Moving

I am moving. Far far away. To another site.

HAHAHA. SO FUNNAY.

But for reals: http://itsthegingerway.tumblr.com/
Chances are I will update a hell of a lot more.

Much love,
Me

Ginger Problems

I'm back (way) sooner than I thought I would be.

This time I need a little help; I can't decide which ginger-related t-shirt to get. I know, major life choice right here. I don't know if any of you all have heard of the "Ginger Problems" twitter. If you have, fantastic, if not, check it out. The point of all that is that GP has ginger-themed t-shirts... and I want one. BUT I can't decide which one I want.

So here are they are:

The one I'm leaning towards

 

But do I want the lighter version?

Or the more bold tshirt

Yeah... such a tough choice. I'm going for the first one but I'm not quite certain.

Thoughts?

(And I'm sorry for the amount of times I said "ginger" in this post. It wont happen again, I promise!)

A New Look

Why hello there!

It's one week before I head back to school and I've been a tad bored. I've been thinking that my blog has been a bit blah - I haven't updated in over a month, the name was boring, and I wasn't too keen on the template - and I thought to myself, "Ali, why don't you totally revamp your blog?!" And what do you know, I did!

So welcome to my new-ish blog!

Let's be real: I'm not going to update before I start school, but I'm hoping to write again before October. Once I get back to school, back in the thing of things, I'll update more often.

I'll leave you with some new Florence and the Machine until next time.

I'm Back! (Hopefully)

Hi.

Yeah, sorry about the absence in posting. I was initially going to post after I got back from vacation, but then I realized that my initial reasoning I started a blog was to communicate to my friends and family back home, but hey, I was back home. Then there were things I wanted to say but were a tad too long for a Facebook or Twitter post. So that's why I am back. I think this next year I'm going to look at this blog thing a little differently. Instead of just posting updates about what I've been doing, also write stuff about that I find interesting, upsetting, funny, etc.

Let's see how well I keep it up!

A bit of an flashback:

(Look, I've finally figured out how to post videos directly!)

Almost There

It's finals week and I may or may not make it. Not even exaggerating. Okay, maybe a little. At 11:18 am on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011, it will be officially summer. I can finally be like everyone else at home! But my finals week schedule goes as follows:
Monday - Econ 200
Tuesday - German 299 & Freshman Seminar paper due
Wednesday - German 104 & German 367 paper due
Thursday - Leave for vacation!
It's slowly starting to hit me that the year is drawing to a close, but I refuse to acknowledge it. I keep on thinking that I'll be back at Ohio State in about a month, but that's CLEARLY not true. Oh well. Gotta push on through the week!

So the USMNT played Spain yesterday. No comment. If you watched the game you probably share my frustration. That is unless you are a Spain fan, but then I don't know why you would choose Spain over the good ol' US of A. Gold Cup starts on Tuesday against Canada. Let's hope for a game where it looks like we actually care!

Have you seen the new X-Men yet? No? Then go do that.

I will see you all on the other side.


Shampain.

Siblings

I don't know how many of you know this, but I have four younger siblings. Yes, four, but some are half siblings and some are whole. Divorced parents. Whatever they are - half, whole, or whatever people call them these days - they are related to me. And I only have one that is close to me in age - Andreas who is 16. All the others are at least 7 years younger than me (the other two are both 9 years younger than me) and this can pose a problem. First off, I barely see two of my siblings at all, and then 3/4 of my siblings are almost half my age. I look around at my friends and their relationships with their siblings, and I see how close they are with each other, and I envy them. When I look at the way me and my siblings interact, half the time we're yelling at each other and the other half is spent pestering each other. Not exactly sibling love. And as I get older, I realize I don't want to become an adult and have my siblings not feel close to me.

When I left for college, Andreas and I weren't the closest of friends. I spent almost all my time in high school criticizing him for not saying something right, or butchering his German, or not being able to do an algebra problem, and looking back, I HATE myself for it. Maybe it's because I wanted him to be like me or maybe I wanted him to be perfect, but I was so blind to the fact that we are complete opposite people. How I wish I could change the way I acted towards Andreas. And now when I try and talk to him, I feel like it's so hard to connect to him because I feel like he resents me. Now that may seem a little harsh, but if you knew our dynamic, I wasn't the most loving older sister. I feel like I brought this unnecessary competition to everything we did just because that was my nature. I felt like I had to assert power over Andreas; maybe it was because since he was a guy he should be better at certain things than me and I couldn't have it. I don't know. And when people started leaving for college last fall, a lot of them said that they became close to their younger siblings. As the day of my departure got close, I somehow thought that maybe, somehow, Andreas and I could instantly become closer. Well, it didn't really happen, and I guess I could have put more effort into talking to him throughout the year. Maybe things will change this summer. One can hope.

It's funny because the sibling I feel "closest" to most of the time, I don't think I can say the same in return. But I mean how close can one be to a 10 year old? I don't know what to do to connect to siblings. I'm such a fucking perfectionist and competitive person that it's hindered me in my relationships with them. And the worst part is that I recognize this but I do little to change. I have very few regrets in my life (I shouldn't have too many, I mean I'm only 19), but one big regret I've recently realized is that I haven't been the best older sister known to man kind. I really want to improve, I really do. I don't want to become the sibling that everyone hates or just doesn't talk to because I wasn't very loving growing up.

So I apologize to you - Andreas, Christopher, Mason, and Emma - for not being the best older sister out there. I hope that one day you can forgive me.

Waste.

