On Halloween

Halloween is one of those weird holidays for me. I never celebrated it back home, but it's a huge deal in the U.S. Honestly, I don't really understand why but I guess there's some fun in pretending you're someone else for one day.

I've never been trick or treating, so some friends are taking me out to have my first experience tomorrow. Seems kind of random to me to just knock on people's doors, but hey, if there's candy involved I'm in.

What are you dressing up on Halloween?

On Sexual Harassment

The aftermath of that viral sexual harassment video. Way to prove a point: http://mashable.com/2014/10/29/street-harassment-psa/

On Weird Beliefs

We all like to think that we're the normal ones and everyone else is crazy. I argue that's not the case. I think all of us believe in something that other people would label as insane.

For instance, last Friday I had a meeting at work. My co-workers and I had some time off and our conversation took a weird turn when we started talking about conspiracy theories. My friend said she believes in the Illuminati and that they really do control the entertainment industry. We all started talking about things we believed in. I said I believed in aliens. And actually I do believe in them, and they scare me. Everyone started to laugh. I mean, it is pretty humorous, but how many people believe in Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster.

Anyway, this is kind of random, but really, if you think about your beliefs they're not as sane as you may think.

On Senior Year

Whoever said senior year was relaxed lied. I've never been busier in my life. I'm taking 6 classes (one is an advanced research class which is killing me), an internship and 3 jobs. All of that while trying to balance out my social life as well as trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do after graduation.

I guess this is what I get for being a triple major and graduating a semester early. What really gets me through it week after week is the thought of my family coming from Honduras and watching me graduate. I really just want to make them proud.

I'm trying to stay in America because life in Honduras is too violent and corrupt, but I know that's an uphill battle in itself. I'm trying not to think about it too much because it gives me major anxiety, but it's reality that I have to face eventually. Hopefully it all turns out alright.

On Selling Yourself

Today more than ever it's important to be marketable. Why should they hire you over someone else? You better know this if you're hoping for that entry-level job or that internship. But I always wonder, how do I do this? It feels kind of uncomfortable thinking of yourself that way. And although it's important, I feel like networking is really awkward.

How do you go about doing this?

On Looking Forward to Things

I know I shouldn't complain. We just had a break, but this break didn't feel like a break at all. I had tons of homework, and I just stayed in Plattsburgh and worked, worked, worked. I didn't go home, and I get feelings of jealousy mixed with guilt every time I hear that someone enjoyed time with their families. Well, I'm now planning my first (real) vacation of the year when I go home. It's warm yearround and I hope to actually catch a tan. These are my favorite vacationing spots in Honduras:

Roatán, Bay Islands- nothing compares to the blue waters of Roa. Everyone uses dollars in this island and everyone speaks English, which is probably why it's such a popular destination for American and European tourists.

Copán Ruinas, Copán - the Mayan ruins in Copán are some of the best preserved ruins. I love going to this place and looking at a civilization that lived so long ago and still has such an influence on our culture.

As the temperature drops, my dreams of warm weather and relaxation grow.

On Breaks

I CAN'T WAIT FOR BREAK. And I know I'm not alone in this feeling. It's crazy to think that we're approaching Columbus weekend and that midterms just happened. Where is time going? It feels like as I get older time goes by faster. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Either way, I can't wait to catch up on my sleep and do some homework. I'll try to stir away from my usual pattern of "I'm going to do so much work during the break but then I end up doing nothing at all." This is the craziest and busiest semester I've had thus far, and I feel like I can't really slack off or relax.

Still, sleeping in and watching TV sounds really good right now.

On Cool Girls

Last week I saw Gone Girl in theaters. I didn't really have any expectations and I don't really want to ruin the movie for anyone, but upon coming back to my room, I read some quotes from the book. One especially resonates in my mind, the famous "Cool Girl" speech:

“Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.

Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl. For a long time Cool Girl offended me. I used to see men – friends, coworkers, strangers – giddy over these awful pretender women, and I’d want to sit these men down and calmly say: You are not dating a woman, you are dating a woman who has watched too many movies written by socially awkward men who’d like to believe that this kind of woman exists and might kiss them. I’d want to grab the poor guy by his lapels or messenger bag and say: The bitch doesn’t really love chili dogs that much – no one loves chili dogs that much! And the Cool Girls are even more pathetic: They’re not even pretending to be the woman they want to be, they’re pretending to be the woman a man wants them to be. Oh, and if you’re not a Cool Girl, I beg you not to believe that your man doesn’t want the Cool Girl. It may be a slightly different version – maybe he’s a vegetarian, so Cool Girl loves seitan and is great with dogs; or maybe he’s a hipster artist, so Cool Girl is a tattooed, bespectacled nerd who loves comics. There are variations to the window dressing, but believe me, he wants Cool Girl, who is basically the girl who likes every fucking thing he likes and doesn’t ever complain. (How do you know you’re not Cool Girl? Because he says things like: “I like strong women.” If he says that to you, he will at some point fuck someone else. Because “I like strong women” is code for “I hate strong women.”)”  

― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

What do you think? Does the cool girl exist?

On Bad Movies

So apparently an Angry Birds movie is a thing. Even more surprising are the stars attached to the project. Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph and Peter Dinklage are set to voice the birds and pigs for this awful project.

I have no idea why Sony Studios would make such a terrible decision, but I guess movies haven't exactly been very good recently. I feel like the only movies that ever get made in big, mainstream studis are superhero movies, sequels or reboots of older movies. I know I can't be the only one who's tired of this.

I love going to the movies. It's one of my favorite things, but being in Plattsburgh makes it difficul to see the latest releases when certain movies have limited releases. That's money that they're not getting from me just because I really don't want to see Die Hard #34546.

On Inside Out

Pixar has just released a teaser trailer for "Inside Out". The story follows the emotions of an 11-year-old girl, Riley, who's trying to adjust to a new life in San Francisco. Change fuels a different array of emotions which causas panic in the control center where her emotions-- Fear, Sadness, Joy, Disgust and Anger live. These characters help guide Riley through a new chapter in her life.

The trailer starts with a montage of all different Pixar movies and the feelings they have evoked in us. Overall, it's very cute and heartwarming. It really makes me wish that I had a movie like this when I was growing up.

Even as an "adult", moving away from home has been really hard. I think that it's good that there will be a movie that deals with this. I love Disney and Pixar movies, so I'm sure I'll be in line at the movie theatre when this movie comes out. Here's to hoping it's a good one.