Cookies

For some reason I owe Taylor cookies? I can't even remember why anymore. But, since I have so much free time now, I decided to make some cookies. Now, for those who know me, you know cooking/baking is NOT my specialty. But, I think I did alright, they're edible, I hope? I used my favorite ingredient, NUTELLA! 

Oops

I skipped Title Tuesday, oops. I've lost track on what day it is. That means it's break time. I'm headed out to London tomorrow. We plan on doing a walk along the Thames, Royal Wedding on Friday and Hamlet at the Globe Theater on Saturday. I'm so excited to see Hamlet! I'll probably be MIA until next week, sorry folks. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Here's a few pics from our trip to Borough Market last week:

Best curry ever!

Freeee

I turned in my essays today. Best. Feeling. Ever. 

I'm freeee. 

Getting ready for the Royal Wedding wedding on Friday, wish us luck and that we don't get stampeded. 

It's going to be a great week/end! 

Catch Up

I had a lovely Skype chat with these ladies tonight. It was nice to catch up and have some much needed girl talk. It made me miss our crazy adventures and our nights in Gilbert. I'm excited to take a trip to Cali with these girls this summer! 

Don't mind some of these ridiculous photos, we have issues with taking "normal" pictures. 

Love you girls! 

Sunny Days

The last couple of days have been great. I spent my time in London relaxing, having fun, and putting off my essays... But I loved every second. 

Taylor and I took a nice walk along the Thames the other night, the weather was perfect.

Yesterday we spent our day lounging around Hyde Park. It was packed with people enjoying the beautiful weather. Have I mentioned how in love I am with England right now?! The weather is amazing, makes me not want to go back to Arizona and the dreaded heat. 

Today we spent our morning at the Borough Market and snacked on some delicious samples. Loved that place, highly recommended if you're ever around! 

Now I have to finish my dreaded essays... But only one more month till we'll be relaxing in Greece! 

Delighted

I'm one happy girl, guess who comes home today!?

Airport bound!

Title Tuesday: 1984

This week's Title Tuesday is 1984 by George Orwell. 

Another one of my favorites! Introduced to me by my brother, I first read this at the beginning of high school. Since then, I've read it multiple times and I enjoy it more and more with each reading. 

Here's the wiki summary:

Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984) is a 1949 novel that reflects a dystopia by George Orwell about anoligarchical, collectivist society. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonistWinston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him to the point of seekingrebellion against Big Brother, eventually leading to his arrest, torture, and reconversion.

As literary political fiction, Nineteen Eighty-Four is considered a classic novel of the social science fiction subgenre. Since its publication in 1949, many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime,Newspeak, and Memory hole, have become contemporary vernacular. In addition, the novel popularized the adjectiveOrwellian, which refers to lies, surveillance, or manipulation of the past in the service of a totalitarian agenda.

I'm a big fan of utopian novels, and 1984 does not disappoint! Go pick it up!

Unfortunately, my favorite part of the book is a spoiler alert, so I leave you with another favorite excerpt:

"To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone — to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone: From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of doublethink — greetings!" -George Orwell

Oh Ringo

In 2 months we will be united. And we'll jam. All night. You should tell your pal Paul to come. Just saying...

Brilliant Idea

[Insert Sarcasm Here]

Hey, I've got an idea. Lets discuss the surplus of voice and the way it creates aesthetic effects in this 

piece. Try and keep your responses at 2,500 words please! 

[Passages, by Theresa Hak Kyun Cha] I apologize for the numerous posts about how much I hate these essays. I promise it will end soonish. All that separates me from freedom is 8,000 words.  On a happier note, Taylor comes back this week. We have plans to finally go to Stonehenge and Bath. And of course go celebrate the Royal Wedding, duh. Now for something completely unrelated. Glen sent me this as he's "writing" his essay. And I laughed. Hard. I think my lack of sleep and delusional mind might have something to do with it, but I hope it makes you laugh as well.

The Day's Progression

Is it time to go to Greece yet? 

We're gonna have a good time!

Happy Birthday to my favorite 15 year old! 