Airports

Airports. It’s a love/hate relationship, really. They’re convenient if you want to go somewhere far away, such as Europe. It sure as hell beats taking a boat. But at the same time, they are equally annoying. Lots of people, delayed flights, overpriced food, and kitschy items out the wazoo. We go to airports because we need to, not because we want to hang out there. (Well, maybe you do, but that’s just not right). Right now I’m sitting in the Columbus airport* waiting to hop on my flight to Newark, but the plane is delayed (surprise, surprise). Sitting at the gate, I soon realize that I have a low tolerance for people at the airport – the staff, the passengers, even sometimes my own family. Everyone is just there, sitting, waiting, watching, talking really loudly. I can’t escape it (for the time being at least), so I’ll just have to cope.

*The name of the airport is Port Columbus International Airport and I’m pretty sure the only international flight is to Toronto. And maybe a second Canadian city… that’s about it. Columbus probably just wants to feel like a big city with that “International” tacked on there.

I’ve come to realize that I would much rather prefer dealing with bigger airports than small. And when I say deal with bigger airports, I mean deal with the people there. At larger airports (O’Hare for example), I feel like people tend to just want to get on the plane, not dealing with what people have to say; they just want to fly away. People in larger airports have an agenda the need to and they wont waste the energy bringing up irrelevant conversations. Yes, larger airports are busier and more crowded, but I can handle that. I mean, I do go to a school with 55,000+ people. I can handle crowds.

But smaller airports, I don’t know, passengers are so much… friendlier. Maybe it’s because I’m flying out of the Midwest and people here are nice in general, but I’m standing in the damn security line for 5 minutes and someone starts to talk to me.

Man: “So, where are you flying to?”

Me: “Newark.”

Man: “Me too. I hope this line doesn’t take to long.”

Me: “Yeah.”

Okay, that conversation was fine. It was the conversation that was going on behind me that really irked me. This guy, who wasn’t even in line for security, he was waiting to see his party through, was talking to the man behind me about how long the line was and the logic between picking lines. 15 solid minutes about this. That kind of set me over. Why do you have to be so friendly, random man? Why? I just want to board the plane as relaxed as possible (Ha! I’m going through airport security). It was one long and obnoxious conversation I hope not to repeat.

I guess annoying people annoy me, but I feel like they are more prominent in smaller airports because they just stand out more. Hopefully I will make it to Newark only slightly annoyed. Eh, the chances are slim.

So it turns out my flight is on time! Yay! Well, kind of. I would consider 30 minutes delayed on time (for flying to Newark that is). But some girl just walked by in an OP shirt and bag and it just made me think of when I played for this way back in the 5^th and 6^th grade. Oh the memories. And also, there are flights from Columbus to Cleveland? That seems a little unnecessary.

Okay, I'm boarding. Goodbye Columbus (for the weekend, that is.)

Modern Family and Other Random Musings

Last Wednesday three of the actors from ABC's Modern Family came to Ohio State to have an informal talk (is that what you would call it?) with the students. When I found this out, I freaked out because MF quickly became one of my favorite shows this year. Granted I only started watching with season 2, but it was still funny nonetheless.

ANYWAY.

So Ty Burrell (Phil), Eric Stonestreet (Cam), and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell) came to campus last week for a about a hour and a half Q&A session and to tell stories from the set, the experiences, etc. and stayed about an extra hour or so to take pictures and meet the fans. Boy, were these men hilarious! Each of the guys were very similar to their characters, but there were some differences I noticed. I would say that Ty is a little more reserved than his character and Eric didn't now have Cam's flamboyant ways ("he's gay for pay" as Jesse put it) and Jesse was nowhere near as uptight as Mitchell is. They took turns saying how they got started, how they got the part, and throughout the whole time they were speaking, it felt so surreal to me that they were actually sitting in front of me. (As I watched the episode on Hulu next day, I could not believe that Phil, Cam, and Mitchell were in the same room as me the day before!).

When the student Q&A session started, Andy went up to ask Eric a question. But let me not that before the show, OUAB was handing out fanny packs to some people, and my group was lucky enough snag some and Andy naturally put the fanny pack on. Let me also clarify that during this whole thing, Jesse and Ty were drinking water out of water bottles, but Eric was drinking a mysterious liquid out of a red party cup. So Andy goes walking up, and asks Eric "what's in the cup?" and then Jesse was like "what's in the fanny pack?!" It was funny. But Andy had a legitimate question about winning an Emmy, not any of the frat crap some guy asked Eric. Ugh, some of the questions people asked. Oh well. I did end up asking Jesse when I met him later what it was like to be a famous ginger. Seriously. That's what I asked him that. Dear lord, why am I so embarrassing.

Here are some pictures from that night, but I shoudl warn you that I was sick, so my hair is a mess, I look like death, and have no makeup on. But it's not like that matters or anything!

Ty!

Please ignore me. This is just awkward of everyone.

My ginger :)

 

 

 

It was so great meeting all of them! And the episode that premiered that night was really funny. It was super hard to contain my laughter as I watched it in The Union.

Other musings:

• Today we finally start soccer playoffs. Seriously. It's week 9. How are we supposed to crown a champion by the end of next week? Damn rain.
• The Gold Cup roster was released yesterday. Dear lord. More on that this weekend.
• So I only have one more German 367 class left and I'm kind of sad. I really enjoyed the class; we've had some random/awesome conversations.
• It's rained too much.
• I'm going to Princeton this weekend to visit my mother. It should be fun. It's been a while since I've been out there... 

 Alright, time to get ready for soccer!

New My Morning Jacket.

Whitewater Rafting

Two-ish weekends ago, a few of my fellow ENR scholars and I went to West Virginia for a little bit of whitewater rafting. While a few of us have been, a majority, including me, have never gone. There were seven of us ENR scholars (well, six, since T-Spice isn't in ENR), and then two trip leaders. We went through the Rivermen program and rafted on the New River, and man, was it fun.

