Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Rainbows Over Manhattan?!

Class today was great--we really bit our teeth in and dug into class.  We had a very intense and in-depth discussion of the material, scrutinizing and thirsting and analyzing and craving.  It was really pretty awesome, I can't lie.  So I left with a skip in my step and a smile on my face.

It was raining, but I had a raincoat and umbrella ready.  It was a calm but heavy rain; powerful yet soothing.  So, again, I was happy.  Then I looked up and I saw blue skies with a vibrant rainbow.

I've never seen a rainbow in Manhattan before.  Ever.

And then my shuffle-all brought up Gene Kelly's classic "Singin' in the Rain."

By gum, I was ecstatic.  What a wonderful concoction of good!  It's so rare that a million little pieces conspire together in such beautiful harmony--I was smiling ear to ear at this point.  I'm sure every person I passed was confused beyond recognition, but I couldn't have cared less.  The world, in that moment, on that walk home, was perfect.

And waiting for me on my kitchen table was a hand-written letter from my best friend.

It's the small things in life that make the best days.  No diamonds, no fancy dinners out, no winning the lottery, no "A" on a paper.  Just a text from you or the right song on shuffle.  The chance to pet a cute dog.  Just a good cup of coffee in the morning.  Simple pleasures--that's all I need to make me smile.

(This is not the rainbow I saw today--I got this one off of Google.)

Yours,
The A.S.S.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Little Stumble, A Little Ridicule

It was a long day, I was exhausted and I was power-walking my way home.  All I wanted to do was just get off of my feet, lie down, get into my bed and simply relax.  So I'm walking really fast in order to get to that bed.

And I'm walking.  I'm walking for ten minutes.  Twenty minutes.  When I'm twenty-five minutes in and only a block away from home, my shoe catches a crack in the pavement and I stumble a bit.  No flailing around, no falling, just a little bump and a quick pull of the foot forward to compensate and catch my momentum.  Really, not a big deal.  Slightly embarrassing, since I was power-walking and dodging in and out of people, but really not a big deal at all.

Which is what I thought.  But apparently, some girls walking behind me disagreed.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The See-Saw Effect

BLOODY HELL.

It's starting.  My life was going SO well for such a long run that I was thinking I was finally doing everything right.  But now, as per usual, the universe has turned and bad luck is following me everywhere.  I had a wonderful summer and the beginning of school was amazing.  Everything was great and grand and I felt just generally awesome about life.

But the shit started happening again.  It began with me losing my license on the subway when I brought it as a precaution to avoid problems.  Then, I poured expired milk on my bowl of cereal. Then, I go through a week of insomnia.  Then, something I've been waiting to buy myself is FINALLY restocked and as soon as I FINALLY get it, it breaks on the walk home.  Then, when out at a lovely dinner, I get this horrible headache that just will NOT go away and keeps getting worse and worse until my vision is blurring, I lose all appetite, become terribly lethargic and apathetic, and my entire body starts shaking.  Then, I lose my room key in class.  Then, I get violently ill for a few hours at home.  Then, I completely misread my midterm assignment and have to restart it all over again.  ACK!

It's what I can only think of calling the see-saw effect.  Life seems to go in these cycles for me--a bout of good and a bout of bad.  What's weird, however, is that the magnitude is generally always equal.  So, since I've been having such a good, decent time and lifestyle over the past few months, I suppose the universe decided that my time was over and I needed to be brought back down.  My good side of the see-saw had peaked and I needed to swing low, bringing the bad side up.  And quickly.

I just hope that the rapidity of the bad things--though each small but sharp pangs--will equate to the lengthiness of my decent months, and this down swing will lighten up soon.  I'm okay with an alright life.  I just hate this part right here where everything seems to suck ass.

Taken from http://jerzeykat.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4dcp7

Waiting for my upswing,
The A.S.S.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Gratuitous Boy Talk

Time to talk about boys!  As much as I hate to dump this out on a blog, I promised to do just that.  And what blog of a college girl would be complete without boy talk?

So!  There are three I'd like to tell you all about.  One of them you already know!  You remember Peachy Keen?  Cool.

Let's begin, yes?  We'll start from what we know.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

An Unparalleled Moment of Beauty

I am witnessing something incredible.  Something beautiful.  And I'm bawling like a baby.  This isn't a story from the streets of New York, but rather a story of the world and its onlookers.  The world and I are watching the rescue of the Chilean miners.  I watched the first three come out and I watch the last one surface now.  As I sit here, crying on my bed, I am flooded with this universal bond of inspired hope and moving admiration.  And I really don't know what to write about it other than the fact that I honestly cannot come up with the words to describe this feeling.  This moment.  This event in history.  It's...momentous?  Well, yes.  Historic?  Of course.  Inspiring?  Yes, but that's not quite strong enough and it seems slightly off.  Admirable?  At the moment, that's the best I can come up with.