Welcome to womanhood Natali, well in accordance with our wonderful Mexican culture! It's great, you get to be all womanly now, congrats!

This lady is the bees knees and I miss our random adventures in good ol' AZ.

But she's coming to the land of the Brits in June to visit and we are going to party! 

British style of course, with tea and Ringo, duh.

You should all go pay her a visit and tell her how much you fancy her and wish her a happy birthday! 

Stumble Favorites

Does anybody else waste hours of their day on stumbleupon?? Because if you haven't discovered this beauty, you must get on it. Yeah, you might not get anything done, but I guarantee you will find the most random awesome things on the internet. If you set up an account you can choose what your interest are, then all it takes is a click and you'll be stumbling! It takes you to random websites that contain your interests, so great. So I thought I would share some of my favorites: 

I stumbled on this yesterday, it's beautiful. A spoken word poem about a boy in the hospital struggling with cancer.

A list of better book titles, so funny.

Supernatural Registry, you know, just in case you're a vampire or werewolf and haven't registered yet.... (I laughed so hard when I found this!)

In case you want to learn random facts, which I do ALL the time.

If my Title Tuesday recommendations aren't cutting it for you, check out the book seer!

Funniest word vomit ever.

I hope I have aided the ones that are procrastinating something! Procrastinators unite! 

Traveling Plans

We finally made a decision about our trip, we spent the last 2 days on the internet looking for flights. Frustrating! But we decided to be responsible and wait until we're both done with school. So, Taylor and I are heading off to Greece next month! Our plan is to fly to Athens and then make our way to Santorini and possibly another island. 

I am so incredibly excited for this trip, I have been dying to go! I've been drooling over these folks' blog, check them out. Their pictures have definitely pumped me up! 

via 

Also, we may or may not have talked about this place for June:

via

Keep your fingers crossed!

Killing Time

You know, because I have nothing else to do while I'm writing a 3,500 word essay.

Wait, this might explain why it's not done yet....

Title Tuesday: The Screwtape Letters

This week's Title Tuesday is The Screwtape Letters  by C.S. Lewis. 

I just finished the book this weekend after Taylor had recommended it. 

The Screwtape Letters was first published as a book in 1942.

Wiki Summary:

In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis provides a series of lessons in the importance of taking a deliberate role in living out Christian faith by portraying a typical human life, with all its temptations and failings, as seen from devils' viewpoints. Screwtape holds an administrative post in the bureaucracy ("Lowerarchy") of Hell, and acts as a mentor to Wormwood, the inexperienced tempter. In the body of the thirty-one letters which make up the book, Screwtape gives Wormwood detailed advice on various methods of undermining faith and promoting sin in the Patient, interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine. Wormwood and Screwtape live in a peculiarly morally reversed world, where individual benefit and greed are seen as the greatest good, and neither demon is capable of comprehending or acknowledging true human virtue when he sees it.

I loved reading this. The style of the story really allows you to see the a different perspective on religion. I really enjoyed the way Lewis used letters to tell his story, I'm a big fan of unusual narratives. 

Here's a sneak peek:

"Of course a war is entertaining. The immediate fear and suffering of the humans is a legitimate and pleasing refreshment for our myriads of toiling workers. But what permanent good does it do us unless we make use of it for bringing souls to Our Father Below? When I see the temporal suffering of humans who finally escape us, I feel as if I had been allowed to taste the first course of a rich banquet and then denied all the rest. It is worse than not to have tasted it at all. The Enemy, true to His barbarous methods of warfare, allows us to see the short misery of His favourites only to tantalize and torment us — to mock the incessant hunger, which, during this present phase of great conflict, His blockade is admittedly imposing." -C.S. Lewis

Jerk Face

Our neighborhood's ice cream man is a jerk. I hear the lovely melody coming from his ice cream truck everyday as I'm sitting in our living room, but he NEVER comes by our house. Just because we are Uni students, it does not mean we don't want ice cream! So today, after getting out of the shower, I heard the lovely song, but it sounded louder! Could it be?? The ice cream truck near by?? So I ran to my window and sure enough, there he was! But guess who was in a towel with no clothes on?! You jerk face, why would you do that to me! 