We were set to leave around 4:30, but we all didn't leave Blackburn for the OAC until that time so we were a little late getting on the road which meant we ran into a little bit of traffic. (When I say a little, it is a little in comparison to Chicago. So all in all, the traffic wasn't really that bad). But when we signed up for this trip we were told we were going to sleep in tent cabins, but at the informational meeting they were like, no, we're sleeping in tents. I personally have nothing wrong with tents, but I don't think too many people like setting up tents in the dark. Just saying... But then when we were getting our gear ready, the trip leaders said that they had misinformed us and we were getting tent cabins! Cheers all around.

So I don't know how many of you all have driven through Ohio before, but it really isn't all that exciting. Lots and lots and lots of farmland. But all of that changes as soon as you go towards southeast Ohio and hit the Hocking Hills area. It's hilly and foresty (that's not a word, I know, but it rhymes with hilly. Just go with it.) and very aesthetically pleasing. But holy poop, there is nothing to do down there! Driving by Ohio University, we all were thinking the same thing: no way we could go to school down here. Yes, it's pretty, but there would be nothing to do outside of the OU campus! But once we got down to WV, the view was just as pretty. It was a very nice change of pace from the flat land of Columbus.

New River Gorge - So pretty!

The picture above if of the river we rafted down. Boy was it so pretty! If there weren't dangerous rapids, I probably would have just stared at the scenery all day. While the scenery was nice and pretty, the rafting itself was AWESOME! Holy shit. So. Much. Fun. Words simply cannot describe the experience we had. Well, we first thought we were going on the Upper Gauley, which is extrememly hard, but we ended uprafting down the Lower New, which I think was just right for us. The first 6 miles or so was pretty tame, only one or two major rapids, but after we ate lunch (which was very delicious), we finally started hitting the bigger stuff. So there was 9 of us in the raft, in a 2-2-2-2-1 formation (1 being the back) and I don't know if you know this, but when you whitewater raft, you sit on the EDGE of the raft. Seems a little unsafe, no? But we were all approaching a rapid with two sets of waves, and you essentially had to paddle your heart out for the first wave if you want a chance to even make it over the second. Well we paddled and paddled and paddled, but we did not make it over the second wave. We were so close in fact that we were basically sitting on top of the second wave. But as we started to fall backwards, a wave hit the front left of the raft, causing almost everyone to fall out. Our raft was about to tip, but our guide Seth was screaming"GET LEFT! GET LEFT!" Somehow Stephanie and I managed to get left and stay on the raft. So once we got the raft settled, Stephanie, Seth and I look down the river to see everyone floating on down. There were no really close calls the rest of the day, just lots of fun!

We all got very lucky: it was supposed to rain and thunder ALL day, but it held off until late Saturday night. And since we had our nifty little tent cabins, we did not have to worry about water leaking into the tent or have to worry about putting down the tent in the rain. But the tent cabins had a tin roof, which made the rain REALLY loud at night. A small con compared to all the pros.

That weekend was so much fun, and I know we would all go back in a heartbeat. I can't wait to go back next year. Who knows, maybe I'll try the Upper Gauley!

Blast from the not too far past.

Note: I ended up writing this entry on 3 separate occasions, so if parts of it don't really flow, that is why.

Week 8

Why hello there. I'm sorry I've been neglecting this little guy for a while, but I've been lazy busy. Yeah, I mean I really have had quite the amount of free time to get sun burned, eat, and just sit at my desk, but yet I didn't have the time to write in here. I guess it felt more like a chore than something that should be fun, and we do not want this to be a chore.

MOVING ON!

It's week 8 and it blows. Everyone is finishing up their last midterms, and everyone is starting to get sick and tired of their classes. Finals don't seem close at all, but once next week hits everyone will be freaking out that they need to start studying. All my friends from home are done with school and I won't be back until the 20th of June (I get done the 8th but I'm going to Hilton Head after I get done with finals). To top off this excruciatingly long week, the weather went from awesome back to crappy and it seems like everyone's attitude is affected by this. Everyone is either sick, grumpy, or both (like me!). Once week 9 gets here, the end will seems more reasonable.

On Monday Alex stopped by OSU to take a bin of stuff from my dorm to store at her house over the summer. I filled up a 20 gallon storage container, and I feel like I haven't really dented anything! The only obvious place where things are gone is my wall. Where posters, a white board, and rally rags once hung is now just bare wall. Kind of sad. Also I got rid of all the mugs on my desk; they honestly just took up space. Once the end of the quarter gets closer, the more stuff I will move (thank you so much Blair family!!!!). I hope to only take home clothes home with me.

Oh, I scheduled today. Another solid quarter - 20 credit hours. Art 300.02 (digital photography), CSE 200, Econ 201 (macro), and German 201. When I was trying to make my schedule Disha said I really needed to cater it to her lunch schedule. That seems wise...

That doesn't seem TOO bad

I went whitewater rafting last weekend. I would elaborate more but I think that deserves it's own blog entry. Maybe I'll write that by the end of the quarter!

I could also write about meeting Jesse, Ty, and Eric of Modern Family as well, but a, I'm tired and b, I also think that might get it's own post.

Rant time: The use of hash tags on Facebook.
No, simply no. I understand that if you have a twitter that it might be tempting to end a status with a good ol' #hashtag, but there really is no point. I've been in that position before: either sending a picture to Facebook or writing a status and I want to add one last thought in the form of a has tag, but I stop myself because I realize there IS NO POINT TO A HASH TAG ON FACEBOOK. For those non-twitter users, a # is used to make anything attached to that a link so people can see what others are saying who have the same exact hash tag. Examples: #itshardwhen, #myfavoriteartist, #bookofmormon. You get the point. But on Facebook the # sign does not have the same effect. And if you are guilty of this, I am, by no means, trying to single you out. So, please, people of Facebook or any other form of social media, leave the hash tags where they belong: twitter. I will admit, it is fun to make up superfluous hash tags and I can see why people would want to do so anywhere.

