everything is bigger in texas

Uhhh, seriously.

http://www.makli.com/big-lou-s-pizza-san-antonio-005317/

I ate one of those with the help of six people. And when I say we ate it, I mean we ate some of it. After ringing plates full of grease from our slices. Totally worth it. Thanks, Lou.

it's almost biblical

Remember “Mulan?” Remember that adorable little lucky cricket? Remember looking at an actual cricket and thinking, “man, that guy’s cute!” No, you don’t. Because they’re gross. And Disney lies.

Texas has a serious problem. It is completely overrun with giant crickets. And apparently, it’s not the first time. (http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2007-07-26-cricket-invasion_N.htm.) Following Tropical Storm Alex (he turned out to be too wimpy to qualify for Hurricane status), the ground in Texas is now much softer this summer, attracting thousands of crickets to lay their eggs early and pester the world. If only they would stay outside, they might be more bearable. I thought it was charming the first day I walked into work and was serenaded by an orchestra of crickets all morning. Then I saw one run by my desk and under the chair right next to me. Sick. The charm was gone. Then I began to realize (how had I missed it before??) that dead crickets littered every corner of the building. Live ones huddled in door jambs. Their song echoed in the bathrooms. Visions of Jiminy Cricket in his dapper vest and top hat vanished. It only got worse after that, as my foot narrowly avoided being scuttled over at Whataburger and the stench of their piled carcasses assaulted me outside the movie theater. I dread the day that I lose focus while making my way across a parking lot-turned-obstacle coarse and accidentally crunch one underfoot. That will not be a good day.

Dear World

I really need to teach you something. So you can teach your children and your friends and your enemies and especially anyone who is ever going to write anything ever. There is something called the Serial Comma. You know this comma, world, I know you do. But for some inexplicable reason, some have chosen to ignore it, some deny its existence, and some make fun of it behind its back. Besides being rude, that is also incorrect. So, let me (re)introduce you to my friend Serial Comma.

“The flag is red, white, and blue.”

Notice the two commas. That second one is my good friend, Serial. And, unless you are British or a journalist, the rule is to include it. It’s the RULE. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself.

http://www.protrainco.com/essays/serial-comma.htm

And from the ever tactful and often hilarious CMOS Q&A: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/Commas/Commas36.html

Do it. Or else you might end up looking really ridiculous, like the author who wrote this book dedication, “To my parents, Mother Teresa and the Pope.” That’s embarrassing.

what are the odds?

When it rains in Texas, by george it pours. Though the rain comes down in torrents, storms don’t usually last more than a few minutes. NewTek is housed inside a very industrial looking building with a roof that is made out of some kind of material so that when it rains, when you’re in the building it sounds like you live inside a drum. It’s actually kind of cool. One day one of these storms came down at about noon. I’m inside at work. No big deal. Until. I feel a tap on the top of my head. I looked behind me to see if Paula or Lindsay decided to use a rather rude way of getting my attention. Negative. I turned back around and immediately felt another tap. Then I look up and realized—I was being rained on. Apparently, my desk has been positioned directly beneath one of the few rips in the ceiling of this football field-sized building. Seriously? And whenever there’s a torrential downpour, I’m going to feel it. Is this just a coincidence? Or are my co-workers ducking behind their screens and laughing into their hands while I go through Chinese torture? I don’t usually have really terrible luck. Maybe this is some kind of office initiation. Good joke, guys. Initiated.

nobody's home upstairs

my desire to do anything school related gone. gone. gone.
problem.
finals are almost. almost. almost. here.

list of things I should have been doing for the last hour:
Italian essay
Movie review assignment
Asian Humanities study guide

list of things I have done in the last hour:
checked my email/facebook one thousand times
listened to the "Where The Wild Things Are" soundtrack three times
looked up the Greek alphabet on wikipedia
translated one paragraph of Italian
made a peanut butter and honey sandwich
talked about China with my neighbor
successfully distracted my studying partners from doing their homework
watched a movie trailer with Miley Cryus in it
and learned the word bisque

problem.

word of the day

You know what? Joy. That's what.

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." --Viktor Frankl
"It is this spiritual freedom--which cannot be taken away--that makes life meaningful and purposeful." --Viktor Frankl
"There must be more to happiness than everything going right in your life."
"In your life there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take." --Elder F. Enzio Busche
"Life wasn't meant to be endured, but enjoyed." --Elder Henry B. Eyring

I know my path. I know my goal. I know the end of this story. I'm on the winning team. And I know what my reward will be. With this knowledge, how can I be anything but joyful?

i'll leave the window open

Ignore the fact that this very idea was just made into a TV show, because I thought of it first--have you ever wished that you could see your life exactly six months or a year in the future? I have. I do. School. China. Work. Humanities. Italian. Boys. Decisions are hard. It would be so much easier if I could just see in the future what I haven't yet decided in my present. Follow?

Six months. Will I have a better handle on my life then? Will I have more things figured out? Will I be that much more grown up? I wish there was a grown up meter. No, I don't. Then my immaturity could be proven, not just conjectured at and laughed about. But really, will I be six months smarter six months from now? I don't feel any more grown up than I was in April. Sometimes I think I'll grow up later. When I'm married, then I'll be more mature. But that's wrong. I need to be mature now. I need to grow up now.

Ok, six months is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Heck, 21 years is nothing in the grand scheme of things. So, since 21 years is kind of significant to my limited human perspective, I'm just going to apply that logic to the next six months. They seem pretty important to me. And they are, aren't they? They could shape the rest of my life. Tomorrow could shape the rest of my life.

Is it worth it? Is it worth the missing and the leaving and the making up for it later?
But how can I pass it up? How can I pass up the memories and the life experience and the adventure?

And anyway, life is going by too fast. I'm getting older. I'm getting older! I'm not really ok with that. I won't always be able to do these kinds of things. But can I do these kinds of things now? Can I really? No, no, no. I can do anything I want. I just have to pay the price. Literally and otherwise. I could do it if I really wanted. but do I really want?




what I really want is for Peter Pan to show up at my window.