But, at least I spotted him. I will be on the lookout, you evil ice cream man!

Cup of Natali

I spent my afternoon talking with this lady, making plans for her visit to London this summer. And we hit the jackpot, Ringo Starr, in concert at the Hampton Court Palace Festival in June. Yeah, you heard right. Witnessing the other Beatle would complete my life, no I'm not being dramatic... well maybe slightly. 

We also squeezed in an interview, check it out!

Aunt Mags: What have you been jamming out to lately?

Natali: I've been jamming out a lot to Arcade Fire and I recently purchased Contra. I wake up to Vampire Weekend just because it's good motivational beats.

Aunt Mags: Any movie recommendations for the folks?

Natali: I have too many, since all i do is watch movies, but anything directed by Wes Anderson or Sofia Coppola is pure gold.

Aunt Mags: Alright, let's get to the important things: Who's your favorite Beatle and why?

Natali: I love all of them for different reasons, and they were all talented , but I'm a Paul girl. Dare I say part of it is his good looks? I think I also really like him just because I was able to witness him live and it was amazing. Best moment of my life hands down. His solo work is also magnificent and he's all around a lovable guy.

Aunt Mags: Since you're a fellow book nerd, any recommendations?

Natali:Lolita. I made the mistake of watching the movie first (Stanley Kubrick does an amazing job, watch it) but I still really enjoyed the book. It's sick, twisted, and hilarious at the same time. And so beautifully written. One of my favorite parts of it " She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita."

Go check out this lady's blog!

Procrastination at its Finest

Does anyone else suffer from extreme procrastination? Or you get really sidetracked? 

Eh, well anyways, I created my dream room, making plans for the new condo in AZ. Now I have to get back to my attempts of writing my paper...

Welcome!

My little stat birdie has been telling me that there has been a significant abundance of new readers from all over the world coming to check out the blog. So, I thought it would be nice to do a welcome post, sort of to catch up the new readers on what this whole shin dig is about. 

First off, welcome! I'm very glad you have taken the time out of your day to come read my usually non-sense thoughts and comments. I really do appreciate it, I'm flattered. 

A little about me:

I recently moved to the UK to attend school and live the British life for a while. 

I'm an English Literature major, and sometimes my nerdy lit references, sarcasm and stupid jokes make their way to the page, I'm sorry. I can't help it. 

I also frequently forget or just don't bother with lugging my SLR camera around; so instead, my nifty ipod has become an essential part of my blogging. (instagram is amazing!) 

I sometimes have a hard time coming up with blog post ideas, which result in really lame ones that I think of while I'm in bed at night. (Why does everything sound like a great idea at 3 am?) 

I'm a poor college student, so I get pretty creative when it comes to stretching money out, can I hear a holla? 

I go on angry rants about college a lot, but who doesn't? 

I'm obsessed with The Beatles and Nutella, my 2 daily essentials. 

Does that sum me up?? 

So, if you're a new reader or someone who has been chugging along with me and keeping up with my ridiculous writing, don't be afraid to say hello! 

No, seriously, leave me a comment peeps. I would love to read them! And make sure you follow me, that way your nifty blogger dashboard can tell you every single time I post a new post, epic. 

Egham Adventures

Another beautiful day in Egham, so sunny! We were craving some milkshakes, so we took a trip into town to buy some ice cream and oreos. I even got to use my sunglasses for the first time, so epic. 

And of course we had to pay tribute to Kelis and her jam.

Nothing better than milkshakes and movies all day, oh yeah.

Also, I had been meaning to do this since I came back from NYC, but we all know the procrastination issues I have. Just paying tribute to the man. 

3 Month Anniversary

Happy 3 months to me! It has been a great 3 months since my arrival to the UK. I can't believe time is going by so fast, it needs to slow down! To celebrate, Elliot and I made a fudge chocolate cake and watched movies tonight, we're so cool. 