Soccer plug: Have you donated to Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story yet? No, well then I suggest you watch the trailer and simply donate a single dollar.

I'll also update my top five songs tomorrow... or on Friday. Which ever day I don't feel like death! But first: Foster The People remix.

Healthy Eating?

Living the healthy lifestyle is tough. Eating healthy, exercising, getting enough sleep while being a full time college student taking 21 credit hours is no easy task. I need to have a beach body by the time school gets out and it shall be no easy task. 7 weeks to go!

This all started yesterday. I was sitting at my desk, eating some Kit Kats and Chex Mix, which watching Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. This particular episode was the Iceland episode, and Anthony went there in the middle of the winter, when there is only 4 hours of sunlight. Supposedly Icelanders (is that what they are called?) just work out a lot and live one of the healthiest lifestyles instead of complaining about how much it sucks to live in a place with relatively no sun. So as I sit there stuffing my face with copious amount of junk food, I think to myself, this HAS to change.

Enter Mackenzi.

She, too, was complaining how she wanted a beach body by summer, and how she actually wanted to do something about it. There we were, sitting in our tiny, cramped dorm room, talking about how we should be healthy but doing nothing about it. That all changed within five minutes and we hit up the RPAC. We then decided we would eat only healthy food for the rest of the quarter and work out almost every day. We were so motivated, but how long would this last?

The next day:
Wake up, only a little sore from the gym, and eat a healthy breakfast (a hard boiled egg, an apple, and a granola bar) and head out to class. I'm feeling pretty good about myself, and it was time for lunch, so I opt for a salad and peanut butter crackers. And within a half hour of my lunch I am starving. I can ear my stomach growling and I'm starting to feel weak. All I wanted was some mashed potatoes with gravy from Fresh and maybe some pudding. Something heavy that would fill my up. All this damn healthy food does not fill you up, and I was not loving it at all. So I took a nap hoping my hunger would subside (I don't know why I thought that... maybe all the healthy food is altering my thought process), but I woke up with a stomach screaming for food. Then I caved: I had a pudding cup. The best pudding cup ever, though. But after that little slip up earlier I've been pretty good; I went to the gym, had a healthy dinner, and now I'm sitting in the Thompson doing homework/writing a blog entry.

So as day 2 comes to a close, I'm hoping the next 7 weeks or so will not be as bad as this, and my stomach will adjust to just eating a lowly salad for lunch. No promises, though.

I should really work on my Lollapalooza entry. Or maybe I will wait until the schedule is released tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds good.

Everyone should check out Justin Townes Earle. Now.

Oh, this is Ohio State's Campus?

Yes, my friends, you about to get two posts in one day. And what makes you even luckier? The fact that you will now be graced with my wonderful photography. I kid on the wonderful part, but you will be getting a shit ton of pictures. (If you want to look at some of my better pictures, look at my Europe albums on facebook). So without further ado, here is the lovely Ohio State campus:

Oh just the light poles...

Scott Lab

The bike racks are empty on the weekend

University Hall

Pretty flowers along the Oval

The Oval and the Thompson

I... don't remember the name of this building

Hayes Hall... duh

Detail on Hayes

More Oval in the direction of the union

Information please

Some flowers on a tree by the Wex

The side of the Wexner Center

More Wexner Center

Mershon Auditorium

Hagerty and Mendenhall in the distance

The Thompson at the other end of the Oval

The old sign on the new union

Orton Hall

Browning Amphitheater

Mirror Lake

Detail on Pomerene Hall

The other end of Mirror Lake I guess

One final shot of Mirror Lake

 

 

 

If you looked at all the pictures, then kudos to you!

I can't leave you without a song!

There's Always Money in the Banana Stand

I apologize. For two things really. One, this post will have nothing to do with Arrested Development. Sorry, but I really just like that quote. And two, my lack of blogging lately has been, well, sad. I would say disappointing, but I don't think I really have that many (or any at all) faithful readers. I will direct some of the blame on the fact that I have to do so much reading this quarter that I am just sick of writing in general. And then I also blame my lack of blogging on just pure laziness. Meh, doesn't it always lead to that?

Wow, week four already! I have friends who are going to be done with the next few weeks and I still have 6 or so to go. But I'm sure that it will be summer already. The only thing I as for right now is no more rain. I get it, "April showers bring May flowers" and yes, it snowed in Chicago yesterday, but enough already! I would like maybe, three sunny days in a row, but CLEARLY that is too much to ask for since I live in Ohio. Although I think the warm weather is here to stay. Knock on wood, but the coldest day within the next week is supposed to be 55 (yeah, not that warm, but it's not 45!).

Yesterday Mackenzi and I walked around campus taking pictures for one of her art classes. I simply went along just to take picture and enjoy the nice day. I'll probably put some pictures on here when I get them on my computer. They probably wont be my best pictures ever taken, but I feel that if you don't go to Ohio State, you have no idea how the campus looks like. Just doing my part to show the rest of the world what OSU looks like!

So in week two I tried out for the OSU Women's Soccer Club, and while I did not make it, I was able to play in a tournament with the team one weekend. Wow, those girls are really talented! For me, someone who did not really start all that much the two year on varsity, I felt really lucky to be able to play with them. I even had a goal and 3 assists! It was definitely, I would say fun, but I was so out of shape I don't think I could enjoy it, experience. I will most likely try out in the fall again, and if not in the fall, the winter.


