243/365

One of my most favorite films is The Edge of Love, which is about the life of Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas, if you don't know, is a writer of the Modernism period. He was from Wales and wrote some pretty beautiful, albeit dark, stuff during World War II. I'm a big fan of Dylan Thomas because I enjoy his poetry, but I love this movie because I enjoy period pieces with Keira Knightley. 

The Edge of Love talks mainly about Thomas' experiences during World War II and his unstable marriage to Caitlin. Dylan Thomas wasn't a really nice guy; he was an alcoholic and he slept with a lot of people that he wasn't married to. You find out about a lot of the bad stuff of people when you study poets and writers. Usually they aren't the best or most sound people.

Anywho, I'm writing about my enjoyment of Dylan Thomas because I will possibly get to go and see his homestead, Wales, next summer. And that makes all of the hard classes worth it.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“[I'm] a freak user of words, not a poet.” // Dylan Thomas

242/365

Sometimes ugly things can be really beautiful. Your messy handwriting, unwashed hair or dirty jeans all add up to real life. Perfect is an illusion and illusions are not real. So if you can do one and one then you know that perfect does not exist. We say that a lot but we still insist on it being out there. Your life can be perfect if you do this, wear this and marry this... It's in every magazine on the stand with an absolutely beautiful tan woman with a great waistline on the cover.

The media sells us an image of perfect and we buy into it every time that we pick up their issues. Then a few weeks later, those magazines end up stacked on the floor with coffee stains and water-warped pages. You know when you watch movies and the characters aren't superbly beautiful and don't have their life together and you love them more than you do the latest Nicholas Sparks? That's because the people seem real. Real life isn't perfect. It's coffee stains on your shirt and dried food on your jeans. It's used books and running late for work. Enjoy the things that aren't so nice, because you'd be very annoyed with your perfect life if it existed.

catch you later,
Karleigh

“You’re never too big to lose. You’re never too smart to lose. It happens, and you need to embrace those things.” // Beyonce

241/365

You should always set aside time to do things for yourself. A lot of the time, I feel like I get swept up in my work and the things that I need to do, so much so that I forget to do the things I like to do. Don't get me wrong; I love a routine. I wake up two hours before I have to be somewhere just so I can go through the proper steps of my morning routine. And I enjoy it, but sometimes I just forget that I like to drink coffee because it becomes "okay, so now I drink my coffee." Does that make sense?

I like a lot of things. I like to watch movies and old television shows. I like to watch hair tutorials and read books. I like to write letters to my friends and read articles that I find on my facebook feed. There are a lot of things that I enjoy doing, but I find myself not having time to do them. Life is busy. We are constantly trying to fit more stuff in instead of taking unnecessary things out. 

Life is all about time management. You have to schedule time for work and time for play. So make sure that you don't get caught up in too much work and not enough play. It'll make you a dull boy.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures." // Lovelle Drachman

240/365

I am a very visual person. I like to look at things and I can become very pleased just by the way that buildings are constructed or the flowers are planted. This is why I love fall. Autumn is not as dismal as winter, meaning that the colors are still somewhat living and the leaves are not quite dead yet. I love fall a lot, especially the literature that one associates with the time. I like creepy things. I've always liked weird things, messed up situations and characters. It's very real. Fall feels very real to me. So I look forward to leaves cracking beneath my boots and cracking open some gothic literature. And the movies... I love the scary movies.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.” // Bram Stoker, Dracula

239/365

Getting a message about an "active shooter" on campus was definitely not what I thought would happen today. Now that I know that the guy was in a bad place mentally and that he did not have a weapon, I can look on the situation a little differently... but I want to be honest. I'm still scared, like that is a very scary thing. It's not something you walk away from without bother. I watched people go from happily eating before class to completely fearful in the arrival of one text message. I saw a guy throw his bike down so that he could run faster. I thought we were completely fine and then heard people telling me to run away from campus because "there's another one." 

You don't leave days like this without feeling changed by the situation. I'm so thankful for the Lord and His love for us. I'm thankful to the girl that stood up and prayed over at least a hundred of us stuffed into one classroom. I'm thankful that the boy can get help for the problems that he was and is facing. I'm so thankful for all of the police officers that protected our campus to the best of their ability. I'm thankful that all of the students and faculty are able to call their friends and family and tell them that they are okay, that they are safe. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God." // Isaiah 41:10

238/365

catch you later,

Karleigh

"It’s such a shame to waste time. We always think we have so much of it." // Mitch Albom, For One More Day

237/365

I've been so busy these last few weeks that I feel like I haven't been able to do the stuff that I enjoy doing. Then there are some times during the past week where I have found myself enjoying things that I thought I wouldn't like. For example, I've taken to reading outside. It's partly because I cannot focus in my room or in the library. And even though I'm reading out loud -- just to myself. I hope others don't hear me -- it is a lot better than sitting in my bed trying to read while also thinking about the shows I could be watching on Netflix. 

