backstage pictures, but I will be getting the DVD and hopefully some pictures from the night from friends.
Right now I still have a lot on my plate: planning a trip to London for spring break, planning for when my mom comes, studying for two quizzes coming up this week, doing a paper due on Friday, and studying for exams in general. Oh, and finding a ticket back to Cali! At this point I'm aiming to come home mid-late June (around the 20th or so, methinks) so that I can (finally) get some sun! Chances are I'll spend the entire summer poolside at the hotel or sunbathing in the back yard. Years of getting no sun, and then this year in Ireland, have turned me white :P I miss my tanness.
Anywho, it's St. Patrick's Day, and I have nothing to do. The pubs and stuff will be crazy because there's a huge rugby game going on, and I just don't like the crowds. There's a parade and festival going on, but I don't really want to go to that, either, since it's mostly just a tourist trap. So, what am I doing in Ireland on Paddy's Day? Moping around home, cooking corned beef & cabbage & potatoes for dinner, and cleaning my room. Bah humbug. I'm tempted to play third wheel and tag along with Dan and his buddies, but I'd be the only girl and that'd be kinda odd. I don't want to go out with Tara, because she just annoys me, and Jess is not going out tonight. Oh well, TV specials and cleaning it is, then.

Clubs Go Dancing

Well, tonight is the big performance! And, as usual, I have a cold just in time for the show, go figure. In it, I'll be doing three ballet pieces, a bellydance piece, and competing with my partner, Mark, who is from badminton club.
The idea for the competition is based off of Strictly Come Dancing, or Dancing With the Stars as the yanks would know it ;). A "professional" dancer is paired up with a "celebrity" and teaches them a dance routine. Mark and I are doing ballet, and yes, he is wearing tights.
The past few weeks have been crazy, and especially the past day or two. I was in charge of publications, so I designed all the posters, programs, voting cards, etc. Unfortunately, I should have had someone proof read the program before we spent hours yesterday printing them... in my sickly state I'd made a few typos and messed up the performance order!
Anywho, they'll be video taping the show, so I'll be sure to bring back a DVD and I'll have pleanty of pictures to post! I have some others to put up as well from the past couple of months, so as soon as spring break starts and life calms down a bit, I'll try to get them up.
Wish me luck in the competition!

Finally, an update!

Yes, yes, I know I haven't done well with keeping everyone updated. Since my last post I have:
- Gone to a Ratpack-style concert
- Gotten lost in Dublin for 2 hours
- Had Thanksgiving
- Done exams
- Gotten my hair cut
- Moved to a different room in the appartment
- Had Christmas and New Year's in Germany

I'm now in Germany, wincing at my terribly rusty German. In the past two weeks here, I've gotten hardly better. Whenever I want to respond in German, my mind goes blank. I think I've regressed far enough back that I need a refresher class in order to repair the damage.

I had a "lovely" trip to Germany, as follows:
I took the 2:25 bus from Cork to Shannon Airport. Thank god for motionsickness medicine! My flight was supposed to leave at 7:15, but was delayed due to fog, and didn't leave until after 8:00. It was about a 2hour flight from Shannon to Germany, however, mid-flight we were informed that we would be landing in Frankfort instead of Dusseldorf, another 250km+ away. So, I got into Frankfort at about 11:30pm, and they told us that there were buses waiting to drive us back to Dusseldorf, and that we'd get there around 4 or 4:30am. Mind you, by this point, I had had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, two oranges and some bread on the bus to Shannon, and another orange on the flight. That's it. So I was starving, not to mention my knees were killing me from having no leg room and no sleep. I got some munchies at a pitstop at around 3am, and we got to Dusseldorf early around 3:45am. Poor Kay-Holger and Angela had been staying up for me, having already driven out to the airport once then gone home to sleep. On their trip back home, Alexander (the youngest boy) started feeling sick, and soon they were all very, very car sick. Within hours, the entire family including the exchange student was sick. Then, Kay-Holger had to drive out to pick me up again, making several stops along the way for his poor stomach, and we didn't get back to Bochum until 6am. I then crashed until 1 then got up and ate a bit with Angela who is feeling better.

My new year's resolution (which I am starting here in Germany) is to get back into dance shape. For now, that means drinking a goal of 1.5L of water. Don't know if I'll make it, but I'll try.

Here's pictures from Thanksgiving:

And one from the concert:
















And our last weekend out on the town before Meg and Amanda left:

More pictures from Christmas/Germany to come!

Pictures II: Killarney Trip

No need to explain these, methinks: Swans, clouds, and crepuscular rays *swoon*

Pictures!

Working on getting all my pictures uploaded, but it's going to take some time. Here's the first set: pictures of my lovely apartment ;)

P.S. Yes, one wall in each room is painted orange, and yes, my bedding is blue.

Killarney Weekend

Well, I'm up at nearly 6am for various reasons, so I figured I might as well post about my weekend trip to Killarney with the interstudy posse.