In soccer news, the Portland Timbers had their first home game in MLS this past Thursday. For those of you who aren't too familiar with the Timbers, they recently joined the MLS this year from the USL, and they have been quite the talk of the town. Having a longstanding rivalry with Seattle, the Timbers solidified soccer in the Pacific NW. Alongside the team, the Timbers are known for having some of the best fans, which can be on display here. That's the Timbers Army singing the national anthem and it's kind of awesome. I mean, everyone is saying so, unless you're Bob Ryan. I think I've found my team outside of Columbus, because let's face it, Columbus is falling apart in front of our eyes. Oh, and the Timbers mascot? Timber Joey. 

 He cuts logs with ONE hand. Just awesome.

A funny conversation between me and Mackenzi at North Commons today:

M: "Aren't there underground tunnels around here somewhere?"

A: "Yes they exist."

M: "Where are they?"

A: "Underground."

Okay, so it might not be THAT funny, but we enjoyed it. Don't ruin our fun.

I have been really addicted to this Wilco song today for no reason whatsoever.

Back to the 'Bus

Spring break is slowly coming to an end, and tomorrow I head back to the good old 614. It's been a nice, relaxing break, but I'm ready to head back to school and just crank this last quarter out. I'm looking forward to my classes, and I'm really hoping it's a nice change of pace from engineering. So I head back on the Megabus tomorrow morning for a 6 hour journey back to Ohio State.

Oh, Ohio State basketball. How you break our hearts so. So close. So. Close. You just had to let UK win, didn't you? Yesterday's game was ugly. I think we ended up shooting 30% or so. How can you win with that shooting percentage?! You can't! It's sad to think that Diebler, Lighty, and Lauderdale are not going to play at OSU anymore, but next year we should have a solid team. Buford and Sullinger look to be coming back (Thomas said he too was coming back, but why would he go to the draft?), and I guess we have 4 top 100 recriuts? Can't complain about that! We had a terrific season, and it just sucks to end like that. So my new team is VCU. Go Rams! Underdogs, yeah!

And by this point my bracket is busted. I think we've all just declared Rick the winner. I don't even want to know how few points I have.

It's backwards. I know. Deal with it.

Let's analyze the bracket: I have one team still alive. One. I'm usually pretty good at this whole bracketology deal. I started off not too bad; there was time to still catch up, but my second/third round was pretty ugly. My Sweet 16 was even worse. But I guess I can still get Kansas right. This is just depressing too look at.

No more basketball; it's just too upsetting.

On Thursday, Nan, Rick, Andreas, and I went to Second City to see a show, and man, was it hilarious. I've never been Second City, so I was pretty excited. We got front row seats. Okay, it was second row, but I could basically touch the stage with my hand; we were right there. The show was so good! There was only one scene that felt awkward, but other than that, funny the whole way through. Each member was equally hilarious, and played each other their characters perfectly. At one point one of the members grabbed Nan to be "Prom Queen" and she had to go on stage for a whole sketch. It was priceless. So I urge you, if you have not been to Second City, to go! You will not regret it one bit.

Other than Second City, it's been just a chill week. Shopped, ate, but that's nothing new. Yesterday I opened up my new Top Chef cookbook to cook this masterpiece. And it really did look (and taste) that good, too! I am also pretty excited for my new cleats, though.  I really should have gotten new cleats in the middle of last year's high school season, but I just stuck with the "electrical take around the toe where there is a popped seam" method. Hey, it worked, but I mean half of the boot was falling off. See, I usually buy youth sized shoes because they are cheaper. (I wear a women's size 8, which is a youth size 6). But the thing is, youth shoes are not made for hard, aggressive, varsity style play. So usually within one year of buying my cleats the seams begin to pop. Does it really save me money having to buy cheap cleats every year? Maybe, but who know. (But I first stopped at Menards to get some electrical tape for my shin guards. I literally walked into Menards, grabbed $1.50 worth of electrical tape, paid, and left. That's really my only reason for going there and it's kind of awkward for those of you who know what Menards is.) This time though I decided I'm going to get women's size shoes, not youth size. Hopefully these can last me a while, but I'm really excited to wear them. They're very pretty (if soccer shoes can be pretty):

Pretty, no?

Oh, and I finally got my Chicago style hot dog for those who are. It was delicious.

GO WATCH SOME US SOCCER TONIGHT! We play Argentina. Do it. We're even wearing a red kit for the match. Even if we're playing against Messi at least we'll look awesome.

Time for some new Cage The Elephant.

Spring Break (Twenty Eleven)

It's spring break! Thus far spring break has been pretty good, minus the craptastic weather. But tonight I got some deep dish pizza. Authentic deep dish, none of the Pizzeria Uno stuff. Nope, we got Georgio's Mama Primavera. It's so good. All I need now is a Chicago style hot dog and I'm set. Just feed me yummy food and you're good to go!

Today I went to Woodfield to do a little shopping with Nan. We hit the basic stores H&M, Forever 21, Gap, etc., but I noticed that a lot of stores are really trying to push the jumpsuit look (H&M's website is VERY hard to navigate, FYI). It's very big in Europe. Ever since I've seen this style being pushed I've been a little hesitant. I mean, not just anyone can pull this look off. Going through each store I finally decided to try on a jumpsuit, and, well, I bought it. I still don't know how I feel about this purchase, but I guess I will be bringing the jumpsuit to Crystal Lake this summer.

I would NEVER wear those shoes with it

Alright, so I just wrote a whole paragraph about one of my most questionable fashion purchases ever. Don't judge.

ANYWHO, I've been able to catch up with some PR kids over break and it's been fun seeing everyone. I went into the good ol' Prairie Ridge on Monday to meet with Mr. Riemer (who was wearing a Wisconsin bball shirt. Ugh.) and Andreas, and boy, was that a fun meeting. Poor Riemer having to deal with both me and Andreas in the same room. I don't think we got quite what we wanted accomplished, but it was still great to see him. I also ran into Frau Nagel along the way. Boy do I miss her. I'm very nervous to take a German class without her teaching in the spring, but it must me done!