I love to write and I haven't really gotten to do that either, which makes me a little sad. Obviously I'm writing now, but this is somewhat of a job to me -- not that that is a bad thing. I have to write on here everyday because it is helping me grow as a writer and it lets me unwind from the day. So in a way it's cathartic, but not in the way that writing fun stuff is. Do you get what I'm saying? 

Anyway, I just think you have to find new things that you enjoy at new parts of your life. I'm a firm believer that life is what you make it. If you decide to hate where you are at, then you will. If you decide to love it, you'll love it. So decide to love everything and find time for something you enjoy everyday.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I have no partner, so I’ll just have to learn to lead." // unknown

236/365

Okay, so I like to be honest with you guys. Well, I don't like it... I would love to pretend that I have a great time all the time and nothing ever bothers me but that's not real life. So lately, I've had some trouble at school. I just feel super overwhelmed with my classes and assignments and workload. It's a lot and I'm adjusting to something completely new. I'm usually a really adaptable person, but this time it's taking me a little longer. I can already hear my mom, and probably you, saying, "But it's only been a week." 

And you're right. It has only been a week so there is plenty of time for me to adjust. I just am having some trouble right now. It'll relax in a few weeks, I know. I just want to reassure everyone that is adjusting to a new situation right now, which is a lot of people that I know, that it's okay to not know what you're doing. I don't.

catch you later,

Karleigh

" Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once." // Paulo Coelho

235/365

I'm trying to adjust to a new schedule. Bear with me.

catch you later,

Karleigh 

"Nobody can drag me down." // One Direction,  Drag Me Down

234/365

"we think we’re made of numbers. percentages on tests, pounds on a scale, likes on a photo, price tags on clothes. but we’re not. we are made of love and happiness and the way we laugh. we’re made of good memories and late nights and past-curfews. we have more substance than numbers." 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Life’s too short to drink crappy coffee and cry over boys who don’t care." // unknown

 233/365

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that is your own self. So you have to begin there, not outside, not on other people. That comes afterwards, when you have worked on your own corner." // Aldous Huxley

catch you later,

Karleigh

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” // Anton Chekhov

232/365

I've talked to you guys about studying before, because I love school and academia and everything about learning. It's kinda my thing, which is why I am basically going to university to read and write and enjoy the architecture of my campus. Another of my things is architecture -- I freaking love buildings. But studying is kinda weird for me because I never had to study in high school, which some people look on as a blessing. Let me be the one to tell you that not having to study in high school is not a blessing. It's not because you go into college not knowing how to study and so you have to quickly figure out how you study and how you learn. I've had two years of college already so I'm fairly versed in studying and writing notes. I enjoy the note taking process because I like to write stuff down and I like to copy my notes. The thing that I have figured out already is that I cannot study in my dorm room... or well I cannot read in my dorm room. 

days-of-reading.tumblr.com

I don't know if it's because I read in bed or because it's later in the day but reading in my room makes me sleepy and my mind wanders. It's not good so I've taken to reading in the library -- pretty good, but still almost fell asleep -- and on campus -- my favorite so far but it's been raining off and on so. Since school is starting back, I think it's nice to remind yourself that studying doesn't necessarily have to happen at a desk. Sometimes a new location can open your mind in a lot of ways that you could have never imagined.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I am so clever that sometimes I can’t understand a single word of what I am saying.” // Oscar Wilde

231/365

You travel blindly through life, seeking guidance in small decisions and asking what you think are life's big questions. So here is my question to you: Why do you ask yourself questions that the universe never asked you to answer? Answer: Blah blah blah. Satisfaction/Comfort in knowing answers in the way the world works. 

Sometimes we should just sit back and let things happen, because they will. No matter how much you think about something or plan for something, things will change and you will be forced to adapt. You have to go with the flow. For me, that's hard. I don't like flowing; I like determined steps on mapped out sidewalks. That doesn't always happen though so... just go with it. Be like a tree, unmoved by the happenings around it but swaying with the changes of the wind. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Sometimes I'm terrified of my heart, of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants, the way it stops and starts.” // Edgar Allan Poe

230/365

You can write about anything, you know? I do; I write about whatever comes into my head. Sometimes I write more poetically that other times. Sometimes I don't write anything at all. I think about how everyone is different, everyone views things differently. You can write about one thing while another person writes about something completely different. 

