Note to the Annoying Girl in Class

Okay. We get it. You've been to Germany. I understand. That was cool. I'm really jealous. But you DO NOT have to mention it every dang class. I don't bring up all of the countries I've traveled to (which is more than you missy). Whenever France, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, or Belgium is mentioned, I don't say something about my personal experience there. SHEESH!! HUSH!!!

People Always Sit to My Left

Over the weekend, I went home and got a feather in my hair in a sketchy booth at a Native American festival thing (don't ask, I have no idea). Well, it looks really cute, but it's on the right side of my head and no one has noticed it unless I point it out. This confused me for a while until I realized (as I set on the right side of the room during class) that everyone always sits to my left and I always sit to the right.

That is all.


PS if you want to see my feather, sit to my right.

Artifacts: My Speech for Speech Class.

My name is Emerald Williams and I am from Greenwood, South Carolina. Greenwood is a fairly small city in what we call The Lakelands, but for our size, we have an excellent local history museum. Our main floor exhibits a replica of our early 1900s main street, and we have over 45,000 items in our collection. My job this summer was to go through some of these items we have in our basement and to determine whether or not we have a record of that item, and, if not, to make a record. Most of my work consisted of labeling items as FIS, or Found In Storage. This just means that until we can determine who gave the item to the museum or when it was given, the item is assigned a temporary number. I lost count as to how many items I “bagged and tagged,” but it was more than a few. I only worked for 7 hours a day, for 3 days a week, for 2 months, but in that short amount of time, I learned years of history.

The most fascinating part of my job was re-discovering items that no one had seen in years. Some items were a little mundane, such as a rock or a taxidermied owl. But other items like an old metal hairclip, a cookbook from the 1950s, and medicine bottles intrigue me because these were once someone’s personal belongings. A woman pinned her hair back with this clip while she baked for her family or during her job in a factory making weapons during World War II. Letters and photographs are always interesting glimpses into another person’s life, but actually holding an item through glove protected hands that someone used, really brings weight and depth to their life. Old keys whisper secrets and cracked and rusted cookware fills the senses with home-cooked Southern food. Huge railroad spikes pound away loads of stories in my head.

These artifacts not only represent another era in history, but an era in an individual’s life. Imagine 50 years from now your cell phone is in a museum basement. All of those conversations you had with your mom, those texts you sent to your boyfriend, the photos you shared with your friends, don’t mean anything to the summer intern working in a basement. This summer, my job was to find items, label them, and give them a little history if none could be found. My job was to uncover stories.

Status Quo

Tonight's post is just lyrics written by Darren Criss for the Starkid production "Starship." Starkid is amazing. You should all check out their productions. (http://teamstarkid.com/) (Note: At the end, the song refers to being a starship ranger. To find out more, watch "Starship.")

This song is beautiful. It really just speaks for it's self. (A link to Darren singing is at the bottom.)

 **here is a link to how it's performed in the play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkQg18qbMQk&feature=autoplay&list=PLF5BDC95E3C0BB504&lf=plpp&playnext=5

It starts with not questioning the answers
And giving up before you've begun
It locks all the doors
Increases the pressure
And in a flash
Your time is up before it's done
And you won't know how it can feel
To feel at all

So I say no to status quo
Who wants to be like the rest
And deny the best that I'm meant for
I will show the status quo
Who wants to be normal
I'll never conform
I will be content to resent the status quo

I'll kick down the walls around me
They don't know how strong I am
I'm not defined by boundaries
They will never understand
I'm so much more

Than status quo
Who cares about being another pipe dreamer
Stuck on the bottom floor
And I know
It's time to go
So maybe I've gotten everything that I wanted
But I think that I might have made it so
When I said no, no, no
To status quo

Cause I am a starship ranger
I'm gonna do everything I can
To always be a starship ranger
Cause it's everything
It's everything I am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSVYe7V8Dl4&feature=player_embedded

A Note

I am wearing a Perry the Platypus t-shirt and Lucky Charms PJ pants. Today I put signs above all 4 toilets on my hall saying "This way to the Ministry of Magic." My ringtone is "Hedwig's Theme" and my desktop background is of Serenity, the firefly ship from the 2002 show "Firefly." I am obsessed with Starkid and I sing their songs all of the time. I watch Avatar: The Last Airbender when I am getting ready for the day. I make bad jokes and puns. I laugh at everything because I usually find something funny about the situation. Sometimes I am anti-social, but I really like to hang out with friends. I love, love, love movies. I really enjoy reading; I also read really fast. I have a Coco Chanel perfume and I have been planning my wedding since I was little. I am a nerd, but I am also a girl. I love traveling and exploring new places. I have desires to travel sometimes that I just cry because I can't go right now. Europe is magical to me. I am not naive, so hush. I don't like the beach because I always always get sunburned and the ocean and I just don't get along. I love the mountains though. I wish I was more "outdoors-y." My sister can make me laugh like no other; she is the greatest. My  boyfriend is amazing and the smartest, hardest working man I've ever met. He makes me want to be a better person. My friends are hilarious (well, I think so) and I can tell them things without obvious judgment from them. (haha). I wish I could do magic. I make this silly little blog because sometimes, when I am cold and alone in my room, I just need to get some perspective.

Pros and Cons: Roommates

I live in the (primarily) Freshman dorm on campus (I'm a Junior. It is cheap. Shush.) I chose not to have a roommate this year and here are the pros and cons I have experienced so far.
Pros:
I haven't unpacked yet and it's okay.
I can be naked whenever I want.
My music, movies, etc can be as loud as I want them to be.
I can leave lights on
I don't have to worry about being quiet if someone else is napping.

Cons:
I haven't unpacked yet

Lonely

So far so good!!

My Thumb

So, last night a "friend" threw his dang iPhone in the general direction of my hand. Well, it hit the base of my thumb...hard. Needless to say, there was a lot of yelling and questioning of friendships and threats to call the police for a domestic violence report.* It was already starting to swell, so I put some ice on it and now, the next morning, it is just bruised. Now, this has given me time to really appreciate what separates us from the dogs, birds, and bees: opposable thumbs. This little appendage takes a beating throughout our everyday activities. I was digging around in my purse to find my phone and kept hitting my bruised thumb against everything. Texting is ALL thumbs. Typing (this whole post is painful) uses your thumb for more than just the space bar apparently (maybe I type weird?) Pulling back my hair has also become a pain. I really don't mean to sound like I'm whining, but I am just amazed at how much we use our thumbs. I cannot even imagine not having a hand, or an arm. My bruised thumb will heal in a week or so, but some people will never, have never, used thumbs, or fingers. Wow.

*Joking. Duh.

My Current Obsessions

Harry Potter
Firefly
Avatar: The Last Airbender
FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood



Artemis Fowl
The Hunger Games




There are more, I just cannot think of them at the moment