Being home also means I can acquire new music, which is a long time coming. By the time the quarter is over I have over 20 bands that I want to get. So I go to Starbucks the other day to meet Phill for coffee/tea and I decided to buy the Adele CD (yes, I still buy CDs). When I get home and I put the CD in my computer, the CD wouldn't read. I look at the disk and it's already scratched. I was (and still am) very upset. Now I have to go try and return a CD to Starbucks. This will be fun. So I've gotten some new music and here are my top jams at the moment:

Ali Kueller's Top Songs (in no particular order):

1. My Body - Young the Giant
2. Whirring - The Joy Formidable
3. Take It In - Hot Chip
4. Get Some - Lykke Li
5. Beat The Devil's Tattoo - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
6. Echoes - Klaxons
7. Bigger Than Us - White Lies
8. Under Cover Of Darkness - The Strokes
9. This Is Why We Fight - The Decemberists
10. Young Blood - The Naked and Famous
11. Stay Too Long - Plan B
12. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
13. Rolling In The Deep - Adele 
14. Mr. November - The National

I suggest to whoever might be reading this too look up those songs. I mean, I would link them but I'm too lazy. Okay, so if I had to suggest ONE song, I really, really enjoy number 12. Do it.

To the right of this post there is a section called "Random Links", and towards the bottom there is a link for The Jay DeMerit Story (different from this link). For all of you guys who don't know who Jay DeMerit is, just read the article I linked you to; his story is incredible. And if you don't follow Jay on twitter, you really should because he's one of the funniest members of the USMNT.

I still reside in last place in the Kueller Bracket Challenge, but not for long. All of those who had Pitt going far will be feeling it soon. I will give a full updated version of the standings next time.

Now go listen to some new music!

The Madness!

So my bracket's busted. Already. Day 3. I started off hot, 2-0, but the St. John's happened. I had them in my final four, but I guess they had other plans. Oh well. My final game is still a go: Kansas against OSU, with Kansas taking the prize.

Kueller Family Standings (up to Round 1):

1.) Mason, 26 pts

1.) Richard, 26 pts

3.) Andreas, 23 pts

3.) Nan, 23 pts

5.) Me, 22 pts

This is depressing. I'm the back-to-back defending champion. I need to step up my game.

Finals are done with and it's spring break! I have yet to check my grades, but I mean it's only day 2 for me. I don't want to potentially ruin my break, do I? I'm pretty sure math kicked my butt, but hopefully all went well and I will be done with math! YAY! The end of this quarter marks the end of my short, wonderful engineering career. I will say I went out with a bang, getting second place in the class for my group's nano chip design. No big, just got a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble (spent on an OSU shirt). With that, I bid farewell to engineering.

Well, I'm back in the good ol CL. After a nice, long overnight bus ride and trip on the Metra, I arrive back home. I forgot the Nyquil for the Megabus, but I surprisingly slept. Oh, and the bus was packed. I was very surprised. And people got on at the Indianapolis stop. At 4 am. I mean, come on, they could have caught a later bus, but 4 am? Is it really worth it?

Today I ended up going to my old high school's girls soccer game with some of my own teammates, and I forgot how much I missed playing with everyone. It was great seeing all the girls on the team as well! Well, we lost 3-0 and it was a tough loss. Poor Mr. O. He just looked frustrated. I will give credit to the parents: those metal bleachers are rough on your butt! Credit where credit is due.

The seniors last year :)

 

The rest of my spring break includes a lot of basketball watching and spending money I don't have on food. WHY CAN'T BUCKID BE ACCEPTED EVERYWHERE?! Oh the life of a college kid.

Let's jump on the Adele bandwagon.

PS - With Borders going out of business in the CL, I raked up on some CDs. #winning

Finals Week

I'm going to make this short and sweet. I'll update when I'm on my 8 hour overnight bus ride from Cbus to Chicago. Fun times lay ahead:

It's finals week and it sucks. All my hard finals (chemistry, calculus, and engineering) are within 24 hours of each other starting tomorrow at 3:30. Then I have one more final on Thursday, which happens to be history. That one shouldn't be TOO bad. But hey, I already have my paper for history done, which is due tomorrow as well. It only took me an hour and a half. I'm actually quite impressed with myself.

So I'm at the Thompson, semi-studying with Disha (I was going to link her blog but she's being a butt and not letting me). So I'll give you a picture of her instead. Fair, no?

So much blogging studying

I could really use a giant cup of coffee right now, but no. I decided to give that, ice cream, and swearing up for lent. Right before finals. Why am I so dumb. But seriously, why? I guess I will have to stick to giant cups of tea.

Swear Count: 13.

(Okay, so it seems like a lot considering lent has been going for not even a week. But if you hear me speak, I'm a sailor. So I call this very good for me!)

Here's some Hot Chip.

P.S. Mackenzi switched my Facebook password so I will not be on that black hole of a website until my last final. I don't know if I can do it.

The Fast Paced Lifestyle

Where have the weeks gone? As the 9th week of a 10 week quarter is wrapping up, I cannot seem to grasp where the time has gone. I feel like I just got back to Columbus and I should be preparing for my first set of midterms. But in reality, I took my last midterm the past Friday and now I have finals to study for. Eek! But I can say that I am, for the most part, looking forward to a week with no official plans. No lab reports to write. No textbooks to read. Just... empty time. I will say that is one nice thing about the quarter system; there is no work over spring break. Now granted I do not know exactly how the semester system fully works, but I can only assume that people on the semester system have homework over spring break? Correct me if I am wrong, please. Time flies when you're on quarters.