The trip started out on Friday afternoon. I was planning on taking the 3:30 bus from the Cork station, which is a good 30-40 minute walk away from the apartment. Since I wanted to save my poor feet up for the dreaded 7-mile hike, I decided to take the number 8 bus to the city centre so at least I'd only have to walk one street over from St. Patrick's. However, fate did not want to be kind to me. I waited 40+ freaking minutes for that damn bus, and it never came. I was running out of time to get to the station, and I didn't want to pay for a taxi as 5 other groups of people had, so I started walking as fast as I could. Not 5 minutes down the road, the 8 passed me, not even close to full, picked up 2 passengers 100ft in front of me, then sped off while I lengthened my stride to reach the stop. After some rather strong language for me, I started walking again. Halfway to St. Patrick's another number 8 passed me, and by that point I was beyond pissed off, so I walked right by it, pretending my feet weren't killing me. I made it through the crowds at St. Patrick's and got to the bus station well in time... I'd made the minimum 30 minute walk in 25 minutes, and my feet were killing me, as well as my calves.

So, anyway, after that fiasco, the buses were all full, and finally sometime after 4:00 I made it on a bus with two other girls and we got to Killarney in time for dinner with the group. I actually ate lamb (the only other alternative was salmon, so yeah) and it was surprisingly good. The dessert, however... *drool* it was sticky toffee pudding, and I don't think I've ever had so subtle of a dessert taste so good. Anywho, the hostel was decent. Nothing like the hotel back home, but it was fairly clean. A group of 15 year old girls woke us up around 5am, and the girls in my room had some choice words to yell at them, but managed to restrain themselves. We then had the lovely 7-mile hike. It wasn't so much of a hike as a sometimes steep walk. No matter, my calves tightened up pretty badly by the time we stopped for lunch, as in making me walk funny so that I got heel blisters again. While we ate, I kept my feet up on the bench to get my weight off of them, which only helped nominally. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I'd taken a double dose of ib profin that morning. After lunch, we took a boat ride through the three major lakes of the region, headed back to town, then went out for dinner. At dinner, the star of the show was the cheesy garlic bread...god, I'm drooling just thinking about how good it was.

But anywho, the walk was gorgeous, and I'll get pictures up asap. My camera batteries died on me during the first day, and apparently the batteries I bought at Tesco's there in Killarney weren't high enough of a voltage or something, because my camera wouldn't turn on. I didn't get any pictures from the friary, gardens, and falls the second day, which makes me really sad because it was so perfect. After dinner the second night, the girls all played drinking games, and one of them got hilariously smashed, and I had fun just watching them. Because my legs and feet were sore from the hike, I decided to stay in while they went out. I stretched for about an hour, and apparently I over did it, as when I woke up Sunday morning, I could barely move. Yeah, then we had to walk around the grounds of the Muckross house, friary, and falls, and by the time I was in view of the falls, I was ready to have someone shoot me in the head. Luckily we took cars back to Killarney.

From there, we ate some lunch and then three other girls and I took a fairly early bus back home. Of course, we had to walk back to the apartments from the bus stop about 10 minutes away, after my legs muscles had all cramped up on the bus ride home. Thus, when I made it up to my apartment, I camped out on the couch for several hours, then took as hot of a shower as I could get. Still, the entire back length of my legs are pure murder, and that is one of the reasons I am still awake. I went to bed around 2am, dozed for a bit, but mind wouldn't shut off and legs ache too freaking much.

And the major reason I can't fall asleep: It's amazing how much life, how much your perspective on life, can change in just a single hour. I'll leave it at that for now, but I have a lot of thinking to do. So, I'll leave this humongous post at that, and hope you guys enjoy the pictures when I get them up.

Evil Chinese People

I just got the most terrible fortune ever:

"No wonder you always go home alone."

Evil, evil Chinese food people! *hiss*
Just because it's true doesn't make it nice =_=

Religion

As of late, my interest in religion has been at a high level. Just about every time I have gone online in the past year, I have read some article or another on some religion or another. Religions have always interested me, and for most of my teenage years (about age 12-17), I searched for a religion to call my own. I found so many beliefs and dogma that struck a chord with me, however, no matter how hard I tried, I could not find it in myself to believe in any one religion over another. This both frustrated me to heck and piqued my interest even more. When the DaVinci Code book came out, it reawakened my search for personal meaning in all of the religious jargon. I read website after website, book after book. I lost myself in the world of the early Christians, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, and so on. I read about mysticism, spiritualism, and agnostism. More recently I have been expressing to people my interest in possibly majoring in religious studies/theology. This has incurred many questions regarding my own beliefs, which I have had to answer as concisely as possible, but this has left me feeling like I haven't fully explained myself, either.