In my dorm, there are multiple places that have drops of purple nail polish. I'm not a fan of purple, but I guess the person before me was. They really liked purple nail polish or they were very clumsy with the bottle. Do you ever pass by someone around campus or in the store and just wonder? Do you wonder about what nail polish they like, why they decided to follow the Birkenstock trend, how they came to have the haircut that they do now?

Try it. Let me know what your mind reveals.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“She’s a full-on Monet.” // Clueless (1995)

229/365

I started a new school today. It was pretty cool but I have to go drown myself in reading assignments now.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Don't create limitations." // unknown

228/365

Do you ever feel like you are wasting time, like you should be doing more, living more? There are 525,949 minutes in one year and, on average, you will probably live for 41,024,022 minutes. That's roughly 78 years, which is the average lifespan for people in America. That's not that long. So it's easy, I think, to feel like you should always be doing more than you are, like you aren't living your life to the fullest? It's a hilarious thought actually because who decides to what maximum you live your life but you? Everyone has a different sense of adventure and a different idea of what you want to do. I just think maybe we should stop comparing ourselves to other people in our age bracket. 

catch you later,
Karleigh

"Sometimes I can't help but feel // That I'm wasting all of my time" // Over My Head, Fleetwood Mac

227/365

www.saatchiart.com/louijover

 “Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
by each let this be heard.
Some do it with a bitter look,
some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss,
the brave man with a sword.”

—Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol





catch you later,
Karleigh

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." // Oscar Wilde

226/365

catch you later,
Karleigh

“Race doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice.” // Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

225/365

Hugh Grant is one of my favorite actors; in fact, I remember watching the trial when someone recorded his phone calls just so I could watch him on television. He's been in some amazing movies, but his romance films are nowhere near his best. About a Boy is unarguably Grant's best film. Learning that you don't have to be alone, that you deserve happiness and successful relationships, is a very valuable lesson. We all need to be reminded of it sometimes. So let this be your daily reminder. You deserve love and happiness and relationships that fulfill you.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"I used to think two was not enough. But now things are great; there are loads of people... I don't know what Will was so pissed about. I don't think couples are the future. The way I see it now, we both got back-up now. It's like that thing Jon Bon Jovi said: 'No man is an island'." // Marcus, About a Boy

224/365

I have this love for Simon and Garfunkel and I hope that you do too. I hope that you like bad indie movies and eating pasta for every meal. I don't want you to like the cereal I do though cause you might eat it and pretend like you didn't. And I might get mad about it, but I hope it would be the kind of mad that I laugh off. I hope you like antique stores, but if you don't then I won't blame you. In that case, I hope you will love me enough to go in them with me. I hope you pay attention when you drive because one of us should. I hope you can deal with my anxiety and help me work through it. I hope I can help you with everything, that you don't mind me telling you when you are being stupid, that you tell me when I'm being stupid. I hope you have an interesting face, but you will because everyone does. I hope that I get excited to show people your picture, that I show everyone that will look. I hope you don't change my life but enhance it. I like pastels, but I would be okay if you turned up the contrast. Vivid colors aren't my thing, but if you like them then I would paint everything in your favorite colors, even puke green. No I wouldn't. I would respect you enough to tell you that I hated that color. I love myself and I hope you love yourself too. And I really hope you love Simon and Garfunkel.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"In his anger and his shame, / "I am leaving, I am leaving." / But the fighter still remains" // The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkel

223/365

I have this love for Tommy Hilfiger ads. I don't wear it, but I love the ads. They have this appeal, this attractive part to them. You know what I mean. It's so American, so down home, apple pie and red white and blue. It reminds me of prep schools, rich people and too many cocktails at a family Christmas party. Tommy Hilfiger was really big when I was young, it's still really big too I guess. But I always keep looking at the ads in magazines, looking for the same models, the same prints, the same prep school styles. Looking at the ads doesn't make me feel like I'm coming to my home but to a home that I've visited many times before, somewhere that I've spent the night, invited myself to dinner. I guess ads can be like that sometimes.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"I am lonely, yet not everybody will do. I don’t know why, some people fill the gaps and others emphasize my loneliness.” // Anaïs Nin

222/365

I moved into a new place today and then let myself get caught up in a whirlwind that I have to back my way out of now. It isn't a bad thing, but it is kinda bad to me. I do not like to call people back and tell them that I can't do something that I thought I could. Anyway, you have to do what is best for you.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I belong deeply to myself.” // Warsan Shire