Speaking of semesters, I got one the regular e-mails from the people involved with the quarter to semester conversion. As I read the e-mail, it dawned on my that I actually like the quarter system, and I am kind of dreading the switch to semesters. Yes, I have funky breaks that do not line up with anyone and yes, what people learn in 15 weeks gets crammed into 10, but I think that the good out-weighs the bad. For instance, if you don't like your class, you will be out of there in no time; you wont have to sit though 15 weeks of drudgery. Instead you're in, you're out, and you're done. Also, the quarter system allows you to take an extra set of classes. If you were on the semester system, you might not have time for one extra fun class because you're trying to fit all the classes you need into your year. But with quarters, that extra set of classes can allow you to space out your year and just have some change in the spring! Plus is makes graduating if four years a little more plausible if you're an engineer. Just saying.

Ah, engineering. You have given me quite the two quarters worth of work. You have given me endless work and allowed me to spend ample time in the library. You have even been so nice to let me have class every day of the week, all day I may add. Oh, and you have also made me dislike math, which I used to love. How can I ever repay you? I have an idea, how about switching majors? I think that's a great idea, and that is exactly what I am doing. As of right now (since it's not technically official), I plan on switching my major from environmental engineering to German and international business (which means I can put my AP Stats credit to use!). Big switch, no? Tomorrow I have a meeting with a business academic adviser (that's if I ever get a confirmation e-mail. Fisher, we are not starting off on the right foot, are we now?) and hopefully I will be on the path to switching majors. I wont switch to German until I have taken a few German classes in the spring, just to make sure I like the German program at Ohio State. But I'm excited! Also, I will not be envious of all the less work the business kids on my floor do. (Thanks for putting the ENR Scholar on the Business Scholar floor, Blackburn!)

While I have been very busy these past few weeks with midterms, labs, and papers, I have somehow managed to find time for myself. Shocking, I know. But the past weekend I participated what is know around here as BuckeyeThon. BuckeyeThon is OSU's 17 hour dance marathon benefiting Nationwide Children's Hospital. This year was BT's 10th anniversary, upping the hours from 14 to 17. And during those 17 hours (from 5pm on Saturday to 10am on Sunday), you could not sit down. Standing for 17 hours is quite the task. I mean, I bitch and moan for having to stand for 6 hours at Regal while getting a 35 minute break somewhere in the time I work. But I had a blast with my team (Teenage Dream/Blue team!)

Teenage Dream plus a random person just chilling

While our group started off large, in the end only Disha, Brittnee, Asumi, Aaron, Will, Andy, and I remained, but it was so worth it. The kids came back in the morning and it was much fun. It turned out that we raised over $222,000 (up from the $100,000 last year)! I don't know if it was a combination of being tired or just how moving the whole event was, but we all burst out in tears. Thank goodness I did not have a lot of homework that weekend because I slept the rest of Sunday (except for when I played soccer... which I amazed that I could actually function has a human). To anyone who goes to Ohio State, definitely do BuckeyeThon at least once before you graduate. You wont regret it.

Other happenings in my life, around OSU, or in Columbus:

• My CoRec intramural soccer team is in quarterfinals and we have a game tonight! I really want to get that free t-shirt when you win...
• The final home basketball game is this Sunday. I cannot wait.
• In the past week I have gone from 20 to 21 down to 16 credit hours for next quarter. Let's see how long that lasts.
• Crazy stuff is happening in Wisconsin, but it's also happening in Ohio as well.
• The Ohio Union now has a cupcake bar!!!!

 So. Good.

• I hate MATLAB. Just saying...
• I am on a electro/house music kick. All week the Deadmau5 mix on YouTube has been playing.
• So Interpol came to town not too long ago. A little disappointing, but still a good show.
• Tuesday was my last chemistry lab!!!! (Insert happy dance here)
• I'll be a first year sophomore next quarter!

Since the last time I have posted I have had approximately 2.5  death weeks, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Hopefully I wont go a month or however long it has been!

Time to go read a chemistry textbook! But first, The National.

Halfway

This week marks the fifth week of the quarter, which means we are halfway through winter quarter which means I am halfway through my first year of college! I feel like just got to Ohio State, but clearly I have been since September. Time flies when you're having fun!

On Tuesday, our awesome basketball team played Purdue. I don't know if you caught that game (whether it be in person or on TV), but it was INSANE! This was one of the most fun games I have been to all year. The Schott was rocking. No words can describe how fun it was. Purdue even had a small rag tag group of fans and eventually they fell silent. I eventually lost my voice but it was so worth it. We played like there was no tomorrow! The Nuthouse was where it was at! May I suggest following the Buckeye Nuthouse on twitter? Yes? Next game is on Thursday against M!ch!g@n.

Luckily for me, I had no midterms this week. Why? I was sick. Very sick. So sick that I wouldn't even roll out of bed for food. Yeah, you know it's serious when I wont even get up for food. This cold hit me on Wednesday as I was writing my paper (more on that later) and I only woke up to take a quiz and turn in that paper. After my two (easy) classes I went back to bed. Thank goodness I was sick on Thursday because my classes go from 10:30-12:18. So I'm still alive, no worries! This ginger will be around for some time to come.

So, yes, this past week I had to write my first paper as a college student, and looking back, I think I wrote a summary of the book instead of actually trying to prove something. I had to write about Harriet Jacobs and her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. You see, the past quarter and a half I've been writing lab reports and lab memos for both engineering and chemistry, and the point of lab write ups are to summarize and not necessarily try to prove a point I may have. So, yeah. I should probably work on that for the next paper (or for my midterm next week!). But hey, I already have 5 points of extra credit and I actually happen to really enjoy my history class. Words cannot express how nice of a change it is to go from classes where you only take notes and there is only one right answer, to a class where you can have discussions and formulate your own thoughts! Thank god I have to take GECs or else I would be buried in physics, chemistry, calculus, and engineering!

