the awakening

dear kate chopin,

your story of edna--of her animate emotions, of her awakening and her demise (being both one in the same)--is, in short, extraordinary. and your prose is profoundly accesable and absolute. thank you for telling this tale in the way that you have told it. here are a few of my favorite lines:

"the voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. the voice of the sea speaks to the soul. the touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."

"no multitude of words could have been more significant than those moments of silence, or more pregnant with the first-felt throbbings of desire."

"`well, for instance, when i left her to-day, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. 'the bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. it is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.'`"

"she had been with him, had heard his voice and touched his hand. but some way he had seemed nearer to her off there in mexico."

"she went on and on. she remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the terror that seized her at the fear of being unable to regain the shore. she did not look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she had traversed when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end."

based on this book alone, i must say you were a remarkable author, ms. chopin. i cannot wait to read more of what you have written. it is worsmiths, novelists, storytellers like you and writings, novels, stories like the awakening that remind me why i love literature, and why i want to teach it to others. i hope someday to enlighten my students of the wonder of your work. thanks again. and again. and again.

your newfound fan,
alli reinhardt

hotel, hotel

there's no place like home. especially when you're sick. and after spending one night back at school on monday, this cliche became all the more true to me. it was pretty easy to do the math: being sick + being in the dorms = no fun for anyone. for some reason, when you're constantly coughing and sneezing and blowing your nose, people don't really enjoy your company. or living with you. and at the first mention of the swine flu, i had my hall mates running away in horror (kind of). i didn't enjoy myself all that much either. dorm beds are not the most comfortable things in the world. combine that with the inability to breathe and you don't get much sleep. at least i didn't. when my parents called the next day to check up on me, i told them how horrible i was feeling and how i wish i could go back home. the next thing i know, my dad is getting a hotel room so that i can stop scaring my hall mates and get some r&r, and my mom is coming down to stay in it with me so that she can take care of me. so now we're staying at shelter island, with a beautiful view of the city skyline and coronado island. i got a wonderful night sleep last night. and today was a beautiful day. things are looking up.

here's the hotel

and the beautiful view on the beautiful day

the conclusion: i love my mom and dad. and i love hotels. i also love the girls in my hall. claudia got me some gatorade and chicken soup. tori got me some lovely get-well-soon tulips:

and everyone wished me a quick and speedy recovery. (whether that was for my benefit or theirs is unlcear. just kidding. kind of.) and even though i couldn't come home, little pieces of it came to me. ...in the spirit of hotels and all their greatness, i will leave you with this little ditty. enjoy!

it's a bird! it's a plane!

its...swine flu?! ...i went to the doctor today and apparently the proper name for "everything's-going-wrong-with-my-body-itis" is actually "swine flu." hm. who knew? it has now turned into some sort of interal infection in my sinuses and lungs, which is just peachy. and while i'm no longer contagious, i was on friday. so to anyone that i saw/touched/breathed on, i'm so sorry if you catch it. consider this post my apology. and to make it up to you, i'll leave you with a joke or two...

what do you call a pig thief? a hamburglar!

what do you call a pig with no legs? a groundhog!

what do pigs like with chow mein? sooey sauce!

...you're welcome.

the never-ending weekend

hello reader, how was your weekend? mine was...long. and i don't mean "long" as in a holiday weekend with a day or two off of school. i mean that the past three days have felt rather less like a weekend and much more like a week. or two. okay, maybe just one. "why?" you might ask. the answer: some strange mixture of laryngitis, the stomach flu, strep throat, viral pharyngitis, and bronchitis. sounds lovely, doesn't it? web md's symptom checker could not give me a clear answer as to which specific illnesses i've had the privilege of experiencing this weekend, but my symptoms dabble in all the previously mentioned diagnosises. the name i find most fitting would be something along the lines of "hit-with-a-truck-itis," or "everything-is-going-wrong-with-my-body-itis" because that pretty much sums up how i've been feeling. besides the sporadic twinges of nausea, the body aches that would make hulk hogan cry, and the inability to talk, swallow, or breathe...it's been a lot of fun.

i must admit, though, that this weekend wasn't all bad. i got to spend some quality time with my mom, and it was nice to see her in her element. you know how moms have that innate, dire need to take care of someone or something? well, my shotty immune system provided mine with all the ingredients she needed to tune right into those instincts. from buying me a snuggy to making me soup, renting some chick-flicks and administering all the neccessary drugs to keep me sane...she did it all. so thanks, mom, for taking such good care of your baby girl! thanks, also, to nathan (the boyfriend) who made me some delicious spider man macaroni & cheese and sat with me as i napped, coughed, and cried the days away. you are the best of the best! i don't how i would've survived this weekend without the two of you...

keeping on a positive note and speaking of people i'm thankful for, ali labelle's birthday dinner was on friday. luckily, it occurred prior to the complete and total downfall of my health. not-so-luckily, i didn't get to stay for the whole shindig. it was nice to see some friends from high school, though, even if i couldn't actually talk to them (i had already lost my voice by this time). it was espeically nice to see the birthday girl herself. i've never had a friend more similar to myself than ali. even though we may not look a whole lot alike, she and i are, basically, the same person. same name. same temperament. same mole on the left side of our chin. same everything, really. there is one big difference between us, though, and it is that ali has heaps and loads more creativity than i ever will--take one look at her blog and be amazed. needless to say, she's a special, special friend, and i'm so blessed to have her in my life. happy (belated) birthday, ali!

...like i said, this weekend went by slowly. and that birthday dinner feels like it was weeks ago, rather than days. it is now sunday night, and i'm still at home in orange county. but don't worry, point loma, i'll be back soon to spread around this joyous viral infection to you all. in the mean time, pray that i get well. pretty please and thank you!

invitation

"if you are a dreamer, come in.
if you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
a hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
if you're a pretender, come sit by my fire,
for we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
come in!
come in!"

-shel silverstein

welcome!

bienvenidos! willkommen! boa vinda! ...and all that good stuff. this is my brand new baby of a blog. isn't she cute? the last time i made a blog, i lived in orange county, was a sophomore in high school, and had no idea where i would be in five years. not even a clue.

well, four of those five years have gone by and a few things have changed. i now live in san diego, i'm a sophomore in college, and i have a pretty good idea of where my life is headed.

with that said, i'm glad to be back in the blogosphere. but perhaps you're wondering, why the sudden come back? well, let me give you a reason or two as to why i'm here, writing this post, and making this blog:
1. i recently had an encounter with an academic adviser whose job is to, well, advise me. and the advice he had for me was a bit disheartening. when i told him that i didn't write all that often, he told me to change my major. what a downer, right? i'm currently working on a degree in english education, and plan on becoming an english teacher after graduation. in my meeting with mr. adviser-man, he asked me, "so you don't write poetry? or short stories? or even a blog?...we teachers have rather high standards for ourselves, and considering what you've told me, you may want to consider a different path." well, mr.adviser-man, i'm here to prove you wrong. i will be an english teacher someday. and if meeting your "high standards" means blogging once and a while, then blog i shall.
2. being in college, it's a tad difficult to keep in contact with friends and family. between classes and homework and dorm life, things can get a little hectic. amidst the chaos of college, i still want to share my life and experiences with everyone, even if i don't have the time to tell each person everything. so to the people who care about me--about the places i go, the people i meet, the things that i do, and the thoughts that i have--this is for you.
3. this blog is also for me. i can't wait to look back in 10, 20, 30 years and re-experience the experiences and rethink the thoughts that i put on this blog. both the little things, and the big.

so, consider this blog a conversation between you and me, between me and the world. ...let the heart to hardt begin!