221/365

There is more to life than who holds your hand. There will be so many things to see and do and feel, and you can do all of them without someone else. I think sometimes about getting married and having kids. I have this ideal life, planned to the tee, and sometimes I want it so, so badly. Then sometimes... I can feel the romance, the thrill of living alone, of finding a companion in myself. I can be happy by myself. I think everyone has that fear of ending up alone, of having no one that likes you enough to live with you forever. And I don't think... I mean it isn't irrational. That is a genuine thing to think about and for some it is so consuming. I think it's hard to acknowledge that maybe your soulmate is you. You can hold your own hand when something goes wrong and you can congratulate yourself on a job well done. You can enjoy paintings, a slice of cake, a novel alone. You can eat alone and live alone and still be happy. Your happiness is not tied to marriage/family/job. Your happiness comes from within and not from the person that stands beside you.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” // Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

220/365

It is easy to romanticize the loneliness of winter, to find yourself floating amidst snow flakes in search of a proper landing. You make your way through the cold, dark nights in search of warmth, something you can grasp and hold on to -- a steaming coffee mug, a clammy palm, the last thirty minutes of a Christmas film. We long for the warm lights in shop windows, the thick coats and pink cheeks. We smile at people as they pass and then December passes and we are left in a cold and dark purgatory. The never ending winter has grasped our frozen wrists, sunk its teeth into our happiness and we are left begging. Please let the sunshine come back. I would give anything for a few minutes of warmth. This damn coat/scarf/sweater is suffocating me. In the early moments of winter, we may be swept into a romance unlike any before. It is never the same as the previous year, but the feeling that follows... it is too familiar. The sinking sensation within our bones, the harsh reality that the trees are bare and you are left with cold fingers and chapped lips. It is easy to romanticize the loneliness of winter when we are easily distracted by the happenings around us but, like any relationship, the romance fades and we are left wishing for the sunshine to distract us, to shed outer layers that have kept us in the dark for too long. And when the sun makes its joyful return, we will soon be romanticizing the oncoming winter again. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I was always attracted not by some quantifiable, external beauty, but by something deep down, something absolute. Just as some people have a secret love for rainstorms, earthquakes, or blackouts, I liked that certain undefinable something.” // Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

219/365

I am by no means a cook. I don't do it enough to call myself that, but I do enjoy it. My grandmother used to cook all the time. My mom doesn't. So I guess it skipped a generation and now it's my turn. And I can cook if there are clear instructions and I have all the ingredients and it won't take me forever. I'm still working on patience. So my mom and I were looking through some cookbooks yesterday and decided that we could make chicken and rice for dinner. Chicken and rice is no big deal. If Lucy Ricardo could make it on I Love Lucy, then I can too.

The recipe called for:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 cups instant brown rice
• 3/4 cup of water
• Onion soup mix
• Cream of Chicken
• Cream of Mushroom

You combine all of these things into a 13"x9" pan and then lay the chicken on top and then pour half the pack of the onion powder on top. Pop it in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes and you're done. It's a super salty dish -- I'm not a fan of salt -- but it was still really good. The chicken was probably the best part of the meal since the rice mixture had a saltier taste. Overall for the first time I made chicken and rice, it was pretty alright.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"Bam!" // Emeril Lagasse

218/365

My mom was always really open with me about real life things, which is why I got to watch movies with tougher subject lines when I was younger. These kinds of movies impact you. They open your mind to different types of lives, consequences of difficult choices and a ton of actors that are way more talented than the ones you find on Disney channel. A lot of people don't think that kids should be talked to about real life things, so we play cookie cutter families and push things under the rug. We watch what we say and make sure that they don't know too much about grown up things.

A long time ago this probably made a lot of sense. Children were raised differently and no one really found out about "grown up things" unless they had older siblings. There will always be one kid with an older sibling that knows everything and is not at all afraid to share everything to their siblings and then to the entire school. That's why we have to face up to the fact that we live in a different time. Kids know things a lot earlier now. It doesn't make any sense to hide everything from them. Obviously there is a time and a place for that sort of sharing, but it is definitely not something to hide.

Talk to kids like adults. Help them work through their problems logically. If someone pushes them on the playground don't brush it off with an "that's why kids do when they like you." Help them figure it out and then help them to confront the person and sort the situation out. Teach your daughters to stick up for themselves and the things that they like. Teach your sons that girls are equal to them and that they can be emotional about stuff. Raise your kids to be healthy adults with sensible decision making skills. Teach them to think for themselves and about others. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.” // John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things

217/365

All in the Family is absolutely one of my most favorite television shows. It doesn't run on television anymore, but it did when I was a little girl. I must have watched it a few times back when TVLand played the good shows, like Happy Days and The Andy Griffith Show. Both of those shows have Ron Howard in them which is funny. I love Ron Howard too.