This past Sunday I went to the Two Door Cinema Club/Tokyo Police Club (Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin opened for the two) concert with Andy. Let me tell you, Two Door Cinema Club puts on a fantastic live show. Maybe even better than their album, and their album is good. Best part of TDCC? The ginger lead singer. Yep, ginger power. BUT! But, the best part of the show was the encore: both of the bands came on stage and did a cover of The Strokes's Last Night. Oh my god, what an epic collaboration. I went nuts, partially because I freaking love The Strokes (which they are coming out with a new album, btdubs) and also because their version was awesome! Good show all around. I personally perferred Two Door Cinema Club, but hey, I just like them better in general.

#epiccollaberation

It has come to my attention that I have completely neglected to mention one of the highlights of the quarter: SNOWBOARDING ON THE OVAL. Yes, you read that right, snowboard ON The Oval. And yes, for all you people who don't know much about The Oval, it is flat. As flat as the earth was in people's minds in the 1400's. As it turns out, a few people on BK2 and BK3 brought their skis and boards with them to OSU and we decided to celebrate the ending of the first week of winter quarter (and the first snow fall since coming back to school) by having a little fun on a Thursday night.

Sarah pulling me

 O-H-I-O

 Everyone!

 Mirror Lake and stuff

I hope you enjoyed the plethora of pictures from that night. It was oodles of fun, even though half of us had 8:30 classes the next morning :)

Finally, potential spring quarter schedule. Thoughts?

Click on it to make it larger

Math 153 - Calculus 3. Not fun. Required.

Physics 131 - Intro to physics. Essentially AP Physics. Required.

German 367 - My second writing course. Going towards my potential German minor. GEC.

German 299 - A study in the "culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany in literature, film, the other arts; the roots of fascism and its echoes in postwar Germany." GEC. (I'm PUMPED for this class. Words cannot describe.)

Alrighty, that's all for now. I'm barely alive after that near upset Northwestern just gave us. Too close for my liking.

How about some Swedish indie rock?

Enjoy the last of your January.

Come on! Feel the Illinoise!

Wow, it has been a LONG time since I've updated. Like, over a month. I'm very sorry about that; I've just been... lazy. So what's new?

What has gone on in my life the past month or so:

• Mackenzi and I signed a lease for an apartment!
• I'm on an intramural soccer team this quarter
• I'm going to my first snowboarding competition this weekend
• I was going to rush... but then I decided not to
• The Yule Ball is tonight!

So the first week if winter break my family and I went to St. Thomas for my cousin Michelle's wedding! It was fun, and just an all around nice break. Plus, it felt like a real vacation. Let me clarify: a Kueller vacation is rarely a relaxing vacation. Example one: skiing. A skiing vacation is work. You need a vacation from that vacation! Example two: camping. Camping is... semi relaxing... once you get everything set up and have enough bug spray on to swim in. Example 3: Europe. Europe was a fantastic vacation, but we lived out of a suitcase for three weeks going on trains here and there. Work, man! Needless to say, the USVI were a nice break, especially just after I took finals. The whole family was there and it was warm, but not humid, and the water was very blue and it was just pretty.

Tom, Michelle, and the rest of the family

The rest of winter break was pretty mellow. It was good to be home for the first time since I left. Even working wasn't that bad! And I was very happy to see Katja for more than just the expected 2.5 days we were supposed to have (thank you freak Europe snowstorms!). Nothing exciting really happened; just a lot of basketball watching and food consuming. So nothing out of the norm.

I miss these girls so much!

I was one of the first people to head back to school (Chungie was the other one... but she's in the Air Force so her breaks are always short) and it felt good to be back in Columbus. Since I flew back on New Years Day, I wasn't allowed back in the dorm so I actually got to spend a day with Alex! It had been a while since we actually hung out (we did see each other for about an hour over Thanksgiving break) and it was good seeing her again. The next day I gave her a personal tour of OSU and we walked around the Short North for a little while and stopped in a really cool music store. But I soon found out that despite being able to back to the dorms on Sunday, none of the campus dining areas were open! What the heck, Ohio State?! I'm a hungry girl and I want my food, but I don't want to use real money. And seeing everyone back in the dorms was fun. It's weird seeing someone day in and day out for 12 straight weeks and then go almost a month without seeing them once. Whatever, life happens!

Ohio State sports have done pretty well the past month and I am loving it, that is for sure! To kick off the quarter, the football team won the Sugar Bowl! It was one of the most exciting games to watch! And to top it off, all five of the suspended juniors are coming back to Ohio State for the senior year. Mad props to Tressel and the players for keeping the promise. Then hockey team had a stellar sweep of Miami (we are HUGE hockey rivals with them!), and on Friday night (the game I went to) Chelsea Dagger played. I went with a fellow Blackhawks fan, Amy, and let's just say we were pretty stoked to hear a little Dagger. Oh, and then there is the basketball team. I don't know if you've heard, but we're pretty good. We have some talented kids... ya know... only earning the #1 ranking. So we're legit. You better watch your back!

The Buckeye Nuthouse!

 

Oh, and the student section is pretty awesome this year. Additional seats were put behind the benches and it is a fun atmosphere. Just the other day I was two rows off the Iowa bench. Games are crazy, loud, and awesome. I can't wait for the exciting Big Ten games. Plus we have sweet pants (which I won a free pair, btdubs).

So as I mentioned earlier, Mackenzi and I finally signed a lease on an apartment for next year! It's this darling apartment on High, and it's painted bright oranges and yellows (plus a green room which Mackenzi just LOVES). So were pretty pumped!

Yule Ball tonight. So ready.

It's finally the weekend.