127/365

I really love talking to people. If you know me, you probably know that too. Usually when I start talking to people, I cannot stop. I just don't want to let them go. I love hearing about people and getting to know them, even if it's just about their dislike for cold weather or how they really love rap music. I just really love people and the conversations that I have with them.

So instead of writing a long blog about how you should try to talk to more people and how great it is for you, I'm going to go talk to people (and study for my British literature final). You should just go talk to people. You'll learn a lot more from people in your life than you will almost anything else.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard." // William Hazlitt, Selected Essays, 1778-1830

126/365

I should be blow drying my hair right now, but I want to get this done more than I want to have pretty hair today. If we want to be super honest, sometimes this blog is a chore. Don't get me wrong; I love writing. I love this blog. There are some days, however, when I just do not feel like chucking out a couple of mediocre paragraphs for you to like on Facebook. That's much more awful sounding than I planned. What I mean is that some days these writings don't feel like my best because I'm not always doing my best with them. Somebody actually said that they went to read my blog the other day for the first time and were astounded by how short they were. Aren't blog supposed to be giant ramblings about personal stuff, mixed in with a few how-to's and life revelations? 

The answer to that is yes and no. I do tell you guys about personal stuff and then share other stuff with you like a lot of other blogs. I don't always manage to have a smile on my face when I do it or make them amazingly long either. That's why I'm trying a new thing where I get up in the morning and write these. I did it while I was in Texas and it was like a huge weight off of me. While these blogs are super fun for me, they are still something that I have to remember to do everyday.

I'm not trying to be really negative about this blog. I love writing for it. It's a really relaxing thing to do after I get started. It's finding time to do it that is hard. Sometimes you just have to shake it up, to keep it interesting. That's what I'm doing now. Oh and by the way Mother's Day is this weekend. Don't forget that.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.”// Terry Pratchett

125/365

Worrying over things will not change their outcome. I know this, but I still worry. I know that if I stress over my grades or others' actions, I will not actually change those things. However, I cannot help but to worry over the events around me. It is apparently just in my nature. 

Recently, I did some extra stuff for someone -- wow, how weirdly worded -- so that I could benefit myself. They knew that it was for my benefit, so no worries on that front; however, they refused to hold their end of the bargain up on the same day. Needless to say, I was a little bit furious, but then I was also a whole lot of nervous. What if they didn't help me out like they said they would? What if they had just lied so that, at first, I would be helping them and they wouldn't have to hold out on the deal?

I worried about this all weekend -- except for Sunday, because I had bigger priorities that day -- and do you know what I helped? Do you know what I changed about the outcome?

Nothing.

This morning I received an email from that person saying that they had held up their end of the deal. Basically, you can worry about everything. You can worry from the time the sun rises to when it sets, and you still won't change the way that events will turn out. I used to know someone who would always say that everything would be okay -- it was her response to basically everything -- and, though it annoyed me when I was close to her, it was a really great way to look at the stressful parts of life.

catch you later,
Karleigh

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.” // Mark Twin

124/365

A few months ago, a friend of mine told me the line up for this year's Memphis in May (or Beale Street Music Festival, if you'd rather) and I quickly notified her that we would be there. I love live music, and I will usually go somewhere just because there is live music. You remember when we discussed Hozier? Well, he was there. And Ed Sheeran, too. Obviously, my tiny butt had to make my way to Memphis as well. 

On Sunday morning, after I went to church, I drove to my friend's house and then we began our trip to Memphis. Now, I don't know if you've ever been to a music festival. It's like... it's the best and worst atmosphere ever. Hozier didn't play until 7 and Ed was after him. We got there around three thirty and, after purchasing some water and making a slightly sad use of the port-a-potties, we made our way to the stage where these guys would be. There was some awful Polish band playing and I think everyone listening to them was just horribly bummed by how terrible they were. All of their songs were in Polish as well, so that really didn't help their case. 

During the time that the Polish band played and then another band played after them, we shifted a fair bit and got closer to the front. I saw people much younger than me mistaking vodka for water. Just so you guys know, vodka and water aren't the same. They are both clear, but they don't hydrate you the same. Perhaps they should teach that in high school, because a lot of people got really tired very quickly yesterday. While it was super hot and we were all very close together, it was still a very poor decision to drink vodka to keep you hydrated. 

Beyond the drug/alcohol usage that happened around us, we made a few friends and got to talking to some folks from places like Ohio and Arkansas. Pretty neat. Hozier was super amazing live. He doesn't really seem like the musician to keep you entertained, more like a guy to play in the background while you do stuff, but he was so into the music and so was the crowd. So many people knew his stuff and sang along. It was really beautiful. He sang a lot of songs off of his album, like "Work Song," "From Eden" and "It Will Come Back," which were all super incredible.  Later, Ed came out and he told us about visiting Graceland and he sang an Elvis song. I'm a huge Elvis fan so this was a big deal to me. It was so ridiculously fun and hot -- a really incredible experience, I think.

If you ever need to schedule time to chill before you have a ton of finals to study for, go see one of your favorite bands live. You definitely won't regret it. I have to get back to my physical science stuff now.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Heaven and hell were words to me." // "Work Song", Hozier

123/365

I'm on an adventure. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"It's not stupid if it's fun." // Ashley Lancaster

122/365

I'm pretty sure one of my best friends is an almost two year old little boy. When you make friends, you make them in really funny ways. I'm friends with people that are a good deal older than me and friends that are obviously a good deal younger than me. I always had problems talking to folks my own age when I was small. I grew up with a much older mother and grandmother than most of my friends. There were never men around me. I was always around older women. Maybe that's why I have always acted like I'm thirty years old. 

I think it's funny how you find your friends. Similarities come in all shapes and sizes but the best people to be friends with are the people that help you to be a better version of you. It took me a long time to find friends like that. It takes you realizing who you are and what you want out of yourself for you to be able to identify people that will help you. But having friends that only help you isn't everything. Do you remember when your parents told you that "to make friends, you have to be a friend." Surprise, surprise. That's true.

If you are in a one-sided friendship that only benefits you, then it isn't a relationship. You have to constantly be prepared to help your friends, just like they would help you. The little boy that is one of my best friends teaches me to have patience, to be understanding and to always have fun. In exchange, I teach him about everything else. Right now, the world is his oyster and he's teaching me to make the world my oyster too. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”// Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

121/365

I really miss movie rental places. When I was eleven or twelve, right around the time my mother retired, we were learning what we had in common. My mom has always been my best friend, but we didn't get to spend a lot of time together for the first ten years of my life. After she retired, we were kinda starting at the beginning. We both have this insane passion for movies, especially the kinda weird ones. 

There was this Blockbuster in the town next to mine that we frequented and it had this giant book of actors and the films they had been in. We must have rented so many movies from there. Every time we would rent one and find an actor we liked, we'd look them up in the book and find the movies. Sometimes they were really weird or kinda gross. Sometimes they were really

amazing; the kinda movies that stuck with me for a long time.

I can't remember the first time that I saw Stand By Me. I remember really loving it though. That was about the time when I didn't have a lot of friends and I relied on the people of books and movies as my companions. It's a bit silly to think about now, but I really liked movies like this one.

Today, Ben E. King passed away. He's known for singing the song Stand By Me, to go with the film. I was really upset when I found out that he passed away. Almost as much as when I realized that River Phoenix had passed away after I had seen this movie. You can learn a lot of lessons from movies, and you can learn a ton from this film. In honor of King and Phoenix, you should go give it a watch this weekend.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" // the writer, Stand By Me