That's beside the point though. Anyway, All in the Family is described as the show where "a working class bigot constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day." It's hilarious. I mean you can be on either side of the political spectrum and find the show hilarious, even if Archie verbally abuses everyone and everything. My mom has told me that she and my grandparents would watch it on TV every night when she was a teenager. It's funny too because Archie and Edith remind me a lot of my own grandparents -- in looks, not actions. From Archie baptizing his grandson without Mike and Gloria's approval to Edith finally getting to wear a pantsuit, I just find this show to be so much like coming home. I have no idea why, but All in the Family is like being in my house with my family. I guess that's why I used to always watch it when I got homesick.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Silence is golden, so stifle thy self." // Archie Bunker

216/365

For a long time, like seven years, I wasn't able to look at my mother's baby pictures. They weren't at our house so I had to beg to look at them. And finally I am able. I cried over them when I first got them back, and I still hold a little aggravation at the fact that I wasn't able to look at them. It's my mother. You should always be allowed to have pictures of your mother.

So since I finally have them I thought that we could do a toss back Tuesday with some baby pictures of my mother. In the photo, my mother is posing with her grandparents. I think my great grandaddy must have always worn his hat like that because it's tilted in almost every photo. You can see his old car in the photo and I guess my mom was between around like two and five. I'm not too good at guessing ages of children, but she was pretty small still. 

I really love old pictures and I love my mother more than anything in the world so to finally be able to look at her pictures means the world to me. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"And flowers shall rise from your wounds, and it’s going to be exquisitely miraculous. As for their scent, it’s going to be achingly beautiful." // Bshayer F.R.

215/365

Dirty Dancing is one of my favorite movies. I remember the first time I saw it on tv and I remember going to search for it at a Blockbuster the next day so I could watch it again. There's something about 80s movies that make them so much fun to watch. It's like Flashdance or Can't Buy Me Love. Patrick Dempsey was so cute in that one, but really only when he was nerdy. 

80s movies made everything so dramatic, so exciting. You can't help but get caught up in the lives of these high school characters. Getting your license was a huge deal (License to Drive) and dating the popular guy when you were a nobody was super crazy (Pretty in Pink). I don't know why they are so good, but 80s movies make life seem so fun. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner." // Johnny Castle

214/365

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I dedicate this award for my fellow Mexicans who live in Mexico. I pray we can find and build a government we deserve and I hope Mexican immigrants in this country [the United States] can be treated with the same dignity as the ones who came before and built this immigrant nation." // Alejandro González Iñárritu

213/365

I can't believe it's already August. It feels like just yesterday I was playing in the snow in January. How crazy. Of course with August comes the dreaded question: "When do you go back to school?" It's almost like people with jobs are laughing at you each time they bring it up. To be honest, they'd probably give anything to go back to school. We have it easy right now. Well, maybe not during finals but we do for most of the semester. And since school is creeping up on us once again, I think it's important for us to chat about some good habits to develop within the first month back.

• Do not put off your papers/assigned readings/projects. I know that you think because it is the beginning of the year that you will have plenty of time to do all of your assignments. And you will, if you do them in a timely manner. If it took the Lord more than one day to make the earth, it is going to take you more than one day to write a paper... well to write a good paper. What I'm saying is that you should allow yourself enough time to do your best. Don't put off what you have to do. 
• Buy school supplies that motivate you. I told you all about my love for planners and stationary. It puts me in a learning mood, so I like to have it organized and ready for use. When you have cute notebooks or new pencils, it can make taking notes more fun. I think so at least. At the very least, try and have something that you like with you in your notebook. Put stickers on it, have your friends write notes or even draw on some index cards and slip them in the plastic of your binder. Making your school supplies fun to look at will make studying more fun.
• And lastly, be patient with yourself. It's easy to fall into a funk in the beginning of the school year. It's not always fun to leave behind our swimsuits in exchange for textbooks but it is something we have to do. It's okay to not do well in the beginning -- in fact, I find that my first test grades are usually my worst -- but remember that you have time to improve and that one bad grade is not the end of the world. You are always going to be more than the grades that you made in school -- but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do your best.

 I hope you guys are pumped about going back to school. However, if you are having trouble with the change, I hope these tips help to get you back in the school mood.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"Instruction does much, but encouragement everything." // Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Letter to A.F. Oeser, Nov. 9, 1768