Monday, October 11, 2010

And NOW It's Rejection.

The weekend is over, so NOW it's rejection.  Here's the story:

I met a guy at a party a few weeks ago.  I thought we had really hit it off, talking extensively, enthusiastically, and understandingly.  I felt this deeper connection from the get-go, which basically never happens to me.  I couldn't help it, but there was this great sense that he actually understood me.  And few people understand me--hell, I barely understand me.  So when we hit it off so well, I was intrigued.

I wanted to talk for hours, but he had to leave.  So I waited a few days and my friend who had introduced us encouraged me to keep in touch with the guy.  My friend insisted he was one of the greatest guys he knew and I should absolutely go for it.  So, with the guidance of my friend, I facebooked him and waited a few more days to send a message.  The message expressed my interest but left it an open-ended question--I gave him my number and told him to contact me anytime.  The ball was in his court.  And then came the waiting game.

I sent it exactly a week ago.  I figured maybe he would be quick to send a response with few details but a clearly illustrated interest--nothing.  My guy friends said to wait it out over the weekend, because that's when you would actually do something, if anything.  So I waited.  I waited and avoided using the term.  Well, it's Monday now.  And not a single word from him.  The weekend is over, so now it's rejection.

And cue the standard emotional struggle!  Do I pursue further, do I try to just be friends?  Is he a douchebag for not even saying a damn word to me, do I just push him from my mind and move on?  Oh, the politics of flirtation.  I really just don't know how to play the game at all.  Another plunge, another rejection.

Put it on my tab.

http://silvermercury.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d10iyru
Alone once again,
The A.S.S.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Some Money, a Boy, and a Man

Just a little story to warm your heart:

I was sitting in the park yesterday afternoon doing a bit of reading. It was a gorgeous, perfect fall day out--a light breeze, cool temperatures, and lots of sun. I had my music, I had my own bench, I had a good lunch, I was dog-watching, I was happy.

After only about ten minutes of being there, I saw this kid approach this man who had just walked past me. The kid had literally run up to him and tapped the man's shoulder to get his attention. The man seemed upset that he was being disrupted, but the kid just held out his hand and said "Hey mister, you dropped your money." It couldn't have been more than three bucks.

The man stared at the money returned to his hand and had this look of utter astonishment. When he finally looked back up, the boy had already started running back to wherever he came from. The man shouted after him "Thanks, kid!" And then he lowered his voice since the boy was gone and muttered, "I really appreciate it..." He slowly turned away and kept on walking.

And I was enamored. With a HUGE smile plastered on my face, I was so touched by such a beautiful display of innocence, selflessness, and sheer kindness. It was like a movie. What's more, however, was the unspoken communication shared between the observers. I turned my head after the incident and could see several people to my side who had all also seen the scene unfold--they were smiling too. We made eye contact and shared a new smile that said "I'm glad you appreciate this as much as I do." Something in me knew that a "pay it forward"-esque train had just picked up a lot of momentum.


Inspired,
The A.S.S.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

"I think you're ignorant and dead wrong."

In New York, I feel it goes without saying that many people are liberal. Staunchly liberal. And I am not. I have some liberal tendencies, but I identify myself as an independent and actually lean right on many issues. Blasphemy! It's shocking, right? Well, that's just how I've always been even since I first started paying any attention to politics. I am not ashamed of my political beliefs, but I do tend to keep them quiet due to the persecution I know will come about as soon as I open my mouth and contradict anything extremely liberal in conversation. You see, that's just how it's always been for me.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Summer of New Love

Well, hello there! Fancy seeing you here! What has it been, half a year? Well, not quite. But, I'M BACK.

And I'm sorry that it took me so long to do so. The past few months have been a whirlwind or work, emotion, time, friends, family, everything. It all raced by and I'm still struggling to keep up with Father Time as he races onward. Who knew such an old dude could run so fast!

But, I know no one cares about this blog, so I won't dwell on apologies. I'll just pick it back up where I left off--sort of.

So where were we? Ah, yes, springtime in New York. Well, with lovely springtime comes not-so-lovely finals. So that was a black hole that I couldn't escape. And then came summer. And soon, I was completely enveloped with the fact that I ACTUALLY had FREE time to do nothing and NO responsibilities, and I was enamored. It had been so long! So I literally laid around ALL day, EVERY day, just enjoying the calmness of nothingness. But you can just call me a lazy shit. That works too.

And next? Well, what happened next changed my life irrevocably.