Also, I'm extremely jealous that Taylor is in AZ eating Mexican food and I'm not. And no to mention that he's going to be eating my MOM'S Mexican food next week, that's just not cool man. Can we just get some of my people on this side of the pond already?? The UK is slacking in Mexican food! 

My insomnia has been kicking in again lately, it's 4 am right now and this lady is yet to go to sleep, go me. 

Face Palm x2

This morning I woke up, got up out of bed, and fell flat on my face. It might have had something to do with the fact that my room looked like this:

So I spent my day cleaning, and eating left-over pizza, when I should have been at the library reading about material elements and their poetic presence, oops. 

After shot:

 By the way, did you notice the sunlight?! The sun came out today! I kept my window open all day for the first time, epic. 

Also, I've started a mini-collage on my wardrobe, but it seems to be lacking in some new pitchas, post card shopping trip?

Last random rant today. Here's a snap of the view we had last Sunday on our trip to Great Windsor Park. Perfect place to take a nap and read, trust me.

Check it out

I'm on bloglovin now, ya'll should follow me, deal?

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Face Palm

I spent hours at the library today researching phonology and voice and meaning in poetics. After 4 hours of research, I realized I still had no idea what I was reading and that there was no way I would ever be able to write a 3,000 word essay on it. So I changed my essay topic, face palm. 4 hours of research and note taking down the drain. 

Library round 2 tomorrow, yay...

Title Tuesday: Song of Solomon

This week's Title Tuesday is Song of Solomon, by the wonderful Toni Morrison.

2 semesters ago, I took a Woman and Literature course at ASU. The whole semester was focused on Toni Morrison's literature and I got hooked. My favorite of the semester was Song of Solomon, it's beautiful. 

Written in 1977, Song of Solomon won Morrison the National Books Critic Award and played an important role in winning Morrison the 1993 Noble Prize in Literature. 

The book follows the story of Macon "Milkman" Dead III, and more in depth follows the story of a Black man's search for his identity through learning about his family history. Song of Solomon is based on an African-American folktale about slaves who can fly back to Africa when they choose. Morrison fictionalizes this wonderful folktale through her character Solomon, Milkman's great-grandfather. As Milkman discovers his identity through his family history, Milkman learns to take pride in his ancestry and to value his surroundings. 

I fell in love with the language in this book, Morrison's words are woven perfectly and the imagery in the story is absolutely beautiful. 

 Here's a beautiful excerpt:

"See? See what you can do? Never mind you can’t tell one letter from another, never mind you born a slave, never mind you lose your name, never mind your daddy dead, never mind nothing. Here, this here, is what a man can do if he puts his mind to it and his back in it. Stop sniveling,’ [the land] said. ‘Stop picking around the edges of the world. Take advantage, and if you can’t take advantage, take disadvantage. We live here. On this planet, in this nation, in this county right here. Nowhere else! We got a home in this rock, don’t you see! Nobody starving in my home; nobody crying in my home, and if I got a home you got one too! Grab it. Grab this land! Take it, hold it, my brothers, make it, my brothers, shake it, squeeze it, turn it, twist it, beat it, kick it, kiss it, whip it, stomp it, dig it, plow it, seed it, reap it, rent it, buy it, sell it, own it, build it, multiply it, and pass it on – can you hear me? Pass it on!" -Morrison

I encourage you all to pick this book up or any other Morrison novel, you will not be disappointed! 

School work, boo

This weekend was another great one. I spent last week doing a whole lot of nothing, mostly because I've been putting off my essays. I spent a great Sunday with Taylor and unfortunately he had some last minute flight changes and flew out to AZ today. After dropping him off at the airport, I took a super long nap. And I finally forced myself to sit down and pick my first topic for one of my essays. For the next week, my ONLY focus is on the surplus of voice in poetics and music and analyzing and discussing the treatment of voice in a piece I studied this semester, awesome huh? My goal is to finish as much as possible in the next 2 weeks, then I'll have plenty of time to go visit new places!

Oh, and I've finally reached the point where the mean April Fool's Day joke that Taylor played on me is funny, took me a couple of days... but he somewhat made up for it last night with a nice home-cooked meal, oh yeah.

Hope your weekends' were marvelous!