...You know you love me xoxo

The Cast of Gossip Girl

Guilty pleasure confession time: I love Gossip Girl. There is something about it that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I love the feminine fashion, the irrelevant parties and galas, the glamorous New York, and of course the never ending drama. 

Blair Waldorf

The character I resonate with the most is Blair, the spoiled Eastside princess with a flair for meddling in matters that do not concern her. Blair is constantly scheming and striving her way to the top of the social ladder. At the same time she is vulnerable, lonely, and trying to learn how to leave her childish ways behind and become a lady, with little guidance. She relies on her friends and her significant other for the emotional support that should come from her family. 

There are many reasons why I am drawn to Blair and I could write a complex, introspective blog on why I laugh and cry with her. But I'm not going going to. I just wanted to share so that next time you sit down to watch your guilty pleasure television show you will know you are not alone. 

Pregnancy

No, not with a baby. You freaked out, didn't you?

Rather, I have been contemplating how writing my thesis is like being pregnant. Never having been pregnant, I can not say for sure if it is an exact comparison. I rely on my friends who have been pregnant  to determine if these thoughts relate at all to pregnancy.

• I was thrilled and a bit giddy when I first found out what it entailed.
• Now, being so close to the end, I just want it to "push" it out and be done.
• I am ready for my bundle of joy that everyone will ooh and aah over.
• The weight gain...I am heavier now than when I started.
• Lot of friends asks me about it every time I see them and I don't really have much new to report. Only I can sense the minuscule changes that happen on a daily basis. 
• I'm worried about the "delivery".  I'm worried that I am going to mess it up. I'm worried that something will go wrong. I'm worried that it will be painful. 
• Some nights I can't sleep.
• I have done quite a bit of reading in preparation for this big day. 
• Danny has picked up the slack around the house. He is supportive and understanding, while doing his best to sympathize, but really he can not fully understand. (Thankfully, maybe one day, he can experience a thesis even though he can't ever experience a pregnancy.)
• I am trying to restructure my life in order to see that this "baby" of mine has the best chance at being the best it can be. 

Carrying from conception to birth only applies to a thesis for now. But I have a new appreciation for those mothers out there. I can still have a glass of wine after a particularly grueling "pregnancy" day.

What does it have in its pocketses, Precious?

After picking up a copy at City Lights Bookstore, Robyn and I have taken turns reading through The Hobbit aloud before the non-reader inevitably drifts off to a sleep filled with dreams of dwarves, trolls, and one barefooted Mr. Bilbo.

While I absolutely cannot wait for the movie to come out, it has been an unparalleled joy to sit with Robyn by my side as we slow down our eyes, absorb with our mind, and let our imaginations run wild.

Because, as spoken word artist Taylor Mali puts it:

Once upon a time, we grew up on stories, 
and the voices in which they were told.

We need words to hold us, 
for the world to behold us, 
for us to truly know our own souls.