In the past, to put my beliefs in the most simple of terms, I have told people I have no religion.
This later developed into me explaining that I am agnostic. If I were to truly label myself, I suppose I must clarify that I am an agnostic omnist. For those of you too lazy to google those two terms, it means: 1) I believe it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of a deity/deities; and 2) I find truth and believe in the dogma and beliefs of all religions. That is putting it shortly. In more depth along the lines of agnostism, I not only believe there is no proof for or against the existence of any deity, but also the very nature of an omnipotent, omnipresent being is such that it is impossible for humans to even comprehend its existence. To use a cheap analogy, a single cell (if it had thought and senses) cannot comprehend the characteristics, let alone the intentions, of a living organism. I do believe in a unifying presence of sorts... the chances of the world turning out the way it does are just so infinitely small that the sheer number of coincidences are preposterous. Not fate, per se, and not necessarily a deity or deities of some sort, but just, well, something. I know humans tend to search for something higher than themselves in order to make sense of the world, but logic points towards the fact that there is always something higher than any given thing.

Now, back to how the analogy ties in: if there is some sort of omnipresent being, there is no possible way for humans to define it... it would have to be beyond our comprehension. As of yet, humans can barely conceive of huge numbers of objects, let alone everything. We simply cannot truthfully comprehend infinity, and therefore cannot define what omnipresent is, other than "being everywhere/everything". I think that any attempt of humans to define what that omnipresent being is, what its intentions are, and how it effects the world, falls under three categories: sheer folly, need of the security and order such a being might mean, and entertaining fantasy.

This is where my omnism ties in. Although it is impossible for humans to define "God" and all other incarnations of the omnipresent/omnipotent, we still strive to do so. Sometimes we do so clumsily, other times with a profound sophistication. In all my readings on the various religions and beliefs, I think I have found something redeeming and/or truthful in all of them (yes, even Satanic cults). Religion is a human institution put in place to give some sort of order to the beliefs and morals people hold. Humans define religion, humans interpret it. That does not mean that religion is unhelpful or even harmful; it simply means that we have to keep it in perspective. Throughout the ages, people have always tended towards forgetting the fact that dogma is manmade. I think that as religion is an attempt to describe the workings of the world and to define the supernatural, there is some truth in all of it. All the religions are quite equally different interpretations of one another... they all seek to do the same thing, essentially, just in different ways.

To put all this rant into one short sentence, I believe in the statement "We Are One".... many religions, many interpretations, of one truth. But yeah, so I may burn in hell for all that, but it's the closest I've ever come to feeling at peace with my beliefs.

In Ireland!

Hey all! I'm settled into my apartment here in Cork. Well, at least for the most part, anyway. No internet as of yet, so stuck using campus comps. Contact me if you would like my new address/phone/etc. Unfortunately, I can't call anyone as of yet because it's freakishly expensive, and I have to wait for internet in order to use Skype. Definitely feeling deprived of the net :P
Anywho, just thought I'd let you all know I'm alive and well. More updates and pictures to follow once I have internet. Toodles!

Back from the dead

So yeah, lots has happened since I last posted. I've developed plantar faciitis, been to the podiatrist for it, been on naproxen for it. Been working like crazy, and got some sort of infection that included rashes in my left ear piercings, hives, and extreme fatigue. Went to a ren faire this past weekend which was pretty good, but the aweful 2-hour-late train ride back Sat. night ruined the weekend, as well as repulling the muscles in my neck and shoulder. It's feeling better today, so hopefully I can get some chores and packing done.

I can't believe I only have 20 more days till I will be in Ireland. There's so much to do still. I really hope my feet continue to get better soon, because I would love to take advantage of the free dance classes at UCC, and maybe even teach ballet over there. I've talked to the other girls going to Cork through interstudy, and they seem pretty neat. Most of them are partiers, planning on clubbing all the time and picking up guys and the such.... just not my thing. But who knows, maybe they'll pull me out of my shell a bit.

I'm more than a little disappointed in some of my old friends. It's just sad that we've grown so far apart that no one can seem to make an effort to keep in touch with me anymore, no matter how much I try. I guess it is time to cut some ties completely, but it's so hard to let go. At least this trip will do it for me... no one unwilling to put some effort into talking with me is going to with me thousands of miles away. *sighs and shrugs*

And another...

Ha! I'm just using Ryan for his quizzes! :P

You Are a Peacemaker Soul

You strive to please others and compromise anyway you can. War or conflict bothers you, and you would do anything to keep the peace. You are a good mediator and a true negotiator. Sometimes you do too much, trying so hard to make people happy. While you keep the peace, you tend to be secretly judgmental. You lose respect for people who don't like to both give and take. On the flip side, you've got a great sense of humor and wit. You're always dimplomatic and able to give good advice. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul, Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Yet another silly quiz!

Snatched from Ryan ;)

You scored as Romanticist. Romanticism encourages society to look backwards to find our solutions. ur rationale is that things were much better a few hundred years ago so we should thus look back to those times and replace them in our modern socieYoty. You believe in a simple life and that the complexities of the modern world have turned it upside down. Romanticist 94% Cultural Creative 69% Fundamentalist 56% Postmodernist 56% Idealist 56% Modernist 50% Existentialist 38% Materialist 25% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com